BANDS TO CHECKOUT

1. What’s your favorite iPod track this week

“Bleary-Eyed” by The Annuals.  I hate this songwriter cuz he’s 19 years old and writes these crazy (by crazy i mean AMAZING) songs….so fucking creative…i love the energy of this band.

2. Have you seen any great live shows lately?

Yeah…It’s CMJ this week so I’ve been strolling around and caught Billy Bragg….he’s got one of those voices that just cuts right into yer soul.  Without even knowing what he’s saying you can tell EXACTLY what he means.  Thom Yorke is another example of that.  I also caught a great show by this Canadian band “The Most Serene Republic” and a new band from Leeds called “Your Vegas.” Adventurous and passionate, respectively.

3. Have you played any great live shows lately?

 We just got back from a 3 week tour through the United States and a few of the most notable were in Michigan, Florida, and Cleveland.  It’s funny. Most of the time when we look back and say, “that was really great show,” it’s more about the other bands on the bill then it is about us.  If the bands that night are cool and play music like they mean it, we wind up having a great show.  They inspire us and we give back as much as we took.  When a “sleeper” is on stage, it’s hard to ignore.  The whole room is just grey and it’s our job to turn it around…..not as fun.  Michigan had a hilarious sound man, a long set, and a great crowd….we wound up doing a lot of new shit….switching around instruments.  Florida was a cool venue, The Social Room, and The Wildbirds played with us…a great environmentally-conscious band (they tour in a bus that runs on vegetable oil).  The Cleveland show was at Peabody’s with Run, Run, Addington and they got the night started right.

4. What’s the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you on stage?

This one’s easy.  About 2 weeks into the tour Zac (guitars/keys) badly injured my finger in a hotel room scuffle.  I had to wrap it and get extremely intoxicated at shows just to bear the pain of playing drums.  In the middle of our set at a Cincinnati club Zac and I couldn’t resist re-enacting a youtube clip we’d been watching that day. It’s basically about 4 minutes of Jake E. Lee playing a HORRIBLE guitar solo while Ozzy aimlessly walks around the stage clapping his hands together in NO sense of rhythm.  We found it so hilarious we nearly pissed ourselves.  Seriously, like fall on the floor gotta catch my breath funny.  Until we looked around and realized NO one in the audience knew what the f*ck we were doing or why.  “Inside jokes” are never a good idea at shows.

for those interested:

5. What is your guilty pleasure band?

I’m actually too embarrassed to answer this question honestly…..I’d be ridiculed if I did.  Instead I’ll give you a band with a lighter sentence, The Jealous Sound.   It’s the former singer from Knapsack and they’re based in LA..  I love the album “Kill Them With Kindness” despite the fact it’s total sappy emo stuff.

6. What was the first concert you ever attended?

Pink Floyd at Giant’s Stadium.  I was 14 years old and so confused.  I wasn’t expecting flying pigs and airplanes dropping from the upper decks….I just remember desperately trying to take it all in without my head exploding…..was a great show. 

7. What gets you up in the morning?

The urge to pee.  Then I go back to bed.  But what gets me up the second time is knowing that I only have till 5pm to play music.  I have a small apartment with 4 neighbors in the building.  They’re really cool and have never complained, but I try to stop making noise before they all get home from work.

8. If you could create your own fantasy music festival, who would the top 6 headliners be?

I’m assuming you mean “living” headliners so without a doubt Number One would be RadioHead.  I hate to sound like every other guy on the street, but I just can’t say enough about this band.  They’re always pushing themselves and making incredible music.  I also love Yorke’s energy on stage…so introspective but intense at the same time.  Rock that tamborine!!!!!!!!!!!

2. Prince
3. Depeche Mode 
4. The Stills
5. Shuggy Otis 
6. Daft Punk 

Someone call Clear Channel…I think we just came up with the frist Schizo-Fest

9. What can we expect from Jupiter One?

As Zac always says, “Expectations is the only cause for disappointment.”  BUT, I’ll go out on a limb and say this.   We’ve been in New York for years playing and listening to music.  We watched music become fashion…trends and all.  We formed Jupiter One to make music that got away from that.  We focused our energy on the songwriting and used analog instruments that could make them sound raw.  Not in the 90′s Nirvana sense, but with the idea that it’s not “cute” or “kitchy.”  We take a lot of time finding the best patch on the Juno to emulate the lyric.  We debate the key because it’s important for the guitar to use open strings in a given moment.  We let the song dictate our actions.  It’s all about the best way to create the right mood.  We did that on this frist record and we’ll do it on the next.  We LOVE playing live and will continue to make our shows an experience seperate from the album.

10. How did the band come together?

Long story, but here it goes…abridged.  K (vocals/guitar/violin) met Zac (guitar/keys) in a touring circus.  They were both playing in the circus band and wound up moving to Austin together.  After a few months they both moved to NYC.  Mocha (keyboards)  had met K through college in Boston and they wound up getting married.  Now Zac, K, and Mocha started playing music together.  I met those guys through a friend (their original drummer) who got too busy and I took over on drums.  Soon after that, K brought his college friend from Boston into the band, Ben on bass.

11. What’s the concept behind the upcoming album?

Good Music.

12. What musician did you model yourself after?

John Bonham!  I fell in love with him as a kid and never stopped.  Clearly I don’t “sound” like him, but I’ve modeled myself after his concept of playing EVERY single note like it’s my last.

13. Any chance we’ll see Jupiter One playing at Madison Square Garden or the Beacon?

Not this year, but there there IS a quaint Square-shaped Garden in Madison Park.  I’m sure we could play there in the meantime

14. Who are your biggest rock influences?

Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Of Montreal, Beck, The Police, Shuggy Otis, the Flaming Lips, the Beatles

15. If aliens landed and said “take me to your leader”, who would you introduce them to?

Frank Zappa      (would LOVE to see that conversation)

links: Jupiter One Official Website | Jupiter One on Myspace

 

Metal Blade artists Fueled by Fire (out of Norwalk, CA) is currently auditioning serious musicians to fill the now open vocalist/guitarist position in the band. The band prefers a vocalist who can also play guitar but if you can only do one or the other please feel free to send in your submission and it will be looked at. To make the cut one will need to have the range of previous vocalist Gio, be willing to tour, and has to be ALL about thrash. Anyone interested in trying out for this position should send a CD, brief bio covering your experience, and a photo to the following address.

Fueled by Fire
15627 Harvest Ave
Norwalk, CA 90650

If you are from the Southern California area you can email the band’s manager at fbfbnd1@aol.com with your information and back ground and she will get in touch with you about setting up an audition.

Check out the music here: http://www.myspace.com/fueledbyfire

Team Cybergeist is the solo/side project of Angel, drummer for the band Dope…

With this project, Angel brings a collective of musicians from all around the world together to make music through the internet. Guests so far include members of Pigface, Professional Murder Music, Genitorturers, PIG, Dope, and many other bands…

“Radiation Romance” is the first release from Team Cybergeist. This is a limited edition single/remix CD. Only 200 pressed! The song features vocals by Backslash (of the band Cogsucker). The music was written and performed by Angel. The CD includes remixes by different artists in the underground industrial scene, as well as a few bonus tracks!

The music they’re putting out reminds me of bands like “Gravity Kills” – especially the track “Right Here” (the best song on their myspace in my opinion.) . Check it out for yourself: http://myspace.com/cybergeistmusic

Wanna be in a music video with The Agony Scene? The band has an open call out to be in their video “Barnburner” in their hometown on October 26. Checkout this page for more info on that.

The band also has announced tour dates & that their new album, “Get Damned”, is scheduled for an October 23 release via Century Media Records. Two songs from the CD, “Will to Bleed” and “Barnburner”, are currently being streamed on the band’s MySpace page.

I’ve always been a huge fan so I am looking forward to their new material and new lineup. Checkout some live stuff UVTV filmed with the band:

THE AGONY SCENE
“We Bury Our Dead At Dawn”

CINDER ROAD know how to push the right buttons and tug on the heartstrings to win over the masses. Playing their radio friendly collection of songs equally matches by their charismatric chemistry, this band merges old school rock sensibility with a modern pop and metal approach – underscored by a unique flovor of attitue and presence remissssssniscent of the 80′s rock era. 

CINDER ROAD
“Get In Get Out”