Dani Filth is best known as the founder and lead vocalist of the metal band Cradle of Filth. Filth’s newest musical endeavor goes by the name Devilment whose debut album title “The Great and Secret Show” will be released on October, 31st via Nuclear Blast Records. Media Mikes spoke recently with Dani about the new release, working with Bam Margera and the group’s upcoming tour with Motionless in White.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us some background on the formation of “Devilment”?
Dani Filth: A couple of years ago I met up with Daniel Finch and he asked me if I would be interested in working on a project with him. Over the course of those years the project has sort of grown and grown and flourished into a full blown band. All the members of the band live in pretty close proximity of one another and we are now set to release our first album. Scott Atkins who worked on the last Cradle of Filth album jumped on board helping with the recording process and we have been picked up by Nuclear Blast Records. Paul Ryan who was the original guitarist for Cradle of Filth is our manager/booking agent. He also is booking for Cradle of Filth now as well. We are keeping a lot of things in house with this project.

AL: What is it that you want to accomplish with this new album/band?
DF: It’s vastly different than Cradle of Filth. It’s a totally different entity in that’s its completely original. Each of the band members has their own unique perspective on metal and music in general. Our keyboardist Lauren doesn’t come from a metal background at all though she has come to appreciate it. Six of us have come together to create this unique thing. It is more riff driven and somewhat in the vein of Rammstein or White Zombie. The songs have more of a heavy groove to them. Lauren has brought this John Carpenter type vibe to the whole thing which is really great. The music is definitely in the realm of horror.

AL: With the music being different from your work with Cradle of Filth did you take a different creative path during the writing/recording process?
DF: Not overly. Cradle does a lot of stuff via the internet and then we all get together when needed for touring and such. With Devilment everyone lives locally unlike Cradle where members are literally spread across the world. Having everyone so close has made the experience different, as has writing in a lower key. Though I still write the same way as I always have I do approach the Devilment material a bit differently. I am a little more contemporary with the choruses and such. I don’t like to say it but the material has almost a pop sensibility.

AL: For the digi-pack release of the album you recorded a cover of Midnight Oil’s “Beds are Burning” can you tell us about that and, how Bam Margera ended up also on the track?
DF: That song comes wasn’t meant to be included on the 10 track version of the album. This song will be included on the special version along with two other songs. It sounds a little odd just because of the nature of the song. The original is a fucking awesome song and just very catchy. We have made it a bit heavier and added some keys to it as well. It has this “Exorcist”/”Tubular Bells” vibe to it. I chose Bam to sing on it because he actually owed me a favor. I sang at his wedding in Iceland last year so I thought I would return the favor. He went in to the studio with a producer in Philadelphia and his parts sound really great. The song has these kind of call and response portions to it. Bam sounds a lot like Pete Steele. It’s a very interesting and powerful track.

AL: Can you tell us about the upcoming video for the song “Even Your Blood Group Rejects Me”?
DF: The video is black and white with a splash of red every now and then. We worked with a photographer/video director named Scott Hunter. The video has a very cool fashion shoot vibe to it. It looks very contemporary and fresh. There is a lot of performance based elements that look really great. The way everything came together makes it one of those videos you have to watch a couple times just to be able to see everything.

AL: What type of tour plans do you have in place thus far?
DF: Cradle of Filth is heading out on the road prior to heading in to the studio in December. We will be in Russia for about a month then I have a few days off before hitting the road with Devilment. We will be out supporting Motionless in White and Lacuna Coil. That’s going to be a fresh experience for me being that we are not the headlining act. It’s going to be a big tour. This is Motionless in Whites first time in Europe.

AL: You just did a track with Motionless in White for their new album correct?
DF: Yes. That was actually unrelated and happened prior to the tour being announced. I suppose it garnered some favor. The song is called “Puppets 3” and it’s quite brutal. I was quite surprised because I knew of Motionless however I hadn’t really heard them. When I heard the track I thought it was a cross between early Cradle and At the Gates.

AL: Do you find it hard balancing your two groups due to them being quite different from one another?
DF: At the moment yes. The time factor has made things a bit tricky as we will be heading to Russia with Cradle, then I go out with Devilment and then come back to work with Cradle in the studio. There’s a lot of hard work ahead. Nuclear Blast has done a great job keeping me busy with press for Devilment it’s really great. It’s a bit hectic but it’s better than sitting around being bored.

Gary Cherone is best known as the lead singer for the group Extreme who dominated the airwaves in the early 1990’s with their song “More Than Words”. Cherone later went one to front Van Halen for a period of time. In 2007 Gary formed the band Hurtsmile with his brother Markus and the group has just released a new album titled “Retrogrenade”. Media Mikes had the chance to speak with Gary recently about the new album along with Extreme’s plans for 2014/15.

Adam Lawton: What can you tell us about the new album “Retrogrenade”?
Gary Cherone: This will be the group’s second release. My brother Mark plays guitar in the group. This album started much like the first one as it was interrupted my tour schedule with Extreme. The first album came out in 2011 and the new one will be out Oct. 6^th. I was writing for both projects and also touring with Extreme so because of having to juggle between the various projects this album much like the previous took a bit of time to get done.

AL: Can you tell us about the title and if there is any significance to it?
GC: Naming a record or a band is one of the most difficult things to do. I had a bunch of different titles in mind but this one came in the 11^th hour. The album is more in line with the classic rock that I and the other guys in the band grew up with. My manager was on me about naming the record as there were deadlines approaching. I had heard the word retrograde and knew that it had some negative connotations but how I looked at it was I saw the word grenade in it. It ended up being a combination of words as that’s something that I like to do. “Pornograffitti” for example. I emailed the title to the band and it was the first one that everyone liked. That’s what we went with and I think it fits the theme of this record really well.

AL: Did you notice any differences going into the studio this time around as compared to when you recorded the first album?
GC: At this point we are quite comfortable. We did a fair amount of pre-production at mine and Joey’s house. The process was pretty much the same as was the song writing. Mark will bring in a riff and I will scat over it. Joey was a big part of the writing this time around. Everyone really helped with all of the tracks.

AL: Can you describe yours and your brother Marks working relationship?
GC: We don’t throw fists anymore. (Laughs) I probably couldn’t be in a band with all of my brothers but with Mark I could be. When I started my first band he was the little kid in the corner that was always there. He picked up the guitar and went on to become a great player. I think with all these guys we speak the same language. With me and my brother its second nature. We know each other so well.

AL: What sparked your interest in deciding to crowd fund this album?
GC: At first I was a little reluctant. Pat from Extreme was working on a solo project and he was using the site “Pledge”. That was really the first I had heard of this type of thing. Pat was having great success with the program and helped him out by doing a couple videos to promote the project. The last thing I wanted to do however was to dig through my closet for old Van Halen stuff. After talking with my manager we decided to give it a try and it was a lot of fun. I got a lot of cool request to write some handwritten lyrics that weren’t just from songs like “Whole Hearted” or “More Than Words”. We were able to raise enough cash to do the record and a video. I was really happy with the process.

AL: Do you guys have any plans to tour behind the release?
GC: We release this album in October and do some region shows here in the states but then I have to take off for Los Angeles to some things with Extreme. At the top of the year we will be back doing Hurtsmile. We hope to hit some major markets with Pat’s band. I’m really looking forward to getting out there with this group at the earlier part of 2015.

AL: Can you give us an update on Extremes plans for 2014/15?
GC: We are gearing up to head out to Los Angeles to record an album at Nuno’s place. This summer over in Europe we performed “Pornograffitti” in its entirety. There has been a lot of demand for us to do that here in the states so we are working on doing that in early spring which will coincide with the release of the new album. We had a lot of fun playing those songs overseas so we are looking forward to doing the same thing here in the states.

AL: Do you ever find it difficult working with multiple groups?

GC: Extreme is the mother ship. Not to diminish Hurtsmile or anyone else’s projects but Extreme casts the widest net. That band makes it possible for us to do these other projects that we all have. Last year we worked around Nuno’s schedule with Rihanna. We all want to keep busy and everyone supports one another and a number of our projects involve more than one member of Extreme so we all work together.

Austin Wintory is a composer known best for his scores to the acclaimed video game titles “flOw” and “Journey”. His score for “Journey” was the first video game to ever be nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media. Austin is currently taking the role of conductor for the upcoming concert called “Mythos”, which is a 70 minute continuous musical presentation played by a 15 piece classical ensemble performing live the music of composers for Film, TV and Video Games. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Austin about the concert and what can we expect next.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get involved with conducting the concert “Mythos”?
Austin Wintory: “Mythos” is a concept I first had in 2011, which I conducted as part of a fundraiser for my non-profit Education Through Music – Los Angeles. The idea behind it was to mix together some of the most interesting, engaging music in today’s scene, totally regardless of the media from which it came. I was approached by Peter Sachon about performing video game music during New York Comic Con, and pitched back the idea of reprising “Mythos.” And here we are!

MG: Having done scores for video games like “flOw” and “Journey”; was this a natural transition for you?
AW: Yes I’m fortunate to have lots of conducting opportunities, which I love taking advantage of in the midst of composing commissions. I grew up conducting in concert, but eventually my primary outlet for it was in the recording studio for films or games, so the onslaught of concerts lately has been a joyous return!

MG: When you did the score to “Journey”, did you ever think that this would become a Grammy-nominated score and the only video game every to be nominated in the “Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media” category?
AW: Needless to say, not in the slightest. And now, almost two years later, it’s not really sunken in. It’s no less surreal than it was that day.

MG: What is the video game(s) that influenced you to do what you do?
AW: The infectious and witty nature of Tim Schafer’s games was a big part of my early gaming, and the music Peter McConnell wrote for them was basically the first game music I truly loved. It all culminated in Grim Fandango, which I think is one of the greatest games ever made, and with a score to match. It’s such soulful, passionate music and all around brilliant game.

MG: Why do you think that 8-bit music has stood the test of time and still resonates with fans?
AW: Chiptunes, those authentic early 8-bit hardware-based scores, were a huge musical contribution. There was nothing really like it before then. Electronic music was, before then, an extension of either the classical or rock scenes, using analog synths and tape manipulation and such. This, in games, was something now totally different. I think a big part of why it still resonates today is that the music was forced to distill a lot of dramatic intention into a very narrow bandwidth. But also a lot of game developers AND gamers alike are nostalgic to the games – and game scores – of their childhoods. So it’s gotten a revival as children of the 80s now enter the mainstream of professional game development.

MG: Can you tell us about little bit about what we can expect from upcoming game “ABZÛ”?
AW: Only that it’s still very early, and a massive delight to be re-teaming with Journey’s art director Matt Nava. I’m very very excited about this one!

MG: What can you tell us about your project “Our Curiosity”?
AW: This was a really special and wonderful experience. I’m a die-hard about NASA and scientific literacy in the general public, and this opportunity emerged to pay tribute to the Curiosity Mars Rover. An old friend, astrobiologist Jeff Marlow, had been working directly with the Curiosity team and so were able to get green lit to produce the tribute. We co-wrote the script, and then recorded our two narrators, actress Felicia Day, and acclaimed science educator Neil deGrasse Tyson. After that I wrote the score around the VO performances, and recorded it with a fantastic orchestra in Nashville. We co-directed the film and tossed it back to NASA who put it on YouTube. I like to think of it as an officially-sanctioned fan love letter.

MG: What else do you have in the works for the rest of the year and 2015?
AW: Lots and lots! But I will say, *hopefully* more Mythos performances!

Photo Credit: Laura Marie Duncan

Peter Sachon is a classical cellist that is currently playing in the orchestra for Broadway shows like “Pippin”. He is becoming know as being one of the “go to” cellist for recording sessions in NY. He is also a producer of an upcoming concert called “Mythos”, which is a 70 minute continuous musical presentation played by a 15 piece classical ensemble performing live the music of composers for Film, TV and Video Games. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Peter about the concert and what can we expect.

Mike Gencarelli: I am in love with the idea of “Mythos”, the 70 minute musical presentation featuring the all-star orchestra The Third Estate showcasing the music of composers for Film, TV and Video Games. Tell us how this came about?
Peter Sachon: Thank you! “Mythos” began as a blog about video game music. I imagined the New York Philharmonic seriously performing thoughtfully considered and adequately rehearsed video game music for all those people who love Comic Con here in New York City. It is easy to dream about what a great concert that would be, and the different sorts of people who might come — perhaps many for their first live orchestra concert. After all, millions of people love the music from games. However, the truth is orchestras like the New York Philharmonic won’t program video game music. The only music that passes artistic muster at major American orchestras is classical music — and those living composers approved by culturally conservative critics at The New York Times and The New Yorker Magazine. Unfortunately, video game music does not meet their conservative prerequisites. Contemporary composers are writing music that’s both good and popular, and that apparently breaks those critical rules. The fact is classical music these days exists in a kind of artistic terrarium. It continues to live, sort of, if you leave it alone. (And don’t you dare suggest it’s not alive!!). But if you let the air in…watch out! This is why it’s a terrific idea for MoMA to present Tim Burton. Seemingly no one there bats an eye at labeling Mr. Burton a serious artist who’s work is worthy of consideration. Yet, somehow Danny Elfman’s music has managed to get played everywhere in the world except at the New York Philharmonic. I realized that writing and proselytizing about orchestras wasn’t helping anyone, so I decided to take action.

MG: What was the process for which pieces of music were chosen for this concert?
PS: It’s still an ongoing process! At the very beginning, when Austin Wintory and I first started talking about putting a concert together, the conversation was shaped around the aspiration of presenting the spectrum of modern composers together, no matter their genre — something that no major orchestra is willing to do, so far. Austin has composed some of the music (after all, this all started with me wanting to hear Journey in NYC), and he has arranged and curated other music into a single-movement work. The programming is ongoing and collaborative. I would like “Mythos” to demonstrate to even the most conservative of musical minds that making a bigger tent for how orchestras program repertoire can both expand orchestras’ permanent audience base, and revitalize orchestral music.

MG: Tell us about your decision to not list which music will be presented?
PS: Well, Boulez and his ilk have done a lot of damage with decades of anti-audience music, and so much of the audience still reflexively braces itself whenever they see a new name in their program. After fifty years of being force fed really foul “modern” music, who can blame them? The new music scene has gotten so esoteric that often it is better categorized as performance art. But this bias goes the other way too — the audience has also been carefully taught that music with titles like “Final Fantasy”, or “Star Wars”, are not to be taken seriously. We don’t want to tell people what they should hate, or like, ahead of time. So we won’t distribute programs until the end of the concert.

MG: Tell us how you ended up working with conductor is Austin Wintory?
PS: I read about Austin shortly after his music to Journey was nominated for a Grammy award. The nomination was an especially big deal because this was the first time a video game score had had that distinction. I fell in love with his music. It is beautiful and evocative, and smart. It’s terrific modern orchestral music, and I couldn’t help noticing that video game music suffered from the same artistic discrimination as film music. I wrote to Austin, cold, and told him that I admired his music. We have a similar outlook about modern genres and also we got along, and he could not have been kinder. I asked him about doing a concert of music from Journey here in NYC. He said yes, and we began talking about how best to present game music as art. Our answer is “Mythos”. We still haven’t met!

MG: Will this be a one-time only performance or will their be additional dates planned?
PS: There are additional dates planned, but nothing I can share as of yet.

MG: If people are looking to get more information on this; where can they go?
PS: Of course! Go to the “Mythos” website, www.mythoslive.com

MG: How does it feel to be considered the “go to” cellist for recording sessions in NY?
PS: Well, first I am one among many great cellists in NYC. I’ve worked hard, and I’m grateful to get to make music for a living.

MG: You are currently playing in the orchestra of Broadway’s PIPPIN; tell us about that experience?
PS: I have been fortunate enough to work on Broadway for ten years, and I have been with a number of shows. Playing in the orchestra at Pippin is wonderful. I especially love Stephen Schwartz’s music, and he’s been kind enough to compose two pieces of chamber music for The Cello Project.

MG: What else do you have in the cards coming up next?
PS: I will continue to produce “Mythos”, and I hope to finish my album of new music by Broadway composers by the end of the year. I have also begun creating and producing several Broadway musicals.

Nathan Hunt is the lead vocalist for the rock band Shamans Harvest. The group hailing from Jefferson City, Missouri recently released their 5th studio album titled “Smokin’ Hearts & Broken Guns”. Media Mikes had the chance to speak with Nathan recently about the albums creation, health issues that occurred during the process and how those events shaped the material contained on the new album.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us an idea of where the band was at prior to starting work on the new record?
Nate Hunt: We had just finished up a tour run and everyone was pretty much dead. (Laughs) It took about 2 months for everyone to get back together and starting writing for the new record. We were sort of struggling through the process and before we knew it a few months had gone bye and we knew we had to get going. We jumped in the studio and just started writing as we were recording. Someone would bring in a riff here and there and then we would make a song out of it. Once things got going it was a pretty painless process.

AL: At what point in the creative process do you start working out lyrics/vocals?
NH: It tends to be different for every experience. Generally things happen as the song progresses. I look at the core of things to see where the lyrics need to go. A lot of times it’s the guitar riffs that inspire the lyrics but again it is different just about every time.

AL: You had some major health issues happen while you were recording. Can you tell us about that?
NH: That was a very intense process. I think me being diagnosed with throat cancer certainly it helped from an emotional aspect as I sort of followed the 7 stages of grief. I started pissed off and sort of freaked out before settling down and deciding I was going to beat it. A lot of the songs were written of the stages I went through during the time I was sick.

AL: Did you guys ever discuss putting the album on hold till you were feeling better?
NH: I think we all felt the sense of urgency even before I had gotten the diagnosis. We were coming off of a successful single and we knew we needed a follow up as soon as possible. When I got the diagnosis things took on a whole new meaning. There was a chance that this album was going to be our last so we wanted to make the process as enjoyable as we could. Thankfully everything worked out in the long run and we now get to enjoy the fruits of our enjoyment.

AL: Did you have to alter your signing style at all while you were going through treatment?
NH: Oh yeah. The radiation treatment I was receiving doesn’t allow you to create your own saliva. There were a lot of different techniques I had to do just to be able to sing a few lines. This happening has really made me a better singer in the long run as I never really paid much attention to technique before now. I started seeing a vocal coach who helped me through everything and she was really like my savior throughout this whole thing.

AL: The album features a bunch of different musical styles. Was this something that occurred naturally or was that a conscious decision you guys made as a group?
NH: Things happened pretty naturally. I think this was sort of a byproduct of us all not listening to the same type of music. Personally I don’t want to listen to or play the same thing every time. Things just get boring when you’re doing the same thing over and over. I like when you are able to listen to an album from front to back without its vibe every getting tiresome.

AL: What are the bands plans for a new single and video release?
NH: We just shot a video for the song “Dangerous” in St. Louis. There is another portion of the video being shot in Chicago but as far as I know our parts are done. That should be out very shortly. I think there are plans to do another video as well however I am not sure which song it will be for.

AL: What are the bands upcoming tour plans?
NH: We are working on putting together a tour as we speak. We are kind of late in the game with this release as tour season generally starts in the early spring. We will definitely be hitting as many markets as we can here in the states during this quarter. We hope to be out till about February and then go from there.

Camden Cruz is the guitarist for the power metal band Seven Kingdoms, based out of DeLand, Florida. Camden also runs the Deland Rock & Metal Festival. This Rock and Heavy Metal event will host it’s first multi-day, with camping event and will feature 50 bands. Media Mikes had a chance to chat about the festival with Camden, find out about the show and what’s next for Seven Kingdoms.

Mike Gencarelli: This November brings us the 5th Deland Rock & Metal Festival, how did this whole thing start?
Camden Cruz: Well, I was tired of not having a place to play in my home town of DeLand. So, when Seven Kingdoms was ready to release ‘The Fire Is Mine’ album, It was a perfect storm to try and host it right here in my hometown. We started talking to a few possible places, and realized very quickly that this was probably going to be an outdoors event. That right there made me think “Festival”. So after a long process of finding the Festival’s Home, we landed right outside the downtown at OB’s. It worked out very well and we have kept this thing running, and are always trying to improve over every year.

MG: What is the process for how you managed to find 50 bands for this amazing line-up?
CC: I still don’t have a ‘Set Protocol” for booking the bands, but usually we will go and book the headliners or biggest acts first. Once we have released that info, we set the date and put it online. I think people really dig being able to watch a festival develop, even if on an event page. We start to put it together right in front of everyone online. We have TONS of bands apply for the festival from the state, and it increases every year. We try to base our selections on if we have an established relationship with the band, talent and drawing capability. We like to book bands that can really get behind the event and push it.

MG: What else can fans expect from this 3-day festival?
CC: This is the first multi day year. We are offering camping for the first time as a package, so that will be very interesting to see how it changes from a one day deal, to a whole weekend. It’s only going to be better, as we have split the days up almost by genre, so its even better for the bands, and fans as far as who they want to see, and who they are paired up with. I think that having a three day deal, will start to get more people there all weekend, rather than just there for one day. There is a LOT of music, a lot of drinks and a lot of food here!

MG: What are you personally most excited about this year?
CC: The Camping feature really is a huge deal this year. Also the VIP packages are starting to really get solidified. We have a package this year that is a really good deal and it comes with a lot of free things and perks. I think people will be really happy at the end of the weekend. I am also very excited to see how it all turns out, as this is expected to be our biggest year by far. We also have a large promotional video package that we will be filming on site that day, to try and do a bunch of footage and promos to put online shortly after we shoot that weekend, almost in real time! Doing what we can so people at home can see what they’re missing!

MG: Besides running this show, you are also lead guitarist with Seven Kingdom; tell us you are juggling all these hats?
CC: Haha, this honestly is only my second item to juggle out of about 4 jobs that I have. I play and organize in Seven Kingdoms, I work full time custom painting at Chris Cruz Artistry, I launched CCE Presents this year in January, and we’re really starting to pick up the number of shows we put on in Florida. I also help manage bands and tours when the offers come in, but that’s more of a side thing. It’s pretty stressful sometimes, but I would not trade the mix I have for anything. I seem to have a really nice balance right now actually. I have been booking shows for years, but this is the first year that I really set out to make a big difference and make it something. I’ve already put on 20+ shows this year and two festivals. Along with day work, the band and these other things, I hope the only way to go is up!

MG: What was your first experience to metal that locked you in for life?
CC: I discovered heavy music around 2004, while I was in Highshool and racing Motocross. I raced all my life until that point, and pretty much discovered this side of music in the last years that I raced. It was a pretty tough time for me when I was 16-19 as my parents were going through a major divorce and it pretty much drove us to stop racing, along with injuries. Because of the seriousness of racing, I was very disconnected from people at the private school that I went to at the time, and didn’t have a lot of friends until I was at the track. When it all went down, I didn’t have a lot of local friends, and I didn’t want to be at home. I found a plethora of people in the scene that became my friends because of the love for music. I was able to ‘get away’ from all of that when I listened to this music, which turned into me in a band with a new set of friends. I was able to escape my life in away and go to this completely different and new thing. It really made that time, not so hard, because I was either discovering new music, playing in one of the first bands I was in, or just hanging out, not thinking of things at home. So, I suppose you can say that that’s what made me a lifer!

MG: You guys were born out of Florida but have a worldwide fan base including Europe in which you just completed your final tour to support the last album; how does touring abroad differ from here in the states?
CC: It is completely different, but not so different all at the same time. I believe that the fans in EU truly have a harder time trying to afford the shows. I believe that is why there seems to be more die hards over there, because people are literally budgeting money they probably shouldn’t spend on concerts for their favorite bands. There is also just not nearly the amount of opportunity for people in general over there as it is here in the USA, so we are very lucky for that. I think that fans are fans, anywhere you go. Just sometimes the farther away you are from home, sometimes it adds to the ‘stigma’ of a band playing in a certain area, and gets people more excited knowing you are from far away.

MG: Seven Kingdom’s last album was “The Fire is Mine” in 2012, is there a new album in the cards and what can we expect?
CC: There is a new album in the works as we speak. We will take all of 2015 to write and record the album. We have a lot of inner workings to figure out, on how the album will be released, and through who. We are really hoping for an early 2016 release, with a full and proper tour to be booked along side that shortly after, but we just need to see how it all works out. It’s still way to early to nail those official things. The music itself will sound much like a continuation of ‘The Fire Is Mine’ but with more experience and maturity. We all are always growing together as musicians so the music will always improve over time. With every album we do, we start to sound more like Seven Kingdoms, rather than a bunch of other bands mixed together. So, we are just focused on writing a very solid album that will top TFIM, make us happy and also make our fans happy!

Kevin Riepl is the composer of horror films like “Silent Night”, “Contracted” and a segment from “The ABC’s of Death”. His latest film is the horror/thriller “Cabin Fever: Patient Zero” directed by Kaare Andrews (Altitude and The ABCs of Death) and staring Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy), Currie Graham (Pompeii, “NYPD Blue”), Ryan Donowho (Soldiers of Fortune), Mitch Ryan (“One Tree Hill”) and Jillian Murray (Bad Ass). Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Kevin about the score and working in the horror genre.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you get involved to score the film “Cabin Fever: Patient Zero”?
Kevin Riepl: I met the director, Kaare Andrews, when we worked together on his contribution to THE ABCs OF DEATH, “V for Vagitus”. When I heard he was selected to helm CABIN FEVER: PATIENT ZERO I was eager to have a chance to work with him again. Likewise for Kaare, so we submitted my reel to the producers and once they were on board, we were all set to go.

MG: Did you look back at the previous two films for any ideas?
KR: I refreshed myself a little bit with the first film’s score. As much as we wanted to create something new, we also wanted to carry over some of the ‘rawness’ of Nathan Barr’s score and incorporate a lot of scratching and dissonance in the string instruments.

MG: What was your biggest challenge you faced with this film and was this score unique in any way from your previous scores?
KR: I think the main challenge on the film (even though it wasn’t really a big challenge) was coming up with and deciding on the palette for the score and what style would best support the story and its setting. I do believe this score is unique from any of my previous scores and that is because this film is different from previous films I’ve scored. Yes I’ve scored a decent amount of horror and thriller, but each of those has been artistically different from each other as well. A film’s story dictates the sound and style of the score. If you look back through my previous films many of the scores are quite different and unique to the film. That’s the ultimate goal – to give each film its own sound. Of course it is a collaborative effort with the director since it’s their vision, but I try to bring ideas to the table that will help their vision stand out and be that much more unique.

MG: You have worked in the horror genre before with projects like “The ABCs of Death” and “Silent Night”; what do you love about the genre itself?
KR: It’s usually dark, gritty and fantastical. Ever since I started music at a young age I’ve always wanted to explore the darker side of music, melody and sounds. As much as I love writing all styles of music, it seems that the horror genre lets me experiment a little more when writing scores. Being a creative person, how can I pass that up?

MG: “Contracted” was a sick film BTW; tell us about your process for this film?
KR: CONTRACTED, indeed, was sick and A LOT of fun to work on. Eric England is a young director and has so much to offer the film world. It was great to work with him on this film. At the very start, Eric knew he didn’t want traditional ‘horror’ music. So we approached the score with a synthetic, almost ethereal sound to help support the main character’s innocence and naiveté, until of course things start to go south. At that point I start to include more grit and experimental sounds and rhythms to help throw the viewer off balance so they can feel as much angst as the main character does as she goes through her changes.

MG: How is it going from scoring video games to TV or film? Which is more challenging?
KR: I don’t find it to be challenging. It’s all music. Yes, there are specifics and deadlines you need to be concerned about during the process of creating for each medium, but in the end it’s still about coming up with ideas and you’re still supporting story and visuals. The most important thing and it is sometimes a challenge, is scheduling…especially when you have a video game, a TV show AND a film on your plate.

MG: What else do you have in the cards coming up next?
KR: I just recently completed the action thriller THE NIGHT CREW directed by Christian Sesma. Hopefully I will have more news concerning the release of the film and an official soundtrack. Other than that, I am currently working on Ubisoft’s and Signal Studios’ TOY SOLDIERS: WAR CHEST video game as well as a small independent feature.

Former Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein is currently out on tour in support of the band’s debut release titled “Abominator”. The band which also features vocalist Alex Story, bassist Left Hand Graham and drummer Anthony “Tiny” Biuso will be out on the road through August and Media Mikes had a chance to speak with the band prior to the tours kick off in Rochester, NY where we talked about the recent departure of drummer Dr. Chud as well as what the band has planned for the rest of this year and beyond.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us what happened with Dr. Chud deciding to leave the tour prior to its start and what your most looking forward to about getting out and playing the new material live?
Doyle: He just decided not to come out on the road with us. That’s pretty much all there is to it. We are looking forward to just ripping stuff up every night we play. Tiny our new drummer came in on short notice and just really energized all of us. Tiny is a guy I met at the NAMM show one year and we just hit it off and became friends from there. He was always asking me about who was drumming for me at the time and what not and now he is the guy.

AL: Can you tell us about the VIP packages that you are offering at each show?
Doyle: We are doing VIP meet and greets after every show on this tour. Along with getting to meet the band you get a free music download, a tour laminate and a signed photo. It’s a chance for fans to get a little more out of coming to us.

AL: You shot a DVD for your previous band Gorgeous Frankenstein. Will you be doing any shooting while out on this run?
Doyle: I think we have a guy coming out to film the New Jersey show and also to do some footage at the Connecticut and Los Angeles shows. Alex and I will also be doing a new photo shoot with Jeremy Saffer while we are out on the road which should be really cool.

AL: With “Abominator” being out for a couple months now what has been people’s reaction to it?
Doyle: I think everything has been really great. I really like the album and I think if people haven’t done so yet they need to go out and buy it! (Laughs)

AL: You have said before that during the writing process you wrote enough material for two more albums. Can you tell us the status of those?
Doyle: Everything has been recorded. All we have left to do is finish the drums and then mix them. From there we will get the artwork done up and proof all the words for the album notes. We are shooting for a spring 2015 release date.

AL: Alex, when you were putting this material together what type of process did you guys have for writing?
Alex Story: When we were first putting this all together Doyle gave me a list of things that he liked to hear songs about. There was a lot of stuff about strippers and Satan in there. (Laughs) I really challenged myself and tried to write a song about everything he mentioned in his list. That’s really where we went from. Doyle writes all the music and arrangements. He gives me full bass, drum and guitar tracks and I really don’t like to ask him to change things around for me so I just go with what I am given. I try to write vocals that accent his playing.
Doyle: Sometimes he writes songs in a day and sends them over to me which is just crazy. He sends me stuff that he has screamed in to his laptop.

AL: When Doyle is out on the road with Danzig what do you do to keep busy musically?
AS: I have another band that I have been doing for years called Cancerslug. I do that in my off time and when ever Doyle is ready I shift gears and we do this.
Doyle: It works the same way for me when I am working with Danzig. When he calls we go out and do it and then we go back working on this.

AL: What are your plans for the next Cancer Slug release? And how have things changed for the group since you first started?
AS: Cancerslug is sort of like my little pet project. Once things sort of slow down here were going to put out a new album. We have a really solid line up right now and our last tour was very successful so we are looking to do another run of shows as soon as we can. With Cancerslug I just sort of throw these ideas down when I have them and if people like it that’s cool if they don’t, they don’t. Once I get some down time from doing this I will start work on all of that. When I first started Cancerslug there was no internet or cell phones which made being independent very difficult. Nowadays it makes doing a project like Cancerslug a lot easier as there are just so many ways to get yourself out there which makes splitting my time between the two bands that much easier.

AL: Can you tell us about your upcoming appearance in Alan Roberts “Killogy” comic book?
Doyle: I toured with Alan years ago when we were out on the road with his band Life of Agony. He called us up one day and asked if I would be interested. I just got the draft of it the other day and it looks really great. I think the plan is to have it out around Halloween time.

AL: This first run of shows is just a month long. Are there any further plans to continue touring throughout the rest of the year? And is there any chance of seeing you do some shows with your girlfriends band Arch Enemy?
Doyle: We are working on a bunch more stuff here in the States for the coming months. As for shows with Arch Enemy we are trying really hard. It’s up to Angela. I am afraid of her! (Laughs)

 

Mark Heylmun is the lead guitarist for the heavy metal band Suicide Silence. The band recently released their 4th studio album titled “You Can’t Stop Me” via Nuclear Blast Records and is featured on this year’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Media Mikes had the chance recently to speak with Mark about the new album, the bands new singer and how they overcame the loss of the bands original vocalist Mitch Lurker.

Adam Lawton: With the new album being out just over a month now what has the overall reception been like from the fans?
Mark Heylmun: It’s been really amazing. To be honest I am waiting for this whole thing to become difficult. This time last year I was looking into the future thinking that things were going to be very hard. I knew we were going to have to be comfortable with whatever happened and just ride it out. The record is out and people a really loving it. Were out on Mayhem right now and it feels like were just killing it every day.

AL: What was it like for the band working on both new material and with a new singer all at the same time?
MH: We had to build a working relationship with Eddie. We were of course friends beforehand but Eddie’s the type of guy who when you catch up to him you have to hear all of what he has going on. Building that new relationship was a lot of fun because he is our friend and now he is in our band. Surprisingly it was a very easy transition as he works in the same way Mitch worked. We would give him a song and he would either feel it or not. With Eddie being new to the band things were very fresh for him and us as well which made the experience very exciting. In a week we wrote 3 songs together. After those first three songs were written we knew things were going to be ok. This was the first time as a band that we all collaborated together on material. It was very much a group effort this time around.

AL: The album features two songs written by Mitch before he passed away. Can you tell us about those?
MH: One of those tracks is actually a really old song that appeared on our first EP in 2005. We wanted to redo it because we have had a lot of requests to hear those songs. We chose “Ending is Beginning” because it just made sense with what we are doing. A lot of friends wanted us to do one of these old songs as well to see if Eddie could really pull this off. He just slayed it! “You Can’t Stop Me” is the other track Mitch was working on and it’s one of the two last songs we worked on with him. “Blue Haze” was the other track which appeared on a B side. The music for both of those songs was done in the same writing session in 2012. Mitch had only written lyrics for one and we had to looks at those and figure out which song they were actually meant for. It ended up being very easy to figure out because of the structure in which the lyrics were written. The song had no title but the lyrics were “You can’t fucking stop me!” so we really took a lot from those words as it just all fit so well with what we were doing and what we were going to have to do in the future. That song really built us up. Even though Mitch wasn’t physically there he still had a lot to do with the latest record.

AL: What was it like on an emotional level revisiting these songs?
MH: The whole time we had it in our minds that we wanted this album to really mean a lot. We wanted this album to be all that it could be. We postponed jamming and getting together with Eddie until we could all be there at the same time. We got those lyrics sent to us and we all read them together. From there we just started jamming and playing music together. I remember that first session and we didn’t even really play Suicide Silence songs at first. We were playing songs by Pantera, Metallica, Sublime and Offspring. Eventually we started doing our songs but it was just an emotional time that felt new and very real.

AL: So far you have released 2 songs off the album as singles. Are there plans to release any others?
MH: We have had the discussion. We couldn’t really decide which songs we wanted to roll out first because we liked all of the songs. There is potential to release a video for every song off the album. We have a pretty good video team that is in our world and we facilitate all those things. We have a bunch of ideas right now on what to do.

AL: Have you found people are more focused on this being the band’s first album with a singer as opposed to it being your senior release?
MH: A lot of people ask if we feel like this is our first record. I don’t think it feels like that because we are building off of what we have learned from each other. “The Cleansing” was our first full length and that album was really done because of the response from our EP. We had a lot of offers come our way and we had to decide which would be best for us and then write a record. We wrote the record because we had gotten signed and that record was our reaction to those events. We learned that we had to put ourselves in a position to where we were motivated to write. We learned a lot over the course of three records and this new album is the culmination. I think after this we have really learned to write a piece of music and I am looking forward to continuing with what we are doing.

AL: With Mayhem Fest wrapping up in August does the band have any plans for the remainder of 2014?
MH: We will be a part of this year’s Knot Fest which is being held in San Bernardino, CA in the later part of October. That’s going to be just an insane time. We also will be heading over to Europe in November for a tour run over there as well.

The southern heavy metal band Texas Hippie Coalition are set to release their fourth studio album titled “Ride On” in mid October of this year and are currently out on tour as part of this summer’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. Media Mikes was able to catch up with the leather vested 4 piece backstage in Scranton, PA recently to discuss the bands upcoming album and the bands progression since their debut release in 2008

Shawn Meas: What can you tell us about the bands upcoming album?
Texas Hippie Coalition: It’s going to be bad ass! We went back to more of our roots on this album and it’s going to be really hard hitting. We went and worked with Skid Mills at the Sound Kitchen and it turned out really well. We are anxious to hear what everyone thinks. We definitely went back to the format of the first record while spending more money. (Laughs)

SM: What type of process do you guys take when starting to record a new album?
THC: We start off by drinking a little moonshine and smoking a little weed. Then we cuss a little bit and things start to work. (Laugh) Cord Pool and I (Big Dad Ritch) are the only guys in the band who can really do math so song structure is pretty easy to come out. (Laughs) I think if we really used any true written format that it was the same every time we wouldn’t have as good of a creative flow as we did. Things are never the just as long we are all in good spirits and have positive energy around us we can write good tunes together. This time we flipped things and worked on the album early in the morning as opposed to late at night because you could never get all of us in the same room at the same time when it comes to working at night. (Laughs)

SM: How do you feel the band’s sound has evolved from your debut album “Peacemaker” to your upcoming release “Ride On”?
THC: I think we have evolved as players. With the new record we certainly tapped into our roots but we are all better players these days. With this band you get what you came for. We try and keep things real and carry out that theme from album to album.

SM: The band has gone through a number of lineup changes to get to where it is now. What do you guys feel each of the new members bring to the band?
THC: This is actually Timmy Braun’s second album with us. He left for awhile to do some side projects that he has and now he back. We are happy to have him back 100% now. Cord has actually been with us since the release of “Peacemaker” however he joined just after we finished recording that album. We have a pretty good team of guys and we are all having a lot of fun. Cord does seem to be everyone’s favorite though and he has said that if he was ever fired he would still show up anyways. (Laughs) Getting out here is like a bull ride with the music business being the bull. It can take a lot out of you and all four of us can take it while some of our previous members couldn’t stay on for the full 8 seconds. This crew is going to be there at the end to get our buckle!

SM: What are the bands plans for the rest of 2014?
THC: The first single off the new album just got released and is titled “Monster and Me”. The full album titled “Ride On” comes out October 7^th and we have a lot of stuff going on leading up to that release date. We are going to be making stops at Gas Monkey Garage in Texas and also playing at this year’s Ride for Dime. Once this album comes out we are going to be going through some tires! There are still a lot of people who aren’t familiar with us so we want to get out there and try to get in to as many homes as possible.

The power metal band DragonForce who burst on the music scene in 2003 with their debut album “Valley of the Damned” are back with a brand new studio album titled “Maximum Overload”. The album features 9 original tracks along with the bands unique take on the Johnny Cash classic “Ring of Fire”. Media Mikes recently spoke with the bands guitarists Sam Totman and Herman Li about the albums creative process, the albums guest vocalist and the bands upcoming tour plans.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us some background on the new album and the story behind its title?
Sam Totman: Whenever we start any album we just start by writing what we think sounds cool to us. Everything else like song titles, album title and cover art all come after that. This one wasn’t any different. We wrote the music first and then the lyrics and then came the title. We chose “Maximum Overload” because it describes the music much like our previous releases. At the same time we had the idea for the cover art which depicts a person being hit with information from every angle much like how we are bombarded with information from television, internet and phone on a daily basis. It’s hard to ignore even for someone like myself who doesn’t really use a lot of that stuff. The title kind of ended up having two meanings so it worked out well.

AL: With Sam and Frederic taking on the writing aspects of the album, at what stage of the process did you come in Herman?
Herman Li: Sam and Fred first started writing together in France. Sam actually worked out the music on his own and then when he had all the structures laid out we started work on the demos in London. Our producer for the album was Jens Bogren and he helped as well.
ST: It was a pretty cool experience because in the past this was something we had never really done before. I would just do demos on my own and then I wouldn’t want anyone to touch them or contribute. It was cool working with someone else. I would come in with a song and then give it to the guys to add their pieces to it whether it is keyboards or Herman’s crazy guitar noises and such. Previously we just always wrote songs individually. Working together certainly brought a different element to the new record. It’s still very much a DragonForce album but there is a lot of cool new things going on which I really like.

AL: Do you guys often do a lot of pre-production then prior to entering the studio?
HL: In the past we did very little pre-production. If you listen to some of those previous tracks the demo versions are quite a bit different. There might be just a drum machine with a chord and melody laid down. Some of the songs would be quite unrecognizable. On the new album we actually had vocals recorded and some demo solos as well. By working with Jens we couldn’t just send him a pile of ideas and expect him to make a song out those. We had to give him a clearer image so that he could help us make the tracks stronger.
ST: With my demos I know what’s going on with them but someone looking at them from the outside in isn’t really going to understand what I was thinking. I often would just throw out some chords and not really try to play all that well. Demoing the songs with proper vocals certainly helped us give Jens tracks that were a bit more complete.

AL: Can you tell us about Matt Heafy’s appearance on a couple of the albums tracks?
HL: We had been working on the songs and we got to a point where we thought they needed something more. We were thinking of wanting different backing vocals on a couple songs and Matt’s name just happened to come up. It’s wasn’t planned ahead or anything like. We sent the tracks to Matt and kind of explained what we needed. Matt went above and beyond for us and did a bunch of different styles for his parts. I was amazed when I heard all of what he did I have to thank Matt for his work.
ST: We knew what we wanted but we told Matt that he could add whatever else he wanted to add. Honestly I think we thought he was just going to do what we were looking for and be over and done with it. When we got the tracks back it was totally cool because he gave us so many different things to work with.

AL: Tell us about the decision to cover Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”?
ST: It was just fate. We had said that covers were something we had never wanted to do. I have heard so many cover songs over the years that they tend to become quite boring. That’s not to say people shouldn’t do them but it’s not really my personal taste. 10 years now into our career we thought it would be fun to do a cover song as people had never heard us do one before. We wanted the song to be different and fun. It would be boring to just go and cover another metal song where it virtually sounds the same as the original. I heard “Ring of Fire” on the television one day and could envision the vocal line in our style. I thought the song could really work so we made a couple small changes and put our stamp on it. We want people to like it for being a good song and not as something that’s a gimmick.

AL: The band released a video for the song “The Game” back in June. Are there plans to release anymore in the coming months?
HL: We have plans for another video but I don’t think that is going to be done until the album has been out a little bit. We haven’t shot anything yet but possibly towards the end of the year is when we are thinking of doing another. It took a lot of arguing to figure out which song we were going to use for the first video so we have to plan for that as well. (Laughs)

AL: What are the bands current tour plans?
HL: We will be starting the tour on September 18 in the UK. That’s about a month after the albums official release. We wanted to start over in the UK this time around because the last two albums we our tours in the States. The UK fans were always asking why. This time we figured we better start in the UK so we don’t make anyone mad and we can keep getting free beer every now and then. (Laughs) US fans will want to keep their eyes open as we are working on putting together a run in the States.

Linkin Park recently released their sixth studio album titled “The Hunting Party”. The album is a departure from the groups more recent electronic-rock style albums however it is still very much Linkin Park. Media Mikes spoke recently with the groups front men Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington about the bands direction shift, the new albums unique sound and the bands upcoming tour.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us a little bit about the shift in direction the band took with the new album and how it has been received by fans thus far seeing it was your first album not to go to number 1 here in the States?
Mike Shinoda: When we were making the album, I had a handful of demos that weren’t quite as heavy as this. They were a little more electronic-driven, and there was just a day that I was looking for something to listen to and I couldn’t find what it was that I wanted. I wanted something more aggressive and energetic and I just kept finding either stuff that was modern and progressive and the only stuff I was finding that was modern and progressive tended to be a little more mellow and if it was heavier, it tended to sound more progressive. I think we all found that there was just a style that was kind of being underserved that we wanted to hear and that’s what we decided to make. As far as the reception goes it debuted at #1 in 67 countries. Friends of mine here in the U.S. said, “Hey, I heard it. Sorry that you guys didn’t get to number one on the charts” I feel like the billboard chart is for one thing. It’s for the first week album sales, and this is not really a first week album sales kind of album. It’s a statement album. It’s a live album and an album that should be taken to the stage. That’s exactly what we’re planning to do right now with the Carnivores Tour.
Chester Bennington: It’s funny because I think probably more so than any other record, maybe other than possibly “A Thousand Sons” I feel like critically the record’s been overwhelmingly positive. I have yet to read anything negative about the record on a critical level that has been written, which is pretty amazing, and so for that we’re very grateful. But at the same time, almost on a daily basis I run into Linkin Park fans and I’ll take pictures or say, “Hi,” whatever, and every single person that I’ve met since we released this record has told me that they love the record. They are super happy that it’s out like it is. I’ve heard some other guys in the band say that they feel like it is a record that really the genre needed and that they also appreciate the record that we’ve made, that it is progressive and it is something that they want to listen to. I feel like we have accomplished our goal on this album. I think not only creatively, but personally for the band, but also for a lot of our fans.

AL: Was there initially a lot of reluctance or resistance to make a harder record? Or do you feel like the rest of the band bought in pretty quickly?
MS: For me, it was a bit of a process. I felt like Chester was on board from the beginning but it was still, like, figuring out at that point what we were. Conversations were happening mid-tour last album like, what does a louder record mean? What is bringing energy to the album and what does that mean? How do we do that without it sounding throwback or derivative of heavier stuff that we grew up with. At first it fell on me to kind of find the right tone, so that I could take that to, in particular Brad and Rob, and say, “You guys, like, I know this is something that you don’t naturally gravitate towards at this point in your life, but check out these reference points.”

AL: This was your first self produced album which you chose to recorded via analog tape. Is this something that you see the band doing again?
MS: Yes. I think it’s something that we’ve been curious about for awhile but it had to be the right moment to really dive into it. I’ve had a little bit of experience with tape on previous projects, but not really cutting such large chunks of the song and large performances to tape. It’s was so nice because it forces you to slow down and really consider each performance and each recording of whoever’s playing at the time. It’s definitely something we have experience with now and we could potentially go back and use it again, if the song asks for it.
CB: I’ve been recording the drums in this way. It’s really great in that it does give the feel of the song. It’s a more live feel. For us, I think one of the things that’s always been surprising to a lot of people when they come to see us for the first time, especially my musicians’ friends. There’s raw kind of more prompt and in your face attitude about the band when you see us live. Like, even like our mellower songs; there’s an edge to them that you get in a live performance that kind of gets lost in the studio. I think that with this record we’ve captured a lot more of what we’re like live in the sound of the record and I think that’s very exciting.

AL: With there being a two year gap between your previous albums was there ever a time in the recording process that you guys were worried maybe you went too far with the new sound and that it might alienate some fans?
MS: I think since “Minutes to Midnight” we’ve kind of had this conversation. We knew that when we went into “Minutes to Midnight” that it was going to be different. We wanted it to be extremely different. We knew that it was going to be a risk to take and we could potentially alienate our entire fan base.
CB: Our goal is to make good songs and some are great song. If we accomplish our goal, it will be almost impossible to alienate everybody. Luckily for us a lot of our fans have come along for the ride on the last two records and we really did go and stretch our wings to see how far we could take these. For us going through that process of trying things and making sure that we’re creatively excited and energized helps us create music that still sounds like Linkin Park regardless of what vibe the song is. I think for people to get hung up on us not speaking to a specific sound is kind of a silly idea anyway, considering that we’ve never really been a single genre type of band. I think that going through that process is really a lot of being able to be creative on a heavy record like this. I don’t think we could have been as creative with the guitar or the drums 12 years ago because we’ve kind of gone around and tried new things and kind of alienated ourselves and some of our band.

AL: Were the guest performers on the album brought in to counter balance the bands new sound in anyway?
 MS: The addition of those guys was, in most cases, pretty late in the game. I mean, if you’re just talking about from a fan recognition standpoint, then, sure, if somebody sees the guests names on there, they kind of know what they’re getting
CB: I don’t think those who appeared on the record would have been into working with us if that was the goal. though. If we were coming at this from the idea of “Hey, let’s go work with these people and then that’ll make the record even more cool.” But that’s a weird way of looking at what we do anyway and it’s kind of the opposite of what our intention would ever be. When we do collaborations it’s coming from a holistic place. It’s got to come from a very open, spontaneous kind of grassroots way. It can’t be forced or thought of in a boardroom and written down on a piece of paper. That’s just not the way that anything creative usually gets done.

AL: $1 for every ticket sold is going to benefit your organization; Music for Relief. What can you tell me about the organization and why are you guys passionate about it?
MS: Music for Relief started in the mid-2000’s as a response to the Indian Ocean tsunami. We had just been out touring in Asia. When we got home we were watching the news and the whole place had been destroyed. We just felt like we needed to do something. Music for Relief had been around for a year and we realized that we were actively involved in cleaning up messes, but not so much involved in anything preventative. So, we added an environmental component to Music for Relief, and all in all, I mean, we’ve done projects all over the world. We’ve worked with the UN. We’ve worked with Habitat for Humanity and Direct Relief and the Red Cross and put on concerts with No Doubt and Jay-Z. Most recently we did an awesome show with Offspring and Bad Religion. Travis Barker came out with us and it was just so much fun. This is an ongoing effort that we hope to involve more musicians with. Music for Relief isn’t about Linkin Park. Unfortunately there are always disasters to go get involved after and there are also environmental causes that we can get involved in to help prevent the natural disasters or at least keep our oceans and our land and air clean. The bottom line is Music for Relief is being built up as something that creates trust with the fans. We create trust with the musicians and the industry and let people know that this is a group that does work hard to make sure all the I’s are dotted, or the T’s are crossed.

The retro-rock act known as The Raskins, are currently out on the road as part of Motley Crue’s final tour which also features veteran rocker Alice Cooper. The band consisting of twin brothers Logan and Roger Raskin perform a unique blend of rock that harkens back to the early days of CBGB’s but with a modern twist. Media Mikes spoke with Logan Raskin recently about the group’s formation, their debut album and how they landed one of the biggest tours of the summer.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us some background on the band and what made you want t pursue music?
Logan Raskin: Both my brother and I were born in raised in Chelsea, NY and our parents were in the music industry for many years. My father did lots of shows on Broadway and was the lead in shows like “West Side Story”, “Oklahoma” and bunch of others. I grew up going to those shows and watching him perform. He also would take a band with him out on the road and perform various songs from shows he appeared in and my brother and I would go out on the road with him. My mother was a pretty well known jazz singer around New York and also put a couple albums out as well. They taught us how to play music at a very young age and I think my brother and I wrote our first songs between the ages of 8 and 10. It was sort of inevitable that we would end up in the music business. Granted our parents taught us music our mother never really wanted us going in to the music business because the lifestyle was sort of tough for them and she didn’t want us to go through the same thing. Growing up on the Lower East side however music was tough to get away from. On any given night we could go to a club and see The Ramones, Patty Smith or The New York Dolls. We got bit by the bug and it was pretty much game over. We are very happy to be able to be doing music now full time.

AL: Have you and your brother always played together in bands?
LR: People always assume that we have played together our whole lives but to be honest this is the first time that we have really been in a band together. We certainly have played together over the years but never in a band. The Raskins have been together for about 3 years and it was something that started out as just a writing project. Roger and I had been composing music for television and movies for years and that’s what we were in to. We started getting a lot of fan mail from around the world from people who heard some of our work and really enjoyed it. They were always asking about where they could get our music and when they could see us live. We took about a year and recorded this first record on our own. We initially went in and recorded 60 songs. From there we took the best 12 that we thought represented us well and we put them on this record.  Next we put the band together and worked the New York area pretty heavily before making our way out to Los Angeles. We pushed the internet market really heavily as well and that’s where things really started for us.

AL: Did you have a clear cut vision of how you wanted the band to sound when you were first starting out or did your sound evolve more naturally?
LR: It was a combination of both. When we went in to the writing stage we wanted to just write as much as we could. We had an overwhelming amount of music written when we went in to do tracking and things just went from there. Our influences certainly came out and Roger and I both had a lot inside us. We wrote these songs for us as over the previous seven years we were composing music for other people. We had the opportunity to do this for ourselves and we were like kids in a candy store. The reason we did the recording of the album ourselves was that we didn’t want to have to work within a specific time frame as we both knew each other had a lot to say. What you get on the album are the influences we got from our parents along with what we were exposed to musically growing up in New York.

AL: When you are writing material do you and your brother generally work separately or collaboratively?
LR: It’s a combination of the two. We have a main studio that we work out of but we also have our own little separate studios at home. We both write music and lyrics but for this album I think I wrote more of lyrics. A lot of stuff we do completely on our own but it’s great to work together and bounce ideas off one another. Roger has given so many great songs. We work really well together. Sure we battle it out sometimes as we do a lot of hours in the studio but we have a process we go through that works well for us. We don’t try to force anything. We just try to be ourselves.

AL: What was it like taking your two piece band and developing it into a full group for touring purposes?
LR: We went through several ideas in our heads. Have both been in and out of bands over the years it’s a tough process. People sort of see us as this overnight success because all of a sudden we are out on the road with this big tour. That’s certainly not the case. We have been doing this for quite some time. We love everything about music and have had our share of struggles along the way but to have this opportunity to start off as a duo with my brother and then build a great band around us we feel that the bond of the band is extremely tight. We are surrounded by some really great musicians and even though people may see us as a duo we are a band. My brother and I felt that being in this band together with other musicians would just strengthen our bond.

AL: Can you tell us about being out on the road with Alice Cooper and Motley Crue?
LR: It has been an incredible year for us so far. When we finished the album we wanted to tour as much as possible and to really get the music out there any way we could. We started out doing a winter tour on our own and after that run ended we were asked to be a part of the Scott Wieland tour. We went out with Scott for about a month and while that was happening we were in talks for summer touring options. A few ideas were mentioned and being an optimist I mentioned some of the bigger tours going on this summer like Slash and Miles Kennedy, Kiss and Def Leppard, and Motley Crue and Alice Cooper. About 5 shows in to the run with Scott we got a call asking just how serious we were about the Motley Crue tour. We were serious as a heart attack and our booking agent thought we had a shot so we went for it. After a couple weeks we still hadn’t heard anything. We had initially submitted only for 17 shows so we weren’t sure what was going on. We ended up re-submitting for the entire tour and shortly thereafter we got a calling saying there was interest in having us. We had to wait for the guys in Motley Crue to make the final decision and luck for us they loved us and we were asked to be on for all 66 U.S. shows. It’s great being out here playing all these great venues that we always dreamed about. We played the Hollywood Bowl recently and will be playing Madison Square Garden also this year. As two kids growing up in New York City that is just going to be a dream come true.

AL: What are the bands plans after this tour run ends?
LR: We want to try and take a little time at the end of November to do some recording as we are always writing. We want to get what we have down in to demo form. Right now it likes like we will be out with HIM for 10 shows in December and we are also looking at some dates with Joan Jett, Blondie and The Cult. That will take us into next year with the possibility of going out with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and maybe AC/DC. I told them to put that at the top of the priority list! (Laughs) My dad always told us to shoot for the stars and maybe you will reach a tree top. That our philosophy with everything that we do. This year has been great so far and we are excited about the future.

Chris Demakes is the lead vocalist/bassist for the Punk/Ska band Less Than Jake. In November of last year the band released its 8th studio album titled “See the Light”. The band is currently out on this summer’s Vans Warped Tour and  Media Mikes had the chance recently to talk with Chris about the new album, the bands 22 year career and about his recent appearance at the inaugural AP Music Awards ceremony.

Adam Lawton: The band’s latest release came out in November of 2013. With almost 20 years between the two releases what do you feel has contributed most to the bands staying power?
Chris Demakes: I think at some point we stopped believing that we could chase some kind of a trend. We were and still are a 3 piece punk band with a horn section. We worked really hard throughout the years and made a lot of friends along the way. It’s been a crazy ride over the 22 years since the band first started. Right now we are probably the oldest band out on this summer’s Warped tour. I think we are about 6 or 7 years older than the next oldest band. (Laughs)

AL: When you first started out was a career this long something you ever envisioned?
CD: No. I don’t think any band starts out thinking they are going to have a career. We were just a group of guys who got together in a garage to play some music. Next thing we know we were getting asked to play a party, then a bar and so on. Before we knew it we were 3 or 4 years in to this and getting some label attention. I wake out now with 22 years gone by and I am not sure how to totally answer this type of question. Everything sort of blended in to the next thing.

AL: By being the oldest band out on Warped tour this year how do you go about grabbing younger listener’s attention?
CD: There are certainly no delusions of granger on our part in that we aren’t going to make a 13 or 14 year old girl like our band when she isn’t interested. We just go out there and be ourselves no matter what. We have done enough festivals now to where we are comfortable getting up there in front of whoever. It’s hasn’t been too weird this time around. Warped tour is a way for us to get out there and play to people who may have never heard us before. Being involved with the promotional aspect of the tour has been great for us as well as it has really helped get our name out to the mainstream which is something that probably wouldn’t have happened at this stage in careers. We just aren’t that band anymore.

AL: When it comes times to work on a new record how do you go about keeping the music fresh and do you ever feel confined to writing with your specific genre?
CD: We write ultimately for ourselves and then for our core fan base. If you make the same record over and over people say you’re washed up and you haven’t changed. Then on the other hand if you add a keyboard or tambourine part on something you and asshole and a sellout. You really are damned if you do and damned if you don’t the longer you are a band. You can’t really listen to the internet trolls and naysayers. You have to do what comes from your heart. We are not that complicated of a band. We feel every time we put something new out that it has a freshness to it. We try each time to push ourselves a little bit in terms of writing and musicianship but you have to stick close to who you are while making sure that you keep everything fun.

AL: What do you feel has been the bands biggest obstacle thus far?
CD: That is something that I don’t think I have ever been asked before. I think the biggest thing for us has been all remaining friends. We have the same 3 guys that we started with. Our newest member is our saxophone player and he has been in the band 15 years. You learn over the years how to navigate those relationships. You learn which guy is not a morning person or which guy you don’t want to piss off at this time. (Laughs) That’s really just the everyday obstacle of being in a band and learning to communicate with each other. It’s like a relationship accept we don’t screw each other…Yet! (Laughs)

AL: You were just recently a part of the inaugural AP Music Awards. What was that experience like?
CD: I’m not completely sure how we got involved with that but I was asked to present an award and I graciously accepted. We got to go to Cleveland and drink free drinks and act like assholes. (Laughs) I think the idea of the awards is pretty cool and we were happy to be there however at this stage in the bands career I don’t think being a part of the event is going to change a lot of things for us. We had a great time however and again were very happy to be a part of the event.

AL:  What are the bands plans after Warped tour wraps up?
CD: We have some festival shows booked here in the states and a few in Canada as well. We also will be doing a two and a half week Canadian tour run before ending up in our hometown of Gainesville, Florida for a Halloween show. That will about do it for us this year.

The heavy metal group Korn is out on the road this summer as part of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival. The group recently released a tour version of their 2013 album “The Paradigm Shift” exclusively through Best Buy which features several new tracks along with some exclusive live tracks as well. Media Mikes had the pleasure of talking with drummer Ray Luzier and guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer during the tours recent stop in Scranton, PA about the release and how they connect with the different crowds they perform for each night.

Adam Lawton: When you are out on a tour like the Mayhem Festival is there any one thing that is the same from day to day?
Ray Luzier: We hear the same bands every day. (Laughs) What’s really great is that we get to play to diverse crowds every show. There are people who have seen us 27 times and there are people who are just seeing us that day for the first time. I’m not sure about constants but I try to stay in a similar routine from day to day.

AL: With the band playing all over the world how do you go about connecting with each of the crowds you perform for?
James “Munky” Shaffer: Every audience is different and that’s really the beauty of it. Like Ray said before you get people who have seen you a lot and you get people who have never seen you before. We are playing the same songs night after night so we try and keep that thought in our heads so we go out and put on a great show every night. We want them to really enjoy the show and to come and see us again.
RL: We may be super tired from traveling or whatever before we hit the stage but once we are up there we are energized bythe crowd. We are fans of music ourselves and still go out and see a lot of bands and buy their merchandise and what not. This is Korn’s 20^th year as a band and I have been touring myself just as long. It never gets old. We are still excited to play every time we go up there.

AL: Have you guys seen any bands on this tour that you have really become fans of?
JS: Trivium is a band that has really impressed me. Their songs and how they engage the audience has really impressed me. Those guys are super tight professionally which is really inspiring. I know they have been around a few years but to see that level of commitment is really awesome. I was a mess at that stage of the game. (Laughs) I still am a mess but I have gotten a little better over time.
RL: I go out and check out the side stages from time to time and there are a lot of bands on this tour that have really impressed me. I watch bands like Mushroomhead and Miss May I and you can see just how hungry they are. They all have their own thing going for them which is really great to see.

AL: Can you give us some info on the tour version of your most recent album “The Paradigm Shift”?
JS: We initially released that album last year and after it was out for a couple months there were some songs that never got finished that we wanted to still work on. Jonathan went back in and wrote lyrics for these songs that we didn’t get to finish because we just ran out of time. They came out pretty good and we also decided to add some live tracks on the new release as well. When we are out on the road we like to have something in stores for people to buy that is fresh.

AL: Ray, how do you go about balancing your time in Korn and working with your newest project KXM?
RL: We all have side projects that we work on when we aren’t working on Korn. We just have a tremendous amount of music inside of us. I think these side projects are important for each of us to do as they help us remain creative. KXM is something that George, Doug and I have been talking about doing for years. The idea goes all the way back to my son’s first birthday party when we all were talking about jamming together. Scheduling is always the hard part as Korn is very busy but we hope to get some shows set up before the end of the year. Right now we are just working on videos and such.