Johnny 3 Tears is the vocalist for the rock/rap group Hollywood Undead. The group is set to release their third full length studio album via A&M/Octone Records in early January titled “Notes From The Underground”. Media Mikes had a chance to talk with Johnny recently about working on the album as well as what it was like shooting a video for the song “We Are” with Slipknot percussionist “Shawn “Clown” Crahan directing. Be sure to check out our review of Hollywood Undead’s latest album “Notes From The Underground”, here.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us a little bit about the groups writing sessions for the new album?
Johnny 3 Tears: Some of them were fun and some of them sucked! (Laughs) It’s always an up and down process with moments of glory and moments of pure panic. I enjoy writing records in general because all of the moods and things that happen during that time. We usually work with more than one producer which adds a little bit of flavor to things. We always try to keep things that way as it’s very easy by the 10^th or 11^th song to get repetitive. Recording 3 or 4 songs with different guys keep us honest and working hard. It was a lot of fun and writing is my favorite part of being in the band.

AL: What type of steps do you take personally when writing?
J3T: I always write a hook or a melody first. Often I will have words to the melody as well. Typically I think a lot of people write a guitar part and then sing to it. People think I am weird because I do things the other way around. I have just always done things that way especially since I can’t play guitar worth a crap. Songwriting I think is very individualized.

AL: Did you guys try anything out of the box during the sessions that maybe you have tried before?
J3T: We get pretty extreme during our sessions. It is not uncommon for us to have a 48 hr. recording session where we don’t sleep. Guys start to get to the point where they are starting to lose their minds. For me those are break through moments where you are so off your rocker that you try something you would never do with a sane mind. Producer wise some of them will do whatever we want and are willing to go deep in to the project. Other guys have other priorities and don’t want to live that life. We sometimes will have to be at the studio at 10am instead of 10pm drinking Starbucks instead of Jack Daniels but it works. The power is very balanced out.

AL: How was it working with Danny Lohner again?
J3T: We worked with him on first record but weren’t able to on the second as our schedule’s didn’t match up. Lohner is one of those outside the box guys like us and we love working with him because of that. He is more of a friend than a producer to us now as we have become really close. I am a huge Nine Inch Nails fan so when we first started with him I was a little gun shy. Once we got to know him we saw he’s a really cool guy. Danny brings some great ideas to the table.

AL: Can you tell us about the two version of the album that are being released?
J3T: With a regular record you are allotted a certain number of songs. If it was up to us we would have 30 songs on every record but I understand how things work. The deluxe version of the album is a chance for us to get more material out. It has 3 more songs than the standard version and for me it is the complete record that should be there. We always try to do different things that allow fans to get tracks that don’t make it on to the album. The deluxe album is one way and also if you buy the album off of ITunes you get a track that is exclusive to there.

AL: Can you tell us about working with Shawn Crahan on the video for “We Are”?
J3T: The video came out a few weeks ago and it turned out really cool. Working with Shawn was really awesome. I had no idea what the guy was going to be like when we first met. Slipknot is one of those bands that are more of a movement than a band as they represent a lot. You just don’t know what to expect. When we finally met Shawn we found he is one of the most down to earth, cool, creative guys you will ever know. We have done a lot of videos with other people who are strictly video directors but it was cool to work with a guy who has been in a band as well. I think he understood the other side of things and he really made us feel comfortable. It was a very smooth and fun process.

AL: What are the tour plans for the coming months?
J3T: January 8^th we start a major market 12 date tour. It’s a promo tour where we will be playing some smaller venues that will allow us to get back to the basics of where we started. The shows will be intimate gatherings for people who have listened to us since we started. After that I think things will be pretty non-stop.

Steven Adler is probably best known for his work as the original drummer for the multi-platinum selling band Guns N’ Roses. After being fired from the group in 1990 Steven went on to work with a number of other acts and also appeared on the VH1 reality show “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew”. More recently Steven and his new band simply titled Adler released their debut album “Back From the Dead” and Media Mikes had a chance to ask Steven a few brief questions about the album and the bands touring plans.

Adam Lawton: What type of writing process did the band take when putting songs together for the new album?
Steven Adler: Jacob Bunton and Lonny Paul would bring me songs and then Jeff Pilson and I would add our thing to them. Jeff also produced the record as well as played bass. Everyone in the group was real open to changes and ideas. That made the whole writing/recording process very fun and creative.

AL: How was it like working with Slash again?
SA: Slash and I have been friends since we were kids. I have always loved the way he plays and was honored that he took the time to play on our record.  Back in the GNR days, we took each other’s talents for granted.  At this stage in my life, I’ve learned to appreciate these moments.

AL: Are there plans to shoot any more videos for songs off the album?
SA: In a perfect world we would shoot a video for every song on the record.  But I can tell you from firsthand experience, we don’t live in a “perfect world”, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

AL: How did the band get involved with playing on this year’s Kiss Kruise?
SA: Our singer Jacob told us about it and passed the information onto our managers. From there they called Doc McGhee who is KISS’s manager and they made everything happen.

AL: Does the band have any tour plans in the works you can tell us about?
SA: Yes! We are playing some shows with Duff McKagan’s band “Loaded” in Japan starting in early March. Our manager and agents are working on some other things as well but for right now it’s nothing we can officially say. The band does plan on touring everywhere.

David Kates & Joshua Mosley are the composers of Production I.G.’s “Mass Effect: Paragon Lost”, which is an animated prequel to BioWare’s “Mass Effect 3”.  The film is being released on Blu-ray/DVD on  December 28, 2012 and packs a hell of an epic score.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with David and Joshua about working together on this project and with the “Mass Effect” franchise.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about how you two ended up collaborating on “Mass Effect: Paragon Lost”?
Joshua Mosley: Really great to talk with you. Shortly after I was hired on to the film I discovered the music of David Kates – particularly his work on the Mass Effect games. I really dug the way he put together his cues. I reached out and connected through social media. I felt he would be a great collaborator on this film. Soon after we met in person, I invited him to join me on this creative adventure. It was a totally awesome and fun experience working with David.
David Kates: Thanks for including us. We love what you guys are doing, and thrilled to be a part of it. Joshua, I recall, reached out to me through social networking, and mentioned that he had listened to some of my music so I reciprocated and checked out was he was doing, and was really moved by what he was creating. And I say moved, because it’s one thing to be impressed, and another altogether, to be moved. I felt that Joshua’s writing was coming from a very honest place, and I knew I wanted to get to know him. When the opportunity to collaborate on Mass Effect: Paragon Lost came about, I was initially very surprised because at the time, no one knew an animated version of the franchise was in the works. I was thrilled to be included, and fascinated by the potential creativity in bringing what I had composed on the games to the screen with Joshua.

MG: David, How does composing a “Mass Effect” animated movie differ from the video game series?
DK: The mission in composing for the game, particularly Mass Effect 2, was to give each level of the game its own musical identity while keeping the overall quality consistent, but the process is tedious and limiting. One of my favorite levels that I worked on was Garrus because I found him to be a character tormented by his own internal challenges. He wasn’t human, yet he identified with human qualities like compassion, justice, and loyalty. I wanted to bring out his discomfort in this while also accentuating this underlying, almost chemical level need to participate in battle. To achieve this, I had to create short loops that had different layers of content, and those layers would be trigger-based on what the player achieves while playing. It’s very challenging and difficult to really dig into a character’s development this way. In the movie, though, the story is laid out and develops chronologically, and there are so many opportunities to compose themes that you can use to comment on what you see on the screen. In fact, the dramatization of Mass Effect: Paragon Lost is one of the aspects of my collaboration with Joshua that I’m most proud of. I feel we gave the story real dimension, and brought out the real emotion that was written in the script.

MG: Since this is a prequel to the third game, does that pose any issue when approaching the sound?
JM: Sure it does. We definitely wanted to capture the essence of the musical landscape of the Mass Effect games, including elements from all three titles. That sound also had to translate to a big cinematic experience. I think it fits well alongside the games.
DK: We both studied and analyzed the scores from the games to make sure not to leave any identifiable elements out, and we knew we wanted this score to have a cinematic and expansive feel that brings the games to the big screen.

MG: What you were most concerned about when handling the “Mass Effect” universe for the fans?
JM: We definitely wanted the score to fit into the sonic experience of the Mass Effect games and give the fans that same emotional feeling that they got when they played them.
DK: We certainly wanted the score to feel as though it naturally lives alongside the other productions, and were initially concerned how our musical approach would live well with the anime style of animation. Fortunately, the two elements blended successfully and we didn’t have to go back and alter our sound palette.

MG: The film has a very epic sci-fi score behind it, tell us about the inspiration?
JM: Yes, this is a very epic score but at the center of it all is the humanity and the spiritual and emotional journey that Vega embarks on through the film. There are definitely big sci-fi action cues throughout but there is also a very intimate emotional underscore that gives it the depth it needed to support and propel that story.
DK: I would say our inspiration was the spiritual nature we discovered in the story. Joshua and I talked for many hours about what we wanted to achieve, and that included accentuating the underlying humanity of what was going on. James Vega goes through an experience that no one would ever expect to go through in their lives, yet, every one of us can imagine being confronted with making the kind of decisions that could mean the lives of so many, particularly the ones we know and love. We really dedicated ourselves to making sure that this would be the inspiration that motivated every note we wrote in this score.

MG: Tell us what each of you have planned next?
JM: I begin work on a new video game and film in January. I am also in talks on a few other projects of which I cannot disclose any information. Thanks again for having us!
DK: I’ve been fortunate to be participating in The Helfman Institute Composer in Residence program this past year, and I’ve been composing my first Operetta based on the biblical character Miriam. We’re rehearsing it now, and will be performing it in Los Angeles in late January.
Cheers to you and your readers!! Thanks so much and wishing everyone a merry holiday season.

Otep Shamaya is the lead vocalist for the heavy metal band Otep. The group has just released a live CD titled “Sounds Like Armageddon” and has an album of new material set for release in the coming year. Media Mikes had a chance recently to ask Otep a few questions about the groups new live CD.

Adam Lawton: What made you decide to release a live album?
Otep Shamaya: I started this band to summon my soul into existence through the power of live performance. This album brings the raw, organic intensity of our live shows to a private performance inside the intimate universe of your mind.

AL: Was there any nervousness knowing that you would not only be performing but also recording?
OS: No, we prepare diligently for our live shows. People are always recording them in some fashion, smart phones, etc so we are accustomed to it in some way. But the truth is we give everything we have to every show, no matter where it is, how many people show up, or how we feel on that night. Every show counts. Play it like it’s your last.

AL: What made you start covering the Nirvana song “Breed” during your sets?
OS: Nirvana is one of my biggest influences. We were asked to cover a song on The Ascension, I chose BREED because I thought it was the one Nirvana song (at the time) that we could honor and do tribute to without veering too far from our sound or theirs.  It is now one of the staples of our live shows and fans go insane when they hear it.

AL: Can you tell us about your upcoming studio album?
OS: It’s a concept album based on a graphic novel I’ve been writing for two years. The book is about a girl corrupted by the world, corrugated by evil, ripped away from the golden, molten elixir of creativity, and abandoned on the placid, jagged rocks of a cruel and barbaric island where the rats poison themselves. This is a story of her personal revenge and righteousness. Her rise from the smoldering ash as a bruise that never heals transmuting, to the infinite, still-born messiah, a vigilante serial assassin, codename: HYDRA.

AL: Will there be plans to tour in support of the new album?
OS: Of course.

Christopher Tyng is a composer that has worked on various television series including “Futurama”, “Suits” and “Rescue Me”. With Volume 7 of “Futurama” hits Blu-ray and DVD this month, he is releasing a brand new remix version of the “Futurama” theme on iTunes. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Christopher about working on the show and his influences over the years.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you originally get involved composing for “Futurama”?
Christopher Tyng: It all started with Matt Groening when he was searching for the style of music for the show. He has heard some of the stuff that I had done prior. He called and asked for a meeting. He was getting a lot of demos from other musicians but I guess they liked what they heard on mine. The rest is history, as I have been with this show for the last 10 years. Matt is a great person to work with.

MG: What is some of your inspiration that you pull from for this show?
CT: The visual aesthetics of the show goes back to the 50’s/60’s idea of what the future will be like. So we really wanted the music to reflect the same thing. We were looking at the hey-day of bachelor pad space age music. That was the music version of what they thought the future would be. The synthesizers were just started to get popular. There was this whole new pallid of sounds. People were also trying to stretch the boundaries of what music was then. We looked at what was happening with music at that time, so some of the influences were Les Baxter and Martin Denny. Of course then the show also takes place in the year 3000, so even though it has that visual aesthetic of that 50’s/60’s era, it takes place way in the future. We wanted to take those influences and modernize them a bit. Matt has always been a bit component of having a orchestra and doing it live. I was able to go back and do some remixing with electronica music, so we brought in that element as well. It is really a nice hodge-podge of elements in our influence.

MG: How do you do to differentiate the score season to season?
CT: That is a really good question! What is really great about “Futurama” – and different from any other show that I have worked on – is that in each episode, the story is set in the future where anything in possible. The show gets its story lines from pop culture reference over the years. Every episode is like a different journey. That has actually made the music different from episode to episode. We have this big orchestral sound with this bachelor pad space-age sound. They go back to ancient Egypt and the music takes on that tone. What is really fun for me is that when I go in to record, I really don’t know what I am writing for the next week. Due to that aspect, my job has never gotten stale since it is always changing.

MG: Tell us about the new extended remix for the “Futurama” theme available on iTunes?
CT: We wanted something that was going to play at a longer length for the iTunes release. We are excited that all the fans of “Futurama” are finally going to be able to own this piece of music in their collection. The TV scenes always tend to be a little shorter and don’t play the full single track. Some parts of the remix actually go back to the original premiere of the show at Griffith Observatory, which is this circular dome at the top of Hollywood. They had a DJ there and I decided to come up with some music for the DJ to spin. So there is actually some stuff on this single that I did way back then that was never able to been released. We were able to take all those elements and made it into a really great single length release.

MG: How composing for a cartoon compare to your other TV work?
CT: For shows like “The Simpsons” and “Futurama”, it isn’t the traditional cartoon music like the old-school Warner Bros. In the show there might be an epic space battle with deep comedic irony involved. But the music will always stay like it is an epic space battle. I thought originally that getting involved with a cartoon would be a totally different mindset. In truth though, the shows aims to play the aspects of the music like they are completely legitimate. If they are doing an emotionally intense moment, then the orchestra swells in a “Braveheart” sort of way. We are treating the show like we are scoring an epic movie even though the characters are doing something so ridiculous. That is what makes “Futurama” such an interesting project to work on due to the fact that it has such a wide set of influences.

Don Felder is probably best known for his lead guitar work with The Eagles. Felder was inducted with the group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 however left the group shortly their after. He has recently released a new solo album titled “Road to Forever” which is his first solo release in 30 years. Media Mikes had the pleasure of talking with Don recently about the album, his autobiography and his plans for 2013.

Adam Lawton: With your last solo album being released 30 years ago what prompted you to now release an album of new material?
Don Felder: When you are in The Eagles you eat, breath and sleep Eagles business. You are either on the road, writing songs, doing interviews or performing. It is something that is all consuming and a monster of a machine. When I left the band in 2001 I really went through a period of self reflection. I started meditating between 30 and 40 minutes a day where I would look back at my life. I was trying to get a handle on what had happened to me and how I had changed. I would come out of these sessions and write down my recollections. My fiancé had read them and told me she thought it would make a great book. I told her that I was the world’s worst English student in high school and I actually had to go to summer school because I failed English. The next thing I know I am on a plane to New York with a literary agent. We ended up coming back with 5 offers from publishing companies to publish this book. I then had to look at the daunting task of having to take all these recollections  of my life story and write it in to a book. That took some time. During that first year of separation from the Eagles I also was separating/divorcing from my wife. Everything that I knew was stripped away from me. I had to find a place where I could resolve all of that. As I was going through the book writing process there would be painful parts that I needed to work through. To help myself through those tuff times I would go in to my home studio and write a song about it. I wrote 26 song ideas at about the same time I was writing my book. This was an effort to emotionally and intellectually flush myself of these feelings. I didn’t want to carry this excess baggage with me through the remaining years of my life. After the book was published I went out on the road to promote it as well as doing shows with my solo band which I have had for about the last 8 and a half years. In between all of that I worked on this album. I took the best 16 songs from the original 26 and recorded them for this CD. At that point I really shifted myself away from book writing and promotion. There were a lot of reasons that caused this album to take so long. I definitely wasn’t at home just twiddling my thumbs. (Laughs) I had a really full plate on all levels.

AL: Did you find any similarities between writing a book and writing music?
DF: Absolutely! It was a dual cathartic experience. On one hand I was writing the text of my life while on the other I was writing the music to my life. I turned those stories and experiences in to songs. To me real art weather its film, literature, painting or music contains stuff that have a human common denominator. People can experience those things and relate to them. I felt it was important for me to take my experiences and put them in these songs.  For me that is one of the most personal things an artist can do is to expose themselves in these ways. I felt the process to be very personal on both levels.

AL: The album features an impressive lineup of guest appearances. How did you go about picking people to appear on the album?
DF: One of my top criteria was having people that I know and who are good people and friends that wanted to have fun. When I finished the song “Fall From the Grace of Love” I wanted it to have these really great harmonies in the chorus. I called my friend Steven Stills who I was in a band with when I was 15. He actually lives down the road from me and we hang out and play golf together. When I got to California the first band I was in was Crosby, Nash. I called those guys up and asked them if they would sing on the record. They came over immediately and we had a really great time. There was no drama like I was so used to with my old band. Steve Lukather is probably one of the funniest guys to be in a room with. Not only is he a great guitar player but he is a ton of laughs. He played on the song “Road to Forever”. Tommy Shaw of Styx came in and helped with a couple tracks. Randy Jackson also came in and did some bass work on a song. Everyone knows him as the “Dawg dude” on “American Idol” but, he is a monster bass player! Randy is probably one of the top players in the Los Angeles area. He just destroyed this thing. They are all just friends of mine who happened to be in or around town. We had a lot of fun and made some great music. Those sessions really wiped away the old stigma of being in the studio and having arguments and contentious feelings. There was none of that and everything was just all good. In fact I had such a good time that I will promise the next album will not take another 30 years. (Laughs)

AL: How did your song “Fall From the Grace of Love” end up being chosen to appear in an episode of Showtime’s “Homeland”?
DF: I love the show and was just as shocked as everyone else when I heard they wanted to use one of my songs. I watch that show religiously as I think it is one of the most exciting shows on television right now. I got a call a few weeks back by the people who handle my publishing company that they had received a request from the people at “Homeland” to use the song. I said absolutely and felt quite honored.

AL: Can you tell us about your tour plans for the rest of this year and in to 2013?
DF: I think my last date for 2012 is December 15^th. We have had such a great response to not only the new record but also the live shows that I plan on working from early February through fall of 2013. I will probably stay out on the road until it gets too cold to be slopping around out there. I could certainly use a vacation right now. It seems the closest I get to a vacation these days is doing interviews with people like yourself.

AL: What do you think has been the biggest change in your audiences over the years?
DF: Personally I am not a fan of going to really large venues like football stadiums or hockey arenas to hear music. I think that is the wrong place to go. The sound is usually bad and most instances you are so far away from the stage that you get a better show watching the video monitor than you do from your seat. It is just not comfortable. I prefer to play the 3-5,000 seat arenas. In the summer I do like playing larger venues like State Fairs and such with bands like Reo Speedwagon and the Doobie Brothers. Those big festivals that happen during the day are really great and people love that. I think the smaller venues are much more comfortable and intimate. It also is better sounding for the artist and listener at a smaller venue. We are also able to make the ticket prices much more affordable than that of say the Eagles. About 60 percent of my shows consist of Eagles songs while the rest is covers and solo material. It’s a great evening where by the end everyone is up on their feet dancing and having a great time. There is no drama as it’s just a great group of guys playing great music and having fun.

AL: Is there anything else we can be watching for from you in the coming year?
DF: There are a lot of things in the planning stages for 2013. Those things will start to show up on the website once they become public. Right now there are a couple tours being planned. One includes going to Japan, Europe and Australia. That is going to be contingent on the routing of where we will be and when during next year. I can’t really say exactly what will happen until those are contracted. I love to be out playing music and have a very child like enthusiasm for it. When you are doing something you love to do it is a playful experience. I have been fortunate enough and been given the gift to be able to do what I love. I enjoy it for that.

Pat Seals is the bassist for the rock band Flyleaf. The group has a new album out titled “New Horizons” and Media Mikes had the chance to talk with Pat recently about the album and the group’s tour plans.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us about the recent change in singers? and what it will be like performing the new album with a different singer than it was recorded with?
Pat Seals: Kristen May has taken over the singing duties for Lacey Sturm who recently stepped down. Kristen played in the band Vedera prior to joining us and she has a really powerful voice. As far as performing the new material with Kristen it hasn’t been too different. There have been a few little things that are different but nothing major.

AL: What can you tell us about the band’s new album “New Horizons”?
PS: We had the great pleasure to work with producer Howard Benson again. This is I think our 3^rd album with him and it is probably are best one yet. It has a really polished sound which I think fans will be in to.

AL: Can you tell us about the first single “New Horizon” and will there be a video to accompany it?
PS: That song is pretty heavy and has a great vibe to it. I think fans right off the bat are going to really like it and connect to it. The video for the song was just released and is a performance video that showcases the band. I think it turned out pretty cool.

AL: What type of approach does the band take to writing?
PS: Generally we set aside time when we are not on the road to work on songs. I know there are some bands that huddle in to the back of the bus to work but that’s not usually how we do things. We did quite a bit of pre-production on this latest album.

AL: What are the bands tour plans for this album?
PS: We are rehearsing as we speak. The band is really looking forward to getting out there and playing shows for our fans. We are currently looking at several different tour packages but nothing has been confirmed so I can’t really say anything more than that just yet.

Tim Narducci is the vocalist/guitarist for the Bay Area band SpiralArms. The five piece melodic rock band is set to release its second album titled “Freedom” in the coming months and Media Mikes had a chance to talk with Tim about the new album as well as the formation of the band and its future plans.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us some background in on the band?
Tim Narducci: The band was formed in 2004. It was sort of a conglomeration of two Bay Area bands. I was in a band called Systematic which did a few albums under the Elektra umbrella. Craig our lead guitarist was in a band called Man Made God which was on American Records. We had known each other for a long time and basically both of our bands dissolved around 2003 and we decided to put together SpiralArms.

AL: How would you describe the band’s sound?
TN: We have kind of evolved in to more of a heavy rock sound similar to Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Our sound is a little bit more bluesy and straight ahead. We put our own stamp on that style but that’s definitely where our sound stems from.

AL: Can you give us an update on the band’s new album?
TN: We have a new record ready to go. We are thinking February for the release. We are shopping the album around to a few labels and trying to find the best one for the record. The name of the record is “Freedom” and we are itching to get it out. We self released our last album in 2010 and did some touring off of that but we are really excited for this new record.

AL: How does “Freedom” compare to your previous release?
TN: I think it is more focused. I think we really found our sound on this record. It’s much more dirty and darker. I think the guitar sounds are cooler and it’s definitely a better record.

AL: Can you tell us about the video for “Dropping Like Flies”?
TN: It’s pretty much a performance video. This is basically our first official video. We have had some things put out in the past that were ok but this time we hired someone to film/shoot it. It’s pretty raw. The video gives you a good idea about who we are.

AL: Can you tell us about the bands current tour?
TN: We are doing the “Revivalution Tour”. The bill features Zed, SpiralArms and Swerver.  We all did a show together at the beginning of the year and we felt that the energy between everyone was great. The Bay Area has been kind of over flooded with thrash metal and these 3 bands I think are doing something kind of different. We felt we wanted to take what we were doing out on the road and share it with different cities. We feel like we are an underground thing that is ready to happen. Hopefully we will shift the music scene a little bit in to what we are doing. Right now for this run of the tour we are doing mostly West coast dates. We are talking about doing some touring during the New Year that will take us a little bit further and hopefully to the East coast.

AL: What other things are you looking to do with the band in the coming months?
TN: We want to get over to Europe. We played there in 2007 and we want to go back and do some shows with bands like Spiritual Beggars and other bands in that genre. That is kind of our goal but things will start to unfold as soon as the record drops. We want to go worldwide with our sound.

Paul Kanter is one of the founding members of bands Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. Currently he is touring with Jefferson Starship and shows no signs of slowing down.  The band recently released a new live album titled “Tales from the Mothership” through Gonzo Multimedia. Paul took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about his love for music and touring.

Mike Gencarelli: How do you feel music has changed since you first started?
Paul Kantner: It will always be in the province of the young. For some unexplained reason we have refused to go away. Could be that I don’t have anything better to do. (Laughs) When you go to work and play that’s sort of the idea of my upbringing.

MG: How do you think that psychedelic rock is still relevant in today’s music scene?
PK: The concept of what is called psychedelic music came from a whole bunch of bands that were differentfrom each other particularly here in San Francisco. I think that has been fostered in the current music scene in that you don’t have to play one kind of music in order to besuccessful. It allows room and broadness for any number of people to make music. Psychedelic is very general concept to me because all of the bands were so radically different from one another. I just think that is really the main part of the adventure that holds over to today.

MG: Is there one concert or event that stands out as a favorite?
PK: With all those events that went on each one is like your child. People don’t ask who your favorite child is so I think that’s the similarity with that question/answer. We are still continuing to have a great time every time we go on stage. The architecture of music is so radically joined with the human mind that I am still in awe of it. I am swept away every time I play.

MG: What do you enjoy most about still playing?
PK: Having the adventure go on is always unique. We are playing quite good these days and the band is really great.

MG: Can you reflect Jefferson Airplane’s break-through album “Surrealistic Pillow”?
PK: That album did quite well and sort of took off from the first album. We would just get crazier and crazier each album.  Every album was radically different and we are not locked in to sounding a certain way. The record companies still don’t know what to do with us to this day. (Laughs)

MG: Is there a song in the live set that really gets you going each night?
PK: Just about all of them do that! We have been experimenting live lately with “Blows Against the Empire”. We also have been working on combining the music from the “Blade Runner” film with my science fiction album. The show will be kind of a combination of both of those. I am looking forward to experimenting more with that when we get back from touring Europe. The first time we tried something like this was at a Sci-Fi convention in Roswell, NM.

MG: What was the idea behind the your recent release “Tales from the Mothership”?
PK: My love for science fiction was a big part. I can remember falling in love with the genre as early as second grade when I was in military boarding school.

MG: Do you have any future plans to do more with “The Windowpane Collective”?
PK: I am working on one that may turn out to be an album. It has to do with civil war songs. I am really fond of the writing of Stephen Foster. I am looking at those as we speak. We are also putting together another focus album in the mode of “Tree of Liberty”.

Brad Arnold is the lead singer of the multi-platinum selling rock group 3 Doors Down. The group is set to release a greatest hits album in November and will also be hitting the road in support of that album. Media Mikes had the chance to talk with Brad about the album and the bands new line up.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us about the greatest hits album and the 3 new songs which will be featured on it?
Brad Arnold: This album is really a look back through our first 10 or 12 years of being a band. We took the biggest songs from each album and combined them on to one. The songs feature a little bit different take as we used some of the new technology that is available and did some modernizing. The songs still all sound the same only more modern. As far as the 3 new songs being on a greatest hits record we felt we needed to put some songs on there we thought could be greatest hits of their own. I am proud of these new songs and they stand up. All 3 of them have a really good mix.

AL: How was it working with on new material with the bands new line up?
BA: We still kind of wrote everything the same way. We actually co-wrote two of the new songs with Marty Frederickson and the other song was one that didn’t make it on to our last record. It was great having Chet Roberts in the studio as he is a great musician and very creative. Chet is a real good dude.

AL: What are the bands current thoughts towards a new full length album?
BA: We really want to get on that pretty quick. I think we have left a little too much space between our records. That is something that is easy to do because you spend so much time writing and recording the songs then you spend more time on the road promoting and touring. Before you know it 2 years have gone by. We don’t want to do that this time. While we are out on tour with Daughtry we are going to be focusing on writing new material.

AL: Is writing on the road something the band does often?
BA: In the past we have set specific time aside to write when we are not on the road. We also are the guys who will often procrastinate. (Laughs) We really don’t want to do that anymore as we want to have some new material to play.

AL: How did the band get involved with playing the Republican National Convention?
BA: It was really cool to be invited down to play that. Our management had been approached to see if we had any interest in doing it and we said sure. We are not a political band but we felt it was a good place to debut the song “One Light”. The song is not a political but it’s about taking the world and making it a better place. I think if everyone did that we would live in a pretty good world.

AL: Can you tell us about the upcoming tour?
BA: This is going to be a great tour. We are heading out for 19 shows initially. There have been recent talks to take it to Mexico. It’s crazy as the tour hasn’t even started yet and we are already talking about extending it. We are also looking at taking the show over to Europe as well. I think people will really enjoy the show. Chris Daughtry is a good friend of mine and we know the P.O.D. guys pretty well also so I think this tour is going to be greater than its parts. We are bringing a show that families can come to and not worry about hearing the F bomb all the time. I like looking out and seeing parents and kids jamming along to the music together. That makes you feel really good.

AL: What other projects to you have going on in the coming months?
BA: We have The Better Life Foundation event kicking off the tour on November 17^th in Mississippi. Along with that we do a big motorcycle ride which will have around 500 or more riders participating. That’s going to be a good positive note to start the tour off on. Again we will be out on the road doing shows and writing new material.

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Jay Gordon is the lead singer of the band Orgy. The group recently released a new single titled “Grime of the Century” and is set to embark on a western U.S. tour.  Media Mikes had the chance to talk with Jay recently about the band and its new release.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us some background on the bands new single “Grime of the Century”?
Jay Gordon: I chose this song because it was the one the band pulled together the quickest. Everything for the song just came right together. There is so much going on in our other songs that we felt this one was the simplest of the group. Releasing this song seemed like less of a gamble. I wanted to mainly get people familiar with the bands new line up through this song.

AL: Are there any plans to shoot a video for the song?
JG: Yes! We actually just finished it. I don’t know when it will exactly be released but it will be coming out soon. The video is going to be very interesting and cool. I think it is different for an Orgy video.

AL: Are there plans for a full-length release? and how does working on an album now compare to when the band first hit it big?
JG: Yes, a full length album is in the works. There is a lot less money now to make records with than when we started. Bands aren’t getting record deals like they did back in the 90’s however the process in which we work is the still the same.

AL: Are you doing any production on the new Orgy material? And has being involved with producing changed your approach to songwriting in any way?
JG: We are all capable of doing that type of work. Everyone in the band has their hands in the production aspect of things. As far as writing goes these days I think I am much faster at it now. I am however very picky. I don’t like to just jump on the first thing that comes to mind. I may be at first but when I take a second to slow down and look at everything sometimes my opinion changes.

AL: How do you go about balancing your work as a producer and as a singer?
JG: You just have to find/make time to do both. I wish there was a more glamorous answer but that’s the most direct. I wear a lot of hats.

AL: Can you tell us about the bands current lineup?
JG: I have known this group of guys for a long time. Carlton Bost and Ashburn Miller come from the band Deadsy. Jamie Miller came from the band Snot. Those guys are all really talented and were people I had wanted to play with for a long time. Nic Speck was a guy I met along the way and just ended up asking him to come down one day and he did.

AL: Can you tell us about the bands upcoming tour?
JG: We will be doing a quick tour of the west side of the United States during the fall and possibly after the New Year we will be heading over to Europe for some shows there as well. We are thinking about a lot of different things and are open to suggestion. I just want to get out there and do it again.

AL: Besides your work with Orgy what other projects are you working on right now?
JG: I am currently working on some songs for the band Escape the Fate. I did some really cool dub step tracks and programming for a few of there songs. I also am producing a song with the band and another guy named Future.

Karine Hannah is a Canadian born vocalist who got her start at the very early age of 14. Karine has performed all over the world and received an invitation from Celine Dion to perform at her wedding. Karine is currently in the studio working on her first full length release and MediaMikes.com had the chance to talk with her about the album as well as her upcoming benefit show in New York on November 26^th.

Adam Lawton: What was it that initially interested you in singing and performing?
Karine Hannah: At a very young age I realized I could actually carry a tune. People used to encourage me and tell me that they liked what they heard. It was one of those things where you know you are meant to be doing something.

AL: Did you ever take any lessons?
KH: No lessons. At one point I had thought it would be good to go and get some vocal lessons as it seemed like that’s what a lot of people do. I tried with a couple of different instructors but they didn’t want to touch me. I had already found my own way of using my voice and they didn’t want to tamper with that. The times they did want to try things I kind of backed up because I didn’t want to change the way I was doing things. I think there is something about having more of a raw sound as it is more real.

AL: Can you tell us about being asked to sing at Celine Dion’s wedding?
KH: We are both from the same city. I was doing a local television show and she and her manager happened to be watching at the time I was on. She turned and told her manager that she wanted me to sing at her wedding. Her manager luckily knew my manager at the time as I was just starting out and very young and they contacted me. It was very surreal. When you are that young and put in to a situation like that you see things differently. I think if I had been older and more mature I would have seen things a different way. When you are a teenager you don’t know what to expect. I think I was just so enamored by it all that I though because I was doing this that I had made it. That wasn’t the case at all. It was a great experience and the most magical wedding I have ever seen in my life. It was unbelievable. At the end of the evening Celine sat down on the ballroom floor with me and we just talked about the whole evening. We complimented each other and sort of bonded during that time.

AL: Can you tell us about your upcoming album?

KH: I am very excited about this. I have waited a million years to finally get a record deal and have the opportunity to record. I think there is a reason for everything and why things happen the way they do. This album is probably going to be compiled of up tempo pop/dance tunes and big ballads. I have already recorded my second song and it’s fantastic. So far I feel like I have two hit singles. We just are slowing chipping away as this is going to be a long process. I don’t want to just record anything to fill an album. I want it to be spectacular.

AL: Can you tell us about your upcoming benefit show?

KH: That is something that I am so passionate about. This is a show that I have been doing off and on for the past few years. The concept is 70’s and 80’s only male sung radio songs. These are the guilty pleasures that people don’t like to admit they love but they are amazing melodies. I put my own spin the songs and bring them back to life. People can sit and show they appreciate these amazing songs. We pack 22 songs in to a 90 minute set. When I do these shows I like to link up with a cause and help raise funds for them. I have a son that is on the autistic spectrum who attends the Manhattan Children’s Center so the proceeds from this year’s show will be donated to them. The event is being held at Joe’s Pub in New York City on Monday, November 26^th.

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Brahm Wenger is the composer and writer of the original music for Disney’s “Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups”.  He has been working within this franchise since “Air Bud”.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Brahm about working on this series and it’s latest installment “Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups”.

Mike Gencarelli: With “Santa Buddies”, “The Search for Santa Paws” and now “Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups”, you’ve not only composed the score but also written original songs; tell us about that aspect?
Brahm Wenger: Well the difference about when you write songs for a film is that it effectively then becomes a musical. The biggest difference is that you start before they start filming. You start when the script is written and you work with the director to find where the story will be best served with a song. When you write the score, you wait for them to finish the film and then you write the score. When you do films like “Santa Buddies”, “The Search for Santa Paws” and now “Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups”, you are in from the minute they finish the scripts. You start by writing the songs. You are part of the casting process, since you have to write the songs to fit the people singing. They have to be able to perform it. If there are dance sequences, then you have to work with the choreographer. Then you are also working with them at the set level, so you are involved with the assistant director, the director etc. It is a real collaborative effort.

MG: Where do you get the inspiration for the Christmas music, specifically in “Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups”?BW: I think the inspiration comes first from the script. Once you see the story, you can see what you are trying to accomplish. The beauty of doing music and writing songs is that you can say so much more with a song that you can with dialogue. There is a famous lyricist that one said “a page of lyrics is equal to ten pages of script”. It is just so much more effective. So the inspiration is from the story and you find what they are trying to say in that particular moment and then you nail it as a song.

MG: How long did it take create the eight original songs for “Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups”?
BW: We started about 9 months before they started shooting the film and once the script was done. Not only do you have to write them adapt to the singer, you also have to please the director and the writers etc. It has to work and also has to be in sync for everybody.

MG: How was it working at London’s famed Abbey Road Studio for these scores?
BW: Abbey Road also has a sister studio in London called Air Studios. It was started by the famous Beatles producer George Martin. Sometimes we go to Abbey Road and sometimes we go to Air Studios. It really depends on the feeling. Air has a bit of a warmer sound. It is like a 300-400 year old church. Abbey Road is more of an industrial strength room. It feels a little brassier. So we go back and worth but they both work beautifully.

MG: You’ve been working with the Disney Buddies series since the beginning with “Air Bud”, how has the series evolved?
BW: It is very different. They come from the same genesis but are so completely different. “Air Bud” series focuses on his playing various different sports. He would figure out, how to play a sport and then have some sort of a championship game and go on win it. With the “Air Buddies” franchise, it is completely different because they dogs talk and that opens up a whole new avenue. There are also five of them instead of just one. And it is also a continuing adventure so in when they went to Alaska for the dog sled. The Alaskan theme of the great north is completely different from when they went to Egypt in “Treasure Buddies”. As a composer it is like one minute you are writing the Duke of the North and then the next minute you are working for Indiana Jones. There is no connection. When we did “Santa Buddies” or “Santa Paws 2”, it is straight forward Christmas music but here it is completely different. The next one is “Super Buddies”, which is a superhero movie and again that is completely different. It is really a challenge to start each time with a fresh format.

MG: So “Super Buddies” is next for you then?
BW: Yep, that is next now. We are working on it right now as we speak. They are just about finished shooting that. Then I should be seeing a cut in the next few weeks. So I am looking forward to starting on that one next.

Colin Wilson is the bassist for the cover band, “The Australian Pink Floyd Show”.  2012 marks the 25th anniversary with the band, who perform over 100 shows a year all over the world. The band has recently released their  Blu-ray/DVD of their current “Exposed in the Light” and are planning a big tour for  2013 called “Eclipsed By The Moon” to celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Dark Side of the Moon”.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Colin about 25 years with the band and the bands work of constantly trying to improve their skill in order to master the work of Pink Floyd.

Mike Gencarelli: This year marks 20 years with “The Australian Pink Floyd Show”; how do you feel the band has evolved in that time?
Colin Wilson: Wow, well it has evolved incredibly. We started off very small, literally getting together on weekends and trying to learn songs. We are just trying to learn how to do Pink Floyd well. We did some small shows around Australia, like pubs and clubs. As the years have gone on, we have constantly re-invested into it. Every time we could we would get two extra lights or a bigger projector screen, things like that. We just kept putting back into the band. Now, as you said 20+ years later, we tour worldwide and doing over 100 shows a year. It is a really big full-scale production and it is the same sort of production now that you would expect to see with a mainstream band.

MG: After all these years, do you still have to put work into mastering the songs?
CW: Some aspects of it come easier just because of how much we are doing it. We don’t have any real long periods off. The longest we have away is two months over Christmas and you don’t forget everything in those two months. As far as playing the music goes, it is definitely getting a bit easier since all the hard work is done. But we never sort of rest on that. We are always trying to fine-tune and improve ourselves. We still listen to the music today and hear little subtleties that we might have missed.

MG: How does it feel to be called “The Best Tribute Band in the World”?
CW: It is funny for us. We are one of the first tribute bands. When we started up in Australia, in the end of the 80’s and early 90’s there were a lot of tribute bands forming mainly because a lot of the mainstream bands weren’t making it out there to tour. So there was definitely a need for people to do this since the fans wanted to hear it and the real band weren’t coming out. So we were one of the first and then definitely one of the first to take it overseas from Australia. When we got to the UK in the early 90’s, there were maybe 2 or 3 other tribute bands around but not many. I would say within the first 2 or 3 years of us being in the UK, the whole scene suddenly blew up and there were tribute bands everywhere. I guess we have stood the test of time since most of those early bands are long-gone. I guess that is due to the fact that we keep trying to improve ourselves every year and why we’re referred to as the best one around. It is incredibly gratifying to us when we get reviews like that and hear things like that.

MG: What is your biggest challenging having to cover two very different styles of Roger Waters and Guy Pratt?
CW: Song by song is not very challenging. The biggest challenge really is doing a song by one of them and then the very next song doing the other. You have to treat each one in a song by song basis and getting into the feel and groove of that song in the blink of an eye between the songs. And because I have been doing it for so long it just sort of happens for me. Hopefully it is working and I am able to do that effectively.

MG: What do you do to keep it fresh when performing these songs live each tour?
CW: Well, there are 10 musicians in the band and every one of them are complete professionals and each one of them approaches this in that way. We also all get on great as well. We are like a team. If one person doesn’t do their job, it sort of lets us all down. In some ways, we try and impress each other every night. It is a challenge but we are the kind of people that like that challenge. We try to do it right every night and send the audience away with big smiles on their faces. That is the mindset that we have and how we keep it fresh. Most importantly, we still enjoy doing it after all these years.

MG: What songs really hits home with you when performing live?
CW: Me personally, I love the songs from the “Animals” album. That’s probably my favorite with “Dark Side of the Moon” in a close second. On “Animals”, the tracks are very deep with a lot of aspects that you have to remember. They are quite long songs with many different passages. You have to be completely absorbed to play them and do them justice. So I really enjoy those. Also it has to be any of the songs that get an amazing reaction from the audience. Like every night we play “Another Brick in the Wall”, we get this fantastic buzz because the audience gets on their feet with that song.

MG: Tell us about your encounters with the actual members of Pink Floyd?
CW: Going way back to 1994/1995, David Gilmour came to see us play and met with us after the show. We got to talk with him for a while and he was really into what we were doing. We had played some songs that he himself haven’t heard, let alone played, in a long time. He was really encouraging and positive about that. He has seen us a few times since then when we come along to London. We sort of got his unofficial endorsement. We played at his 50th birthday party in London, which was incredible. It was amazing for us as a band and gave us that extra bit of credibility that maybe we needed with some of the more skeptical Floyd fans. Also Nick Mason, in the recent years, has said a lot of nice things about us in the press. We have a nice unofficial connection with them. We know that they are sort of watching us through the one eye kind of aspect. It is a nice relationship. We are not out having BBQ’s each weekend but we do have a nice distant relationship with them.

MG: Tell us about the newly released Blu-ray/DVD, “Exposed in the Light”?
CW: This is something that when we started out we weren’t sure if people would be interested in recordings of us doing Floyd stuff. But evidentially they are. Fans were always telling us they want to take something home and watch it and share with friends that couldn’t make it to the shows. We did one last year that was a double DVD that was recorded in Hammersmith in London. The first disc was the show and the second was a documentary on the band, which was really great. This time we released a concert from this year’s tour “Exposed in the Light”. We actually filmed it all ourselves with HD cameras. What we did was set up the cameras in different positions every night, so we ended up with something like 20 different camera angles. Then that was all edited together to make what looks like a huge camera shoot. It has come out absolutely amazing. In between the songs, we have got some great behind-the-scenes footage. It is a nice little package and it has this really great HD quality concert footage with all the different angles. You get to see a lot of the show from various different positions. We are very excited about that.

MG: Tell what we can expect from the 2013 tour “Eclipsed By The Moon”?
CW: It is the 40th anniversary of “Dark Side of the Moon” in 2013, so it is very exciting. 10 years ago, we did the 30th anniversary which was incredibly successful. We are looking this time around to maybe do something different with it. We are not 100% certain just yet how we are going to approach it. Whether we do the whole thing in its entirety or if we mix it up a bit. We are also looking into different things to project on the screen during it and really make it and event. One thing that I can guarantee is that it will be a big celebration of “Dark Side of the Moon”. I think there are a lot of Pink Floyd fans out there that are really on the edge of their seat waiting for this tour. It starts February of next year in the UK. So it is going to be great.

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The Swedish heavy Metal band Sister Sin has just released a new album titled “Now and Forever” via Victory Records. Recently Media Mikes had the pleasure to talk with the bands lead vocalist Liv Jagrell about the album and the bands upcoming U.S. tour.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us some background on the band?
Liv Jagrell: We are Swedish band that started around 8 years ago. I would describe our sound as old school heavy metal. That’s definitely where are roots are and Sister Sin has that similar type of sound. That sound is something that is in our hearts and is also something we want to share with everyone out there.

AL: How did you come to join the band?
LJ: The band had been looking for a singer with a voice similar to Motley Crue. One of the guys had an idea where they thought it would be cool to have a female singer but the others weren’t so in to the idea. Around that time I had put an ad in the paper and was contacted by the guitarist. He told me they were mostly looking for a guy but to come down and try out anyways. I went down to audition and we did a couple original songs as well as the Motley’s song “Live Wire”. After that they told me I was the best one to come through and asked me to join the band. I guess they had auditioned several other guys but none of them had anywhere near the balls I had. (Laughs) That gave me a bit of confidence.

AL: Can you give us some background on the band’s new album?
LJ: This will be Sister Sin’s third album now. We felt that we needed to do something different from the previous two releases. The album is old school heavy metal with a touch of the first two records added in. Our last albums were pretty straight forward so this time we wanted to try something different. We worked heavily on the vocal and melody of this album. We based the music around that which is something we had never done before. We also added some keyboard parts for the first time as well. We tried to step a little outside of our box. The album turned out better than we expected and we are very happy.

AL: What made you choose “End of the Line” as the album’s first single?
LJ: That was collaboration between us and Victory Records. We had a couple of choices but in the end this was the song that we felt worked best as a single. The song has a sound that represents the entire album very well. The song was also a great fit to make a video for.

AL: Can you tell us anything about the video?
LJ: The video was released on Oct. 15^th and is based around Armageddon prophecies. We used that idea but added in the fact that people still need to be living day by day and not worrying about when the world may end. If you take those thoughts and put them in the mid of a maniac you well get this video. The video plays very much like a movie and is similar in theme to “Terminator”. We are very happy with the video.

AL: When you are writing material do you often find yourself pulling from real world situations or topics?
LJ: We write about things we care about. We are known for being rebellious but we care about what’s going on in the world. None of us were born in to rich families and were brought up in a way that we have to work to survive. This is our reaction to Sweden and the rest of the world.

AL: Can you tell us about the bands upcoming tour?
LJ: We will be heading out on the road in February with Doro. We want to get back to the U.S. as soon as possible and hopefully we can get something set up before then. We really just want to get back out there. We would be on tour right now if we could but things just haven’t worked out that way. We do have some shows scheduled around Scandinavia but we are also looking to head to Europe as well.