Nick Nicholson is a country singer, who recently released his debut album “Stronger Than Whiskey”. He also appeared in the documentary “Off the Boulevard” directed by Jeff Santo. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Nick about his album and what his love for music.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about the release of your debut album “Stronger Than Whiskey”
Nick Nicholson: We put that song out a year before the release of the entitled Cd and it did well on the Music Row Charts hitting 103 Nationwide for around 16 weeks total. I believe it could of done a lot better if it were promoted properly but again…..Indie pockets aren’t deep and you wanna believe in your promotions team but in the end it fell into yet another statistic of this business……MONEY…. Aint that a bitch.

MG: Now that “Stronger Than Whiskey” is released, what is the next step for you?
NN: Right now I am just kicking back collecting my thoughts [laughs]! I really can’t answer that one.

MG: What do you enjoy most about getting up on stage and performing?
NN: Having people believe what I’m saying.

MG: If you can perform like with any musician on stage, who would it be and why?
NN: It used to be Elvis Presley but he has faded out of this generation’s eye. Since I have performed with a lot of people already including singing Whiskey Girl with Toby Keith himself. (Wow) I would enjoy doing a song or two with Keith Urban. Mainly because I re-recorded Freedom’s Finally Mine on my 1st CD in Nashville around 2005. I really dig his alternative bluesy take on Country Music. He isn’t standard and neither am I [laughs]!

MG: What do you have to say to other struggling independent artists?
NN: Try not to fall into the standard money traps in this business. Go straight for the “gate keeper” not for the middle man. Ass kissing is part of it. Believe none of what you hear and only ½ of what you actually see. Stay true to who you are, don’t fall short and sell your soul, because one day when or if you succeed you will have done it your way. If you don’t get what your after well…you still did it your way. Most importantly, just Have fun because a recording contract isn’t everything.

MG: Tell us how you got involved with documentary “Off the Boulevard”?
NN: I met Jeff Santo about 5 or 6 years ago while he was in post production of “Jakes Corner” and promoted the movie at my shows because we hit it off from the start. He contacted me a year or so later and said he was filming a documentary on Indie artist ofall genres and wanted to include my struggles as an indie musician in the movie. So he started shooting my footage two years prior to the release. We really got to be great friends throughout the filming process. He hit the road with me and the band gathering footage and interacting with the process of dragging your ass from town to town selling units outta the back of your car.

MG: What do you have planned for the rest of 2012?
NN: Acoustic shows promoting Stronger than Whiskey “Grass Roots” style. Keeping the overhead low as well as the stress. Being happy and falling in love with music all over again with the bullshit buffer on 11! I have been cast as 8 ball in an awesome film called “Dead In 5 Heartbeats” (due out later this year) from the book written by Sonny Barger. Not a real big role in this movie but hey maybe I’m on to something with this acting stuff. It will also feature my song “Can’t Get Here From There” (Co-written with CJ Watson and David Norris) on the soundtrack to the film. So keep an eye out for this release from Santo Films!

DJ DainjaZone is a member of LMFAO’s Party Rock crew. He has recently taken up residency at Las Vegas’ LAVO and will also be filling in for DJ Air on LMFAO’s current tour. Media Mike had the chance to talk with DainjaZone about his newest gig and what got him started DJing.

Adam Lawton: What got you into djing?
DJ DainjaZone: It was something that I had just a small interest in. The plan was to be a major league pitcher and have a DJ set up in my mansion of a living room. That fell short. Before that fell short I started DJing in New Mexico while I was there playing baseball for New Mexico State University. We had a big Halloween party coming up so I said I would DJ. I went out and bought a CD mixer so I could control the music. I was into the old school hip-hop and not what was poppy or hot at the time. I just wanted to play the older stuff at first. I eventually evolved in playing what is hot today.

AL: Would you say the basis of your style is mostly old school?
DJ DainjaZone: I am all about adapting to what is going on. I like to grow and be ahead of the curve. I would say my style is definitely new but it has a lot of old elements to it. Sometimes it just comes down to song selection. For the most part it is new. I edit all of the tracks that I use. I have personal edits of just about everything I use. That way what I am presenting to the crowd is unique and it won’t be heard anywhere else. We all have access to the same tracks so I create my own edits. I have my own a capella ins and outs. I just like to make it sound different than what is going on. This creates for a unique beat.

AL: What generally sparks you interest when creating a track?
DJ DainjaZone: Inspiration comes at any place and time. I can be in a club listening to a DJ and they will play one song and something will pop in my head about that song. There style will have nothing to do with that but when inspiration hits me and I think I can take a song and do certain things with it and that’s what I will do. I can take a song people are familiar with and intro it three different ways. These will be something you have never heard before. A lot of time inspiration comes from the club. I go to clubs and study DJ’s and the crowd. When I am there it’s always business.

AL: How did you initial get involved with the Party Rock Crew?
DJ DainjaZone: I have a couple friends who were close with LMFAO’s manager. Through those people I eventually met him at a music conference. He hadn’t heard me yet but had heard about me. I guess he was feeling me because he asked that when we got back to Los Angeles that we have a meeting. We met and he still hadn’t heard me. We started talking about politics in the game and seeing where my head was at and what my ambitions were. After seeing and hearing those he wanted to take me on and be my manager. This was the summer before “Party Rock Anthem” so there was a lot evolving with Party Rock. There name was starting to grow and they were touring around America. At the time they wanted to create a Party Rock brand of DJ’s. A lot more has been added to the show and to the crew.

AL: Can you tell us about your current gig in Las Vegas?
DJ DainjaZone: It’s called “La Freak Friday’s”. La freak is actually the alter-ego of the Party Rock clothing line. If you have seen “Champagne Showers” that is what La Freak is. It is mysterious, sexy and vampire like. There is a lot of dark involved. People will associate this with Party Rock. I did the show for the first time a couple weeks ago and it went exceptionally well. They want me to rotate there two times a month but LMFAO’s DJ Air recently broke his ankle in Moscow so I am going to be filling in for him over the next 3 months. I am going to be doing the main stage and after parties with them.

AL: Do you have any other projects we can be watching for?
DJ DainjaZone: I have had to cancel a lot of dates in America because of filling in on the LMFAO tour. A lot of this stuff is taking it month my month. It depends on how Air feels. I have nothing big planned after August. My number one priority right now is LMFAO. Where ever we go that’s my priority. I am going to be trying to take more control of my own bookings. When we have open dates I will be trying to get myself some shows and fill in those days. I still have my own brand to push and I want to keep my name relevant in the DJ and club scene. I don’t want to be just be known as that Party Rock DJ. I want to have other options. I will also be starting work on a new mix tape sometime in June. That will hopefully take me back to Australia in September.

Evan Evans is the composer of the upcoming films “The Gauntlet” and “Night at the Templar”.  Evan is the son of the late legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat music with Evan and his process when scoring a film.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your work composing the film “The Gauntlet”?
Evan Evans: First let me say how excited I was to become involved in this film. When I read about this movie on my hotsheet, it just jumped out at me, and I immediately developed a strong bond for the concept. Based on what I had read in the listing, I imagined a film filled with spaces for the thematic, the atmospheric, the intellectual, and the visceral, all rolled into one.

After a conference call with Director Matt Eskandari, Producer Jonathan Shih and Film Editor Ryan Cooper where I expressed my enthusiasm for the project, I put together a two minute demo track overnight, to submit under the pretext that I had of course not yet seen the film. However, I felt I understood the tenets of the story deeply enough that I could show them, in music, that I was thinking in the right vein. My biggest heros in this art are Bernard Herrmann (“Psycho”, “Taxi Driver”, “Citizen Kane”, “Vertigo”) and Jerry Goldsmith (“The Omen”, “Poltergeist”, “Basic Instinct”, ”Papillon”), both of whom were pioneers in understanding the psychology of film and communicating drama through music, and I’m doing my best to follow in their example, and try to be one of the more considerate film composers out there… so, I was anxious to hear back if they agreed I hit the bullseye, blind. Eskandari called later to mention that “no other composer came as close to your passion and sound”, and I was hired…and felt thrilled.

Once I recieved the film, it turned out to be better than I had imagined. There was a surprising new element threaded throughout the story that I did not originally anticipate, that of a Political Thriller, in the same vein as a film like “The Da Vinci Code”. Also there are several sequences lending themselves brilliantly to powerful score, and those moments are going to be very rewarding, as they offer the opportunity to really move people and get them excited about, and relating to, what they’re watching.

The Director and I spoke a lot about musical approaches. Something that came up was the possibility of using “screaming voices” recordings, recorded from a site in Russia where supposedly you can hear “hell” down a massive hole in the earth that goes straight down to an undisclosed depth. Indeed, there will be some choir in the score, but it remains to be seen if I’ll be able to use the “voices of hell” sounds, specifically. In the end, music score is meant to be felt and rarely heard, so the exact sound is less important than the practical use.

Academy Award winning sound designer, Bruce Stambler (“The Fugitive”, “The Fast and the Furious”, “The Mummy 3”, “xXx”), is working on the film and I don’t want to step on his toes, so I’m going to try and stay pretty traditional with the score and let organic sounds and sound design lay on top of music as it’s own supplemental layer. Because we’re working at the same time, I can only take my best guess based on my fifteen years and sixty films of experience, as to what frequency ranges he’ll be putting sounds in during each moment, and if I have music during those moments, I will try and write a “hole” in that area for his brilliant sound work.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than going to see one of my films, as an audience member, and letting go of everything, and sitting back and enjoying it like one of the guys. If I hear any ego coming from my score, I have failed myself. So I’m very careful to always make the decisions the movie-goer would want, not the music-lover. That said, I’m going to give my fans some very enjoyable music to listen to as an aside. I do my best to try and make each and every cue a work of art in and of itself, and as well, together as an entire score. Those are some of the major goals I must balance when creating score, in addition to highlighting plot points, character development, philosophical reflection, and audience enjoyment.

After going over the film more extensively, one thing Eskandari and I settled on, is that this is a film more about humanity, society, and compassion above all else, and that it should always be told through that point of view. We experimented with other approaches like you’d see in a film like “300”, or “Kick Ass”, but those films were eventually thought of as taking enjoyment and fun in violence, and that is not where we wanted the audience to be at all. We want the audience to be plunged into a world of dark corners and steamy corridors, where they’ll feel pushed beyond their will to do things they would find repulsive, horrific, traumatic, and will test their moral fibers. So coming across as fun, cool, or taking any delight in any of what we’re showing the audience, is not going to be part of the plan that makes this film speak the Director’s vision. In that sense, it’s not a genre horror film. It’s more of a thriller. However, that said, there is some serious blood shed in this film. But we are going to try to make it come from a philosophical perspective rather than have it play out like a blood filled romp.

As far as approach for the score, after exhausting many creative channels, we’ve decided on a more traditional approach. The reasoning being that the audience will already be most familiar with a traditional straight emotional sound, and we’ll instantly win over their trust for our guidance throughout the film. And that will be crucial in communicating ideas in a way that every member of the audience will understand equally in unity. Music score done masterfully can be the strongest force unifying the audience’s experience and all the thought-provoking and manipulating that must occur. I’ll get everyone thinking when they need to be thinking, paying attention to things together that they should be noticing, glossing over things that are not important, and getting excited and terrified at the same levels at the same moments. In my observations, the more those around you share in the exact same experience, the more it amplifies everyone’s experiences and it grows beyond the personal into a mass experience as it should…something I dub in the psychology of this art, “resonance”. There is a new frontier here, that I am attempting to carve out, describing the psychology of dramatic music. No one, I know of, is currently developing any new theories in this area of film scoring, and yet I feel it is the most important aspect of this art and craft. That is, to use music and sound to manipulate thought and feeling, as opposed to just stimulating thoughts or feelings, or for some degree of artistic statement. In The Gauntlet, I am going to be pushing my craft to it’s extremes and I hope it’s going to create a strong experience for everyone. This is one film that can really be at it’s best if it’s extreme.

There is a religious and supernatural element in the film. And for that I’m using Trumpets and Choir, and twisted metallic sounds. Those colors will help convey a sense of the ethereal, the dark, and something Biblical. For the political backdrop, I’ll be using a stirring section of orchestral strings trembling and percolating mysteriously. Each character has their own musical theme, what’s called Leitmotif in musical terms, but what I prefer to call a “primer“ to borrow a term from psychology and give it practical purpose. Occasionally character themes intertwine, and new derivative themes are born…connections between characters such as the bonds of friendship, trust, affection, attraction, and the dark clouds of dislike, fear, suspicion, jealousy, and hate.

Bai Ling (“The Crow”, “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”) plays Kim, a sexy enigma discovered hiding, and in shock, covered in blood, inside one of The Gauntlet’s many rooms. Her interactions with the others run the gamut of those bonds and dark clouds I’ve mentioned. She is the biggest wildcard amidst the group.

There is a lot of deception and confusion inside The Gauntlet. Each person has a past that is going to catch up with them. No one knows where they are, or how they got there, or who to trust. And getting out alive is going to be a test of their life. Stay tuned to my Twitter for updates throughout the scoring process: @OriginalScoreBy

MG: How did you get involved with the film “Night of the Templar”?
EE: I also found that film on one of my hotsheets. I remember the first call to Director, Producer, Paul Sampson. We talked for a good while. He was very energetic and engaging. I felt he was very dedicated to his art and craft and those are the kinds of people I really like working with. He also mentioned the film was not ready yet. So, over the course of a few months I tried back a few times, until the film was finally ready, at which time I arranged for a meeting at my studio in Calabasas. When he walked in the door, I was surprised at how young he was, and I said “Wow, you look so young for your age” (read later why I made this mistake). His reaction was something akin to “Well, thank you?” It had to be one of the most awkward Composer-Director openers in history. But the man has a way of attracting the unusual. It wasn’t until we got talking that I realized I had confused him with another medieval film I was also tracking, directed by an older gentleman. There aren’t too many medieval films out there.

The thing that cemented the deal was, he had to go to New York City, and while he was gone, he left me with a copy of the film, and after watching it I was left with some opinions I wanted to share with him. I called him, but I got his voicemail. I left a message, saying I thought the film was great, but wouldn’t it be great if such and such happened in the film, and I proceeded to describe a scene that is actually now in the film but at that time was not in the film. Well, he called back later sounding like he called his long lost brother after seeing a ghost, and with every ounce of excitement in his body, he left me the following voicemail: “Evan, I can’t believe you said that. I shot it. I shot that scene. And we’re putting it back in. Call me.” So I think it impressed him that I understood the movie enough to know not only what it was, but also what it was missing, and that if I understood what was missing, which turned out to be a part of his original vision, than he felt I was more aligned with his vision than the film could even provide. And with that, I was hired, and I additionally became Associate Producer of Post Production, and we brought the film back to one of my powerful workstations at my studio, and we hooked up Final Cut Pro, and we proceeded to make a new roughcut of the film into approximately the way you see it now. Somewhere towards the end of the post production process, we finally plunked down and created the score.

So that’s how my involvement with Paul and that film played out. It became personal for me, very important, that we made the film the best it could be, because it’s destined to become an instant classic, a favorite, a potential cult film. I could settle for nothing less than the absolute highest standards. And we owed that much to David Carradine (b.1936 – d.2009), who sadly won’t ever be able to see his last film.

MG: What do you enjoy most from working in the Horror genre?
EE: When I was younger, or perhaps it was simply before I had children, I experienced Horror films very differently than I do now. They always put a smile on my face and gave me something cool to talk about. But I had nothing to relate to. It was like going to see a freak show at the circus, to see something weird and imaginative. As I grew more mature, I realized that the horrors you see in those films, stem from capabilities we all have inside of us, held back only by whatever morals we have instilled inside us from how we were raised and what we believe is right and wrong. But each person committing an atrocity in the world is the same as you and I…a human being, whether you are at the maturity level to be able to admit that, or not. We are one and the same. And in that respect, a horrific act, to me, is a philosophical statement about society and what we allow, what we don’t allow, what we enforce, what we punish, and the evils we create inside people around us by what we do or what we don’t do.

My approach to a horror film is in trying to communicate a moral reflection. I like to get people shaken up morally so they question themselves, so that they will begin to question others, and share their ideas for change. Because most people are only compassionate about things that align with what they believe in. And if they don’t believe they can be pushed to the limits of human horror, than they can never understand how to prevent it and our world will continue to diminish in morality. But if I can show them that inside them is something inside everyone, and that they too could be driven to the point of any horrific situation, than that should get them to understand how important it is to play an active role in society and be both an advocate for good and an enforcer of bad behavior.

As far as I know, all modern societies work on punishing bad behaviour and allowing you to be free with good behaviour. But personally, I don’t think that’s enough. I think as populations grow so large, that, the more “free” unpunished people there are, the greater the “laziness divide”. The social dynamics are that large groups of communities form, where complacency works for them. And nothing really atrocious happens to them on a whole. If something does happen, they cast that person out, pointing fingers, and completely reject any responsibility for what happened. But that attitude is not good enough anymore, as these large communities hit critical mass. Their children are growing up with little moral guidance other than not to do the worst things, the things that they’ve learned on TV are bad, and they’re turning into spoiled apathetic narcissistic materialists, nurtured that way into adulthood by people just like themselves. They are clueless as to what the punishment might be like for terrible behaviour. How many of them have visited a prison, seen an execution, or know someone close to them in that situation, or on the other side, a victim? The answer is fewer and fewer of them as these communities expand. And the ones who are aware, get broken off, cast out, a shellshocked rejection of the community. But this apathetic zombie society loves to veg out and watch movies. They’re the same people that are the hardest ones to get off their asses to vote. Because why should they, The Kardashians come on at 7pm.

Well, a lot of filmmakers care about the condition of humanity. It’s a massive endeavor to make a film, and you have to be a person with incredibly deep beliefs to do it. It isn’t for someone who doesn’t understand how life works and who hasn’t seen the world. And it turns out, Horror movies are a great way to get through to these popcorn communities in mass … to show them what happens to those around them when they don’t play an active supporting role in society. That’s why, in my opinion, the best formula for this kind of movie, is your everyday middle of america community being attacked by some kind of socially rejected force. Anytime you can set the backdrop to an ordinarily complacent unwitting set of people in a community of like minded people, and you push some of them to come to startling realizations about what they need to do to course correct the evils around them, you’ve got a top notch relatable story which challenges everyone watching to loftier goals, more valiant thinking. That’s what “The Gauntlet” offers, and films I’ve scored like “Hoboken Hollow”, a true story about some Texan ranchers who were abducting migrants around the border, enslaving them, and turning them into human beef jerky. True story. Life is stranger fiction.

I think one of the reasons filmmakers love working with me is I’m so much more interested in telling a moving story than taking their paycheck, punching a time card, and spewing out my latest ego lovechild. I hear a lot of soundtrack fans say “the movie was god awful, but I bought the CD, and I love the score.” Well that composer failed. Though in their defense, I have been there, and there are some movies that are nearly unsavable. And you butter them up with a great score so it feels like other great movies, but in the end you still have failed to properly help. I believe there is a good score that makes every movie great if you just dig deep enough. Unfortunately, the truth is we don’t always get enough time to dig that deep. And if it’s not Stanley Kubrick or Sam Raimi it’s going to need some time for strategizing. But just because the music is good, does not make it a good soundtrack. The music must make the movie good, and that’s the only good soundtrack in my opinion.

MG: Do you direct any influence from your father, the legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans?
EE: I can remember very well from when I was a young child. In particular, I remember sitting at my father’s upright piano at his highrise apartment in New York City when I was around 3 years old, banging on the low keys, making booming rumbling sounds with the keyboard, and commenting “King Kong is coming…King Kong is coming.” Even at that young age, I was interested in using musical instruments to communicate drama. My father passed away when I was only 5 years old, and it wasn’t until I was 11 that I even understood he was anything more than just my father, that he was a musician. Anything more just never occurred to me, despite all that was going on around me. Maybe I was tuned out, but it just never clicked. However, on my own accord, I was passionately drawn to the piano in the house that early on. Just after he passed and we moved to Southern California from the East
Coast, I started the infamous piano lessons every parent tries give their children. My reaction was total excitement, and by six I had decided I was going to become a concert pianist. It wasn’t long before my curiosities took over however. I was constantly questioning my teachers about why the composers chose the notes they did. And so I started private lessons for music theory at 7. Around that age I also picked up the trumpet. By 8 I was enjoying three lessons a week, one on piano, one on theory, and one on trumpet, and I wanted them to continue during vacations. I couldn’t get enough.

One day, when I was 9, I was watching a black and white Alfred Hitchcock film, and in one particular scene, a car was driving around a cliff at night and it slipped off the road and fell off the cliff. The camera did not move with the tumbling car, instead it remained pointed at the cliff as the car fell off the bottom of the screen, disappearing from sight. After a moment, loud music banged a low calamitous note of great tension, to show that the car had fallen to it’s peril. It was at that point that I realized there was music in movies to describe things that you see and feel (and sometimes don’t see). I really loved movies, but I had never before realized there was music in them. And music was previously what I wanted to do with my life. And so it was from that moment, combined with my natural instinct in communicating the dramatic with music (recall King Kong piano story in New York city apartment above), that I knew I was destined to become a film composer.

Although I was going to events regarding my father’s music, and meeting great musicians and friends of my father’s, I never really gained any benefit in my field. Despite meeting Michel Legrand, Vladimar Cosma, and studying with Lalo Shifrin and Clare Fischer, and being around Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, David Benoit, and other greats who crossed over into film, I had to make my own way entirely. And I’ve never had a single door open to me and come to any fruition because of who my father is. Everyone making films are truly interested in quality, and hiring the son of someone to create the music for your film is not something they do lightly. In that sense, they have a built in acknowledgement that music score is very important to them. A filmmaker has spent months, if not years, cultivating their project. It’s their baby. Would you let the daughter of a nanny take care of your newborn baby sight unseen? No, you would want to know if she could take care of babies too, or if she rebelled against her parents and hates doing it, or if she does a half-assed job just to fulfill her duty. I’m fortunate in that respect, in that Film Music is quite a different animal and field, than concert jazz music, and I have had to earn every ounce of what I’ve achieved.

Before my father died in 1980, in a late interview in his life, he was asked, almost prophetically: “If you could do anything else besides Jazz what would you like to do?”. His answer, was “I would like to write music for cinema.” I did not learn of this interview until I was 24, having already chosen this path when I was 9, and having already scored numerous projects since age 12, and several films since age 21. But as you can imagine, it was shocking to my core to hear that I had naturally chosen the path that would have been in my father’s next footsteps. I am very proud of him and his accomplishments and his dedication to his art, and I am similarly proud of my career. I am enjoying doing what I’ve always wanted to, what I was designed to do, and apparently what he would have wanted me to do. So I feel very complete and at peace with him, despite that he passed when I was only 5.

MG: What has been your most difficult film to compose to date?
EE: Well, on the film “Tripfall”, Directed by Serge Rodnunsky, and starring Eric Roberts and the late John Ritter (“Three’s Company”, “Slingblade”), I had to write 70 minutes of music in less than 10 days. Composing more than 2 minutes of music per day is very difficult, very demanding, and composing 3 minutes at high quality is pushing the physical capabilities of man. So to compose 7 minutes per day, I had to really streamline my process. At the time, I was composing in Opcode’s StudioVision Pro, the most advanced computer based sequencer for composing music ever created. Gibson unfortunately killed this company by buying them out and then killing the product, an anti-trust move that still to this day haunts the big league composers of my industry. So, with the help of that superior software and some other shortcut techniques, I was ableto pull it off. Nowadays, using leading softwares like Logic, Cubase or Digital Performer, you could never approach that kind of speed and quality, so that was a one time historical event.

Also, the film “Killers”, directed and produced by the guys at the infamous The Asylum, now known for doing quite well in a niche they’ve carved out, creating mock-offs like “Transmorphers”, “Battle of Los Angeles” and “Paranormal Entity”, as well as cult originals like “Megashark vs. Giant Octopus” and “Supercroc”. Long before their success in direct-to-video mock-offs, David Rimawi and David Michael Latt attempted to be auteur filmmakers. “Killers” was their first picture. As was on “Tripfall”, the situation here was music had to be written in a very short amount of time, 8 days. So I was working round the clock, with a 4 hour sleep schedule. And on the final days, 1 hour of sleep at best. It was gnarly. I used the latest virtual acoustic physical modeling synthesis technology by Yamaha on that film, coupled with 24 tracks of live percussion, as well as screaming voices, chanting, and other live vocalizations to create the unusual tapestry requested for the film which takes place in an abandoned industrial complex.

And if I may, some of the most satisfying films I’ve worked on, quickly, have been “The Poker Club” (Johnathon Schaech, Judy Reyes), “The Kid: Chamaco” (Martin Sheen, Michael Madsen), “Skeletons in the Desert” (dir: Gregory J. Martin), “Hunting Humans”, “Hoboken Hollow” (Dennis Hopper), “Future Murder”, and two films that sadly never got released, “Miss Wonton” and “Joe Joe Angel and The Dead Guy”.

MG: What do you have planned next?
EE: I continue to try and select excellent films that could suffer without a great score and offer my helping hand, because I’ll be completely honest with you, I don’t have a lot of faith in the other film composers out there. Other than Howard Shore and Elliot Goldenthal and a maturing Marco Beltrami, I am a little scared of the quality in my field as the real masters have died off around me, such as Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, John Barry and others. We’re left with decent enough get-it-done composers, and shallow composers composing on instinct, plunking notes out and watching the screen to see if it seems to work and who are unfortunately being rewarded for their fare since they are the best of the worst, which only reinforces it and does not challenge them to do better. It scares me.

To heal this deepening abyss, I have started to develop some web courses for this art, the psychology of dramatic scoring, to teach the new up and coming talents how to properly wield this power. I was taught privately by Lalo Schifrin (“Mission Impossible”, “Rush Hour”, “Cool Hand Luke”), Jerry Goldsmith, and Scott Smalley (Orchestrator for “Batman”,”Conan The Barbarian”,”Robocop”), and I studied deeply the works of Bernard Herrmann, Sergei Prokofiev, Alan Silvestri (“Back to the Future”,”Predator”,”What Lies Beneath”), Howard Shore (“The Fly”,”Lord of the Rings”,”Silence of the Lambs”), and others. I enjoy teaching and it gives me great pleasure to give back. So, for those interested composers reading, they can currently go to: http://secretsoffilmscoring.blogspot.com The feedback has been incredible, “I learned more about film scoring here, than I had in the last 10 years”, “No one out there today will teach you what Evan does”, “god bless him for his commitment to improving the condition of the film music industry”, “a genius at what he does”, “incredibly well informed with a lot of experience”. Together we can continue to break down new barriers in this art. In 1000 years I expect great things.

C.J. Ramone was the man chosen to fill the vacant bass player position in the Ramones after Dee Dee Ramone left the band in 1989. C.J. remained in that role until 1996 when the band decided to retire. Since then C.J. has been involved in a number of different bands and projects and is set to release his first album under the name C.J. Ramone later this year. Media Mikes was very fortunate to be able to talk to C.J. about his time in the Ramones and about his upcoming album titled “Reconquista”

Adam Lawton: What were your thoughts on the Ramones documentary “End of the Century”?
CJ Ramone: I like it for the most part. It is a good film but I thought there was too much time dedicated to the “I Hate Johnny” fan club. That film actually started out much differently. By the time everyone gets their hands on it and asks for things to be taken out or added it never is really the movie maker’s vision anymore. Michael Gramaglia who was one of the directors of the film is a friend of mine and I know that what was finally released had been so influenced by everyone that I am sure he would have rather done without that.  I liked a lot of the stuff in the film but I think there are some things in it that the fans don’t really need to know especially with a band like the Ramones who fought to keep their integrity intact. The band wanted fans to enjoy them for what they were which was a great rock and roll band. Some of that stuff just didn’t need to put out there or said. That stuff had nothing to do with the band. I know people who have made the argument about dynamics between band members is always what feeds the music but I just  thought there were some un-needed things in the film. I think I am in it for a total of 30 seconds. This was really funny because I remember doing about 3 or 4 hrs. of interviews. The important thing for me about the movie as far as I am concerned is what Johnny and Joey said about me and what I brought to the band. That was a big compliment. It was a great feeling to be left with and knowing that they really appreciated me. That was cool.

AL: You made significant contributions to all areas of the band however the media has really played down your involvement. What are your feelings toward this?
CJ: I get asked this quite a bit but more so in relation to not being included into the Rock Hall induction. I got out of the Marine Corp. and 5 weeks later I was playing my first show with the Ramones. I come from a very punk rock, anti-establishment background. I could care less about the media or the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. That goes against anything I ever believed about punk or rock and roll. I am a grunt and I have always been a grunt. I have always been the guy who takes care of the shittiest things without complaint. To me those opinions did not count. The two opinions that did count the most came from Johnny and Joey. They said both publicly and privately about what my contribution was and that’s what I left the Ramones with. I didn’t need a pat on the back from the media or from the Rock Hall. My pat came from Johnny, Joey and the fans. That’s what I hang my hat on at the end of the day. I know that even some people from the Ramones organization and even Mark have tried to minimize what I did with the Ramones. That doesn’t really mean anything to me. I wish I could say I argued my point and could tell everybody but I don’t feel compelled to do that.

AL: Johnny was always known as the tough guy. However his recent biography we see him in much different light. What was the Johnny like that you and the rest of the band dealt with on a daily basis?
CJ: Johnny was a complex dude. He wasn’t a dum-dum. He understood the dynamics of the band and of the industry. Realistically Johnny was a really smart business man. I think that is an uncomfortable role for some people to see him in being he was in a punk rock band. People want to see him as the anti-hero type. He knew how to make money and ran a tight ship. He ran things his way and there was never any doubt with who was in charge or who made the rules. If that may have caught some people off guard well that sucks. I know it caught me off guard at first but I recognized that early on and I made sure I proceeded cautiously. I wasn’t afraid of him or afraid of being kicked out of the band but I loved the Ramones. When I got into the band I wanted to make sure that I made them better. I wanted to bring something to the band and make sure that I wasn’t just a filler guy. Johnny kind of demanded that from me anyways. He didn’t want me to sit in the background. He wanted me up front entertaining the crowd and I knew that. Being I was just out of the Marine Corp. which was very mission oriented he made it clear what my mission was from the start and I tried to do that the best I could. That’s how he was. He expected from you what he expected from you and anything less was not acceptable. At the same time he wasn’t the type you could bullshit. If you said something to him and he thought you weren’t being honest or he didn’t agree he would let you know. That’s not an easy type of person to be around but he was a good business man and really a punk. He didn’t give a shit who you were or what your status was. If you were an asshole you were an asshole and he would let you know. The other thing to was if Johnny had not been in that band and it would have just been another art thing with Joey and Dee Dee they would have never went anywhere. Something would have happened where they weren’t able to keep it together long enough to make anything happen. That’s a fact. Johnny was the ass kicker and every band needs one of those. Did he take advantage of that? Sure. He felt entitled to because he made it easy enough for everyone else to just show up and do their job. He was doing all the behind the scenes stuff. Naturally you are going to feel entitled to an extra slice of the pie. No matter what it is in the world somebody has to be kicking everyone else’s ass to keep them in line and doing their job. That’s just the way of the world.

AL: You joined the band at a turbulent time in their history. What for you was the hardest part about coming into the band at that time?
CJ: I was so excited to be there and unbelievably overwhelmed to be in the Ramones that all the negativity and the other stuff you always hear about I didn’t really see it in the beginning. I was in the Ramones and everything else was secondary. Johnny was clear with his expectations and I was more than happy to make it happen. I was very motivated, focused and happy to be there. Johnny told me the stories about Dee Dee and Mark from back in the early days and I thought they were cool. I thought the stories were great because they did such crazy stuff. Mark really saved the day a lot of times because of his sense of humor. He had an unbelievably great sense of humor and could make you laugh in the worst situations. He a lot of the time made an unbearable situation bearable. It takes some smarts to know when to do that and how far you can take it. The only time it was really uncomfortable was when I would look over and see Johnny and Joey on stage being afraid that I wouldn’t live up to it. As I started to see things more I just learned I had to be smart and maintain my relationships with both Johnny and Joey. I had to be smart. It was almost like a tight rope walk.

AL: Do you think the recent Ramones marketing push will hurt the bands legacy at all?
CJ: Not really. The legacy is what it is and the Ramones history is what it is. There is no arguing it. Does it cheapen the brand name? Probably, somewhat. This is what happens though. Realistically these days’ people demand it. Ramones fans especially are manic collectors of stuff. It’s something that is just going to happen. Once you make it to that legend status which that band has then all bets are off. It’s part of the natural aging process. (Laughs)

AL: Can you tell us about your current solo project?
CJ: I have done a couple bands such as Los Gusanos and Bad Chopper. In 2009 it was my 20 yr anniversary playing with the Ramones. I decided I was going to get out on the road and celebrate with the fans by playing Ramones music. I contacted Mark but he was busy at the time and I also contacted Daniel Ray. Danny was interested and we got out there and the offers started rolling in more and more. Celebrating my 20 year anniversary resulted in two or three years of touring. It got to the point where the promoters were saying that if we wanted to come back again we were going to need new material. I had some songs that I had worked out and I decided I was going to do a tribute record to the Ramones. It is going to be a very Ramones like record. It has been together for awhile and I worked with a number of different producers and musicians. When I started to think it wasn’t going to happen I got in touch with my friend Steve Soto from the Adolescents and told him what I was doing. He said to give him some time to work on it and within two weeks he had a studio set up in Orange County and we had gotten Jose Mendeles who we had both worked with before to play drums. I flew out to Orange County and we recorded with Jim Monroe who was the owner/engineer of the studio we were using. We had a slew of Orange County musicians come in and play on this record. Jay from Bad Religion, Johnny Two Bags from Social Distortion and Billy Zoom from X all played on the album. Within 3 weeks we had the record recorded and we are now just waiting on final mixes and mastering. We are hoping to have everything done by July. It’s going to be released under C.J. Ramone and this is going to be really the first album that I did everything. It’s totally my vision. Steve Soto and Jim Monroe did a great job with the production but this is the first one I am doing as C.J. Ramone. The album is going to be called “Reconquista”. If I had to describe the sound it is like “Rocket to Russia” meets “End of the Century”. I am unbelievable proud of this album. It is the best songwriting and singing I have ever done.

AL: Will you be touring after the album comes out?
 CJ: I am not sure what heck we are going to do for this year. I have been trying to make this record for 2 years. It was just one problem after another. We are kind of hoping that once the record comes out and the word gets out that we will be able to hook up with some shows. I will actually be down in Nashville in early July to play the NAMM festival. Mosrite Guitars puts out a C.J. Ramone bass and they are throwing a big party down there that I am playing. From there I will be flying over to the Azores for a big festival and then in September I possibly have a big tour planned in Argentina.

Engelbert Humperdinck is an internationally loved and respected singer, who has been in the business for over 45 years.  He was recently chosen to represent the UK in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with his new song “Love Will Set You Free”.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Engelbert again about Eurovision, love songs and his constant touring.

Mike Gencarelli: Let’s talk about how you came to represent the UK in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012?
Engelbert Humperdinck: Actually, it all came down to the BBC in the UK. The big bosses came together and picked me out of a hat. They figured I’ve been in the business a while and I am a great embassador for the country. I was very honoured to be chosen to represent my country.

MG: Tell us about the origin of “Love Will Set You Free”?
EH: The two guys that wrote the song are very well known. Sacha Skarbek is an Ivor Novello Awards winner and Martin Terefe is the number one producer in England at the moment. Martin plays guitar…and bass on the song. I also just made an album with him about four months ago. He is so laid back and unbelieveable to work with. What happened with the song is that BBC setup everything. They found the writers and the song. They heard it, loved it and passed it on to me and I loved it. I have had a trendous success with waltzes. This is a Viennese Waltz. “The Last Waltz” was a big hit for me and I am thrilled about it.

MG: What do you think makes a great love song?
EH: A great experience I suppose. The writers must have had a great experience. It resonates to the listeners who also can relate to an experience. Good lyrics. Good melody. Good message. That is what it is that makes up a great song. Waltzes last a life time. Maybe one day they will be dancing to this song on “Dancing with the Stars”.

MG: I watched your concert at Northern Quest Resort & Casino last month presented by Front and Center, how do you feel that you are now streaming your shows to the internet?
EH: It is a whole new market. It is a great way to get the masses. Once it catches on, it will be great. Of course there is nothing like a live concert. If they watch it online they will get a chance to see what it would be like live. We have had a wonderful reaction to this concert, especially with the ability to chat with other fans via Facebook comments.

MG: Do you plan to do more concerts like this in the future?
EH: I am sure in the future we will be doing this again soon!

MG: You are always touring all over the world, how can you feel that touring internationally differs from the U.S.?
EH: I am touring more world concerts now. I just finished in Dubai, Sinapore…I am everywhere. It was great to go countries like Russia that do not even speak the language but they are still singing along. How do they do this I do not know? But it is just amazing.

MG: You are very involved with your fans, any words of wisdom to share with them?
EH: Not wisdom but gratitude. Thank you for supporting me for the last 45 years. They have been nothing but terrific.

MG: With Eurovision and constant touring, has this delayed the progress on your new album?
EH: It should be released right after Eurovision and it is a collabaration album. I can’t say who I will be collaberating with yet since you know how record labels like to keep things in the bag waiting for a suprise [laugh].

Kimberly Cole’s first single “Smack You” made it to number 3 on the Billboard music charts and Kimberly’s current single “You Make Me Wanna” is on its way to doing just the same. Media Mikes had a chance to talk with Kimberly about her such and her recent audition tape which has since gone viral.

Adam Lawton: What has it been like for you after the success of your first single “Smack You”?
Kimberly Cole: It has been crazy! Things have been amazing. After the video release on Oxygen and then the song going to number 3 on the billboard charts it was game on. I think that song legitimized me as an artist. So many doors have been opened which has allowed to me to really grow. I will still watch that video from time to time.

AL: Did you think the song was going to do what it did when you were writing it?
KC: That song was written in an hour. It was inspired by real events and when we were done writing we knew we had something. I played it for my manager and some other people and they all thought it had something. My choreographer did some work with the song and people started asking how to get it. Then people started blogging about it. The song is two years old now and still to this day people are still finding out about it. It’s sort of this cult underground hit. It’s been exciting.

AL: What experience have you gained from opening for acts like Katy Perry and LMFAO?

KC: It is amazing to be at a place where I am with their crowd and the energy. It makes me feel like I am not only on the right track but we are colleagues. I am working my way to being a headliner but I still love opening for other bands. I love the surprise factor. In the studio I am a writer but on stage I am something completely different. I am someone who likes to think a little outside of the box when it comes to my shows so it’s great. It’s really fun to get the energy from someone else’s crowd and win them over.

AL: Can you tell us about some of the other things you were able to be involved in through the release of your “Bad Girls Club” album?
KC: The album did really well and because of the success of the single the Oxygen Network put a clip of the song on one of there shows. From that minute and a half song placement the network was very excited to do something else. We ended up premiering the video for “Smack You” on the network and it did well. Through the album I was able to create a unique relationship with the network which has resulted in talks of doing more work with Oxygen.

AL: What are you currently working on?
KC: I have a new clip out that is sort of a pre-video to my new song “You Make Me Wanna”. It is called “The Kimberly Cole Audition Tape”. The video has a character in it who is sort of a “Napoleon Dynamite” type guy. This character played by Nathan Barnatt crashes the supposed video shoot for “You Make Me Wanna”. The clip has created quite a buzz around the official video because in the audition tape people are rooting for this guy who crashed my shoot to be in the actual video. Because of this we are in talks for the new video and we have a really great treatment planned. Nathan blew us away so we are going to be changing the game a little bit with what the official video is going to be. I also will be doing a show called “A Day in the Life of Kimberly Cole”. The show will have me hanging out with friends and people who I work with. Some of the people I work with also work with major celebrities and are what I call the “Glam Squad” behind some very famous looks. We go behind the scenes to see how these iconic looks are put together. There’s really a lot that goes on to make these looks work. I also have some television things coming up as well. There is a lot of good stuff going on and we are in a really great place.

Jason Michael Paul is the producer of the new show “Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses”, which is currently on tour and heading to a town near you.  If you are a fan of Zelda, this is an event you will not want to miss.  Jason Michael is also known for his work with the show “Play: A Video Game Symphony”.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Jason Michael about the Zelda show and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you tell us about bringing “Legend of Zelda” to a symphony tour?
Jason Michael Paul: I have been doing things like this since 2004. I first did it with the music from “Final Fantasy”. Since then I have created a show called “Play: A Video Game Symphony” which premiered in Chicago in 2006. I have developed a track record and worked with Nintendo along the way. With the 25^th anniversary of “Zelda” coming up I had the idea to do a “Legends of Zelda” Symphony tour. It just so happened that everyone was interested. We had just planned to do a symphonic recording which was going to be part of a bundle that included the newest installment of Zelda “Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword”. From there we initially planned 3 concerts which were going to be held in Los Angeles, Tokyo and London. Those ended up selling out in record time and we decided to put together the “Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses” tour. This tour is exclusive to the Zelda property.

MG: What would you say was the most difficult aspect of creating the tour?
JMP: This project has been a joy. There haven’t been a lot of obstacles. It has been a phenomenal collaboration between my company and Nintendo. They have been really great to work with and have given us all the access to the likenesses of their characters. It’s been really great and smooth sailing.

MG: What do you enjoy most about the music from Zelda?
JMP: I have done a lot of concerts as I have been in this business for 15 years. I have always had a problem watching my own shows because I see everything. This show I have been able to sit back and watch from beginning to end. To me that is really the most truthful testament to this project. I feel so confidant and am so proud that I can watch it from beginning to end. That is the best thing for me.

MG: How does your work on this project differ from your previous work?
JMP: I have been very fortunate enough to work and develop a relationship with Chad Seiter. He has single handedly put an amazing touch on this project. Hands down he is one of the most talented people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. He has been the real difference in this project. I feel honored to work with him.

MG: What is your favorite game series?
JMP: I would have to say that “Grain of Time” is right up there but “Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” is very close to my heart. I actually worked on that game. We did the orchestration that accompanied the game. This was the first time that Nintendo had done anything like this. Being asked to create something like this for them really resonated with me. That title is closest to me because I participated in creating it.

MG: What do you have planned next?
JMP: I am busy with “Play”. When I am not doing Zelda I am doing that. I am sort of a serial entrepreneur as I always have several irons in the fire. I love to create brands and identities. I am just going to continue with what I am doing.

Dan Spitz is best known as one of the founding member of the thrash metal group Anthrax. Together with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Dan has put together a new band called Red Lamb. The band is set to release a new video in the coming months and Media Mikes had the chance recently to talk with Dan about the project and the premise behind it.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us about your new band Red Lamb?
Dan Spitz: Red Lamb is the first thing I have ever done full bore outside of Anthrax. I am charging forward with this project the same way I did with Anthrax. We are trying to break new ground as there is a purpose behind this band. Because of that purpose the music its self took a long time to create and get its sound. This music is different from my past but still reminiscent of me. This was a fresh start for me. This is a collaborative effort between me and Dave Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. He came in one day to hear what I was doing and really took hold of it. This is I think the first thing he has ever done outside of Megadeth. He really wanted to be a band member more than a co-producer or co-lyricist. Dave known’s my family so he has sort of a personal stake in this material. He knows the purpose of the band.

AL: Can you elaborate more on the purpose behind the band?
DS: Around the world we have a problem with Autism. Previous generations saw Autism however it wasn’t in every neighborhood. It’s now infiltrating everywhere. My wife and I have identical twin boys who are both Autistic. There is a song on the album titled “Puzzle Box” which will be are next release that we just finished a video for. I hope to change the world through music by bringing awareness around the world that this is a serious problem. We aren’t asking for people to send us money to give to a certain charity. We want to just bring awareness around the world. The CDC just released a statistic that 1 in 56 boys born with have autism. That is crazy! What will we do when everyone grows up and can’t function in a normal job? We pull no punches and I am living this hear every day with my kids. That’s what Red Lamb is here to do. Once the machine roles we will be doing something on a permanent basis.

AL: What will be the actual premise of the video?
DS: The “Puzzle Box” video is really going to be like a mini movie. Our singer Donny is a video producer so I was kind of blessed to have him in the band. He was able to take my idea and show what we live each day as a family. We are going to show to the world what it is like to live with Autism. My family are all in this video. We also filmed at the Autism Speaks walk. We filmed all kinds of important people and things that will be included in the video. I am not here preaching but everyone needs to just wake up. If you look on Facebook people are writing in about how they are affected by Autism. It’s a really moving video. There are people in the movie and sports industry that have been standing up for Autism for years but there has never been anyone in music that has done anything. People often wonder why it has taken me so long after leaving Anthrax to do something new. Now people will get to see what goes on in my house on a regular basis. Every 30 seconds there is a crisis going on. To write and record is very difficult. Eventually I had to leave and live at Dave’s studio to be able to finish work on this project. Things are that hard where I had to completely remove myself. It’s time everyone see’s what’s going on.

AL: What can you tell us about your work on the film “Goat”?
DS: That film has some really cool people in it. Ice-T is the film and it’s funny because he used to be a huge Anthrax fan. A friend of mine is making this film and it is now completed. The song “One Shell in the Chamber” which will appear on the Red Lamb album made it into thefilm. We started writing stuff and decided that parts of that song fit really well. There is some other stuff in the can for other movies my friend has made also. The High School I went to produced quite a few people who have gone on to do things that have really changed the world. We were either friends or we played against them in battle of the bands contests. We all hung out. The guy who did this film is one of those people. Some of the other people I hung out with now put on some of the biggest shows on Broadway. I have had beers with some pretty cool people. (Laughs)

AL: What other stuff do you have going on right now?
DS: At this point I do plan on doing a bunch of things. Red Lamb is taking up most of my time right now. Once this video is done and out then the object is to go out and play. It will be time. We started a little while ago putting things together so I can get back on the stage. I have been away for awhile so it will be great to get back to where I belong. I took some time off from music to clear my head and during that time I realized what I was here to do. I’m back doing it and I don’t plan to stop. I also am currently working of some stuff with Chris Vrenna from Marilyn Manson which is turning out really cool.

Related Content

• Anti-Flag’s Chris No. 2 talks about new album “American Spring”
• Kevin Riepl talks about scoring the film “Cabin Fever: Patient Zero”
• Nekrogoblikon’s Alex Alereza talks about new EP “Power”
• Orgy’s Jay Gordon talks about new single “Grime of the Century”
• Rick Hornyak talks about his new CD

Hank Williams III has recently released four new solo albums. These albums were the first to be released by William’s newly formed label Hank 3 Records. Media Mikes had the chance to talk with Hank 3 about what it was like releasing four albums simultaneously.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us about the idea of releasing four albums simultaneously?
HW3: For me I wanted to try something different. There are many different angles. Doing something different was the first one. The second part for me was trying to make another mark in musical history. I am standing on my own two feet. People can look back on my career and see that I did quite a few different things with the family he was from. A third reason is I haven’t been able to sell a CD at any of my shows in almost 18 years. I wanted to be able to give the fans a chance to see all the different sounds and a chance to also buy them. I don’t know if I will ever have that much focus or drive to do that amount of work again in a short period of time. There are all kinds of things that prompted me to push myself a little harder and do something un-standard. I also kicked off Hank 3 Records with these releases. What better way to do it than to come out of the gate strong.

AL: What made you decide to start your own label?
HW3: Basically I am going through one lawyer instead of five or six. I have less people trying to tell me what I can or can’t do. It’s pretty simple what I am trying to do. I am making music and touring. When I get a chance to work with another musician I don’t want that opportunity shut down. I have always known my sound. Henry Rollins gave me some advice a long time ago about only really needing a good distribution company as the other stuff is already in place. I kept his words very close to me. So far things have not been an issue. However if it starts cutting into my creativity then I might think about changing it up. Right now it is just another way of trying to become more hands on.

AL: Did the writing/recording process vary at all between the four albums?
HW3: The country is always a bit more serious to me. I have to worry about pitch and the tone as well as the timing. I take that a lot more serious when I am working on the country sound. At night I would do a lot of the “ADD” and “3 Bar Ranch” stuff. It was a good way to end the session and wind things down. For a couple of months it was working from the time I got up until the time I went to sleep. Things were full on. I have always been that way when I have been working on the country stuff. You have to be sharper with that stuff. The other material I am playingmostly by myself so things are less intense. There are no outside players coming in and needing your ideas explained to them.

AL: What interested you in using different auctioneers in the back ground of the “3 Bar Ranch” album?
HW3: I have always looked at cattle auctioneers as different singers. I thought the speed of the auctioneers combined with the speed of heavy metal were a good mix. I lost more than 60% of the guys I wanted to use on that album because they didn’t feel comfortable with what I was doing. I was trying to explain to those guys that they weren’t going to like the music or understand it but I was in no way making fun of their industry. I wanted to offer inspiration to younger auctioneers in a different way. I also wanted to give maybe aspiring bull riders a different kind of music to get all amped on before going on an 8 second run. There are quite a few angles but it just goes back to doing something out of the box and different. This album is only for select people out there that might get into this kind of stuff. For me it was a lot of fun. I pushed myself to some other limits as a player. It was a good way to end all of the records.

AL: Did you use samples of auctioneers or did you actually go out and record at various places?
HW3: Basically I would have to try and track the guys down. A lot of them already had stuff up on YouTube. I would call and talk to them about what I was doing and make them an offer. Everyone got offered the same deal. It didn’t matter if you were 17 years old or one of the highest paid auctioneers out there. I just told them this is what I was offering and would they want to be a part of it. When I started losing like 60% of the guys out there I went and recorded a few local people. I did all of the Tennessee auctioneers in person. There were a few guys that were really helpful. Some of the older guys have started to see what I am doing and they have gotten a feel for what it is. I am being a little different but trying not to be disrespectful. At times people don’t quite understand creativity or art views.

AL: What has it been like playing these albums live?
HW3: It’s been fun. By the time I get to the “3 Bar Ranch” stuff we are about 3.5 hours into it. We have taken the audience through a lot of different moods already. For that last little segment it’s pretty intense. For me it’s a lot of fun. When everything is right it feels great. For now we have to work around samples of the auctioneers. One day it would be great to find the right kid who can do that stuff live and correctly. Until then we have to work around the samples. We have done 5 tours with “3 Bar Ranch” so far. There are still some people hanging out at the end of the show who come up and tell us their minds have been blown. It’s always good when you leave an impression on someone.

AL: Personally is there one of the four albums that stands out for you above the rest?
HW3: It just depends on which way you are looking at it. Creativity wise a lot more went in to “Ghost to a Ghost” and “Gutter Town”. This was only because of all the outside players and effects. There was a lot more work that went into that as opposed to “Cattle Callin” and “ADD”. It is intense but not as intense. That stuff is a little more fun and I don’t have to be as strict on myself. It’s like taking a break in a way. The hardest part out of all of this was the mixing. Each album is special to me in its own way. People seem to recognize more with my roots in country music more so than in rock or heavy metal. I try to make sure I deliver some stuff to the hardcore fans out there.

AL: Do you have any more tour plans for these albums?
HW3: We are getting ready to do a Mid-West run which will be sort of a short tour. From there we will be heading over to Europe for about a month. That will take us through mid July. When I get back from that and I take some time to put myself back together we have a west coast run scheduled for August. We are possibly trying to get into Canada as well.

AL: Do you think you will be back in the studio anytime soon?
HW3: Once I break even. I have to keep working until I break even. Once that happens and everyone is satisfied then I will be able to think about that. For me I can’t get creative until I get everything back level.

Derya “Dez” Nagle is the guitarist for progressive UK rock band The Safety Fire. The band just released their first full length album titled “Grind the Ocean”. Media Mikes had a chance to talk with Dez about the new album and the bands upcoming US tour.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us about the new album?
Dez Nagle: The album is called “Grind the Ocean” and it is being released via Inside Out. We have a digitized version of the album as well as a hard copy version. This is our first full length album and we couldn’t be more excited to get the album out there.

AL: Can you describe the writing process for the album?
DN: We generally will start with one motif that we will develop into a whole song. Sometimes we will have a just a chord progression or a riff that we flesh out into a full arrangement. From there we all discuss where we want to take the song. The type of music we do makes it sort of difficult to start off trying to make ideas from the very beginning. Some of the ideas can be quite obscure and or abstract in conversation. It’s a lot easier to go along with the studio vibe and develop the ideas there. We usually will pre-produce those ideas and write everything else from there.

AL: Will we be seeing any music videos to accompany the album’s release?
DN: We did a video for the first single off the album titled “She’s Hammered”. The video has been out for a short time now and has gotten quite a bit of air time here in the UK. I think the YouTube release just recently hit 70,000 views. There also is an exclusive video people can check out on Guitarworld.com for the bands next single.

AL: What can you tell us about the concept for the new video?
DN: It’s very different from the normal kind of band performance. The video is based around Laurie drinking this peculiar drink which alters her perception. We like to have fun videos that have their own story line while keeping a connection to the song. We want people who watch the videos to have an appreciation for both the video and the music.

AL: Being from/based in the UK have you found it hard to break into new markets such as the US?
DN: I think being the type of band that we are makes us very proactive. We are always releasing new content and trying to engage our fans as much as possible. The internet has really broken down a lot of boundaries for what is possible. We have received a lot of messages and such via Twitter and Facebook from people who are excited to see the band. That has been really great. Even though we are from the UK we are always looking for ways to get into other new markets. Radio One here in the UK has helped the band a lot by playing our songs during the drive hours. That has really opened us up to a lot more people.

AL: How long will your tour in States run?
DN: We start at the end of March in Chicago and the tour runs through the end of April. All the dates of the tour are available on line so people wanting to check out the band can look for those and come and see the show. Once that tour wraps up we have been confirmed for some UK festivals dates. We will be at Sonisphere as well as another really cool festival called The Heavy Festival. We love touring and being busy.

Related Content

• Greg Lake talks about working with King Crimson and Emerson, Lake & Palmer
• The Machine’s Tahrah Cohen talks about touring and performing Pink Floyd
• The Revenant’s Trevor Jackson talks about band’s self-titled debut album
• Cavalera Conspiracy’s Iggor Cavalera talks about latest album “Pandemonium”
• Dave Lombardo talks about new album with Philm called “Fire From the Evening Sun”

Josh Schwartz is the guitarist for the Washington D.C. based rock/metal band A Sound of Thunder. Media Mikes recently had a chance to talk with Josh about the band’s new album titled “Out of the Darkness”.

Adam Lawton: How would you describe the new album?
Josh Schwartz: I consider “Out of the Darkness” a “classic heavy metal” album, but not in the way the term is being thrown around in the metal scene these days, which usually refers to NWOBHM style bands.  When I think “classic metal”, I think of the days when metal was not so separate from mainstream rock ‘n’ roll, when bands like Black Sabbath and Yes could tour together, and you could put something heavy and evil on the same album with a ballad or a classical guitar piece, and not be considered a sellout. Nobody questions that “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath or “Killers” by Iron Maiden are classic metal albums, even though “Planet Caravan” and “Prodigal Son” aren’t really metal songs at all.  It seems like it’s harder to get away with doing melodic music in metal these days, unless you’re a prog-metal band or have operatic vocals.  I don’t consider us a prog-metal band; I consider us a classic heavy metal band with some minimal elements of prog-rock (not prog-metal) thrown in. We definitely aren’t an operatic band though Nina is belting it out like Dio or Bruce Dickinson.

AL: What is the band’s writing process like?
JS: Generally I will write all of the music, either during rehearsal jams or on my own. We arrange songs as a group and either Nina or Chris will write the lyrics.  Everyone in the band does write music to some degree. Jesse wrote the bridge to “The Day I Die”. “The Night Witch” started with a vocal melody written by Nina and Chris wrote the vocal melody for “This Too Shall Pass”. Nina will often throw a simple idea at me that I can use as a starting point for the music.  For “Calat Alhambra”, she asked me to write something in a Spanish/Flamenco style. For “Kill That Bitch” she asked me to write something in the style of Accept (not sure I succeeded there or not!).

AL: Did you take any different approaches to recording this time around?
JS: Yes! Our debut EP “A Sound of Thunder” and first full length album “Metal Renaissance” were both recorded on analog tape, mostly without a click track, and with minimal overdubs and vocal harmonies.  They were both self-produced.  For “Out of the Darkness” we worked with a producer for the first time. Kevin “131” Gutierrez (Shinedown) produced the album and recorded everything in ProTools.  While we did sacrifice the vintage analog sound a bit, this allowed us to get a much more powerful, crisp sounding record. It also made it much easier to add more vocal harmonies, keyboards, effects, etc.  Recording digitally is just much faster and cheaper which is obviously a consideration.  Some day we may go back and do an all vintage analog sounding album similar to the “Ghost” record.

AL: Is there a track off the albums that you are most looking forward to playing live?
JS: We are excited to add “Discovery” to our set. “Discovery” is a bit of an epic, at almost nine minutes. The song features keys, a string quartet, and lots of guitar and vocal harmonies.  It’s been a challenge arranging it so that we can pull it off live as a power trio, but I think we’ve done it.  Our drummer Chris switches to acoustic guitar for part of the song, which has been a great live moment for the crowd thus far.  We’ve also added some extended guitar, vocal and piano improv with our bassist Jesse switching to piano for a bit.  We play a lot of our heavier stuff live but “Discovery” will be more of a nod to classic rock with its extended length and improv sections.

AL: What are your tour plans for this year?
JS: We’ll be going out on our most extensive tour yet in May.  It’ll be 12 dates in a row, ranging from Washington, DC to St. Paul, MN,  Aside from that we always like to keep busy playing at least 2-3 shows each month closer to home. We may look into another small tour of the south or the north-east later in the year. We’ll be recording a new album over the summer so that probably won’t happen before the fall.

Oystein Brun is the founding member of the Norwegian progressive black metal band Borknagar. The band released their 9^th studio album titled “Urd” on March 26^th via Century Media Records. Media Mikes had the chance to talk with Oystein about the release and the bands plans for the upcoming tour season.

Adam Lawton: What can you tell us about the band’s new album “Urd”?
Oystein Brun: The album covers a wide range. It is progressive, epic and metal. It’s all those things combined with the bands trademark sound. We have gotten some really amazing feedback and are very excited. I think we took a step further production wise with this album and we are very happy with how it turned out.

AL: How does this compare to some of this the bands previous work?
OB: I think the production element of the album really shines. Some of our previous releases really lacked the production that should go along with the type of powerful music we play. With the new album we really did take a huge step. Everything on this album feels really satisfying. The band this time also had a great process and we all took a step up. It was great being able to have our hands in all the different aspects of the recording process.

AL: Does the band do any pre-production prior to going into the studio?
OB: I will generally come in with my songs and the other guys in the band will bring in their songs and we start there. This time around we spent a lot of time on the recording process. I think we spent around 6 months just on the recording process itself. We tried different ideas which made things nice. We didn’t have a time crunch or anything so we were able to spend quite a bit of time on the various stages.

AL: What has it been like returning back to Century Media Records?
OB: We were with them back in 1996 when the band was first signed. We did 6 albums with them during our first signing but after those we decided to just try something new. We wanted to try working with some different people. We started to notice that our material was becoming harder to get in certain areas of the world. At the end of the day things just weren’t working. We have shared so much history with Century Media that it has been really great coming back to that label. They know how the band works and have helped get everything back on track for us.

AL: Have there been any talks of touring?
OB: There have been of course talks. (Laughs) First and for most we like to create music. The big issue for us right now is that we don’t want to tour that much. We all have things outside the band and some of us have small babies at home. We will try to do something as I would love to go back to some places in Europe.

Morgan Steinmeyer Hakansson is the guitarist/ founding member of the legendary black metal group Marduk. The band is set to release it’s 12^th studio album titled “Serpent Sermon” in early June of this year. Media Mikes had a chance to talk with Morgan about the bands history and what we can expect from the group’s latest offering.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us a brief history of the band?
Morgan Steinmeyer Hakansson: It can be tough to sum up a 22 year career. We started in 1990 wanting to push the limits of what was being done at that time. We have our 12^th studio album coming out this month to add to the other albums and DVD’s we have put out. We have been spreading our message across most parts of the world for quite some time now. We just keep marching all over.

AL: Did you ever envision a 20+ year career with the band?
MSH: The same time we started the band we were expanding and getting more into what we were doing. Things around us were also expanding. We were pushing the limits of what had been done previously and while doing so we realized there were no limits. We just kept going with making our visions come to life. Over time we started to see things in a broader way. That kept us going.

AL: Other than the bands lineup changes. Have you noticed any other changes in the band?
MSH: Not really. Music has always been written in a variety of different ways. Nothing comes to you the same way as another. Sometimes we can base a whole album of a single title. We go where things take us.

AL: How would you describe the band’s new album “Serpent Sermon”?
MSH: I think it is a very good reflection of the band in 2012. This album has everything an extreme heavy metal album should have. The last few albums we have done have been very focused around the themes of death and decay. This album is a return to the diabolical decent of what black metal really is about. This album is I think maybe more focused on that than the previous 2 release. I think the title really speaks for the whole album. We really had a vision behind this album and want people to know the meaning of the album’s title.

AL: Are there video plans for any of the albums tracks?
MSH: We just finished a shoot for the track “Souls of Belial”. I think it will start airing the beginning of May. We have a few things left to finalize but I think this video is a good reflection of the spirit of the song.

AL: What are the exact release plans for the album?
MSH: I think it is coming out in Europe around the 29^th or 30^th of May and in the States during the first week of June. There is about a week difference between the release dates across the world.

AL: What are the tour plans for the album?
MSH: We are still on the process of finalizing everything. There will be a lot of dates being announced shortly. The plan is to start around May 11^th. The tour is going to take us to places like Russia and Siberia. From there we will hit Puerto Rico, the United States and Canada before returning to Europe at the end of June. We have some festival dates in the works as well as a headlining European tour. The headlining tour will be around 40 dates. It’s going to be intense!

Joey La Rocca is a solo artist as well as the lead singer for the punk rock band The Briggs. After a 2 year hiatus The Briggs have released a new single titled “Panic!”. Media Mikes recently spoke with Joey about the song and the bands plans for the future.

Adam Lawton: What can you tell us about the bands newest song “Panic!”?
Joey LaRocca: I feel right now I am inspired by music that has urgency to it. Lately I like the feeling of uneasiness in music. That I guess might be the way I feel a lot of the time. This was sort of the inspiration behind the song.  The animosity and un-comfortableness is sort of what makes me feel alive and shows me that I am alive. I embrace that feeling of anguish and pain at times.

AL: Can you tell us about the video plans for the song?
JB: The video was really fun. Our buddy Beau Coulon who directed the video is brilliant. He had a concept for the video that has somewhat of a narrative that follows the story line of the song but at the same time it has a lot of energetic shots of the band. We spent a day on a sound stage just banging out the song 20,000 times. I think those shot are probably some of my favorite parts. I feel they really embrace the energy of the song and give it its fury. The narrative is fun also because it gives people something else to look at other than the band. (Laughs)

AL: Now that the band is back after a couple year hiatus what has been the biggest change in the industry you have noticed since your return?
JB: As a band we hadn’t been doing much however a few of us have still been involved in theindustry. I have been working on a solo project under the name Joey Briggs and have also done some touring. I have seen a lot of interesting changes. When we were first got out of doing the Briggs for awhile I was very bitter about how things were. I don’t necessarily feel that way anymore though. I see that there is an amazing breed of bands and fans that are creating a real scene again. It maybe sounds cliché but I have seen all these bands that are doing house and basement shows. In some degree that never went away but there just weren’t the people to support it. I feel now there is a good amount of people embracing the whole world of DIY. There are a lot of cool bands and houses involved in this movement. We haven’t done something like this in a long time. The scene has come back around and people have decided not to pay the high prices a lot of venues charge. There are other options to get people out and interested in what you are doing.

AL: Has there been any talks of a full-length Briggs release?

JB: I think the plan is to definitely do a full-length release. It’s something that sort of has to happen. We weren’t really 100% sure what was happening at the time we started. We were honestly just flying by the seat of our pants. We created a song and then put it out but now there is that expectation. People are going to hear the song and want to know where the rest of the album is. Its cool people want that so we will have to fill our obligations. It’s really fun to write a song but it not as fulfilling as a musician as when you have an entire album. I want 12 songs with 12 different stories and emotions. One song isn’t quite enough.

AL: What are your spring/summer tour plans?
JB: As far as summer goes I am completely booked doing Joey Briggs stuff. I will be doing a few dates on Warped Tour this summer. They are going to be doing an acoustic stage this year and I am really stoked to be a part of that. I then have a month long tour of Europe. When I come back from that I will be back on Warped Tour for a few more shows. The Briggs will be doing a return show at the House of Blues in Anaheim at the end of May to kind of say were back. Before the Briggs get fully back out there I would like to have a new album out. I don’t want to get the cart before the horse so to speak.

Chris Rene performed on season one of Simon Cowell’s television show “The X Factor”. Rene’s single “Young Homie” received almost 1 million hits within 10 days after its release via vevo.com. Media Mikes had a chance to talk with Chris about the show and the success of the single.

Adam Lawton: What made you want to try out for the “The X Factor”?
Chris Rene: After people heard me sing they often would ask why my music was not on the radio. I got asked all sorts of questions. A lot of questions would be about going on “American Idol”. I didn’t think that show was for me. Last year I finally decided to give it a shot as I had nothing really to lose.

AL: What was the audition process like?
CR: I got to Los Angeles at 4am on the day of the audition and then waited in line for between 10 and 12 hours. I sang in front of one judge and got through. I then had to
three more judges after which they said they would call me in a few months. When they finally called me with a yes is when I got to go to Seattle. The process is much bigger than is shown sing in front of on television.

AL: What were your first thoughts when you got to Seattle?
CR: I was really excited to have the opportunity. When I got on the stage I knew this was a onetime chance that I needed to give my all.

AL: What has been your take on the success of the video “Young Homie”?
CR: It is just motivation for me to do better and get more and more fans. It makes me want to continue to do what I love.

AL: What made you choose this song to release first?
CR: I have been doing music since I was twelve. By the time I was fifteen my band and I had put out 5 CD’s. In 2009 I put out my first solo CD. I have been writing songs for a long time and “Young Homie” is a song that I think is universal. A lot of people can connect with it. The song is about overcoming struggle.

AL: What has been your favorite part of your success so far?
CR: I have enjoyed going to the different radio stations and meeting people. It’s been great seeing different cities. Recording has probably been the best part.

AL: What are your upcoming plans?
CR: We are going to be doing an EP release and then I have some shows scheduled for the summertime. We also are looking at doing a full tour. I also have something clothing that will be coming out soon and, I am looking to do a cameo in an upcoming film as well.