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.

James Taylor
“James Taylor At Christmas”
Label: Universal Music Enterprises
Tracks: 14
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Running Time: 50 minutes

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

“James Taylor At Christmas” was released back in 2006 and it is being released this year with two new tracks.  The first track is Taylor’s French rendition of “O Christmas Tree” titled “Mon Beau Sapin”, which is only available on this collection. The second track isn’t really a Christmas track per se but it is Beatles cover for “Here Comes The Sun” with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Still a fantastic and moving track. Also appearing the album are talented guest starts including Chris Botti, Natalie Cole and Toots Theilemans. This album has always been successful in getting into the holiday spirit over the years and I am sure it will continue now with this expanded release.

This collection includes some really great holiday favorites performed within Taylor’s unique sound.  There is a jazzy renditions of both “Winter Wonderland” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”.  “The Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) is really a perfect track for the holidays. Natalie Cole and Taylor deliver a wonderful duet with “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”.  I have to say though my favorite track is the cover of Joni Mitchell’s “River” and my least favorite is still “Go Tell It On the Mountain”, which is the one I always skip. The album also ends perfectly with the New Year’s classic “Auld Lang Syne”. James Taylor’s voice is really a nice marriage with the Christmas season.  I personally am a fan of simple and quiet Christmas songs and there is something for everyone here.  This will leave you not only inspired and but also full-blown in the holiday mood.

Track Listing:
1. Winter Wonderland
2. Go Tell It On The Mountain
3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
4. Jingle Bells
5. Baby It’s Cold Outside
6. River
7. Here Comes The Sun
8. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
9. Some Children See Him
10. Mon Beau Sapin
11. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)
12. Who Comes This Night
13. In The Bleak Midwinter
14. Auld Lang Syne

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John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John
“This Christmas”
Label: Universal Music Enterprises
Tracks: 13
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Running Time: 44 minutes

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John are back.  It has been 35 years since their last duet “You’re The One That I Want” in “Grease”. The track in fact just became the best-selling duet in pop music history, so it is only right that they join forces again. “This Christmas” is a newly recorded album featuring some great Christmas favorites with guest appearances from amazing talent including Barbara Streisand, Tony Bennett, Kenny G and James Taylor! So is this reuniting as sharp and hot as it was in “Grease”? Not really, but it is Christmas, so I have to give this duet some points for at least sharing their Christmas spirit.  It is a little cheesy here and there but that is what Christmas is about and this album really captures it and aims to deliver a smile to everyone listening.

The CD includes twelve classic covers of Christmas songs and even a brand new original track titled “I Think You Might Like It”.  It is composed by John Farrar and set as a sequel to their famous smash hit. I got to tell you the track is worth the price of the CD alone. It is a really fun up-tempo pop track.  Olivia Newton-John’s voice sounds great still. John Travolta is not at his prime since “Grease” but still sounds decent, though I can’t help but smirk a little when he comes on.   Other great tracks are “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” with Kenny G on horns. “Silent Night” is nicely paced and beautiful duet. Barbara Streisand joins in for the jazzy take on “I’ll Be Home For Christmas”. “Winter Wonderland” is a real gem and big-band feel with Tony Bennett and the Count Basie Orchestra and of course the best Christmas duet is “Baby It’s Cold Outside”, it is a great album opener.

So this might not be the best Christmas album ever, but it does what it is suppose to.  With Christmas right around the corner, it spreads some great Holiday cheer. I also love the reuniting of John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John, they are really cute together and seem to be having a lot of fun together. I have a feeling that this album will be a yearly revisit each year.  What makes this worth wild is that Travolta and Newton-John are donating the artist proceeds from the album equally to their respective charities, the Jett Travolta Foundation and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne, Australia. So not only is this a cheesy-yet fun collection of Christmas songs but it is also helping a good cause. I recommend this for sure!

Track Listing:
1. Baby It’s Cold Outside
2. Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree
3. I’ll Be Home For Christmas
4. This Christmas
5. Silent Night
6. The Christmas Waltz
7. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
8. Winter Wonderland
9. White Christmas
10. I Think You Might Like It
11. The Christmas Song
12. Deck The Halls
13. Auld Lang Syne/Christmas Time Is Here (Medley)

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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“College Tour”
Matisyahu, The Constellations
Date: Tuesday, November 6th 2012
Venue: State Theater, Ithaca, NY

Our Score: 3 out of 5 stars

Matisyahu brought his brand of Hasidic infused reggae on November, 6th to the historic State Theater located in Ithaca, NY. The medium sized college town venue seemed to be a perfect fit for the artist as he performed to a crowd just as diverse as his sound. The Constellations a blues/rock band from Atlanta, Georgia took the stage first bombarding the audience with a vast sound that seemed to have something for everyone. Vocalist Elijah Jones played just enough to the crowd to where he would get your attention and then not let it go. Bassist Wes Hoffman did a great job providing the low end of the group’s sound while his over the top afro hair style was a show unto its self.

Anticipation grew as did the crowd just before Matisyahu was set to take the stage and to amp things up even more a droning bass beat consumed every corner of the theater as it blasted out over the pa system. Within moments Matisyahu and his backing band the Dub Trio were onstage blending genres and minds. Though Matisyahu hid behind sunglasses and had little to no interaction with the crowd that did not stop the onslaught of applauses he received during the brief seconds between songs. Though Matisyahu has traded in his traditional Hasidic appearance for a more modern look his sound and message remain unchanged. Those looking for a laid back evening of good music will definitely want to catch one of the many dates Matisyahu has scheduled from now through February 2013.

Matisyahu Partial Setlist:
Beat Box
Time of Your Song
Close My Eyes
Youth
Time of Your Song
One Day
King Without a Crown

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“All or Nothing Tour”
Unwritten Law, MxPx All Stars, Versus the World, FLF
Date: Sunday, November 4th 2012
Venue: The Club at Water St. Rochester, NY

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The “All or Nothing Tour” made a stop in Rochester, NY on Sunday for an intimate gig held at The Club at Water St. Though the venue was small it didn’t stop the bands or the fans in attendance from having a good time. FLF hailing from Cape Coral, FL would take the stage first and put on a stellar performance that showcased the bands metal-core tinged, pop punk sound. Though the band’s set was brief they made good use of their time warming up the crowd. Viking Funeral Records artist Verses the World were up next and kept the crowd going with their Fall Out Boy minus the sugar coating type sound. Lead singer/guitarist Donald Spence worked the audience in between songs and one point left the stage to sing with the crowd. The band also performed a great cover of No Use For A Name’s “International You Day” which was dedicated to NUFAN’s fallen singer/guitarist Tony Sly who’s birthday was 11/4. Sly passed away in July of this year.

Up next was co-headliner The MxPx All Stars featuring Mike Herrera, Jack Parker, Harley Trotland and Jose Garzon. This is the All Stars first US tour together as the line was assembled to perform while regular MxPx guitarist Tom Wisniewski and drummer Yuri Ruley take some time off from the road. The band’s sound and energy was great as they blasted through classic MxPx songs such as “Move to Bremerton” and “Chick Magnet”. Herrera also took time to perform some material from his other band Tumbledown acoustically which broke up the set quite nicely before ending the night with “Punk Rawk Show” and “Responsibility”. Closing out the evening were veteran rockers Unwritten Law. The band sounded tight and wasted no time blasting through song after song however, there were several spots during the set that did feel a bit stiff and somewhat dated. Highlights of the set included “Teenage Suicide”, “Seein’ Red” and the always popular “Up All Night”.

The “All or Nothing Tour” features a pretty cool lineup in my opinion. It’s always great when headliners such as these have deep catalog’s to be able to pull songs from and perform a set that will please everyone in attendance. If the tour is making a stop in or around your area you should definitely go check it out. New fans as well as fans from the bands mid-nineties heydays will have a great time taking a walk down memory lane reliving all those great punk rock memories while also hearing some great new music as well.

MxPx All Stars Partial Setlist:
My Life Story
Move to Bremerton
Middlename
New York to Nowhere
Secret Weapon
Doing Time
Chick Magnet
Part, My House, Be There
Another State of Mind (Social Distortion cover)
Punk Rawk Show
Responsibility

Unwritten Law Partial Setlist:
Teenage Suicide
Rescue Me
Lonesome
Up All Night
Starships and Apocalypse
Seein’ Red
Mean Girl
Nevermind
Harmonic
Celebration Song
Cailin

Paul McCartney/On the Run Tour
Date:  November 11, 2012
Venue:  Scottrade Center, St Louis, Missouri

Even at age 70 Paul McCartney can bounce around like a youngster.  Despite a trip off of a riser towards the end of the show (Macca quickly hopped up, struck a pose and began his guitar duel with Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray on the solo riffs during “The End”) McCartney and company played for a solid 3 hours, introducing some new Beatles and Wings songs to their live catalog.

After taking the summer off, St. Louis saw the beginning of the second leg of the “On the Run” tour.  The Fab Five (besides McCartney, Anderson and Ray the group included longtime members Paul “Wix” Wickens (Keyboards) and drummer Abe Laboriel, Jr.) kicked off the show with “Magical Mystery Tour.” before sliding into “Junior’s Farm.”  After a rousing “Drive My Car” – with the audience supplying the “Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep YEAHS – McCartney removed his jacket.  As the woman in the crowd began to “Woo” he smiled and informed them “That is the wardrobe change of the evening.”

With a playlist full of Beatles and Wings classics, the band managed to sneak in some lesser known songs, including “Sing the Changes” (The Firemen) and “My Valentine,” a song McCartney recently penned for his wife, Nancy.  After the first group of songs McCartney held aloft what has to be the most recognizable musical instrument in the history of rock and roll:  his Hofner 500/1 violin bass.  Later in the show McCartney strapped on his old Epiphone Casino guitar to introduce the song he wrote on it, “Paperback Writer.”  There were other song snippets played as well.  “Let Me Roll It” ended with a quick, loud snippet of “Foxy Lady,” with McCartney giving a quick shout out to the other left handed musical genius, Jimi Hendrix.  Later, during “A Day in the Life” the song evolved into an audience inducing “Give Peace a Chance.”  He also paid tribute to his former Beatles mates no longer with us.  A touching accoustic “Here Today,” a song he wrote to John Lennon, had him brushing away a tear at the end while a simple version of “Something” on a ukulele given to him by George Harrison ended as a full blown rendition.

As with everytime I’ve seen McCartney (this makes number six since the 1980s), his back up band was tight.  But even they are not above reproach.  Deducting that Rusty Anderson had made a minor mistake during his solo on “And I Love Her,” Paul admonished him and had him play just the solo over again.  And I’m pleased to say that the one song I’ve wanted to hear live and never have, “Maybe I’m Amazed,” was finally played.  I can now die happy!

The audience was packed with music fans of all ages – from senior citizens to teenagers to a young boy in his stroller whose parents were staying in the same hotel we were.  He may not remember the music he heard but years from now he can proudly tell people that he saw Paul McCartney live!

SET LIST
Magical Mystery Tour, Junior’s Farm, All My Loving, Jet, Drive My Car, Sing the Changes, The Night Before, Let Me Roll It/Foxy Lady, Paperback Writer, The Long and Winding Road, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five, Maybe I’m Amazed, I’ve Just Seen a Face, And I Love Her, My Valentine, Blackbird, Here Today, Dance Tonight, Mrs. Vandebilt, Eleanor Rigby, Something, Band on the Run, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Back in the U.S.S.R., I’ve Got a Feeling, A Day in the Life/Give Peace a Chance, Let It Be, Live and Let Die, Hey Jude.

FIRST ENCORE
Lady Madonna, Birthday, Day Tripper, Get Back

SECOND ENCORE
Yesterday, Helter Skelter, Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End 

Photo Credit: Rob Pue

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.

Author: Thomas Newman
Release Date: October 22, 2012
Label: Sony Classical
Tracks: 30
Running Time: 77 minutes

Our Score: 2 out of 5 stars

2012 brings us the 50th anniversary of 007 James Bond.  When it comes to James Bond, the music have always been so important.  The theme songs are always memorable and epic. But even beyond that the scores have to move along the film with a specific feeling.  This score disappoints quite a bit and doesn’t really scream “Bond…James Bond“. The score does run almost 80 minutes over the 30 tracks but I just wish it was more effective throughout instead of just 80 minutes of dull music. “Breadcrumbs” is the best track on here but that is one because it is a homage to past Bond scores.

Firstly, let’s get the cat out of the bag and point out that Adele’s title track is not on this score.  Right off the bat, I am left with a bad taste in my mouth.  That track would have been a nice kick-off for this album and an incentive to purchase this score.  I understand they want to sell some singles for the track but I would have liked it to also be included here.  Secondly, I am not a fan of Newman’s score at all. He is typically a very well respected composer but I enjoy his scores like “American Beauty” and “The Shawshank Redemption”.  They have this  certain quieter and simple feel but still very epic.  “Skyfall” tries to be epic and ends up just feel like it is trying to hard.

Track Listings
1. Grand Bazaar, Istanbul
2. Voluntary Retirement
3. New Digs
4. Severine
5. Brave New World
6. Shanghai Drive
7. Jellyfish
8. Silhouette
9. Modigliani
10. Day Wasted
11. Quartermaster
12. Someone Usually Dies
13. Komodo Dragon
14. The Bloody Shot
15. Enjoying Death
16. The Chimera
17. Close Shave
18. Health & Safety
19. Granborough Road
20. Tennyson
21. Enquiry
22. Breadcrumbs
23. Skyfall
24. Kill Them First
25. Welcome to Scotland
26. She’s Mine
27. The Moors
28. Deep Water
29. Mother
30. Adrenaline

Composer: John Williams
Release Date: November 6, 2012
Label: Sony Classical
Tracks: 17
Running Time: 55 minutes

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

“Lincoln” is composed and conducted by the legendary John Williams, also long time collaborator with Steven Spielberg. I feel that the album really captures the essence of the movie. It is also performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Overall the score itself is very simple, quiet and packs a hell of a finale running 11 minutes. Though within that quietness it has this very epic and inspiring feel. Of course there is also the classic call of music from the period like the drums and fiddle of the Civil War. I did feel like getting up saluting and marching throughout a few tracks.

This is actually the 40th anniversary of duo working together if you can believe it. I have been a fan of Williams’ score and his notable signature is found all over this score for sure. “The Race to the House” contains excerpts arranged and performed by Jim Talyor and is a fun track. “With Malice Toward None” is another great track but I really have a sweet spot for the last track, which is a very sharp piano solo of the track. In another plus, the booklet on the CD really tells a story in itself.  It comes stocked with wonderful shots from the film, as well as a really nice and informative foreword from Steven Spielberg. Overall “Lincoln” is yet another successful collaboration with Williams and Spielberg.  This one will surely spend a few months on my iPhone.

Track Listings
1. The People’s House
2. The Purpose of the Amendment
3. Getting Out the Vote
4. The American Process
5. The Blue and Grey
6. “With Malice Toward None”
7. Call to Muster and Battle Cry Of Freedom
8. The Southern Delegation and the Dream
9. Father and Son
10. The Race to the House
11. Equality Under the Law
12. Freedom’s Call
13. Elegy
14. Remembering Willie
15. Appomattox, April 9, 1865
16. The Peterson House and Finale
17. “With Malice Toward None”(Piano Solo)

Alex Skolnick is best known as the guitarist for the legendary thrash metal band Testament.  Alex also performs with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and his jazz group The Alex Skolnick Trio. Media Mikes caught up with Alex on the floor of the New York Comic Con to discuss his upcoming book.

Adam Lawton: What led to your decision of writing a book?
Alex Skolnick: I have wanted to write a book for years as I am a fan of books. For a long time I had thought that if the music thing ever got too difficult to deal with I would look to literature as an option. I would never slow down on music and guitar playing but the music business is tough. The business side of things is completely separate from the music itself. It is very challenging and there are a lot of perils. I actually have ideas for several books in my head. I think the first one that I wrote had to be very personal and about me. I have lots of other ideas and eventually would like to branch in to fiction. This first book is really sort of a memoir. I am inspired by memoir/autobiographical books. This book has been a long time coming but it wasn’t until about 3 years ago that I really buckled down to get this out. This is a legitimate story that I think will appeal to more than just guitar and rock fans. In the book I talk about the high levels of resistance I encountered as a youth. I come from an academic family and I really rebelled against them by joining a band in high school. That was an amazing and very defining moment for me. I played with Testament the first time from the ages of 16 to 23. During those years you do a lot of growing and a lot of musicians are just beginning their careers at 23. I did my first album at 18. The book segway’s from my childhood and adolescence into joining the band which would become Testament. Our story is a bit different as we didn’t have a hit record with a set career path. This was a band that every album was a struggle. We got a lot of respect from the fans but never really from the industry. We never had gold/platinum records or won a Grammy yet we existed.

AL: Did you find writing the book was similar in any ways to writing music?
AS: Yes. Absolutely! Physically the process is very different. I would imagine if you compared different types of sports and how you play them there are differences however there is also some overlap. You get in to similar zones. What I found between guitar playing and writing is there’s this inspiration process that happens. With music you can try and get inspired by listening to music or going to concerts. Sometimes the best ideas come when you pick up your instrument after not playing for awhile and a great idea comes out. You just have to capture those ideas and with writing it was very similar. Usually the ideas are completely un-presentable in their raw form. I would just write page after page of stuff I wouldn’t want anyone to ever see but after awhile within those pages some pretty cool stuff starts happening. From there you have to go back and pick the best parts. It’s the same thing with music. You are hopefully trying to create some result. You have to do this quite a few times and abandon some huge chunks. Though this can be hard it is very important to de-clutter things. This process requires a lot of humility.

AL: Will fans get to see you out on tour with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra this year?
AS: I won’t be going out with them this year. I just have so much going on with Testament right now. The band is scheduled to go to Europe and the UK this coming year for some shows and we are also booked to go to India as well. My book is going to be coming out right around this same time so I have some things in the works to promote that as well. I worked with Trans-Siberian Orchestra for 9 seasons which was great but it was a lot. Ultimately all the projects I have going on right now I am more closely tied to.