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Night Flight Orchestra Guitarist David Andersson talks “Amber Galatic”

Guitarist David Andersson is probably best known for his work with the Scandinavian metal band Soilwork a band which he has been a part of since 2012. Prior to joining the Soilwork Andersson was hard at work with his classic rock tinged group Night Flight Orchestra who recently released their third album titled “Amber Galactic”. Media Mikes had the chance to speak with David recently about the album, its sci-fi theme and the bands plans to perform the album live.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us some background on how Night Flight Orchestra initially came together?

David Andersson: Me and Björn (Strid, also in Soilwork) first met in ’06, when we did our first Soilwork US tour together. We soon found out that we shared a mutual love for classic rock, so we started bonding over all those classic records, and before the tour was over, we’d decided to start a classic rock band ourselves. It took us a while to find the right people, but eventually we succeeded.

AL: What can you tell us about the upcoming release “Amber Galactic”?

DA: “Amber Galactic” is a concept album in a way, although it doesn’t have a straight narrative. It’s more a collection of stories that takes place in the same universe. “Amber Galactic” is set in a future where humanity is exploring and conquering space, but all the space commanders are women, just like the leaders back on Earth, and the men are mostly concerned with providing the ground service and idolizing and falling in love with those superior women that are always slightly out of reach.

AL: Where did this concept come from?

DA: The space theme was my idea. I’ve always read a lot of sci-fi books, mostly because in science fiction, anything is possible, and the things that you never thought would happen actually do happen. And, in a way, all those classic bands and artists from the 70’s and 80’s had the same totally over-the-top approach to everything that they did that was very science fiction-like, where everything was possible and there was no self-irony or “less is more“-thinking involved. Although the music industry was very different back then, and there was a lot more money, resources and drugs involved, I still felt that it is a shame that no one does those kinds of things anymore, at least not in rock music. It’s always been a dream to do something really epic, and what can possibly be more epic than space? So we decided to give it a go at it and just try to do the most epic, outrageous album possible.

AL: Was there anything new this time around with your writing/recording process?

DA: Nothing changed in the recording process, we’ve always produced and recorded everything ourselves. We don’t have any formula as such; we just meet in the studio, throw up some microphones, have a few drinks and start playing. But I guess we’ve gotten better at playing to our strengths and emphasizing the elements in our music that sets us apart from other bands. Though it’s nothing we’ve talked about, more like something in our collective subconscious.

AL: The band recently released a video for the song “Gemini”, can you tell us about that and why that song was chosen for a video treatment?

DA: Our label, Nuclear Blast, wanted to have “Gemini” as the first video release. It’s a song about a female space commander lost somewhere in space on a secret mission, and a love struck man back on Earth trying to get in touch with her to find out if his feelings are reciprocated. I’ve always dreamed of having an 80’s-style animated video set in space, so when we found Elia Cristofoli, an Italian animator/producer, it was fantastic to get a chance to finally do it.

AL: Are there plans to perform the album live/tour?

DA: Yes, we’ll do an exclusive show at the Rock Hard festival in Gelsenkirchen, Germany on the 3rd of June, and then we’ll hopefully do some sort of European tour in the fall. After that, we’ll see. It’s really fun playing live with The Night Flight Orchestra, and we’re always open for suggestions.

Amber Galactic is available for purchase now: http://nblast.de/TNFOAmberGalacticNB

Bassist Pete Griffin talks Giraffe Tongue Orchestra and their “The Walking Dead” connection.

Pete Griffin is a Grammy Award-winning bassist who has worked with everyone from Dweezil Zappa and Steve Vai to Edgar Winter and Dethklok. Griffin’s latest musical endeavor is that of Giraffe Tongue Orchestra a group whose members also include Brent Hinds of Mastodon, Ben Weinman of Dillinger Escape Plan and William DuVall of Alice In Chains. The group released their debut album titled “Broken Lines” in September and is hitting the road this month in support of the release. Media Mikes had the chance to talk with Pete recently about the bands formation, the creation of the album and what fans can expect from the upcoming tour.

Adam Lawton: How did the group initially come together and what is the story behind its unique name?

Pete Griffin: Ben and Brent had been touring together off and on for a decade with their respective bands Dillinger Escape Plan and Mastodon. Even though their sounds are a bit different there groups are both heavy and are very forward thinking. They have been friends and co-workers for some time. Those guys started kicking ideas back and forth and they ended up being better than the average ideas one might pass along. This all started back about eight years ago. The idea for the group has been around for some times and there have been various rhythm sections and recording sessions that didn’t yield any solid results. Last year I got a text from Brent after meeting him while I was out with Dweezil Zappa. I got asked to come and jam with those guys and we started working on a song that would end up being titled “Crucifixion”. They had already started working on things before I got there so I just walked in and just started going. It was at that moment that I think we all agreed there was something there. A month later we tracked the rest of the record with no vocalist. During that time Ben and I were having some pretty hilarious text messages back and forth about who we should get to sing. We were throwing out names like Sting and Paul McCartney which were just pipedream ideas. Around this same time Brent ran in to William in Atlanta and asked him if he would be interested in doing the record. The name of the group was already in place by the time I came along. I think it was one of those flash in the pan ideas where they saw a nature documentary about giraffes and you got to have a band name so there you go. On the flip side you have the abbreviation GTO which when you read it often gives people thoughts of the muscle car which is a hard driving automobile. I think that is a pretty accurate description of our sound as well so in a silly backhanded way it became a good moniker for us.

AL: Are the songs that make up “Broken Lines” ones that were already put together before you joined the group or is this an entirely new group of tracks?

PG: About seventy five percent of the songs were blocked out before I came in. The parts were all there but the bass lines may have needed some tweaking. We also may have done some arrangement changes but Ben had demos for three quarters of the album. When we got together we wrote three more songs as a band and things went from there. The last song we did was put together from three different jams we had recorded. We came up with a way to put them all together and make them work as one song. The interesting thing about that was going back and learning that song in its new form. Now that we have done it a few times its one of the more fun songs to play as it jumps around quite a bit.

AL: The group made some ties recently to “The Walking Dead” television series can you tells us how that all happened?

PG: Bear McCreary who is the composer on the show is a good friend of mine. I have worked with Bear for many years now on a number of his other projects. Have yet to work on “The Walking Dead” but I have done stuff for “Black Sails” and a bunch of other movie score stuff. I had let some of my music friends know about the new album when it came out so they could check it out and a couple weeks letter Bear made a post telling people to go check it out as well. It was cool to get the praise from him.

AL: What can fans anticipate from the upcoming live shows?

PG: So far I know we are going to be performing the full record. With the record being only forty five minutes I am sure we are going to be looking to add some other material or do some extended jamming but we will have to see. At this point we are still experimenting with who we are live. We did two festival shows in England but other than that this is all still very new. It’s definitely going to be a great show though every night we get up there. I am really excited to get things going. A couple days before the tour starts we are all heading out to Ben’s in New Jersey to put everything together so it’s going to be a lot of fun.

AL: This tour runs through mid-December. Have there been any talks of what you and the band have planned for the remainder of the year and into 2017?

PG: Currently after December there isn’t anything else booked for Giraffe Tongue. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be anything else as I would love to keep doing this but nothing is scheduled for right now. Personally for me after this tour wraps up I have a pretty quite rest of the year. Going in to next year I will be working with Paul Gilbert in January and February as we will be going down to Brazil which I am definitely excited for. Ben will be out with Dillinger in Europe promoting their last album and Brent has a new album with Mastodon coming out. It’s going to be a busy 2017 for all of us. That’s something fans should consider when thinking about coming to see Giraffe Tongue Orchestra is this could one of the few times you will get to this project live. That fact also will make the shows even more special.

Vinyl Review: Trans-Siberian Orchestra “The Christmas Attic”

Trans-Siberian Orchestra
“The Christmas Attic””
Distributor: Audio Fidelity
Produced by Paul O’Neil
Co-Produced by Robert Kinkel
Mastered: Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio

Our Score: 5 out of 5 stars

Recently, when I see a release from Audio Fidelity, I just know that it is going to be amazing, especially with a LP set. I recently reviewing the 2-LP set for the 1982 soundtrack for “TRON” and it was amazing! With the holiday season just around the corner, I am in the Christmas mood and their latest release is Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s classic album “The Christmas Attic”. This was originally released in 1998 and is the second installment of Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Christmas Trilogy. This album contains a mix of vocal and instrumental songs including the well-known track “Christmas Canon”. It has also become a must listen to in our family during this time of the year.

This is the first time that “The Christmas Attic” has ever been being made available on vinyl. I have been leaving to these tracks for over 15 years and they have never sounded better. The remastered record is packaged in a seasonal gatefold jacket that includes a colorful 12-page booklet filled with the tale of The Christmas Attic as well as the lyrics to all the songs. This LP is also timed perfectly with the fact Trans-Siberian Orchestra will be touring during the 2014 and 2015 holiday season with “The Christmas Attic” show once again. All fans (with vinyl players) need to buy this record. Warm up next to your loved ones by the Christmas tree (yes, mine is already up) and enjoy this wonderful release.

Disc One
SIDE ONE
1 The Ghosts Of Christmas Eve
2 Boughs Of Holly
3 The World That She Sees
4 The World That He Sees
5 Midnight Christmas Eve

SIDE TWO
1 The March Of The Kings/Hark The Herald Angel
2 The Three Kings And I (What Really Happened)
3 Christmas Canon
4 Joy/Angels We Have Heard On High

Disc Two
SIDE ONE
1 Find Our Way Home
2 Appalachian Snowfall
3 The Music Box
4 The Snow Came Down

SIDE TWO
1 Christmas In The Air
2 Dream Child (A Christmas Dream)
3 An Angel’s Share
4 Music Box Blues

Testament’s Alex Skolnick talks about upcoming book and working with Trans-Siberian Orchestra

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.

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Filed Under: Music Interviews Tagged With: alex, book, orchestra, skolnick, talks, testaments, ...

Jingle Punks’ The Hipster Orchestra New Video “4 Strings and an 808”

Jingle Punks is a music licensing company whose work is featured on TV, commercials, film and more. They have a side project called The Hipster Orchestra that has a new video called “4 Strings and an 808” and it features music from Beyonce, Jay Z, Mary J, Eminem, and more. It has more than 11 Thousand hits in just 2 days. Check out the video below:

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Filed Under: Music Headlines Tagged With: 4, 808, hipster, jingle, orchestra, punks, ...

Blu-ray Review “Deep Purple + Orchestra: Live At Montreux 2011”

Directed by: Stephen “BK” Bentley-Klein
Starring: Deep Purple
Rating: Unrated
Run Time: 115 Mins.
Studio: Eagle Rock Entertainment

Overall Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Who doesn’t love rocking out to Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water”? Such a great track. This Blu-ray was recorded on the closing night of Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival on July 16, 2011. The band re-invented their classic catalog with the help of a symphony orchestra. This is common for recent bands to do like Metallica, Kansas and Queensryche. I really enjoy the new take on great classics that playing with an orchestra presents. These guys still know how to deliver an entertaining concert. Overall this is a must for fans of Deep Purple, especially if your want to catch their classics with a twist.

The Blu-Ray release looks visually great even in 1080i video presentation. The sound also delivers these tracks perfectly in it DTS-HD surround sound track. Some of the great classic included on this concert is “Highway Star”, “Strange Kind of Woman,” “Lazy,” “Perfect Strangers,” “Hush,” “Woman From Tokyo,” “Black Night,” and “Smoke On The Water”. I think the orchestra really adds a new twist on these songs and the band Ian Gillan (vocals), Ian Paice (drums), Roger Glover (bass), Steve Morse (guitar) and Don Airey (keyboards) really seemed to be getting into it along with them.

The concert runs a decent 115-minutes and includes a great theatrical presence from the band. It shows that Deep Purple can still deliver some hardcore kick ass classic rock. There is great in depth interview included on the Blu-ray which has the band chatting about their music and the tour. It is very informative and definitely worth checking out. Whether you are Deep Purple biggest fans or just finding out about them (Thanks to the video game “Rock Band”), this is definitely worth checking out.

TRACK LISTING:
1) Orchestral Intro
2) Highway Star
3) Hard Loving Man
4) Maybe I m A Leo
5) Strage Kind Of Woman
6) Rapture Of The Deep
7) Woman From Tokyo
8) Contact Lost
9) When A Blind Man Cries
10) The Well Dressed Guitar
11) Knocking At Your Back Door
12) Lazy
13) No One Came
14) Don Airey Solo
15) Perfect Strangers
16) Space Truckin
17) Smoke On The Water
18) Hush
19) Black Night

Tag: orchestra

Night Flight Orchestra Guitarist David Andersson talks “Amber Galatic”

Amber Galactic is available for purchase now: http://nblast.de/TNFOAmberGalacticNB

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