Andy Wood talks about new album “Caught Between the Truth and a Lie”

Andy Wood has been performing music since a very young age starting out with his grandfather and cousin. Wood spent most of this past year touring with Scott Stapp serving as the bands musical director during the Creed front mans successful solo run. Wood has also appeared on variety of album as a session player and recently released his second solo album titled “Caught Between the Truth and a Lie”. Media Mikes had the pleasure of speaking with Andy recently about the new double album release and his first memories of music.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us some background on how you got your start in music?
Andy Wood: I grew up playing bluegrass with my grandfather and cousin. We started right around the time I was about 5 years old. I was playing mandolin and my cousin was playing fiddle. As I got older I kept playing music and started getting hired to perform and different places. Once I discovered electric guitar it was all downhill. (Laughs) I started session playing and really working doing various hired gun gigs. I did work with people like Sebastian Bach and list of others. If there was an opening I would jump in there and help out. On the side I was still doing my own music which helped me stay sane. After you work on other people’s material you need an outlet for your own creativity.

AL: You recently worked with Creed front man Scott Stapp can you tell us how that came about?
AW: I was hired while Scott’s solo album was in the mixing process. Tim Pierce played on the album but I was brought on to be the bands musical leader. It’s been a great time being out on the road. I am kind of the go to guy when it comes to the musical arrangement and such. I have to sort of manhandle the decisions when it comes to recreating the album live. If Scott wants to rework a song or something like that I put it all together and bring it to the band. I also will fill in on keyboards or other instruments if needed.

AL: Can you tell us about your new double disc solo album?
AW: The album came from self reflection. I am not just a guitar player or just a mandolin player. I wanted to put together an album that still featured those things but not be jarring to the listener. I put together songs like “The White Tree” which is on the acoustic half of the release and songs like “The Four Horseman” which is on the electric side. The release runs the gambit of Celtic/bluegrass to full on heavy metal. When you look at those two genres there’s not a lot of cohesiveness so I wanted the songs to have a nice transition. The first disc starts out with acoustic tracks and leads in to some more rock type tracks. The second disc starts out with more ballad type rock songs before it really takes off with the heaviest parts of the album. It does slow back down a little with some country type songs which help transition back to the first disc. I wanted the release to make sense no matter which disc the listener started with.

AL: So the idea of doing a double album was something you had always wanted to do?
AW: Absolutely! I wanted to tell the world I more than just what I am normally associated with. I am not just an electric guy or a bluegrass guy. There is a side of me that writes music which is very relaxed and low key. I needed an outlet to where it was ok to show who I am and all the different sides of my musical personality while not alienating my fan base.

AL: With your wide variety of styles was it hard to narrow it down to which ones you wanted to showcase on the new records?
AW: There were some difficult parts but, I went in to the sessions with about 50 fresh ideas. I went in really overloaded with material. To help narrow things down a bit I put a checklist together which the songs would have to match the specific criteria I laid out. There had to be a lot of melodic content because that it’s self is huge. The songs needed that memorable melody rather than something that was just full of guitars licks and flash.

AL: Being a multi-instrumentalist which do you find more comfortable to write on?
AW: I think where ever I am at be it guitar, mandolin, sousaphone or whatever the instrument acts as the translator. I try to be a musician first over anything else and I want to make sure that the melody I come up with will work well no matter what it’s played on. When I am writing the instrument is just an outlet.

AL: Have you thought about putting together a tour to support the release?
AW: With it being towards the end of the year not a whole lot of touring happens throughout the holidays. Once the New Year kicks off in January I will be appearing at Winter NAMM in Anaheim, CA. In February I will be out on the Ship Rocked Cruise which is always a lot of fun. I think we have done four of those so far. The fans that go on those cruises are just so excited for every show. It’s a really great time.

AL: What other plans do you have for the coming year?
AW: I think those phone calls will start to come as the year roles on. A lot of times everyone is so tired from the previous year that they take a few months off to relax and then start back up working again.

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All Time Low’s Zack Merrick talks about clothing line “Amerrickan”

Zack Merrick is best known as the bassist for the pop/punk band All Time Low. However in his down time away from the band he designs limited addition clothing for his company Amerrickan. Zack took time out of his busy schedule recently to discuss the clothing line his partnership with Killbrand and gave us an update on All Time Low’s upcoming album.

Adam Lawton: What can you tell us about the new run from Amerrickan?
Zack Merrick: Right now we have pulled everything off of our website because we are trying to push the designs that are on hottopic.com. So anyone wanting to pick up some of our designs can get them directly through Hot Topic.

AL: What was that initially interested you in doing a clothing line?
ZM: It was a great way to keep myself creative while I wasn’t playing music. I started taking photos and Jonny from Killbrand really liked them. We saw that there was a great response so we teamed up together and started Americkan.

AL: Can you tell us a little more about your partnership with Jonny and Kill Brand?
ZM: We have a lot of “joint meetings” and “joint files”. (Laughs) Jonny is like my big brother. He takes care of me and is always looking out for me and worrying about me. He is just as worried about me as my mom is sometimes. Jonny is super easy to work with and it’s really a lot of fun. When I head to California to work on designs with him I usually end up staying on his couch

AL: Most of the line is done as limited edition runs. Can you tell us a little bit about that decision?
ZM: It’s easier for me to make designs and think of things in a limited run. It’s also a unique way of doing things so that only 50-100 fans can get a shirt instead of everyone having the same shirt. This way you don’t over saturate the market.

AL: Can you give us an update on All Time Low and what the band has planned for the coming year?
ZM: I just finished recording my bass tracks the other day. Alex is in the studio currently working on vocals and guitar tracks. As a whole we are all gearing up to start press for the new album along with some doing some new photo shoots. We start touring in February over in UK with You and Me at Six and then we bounce around the planet to Australia then back to the States and so forth. With the new record coming out in 2015 it should be a good year and a long touring run.

 

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Kal Penn talks about his latest film “Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain”

Kal Penn is known best for his roles in the “Harold and Kumar” film series and TV with “How I Met Your Mother” and “House”. He recently took a break from acting to take a job as the Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement working with President Obama. His latest film “Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain”, which is a fictional adaptation of the Union Carbide chemical spill disaster of 1984 was made back in 2009 and finally getting a release on November 7th. Kal recently took some time to chat with Media Mikes to discuss his film and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: What was it about “Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain” that made you returning to acting?
Kal Penn: I had a hard time trying to describe the film, while I was shooting it. Friends of mine asked me why I wanted to do this movie and I said that I felt that the script was very powerful. I knew that when I read the script it really appealed to me and it was like nothing I had worked on before. It was a fictional adaptation of something that had actually happened. I sat down with the director and asked him why he wanted to make it? He grew up not too far from where the disaster actually took place. There have been some documentaries about it and some articles and books but no one has ever done a feature length fictional adaption about it. At the time we made it, it was 25 years after the disaster. Plus the fact that Martin Sheen was doing it. So selfishly as an actor I couldn’t say no.

MG: With your position at the White House, when did you do this film?
KP: I took a sabbatical from acting from 2009 to 2011 and had the chance to work in the White House. I knew that I was going to leave during that second year to come back to acting. This movie actually split that time. It was shot in 2009 and it was the last thing I worked on before I went off to the White House. After I came back to acting, I did the last season of “How I Met Your Mother” and I got a call about “Bhopal” and was told that that it was still wrapping up post production. They said that there was a lot of special effects in the last 15 minutes of the film and that I was going to be needed to come in and do some ADR, as they worked on their final edits. As of about six months ago, we knew that there was going to be a release date and they secured distribution.

MG: Tell us about your character Motwani and how you prepared?
KP: I did a bunch of research and read up a lot on the disaster. I spoke with the writer to find out what percentage of the character was fictionalized and adapted and what was real. My character as it turned out was one of the aspects that was largely fictionalized. The way that Ravi (Kumar) wrote the character was a lot broader. So my first question to him was that should I call the journalist that my character was loosely based on and try and talk to him. He told me “No, I want your character to be much broader from the start of the film”. He is this sort of larger than life gossip columnist that no one in town trusts because he keeps writing nonsense because it will sell newspapers. But over the course of the film, he is trying to warn the town of an impending gas leak in this factory and of course, nobody believes him. I thought it was a really layered role and a very well-developed character. So I mostly relied on the writer a lot instead of the historical context.

MG: What was it like shooting on location in India?
KP: It was awesome. I had only shot in India once before and that was for “The Namesake”. This movie we shot in Hyderabad and Mumbai. It is very different to shoot there. Kind of the biggest shocker for me was that actors would work on a couple of movies at the same time. They are shooting Monday and Tuesday on one movie and a second one on Thursday. It is a bit chaotic but in a really cool different way. It was a good learning experience. It also makes it a more dynamic environment when shooting on location.

MG: Do you think/hope that the film will bring more awareness to the event?
KP: My biggest hope going into the movie, even before we shot it, was that we do justice to the events that happened. It is an incredibly complex series of events and there are still people alive today that are living with the effects of what happened. Neither Union Carbide nor Dow Chemical ever actually apologized for what happened. It is also still not cleaned up in fact and the factory is still lying there empty. So if a fictional adaptation can get the conversation started and maybe even helps these people, then yeah I think that is great. But even beyond that, we did a screening in New York and it was interesting to hear people leave the screening that didn’t know that this was based on a true story. It really sparked some great conversations.

MG: You have done a mix of film and TV within genres of comedy and drama; do you have a personal preference?
KP: I love doing both. I hope that I am lucky enough to continue doing both. My fans have been really kind to me and I love them for it. To be able to go and do a stoner movie and then turn around and play a doctor is awesome. That is what I love about being an actor, I really enjoy playing all different kinds of characters. If I can continue to do that then I will be one happy person.

MG: Do you think we will ever see the return of Harold and Kumar?
KP: I would be happy to do as many as they will let me do. I would do “Harold and Kumar 58” when I am 102 years old [laughs]. Kumar is so much cooler than I will ever be in real life.

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Kevin Greutert talks about directing and editing horror film “Jessabelle”

Kevin Greutert is the director of the films “Saw VI”, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter” as well on editor on the entire “Saw” franchise. His latest film is called “Jessabelle” and is a ghost story set in Louisiana. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Kevin about the film and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: How was it going from directing “Saw 3D” to a film like “Jessabelle”?
Kevin Greutert: I was very eager to step away from the “Saw” franchise. I loved doing those movies but I wanted to get on with something different and really work with characters that are more developed and have more dramatic texture going on. When this script crossed my desk, I was super excited. It felt like a real breath of fresh air. We made it for a lot less money and a lot less time than most of the “Saw” movies. So in that regard, there was some different challenges as well. There are times when you what to put a camera or lights somewhere but it just isn’t possible. But It was absolutely worth it since the story is so good and the actors and crew were such a pleasure to work with. They made it so easy.

MG: Did you enjoy working in a more slow burn type of horror?
KG: The “Saw” movies were so energy fueled. I love making movies that are as physically engaging as possible. You say slow burn but I hope it isn’t too slow [laughs]. I have been told that this movie has a really amazing pace to it. It is not a movie that is throwing stuff at the screen the entire time. I think the most fun scenes in the film are the really quiet scenes that rely on the tiniest sound to trigger a scare or you see a shadow move in the background. To get to play with that kind of aspect instead of arms getting chopped off felt great and it felt really great on the set. There were no sets for this film, it was all shot in an isolated plantation. You can hear the night birds and there were alligators everywhere. So it was great to do a quiet ghost story.

MG: Like with the “Saw” franchise, you also edited “Jessabelle”; tell us about that aspect?
KG: It is interesting, I enjoy editing a lot but there are challenges to doing both. Directing a film is like climbing Mount Everest. It is really hard and takes all of your resources. By the time you finish, you really just want to go to the Caribbean and spent a month decompressing. By editing the film myself as well, I am climbing Everest and once I reach base camp, I have to turn around and do it again. It is that hard. There is no time to waste and you need to get right back into it. If there is any problem with the footage, it is on you. If I am editing someone else’s film and if something didn’t come out right or they failed to shoot a scene or get a shot, I can say “Man, those guys screwed up” [laughs]. That being said, I still felt pretty good when we got this film in the can. There were no reshoots needed or anything. So the hardest part of editing this film was actually all the stuff that I had to leave on the cutting room floor. Sarah Snook does every take different and they were all great. I am only person in the world who will see how these scenes could have been. These are tough decisions to see something so good and not be able to use it because something else was slightly more appropriate. That is a challenge but it is still very exciting as a filmmaker.

MG: That tub scene is quite effective; tell us about shooting that?
KG: Yeah, the bathtub scene was a tough one. Basically, we had to figure out how to create the sensation that the tub was filling up with swampy, oily, disgusting water. We had to find a place to shoot it. We were in this abandoned three story mansion. The only room we could do it was on the second floor, so in the dining room underneath, we had to build a giant 4×4 super structure to keep the tub from failing through the floor. It was probably our biggest shoot day. We had to have condor cranes at the windows with different lights and rain effects. We had a hot filled with water ready to make sure the girls didn’t freeze to death. Then on the very last day of shooting I had wanted to get a few more shots in the bath tub, so we had to set it all back up again. I thank the crew because it was a tough thing to do.

MG: Did you ever feel limited by the PG-13 rating?
KG: I always wanted this movie to actually be PG-13. When you put an R rating on a horror movie, people have expectations that this movie is going to deliver gore and blood etc. This is a very scary movie but not scary because of violence. It is scary due to its psychological situations. With that said, when we did submit the film to the MPAA, we did get back an R rating several times and we had to make a few adjustments. But for most people, if you would see both versions side by you probably wouldn’t be able to notice anything major missing.

MG: I liked the locations which created a lot of atmosphere in the film; tell us about where it was shot?
KG: From the day that I first read the script to the day that we started shooting, it was not a long time. First order of business was to cast it and simultaneously with that was to find a place to shoot it. Originally we drove all over Louisiana trying to find the right place. We would up in North Carolina and thought it looked more like Louisiana than Louisiana [laughs]. We originally found a great house and shortly after we were told that this guy James Wan was using it for a film called “The Conjuring” [laughs]. James is good friend of mine though and we found another place and ended up working in the same town at the same time as them. In the plantation we found, no one has ever made a movie there before and no one had lived there for decades. The last inhabitant was an old schizophrenic man. The walls were completely covered with strange drawings. It felt like a true haunted house. When you see the film it looks like a very derelict building but we cleaned it up a lot [laughs]. It was really a great place. When they go through the swamps, it was all the real thing. We had alligators following us around. It was wonderful.

MG: What can you tell us about your next film, “Visions”?
KG: That film is also produced by Jason Blum. I am currently editing it. It is a wife that buys a winery to overcome a tragedy. Her husband is also trying to sustain an agricultural business during a drought and the wife is pregnant. She starts to experience some very mysterious hauntings in the house. I don’t want to say too much but it has one of the best third acts that I have ever seen. I read the script for the first time back in 2008 and called everyone to get this film made. It took a while but it is great and I can’t wait for it to be released.

 

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Austrian crossover band Kontrust talks about new album “Explositive”

As I imagine many of us do, I dabble in late night encounters with the YouTube wormhole. I start by looking up some silly video of a cat riding a Roomba, or pull up a music video for one of my favorite bands. On September 28th, I was watching a DevilDriver video on the Napalm Records YouTube channel and an image on the side bar caught my eye; some oddly costumed farmer looking fellow screaming into the camera and the band name “Kontrust” with a song titled “Hey DJ!”.

Throwing caution to the wind, I clicked the link and the video started. The aforementioned farmer pulled out a vinyl and spun it on an antique phonograph. A female voice screamed “Don’t play me a punk song!” and a barrage of metal power chords followed. I’ll admit, I’m very selective about female lead singers in metal music, but once Agata Jarosz’ powerful voice hit on the first line of the verse, I was hooked. What followed was a seamless, intricate blend of funk, metal, and industrial music. I was sold. Kontrust had just made its way onto my play list and I hadn’t even made it through the entire song.

The follow up video to my Kontrust introduction was a song called “Sock N Doll.” Extremely unique, the video features a venue filled with sock puppets, and the band represented in the same fashion, but dressed in traditional Austrian garb. A quick yodeling lead in by Agata and then the vocals of Stefan Lichtenberger took over. Mixing elements of Korn, Pink and Buju Banton, this was one of the most beautifully diverse and energizing songs I had ever heard! I couldn’t get enough – so I took my crusade to eBay and secured a copy of Kontrust’s “Secondhand Wonderland.”

Song after song, my interest for this band and its musical prowess grew. I had Secondhand Wonderland playing non-stop in the Camaro, at work and at home. It was an obsession because the music made me feel good. It was the ultimate “Party Metal” album, without the after effects of a hangover. Much to my delight, I found out that there was going to be a follow up to this masterpiece – and extremely soon! “Explositive” is due to be released by Napalm Records on November 7th, 2014. I wanted desperately to get a hold of the band to talk about the successes of “Secondhand Wonderland” and what fans (and new listeners) could expect from the new album. I was fortunate enough to be granted a live Skype session (from Austria!) with three of the band’s members: Agata (vocals), Mike (guitar) and Gregor (bass and synth).

Eric Schmitt: So how was Kontrust formed? As far as where did the members come from and how did you decide on the direction to go in?
Gregor Kutschera: In the beginnings it was a band from the countryside in upper Austria – you may know it from “The Sound of Music” musical. We three, are actually from Vienna. The other guys, they are from Up-Austria. They formed the band, like 10 years, 12 years ago or something. We joined in 2005, mixed Up-Austria with Vienna, the big city, you know? They moved to Vienna to work and to study. They played mostly in a hardcore band, you know, before Agata joined with her clean vocals.
Agata Jarosz: It was really bad (bad-ass) and really {growls}. Then Agata came and said, “I’m sorry, that’s not my way. You have to come with me and go my way.” {laughs}So Kontrust started!.
Mike Wolff: It all started around 2001, then in 2005 the major change was applied. Agata joined and the whole band structure changed – it’s gotta have a little more “pop” factor in there.
GK: Or melody.
MW: Yes, melodies, to go a little bit in the pop music direction. Well, 9 years later, we’re still here and the last 3 albums, Time to Tango, Secondhand Wonderland and Explositive channel what we’ve been doing for those 9 years. Explositive is definitely something to more of the essence to what we are doing; reduced to the maximum if you want.

ES: The mix of musical genres is really successful with the albums, it works. The way you go from pop to metal to reggae. So I wanted to get an idea of what kind of musical influences brought everything together. In particular, personal influences that drove you to mix the genres together.
AJ: There is one band that every one of us was hearing when we were younger – it was Rage; Rage Against the Machine.
GK: Yeah, that’s the band we can all agree on. It’s the only act we can all agree on. {laughs}
AJ: I think the 90’s – we are all kids of the 90’s, so this is our music.
MW: Well, Rage Against the Machine was the only band that we agreed upon, that each of us likes. I mean there is so much other stuff in there that adds to it. From Skunk Anansie to even Iron Maiden. {Laughter} I have to say that! I’m the biggest Iron Maiden fan.
GK: Run to the…… {Laughter}
MW: We’ve got to leave that in the interview! Anyways, I guess it’s just – I don’t know – It’s kinda hard to say. I think of Kontrust basically being something where all of the musical influences we have where we can agree on those things.
GK: Some of us like some songs more than others.
MW: It’s diverse, but I guess that’s what drives us. There’s always so much tension when we’re writing the songs, it doesn’t just happen. You have to convince the others in the band-
GK: It’s fighting, it’s struggling, it’s pain….. And it’s awesome!

ES: As far as the new album, Explositive goes, what were the driving forces behind the tracks that you decided on?  What factored in to actually choosing the tracks to go on the new album?
AJ: Good question.
GK: We did lose some of our best parts (of tracks) along the way because they didn’t fit into songs. In the end, we all took the best the songs that worked. Every part fits perfectly well. It’s hard to say, I just have the feeling we lost some good parts and heavy parts along the way, but that doesn’t matter. The song was the focus.
MW: We write like 120 ideas and lose so much along the way. It’s just because we find something to start the song, then everything else has to fit. In the end we find it doesn’t fit Kontrust, so that song is going to get thrown out. Then we go back into the archive and digging for material, then start putting that (material) together. So basically, it’s all about an idea – is this Kontrust? Or could we sell this, say to Megadeth? {Laughter} When you work together as a band, with us being six people, there’s so much input you have to filter. Then it ends up with ideas that everyone is happy with.

ES: What are the tour plans once the new album is released?
AJ: The dates are in progress. We are planning a tour next year in the Netherlands, Germany and in Europe. This autumn, we will only play in Austria, in every major city. Next summer is festival season, and that’s the most important part (of the year) for us.
GK: So we take a slow start in the winter, then start out in spring and summer for festivals. There are a lot of big festivals in Europe, so we’re looking forward to that.
MW: We’re thinking about coming over the pond (to America), it all depends on how the album is perceived in the States.

ES: Are there any differences (from Secondhand Wonderland) in the new album that you would like to elaborate on?
Mike: Everyone is looking at me! {Laughter}
GK: We will give this to Mike, because he is our Minister of Propaganda. {Laughter}
MW: First of all, this album has been the easiest for us.
AJ: I think that we all like this album more than Secondhand Wonderland. It’s more “back to the roots,” that’s a very big reason why I like the album. Secondhand Wonderland was very over-produced. We wanted to over-produce the album, it was something special and different. (But) it was too much “pling pling”. Explositive is more “in your face”.
MW: It’s more in your face, it’s kind of reduced. All the stuff you hear, there’s almost no added artificial samples or anything, (as) compared to Secondhand Wonderland. It’s us playing, a little bit of synth, which Gregor plays,  and everything else, all the effects, are all natural. The reverb you hear is real. It’s basically this room here.
AJ: We recorded the album in this room (a slow turn of the phone shows me Kontrust’s spacious studio).
MW: The album, we think, is straight forward, in your face, has the party mood and has the feel of “bang your head on something hard and see what happens.” I guess when people who already like Kontrust will like this album a lot because it’s more of essentially what Kontrust is. Less of  the added stuff. And people who don’t know us yet will probably have an easier time to get into us just because the album, at least we think, is really “simple”.

If Explositive is Kontrust’s idea of “simple,” I would be intrigued to hear what “complex” would sound like to them. Napalm Records posted a preview of all of the songs on the new album, which can be heard by clicking HERE, or see above, as well as the first release on the album “Just Propaganda.” The new album sounds just as diverse and intricate as Secondhand Wonderland, but offers more of a raw appeal. Explositive can be pre-ordered through the Napalm Records Webstore as well as Secondhand Wonderland, which this author HIGHLY recommends! I am personally looking forward to November 7th and the release of Explositive, and have high hopes that 2015 will bring this extremely talented, energetic and most of all, friendly band stateside, so that Americans can see what we’ve been missing out on all these years!

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Malek Akkad talks about about his directorial debut “Free Fall” and the “Halloween” franchise

Photo Credit: 2014 Stuck Film Group, LLC.

Malek Akkad is the son of Moustapha Akkad, who is know for producing all eight “Halloween” films in the original series up until his death in 2005. Malek took over the reign with the recent reboot of “Halloween” with Rob Zombie and is continuing his father’s legacy. Malek is making his directorial debut with the suspense thriller “Free Fall”, which stars Sarah Butler (“I Spit on Your Grave”) and Malcolm McDowell (“Rob Zombie’s Halloween”). Media Mikes had a chance to chat about the film with him, along with the recently released “Halloween: The Complete Collection” Blu-ray box set and the future of the franchise.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about what made you take the jump from producer to director with “Free Fall”?
Malek Akkad: My intended focus when I came out of film school was to do direct. I was doing a lot of music videos, commercials and trying to get up and running in that career. I was a production manager on a couple of shows. My path just took me more on the side of producing and then I started working with my father. In this business, you have to take it where it comes from. So I did spend a few years working in the producing gig, which I do love. My passion is just being in production in general. But I did want to get back into directing, so this was a good opportunity and we had some time between other projects. We came across this script and it felt like it would be a run ride to take.

MG: What made you decide to tackle a suspense thriller instead of horror?
MA: For one thing, I thought the horror genre would be the obvious route to go and I wanted to tackle something that would be outside of the realm that I was comfortable in. Plus I didn’t want to get pigeonholed as “the horror guy”. I found this script and thought the writer was able to really flip the head on a few genre key elements, which I liked. It was also a script that I was able to use some themes that I wanted to address. So it worked on a lot of levels.

MG: You know you seriously just took elevators to a whole new level here, right?
MA: Oh great, awesome! I am great to hear that. Every time I get into an elevator now, I am thinking that karma is going to get me [laughs].

MG: Was it always planned to reunite with “Halloween” star Malcolm McDowell?
MA: He was just perfect for this role. We had worked together twice before and he is just a joy to work with. He also fit the character perfectly actually, so it was an honor that he agreed to do this with me. It is also great to be able to work with actors that you are comfortable with. It was great to work with him once again.

MG: Let’s talks about the “Halloween: The Complete Collection”; how involved were you with this release?
MA: It was a hurdle of getting all the involved parties together. In this franchise, there has been so many different distribution companies and production entities. The first thing to tackle was getting everyone on the same page. Between Shout! Factory and Anchor Bay, they really did a great job in doing that. With the behind-the-scenes material, I think that Shout! Factory really did a great job in putting together a lot of new material. Then we had to go to Miramax and dig up the old elements for “Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers”. So I definitely had an involvement but most of the credit needs to go to Shout! Factory for putting together a great package that the fans have really been responding to.

MG: Why do you think the idea of Michael Myers is still so effective after all these years?
MA: There are so many answers to that. With horror genre, going back to the great Universal Monsters, is filled with just such hardcore fans. People just love to go in and have that controlled sense of fear. There is enough fear in the world that people can’t control. So if you can spend two hours and you know you are somewhat safe, I think that is something cathartic in that. I think all that feeds into what this franchise has become. Of course, it all goes back to the amazing classic from John Carpenter.

MG: Any progress updates for the next “Halloween” film in the franchise?
MA: Yeah, we are working on one right now. We are due a new draft any day now. We are working really hard to take it to the next level and keep the fans as happy as we can. I think we have a really fun pick and getting everyone involved and on the same page and behind one storyline takes longer than you would think. I think we have finally cracked something that we really liked and we are going to have some announcements very soon!

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Joseph Bishara talks about his role and his score in the film “Annabelle”

Photo by Dean Karr

Joseph Bishara is the amazing composer for horror films like “Insidious”, “The Conjuring” and most recently “Annabelle”. He is also probably the cause of a few of your nightmares since he played great characters like Lipstick-Face Demon in “Insidious” and Bathsheba in “The Conjuring”. Joseph took out some time to chat with Media Mikes again about his new film “Annabelle” and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: From your role of Lipstick-Face Demon in “Insidious” to Bathsheba in “The Conjuring” to your latest role in “Annabelle”; what do you enjoy most about getting to play these roles?
Joseph Bishara: I like being able to look through the eyes of these characters, and getting to have a different perspective and take on the film. It’s seeing the scenes unfold from the inside. They were all very interesting characters to explore.

MG: We got to learn about your character in “Insidious” and “The Conjuring” but not much in “Annabelle”, give us some background on your role?
JB: It’s the demon that’s attached to the doll. When discussing the character with James (Wan), his take described it more specifically, as Lorraine Warren would explain as a “latching demonic”.

MG: Which of the three was the most challenging for you?
JB: I would have to say “The Conjuring” because it was the most time I was on set and also the longest to get into the makeup. “Insidious” was challenging also but it was different because it was more guerrilla filmmaking, where we had to make do with what we had to work with.

MG: How does it feel like to give a grown man nightmares with these roles?
JB: [laughs] That’s a good thing. I won’t apologize for anyone losing sleep, everyone needs to have nightmares.

MG: You not only have roles in the above-mentioned films but you also are the composer delivering spin-tingling scores; what do you enjoy most about working in this genre?
JB: It’s the genre that I feel most comfortable in, and with the directors that I have worked with I have been given a lot of freedom to take the scores in the directions I wanted. Horror is always a favorite of mine and I just really enjoy creating in that space.

MG: “Insidious” is easily one of the best horror scores in recent years; how do you approach a score when you are working with the film?
JB: When I start on a score, I just start hearing it in my head often from the moment it starts being discussed. I can’t really explain it but if the project is right, ideas will just come. It’s finding what the language is and isn’t, and then speaking it.

MG: What can we expect from you in terms of role and composer in “Insidious: Chapter 3″?
JB: I can’t say much just yet, but Leigh did an excellent job with it and brings a bit of a different flavor. Hopefully you’ll lose more sleep.

For more info, check out his official sites: www.jbishara.com and www.voidrecordings.com

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Gerrit Graham talks about roles in “Phantom of the Paradise” and “Used Cars”

New York born, Gerrit Graham grew up in the Midwest and began his acting career at the age of eight in a stage production of “Winnie the Pooh.” He was the manager of the Columbia Players at Columbia University and it was while he attended school that he began his association with filmmaker Brian De Palma.

Among his best known roles are Beef in “Phantom of the Paradise” (recently released on Blu-ray), the overly superstitious Jeff in the classic comedy “Used Cars” and Franklin on the animated hit “The Critic.”

As he prepared for his recent appearance at this years Chiller Theater Expo Mr. Graham took some time out to answer some questions about his long and continuing career.

Mike Smith: You began your film career by appearing in three early Brian De Palma films. How did that relationship come about?
Gerrit Graham: I was a sophomore at Columbia University in NY, and was the head of the Columbia players, the college theatre company. One day I got a phone call from a guy who said that he had been the former head when he was there, and he was trying to make a film and he was hoping that the players could give him some help for rehearsal space, wardrobe, etc. He also mentioned that he was looking for two or three experienced actors, preferably in comedy. He had hoped to find someone in the Fine Arts Department. He gave me an address and said to send any interested actors to see him. I asked his name and he said “Mr. Brian De Palma”. Instead of sharing the address, I went down myself to see him. I spent the next three or four afternoons in the producer’s apartment, his name was Chuck Hirsch. I met with a variety of actors and eventually got the role, which was for the film “Greetings,” De Palma’s first feature film. It got a real release and ended up being a hit. A year later I got a call from Brian saying that he was making a sequel to “Greetings,” which was “Home Movies.” He offered me a role, which I of course accepted. We continued working together for many years because we trusted each other.

MS: How did you come to be cast as Beef in “Phantom of the Paradise?” My understanding is that you were originally slated to play Winslow?
GG: No, I was originally hired to play Swan. Then Paul Williams, who would become an Oscar winner and at the time was a very popular songwriter in LA had a agreed to play the Phantom in exchange for doing the music score. Paul then decided that he didn’t want to play the Phantom and instead wanted to play the villain. This meant that William Finley, a good friend of Brian De Palma’s, could play the Phantom, which was written by Brian for Finley. This meant I couldn’t play Swan anymore and Brian said he had another role; a character called “Capt. Beef”. I asked Brian what this character was like, and he said “a rock and roll star”. So that sounded like a lot of fun to me. A Sha-Na-Na type character was something that sounded like fun to me. It turned out that was not what he wanted. He flew me out from NY to meet with Paul Williams and the two of them kept making this Beef character seem more like Little Richard. “What do you want,” I said? They said “flamboyant”, which at the time in Hollywood meant “gay”. So I did a few lines in the Beef accent and lisp, and they loved it, burst into laughter and said, “that’s it!” That’s how the character was born.

MS: Are you as superstitious as Jeff, your character in “Used Cars?”
GG: No. I have a few superstitions that I do, like not walking under ladders, but that’s just common sense because you don’t want anything to fall on your head from the ladder.

MS: I’ve read that you actually did shoot the cars during the television commercial. Is that true? What kind of precautions did you have to take? (NOTE: In the film, Mr. Graham’s character films a car dealer commercial in which he takes a shotgun to the high prices posted on the windshields. The scene ends when he exclaims “Is this a 1974 Mercedes 450SL for $24,000? That’s too fucking high!” He then pushes a plunger and blows the car to pieces.)
GG: I did the shooting with blanks in the shot gun, then they brought in a stunt double who was a trained guns man. He did the scene shooting real shells at the car. I was standing there watching him, and all the other scenes were me.

MS: When’s the last time you were in a red car?
GG: I actually had a red car when I was about 22 years old. I had a red Saab Station Wagon. It was a good car! Since then I may have rented a red car or two, but nothing bad has ever happened.

MS: You’ve done both comedy and drama. Do you have a preference?
GG: No, not really. They are two different arrows in my quiver. Each are enjoyable in their own ways and have their own rewards. It just happens that I’ve done more comedy, but that wasn’t by choice. It just happened!

MS: Same question, film versus television. Preference?
GG: TV is just another arrow in my quiver as well. It depends on what kind of TV show it is. A half hour comedy or an hour long drama are a bit different. An hour long TV show is more like a film, because you shoot out of sequence. A half hour TV show is nice because you shoot in sequence from beginning to end. Other than the fact that they spend a lot more money making a film than a TV show, the work is pretty much the same. The end result is just a question of how good it turned out.

MS: You have a couple of Disney writing credits. How did that come about?
GG: I had a writing partner, and we just decided to try to write stuff to see if we could sell anything. I had made films with a producer named Phil DeGuere. He had done a number of shows, including the new “Twilight Zone” series. My partner and I pitched Phil stuff that we wrote, and we ended up writing three episodes of “The Twilight Zone.” At that point, my brother had joined as a third writer, and we continued to write. I honestly can’t remember how we got connected to Disney. We contributed extra material to “The Little Mermaid” and some other Disney films. We also wrote “Prince and the Pauper,” which was Mickey Mouse’s first feature in a great number of years.

MS: You’ve done a lot of animated voice work. Is that type of performing easier or harder than actually being on screen?
GG: It’s easier, because you don’t have to shave! There’s no make up, and you can do endless takes if necessary, without cutting, stopping, or changing scenery or wardrobe. My best known animated work is played Franklin on “The Critic.” That was a lot of fun! I got to work with a lot of really funny people and some microphones. We struggled with trying to keep each other from cracking up during recordings.

MS: What are you working on next?
GG: I’m working on finding work! Preferably, voice over work.

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Rob Zombie talks about his Crowd-Funded Clown Horror Film “31”

Photo Credit: Rob Fenn

Grammy nominated musician, Rob Zombie has written and directed films like “House of 1000 Corpses”, “The Devil Rejects”, “Halloween (2007)”, “Halloween II (2009)” and “The Lords of Salem”. He is currently working on his next film “31”, which is a crown-funded project. The campaign currently ends on Halloween, so if you want to see Rob Zombie’s most brutal film get made head over to RZ-31.com and back it. Media Mikes had a chance to chat again with Rob to discuss the project, fear of clowns and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: Last year, when we spoke you mentioned that “The Broad Street Bullies” would be your next film; what happened?
Rob Zombie: It just kept getting bogged down. “The Broad Street Bullies” is a true story, so unfortunately when you try and branch out and do something like that it is hard. I didn’t own the rights to it and I was working with other people. It is hard enough getting these movies made when you are in total control but when you get other people involved it just sort of drags on. So I worked on it for about two years and I felt like I could spend the next five years working on it and it still might not happen. I like making movies. I don’t like just having meetings and telephone calls. I may go back to it later but I might not since sometimes things just drag on forever. I don’t have forever, you know? I like to work and make movies.

MG: How was the idea for “31” born?
RZ: It came about in a very funny way. Last Halloween, I was in Pomona, CA working on this haunted house attraction I did called, “Great American Nightmare”. I was watching people running around being scared by people dressed as clowns with fake chainsaws and stuff. I saw the true terror on some people’s faces…even though they know it is fake, obviously since it is an amusement park. People just can’t stand clowns. So that was stuck in head. Then I was researching something online and I found out that Halloween was the number one day of the year when people go missing, according to the Missing Persons Bureau. I thought “Hmmmm…missing on Halloween?” Then I thought about the clowns and I ended up concocting this crazy idea about people being kidnapped and forced to battle murderous clowns, sort of like “The Most Dangerous Game” but with disgusting clowns. At the time, I was still working on “Broad Street Bullies” and getting bogged down, so I said to my manager that I was getting frustrated with this movie but I have this other ridiculous idea. I told him the idea and he said “I think I can sell that”. So it’s funny you work on something for years and then come up with this crazy idea off the top of your head and suddenly everyone is excited. That is literally how it happened.

MG: I grew up (and still am) scared of Pennywise from Stephen King’s “IT” but what do you think it about clowns that always scares people?
RZ: Clown makeup is weird and doesn’t hide everything. If you have a gross disgusting face, it almost extenuates it. It does hide your features though. If you just take white clown make up and smear it on your face, it really does make it hard to identify somebody. Think about Cesar Romero as the Joker, he was still so Cesar Romero but at the same time totally not. There is something so subtly disturbing about it. If they have a mask or a hood, they are totally covered but there is something so perverted about grease paint on someone’s face. The funny thing is that as children we are supposed to find these disgusting characters in grease paint adorable? Sorry but they are terrifying.

MG: With sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, what made you take your crowd-funding campaign to FanBacked?
RZ: Originally it wasn’t my idea to crowd-fund, my manager came to me with it. We had a few offers from Kickstarter and the others but FanBacked was brand new and they seemed the most enthusiastic. I liked the vibe of how they worked. It was also focused on entertainment and not all over the board. So we thought, let’s give them a shot and it has worked out great.

MG: What can we expect from this game in the film?
RZ: It is going to keep changing since we haven’t shot the movie yet. We start shooting in February. I love claustrophobic self-contained movies. I never make movies like that. I love films like “Dawn of the Dead”, even though in scope it is a big movie but I always loved when they get stuck in the mall. To me it was always so intense. I just love that idea. All my movies haven’t been self-contained but I have always wished that they were. So what can be more terrifying that being locked in this place and people just keep releasing a homicidal maniac to chase you constantly? There is nowhere to go. If you end up killing one of the guys, your only reward is that they release another one. It is like the coliseum, there is no way out. You literally have to kill every lion to survive. What can be worse than that? That was basically the idea. No rest for the wicked.

MG: Any cast in place yet for the film?
RZ: I have lots of people in mind but I haven’t cast anyone yet or spoken to anyone.

MG: You have said that this will be your most brutal film; any fears of it being censored for its theatrical release?
RZ: Sometimes you have different goals with movies. The goals for “The Lords of Salem” was not to be violent, gory and brutal. The goal of it was to make a slow paced, psychedelic head trip. With “31”, I just wanted to make something that is just so dirty and nasty…that is the goal. Then after you worry about the ratings board, because you can’t predict that they are going to do. If you try and censor yourself in advance, they will find something else. I am just going to make it as fucked up as possible and we’ll figure out a way to get it passed the MPAA. The unrated version then will live on forever, so that is all that matters.

MG: We have three days to go before Halloween and the end of the campaign; what can you tell fans who are looking to back this project?
RZ: We can really use everyone’s help. Even if you can’t donate money, just getting word out is very helpful. Anything helps. People twittering about it on their own is just as helpful as somebody backing it with money. That was always the goal from the get-go. Horror movies have always been a very fan driven industry. When the corporate world gets involved, they always ruin it. I wanted this to be fan involved. So if you want to back this go to RZ-31.com and keep spread the word!

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Spero’s Jesse Hofstee talks about new EP “Pride”

Jesse Hofstee is the guitarist and vocalist for the band Spero. Based out of San Diego, CA Spero plays a blend of rock, folk and blues and have been compared to the Black Keys and Jack White. The groups newest EP titled “Pride” is set for a mid November release and Media Mikes had the chance to speak with Jesse recently about the group and their new release.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us a little bit about the formation of the band?
Jesse Hofstee: I think everything started in or around 2011. I had known Hillary Laughery the keyboard player from high school and had just gotten out of another band I was in while in college. I wasn’t really playing at the time but would jam and work on some songs. Hillary and I got together to play some songs and we connected almost instantly. We spent the whole summer just playing and writing songs. We would play for 8 hours at a time. Things just went together really easy. After that we decided we were going to try and make it and set out to put a band together. I got Nick Hankins to come play bass and then Ryan Malette to play drums. I had actually played in a heavy metal band with both of them in high school.

AL: How would you describe the band’s sound as it is quite unique?
JH: We have elements of blues, rock and roll and at time indie rock. It’s really just a mix of blues and rock. Some of our songs have more blues elements while others are more rock. We sort of cross a number genres but I think if I had to pick one to put us in it would be more of the blues/rock genre.

AL: Can you tell us about the bands new EP?
JH: For most of the songs it’s either I or Hillary writing the foundation or structure of the songs. We then work on them as a band and change things around as we want everyone input and style to be a part of the process. One of the first songs we did for this EP was the title track “Pride”. I think that song was sort of a theme over the others that were written. It’s about taking pride in your work and who you are while not giving up. That’s really the overlying theme on the EP. I wrote 4 of the songs and Hillary wrote 2. We really were refining our sound as we went along and were happy with how things went. The release has a lot of variety and doesn’t really stick us into a specific genre.

AL: How would you describe the progression from your previous release to where you are now?
JH: With the last album we were still sort of figuring out what we wanted to do. We sort of just went straight through with things on that record. With the new EP we were able to expand more and spend more time on each of the tracks. Some of the songs came quickly while other took a little longer. We did some demoing and then sent them over to a producer. We wanted a more complete release and push things a bit further this time.

AL: What was it about doing an EP that was more appealing rather than doing another full length album?
JH: Where we are at right now we are still just trying to get our sound out to new people. I felt we had a handful of songs that went together well and followed the same theme. I wanted to get new music out there and wasn’t really concerned with doing a full length. We are still trying to attract new people and I think giving people a full album can be a bit overwhelming. With an EP it’s a little easier to digest and it’s a less expensive process.

AL: What are the bands current tour plans?
JH: We are hoping to do another coastal tour once the EP is out. We did a run of shows up the west coast a little bit ago and that went really well so we definitely want to do something like that again. We are looking to find a team to help get us out to more people as its hard to focus on both that and the writing aspect of things.
 

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Eduardo Sánchez talks about his kick-ass Bigfoot film “Exists”

Eduardo Sánchez is best known for co-directing and writing the found footage horror flick “The Blair Witch Project”. Since then he has given the horror genre some great films like “Altered” and “Lovely Molly” and even crossed over into TV with the BBC America series “Intruders”. His latest film is a real labor of love and easily his best film to date called “Exists”. It is a Bigfoot creature feature like no other. Eduardo took out some time to chat with Media Mikes again about his kick-ass Bigfoot film and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: What made you want to do a film about Bigfoot?
Eduardo Sánchez: I grew up in the 70’s and Bigfoot was my “Avengers”. It was my monster growing up. It scared the crap out of me but at the same time it also fascinated me. I mean, this creature lives in the woods? Daniel (Myrick) and I were inspired by the Patterson–Gimlin film, “The Legend of Boggy Creek” and the TV series “In Search Of” and without those there wouldn’t have been “The Blair Witch Project”. I have wanted to make a Bigfoot movie for a long time. The movie “Harry and the Henderson” made Bigfoot a punchline, even though I laughed myself. There is still this part of me that wants to show this kick-ass Bigfoot that is scary and fucks shit up and not in a cartoon way. It doesn’t have super human strength, it is just a strong big ass animal. This is the like the third Bigfoot project that we have tried to get off the ground and we finally got it financed. I have been looking for THIS version of Bigfoot since I was a kid. It is a guy in the suit but he is cool, fast, strong and smart. It is my sort of my love letter to Sasquatch. I owe that whole culture so much and I really wanted to do right by it.

MG: I love that you kick off the action and suspense right from the start of the film with no bullshit!
ES: Thanks dude! I mean, we all know who the main character of the movie is. You can’t delay man. You can’t. That is how I felt. I wanted to see it just as bad as the audience did. I wanted to get to the creature fast and get right into the good stuff.

MG: Tell us about how you created your Bigfoot, which looks fantastic?
ES: I had an idea that I could bring a really cool Bigfoot to life. Most importantly, I thought I could do it without the use of CGI. Not that I am against CGI but Bigfoot needs to real man. I basically just went balls to the wall to try and create something that has never been seen before or at least in a long time. I knew we would need to have a kick-ass creature. We first got WETA, the guys who did “The Lord of the Rings”. We had a connection to them through our producer, Mark Ordesky. They came in and did some design work for us. When it came time to build the suit, we called our friends at Spectral Motion. They have done a bunch of films with us and we are like family. They finished up the design and built this crazy suit. Let me tell you man, at the end of the movie we get close to this character and it really holds up. So we were all excited.

MG: Brian Steele is a man who knows how to become a monster; how did he get involved?
ES: Spectral Motion are the ones that pitched me on having the right person in the suit. They brought up Brian Steele. It’s funny because Brian actually played the role of Harry in the “Harry and the Hendersons” TV series. So he was just perfect man and it really worked out. When the suit was done, we went to LA and were going to see it on Brian for the first time. So we shot this little test movie and once we saw it man…it just blew us away man. A couple of times during shooting, we would all look at easy other and just say that we couldn’t believe that we were making a Bigfoot film. We had to pinch ourselves to make sure it was real.

MG: Tell us about the use of GoPro cameras in the film?
ES: You can’t really do a found footage film these days without the use of GoPros since they are so ubiquitous. Everyone has got them today. If they are out in the woods and shooting them these guys doing all this crazy shit then we figured we would have to use GoPros. We haven’t worked with them before this and it was before the new ones came out, so we were using the Hero2 model. It definitely had some limitations but we are very happy with the way it turned out. There is a lot times where it is supposed to be a GoPro also and we are shooting with a 5D or something like that. I just love that you can run and hide and that camera is just shooting non-stop. I love that.

MG: How did you shoot the house tumble scene?
ES: I can’t really discuss the budget, but we didn’t really have a lot of money. Obviously the Bigfoot suit was where most of our money went. But our effects guys were just great. They shot all the outside stuff and it going over the cliff. Then the inside stuff, we literally took the same trailer and put it on a gimbal, between two stands, put some silly stunt people in there [laughs] and just shook it up man, like a clothes dryer! You are always nervous asking stuntmen to do certain things but they really had a lot of fun with this and nobody got hurt, which is good. While they were spinning, we just put a bunch of cameras in there and then we just cut it together with a bunch of different angles. I think it came out really well.

MG: What was your biggest challenge on this film?
ES: It really was figuring out the creature like where the creature looked good and where it didn’t work out and then just trying to keep that sensibility throughout and not letting it get out of control. A lot of times you get a really good effect and the movie just shows it to death. But if you are going to do a Bigfoot movie man…you got to show the fucking monster. You can’t cheat the audience. This was one of my main goals…to show this creature. But we focuses on how to do this right and not let the audience get tired of seeing this creature. I never forgot that this was a guy in a suit and we shoot it with that in mind. People were just having so much fun though and we really have a great team. This film was a labor of love for a lot of people.

MG: What do you have in the cards next?
ES: Absolutely man! I have been getting into some TV recently. I just did the show on BBC America called “Intruders”. I directed the first four episodes of that and I loved it. It was such a great experience. Gregg (Hale) and I are actually trying to get a TV show of our own going. We are close. I think we have the right idea from the reactions we have been getting. It is just a matter of getting everything pitched to the right people. Then we also have like five features right now that are currently in various stage of development. We are about to get a green light on one of them very shortly. So 2015 seems like it is shaping up to be a very busy year, which is great.

 

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Helmet’s Page Hamilton talks about the 20th anniversary of “Betty” and scoring films

Page Hamilton Music (www.pagehamiltonmusic.com)

Page Hamilton is the lead singer and guitarist for the band Helmet. The band is currently celebrating their 20th anniversary of hit album “Betty”. Page has also collaborated on numerous film scores like “Heat” and also recently created an original score for the film “Sons of Liberty”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Page about music, movies and Helmet’s anniversary tour.

Mike Gencarelli: How is it going from playing with Helmet to collaborating on film scores like “Heat” and “Titus” with Elliot Goldenthall?
Page Hamilton: Playing our music live is physically demanding, there’s no coasting with backing tracks or candlelit, acoustic-sit-down sections in the set, and with a 70+ song repertoire remembering lyrics and certain guitar parts can be challenging. Working with Elliott is a whole different kind of challenge. Sometimes he has concrete ideas and colors he describes or sings to me, sometimes there are written parts and other times he wants me to ad-lib. Elliott works with very talented people, there is a lot of trust in the room; it feels like a brilliant family that adopted me to come in and mess up Elliott’s beautiful music. Teese, Joel, Rick, Lawrence etc. are all amazing people to work with. Also Julie Taymor (Elliott’s wife and director extraordinaire) has been there for the movies of hers I’ve worked on: “Titus”, “The Tempest” and “Across the Universe”. I love working with them.

MG: Tell us about what we can expect from your upcoming compilation album of your own film scores?
PH: I chose to do new mixes of about 40 cues from the 1st 3 movies I scored for Mudbrick media in Mobile, Alabama. When we’re doing music for a scene obviously the director has ideas regarding what works and what doesn’t for each scene but he gives me a lot of freedom to experiment. We disagree from time to time so I wanted mixes for my compilation that I dug compositionally, i.e. remove the visual imagery & dialog and make sure the music is still interesting. In many cases I put back parts I had removed for him and even added a few things. I wrote, recorded, programmed & mixed everything so it’s pretty, low-tech and raw with a fair amount of my guitar mess spilling over the rim.

MG: How do did you approach your original score for the film “Sons of Liberty” and how did it compare to your other scores?
PH: I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with Patrick Kirst for several years, we wrote the “Sons of Liberty” score together, though it was mostly a dropbox collaboration between Hollywood (my place) & Venice (his place). He brings a lot of film scoring experience so I bounce music bits off his stubborn German brain & classical music ears and then create sounds that annoy him, sonically, melodically and harmonically. That’s what they get for hiring a noise-metal guitarist.

MG: This year is the 20th anniversary of “Betty”, which was (and still is) a sick album; how can you reflect on this album?
PH: We’re 20 shows into our European “Betty” tour, it’s not an easy album to pull off live but it’s been really fun to perform. I had to work on a variety of guitar and vocal sounds to get the vibe we had on the recording. I remember everyone having an idea about what we should do after the success of “Meantime”, they wanted “Meantime” part ll but it’s not in my nature to rewrite songs. Fortunately my bandmates were on board and contributed in a big way. Either that or they were just humoring me.

MG: Looking back on 1994 in general, why do you think it was such an epic and important year for music?
PH: I’m not sure though part of it has to do with the strong indie rock scene from the previous 10 + years. Labels like Am Rep, Discord, SST, Blast First and Touch & Go had a lot of good bands that could develop without industry interference. When the demand grew, major labels saw money to be made so a bunch of us signed deals to get paid & quit our bartending jobs. We didn’t know any better so we (more or less) continued as if we were still on Am Rep. Maybe this was the case with other indie bands as well? Melvins and The Pixies come to mind.

MG: How did you get involved working with Linkin Park on their new song “All for Nothing”, from their latest album The Hunting Party?
PH: They contacted my manager in NY and asked if I’d do some guest vocal & guitar bits on their new album. I met with the guys and liked them a lot. They played me a bunch of new songs including “All for Nothing”; I couldn’t get that chorus out of my head. I really enjoyed their recording process and had a great time.

MG: You are currently on tour with Helmet across Europe; tell us what we can expect from the tour and any plans for US dates?
PH: We’re playing the “Betty” album beginning to end followed by a second set of material including songs from “Strap it On”, “Meantime”, “Aftertaste”, “Size Matters”, “Monochrome” and “Seeing Eye Dog”. I’ve always wanted to tour without any opening bands so this is it; 30-35 songs a night. We have some east coast US “Betty” dates booked for December.

MG: What else do you have planned for the rest of the year and in store for 2015?
PH: I’ll be in the south of France producing a French band between the Europe & US “Betty” dates. We have a movie lined up for early next year and I plan to finish writing and recording a new Helmet album. I’ll continue to flounder around with my Jazz Wannabes group back east and my good NYC pals M’Lumbo have asked me to sit in for some recording and a few live gigs.

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Filed Under: Interviews, Music Interviews Tagged With: 20th, anniversary, betty, films, hamilton, helmets, ...

Butcher Babies’ Carla Harvey talks about new EP “Uncovered”

Carla Harvey is the lead singer of the heavy metal band, Butcher Babies. The band recently released a new EP called “Uncovered” and is planning the upcoming “No One Can Hear You Scream” Tour across North America. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Carla about the EP and what we can expect from the tour.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us a little background on the new EP?
Carla Harvey: Well, “Goliath”, our debut album came out in July of 2013 and our new album doesn’t come out until early summer 2015 so we wanted to give our fans a little appetizer in between.  Not to mention we wanted to play some new songs to spice things up for ourselves! Believe it or not we get tired of playing the same set over and over again.  Making this EP of cover songs seemed like the perfect solution. Growing up I was a huge fan of my favorite bands like Guns N Roses and Metallica doing albums of covers…they introduced me to songs I might never have heard if they hadn’t been reinvented on the “Spaghetti Incident” or “Garage Days”.

AL: What was the process like for choosing the songs and were there any others chosen which didn’t make the EP?
CH: For the EP we didn’t want to go with obvious song choices.  People expected a Plasmatics cover or a Pantera cover and what ended up with on our album was very different. In the end we chose the Osmonds, Napolean 14, Suicidal Tendencies, SOD and ZZ TOP. Some of the songs we considered that didn’t end up making the cut were songs by Fishbone, Living Colour, 45 Grave and Agent Orange.

AL: The songs you guys chose are quite different. Was that something that happened naturally or was it the plan to choose songs that hadn’t been done before?
CH: We wanted each song to have a special meaning for us. We each made a short list of songs that had struck a chord with us when we were young and narrowed it down from there.  For instance, they’re coming to take me away was my pick because I have a vivid memory of my stepdad playing it over and over again in the car. My stepdad was a bit off his rocker and the song is about being taken away to a mental institution so I always found it ironic that he loved that song so much.  Heidi chose “Crazy Horses” because it was the heaviest song she heard as a kid and she was really drawn to it.

AL: Can you tell us about the upcoming tour run the band has planned?
CH: We just started our first headlining tour, the No One Can Hear You Scream Tour across North America. We have been extremely lucky to garner a huge fan base the last couple of years by hitting the road with likes of Marilyn Manson, Danzig, Black Label Society and of course the Mayhem Festival, so the time was right for us to see what we can do on our own.  We are only on show three but the response has been incredible. After this tour, we hit the road with BLS and Hatebreed for a winter tour.

AL: What are the band’s plans so far for the next full length release?
CH: We are working on our second album right now. We finish recording when we get home from our headlining tour and the album will be released early summer 2015. We are pumped for it and hope that you all are as well!

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Filed Under: Interviews, Music Interviews Tagged With: babies, butcher, carla, ep, harvey, talks, ...

Dave Lombardo talks about new album with Philm called “Fire From the Evening Sun”

Former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo is back with a brand new release from his band Philm. Titled “Fire from the Evening Sun” the album is a blending of music styles ranging from full on thrash to progressive rock and everything in between. Media Mikes had the chance to speak with Dave recently about the bands sophomore release and their plans to take their unique sound on the road.

Adam Lawton: Can you give us some background on how this album came together?
Dave Lombardo: We are a very productive group. We tend to do a lot of improvisations when we are together and we record those. From there we do what I call “trim the fat”. We take out all the pieces that don’t really work and only focus on the high points. From there we create the traditional elements of the song such as the verses and choruses. When we are done we like to the songs sit for a bit before Jerry goes in and works on the vocals. The material on the new album is songs that we have been working on since we recorded our first album “Harmonic”. A lot of these songs were written during the mix down of the first. How we go about our song writing is pretty interesting. There is not just one person who brings in material and they dictate how the song is to go. We are very collective.

AL: Can you tell us about the different style you guys took on “Fire from the Evening Sun” as compared to “Harmonic”?
DL: There are some production differences between the two. I also feel this album has a more straight forward and in your face approach related to the sound. With “Harmonic” that was a more laid back and experimental album. On the first record I let guys come in and play whatever that wanted. With the new record I feel like I had a little more say in making sure the songs were concise and aggressive. There are a lot of different approaches you can take when making an album. The next album we might decide to throw everyone a curve ball and do something completely different from the previous two albums.

AL: Do you prefer creating music out of improvisation as compared to more traditional approaches?
DL: It’s more fulfilling. When you do things this way it’s more organic and less thought. When you improvise you are creating on the fly. You have to come up with something really quick as there is really no time to think. You play what you feel. That’s how all of this music was created. These songs came from three people improvising with one another. I think doing things this way gives the songs a certain level of excitement.

AL: Being involved as an artist and a producer on both of the bands release do you ever find it hard balancing the two roles?
DL: It’s not difficult but I will take that producer hat off within the process but at the same time I have to be able to make decisions on issues as they come up. Having worked with so many amazing producers and song writers I am able to do what I do by consciously and subconsciously using their approach. The guys in the band know how I work and I will tell them before we start what I am feeling. Most of the time we are all on the same page and do what is best for the material.

AL: You brought in outside help to mix the album this time. Can you tell us about that decision?
DL: When you are a producer you have to step out and let others take control for a second to ensure things are not one sided. I brought in Robert Carranza to mix this album because I felt that the mix wasn’t where it should be. Robert did a great job and shortly after Tyler Bates offered to master it. It was actually Tyler’s idea to bring in Robert to do the mixing. I appreciated his input and was thankful for the advice.

AL: Tell us a little bit about the two singles the band has released thus far?
DL: We have released “Fire from the Evening Son” and “Train”. “Fire from the Evening Son” is a song we chose because it has a very thrash metal feel. I believe that’s what fans want from me. They want something aggressive in my drumming and my band. I think that’s what this song is about. The song has a great drive and shows our versatility. Both songs I think have that signature sound I am known for.

AL: When you take this material out on the road will there be elements of improvisation or will you be sticking to what is heard on the album?
DL: We are going to be doing what is heard on the album. We can certainly get up on stage and show people how improvisation is done but I don’t think they are ready for that yet. All the songs we are playing live are complete songs from the albums. We have 6 songs done for the next album. They don’t have words just yet so sometimes we will go out and do some of the new material for an encore. We play around on those and try some different things.

AL: Can you tell us what the tour plans are for you guys?
DL: I would like to start performing here in the States as soon we can. I would love to tour the world with this we just have to find a booking agent who is this with us whole heartedly. We have done four shows in Europe as well as some shows in Colombia and Ecuador. We also have some things planned for November as well.

 

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Filed Under: Interviews, Music Interviews Tagged With: album, dave, evening, fire, lombardo, philm, ...

Oscar Winning Composer, Steven Price talks about his new score for “Fury”

Steven Price is the very talented composer behind the film “Gravity”, which ended up winning him last year’s Oscar for Best Score (along with numerous other awards). Steven has also worked on film like “The World’s End” with Edgar Wright and TV series like “Believe” with “Gravity” director Alfonso Cuarón. Media Mikes had a chance to follow-up with Steven to discuss his new score for “Fury” and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: You worked on the score for “Gravity” for about two years; at what point in the production did you come on board “Fury”?
Steven Price: I started on “Fury” about a year ago. I got the scripts and read through them. Usually, I am pretty useless at judging scripts. I tend to do better off waiting until I can see a little bit of what they have shot. But with this film, the script was really gripping. (Director) David Ayer has this ridiculous ability when writing characters that you feel like you totally know them in only a couple of pages, you care about them and you want to know what is going to happen to them. I loved the script. So I made a couple of calls and it turns out they were shooting it about 40 minutes from where I live. So I asked if I could visit and I actually ended up going a couple of times while they were shooting. I got to watch it being shot but also I got to spend a bit of time talking with David discussing what he was doing and what he hoped the music would be. It was an amazing opportunity to get to work with another director that really values what music can do for a film. It was important for him to have the music to carry emotion and be a part of the experience. So I was very keen to be involved.

MG: “Gravity” was set in the vast unknowns of space; tell us about how you approached “Fury”, which is set in the hell of World War II?
SP: I think “hell” was the key to it actually. We talked about what the characters had already been through by the time that we meet up with them in the first reel of the film. They have been in the war for 3-4 years by that point and have seen and done unimaginable things. They are exhausted and terrified but they have to keep going forward. So it was a matter of capturing that sense of exhaustion and of being in hell with this constant motion and this grinding forward. I wanted to capture that quality in the music whilst putting you there with the men and their emotions throughout the film. So that’s the conversation we had at the start and then had to work out how that would actually sound.

MG: I was going to ask if you looked for influence from other World War II films but this has such a unique sound for the genre and even sort of crosses over the line of horror with the use of the overlying chanting throughout.
SP: With where they are within the timeline of WW2, the film being set just 3 weeks before the Nazi surrender, I think it is easy to imagine that things were less intense at that point, but in actual fact the crews were in the middle of Nazi Germany… they were surrounded, and things were unimaginably bleak and threatening. I did a lot of work with a choir that is constantly chanting and whispering around you. It is an eerie sound in lots of ways. You never feel, like they never felt, safe for a moment. There is something that could happen that would be life ending, you never know. It was a real turning point for me, while writing, when I got the idea to use the choir in that way. I recorded them in all sorts of different ways. Sometimes it was as a choir but often times I would give them all their own individual microphones and get them saying different things. We could make it sound like individuals at times or make them sound like this group marching forward. They are only really used as a traditional choir in terms of singing at the very end of the film. So until then, they are this voice of constant persistent danger.

MG: Were you able to able anything you learned from “Gravity” on this project?
SP: I think the great thing I learned from “Gravity” experience was to just keep trying and keep experimenting with new things. That was a process for me that was really useful on this. The film was evolving as I was working on it and there was always a chance to look at something from a different angle.

MG: What were some of your biggest challenges that you faced here?
SP: The biggest challenge on this film was just getting the journeys right. Take the character, Norman (played by Logan Lerman), when we first meet him in the film and he goes from being terrified to suddenly plunged into a tank battle. So trying to figure out musically, how was his journey through the film and his growing and understanding of what it means to be in this was a challenge. Also Brad Pitt’s character, Wardaddy, was challenging since his enigma itself almost could be played musically and how much we should learn about him and his team through the music. So a lot of it were character challenges and trying to support them and their stories. That was the stuff that got me scratching my head at night and trying different things.

MG: I love that the score is so epic and yet you still have some beautiful piano work in tracks like “I’m Scared Too”.
SP: I did an early demo with piano and David sort of immediately attached to it. It is very simple piano work and all quite blunt actually in terms of the musical construction of it. They characters aren’t verbose sort of characters. They speak clearly and what they say is clear. Musically, I wanted it to be like that too. I wanted it to be very concise. The piano writing was very simple and also it needed to be played with great emotion. One of my oldest friends, who is not a full time professional musician but is a great player, ended up playing it for me. He came in and just completely understood what I wanted to do with it. His touch on the piano really made the whole thing work. We spend a long time getting the right sound for it as well. We ended up going about it in a peculiar way using two very old 1940’s microphones underneath the piano. It is not the sound that you would ordinarily do for a big posh film piano sound but it just felt right. You hear the mechanics of the piano, the pedal sounds, the contacts between the hammers and the strings and that seemed like it was suitable for this film.

MG: Since you are no longer working on “Ant-Man”; what is your next project?
SP: There is stuff knocking around a bit but not allowed to say much about anything at the moment though. But at the moment, I am in the bit where I should have been doing “Ant-Man”. Having spent a lot of time with Edgar Wright and considering him a good friend, it was never going to be an option for me to do that film. We spent so long talking about musical ideas for the film and it would have been so wrong taking it with someone else’s vision really. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to work with him again soon. But we will see what is around the corner next, yeah!

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews, Music Interviews Tagged With: composer, fury, oscar, price, score, steven, ...
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