‘When I did an interview with Strange Music they described it astrojan horsing the
mainstream.’ – Anthony Vincent, Ten Second Songs
He is taking the Internet, particularly YouTube by storm and
music fans genuinely love him. I am talking about ANTHONY VINCENT whose unique version of KATY PERRY’s “Dark Horse”
received a lot of praise. This video was meant to advertise his business, this
video took on a life of it’s own and went viral. So what made this video so successful?
“I think it was because it was something that no one else
had seen before.” Anthony says. “Usually
when you see something unique on YouTube you have the biters [people who want
to copy it] but I haven’t seen that maybe because it’s so unique to me.”
As you can see in the video there are a lot of different
artist styles featured in this video; from the brutally heavy PANTERA to easy listening Jazz legend FRANK SINATRA this unique cover of ‘Dark Horse’ certainly covered a lot of
the music spectrum.
“I jotted down the artists in literally five minutes” Anthony explains “At the top of my head
just jotted them down because that’s really my span of influence. Not only is
it the kind of music I enjoy but also the kind of music I do with custom songs,
which I’ve done for over a year now.”
Since then he has released a brand new cover of JASON DERULO’s 'Talk Dirty To Me' that features more diverse artists including Disco
icons BEE GEES to Metal giants SLAYER. When speaking of his methods of
future methods the analogy that came from his lips was quite genius:
“When I did an interview with Strange Music they described it as trojan horsing the mainstream” Anthony enlightens “You take a song
from the top ten chart and you use that song to show people all these different
artists that people aren’t getting enough of or don’t know about. For example
you have a pop song sung in the style of NIRVANA,
people then want to go and listen to NIRVANA.“
All I can say from this is be sure you keep your eyes peeled
for this talented vocalist.
“Vehement will not
kiss anyone’s arse.” – Andras,
Vehement
Silence has been broken in Eastbourne, Sussex from the loud,
thunderous sound of Extreme Metal piece VEHEMENT.
Another band I was able to catch amongst the busy surroundings at Southampton
Annihilation Festival. Influenced by some of the biggest giants of metal such
as MAYHEM, EMPEROR and BEHEMOTH but also some unlikely
inspirations for a metal band such as DAVID
BOWIE and SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES.
It seems though this break down of inspirations have defined the band’s
sound.
“It’s a collective
of music to help write our own stuff if that makes sense.” Guitarist Wraith
explains. “I think for the most part with all of our different influences that
come into it then combine everything to create something.” Bassist Nybras
concludes, “Hence why we’re not necessarily Black Metal, we have a lot of
different influences.”They are a different sort of metal which Wraith
continues to explain “I think what makes VEHEMENT
a bit more unique is that, like Andras was saying, there’s no bull**** between
us. There are no theatrics and there are no gimmicks.”
It’s also fantastic
to see a hardworking band that care about one thing and one thing only, keeping
their fans and new listeners happy. Also how they will get places through hard
work and not pay for Facebook likes.
“We’d rather
grind through these shows and earn it. We played at half past 2 this
afternoon and we had a great crowd; that’s all what matters to us.” Drummer
Andras justifies “At the end of the day, Vehement will not kiss anyone’s arse.”
If you wish to
check out Vehement and I recommend you do, find them on Facebook.
"LAID WASTED have
just made up the word fruitation so remember that bitches." Sean Walsh, Laid Wasted
I had the pleasure of catching the Southampton based Death/Thrash Metal piece LAID WASTED at Southampton Annihilation Festival. This band however are different to previous Death Metal bands I have seen before; particularly frontman Sean Walsh's theatrically comical stage presence.
"People describe it as bats**** crazy but yeah you've got to get up there and do something otherwise people aren't going to want to watch you." Sean explains. "You might as put a cardboard cutout on stage if you aren't going to do anything."
They have mainly played around Southampton, Winchester and the Hampshire area but they are going to try and travel to more places. "We've got a gig lined up in Hastings at the end of the month." Guitarist Joe Long clarifies "Hopefully there'll be a string of dates in August where we will be playing in London."
To match Sean's crazy stage presence there are some crazy songs to match; including his Batman song that went down very well at the festival. "I thought it would be ideal to write about this particular Batman tale where he ends up going into the Asylum himself so it's mixture of Batman and Joker stuff." Sean tells me.
There is the news of a potential brand new album in the near future as bassist Sam explains, using a new word"We'll be busy writing over the next few months so the prospects are there; we just need it to come to fruitation so let's hope so." As Sean says in the first quote, Laid Wasted are taking credit; it was a pleasure to speak to the boys and hopefully I'll catch them again soon.
"There are no rules in metal in my humble opinion." - James Walsh, Wyrdforge
With an impending festival appearance tomorrow and a new album release it's all going on for Brighton Extreme Metal four piece Wyrdforge. I had the chance to chat to frontman James Walsh about these topics and how he would love to have a metal band write songs about Crash Bandicoot.
Charlotte: Describe your sound in three words.
James: Not sure if I can describe it in three words, but in my humble opinion it's like if Dismember and Entombed met Napalm Death along with Extreme Noise Terror in some kind of genre splicing machine, like they do in The Fly, and fused together. I'm sure the others will disagree with me, resulting in them throwing KFC at me or something.
Charlotte: Where did the name Wyrdforger come from?
James:The name I ripped off from a Brian Bates book called "The Way of the Wyrd" because I thought it sounded cool with the word Forge before it. Along with listening to a stupid amount of Sabbath and Wodensthrone at the time I came up with it. I guess I was feeling the old English vibe.
Charlotte: So tell our readers why they should come down to see you perform alongside other metal acts at Southampton's Annihilation Festival tomorrow?
James:They should come and see us because we have songs about Metroid, Neon Genesis Evangelion and other silly manga/comic book related subjects. It will fulfil their lives and make them better, if not sweater people by the time we're done pulverising their ears with very fast music.
Charlotte:Since we're talking festivals, I would like you to imagine your ideal festival. Who would be your three main headliners, three main support acts and what would your festival be called?
James: That's a tricky one. I don't think I can answer that question if I had to be honest. I like far too many bands. So it would very hard to pick just six to play. I'd probably call it "I have no idea what I'm meant to be doing, so can somebody help me please fest"
Charlotte: You've recently released physical copies of your album, what was the inspiration behind the album cover?
James: The only inspiration for the EP artwork is the title track "Her Wings Unfold War" which is the bat monster wearing a gas mask in the middle of the picture. The rest is a load of random ideas I had at the time. There's never really any set ideas for when I do the band artwork. It's just me going off on one and hoping it looks good.
Charlotte: Just to round up and finalise, have you got advice you wish to give anyone wanting to start their own metal band?
James: Do what you want, write about what you want. There are no rules in metal in my humble opinion. I have still have to find a metal who will write songs exclusively about Crash Bandicoot or Appleseed. Can somebody please get on that? Either that or a whole grindcore album about Blade Runner.
Catch James and his band Wyrdforge tomorrow at Southampton's Annihilation Festival. There will be copies of their album on sale too. In the meantime check out their links below!
"This is us; we wanted to give the fans the best album they could give at this point of our career because they came above and beyond with crowd funding via Kickstarter and it nearly doubleed our goal of that." - Nixon, Framing Hanley
After a four year gap
and two years of hard work, Nashville rockers Framing Hanley are getting ready
to release their brand new album The Sum
Of Who We Are. Frontman Nixon took time out of his busy schedule to speak
with me about their latest album, the Kickstarter package used to fund the
album and upcoming tours.
Charlotte: So
your latest album Sum Of Us; according to your press release the title pretty
much sums up who you guys are as a band?
Nixon:Yeah,
I think really the experiences that we went through and the long process of
making this album and the naturally the songs kind of went in that direction.
Not just the songs themselves but the steps it took to make that album and I felt
like we were at our wits end, this album took all of us. This is us; we wanted
to give the fans the best album they could give at this point of our career
because they came above and beyond with crowd funding via Kickstarter and it
nearly doubleed our goal of that. When you have advances from labels you want
to produce your best album because you don’t want anything worse out there.
When the fans directly fund your album; you know these people are your
lifeblood, these are the people that are the reason you do this and it gives us
that wave that we didn’t necessarily have before. We spent so long on this
album because at certain points it wasn’t enough it wasn’t what I wanted to
reward the fans with, how can we make sure that they know that it was worth it.
It required even more money raised by Kickstarter. We kept going back to the
drawing board and re-writing songs, during that process, two and a half years
almost working on an album; invest everything you have in your life on this
album. It really took all of us, this album really is the sum of all of us as
musicians; it’s really weird to explain that, I don’t think I can even put into
words what the last two years have been like.
Charlotte:Crowdfunding
has become a popular way to fund different projects now…
Nixon: Movies
now and everything now. Hollywood Studios are passing on movies and getting
fans to contribute whatever they can. More money than what Hollywood studios
would be paying out for. This crowdfunding is amazing; I’ve seen television
shows are now crowdfunded and different products. I think when we first got
into it particularly the early stages; I really fought with the idea for a
while but we thought we’re going to release an album soon and we’re on our
label right now, it’s funny when I said soon and here we are two and a half
years later but that’s besides the point. We really fought with the idea and
what alternative means there were to fund the album but if we didn’t have this
in place we wouldn’t have been able to release an album. To put it in business
terms, the people who want your product are the people wanting to pay for it up
front plus rewards. It was amazing to see come forward like that.
Charlotte: I’ve
seen other bands such as Crashdiet and Jettblack who reward their fans when
they pledge a certain amount; I take that’s similar to what Framing Hanely are
doing?
Nixon: That’s
exactly what it is. 1800 people pledged and I think if they pledged $1 they had
their name placed into the album booklet, $5 they would receive a lease demo
that we had just recorded that no one has heard of. There’s also a package for
a t-shirt, a custom drum head and of course the bigger packages; for example a
guy pledged five thousand dollars and we drove down to Texas to play at his
daughter’s birthday party. That’s one of the coolest parts of our career; I’m
not saying we’ll become a birthday party band but to see what that meant to
someone that they were that much of a big fan and that her Dad was the hero of
that party. It was weird as it wasn’t really a city but along this back road
that went on for about two hours and it ended in a little settlement. It was a
really cool experience. We try and make the kickstarter pledging worth people’s
money, especially when we have an international fanbase where there are so many
backers. We figured shipping internationally would be expensive so it was great
to have that bit of help from the fans and we gave something back.
Charlotte:So you
could say this is newest way to interact with your fanbase, other than paying a
bit extra for meet and greet passes.
Nixon:Yes definitely,
there is always going to be someone trying to re-invent the wheel and it’s so
bands like us can keep going and creating music. Over the past two years we
were working real jobs back at home. Our biggest Framing Hanely fans are
probably surprised that we all worked normal jobs and if it wasn’t for
kickstarter there really would not be a third album coming out. We were working
these jobs to provide for our families and the kickstarter provided us with
money for the album, that is something we will be forever grateful for and
never really be able to repay them for because we ended up signing the new deal
with the new label for the release of this album.
Charlotte: There
is a song called Roller Coaster on your brand new album and I am wondering who the
female vocalist is on the track?
Nixon:That’s
our friend Lindsey Stamey; she’s in the band called Oh No Fiasco. She was
featured on a Pierce The Veil song on their previous album. Oh No Fiasco is one
of those bands that I think the world is missing out on. If this band was heard
by more people they would explode, like another band called Imagine Dragons;
they aren’t the same musically but they definitely go into the same
conversation where they are the world’s best kept musical secrets for now. As
friends and fans of that band I hope that won’t be the case for much longer and
they are heard more.
Charlotte:From what I understand you
do work with New Ocean Media, which ties in with promoting different bands.
Does that provide a good balance between that and singing/promoting your own
band?
Nixon:When
it comes to promoting bands as a job, there’s being passionate about an artist
you’re working for and doing it as a job. Especially since I’m new at this and
I try and take on artists that I am a fan of instead of just looking at it as a
job and music you need to listen to. Oh No Fiasco aren’t one of those bands,
they’re a band we’ve known over the years from touring and such. A band that
are a perfect example from a press standpoint, Brick and Mortar; they are a band
that I was doing press for, another band that I think are on the cuss of being
on everyone’s tongue.
Charlotte:I’ve
listened to Sum Of Us alongside your previous material and I think your
previous material is heavier than your new album, is that something you’d agree
with?
Nixon:Everyone
has a different take I think. Some people say it was poppy on the last album
and that the first album had more of a grunge thing. If you think there’s a
sound and style difference between this album and our previous one is because
there was a line up change. Tim who we wrote the first album with is no longer
in the band, Ryan came into the band and we connected on a whole other level as
far as writing together and that led to band evolving in a way. That was
definitely a huge part of the evolvement of Framing Hanley because he and I get
together to actually mould the song and take it into the room with the rest of
the guys to turn into whatever it turns into. Naturally that is what’s going to
happen when you add a different part to the equation and you know how bands usually
from first album and their second album will sound different. This is Ryan’s
second album with us, naturally you will see it evolve with more influences
where it broadens your horizons and as a music lover listen to new sounds.
Charlotte:It’s
amazing how a line up change can have an impact on the sound, hard rock band
New Device have had a recent line up change and in my opinion their sound is
much bolder. So sometimes it can be for the better.
Nixon:Yeah
definitely, sometimes it doesn’t work out for the better there are plenty of
examples of that in music history. Further Seems Forever, the album they did
with Jason Gleason is the album that helped me get to where I am as a musician,
it changed the type of rock I was listening to. Sometimes it works for the
better and we are here now.
Charlotte:So
tell us about your upcoming America tour with Three Days Grace.
Nixon:It’s
going to a two weeks run with them. That should be awesome, they’ve recently
had a line up change and things are still going great for them. So we’ve got
that coming up which we are really looking forward to. Then we’ll be hitting
the road with Devour The Days, Starset and Three Years Hollow, which will be
really cool because we’re all new age rock, I mean I’m not sure if that applies
to Framing Hanley since we’ve been going for seven years but there are people
who haven’t heard of us before so four young and hungry bands in a pack. It
should be great; they’re all great guys and have great music so it should be
good.
Charlotte:Are
there going to be upcoming tours anywhere other than the US, such as the UK or
Europe?
Nixon:The
plan is to come back this fall; unfortunately we’ll be missing festivals this
year because that was the most fun we had during touring. We came last fall
with The Blackout but there were medical issues where Gavin had to be taken to
hospital. That really took the wind out of us because it costs a lot of money
to come overseas and when the tour gets cancelled you can’t expect to be paid
for it so we took that out into writing kick ass rock songs, it actually led to
a couple of the songs for the album. Not as far as subject matter as it was
completely out of there hands and I glad to hear Gavin’s OK. It was an
unfortunate thing that happened. We’re looking forward to coming back, knowing
that we’re going to be playing three or four shows. Our last show in Manchester
was a kick ass show, we cannot wait to come back to the UK and we’re hoping to
play more mainland shows too.
Charlotte:The
single Criminal you released from your album, would you say that was the best
song to represent the album?
Nixon:When
it comes to that, as one of the creators it’s hard to put your finger on that.
I really think that there are a lot of songs that vary; a song like Criminal,
which opens the album, is completely different and some people might say it
sounds like a different band then Cast Away, which closes the album. I can’t
pinpoint the perfect song that represents the album. There’s something about
Criminal where a lot of our singles, with the exception of Lollipop which is a
cover, tend to have a more serious tone whereas Criminal was a little bit more
fun and light-hearted that I hope which will be stuck in a lot of people’s
heads.
Charlotte: Will
there be anything else happening for Framing Hanley in 2014?
Nixon:We’ll
hopefully be shooting a video for Criminal in the next few weeks and hopefully
be out once the album’s finished and out. We’re more than ready to start
touring again it’s been a while since we’ve been able to do that, everyone’s
been getting married and having kids so we’ve been focusing on taking care of
our families and life. It’s great that we can do this again, being able to go
out on tour and personally thank those people who were part of the Kickstarter
and who will be part of Framing Hanley’s bloodline in the future. Touring isn’t
something we dread doing, it’s what keeps us motivated and really is the
reward. Tickets go out and we play stuff that means something to certain
individuals and people take away something from it.
Charlotte:You go
to gigs to see a certain band whether it’s the headliner or main support then
you see the other bands and actually walk away thinking ‘they were really
good’.
Nixon:That’s
always been the more fun spot to be in playing for the headliners, even when we
are headlining our fans will bring their friends to the show who haven’t heard
of us before. For instance when girl will bring their husband or boyfriend,
they will come up to us and say something like ‘I only came because my
girlfriend bought but you guys were awesome’ That’s one of the coolest things,
it’s happened a thousand times and it’s very rewarding but to get onto that
stage every night whether it’d be for thirty minutes or an hour and fifteen
minutes that’s when we’re able to block everything else out of our lives and
just play songs that we wrote about stuff going on in our lives that someone in
that crowd was able to relate to their own life, that’s a beautiful thing.
Keep a look out for The Sum Of Us which is due for release 29th April 2014, in the meantime check them out on Facebook, Twitter and their official website!
