-Interview- Today's Friday (1/28/12)

Today's Friday
(From The Depths Entertainment)

Genre: Heartcore
Interviewed on: 1/28/12
From: Stanthorpe, Australia
Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/todaysfridayband

1.Who thought of the name “Today’s Friday”? How would you describe your music?

Mitch did, he had a HUGE list of names that we went through, most of which were pus, but a few of them we thought were good. Today’s Friday won after a fair amount of deliberation. We would describe our music as deathcore style screams, traditional rock style clean vocals, metalcore style guitar work and lyrics with meaning. We don’t sound like anyone else, and we don’t write to a genre, we just write what we want to hear, and hopefully people like us as a result.


2. You guys released the “You’re Nothing But A Rib To Me” EP not too long ago, is there any new music coming out or being recorded soon? If so, when can we expect it?

We went through a period of about 4 months where we were writing a song every week or two, so we have a pretty large volume of original material. All up we have 20 songs in various states of completion, 13 of which we are playing live at the moment. The concept for our debut album is settled, as is the track listing, so we are currently organising recording to commence mid 2012. We are looking forward to showcasing our growth as a band, and the diverse nature of our songwriting.


3. The cover art for the EP is very unique. How did it come about and who was the model for the cover?

Mitch had the idea of having something to do with an xray on the cover of the EP due to You’re Nothing But A Rib To Me being the title track, and Stretch randomly happened to find that picture of the chick with the xray on tumblr one day, and it was exactly what we were looking for, so he hit up the artist and asked for permission to use it, and they said go for it. It was really just exceptionally good luck, and little else. Completing it was as easy as Stretch taking the image and superimposing the text onto it.


4. How does the writing process within the band occur?

Generally speaking, the song begins with a concept, whether that be lyrics, a riff or even just an idea, and then grows from there. I (Thursday) usually write all the music and then jam with Beastley to figure out structure and whatnot, additional parts do usually creep in. As far as lyrics go, Beastley and I are the chief lyricists, whether singularly or collaboratively, but Mitch has also contributed a couple of songs, and similarly Stretch contributes the odd riff here and there.


5. What’s the music scene like there in Australia? What’s your take on the whole metalcore scene in general?

The cities tend to be pretty good, but anywhere else becomes very difficult, which is unfortunately where we are situated. We are keen to travel to gigs anyway, so this isn’t a problem. We enjoy each others company and always get up to lots of dumb shit on our random band related adventures. The metalcore scene on the whole is very supportive; everyone always has each others back. It’s probably the whole underdog thing. We all stick together and help each other out, whether that be feedback, letting each other in on bills/contacts etc.


6. Any good show stories?

Our second gig was at our guitarist and his girlfriend’s joint birthday party. Being that Stanthorpe is the coldest place in Queensland (and it was the middle of winter), it was a balmy -2 Degrees Celsius (I think 28F or so) outside. Needless to say, fingers don’t work well in the cold, so the show consisted of us moshing extra hard to keep warm, random band members ditching their instruments to join the 4 man pit, and us generating huge amounts of accidental feedback from the hastily arranged, and horribly inadequate, PA we had hired. In the end the night culminated in a certain somewhat portly drummer from another local band destroying Beastley’s drum stool. It was EXCELLENT and everyone had a great time!


7. What’s your take on music downloading?

We are all for it. As far as we are concerned, if you download our music, it’s still exposure for us, and if it translates into people being keen to come and see us play live, or buy our Album because they liked it so much, then all the better. As far as I’m concerned the whole thing probably originated from a lot of artists releasing albums that had 2 good songs and 14 utter shite songs, so people got pissed off with paying 30 bucks to listen to 2 worthwhile songs. I don’t blame them, and it’s not like it will be going away, so why not embrace it?


8. Who are three artists you’d love to tour with?

Parkway Drive, A Day to Remember, Asking Alexandria


9. How would you describe your live show?

Us having a LOT of fun mainly. We ALWAYS choose the fun option, and we have a lot of banter between ourselves and the audience as well.


10. What’s next for Today’s Friday?

As many gigs as we can play, anywhere we can play, and recording our album. Hooking up merch, and trying to connect with our fans as much as possible.


11. Any shoutouts?

Above City Skies, All the Dead Pilots, Sound the Sirens, Warrant Promotions, TB Promotions, Pedal to the Metal Promotions have all helped us out a ton, as well as our respective partners/families for putting up with the neglect. Not to mention the neighbours!!


-Interview- Aftermath (1/15/12)

Aftermath
(From The Depths Entertainment)

Genre: Post hardcore
Interviewed on: 1/15/12
From: Methuen, MA
Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/aftermathbandma

1. How did you guys get together and form? Who thought of the name “Aftermath”?

Zach and Mike started talking through their mutual friend Matt. Zach could scream and Mike could sing and play guitar. It all started escalating from there. Xavier's pretty famous for drumming around Methuen and Justin, Zach and X all went to the same grade school and started talking about the band. Will has played bass for eight years and co-founds our clothing sponsor, Justice in Eyre. We had lost our bassist around the same time that his other band went on hiatus. Aftermath was then complete. The name is pretty simple. We were all hanging, thinking of possible names and Mike thought of Aftermath. Not too big of a story. Haha, but then Aftermath began.


2. The new song “Perspectives” features Bobby Spence of Dead Ocean. How did you hook up with him and when can we expect the new EP?

We actually recorded our first EP with Bryce Kariger, their lead guitarist. So, in doing that, we had connections with Dead Ocean. We are actually working on a full-length album, and we expect it to hopefully be done by the summer.


3. The influence you have listed is “God” on your Facebook. Are you a Christian band? Does that ever become problematic for potential listeners?

No, we don't really try to preach to our listeners. We sing about our beliefs and give a positive outlook to potential listeners. We don't have problems with them though.


4. How does the writing process within the band occur?

Our music has a new feel depending on what we are listening to at the time. We all get together and write the parts on a basic scale. Along the way we make changes to perfect it. Finally, the lyrics come together as the song is finishing.


5. With heavy hitters like Killswitch Engage and Hatebreed both coming from MA. What’s the music scene like there in MA recently?

It sucks. Honestly, the people from MA are really judgemental, and if you don't sound like the big-hitters, you suck. "Generic", as most would say.


6. You guys had a show with InArmistice and Life On Standby this Saturday. Any good show stories?

So an old story: We used to have two front men, Zach and one other. At the Summer Breakdown in June, the other vocalist was trying to act tough, and he ended up punching himself in the face with the mic. Giving himself a bloody nose.
One of our newer stories: Will's audition for the band was playing at a small show in New Hampshire. The Venue had built boxes on the front of the stage for the band to jump off of, and one of the opening acts frontman decided to stand on his box while we were playing. Will in an attempt to get him out of the way punched him in the face and threw him into the pit.


7. What’s your take on music downloading?

As long as your supporting the band in some way, through merch, or coming to shows, we don't mind if you steal the music.


8. Who are three artists you’d love to tour with?

Three bands we'd like to tour with would have to be: Spies Like Us, Texas in July, and Dead Ocean


9. How would you describe your live show?

ABSOLUTE MADNESS. Lately, alot more energetic. We try to get the crowd involved as much as possible and we love our fans. Especially with all the new places we've been playing and going to play at in the near future.


10. What’s next for Aftermath?

We're writing for the new CD and working on a tour for the summer.


11. Any shoutouts?

We'd like to give shout-outs to our best buds in Spies Like Us, Silent Stories, and Dead Ocean. Definitely Justice in Eyre. Christian Napolitano. Our loving fans who have been there since the very start and all of our new ones. Our new sponsors from Black Market Custom. And last but certainly not least:
George Bush
Biggie Smalls
Tila Tequila
And
Insane Clown Posse (Fuckin' Magnets.... How do they work?)


-Interview- Amongst Carrion (1/13/12)

Amongst Carrion
(From The Depths Entertainment)

Genre: Melodic metalcore
Interviewed on: 1/13/12
From: Newport, UK
Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/amongstcarrion

1.Who thought of the name “Amongst Carrion”? How would you describe your music?

Dan C (Lead Guitarist) thought up the name of the band. Our music has fast riffs, heavy breakdowns and melodic choruses and we think we bring something new and exciting to metal music.


2. Who came up with the concept for the music video for “We That Should Not Be“? How did the video shoot go?

The concept for the music video was a combined effort between members of the band and members of the video production company. We really wanted the video to portray what the lyrics were describing.


3. The designs for your merch and EP cover are very unique and cool. Who came up with the artwork and what was the inspiration?

The EP cover was designed by Dan P (Bass) as well as the samurai merch t-shirt design. The coat of arms t-shirt was designed by a graphic designer called Sam Parret, the inspiration was from noticing the design of the coat of arms from the back of a one pound coin.


4. How does the writing process within the band occur?

Dan C writes all the musical score for the songs and then Josh will writes the lyrics. Dan C records each song as he goes along and will demo the track to the boys in the band and then teach them their parts. The drums are usually amended by Scott if has a more creative idea.


5. With such a hotbed for music coming from overseas. What’s the music scene like there in the UK? What’s your take on the whole metalcore scene in general?

The UK music scene is hot and cold at the moment, its hit and miss with gigs as you can never tell how well its been promoted in that area until you turn up and wait to see how many people show up at the doors. The metalcore scene at the moment is pretty typical as all bands are drawing a lot of influence from the same bands therefore they are all sounding very similar, this probably doesn’t help with getting new people to come out to shows more often as they will be bored with the same sounding music being played all the time which why we hope to bring something different sounding and exciting to the scene.


6. You guys have had shows with The Hand Of Glory and others. Any good show stories?

We have played a few shows where we have all been pretty ill and probably not supposed to be out of bed but we think the best cure for ailments like that is to go and nosh the hell out of it and people beat the wind out of each other to our music.


7. What’s your take on music downloading?

We think it is costing the music industry a hell of a lot of money meaning they are more reluctant to take on new bands which then limits the amount of new music and bands that get exposure to the masses. This could lead to some awesome bands and music never being discovered and a lot of talent and potential going to waste.


8. Who are three artists you’d love to tour with?

We would love to tour with bands such as Parkway Drive, Lamb of God and The Acacia Strain. We know that a tour with any one of those bands would be a wild experience and think we would get a long with all of the guys in those bands as we have a really good time.


9. How would you describe your live show?

We put our all into our live performance. We like to make sure the crowd gets involved and want it to be an intense show that people will remember and talk about later on.


10. What’s next for Amongst Carrion?

We are looking to tour this year and also make another music video. We hope to maybe record and release a full length album and also get a load of new merch in.


11. Any shoutouts?

Would like to give a shout-out to all of our fans for sticking to us and making all that we do worthwhile. Would also like to give a shout-out to Jonny Renshaw from Devil Sold His Soul for recording our EP and making it sound as beasty as it does. Also like to give Dean Whittaker a big thank you for the things he is going to be doing for us this year.


-Interview- Your Best Bet (1/7/12)

Your Best Bet
(From The Depths Entertainment)

Genre: Pop/punk
Interviewed on: 1/7/12
From: Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Facebook Page

http://www.facebook.com/yourbestbetpoppunk


1. How did you guys get together and form? Who thought of the name “Your Best Bet”?

Eric – Jeremy and Collin went to high school together and have been jamming for awhile. They have a metal project called Desertion, in which I used to be the lead vocalist for. I left the band in the summer of 2011 due to influential differences. Collin and I started writing pop punk songs together and decided to make it an actual band and asked Jeremy (the band’s token metal head) to drum, and he hesitantly agreed. We have been close friends ever since. Pierre came into the picture later as the second guitarist when we all realized that it sounded empty with just 3 of us. I thought of the name “Your Best Bet”. I find it kind of ironic in our genre because that phrase is usually followed by someone telling you what to do, plus it’s just plain fun to get on stage and yell “Hey we’re Your Best Bet!”


2. Your logo of the bear is very different and outstanding., Who came up with it and what was the inspiration behind it?

Eric – I wanted to have a mascot and a design that incorporated as many Canadian stereotypes as we could think of to support the title of “Canadian pop punk”. I brought up the idea to the talented Vince Kogut and he was happy to bring the idea to life.


3. You guys did a cover of Enya’s “Only Time”. How did that come about?

Collin - Basically, we wanted to do a cover of something epic and never done before. The “Pop Goes Punk” CD’s always had covers of whatever was popular on the radio, we wanted to do the same but a lot of the songs we wanted to do had already been done. Then, randomly the idea of covering an Enya song was brought up and when I thought about it more and more, I found that the chords and song structure is pretty much the basis of a pop punk song...Just a million times slower and a creepy Celtic Folk Singer doing it.


4. What can people expect from a Your Best Bet show?

Collin - A LOT of energy and a really tight set. Having a fourth member has made things so much easier on myself because I do a lot of singing in our newer songs and playing guitar and singing at the same time has never really been my forte’. We’ve been told our sets are full of energy and thought we haven’t played many pop punk shows in Windsor. People have said that they like our music a lot, even though it’s not particularly their style. So, I’d say people have gone home from one of our shows with a different outlook on the pop punk genre.


5. When can we expect new songs/EP?

Collin – We are always writing new music and we usually tryout new songs at shows, if we feel the crowd would dig it. We are looking to go into the studio soon to record a full length but, it’s just a matter of money.


6. What is the music scene like up in Canada?

Collin – Pop punk is a fresh market in Ontario. There’s only a few pop punk bands in Canada that are starting to break out and make a name for themselves internationally. As far as our hometown of Windsor goes, the scene is pretty underground with mostly basement punk shows but the crowd seems to be growing more and more every show we go to


7. Any good show stories? How did the show with The Bunny The Bear go?

Eric - The Bunny The Bear show was our first show and it went very well, even though we didn’t fit in with any of the other bands at all. We didn’t expect such a great crowd response for our first show; it definitely got us excited to play more shows.

Collin – Our first house show we ever played our set got pushed back and so we decided to break into our beer before we went on. Sure enough we were plastered by the time we went on. After our set we had to leave because we were too drunk. We are good friends with the house owners, so they weren’t upset with us and were very understanding.


8. What are some of your influences for the new tracks?

Collin – I’ve been listening to a lot of melodic hardcore (pianos become the teeth, touché amore, etc.) That influence you’ll hear more on the new stuff. The songs are going to have trickier structures to them and be a little heavier but still maintaining the pop punk sound.

Jerms – A lot of my drumming for our songs comes from a combination of Metal and Easycore esque drumming. I fluently listen to Blink 182, so that helps me get used to the style and technique in the pop punk genre. Other bands that influence me include Kid Liberty, The Vegas Wake Up, We Were Sharks and With The Punches.


9. You guys have a benefit show coming up.

Collin – Yeah we’re pretty stoked about it, mainly for the cause though. The show is to help Eric’s friend go to Africa supporting Canadian Charity Youth Challenge International to help the children in need. We’re playing with a bunch of death metal bands and we DO NOT fit the bill at all, but we’re still going to do our best to put on a killer show!


10. What’s next for Your Best Bet?

Collin – We want to do extensive amounts of touring, put out a full length, sell a bunch of merch and meet some solid friends along the way. We would also like to hit the states as soon as we can because the market for pop punk there is much more alive than it is here in Canada.


11. Any shoutouts?
Eric – Tons! Lots of love goes out to all of the other Windsor bands involved with this scene. The Rowley Estate, With Glowing Hearts, Another Intention, Young Bones, The Nefidovs, Ape Cassette, Shared Arms, Always A New Day, Falling With Glory, Anu Beginning, Blackheart and Nathan Boots at Visceral Studios for recording our EP!


-Review- What Wings Once Held - If Leaves Could Speak EP (1/2/12)

What Wings Once Held
www.facebook.com/whatwingsonceheld
Label: From The Depths Entertainment
From: Spokane, WA
If Leaves Could Speak
Release Date: 2011
Sounds like: We Came As Romans, Asking Alexandria

www.facebook.com/whatwingsonceheld


Track Listing:

1. Forced Hellos
2. If I'm Peter, Who's Phil?
3. Dude What Happened Last Night and Why Am I Naked?
4. With Good Intentions Let's Head To Texas
5. I Can't Fly Well But I Can Glidewell
6. Rushed Goodbyes

Buy here

Let's be honest, blending emocore with synth isn't anything new. Whether it's the legends like Underoath or Enter Shikari or the newer bands like We Came As Romans or His Statue Falls, in order to catch people attention, you have to have your own style. What Wings Once Held albeit young, his the potential to be something special. They show their influences on the album but they mesh their music so well and the production is so good that it doesn't feel like a debut.

This being their debut EP, it shows the listener a ton of promise. "Forced Hellos" is an instrumental/synth 56 second intro to kick off the EP. The second track "If I'm Peter, Who's Phil" kicks things off with a bang. The song has everything: breakdowns, aggressive screaming, a tad of synth, a gang chant, driving melodic riffs and singing that is perfect. The track overall is very comparable to something that Heartshed would do. The third track "Dude What Happened Last Night and Why Am I Naked?" is a perfect example of What Wings Once Held. The song has a perfect blend of aggression and melody.

The fourth track "With Good Intentions Let's Head To Texas" has catchy riffs, a catchy chorus and any fan of catchy music should feel right at home with the track. The track "I Can't Fly Well But I Can Glidewell" starts off with a tad more synth than the other songs but it isn't any slouch in the breakdown or melody department. Any fan of "They're Only Chasing Safety" era Underoath should dig this track. "Rushed Goodbyes" is a buildup acoustic song that is comparable to a track done by We're Not Superheroes Anymore. The song has heart. The whole EP has heart. Heart is something we have to follow to succeed in life. If we don't, "we'll cease to exist".

Verdict:
Where What Wings Once Held goes musically is up to them. They show a lot on this EP and the production is phenomenal. They can run with the big boys if they keep evolving and continue to create their own style. The sky is the limit for this promising up and coming band.

Standout Tracks-
"If I'm Peter, Who's Phil?"
"What Happened Last Night And Why Am I Naked?"