I guess things worked our for Mr Draiman, eh?
The Pulse Of Radio says David Draiman commemorated the 20th anniversary of his first audition for Disturbed with a post on Facebook last Thursday (Aug 4th), the date of his tryout. Recalling they played an original song for him to improvise lyrics to, he wrote, “The sound was heavy and dark. Rhythmic and beautiful, I was fascinated and intimidated by it, all at the same time. A couple minutes into it, I began my own improvised lyric and melody/rhythm. That very first jam ended up becoming our very first song, “Want,” off (debut album) The Sickness.”
Draiman told us he wasn’t initially sure if the audition had been a success: “I wasn’t sure what I had done, because I wasn’t used to singing to music that was that aggressive. And my roommate was with me and we went home, and I wasn’t sure. And my roommate, I remember, he said to me, he was like, ‘Dude, I’m telling ya, if you don’t go and pursue what you had going on with that band, you’re an idiot, because I guarantee that if you go and see it through, that you’re gonna get signed. There was magic that happened in that room tonight.’“
Draiman added in his post, “Hard to believe that was 20 years ago today. What a crazy ride its been, and how far we’ve come, thanks to the most passionate, and dedicated fans in the world! Here’s to another 20 years!”
The Pulse Of Radio also reporting Godsmack singer Sully Erna has set Sep 30th as the release date of his second solo album, Hometown Life. The disc follows up 2010′s Avalon and was written and produced by Erna at his personal studio in New Hampshire. The title track has been released online, along with a video clip that goes behind the scenes of the making of the record.
Erna said in a statement, “When I do a solo album, I write for myself. It’s not for critics, radio or even fans. I like to explore different kinds of music that work together. A good song is a good song. I stopped categorizing a long time ago.”
We asked Erna a while back how he can tell when a song is right for his solo career instead of Godsmack: “I think as artists, we constantly write music and just sometimes you recognize that some stuff works for your main band and then other things feel like something that’s not gonna quite work for that band, but it’s a great song and you may not want to throw it away, so you figure out where its home is.”
A press release for Hometown Life indicates the album takes a sharp turn from both Avalon and Erna’s work with Godsmack, incorporating straight-ahead rock, island music, bossa nova, country and Motown influences. Erna used largely the same group of musicians with whom he recorded Hometown Life on Avalon. His father Salvatore Erna also appears on the album, playing trumpet on a song called “Turn It Up.” Erna plans to tour behind Hometown Life. Godsmack, meanwhile, will return to the studio in early 2017.
Meanwhile, guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin‘s new project, the Apocalypse Blues Revue, will release its self-titled debut disc on Aug 26th. Those guys were recently in the studio. We’ll have a podcast and video performance & interview for ya soon!
Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson in studio. They recorded a podcast!
Linkin Park singer Mike Shinoda and guitarist Brad Delson posted a new podcast online late last week in which they answered questions submitted by fans and discussed the progress of the next Linkin Park album. According to Alternative Nation, Shinoda said in response to a fan question that the biggest challenge of recording this new disc was that ”we approached the process differently.”
Delson added, “There’s a certain amount of experimentation and failure, essentially trial and error that’s baked into this process. We’ve made so many records and we clearly know how to make a record and we definitely didn’t take the easy way out this time.”"
Delson continued, “The songs are shaping up so well, we just want them to be as phenomenal when we share them with you . . . as we imagine them in our heads.”
Shinoda told us a while back that Linkin Park is a very collaborative band: “Luckily in our band, we’ve got a situation where, whether we agree or disagree, we sit down and we talk it out and we approach it like adults, and we also put our egos to the side and somebody can tell you something that’s difficult to say and it’s difficult to hear. And we all know that we’re all coming at it from the perspective of making the best thing that we can.”
Shinoda and Delson also revealed in the podcast Linkin Park has worked with outside songwriters on the new album, with Delson saying, “As much as we know how to approach songwriting, everybody does it differently so being able to like sit with someone and kind of pour ourselves into their process has been really exciting.”
The yet-to-be-titled new Linkin Park album does not yet have a release date, but will follow up 2014′s The Hunting Party. But my sources are telling me we should at least see a single this fall.
And I would like to leave you with this item from Blabbermouth from Corey Taylor, who says it is impossible to predict the political leanings of heavy metal fans and musicians, but insists the people who come to his band’s shows are “some of the most open-minded, encouraging, embracing, protective, and progressive” individuals he has ever come across.
Speaking to Spin, Taylor said: “Obviously, the majority of guys in bands that I hang out with lean to the progressive side, let’s put it that way. We tend to lean more liberal just because it’s more inclusive. But I have friends in bands who are [Donald] Trump supporters, and I just choose not to talk about it.
“Everything that I have read about people who support Trump suggests all their reasoning is based upon faulty research. And when you know that someone is basing their reasoning on bad research, or bad poll-taking, or other resources that skew right and drum up their own numbers, there is no way that you will win an argument.”
Taylor believes metalheads actually embody a peaceful nature far removed from general public’s stereotype of suicidally depressed people who occasionally listen to music that appeals to racist ideology.
“I think heavy metal and hard rock were the bastion of freedom for misfits and kids who were made to feel [like they're] outside of ‘normal’ society,” Taylor said. “So not only did you have kids of different ethnicities, but you had kids like me who grew up dirt-poor. Metal spoke for me because it wasn’t until I was much older that I felt that I had a voice.”
He continued: “Here’s where people get it wrong: The metal fans that come to our shows are some of the most open-minded, encouraging, embracing, protective, and progressive fans I have ever seen. I never worry that something bad is going to happen at one of our shows. If an accident happens, that’s a different thing, but I am never worried about fights or attacks because we look out for each other.
“Trump’s message is so anti-Slipknot, it’s not even funny, because we have always tried to get people to stand together, and everything he does is so divisive. Trying to get people to equate Muslims with terrorists is just trying to control and manipulate one more group of people. His stances on Muslims and Latinos and his absolute silence on Black Lives Matter prove that he is unprepared to bring people together. He is prepared to tear them apart so he can control them.”
Rock The Vote in November. This is why you need to make your choice known. Register and ROCK THE VOTE! If you’ve never voted before, as your friends, ask your local county or city hall. Just REGISTER AND ROCK THE VOTE!
