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Song of the Day: “Don’t Believe In Love” by John Milstead

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Posted by :BMJ On : May 13, 2012

Category: Headlines

Out of Tupelo, Mississippi comes a singer-songwriter named John Milstead. This Sunday, May 20th, he will be sharing the stage with the likes of Maroon 5, Rehab, and Nelly at the Gulfport Music Festival in Gulfport, Mississippi. If you’re in the area, check this artist out. John taught himself the art of music. Check out his album entitled “Sides of the Soul” at Amazon, I-Tunes, or Cdbaby. Also, “like” his page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/JohnMilstead . Here is his single entitled “Don’t Believe In Love”. This is for fans of Marc Broussard and Van Morrison.

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As a bonus for Song of the Day, here’s his masterful cover of “Walking in Memphis”, originally done by Marc Cohn. My readers, this is one of my all-time favorite songs.
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Act of Valor Film Review

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Posted by :BMJ On : March 4, 2012

Category: Articles, Entertainment, Headlines, Movie Reviews

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Those that know me on a personal level know that movies aren’t really my cup of tea. I find a lot of Hollywood movies to be unoriginal with plot development and creativity in storyline development. I much prefer going to a concert, musical, or play as opposed to go to a movie. In essence, due to my short attention span, and due to myself having difficulty just sitting down and watching a movie, I have the tendency to get bored quite easily with a particular movie. This past Friday, after work, I was invited by a friend to go see “Act of Valor” which primarily consists of active Navy Seal members as the cast of this particular movie.

I was also intrigued by the various reviews I’ve read and I figured, it’s something original, therefore, I’m going to give it a shot. In essence, the plot of this movie is a group of Navy Seals attempting to stop a Jihadi-terrorism plot that occurs in the Mexicali area of Baja California and the northwest part of Mexico. This group of Navy Seals leave everything behind in an effort to prevent this catastrophic terrorist plot that would collapse the world economy and I quote “make 9/11 look like a walk in the park”.

Regular movie critics will complain about the acting in this movie. Keep in mind, my readers, these active Navy Seal members are not professional actors, they are Navy Seals. However, due to the intensity in certain scenes that had actual live-action fire rounds going off, what these brave men have probably went through brought a real sense of authenticity to the various scenes. Because of this authenticity in the imagery, it caused the average movie attendee to be on the edge of their seat and attempt to develop a sense of understanding of what the men and women in the military do everyday. There are mulitple missions and exercises in this film, and the first-person shots from behind the assault weapons are original and uncanny. The attendee will definitely appreciate the funeral scene, the reading of the quote from a pilot killed during World War II, and especially reading the quote from Shawnee Chief Tecumseh.

What these Navy Seals brought is a breath of fresh-air to the dry movie spell in Hollywood lately. The scene where the two Seals walk off after talking about their latest mission is a scene that is especially memorable. It’s that complete confidence and self-control, that swagger if you will, that they are the best in the world at what they do. It’s a feeling that they have ice water in their veins in the heat of the battle, and the attendee can sense that. This is a movie that captures the imagination of what the members of the United States military goes through on a daily basis, it’s stories of triumph, paying the ultimate sacrifice, and courage. All politics aside, definitely take a night off and go see this movie.
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Taproot’s New Single

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Posted by :Matt Buell On : March 2, 2012

Category: Articles, Headlines, Music, Take A Listen, Videos

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The boys from my home state of Michigan will be releasing a new album entitled “The Episodes” on April 10th. Below is the song that will be released as the first single and will hit the radio on April 3rd. View the hell out of it and enjoy. Rock on.

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Whitney Houston Found Dead in Beverly Hills Hotel Room

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Posted by :BMJ On : February 11, 2012

Category: Headlines

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Tonight, CNN, Associated Press and her publicist have all confirmed that R & B sensation Whitney Houston has passed away at the age of 48 in her hotel room in Beverly Hills, California. Her boyfriend Ray J confirmed her death as well.

Whitney Houston was discovered in a church gospel choir in New Jersey at the age of 11. She comes from a musical family as her mother is Cissy Houston and her cousin is Dionne Warwick. She is the only woman in pop history to have two separate albums in consecutive years on the year-end Billboard top album pop charts. She’s also won over 400 individual awards between her music and her acting career.

She is known for having seven consecutive number one hits and the number one most selling single by a female in music history with her cover of “I Will Always Love You”, originally sung by country music legend Dolly Parton. She also has the number one most selling gospel album in gospel music history with the soundtrack to “The Preacher’s Wife” and was aptly referred to as “The Voice”. Her cause of death is yet to be determined.

Drive: A Film Review

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Posted by :Josh Bash On : January 30, 2012

Category: Buzz, Headlines, Hollyweird, Movie Reviews

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Drive is a film I was excited for the moment I heard about it. Ryan Gosling – who is reaching Must Watch Anything He’s In territory – stars alongside Carey Mulligan, with Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston, and the great Albert Brooks in supporting roles. The film doesn’t waste any time setting up the premise and introducing you to Ryan Gosling’s character, simply known as the Driver, or the Kid. We never find out his name, and it is all the more fitting that we don’t, much like in Fight Club. The Kid is a stunt driver for the movies when the sun shines, and a getaway driver by the moonlight. Drive’s opening scene involves the latter, and you immediately find out how calm, calculated, and seemingly composed The Driver is, no matter how intense the situation at hand may be. He conducts his business exactly as he tells his clients he will, and is talented enough at it that he seems more interested in the LA Clippers game that he has on his radio, than he is with the current task at hand. We aren’t privy to any history about the Kid, and I think it’s better that way. They set the movie up, we find out what he does and how well he does it, and then the story truly begins.

After his initial moonlighting job, he heads to his apartment, where we are introduced to the absolutely stunning Carey Mulligan. She portrays her characters with such ease and skill, that it’s impossible not to enjoy her every moment she’s on the screen. It is no different in Drive. Her introduction is equipped with a slow motion shot, and it’s easy to see why. Carey, or Irene, and the Driver are made aware of each other on the elevator both on their way up to their apartments. Hers is just down the hall from his. Their exchanges and dialogue throughout the film are short, concise and perfect, and their meeting on the elevator is no different. They say almost nothing, but they both clearly note the other and take in everything they can in the few seconds they have. It’s a nice introduction to the dynamic between both characters, which is one of the most, if not THE most, engaging and lasting aspect of the film. Gosling and Mulligan are flawless together and it is as though they have been acting with each other since they both began. In fact, all the main characters in Drive have a great chemistry, which is very much a credit to the director, Nicolas Winding Refn. He really lets the movie breath. He never tries to cram too much into any scene. He instead gives us precise, creative shots, and lets the actors and the scene itself unfold. There is no filler here, as every scene is exactly as it should be, and you never get a sense that the film drags or is wearing out its welcome. It is very rare in Hollywood that someone makes a dramatic thriller that isn’t filled with explosions, overly dramatic acting, poor writing, and the philosophy that excess, and More More More is somehow better. Drive is the anti-action film, as it goes about doing its thing in almost the complete opposite way of the norm.

The always talented Bryan Cranston plays Shannon. He is the Driver’s boss (and the one that calls him The Kid) and he owns an auto repair garage. He hired the kid on the spot the day he drifted into town five years or so previously. He’s been his agent and mentor so to speak, ever since. He hires him out to film companies, he does stunt work for them, Shannon gets half, and the Kid never thinks twice or bats an eye about it. He is so quiet and soft-spoken, but there is always that glimmer of danger about him just under the surface, enough to where we can catch a glimpse of it, but have no idea what sort of event or feeling would have to occur to bring it out from the depths of his inner turmoil. There is obviously a lot of layers and darkness to this kid, and we never find out why. It is the most intriguing, exciting thing about him.

Once the main characters are introduced, we find out Shannon wants to start a business venture into the world of racing. The Driver would of course be his star, or rather his Golden Ticket to riches and success, which seems to be Shannon’s motive for everything he does. He’s a schemer and a bullshitter, but we never get a sense that he’s a bad person. He has a bit of fatherly instinct when it comes to the Kid, and although he doesn’t exactly do what is best for him at every turn, he never seems to want anything but the best for him – as long as it increases his own bank account. To attempt success in the racing world, you of course need a car. That’s where Albert Brooks’ character comes into play. He used to produce actions movies in the 80s – a definite nod to a lot of this movies’ inspiration – and seems to be somewhat of a crime lord now. He loans Shannon the money, he meets the Kid (in a great scene where the tension strings really begin to tighten and the plot takes off), and the dangerous thriller element enters into play. I need to specifically mention the score of this film, brought to us by Cliff Martinez. It accentuates every scene in the film, especially as the tension builds. The music is cold, mostly electronic, and is very much alive (or dead rather) with the spirit of the 80s. Drive really has the feel of an 80s-era film at times, but in no way is that a bad thing. It takes out all the cheese and fluff a lot of action films from that day possessed, while retaining the almost mechanical solace that can be found in many of them. The score was vital to the vibe and the mood of the film in every way.

There are two elements of this film that really stand out to me. One is the way the scenes with Irene and the Driver are filmed. The lighting and the shots are almost euphoric, as if presenting this world of golden possibilities for the Driver where he can have this fantastic woman and her son, who he has an immediate and telling connection with. He seems to recognize what is pure, and perhaps even experiences a bit of nostalgia for a time when he might have been the same. That time is clearly far behind him, and it has been replaced with a stark, intensely protective nature, for the child and for Irene. Those are seemingly the only things that could break the complete control and restraint he exudes at every moment, be it serving as a getaway driver, or even the way he removes his driving gloves. The other element is what sets this movie apart from your average thriller. Much like Albert Brooks’ apparent preference and usage of sharp blades, this movie cuts with such a cold precision. The violence is scathing and alarming. It’s quick and abrupt and is completely unsettling. It is really a testament to the director’s talent that the movie transitions between these two elements with such ease. One moment Irene and the Driver take a stroll on the highways and byways of Los Angeles, and have such a beautiful moment together where everything is right in the world and there is no need for even a word of dialogue. Other moments, everything is flipped, heads are blown to bits, skin breaks as easily as the child’s innocence, and unavoidable chaos is rampant. I can’t express enough how engaging this film is from start to finish. There is a clear plot structure here, from the buildup to the climax, and it makes it all the more enjoyable to watch. Every moment is pure cinematic bliss; from the Driver’s serene solo strolls through the city at night, to the unquestionably romantic allure of him and Irene’s relationship, to the devastating violence that is experienced by them all. This is a film I can see standing the test of time, and remaining fresh in my mind and my heart for years to come.

Directing: A+. Under the direction of just about anybody else, this film would not have been executed like it was. Flawless direction.

Acting: A. Everyone acted with such skill and restraint. Gosling, Mulligan and Brooks all deserve Oscar consideration, though they were all snubbed.

Score: A+. The mood music and specific song selections could not have been more fitting for each scene they were attached to. It is probably a bigger Oscar snub than the actors and director that did not get a nomination.

Dialogue\Writing: A. It gets an A more for the intentional lack of dialogue than the actual dialogue itself. Sometimes less is more. Especially if the actors and director know how to pull that off.

Final Grade: A. I haven’t seen a film this memorable and impactful, with such a high rewatchability factor, in a long time. This is the Best Film of 2011. 

It’s Monday!(It Sucks I Know) I hope this helps…. (Pictures)

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Posted by :TheBohemianMonk On : January 30, 2012

Category: Headlines

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“Spine Extraction” Guitarist Jarrod Bryant and OverkillWFO: Our Interview

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Posted by :Matt Buell On : November 25, 2011

Category: Headlines, Interviews

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(Contributor’s Note: I have an admission, a confession, a non-guilty open statement I have to get off my chest. I have not really listened to Death Metal since the mid-90s. Why? Because in my opinion, it just wasn’t the same. I now see that I did miss out on some good bands that came after that time frame/era, but my decision to stay away from the genre that everybody called “satanic” from that time until now is a decision I stand behind. I just never felt that music that made my blood boil, my head bang, my neck snap coming after the mid-90s was as good as it was from the early 80s. I lost interest. Things have been different since April of this year when I first heard Spine Extraction. I had not heard even an inkling of that old school Death feel until I saw their FB page on another band’s “Like” section. Holy shit! I knew I had to write a “Take A Listen” on them. To me, and in my opinion, Spine Extraction takes me back there…big time. The best self-description of a band is this band’s…”Fucking brutal.” There is no denying their power. There is no denying their passion. There is no denying that without even vocalizing a single word, they command your mind to bang the fuck outta your head. I’m obviously not as young as I used to be back in the day (and I don’t have the long hair anymore), and with some of my own physical issues, I still find myself wanting to feel that aggression in my body. To bang the old noggin. To feel the neck strain the next day. Thank you, Spine Extraction. So, I wrote the original article and eventually swallowed my pride to actually ask for an interview. With their busy schedule, and the things going on on my side, I finally got this chance. So, please read and enjoy my interview with Jarrod Bryant. Rock on)

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OverkillWFO-Hey Jarrod, thank you for taking the time to do this interview with me for The Monk’s House. I’ve been wanting this for some time, so you and your time are greatly appreciated. Please tell our readers and your fans a little bit about you, and please introduce us to the rest of the band.

Jarrod Bryant-I’m just a metalhead attempting to live the dream (laughs). Tripp King is our vocalist and Josh Bowen is the drummer.  Right now, we are just three strong – our other two members bailed on us due to personal reasons in their lives. Our three founding members will always be the same. It was these three members that wrote and recorded the self-titled album. I actually played bass on the album.

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OKWFO-That’s cool. Keep forging ahead. What hooked me into checking you guys out several months ago was the explanation of being “fucking brutal.” That, in itself, drew me in. I know there is more depth to the band, so please explain your sound, and what might bring more people interested to check you guys out. Do you agree or disagree with the assessment I gave about you guys having a killer “old school” Death Metal-esque feel?

JB-I totally agree about the death metal aspect! We are fans of many sub-genres of metal. We pull from Death, Melodic Death, Thrash, Black Metal, NuMetal, Metalcore, Deathcore, Industrial Metal – any aggressive metal. We have a variety of fans ranging from young people who love “The Acacia Strain” to old schoolers comparing us to “Cannibal Corpse” at times.

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OKWFO-Nice. When I first liked your Facebook fanpage, you had just under 300 “Likes”. Here we are a few months later and you have over 3,300. Can you tell us how this awesome rise has happened?

JB-I think it may have happened because our fans on Twitter. They are spreading word about Spine Extraction like wildfire. Last time I checked, we had 8,000 followers on Twitter. We are getting really great response worldwide from fans.

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OKWFO-Your first album just got released on August 1st. Please talk, or brag, about what people can expect out of the album itself. How many songs? How is the album doing? Do you have a favorite off the album you like to play live over any others?

JB-People can expect the other tracks to hit just as hard as the tracks online. The album is kind of short – 8 tracks – but not short in the light that it is an independent release. We are not signed to a label and are doing everything on our own. We plan to make our 2nd album pretty long. I really like playing Fleshless and Eternity Awaits live.

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OKWFO-I hope to see you guys live one day. How insane are your live shows? Where can readers and fans see you guys live over the next several months?

JB-Our live shows are mostly pretty high energy. People fucking it up in the pit. It’s a cool feeling when you know you are creating the energy people are fucking shit up to. We have shows scheduled across North Carolina and South Carolina over the next few months. See our ReverbNation or Facebook for details.

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OKWFO-Please give the readers places online to check you guys out – the best places to find out information about the band and album, and anywhere to purchase the album.

JB-Please buy our album on CDBaby.com. They will give us larger profits then iTunes or any other digital distributions. Here is a link: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/spineextraction
Our other Spine Extraction page links:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spine-Extraction/152390211438377
ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/spineextraction
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/spineextraction
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/SpineExtraction

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OKWFO-Here is your time to discuss or bring up anything I might have missed or anything else you want to talk about.

JB-I just want our fans to know we are humble and want you all to know how much we appreciate what you do for us. Kickass fans like yourself, Matt. You guys are helping to inform other metal heads about us. Our fans are the fucking best!

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OKWFO-Again, I truly thank you for doing this. The fan base is growing at an awesome rate, and I am looking forward to how far you guys go. Keep doing what you guys do by keeping it brutal. Take care, man.

JB-Thank you.

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Please show Spine Extraction your love and support and keep it, “Fucking brutal!!!” (Note: Since this interview, the band has brought another skilled guitarist into the band)

My personal favorite – Suppressing the Rage

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“Back From Ashes” Vocalist Jason Hobel and OverkillWFO: Our Conversation

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Posted by :Matt Buell On : August 3, 2011

Category: Headlines, Interviews

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(Contributor’s Note: Yvonne did it again! From what little bit I knew about Back From Ashes before vocalist Jason Hobel phoned me the other day, I had immediately took a huge liking to the band and their music. It’s right up my alley and love for different/diverse forms of hard, good Metal. So, Jason called me at the exact time, and it was on. Just like any other interview I have done, my nerves hit me like a ton of bricks, but right off the bat (before we even dove into the questions), he eased the hell outta me. Thanks, man. The soft-spoken, heartfelt, and humorous frontman is a breath of fresh air to the always chaotic world of music nowadays. Jason is just as passionate about all their fans (and fans yet to come) as he is about putting out a great record. The dude is a true musician Give these guys props, and please enjoy the conversation we had. Rock on)

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OverkillWFO-Let me please say thank you for agreeing to do this interview with me for The Monk’s House. I have been really looking forward to speaking with anybody from the band, so I do appreciate you.

Jason Hobel-Oh yeah, not a problem, brother. Thank you for this.

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OKWFO-If you would please, introduce yourself to our readers.

JH-Okay, I am Jason Hobel, and I am the singer for Back From Ashes. I started the band along with Mikey. We’ve been in it for a while, and actually Mikey and I found each other back in ’03. We started working on things for a couple of years, and then Back From Ashes was born, and we’ve been at it ever since.

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OKWFO-So when exactly did you guys form?

JH-Well, it’s actually kind of funny. We started out as a different name. We were a band called Sleeper Cell, and then we found out quickly that there were about 30 million bands with the same name (laughs from both of us). And, we were like, “Okay well, that’s not gonna work.” So, that was back in ’05, and we held that name for awhile, but we didn’t really put anything out under the name. So technically, we’ve been together since ’05, about six years now.

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OKWFO-That’s cool. Can you give a short bio on each member and their roll to introduce everybody?

JH-Sure. Sure. We’ve got Anthony DeJesus, and he is our guitar player, and we have Mike Butikofer, who’s our other guitar player. Then we’ve got Dave, who plays bass, and ya know Matt, kill me now, I can’t remember Dave’s last name for the life of me at the moment (laughs). It’s been a long day, man.

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OKWFO-(laughing) I’m sure every day is a long day.

JH-Yeah! We’ve got a drummer we’re playing with, Dan Johnson, and that’s our band right now.

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OKWFO-While doing some research on the band, I ran across some statements about the band being called “Phoenix Core”, as whoever wrote that says you cannot be put into any specific genre. Have you ever heard of this?

JH-(laughs) Yes, I have. We’re kind of a cross-breed of genres. If you’ve heard us, you would probably agree. We take elements of all kinds of music and blend it together. We’ve got our background in Metal, and our background in Rock, and Blues, and Jazz, and Death Metal, and all this stuff that each member brings to the table. Through that, we kind of developed our own kind of thing. It’s really funny, we were doing this a few years back, and now bands are starting to do the same thing, not that we we’re originators or anything, but we like to take the best of the best and put it into a song. It’s not by design, it just kind of happens that way. I think that’s because of all of our diverse backgrounds in music, so it’s hard to categorize us. Are we a Metal band? Are we a Rock band? Are we an Industrial band? I think we’re all of that.

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OKWFO-Yeah, if you’re a mix of all the genres, who then would be some of your influences from all the different genres you throw into your music?

JH-Like I said, we all come from such a diverse background. Like Anthony, he loves like Viking Metal and stuff like Savatage and bands like that. Where I come from is more of a Rock background and Blues. My dad is a Blues musician. So, I’ve got that whole Rock and Blues thing from when I grew up. I listened to everything from Classic Rock to Hair Metal, ya know Hair Rock, the pretty boys back in the day-Poison, Warrant, Bon Jovi, and all that. It’s everything from Etta James to B.B. King and so on. Then you got Dave, who likes Cannibal Corpse, and all these hardcore bands. It’s interesting because we listen to different things. Mikey is more of the old school Thrash Metal bands. It is what it is. It comes together in this unique style. Like I said, we don’t set out to be that way, it just ends up that way, and we couldn’t be more thankful for it.

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OKWFO-Yeah, and you guys sound good doing it. I absolutely dig every single song I’ve heard. Just a regular fan might pick up the album and not really know what to expect, they can hear everything in there, and that’s cool, how you guys put all the influences in there together.

JH-Yeah absolutely. Ya know, we’re thankful for it. We joke around, we say we would suck at any one of those genres if we tried to do it specifically (laughs from both of us), but when we throw it all together, it works out great.

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OKWFO-That’s awesome. I love that. I kinda know the history on this story, but I’d like to hear it from you. Could you please tell me and the readers about Capo?

JH-Yeah Capo. Capo is one of the super fans. We do a lot of shows out in Texas. He had come and seen us play. I think he was a fan online before he saw us for the first time. He’s got some medical issues, and the kid is one of those guys that really inspires you. When you think you’re having a bad day, and you look over, and you’re like, “Well shit. It’s not near as bad as it could be.” Capo is just one of those kids, he tattooed his whole front torso with our logo and is just a super fan and super guy. He’s confined to a wheelchair and has a degenerative muscle disease. It’s really heartbreaking, but at the same time, it’s also very uplifting in the sense that you have somebody like that, who is a fan of yours, that pulls in your music that gives him inspiration to keep going forward, and in turn, gives us inspiration to keep moving forward. Things like that are huge for us and huge for fans. So, he’s become a really close and dear friend of ours. We’ve done fundraisers for him and things like that. He’s just a great kid all around, so we do everything we can to help him out.

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OKWFO-Hell yeah. I saw those picture on Facebook and quizzed Yvonne to find out if I could ask you about it. She goes, “Oh hell yeah. Ask him about it.” I wanted to because it’s a really cool story to do that for any kid that is such a huge fan of yours, it means the world to a lot of people. A band, or anybody, who has a name behind them to do that for a fan is really awesome. My hat’s off to you because that is something great.

JH-Thank you. Another thing though for us, too, we like to think of ourselves as kind of a “street-level” band in the sense that, we aren’t above anyone. We TRULY realize that without our fans, we aren’t a band. We are not a band that’s worth anything. It’s really the fans that take you to the next level. People sometimes in the music industry forget that without them, where would you be? These people charge you $30 to get into a show, and that’s a lot of money these days, and it’s the people that work hard for that and support you, and if you don’t give back to your fans, you’re kind of a douchebag (laughs from both of us). That’s the way I look at it because they are the people out there that make you what you are. Yeah, it takes a certain level of skill to be a musician, at least a good one, but that’s only part of it. You can be the best musician in the world, if you’re a total tool and treat fans like crap, what good is it going to do you? You won’t sell any albums and won’t put any people at a show, and people will just ignore you. And then, you’re doing it for what?

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OKWFO-Exactly. It’s all for nil if you don’t show your appreciation back, and it’s obvious you guys do.

JH-It’s well worth it. We try (laughs)

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OKWFO-It speaks volumes. It really does. Trust me, I’m just a fan. I have no affiliation with the music industry really, so hearing stuff like this is great. You’ve gained yourself another fan that’s for sure (laughs)

JH-That’s awesome, man! We could use them all (laughs)

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OKWFO-How many albums do you guys have right now?

JH-We have three albums out. Actually, one is now out of print. One day we’ll probably put it back in print. That’s our first album called “Broken”. Then we have a self-titled EP followed by our latest album at the end of August/September of last year called “261″.

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OKWFO-Okay, I wanted to ask you about “261″. What is the meaning of the title?

JH-It’s an alpha-numeric code. If you put the alphabet to your numbers, it’s 2 = B, 6 = F, 1 = A, BFA-Back From Ashes.

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OKWFO-Nice. Short and sweet. Plain and simple (laughs)

JH-(laughs) Yep. It’s funny. We put it out there to see what people thought it meant, and man, they came up with some really good stuff (laughs)

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OKWFO-(laughs) I bet they came up with some really nice long numbers, too (laughs)

JH-(laughs) Right? They got real technical with it. We’re like, “No, it’s so much easier than that.” (laughs)

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OKWFO-Are you guys working on any new music?

JH-Always, man. We’re always working on new music. As soon as you stop doing that, you’re in a mad rush for the next album, and you end up with something that is sub-par to what you need. Yeah, we’re always working on music in between touring and stuff like that, just trying to get in there and write the next big hit.

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OKWFO-Of course, every song has to be the next big hit, right?

JH-Absolutely man. As our producer always tells us, “Your next song has to be as good as your best song off of your last record.” And, it’s like, “Wow. No pressure.” (laughs) But, with that being said, I think that’s what made “261″ the album that it is because we really did work hard to make sure every song was something that is all thrillers, no fillers. Know what I mean?

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OKWFO-Yeah, absolutely. Every song has its own sound to it and none of them sound the same and all are badass and hard. It’s a really good record in my opinion.

JH-I appreciate that, and I’ll tell ya, that part of it is by design. But then, and I’m not going to mention any bands’ names, but everybody knows who I’m talking about, but there’s a lot of bands out there where you cannot decipher one song from the next. We never wanted to be that band. Sometimes bands find a formula that works for them, and they stick with it, they sell tons of records. But for me, personally, I get really bored. I’m like, “Wow, that song sounds just like the one I just heard.” It may have some different lyrics, but the formula and everything is the exact same. I’m like, “Shit. The last song was a great song. Surprise me. Give me something else.” We are very careful when we do that that we don’t put ourselves in a position where you can’t tell what kind of band we are because we will always be Back From Ashes, and we do have our sound. When you hear a Back From Ashes song, you know it’s us. But, the song is different, and it’s not going to be the same song you just heard right before it. Take the listener on a journey. Back in the day, you had “Operation: Mindcrime” and albums like that, where it would take you on a journey, and each song was different, and that’s the kind of stuff that I strive, and I know the band strives, to put together music that will take you somewhere, and it’s not going to be just background music.

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OKWFO-Yeah, absolutely. “Operation: Mindcrime” is their best album. That’s my opinion, and I’m sticking to it (laughs)

JH-(laughs) I hear ya, man. They’re phenomenal. Queensryche is one of my all-time favorite bands, and they hit it right on the bullseye with that album.

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OKWFO-I am in total agreeance. I have to go a little off track here. The Rock influence in your vocals is apparent when just singing, but do you do all the growls?

JH-Yeah, I do them all. But live, I do not because there is just not enough breath in the human body (laughs) In the studio, it’s one thing. I sing a part, then track the next part, then you track the next part. But live, I’d have to have the lungs of a deep sea diver that can hold his breath for 6 minutes at a time, so Mikey, Dave, and Anthony will hit the growls live. I’ll hit some of them live, where I have the breath to do so, but they pick up the rest.

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OKWFO-Sorry. That just came to me because I can’t picture anybody being able to do that live (laughs) Please give the readers and fans places online where they can check you guys out – best place you’d suggest – or where they can get “261″.

JH-Yeah, backfromashes.com is the best place because it has links to all of our other pages. We’ve got our ReverbNation that’s linked there, our Facebook, our Twitter, which we recently got involved with, so I don’t know if I’m twatting, or tweeting, or twitting, or whatever it’s called (laughs from both sides), but we’re jumping on-board with that whole thing. All of the links to all of the other pages are right there on the website on backfromashes.com.

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OKWFO-The best place for web traffic, too. That’s about it, dude. Relatively short and painless. I want to give you the proverbial “floor”, if there is anything you want to touch on or add that maybe we didn’t talk about, anything at all, this is your time to do it. It’s all yours.

JH-Ya know, honestly, I feel you hit on a lot of great things. For us, we are all about our fans, and I cannot stress that enough. Again, it’s so important to us that our fans believe in us because we believe in them. I know it sounds kind of preachy or whatever, but our fans are our religion, and we worship our fans like they worship us. It’s a 20/20. Without them, we just can’t exist. The importance of it is off the charts, and we always like to make sure our fans know that. We have a great staff that works with us like Yvonne and Ryan Greene, our producer. And, without people like that in our careers, our lives, we wouldn’t be the band we are.

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OKWFO-That’s a nice shoutout to them, too, because you don’t hear enough people behind the scenes getting enough credit, so that’s really cool.

JH-Oh yeah, good God, are you kidding me, man? Have you seen what’s out there? Fuck. (laughs) Especially our producer and our publicist, those guys and ladies, they really get us out there in peoples’ face and are that catalyst for us to get our music heard, and then we take over from there. There is just not enough time in the day for a band to get it all done. You have to have a support team. A lot of bands forget that. A lot of bands figure that it’s good enough to just be a great band, and it’s not. Paparazzi? Bring it on. Thank you (laughs) It’s a necessity. That stuff gets you in peoples’ faces because if you’re not in their face, they don’t know who you are. You don’t exist. It’s absolutely important. Having people like Ryan Greene, our producer, to be able to see the things that he sees in us that we didn’t see in us, and forcing us to write riffs and vocal melodies we never would have thought of on our own. Without that, we wouldn’t have the album we have.

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OKWFO-That’s cool. In any walk of life, if you think about it, it usually takes a certain someone to bring out what you didn’t realize you had. To give credit like that where it is due, without taking anything away from the band because you guys are the people making the music, that’s awesome, and Yvonne does love the shit outta you guys (laughs)

JH-(laughs) Yeah absolutely. It takes a village to raise a child. It’s the same thing with a band. It takes a world to raise a band, to get them to the point to where they want to succeed. It takes that, so we can’t be more appreciative than we already are. We love everybody.

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OKWFO-Awesome. Like I said, I really appreciate this. I’m looking forward to more music from you guys to be honest. I really enjoyed the hell out of this interview and really appreciate your time.

JH-Oh, dude. Thank you so much for giving us the interview. We appreciate it, too. Like I said, every little bit helps us, too. You guys are the ones that are putting us out to people that we wouldn’t have normally reached, so we couldn’t be more appreciative. Thank you.

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OKWFO-In a sense, it’s all a family, man. I’ll do anything I can for ya. Not a problem at all. You’re very welcome. Great talking to you. Take care, man.

JH-You, too, and thank you again.

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Just in case you missed the link within the article, please click here to go to the Back From Ashes website, please check out the videos below to get a taste of what this band is great at (Metal, baby!), and please also do not forget to “SPREAD THE ASHES!!!”

The Suffering Within (from the album 261)

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Father Fiction (from the album Broken)

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Breaking Benjamin Breaking Up?

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Posted by :Matt Buell On : August 2, 2011

Category: Headlines

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According to all sorts of online sources in news for today, the current lineup of Breaking Benjamin is no more. Lead singer and founder, Benjamin Burnley, has fired guitarist Aaron Fincke and bassist Mark Klepaski. Supposedly, the two FORMER members of the band did some kind of “behind the scenes” deal concerning their recent re-release of ‘Blow Me Away’, and neither them, nor their representatives, informed Mr. Burnley of these negotiations. Burnley alleges that Fincke and Klepaski had an agreement with Hollywood Records to issue the remix on an album in the form of “Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking Benjamin” without his consent or knowledge. He is seeking $250,000 in initial damages. The record label claims everybody knew of it.

The band has been on break due to Ben’s unreleased health problems (a rumor had started just over a year ago that they were broke up then), but he plans to keep rolling on. Per his attorney, “The relationship between Mr. Burnley and the two other members of the band has ended. Mr. Burnley intends on moving forward using the name Breaking Benjamin, and the band will continue. It just won’t continue in its prior configuration. He’s not retiring.”

This is an ugly situation that I truly hope gets resolved soon. I gotta hear some more from this band. It does “blow me away”, and it sounds like Burnley “will not bow” (Yes, I know). For your listening pleasure, please check out the videos below. Rock on.

Blow Me Away (feat. Valora)

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I Will Not Bow (Pay no mind to the “warning” that pops up in the center of this one. It’s from last year)

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Amy Winehouse Found Dead in London Apartment

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Posted by :TheBohemianMonk On : July 23, 2011

Category: Headlines

Tags:

This is breaking news via TMZ, “Amy Winehouse was found dead in her apartment in London today … TMZ has confirmed. A press release from the Metropolitan Police, which doesn’t specifically name Winehouse, says: “Police were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square NW1 shortly before 16.05hrs today, Saturday 23 July, following reports of a woman found deceased. On arrival officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene. Enquiries continue into the circumstances of the death. At this early stage it is being treated as unexplained.” Last month, Winehouse canceled her European tour after a performance in Serbia where she seemed completely out of it”.
 
Will update as more becomes available…

“Against All Will” Frontman Jeff Current and OverkillWFO-Our Interview

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Posted by :Matt Buell On : July 23, 2011

Category: Headlines, Interviews

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(Contributor’s Note: Yvonne, publicist for Hard Rock band Against All Will, contacted The Monk about talking to this “supergroup” of musicians. I made sure to get this one. I wanted this one. With my maybe-once-in-a-while mention of how much I listen to Octane, I knew of the band because of their first single, ‘The Drug I Need’. The song is huge, and I absolutely dig the hell out of it. Lucky me, I got to do the interview just after the next single, ‘Swept Away’, hit Octane a week ago. What? Hell yes I dig it. It’s damn good. As a matter of fact, the whole EP is good. Jeff Current, vocalist SUPREME for Against All Will, was the unlucky bastard who had to deal with my barrage of questions. Yet, he showed no signs of this being any different than any other. He treated me with respect, made me laugh, gave shout-outs…the works. Anybody who takes time out of a schedule such as his to interview with us deserves just as much as they put into their music. The “supergroup” part? Please read below. Thank you, Yvonne. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you, Against All Will. Keep the jams coming. The band is a true-blood group of rockers. That is needed in today’s music. Rock on)

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OverkillWFO-I would like to say thank you for taking time out of your schedule to interview with me for The Monk’s House. First thing’s first. For fans and readers of the website, could you please introduce yourself, your role in the band, and a little history on each member?

Jeff Current-What’s up you crazy rockers? This is Jeff Current, lead singer for Against All Will. I come from Dallas, TX. I’m high…on life. I had a band called Seven Story Drop in Dallas before I joined Against All Will. Jimmy Allen is our guitar player. Jimmy is from Chanute, KS. He co-founded Puddle of Mudd back in the day and was a big part of that band’s success and sound. Jimmy has one of the most insanely badass guitar collections I’ve ever seen in person. Cello Dias plays bass guitar. Cello comes from Brazil and was the original bass player for the metal band Soulfly for many years. This guy can cook like a muffuga! We are thinking about touring in a roach coach and having Cello cook his Brazilian sandwiches and pizzas on the streets to support us. Phil Gonyea is on drums. Phil is from Santa Barbara, CA. He cut his teeth in the L.A. metal scene and was in a band called Instinct of Aggression. Some of the recordings you hear from us have numerous, different guest players on them. We’ve had some of our friends come in and lay down tracks with us-like drummer Moke Bistany from Otep/Puddle of Mudd/Cellophane; bass player Marty O’Brien from Tommy Lee/Kelly Clarkson/We Are The Fallen; and drummer Steve Wilson from TATU/Dead Kennedys. We almost had Nick Jonas do some background vocals for us when we were working next door to him one time at Jim Henson Studios in L.A., but his manager wouldn’t allow it (laughs). That woulda been killer! Talk about a variety though, huh?

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OKWFO-(laughs) That’s no shit. Guess Nick would have been marred being associated with a Hard Rock band or something maybe? Can you also please give a little history on Against All Will itself? Phillip Gonyea is a pretty new addition, correct?

JC-It all started with me sending love notes to Jimmy on Myspace, and he finally caved in. Nah, Jimmy and I had a mutual friend named Bigg Dave, who managed Puddle of Mudd in the earlier days before their record deal. When I first met Dave back in like ’02, that’s when he told me the history of Puddle of Mudd and told me about Jimmy being the most important piece of that band with songwriting and his guitar sound. Years went by after I met Dave, until the fall of ’08 when I got a wild hair up my ass and sent Jimmy a message on Myspace. “What’s up brother? Diggin’ your tunes.” He hit me back saying he was putting together a new band, that the songs I was hearing on Myspace were new, and he needs a singer. He checked out my songs on my band’s page and liked what he heard, so he asked if I wanted to come out to L.A. and audition. “Um, yes” is pretty much what I said. So, I flew out to L.A. a few weeks later and auditioned…here we are. I flew right back to Dallas, packed up everything important, threw it in the car, and floored it to L.A. immediately. We started working on material right away at his high-rise, one bedroom apartment in West Hollywood overlooking the Sunset Marquis Hotel and the Strip. After a few months, we set up auditions for drummers and bass players in late winter/early spring of ’09. We found drummer, Steve Wilson, and a bass player named Chris Clemence, and got to work. We went into Korn’s studio a few months after that to record our EP “A Rhyme & Reason” in June or July with producer Tim Harkins (Korn/Alice in Chains/Puddle of Mudd). Our bass player quit on us the very first day in the studio! Tim had to end up cutting some of the bass tracks for us. Now we were back on the lookout for a bass player. Our friend Roy Mayorga from Stone Sour was our next door neighbor at our rehearsal studio complex that we rented a room at. We were talking one day, and we told him our bass player quit. So, we asked him if he knew of anyone, and he said he knew just the guy. Cello and Roy were in Soulfly and Abloom together and are close friends. We met Cello and it gelled instantly. Steve Wilson was our drummer, but he ended up taking another job with Lena Katina from TATU, playing drums for her solo project in the beginning of ’11. So yeah, Phil is new to us. We found Phil through Cello’s good friend Mikey Doling, guitar player for Snot and then Soulfly, and Abloom with Cello and Roy.

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OKWFO-I loved Soulfly’s first two albums. Good, hard metal. Talk to me then, please, about your debut “A Rhyme & Reason”.

JC-Well, as I said before, it was done at Korn’s Studio in LA. The vibe inside that place was killer. I kept thinking, “ Wow, we are doing a rock record in one of the Holy Grails of metal.” All the badass Korn records that came out of that place, yet they still live inside of it. It was a lot of fun being there. The Korn guys were out on tour and not using the studio, so they agreed to let Tim record us there. Thank the Rock Gods for shining down on us. We came out a few weeks later with the 7 song EP. Five of the songs on the disc were songs that Jimmy had written before I came into the band. A couple of them were slightly unfinished, so we finished those together. The other 2 songs were songs that Jimmy and I wrote together from scratch. I’m so proud of this EP, it’s done so well.

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OKWFO-That’s awesome. Debut EPs seem to not do as well as full-length albums, but you all have been able to dispel that in a great way. What do you attribute to the quick rise of the band?

JC-I would say good songs speak for themselves. On top of having good songs that connect and resonate with people, and a smart veteran manager in Sam Kaiser, we are also very personable- reaching out to fans, talking to anyone who writes us on Facebook, waiting ‘til the last person in line gets a CD, t-shirt, autograph, or a picture with us after a show. It’s all about the fans with us.

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OKWFO-And, that makes a huge difference in someone who hits one of your shows not really knowing who you are. Speaking of fans, I’m a huge fan of Sirius/XM Octane. What is it like hearing your music being played on a station with such a huge fan base?

JC-Octane has boosted our sales and put us on the map as a serious contender and a force to be reckoned with. When ‘The Drug I Need’ shot up into the Top 10 and stayed there for several weeks, we were all pretty giddy. It has been in the Top 20 pretty much its entire existence on the station. It went back into Top 10 again around the 4th of July and was featured on the “Big’Uns Top 15″ songs on Octane. Thanks to all the fans for requesting it so much!

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OKWFO-I’m sure they all appreciate you guys putting out great music. Are you working on any new material right now or just touring? A little of both?

JC-Yeah, we are in the middle of working on new songs and recording demos in Kansas City at Jimmy’s home studio right now as we speak. We’ve got a few shows coming up in Texas, and there are talks about some different tour packages for later this year, but we are focused mainly on new music for the fans. We want to be in the recording studio by end of September.

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OKWFO-Totally understandable. There is nothing better than hearing when a well-loved band is making some new jams. What are some upcoming venues you will be playing on tour?

JC-The Texas shows will be club dates at venues like Trees in Dallas and Warehouse Live in Houston.

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OKWFO-Cool. Cool. What can your fans expect from the new material? The same great Hard Rock you have been putting out? Harder?

JC-The new music is going to be definitely a little heavier, aggressive at times, maybe a little more focused on what’s going on in this crazy world. I don’t want to say political because we aren’t a political band, but just talking more about the results of our government and other governments’ downfalls, what we the people are having to go through and deal with, and things like natural disasters. There’s a lot of crazy stuff going on around us and we have a lot to say about it.

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OKWFO-What better way to express that than in music? Please give the people some places on the web they can go to check you guys out.

JC-Check out Against All Will at www.againstallwill.com, and you can click on numerous different links from there to all of our sites like Facebook, ReverbNation, iTunes, and more. Request ‘Swept Away’ at Sirius Octane or your local rock station for us. Thanks for the support out there, and if you like us, then spread it like a dirty disease!

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OKWFO-(laughs) Even if you don’t like it, spread it like that same dirty disease. It is that good. I guess that is all I have. Thank you again for doing this. It does not go unnoticed and is much appreciated by myself and the rest of the writers here.

JC-Thanks a lot guys we appreciate the interview and the support from you as well. Peace!

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(If you have not already, please go get Against All Will‘s debut EP “A Rhyme & Reason”, show them mad love, and check out the videos below)

Against All Will-The Drug I Need

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Against All Will-Swept Away

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Harry Potter Shatters Midnight Showings Record

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Posted by :TheBohemianMonk On : July 15, 2011

Category: Headlines

Tags:

Well duh, its the once a year event people come out of mom & dad’s basement, and actually take a break from their daily World of Warcraft life..
Via HollywoodNews.com, “Tonight’s the night, as millions of moviegoers will band together to bid a fond, final farewell to the beloved characters of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” Fandango has sold more midnight and early morning show tickets for “Part 2″‘ than it has for the late night openings of any other movie (including “The Dark Knight” and “New Moon”). More than 6,000 of tonight’s midnight shows are sold out in advance on Fandango, and theater owners are scrambling to post additional showtimes (many at 3:00 a.m.). “Part 2″ currently represents 93% of today’s total ticket sales. Fandango’s “Harry Potter” experts will be available in New York and Los Angeles for live commentary outside the theaters, where film fans are likely to dress up for the magical occasion. According to a Fandango survey of more than 1,000 moviegoers, more than 8% of midnight show ticket-buyers will arrive at the theater in special “Potter” regalia. “‘Part 2′’s midnight show ticket sales have been nothing short of extraordinary,” says Fandango Executive Vice President and General Manager Rick Butler. “In the more than ten years that I’ve been with the company, I’ve never seen so many late night showtimes for a single movie sold out in advance. Thankfully, theater owners are adding new showtimes throughout the night to meet the fan demand.”.
 
Personally I would have went to see him finally die, but I had more important things to do, like sleep…