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9MM Solution's is a hardcore heavy metal rock band that is shredding their skills and knowledge and abilities to show everyone in the music world that they can create music that's both edgey and catchy and draws in the crowd and they have done just that when they talk to me about their upcoming plans for the 2009 year!



1. Could you tell us more about the history of the band, how things started.

Well I had an idea for the band I wanted back in 2000 and got with this guy and that guy and started to write songs I felt were more how can I say stuff you can hear on the radio and stuff that would be heavy as well. We had some line-up changes and then meet Hobbes who wanted to fill in at the time. He liked what we were doing so much he joined, we started demoing with him and really saw some good stuff and then decided to keep going in that direction.

2. How did the name 9mm Solution come about, does it have a meaning behind it?

We were trying to come up with a cool name and couldn't think of anything much. Our drummer at the time called me and said, “Hey I got this name,” told me, and I was like “That is it.” Also he and our singer are gun freaks.

3. You've recently released your new album "The Dream Is Dead," where did you record it, who produced it, and are you still satisfied with the songs, production and artwork? Can you tell us more about the recording process? How are the reactions on this so far?

We did basic tracks at Mercenary Studios with Scott Creekmore and mixed and mastered with Chris Wisc at Studio One. We also had Tim King (Soil) produce some tracks that were already done from previous demos we had done with King and were mixed by Ulrich Wild (Soil, Static-X). And yeah, for the budget we had to work with, it turned out well. The process was a little hard cuz with Tim's schedule and money we had to come up with, it took a long time almost 2 years in the process. We had to tweak the artwork due to a line up change and just we wanted a different look to it than what we had.

4. Who writes the lyrics, what are they about? Is there any concept in them? Are the lyrics an important aspect of the band or are they just there to guide the music?

We all kinda of write lyrics now and again, and we try to let our singer mainly write them, but if I have something I need to get out, we work between the both of us. And yeah, they are very important I think. You need to tell a story and all our lyrics are very personal. They are taken from our life experiences, break ups, exes, you get the vibe.

5. How did you get in contact with "Rock Ridge Music?" Are there any other artists on that label that you guys are friends with or have worked with before?

The guys in Psychostick helped us and we are friends with them. They got us in contact with Rock Ridge.



6. When it comes down to writing a new song or an album what's the process like?

I usually have a chorus riff or a vocal riff and present it to the band and then we all kinda put our two cents in and just start to arrange it. We go through a long process of writing to make sure it's not something we just spit out.

7. What tours have you done in the past? What tours are going to take place or are there plans for a tour as a support for a "bigger" band?

We have a tour with our label mates that I mentioned before, but haven't done a real tour as of yet.

8. Tell some of your experiences playing live.

Oh man, that's loaded one. The bad stuff like breaking strings or amps going out on ya or our singer falling off the stage and busting his shoulder to the point of surgery.... But the fun stuff is when we get drunk people who come right up to us while we are playing and flash us or just being stupid -- that stuff cracks me up every time. We also did a direct support slot for Five Finger Death Punch which rocked.

9. What are your expectations for "9mm Solution in the future?

Just to work hard and hopefully it will all pay off. I have been doing this for 20 years now and would really like it to get to the point of just playing and paying my rent.

10. What do you guys do when you're not out on the road? Do you guys work or school?

Some of us have kids and most of us work as well, so we usually hang in town and write and play shows all the time. Just keep busy and keep the bus moving forward.



11. Are there any cool bizarre stories you would like to share with us?

I think I shared those with you already, but again some of them I don't remember you do so many shows I start to forget.

12. Could you give me a top 5 of your favorite albums of all-time and a top 5 of your current favorite records?

Not in this order but 1. forbidden twisted into form, 2. death human, 3. white snake white snake, 4. Ozzy diary of a madman 5. Alice cooper flush the fashion. Current 1. threat signal, 2. nevermore dreaming neon black, 3. mnemic passenger, 4. slipknot new one, 5. nothing face skeletons.

13. What's your opinion on the whole music industry scene right now? Like do you think they're trying their hardest to get albums out on shelves and not seek their way onto the net?

The industry is hurting right now and partly due to the downloads and the stealing of music. I think if you have a major behind you, yeah, they are going to try to get it on the shelf, but the smaller labels don't have that kind of power. It's a big mess. What they should do is charge everyone 99 cents or a buck for whenever anything is downloaded and get the money back into the hands of the artist so they can continue to make music for the fans. But the net is so huge and that is where the business really is right now the kids are Internet junkies and that is how they live.

14. How do you think the recession is affecting musicians like yourself? Is it at all?

Oh, hell yeah. We can't afford the stuff we need to, so we can tour properly and sustain us as a group, instead of taking your money and putting into your pocket to pay rent it's going in the gas tank or to rent a van.

15. What are your upcoming plans for the '09 year?

To tour and work the album the way it should be worked granted we have the money. With the way of the world, who knows, we all maybe dead tomorrow.

16. What is currently playing on your iPod or CD Player?

Filter.

17. What do you think about all these different sub cultures such as "emo kids, scene kids, metal-heads, punks, goths, etc?"

Well, I think there are to many subclasses and that is part of what is killing music. People judge before they listen, and if it is already classed for them, it will never get the proper listen. You know, like, “Hey, check these guys out.” “Oh, they’re emo. Forget it.” Too many labels put on these bands. Back in my day, if it was metal, you dug it. If it was punk, you dug it. But it was all music and that is the problem.

18. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview, any thoughts or comments?

Thank you for the opportunity and just give our album a listen and Rock Ridge will have it out everywhere on June 9th. Thank you again.
10:49 AM
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The Color Of Violence a new hardcore rock and roll mixed in with heavy metal act that i sweeping the world by storm with their aggressive style of music. The duo discussed their upcoming release and plans for the 2009 year!




1. Could you tell us more about the history of the band, how things started.

The band started back in 02 before I (Derek) was in from first to last. We started it as a joke because we wanted to be in a band that sounded like discordance axis. it didn’t really work out sounding like that, but it’s been fun anyways. We did one short tour back then, i think early 03 up the east coast. That was a disaster, we did it in my 97 corolla which wasn’t equipped with snow tires or other things necessary for drudging through the frozen tundra the northeast had become at that point.

2. What's your opinion on your albums “God Gave Me Deeze Nutz,” and “I Hate Rice,” nowadays? Where did you record it? Are you still satisfied with the songs on it, the production, and the artwork? How were the reactions on these albums?

They are funny songs, they were written and recorded on the same afternoon at a house in Albany, GA. those were just demos though. This album, youthanize is our first official release, aside from the 03 tour demo that had three songs on it.



3. You've recently released your new album "Youthanize," where did you record it, who produced it, and are you still satisfied with the songs, production and artwork? Can you tell us more about the recording process? How are the reactions on this one so far?

We recorded it in South Georgia, Valdosta more specifically. Lee Dyess engineered it, and the three of us, Travis, lee and I all produced it together. i love the artwork for the record. Nick, the in house guy at epitaph did it and we were blown away when we got it. i feel like it really gives a cool look to the music. the reactions to the record so far among my friends has been weird, but the first official review I’ve read of the record from revolver had a lot of good things to say, so hopefully we get more of those and less of the awkward silences my friends have been dishing out.

4. Who writes the lyrics, what are they about? Is there any concept in them? Are the lyrics an important aspect of the band or are they just there to guide the music?

I wrote a majority of the lyrics for this record, but Travis had written all of them for all the songs up until this point. There is no real system; just if someone has something that works we use it. i ended up having a stockpile of shit talking ass lyrics in my sketchbook so we just kind of opted to use them. Most of the lyrics on this record are just talking shit. about giving to charity, or charitable organizations more specifically, recycling, star fucking, Christians etc. the title track is a song shit talking people that talk shit about how fucked up everything is and don’t do anything about it. We figured the best way to approach that problem was to talk shit about it but not actually do anything. If you can’t beat em, join em.

5. How did you get in contact with "Epitaph?" Are you satisfied with their work? Why did you signed with them?

FFTL (From First To Last) was on Epitaph still when we signed color of violence to it. We just had been occupied with other things up until recently, which is why this is the first record to be released on there.



6. When it comes down to writing a new song or an album what’s the process like?

We procrastinate and then go into the studio with pretty much nothing and make it all up on the spot. “Christina Christina,” was written after we finished tracking all the drums for the record. we thought it needed another song, so we had Jon sit down at the kit and we wrote drums for what felt like a song, we recorded them, and then Jon and myself sat down with guitars and tracked them over the drums he had recorded. After an hour or two we had the whole song done.

7. What tours have you done in the past? What tours are going to take place or are there plans for a tour as a support for a "bigger" band?

We've only done one tour before, and it sucked. we are planning on touring more in the future, we are just weighing out the options available to us and trying to pick the best thing we can.

8. Tell us some of your experiences playing live.

That tour that we did was mostly basement shows and dingy record stores. There’s not much to tell about it. There weren’t kids at the shows, we didn’t really make any friends and the car broke down a lot. I can’t imagine it would be hard to have a better time next tour.
9. What are your expectations for "The Color of Violence" in the future?

I’m trying to not expect anything from it and let it just go where it will. If people like it and respond well we will dedicate a little more time to it. if not, we will just keep doing it in our free time like we have been.

10. What do you guys do when you're not out on the road? Do you guys work or school?

We mostly play video games and sit around the house gaining weight.

11. Are there any cool touring/recording experiences or other bizarre stories you would like to share with us?

Not yet, unfortunately. Soon man, real soon.

12. Could you give me a top 5 of your favorite albums of all-time and a top 5 of your current favorite records?

My favorite records of all time would probably include portishead-dummy, the smiths-s/t, leonard cohen-the essential leonard cohen, my bloody valentine-loveless, and the pixies-bossanova. Favorites at the moment would be blonde redhead-23, swans-the great annihilator, cocteau twins-treasure, nina hagen-nunsexmonkrock, and ciccone youth-the whitey album.



13. What's your opinion on the whole music industry scene right now? Like do you think they're trying their hardest to get albums out on shelves and not seek their way onto the net?

I don’t know. The whole thing is a clusterfuck. It sucks to be in this business right now. but you don’t really have any other option as an artist except to try and do the things you feel are right, and hope that people continue to support you and your art.

14. How do you think the recession is affecting musicians like yourself? Is it at all?

Yeah it is and it isn’t. We are used to being poor, so I mean, not a big change there, but you can see the way it affects you in terms of how it affects the people that support you. Less money means less people willing to come to shows, or buy things like records or CD’s.

15. Going back to the music business, what do you think of everyone downloading music, possibly even your music?

Shit happens. Me talking shit or telling people go on ahead isn’t going to change anything. i hope that if people like it they will find a way to pitch in to help us keep it going, but that would require me to have faith in people I don’t know, and I don’t have that. Most people are assholes, so I guess whatever.

16. Which MP3 device do you own? How many songs/videos does it have on it?

I have an iPhone, so it doubles as my iPod. it doesn’t have much on it, maybe like 30 albums by about 15 or 20 different artists. My computer crashed a few months ago and deleted all my music. I haven’t had the time to import all of my CD’s back into it yet, so my selection is pretty bare.

17. What do you think about all these different sub cultures such as "emo kids, scene kids, metal-heads, punks, goths, etc?"

Fuck all that crap. I wish everyone didn’t feel the need to attach themselves to some stupid fucking word and pretend that that’s the way they've always been or say "that’s just who I am". Its like, "no, what you are a consumer, obviously. You bought into something and tried to call it your own, but it’s not yours, you belong to it. It’s not an exclusive club, it’s not edgy, all you need is money and a weakened sense of identity and you can join."

18. Thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview, any thoughts or comments?

I appreciate the interview; I hope this isn’t a Christian Magazine with all the f-bombs I just dropped in there. Thanks for your time.
2:28 PM
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Set List:
Intro 1:
Soul Collection
Bestial Invasion
D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N.
Eternal Ban
Drum Solo: Life With Sense
Urge The Greed
Metal Discharge
Death Trap
Intro 2:
Thrash Till Death
Mass/Anti/Rlease Meldely
Drum Solo: Tormentor
Damned/Cracked/Reject
Invincible Form
Butcher Strikes Back
Intro 3:
Curse The Gods
Nailed To The Cross
Mad Butcher
Intro 4:
Total Deaster

"This is my first concert!" I hear a fan cry out as the clock struck 11:30PM the cold chilly nightfall of March 24th in the holy famous Key Club on the beloved Sunset Strip. Tonight was a night that made this chill even better because three legends were about to rush the stage and unleash upon their fellow fans a unique and special message only we could be able to create. The creation of Destruction! These three German thrash metal legends having started blasting hits in the 80's forward were on their current North American tour with a few special add-on's in between. One was the celebration of being together and rocking out the tunes for 25 long lasting years, while the other was a winner of this VIP All Access Contest they had running on their website but that contest wasn't all it was told to be. The winner of the VIP Contest as indeed yours truly who is writing to you this tall tale of mass destruction. The VIP package included backstage to meet the band and everything but last night at the Key Club no one knew what I was talking about and it sadden me like a thousand knifes stabbing you all at once.







Now that the blood has driven from my skin and onto the sweat and vomit floor of the drunken fans who awaited their idols appearance the act known only as Destruction had blasted out a hour and a half long set list the front man of the massive group Marcel Schirmer A.K.A. "Schmier" (Bass, Vocals) well as his loyal backup Mike Sifringer (Guitar) and Marc Reign (Drums) brought on this pure chaos since the very beginning and this mighty trio is well known all around the world for their creative and catchy thrash throwing lyrics and rip tearing guitar solos that bash your head right against the wall. During their set list "Schmier" announced the final of the several specials as mentioned beforehand, saying briefly "Los Angeles tonight is a special night because we are recording tonight's performance for our next live CD!" The fans in the crowd thrashed about cheering and screaming until their lungs and throats were clearly sore and bleeding. After that was said and done, the band broke out into many classic hits; "Soul Collection, "Metal Discharge," "Thrash Till Death," "Nailed To The Cross," and "Mad Butcher," among other tunes they are well known to dish out; that included hits off their latest "D.E.V.O.L.U.T.I.O.N." This set up included three introductions via the 18-tracks played fully through getting everyone in the small packed venue rocking from every angle possible. But Destruction weren't the only destructors of the night before these metallers jammed the stage other metallers came out and threw together some bashes you could only imagine.






Opening up the night was a local Los Angeles act known as Taking Back who played a non-stop death metal force of 20 minutes which lead straight into the next act called Deception, and Night Terror were among the "local" acts breaking the ice while the up and coming pros took over midway through around 8:45PM Mantic Ritual broke the silence and dread that was the first trip of acts getting everyone shouting and dancing to the beat of their music to their cover tone of Venom’s "Black Metal," among some of their newer material off their latest album "Executioner," which included "One By One," "Murdered to Death," "Panic," and "Next Attack," which got people up in the air in an instant hopping onto the stage and right back off getting thrown or taking their leap of death into the crowd surfing the waves to the music. Next came second to the headlining act Krisiun putting together a raving 40 minute set of mass torment and torture as fans chanted and shouted until they fell to the floor in sweat or got tossed around like a hot potato in the pit everyone enjoyed the mass ripping the first set of openers and then of the second round-up of acts to follow. Over all German thrash metal veterans Destruction proved to all that they are legends and can domain their name forever and always letting those 25 long years last for at least another billion!
12:42 PM
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Count Your Blessing's is the latest addition to the music scene having unleashed upon the world their latest release "Like Gum In Your Hair," to grab everyone's attention in an instant so check out what Antonio and the rest of the guys had to say about their latest CD and upcoming plans for the 2009 year!




1. Being brand new and upcoming to the world of music out what is the first thing you'd like everyone to know about you?

Antonio: Well First Off.... were not your normal Pop/Punk band. Like with every band most of them dislike labeling. As far as we go we take from so many musical styles and blend them together. Its just a big orgy of influences. We like to party and have a good time..Our goal when we started was just to make feel good music everybody can just jam too and that's what this band is about!!!

2. What was the whole package deal when it come to recording your newest installment "Like Gum In Your Hair," and what the crazy title for it?

Antonio: Well we recorded our album with Paul Leavitt in Baltimore which is only 20 min from where we live so that was sweet. We went into the studio for 10 days and knocked it out! When coming up for a name for the album we were tossing around alot of ideas. Then we came up with "Like Gum In Your Hair," the meaning behind it is the way when you have gum in your hair its stuck and cant get out. So the thought was that our music sticks in your head and you cant get it out hence "Like Gum In Your Hair."



3. There are many bands I've interviewed and a lot of them haven't even been together that long and tend to be concerned about making it big as a band, what do you think?

Antonio: You know what. Do we wanna get big? Do we wanna make alot of money? Sure, who dosen't? But all of us have an undying love for playing shows and creating music. Were 5 best friends and if we just have the chance to stay out on the road and just play that's all we really care about. If we play in front of 5 or 5,000 it dosen't matter. We don't care if we eat easy mac and peanut butter for the rest of our lives. ITS THE BEST FEELING JUST BEING OUT ON THE ROAD AND MEETING NEW PEOPLE!!!!

4. Do you plan to tour a lot in support of this record?

Antonio: Yea we love the road. The plan is too stay out there indefinite....

5. Any ideas of who may be joining you along for the ride? I was thinking maybe seeing you and Freshman 15 touring together.

Antonio: Yea were heading out in May with Honor Bright and Stages & Stereos.Also some pretty sweet tours this summer that were announcing soon.So check out the myspace for details!

6. Any plans for 2009 yet?

Antonio: We just plan to stay out on the road for the rest of the year!!!! Tearing up the states along the way!!!!



7. How did StandBy Records come to you and sign you?

Antonio: Well we did an EP that came out last June! And we got alot of copies made....and we went out on Warped Tour hitting up the lines and just walking around everyday selling our shit and getting our names out there.One of there scouts saw us and they hit us up not too long after! We had other offers but after meeting with the guys at standby it just felt right.There really cool dudes!

8. When performing on stage is there a certain side you like being on or just like moving all over.

Antonio: Wow, if you ever get a chance to catch our live show. It will answer that for you.We can not stay in one place for more than 10 seconds.Were all over the place including up on bars, hanging from the sealing, swinging from speakers etc....

9. Whats your top 5 favorite albums to date?

Antonio - Faith No More (The Real Thing)

Judson - The Starting Line (Say It Like You Mean It)

Kenny - New Found Glory (Self Titled)

Mikey - Justice (Cross)

Miller - Between The Buried And Me (The Anatomy Of)

10. Any final words you'd like to leave us with?

Antonio: Yea everyone needs to come out and come to a show this spring/summer and party with us. BYOB. P.S. Check out our myspace soon for a really sweet cover were going to be putting out.haha
8:00 PM
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What does Eluveitie do differently than other bands? What elements set you apart most?

What sets us apart from other bands is mostly of musical nature. Of course, we are as far as I know the only metal band using the early-celtic language, Gaulish, in their lyrics. But that's in the end the same like bands as for instance Thyrfing do, they sing about their local culture's history and use their local language, Swedish. Luckily for them, Swedish is still spoken today, other than Gaulish, which died out in the middle-ages, as a living language. So, it's basically the music that sets Eluveitie apart from most of the other pagan/folk metal bands for two reasons. Firstly I don't know any other band that uses that number of authentic folk instruments. True, more and more you can find pagan/folk metal bands that use some folk instruments, a developpment that I appreciate a lot, but when we began, most of the other bands in that genre mainly used keyboards to imitate stuff like bagpipes, etc. But nevertheless, I still don't know a metal band with a hurdygurdy, a fiddle, two bagpipes, an Irish traverse flute and diverse whistles in their line-up. To us the folk music part is on equal footing like the metal part in our sound. And it's very important to us, that's authentically, traditionally played on traditional instruments. Secondly I think also our mixture of folk and metal is different. Mostly pagan/folk metal consists of pretty rough, old-schoolish metal which is ornated with some folky melodies. In our music, it's rather pretty modern-styled, ambitious melodic death metal, partly even with slight metalcore influences, which would remain, if you'd take away all the folk instruments. And I think it could stand on its own without being boring.

As a band how has Eluveitie grown between "Slania" and "Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion"?

Hard to say. I mean, we grew as a live band, I'd say. Because we have been playing our asses off since the release of "Slania", haha! During the last 12 months we played closely 150 shows including 5 tours, so on an average this means a concert every 2,5th day. Quite a lot. So I guess, we got some good practise. Musically it's quite hard to say, because you really can't compare "Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion" with "Slania", nor any other Eluveitie album. To us "Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion" is more something like a project. We had the idea of doing an entirely acoustic album for a long time already. It was an idea that excited and challenged us and so we just realised it now.

What themes predominate over the entirety of "Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion"?

The album is dedicated to ancient Gaulish mythology. Our idea with "Evocation" was, to create something like an "acoustic journey through the celtic soul". We tried to keep it as authentic as possible. That's also why we decided to do for the first time a whole album in Gaulish language. Even more, for most of the songs we took original Gaulish texts that were written about 2000 years ago. They have been found during archaeological excavations, inscribed in tiles, pottery such as plates or zinc tablets. The main content of the album is mythology, as mentioned. Some songs deal with certain topics of Celtic mythology, some others contain ancient magical verses and some even magical maledictions.

What does the title & the artwork of "Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion" refer to?

The album cover shows a modern illustration of Cernunnos – a character in Celtic mythology. The cover basically expresses the title "The Arcane Dominion". Cernunnos symbolizes the power of nature, the force of life in all its inviolable souvreignity. In the end, nature wields an absolute and unfettered rule and dominion on us. But it's different than the human made reigns, it's not a dictatorship. Natures dominion is just there – souvreign, unimpeachable and vehement, but at the same time also subtle, gentle, silent, and arcane. This is what the track 'The Arcane Dominion' expresses. There's a short spoken passage in that, basically instrumental track, it's an original Gaulish text that was written about 2000 years ago and it more or less means: "Here begins the sanctuary in the forest. Welcome! May you find healing." Above that, the whole album is actually totally dedicated to Gaulish mythology. It is like a musical journey through the Celtic soul, as mentioned. So that's where the "Evocation" comes in. In its lyrics you can find an evocation of the arcane dominion.

Can you please talk about the creation of the song "The Arcane Dominion"?

It was one of the very first tracks I wrote for "Evocation I - The Arcane Dominion". It basically consists of an old traditional breton dancing tune, which I chose for this track due to its earnest and melancholic character. There are in a way metal elements, I mean the drum is played pretty metal-like and there are even screams in that track. It is about to musically express the powerful character and the souvreign might of "The Arcane Domion", the figure in Celtic mythology. In this track those somehow grave and heavy parts are twice superseded by subtle, vitreous, almost silent interludes with Annas vocals – which manifest the mysticism and "arcane side" of the "dominion". In the end of the song, both parts – the grave one and Annas vitreous vocals – get united!

I am very curious. What was the influence writing 'Slania's Song' from your previous record, "Slania"?

It's just a slower song and contains female vocals. Since our album "Spirit" it became kind of a tradition to have one more quiet song with female lead vocals per album. And it's a tradition we like and we'll pursue.

Have critics tagged you with any stigmas you would like to get rid off, perhaps by clumping you in genres you don't belong?

Don't really know. Maybe in the past there were things like that. But to be honest, we don't really care about such things. As long as there are not pure lies spread about us or something, we don't care. I mean, people can hear our music and form their own mind about it, no matter what genre we're clumped in.

Taking into consideration current economical times, have you noticed an increase or decline in the number of kids making it out to live shows?

Yes, unfortunately we did. Especially last autumn in the USA. Partly it was pretty crazy to see, how minds, habits, and behaviour of people changed over there. Of course it didn't only concern live shows, but all their lives in the end. Pretty tough!

What do you know & think about Romania?

We know Romania. If I'm not mistaken we played there two times so far. And well, we really loved it! Okay, I hear a couple of Romanian people telling me that Romania sucks as a place to live. Of course I can't judge here, but it was a really great country to play shows in! Cool crowds and very nice and sympathetic people. I'm looking forward already to play the next time in Romania.


www.nuclearblast.de
www.eluveitie.ch
4:28 PM
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Black Tide formed in 2004 in Miami, Florida known before as Radio later changed their name to Black Tide and unleashed upon the masses their debut efforts "Light from Above," and have embarked on countless tours spreading their musical skills around the world.

1. Could you give me a brief summary of the bands origins?

Steven: Briefly summary of the band Ok, well Black Tide with four members Gabriel Garcia, Steven Spence Zach Sandler and Austin Diaz, that’s Black Tide today and it’s been a while. We've had member switches just different things that’s how we are today we’re stronger than ever. Gabriel originally formed the band with his older brother who was the original drummer. He left on his own and his choice. There was no rough falling out between Gabriel and his brother it was his choice and after that I joined and we went and recoded the album and we’ve been touring for 2 years now and here we are. Austin is our newest addition and joined the band this past summer in 2008. And I just love everything about Black Tide it’s a high energy hard rock heavy metal that’s just kicking ass!

2. How did Interscope Records approach you prior to the signing, what was your reaction?

Steven: Well we found Interscope through a publishing deal and we flew out to Los Angeles played in front of the President of Interscope Records Jimmy and we went out for a few months and made the album it was insane.

3. How is the current tour going, what’s it like performing alongside Escape the Fate, are you good friends with the guys, how did the whole set up of this line-up come about?

Steven: We had offered to do a different tour with Disturbed that’s going on. W e weren’t able to do both of them. So we choice Escape the Fate, and the other one is a much bigger tour but we love that we picked this tour and everyone on this tour is getting along and everyone on this tour is going to be on the Warped Tour later this summer. And this is a mini Warped Tour like a little preview so we’re all going to have fun out there.



4. Could you briefly describe the time you spent in the studio recording your debut record?

Steven: We got to the studio in there and whipped out some songs, first started with the drums and built up with the songs, and then put the guitars on them and vocals last and we used that method one by one until we finally came out with the ending product “Light from Above.”

5. You guys played last years Mayhem Festival, and had a chance to perform on Jimmy Kimmel what were those experiences like?

Steven: Jimmy Kimmel was bad-ass it was our first network television appearance it was a little nerve reacting I don’t normally get nervous we’re going live, and you’re gonna be on Jimmy Kimmel so just play and do it, no rehearsal or anything. And Mayhem this summer was awesome it was a metal Warped Tour I never did Warped Tour but will let you know this summer, but it was fun just out in the sun everyday it was just awesome. It defiantly felt like a metal summer camp. People camping out bon fires, people grilling out night it was really awesome.

6. What was it like playing with Airbourne? Any possibilities of seeing you two guys headline on a tour in the future, I think it would be a cool combo.

Steven: Airbourne are great guys its funny you mention that, Airborne are great guys and we should each other a great time and would love to tour with Airbourne we played a few shows with them.

7. Are there any 2009 plans you want fans to know about?

Steven: Definitely we’re going to be doing some European Festivals and then come back for the Warped Tour, and then more importantly be back in our studio later on this year and record our new album that should be out shortly after that so watch out for it.

8. What are the largest and smallest crowds you've played in front of?

Steven: Smallest probably played in front of one person going in and out of the bathroom, and 0-1 person and largest crowd was Download Festival last year by the time went on probably 30-40, 000 people regardless though every time we go out and play we play our hearts out whether its 0-1 person in a bar at Janet’s Landing in Florida an outdoor venue. Janet’s Landing we played there with Avenged Sevenfold, it was sold-out and we heard we were going to play at Janet’s Landing and they pointed us at the spot and it was a bar and a bathroom and this is where you’re playing.






9. What was the first concert you attended as a fan?

Steven: I’m not gonna lie my mom took me to Rod Steward when I was like 8 years old. Then after that it was pretty cool I saw Black Sabbath, Slipknot at Ozzfest.

10. Do you remember the first show Black Tide ever played?

Steven: First show I played as Black Tide yes definitely we use to be called Radio but as Black Tide today since we changed our name and got out of the studio and became more professional and played in Tallesshelle at a Bada Bar which is a 300 something room; with a band called Trivium who are really good friends of ours; I’m sure you’ve heard of them, and Trivium oh my god you guys having us out. It was very overwhelming at the time. So we had two shows one was July 17th 2007 which was at Tallesshelle and the next show was in Nashville.

11. What were you like as a kid?

Steven: I was always kinda be the entertainer make people laugh and be the life of the party but I’ve grown out of that sometimes it comes back but I just try to relax and have fun and play, just put on a show.

12. How did you get started in music?

Steven: I’ve always been interested in music, it’s always been a part of my life the drums being my main craft and started in middle school in the 6th grade it was a 6th grade band or whatever and I started playing the stare drums and bugged my mom every day to get me a drum set. I will love you forever if you buy me a drum set and she was like sure you want a drum set one week and ironically the one thing I really wanted I made it my craft and practiced it every day to the day so in middle school and then played every day I played as much as I could.



13. What's the best thing and worse thing about being in a band?

Steven: *Laughs* I remember I had an answer to this question. The universal answer I could just throw out I think it was Gabriel Garcia, parties so hard he pisses his pants! That’s definitely the best and worst part of being in a band. And it doesn’t happen often just on certain occasions.

14. What do you think about this recession we're currently dealing with?

Steven: It happens, it’s just a cycle I’m really not worried about it it’s just a cycle we have to do and it’s a shame we’re one of the ones that have to suffer through it. That we can’t get things and it affects everyone we just have to live through it and I know we’re going to come out of it.

15. Any other thoughts or comments?

Steven: If you haven’t checked it out already “Light from Above,” it’s been a year to this day that it’s been out, and it’s not too late go get it online check out the MySpace www.myspace.com/blacktide if not then keep your eyes peeled for the new one and bye.
8:18 PM
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"If you only had one shot, one opportunity, would you catch it or let it slip" - Eminem is rightfully famous for from his hit flick 8 Mile and soundtrack to go along with it but tonight isn't the case about successful rapper Eminem. But his quote does relate to tonight's event, because tonight is the last chance and last moment to experience what is Escape The Fate's Spring heading tour before the band disembarks on a miniature break period before returning to the many stages that will be this summer's Van's Warped Tour. But let's move onward shall we? This night unlike all the other nights on this tour was a successful one having all this rock and metal acts tearing up the stages all across the state lands hitting lastly on their list by the very own popular destination hotspot venue known only as the House Of Blues on the very famous Sunset Strip located in Hollywood, California. This hotspot held up the night lasting three and a half hours with jam packed energizing music.







Kicking off the night was hipster act Attack Attack who played a 30 minute set getting the entire room bouncing and jumping to each tune dished out. Ranging from "Stick Stickly," "Shred, White, and Blue," "The People's Elbow," and "Catfish Soup," getting people dancing in the pit and flying up into the crowd hopping and jumping as fast and as much as possible.







Continuing the energy stream was an interesting next act having front man Will of post-hardcore sensational act Aiden go his solo route with his current project William Control mixing techno beats with industrial mix ups having the glare of the stob lights flashing as fast as possible keeping in tone with the music as two female entertainers tied one another up throughout the set. Tunes performed included "Deathclub," "Beautiful Loser," "Tranquilize," "Hate Culture," and "Razors Edge," each of these songs being more upbeat and passionate than the last getting the crowd dancing in sexual fashions it was uncalled for....






Wrapping up the next half of the night was metallers Black Tide doing an amazing 40 minute set playing several tracks off their debut album "Light from Above," which included "Shockwave," "Shout," "Warriors of Time," a cover tune of Metallica's "Hit the Lights," these metallers really known how to keep the pace and entertainment of the music flow right out of you.






The action kept on rolling right on through going right into the headliner act Escape The Fate. Based out of Las Vegas, having minor situations and problems in between and band change ups Escape The Fate has made their name known and official band line-up their own doing creating an underground beat of highly ranked heart racing adrenaline you, yourself can withstand to take. Concluding the night with 60 minutes remaining Escape The Fate wrapped it all together in a nice little package with their many old and new school hits "Situations," Something," "Reverse This Curse," "The Flood," among many other well known tunes you can get up and mosh around too. The overall energy and excitement got everyone in Hollywood in an uproar nothing want anything more but just raw pacing energy just oozing with sweat dripping from your face.

Pictures Taken By Natalie Perez
4:18 PM

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