You probably noticed the August Burns Red in the Shout! Galleries before. Their live performance in nothing but power-packed pandemonium. I was so psyched to see them live again recently and have wanted to try and interview them since they formed in 2003. Shout! makes dreams come true…well, kind of. I was finally given the opportunity to live MY dream when they were selected to play on the Take Action 2008 tour.

If you’ve followed the band as I have since their formation, you’d want to ask them a bazillion questions too. Luckily, I got mine answered for all of us! Read on to find out more about the Take Action Tour, their cause, and much, much more from guitarist JB!

Shout!: Wikipedia defines your music as “Christian Metalcore”. Do you feel this term applies to August Burns Red? If not, what would you define your music as?

JB Brubaker: Christian is a religion and not a style of music, however, we are all Christians so I guess some people decide to tie that into our musical style. If I were to describe our genre I’d just say “metal.” I’m not big into describing our music. I’d rather just let the music speak for itself I guess.

S!: How do you feel as a band that Christian music has been overflowing into other genres of of the music industry?

JB: I feel great about that! I’ve always been a big believer of good music being good music regardless of what religion or views are tied to it. I think that people are realizing that and that is why there are more and more christian bands having success in the secular market.

S!: What happened with CI Records and why do you feel that signing to Solid State was the better choice?

JB: CI Records is …  Continued »

I’ll be completely honest with you, I didn’t know much about Danger Radio when I was offered the opportunity to do this interview. All I really knew is that they at the time were on tour with the Secret Handshake. I was more than happy however to interview a young, up and coming band and to learn a little more about them.

Danger Radio play an exciting blend of happy pop. Be sure to check them out if you are a fan of fun pop music or if you are looking for a new band to dance to while you get your groove on. Andrew was kind enough to take time out of his busy touring schedule to answer a few questions for us.

S!: Can you give everyone a brief history of the band?

A: We started the band our 8th grade year, and we started playing talent shows, battle of the bands, etc. We invited some of our friends to play along with us. This lineup has been together for about 3 years now. We pretty much started out like any other band. We played a lot of shows back home and then went out on the road. Other than that we were just friends who started a band.

Shout!: Awesome so how old are you guys?

Andrew: I’m the oldest, I’m 22. Everyone else is like 20-21.

S!: How would you describe your sound?

A: I would say we are pop rock.

S!: How did you get your name?

A: This is a terrible story. We pretty much had a terrible name in high school, and I made a list of possible names, and that was the one deemed the best. I feel like I should make up a story about it.

S!: How was Bamboozle Left?

A: It was awesome honestly. …  Continued »

His name is Louis Posen, and along with his self-proclaimed talent for breathing, he runs a little indie label you may have heard of: Hopeless Records.  Far from being as apathetic as the label name suggests, Hopeless has not only given us such favorites as Amber Pacific, Melee, Avenged Sevenfold, and Thrice, but has also made a move to use it’s power for good and not evil…thus SubCity, Hopeless’ own charitable imprint label, was born.

The annual Take Action Tour, organized by SubCity and now in it’s 7th year, has hastened fame for many an outspoken band (Anti-Flag, Jimmy Eat World, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Hawthorne Heights, just to name a few) while at the same time raising millions for a laundry list of worthwhile charities.  I got a chance to sit down and chat with the Hopeless/SubCity founder and visionary recently to find out more about the label, the tour, and the cause…

S!: You originally started your career directing music videos.  How did finding out about your retinal issue affect your career plans?

LP: It’s very difficult to pinpoint which things have affected my life, and probably for anyone to determine which things in their life caused them to go down certain paths, but clearly, my diagnosis at 19 while I was in film school and the progression of Pigmentitis Retinosa played a part in my career path, but also touched my life in lots of different ways that are hard to put my finger on.  But in the most tangible sense, I was directing music videos and at the same time doing the label as a hobby, and the deterioration of my eyesight played a role in moving from film to music. It was an industry that played more to my strengths, if you …  Continued »

Sometimes karma is a bitch.

I’ll be the first to admit, I have a problem of running my mouth about music. I’m overly opinionated, and very vocal about what bands, labels, scenes, genres, tours, albums, stage shows, sounds, and anything else related to music that I think blow.

One of the genres right now that I have been particularly harsh towards lately is the style of music that has often been mislabeled as being “Happy Hardcore”. If you look up Happy Hardcore on Wikipedia (the ultimate source of accurate information) you will see that it is actually a style of trance dance music. What I’m referring to here is a blend of pop punk and hardcore music, made popular lately by Four Year Strong and of course, Set Your Goals.

I wanted to do this interview so I could learn more about a band that performed a style of music that I had jumped to a conclusion about. I wanted to see if I had misjudged the genre as being a family friendly version of hardcore music.

And of course, I had misjudged the genre, and the band’s fans. Jordan was a really nice guy who knew his stuff. And the fans… they tossed my rear end into a skate ramp at the Bamboozle Roadshow for standing too close to the pit. Remember when I said karma is a bitch?

So let this be a lesson to you. Don’t talk bad about a band or style of music, because the artist will turn out to be a cool dude and the fans will bust your ass.

Jordan from Set Your Goals was nice enough to take time out of their nonstop touring schedule to answer some questions for us.

Shout!: Can you give a brief history of the band?

Jordan: We started …  Continued »

You’ve heard the name bop around from time to time since 1995. Then you started to hear the name more and more, and found yourself singing along to the songs while shopping. You switched the radio to your favorite station, and there they are again! Chevelle. It was only a matter of time when three brothers started a band before they aimed to take over the world. Chevelle has soldiered on over Christian controversy, the last four albums, and the departure of brother/bassist Joe. Read on as drummer Sam Loeffler tells us more…

Shout!: Everyone describes your music differently. If you had to describe your music in one word, what would it be?

Sam Loeffler: Umm. Hmmm. I guess Rock. I mean, I don’t know what else would really describe it. [Laughs]

S!: What are your thoughts on people continuing to describe you as Christian Rock?

Sam: There are worse things to be called. I don’t really care either way. That is really other peoples’ conception of us and doesn’t have anything to do with me personally. It is just another descriptive word I guess. That’s all I can really say about it.

S!: After being together for over a decade, what do you feel is the most defining moment in your career as a band?

Sam: I don’t think there is just one moment but just being musicians is defining. I don’t think you can pick just one moment because there are so many like when you’re in the studio or a great show. There are moments everyday where you just sit back and kind of take everything in. There are a lot of those for sure.

S!: What are your thoughts on your latest album, Vena Sera?

Sam: We had a lot of ideas for this album. We thought we wanted to go back to some more …  Continued »

With the trend these days being grungy hair and a ‘fuck you’ attitude, it’s refreshing to meet a band who are what they are, no front required.  If you didn’t know any better, you might think them just another Midwestern band riding the MySpace fame wave, but if you look closer, you see much more.

These guys wear their beliefs on their sleeves without taking themselves too seriously, something that is rare for a Christian hardcore band screaming and growling about such deep and intense subject matter.  But with a debut album they wished to hide from the public and a tourbus filled to the brim with SIX band mates, you’d have to keep your sense of humor about you, right?

Guitarist Jeremy DePoyster and keyboardist James Baney met us backstage while supporting Silverstein recently to talk about Chirstianity, music, and their own immaturity…

S!: As an openly Christian band, how do you feel about the mainstream success that Christian hardcore has had recently?

Jeremy: I think it’s cool!  Definitely! Any spotlight on Christianity that’s not a negative one, especially in music, is a good thing.  Like a lot of times, it’s really cliché and trendy to just bash on Christianity in music, so I think it’s cool that a lot of bands are speaking about what they believe.  Not even necessarily Christian bands, just like any kind of band, like if you believe strongly in something and you’re saying it in your music, that’s a good thing.  And it seems like a lot of times, people don’t think that applies to Christian bands.

S!: What do you think has been the catalyst for the rise of Christian hardcore at the moment?

Jeremy: I don’t know…

James: Actually, I’ve never even really thought about that…I don’t have any idea.  I could say it’s certain …  Continued »

Black Tide is living the dream. Which dream you may ask? Theirs. The dream to rock out and play in front of hundreds to thousands of screaming fans across the globe. Getting signed to a major label, putting out thier first CD, and opening for acts like Ozzfest and Avenged Sevenfold. That, my friends, is a pretty sweet dream, especially since all the members are just old enough to buy cigarettes! 

If you’re one of those kids that always thought “why can’t I start a band?” then this is the band to look up to. Playing since middle school, Black Tide has been rising through the industry and the name has spread through the internet like wildfire. Before they got any bigger, I caught guitarist Alex Nunez to talk about the journey the band is on. Read on about the ins and outs of the industry, life on the road, and what really happened at Ozzfests’ Jagermeister Stage…

Shout!: I can’t get over how young you all are! What have you sacrificed to achieve what you have with this band?

Alex Nunez: We started out when we were young and we just played constantly. We didn’t even really consider ourselves as a band. Eventually we got our first show at a real venue and everyone made a big deal about it. Some bands were hating on us and others were cool because we were so young. They were all super heavy and we weren’t at the time so it made it difficult. It wasn’t really a sacrifice because it is what we love to do.

S!: Do you feel your age in the music industry affects how labels and fans perceive your talent?

Alex: Oh definitely. [Laughs] The label isn’t a huge thing anymore because they’re more worried about being professional …  Continued »

I had a long day ahead of me when I arrived to the venue to see the tour busses paraded across the parking lot. The line for the show was already winding around towards the alley with fans sitting anxiously and waiting intensely for doors to open. I heard the security in the background asking for ID’s while I made the call to drummer Ben Murray of Light This City. He apologized profusely about being up the street at the grocery store at the time of our sit down. Reassuring him that there was no harm done, we settled on vocalist Laura Nichol to chat with us instead. Squeezing into their van, we assumed comfortable positions and began our adventure. I say “adventure” because when Light This City is in the mix, that’s what you get!

Shout!: Like tour-mates Black Tide, your roster is quite young. Do you feel this affects the music industry’s perception of your talent?

Laura Nichol: I’m not sure. I know it makes for a bit more attention. I think once people hear our music they decide for themselves if they like us or not and they can see we’re just as serious as any older band. We have a lot of touring experience now too.

S!: You’ve toured with All That Remains before. What were you excited most about touring again with them in this new year?

Laura: They’re great friends of ours and the thing I like about them is they are a huge band but they are all very much down to Earth and fun to hang out with. They’re all really nice and respectful. Phil actually asked me to do guest vocals on their set and when he asked me, I was just like “Oh wow, that’d be a dream! That would be …  Continued »

When you first listen to a band like Neurosonic, your immediate reaction is to try to sing along, as if you’ve been listening to them forever. Their sound is a bit nostalgic for fans like myself, who came of age around the tail end of hair bands up through the industrial music revolution. Maybe that’s why Puddle of Mudd fans didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that a band like Neurosonic was opening recently at the Charlotte, NC stop of the tour.  With a little something for everyone, these guys still manage to bring some originality to the table. 

Vocalist Jason Darr jumped in the car with us to answer a few questions about comparisons, his native Canada, and his recent life altering experience…

S!: I hear a lot of Nine Inch Nails influence in your music.  How do you feel you’ve changed or modernized that sound?

JD: I haven’t.  I don’t claim to take any responsibility for originality or doing something that other people haven’t done.  All I ever set out to do was make an album of songs that I really wanted to listen to; songs that I really wanted to play.  As it came together, so many people have come up to me and said “wow, you guys are so fresh and it’s so different, and so original!”  And it honestly wasn’t intended to be different…quite the contrary.  We were trying to get on the radio like everybody else and have a career in music, so it’s very nice to accidentally stumble upon something of our own.

S!: I definitely think it’s different…the vocal is definitely different!

JD: I know, I sing like a girl! [Laughs]

S!: No you don’t!  It’s just a harder edged vocal, maybe?

JD: Yeah, my manager, who is a very big figure in my …  Continued »

“Everybody has to get over being wounded.”  Bayside, a New York band named for their own hometown, is defintely a band with experience enough to talk about wounds.  Playing their music their way, signed to Victory Records, everything seemed to be going well until a van accident on tour took the life of drummer and friend John Holohan.  The rest of the group were declared “walking wounded” and treated, but things are never the same after something like that.

But the wounded have continued walking, and are carrying on stronger than ever, supporting a new album, working on another, and staying true to themselves in that magical way that only rockstars can.  Shout! recently sat down with guitarist Jack O’Shea, and even got a word or two from lead Anthony Raneri…

S!: With regard to Walking Wounded and the meaning behind it, Anthony has been quoted as saying “everyone gets wounded at some point or another as they go through life”, what are some of the ‘wounds’ that you guys have had to overcome and draw from?

Jack O’Shea (guitar): Well “walking wounded” actually is specifically a term that was used in the ambulance after our accident.  It was used to describe the surviving members of the band and crew…they were saying that they had one that was dead and six walking wounded, so it’s an actual medical term to describe people who are going to the hospital who at least can stand and get into the hospital.  In terms of like, emotional wounding, I’d say that it defintely played an important role in the development of us, not only personally, but as a band.  Other than that, I think everyone has failed relationships and has issues from home, whether they be small or large, it’s just a …  Continued »

When I was asked if I would like to interview State Radio, I eagerly accepted. Although I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t know much about the band before the interview, I remembered several friends talking nonstop about a band called Dispatch. I also recalled these same friends telling me that I needed to check out their new project, State Radio. So this was the perfect opportunity for me to check out this fantastic band.

Playing an interesting blend of rock and reggae, State Radio use their music to express their political stance on a variety of issues affecting our world today. They were kind enough to take time out of their busy touring schedule to answer some questions for us.

Shout!: For those who don’t know about the history of the band, can you give a description of how the band was formed?

State Radio: Chuck had just come out of the disbanding of Princes of Babylon. I’d met those guys when they came up to Boston and had played with Dispatch. Maddog was playing buckets outside of Fenway Park and we struck up a conversation. He’d gone to school with a friend of mine from high school. I had heard that he plays drums in a Spider-man leotard so it seemed like a good fit.

S!: You guys are out on tour right now in support of the your new album. How have the crowds been reacting to the new material?

SR: Yeah, we’ve been playing mostly from the new album and it’s going over well. In some cases people know the new album better than some of the older stuff.

S!: Most of your lyrics revolve around political causes. Are there any political causes you want to bring to the attention of the Shout! readers?

SR: The ongoing genocide …  Continued »

Ever heard of The Rainbow Butt Monkeys? You may have and then wondered what ever happened to them. Ever heard of Finger Eleven? Ah ha! Case closed. Yes my friends, the band is one and the same. A name change, big record deal and a couple million albums later, Finger Eleven is back in the spotlight. You may have pegged them as a “One Hit Wonder” with their 2003, One Thing. Wow, were you wrong. Topping the charts of both 2007 and 2008 with their latest single, “Paralyzer”, Finger Eleven refuses to go anywhere. Canadian crossovers have spent the last decade experimenting with music and changing with the times. To better explain what I mean, drummer Rich Beddoe sheds insight on their music, pop culture, and where the music industry is headed…

Shout!: Being from Canada, do you feel as a band it was hard to cross over to the US?

Rich Beddoe: You know, it’s funny. A lot of Canadian bands over the years have done really well in the US. I’d have to say over the past thirty or forty years that all styles of bands that have come from Canada have done well. Bands are always getting some kind of response no matter where they are from. I think we’re following that same path just as Sum 41, Nickelback, and so many rock bands are coming through right now. I don’t think it is hard but more along the lines of getting a label and being signed while you’re there. As soon as you put something out and it is good quality, people will get past where you’re from. It’s all about getting your foot in the door no matter where it is. Especially when it comes to Canada and America, you can’t really tell the …  Continued »

All That Remains is a band name that you’ve heard throughout the last ten years. The name has been associated with acts such as Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, Ozzfest and Wacken Open Air. Over the course of these years, vocalist Phillip Labonte has taken his baby and watched it evolve into the show you see today. After three albums (fourth one coming soon!), numerous tours and independent struggles, All That Remains has broken through the underground scene to top Billboard Charts, have music featured in big screen movies and creep all the way through your body to your fingers while you push Play on your CD player. Speaking of achievements, a very modest vocalist/founder sat down with me to talk more about the style everyone knows, critics, and what’s next for the band!

Shout!: Wikipedia describes you as a “melodic metalcore” band. How do you personally define your music and do you think that term applies to All That Remains?

Phillip Labonte: Uh no, and “metal.” [Laughs] We do a lot of different stuff and we cover a lot of grounds when it comes to influences. We listen to everything from pop music to death metal or what have you. Throughout the band, if you name it, someone likes it. We are not afraid to let other influences filter in either. We won’t have a song that sounds like 50 Cent or anything because we’ll always be metal because we’re just a metal band. That image of itself makes it really had to classify us into a sub-genre. We’re not death metal, thrash metal, nu metal,  or even metalcore, we are just metal. We’re not someone you can categorize into anything else.

S!: Your vocals fluctuate between screaming and a clean melody. Why do you choose to do both instead …  Continued »

When two jam bands combined forces, no one knew what would be in store for them. Lucky for loyal fans, the band came to be Killswitch Engage. Flooding the airwaves, KsE has become popular through pop culture. Being featured in video games, headlining Warped Tour, and selling albums left and right have put this band into the spotlight. Taking off since day one, KsE has been truckin’ nonstop!

Statistics show that there are five new KsE fans every hour. Okay, that was complete bullshit, but could true if I didn’t tell you otherwise. If you haven’t been to a show yet, you are a very deprived person. You only live once before the killswitch is turned on. Bassist/ founder Mike D’Antonio explains what KsE is all about, his graphics projects on DarkicoN Designs, and gives us a teaser of what their fans can expect next!…

Shout!: Can you give insight on how you created the band’s name?

Mike D’Antonio: When I was a kid I wrote a lot of lyrics. I kept a notebook next to the TV and when I watched it, I would jot down cool words I liked. I was watching an X-Files episode and the word “Killswitch” came up. I thought it would be a cool song title or something at the time. Later on I came up with “Engage” and everyone hated it saying it sounded like a Star Trek logo. Then I kind of put them together and after I showed them the whole logo, they warmed up to the idea of it. [Laughs]

S!: You imagined Killswitch as nothing more than a side project. How does it feel to have come so much further?

Mike D: It feels like we’ve won the lottery to tell the truth. We didn’t have much of a vision …  Continued »

I didn’t know what to expect from Tiger Army as I waited for them to take the stage, but judging from a cross section of the fans in the crowd, I knew I was going to see something refreshing and different.  When you mention the name, fans seem to come out of the woodwork nowadays, and the band’s following is loyal for a reason.

Start with a sound reminicent of airy bands like The Cure and various crunchier 80’s punk icons, toss in some 1950’s style and attitude, wrap it all up in thoughtful lyricism, and there you have it: Tiger Army.  Founder/singer Nick 13 took a few minutes out to answer some questions for me this month…

S!: What exactly does the term ‘psychobilly’ mean to you?

Nick 13: Well, musically, it combines punk and rockabilly in some way shape or form.  But beyond that, it’s a rhythm, a feeling, a way of life.

S!: Your music has a pretty diverse sound. What other genres do you place yourselves in?

N13: It’s hard to categorize our music - it draws on many, many things. “Psychobilly” is still the best single word to describe it.  Elvis pushed rock’n'roll forward in 1954.  The Ramones pushed it forward in 1974.  The Meteors pushed it forward in 1981.  I almost feel like it would be more heretical to let it stand still than to do it our own way and bring in our own influences, which happen to range from 50’s rockabilly and country to 70s/80s punk, postpunk and UK darkwave.

S!: It’s always mentioned that you share geographical roots with AFI.  What took the two bands in such different musical directions from one another?

N13: Some would say they’re not that different, but we grew up listening to most of the same bands, a common pool of …  Continued »