“Hey, how about forming a rock band?” Paul asked. They had often talked of being in a band together.

“Sure”, came the reply, “but there are only two of us…” Paul showed a defiant look and shrugged.

“Well so what, we can kick it out, let’s just do it, and let’s play whatever the hell we want.”

And that was it, we began trying out styles, kicking out riffs and hammering some songs together. Once things had gotten rolling we started looking for a bassist. That’s when John sauntered onto the scene, from the first moment we realised we were onto a winner, and our music began to take depth and evolve. It didn’t take us long before we were playing our first gig.

I was most fortunate to be able to go and see them play a set at The Fleece in Bristol a couple of days ago, this was their fifth gig. It was absolutely stunning, the set was tighter than a ducks rear end and so engaging, The Dosadi Experiment gripped the entire audience.

This band really do have the elusive and essential musical chemistry. The Dosadi’s will appeal to both old and new rock fans with their refreshingly vibrant and creative mix of instrumental prog and rock. The Dosadi Experiment have an EP which will be released very soon and I thoroughly recommend that you check this band out. Please do go and get Dosadi experienced live at one of their gigs. If you are in the UK then you will find these gigs listed at livelifewest …..

I had a little chat with the band to give you some further info on the background of this incredible band……………..

Nick – I assume that the Frank Herbert book inspired your name, does this also inspire your music?

Paul – We knew that our band name was important, that we wanted it to reflect the nature of our music and show that we were something different from the crowd.

Merry was reading the book at the time we started writing music together, (it’s a mammoth, not long but intricate, subtle, and complicated), and was fascinated by it. It is hard to say if the style of the book influenced our decision to name the band after it, but the book is full of ideas and new things, and we wanted to write our music like this as well. It’s probably not true to say that the book influences our style of music, but that the style that we enjoy to play and the type of creativity our music takes on has a lot of parallels with the themes in the book.

Nick – What else inspires your creativity and how does this process work?

Paul, Merry & John (Collectively) – A lot of our ideas come from time spent away from the group, one of us will come up with a couple of ideas, bring them to the band, and then we jam them out and develop them into coherent songs. As an instrumental band we try to make each piece rich with ideas so that they really grab people’s attention, and a lot of our time and effort goes into the arrangements.

Our song writing is very democratic and all our songs are collaborative efforts. Since we all have different musical backgrounds it can take some time for us to find something we agree on (our writing sessions can be quite heated), but this is generally beneficial and makes our songs sound unique. We take influences from progressive rock to funk to ska punk: so somewhere in the middle of that is The Dosadi Experiment.

Individually:

Merry:

I like to write music that reflects the mood I’m in, to consider how the musical elements fit together and how the rhythms coincide. Once I know what I want to play I try to put the feeling behind it.

John:

I do not set out to convey any particular mood; I simply pick up the bass guitar and let the ideas come forth.

Paul:

I am influenced by the world around me; I tend to come up riffs and melodies in my head at inappropriate moments (late at night, train journeys, in work) before translating them into useable guitar parts.

Nick – What are your hopes and dreams for the future of The Dosadi Experiment?

Paul – As a band, our main focus is to play the music we love to make and to be in the type of band that we as music lovers would want to see playing live. We want as many people as possible to come and see us play live, and get a kick out of it, the greatest buzz for us comes from playing live, all the hours of practice, arranging, debating all fade away when it’s gig-time…we want to entertain people.

The future involves us finding another member, ideally someone who plays organ/synth/keyboard to enable us to take our music to the next creative level. We aim to record another EP by the end of the summer, and will continue building our following in Bristol by playing as many gigs as we can.

Nick – Where can people go to listen to your music?

Paul – Aside from coming to see us playing live (we have loads of dates coming up!!), online:

The Dosadi Experiment Official website

The Dosadi Experiment Facebook page

The Dosadi Experiment @ Soundcloud

We are releasing our debut self-titled EP in late-September, which will be available at our upcoming gigs.

Nick – What are the backgrounds of yourself, John and Merry? Did any of you have much in the way of formal musical training or are you self taught?

Paul: I’m a self-taught player, I began playing guitar when I was 14, jamming along to classic rock like Led Zeppelin and progressive rock like King Crimson. Most of my friends growing up in Ireland played instruments so there were always lots of bands floating about. The best way for me to learn was to jam with other people. I have dabbled in bass and drums but I always go back to the guitar.

Merry: I too am self-taught. From the first moment that I sat behind a drum kit when I was 12 I knew it was what I wanted to play. I was never drawn to any particular style, I just enjoyed playing on my own and trying to be creative. It took me a long time to become confident enough to play in front of other people and it wasn’t until I was in my late teenage years that I started playing in bands. At first I was more interested in the creative part, I attempted to write a lot of solo music and became interested in music production (so much so that I went to do a degree in it and met Paul). But eventually I realised that my talent really lay in performing with others and gave up the production side of things to focus on my drumming. That was about when The Dosadi Experiment came about.

John: Again self-taught. I play the bass because it was the only instrument in the house when I was a kid, and my dad would have been upset if I had expressed an interest in the drums (purely from a noise perspective, not any kind of nostalgic desire for me to follow in his footsteps). I progressed pretty quickly and got tired of the turgid bass lines commonly associated with mainstream music. Punk music, however, provided more of a challenge, so I went from there . . . . . you’d never be able to tell.

These Furrows are one of the fastest rising bands in Leicester, the same city that moulded the creation of big names such as Maybeshewill and Kyte, and having already been signed to Underdog Records the three piece have built themselves a reputation as dynamic and contemporary. They made their first release ‘Masks’ in October 2009 and this subsequently gained support from Huw Stephens on Radio 1 and Huey Morgan from 6 Music, let alone the playtime and praise it received amongst those more locally. They released ‘Without Manner’ in 2010, which gained airplay on 6 music and XFM, and shortly afterwards the band was touring around Britain and Northern Ireland with Strait Laces and on separate dates with The Fun Lovin’ Criminals. Recently they played  the introducing stage at Leeds and Reading and not too long ago they recorded their first album with Tony Platt (AC/DC, Bob Marley, Iron Maiden) and Chris Sheldon (Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro) to which they’re now preparing a string of character based music videos.

Here, Mathieu gets candid and offers some interesting insight into the creative process that shaped his album, how the songs originated and why “the treatment of just one distilled idea” is so important for his songwriting style.

Q: Before this LP, was creating music a more collective process for you? Like, for example, in Ra Ra Riot, or were you always interested in creating your own compositions?

A: Music was always a collaborative process for me. Since I’ve never taken any lessons or anything, everything I’ve learned about making and playing music has come from that. The reason I finally got around to buying my first bass was because my friends and I were starting a band and the first moment I had it in my hands, we were making music together, and that’s basically how it’s always been for me.

Over the years, though, I’d slowly become interested with the concept of writing songs, and I received a lot of encouragement and inspiration from my peers and from everything I was listening to. Still, the thought of writing my own songs was never something I really seriously considered until recently, but once I really allowed myself to try it, I just had a blast. It was a whole new experience for me.

Q: How did it feel to have complete control over the direction of the project, musically and lyrically? 

A: That was probably the most attractive aspect of the whole project for me, specifically because of all the collaboration I had been so used to. I had learned so much from all the years of collaborating, all of the collective processes, and I wanted to do something different where I could just make all the decisions and follow whatever instincts I was having at a specific moment. I wanted to take as much as I could away and see what was left when I only had myself to rely on. As rewarding as a good collaborative environment can be, it was incredibly refreshing to work completely alone on something.

Q: Do you play any instruments on the album other than bass?

A: I actually played all of the instruments on the album – aside from the saxophone parts, which were played by Wes – which was another exciting part of the whole thing, though the bass was basically the only thing I felt qualified and comfortable to be playing. But an important part of the project, for me, was about trying to get the most out of my limited skill set, both in terms of the songwriting and the actual performances of the parts. I just wanted everything to be as honest and raw as possible and, more importantly, I wanted to have fun doing new things. I love messing around on drums and guitar and singing at home and all that, but to actually get to explore those things within the context of the album was really exciting.

Q: Your compositions sound more like sonorous landscapes in which a feeling is built around a musical idea rather than conventional songs with typical structures. What inspires this compositional style?

A: Well, a lot of that probably has to do with those limitations I was talking about! But I am also drawn to songs like that for reasons I’m not totally aware of. A song with a great structure and interesting chord patterns is a beautiful thing, but for me, I’m always more moved by songs that are dictated more by a mood and a feel. A lot of my favorite songs and albums are like that – some of the Beach Boys’ more experimental stuff, a lot of The Police and especially The Fall, who I can listen to endlessly. I think it’s fun to see how much feeling you can get from the treatment of just one distilled idea.

Q: When listening to the album, certain influences like Brian Wilson seem to be highlighted. Were there any specific figures or ideas that might not be directly reflected in the music that were very influential while writing this album? 

A: I was listening to a lot of albums that were made similarly – albums with just one person doing mostly everything with results that were personal and idiosyncratic and unfiltered. So aside from the more obvious influences, I was thinking a lot about Paul McCartney’s McCartney and McCartney II, Stewart Copeland’s recordings under the alias Klark Kent and some of Robert Palmer’s more adventurous, self-produced work.

Q: The album has a minimalistic harmonic structure which creates an interesting vibe -did you consciously take this approach or did the songs just feel right with these arrangements?

A: It was pretty conscious; I just wanted to distill and distill until there was almost nothing left. I wanted to see how economic I could be with the arrangements without sacrificing any of the greater meaning of the songs.

Q: Much like the harmony, the lyrics are sparse and minimalistic. Are they meant to be a secondary aspect of the songs, supporting the main musical idea?

A: It’s basically a part of the same idea: If I started with a lyric that I felt was good, or exactly what I wanted to say, then I didn’t see any sense in adding more to it and clouding it. And I tried to! I tried and tried to add more to most of the lyrics, but I always felt like I was getting away from the point and I could never convince myself that what I was adding was making anything better. So most times, it just came back to the original line or two.

Q: How did ‘The Bay’ materialize? Was this a jam done outside of the studio and kept in its original form?

A: I think I wrote that song in the same manner as most of the songs, which was sitting on my sofa very late at night, playing my bass without it being plugged into anything while watching TV or something. It was just a little pattern that evolved and I felt like it was a nice little story. It was kind of melancholic and moody, but also kind of a soothing lullaby at the same time, and I felt like it captured something I was trying to get at with the album as a whole. I only ever recorded it twice, both times in a single take without any editing; once to demo it, and once again for the final album.

Q: For every song the tones seem very precise and well placed – was finding the perfect tone a very important part of the creative process, and do you find that the tone itself inspired what was played on the instrument?

A: Thanks! When recording the album we had very little time and had to make decisions really quickly, and that was very exciting to me. The tones were very important to me, but I didn’t want to labor over them and painstakingly craft them. It was really important that they felt natural and I hoped that that would in turn influence the overall mood of the album.

Q: As a bass player, it makes sense that the songs on the LP have very distinct and melodic bass lines. Does the inspiration for a new song usually come from these bass lines?

A: I think most of the songs started as a bass part, which was so much fun. I feel like you can get everything right from there; a good bass part gets to dictate both the color and the feel of the song and that’s why I love playing bass so much. It holds everything together and has tons of control over the music for being somewhat of a background instrument.

A couple of the songs came from messing around on a keyboard, which I do not know how to play at all. I’m a bass player at heart and that’s what the album was based on.

Q: Is this album more of a studio experimentation or are you planning on touring and playing live shows as well? 

A: At the time I was making it, it was purely a studio exercise. I wasn’t even sure if it would ever be released in any official manner – I just wanted to have some fun and make it! Likewise, the thought of touring behind it had never really occurred to me, but I think someday, if time and fate allow, I imagine that would be a blast as well!

Check out the album yourself here!

For more on Mathieu Santos and Ra Ra Riot: http://www.rarariot.com/

Strong Killings is the band I am telling you about and I have to say that after giving their debut album a thorough testing, Strong Killings really is keeping the spirit of punk alive. This spirit is a truly refreshing beast as Strong Killings combines such a wide variety of the various punk genres without ever losing any energy or attitude. Yes, definitely loud and uncouth, and such a good album; Strong Killings lay down a message of social unease and nonconformity perfectly.

‘Annals of Animals’ opens the album, hitting hard with a strong alt punk sound, and leads you onto ‘Licked Nicked,’which hooks you in with a strong bass and drum intro. This song adds a good dose of skanky rhythm to the album. ‘Winnebago’ is a ballad that adds to the variety on the album and once again proves the versatility of Strong Killings. Then, ‘New Mexican Frontier’ hits in. This is a short but sweet instrumental with strong melodies and is built on a lively bass line.

The next track, ‘Too Cool,’ warns that “If you’re too cool, then fuck you” in its lyrical message epitomizing the punk attitude; as ever, this song is inspired by life’s experiences. Then the album moves on to ‘(You Never Wanna) Dance With Me,’ a great song that has many similarities in style with Richard Hell/Johnny Thunders.

‘Minimum Wage’ combines a touch of free styling with a hint of melodic punk, but Nate’s sneering vocals never lose their edge in this. ‘Stegosaurus’ is a short, mostly instrumental track with just a hint of baritone vocal. ‘Stupid Punk’ is full on assault of pop/hardcore punk and is a tale of a punk reaching the limit. ‘Worst Case’ then leads on to the power punk anthem ‘Suckerpunch’ and then ‘Tiger Style’ closes.

This whole album is about thirty-two minutes in length and there are twelve relatively short but sharp, sweet tracks squeezed into this. Although there may not be anything particularly new here in style or content, the composition and delivery are impeccable. Listening to the album is an exhilarating thrill ride that leaves you wishing for more.

Rating: 8.5 / 10  

I recently had a little chat with Nate from Strong Killings who talked rotting mansions, dinosaur songs, why playing house parties it the best and more.

Q: How did the band form?

A: We just met from going to house parties and jamming together all drunk in my old basement in this big old rotting mansion. There was musical equipment set up in the basement and everybody from all these bands would end up at the after-hours party or whatever, and that’s how Carlos and I first ended up playing together.

Q: What has influenced your music and what inspires your creativity?

A: Punk music and the punk scene. Our song ‘The Basement’ is kind of about how we grew up, going to house shows. When I was fourteen, I started going to shows at this guy Mike Brammer’s house. Virgil Dickerson from Suburban Home Records sent lots of bands through him, so I got to see some really great bands like the Automatics, the Nobodys and lots of BYO bands like Pinhead Circus and stuff. There was a strict ‘No drugs, no beer, no fighting’ policy – it was just about the music.  Circle pits, helping people up when they fell down – unity. I believe that we were probably the best show on a lot of bands tours just because we went off so hard.

What inspires us is life? Our songs are about our friends, stuff that has happened to us and to others.  ‘Suckerpunch’ is about how some jocks suckerpunched me and my friend Scotty outside of a bar one night. ‘Too Cool, Fuck You’ came from a conversation with some stuck-up idiots who thought they were famous because they were playing at The Stranger’s Capitol Hill Block Party, a local music festival.

Although, we did just write one song about a dinosaur because we wanted a song that sounded like a dinosaur or something. We are also inspired by many awesome bands like Fugazi and McLusky and Japanther.

Q: How was your name devised?

A: Our friend Nathaniel “Thanny” Bradford came up with it. Some movie was rated R for ‘strong killings.’ He was like, “What the hell is a strong killing?”

Q: How does the creative process work with your music?

A: Well, we basically go into our practice space, CryBaby, which is walking distance from all of our houses, and then we just jam with a tape recorder going so we can listen to it afterwards and glean songs from it. Although ‘Annals of Animals’ came out of my four-track and an acoustic guitar.

Q: What have been your highs and lows so far? Do you have any amusing moments that you wish to share?

A: Our highest high was our last tour, it was so amazing. Our lowest low was on that same tour when I had a nervous breakdown in Eureka, CA. My little sister recently suffered a traumatic brain injury and almost died and now has amnesia. It is with me everywhere I go. She is a punk, a true punk, and a singer in a punk ban – I love her so much. I was worried about her the whole tour and the Eureka show was the second to last show and I just broke down and had a freak out, screaming, breaking shit, so it goes. I took a Greyhound to see her as soon as we got back to Seattle.

Q: Do you have any favorite venues, or venue types, and why?

A: House shows are the best; the coolest people [are there] and often times there is food involved. Also, you can’t beat the feeling of being that close to everyone, all on the same level, no stage, just rocking and being rocked. I love it. I will always, always play house shows.

Q: What are your hopes and dreams for the future, and how do you plan to achieve them?

A: I would like if Strong Killings could put out more albums and play lots of parties and house shows, and I would like to be able to see my sister at least once a month.

For all the latest, visit: strongkillings.com 

Boulder, Colorado’s 3OH!3 (yes, Boulder’s area code just so happens to be 303) has gained international success (from the US to Finland to Australia) with hits like “Don’t Trust Me” and “Starstrukk,” and has collaborated with artists as varied as Katy Perry and Lil Jon.

The duo, which is made up of Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte, has released three albums since 2007 and is now working on a follow-up that’s slotted to drop in early 2012. That is, if they can find a moment to breathe. On the road for almost two and a half years, I caught up with Sean Foreman just as 3OH!3 had only about ten days left until their (much deserved) break from touring.

Q: You guys are VWT veterans, how is this year stacking up against years past?

A: The tour is really great this year. I guess the camaraderie is really good, there’s BBQs afterwards, and everyone just gets along and parties. Sometimes, just ‘cause there are so may different types of bands, there’s been some friction in years past but this one, there’s a lot of different types of music but people just generally have a mentality of getting along.

The shows themselves have been really, really good for us. There are a lot of bands on this tour that I like to go see and there are some new ones that I’ve never seen that I’d like to.

Q: I was going to ask, do you get a chance to check out any of the other bands’ performances?

A: There are a few bands that I had heard of but I’d never seen that are great. Bad Rabbits is really good, Foxy Shazam [too]. You get to go side stage and watch the shows so it’s kind of like free reign.

It was pretty surreal, last night we had a BBQ and Lucero played and it was just like all of us watching them play, which, they’re an awesome band.

Q: What are the biggest ups and downs of VWT compared to a tour where it’s just you and one or two other bands?

A: There are a lot of downs on Warped Tour in the sense that, they do the best job they can but there are so many bands to take care of; you gotta use porta-potties everyday, shower behind the bus with cans of water, literally [laughs]. But it’s like summer camp, you get used to it.

The upside to that is that you don’t have any bands that have giant egos…it’s a pretty leveled playing field. The smallest band on Warped Tour gets treated exactly like the biggest band, as far as that all goes. The shows are great, the fans that come to Warped Tour are awesome and I think anyone would say they prefer a venue tour but I think Warped Tour is a great way to expose your band.

Q: What’s been the most memorable moment so far, or has anything horrible/absolutely crazy happened yet?

A: I’ve had some incidents in past Warped tours. This giant scar right here (at this point, Sean extends his leg out to proudly show off the scar on his right calf) I fell on the drum riser during a song and I just split my leg open. I thought it was just like a little wound so I finished the set. I was just bleeding through my pant leg and when I lifted it up, [my leg] was split open, like an extra orifice. It was pretty gross; that was a pretty gnarly moment. People are like, ‘Dude, you should put stuff on it to get rid of the scar,’ but for me it’s kind of like a tattoo.

Q: What happens when you get back home? How is it readjusting to ‘normal’ life?

A: It’s kind of like a post-tour depression … Honestly, it takes me about a week and a half to sleep on a bed that isn’t moving. I make a joke that I have to put it on my washer and dryer. Obviously it’s a lifestyle we choose and it’s awesome, but it is funny, it’s hard to readjust. Just even the conversation of ordering coffee at a local place, you’re just not completely used to it.

Q: I know you’re working on the new album now, how’s that coming along so far?

A: We just released “Robot.” We had a video, it’s kind of like a viral video, and it’s kind of just a track for our fans, it’s not really a radio playable song, which is fine. It’s the structure of how we wanna build the next record: a couple of steps backwards to where we came from, but also stepping forward with our production and stuff like that, but still having fun and keeping a good sense of humor about the stuff that we do.

Q: You’ve had some great collabs over the years, any funny anecdotes you can share?

A: Katy Perry did the first Warped Tour that we did, which was three years ago, and we became friends with her during the course of that and that’s how that developed. Funny story on that, I think it was Kansas City, no, just a strange spot, she came on stage when we did “Starstrukk,” that was actually before she was featured on the song, she was dancing around and she decided it would be a good idea, in her mini skirt, to crowd surf. She jumped in the crowd and I think there are a lot of lucky seventeen-year-old boys that got a handful of something. It wasn’t the best idea for her to do, she was kind of upside down in the crowd, but that was really funny. That’s when I knew she was about having fun.

Ke$ha was a friend just because we knew her in the studio, we met her through mutual friends…She obviously writes to kind of a persona but she is pretty crazy. I think the first time she came in the studio she called me a “little bitch” for no reason, which I initially hated her because I thought she was so upfront, but within two days I was like, she’s awesome, she’s a sweetheart, she’s cool. She just has this immediate front.

Q: If you could collaborate with anyone, past or present, who would that be? Maybe feature Beethoven on a track? [Laughs.]

A: [Laughs.] I was gonna say, I’d like to get Abe Lincoln to spit out eight verses, that’d be pretty awesome. Elvis is the king, I’d love to get him on a chorus, but maybe I’d go in the future, an alien or something.

Q: Finish this sentence for me: “3OH!3 is…”

A: It’s hard. I’m having like an identity crisis [laughs]. 3OH!3 is dumb for not being able to answer this question [laughs]. This is what happens when you spend weeks on Warped Tour, your brain is fried. There, 3OH!3 is warped!

For all the latest on 3OH!3: www.3oh3music.com/

Q:Where does the name Auradrone come from and what does it mean?

A: The name came to me as sort of a flash of insight one day. It’s a combination of the word “aura,” like the human energy field, and the word “drone,” which is a continuous tone.? I realized later that together these relate the concept of sympathetic resonance.

Q: Seven levels with their own frequency, very clever. I notice your music videos are “out of this world,” new age art – where does your inspiration come from?

A: Exactly! I get inspiration from all places but mainly from anything to do with transcendental meditation or visioning. I have been a seeker since I can remember and I resonate best with things on other planes than just the physical. I’ve done my share of experimentation, so there’s always a part of me that’s got one foot in the void. I am also a visual artist and find much attraction to artists who bring the otherworldly element to their own art. Travel and other culture inspire me a great deal as well. I am currently transplanted for the summer in Belgrade, Serbia to find a different kind of inspiration for the beginning stages of the next Auradrone album.

Q: Bleeding Edge is your sophomore album – how will it differ from your 2009 album?

A: Well, this time I have a different set of collaborators so this immediately brings a new energy to the table. I’d say this album is a more evolved sound for us with more grit and heavier grooves. It’s definitely dirtier and I mean that in the best of ways. It’s more immediate production quality retaining more of the raw energy of the sound. More lo-fi!

Q: I see your music videos have a lot of sci-fi in them – is sci-fi a big part in your music?

A: I love sci-fi and have acted in some sci-fi-type of films, but wouldn’t say that I’m obsessed with it. I think it was more of a theme with the first album where this new album is moving more in a direction of experimentation with mutation and transcendence of dark energies.

Q: I also see and hear a balance of light and dark in your music. How important is it to embrace both the light and the dark side in oneself?

A: Very important. You can’t deny something in order to gain dominion over it; you must look it in the face and acknowledge that it exists without giving in to the weakness.

Q: When coming up with new songs, tell me what goes into making a song and how you all agree on what songs go into the album and what songs stay out?

A: It’s always a complex process when creating a new piece of music or song, at least for me. I get inspiration sometimes from a lyric or emotion, or even a drum loop or synth line; each one is unique in how it comes about. It all just evolves from there.

When deciding what songs go on the album, Fred and I have been going back and forth and tweaking and shaping until we feel it’s developed enough to be album worthy. If the baby doesn’t evolve, the baby gets put in the incubator for future reference. I’m a perfectionist and that’s both a blessing and curse because I cannot write a hundred songs and just churn them out this way. For me, it’s like a painting or film, where it’s stages and steps until it just feels right.? Some babies are still in incubators as we speak.

Q: You also act, how did you get into acting? What movies have you come out in and how was working on set?

A: I grew up in the theater as my mother directed musicals and drama in both college and high schools. I was in my first production at age five. My father also owned a video store, so I spent a lot of time watching both foreign and domestic films. I guess it was sort of kismet because it seemed to be a natural progression for me; I loved to perform since I can remember.

I just wrapped on a film called Playing The Field with Gerard Butler, Uma Thurman and Jessica Biel. I have also done a few films for SyFy channel and have some other projects coming up.

I love working on set; I feel most comfortable and happy there. It’s a great example of teamwork when things come together and personalities fit because there’s a greater goal in mind. It’s a moment in time that can’t be repeated since every project is different with different dynamics and circumstances. I like the fact that it’s unpredictable and every day is unique with it’s own challenges.

For all the latest on Auradrone: www.auradrone.com

Teri Gender Bender has been compared to the punk/grunge scene of the 90s, Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, and Nick Cave’s past partner and former muse, PJ Harvey. The release of Sin, Sin, Sin follows Kiss and Kill with artistic and musical growth from Teri, and a new lineup with the band; Gabe Serbian on drums and Johnathan Hischke on bass. Relocating from

Q: Why the name, Le Bucherettes?

TGB: I was 17, living in Mexico for about two years and very frustrated that a lot of really cool bands playing lacked women fronting them. I was really influenced at the time reading Betty Friedan’s Feminine Mystique about the household wife, finishing college and marrying. Back in the 50s that was the traditional thing to do, but there was always this emptiness, this whole that would never get filled. This is why the “s”, (it should be “Les” in the name), is taken out. It is more of a mutilation representing the female issue; female circumcision or the simple fact that you feel like something is missing.

People who talk to us about the band will acknowledge there is something missing in the title. Bucherettes is a metaphor, the apron I wear on stage is also a metaphor; cutting that ugliness, the sexism, which is the meat, to cut it up in little pieces and get rid of it. I’m trying to be more ironic. There is so much more than just a girl wearing high heels on stage portraying herself as a passive young woman. We are unleashing our inner animals when we play.

Q: What are your live shows like?

TGB: When the band started I was really into the visual side, taking elements to stage such as broomsticks and rotten meat that I would get at the butcher shop. This causes a lot of controversy with the vegan issue, but putting that aside, I wanted the meat to represent something, to give that meat life and meaning. I dropped that whole issue, I don’t do that anymore. I’ve already done it; I don’t need to do it again. People ask what my point was. The meat is a defence, a barrier to what people sometimes saw in me when I was younger, treating me like a piece of meat. So here I am on stage with this meat and I’m flinging it around and stepping on it. That’s how it used to be. Now we are going through this process of getting musically more tight and giving me the liberty of using more of my body movements. Johnathan plays the bass like a king. There is a great chemistry there.

Q: Will you ever tour Canada?

TGB: Oh my God, are you kidding me? I hope so. Right now there’s no plan but I want to go there as soon as possible. I’ve never been to any part of Canada and I love traveling. If there is any way, we would love to go; hopefully this year or maybe at the end of the year.

Q: I love your name, Teri Gender Bender! How and why did you choose that name for yourself?

TGBL Malcolm X was an influence on me. He has a similar philosophy when it comes to last names. He would say ‘I don’t know my real last name because my ancestors were sold into slavery; we are carrying the last name of a white man.’ He chose the “X”, which is the unknown; he never knew what his name was. It has a slight influence on “Gender Bender”. I am so proud of being my father’s daughter but if you think about it, his mom and my mom, they all have the masculine line of last name. If I were to ever get married, even if I were to keep my last name, technically it still comes from my father. I want to move away from patriarchy and reinvent myself completely as an individual. “Gender Bender”, to me, represents: ‘I don’t care if you are a man or a woman, I’m going to love you for who you are’; taking your gender and bending it.

Q: Who were your influences growing up? Was there anyone that inspired you or helped you become who you are today?

TGB: On a personal level, my father and my mother were always there for me. Gabe and I (Gabe Serbian, drummer of the band), were talking about this earlier. I was saying I hated how people picked on me at school. But I think that also inspired me. The rejection I experienced at school helped me build up the wrath of the animal I am on stage. The love of my parents and the hate from the kids at school influenced me. On a universal musical level I would have to say Kathleen Hanna, Wendy O. Williams, all the Riot Grrrl Bands; Huggy Bear, L7. I just love women that rock and female writers. It’s inspiring. However, I don’t care about someone’s sex or gender, as long as they transmit this amazing something that affects them personally. Then I’m theirs forever. I get so much from people that do whatever they want without hurting others.

Q: How did the current lineup of the band form?

TGB: I moved to LA and everyone in LA knows everyone. If you know the friend of a friend then the friend will know the friend of the friend. (Teri lets out a laugh). My manager introduced me to Gabe but we didn’t think it would be like this from the beginning. We were just going to try it out and rehearse with Gabe to see how the chemistry was. I was so nervous. I didn’t know what to expect because I’ve never had musicians like this with such strong talent in the band before. The band now is top notch. It is great. The chemistry right away was great. We could play without caring what was going to happen. It was luck and good timing. I moved to the United States to start out fresh. I love Mexico but I am ambitious, I want to travel, play other countries, taste different kinds of food.

Q: You have a song called “Feminist Politics” but it’s in Spanish. Could you tell me about it?

TGB: That was part of the Kiss and Kill ep, it was in Spanish because most people in Mexico speak Spanish. I wanted people in Mexico to get an introduction of the message. I can be a proud sensual woman and not be anti-male. There is a misunderstanding of what feminism is and that is so unfair. It was in Spanish to open up the door a little bit. People ask me why I don’t sing more in Spanish. My Spanish is not as good as my English. It’s good, but my singing voice in Spanish sounds a little different and it has an accent. When I sing the key and tone of my voice is different. I still haven’t found my singing voice in Spanish. It’s a completely different world. I’m working on that right now. Hopefully one day good Spanish rock will come out from me.

Q: How has the music industry treated you and the guys in the band so far?

TGB: It’s good. I feel like I am a lot more protected right now because Gabe and Johnathan are like my brothers. When it was just me and the first female drummer it was difficult because we didn’t have anyone with us when the guys at the bars in Mexico would try to conquer us. Now that there are men in the band I feel like there are less problems. Maybe other people are scared of screwing with me because there are guys with me, who are close to me, like family and vice versa. Maybe people don’t want to screw with Gabe and Johnathan because I am with them and I seem protective of them as well. It’s always hard. I’m trying to look at the good things now. I guess I still can’t believe that this is happening. I am not grasping this yet, not entirely. This is my dream, ever since I was little. I wanted to sing everywhere and it is finally happening. It’s so beautiful.

Q: How is your tour with the Deftones going so far?

TGB: So far it is going good; the first Bucherettes tour in the U.S. of A; a lot of driving, the real deal. Sara, our tour manager is making everything feel so at home and cozy for us. The Deftones and Dillinger Escape Plan are really nice, down to earth people which is also been making it easier.

Q: How long have you been playing music?

TGB: I started when I was 12. I always had dreams about playing the acoustic guitar and the dream would always melt. My frustrations were released in dream and I knew I had to get a guitar and start playing in real life. I knew when I was young I had to start playing before I had more nightmares like that. I really don’t play well either way, but I tune the guitar and play it my way.

Q: Do you have any songs ready for your next album?

TGB: We are on that. The new songs are going to be great. Even better than the songs that are out already.

Q: What will the new songs be like?

TGB: There are a lot more guitar songs. I can’t wait to get them on paper and vinyl. Hopefully after the tour we will have time to start recording.

Teri literally blew me away during our conversation. She has studied philosophy and has an intelligence that is rare and inspiring. Suarez is enthusiastic and passionate, yet down to earth and humble. I cannot wait to see what Le Bucherettes will do next.

For all the latest on the band, head over here.

Quite possibly the coolest voice ever to emerge from the heavy music scene of the 90′s or dare I say EVER, Chris Cornell pulled up a stump in Toronto, and just let us have it straight up. As a HUGE Soundgarden fan I instantly was taken by Cornell’s singing, songwriting and choice of band mates.

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a fan of watchin some guy sit there and strum on an acoustic guitar. I have even gone so far as to say I can’t stand acoustic guitars and that’s just something that started as a kid and never changed. That’s not to say I hate anyone strapped into an acoustic guitar cuz when I let myself go and just listen to a lone fucker strummin his heart out with no band, no bells and no whistles, I usually find talent and appreciation within the scene I am taking in. But we’re talking about Chris Cornell here. Because he is my absolute favourite singer, I figured I’d go see what he can do when he’s all by himself.

To commemorate this very special day of 420, I fired up a nice big gagger and retarded myself for the upcoming festivities. Not something I usually do before a show, as I normally like to keep the ability to speak and think competently. But fuckit, it’s 420 so I’m on board. On with the show…

First off, the shooting arrangements were horrible. 5th and 6th songs, from the soundboard. The lights were all very low key, reds and blues, and my longest lens is a 150mm which is nowhere near powerful enough to zoom in from what might as well be a mile away. There were a couple guys there with 400mm F 2.8 ass kickers, the one guy looked like he had a telescope and shooting 94 frames per second… I’d like to see what he got for pics!

So Chris came out, grabbed a guitar and played “I Am the Highway” before announcing how much he loves Toronto.. loves Canada really. Figuring how he must have hopped the border back in the day before making it big to play any number of Vancouver’s grungy dives, he probably knew before the big time, Canada is a pretty cool place to hang your hat. Then to have traveled the world to all of the most impressive places and the other side of the coin to the shittiest dives, to come full circle and announce you “love Canada” says a lot.

Definitely the highlight of the night arrived when Chris pulled out the old Temple of the Dog favourite, “Hunger Strike”. He announced it as a “two person song” encouraging us to sing along. I’d recently mentioned in my Bob Seger review how I’d only heard a whole venue actually SING an entire song once or twice, well people TRIED to sing “Hunger Strike” and for the most part failed miserably. Here’s a tune that really showcases what a singer like Chris Cornell can do, and we’ve got umpteen knobs, including myself, trying to chime in with the “backing vocals” which are more like a guitar solo than a voice fill in. It was actually quite comical. Every time he sang “I’m going hungry”, the place went nuts and a standing ovation took the crowd and put em on their feet.

After telling a little story about how “State Trooper” came to be, Chris slapped his arm and announced he’s got “clean blood” before trotting into an electric version of the song complete with a trippy, funky, feedback laden solo laid down over a looping of the western feeling rambling guitar which carried the song.

Chris told the crowd how he thought people playing along to tracks was “fuckin cheating” and proceeded to sing, guitarless, alongside a canned piano track for a song which title escapes me. Even though Chris was breaking all the rules I’ve got set up for music, he broke em in a way that just said “fuckit, here I am, like it or not”… well I can safely say everyone was lovin it.

A couple of covers he pulled out that were just great to hear: “Comfortably Numb”, the old Pink Floyd classic from the album “The Wall” but the real ass kicker was John Lennon’s “Imagine”. One of my all time favourite tunes. To hear Chris Cornell turn “Imagine” into his own song was like listening to a little slice of heaven.

Bad shooting conditions aside, my first sighting of Chris Cornell on a stage was a damn fine one that is makin my trigger finger real itchy for the upcoming Soundgarden tour… I can’t wait.

Mike Forbes
Rebel Reviewer Dot Com

[Show as slideshow]

I suppose, seeing as I’m a Montrealer and all, I shouldn’t openly admit to being a fan of Ontario, but it is home to some wicked bars (think Hideout and Bovine Sex Club), kickin’ music festivals (CMW, hint hint), and rockin’ Canadian bands like, let’s see … Finger Eleven!

Having put out their fifth studio album, Life Turns Electric , last October, Finger Eleven recently wrapped up a Canadian tour in support of the Juno-nominated release and were getting set to kick off CMW 2011 at The Mod Club when I caught up with drummer Rich Beddoe and bassist Sean Anderson in the middle of a torrential downpour. The duo talked about recording in New York City, discovering a new sound and going to bed at 10:30 (when not touring, of course).

Q: You’re about to kick off CMW, do you still get excited about playing shows, even after all these years?

Rich: We’ve been off for a while, we finished a Canadian tour a few weeks ago, so this is for us, as a band, fun. Just getting together and playing. We’ll probably enjoy this, it’s different than just being on the road, this is, we’re dying to play a show, so it’s fun these one-offs. And a local show of course, which makes it kind of nervous too, something about hometown always makes you a little nervous, but excited all around.

Q: Is there anything specific you like to do before a show to get ready?

Rich: He sleeps; he always has a nap like an hour before, always. Which I like to do, sometimes I don’t get around to it. We just usually listen to music. On our bus, most buses have two lounges, in front and back, and in the back it’s usually loud music, having some drinks. And in the front, Scott likes to listen to music just to warm up his voice, to sing along to, so that’s usually a little more mellow … I kinda just warm up a bit with some drumsticks.

Q: When you get home after a tour like this past one, is it hard to readjust to ‘normal’ life?

Sean: When I’m home, now I’m in bed at like 10:30. I shouldn’t admit that, actually. Waking up at like 6:30, 7:00. Then we go on the road and I’m all out of sorts and eventually the schedule switches over … It always takes a few days of adjustment, it’s like travelling over to Europe, you need that day’s adjustment.

Q: So you actually moved to New York to record this latest album, did that have an influence on the music?

Sean: I think it did. The record started off with a lot of acoustic ideas … We wrote some stuff while we were in New York and then some of those acoustic ideas we kind of, I don’t want to say rocked it up, but we kind of put a grain or a seed in those acoustic ideas that became something more rockier.

Rich: There’s a pace to New York, you know? We walked to the studio every day, about a 45-minute walk, and we were right in Times Square too, so it was an excitement. We were all living together so at night we’d go to the bar beside the apartment we were staying at, so it was just the excitement of New York. Even just the tempos of the songs, this is probably the fastest record we’ve ever made as far as tempos.

Sean: And the bar we hung out at afterwards, it wasn’t anything special other than it was just convenient … It wasn’t busy which is perfect and it had a jukebox, so we listened to classic rock and stuff and that was sort of like we’d listen to some songs on there and think about what makes this a great song, what they did in the bridge or they went to this part instead of that part … All that together, New York definitely had an impact.

Q: This album definitely sounds different from all the others, is that sort of change of sound a conscious decision going in or does it just happen?

Rich: We just write songs, every record sounds different. I think we definitely, there’s no plan how a record is gonna sound, it’s just what we’re all going through. Whether growing as people, maturing, certainly the lyric content, whatever Scott has had happen in his life comes through and he always sings about things that he’s gone through or is going through, so the albums might change lyrically just based on what is happening in his life. Just as the band matures and it grows, we get stronger as songwriters and as friends too … but we don’t set out to do anything.

We kinda were talking about Paralyzer, it did so well for the band, what is it about that song that everyone bops their head to it? It’s funny as a band to actually try and take apart your own song … Every song you write, you don’t think about ‘till after and sometimes you look back at it in a different light.

Sean: The record label would love ten Paralyzers, but you know, we can sit out here and try and figure out how to do it again and I don’t think we ever would. We take a couple years between records and so that has a huge impact.

Q: Having been a band for so long, how do you keep it fresh for yourselves?

Rich: We’re really lucky guys like, even just right there, soundcheck is fun, we actually still enjoy one another. We don’t get to hang out a lot when we’re off the road, we all have our own lives … We just actually still enjoy making music together. I think if it didn’t stay fresh, who knows what would happen? We haven’t really dealt with that. I think things get stale on the road after, you know, two years on the road nonstop.

I think some bands burn out and fizzle away, but we just, for some reason, it doesn’t burn out for us. It’s still a fire when we get on stage and play together most times. We’re still friends, we still enjoy each other’s company, that’s what it boils down to.

Q: What’s the best (or worst) feedback you’ve ever gotten after a show?

Rich: Usually, people just say you sound like your record; you guys are a live band. We’ve always taken pride in how we sound live, that’s what we are: we’re a live rock band, so I think people always notice that. They know this is a real rock and roll band, there’s no gimmick, there’s no tracks running – we get up, plug in and play.

Q: Last one, finish this sentence: “Finger Eleven is…”

Sean: These are tough these things!

Rich: Finger Eleven is a real rock band?

Sean: Finger Eleven apparently isn’t very creative or imaginative [laughs].

For more on Finger Eleven: http://www.myspace.com/fingereleven