Category Archives: Artists and Bands

Clothes Make The Man talk Mark Twain, being awesome and dressing (um, undressing) Ryan Reynolds

Posted on by

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”

Using this insightful comment from Mark Twain as their banner, Clothes Make The Man have taken Canada by storm. The Toronto-based band, which is comprised of vocalist Ryan McLennan, guitarist Scott Henry, drummer Phil Wilson and bassist Ross Machon, released a new EP on November 2 and has been touring through Ontario and Quebec to promote it. I caught up with Ryan McLennan and Ross Machon before their show at Montreal’s Absynthe to talk about music, movies, Canada and Ryan Reynolds.

Q: That’s a really interesting name. How did you come up with it? Continue reading →

The Tins have been called “epic” and “extraordinarily moving” – they’d say they’re “funny, charismatic and charming”

Posted on by

For the past few weeks, the song that has put me in a great mood while walking to the bus in the morning has been “June Avenue” by The Tins.  Hailing from Buffalo, New York, The Tins is made up of three friends: Adam Putzer (guitar, vocals), Dave Muntner (drums) and Mike Santillo (keyboards, vocals). The trio has been playing together for years, but has yet to release a full-length album. Their debut EP has been getting pretty good reviews and their seven-minute track, “The Green Room,” has already been called “epic” and British music magazine NME has qualified it as being “extraordinarily moving.” Their lyrical and musical melodies are both captivating and in harmony with one another. In fact, whether it is a seven-minute track or a shorter one like “Subtle Rattle,” the band sure knows how to keep its public fascinated until the last note. The Tins’ sound can be qualified as indie with a twist of soft, emotional rock. Overall, they are a great discovery that will keep you moving until the end of the day. I recently had the pleasure of asking The Tins some questions: Continue reading →

Unruly Child reunites for “Worlds Collide” and Marcie Free talks new album, puts the call out to show promoters and more

Posted on by

Since their 1992 self-titled debut, now a cult classic, all the members of Unruly Child have had successful careers in the music industry. Following the release of his critically acclaimed solo effort, “Long Way From Love,” in 1993, Mark Free, who had had Gender Identity Disorder all his life, made the decision to undergo surgery, coming out to the world as Marcie Free in November 1993. This was followed by a period of disillusionment and feeling shunned by the music business and in 1995 she retired, relocating to Michigan in the process. Fans were left with the music, but with a feeling that it had all ended too soon. The band carried on with two further albums, each featuring a different vocalist, but neither of these got anywhere close to the magic of the debut. Sixteen years on, all five original members have reunited to deliver a brand new album, “Worlds Collide,” which on the first listen created those unforgettable goose bump moments that only a classic melodic rock album can provide. After wrestling with headsets, microphones and sound issues, my interview with Marcie finally got under way…

Q: It’s been sixteen years since you were last together, can you tell us how the reunion came about? Continue reading →

Montreal’s Subject-Object hybridize styles and offer their EP for free!

Posted on by

Jay Vidyarthi, lead singer of Subject-Object, sees his musical endeavor as paralleling his “academic journey from the physics and neurology of human hearing to the design of new technology.”

The Montreal band’s self-titled EP offers a diverse variety of rock sounds. A particular strength of this release is how it manages to convey a sense of live, uninhibited sound in a truly rare way. While Vidyarthi refers to Subject-Object as “digital blues,” drummer Stefan Jovanovich describes the sound as “deceptively heavy.” This label is particularly fitting for the first track, ‘Watergun,’ which features a driving blues energy, rough vocals akin to The White Stripes and heavy yet catchy riffs and jams. At times Subject-Object reminds me of Trail of Dead, but the album also features jazz and funk grooves, alt rock energy, skilled solos and solid drumming.

Continue reading →

Huw Lloyd Langton on LLG, Hawkwind, tackling 18th century guitar pieces and collaborating with Killing Cancer

Posted on by

Huw Lloyd Langton is one of the U.K.’s leading rock guitarists and he’s  recently released a new album entitled, “Hard Graft.” Just in case you are not aware, Huw has a rich and varied musical background. Huw joined Hawkwind as they were forming in the late ’60s/early ’70s and has been working with the band ever since. Hawkwind is in fact Huw’s ‘mothership,’ but other bands that he has worked with include Fox (later this name changed to The Whip). To read an album review of Hard Graft and learn more about Huw’s musical past, head here. To read R&RR’s interview with Huw, scroll down!

Q: After gaining so much experience with so many bands do you have any advice for all bands and musicians who are out there?

A: Keep banging your head against that brick wall and keep your mind open. Keep on doing what you do as long as you love what you are doing, but always keep your mind open and learn as much as you can!

Q: Can you tell us a little about your previous seven LLG releases? Continue reading →

Cancer Bats’ Mike Peters on endless touring, being called ‘unlistenable noise’ and who the band really is

Posted on by

Toronto’s Cancer Bats really are a national treasure. They’re like maple syrup, or beavers, or Tim Hortons just, you know, more musically inclined and way cooler. The masters of punk/metal fusion released their third studio album this past April – Bears, Mayors, Scraps & Bones – and will be re-releasing it on November 9 with a bonus disc called ‘Live in London.’ Drummer Mike Peters took some time post-soundcheck in Montreal to talk to an extremely stoked yours truly about the road, the real meaning behind the album’s intriguing title, who Cancer Bats are and being called ‘unlistenable noise’ (really).

Q: I’ve been following you guys on twitter and am curious about the tweet claiming that the last show in Red Deer, Alberta was the best ever – can you elaborate on what merited it that status?

A: Didn’t the tweet have something to say about, you know, it’s a good show when there are piles of puke and empty beer cans in the parking lot? Red Deer has always been an amazing show and it works out, for some reason, that whenever we play Red Deer it’s always someone’s birthday … So it’s always a funny mix of all the fans who are stoked to see us and then all the birthday person’s drunken friends, but it’s always someone who’s close to the band in some aspect [like a friend of the promoter or the venue's bartender.] It’s always advertised more as a birthday party that we’re playing [laughs]. It just makes it super fun, people go crazy and they’re like the most wasted, craziest crowd. Continue reading →

Toronto’s Dinosaur Bones: Indie rockers with big dreams (and a bit of a criminal record)

Posted on by

Rain pelted the streets of Montreal during my search for Dinosaur Bones at POP Montreal 2010. The Toronto-based band – not to be confused with Jurassic period fossils – has been a shinning light in Toronto’s independent music scene. Their melodic guitar riffs meld with an organic, hard-hitting rhythm section and strike a balance unique for an alternative rock group. Their music has a hard edge, but a relaxing, almost trance-like vibe. Dinosaur Bones played the POP festival for the second year in a row and agreed to an interview with The Rock and Roll Report, but Mother Nature and Montreal traffic made sitting down for an interview an adventure.

5:03 p.m. – I arrive at the media house for POP Montreal on Sherbrooke Street. I ask for Dinosaur Bones, instead I get a free Chuck Taylor T-shirt. Score!

5: 43 p.m. – I meet up with my editor Barbara Pavone. She set up the interview, but had one of her own to do with Turbogiest. She gets to work. I get a beer. I tweet about the strange Arabic techo music being played by the house DJ.

6:10 p.m. – Contact is made with Branko Scekic, the bassist of Dinosaur Bones! They are somewhere on Highway 20. I ask where. “I have no idea,” responds Scekic. They have another interview at BarFly on Saint Laurent. I agree to meet them there. Continue reading →

Plastic, Queen and Musical Suits: An interview with Visqueen’s Rachel Flottard

Posted on by

Rachel Flottard, lead singer of Seattle-based rock band Visqueen, recently sat down to talk to R&RR about the band’s latest album, Message to Garcia, fighting bioterrorism, Bugs Bunny as inspiration and much more…

Q: As you probably know, Visqueen is a plastic material that was thought to be useful against a bioterrorist threat, so was there a particular message that you wanted to send by using that as a name? How did you come up with it?

 

A: Well, it had “Queen” in it. We are all Freddie Mercury addicts. Technically, the fabulous Kim Warnick, our bassist at the time, actually picked the name. It was a word she’d always liked as a kid and it resonated with the rest of us. Only by default did we turn out to be fighters of bioterrorism. It actually made me feel bad for Anthrax. Especially Scott Ian’s beard. Continue reading →

Jacques Labouchere’s latest album title, Bi-Polar Baby Strollers, may just sum him up to a tee

Posted on by

“Love”, “emotion” and “feeling” are words that can best sum up Jacques Labouchere’s new album, Bi-Polar Baby Strollers, which was released this past summer. Labouchere is a captivating artist who has had the chance to live in three different countries and each has in fact become synonymous with a specific stage in his life. The U.S. was a place of experimentation, the U.K. is where he rebelled and Sweden is where he has found peacefulness and happiness. His new album is a reflection of his life, which is now filled with happiness, thanks particularly to his baby daughter. As I write this review, I’m watching the official video for his track “2nd Long Street,” which is the perfect reflection of what his music is about: friends and family spending quality time together. The 10-track album is worth listening to as the rhythm, vocals and lyrics are all in harmony with one another.

Q: Your album is very well harmonized. For instance, “Dear Dr.” is a very instrumental piece with a solo piano playing, so when writing songs, which comes easier to you – composing the music or composing the lyrics?

A: Harmonized – Wow, thanks! That’s a first! Well, “Dear Dr.” is not really just a solo instrumental piece, if you listen closely in the background you will hear some synth sounds pinging and also, more audible, there is cello beginning from the start of the first chorus thorughout ’till the end of the song. The music or the melody usually comes to me first from built up emotions and are then qucikly released and followed by a lyrical rhythm of mumbled words ’till I feel where to place them naturally. The content of the lyrics takes form as I continue to play the melody over and over and over again, while concentrating on things that are on my mind and in my heart. Songwriting for me is, most of the time, not a lenghty process, nor do I like it to be. I feel like, if you spend too much time thinking about a song and its message, you tend to miss out on the feeling of the song and the honesty of its story. I think that most of the best songs I have written have been written in the course of a few hours. I think the most challenging part of songwriting is the arranging; where to put the bridge or chorus, where to repeat or not repeat your lyrics. All in all, songwriting is meditation to me and medication for my soul and body – it comes to me without thinking about composition. It’s not a thought process, but a mirror to my emotions in space and time. Continue reading →

Electric guitar master Joe Satriani talks about his 14th studio album, shares thoughts on fellow guitar legends and reveals Chickenfoot’s future

Posted on by

Electric guitar legend Joe Satriani is releasing his 14th studio album, Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards, on October 5. With over 10 million album sales and 15 Grammy nominations to him name, Satriani’s upcoming release is certainly an anticipated one. R&RR’s very own Aaron Kupferberg recently had the chance to talk to Satriani about the new record, everything to do with guitars and Chickenfoot – Satriani’s band with Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony of Van Halen and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Q: I wanted to ask, since we both grew up on Long Island, you went to Carle Place High School, right?

A: Yeah, Carle Place High School.

Q: Do you remember the name of your very first band in high school?

A: Yes, the very first band was called “Mephistopheles”  and it was quickly followed by a band called “Tarsus.”

Q: What type of music did you play?

A: We were doing Black Sabbath, Stones, Zeppelin, The Doors and Spirit. I attended St. Bridget’s Catholic School till they threw me out, [then] I attended Carle Place High School. Continue reading →