Marr’s is serving up some classic prog-rock

THIS Sunday your dose of classic prog-rock will come courtesy of John Young.

Taking a break from fronting the Aylesbury-based John Young Band, he is performing solo at Worcester's Marr's Bar.

The prolific musician, who holds dear the belief that music should be an "aural experience" rather than an over-produced product, has potent musical background. He was a cathedral chorister and he went on to study music at A-level.

He said: "What I perform is all my own material. It's based around war and peace, love and friendship. It's quite deep and the lyrics are very important."

Young has supported Bonnie Tyler and Midge Ure and guested with George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and ELO among others.

On top of the rock music, he writes classical pieces for the BBC, ITV, C4, the Discovery, History and National Geographic channels. He said: "My music tends to get everywhere. Tickets to the Marr's Bar gig, starting at 8pm, are £7 on the door.

Elvis is still in building

Humorist Dave Barry once wrote, "Eventually everybody has to die, except Elvis."

Barry was being funny, as always - but was he right?

As America marks the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death this week, the singer is still very much with us. Perhaps you've seen the new commemorative DVDs of "Jailhouse Rock" and "Viva Las Vegas," or the custom-made Elvis bikes that Harley-Davidson is offering, or the Elvis banana-and-peanut-butter cups Reese's is selling. Perhaps you bought some of these things with your prepaid Elvis Visa.

Ensuring that The King stays alive is the job of Elvis Presley Enterprises, the multimillion-dollar company that handles the licensing of the singer's name, image, movies, merchandising and perhaps the most famous piece of Presleyana, the Graceland mansion in Memphis. In 2005, Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie, sold her majority ownership in the company for more than $100 million to Robert F.X. Sillerman, the billionaire media mogul. Sillerman, whose company CKX Inc., also owns the television show "American Idol," wants to turn Elvis into an even bigger brand by making massive improvements to the Graceland complex and also by exerting greater control over the Elvis image.

"His influence is increasing, not decreasing," Sillerman says of Presley. "From a simple business standpoint, it seemed to make sense."

Among Sillerman's plans for Graceland are an 80,000- square-foot visitors center, plus additional hotels and nightlife offerings that he hopes will keep tourists on the grounds longer than the usual day-trip. "We're not touching the mansion," Sillerman notes. "That is sacrosanct."

What isn't off-limits, however, are the various small businessmen who have, in their own way, been keeping Presley's legacy alive. Sillerman has already announced plans to close two independent shops near Graceland and a museum in Las Vegas to make room for official Elvis Presley Enterprises establishments. (Cirque du Soleil is reportedly working on an Elvis-themed show at the Las Vegas MGM Mirage.)

Even Elvis impersonators began to fear a crackdown from Sillerman after he appeared on MSNBC's "Countdown" last year and announced he wanted to license impersonators, which the company likes to call "Elvis tribute artists." Sillerman has since stated that he won't persecute "unofficial" Elvises. "It's not clear that they're not infringing on the likeness, but that's fine," Sillerman says. "It perpetuates the image."

King of dead celebrities

In the pantheon of dead celebrities, Elvis is undeniably a king. Born Jan. 8, 1935, in East Tupelo, Miss., Presley became the world's first true rock and roll star. Described by Sun Records owner Sam Phillips as "a white man with the Negro sound and the Negro feel," Presley established a race-based blueprint for rock music that would last for generations. Dreamily handsome but with the rough edges of a working-class boy, he injected a startling sexual energy and sense of rebellion into his music. Eventually he evolved (some would say disintegrated) into a flashy, fleshy, Las Vegas showman. But even in this incarnation Presley defined a certain aspect of American culture.

Thanks in part to his infamously shrewd manager, Colonel Tom Parker, Presley also became one of the first mass-marketed superstars, lending his name to nearly every kind of object from lipstick to luggage to automobiles. In addition to his music, Presley made more than 30 feature films, several television specials and concert films. When he died at Graceland on Aug. 16, 1977 (of heart failure, possibly caused by prescription drug abuse), he left an imprint on the world that's still difficult to measure.

But is that imprint fading? Even with Sillerman's strict oversight, Elvis faces some challenges in the years ahead. The rock memorabilia business has in recent years taken a hit thanks to eBay, which is making once-rare items seem common. Presley's music has historically sold well posthumously, but overall CD sales have dropped 25 percent since 2000, a trend that doesn't bode well for the future. And although Sillerman says 40 percent of Graceland visitors are younger than 35 (and unaccompanied by parents), there is no question that Presley's original fans are getting older.

"I do believe it's only going to get harder and harder going forward," says Jeffrey Lotman, CEO of Global Icons, a Los Angeles-based licensing firm that once specialized in dead celebrities but has been phasing them out in favor of more dependable corporate clients such as Chevron and Hershey's. Though he still handles a handful of past stars, including Marlene Dietrich and Bing Crosby, "About five years ago we decided to bury the dead," Lotman says.

Making Elvis relevant

It's difficult to make someone like Presley, who's been dead for 30 years, relevant to a generation that's in thrall to video games, cell phones and MP3s, Lotman said. You can put his music on kiddie-film soundtracks, as Disney did with the animated "Lilo and Stitch," but "can you really youthify him permanently?" Lotman asks skeptically. "Is that going to happen with ringtones? Or cute little animated cell phones?"

Even among those who collect old-fashioned memorabilia such as posters and autographs, the market seems to be somewhat down. Marc Zakarin, president of the Huntington-based memorabilia house It's Only Rock and Roll, says prices on many items were higher in the "pre-Bay" era, as he called it.

"A guy like me would travel around the country finding this stuff," Zakarin explains. "I'd buy a box of Elvis perfume and sell it for 500 bucks." The items were fairly common, Zakarin admits, but as eBay gained prominence, "all these people who thought these things were special began to communicate."

Still, he notes, Presley continues to fetch some of the highest prices in the business, just under the Beatles. Even the little gold necklaces that the singer handed out willy-nilly to fans ("TCB," or "Taking Care of Business," for the guys, and "TLC," or "Tender Loving Care," for the girls) still go for about $3,000 apiece, Zakarin says.

There's no doubt that Presley fans have an insatiable appetite for anything related to their idol. Several years ago, when Warner Home Video was about to reissue the 1970 concert film "Elvis: That's the Way It Is," the company discovered several minutes of outtake footage of Presley rehearsing the song "Bridge Over Troubled Water." George Feltenstein, a senior vice president at Warner Home Video, decided to include the footage, but he left out the actual performance of the song, which he thought redundant. Fans, however, thought otherwise.

"We heard from fans that they missed seeing that," he says. "No matter what you do, it's never enough." Warner this month released the film in a two-disc set featuring the "Special Edition" with the outtake footage and the original version with the performance.

Presley's music, too, continues to sell respectably. According to Nielsen SoundScan, the deceased singer sold 410,000 copies of the holiday album "White Christmas" in 2000 and about 900,000 of "Second to None" in 2003. Even his 2004 gospel album, "Ultimate Gospel," racked up 350,000. Most remarkably, the 2002 collection "30 #1 Hits" sold a whopping 4 million copies.

Clearly, the singer's allure "hasn't faded at all," says Ed Christman, retail reporter at Billboard magazine in New York. When it comes to greatest hits packages, he adds, "If you hit the 100,000 unit mark in terms of sales, you're doing your job."

Sillerman expresses no doubts that Presley will live on for many years. He cited two famous quotes: One was Leonard Bernstein's declaration that "Elvis Presley is the greatest cultural force in the 20th century," and the other was John Lennon's rather biblical proclamation, "Before Elvis there was nothing."

If Dave Barry was wrong about Presley, and the singer does indeed have to die, he's had a longer life than most.

BY RAFER GUZMÁN

Marty Casey and Lovehammers

This event is the largest two-day street fair in the Midwest. The event spans six city blocks and features three music stages. Many of the artists will be top-name, national headliners, giving market days a reputation for some of the best live music in Chicago. With their roots in Chicago and an extremely loyal fan base, it is no surprise that Marty Casey and Lovehammers are one of the headliners for this exceptional event.

(BACKGROUND) When Marty Casey was named runner-up on the hit television show Rock Star: INXS, it only meant he wasn't going to be a member of INXS; there was no doubt he was already a rock star. Of course, anyone who has seen Casey and his band Lovehammers perform over the last five years (or heard any of their four self-released albums) already knew that. INXS knew it as well, and they invited Casey and Lovehammers to join them on their upcoming tour.

The group (lead vocalist Casey, guitarist Billy Sawilchik, bassist Dino Kourelis and his brother, drummer Bobby Kourelis) approached its self-titled Epic/Burnett Records debut with the confidence of a band used to winning over audiences. After all, their albums have sold more than 25,000 copies without a label or distributor, and their sweaty, electrifying performances have made them one of the Windy City's most popular live bands. They recently amassed a few million new fans thanks to Casey's remarkable run on Rock Star. Over the course of the hit series, Casey's intense and infectious performances made him a fan favorite and his hook-laden single, "Trees," was a No. 1 download on MSN.com. That amplifies a resume that includes gigs opening for such diverse artists as Nickelback, Jerry Cantrell, Interpol, Puddle of Mudd, and most recently, Cake and Gomez on a 21-city tour. In 2004, their DVD Live/Raw debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard DVD chart.

"We always wanted to have our shot, to step up and do it on a larger scale," says Bobby Kourelis." Adds Dino: "We always believed the songs were there. It was just a matter of getting them heard."

The material is certainly there. The Lovehammers write songs that grab you with a loud crunchy guitar riff, surging melodies and Casey's powerful and emotive voice. With the exception of "Casualty," which was written after "Rock Star: INXS" wrapped, the album was drawn from the Lovehammers existing repertoire. While this is their major label debut, Marty calls it "OUR greatest hits record." The roster of producers who have lined up to work with the Lovehammers is proof that they're ready for their close up. "Straight As An Arrow" was recorded by Chicago legend Steve Albini (Nirvana), with Marty Frederickson (Aerosmith, Mick Jagger) and Johnny K (Staind, Disturbed) manning the mixing board on additional tracks.

And of course, the album features "Trees," the undeniably infectious Marty introduced on "Rock Star," and host/ex-Jane's Addiction/Red Hot Chili Pepper guitarist Dave Navarro predicted would be a hit.

Pulling together so many disparate recordings into a coherent album might have intimidated lesser bands, but for Marty Casey and Lovehammers it only makes the end result more fulfilling. "A lot of today's records sound the same-perfect tone, same guitar sound," says Casey. "But on some great old-school records-the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers is one example, every song had a different sound. They'd use a different drum kit, they used different instrumentation." The Lovehammers record, he says is a "total collage of different sounds, different recording techniques. For me, it makes for a really cool record."

Casey says the band wanted to "release something really exciting and raw, something that shows who we are-and we're a rock band without question." The album has the gutsy sound that first got the Lovehammers interested in music. "I want kids in high school to write the name of our band on their notebooks," he adds.

To gain that kind of loyalty takes hard work, and the Lovehammers are ready. For this self-described "working class Chicago band," it's second nature.

"Our background is going to help us in the long run," says Dino. Casey and the Kourelis brothers have known each other since they were kids playing t-ball in the southwest Chicago suburb of Hickory Hills. They started playing together in junior high and went through a number of guitarists over the years. The lineup was solidified with the addition of Billy Sawilchuk in 2002. In addition to being band mates, they're also roommates. The quartet lived in a couple of houses in the Chicago area that had nothing in common, Bobby says, except they were all called the "Hammerhouse" and, after the band left, they were all demolished. "We had nothing to do with that," Casey adds with a laugh, although each house did see more than its share of mayhem. It became something of a Lovehammers tradition for the band to invite THEIR audiences back home for THE after party.

As the band heads toward the next level of its career, Casey promises the show onstage will match their offstage antics. They're already looking into ways to make their stage show more memorable. They may have achieved success on a level most bands can only dream of, but they're not going to rest. "We don't want it to be just four guys on stage with instruments," Marty says. "We're going to keep working our asses off. This is just the beginning."

Interview: Rock Star Dave Navarro on Why He Loves Spreading Entertainment Online

He’s played with Jane’s Addiction and felt the heat of the spotlight in a reality TV show with ex-wife Carmen Elecrtra. But in an interview with Digital Journal, Dave Navarro reveals why his new Web show is one of his most exciting projects so far.

Digital Journal — Dave Navarro is the kind of celebrity interview who talks like he’s known you his whole life. He doesn’t use rehearsed lines or clichés. He speaks bluntly about anything on his mind. The Swiss army knife of celebs — musician, radio host, reality TV star (remember Carmen and Dave?) — is accustomed to sharing his opinion with the world, but now he has the ultimate platform for free expression: an online talk show.

You may best know Navarro as the former guitarist for Jane’s Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers. He still has the guitar chops. But he’s extending his range outside alt-rock solos and power chords. In an exclusive interview with Digital Journal, Navarro explains why he’s excited about hosting the weekly Spread Entertainment show found on ManiaTV. The hour-long show features Navarro as a relaxed host chilling an L.A. nightclub, chatting with B-list celebs like Ron Jeremy and Tom Green, or picking the brains of intriguing writers or musicians or even psychotherapists. There’s no one direction Navarro follows, no script he memorizes. It’s a jam session on the Web.

Navarro, 40, isn’t just knowledgeable about the workings of the Web (he’s been online since the late 1990s). His conversational repertoire spans the cultural map — he riffs on the trouble with mainstream media, the freedom of indie music labels and why he enjoys being the interviewer this time around.

DJ: What do you find appealing about doing an online talk show? How is it different from anything you’ve done before?

Navarro: I love the fact that Spread Entertainment is an open discussion-based forum. It’s conversational, so there’s no list of questions, no hawking the guests’ wares. And the guests are mainly all individuals who have compelling stories, so it’s not just a music or celeb show.

The good and bad thing about the Internet is that it allows the freedom to say whatever you want, but it allows the freedom to say whatever you want. [Laughs]. I love how there’s no regulation, no censorship. It’s all live. And I don’t do cookie-cutter interviews because I know that experience being interviewed. I try to share my own experiences with the interviewees so it’s a give-and-take situation.

DJ: What kind of guests do you look for?

Navarro: Someone like recent guest Alix Lambert. She’s a writer, director and producer, a true jack-of-all-trades creating incredible documentaries and art installations. She’s fascinating to talk to.

A few weeks ago, we had a woman who was a cutter, who slashed her arms up with a knife. We also had a psychotherapist to have a close and personal moment to discuss the disorder of cutting. In the future, I'd like to get an FBI profiler on the show, as well as an alien abductee and a Holocaust survivor. I’m primarily interested in going after people that don’t get a lot of attention.

Dave Navarro, host of Sread Entertainment, sits with supermodel Janice Dickenson at an L.A. nightclub moonlighting as his show's set. -Photos courtesy of ManiaTV

DJ: It’s well known you’re not a fan of how the news is being run. How would you give the mainstream media a makeover?

Navarro: I think newspapers are more interested in selling copies than having information get out there. When I was 21, I did way worse shit than Lindsay Lohan, big deal! Some people think it’s big news; others just think it’s someone growing up.

People are fascinated by what people shouldn’t be seeing, whether it’s porn or a car accident. This celebrity coverage has become porn, and it’s acceptable to the public. But the difference is that in porn, no personal lives are being invaded. Well, if they are, then at least those actors are getting paid.

DJ: You know all about celebrity coverage because you were hounded by paparazzi when you were married to Carmen Electra. Are you frustrated by how the media stalks celebrities?

Navarro: If I go to a club or red-carpet event, I expect the paparazzi, it’s par for the course. My problem is when I’m being followed or they go through my garbage like I’m part of the Mafia. If you follow anyone around long enough, you’ll obviously capture a pic that is either funny or will catch someone not looking their best.

DJ: A lot of people know you as Dave Navarro the guitarist. What are you doing with music today? Is it on the back burner because Spread Entertainment has becomes the focus?

Navarro: The art of music is never on the back burner. I’m playing with Camp Freddy [rock cover band], and I’m still with Panic Channel [band with former members of Jane’s Addiction]. But the difference is I’m done playing the game with major labels because the whole thing is falling apart. They’re not taking chances on artists. In rock especially, corporate structures are making decisions on what’s best suited for them rather than what’s best for the artists. I was lucky because Jane’s was with Warner Bros. and they were amazing. Not so today, man. There’s no artist development with major labels. If “Stairway to Heaven” were written today, the labels would think it would be too long and they’d chop it in half.

Indie labels stick behind their artists and help them develop and grow. They understand how real art is done, and a true source of expression doesn’t need a massive audience to be fulfilled.

DJ: Speaking of being fulfilled, where do you want Spread Entertainment go? Any future plans you’d care to unveil?

Navarro: I don’t know where we’ll go. I’d love to let it unfold and see what happens. My best experiences are those that I didn’t expect or plan for, and I always try to keep that outlook. The beautiful reality of my life is that I don’t do things I don’t love.

Reality Show Recap: ‘The Rock Life’ Debuts With Slash and Ass-Crack Aplenty

Every week The Rock Life follows Los Angeles band Whitestarr as they attempt to make it in the music biz. But who’s following The Rock Life? We are! Here’s our first report:

Here’s Whitestarr lead singer Cisco Adler opening VH1’s umpteenth new reality show: “We’re just an average, struggling rock band that’s trying to make it.” However, the unspoken undercurrent from the get-go is that Whitestarr are just an average, struggling rock band whose lead singer is the spawn of the guy who produced Sam Cooke records, lives in palatial Malibu digs, drives a shiny red Caddy and is currently dating Marissa Cooper on The O.C. (clearly this was filmed a while back). Shelved by Atlantic a few years back, they’re looking for a second chance, armed with little more than a Black Crowes shimmy, a Buckcherry ’tude, a stunning amount of self-absorption and pants that don’t always fit right — forget the music, last night’s back-to-back premiere episodes featured no less than sixteen different shots of ass-crack!

VH1 debuted two episodes in a row, probably since the expository first episode didn’t have much for actual conflict — be-fro’d guitarist Rainbow tried to convince his girlfriend to stay home from the sold-out Roxy show (“What if I was a lawyer and you came to my job with me?”) and then hot-dogged a guitar solo because Slash (sans sunglasses … yikes) was in the audience. And full-time dancer Tony Potato was concerned over the footing on his dancing platform at the Roxy. But the second episode was classic millennial Monkees antics. Their new manager advises them to “write the hit,” so they all move into Adler’s fancy digs to compose their ticket out of obscurity. And — surprise! — it’s not that simple as they thought!

When the manager comes to check on their progress, Adler is frustrated that his band is so drunk and underrehearsed that everything devolves into tuneless flubs and bickering. Adler’s cute little dog dies (if this was the real “rock life,” someone would have taken acid and mistook her for a hot pocket) and his conspicuously absent-from-camera-time actress girlfriend stops talking to him. Somehow this gets him riled up enough turn a show at the Viper Room into a “riot,” tearing up the stage and taking out his weiner. There’s a happy ending in that they finally write a song, the implication being that it’s the one that will take them to the top. If we’re lucky, uh, whatever the song is called could be our own “Last Train to Clarksville.”

Rolling Stone posed six questions to Sonic Youth

Rolling Stone posed six questions to Sonic Youth singer-guitarist/record exec/general cool guy Thurston Moore. He spoke out in favor of noise rock, Yoko Ono and his right to be a snooty music expert in the school cafeteria.
Name one of your earliest examples of rock-star behavior.
The most rock-star thing I did at fourteen would have been defining myself in the school cafeteria. Some kids were obviously into rock music and they made a big deal out of it. They were into Yes and the Allman Brothers. But I was really getting into Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Sparks and Roxy Music. And they thought I was into rock music so I sort of knew what I was talking about sometimes. The fact was I knew a million times more than any of those kids knew about any of those bands from Zeppelin to the Beatles. I knew it all and I was a fucking egghead about it. They’d ask me what kind of music I liked. I would say, “I really like theater rock.” And they just looked at me like I was the spawn of all that is wrong with music. I think that was a rock-star thing to do in a way, just kind of divorcing myself from the cattle.
What was your favorite album when you were fourteen?
Probably Kimono My House by Sparks.

What album have you been digging lately?
It’s this compilation of L.A. hardcore bands called Life Is Ugly So Why Not Kill Yourself? It features the first generation of hardcore bands like Civil Dismay, Red Kross, Anti, Ill Will, Descendants and Mood of Defiance. I’ve been getting together a book of pictures — photos by David Markie and Jordan Schwartz — of all the house parties and gigs where a lot of those bands played. I guess the Minutemen are on there too, they do a couple of great songs on there, “Shit You Hear at Parties.”

When people come up to you and say, “Hey, I don’t understand noise rock,” what is your response?
That’s not the way to approach any kind of music, to say you don’t understand it. There’s nothing to understand. Any kind of music, it already kind of transcends understanding. It’s a sensual art form. You obviously don’t understand life because noise music, for me, is the noise of life, in a way. It’s so much more akin to the human condition. The human condition is not a song, it’s not an organized composition. This is more the natural music of our lives.

Who’s the coolest famous person you ever met?
It would have to be Kim G! For sure. Believe me, she was unbelievable when I first met her. She wore this sort of hip prison-stripe outfit and flip-up shades on her glasses. She had a ponytail, a little ponytail that was sort of center at the back of her head and I thought, “That’s the coolest fucking person I’ve ever met.” Then she became my girlfriend, which was beyond cool because that never really happened to me before. The funny thing about cool
is that Sonic Youth always gets tagged as like this cool band, and I grew up as a teenager in high school and stuff and I was not the cool kid. It wasn’t because I wanted to be cool, it was because I wanted to get away from the cool. So the fact that now that that kind of theme of un-cool is cool is kind of un-cool as far as I’m concerned.

When do you think you’ll know when it’s time to retire?
I just feel like I’m still going to an apprenticeship here. I feel like I’m getting to a point where I can actually be like the musician I want to be to do the kind of work I want to do. It takes a while, it really does. Take Yoko Ono, who is one of the most radical musicians on the planet. She’s in her seventies. I just did a duet with her in Pittsburgh. People like that to
me are my inspirations.

How Lollapalooza helps boost the music industry

After three full days of performances by 130 bands in Chicago’s Grant Park, the el is no longer packed with passengers wearing festival wristbands and the Michigan Avenue skyscrapers are no longer reflecting haphazard waves of rock music.

“Until next year, my lovelies,” festival founder Perry Farrell smiled as his band, Satellite Party, closed their set Sunday evening.

An estimated 160,000 fans braved blazing sun, humidity and rain to attend the festival that once spearheaded the 1990s alt-rock movement, suggesting that the touring business may be what saves the music industry.

This year’s headliners included Pearl Jam, Daft Punk and Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals. Pearl Jam bandleader Eddie Vedder must have been in a good mood as he closed Lollapalooza Sunday evening, obliging the massive crowd with a greatest hits set. Fireworks erupted in Soldier Field during the performance of “Even Flow” from the 1991 classic album, Ten.

If Lollapalooza had a lifetime achievement award, it would have gone to Iggy Pop earlier Sunday afternoon. The lean, muscular, frontman smashed claims that punk is dead. The 60-year-old commanded more energy than many of the younger musicians combined. He invited hundreds of festival-goers onstage during the raucous “No Fun” – the national anthem of punk recorded in 1969 by Iggy’s band, The Stooges.

Battle of the Bands

It’s impossible to catch every band at Lollapalooza, started in 1991. Walking at a good pace, it takes about 15 minutes to push past thousands of fans to reach the opposite end of Grant Park. Concert-goers often had to make painful choices between two of their favorite acts. The toughest battles for fan attention included Muse versus Interpol, Regina Spektor versus The Hold Steady and Lupe Fiasco versus Amy Winehouse.

In another cruel organizational move, My Morning Jacket played at the same time as Modest Mouse. My Morning Jacket was promoted to the AT&T stage after a stellar afternoon performance last year at the Bud Light stage. Leaning back to hold his guitar face-up to the sun, bandleader Jim James solidified the Louisville band’s reputation for being a great live act.

Although My Morning Jacket’s collaboration with Chicago’s Youth Symphony Orchestra enhanced Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up,” it otherwise did little to improve the songs in the set. The quartet fell into the trap most rock bands do when they partner with orchestras – creating simplistic scores based on 19th-century romanticism.

We can do it

Lollapalooza was dominated by four female performers: Amy Winehouse, Regina Spektor, Patti Smith and Karen O.

Not only did rebellious soul chanteuse Amy Winehouse show up, she showed up sober and executed a breathtaking set. With a beehive hairdo larger than her whole body, Winehouse swiveled behind the mike stand as she sang selections from last year’s Back to Black and cover songs of ’60s soul classics. A live band accompanied the British 23-year-old, who improvised on almost every melody.

Russian singer-songwriter Regina Spektor performed Saturday with a big, endearing grin as if she were a seven-year-old in a school Christmas play. Spektor opened her show a cappella, tapping the microphone with her finger while singing in her quirky, playful voice. In addition to playing a number of songs off 2006’s Begin To Hope, Spektor delighted the crowd with the dark humor of “Baby Jesus” and dedicated “Poor Little Rich Boy” to rock legend Patti Smith.

After a semi-traumatizing performance involving the F-word on the 2006 Kidzapalooza stage, Patti Smith returned to her hometown this year to play for the adults. The punk poet played “Gloria,” from the classic 1975 album, Horses, and a passionate rendition of Nirvana’s “Smell’s Like Teen Spirit.”

Donning a silver cape that may or may not have come from Gene Simmons’ closet, Karen O made a dramatic entrance alongside her two band-mates Saturday. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs lead singer defines rock star charisma. From the intimacy of “Maps” to the screeching fury of “Sealings,” to the sexy swagger of “Phenomena,” the garage rock outfit emerged victorious.

Tighten it up

The weekend’s best performances almost justified the steep $195 three-day and $80 single-day ticket prices. Next year, however, Farrell should focus on quality, not quantity. A staggering 130 bands hit eight stages August 3, 4 and 5. From the cookie-cutter indie rock of Paolo Nutini to the limp Californian ska of Slightly Stoopid, Lollapalooza 2007 had a lot of excess. The festival could easily be a two-day or three-day evenings-only, event.

That’s not to say Farrell should nix the local or up-and-coming bands. Chicago’s DJ duo Flosstradamus revealed why they fill every club they play and Schaumburg quartet Wax on Radio earned new fans under Friday’s relentless sun.

Big business

Perry Farrell should be very pleased with the weekend’s estimated 160,000 head count. Just three years ago, the festival was canceled due to poor ticket sales.

The North American concert business has been particularly strong in 2007, according to first-half numbers reported on Billboard Boxscore. Attendance was 20.4 million from January through June, generating box office revenues of $1.05 billion from the 6,886 reported shows. Last year, major tours from the Rolling Stones, Madonna, U2 and Bon Jovi set record highs.

Meanwhile, despite the surge in digital sales, the recording industry continued its downward spiral last year. Retail dollar value of digital and physical recordings dropped 6.2 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

“The recording business is dead, but the music business is healthy,” Farrell said at the festival. “It’s an ideal time for musicians.”

Although the weekend marked the third year in a row the festival rocked Grant Park, it was only the first event in a five-year, $5 million contract between the Austin, Texas-based promoters C3 Presents and the Chicago Park District. Chicago music-lovers can rest assured – Lollapalooza is guaranteed to be back every summer for the next four years.
Dashed line

Drinking in the Drowning Pool

Few bands can claim to have lived through the tragedy and disappointment that Dallas, Texas-based Drowning Pool has suffered.

The band's original vocalist, the charismatic Dave Williams, died from heart disease while touring with Ozzfest in 2002. This came shortly after the band released its platinum-selling breakthrough debut CD, "Sinner," which included the self-titled hit as well as the anthemic "Bodies."

Deciding to pick up the pieces and carry on, the surviving members of Drowning Pool auditioned for a new lead singer, bringing in former tattoo artist Jason "Gong" Jones. The relationship produced the album, "Desensitized," and the hit single, "Step Up."

But Jones wasn't the right man for the job, and he never quite clicked with the band.

"It was kind of one of those things where a guy comes in and auditions and sounds great, but you don't really know the guy that well and you make a record and you're stuck together on a bus every single day," said Drowning Pool bassist Stevie Benton in an interview with the Tribune from Norfolk, Va. "Twenty-four hours a day, up in each other's face and he was just not an easy enough going person for that kind of environment."

Although fans would have to get acquainted with a third vocalist in as many albums, the decision to part with Jones was easy, according to Benton.

"It was not a difficult decision whatsoever. It wasn't even a decision," he said. "Finally, one night, things blew up and that was it. He was gone. We were happy that he was gone. I'm sure he was happy to be gone."

Enter former Soil frontman Ryan McCombs. Not only was his familiar voice a perfect match for the style of music played by Drowning Pool, he was available to take the vacant job, something they originally wanted after Williams passed away.

"After Dave passed, Ryan was the first guy we really wanted but he was in his former band at the time and we didn't want to go in there and cause any kind of trouble with that," Benton explained. "By the time it came around for us to do our third record, he'd been out of (Soil) for awhile, so we were thrilled to have him."

Today's release date of Drowning Pool's third album, "Full Circle," marks the official beginning of an era, one that will include a stop at the Great Falls Civic Center Thursday as part of their "This Is For The Soldiers" tour.

According to Benton, McCombs addition to the band has returned a family-type atmosphere that had been missing since Williams died.

"Dave was awesome live and Ryan's awesome live," he said. "Dave was like a brother to us and Ryan's always been like a brother to us. It's back to the way we like things to be. It was an easy fit for him to come in and join the band."

Ever since "Bodies" was instituted by the U.S. military to interrogate detainees, Drowning Pool has had a relationship with the soldiers who protect the country.

Since "Bodies" was never intended to be an anthem for troops, the band decided to make a proper ode to the U.S. military by recording the song, "Soldiers," on the new record.

"We met tons of military people on the road and they'd tell us how they use the song 'Bodies' to get themselves fired up for their training for their job," explained Benton. "('Bodies') was written years ago and it's about being in a mosh pit at a concert. We thought 'wouldn't it be great if we really wrote a song for the troops and about the troops?' Kind of our tip of the hat to them and give them an anthem if you will."

Because of their strong legion of fans in the military, it didn't take long for Drowning Pool to become acquainted with the USO. They soon found themselves playing shows at U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf and their relationship with the troops continued to grow.

"After meeting so many people over there in the Gulf ... we wanted to do everything we could for these people that had given us so much," Benton said. "That led us to the IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America)."

According to Benton, 1.6 million Americans have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and at least a third of them will return home with mental health issues.

"The way things are set up with their medical care, they can't handle that kind of volume. They're just not prepared," Benton said of the military health care system.

The band joined forces with the IAVA to start the This Is For The Soldiers campaign, which is raising awareness of issues for troops as well as money. On the tour that bears the same name, Drowning Pool will donate fifty cents per ticket sale to the IAVA and fifty cents to the USO. The IAVA is also trying to get legislation passed that will provide better mental health coverage for veterans.

While controversy still occasionally pops up from people who find it offensive that "Bodies" was used on prisoners, Benton finds it a bit humorous.

"Is our song really that bad that it's considered torture to play it loud to detainees?" Benton asked. "They're not cutting their arms or slicing their heads off, they're just playing loud music. Kids come to our concerts every night and pay $10 or $15 to hear that."

Thursday night, rock-starved Great Falls residents will be able to pay to hear "Bodies" and a slew of other Drowning Pool hits, something that Benton's excited about.

"Dude, I can't wait. It's gonna be awesome," he said with genuine excitement. "Alright. Montana."

Times a-changing for live music

Racine club of national note going to DJs as turnout across area dwindles

George's Tavern was never a particularly genre-specific place, despite being recognized as part of the University of Mississippi's list of best blues music venues.

The style was eclectic.

On a recent afternoon, the stage at George's Tavern - 1201 N. Main St., Racine, just a few blocks from Lake Michigan - was empty, and that's the way it's going to stay, at least while the market for live music remains weak at best.

George's Tavern has three final live performances planned, after which live music is being replaced by disc jockeys. It's a change that George's owner, David Popoff, made with great difficulty and much melancholy.

The tavern has been losing money by offering live music for about three years, he said.

Gone are the days when a live act would push the limits of the establishment's capacity of 130, or at least draw a healthy 60 to 80 people.

Popoff recalls one night when only six people showed up for a show.

When a low turnout started to become the rule rather than the exception, Popoff decided the time had come to pull the plug on live music.

"I kept telling myself that 'Tomorrow will be a better day' and, 'Things will get better; people will come back and support live music again,' but, well, it's a different world now. There's no doubt that I'm saddened by it," said Popoff, whose own love for live music was an inspiration to open a tavern.

Cover charge didn't cover

It became clear Popoff could no longer shoulder the cost of live music when cover charges didn't support the effort.

"In my opinion, a lot of the musicians were playing for less than they deserved, but it was their love of performing and appreciation of the space here that kept our working relationship going. Ultimately, the club could not afford it anymore," Popoff said.

He added that he has 11 employees to consider. Since Popoff switched to DJsin mid-July, the crowds are back, reaching numbers near or at capacity on some nights.

"The place is doing fantastic," Popoff said.

Popoff isn't the only club owner finding it difficult to attract an audience to live music.

Both Jim Linneman of Linneman's Riverwest Inn in Milwaukee and Bill Camplin of Café Carpe in Fort Atkinson, agree that it's a challenging time for live-music lovers.

"It is a struggle," said Camplin, who, along with operating the Café Carpe "listening room," is also a singer-songwriter finding fewer venues to play. "We're never happy with the attendance overall. And yet there are so many wonderful, magical moments that occur with live music. It really does exist - music does exist. But, we live in a world where people can turn on a channel or push a button where the music they like already exists."

For love, not money

Linneman admits he's lucky. He doesn't do it for the money, but for the love of live music.

"I'm a music lover, and I always have been," Linneman said. "I'm in this business to stay, but I tell my friends all the time that if I wanted to be making money, I wouldn't be in this business."

The reasons why the audiences for live music have dwindled depends on perspective.

Linneman thinks the region's blue collar workers simply don't want to pay a cover charge.

Camplin and Popoff believe that modern 20-somethings are used to going to the Internet and downloading music for free and can't fathom paying a cover charge for a band they might not know.

Popoff points to the elimination of arts and music education in public schools, where the value of creative expression is neither taught nor appreciated.

Musicians see trend, too

But no matter the reason, musicians also agree the audience for live music is smaller than in years past.

John Sieger, whose former band, the R&B Cadets, got their start at George's Tavern, said his current band, the Subcontinentals, finds work when it wants it, but he admits it's getting more difficult.

"More people should support live music. It's a skill, like being a blacksmith, and, these days, it seems to be just as relevant," said Sieger, who will be with the Subcontinentals at the Kenosha Yacht Club on Saturday.

Steve Cohen, musician and booking agent, said musicians have had to be creative by reinventing themselves to remain busy, such as doing solo acts or duets rather than having a full band.

"Back in the old days, you could play every night of the week, if you wanted to, in a different neighborhood," Cohen said.

Although the audience may be smaller for live music, it still exists, Cohen said.

He's optimistic that the audience pendulum will swing back to live music.

Popoff is not so optimistic, but he'll be ready if it happens.

"Music is the common bonding that brings people together, but I'm not seeing that with live music today," he said.

Dream Theater Biography

DREAM THEATER
James LaBrie -- vocals
John Myung -- bass
John Petrucci -- guitars
Mike Portnoy -- drums
Jordan Rudess -- keyboards

Octavarium is not only the eighth studio album from progressive heavy rockers Dream Theater, but it also marks 20 years of existence for this majestic outfit. "It's pretty incredible," says drummer Mike Portnoy, "Especially given the nature of what we do. I think maybe that's probably been the secret to our longevity, is that we've never fit in. But it's still incredible that here we are, 20 years later, and we're not one of those bands that's just sticking around on the downslide. We're still growing and progressing with each album and tour."

Not only has the five-piece resolutely defied both popular trends and fickle public tastes throughout its career, but Dream Theater's sound and approach is more vibrant, powerful and wide-ranging than ever. Octavarium, produced by the longtime tandem of Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci, and mixed by Michael Brauer, encompasses the many varieties of heavy, epic, complex rock that has drawn legions of fans to the band's monumental catalog of releases and dynamic, marathon live shows.

"We had two goals this time," explains Portnoy about the band's focused-like-a- laser approach. "The first goal was a reaction to our last album, Train Of Thought (2003), which was intentionally very, very dark and heavy from start to finish. It was definitely the heaviest album we ever made. So when it came time to make this record, we knew we didn't want to do that again. We wanted to go back to a more traditional Dream Theater style, which is a variety of everything. We still have heavy songs, but also have some lighter songs, some epic, progressive songs -- it's more of a balance."

Portnoy adds that the group's second goal was to challenge themselves as songwriters by composing shorter pieces than the band is famous for. "Our last three or four albums, almost every song was very long. I mean, we've always had long songs our whole career, but -- we kind of did that formula to death. So we wanted to challenge ourselves this time to try and write shorter songs. For most bands, it's a challenge to write a long song, but to us, the challenge is to go the other way. There are three or four songs on the album that are very short and concise, but are still Dream Theater."

Indeed, tunes such as "I Walk Beside You" and "The Answer Lies Within" clock in at five minutes or under -- largely unexplored territory for a band known for "double digit" masterpieces like "A Change Of Seasons" and "Metropolis." But what's even more surprising about those two new tracks -- both highlights of Octavarium -- is the diversity of material they represent. "Songs like those are kind of new for Dream Theater," says Portnoy. "There's almost a Coldplay or U2 influence. It's something that we've always had and tried to tap into, but I don't think we've ever truly nailed it as strongly as we did with these songs. And then you have songs like 'Panic Attack' and 'The Root Of All Evil' which are so dark and heavy and progressive and technical, and then something like 'Octavarium' and 'Sacrificed Sons,' which are true epics."

The latter two cuts both feature an orchestra, something the band has never utilized before, while the 24-minute title cut is sure to become one of the band's signature pieces. "I think it's one of the best things we've ever written, because it encompasses a little bit of everything that Dream Theater is about in one statement," says Portnoy proudly. "I think most of our fans' favorite songs from our catalog tend to be those type of songs."

That catalog extends back to 1989, when Dream Theater released its debut album, When Dream And Day Unite. The group has formed several years earlier, in September of 1985, when Berklee School of Music students Portnoy, John Myung and John Petrucci decided to start a band together. Originally known as Majesty, the fledgling act recruited keyboardist Kevin Moore and singer Chris Collins into the fold. Collins eventually left, replaced by Charlie Dominici, while another band forced them to drop the Majesty moniker in favor of Dream Theater, named after a demolished California cinema.

When Dream And Day Unite made an immediate impact on the underground progressive rock scene, but Dream Theater wanted to push further. Replacing Dominici with James LaBrie, the group signed to Atco (later absorbed by Atlantic) and recorded 1992's groundbreaking Images And Words. Featuring the hit, "Pull Me Under," the album introduced Dream Theater to hordes of new fans that continue to support the band to this day.

Many more albums followed, including 1994's Awake, 1997's Falling Into Infinity and 1999's Scenes From A Memory. At the same time, Kevin Moore gave way to first Derek Sherinian, then Jordan Rudess. Personnel changes, label turnover, and the ill-timed release of 2001's Live Scenes From New York -- which arrived on September 11th, 2001, with cover art featuring a New York skyline against a backdrop of flames -- roiled the group but never truly deflected it from its musical path. "The biggest reason we've been able to endure that is our devoted fan base," says Mike Portnoy. "Our fans are as big a part of the story as we or our music is. They're the reason that we're able to keep a major label deal and go and play sheds and large theatres and stuff like that without mainstream exposure. It's due to this incredible fan base that stands by us through thick and thin from year to year."

And now that fan base is about to be rewarded once again with the June 7th release of Octavarium. The last album to ever be recorded at New York's legendary Hit Factory before it closed its doors for good in March of 2005, this record is sure to please every single diehard Dream Theater fan out there, and will continue to draw new ones to the band's skillful medley of heavy metallic power, delicate melodicism, and brilliant, literally award-winning musicianship. "There's always gonna be an audience for musicians and artists and people who actually want to create something that's valid and unique," concludes Portnoy. "The rock stardom thing and being on MTV and selling millions of records and being part of a trend has never been interesting to us. We're just five musicians that like to play and write together, and luckily there's this devoted audience that's been behind us all this time."

Yngwie Builds His Dream Studio part II

continued....... Tucked away in a back corner of the second floor of Yngwie Malmsteen's sprawling Miami home lies the Swedish guitarist's dream-come-true studio, tagged Studio 308 in honor of his treasured black Ferrari. "It's not a 'home' studio, but studio that happens to be in my home," says Yngwie, reclining in the air-conditioned comfort of the control room. "This is a fully functional, four-room pro studio with all the best equipment. There's nothing this studio lacks." Yngwie keeps his amps in the control room but has the speakers downstairs in a soundproofed room next to the garage. "The input panel on the garage wall can accommodate 16 microphones. I can easily set up a drum kit and record the drums in the garage, which has a concrete floor and a wooden roof. It's very live-sounding," notes Yngwie. The guitarist planned to record his new album, Magnum Opus (Viceroy Music), at Studio 308, but the construction dragged on for six months--considerably longer than anticipated--so he wound up doing the album down the road at Miami's renowned Criteria Studios, birthplace of, among other classics, Derek & The Dominos' Layla. Yngwie was so eager to try his newly bought studio equipment that he had it wheeled in to Criteria to use on the album's recording. "The heart of Yngwie's studio is a Studer A-827 24-track analog multitrack recorder," says Malmsteen's guitar tech Peter Rooth. "He also has two Tascam DA-88 digital recorders. All mic inputs are routed via tube preamps and tube compressors. The combination of using analog tape and tube outboard gear gives a really fat and warm sound to the recordings. The DA-88's are mainly used when Yngwie does session work or when people send him stuff to do overdubs on. He then transfers it from the DA-88 to the Studer or adds the parts and locks the two together." Five patchbays with 96 points each (480 total) makes it easy for Yngwie to route any gear or mic input any way he chooses. Outboard gear includes two Focusrite ISA 215 dual-channel mono mic-preamp equalizers, two Tube-tech (Pultec-style) PE-1C equalizer compressors, two Summit Audio TLA 100 tube leveling amplifiers, two Urei 1176-LN Limiters, a Drawmer DS404 quad gate and a Yamaha GC2020B compressor/limiter. For effects, the studio has three Lexicon LXP-1's, an LXP-5, and a DigiTech GSP2101 preamp/processor. For playback, Yngwie has Westlake Audio BBSM-8F monitors powered by a Bryston 4B amp. With the outboard gear in conjunction with the Studer multitrack recorder, Yngwie is able to equal the performance of the world's finest commercial recording facilities. Yngwie favors an analog guitar sound--nearly all of Magnum Opus was recorded in analog; only a few minor parts were put onto a Tascam DA-88--which is why it was imperative that his studio have its own Studer. "The Studer is the king of analog machines," says Yngwie, "and any world-class studio has one. Sony and Otari make an analog machine that is pretty good. But Seiko makes a good watch--I wear a Rolex. And you could never duplicate the sound of the Studer with a digital machine. If you were to record jazz, or maybe even rap, digital is handier and easier to work with. But guitar-based rock music sounds so much better with the Studer. No question." Just getting the Studer into the second-floor studio was a Herculean task. "I had to get up at seven in the morning to help supervise the movers," explains Yngwie. "It took three big, muscular guys--two underneath and one pulling on it--to tug that sucker up the stairs. The Studer weighs about 600 lbs. And it cost $600 just to have it carried up one flight of stairs! Those guys just barely made it. They were sweating bullets! "So much work has been put into this studio," he continues. "In order to get the rooms ready and utilized as proper recording facilities, a whole corner of the house had to be gutted. Closets and walls had to be knocked down, and buzz saws and sledgehammers would knock me out of bed at eight o'clock. All the air-conditioning had to be rerouted and installed brand new, and the entire house had to be rewired. The studio runs on a separate line of electricity from the rest of the house. If I were having a new bathroom installed, the constant noise would've really pissed me off. But this studio is my life dream, so I just put up with all the commotion." Yngwie plans to record all future endeavors at Studio 308. "I've recorded in studios all over the world," he explains. "Often, the guitar solo on my demo sounded better than on the album--because there was no pressure. In the studio, there's a cloud hanging over you saying, This is it; this is carved in stone.' When you're long gone and dead, what you played that day is always going to be there. So it has to be great. You have to knock your own socks off, and that's not an easy thing to do, so you have to be in a perfect mood. That's why I wanted my own studio. "I don't have to worry about the clock running or someone saying, 'It's 3 o'clock in the morning, you have to call it a day now.' That has happened to me before, usually in the midst of a very creative, productive moment. Now I can work any time I want and no one can tell me to leave--it's a wonderful feeling. I can go downstairs and play tennis and then work in the studio. If I don't feel like recording, I might lie in the sun or swim in the pool. Half the battle of making an album is how you feel at the time. You've got to be inspired and have freshness, energy and spontaneity. When you're on stage, that all comes naturally. It's a lot harder when you're recording. If you're not inspired, you will not be able to play or write well." Perhaps the mere presence of his new studio equipment took the pressure off Yngwie at Criteria: Magnum Opus features warm, pristine sounds as impressive as anything he's ever recorded. "Magnum Opus is the epitome of everything I've always tried to reach," says Yngwie. "I've maintained yet improved upon my style. The album was recorded in just six weeks, and all the solos are pretty much first-take. I must give credit to [co-producer] Chris Tsangarides. He made my guitar sound like it should sound; it's like you're standing 10 feet in front of a Marshall stack." Yngwie recorded Magnum Opus with the same setup he always used in the past, a scalloped-neck Fender Stratocaster through early-Seventies Marshall Mk II 50-watt heads and Marshall 4x12 cabinets and Celestion speakers. Tsangarides' microphone of choice was a Neumann U87. On previous efforts Yngwie relied on Shure SM57's, which he still uses on stage. Yngwie puts nothing between the force of the sound and the tape. "I record with no effects," he says. "When mixing I'll add concert-hall-style reverb and nothing else. If you do it directly on tape, you're stuck with it. "Most guitarists rely on a really hot pickup, so the output from the actual instrument is very powerful. That, to me, is the wrong way to do it, because the guitar signal has to be completely pure, with no distortion whatsoever. That's why I use DiMarzio HS-3 pickups. They have a weaker output than most pickups, but produce a very distinct sound whether they're played in the bridge or neck position. What I do is boost the signal with a preamp, which boosts the signal without distorting it. Once that signal goes into the Marshalls, the tubes in the amp will create the distortion I'm after. There's no speaker distortion whatsoever. If you were to have a 4x12 cabinet and a 100-watt amp on full, you'd get cone distortion--a horrible, flabby sound. That's why I prefer a 50-watt head; it distorts very smoothly and is reproduced by the 4x12 without being pushed too hard. "I have to compensate for the fact that my pickups are weaker by having higher string action. Many guitarists use low action with a hot pickup, which means the strings vibrate less but are boosted by a hotter pickup. Their sound is already distorted to begin with! It's a lot harder to play with my approach, though I'm not knocking anyone's style." Yngwie may not be criticizing anyone with that comment, but it's a different story if you ask him what he thinks of the guitarists who have been gracing the pages of Guitar World recently. "I don't think a magazine that supposedly caters to 'guitarists' should put people on the cover who can barely play--no matter how many albums they sell!" he exclaims. "I refuse to subject myself to what's going on in the music world. I've always done my thing, and I have not lost any fans. None of them are now listening to Green Day!"

Yngwie Builds His Dream Studio part I

How Studio 308 Began What follows is the Fan Club's 1994 interview after getting the grand tour of Yngwie's new facility. [Photo: © Malmsteen Fan Club] Yngwie's eyes begin to shine as he describes the setup. "I'm not compromising on anything. I'm putting in the Rolls Royce of machines--a 24-track, two-inch Studer tape drive. That's the heart of the studio. Having that piece of equipment means that whatever we record in my new studio can be taken anywhere else, no matter how elaborate the facility might be. The board [mixing console] is a Mackie 32.8, which is a 32 plus 48 input, and it's automated so I can do punch-ins and whatnot. Plus there's two digital 8-track machines, so in other words, you have 24 analog and 16 digital. That means you can mix and match, fly things in; for example, you can sing a chorus once and then fly it in. The outboard gear has Neve modules, where you have one fader, an EQ, and mic pre-amp all in one; then if you put in a rack of them, you have three channels of Neve modules. The sound you get when you put your vocal or guitar mic through it is so warm it's unbelievable." Designer for this state-of-the-art dream studio was John Arthur, whose father designed and built Miami's venerable Criteria Studios. Arthur made sure every detail was the best, from the floated floor with sand underneath to the soothing silver-gray and wine-red colors of the decor. Arthur "tuned" the recording rooms, making sure the sound was accurate and pure from every angle. For Yngwie, completion of his own studio was a huge investment, but one that will pay for itself with savings on the production of subsequent albums. "You get to a point in your career," Yngwie observes, "where it's almost a necessity--you're no longer at the mercy of other people's equipment and schedules and expenses. Eddie Van Halen's got his own studio, so does Steve Vai, and others. I feel like going out in the street and yelling, 'YES, I'm building my own studio! I've wanted to do this for fifteen years and now I've actually done it!' " to be continue....

Seven Amazingly Fascinating Things About Hoobastank

It'd be easy to recap the career of Hoobastank: a couple of guys meet in a Battle of the Bands in Agoura Hills, CA, in 1994. They grab a bassist and a drummer, damn themselves with a weird band name, build up a local following, get signed, put out two records that earn accolades like "post-grunge ear candy," release a monster ballad ("The Reason"), get nominated for three Grammys ... well, we can go on. But here's why you should really give a damn about Hoobastank, and their third album Every Man for Himself.

1) Guitarist Dan Estrin has a great story involving brain surgery and a catheter.

In 2003, during the band's tour for its multi-platinum second album The Reason, Estrin made a fateful purchase. "Everyone in the band rides street bikes and motocross bikes," says the guitarist. "I was fucking around on a mini-bike that I just bought. I was riding one around after a show ... and I smashed my head into concrete." The result? "They had to cut my head open. I just remember, before the surgery, I had two fears: they'd have shave my head and I'd wake up with a catheter in me. So I wake up, and lo and behold, my head's shaved and there's a tube in my dick."

2) There are flutes and seven minute songs on the new album (blame Pink Floyd).

If you liked the infectious pop-rock stylings of the last two Hoobastank albums, you'll enjoy Every Man for Himself just as much, if not more. That said, Every Man does offer up some variety, even while maintaining the band's core sound. The epic "More Than a Memory", for example, features flutes, accordion, chimes and trumpets. "I was listening to a lot of Pink Floyd at the time, especially The Wall," remembers Estrin. "I like albums, and songs, that take you on a journey, that almost come across as a movie. And that song definitely does - it's like Floyd, the Beatles, and even tails off like "Sir Psycho Sexy," that old Red Hot Chili Peppers song. I just like applying lessons from bands I admire."

3) Did we mention the Journey influence?

Listen to "Moving Forward" and prepare to recognize a very familiar classic rock refrain. "We wrote that song when Doug was driving one day and heard Journey's 'Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' on the radio," says Estrin. "We like Journey; we're not huge fans, but I really liked that 'na na na na' part of the song." He laughs. "I don't think it's stealing. We made it our own style."

4) Music critics despise them. The feeling is mutual.

"The album comes out in April. I expect we'll do some shows, meet fans, and have critics ready to tear it apart," says Robb. "Honestly, I want to go 'fuck it, it's not for you, it's for me and the guys in the band.' If we're happy with it, that's what counts. We get a lot of shit because we don't go out of our way to be 'different' ... we're just trying to be who we are. And that's actually the theme of the album - being yourself."

5) Speaking of message boards, you can find a lot of fun, weird stuff about Hoobastank on theirs... and some of it might be true.

• Dan used to be a roadie for Incubus.
• Chris worked in a plant nursery for 5 years.
• Doug and Dan used to be counselors at the YMCA.
• The name of the band? It's the "H" in Jesus H. Christ. At least, that's what Doug will tell you.

6) That's a real drill sergeant on the album. He's there for a reason.

"Born to Lead" features the barking cadence of Sgt. Dale Guy. "I wouldn't want him there all the time, but he was cool," says Robb. "The song was about people wishing and praying for things instead of doing something to accomplish their dreams. It's about getting off your ass, and I think the Sarge added a lot to the song's vibe."

7) They recorded Every Man for Himself in a really backward, inefficient, grueling kind of way.

The band started work on the album during Hooba's last mega-tour. Estrin would come up with musical ideas during sound checks, then record a demo later, hand it off to Doug for melodies and lyrics, and finally, fly home with the whole band to record the finished product during non-tour weekends. "It wasn't an ideal way of doing things," admits Robb. "But I think, strangely, it affected us in a positive way. Maybe it was the energy of being on tour, but I think the results came out far better than our previous two records."

ALTER BRIDGE NAMES NEW ALBUM ‘BLACKBIRD

Universal Republic recording artists Alter Bridge have announced the name of their forthcoming second album will be Blackbird.

Clocking in at almost eight minutes, the title track is clearly one of the masterpieces of the new album. "We felt like Blackbird was the perfect song to use as the title track for this record,” lead singer/guitarist Myles Kennedy commented.

“Though a majority of the album is not as dark thematically, we really hoped to draw attention to what we felt was one of the most challenging yet gratifying songs we’ve ever written. It was inspired by a friend of mine who passed away as the song was completed; it’s a story about the struggle to move on to a better place. It was my wish for him to finally find his peace."

There are many differences between One Day Remains and the band’s new album Blackbird with the most notable being the full integration of Myles Kennedy as a guitarist and songwriter. While One Day Remains was largely written before Myles came on board, this time around, it was a collaborative effort with Mark and Myles sharing the songwriting duties, while all four band members worked on the arrangements.

“It’s a natural evolution after three years of working together,” Mark Tremonti stated. “We knew Myles was an amazing singer, that’s why we hired him. What we found out when we toured the first record was that he’s also an incredibly gifted guitar player and songwriter, as well as a vocalist. It would have been a crime not to utilize all that talent. We wanted to use every weapon we had in our arsenal for this album.”

Blackbird will be the follow up to Alter Bridge’s debut album, the Gold-certified One Day Remains, which peaked at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart its week of release. That release featured three consecutive hits on rock radio: (“Open Your Eyes,” “Find The Real,” and “Broken Wings”). The first single from Blackbird “Rise Today” has already gotten substantial early airplay before the official add date of July 30th.

Comprised of Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips, Brian Marshall and Myles Kennedy, three of the four members of Alter Bridge made up the 30+ million selling band Creed. The band will be hitting the road upon the release of Blackbird this fall. Touring details will be released at a later date.

Full Track Listing For Blackbird

1. Ties That Bind
2. Come To Life
3. Brand New Start
4. Buried Alive
5. Coming Home
6. Before Tomorrow Comes
7. Rise Today
8. Blackbird
9. One By One
10. Watch Over You
11. Break Me Down
12. White Knuckles
13. Wayward One

ALTER BRIDGE SIGNS WITH UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC
New Album and Tour Planned For This Fall

July 9, 2007 - New York, NY – The members of Alter Bridge are pleased to announce they have signed an agreement to release their next album on Universal Republic Records. This brand new album is scheduled to be released this fall.

“We’re very excited about beginning this chapter in our lives and career,” commented Grammy Award winning songwriter and guitarist Mark Tremonti. “Universal Republic is a perfect home for us and we’re excited that our fans are going to get to hear all the new songs we’ve been working on for quite some time really soon. The material we’ve been working on is really aggressive and I think it’s the best work we’ve ever done. We can’t wait to get back in front of our loyal fans later this year.”

"We’re thrilled to be partnering up with Alter Bridge," stated Monte Lipman, President of Universal Republic Records. "They're an incredible band with a strong vision that we share together. When Tom (Mackay, SVP A&R) and I met with the group, we knew instantly this is the type of talented people we’d want to be in business with.”

Alter Bridge’s Universal Republic debut will be the follow up to their debut album, the Gold-certified album One Day Remains, which debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart its week of release. The album featured three consecutive hits on rock radio: (“Open Your Eyes,” “Find The Real,” and “Broken Wings”). Comprised of Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips, Brian Marshall and Myles Kennedy, three of the four members of Alter Bridge made up the 30+ million selling band Creed.

The recording of the new album was completed in Nashville, TN last month with famed producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette (Incubus, Chevelle, Three Days Grace). The band has also brought on a new management team with Paul Geary & Steve Wood for Azoff Music Management taking the reigns.

Alter Bridge has kept a conspicuously low profile in the United States since a brief tour in October of 2005. The band toured Europe during the summer and fall of 2005 and the summer of 2006 performing at mostly festival shows with the likes of Metallica, Tool, Guns N’ Roses, Alice In Chains, Audioslave, Velvet Revolver, and Black Sabbath.

The band will be hitting the road upon the release of their 2nd album this fall. Touring details and more information on the new album will be released at a later date.