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I Like My Music Ugly: A Conversation With JSS From THE BANNER

Hello, everyone! Thank you for joining us on the second to last day of 2014. We have been planning to release this interview for a few weeks, but due to a few technical setbacks it is just now seeing the light of day. The good news is, none of the material discussed is outdated. Hooray!

This site exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

There comes a point in the career of every great artist where they learn to love where they are at and stop waking every morning feeling like they must do everything in their power to gain a bit more popularity. It’s impossible to pinpoint when exactly this moment occurs, as I believe it is different for every individual, but in the case of The Banner I think that time might have come during the several years that passed between their two full length albums. Their latest, which just arrived a few weeks back, showcases a band completely comfortable with themselves and their audience. They still push things forward, and in doing so continually challenge their fan base, but you get the sense when you’re listening that the music being created was first made because it is what the members wanted to do. It’s not about breaking out or crossing over. It’s about making something you want to hear, and doing everything in your power to get it right.

Recently, Banner founder and frontman JSS hoped on a Skype call with editor James Shotwell to discuss the new album, as well as the many lessons he has learned working in music over the last decade. You can read highlights from their conversation below.

The Banner’s new album, Greying, is available now through Good Fight Music.

H: Hello Joey, how are you?

J: Just got home from work, actually. I’ve got a handsome young gentleman helping me with chores right now (laughs).

H: That’s great to hear man. It’s also great to know that The Banner have a new album out now.

J: Yea, that is great to hear. Kind of hard to believe it myself.

H: I’ve been listening to the record for the last few weeks, and I’ve been thinking about the fact I was still in college the last time a full length came out. That’s kind of crazy, but it’s so good.

J: It has definitely been a minute.

H: I want to start with the record, especially since that is why we are chatting right now. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a concept album, but the way the album fades in and out with static leads me to believe some might see it as a single piece of music instead of a collection of songs. Was that your intention, or am I simply reading way too into things?

J: If you play the album on vinyl, the beginning of the first song and the end of the last song play perfectly into one another. It creates a loop, which is both kind of cool and really gimmicky, but it serves a purpose for us.

H: Right before the album begins, in the midst of the first song, there are some audio clips that sound like narration from a movie. Can you shed some light on that?

J: I don’t know specifically what you’re hearing right there, but we did mix in sound clips from a documentary about the Betty Ford Clinic, as well as another mental health hospital, and a few segments from the final interview Johnny Cash gave before he died. We had that song, “The Dying Of the Light,” and I found this interview between Kurt Loder and Cash, which was filmed a few weeks before he died. Everything he said, especially when you consider the fact he died so soon after, fit perfectly with the message I was trying to get across. The hospital bits, and for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the second institution, came from documentaries I would watch for lyrical inspiration. I watched these documentaries over and over again, but nothing was flowing, but after seeing that Cash clip things began to click. I decided to throw as many clips, sounds, and general noise as possible into the track. I’ve always been into making complex and challenging music, which is both a good and bad thing I guess, but I like to put as much material into each track as possible. I like my music ugly. As ugly as possible, in fact. I love flat notes. I love long keys. I love weird chords. Things that make it sound like you might have messed up, I love. That’s where the sound clips and random chaotic shit comes into play.

H: I like that. It does make things together, but it also weaves the album together through the constant sense of chaos. It’s really unique in that way.

J: Thank you.

H: The first track on the album is big and long, so you never really know what to expect. The next few tracks are short and angry, but then you get to “Hold Me Down” and things slow to the point it almost feels like a chant. Is there anything special about that track for you?

J: A song like that is a good example of the kind of music I listen to on my own. When I am home I listen to groups like Have a Nice Life. I love drone music. I love Godflesh, and really any band with long and sad stuff.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m a hardcore kid for life. That is what I came up listening to, and to this day I can give almost any hardcore band a bit of my time, but if I am home and can choose what to play there is a lot of other stuff in the mix. I like ignorantly violent and heavy hardcore stuff, as well as industrial stuff. I don’t mean dance music industry, but crazy shit, like someone dragging a chainsaw against a sheet of metal industrial. Dark shit.

So I have all this stuff on rotation and I start to wonder how I can make music like that. How I can make some ‘Joey’ music, if you will. That is what you hear on tracks like that. I’m making what I want, and I give no fucks about what other people may want to hear. I’m going to make sad drone and industrial stuff. That’s what I want to do.

H: We touched on this earlier, but it has been a number of years since the last full length album. Are you someone who writes all the time, or do you wait until you have a record to create?

J: I can’t stop writing. I love writing music. Every time I have to do it, I follow through, and once it’s complete I want to do more. It’s like a sickness. I wake up late at night with lyrics in my head, usually plugging them into my phone or writing them down in a notebook. I hope no one ever finds my notebooks or they will think I am some kind of insane person. I make lots of notes, including the kind of instrumentals that would accompany the lyrics. It’s a little crazy.

H: The new album came out on Good Fight Music, which is a label I don’t know a lot about. What is your relationship with the like? I know the old records came out on Ferret, which is no longer a label.

J: Oh, Ferret and Good Fight Music are the same people. Ferret exploded because the guys behind it got kind of screwed. That’s their story to tell. The guys behind Good Fight Music believe in us. We could have put out music elsewhere, but they trust us and we trust them. Also, they get me. When we talk we understand one another. What am I going to do? Put out a record with someone who is 20? I’m an older guy now, and I want to put out music with other grumpy old men.

H: That’s an interesting comment about not wanting to work with someone who is in their early 20s. Do you create music for anyone in particular, or are you creating to keep yourself sane?

J: I think it’s a bit of both. I know the kids who like The Banner, and in most cases they are a little older because they have grown up listening to us. They know what I like because I am always on social networks talking about the things I enjoy. And just to be clear, we don’t have a horde of fans. There is a tight group of people who enjoy The Banner, and many of them have supported us for a while. We’ve gotten to know each other as a result, and when I write I do think about how they will feel about whatever new thing I am working on something new. So I guess I would say I write music for people who already like The Banner. I’m not concerned with creating a breakout track or crossing over to another genre. I want to entertain our fans, our weirdos. Every year we gain a few more, and that’s good enough for me.

H: I like that outlook. A lot of labels and press people will try and make each record out to be the next great album, which leads a lot of artists to think about reaching new heights of popularity, but you’re happy with the people you already have following you. It’s not about constantly growing your fan base, but rather creating stuff your current fan base wants to hear, and I really respect that.

J: To be honest, everything else is relatively easy. The majority of hardcore is three or four huge bands, followed by twenty mid-level bands who are doing the same thing. There is nothing wrong with that, it all sounds the same because that sound is really fucking good. I could do that too, but for better or worse I am a quote/unquote ‘artist’ who wants to make something interesting. I know what they have heard before, so now I will try something new just to be a dick, and I think people who like our band get that I am being a dick just because I can. They know I like to challenge them, and they welcome the challenge. I would rather have these weirdos with Banner tattoos than be popular. Don’t get me wrong, if I wake up tomorrow famous I won’t complain, but I am happy where I am at.

H: I don’t have many more questions, but I am curious about your tour plans in 2015. I saw a date in February, but what else do you have in the books?

J: We’re playing a show with Beatdown Concrete, which might be the last show we play because I fully intend to murder someone at that show. They’re one of my favorite bands of all time and I am not afraid to say it. We’re also playing a show with Suburban Scum, which again will be nuts. Anytime we play in Jersey with Suburban Scum it’s violent madness. Just chaos. Thank god there are places like Starland Ballroom who welcome ridiculous shows like that.

Don’t get me wrong, we have other tour plans as well. We have a few dates with All Out War, which again feels like we’re looking for trouble. We are also going down south and to the west coast. We can’t really do long tours anymore, and we don’t necessarily want to. We don’t like to push our luck.

H: You’re not a baby band anymore. You don’t need to play 300 shows a year.

J: Yea, I’m not going no month-long tour. Fuck that. I’m over six feet tall. Sleeping in a van is hell for me. I know people want to see us, but they have the internet. They can enjoy our music online. We book enough shows that people willing to travel to a nearby city can see us. If not, oh well. That may make me sound like an old asshole or something, but it’s the truth. I don’t want to play shows in front of a bunch of kids who have never heard of us. What am I supposed to do? Push myself even further to try and win over some young punks I don’t care about? Nah, I’m okay.

H: That’s all I have for you. Do you have any final comments or thoughts that you would like to share with our readers?

J: Thanks for buying our music and supporting us. Not for nothing, this is a little weird because we talk to our fans all the time. We are constantly engaged. They don’t have to wait for random opportunities like this, but I appreciate you taking the time to speak with me. Thank you.

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Inked In Blood: A Conversation With Obituary’s Kenny Andrews

Hello, everyone! We are bringing back our popular Artist Spotlight series this afternoon for a one of a kind look at the world of death metal. I know not every person who stumbles across this post will love metal, but I think there is something within the content of this interview that can help any artist on the rise.

This blog exists to promote the future of the entertainment industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your entertainment-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

The economics of the modern music industry have made it increasingly difficult for artists of all sizes to find labels willing to take a risk on releasing new music. Even the most seasoned professionals often struggle to lock down the money needed to create an album without agreeing to a longterm contract that hinders their ability to profit in the future. Some struggle so long that they eventually give in and sign away the future of their career, while others find a way to make DIY work for them. This is a story about the latter.

For the better part of the last thirty years, the name Obituary has been synonymous with the North American death metal movement. Founded as Executioner in 1984, the group released a number of influential albums before going on hiatus in 1997. They returned in 2003 with a renewed passion for pushing the envelope, and in the years since have delivered numerous hard-hitting releases. Their latest, Inked In Blood, was funded through Kickstarter in late 2013 and produced entirely be the band. Relapse Records is releasing the album October 27, and earlier today we had the opportunity to speak with guitarist Kenny Andrews about the album creation process.

This interview is a unique one, and that’s not only due to the fact we are talking about the death metal genre. Kenny is the newest member of Obituary, having joined in 2012, and his perspective on life in music is one that can be hard to find in the business today. He’s very much a newcomer to the world of death metal, yet the band that he appears in is often regarded as one of the genre’s greatest acts (of all time). In the interview below he talks about joining a band with such a notable legacy, as well as his first experience with the group in the studio. We even talk about touring.

If you would like to learn more about Kenny’s adventures in Obituary, make sure you follow the band on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.

H: Hello, Kenny. How are you doing today?

K: I’m great! Thanks for asking.

H: Where are you speaking from?

K: I’m calling from Orlando, Florida right now. We’re supposed to get a cold front that will drop the temperature to the low 80s (laughs), but it’s hard to complain.

H: Oh, nice. It’s not that warm here.

J: You’re from Boston, right? I’m from the Cape. Hyannis, to be specific. I moved down here in the early 1980s.

H: The reason we’re speaking today is because Obituary’s ninth studio album, Inked In Blood, hits stores later this month through our friends at Relapse Records. I know it has been a few years since Obituary last put out an album, so how does it feel to be on the verge of sharing this project with fans?

K: We’re all really excited about it, man. I’m the newest member here, but I’ve known them for many years. Being a part of the group now and being on the verge of putting out this record is pretty crazy, but also very, very exciting.

H: There are a few things I want to cover today, but let’s stick with the new album for now. When did you begin work on this record? I know you launched a Kickstarter to fund its creation in 2013, but my guess is that the songs themselves have been in development a little bit longer.

K: We had some rough demos at that point. The guys definitely had the music down, but we were still learning how to put everything together. Then I had to leave for a guitar tech gig, which delayed us a bit, but we got back on track not long after that. We launched the Kickstarter in August 2013, and that project gave us everything we needed to record and create the record. It was a slow process at first, but thanks to our fans everything worked out.

H: How does the band prefer to write?

K: Trevor has the riffs, and Donald is the one whom he jams. They get together and figure out songs, then John adds lyrics. Me being the new guy, I kind of came in after the songs were created and contributed a few solos. That’s my contribution to this record.

H: I mentioned the Kickstarter a minute ago and I’d like to talk about it again. When you launched the campaign, Obituary was without a label. Did you initially plan to release the album yourselves?

K: That’s a question for John and Donald more than me, but I do think that is what they had in mind initially. Their relationship with their previous label, Candlelight, was a total train wreck. When they left, I think they wanted to take control into their own hands and do an album on their own terms. Kickstarter provided a way to make that happen, but when you start discussing distribution and things like that there were a lot more questions to answer. Relapse provided a solution, and so far our partnership has been great.

H: I follow.

K: Yea, the Kickstarter was created so that we could fund the creation of the album. Getting it to our fans was a completely different obstacle, and luckily the team at Relapse were willing to work with us to find a solution.

H: Speaking of Kickstarter, I noticed on your various social media channels that you have been working on fulfilling the rewards. How’s that going?

K: Oh yea. I think we had over 900 people support us, and once again we’re doing a DIY approach to filling those rewards. It has taken a little longer than we expected, but it’s all good. We knew everyone we hungry for this material, and now we are on the verge of being able to share it with them.

H: Inked In Blood is your first album with Obituary. I know you’ve been friendly with the members for a long time, but what was it like entering the studio to actually record this project? How did it feel to step into the ring with them, so to say.

K: It was incredibly surreal. I’ve known all the members for a while, Donald especially, but when it came time for Obituary and I did those first few tours I really began to understand the impact they have had on the metal scene. We traveled to Europe for a festival of some kind, and there were so many people there, each singing along to songs I didn’t realize were staples in the scene. It was overwhelming. Just being able to do that was incredible, but then you add the studio element and it becomes even wilder. I was very nervous to participate, partially because I never thought I would have an opportunity like this, but it worked out and it’s been great.

I was not a death metal guy for a long time in life. I get it now. The guys I play with are the coolest people ever. We have never had a problem in all the time I’ve known them.

H: I noticed that the band is credited as the producer for this record. What made you decide to handle production on your own this time around?

K: Yea, they definitely used an outside producer for Frozen In Time. They have produced their own music in the past however, and I think they thought the best way to remain unique was to handle everything ourselves. A lot of the new metal stuff, even though it sounds great, all sounds kind of the same. Everyone is using the same tools to produce their record, but part of what makes Obituary great is the group’s sound, and by handling production ourselves we can ensure we create the record we want. They know how it should sound. It’s their baby. If we delivered a super polished record it wouldn’t sound like Obituary, you know?

H: Definitely. It probably helps that you have your own studio as well. Can you tell us about that?

K: Yea, we have a small studio on John Tardy’s property. We run pro tools and have a pretty great setup. We record and rehearse in that space. It gives us the freedom to enter the space and relax. We’re not in someone else’s studio, paying thousands per song or session to make music. We have the freedom to do whatever we want at a pace that works for us. If we don’t feel like we can create on a particular day, we don’t. That may be why it took us a little longer to get this record out, but we just want to cover our bases and make sure we produce the best record we possibly can. Its been five years since our last record and we wanted to be sure it was as good as it could be.

H: I want to touch on your tour plans before we run out of time. The album drops on October 27 and the very next day you set off on tour with Carcass, correct?

K: Yes, it’s going to be a very exciting week. We’re doing a show this Saturday in Tampa, then next friday we fly to Mexico City to perform at a major festival. The following Monday we fly to Tucson, the album drops on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the tour begins.

H: Have you been on the road a lot this year?

K: We did a metal cruise earlier this year, a few small runs, and series of festivals over in Europe. There’s a lot more in our future.

H: You have a large body of work to choose from when picking a set list. How many new songs can fans expect to hear on this tour?

K: I’m not sure. We have three new songs we have been playing live since summer, so we’ll do those, but we will also incorporate some other tracks as well. We’re direct support, so we only have 45-minutes to work with and a lot of material to try and highlight.

H: Great. Well I know you have a number of interviews this week, so I will not keep you much longer. Before we go however, I do want to ask you about your longevity in music. Part of what we do is focused on inspiring future industry leaders, and I was wondering if you had any advice to offer musicians about creating a career in music today?

K: I’ll be 46 in November. I’ve been playing since I was 12 and this is all I ever wanted to do. As far as making it happen, obviously things happened a bit later for me, but it happened nonetheless. The key for young musicians is to keep on playing. When learning an instrument, there is no end. You also do not want to be narrow minded. It’s such a gamble to try and land a deal with a specific type of band. Be open. If you love music and your instrument then you will love any promising opportunities that come your way. You can make a name for yourself, but you have to do it right. Take your time, learn your instrument, and no matter what – stick with it. Have fun. I’ve been at this for a long time, but I still feel like a sixteen year old metalhead. You know why? Because I have a blast playing music. Keep an open mind and try to have a good time.

H: Thank you again for taking the time to talk to me, Ken. The new record is great and I wish you all the luck in the world with your support efforts.

K: Thank you!

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Pretty Music For Punk Icons: A Conversation With The Dead Milkmen’s Dean Sabatino

Hello, everyone! We have been telling you for months that we were hoping to expand our Artist Spotlight series, and today we are doing just that. The world of metal has been left in our rear view mirror and we are now setting our sights on learning from a living punk legend. Whether you’re into underground music or not, there is something in this feature for you. Pay attention.

This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

In 2014, it’s often a miracle if any band can make things work long enough to make it to their five year anniversary as a group. Far more unique however, are those outfits who have spent over a decade together. Even crazier than that are the two decade groups, and standing out above them all is a select group of musicians who have been performing more or less consistently for over thirty years. To reach that point takes a special kind of creative magic, and today we hope to shed a little light on how your group can attain that kind of longevity.

For more than three decades, with the exception of several years in the middle, The Dead Milkmen have been an influential voice in the global music community. There sound was born out of the very same bacteria that gave birth to the initial North American punk movement, and today it sounds just as infectious as it did when their debut album dropped in 1985. Their latest release, Pretty Music For Pretty People, is slated for release on October 7. We had the chance to speak with longtime drummer Dean Sabatino about the record, as well as the group’s legacy in music, earlier this week. You can view highlights from our conversation below.

I know The Dead Milkmen are not often held in the same regard as The Ramones, The Clash, or The Sex Pistols, but if you truly do your research into the history of punk in the US I think you will discover their impact is far greater than anyone has been able to accurately document up to this point. Pretty Music For Pretty People is a fantastic record that provides further evidence of the band’s enduring quality, and I hope for your sake that you find time to experience all it has to offer in the weeks ahead. Click here for pre-order information.

H: Hello, Dean. How are you today?

D: Pretty good. Things are looking good right now. We launched our new website yesterday, which recalls snail mail newsletters from back in the day. We also have a new album due out next Tuesday.

H: Happy to hear it. Thank you again for taking to speak with me. There’s a few things I’d like to cover, but we should start with the reason this feature was able to happen in the first place: The Dead Milkmen are releasing a new album! Pretty Music For Pretty People is set for release on October 7 through Quid Ergo Record. That’s a label the band launched, correct?

D: Yea, we are self-releasing our stuff now. We started that back in 2011 when we release The King In Yellow. Between then and now we did a bunch of singles, and it’s been great. We’re doing all our own stuff now.

H: Let’s go deeper there. What inspired you to start a label all your own?

D: I think mostly because we wanted to do everything on our own terms. Our own timeline. Working with a label may have resulted in deadlines and things like that, which doesn’t really work for us. Having our label has allowed us to create on our own terms, with our own costs. As a result, we’ve been able to take our time and put things out when it works for us.

I think it harkens back to the DIY attitude we had back in the day. It can seem difficult to do everything on the surface because of just how many avenues for music there are today, but it’s actually a lot easier in many ways.

H: Back to the album, Pretty Music For Pretty People will be your tenth studio album in a career that now spans over three decades. Do you feel it’s your best album to date?

D: It’s the best one at the moment (laughs). We’re pretty happy with the way it turned out. There are several songs that we released in the past as limited edition singles, but there are also six new songs created just for the record. Rodney did the sequencing and it turned out fantastic. We may have recorded over two years, but I think the record holds together as a full album. There’s some dark stuff on there, but it holds together and I think that is great.

H: Do you compare the material the band released in the 80s and early 90s to what you’re doing today, or do you view them as separate efforts?

D: I don’t think we look back in that way. It’s not like we sit down in rehearsals and try to make stuff that sounds like our old material. If anything, we are able to expand more now because of computers, software, and home studios. We’re more collaborative than we used to be because everyone can record on their own and bring ideas to the table. We just do what we do and it comes out the way it does.

I think some of the nicest things we have heard since our reunion in 2008 is anytime a fan tells me that our newer material fits in with what we did in the past. I hope the same will be said about our new record as well.

H: I’ve read interviews where you talk about the first time you got back together following your 2008 reunion and how that sparked a second wave of creativity for the group. I have to assume many of you have families at this point, so I am curious about how they reacted to the return of The Dead Milkmen. Can you shed some light on that?

D: I think they were pretty positive. I have a wife and teenage son now. When we played those first reunion shows in 2008 I actually took my wife and son down to the show. He was only 9 or 10 at the time, but he loved it. He’s known about my music for a while, and he’s always been very supportive.

There was a spark of creativity around that time, at least in my mind. We didn’t want to start playing together again and only play our old material. It didn’t make sense. So we decided to get together and write new songs.

H: A lot of what we do as a company involves helping artists understand the realities of a career in the music business. What do you think is the key to maintaining creativity later in life?

D: Try and use new technology to your advantage. I know this makes me sound like a cranky old man, but back in the day we did not have anything close to what is available to musicians today. If I wanted to do an interview like this, and we were on the road, the band van would have to pull over somewhere and I would have to seek out a pay phone to call you from.

We have embraced technology since our return, and it has allowed us to further connect with our fans. Our mailing list once included 10,000 people, and we like to think that we have always been friendly with people at shows, but we are able to do so much more now thanks to the internet. You can not only talk to them, but interact with them and learn from them. That’s exciting to me.

H: The new album is a lot of fun, but I feel like there are still some messages there for people to take away as well. What do you hope people gain or experience while listening to this record?

D: I think a couple of things, actually. Our music and lyrics may be based in humor, but underneath there are some serious issues being tackled. Even some of the things we were writing about thirty years ago are still relevant today, including gun control and right wing conservatism.

H: I’m not familiar with any major touring plans associated with the album’s release. Can fans expect to see The Dead Milkmen on the road in the last part of 2014? How about 2015?

D: We have two shows coming up in October. We are trying to work out more shows in the future, but we definitely want to make them happen. With the way our schedules work now, balancing work and family, it takes some time for these things to come together. We haven’t done a major tour since we reunited, but we will do a string of dates every few weeks or months. We will probably continue to do that for the foreseeable future.

H: With everything you have accomplished, are there any personal or band goals you would still like to achieve?

D: I would like to see us continue to write music together, but also maintaining our freedom as far as creative decisions and when things will be completed. Keeping control is a core goal for us.

H: That’s all I have for you today, but I thank you for being so open and honest with me throughout this conversation. It’s been a pleasure to speak with you and I hope we can dig a little deeper later on down the road. Before I let you go, are there any final thoughts or observations that you would like to share with our readers?

D: If you see us in public or at shows, please say hello. We love to meet our fans.

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World Wide Suicide: A Conversation With Davey Suicide

Hello, everyone! Welcome to the one and only Artist Spotlight column that we plan to run this week. We know a lot of our recent interviews have revolved around the world of metal, but that is not the case today. Davey Suicide may look like a hardcore frontman, but the truth of the matter is that he is spearheading a rock revolution that may soon takeover the world.

This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

If you were to see the photo of Davey Suicide featured above this text without any supplementary information you may be quick to assume he’s some kind of metal musician, or at the very least a performer of some kind. The truth is that Suicide is indeed a musician, but the metal genre is something very few would associate with his sound. What Davey brings to the world of music is far more industrial than anything else, often driving fans to dance instead of mosh, and on September 30 he will share his latest creation – an album titled World Wide Suicide – with music fans around the globe.

Earlier this week, I had the good fortune to hop on the phone with Davey for a lengthy conversation about his career and where it may be headed in the future. I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of industry music, but there is something about Davey’s fervent dedication to promoting a message of individualism that made me want to know more about his work. What I discovered, and what I hope translates in the interview below, is that above all else Davey Suicide wants to impress upon people that they have the ability to take control of their life. He wants to empower people to do whatever it is they’re passionate about,  even though his image may make him seem a bit more sinister than this positive outlook would suggest. In my opinion, there is no better example of someone using music to do more than entertain in music today, and I’m honored to share the motivations behind that effort today.

If you would like to learn more about Davey Suicide and his plans for the future, be sure to follow him on Twitter.

H: To help get us started, please take a moment and introduce yourself:

DS: Hello, everyone. My name is Davey Suicide.

H: Thanks for joining us, Davey. Do people ever call you David? There is something far less cool about David Suicide.

DS: [laughs] No. That doesn’t really happen too often. My parents do use it whenever they get upset, but I live a lot farther away now so that doesn’t happen as often as before.

H: Well I’m happy you were able to find some time to speak with me today. How is September treating you so far?

DS: I think it’s always a struggle, man. Life is a whirlwind right now. We are going back on the road soon, and we’re running around trying to get a set list ready. Honestly, picking songs for the set list has been incredibly difficult. We have a lot of great material we want to play and fitting that into a support set is not too easy. It’s coming together though, and we are excited to get out there.

H: Great to hear. Well you’ve agreed to do this interview, at least in part, because you have a new album due out on September 30. World Wide Suicide is being released by Standby Records. This is your second full length in two years, and I have to say the growth from one release to the next is evident from the first song.

DS: I think it is as well. When we finished the record we asked ourselves what fans would think, and honestly we all agreed that it was our best effort. It’s funny, because the first album took a long time to come together, but this happened relatively quickly. It only took a couple of months, but it’s exactly where we are right now.

H: Let’s start at the end of the last album cycle. Your self-titled effort hit iTunes on March 12, 2013. At that point, had you given any thought to the creation of a second album? When did you start piecing together ideas for this release?

DS: I had ideas. I had a five and ten year plan even before I was signed, so it’s down to figuring out videos and how to make certain things happen. I’ve always kind of had my plan chiseled out, so it’s just a matter of executing at the right time. And really, I think we knew what we wanted with this record. I wanted to put together a record that I would have liked to hear one of my favorite artists create. At the end of the day you just want to make sure you can sit back, press play, and have people think it’s one hell of a motherfucker.

H: You’ve toured extensively over the last few years, so is it safe to assume you write a lot on the road?

DS: It normally just all comes out. I send stuff to Needles, Needles sends stuff to me. Sometimes I just write and cut things here at my house. I’ll even program drums in garage band, play guitar, add other elements, and send a rough cut off to Needles for an opinion. Once we get the ideas figured out, we go to the rest of the band and have them add their own spin to things. This record was surprisingly easy to write. The last record was created with a lot of different producers and in different places. We just didn’t have the process figured out. This time is different, and I feel like we have a lot of innovative stuff on the record.

H: Very few tracks off the new record have surfaced online up to this point, but the title track did recently find its way online. What lead you to choose that track as the next promotional offering?

DS: That was supposed to be an introduction more than anything. There’s supposed to another song or two out at this point, but that’s how things go. When you become an artist you realize there are certain things you have control over and a lot of stuff you do not. That question is more of a label question. We control tours, and control our merch. We also control our music. Everything else, that’s someone else.

H: Your music has always been rich with themes and messages. From what I can tell, World Wide Suicide is no different. Would you say there is one idea or message you are trying to get across with this album, or are there many?

DS: I think there are a lot of them. We all grow up thinking we have to be certain person or a specific kind of human being, not realizing that it’s the little quirks that make you special. That’s a lot of it. Then there’s an element of facing bullies or whatever may be challenging you in life. Freedom. Those are two of the heaviest themes. I think people are scared to take a stand for anything, and I hope we give people the confidence to take a stand for something that matters to them.

H: I do want to talk about the intro to the album, which is really more of a skit than anything else. What’s the story behind this track?

DS: That is a continuation of “Professor Asshole” from my first record. That skit was about a guy who was judging our art by the cover. At the end of the record, he gets shot, and because I’m the central character I end up on trial for it. That trial is the skit at the beginning of the album.

H: Will this story continue?

DS: It’s possible.

H: The album art for World Wide Suicide is something special. From what I’m told, you recruited several female friends to help fill out the image. Can you fill us in on the story behind the cover?

DS: If you look, everyone below me becomes increasingly dead. Michelle Star and I, she’s one of my best friends, worked through the ideas I had and came up with that image. I always had the idea for a pile of dead bodies with me on top, but there are several changes that took place. I made a mock image on my computer, then we had a bunch of friends over to my house and made it happen. There was baby powder everywhere, but it was worth it. We got the shot in about 10 minutes.

H: I’ve read probably half a dozen reviews of the new album so far, and it seems critics all over the world think you’re bound to become the next Marilyn Manson. What do you think of those comments, and is following in Manson’s footsteps something you ever set out to do?

DS: I think people need to understand things by comparing them to other things that make sense to them. Right now, I guess that is the only thing people can connect to us. I think there is very different music element between us and them, but I do love a lot of his records. I think a lot of people are afraid to embrace their influences, but obviously he has influenced me. Rob Zombie has also influenced me, just like Axl Rose and Eminem. Davey Suicide is the first Davey Suicide though, and when our music comes on you know it’s us. In my mind that is more important than people knowing who influenced you.

H: Do you pay much attention to what critics say in general?

DS: I do, actually. Everyone has their own opinion, but I do feel like this record is being well received thus far. I feel like it’s more positive than the first record, which makes me feel good. It makes me think we picked the right songs. I’m sure there will be some slack, but we are very proud of the record and we are excited to go on tour to support it.

H: The one thing we haven’t talked about yet is your plans for the immediate future. I know you’re going on tour with Combichrist and William Control, but do you have plans beyond that you can reveal at this time?

DS: We do, but we cannot talk about them at this point. The cool thing is, Combichrist are a band that appeared on a list of acts I gave my manager a few years back when he asked about groups I would love to tour with one day. We have done a lot of tours that don’t make sense on paper, but there was always a reason behind every tour that we did. I don’t mind being the misfit on tour, or the artist that sticks out. To me, there’s great music in every genre and as long as you’re making great music people will gravitate toward you.

H: Thank you for taking time to speak with me today, Davey. Do you have any final thoughts or observations that you would like to share with our readers?

DS: We’re giving away a custom jacket that I made on September 30. Most our fans cannot afford the jackets, so it’s pretty cool. If you visit my official website there is a graphic that needs to shared on social networks in order to enter the contest. You can also find pre-order information there.

More importantly, remember that you have to do what you love in this life. There are going to be a lot of people who tell you no, but you have to push ahead and follow your passion. This record is kind of our ‘Fuck you’ to the people who said we couldn’t get anywhere, and we hope it inspires others to take a stand in their own lives.

Categories
News

Living Hell: A Conversation With The Men Behind Knuckle

Hello and welcome to the dawn of a brand new week. We have been planning and working on the content you will see posted in the coming days for the better part of the summer, and to be perfectly honest it is a bit of a relief to know they will all soon be shared with you. This blog exists to promote the future of the music industry, and to do that we need input from people like you and your music-loving friends. If you have any questions about the content in this article, or if you have an artist you would like to see featured on this blog, please contact james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

The internet has changed essentially every aspect of the music business. From the amount of time between an album’s recording and release, to the way news is distributed and the way artists engage with their fans, nothing is the same today as it was even a decade ago. As someone who lived through it all and can clearly remember the days before everything you ever wanted could be found online, I constantly find myself blown away by the amount of change and evolution that has taken place within my own lifetime. It seems anything is possible these days, as long as you’re willing to work for it of course, which is part of motivation behind my decision to feature a relatively unknown band by the name of Knuckle on the blog this afternoon.

About a week ago, I received an email that brought to my attention a new duo from the UK who call themselves Knuckle. The two piece, as the press release explained, met on Halloween night in 2013 and decided to launch a band not long after. Their first single, “Living Hell,” can be enjoyed below:

I don’t know what you felt when you were hearing the song above, but the first time it met my ears I immediately knew Knuckle were onto something great. I reached out for more material, but their publicist informed me the guys only had a few songs completed and were focusing on developing their presence before releasing more music. This is a common response given to people requesting unreleased music, especially when talking about newer artists, but the more I pondered on Knuckle’s need to gain further exposure the more I became fascinated with the way the industry has changed. The members of Knuckle met less than a year ago, but already they have played with internationally recognized groups (Little Barrie), recorded some great songs, and released their first music video. Call me crazy, but there was a time when achieving all that mean you had ‘made it’ in some small way.

Anyone old enough to drive in the United States no doubt has a decent memory of the world before social media. In those days, if your band formed in October you would probably have a minimum of six months, if not more before you began playing shows. As for recording, you either needed to do it yourself with whatever equipment you could find or save enough money to enter an actual studio, but in order to that you first needed to generate income through playing shows. As a result, it was not uncommon to see even the greatest new artists take a year or two or more to find their audience. There was no Twitter to turn to with every thought you have, nor Facebook to post tour dates on. Bands that wanted fans had to hit the pavement and promote. They had to create actual press kits and pay whatever ridiculous postage was charged to get those kits into the hands of every record label, music publication, and management team whose address was available to the public. You may have an EP out six months after forming, but it would not hold a candle to the quality or quantity of content being produced today.

The world has changed since then, however, and whether you think it’s for the better or for the worse there is no denying that we are able to discover new artists and the music they create easier today than ever before. The hard part, at least as far as artists are concerned, is turning that person who discovers their music into an actual, financially supportive fan. That is the place where Knuckle find themselves right now, and it was one of the many things we discussed when I had the opportunity to interview them at the end of last week. You can read highlights from our conversation below.

Knuckle will be working on new music well into the fall, but I expect another single will surface before snow starts to fall. Follow the band on Twitter and Facebook to stay updated on their latest activity. If you have any additional questions, please comment at the end of this post and we’ll do our best to get them answered.

H: Why, hello. It’s a pleasure to have you with us. Before we begin, would you please take a moment to introduce yourselves to our readers:

K: Hello there! We are Knuckle, a two piece from Huddersfield consisting Jonny Firth AKA Jonny the Girth (refers to his waistband and not penis width) on Lead Guitar and Lead Vocals and Ben Wallbanks AKA Ballwanks on Lead Drums.

H: Thank you, Ben and Jonny. We have been looking forward to this interview ever since we first heard “Living Hell.” Tell me, how has the response been to that single so far?

K: Pretty good. We’re really happy with the reviews and radio play we’ve had from it. People have started singing it back to us when we play it live which is a bit weird, but awesome.

H: After hearing the single I had to look up your story, and I must say I am a little blown away to learn that you have been together for less than a year. Would you please share your origin story with our readers? Bonus points for descriptions of the costumes I’m told you were wearing at the time:

K: We met on Halloween last year (2013) at a gig Ben was playing. Jonny was the support act. Ben was wearing a potato sack on his head, a rice sack on his torso and gold sparkly tights on his legs. Jonny was dressed as himself (like an American trucker). Picture of Ben enclosed. After that we got smashed, went to a reggae night and decided we should be called Knuckle

H: Had you ever crossed paths before that night, or was this a random first-time meeting? You must have shared mutual friends.

K: We’d probably crossed paths around Leeds or Huddersfield before but never seen each other, either that or we’ve met a few times and been too fucked to remember. At the Halloween gig we met through a mutual friend that plays in the same band as Ben and fixes Jonny’s amps (The Amp Shack, plug plug plug).

H: So, who was the first to say ‘Let’s start a band’?

K: Ben was the first one to mention it, as soon as Jonny got off stage at the Halloween gig. I think the exact words were “You play guitar like I play drums, we should be in a band”.

H: Before we talk about this project any further, we should probably learn a little bit about your history. What other groups, if any, have you been a part of?

K: Jonny has a one man band thing called Jonnythefirth and is in a band with two girls that he can never win arguments with called Crybabycry.

Ben has played in all sorts of shit, from an experimental 18 piece ensemble to Space funk band Kava Kava and many other rock bands along the way.

H: I have read a number of articles about your music, and it seems everyone has their own way of describing your sound. How do you explain the sound of Knuckle to people who have never encountered your music?

K: We throw all of sorts of genres at them hoping to get one right from garage blues to surf punk. We just baffle them with bollocks.

H: Along with releasing the single “Living Hell,” you also released a music video. What can you tell us about the creation of that clip? Just so you know, we’ll probably embed the video into this story, so feel free to be as descriptive as you like

K: We were very lucky to be able to work with Marco Zafffino who is an award winning film maker. We wanted a dark and dingy performance video, so we went to the pub… Just so happens they have a dark and dingy basement. Jonny wanted there to be freaky masks involved because he’s a bit strange like that, so we got a load of mates to wear some… then we got fucked (can you see a recurring theme here?).

H: You’ve already played with a number of internationally recognized acts, including Little Barrie. How did you go about setting up your first shows, and what has the reaction from crowds been like thus far?

K: Like we mentioned earlier, we’ve played in a few bands before this one and people seemed to be excited that we were starting a band together, so they booked us! Luckily most of the people loved it. Some people have walked out because we played too loud, but fuck ’em.

H: How would you describe your live show?

K: Raucous and unpredictable, mainly because we never practice! Some nights we decide to jam, sometimes Jonny jumps into the crowd or climbs on tables, sometimes there are shameless drum solos.

H: You’ve been a band for less than a year, and even though you kick a lot of ass the vast majority of music fans have yet to discover your music. What steps have you taken to get your name out there?

K: We’ve gigged and gigged and gigged this year, playing around 45 gigs in 6 months, sometimes we have 2 or 3 gigs in one day. We also try to keep our social media stuff interesting, funny and/or dirty. Getting as many features in blogs and on websites is always a priority too, Wall of Sound pr have helped us with this massively.

H: What is the hardest part about gaining recognition for your music in 2014? There seem to be many channels for sharing your work, but getting people to pay attention seems like another battle altogether.

K: I think he hardest part of getting recognition is cutting through the bullshit. It’s so easy and cheap for anyone to put their music online so there’s a lot of competition… Even us two idiots did it!

H: Do you have any advice to offer others who may be considering starting a band in an age where marketing an recognition mean more than ever before?

K: Start a band because you love it!

H: What are the biggest challenges facing Knuckle right now?

K: The biggest challenge right now is getting over this bastard of a hangover! After that, I think it’s still getting our music recognised and listened to. We’re a long way off being able to sell loads of records.

H: Do you have any goals for this project? Go on, be lofty!

K: We want to give up our shitty jobs!

H: What is the hardest part about being a musician in 2014? Best?

K: The best part is the same as it’s always been, playing live and getting that buzz that can’t be replicated. The hardest is like we mentioned earlier, being noticed in a sea of bands all trying to get the same thing.

H: Okay, I think I’ve taken up enough of your time. Before I let you go, do you have any final thoughts or observations that you would like to share with our readers?

 ddddddLet’s party!

Categories
News

Artist Spotlight: Eric Morgan (Bornstellar / A Hero A Fake)

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the very first Artist Spotlight of the new year. we have been getting a large volume of requests for this series, and in the months ahead will be expanding its reach to include a variety of talent from all over the industry. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

If you were to ask a teenage Eric Morgan what his dreams were for his future in music he probably would have confessed a deep-seeded desire to one day be signed to a top record label. If you were to post that same question to Eric Morgan today however, he would probably tell you he’s happy just being able to make music with his friends. He has spent the better part of the last decade on one of the largest independent labels in the world, and in that time seen the best and worst sides of the business, but in the fall of 2013 that project (A Hero A Fake) decided to call it quits. Now he’s returning to music with his new group, Bornstellar, and in the interview below he tells us about the lessons he’s learned along the way.

I first came into contact with Eric while covering A Hero A Fake debut album on Victory Records. At the time, I was merely a fan trying to learn more about a promising new bands, but in the years since I have been fortunate enough to know Eric on a more professional level. He’s a brilliant team player, but he also has the leadership qualities needed to hold a group of creative minds together. Further, he has the kind of always-positive outlook on things that one needs to survive the often turbulent waters of the music business, and it rubs off on everyone he meets. His future has yet to be written, but I am confident he has a long career ahead of him in the music business.

If you would like to learn more about Eric and his thoughts on the world we highly recommend following him on Twitter. If you want to learn more about Bornstellar, click here. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.

H: For the record, please state your name, job title, and the group you’re currently involved with:

E: My name is Eric Morgan and I play guitar for Bornstellar.

H: Thank you again for taking the time speak with us. We like to build these features from the ground up, so let’s dive in with a little bit about your history. When you think of a formative moments/experiences that lead you to a career in music, what comes to mind?

E: My fascination with music began fairly young. When I was seven years old, this traveling folk band came to my elementary school to perform in our auditorium. At some point they handed out all these different instruments to the students so we could play along with them. I ended up getting the spoons and it changed the course of my life (ha!). I completely lost myself in the music that day. We were supposed to stay in our seats but I HAD to get up and rock out. It was the first time I had ever played an instrument and the feeling of playing along with the band overwhelmed me. I actually ended up getting in trouble with my teacher for being too wild.

I still get that same feeling today when I go on stage. It would look 100x’s cooler if I picked a couple good poses and stuck to them but I just get so absorbed in the music that I have to jump around and go crazy.

H: Was music always present in your household growing up, or was it something you found later in life?

E: My father played guitar in a couple bands when he was younger and so we always had instruments laying around the house. When my brothers and I were young, he would sing us these songs with his acoustic before bed and would kind of just make up these silly lyrics that would have us all laughing. It was one of my favorite things as a kid and I would beg him to play me songs all day. He eventually taught me a few chords on guitar and from there I taught myself everything else.

H: What was the first album you purchased with your own money (and the format)?

E: The first album I purchased was All the Pain Money Can Buy by Fastball on CD. I had an older brother so initially I would just steal whatever he was listening to – Green Day, Butthole Surfers, Third Eye Blind etc. I also had this little boombox that I listened to the radio on while going to sleep. It had a cassette recorder and I would jump out of bed if a song I liked started playing to hit the record button.

H: The age of digital media has changed the buying habits of many consumers. Do you still buy a large volume of music? Do you prefer physical or digital releases?

E: I pay for an Rdio subscription and I love it. Before I had a streaming service, my music collection was growing quite stale – I wasn’t actively discovering new albums or artists. Being able to listen to new bands on the fly is great and it has definitely sparked my own creativity. It’s $10/mth so while it seems pretty cheap for an unlimited library of music, $120 a year is more than I was spending on CDs.

Physical releases have become more-or-less art pieces because logistically they just don’t make sense as a convenient medium. More and more bands are skipping CDs all together and releasing on vinyl with digital downloads. Vinyl’s collectability has proven valuable to fans and having great design can turn the larger vinyl covers into great pieces of art. I think this is where physical can still play an important role.

H: Onto your life in music. What can you tell us about the local scene where you grew up?

E: The scene in North Carolina, and Charlotte in particular, was booming when I was going through high school. Bands like Hopesfall, Between the Buried and Me, and all the Tragic Hero Records bands were starting to get national recognition and that helped churn out even more great local bands that went on to become national acts. Around 2005 when we started playing out with A Hero A Fake, it seemed like every weekend there was a local show that was packed. The scene died down a little around the end of that decade. However, in the last year or so there has been a resurgence of new and great sounding local bands that have started to pack out shows again and North Carolina in general is cycling back around to being a healthy music scene.

H: When did you first pick up a guitar, and how long was it until you started creating and/or participating in bands?

E: I started getting serious about guitar when I was around 12. It took a while for me to find other people that wanted to make music, my school wasn’t exactly the best place to find musicians. One of my neighborhood friends also took up guitar so I would always print out song tabs for us to learn. I would take them to school and hand them to him like homework. I don’t think he was as into it as I was…

H: You found a wealth of success with your efforts in A Hero A Fake, which we will get to in a moment, but I am curious about the bands that came before AHAF. What can you tell us about those groups?

E: Justin [Brown], also vocalist for Bornstellar, and I became best friends in high school and eventually met Lenin [Hernandez]. The three of us started writing music together and ended up spending everyday after school practicing. The first band we started was called Nothing Gold Can Stay and we recorded a six song demo that we passed around school. It sounded awful, the recording was garbage, but just having our own music on a disc was a dream for us at the time.

H: Onto the band that launched you into the national spotlight. When did A Hero A Fake form, and how long were you together before Victory Records came into the picture?

E: That core of Justin, Lenin, and I eventually became A Hero A Fake in 2005. The same year we recorded the Friends Are Family EP with drummer Evan [Kirkley] (who would rejoin the band in 2010) and shortly after added guitarist Patrick [Jeffers] and bassist Matt [Davis] to the band. In the fall of 2005, Justin and I went to college together at UNC and put the band on hold while Evan left to focus on his band Cambridge and later Seneca. In 2006 we got back together to record a new EP with Peter [Gwynne] on drums. Peter left soon after and that’s when Tim [Burgess] joined and would end up playing drums through our first two Victory releases. Justin, Lenin, Patrick, Tim, and I spent much of 2007 writing Volatile and in December of that year went to Jamie King to record our first full length.

A few months after submitting the album to labels, I was at work and got a call from Tony at Victory. It was one of those things that you daydream about but never really expect to happen. Many of my favorite bands were on Victory and at the time they were the biggest indie label around. We had a couple offers from smaller labels but this was the label we dreamed of being on and having the owner call me out of nowhere was one of my most surreal moments. We released Volatile at the end of 2008, graduated from college that spring, and then started touring full time.

H: You released a handful of albums while on Victory, but in the fall of 2013 A Hero A Fake decided to part ways. What can you tell us about the time leading up to the group’s decision to go your separate ways?

E: It’s incredibly difficult to keep a band together no matter what level of success they’re having. You give up so much to be on the road full time – money, relationships, a home – that eventually it wears you down. At the end of 2010 as we were coming off a tour with Texas In July and Like Moths To Flames, Justin and I weren’t seeing eye to eye on things, we both had issues outside the band that were stressing us, and then our van breaks down in Cleveland causing us to miss the last couple days of tour. We spent a few thousand dollars fixing our van, basically wiping away any money left in the band account. We drove all night back to North Carolina with this dark uncomfortable cloud over all of us and I remember thinking on ride down, “Did I just play my last show without even knowing?” Justin and I had been best friends for years but after that tour we didn’t talk for nearly six months.

H: During this transitional period, did you ever think your career in music was over? When did Bornstellar, your new effort, come into existence?

E: Right after that tour I definitely thought my music career was over. Evan had moved to Pennsylvania and it seemed like a long shot to try and get a band together again. However after several months of no communication, Justin sent me one of the nicest, most heart warming emails, and we ended up hashing it out and putting all the negative stuff behind us. It felt great having my best friend back.

We ended up talking about music and what style of songs we really wanted to write and how much we missed playing since we had stopped. Patrick and I then got together and started writing these new songs so we could test them out on the road. I ended up booking a DIY tour out to the west coast in December 2011 and we ended up having a blast so we decided to make a new album. That album was The Future Again and was the last one we put out as AHAF, though it has some of my favorite songs on it.

After that album, we really wanted to keep pushing in a new direction but felt tied down by the AHAF name and that style of progressive metal that was expected from older fans. After our tour last spring with the UK band Fathoms, we immediately went into the studio with Drew Fulk and decided then we would start fresh as a new band so we would feel free to write songs exactly how we wanted.

H: We have spoken to a few people who have told us about getting burned out on a specific genre after working in that area for a couple years. While Bornstellar is no doubt a new band with a unique sound, it’s likely the group will be placed in the same ‘hard rock/metal’ field as AHAF. What is it about this area of music that keeps you coming back?

E: To me, music is all about the energy it creates. There is just so much vigor and passion in the alternative genres that make it appealing to me. I have a little studio at my apartment and I’ll write anything from pop/rock to dubstep when I get inspired but the heaviness of metal and hardcore sparks something within me and I crave that energy.

H: Can you see yourself creating music in other genres down the line? Does that even interest you at this point?

E: Definitely. I write songs in other genres already and so if I ever had the time and met the right people to start a different style project I totally would. I’d love to do some type of pop/rock in the future.

H: As someone who has been on and off a fairly recognizable label, what advice would you offer to aspiring musicians/groups dreaming of creating a lasting career in the industry?

E: A lot of people define success in music by being on a certain label or management group but in reality that alone will never make you last in this industry. No matter what label you are own, you will be the one promoting your band the hardest and if it is truly something special people will take notice. It’s also important to define what exactly success means for yourself i.e. Do you want to just get your music out there? Tour? Try to make a living through music? Every step you climb will lead you to another so at some point you have to say: Is this working or not? I think if you can find happiness in the process and be open minded about learning every part of the business then you will enjoy being in the industry. Enjoying what you do is so important because it makes you willfully work harder at your craft and that is one of the keys to being successful.

H: What would you say is the biggest lesson you learned from your time in A Hero A Fake, and how has that changed your approach to Bornstellar?

E: The biggest lesson I learned from my time in AHAF was to be patient. I’m a pretty anxious person in general and tend to get pushy about having everything happen as quick as possible but that often isn’t the best tactic. With Bornstellar we took our time writing the songs, getting things right in the studio, working on our branding, and made sure we were presenting ourselves exactly how we wanted when we finally announced. You want to try and get your music out there as fast as you can once its recorded but it really does make a difference if you take your time and plan everything out in all the other areas (social media, publicity, artwork, etc) so that when you do get it out there it makes the biggest possible impact.

H: Piracy has been in the news a lot of as late, but we both know it has been a hot button topic for years. How has your career been impacted, for better or worse, by music piracy over the years?

E: I don’t think my career has been affected by piracy all that much. Maybe if we were selling 100k+ in albums it would come into play but even then the effect would be minimal. If you’re on a label, you’re not going to be making your money through royalties – even the biggest artist make nearly all their revenue on the road. With how easy it is to stream with services like Rdio and Spotify, I think it’s even less of an issue moving forward.

H: You have a new band and a new album prepped for release. Looking beyond 2014, what are your career goals at this point in life?

E: Bornstellar is all DIY for now and so we’re trying to build the band up carefully and take our time doing things the right way. The EP will most likely be self-released in the spring and I’m actually quite excited about that as we’ll directly see the results of all our efforts. Looking past the EP, my goal is to be able to fund a full length by the end of the year. I don’t think signing with a label is necessarily the only way forward, we are just working to make this project self-sustaining and put ourselves in a situation where we can balance life and music.

H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

E: The music business, like all industries, can be cliquey at times. It can make it hard for talented younger bands to get out there if they don’t know the right people. I’ve built a lot of relationship from my years on a label and from touring so I have a lot of advantages now that I’m starting this new project but at the same time it’s disheartening to see how fraternizing it can be.

H: We’ve reached the end! Before I let you go, do you have any final thoughts or observations you would like to share with our readers?

E: First, I really appreciate what Haulix is doing. I’ve read a lot of the interviews through your Tumblr page and it’s fascinating to hear all these different experiences from within the industry. Bornstellar’s first single “Wake the World” comes out Tuesday, January 21st so please go check it out, we’ve worked so hard on the EP and I can’t wait to show it to everyone!

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Artist Spotlight: Larry g(EE)

Hello everyone and welcome to a very special edition of the Haulix Artist Spotlight series. We have been working so hard on developing content for the holiday break we found ourselves with more content than days remaining before the new year and figured it was better to offer an extra feature than keep you waiting for fresh features. If you have any questions about the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more about the secure media distribution services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.

We debuted a number of new features in recent weeks, and though we love them all I would be lying if I said I did not have a close to connection to our artist series. I have spent a number of years helping develop bands, as has every professional who has contributed to our Advice series, but I am a firm believer there is no better way to learn than from those who have gone ahead of you. This column connects dream chasers with those who have successfully made a career in music work, and today’s spotlighted talent is someone artists of every genre can learn from.

Hailing from the great state of Texas, Larry g(EE) is someone that we in the business refer to as a lifer. Music has played a role in Larry’s life from an early age, and as soon as he was old enough to get on stage he knew he wanted to spend as long as possible under those hot white lights. He has been in a number of bands over the years, but none that have reached the heights of the funk laden outfit that now bears his name. We spoke with Larry about what it takes to create a sustainable career without the aide of a label, and fortunately for us he was kind enough to shed some light on the subject. You can read his story below.

If you would like to stay up-to-date with Larry and his band, we highly recommend following him on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.

H: Hey there! I’m excited to finally have the chance to make this interview happen. To begin, would you please tell me your name and what you do for a living?

L: Larry g(EE) / Singer-songwriter

H: When you think of your earliest memories with music, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

L: Listening to my uncles vinyls. Everyone from The Beatles, Shuggie Otis, Michael Jackson, and Earth, Wind, and Fire.

H: Was music always a big part of your life growing up?

L: Definitely we had a home studio in my parents house that my father built himself. Session players who played with the likes of Elvis Presley and Marvin Gaye came through on the regular. I was just a baby at the time, but I was always sitting in on almost every session.

H: Before you were a musician you were a fan. What was the first album you purchased with your own money?

L: New Edition “Heartbreak album”

H: Okay, onto your life in the business. Your current band is not the only one you have been a part of over the year. What can you tell us about your first band?

L: Around 2005 I started a band with a couple of friends called Odis. It was a rock band with some pop elements. After 5 years of some local buzz and touring we basically hit the wall. I think my intentions were in the wrong place at that time. I wanted to be famous on TV and the radio. I didn’t have enough respect for the music.

H: Your current efforts tend to fall under the genres of pop and soul, which differs from groups you have worked with in the past. Where did you find the sound of Larry g(EE)?

L: It happened six months after the break up of the band. As cliche’ as this sounds I found the sound during a summer in Brooklyn, NY. Just walking around that city (NYC in general) was such an inspiration to me. I would walk aimlessly not knowing where I was going listening to Mark Ronson’s “Version” and the rest is history.

H: You started performing in the music industry before the rise of social media. Would you say promotion is easier or more difficult now than it was in the past? Do you ever have a sense of nostalgia for the days before Facebook?

L: I love social media so I would have to have to say it is so much more easier.

H: You create a lot of your music with musician and producer Beau Bedford. How did the two of you first meet?

L: During my time with my old band Odis, he was playing in another band at the time. We would also talk in passing how cool it would be one day collaborate. I’m so glad we did.

H: While on the topic of band members, how did you go about finding the other members of your group?

L: Most if not all of the band members came way of Beau Bedford. He is also a producer and works with most of the members in the band on their separate projects. Its really been a labor love as I consider everyone family.

H: You only have one EP out at the moment, which is currently available on iTunes, but as records tend to do it has also been made available online by music pirates. Some say piracy can help independent artists by exposing their music to people who may have otherwise not given it a chance. What do you think?

L: I am totally okay with it. Until the music industry figures out how to handle the whole ‘illegal downloads", I don’t have any problems with it.

H: You’ve managed to become a full time musician without having a major record deal, which is something I know many of the artists reading our blog hope to do one day accomplish in their own careers. What advice would you offer aspiring artists about becoming self-sustaining in the modern music industry?

L: Obviously consistently working on your craft is a given, but they have to be able to run their “career” in order to catch anyone’s attention in the industry. It’s important for artist’s to understand the importance of brand awareness. They need to ask questions to themselves everyday like “What is my story?, Who is my audience?, and how do I build a buzz on my own?”. Labels, managers, booking agents, and publicists aren’t going to come to you if you don’t have anything to show. They want to see an artist that is self-sufficient and fully focused.

H: We should note that just because you’re a successful independent artists does not mean you have everything figured out. What would you say is the biggest misconception people have what you do for a living?

L: That I’m actually signed to label already.

H: You were fortunate enough to appear on Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show earlier this year. Did that appearance make any measurable impact on your career?

L: I would definitely say yes. It’s opened up a lot of doors that would have never opened up for us had we not appeared on the show. It also introduced to a larger audience that would have taken years for us to get in front of. I can’t thank the people at OurStage.com for that amazing opportunity.

H: I’ve heard rumors that you have new material on the way, are those true? If so, what can you tell us about your efforts and when we may be able to hear them?

L: Beau and I have been writing and recording since our appearance on Kimmel. We’ve also opened our creative space and started writing with some amazing songwriters and producers. We don’t have a timetable on releasing new material however we’re pretty confident 2014 is going to present even more great opportunities to do so on a bigger stage.

H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

L: That is a great question which I don’t have an answer for.

H: At this point in life, what is your ultimate career goal?

L: To continue making good music that is timeless and eventually help other starving artists make their dreams come true.

H: I think that covers everything. Before I let you go, do you have any additional remarks?

L: This whole music thing is all about the journey so I would just encourage anyone in the struggle as an independent artist to remember that it’s not a race but a marathon and at the end of the day, your only competition is yourself.

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