Interview & Game of Jenga with Billy Talent

I've been a fan of Billy Talent for 10 years, they were a great band when I discovered them in high school & I've enjoyed maturing with them as each record progressed. They stopped in Halifax on tour for their latest album, Dead Silence, on April 16th to play the Cunard Centre with Indian Handcrafts, Hollerado & Monster Truck! Ben & Aaron stopped by for a chat & I decided to break out some old school Jenga.

Most intense Jenga game with their drummer Aaron, he's got skills! We chatted about the new album, the tour change over from Sum 41 to Monster Truck, early days of the band when they were Pezz & more. Listen to the interview & Jenga moves here.

Check out photos from our Jenga game & interview on Live 105's Facebook Page.

While playing Jenga, Aaron & I discussed an MS Camp that he's been involved with for the past few years, if you want to know more about it visit http://mssociety.ca/calgary/family.htm

Allan Zilkowsky took this great shot of Billy Talent from the concert at the Cunard Centre. Absolutely amazing show! As a long time fan, I heard every song I truly wanted to hear from each album as well as lesser known songs that die hard fans recognize & adore. The crowd appreciated Ben taking notice of recent events that hit close to home; the passing of Stompin' Tom Connors, Boston Marathon Bombings & dedicating their song Nothing To Lose to Rehtaeh Parsons.

A great concert experience for everyone who packed the Cunard Centre. Hopefully they don't wait too long to visit Halifax again. 

Christina & I with Aaron & Ben from Billy Talent.

St Paddy's Day Discovery: Sheepman

It was St. Patrick's Day, the most socially acceptable day to be a train wreck, I went to check out Bille Dre & The Poor Boys and a few bands celebrate the luck o' the Irish at Gus' Pub. While there I caught Sheepman, from Halifax. Hadn't really heard of them before, but they were great! Very spacey guitar sounds, giving of a vibe similar to The Smiths. Check out their song "Let's Get High" from their album Cold Feet In The Heat.



With the lights, the music & maybe a few green beverages, the crowd were ready to party.


Download their album at http://sheepman.bandcamp.com/

ECMW 2013

East Coast Music Week was celebrating it's 25th year in Halifax this past weekend with musical entertainment galore! Thankfully Noisography were at quite a few of the shows taking video, many of the live performances on this post are from their YouTube channel. I spent my time getting to as many shows as I could, checking out my east coast favs & making new discoveries. There was a lot to see, so I'd say the highlights were Billie Dre & The Poor Boys, Carmen Townsend & The Motorleague playing on stage together and unintentionally seeing Slowcoaster 4 times, which were all fantastic. Here's my run down of ECMW 25:

The festival started on Wednesday & though I couldn't make it out to the first show, I did have Billie Dre & The Poor Boys drop by the radio station for an interview on Live Underground. 3 very ridiculous gentlemen, that play doomy surf rock n' roll, but we had some laughs.



If you missed them they'll be at Gus' Pub for St. Paddy's Day March 17, don't miss it, they put on a great rockin' set! Here's a video they made the last time they played Gus'.



On Thursday I started the entertainment off at Grand Parade for a free outdoor show, which seemed like a good idea until I realized it's still winter in Halifax. But great performances nonetheless from Heather Green, who had a wicked soulful pop sound & Jenn Grant giving a great set despite some random heckler when she mentioned she went to NSCAD near by.



Next it was on to Casino NS to check out NSCC Alumni from the Music Arts program showcase what their book learnin' did for them! That program has produced some very talented & promising up coming bands/artists like Jessie Brown, This Ship, The Lucy Gray's, Patrick Healy's Lazarus Project, Steady Hills & Old Blood. Here's some video highlights:

Jessie Brown



The Lucy Gray's



It was now time to make a triumphant return to the Marquee, which had reopened for ECMW. It was the Cape Breton stage so naturally it was a party! Slowcoaster were on stage, I don't know if it was party rock jams or the tassels on frontman Steven MacDougall's jacket, but there were some ladies undergarments spotted near the front of the stage..... well done, gentleman!



Friday had the least amount of jumping around, spent much of it at Michael's Bar & Grill where there may or may not have been a party bus out back for all the bands thanks to JJ Bookings. The Town Heroes were great, awesome energy, the crowd was loving it. And a guitar covered in duct tape not only looks badass, but sounds it too.



The Stogies and Billie Dre & The Poor Boys made sure the rock n' roll antics didn't stay on the party bus as the place was packed with hungry music fans. Naturally, Billie Dre's bassist Corey lost his shirt as he got "wrapped up in the rock n' roll."

Saturday of ECMW is that point where everybody is starting to get a little burnt out but there's a lot left to take in so you knock a couple back & get at 'er! There were some greasy 1pm breakfasts & car retrivals to be done before going to the Delta Halifax where Spincount had a free showcase in the lobby. Since it was in the afternoon & a few may still be recovering from the night before in PJ's, Dave Gunning had to sport his on stage!

Just as we were all feeling the late night/lack of sleep, The Backyard Devils took stage & got a country stomping good time going!

When nightfall arrived it was time for the Rock Stage at Casino NS. Carmen Townsend always puts on a hell of a show but she was in fine form & killing it that night.



Carmen usually does a very cool cover of the Beastie Boys "Sabotage" this time she got some help from The Motorleague's Don Levandier before she joined them during their set for for an ode to Cape Breton.



Though every late night had turned into a morning sunrise, I made it out once more on Sunday to see the Awards Gala after party where I caught Matthew Hornell. Nice on the head to check out some folkier music after a few days of hitting up the rock shows.



ECMW was an absolutely fantastic weekend filled with amazing East Coast music, but there was a mystery phone number that Christina Fitzgerald & I delt with on Monday's radio show...



And that was all the fun we found at ECMW 2013. There's a great scene on Canada's East Coast, make sure you support it!

Live Underground with Jessie Brown, Album Release

I caught up with Jessie Brown again on Live Underground as she's having her CD release this Friday at Michael's with the Stogies & Carmen Townsend. That's a show you SHOULD go to. Here's the interview:



http://jessiebrownband.com

Interview with The Dirty Heads

The Dirty Heads had some awesome success with their song Lay Me Down featuring Rome, they're back with a new album, Cabin By The Sea, coming out June 19th. I caught up with them to chat about the new album, collaborations & more.

Interview with The Offspring

The Offspring have a new album, Days Go By, coming out June 26th. I caught up with their guitarist Noodles this week to talk about the album, some old demos that surfaced last year & when we might see them back in Halifax.

Live Underground with Jessie Brown

This Friday at Michael's Bar & Grill, The Stogies are having a tour funraiser with the Sweet Deals & Jessie Brown. I interviewed Jessie tonight on Live Underground about her upcoming album of soulful rock tunes.

Her self titled album comes out in June, keep up to date here: http://jessiebrownband.com

Live Underground with Stone Mary

Tonight at the Seahorse, Stone Mary, Old Blood & Shelter With Thieves are playing as part of their Crack In The World tour that will take them to the ECMA's in Moncton. I spoke to Stone Mary vocalist, Christine Campbell, on Live Underground.

Also check out Stone Mary playing Young Love live!

www.stonemary.com

Live Underground with Shelter With Thieves

Shelter With Thieves are nominated for a couple 2012 ECMA's (Loud Recording & DVD of the Year for Live At The Seahorse). Tonight I spoke with their drummer Matt on Live Underground about the ECMA nominations & the Crack In The World tour with Stone Mary & Old Blood.

Here's some clips from their Live at The Seahorse DVD.

Go check them out at the Seahorse tomorrow night with Stone Mary & Old Blood. http://www.shelterwiththieves.com/

Life Lessons: Back Ya Sh!t Up

I hope my real life problem can be a good life lesson for you as it's made my life difficult this week....

The other night I was having problems with an iPhone app, so I decided up update it & a few others. This is where things went horribly wrong...

During the process of  updating, my phone froze. Gave it a reboot but it wouldn't go past the opening apple screen. Upon connecting to itunes I found my phone was now in recovery mode & needed to be restored. If I were a smart person, I would have regularly backed things up & this would've have been that big a deal....... Note, IF I were smart. In reality, I hadn't been backing up my phone. What's that? Why not, when there's iCloud so easily available. Well you see, I had been lazy on upgrading to iOS 5 and therefore did not have this available to me. So today's lesson: Back Ya Sh!t Up!..... and keeping up to date on software, probably smart as well.

Poor Young Things

Konrad & Scott from Poor Young Things dropped by Live 105 before their show at the Seahorse tonight for a chat. Here's the full interview:

Poor Young Things + Alert The Medic @ the Seahorse = Rockin' show, you should go! Get more on the band at http://www.pooryoungthings.com

Here's their video for Blame It On The Good Times, getting played on Much Music!

Live Underground with The Green Reflectors

I love 2 piece bands & I love surf/rockabilly music. So naturally I love The Green Reflectors! 2 brothers that play instrumental surf rock, they're from the south shore of NS & I spoke to their guitarist Kyle on Live Underground about the band and the upcoming Rockabilly Riot on Saturday.

 Here they are covering Link Wray's "Rumble."

Go to the Seahorse on Saturday to check these guys out at the Rockabilly Riot! For more on the band, click here.

Macy Gray Covered Who? WTF?

There's been some interesting artists cover great songs over the years. Some can be good, some not so much. This might fall under "Not So Much." 

R&B singer Macy Gray is releasing an album of covers, some of those covers have left me scratching my head. Here's the list:

Here Comes The Rain Again (Eurythmics)
Creep (Radiohead)
You Want Them Nervous (skit featuring J.B. Smoove)
Smoke Two Joints (The Toyes)
La La La (Teaching The Kids) (featuring Layann Al Saud, Avery Albert, Happy Hinds & Siena Stelber)
The Power of Love (featuring Hugh Salk)
Nothing Else Matters (Metallica)
Sail (AWOLNATION)
I Try Is Cool And All But...(skit featuring Nicole Scherzinger)
Maps (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
Mel Rap (featuring Mel Hinds)
Bubbly (featuring Idris Elba) (Colbie Caillat)
Wake Up (Arcade Fire)
Really? (skit featuring MC Lyte)

Different song selection, but I'm trying to wrap my head around the smokey voiced Macy Gray singing Radiohead's "Creep" or Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters." I can't imagine those will compliment the original songs too well. I will say, this is not the worst covers album I've heard of. That distinction goes to Pat Boone's "In A Metal Mood." This is what I mean:

I'm sure Macy Gray won't be that awful, but I still wouldn't have high hopes for her turning out some cool Arcade Fire or Yeah Yeah Yeahs covers.

Live Underground with Three Sheet

Three Sheet are from Halifax, they play Hip-Hop but don't have a DJ & there are no beats. Real instruments, beat boxing, MC's & singers. They are heading to Taiwan very soon for a tour, before that they'll be at Michael's tomorrow night for a send off show. I spoke to their guitarist Ryan on Live Underground about all the excitement.

Get more on Three Sheet at http://www.threesheet.com & if you want info on their send off show tomorrow night, here's the FB event: http://www.facebook.com/events/143255472464225/

St. Paddy's Day & A Story!

It's St. Patrick's Day, the one day of the year it's socially acceptable to have beer for breakfast, everyone finds they are 1/100th Irish & commits to a full day of drinking. It's a delight! I quite enjoy the Irish/Gaelic music/bands that gets played a little more often today. One of those bands, though they don't always have an Irish drinkin' song kinda vibe (they actually are Irish), is U2....

I bring them up as I have this running joke with a few friends. There's a certain bar in Halifax I've been to a few times, every time I'm there I hear at least one U2 song. I was at this bar the other day with some people & I had mentioned this, they just brushed it off. We were there long enough to heard 2-3 songs & then what should come on but U2 - Pride (In The Name of Love). This has happened a few times, now it's to the point where I can make an easy couple bucks to bet that it'll happen, which makes me love this place even more!

You're probably wondering what bar I'm talking about. Well if I told you, that'd spoil all the fun (not to mention I'd wanna see a few advertising $'s first as a spokesperson haha). But should you ever go to this establishment & notice you've heard a few songs by U2 while you're there, you'll know ;)

New Ink & My Itchy Fail

On Monday I got a new tattoo, the last few I've gotten seem to always be tributes to important figures in my life, the latest is no exception. My grandmother passed away shortly before Christmas at the age of 90. She was tough though, in & outta the hospital several times in her last year & kept bouncing back from her ailments. So this seemed fitting....

However, today I got a little busy & forgot my moisturizer at home. It has caused great itchiness! Perhaps a little madness to as I resist the temptation to scratch....

That bottle of moisturizer shall not leave my side until this is healed!!

Bands & Smart Phone Apps

Red Hot Chili Peppers are a band I've been a fan of for many years, just the mixture of funk & rock I've always adored and that is what first made me want to learn how to play bass. They've now put out their own smart phone app...

With the app, you can keep up to date on the band, where they're touring, if they're in studio, photo galleries etc. It seems really cool, I know there's other bands doing the same... makes me wonder, is this going to replace a traditional .com website for bands?

The need for an actual website has been shrinking with social networking sites like Facebook & Twitter, I've seen more then a few .com band sites simply being a place holder & directing web traffic to FB, Twitter, YouTube etc. Add mobile apps that are dedicated to giving you all you need to know about the band into the mix, it doesn't seem like there's as big a demand for a websites anymore. Granted, not every indie band will likely have the ability to get their own mobile app, for them a .com maybe but FB & the like are so much easier to manage. Plus there are millions if not billions of people on those social networking sites already that could stumble upon your band page. Less likely your website is to come up in a Google search.

Now we wait and see how it all goes down....

Bands, Social Networking & The Death of The Website

It's a well known fact I'm a music geek, I'm damn proud of that too! I spend a great deal of my time researching bands; when they're in the studio working on a record, touring near my area, what went into their songwriting etc. Over the last couple years I've noticed an increasing trend where bands will frequently update their Facebook or Twitter pages, but their actual website (in which they pay for the domain space on a yearly basis) goes idle, saved only for the really big things like "New Album is out on Tuesday" or "New Album is out now!"

But on Twitter you'll see pictures from the tour, funny comments about something that happened back stage, or (if the band is smart) tweets about how excited they are to be in whatever city they're in & interaction with their fans. More of the same on FB, sometimes you get video of last nights performance, longer praise for how great the crowd was. The website? Still says "Album is out now" and only has pics from the last tour a few months back.

I think we're witnessing the death of the practical website for bands/musicians/artists. To send things off to a webmaster, wait for it all to be processed & updated takes too long, plus there's little interaction from the band. The best twitter accounts/FB pages are the ones where the band responds to peoples comments and you know it's the band as they sign off in a certain way that you know it's their personality, rather then the cold/blunt response from a webmaster or band rep.

The Pack a.d. http://thepackad.com/

 

The Pack a.d., Hollerado & USS (ubiquitous synergy seeker) are Canadian bands that do an excellent job of interaction with their fans; retweeting fan tweets, responding to questions or just general joking around that makes it seem like the band is your good friend.

 Hollerado http://www.hollerado.com

Truthfully, I'm glad it's taken this direction, it brings a human element to the online world & makes a band seem down to earth as well as respectable. Gone are the rock star attitudes of the past, in this day & age it doesn't matter who you are, those attitudes are never warranted.

USS http://www.ussmusic.com/

Only downside is that there isn't a great deal for a custom look on a bands twitter/FB page like there is with a website, small price to pay and I would imagine there are plans in place to fix that (if not, there's some very skilled hackers out there).

Only question now, is there actually a need for a .com address?

Live Underground with This Ship

This Ship, an indie rock band here in Halifax is made up from members of the Light Brights, Minus World & Alice Stops Time. They'll be one of the bands playing the Flight of Fall music festival this weekend, I spoke with singer Bethany Fulde, who also organized the festival, tonight on Live Underground.

Movember: 3 weeks deep in facial hair

We're 3 weeks into Movember, this is what has been residing on my face....

I was informed today that it wasn't really a handlebar mustache, it's a horse shoe or chopper or something haha. Well whatever it is, it's greasy, itchy & will be gone December 1st. But in the meantime you can make a donation to Prostate Cancer Research: http://mobro.co/neilspence