Vic Chesnutt, the folk-rocker whose sometimes dark reflections on life were influenced in part by a car wreck that left him paralyzed, has died. He was 45.
Los Angeles – Pearl Jam has begun work on its eighth studio album in its Seattle homebase. “We’re recording but not really putting any pressure for something to actually come out of it,” frontman Eddie Vedder told former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones on his Friday radio show, Jonesy’s Jukebox, which emanates from Los Angeles radio station KDLD-FM (Indie 103.1). Asked if he still enjoys the recording process after 15 years of making music with Pearl Jam, Vedder answered, “Depends (on) what day it is or how much sleep you’ve had. We’ve been getting together as a whole group, all… Read more »
New York – The drummer of indie punk band Fugazi has created a new DVD series that spotlights live performances from notable rock acts in a given city, all recorded in a single day. The catch: the bands play one song each in an empty house that faces imminent destruction. In the initial installment of “Burn To Shine,” taped Jan. 14 in Washington, D.C., the house was burned to the ground at the end of the day as a training exercise by the Montgomery Fire Dept. “In D.C., bands always break up and disappear before their time, but the artists… Read more »
The Lostprophets titled their second album Start Something for two reasons. One was to motivate people out of complacency. “We spent the last three years touring and meeting loads of people who were like, ‘I’d love to do this and that,’ but they never had the drive to get up off their asses and do it,” explained singer Ian Watkins. “Start something. Start anything.” The title’s other meaning reflects the band’s feeling that Start Something is their first musical step, despite releasing their debut album three years ago. They’re neither trying to ignore 2001’s The Fake Sound of Progress nor… Read more »
When Benji Madden asked to borrow an acoustic guitar from a friend, he got more than he bargained for. Not only did he wind up with the guitar in his possession, but an entire band to go with it. So goes the story of New York’s Lola Ray, the second band signed to D.C. Flag, the record label founded by Good Charlotte’s Benji and Joel Madden. When Benji phoned friend Peter Robinson for a spare guitar to play an impromptu acoustic show, Robinson’s friend John Balicanta came along for the ride and managed to hand Benji a demo tape. The… Read more »
The Future of Music Coalition (FMC) has set its third annual policy summit for Jan. 5-7, 2003, at Gaston Hall on the campus of Washington, D.C.’s Georgetown University. The FMC has designated the summit as a forum to bring together independent musicians, music-biz executives, lawyers, teachers, and politicians to discuss and debate some of today’s most pressing music-related issues, including digital technology, artists’ rights, and Webcasting. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) will give keynote speeches during the event, which will also feature as panelists Fugazi principal/Dischord Records co-founder Ian MacKaye, musician Patti Smith, California State Senator… Read more »
After more than five years as host of Nickelodeon’s “Blue’s Clues,” Steve Burns is passing the leash to his successor and passing the mic to himself. Burns, who along with animated canine Blue has solved nearly 100 puzzles since the children’s show premiered in December 1996, is now facing a quandary that has baffled just about anyone who ever wanted to form a career around picking up a guitar: how to get signed. The 28-year-old Brooklyn, New York, resident has recorded 11 tunes, some of which are posted on www.steveswebpage.com, for an LP titled Songs for Dustmites. That was the… Read more »
The Transplants, a punk supergroup composed of drummer Travis Barker of Blink-182 and singer-guitarist Tim Armstrong and bassist Matt Freeman of Rancid, will release their debut album in September on Hellcat Records. “I got a call from Tim and he said, ‘What’s up? You’re my favorite drummer,’” says Barker. “I said, ‘Really? Amazing!’ Originally I thought I was going to come in and do some drum tracks, but they were like, ‘We want you to be in our band.’” The sixteen-song album features vocals from Armstrong’s wife Brody – of the punk band the Distillers – on a pair of… Read more »
Blink-182 side project Boxcar Racer played their debut show Monday night, exhausting their supply of songs as well as their frontman, singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge. Halfway through the band’s 40-minute set at the Mira Mesa Epicentre, a sweat-drenched DeLonge moaned, “F-, I’m tired. I’m out of shape.” Though more likely he just wasn’t used to being the sole focus of attention. Peering from behind a curtain of hair that hid his eyes, early on DeLonge said of the club’s low ceiling beams: “I like the rafters. It kind of hides my face from you guys.” Still, without Blink-182 singer/bassist Mark Hoppus… Read more »
Singer/guitarist Tom DeLonge has gone hippie, boy band and even naked for Blink-182 videos, but for the first clip with his new side project, he’s sticking with punk rock. The video for Boxcar Racer’s first single, “I Feel So,” is performance-based with “an old-school punk aesthetic,” according to the band’s MCA Records spokesperson. DeLonge and his bandmates – Blink drummer Travis Barker, Over My Dead Body guitarist Dave Kennedy and bassist Anthony Celestino – filmed the clip on Thursday at a studio in Burbank, California, with director Nathan “Karma” Cox, whose résumé includes videos for Linkin Park and System of… Read more »
