Melissa Etheridge may rank among the world’s most successful openly gay performers and a poster child for gay parenting, but until now the singer/songwriter has never directly referred to women in her songs. “Even though people know exactly what I’m singing about it, sometimes the gay community gets like: ‘When are you going to sing a song about a girl?”‘ Etheridge, 40, told Reuters in an interview at her favorite coffee house in Santa Monica, California. “And I think, haven’t I done enough already?” The musician from Kansas has sold more than 25 million records and has become an icon… Read more »
It’s the kind of small moment on which rock ‘n’ roll history turns. It was Fall, 1978. The Ramones had just completed their fourth album, “Road to Ruin,” and the band felt certain it had recorded a hit single: the impossibly catchy “I Wanna Be Sedated.” But the band was overruled; label executives opted for another track, “Don’t Come Close.” That single quickly disappeared, along with the Ramones’ hit-making aspirations. “We really wanted ‘I Wanna Be Sedated,”‘ recalls guitarist Johnny Ramone. “But the record company picked the singles.” So the No. 1 hit in November 1978 instead was the fluffy… Read more »
You can dismiss Blink-182 as cartoons if you like. They’re certainly not going to stop you. They even call their new album Take Off Your Pants and Jacket: Say it out loud, let your inner eighth-grader savor the cadence of the phrase. It sums up Blink-182’s wiseass brat-punk ethos almost as well as their recent live album, The Mark, Tom and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back), which featured the butt-stupidest stage banter since Kiss’ Alive! (Mark: “You can leave now and beat the traffic!” Tom: “Or you can stay and beat your meat!” – and they get paid for… Read more »
Modern-Alternative rockers Lit have nailed down studio time to start working on the follow-up to their 1999 platinum-plus sophomore release “A Place In The Sun.” Lead vocalist A. Jay Popoff, guitarist Jeremy Popoff, bassist Kevin Baldes and drummer Allen Shellenberger will head into the studio on May 14 to begin recording their new project. The band will once again co-produce with veteran Producer Don Gilmore (“A Place In The Sun,” Linkin Park, Sugar Ray.) “A Place In The Sun” featured the hit singles “Miserable,” Zip-Lock,” and the #1 Billboard Modern Rock song of 1999 “My Own Worst Enemy.” Lit supported… Read more »
Columbia/Loud Records’ Stereomud will be headlining what promises to be one of the most aggressive, exultant and satisfying underground hard rock tours of the summer: the “Pain & Suffering” Tour featuring Columbia/Dv8 Records’ Endo. The “Pain & Suffering” Tour kicks off Monday, May 21 at the Bowery Ballroom in Manhattan and will feature either Columbia/Portrait Records’ Spike 1000 or Columbia Records’ Flybanger. Inspiration behind the name of the “Pain & Suffering” Tour can be found in the music of the bands: Stereomud’s current hit, “Pain”; Endo’s first single “Suffer,”; and “Make Me Suffer,” the first single from Spike 1000. Currently… Read more »
After five albums for Atlantic, Bad Religion is returning to Epitaph Records, the label owned by Brett Gurewitz, a founding member of the 21-year-old punk band. Gurewitz has also rejoined the band in a writing capacity, according to a source. Bad Religion recorded its first seven studio albums for Epitaph before signing to Atlantic in 1993; Gurewitz left the L.A.-based act in 1994 to focus on Epitaph, which was enjoying its first mainstream success with the Offspring’s “Smash.” The group is writing and recording material for its next album, but no release date has yet been targeted. Bad Religion recently… Read more »
One day Australia’s hottest new rock exports are opening for heavy metal heroes AC/DC, the next day they are sharing the bill with race horses. Bands that want to make it big sometimes have to swallow their pride. During the 1960s, rock acts appearing on Ed Sullivan’s prestigious TV variety show were squeezed in between chimpanzees and circus clowns. In 2001, Australian punk-rock trio the Living End recently played for several thousand fans at a Los Angeles racetrack. But their afternoon set was punctuated by a 10-minute break so the horses would not panic as they galloped past the makeshift… Read more »
Deryck Whibley has offered up an update on his health following a short stay in hospital with pneumonia, and he is ready to go!
Melissa Eastwick is a professional makeup artist to musicians in the industry having worked on the Grammys, music videos and photo shoots with clients including Shawn Mendez, Natalie Lafourdacade, Dave Grohl, Snoop Dog, Fifth Harmony, Michael Bolton, Offspring and hundreds more. Melissa talks about her move to Los Angeles and breaking into the makeup world straight out of MUD.
2018 saw a renaissance in the horror genre, in terms of story writing, that makes it a bit hard coming up with the best ten films.
