Interviews
Q&A: Default
Recently, Jamie McGrath sat down with the lead singer of Canadien alternative rock band Default, Dallas Smith. They discussed touring, the state of the music industry and Default’s latest album, Comes and Goes.
LISTEN
Recently, Jamie McGrath sat down with the lead singer of Canadien alternative rock band Default, Dallas Smith. They discussed touring, the state of the music industry and Default’s latest album, Comes and Goes.
The history of rock is full of “Eureka!” flashes of brilliance. Chuck Berry had the idea to fuse country with the blues. Bob Dylan took folk music electric. Nikki Sixx realized that the line “I’d say we’ve kicked some ass” could rhyme with “I’d say we’re still kickin’ ass.” For the Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner, the big light bulb idea came in 2005: Get huge by thinking small. Write scrappy little Brit-punk tunes about the humdrum town you’re stuck in, the pissy little pubs you can’t get into, the local girls who aren’t desperate enough to dance with you. Give… Read more »
Alice in Chains has signed with Virgin Records and will release its first album with new singer William DuVall, the Los Angeles Times reports. “I can tell you that some amazing songs were written and recorded. From the heaviest riff-dripping gut puncher to the most sadly beautiful song I think this band has ever recorded, I honestly believe that this album will return Alice in Chains to the top of the hard rock heap,” a post on the band’s official Web site reads. Earlier this month Alice in Chains revealed they had completed recording the new album. “Hopefully these new… Read more »
If you can stomach it, check out the sneak preview of Osbournes: Reloaded, the Osbourne family’s return to television, above. Instead of showing the fascinating inner-workings of rock’s most bizarre family like MTV’s The Osbournes, this time Ozzy, Sharon, Jack and Kelly are the hosts of their own variety show, a mix of pranks, comedy skits and musical performances with hopefully lots and lots of commercials in between. We don’t watch Howie Mandel’s prank show Howie Do It, but we imagine it’s probably similar to this Osbourne debacle. In one sketch, Ozzy Osbourne plays the role of manning the drive-thru… Read more »
Motley Crue is taking a page from the Ozzy Osbourne playbook by launching its own touring hard-rock festival, the band said on Tuesday. Crue Fest, whose roster also includes Grammy-nominated acts Buckcherry and Papa Roach, will kick off in West Palm Beach, Fla., on July 1, and take in 41 cities across United States and Canada. The amphitheater trek will help the band promote its autobiographical new album “Saints of Los Angeles,” which is due in stores on June 17. Singer Vince Neil, bass player Nikki Sixx, guitarist Mick Mars and drummer Tommy Lee performed the title track, as well… Read more »
Early in July, Rusty Shaffer, the founder of Optek, a small music company in Reno, Nev., visited Salon’s offices to show me his invention, the Fretlight guitar. Though it looks and feels like a standard, rock ‘n’ roll-ready instrument, the Fretlight contains a set of LEDs invisibly embedded inside its fretboard — connect the guitar to a computer and the lights spark up to indicate where to put your fingers in order to play a chord. Shaffer is certain that his guitar is a great leap forward for the normally tech-averse guitar industry; the Fretlight, he says, will transform guitar… Read more »
Ozzy Osbourne was treated at a Denver hospital for “a minor outpatient procedure” over the weekend before flying to the next stop on his latest tour, his management company said on Sunday. His ailment was not disclosed, but NBC affiliate KUSA-TV reported on its Web site that Osbourne underwent surgery for a blood clot on Saturday night following a show. He had complained of leg pain for most of the day, KUSA said. A spokesman for the 58-year-old musician did not immediately reply to an email seeking more information. A statement from Osbourne’s management read: “Ozzy Osbourne had a minor… Read more »
2007 is off to a great start for Pepper! Once again these Island boys are gearing up for a two month national tour which kicks off February 14th in San Diego with the Mad Caddies. Pepper has been celebrating the attention from their latest album release No Shame on Atlantic/East West Records. Pepper mixes influences like Nirvana with the likes of Bad Brains and Black Sabbath, creating some of the best “kick back, sunny side, back side, grinding mellow guitar picking, cool wave riding sounds” around. The first single “No Control” continues to climb the Alternative Rock charts. Since its… Read more »
In one of the most unusual summer-tour pairings in recent memory, the Ozzfest Web site announced Monday night that there will be one final act added to this year’s second-stage lineup: actress Jada Pinkett Smith’s rock group, Wicked Wisdom. The addition of the Christian-leaning rock-and-soul hybrid to a summer touring package that boasts ferocious metal merchants like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Shadows Fall, Mudvayne, In Flames and the Black Dahlia Murder is unexpected, to say the least. Wicked Wisdom is an Evanescense-esque act that Pinkett Smith, the band’s frontperson and the wife of actor/rapper Will Smith, has said is influenced… Read more »
After weeks of speculation about who would be sharing the Ozzfest stage this summer with Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Shadows Fall and Zakk Wylde’s Black Label Society, the big secret’s finally out: Heavy metal quartet Mudvayne have been named the final mainstage act. A photo of the band was posted Monday morning (April 4) on the Ozzfest 2005 Web site, replacing the ominous band silhouette and large white question mark that appeared in that mystery spot ever since the roster was announced just a few weeks ago. There had been much speculation since the initial Ozzfest 2005 announcement concerning who… Read more »
