(Un)Covered: This is Halloween
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song and listen to this Panic! at the Disco cover.
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song and listen to this Panic! at the Disco cover.
Photo Credit: Graham Fielder for Alternative Press Over the course of the last week, my life has been all about the Alternative Press Music Awards 2nd year celebration. It’s been filled with good friends, new friends, old heroes that have become friends, and a lot of tequila. But, before the reunions, the hugs, and even before the tequila, I got to go to the grand opening of the Alternative Press Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Exhibit. It was the single most humbling experience of my APMAs week, and I couldn’t be more proud of the promises it… Read more »
The pressure had been building up behind the scenes for longer than most music fans realized. But when the teen-pop explosion burst onto the charts in early 1999 it felt like the music world had been blindsided overnight by a flood of squeaky-clean acts who would dominate the charts for years to come. And in some cases, those ripples are still being felt today. It’s hard to believe it now, but over the course of a few months between late 1998 and early 1999, radio and MTV were inundated with the debuts and breakthroughs from Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, ‘NSYNC,… Read more »
For the typically rowdy rock band on the road, “scoring” might not necessarily have anything to do with film music. Yet over the last couple of decades of making music, a number of rock talents have made the career leap from arenas to scoring stages, and the ranks of today’s A-list composers include many with rock ‘n’ roll pedigrees. Randy Newman had a successful career as a songwriter and solo artist; Mark Mothersbaugh was a founder of Devo; and Danny Elfman started out in Oingo Boingo (a band that also included future composers Steve Bartek and Richard Gibbs). Trevor Rabin… Read more »
‘It will be quite awhile before there’s another My Chemical Romance album,’ front man says at Comic-Con 2007. My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way has always loved comic books. His first job, in high school, was at a local comic book shop in New Jersey. He didn’t actually collect a paycheck each week – his compensation came in the form of free comic books. He idolized the likes of Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, Frank Miller and Grant Morrison. Long before the band was formed, Way attended the School of Visual Arts in New York, where he majored in illustration and cartooning.… Read more »
Times are tough for the bangs-‘n’-guyliner set. Leading practitioners Marilyn Manson and My Chemical Romance are feuding, everyone is being labeled “emo” (and subsequently besieged by laughably uninformed nightly news reports), and Pete Wentz is dating Jessica Simpson’s sister. And now, as if things couldn’t get any worse, spooky-ooky outlet Hot Topic is ditching “dark and foreboding” for “lighter and brighter” in an attempt to halt a three-year slide in sales. “The desire is not to make the store ‘not gothic-y,’ it’s merely to reflect what’s going on in the music scene. Our store design has always reflected the music… Read more »
New York – Tennessee-based rock act Kings Of Leon will hit the road in North America later this month in support of its upcoming sophomore album, “Aha Shake Heartbreak.” Released last November in Europe, where the act is hugely popular, the RCA set is due Feb. 22 in the United States. Kings of Leon will be in Park City, Utah, on Friday (Jan. 21) playing an ASCAP-sponsored showcase at the Sundance Film Festival. A handful of other West Coast dates will follow before the band heads to Japan for the Sonicmania Festival, which will also feature Good Charlotte, Marilyn Manson,… Read more »
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A small memorial started by a handful of fans blossomed into an outpouring of grief and celebration Thursday, less than 24 hours after the shocking slayings at the Alrosa Villa club where Pantera/ Damageplan guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and three others were killed. Despite the rain and cold temperature, hundreds of fans gathered outside the weathered metal club to pay homage to their hero. They erected makeshift crosses, laid yellow roses in honor of Abbott’s Texas roots and burned candles in his honor, but mostly they shared stories, asked each other why anyone would do such a… Read more »
New York – San Diego veteran rockers, Unwritten Law return to the limelight with Here’s To The Mourning, the band’s long-awaited, new studio album which is scheduled for release on Lava Records February, 2005. Considered by many to be one of the founding fathers of the Southern California punk/skate scene, Unwritten Law continue to push the envelope while maintaining their credibility as one of the most successful bands to break out of the late 90’s SoCal arena. The band’s new album is undoubtedly one of the most highly anticipated, pure rock n’ roll records to be released in the New… Read more »
Despite more than ten years difference in age, fellow Canadians Chantal Kreviazuk and Avril Lavigne formed a relationship of mutual respect and sisterhood – and become songwriting partners – after they met last summer. “We became really good friends, and no one knew we were writing together,” says Lavigne. “Every single night for two weeks, we would write a new song. And then I was like, ‘OK, I’m ready to record them.’” The pair co-wrote six songs on Lavigne’s forthcoming album, Under My Skin (due May 25th): “Slipped Away,” “Forgotten,” “Together,” “How Does It Feel,” “He Wasn’t” and “Who Knows.”… Read more »