Search Results for: rise records

Even the most heartbroken among us would benefit from distancing themselves from the pain every once in a while. For Tyson Ritter, a reprieve from his songwriting muse helped make “The Last Song” such a pleasure to pen. “I got inspired to write something that wasn’t about an all-girl topic,” the All-American Rejects singer/bassist said. “Every other song [on the band’s self-titled debut] is about one girl, so to put a song on the album that wasn’t about her, that made it a little extra special.” The second single off The All-American Rejects is one of Ritter’s favorite tracks, inspirational… Read more »

Double duty wasn’t necessarily what new Voivod member (and recently announced Ozzy Osbourne bassist) Jason Newsted had in mind when he left Metallica over two years ago, but that’s exactly what he’ll be doing this summer as Voivod and Ozzy play Ozzfest 2003. Despite the need for two sets of everything (clothes, amps, etc.), Newsted tells Billboard.com that he’s up for the challenge. “I’m definitely looking forward to it,” he says. “I know it is going to be a lot of work, but it is something that you can’t let pass you by. Now, I have one foot into the… Read more »

In a pairing that would alter the architecture of the music business, Apple Computer Inc. is in talks with Vivendi Universal to buy Universal Music Group, the world’s largest record company, for as much as $6 billion, sources said. Such a seemingly unlikely combination would instantly make technology guru Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder and chief executive, the most powerful player in the record industry. Universal, which reaps about $6 billion in sales annually from artists such as 50 Cent, Shania Twain, U2 and Luciano Pavarotti, would be controlled by a maverick who revolutionized the computer market and coined the mantra… Read more »

When Britney Spears drops her new album this fall, don’t be surprised to find a little reminder of her relationship with Fred Durst. The Limp Bizkit frontman is among the producers working on Spears’ as-yet-untitled new album, due in October, according to a Jive Records spokesperson. Durst has produced one unnamed track thus far, but it – as well as everything else that has been done for the follow-up to 2001’s Britney – is not guaranteed to wind up on Spears’ fourth LP. Durst found time to helm the Spears tune while working on Limp Bizkit’s new album, tentatively titled… Read more »

Hilary Rosen, who led the music industry’s fight against online piracy, turning an obscure trade group into a major player in the debate over copyright protection, said Wednesday she will quit as chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America. Rosen, who will resign by year-end after 17 years with the RIAA, led the group recently in victorious copyright infringement battles against Napster and Aimster and this week’s judgment against Verizon Communications to stem piracy on the Internet. But despite the wins on the legal front, the music industry finds itself entrenched in one of its most tumultuous periods,… Read more »

Alien Ant Farm will take the stage Saturday for the first time since a bus accident in May left singer Dryden Mitchell with a broken back and injured the rest of his bandmates. The group will perform at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California, as part of manufacturer Drum Workshop’s annual Drum Day L.A. benefit. Mitchell said the set won’t be a typical Alien Ant Farm show, since it’s really drummer Mike Cosgrove’s day in the spotlight, so they’ll likely jam and play songs that contain challenging time signatures. Although he made a surprise appearance with 311 on… Read more »

Just because the Goo Goo Dolls’ John Rzeznik has made the move into soundtrack songwriting-a genre popularized in recent years by such artists as Randy Newman, Elton John (news), and Phil Collins (news)-it doesn’t mean he changed his ways. Rzeznik says that he made that clear when he was first approached by producers to write what became “I’m Still Here (Jim’s Theme),” the key song from the soundtrack to Treasure Planet. “They called me and, you know, at first I was a little apprehensive about it because I was, like, ‘You know, I can’t write show tunes and I won’t.’… Read more »

The White Stripes will hit the dead leaves and dirty ground of New York’s Union Square on Tuesday to play a free show. The noon performance is the latest in a series of guerilla concerts staged by Nissan. Train played the first gig, in St. Louis on September 17, followed by Pink in Chicago, Eve in Philadelphia, Dashboard Confessional in Boston, Enrique Iglesias in Brooklyn and Cheap Trick in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Additional free shows will continue in other cities, a spokesperson for the concert series said. After Tuesday’s free show, Detroit duo Jack and Meg White only have two… Read more »

If music school grades are a barometer of success, John Mayer should be living under a bridge busking for nickels. During an abbreviated tenure at Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 1998, the now platinum singer/songwriter found himself out of his element and overwhelmed. He had no formal musical training and his class marks reflected his lack of preparation. “They were pronounced like ‘d-d-d-f-f-f-f-f ‘ – like static,” he said of his grades during an interview in New York’s Central Park. “So I had to kind of totally burn that bridge because I didn’t know what I was doing. But… Read more »

If the Hives are the first offensive in a Swedish rock invasion, then In Flames were the early reconnaissance team, quietly spreading their supercharged melodic death metal in whatever North American clubs would take them. Reroute to Remain, In Flames’ fifth album, is their latest missive, an album that’s heavy and pummeling yet accessible enough to potentially crack the limiting ceiling of the extreme underground. And if that happens, in a way, they’ll have Slipknot to thank for it. “We met Slipknot in Italy a couple of years ago,” vocalist Anders Friden relayed from a Detroit dressing room. “We just… Read more »