Search Results for: say anything

If his bubble burst and all else failed, Benji Madden is sure there’d be more than a few regular jobs waiting for him. Flipping burgers, working in department stores, tending cash registers, living in small towns. That’s what Madden and his Good Charlotte bandmates were used to before rock stardom. “One thing I never worry about is money. Because I have my health and my family and I can always go back to work,” Benji said. “We’ve all had a million day jobs,” the 25-year-old guitarist/vocalist said during an interview at a Manhattan hotel. “We got by fine then. If… Read more »

OCTOBER 26, 2073 – Sixty-nine years to the day after multi-platinum punks Simple Plan released their sophomore album and mega-hit Still Not Getting Any, the now-defunct band plans a reunion tour buoyed by the unwavering obsession with their #1 website www.stillnotgettingany.com The website has fast become the #1 dating website in America for the post-pc generation of self-described “Old People.” The members of the band, none of whom ever married, now reside at the Shady Hills Retirement Community in Bustalottachops, FL. The handsome gents were perhaps best known for their infectious brand of pop-punk in the early new millennium. With… Read more »

Renee Gilinger was on Philadelphia’s South Street recently asking the youthful, jeans-and-T-shirt crowd waiting in line for a heavy-metal concert, “Are you planning to vote?” Gilinger’s outreach is part of what is shaping up to be the nation’s biggest and most expensive effort ever to get out the youth vote. “It’s crazy to ignore this constituency,” said Gilinger, Pennsylvania director for the Young Voter Alliance, a coalition of Democratic and Independent groups working to register young people in five swing-vote states, including Pennsylvania. “I got names and contact information for 40 to 50 people,” she said. “That’s 40 to 50… Read more »

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Up until that point, my interview with two-fifths of Temecula, California’s Finch was going rather smoothly. That is, of course, until I mentioned the “E” word. Suddenly, I struck a nerve. “We’re not ‘emo’,” says guitarist Randy Strohmeyer wearily. “People can call us whatever they want to help them identify with the music because when it comes down to it, it’s just the music anyway.” He pauses for a moment, before adding: “But if you ask us, we don’t really care. We don’t call ourselves anything besides a rock band because our… Read more »

There’s a reason Hoobastank’s next video seems a lot like their last one: The band is going in the same direction for the follow-up, so much so that the new clip will act as both a prequel and a sequel. Thanks to nonlinear storytelling, “Same Direction” will make “The Reason” seem as though it should be sandwiched inside the tale told in the new video, which establishes what happened before “The Reason” and reveals what happens afterward, with just as many twists as its predecessor. In “The Reason,” the bandmembers stage a diversion so they can carry out the elaborate… Read more »

Record labels have historically invested significant financial resources toward new acts’ touring efforts, whether it be $20,000 for a regional van trek or $200,000 for a national bus outing. But in today’s world of shrinking revenue and tight budgets, tour support funds – though almost always recoupable against album sales – are becoming harder to come by. “There’s not as much money at any level, whether it’s signing bonuses, (recording) albums, tour support or anything else,” says Tim DuBois, senior partner of Nashville-based record label Universal South, home of such ascts as Pat Green and Joe Nichols. “But even in… Read more »

Industrial vets’ “Houses” targets White House So claims Al Jourgensen, frontman for the legendary industrial-metal band Ministry. And he’s not lying. The group’s new record, Houses of the Molé (released today), is a nine-track assault on everything George W. Bush, from the straight-talking, thrashy opening track “No W” all the way through the brooding, artsy finale “Worm.” Even the album title is a slap at the Oval Office. “We like tipping our hits to classic rock, so why not [Led Zeppelin’s] Houses of the Holy?” says Jourgensen, laughing. “Besides, I live in Texas, and molé is a way of life… Read more »

The Van Halen reunion is looking to be one of the biggest tours of the summer. It marks the first time in almost a decade that Eddie Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar have graced the same stage. “It just felt right,” drummer Alex Van Halen says. “Sammy and I got together, and it was like we hadn’t missed a beat. The moment we hit the studio and started making music, that was it. Making music is what is the center of this band – that and the friendship.” The tour, which kicks off Friday in… Read more »

With a new album dropping in June and a summer concert schedule in place, all seemed normal enough in the Phish camp as this week began. But the group shocked fans Tuesday with the announcement that it will break up following a two-day festival in Coventry, Vermont, on August 14-15. Frontman/guitarist Trey Anastasio wrote on the band’s Web site, “We all love and respect Phish and the Phish audience far too much to stand by and allow it to drag on beyond the point of vibrancy and health. We don’t want to become caricatures of ourselves or, worse yet, a… Read more »

When a pop artist leaves the shelter of a major-label nest, the stark reality of being on one’s own can be a sobering experience. But learning to fly solo can also bring tremendous rewards. Although many rock artists have self-released their music after leaving the major-label fold, most pop artists are so dependent on radio play that they have often sought the deep pockets of another major or a large indie label to foot the bill. But several acts – including Evan & Jaron, Sophie B. Hawkins and Alana Davisare forging their own path. Former Columbia duo Evan & Jaron… Read more »