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Dec 03, 2010
PLUG’D IN The Hard-Rock'n Bi-Weekly Magazine We’re Santa's little music helpers
Inside This Issue- Impact: Exclusive Interview w/ Daniel Davison of Underoath, On Tour: Mike Martin of All That Remains, Joey Says: Interview w/ Joey Belladonna of Anthrax, This Is: The Sleeping, Dear Dead Abby, Business Spotlight: 1UP Collectibles, Funny Xmas Jokes, and much more!
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Upcoming Shows Dec. 10th - BIZARRE, KING GORDY AND FURY!! Also, DKB, K4AC, H8trid, D'RaNGD, Liggett, Lead Fly, Pigsticker tha G and Razor Blaze, Ticket $13 presale and $15 at the door, doors at 6:00! All Ages! Tickets available on Ticketmaster.com. Dec. 11th - ATLANTIC AVENUE, LIKE THE STARS, BREATHING BLUE, ME TALK PRETTY, SIX PENNY, CHASING THE UNKNOWN, OYSTER SHELL, All ages, $10 at the door! Doors at 6:30, show starts at 7!! Dec. 17th - NATIONAL RECORDING ARTIST TAPROOT!!! MODERN DAY ESCAPE, 20Til8, Fireborn, RVD - Rearview Destroyer, Midnight Decadence!! Tickets $13 presale and $15 at the door. Tickets available from bands or on Ticketmaster. All Ages, Doors at 6:30!! Dont miss this one peeps!! Jan 2nd - DREAMLAND PARK!! Thats right! I said it! Dreamland Park is hitting the stage for a show! Ace Augustine, Garmonia, From This We Rise, No Remorse for The Fallen, Oh! Rabbit! Rivers Of Nihil, and Days Of Waste! All Ages! $10 at the door!! Start the new year off right! Jan. 7th AFTER 3 AM, ITS A TRAP AND MORE TBA! ALL AGES, $10 AT THE DOOR! Jan. 14th - CHASING THE UNKNOWN, ENGINE PRESS, EIGHTH ARCANA, All Ages, $10 at the door! Jan. 21st - THRODL! CONFESSIONS OF A LIFETIME, 20Til8, AND TBA, ALL AGES, $10 AT THE DOOR!
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Impact: Daniel Davison of Underoath Interview and Photo by Liana Marie I can't express to you the appreciation I have for Underoath. They've been my absolute favorite band, for years. Despite the different line up changes, they have, and will always remain my favorite band. These extremely talented individuals have yet to disappoint me. Again, they brought a wild show, and their set was great! I had the pleasure to converse with their newest addition, Daniel Davison. He was a very friendly and interesting guy. He has accomplished so much; he's very talented, and I feel as if Underoath made another great choice making him a part of their band. I enjoyed the laughs and information we shared doing this interview. I hope you will enjoy it too. Here's what Daniel had to share with us... L.M. PI: How are you doing today, Daniel? D: I‟m doing good, just hanging out in Toledo, Ohio. PI: Would you mind naming each member, including yourself, and their role in your band? D: Yeah, sure! My name is Daniel Davison and I play the drums. Our singer‟s name is Spencer Chamberlain. James Smith is one of our guitar players. The other guitar player‟s name is Tim McTague. Our bass player‟s name is Grant Brandell. And our keyboard player‟s name is Chris Dudley. PI: Let‟s start out with the history of Daniel Davison...Where is it you were born and raised? D: I was born just outside of Atlanta. I also grew up there, about 20 minutes west of Atlanta, Georgia. PI: I understand that at an earlier time in your life you developed an appreciation for many types of art, one example specifically being photography... What ignited such an interest? D: I don‟t know. I‟ve always just been kind of drawn to different forms of art; photography being one of them. All throughout school, art class was always kind of my favorite class. Then, when I got into high school...I‟m thinking 9th grade, I took graphic arts and photography. I really liked my teachers in both of those classes. They encouraged me to explore the world of art and my ideas, as well as the different approaches each of those forms of art have. That‟s what set it off, mainly, my photography class in high school. (PI) That‟s actually what I‟m going to school for, currently. (D) That‟s awesome! I love it. (PI) As do I! PI: Could you tell us a little bit about your experience or history with art? Did you find your talent or interest in photography or other forms of art useful? D: Yeah! Yeah. Right around that same time that I was really getting into that, I had been playing music for a couple of years. Right around the time, I guess you could say it started to get more serious. So, I was constantly doing artwork for our band, making flyers, designing CD packages, making videos etc. I started doing all that. I also did a number of designs for the band(s); merchandise and CD layouts. It began to progress beyond photography as I started working with film and video. I shot, edited, and created a lot of video for my old band, “Norma Jean”, which we would use. We would use it as a projection at our shows or DVD menus. After I quit that band, I started a company doing music videos and design. S0 yes, it‟s partially been my job for the last couple years. PI: Do you still have the same love and appreciation for mixed media art, as you had years ago? Currently, do you still include those in your daily life? D: Yeah. I mean it‟s not something that I have a whole lot of time for, right now. But yeah, it‟s definitely something
that I‟m constantly thinking about. I‟m always writing down ideas that I‟d like to complete as some point. I‟m also still working with video, pretty consistently. PI: Around what age did you discover your interest in playing the drums? D: I must‟ve been about 13. Age 13, is when I actually started playing. I was interested at an even younger age, but, that is when I got the drum kit. I was around age 13; I was in 8th grade. PI: What inspired you to become so interested in playing this instrument? D: I just loved music. I was really into music. I loved the passion and energy you put into it. I thought it was a really powerful thing. Then, basically I just wanted to see if I could do it, you know? So, I got my first drum kit and started jammin„with friends. It later developed into starting a band. Eventually, all of that lead to touring etc. Now, here I am, over 10 years later and on tour.
07/16/10
PI: What would you say actually began your musical career? How did you get involved in the music business? D: A long time ago, through Facebook, MySpace, Twitter...when it was just starting to become used for bands and things like that. I would look up different bands and their websites. I mean, our band already played shows locally and around Atlanta. I would see what bands were going on tour then I would contact the venues that they were playing to see our band could jump on the shows. It ended up working a few times. So, we got to play shows with bigger bands. We continued doing that for a little while, and then we started touring. We toured around the Southeast. Eventually it began to expand, and we ended up doing a couple tours around the country. We didn‟t have a booking agent or management, so I just took care of all of that myself. I also book all of our shows and handled all the money and everything. So, I‟ve learned a lot through that. I kept doing that until we got so busy that I couldn‟t handle it anymore. We ended up hiring people to take care of that for us. It was a long process; it definitely didn‟t happen over night. But overall, I think it was a really good experience. It was a really cool process to be a part of. PI: You mentioned your former band, Norma Jean... Could you tell us a little about your past accomplishments and music projects, such as Norma Jean, before you joined Underoath? D: Yeah. Norma Jean was the main project that I was a part of. Basically, from the time I was about 14 until about 3 years ago, I‟ve been doing that. So, I was apart of that for about 10 years. That was the main band that I was in. We toured all over the world. I kind of grew up with Underoath. We played shows together; toured together, back in the day. So I‟ve known these guys for about 10 years. So, I did that. Then, I quit playing with Norma Jean, after recording about 4 records with them. I quit the band in 2007. I didn‟t really play music as much for the past 3 years, until the beginning of this year. In January of 2010, I started playing with a band called, “Colour Revolt.” They were one of my favorite bands. Their drummer ended up quitting. Through a few different people I ended up getting together with them. I finished writing a record as well as recorded a record with them back in February of this year, which came out this August. After we were done that record is when Underoath hit me up. I decided to work with them instead. PI: Is that how you and Underoath were actually brought together? D: Yeah. We‟ve been friends forever. We‟ve known each other since our bands were kind of first starting out. With me being from Atlanta, they were from Florida, so they were pretty close. We would play shows together pretty regularly, around the Southeast. Then, we‟ve come to touch over the years. I‟ve been friends with all of them but, Timmy and I kept touch pretty consistently over the last couple years.
PI: When did you officially join Underoath? D: I guess it was after...I came on and started playing with them back in April. We wrote the record together for April and May. Then, all of June and into the beginning of July we were in the studio recording the record. July-August I had my first tour with them, which was, “The Cool Tour.” That tour was with As I Lay Dying and some other bands over the summer. I guess it was when we were on that tour...there‟s really no specific date. I would say it was towards the end of that tour or right after that tour that it became “official.” ...So, around August, I would say. PI: You said you‟ve been friends with them so, I‟m sure that definitely plays a part...But how is it working with the rest of the guys? D: It‟s great. Everything‟s pretty smooth. PI: On November 9th 2010, you‟re latest album “Ø Disambiguation” was released... Is there any significance or meaning behind the title of this album? D: Yeah. And I‟m sure we all have our own interpretations of what the title means and what it means to us. But, first off, I just think it sounded really cool; it‟s a cool word. I also thought it made a lot of sense, with the changes that have gone on in the band recently as well as me being a new member and kind of taking on a new sound and a new direction. A lot of people are maybe worried...or kind of curious about what was going to happen. Disambiguation basically means to just put it all out there; hide nothing; tell it like it is. It‟s a statement saying, “This is who we are, right now.” “This is what Underoath is.” The way that the whole thing kind of came up was... the O slash symbol or, “Ø”, which Underoath has used as a logo for the last couple years.... Disambiguation happens to be one of the meanings of that symbol. It just all went together and made sense. PI: What are your opinions on this album? What you have changed anything or done anything differently? D: No, I love it! I love it the way it is.
PI: What is your favorite song to perform live? D: It would probably be track 06; “My Deteriorating Incline.” It‟s one of my favorite songs to play live, for sure. PI: Underoath recorded an official music video for “In Division”, off of your latest album... It looks like the process of creating this video was a lot of fun. (D) Yeah it was. (PI) Yeah, it‟s definitely a great video! ...At any point were you actually under water? D: Yeah. We were underwater a lot; as a lot of the video appeared to be underwater. All together, I‟d say we were underwater for about half of the time. There were basically 3 different set ups. The first set that we were performing it on started off dry but throughout the shoot they began dripping or pouring water into the set, over us. The second set up was half-way submerged in water, with our instruments all floating around. The last set up was completely submerged underwater. (PI) That was one of the things that really caught my interest or curiosity... I mean clearly you weren‟t playing your actual instruments...were you? (D) No. I mean we were sort of playing them, but not as we normally would. The guitars weren‟t plugged in or anything like that. (PI) Right. It didn‟t damage your equipment? (D) Yeah. It completely ruined it. But, it was a cheaper version; used specifically for the video. (PI) Okay, that makes sense. PI: Was the making of this video, “In division”, a long process? D: Yeah. It was about 2 full days worth of time we all put into it. PI: It just a moment... When I say”Go!” You‟re going to have 60 seconds to convince the world why they should buy “Ø Disambiguation.” PI: So, how has tour been so far? Have you been enjoying it? D: Yeah, it‟s been really good. It‟s been a great tour; a lot of good times. PI: ...And GO! D: We, Underoath, have just recorded and released a new record called, “Ø Disambiguation.” We put a lot of time and finishing into it; including spending countless days staying up until 3 am writing and practicing. We are really
happy with how it turned out. We spent 2 or 3 months writing and recording it as well as changing things and trashing things rewriting etc. I think the final product turned out really well. I‟m really proud of it. I‟m also really happy to be a part of it. I‟ve recorded about 5 or 6 different records over the last 10 years, and I think definitely I am most proud of this one. I think that if you are a fan of heavy music, and like something different than the normal “run of the mill-popular” heavy music, I think that this is a record that is worth listening to. PI: What can we expect from Underoath in the future? D: As of right now, I think we‟re just going to be touring a whole lot. We‟ll finish this tour, have some time off for Christmas, and then be starting a headlining tour in January. We‟ll be on this tour from January until March or late February. We will be bringing Thursday out on tour with us, as well as a couple of other bands. So, it should be a good tour. I think after that we will be doing a bunch of international touring. Beyond that, I‟m not really sure at the moment. Basically, touring and more records. PI: You‟ll be coming through Pa, correct? I hope so! D: Yeah. We will be playing Philly on that tour with Thursday. I believe we are playing at the Trocadero. (PI) Sweet! PI: Did you have anything else you would like to add or share with your fans? D: Thank you. Thanks to all the fans for their support! Pick up the new record, if you haven‟t checked it out yet. PI: Thanks so much for your time and giving us the chance to get Plug‟d In. I really appreciate it. D: Yeah, no problem! Thank you!
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Cyanide and Happiness Toon of the Week
Disclaimer: Cyanide and Happiness is property of Explosm.net. We are just supporting them cause they‟re funny as crap. Want to see more? Check out:
www.explosm.net/comics Top 10 Hard Rock Albums on Billboard.com 1) A Day To Remember– What Separates Me From You 2) Bon Jovi– Greatest Hits 3) Linkin Park– A Thousand Suns 4) Disturbed– Asylum 5) Alter Bridge– AB III 6) Underoath– O (Disambiguation) 7) Avenged Sevenfold– Nightmare 8) My Darkest Days– My Darkest Days 9) Jimi Hendrix– West Coast Seattle Boy 10) Five Finger Death Punch– War is the Answer
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Joey Says: Joey Belladonna of Anthrax Interview and Photo by Michael Demos A while ago we got a chance to catch the Jagermeister Music Tour in Scranton, Pa. featuring Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer. All around it was an amazing day and one of the highlights was when I got to sit down with Anthrax frontman Joey Belladonna. Joey is a great guy with so many stories...The man has seen it all and done it all. Here‟s what he had to say…..M.D. PI: Unofficial Stat: Oldest member out of the Big Four. You have been doing this for forever, and you‟re still doing it like its brand new, where do you get your energy from? JB: I don‟t know, it‟s the music that does it for me. I‟m in “full mode” each day. It‟s all about being around the fans and the environment each day. I grew up doing this. PI: You look fantastic. When these kids see you guys on stage its like their transported back to day one. How is it being back in Anthrax? JB: Its been awesome. Just like the old days for me. It‟s been very easy transforming into this whole thing again. It‟s not a problem. It‟s good to be back. We work well together and it‟s just a good vibe. PI: Through the years you have had some side projects like Belladonna and some solo stuff…what do you have currently going on yourself? JB: Right now I‟m about ¾ done on the new record. I have all my stuff up on ITunes now. I‟m having too much fun. I never plan on stopping. When Anthrax is doing something, I‟ll be there for that. PI: Speaking of Anthrax, what do you guys have in the works? JB: We‟ve got a record coming. We have one new tune done and ready to go. We are working on a second one. The music is mostly done; we just have to get the vocals finished up. We might have to change some arrangements or rewrite a few things; maybe take a second look at a couple of things. (PI) Any talk of a release date? (JB) Maybe late spring. It would be fairly tight to get it done by then. PI: This is going to be tough for you because you guys have played with everyone….If you could hand-pick a tour to be on, who would play with? JB: There‟s just too many to choose from. I could go into to many different genres and stuff. We like to make a mess when we do it. I don‟t really have any preference; I just take them as they come. The more I think about it, I could never really choose who I want to go out with, it just happens. Just like venues…we don‟t get to pick where were going to play, it‟s just whoever wants to buy the show. If it works out and you can go here or there, then you do it. A lot of people wonder why we might not come to a place. It has nothing to do with us. We don‟t get to pick and choose. PI: How is it different playing in Europe and large European festivals to playing here in the States? JB: Those overseas festivals have been so well received for so many years and so many people go to them! The capacities are quite large and some of them a 4 days long! A lot of them are tent type stages, just like this one (Scranton,
Pa.). It‟s quite the same with the backstage area. It doesn‟t really seem too different to me. Sometimes the atmosphere is a little different when you‟re overseas, but that‟s not to say that it isn‟t great over here. I guess it pretty much feels the same to me. The cool thing about playing here is we aren‟t too far from home. PI: Do you have a favorite venue or city to play in? JB: Not really. I love them all. We‟re going to Kentucky on this run and that‟s great with me. It‟s really cool to hit up different places. I love challenging new cities. I like to give them something they might not have expected. PI: looking over your career with Anthrax…Anything you would like to change if you could? JB: Maybe the downtime we had when we weren‟t together (laughs). It would have been nice to fill those years. It would have been nice to not have to go through the change. When I look back now it easy to see we do things well together. I guess it was something we had to try. PI: How has Metal changed since Anthrax started? JB: Of course record sales and the whole internet thing, record stores are smaller, radios different, all kinds of changes. Musically there are always cycles. Metal is coming right back around. We try not to get caught up in it, but there are cycles. We‟re thankful to be on this tour. We get a half hour to just have fun. It‟s great! PI: What are you currently listening to? JB: I listen to a lot of stuff. I like Sevendust right now. I listen to a bunch of stuff. (PI) Any non-metal stuff? (JB) I like Vertical Horizon. I don‟t listen to Lady Gaga though (laughs). I just cant get into that stuff. She‟s doing great business though. PI: Your song with Public Enemy was infamous. Any plans to do another crossover song with a Hip-Hop act? JB: You never know. That stuff just seems to work when it wants to. You can‟t put a timeline on it. PI: What‟s your favorite song to perform live? JB: Maybe “Indians”. I get to run around and get wild on that song. There‟s a lot of old-school stuff I like to do too. I like to do stuff that maybe they haven‟t heard before. We pull it out and they‟re like “Cool, that‟s a cool tune”. We are seeing a lot of new faces out here. PI: Joey, its been an honor and pleasure to sit down with you and have you give us a chance to get Plug‟d In. JB: Thank you. Killer!
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Dear Dead Abby Q: Thanksgiving was an absolute disaster at my house this year. Dinner was late, my family kept arguing, pretty much nothing went well. My problem is I‟m hosting Christmas dinner too. How do I avoid a repeat? B.P. A: Well, you can tell your family that their behavior was a disappointment. You worked hard all day to prepare a nice dinner for them and have a nice family get together, and you felt very disrespected by the way they behaved. Tell them you're not trying to hurt anyone's feelings, but they didn't consider yours. Tell them this had better not be a repeat. However, in saying this, prepare yourself for them to say things like, well you didn't have to cook, you didn't have to invite us, etc. People can be hostile on the defensive. Or, you could avoid saying anything and hope this one goes better, and if not, then say something. The problem cannot be fixed unless the problem is acknowledged. Q: My boyfriend plays in a band. I know there are lots of girls at his concerts. How do I find out if he‟s cheating on me? A.J. A: First things first.....being in a band, the girls will be there, throwing themselves at him because "OMG, he's in a band!" Like it's so cool or something. If you can't handle that, then get out. Second, he'll flirt with them. It's his job. That's what he signed up for. Get used to it. He doesn't have to be in a band to cheat. Any lowlife can cheat, seems like you're jumping the gun though. Do you have any reason to think he's cheating, or is it just that he's in a band? Q: My daughters Father is such a screw-up. He can‟t hold down a job. He does get her faithfully and does pay support, but he has no motivation to get any better or become something to try and offer her a better future. What can I do to get him to wake up and be more responsible? B.K. A: Nothing. If he's perfectly content working a dead end job, then that's his choice. If he's paying support and is in her life, then be grateful for that much. There are women wishing their child's father would pay support, or see their kids. Can't win them all. Be thankful for what you have. If he's young, maybe he just hasn't figured out what he wants to do with his life yet. Get some info on programs at colleges and tech schools, and financial aid info and pass it along to him. Just see how he reacts to it. Go from there. Q: My best friend has the absolute worst boyfriend. They are no good together. Any ideas on a good way to get them to break up? J.P. A: Mind your own business. If he's not beating her or cheating on her, just stay out of it. And if you do decide to stick your nose where it doesn't belong, better hope it doesn't get cut off. You risk losing your best friend if you involve yourself in trying to break them up. If she feels she needs to leave him, then she will, but it is her choice, not yours. Q: I want to have a 3some with my girlfriend but she says she‟s not into it. I know if she just tries it she would love it. How can I make this happen? M.G. A: Bullshit. You know she would love it? What makes you think your girlfriend is into sharing you with someone else? Would you like to see her with another guy? A threesome is simply a way to try to cheat somewhat honestly. Isn't your girlfriend enough for you? And don't give me that, it's a fantasy line.... Bottom line, a threesome is cheating no matter how you try to dress it up. Get over yourself. Be a man and be faithful to your girl. If you can't, then tell her, "I'm sorry, but I'm a gigantic ass and I want to fuck other people. You deserve better than me."
deardeadabby@centralpapluggedin.com
Jokes
We apologize if you found any of the jokes to be crude or offensive. We also apologize for you not having any sense of humor and for being so damn uptight. Jeez, they’re only jokes.
Reasons Why a Christmas Tree Is Better Than a Woman A Christmas tree doesn't care how many other Christmas trees you have had in the past. Christmas trees don't get mad if you use exotic electrical devices. A Christmas tree doesn't care if you have an artificial one in the closet. A Christmas tree doesn't get mad if you break one of its balls. You can feel a Christmas tree before you take it home. A Christmas tree doesn't get mad if you look up underneath it. When you are done with a Christmas tree you can throw it on the curb and have it hauled away. A Christmas tree doesn't get jealous around other Christmas trees. A Christmas tree doesn't care if you watch football all day. A Christmas tree doesn't get mad if you tie it up and throw it in the back of your pickup truck. Reasons Why a Christmas Tree is Better Than a Man A Christmas tree is always erect. Even small ones give satisfaction. A Christmas tree stays up for 12 days and nights. A Christmas tree always looks good - even with the lights on. A Christmas tree is always happy with its size. A Christmas tree has cute balls. A Christmas tree doesn't get mad if you break one of its balls. You can throw a Christmas tree out when it's past its 'sell by' date. You don't have to put up with a Christmas tree all year. Santa's Bad Day One particular Christmas season a long time ago, Santa was getting ready for is annual trip, but there were problems everywhere. Four of his elves got sick, and the trainee elves did not produce the toys as fast as the regular ones so Santa was beginning to feel the pressure of being behind schedule. Then Mrs. Claus told Santa that her mom was coming to visit. This stressed Santa even more. When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two had jumped the fence and were out, heaven knows where. More stress. Then when he began to load the sleigh one of the boards cracked, and the toy bag fell to the ground and scattered the toys. So, frustrated, Santa went into the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered that the elves had hidden the liquor, and there was nothing to drink. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider pot, and it broke into hundreds of little pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found that mice had eaten the straw end of the broom. Just then the doorbell rang, and irritable Santa trudged to the door. He opened the door, and there was a little angel with a great Christmas tree. The angel said, very cheerfully, "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't it a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?" Thus began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree. Why is Santa Claus always so happy? Because he knows where all the naughty girls live. What do you call people who are afraid of Santa Claus? Claustrophobic. Why was Santa's little helper depressed? Because he had low elf esteem. What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite. When you stop believing in Santa Claus is when you start getting clothes for Christmas.
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On Tour:
Mike Martin of All That Remains Interview and Photos by Liana Marie I had the pleasure to hang out in the not- so -green “Green room,” with Mike of All That Remains etc. A little later, Jeanne showed up. Mike and Jeanne were great company; a lot of fun to hang out with. It was a pleasure being able to sit down and get to know Mike, as well as the rest of his band at a more in- depth perspective. Here‟s what Mike had to share with us...L.M. PI: Would you mind starting out by naming each member and their role in the band? M: Wow, I never have to do that. Ok, yeah, Phil… do you want first and last names? PI: It doesn‟t matter. Just who they are and what they play. M: Phil is the singer, Jeanne is the bass player, Jason is the drummer, I‟m the guitar player and Oli is the other guitar player. PI: What inspired you to title your band All That Remains? M: That was Phil‟s idea, it sounded cool and it wasn‟t taken. That was the only reason. There‟s no deep meaning; he just thought it sounded cool and there was no copyright on it yet. PI: How did you guys come about, what factors got you together and brought you together as a band? M: The specific 5 people or just like the start of the band? PI: Just like how you guys ended up getting together, your band as it is now. M: The band that it is now is a serious process over the last 8-10 years now. Phil started this as a side project. He was demoing songs and writing songs with him and two other people. Then it turned into a full band, people quit, people got kicked out, people rejoined, quit again, people were on heroine. This is the first time we had two albums in a row with the same five people on it. M: Yeah, it‟s exciting. PI: How‟s touring going so far, other than the 10 interviews you had today? M: Besides today awesome. I was really hung over when I woke up and my friends are here, and I just wanted to get food, and my TM Mike is like, oh by the way, you have 7,000 phone interviews to do today, and my heads pounding and I‟m looking for a bathroom. No, the tour is awesome; it‟s long, really long. Its two tours in one -we did As I Lay Dying first and then this is the headliner. PI: What song would you say you enjoy performing live most? M: There‟s a new one- Some of the people, all the time. I love playing that... It‟s my latest favorite. PI: In what ways would you say your latest album differs from past albums, other than the songs? M: This one to me is less rushed. I think it came out better because we had more time. The last one I think it could have been better if we had more time. There‟ll be four weeks left and they‟ll say hurry up, you have to get on tour and just go ,go, go..I like it better personally. I think it‟s a better album as a whole.
PI: So would you say this is probably one of your favorite‟s or..? M: Yeah, this one and the Fall of Ideals are my favorite, I‟m the most happy with those two. PI: Do you write all your music or do all you guys have a part in writing your music? M: I do everything; no one else in the band has talent. I hope Ollie hears this interview. I write everything. No, noOllie writes the bulk of the music. Phil writes all the lyrics and melodies and that stuff. If Ollie was here right now he‟d be so uncomfortable with that answer. Because people would really believe that I write everything and that rumor would start flowing around, he‟d get so upset with me. Its fun to screw with him though…we put paper bags on his bunk. PI: You put paper bags on his bunk? M: He‟s so oblivious to the world, if it‟s not a guitar it just doesn‟t exist to him. He‟s the tallest dude in the band- he takes up the whole bunk on the bus. There‟s not much space for him to wrestle around in there and every time we see a plastic or paper bag we stick it on the feet of his bunk and just watch them crinkle and pile up; it‟s all just built up on in the corner of his bed. Like if I saw a bunch of paper bags on my bunk I‟d just take them and out throw them away, not him, they‟ve been there for a month, over a month. We‟re having so much fun like when they bring us tour rider stuff in their bags- we‟re like, oh bags...put them in the bunk. PI: Sounds like a blast. M: Oh yeah, it‟s awesome. PI: Can you briefly describe the music making process that you guys go through and how it works? M: Its‟ usually Ollie coming in with a couple guitar parts and then just we work off that. We‟ll just take two parts- Jason just plays whatever we think over that and builds off that. Nothing gets fully done until all of us are in the same room, at the same time. It usually starts off with Ollie coming in with a couple guitar parts. Then we all get in the room and put together the song, the music and finish that. We don‟t hear vocals at all until the studio. Phil is a crammer, he waits to the last minute. We‟re tracking vocals next week and he‟ll be like oh, maybe I should write some lyrics. He‟s a last minute guy. PI: I can be like that too sometime so I know how that works out. M: Yeah sometimes it‟s better under pressure. PI: What are your rehearsals generally like, do you guys practice at a set time each time of the week or do you…? M: When we‟re writing we‟ll do four or five a week. Other than that it‟s just five people fighting. Four people agree on a part, one person hates it; everyone gets pissed. Switch everything around- four other people like it, one person hates it… sit there and disagree for three months. Then finally at some point the album gets done. Phil a couple times just got up and left. He‟ll be sitting there and people will be disagreeing so much he‟ll just get up and go, “I‟m out of here..”. We‟ve been in a band together for a long time so some people‟s quirks…if your not in the mood one day, you can play a guitar part for them and they‟ll be like oh, I don‟t know, why don‟t you try doing this, and you‟ll say, “dude I‟m out of here, I hate your face”. PI: So how long have you guys been a band then? M: The band‟s been together for 12 years, it‟s just been a rotating cast. I‟ve in the band for 8yrs so I‟m one of the long time main-stay guys. Bass and drums have rotated in and out over the years. PI: How‟s your music evolved since the first time you played together? M: We learned how to write song; we started working with Adam on the 2nd album he kind of taught us how to write
songs. When we first started it was about showing off, back when you‟re twenty you just want to do anything that‟ll impress your friends, play as fast as possible or a rift and if wasn‟t difficult, it sucked. Adam taught us to write songs that people would remember without having to flash all the time. PI: What can we expect from All That Remains in the future? M: For next year just shows, we‟re going to tour all year. And hopefully more albums; none of us wants to work at subway. Just keep trying to do it as long as possible. PI: Can you guys get an hourly paid job; is it hard since you‟re away for so long to keep a steady job? M: When we go home or on break we don‟t get a job, this is enough, this is working fine for us now. For a while there we had to, Jeanie was at Dunkin Donuts and my parents had their own business while we we‟re doing, Fall of Ideals. Right now we don‟t have to which is good. We wouldn‟t get good jobs, we‟re not smart. PI: I‟m sure you‟d do just fine. M: No, that‟s what a lot of people would say, you‟d be surprised. If people with college degrees are having a hard time getting a job, I wouldn‟t want to see what would happen to me in the real world. I‟m scared to death of the real world. PI: Is there anything you‟d like to add or share with your fans? M: No. I always say go buy our albums and stop stealing music. Your favorite bands can‟t be your favorite bands when they can‟t afford to stay a band. Stop stealing music. PI: It must be tough to being away from home all the time, though I‟m sure you‟ve gotten used to it by now. M: I don‟t care so much of the home sick thing anymore. With us, we get sick of people always being around. When you wake up in the morning, you just want t use the bathroom and there‟s like eight people slamming on the door. Jeanne has to use the women‟s bathroom and the thing you do at these clubs- if there‟s no dressing room you go to the women‟s bathroom. And Jeanne walks in there and it‟s a guy shitting. PI: That about raps it up. It was a pleasure speaking with you. Thanks for giving a chance to get Plug‟d In. M: Thank you! Thank you for being the last interview as well.
www.allthatremainsonline.com
www.dineindie.com/bellybusters
www.therecordconnectionpa.com
Spotlight: 1
Up Collectibles
Spotlight by Michael Demos We truly believe that we have the best sponsors around and 1UP Collectibles in West Reading, Pa. is no exception. Store Owner Lee Umberger is extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and willing to go the extra mile for his customers. His motto is “If I don‟t have it in stock, ill get it for you”. Lee has more than just a comic book store; it‟s also a gathering place for his customers who enjoy weekly gaming session‟s in-store, as well as special event functions. 1UP collectibles is a 1 of a kind store. We sat down with owner Lee Umberger and here‟s what he had to say….M.D. PI: Can you give us a little background information on how you became the Owner of 1UP Collectibles? LU: It started a little over a year ago. We had been looking into opening a comic book shop. We had a website for online sales and a 4,000+ square foot warehouse. We then closed the online business and opened up the retail comic book store. Comics have always been a passion and hobby of mine. Later on that grew to include action figures, statues, and all the other cool things that come along with it. PI: Why did you pick West Reading, Pa. as your location? LU: We had done pretty extensive market research prior to choosing the West reading location. One of the biggest deciding factors was the traffic which graces Penn Ave. It‟s also a really nice shopping district where you can park your car, get out and walk, and enjoy your experience. It reminds me of Boston, MA. I‟ve always enjoyed Boston and when I go up there I like to walk and look at all the unique and different shops. It just felt like a good mix for the area. PI: What do you offer in 1UP Collectibles? LU: We offer a variety of things ranging from comic books, trade paperbacks, graphic novels, Halloween costumes (sold all year), theme t-shirts and apparel, action figures, and board games. We carry board games that you typically wouldn‟t find at your local Toys R Us. We have games like Halo Risk, Arkam Horror, Zombies, ect…We carry lots of action figures like Marvel, DC , and lots of others that you wont find @ Wal-Mart. We also carry lots of trading card games such as Magic the Gathering. PI: What are your plans for the future? LU: The future is really up in the air right now. At one point we had thought about getting into video games, which is still a possible option, but I think the next big thing on our horizon is expansion. We would like to open another location somewhere. It will all depend on the market we go into and that will dictate the product that we will carry. PI: How many different comic books do you offer? LU: On average we usually have about 258 unique titles in stock. Every Wednesday is new release day for comics and they will immediately go out for our customers. Occasionally we will get sneak previews from comic makers such as Marvel, Darkhorse, or IDW for screening purposes which the customers love. (PI) What are your biggest sellers right now? (LU) Our biggest seller across the board is Batman. There was a story about a year ago where batman was dead; turns out he was just lost in time and now he‟s made his way from the prehistoric age all the way back to modern day. Batman is easily our biggest seller.
PI: if you could set Batman up with an adversary (good or evil character) that would most equal him, who would it be and why? LU: I guess if I had to pick someone I would say Tony Stark (Iron Man). He has some of the same traits that Bruce Wayne (Batman) has. He also has the financial backing to do it. So, in my opinion Ironman would be a great match for Batman. (PI) Who is your favorite superhero or super-villain? (LU) My favorite superhero hands down is Batman. My favorite super-villain is The Joker. The Joker is crazy and unpredictable, he‟s fun, and he may or may not kill you. He‟s just a great bad guy. PI: You‟ve been a great supporter of Central Pa Plug‟d In Magazine… what are your tastes in music? LU: My tastes are all over the spectrum. I like music ranging from Disturbed to Godsmack to Coheed and Cambria. I even like some classical music as well. PI: Thank you for taking the time to sit down with us and giving us a chance to get Plug‟d In with 1UP Collectibles. LU: Thank you.
1 UP Collectibles 514 Penn Avenue West Reading, Pa. 19611 610-750-7915
www.1upcollectibles.com
www.shoo610.com
This Is: Interview w/ Doug and Sal of The Sleeping Interview and Photos by Liana Marie I got the chance to sit down and hang out with Doug of The Sleeping. The interview was going well, and then Sal joined in to spice it up a bit. They both were a lot of fun, and interviewing them was a good time. I always look forward to Sal's response; he really kept us entertained [Laughter] Here's what Sal and Doug of The Sleeping had to say...L.M. PI: Would you mind if we started out by naming each member and their role in the band? D: Yes. I‟m Douglas I sing for the band, I also play guitar on our new record. Paul Cadena plays guitar for The Sleeping. Sal Mignano plays bass. Joe Zizzo plays drums. Chris Evans plays keyboard, Theremin. PI: Great! So, what‟s the story behind The Sleeping? Where did the title of the band come from? D: About 7 years ago, when we started, we all had full-time jobs. I had just moved to New York to be a part of the band and start working with them full-time. A lot of the reason we call ourselves The Sleeping; it‟s kind‟ve an ode to people who fall asleep, in a sense and not living out their dreams. Kind‟ve like sitting behind cubicles and what not, watching life pass them by. We all pretty much quit everything that we were doing full-time to make this band our priority. So, The Sleeping was kind‟ve like a, “You can do it too, if you put your mind to it” kind‟ve vibe. PI: Years ago, when you were younger, did you imagine you would be where you are today? Did you have other plans for yourself? D: No, this is pretty much what I wanted to do. I remember...There‟s like a crazy long story behind me starting to play music, it‟s very weird. But, long story short... I got my first instrument when I begged for it at age 11. I told my mom that this is what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I wasn‟t going to go to school or anything like that. Here I am now, still doing it; 27 years old. Yeah, it‟s been cool. I‟m making a living so, it‟s pretty cool; a lot of fun. PI: How long have you all known each other? How did you meet? D: I tried out for the band. They were in a previous band. Sal and Joe were in a previous band called, “Sky Came falling” with our original guitar player who‟s no longer in the band. I started trying out, going back and fourth from New Jersey to New York. Eventually, I made the band. Then, I moved back to New York. The minute I tried out for them, they became like my family. Now, that‟s exactly what we are. We met through online; the internet. PI: What genre of music would you consider yourselves? D: I guess experimental rock. I mean, we‟re just a rock band that doesn‟t really cater to any type of scene or genre. We aren‟t really about things like that, we‟re more so about the music and writing what we want to write. We want to connect with people on a different type of level then just a certain style of music. It‟s more like a vibe and a depth. PI: Which one of your songs would you say you like performing live most? D: I don‟t know. I always get asked that and its kind‟ve hard for me to answer. To me, every song has a very differentplace in my life and a very different vibe. Even songs that I wrote while being bummed out, when I was younger, they‟re way more fun to play now or they‟re harder for me to play. That‟s kind‟ve where my heads at each show, and each moment of my life. A lot of our new songs, that we‟ve been playing, are definitely more exciting for me. It‟s exciting to play something new; and this is where my heads been at for awhile so getting to release those emotions and actually still be able to connect with them now, that‟s cool.
PI: Is there any band that you haven‟t played with that you would like to play with in the future? If so, who would that be? D: There are always different acts that we want to play with. [Outside conversation] This is Sal. Want to get in on this interview? (PI): Yeah, get in the interview! (S) Alright, maybe for a little. D: Yeah, ask Sal the question. (PI) Alright. So your name is Sal? (S) Salvatore. (PI) Okay and you play...(S) Bass in The Sleeping. (PI) Okay [Repeats question] (S) Out of the new ones? (PI) Yes. (S) It would probably be, “Young Vibes”; the single we just put out. PI: Is there any band(s) you haven‟t played with, that you would like to play with in the future? S: The Police. They‟re not really together, but they do a few shows here and there. We could probably figure it out. PI: If you were to put together your ultimate tour... What bands would you include? D: Oh man, I don‟t know. That‟s a hard question. It depends on what kind‟ve vibe we‟re going for. (S): It would probably be one of the tours we‟ve already done; Bayside, I Am The Avalanche, a bunch of friends‟ bands. I‟d have to really think about it but, we haven‟t toured with Bayside in a long time and they‟re really good friends of ours. (D) I agree 100%. You can always put together a dream tour or something, but I think the best part of touring is being with the people that you‟re closest with. Us, Bayside, and Avalanche, are bands that are tight and really fun to go out with. PI: What would you say your biggest challenge as a band has been? If you‟ve done so, how did you overcome that challenge? S: Biggest challenge? (D): Last night‟s drive. (S) I didn‟t even know we were coming. I just went to bed. (S) Biggest challenge... (D) I don‟t know... THESE ARE GOOD QUESTIONS! (S) Almost breaking up a million times because of running out of money, or almost breaking up because your van blows up and you don‟t have enough money to fix it...but you figure it out. S: I would say once a month, a big challenge pops up that you have to figure out. (D) And what helps you to overcome it, is that a week later you realized you fixed the problem even though you were like, “Great! This sucks...” Then, it‟s fixed and you‟re like, “OH! THAT‟S TIGHT!” (S) Pretty much... I‟m the strongest member in the band mentally, spiritually, and physically. In every aspect I‟m the strongest. So, I can pretty much hold this whole thing together by myself. (PI) WELL. It‟s good to have one of those! He‟s real confident...[Laughter] (D) He really is the glue that holds us all together. If it wasn‟t for him I‟d be rolling down the street half naked, and on crack. (PI) Oh. That‟s an interesting lifestyle! (D) KIDDING. (PI) Yeah, sure. Of course you are. (D) Well, not on crack but half naked. (PI) Right. PI: How would you say being in a band affects your personal life? S: Oh! It destroys it. You have NO personal life, at all. Being in a band, it totally destroys your personal life. You have no friends at home, because you‟re never home. You know, your girlfriend never really likes you, if you have one. (D) That‟s true. I disagree on the friend‟s thing. I think when you‟re home it makes hanging w/ your friends more memorable. (S) You have no family. Or they hate you because you never get to see them. (D) You definitely don‟t have family. (S) You don‟t have teachers anymore that talk to you about rough situations in life. Pretty much you have no... What was the question again? (PI) Personal life. (S) Oh yeah, personal life‟s fucked. You have no personal life. Especially if you‟re in a touring band. You live in a van, or in a bus if you‟re really cool (D) And you can Skype your friends... for like a week and then it gets old. THE END. [Laughter] (S) Basically, don‟t join a band. (PI) Don‟t join a band. Alright... that‟s a lesson well-learned. PI: If you could describe your band as a sitcom or television show, what would it be? Why? D: Honestly...(S) Oh my God. (D) Everyday...We‟ll have friends come out with us for a couple weeks or a week. We have crew members...Everyone‟s always like, “Yo. You guys honestly should have your own television show.” It never fails anyone...No matter who we‟re out with, “You guys should have your own T.V. show!” I don‟t know what it‟d be like but it probably either get really awesome ratings or it‟d be cancelled because people realize how fucked up people could be. (S) Probably because every member is bipolar and crazy so...We hate each other but we have to do this because it‟s the only thing we know how to do. So, basically we‟re fucked until the end. (PI) So, there‟s no show
you guys can really compare yourselves to? (D) Honestly...(S) Leave It To Beaver or Happy Days. (D) The Adams Family. (PI) The Adams Family? (D) The Adams Family on drugs. Yeah, that might be kind‟ve cool. PI: What are you guys currently listening to? D: There‟s like so much shit I‟ve been listening to, a lot. (PI) Mainly, what are you listening to? What stands out? (D) I listen to a lot of Fiona Apple. I also listen to a band called, “Falls.” They have a new record out and it‟s definitely one of my favorites. Old or new, anything that I feel...eh whatever I‟m going to get all deep...But yeah, I listen to fucking crazy shit YO! Sal, what about you? (S) You listen to a lot when you drive for hours. (D) We listen to comedy...(S) I like the new Phoenix record although it has gotten kind‟ve played out now. It‟s still good, though. What else? I don‟t know. (D) Deftones, Block Party, Arctic Monkeys, Bjork, At The Drive In, comedy etc. PI: Would you say you have an specific musical inspirations or influences? If so, what would they be? D: The band collectively has certain aspects of bands that we like. I think that what makes us our band is we all pull different influences. It is more of what we create rather than what we think...You know what I mean? (PI) Yeah. (D) so, it‟s hard to actually say who we‟re influences by because there are a lot of people. But, we don‟t try to bite it. We aren‟t like, “Oh that sounds like that, keep going...” We‟ll just jam for a couple hours and be like, “Oh shit. We made something cool. It‟s kind‟ve one of those. (S) Because of the way we write; we jam and shit. A lot of times, it‟s really just the way we feel at the time. It just comes out, and we don‟t know why. [Laughter] We can‟t figure it out. PI: What advice would you give to those out there looking to start or be in a band as successful as yourselves? D: Stop. Stop it. (S) No, I got one. (PI) Great. [Laughter] I‟m always looking forward to what you‟re going to say. (D) There‟s always different ways to give advice. There are so many bands with guys who are just being in bands to look cool. My advice for them is like, “Leave me alone.” But then there are bands that do it for the right reasons. Nothing comes easy; you have to tour your ass off. You have to actually give a shit about what you‟re doing, rather than just trying to get on the hottest show in your town and trying to look cool as fuck and shit. (S) AND YOU‟RE ALWAYS DEALING WITH IT. Always dealing with bullshit. But then when you finally play, it‟s worth it. I‟m stoked for that 30 minutes and then everything sucks again. (D) Yeah, then you‟re all sweating and you go in the van; you get Pneumonia and someone‟s boxers are on the seat your head‟s on. We‟re really not that miserable [laughter]. We just want to fuck with you. PI: Alright. So, what can we expect from you and the rest of your band in the future? S: Touring. (D) Yeah, we have a tour lined up right now. We have a tour with Finger Eleven for about 2 weeks. Then, we have our headliner which is “The Big Deep Tour.” After “The Big Deep Tour” we‟re possibly going back to the UK and Europe etc. (S) The headliner is very important... (D) Yeah. (S) We haven‟t done a headliner in a long time, and we‟re doing one on this record so we‟re stoked about it. PI: Awesome! Did you have any last words? Anything else you would like to share with us? S: For every cloudy day... (D) ....the sun is shining. Grab my hand and I‟ll take yours into the future of love. You can follow The Sleeping on Twitter at The Sleeping NY and you can go to facebook.com/TheSleeping. Check out our new video four our single, “Young Vibes.” Don‟t forget to buy our new record The Big Deep! D: *Kisses Recorder*
www.thesleeping.com
From The Throne of The Rock God Rants, Raves, Reviews, and news for the Minions Well, we reached another milestone in Plug‟d In history last issue...We hit our 20th issue! So you know what that means...our 1 year anniversary is right around the corner. Only 5 more issues, after this one, and we will hit the 1 year mark. Not too shabby if I say so myself. Its been a lot of work getting this far, and we aren't done yet. We are lining up lots more exclusive interviews with the biggest National bands to come through the area. We are continually improving our website to give you all of the features that you have been asking for. Everyday we are focusing on making changes to keep your Plug‟d In experience the best it can be. One thing that has been helpful in our growth is your feedback. We welcome your support, criticism, and comments. We try to keep our ear to the ground to give you exactly what you want. Its not easy being a small budget, bi-weekly publication. We struggle all the time with deadlines, issue size, and content relativity. Each issue is a challenge in itself and no one is more relieved than us when it comes together. We love what we do and our readers are the reason we do it. Please keep the support coming and until next time…..
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www.centralpapluggedin.com Special thanks to all the following for making this issue happen: Without you...well, we just would have had to work a little harder.
The Reading Tattoo Co, Shoo, American Heroes, Belly Busters, 1Up Collectibles, Its All The rage Hair Designs, Vertical Pole Fitness, Pottstown Tattoo Co, Gotham City Tattoo, The Last Level, Pocket Aces Skate Shop, Crocodile Rock Café, Michael Demos, Liana Marie, Curt Ridall, Nicole Marie, Nicolle Stella, Justin Ernst, Sol Santiago, Vikki Sin, Dan Clark, Bandi Budwash, Designs By Your Arsonist, Roadrunner Records, Century Media, W.M.G., Victory Records, Facedown Records, Fearless Records, Metal Blade records, E1, Hollywood Records, Disney, Solid State Records, DRP Records, and all the amazing National and Local bands we‟ve had the privilege to work with.
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