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Feb 12, 2011
PLUG’D IN The Hard-Rock'n Bi-Weekly Magazine Its our 1st Birthday Bitches!!
We’re spending our 1st Birthday with Cradle of Filth, In This Moment, and Silverstein! Inside This Issue:
Impact: Paul Allender of Cradle of Filth, On Tour: Shane of Silverstein, This Is: Chris Howorth of In This Moment, Plug’d In Features: The Curse of Sorrow, Spotlight on: Pocket Aces Skate Shop, Dear Dead Abby, and much more!
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Upcoming Shows Feb. 19th - THE LAST REMARK, AURORAS, SIX PENNY, HEADSTONE 118, OVER NOTHING! ALL AGES, $10 AT THE DOOR! March 6th - ACE AUGUSTINE, AARON CHARLES, SUCKERPUNCH, LEGIONS, BEARTRAP, INTO THE DEPTHS, SAVE THE ZOMBIES!! ALL AGES! $10 AT THE DOOR! DOORS AT 4:30!! March 12th - March 18th - AFTER 3 AM UNITED WE FALL AND MORE TBA! ALL AGES! $10 AT THE DOOR! March 14th - LIQUID ASSASSINS, LORD MALICE, FREELANCE ASSASSINS, WHITNEY PAYTON, KAHNVICT, PIGSTICKER THA G W/ RAZOR BLAZE, OPTIMUS, BeEezy, SHAMOO, SYDE PROJEKT!!!! TICKETS $10, $12 AT THE DOOR, ALL AGES!! DON'T MISS THIS! March 18th - A SCENT LIKE WOLVES CD RELEASE SHOW!! MORE TBA! ALL AGES, $10 AT THE DOOR! March 19th - TORN!! CHASING THE UNKNOWN, SECTION 8 AND JONATHAN A ANDRUS! ALL AGES, $10 AT THE DOOR! March 25th - NO REMORSE FOR THE FALLEN CD RELEASE SHOW!! SEVEN YEAR EXISTENCE, DYING EUFORIA, FROM THIS WE RISE, OF THE NINTH CIRCLE AND EXODIA!! ALL AGES! $10 AT THE DOOR!! DOORS AT 6:30!! April 1st - TOKKS FAREWELL SHOW... FOR NOW! DEM KORRUPT BOYZ FEATURING T.O.N.E.Z., H8TRID, PHATAL, R.E.G, 7TH LAYER, THE UNSTABLE MINDS, THE PUMPKIN KING, K4AC, OPTIMUS, B-FRESH, SNIPER, THE REAL CHAOS!! TIX $10!! ALL AGES! DOORS AT 5!! April 8th - HALF ANGEL AND MORE TBA! ALL AGES, $10 AT THE DOOR! April 10th - THE WORLD WE KNEW, FAREWELL TO FREEWAY, RIVERS OF NIHIL, INVARIANCE, AS CITIES FALL, HELL OR HIGHWATER AND CONTENTS OF A DEADMAN, TIX $10, DOS $12, ALL AGES, DOORS AT 5:30, SHOW STARTS AT 6!!
April 29th - THRODL, OF THE NINTH CIRCLE, CONFESSIONS OF A LIFETIME, 20TIL8 AND BODIES IN THE LAKE!! ALL AGES, $10 AT THE DOOR!
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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) Red– Until We Have Faces 2) Bon Jovi– Greatest Hits 3) Linkin Park– A Thousand Suns 4) Avenged Sevenfold– Nightmare 5) Disturbed– Asylum 6) Hinder– All American Nightmare 7) Five Finger Death Punch– War is the Answer 8) My Darkest Days– My Darkest Days 9) Linkin Park– A.T.S. Puerto de Alcala 10) Shinedown– The Sound Of Madness
07/16/10
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Impact: Paul Allender of
Cradle of Filth Interview by Nicole Stella Cradle of Filth is one band I have been looking forward to seeing for quite some time now. They are known for their graphic merchandise, theatrical performances and Dani Filth‟s high notes. I was fortunate enough to speak with Paul Allender to ask him some questions about his band, as well as some personal questions. He called while in Europe and informed me that he had just gotten over being sick and was just starting to get his voice back, but even with both of those circumstances; he still called and gave an absolutely amazing interview. I think that his cheerful personality and thick British accent made this my favorite interview to date. Cradle of Filth will be playing at the Trocadero in Philadelphia on Wednesday, March 2nd, so hopefully I will see all of you there! N.S. PI: Paul, you haven‟t toured in North America since 2009. Are you excited to come back and play here? Paul: Oh yeah, of course, without a doubt. It‟s going to be good. We always have a lot of good times when we come out to the states. PI: Would you say that you enjoy playing in the states more or less now that you actually live here? Paul: I don‟t know, because I haven‟t actually played there since I‟ve moved. But no, I think it will be good because we‟ve got a big fan base out there. I know that this time around I‟ve got a bucket load of friends coming out to see us play. It should be a good time. PI: Where would you say your fan base is bigger, here in the US or back in the UK? Paul: To be honest, it‟s pretty much the same. I‟ve been asked this question a lot and it‟s quite hard to say. People just seem to be a bit more open and more comfortable letting themselves go in America. PI: You are known greatly for your theatrical performances. Can you give us any insight of what to expect from the Creates of the Black Abyss Tour? Paul: This time, we‟ve got a mad scientist/laboratory type thing going on which is pretty cool. We‟ve also just done a whole new load of projections for the screens that are going behind us. Actually, this time around, I‟ve got some green screens of one of my friends Jamie Lynn, basically just stripping half naked in black latex. And I‟ve gotten her to learn some of the female parts for the new album, so we‟ll have the female parts on the background tracks. It‟s going to be cool. PI: Paul, Metal Hammer has called Cradle of Filth “the most successful British heavy metal band since Iron Maiden,” how does it feel to be compared and put into the same category as them? Paul: I think it‟s awesome that someone would say that, especially a magazine like Metal Hammer. It‟s incredible. A couple people have said that but I don‟t really think about it too much. I‟m so busy thinking about what I‟m going to do next so I don‟t really pay attention to what‟s going on outside of the band and such with that sort of thing. But it‟s really amazing; it‟s great that people do actually think that. I would have never thought that personally myself, but it‟s great that some people do.
PI: So, you guys have been together for 20 years now. What do you feel is the reason for your success as a group? Paul: We treat it as a job. Basically, I think that‟s what it is. You don‟t treat it as a bunch of lads getting together; getting stupidly drunk and wreaking havoc... it‟s like any job. You have to earn money to live, so why not earn it and enjoy what you‟re doing? PI: After your six year relationship with Roadrunner Records, you are now with Peaceville Records, but your most recent album was released here in America through Nuclear Blast. Do you find it more troublesome now that you do not have a record label that can represent you in both America and Europe? Paul: No, not really, because we have Nuclear Blast... they‟re distributing it for us and they‟re just as good as any. To be honest, when we were on Roadrunner, they didn‟t do anything different then what the independents are doing now for us. I mean, now that we‟re on Peaceville, we‟re actually getting more now then we ever had with Roadrunner, which is kind of weird personally. All record labels want to do is make money, which I can understand, it‟s your business... but at the end of the day, don‟t try to keep a hold of something if you feel it‟s not right for you. So, when we left, we went to Peaceville and now we have three different versions of the album, which we had never done on Roadrunner. And I have never had this many emails or interviews in my life. So the interviews I‟m getting now just prove that they‟re working for us, and it should have been this way from the beginning... but it wasn‟t. PI: It was also under Peaceville Records that you played MTV in Germany to over a million and a half people, right? Do you feel as if that was one of your biggest accomplishments as a band? Paul: Yeah, totally. And that‟s what I‟m getting at... this stuff never happened before on a bigger label. It takes an independent label to make this kind of stuff happen... it was amazing. PI: So, „Midnight In The Labyrinth‟... the album was said to be completed in November. Is it finished yet and can you tell us a little bit about it? Paul: Well no, it‟s not finished yet, there‟s still some stuff that needs to be done with it. I know some people want to release it as a separate album but I think personally I think... Well, let me change the subject. This year, we‟re doing another live DVD and we‟re filming it on this tour that‟s coming up... but what I personally want to do is put „Midnight In The Labyrinth‟ packaged in with the DVD. This way fans will get more substance so they get visuals as well as a full orchestral album. It‟s basically songs from the first four albums which are just pure orchestral pieces. There‟s no drums, no vocals, no guitars, no nothing... it‟s just pure orchestra playing the tracks. It‟s pretty cool actually. There‟s a version of „Summer Dying Fast‟ on there, and we‟ve actually put this on the backing track for when we play live and we‟re using that as an outro piece of music for when we finish gigs so people get to hear it. PI: Was there an inspiration for this album, because you‟ve never done anything quite like that? Paul: No, we‟ve never doing anything like this but we‟ve always wanted to. Myself, Dan and our manager sat down one time and then we came up with the idea for the orchestral album and to put visuals to it... hence the reason we‟re talking about putting it on the DVD as well. It should be rather good. PI: Cradle of Filth has covered songs from a couple different bands including Slayer, Ozzy, and the Misfits... who would you like to see do a cover of one of your songs? Paul: That‟s tough... I don‟t usually get asked this, to be honest, so I don‟t know. I think I‟d like to see Maiden do one of our songs as a cover. That would be quite interesting. I have no idea which song, but it would be something different. It would be fun actually, trying to get Bruce to sing like Dani... that would be really funny.
PI: What does Cradle of Filth have planned for this year? Paul: Gigs. I‟m not going to be coming back to the US because it‟s pointless for me to be flying backwards and forwards all the time to spend three weeks at home then have to fly back again. So I‟m staying in the UK because we‟ve literally got gigs every month all the way up through September. So all we‟re going to be doing is basically just playing gigs. Then once the gigs are over, I fly back home and start writing the new material for the next album. PI: Now I just have a few more personal based questions... Can you tell us a little about the inspiration behind Vomitorium? Paul: Basically, it‟s a dark art project that I did with Cindy Frey. But this time, I‟m doing it on my own. I‟m taking the photographs myself this time around and making brand new art. And also, I‟ve had interest from various people about wanting to put my prints onto shirts and all that stuff. . So I‟m toying with the idea of releasing Vomitorium clothing as well. I‟ve been starting to incorporate a lot of building photography, architecture and stuff. PI: I read that you grew up training in martial arts. Do you have any desires to get back into it? Paul: When I lived in the UK, I was teaching so I didn‟t have to pay for it. As far as I‟m concerned, everything is amazingly cheap in America... except for martial arts classes. It‟s ridiculously expensive. At the end of the day, I think that training is something that should be passed on; it shouldn‟t be a money making scheme… it wasn‟t originally meant to be like that. When I used to teach, I never charged anything, it was all free, because I don‟t believe in making money out of it. It‟s an art form, because once you start charging for it, your performance gets watered down and all you‟re worried about is how much you are going to be making at the end of an hour. Some of my lessons went from one hour to three hours. If someone didn‟t understand something, I‟d stay with them as long as I needed to in order to get them to understand... and then I went home... And if you‟re charging money, you can‟t do that. PI: That leads into my next question... if you couldn‟t be involved in music, martial arts or art... what could you see yourself doing? What did you aspire to do when you were growing up? Paul: I‟ve started to get into fabrication and welding and stuff like that... typical mans job, I know. I used to work on construction sites with my dad, but it‟s so long ago that I don‟t really remember, to be honest. PI: When you‟re not on tour, what do you do in your free time? Paul: Play video games. PI: What games do you play? (P) Borderlands... there‟s a zombie game I play for PS3 but I can‟t remember what it‟s called... Dead Nation... that‟s it. It‟s not very good graphics but its so much fun. (PI) Do you play online? (P) Yeah, I do. I play... one of those war or fighting games. But yeah, I have an online account for my PS3 so I play online with my friends. But to be honest, I don‟t really get much free time because if I‟m not actually working, I feel really guilty. I feel like I should be doing something. I just feel like I should be working toward my career in music and art work all the time. PI: Well, I think that‟s it for my questions. Thanks for giving us a chance to get Plug‟d In. Paul: Yeah, come out to the gigs. The new stuff rocks live, it‟s excellent. Check out the Vomitorium stuff, it‟s up and running... so I‟ll see you on the road. Take care and be safe!
www.cradleoffilth.com www.paulallender.co.uk/main_page.php
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Dear Dead Abby Brought to you by It’s All The Hair Rage Designs
From The Grave Abby was born and raised in the coal regions of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The oldest of eight, she constantly had her younger brothers and sisters asking her questions about everything from how things work to why that boy threw dirt on her. She‟d try to steer them straight with her advice, though sometimes she could be a bit sarcastic. Abby also had an uncanny ability to see the truth in people, despite what they tried to portray with their lies. Unfortunately, this led the locals to believe that she was with surrounded with dark forces. The summer before her final year of school, Abby was sentenced to death by hanging, without a proper trial, simply stating that she was a witch. Abby can‟t recognize the faces of her family through death, but she answers questions, thinking it might be one of her siblings needing her guidance. Q. Ok, you're a spirit. Do superstitions help? G.W. A. It's the same concept as a placebo, a matter of your mindset. It's also a cultural thing. Some cultures are very superstitious and others have very few. Do I believe in superstitions? No, not at all. I don't think a black cat crossing my path or breaking a mirror will have any effect on me whatsoever. If something bad happens, it is simply a coincidence, having nothing to do with the former. Bad things will happen, regardless of what one practices. Q. Is global warming true or is it just something to scare us? E.S. A. Due to the amount of pollution and chemicals that the human race dispels, yes, a certain amount of global warming is happening, but the rate at which it's happening should be of little concern to you. You will be dead long before it has a vast effect on the human race. Animals, especially those on the poles, will be affected long before humans. Q. My girlfriend‟s breath stinks all the time. She brushes her teeth but I don't know what‟s wrong. She always wants to kiss me but it makes me sick. How can I bring it up to her without hurting her feelings? T.N. A. Does she smoke? That is a nasty side effect of smoking. She could have a gum/mouth disease. You could present it to her in a roundabout way. Do some research and give her the facts. Here's a hypothetical, do not quote me, but, "Honey, 1 in 3 people have 'Blank disease' and don't even know it. I'm going to check if I have it, you should too. The consequences of letting it go untreated could be detrimental, and you have such a beautiful smile. I'd hate to see anything ruin it." If she's oblivious to the hints, just tell her. "Babe, I love kissing you, but your breath is rank." Q. I lied to my boyfriend when I got caught cheating 4 months ago. H believes me but now I feel really guilty and jealous all the time. Should I come clean and tell him what really happened? S.W. A. He caught you cheating and yet he believes what you told him? Wow, he must be a moron. You should feel guilty. You cheated and lied. Tell him and risk that he breaks up with you. If he meant anything to you, you wouldn't have cheated in the first place. You're probably just one of those girls that can't bear to be alone, and you'll cling to whatever pathetic life form you're attached to at the moment. Grow a spine, and some respect. Q. My mom drives me crazy. She‟s always poking her nose in my business and putting me down. I love my mom, but she drives me crazy!!!!!! What can I do? A. She's your mom. It's what they do. Try talking to her about it. Tell her that you're a big girl now and she's going to have to start respecting your decisions. She will always be your mom and always want what's best for you. Even when you're 50, she'll be second guessing your choices, and when you have children you will find yourself doing the same thing to them. It's a never ending circle. There has never been a mother in the history of mankind that has not driven their children crazy.
deardeadabby@centralpapluggedin.com
Plug’d In Features:
The Curse Of Sorrow Review by Vikki Sin For a band that describes their style as „grave rock‟, these guys certainly prove rock is anything but dead. Edwardsville, Pa. natives The Curse of Sorrow are tearing up the otherwise deceased local music scene with their blend of melodic metal and wildly energetic live shows, leaving a loyal pack of fans in their wake. Go to see them perform and you‟ll likely fall victim too. Founded in late 2006, The Curse of Sorrow consists of Nick Necro (vocalist), Jay Bones ( lead guitar/back vox), Mark Massacre ( rhythm guitar/back vox), Tommy Tombstone (bass/back vox), and Evil Eric (drums). This ghoulish group puts everything they have into their performances, cranking out some serious sound and entertaining even the most finicky of rock fans. Armed with his microphone and a hell of a voice, Necro prowls around, leaping onto bars, pulling people on stage, and getting the eager crowd involved any way he can. Hey, when someone‟s got a cover of “Dust in the Wind” that wicked, you can‟t help but sing along. That sense of humor, along with the heart they put into what they do, and a horror inspired mix of alternative and metal, make this band a hit. In true rock and roll spirit, they‟re having a good fucking time, and they‟re dying for you to join them. The Curse of Sorrow recently released their first CD, “Only a Shadow Remains”, with 12 solid and seriously catchy tracks from the Misfits-esque “Diggin up a Date” to the soulful ballad “Paul” and the hard driving „Vindictions”. Their first effort is a strong one, and if their insane drive is any indication, this is just the beginning. They‟ve shared the stage with the likes of Wednesday 13, Dope, The Ataris, The 69 Eyes, and Gwar. Look out for these modern day boogiemen and good luck getting their songs out of your head. This writer has willfully given in. You can find “Only a Shadow Remains” at Gallery of Sound locations in Northeastern Pa., on CDBaby.com, and on iTunes. Check out the bands page.
www.thecurseofsorrow.com
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On Tour: Shane of Silverstein Interview and Photos by Liana Marie I sincerely appreciate having had the opportunity to sit down with Shane Told of Silverstein. I‟ve been a pretty big fan of the band for years now, from “When Broken Is Easily Fixed” until this very day. Their albums have yet to disappoint me. I learned a lot from this interview. It was also rather refreshing to learn that Shane and I share a common bond such as our love and loyalty towards animals by excluding them from our diets. I really enjoyed hosting this interview I hope you can enjoy reading it. Here‟s what Shane had to share with us...L.M. PI: Could you start out by introducing each member in your band & the instrument they play? S: Well, I‟m Shane and I sing. We have Paul who plays drums. Bill plays bass. And both Josh & Neil play guitar. PI: Tell us a little about yourself... Where are you from? S: I‟m from Oakville, Ontario Canada. I grew up and still live there, today. I‟d say I had a pretty normal childhood. I started going to shows in high school; seeing a lot of local bands etc. I began to get more into punk rock, hardcore; different genres of music along those lines. I ended up going to college at the University of Guelph for 3 years. During my 3rd year of school we were doing band stuff on the weekends for fun. We later ended up making a demo. Victory Records really liked the demo so they signed us. I ended up dropping out of school after about the 3rd year at the University. I then started touring with Silverstein...which now, is about 10 years ago. PI: Did you have any other dreams or aspirations? S: Absolutely. But I‟ve always loved playing music; it‟s been my passion since I was a little kid. I‟d spend entire nights, weekends included, in my room playing guitar and writing. I loved doing that. However, I never really thought that it would end up being my profession. I never really thought that was attainable. I just pursed everything I could to the best of my ability. I did well in school, I went to college etc. I went that route or down that path and music found me. I didn‟t seek it out too hard. I took it seriously and I did my best, and it found me. I never thought I‟d be a professional musician or even be interviewed on a tour bus, like this. I never thought that would happen. But it did, and it‟s cool. I‟m really happy with where I am and what I‟m doing. PI: Was there any significance behind titling your band “Silverstein”? S: We got the name from our first couple practices. We basically started out as a little side-project, just playing music for fun. Then, we had our first show and we needed a name. At this point we did not have a name for our band. We had one of those moments where we were looking around the room... And on the floor, I saw a book by the author Shel Silverstein. At this point, I have been singing out of these random books over the last 2 or so weeks as it didn‟t have any lyrics written. I would just sing out of whatever was laying around. I looked at the book at I instantly thought, “Silverstein.” It was one of my favorite books as a kid.
PI: So that‟s basically what got the band started? S: Initially in terms of me starting to get into bands, music etc...yes. When I was about 10 years old my older sister, who‟s about 7 years older than me, would listen to Metallica in her room. When I heard this, I thought “What is that music she‟s listening to? This is AWESOME!” With my dad playing guitar... right away, I told him “Dad, I want to play guitar!” He had one around the house so I started taking guitar lessons and playing that. From that, I got and continued to get more into music. Friends of mine that lived on my street learned how to and started playing guitar. We ended up starting a band when I was about 12 years old. One of the two friends I actually started that band with is actually in the band “Wilhelm Scream.” They‟re a pretty big band, now. The other one was in Boys Night Out. So, we all ended up being professional musicians... My 3 little friends that grew up on the same street. So, that‟s pretty cool. I played with that band for years. As I was playing in that band, I was actually playing in Silverstein on the side, just for something different. They weren‟t good friends of mine or anything they were just guys in other bands that I knew. I knew these guys were pretty good plus we shared musical interests and that‟s kind of what got us started. PI: What has been one of your most memorable tours? S: When asked that question, off the top of my head I think of Winter of ‟09. We toured with Billy Talent in Europe. Billy Talent isn‟t that huge in the states but in Europe they are ridiculously huge. We were playing to about 20,000 people every night. So, that was really cool as well as being able to play in Germany and Europe and have that many people come out. That tour was awesome. We also toured with Avril Lavigne in Japan once, and it was a similar situation. We played the Tokyo Dome to about 50,000+ people. Those shows are always what stand out when looking back. I know that when I look back in 10 years I‟ll think “Wow. That was crazy.” Those are probably some of the most memorable tours. Japan‟s a really cool place. If you ever have the chance you should definitely go check it out. The foods a little weird but all around it‟s a pretty cool place. (PI) Do they really serve cat etc over there? (S) I think they serve dog in China. But I don‟t think they do in Japan. Japan is a little more...I don‟t want to say civilized because then I am implying that China is not civilized, which I‟m not at all, it‟s just different. I don‟t really know though, because I don‟t eat meat. (PI) That‟s great! (High five) (S) For me eating any animal is all in the same. What‟s the difference between eating a pig or a cat, really? It‟s still an animal. PI: What does a typical day on tour look like for Silverstein? S: It usually depends on location, to be honest. Today, we‟re in Allentown, there‟s not much around here, it‟s snowing and cold outside. So, today will be a more chill day. I woke up at about 1pm, rolled out of my bunk, strolled inside and hung out. I might watch some TV later or go on the internet...Nothing crazy. On the other hand, if we‟re in South Beach Miami, Southern California, New York City etc ...with being anywhere along those lines there‟s always trouble we can get into. It really depends. We try to make the most of where we are, regardless. PI: What are some of your favorite and least favorite parts of touring? S: My favorite part is definitely the shows. Being able to express yourself and play music or do what you love and share it with so many people who are completely stoked about it, is the best. Meeting new people is always awesome; we‟ve made so many friends everywhere. It‟s nice to see those people every time you roll through the area. The worst part is being away from home...Missing family, friends, girlfriends, etc. You miss so many special occasions! My girlfriend loves Halloween; it‟s a big thing for her. I missed 4 or so Halloweens in a row, already. To the average person it may not be as much of a big deal because you get to be in a band and tour. But to miss everyone‟s birthday, so many special occasions; everything...It‟s enough to bum you out. Though, don‟t get me wrong, if it wasn‟t worth doing I wouldn‟t be here.
PI: Is it hard to adjust to all the differences; traveling from place to place all over the world? S: It can be hard, especially when you go to places like Europe where they don‟t speak English. It‟s really tough sometimes. (PI) Do you have a translator? (S) We always do in Japan because there, literally no one speaks English. Without the translator you would know be able to do anything. You could always go into a restaurant and point at something but you wouldn‟t even know what it is you‟re pointing at. But it‟s not always that bad. For example, in Europe you could get by without a translator. Enough people there speak English so you can kind of figure it out. But it can be really challenging. Japan‟s cool though because you‟ll be playing and they‟ll be singing along; they will know EVERY word to your songs...But they can‟t speak English at all. It‟s weird, because when you release an album it Japan, that album comes with Japanese words. They translate your words from English to Japanese. You would just think that because they‟re so huge fans of music and they‟re constantly listening to it, they‟d pick up some English but they don‟t. PI: How has Winterizer tour been treating you? S: Good. It‟s been good. This is our second day so we aren‟t too far into quite yet. Last night was good. (Laughter). Not too much to report yet but it‟s been good so far! PI: Do you get some time off of the road? & if so, what does your typical day look like? S: Pretty much the same thing. I‟ll wake up around 1 and watch TV. or something like that. I like to travel a lot, even outside of tour. I‟ll go on little vacations...My sister lives in Las Vegas so I was there over the holidays. I try to do things like go on vacations, little trips, etc. Other than that I‟ll just hang out with my friends or something like that. We do get enough time off the road. I feel like since we‟ve gotten to be an older band we‟ve toured less. Last year we only played 100 shows, whereas in ‟04 or ‟05 we did more than 200. However, I think this year we‟ll be touring a lot. We‟re starting at the beginning or January and I believe we‟re going all year. This year will definitely be a big touring year for us. PI: Released in 2003 your first full-length debut was titled “When Broken Is Easily Fixed”...How has your band matured since this release? Has your band significantly changed direction in terms of the musical aspect? S: Oh yeah, definitely. Back then we were kids. We were young so I think we were still more-so in the learning process of things. At this point in time we didn‟t know anything about the music industry. It terms of songwriting, we were just going with what we knew and what we knew about where we thought we should or needed to go. After going on tour, it really opened up our eyes and helped us get to know each other and ourselves as a band. We weren‟t best friends when we started the band; instead we were just a couple of guys playing music for fun. We didn‟t hang out a lot so we don‟t know much about each other in general or more importantly about each other‟s musical influences. Once we went on tour together we became closer. When you end up driving 8 hours in a van together a request of musical interests or conversation is bound to come up. Between hearing things like “Oh! I love this band!” or “ I Love this Part” when we‟re on those long drives and writing music together, eventually we begin to get a little bit better of a grip on what‟s in mind in terms of sound or direction. I feel like that is one of the main reasons our records have gotten better as time progresses and our songs have gotten more concise and make more sense. We‟ve figured out how to work together. PI: Are you working on anything currently? If so, could you tell us a little about it? S: We just put out an EP called “Transitions.” That‟s actually for sale tonight! It‟s on sale tonight for the very...second... time! We have a full length album coming out in a couple months. We‟ve finished recording it and everything which is awesome. I believe we‟re doing a new video when we get home as well. All and all we‟re just going to keep working hard and doing what we do!
PI: To my knowledge one of the first songs you released off the EP is called “Sacrifice” correct? Could you tell us a little about the story behind that song or what it‟s about? S: We were writing the album, and we had written a few ideas for songs. I wanted to write a heavy song... Having 15 minutes while my girlfriend was getting ready for us to go out, I picked up an acoustic guitar while sitting there on the couch and I wrote a rift! Almost the entire song came to me in about 15 minutes. I had the whole idea for the song etc, so I just needed to tweak it. It‟s a quick song but I really like how it turned out. It came out great! It‟s very facepaced and energetic. In terms of what it‟s about... It‟s about a lot of things. It‟s hard to pick just one thing and say that is what it‟s about. It‟s not always that simple. (PI) Understandable. We will let them be the judge! (S) Yes. PI: What can we expect from Silverstein in the future? S: Well this year, like I said, we‟re going to be doing a lot of touring and we have a new album coming out soon. We‟re going to be flying on all cylinders and it‟s going to be a crazy year! We‟ve been a band for 10 years and there are no signs for slowing down. PI: Thanks for sitting down with us and giving us a chance to get Plug‟d In. Did you enjoy the interview? S: Yeah! It was cool! Thank you.
www.silversteinmusic.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.
The Basic Insult Toolbox *If you were orphaned when you were a child, I feel sorry for you, but not for your parents. *If you don't want to give people a bad name, you will have your children illegitimately. *Is your name Laryngitis? You're a pain in the neck. *Is your name Dan Druff? You get into people's hair. *I hear you pick your friends -- to pieces!! *I bet your brain feels as good as new, seeing that you've never used it. *They say that two heads are better than one. In your case, one would have been better than none. *You should toss out more of your funny remarks; that's all they're good for. *People can't say that you have absolutely nothing! After all, you have inferiority! *You must have a low opinion of people if you think they're your equals. *I wish you were all here. I don't like to think there is more! *If we were to kill everybody who hates you, it wouldn't be murder; it would be genocide! *Even your best friend cheats on you and lies to you, and that's the best friend you can get. *I don't think you are a fool. But then, what's my own humble opinion against thousands of others? *Nobody says that you are dumb. They just say you were sixteen years old before you learned how to wave goodbye. *People say that you are the perfect idiot. I say that you are not perfect, but you are doing alright. *Ordinarily people live and learn. You just live. *The mind reader had a very busy day today reading minds. You were a vacation for him. *I thought of you all day today when I was at the zoo. *When you talk, other people get hoarse just listening. *I would say that you are barking up the wrong tree, but that is your natural voice. *I reprimanded my brother for mimicking you. I told him not to act like a fool. *I'm very careful of how I express my opinions of you because I want to put as much vituperation in them as possible.
Spot The Differences
Through Their Eyes:
Photo By Nicole Stella
Photo By: Liana Marie
Exceptional Photography by The Plug‟d In Photographers
Please welcome Erik Gola and Tyler Heckard to the Plug’d In Family
This Is: Chris Howorth of
In This Moment Interview and Photos by Michael Demos A little while ago I got a chance to sit down with Chris Howorth, lead guitarist for In This Moment. We we‟re actually scheduled for an interview with Maria Brink, but unfortunately she was sick with a fever and needed to save her strength for the show that night. Chris was cool enough to schedule some time for us last minute and we kind of did the interview off the fly. He was a great guy and really fun to talk to. Here is what he had to say…M.D. PI: How was the tour with Nonpoint? C: It was awesome. We had a really good run of shows and the guys are super good friends of ours. It was a pleasure and the whole tour had been great. PI: How have the set lists been on your recent tours? Have they been to your liking, or is there a song you wish you were playing that you aren‟t? C: There are always songs I wish I could play. I wish we could play “Next Life”, it‟s one of our faster, heavier ones. We haven‟t played it in a while. The set‟s have been great though, and have been doing really well with the audience. PI: Are you guys doing the Blondie “Call Me” cover? C: Hell no! PI: There‟s a fan made video on You Tube of In This Moment doing Slayer‟s “Post Mortem”. Is that really you guys? C: It‟s really us. We actually recorded the song for a Slayer tribute album that was taking place when we first got signed. We did the song with our friend Josh, but the album never materialized. So we ended up with this song and just decided to put it out on the web. Jose @ Sirius got a hold of it and played it a lot on his station. It has its own little cult following. But yes, it‟s definitely us. PI: Do you personally enjoy being on tour? What are some things you like or dislike? C: I love being on tour! I always dreamed of it as a kid. We‟ve only been doing it for the last five years now, so we‟re still pretty new. There are little things here and there. I‟ve come to appreciate having a bathroom, and showering whenever I want. Those are small things though compared to how awesome the adventure of going out and traveling the country and the world. We get to meet new people and play shows. It‟s awesome! PI: “A Star Crossed Wasteland” has been out for a little bit now. Did the album meet your expectations? C: So far it‟s met every expectation we had. We wanted to define In This Moments sound, we wanted to combine the heavy with the melodic, and we wanted it to do better than all the other albums. So far the first two things have been done and we are working on the third. Our first single is quickly approaching our most spun radio single. Everything is better than the last and that‟s all we really hoped for. We just want to keep doing better with each release. PI: What changes or directions do you see for the next album? C: Oh God, sky‟s the limit! Marias already talking about all this crazy concept album stuff and I‟m always like “Oh god”. (Laughs) She always has these real radical ideas for her stuff and then we always come together for different things. I want it to be heavy, she‟s going to want it to be melodic, and we will meet somewhere in the middle. It will
be interesting, different, but still have that core album element of heaviness to it. (PI) Do you have any tentative dates set yet? When you might want to start laying down tracks? (C) We‟re working on songs now. We‟re going to continue to focus on the tours for now and through the year and probably by the end of 2011work on the album and release it by the summer of 2012. PI: What does your creative music process look like? Do you record together as a band or is it done individually? C: When we first started as a band it was us together. Maria and I wrote a couple of songs together initially and then we got the members of the band together. For the second album we were separated so some of us would write on the West Coast and others on the East Coast. The new album was kind of the same. Everyone wrote as much as they could and then during the last couple weeks of the process I went to New York with everything and Maria tracked her vocals and scratched her ideas on top of those. It‟s really like we are all spread out, we don‟t really get into a room and jam together. We come up with our ideas individually, chop and paste the together, q base here Pro Tools, bring all those things into the studio, and then create the album. PI: When do you guys play together as a band? C: The last few albums we had finished everything up and then we were like “Oh God, we have to tour now, we have to learn these songs”! We had to figure out how things were going to translate. Were they going to be cool to play live? We are always learning the record. For the last album we had OzzFest 08 and it was three weeks after we recorded the album. We had 6 days to learn a bunch of songs before we played OzzFest. It was totally weird. This time we gave ourselves more time to make sure everything works out in case we don‟t like a song we could pick another one. That‟s pretty much how we do it. PI: Your videos are doing real well and you have “The Promise” and “The Gun Show” out now. Do you guys play a part in coming up with the concepts for the videos? C: Absolutely! Maria always has ideas for the songs when she records. She has a visual in her mind. Usually we just pick the director we want to use and then Maria and the director will come up with a treatment for the video and we will go from there. PI: How do you guys treat Maria? Is she the girl in the band or is she just one of the guys? Do you guys walk around farting around her? How does it work? C: It‟s kind of a combination of all of that. Honestly, she‟s a girly girl. She‟s not a tomboy coming out in her tank top and cutting farts in front of us. We give her the back lounge of the bus so she can have some privacy and a little room of her own to create peace in the Mayhem. She really cool too, because everyone else is walking around farting and the whole place smells like bad breath. (Laughs) She‟ll say were disgusting and laugh about it. She knows how it is on tour and when she wants to get away from it she goes back into her back lounge. We treat her like a girl. We always hang back and somebody will walk with her and make sure she‟s cool. But she‟s tough though. She‟s been touring since we started.
PI: In the beginning it was just you and Maria. At what point did you guys decided to try and turn this into a career? C: I was out in California because I wanted to make it in music. Maria moved out there because she wanted to do the same. So was Jeff. When she and I started writing songs together it was because we wanted to make it in music. There was no “Let‟s just have fun and see what happens”. We knew what we wanted to do. After we wrote the first couple of songs, the web picked up on it pretty quickly because they were interested, and it became pretty easy to put a band together. The music was cool and it just took off. This combination was really something special. She had never really been in a metal metal-type band. It was more of a Nu-Metal, deftonesy type of thing for her. I‟m more of the old-school metal type. Killswitch Engage really helped build the bridge for her and bring us together. She realized she could sing and scream and be heavy. That was kind of the gateway band for us to see what we could do as In This Moment. She realized she could do heavier stuff and people love it because it took off for us. PI: Has it helped having Maria specifically as your vocalist? C: Absolutely, but it has two sides. It helps a lot because people are always like “Maria, Maria”. If we got to a signing without her people are always like “Where‟s Maria”? She‟s definitely a huge focal point of the band. She‟s almost like a brand. Our music does speak for itself though; we‟re not just a gimmicky band with a female singer who looks good. We are a real band. Sometimes there‟s a downside too. Sometimes people don‟t take us seriously because of her. We will go out and prove to them that we‟re awesome on stage and not just a bunch of idiots up there with a girl. If I wasn‟t in this band I would probably hate this band without hearing them first. I can understand the judgments. It‟s really double sided. Overall though, Maria brings so much to the band and she is great! PI: What are your guilty pleasures? How do you spend your free time on tour and off? C: Their both the same. Unless I‟m working on something for In This Moment then its video games, smoking weed, watching movies, eating, all the good stuff. (Laughs) PI: What kind of video games do you play? C: We have been playing the hell out of Black Op‟s. We play this game called Blur. Maria‟s been playing that stuff too. Normally she hates video games, but there‟s so many gamers on the bus she just can‟t fight it. (PI) Is she any good at Black Op‟s? (C) She can actually go about 7 rounds and has about 35 kills as her best, which is pretty good. She‟s not like a lot of girls just staring at the floor. (Laughs) PI: What kind of music do you listen too? C: I listen to everything. I generally look for the older stuff because I like it. I like Motley Crue, Ratt, and Kiss. As far as the newer stuff I like Emmure, who are good friends of ours. I like Bury Your Dead, Devil Driver, and I like a lot of people that we tour with because I‟m exposed to their music and I like them as people. I like Five Finger Death Punch and their good friends of mine too. PI: Has being in such a heavily touring band affected your personal life at all? C: My family lives in a different state, so I see them a little bit more when we are on tour because we‟re always passing through. My fiancé is a super sport and she‟s been with me before we even got signed and supports me 100%. It can be hard sometimes to leave the people that you love behind, but there‟s always that freshness too when you come back. It‟s exciting. PI: Chris thanks for sitting down with us and giving a chance to get Plug‟d In. C: Thank you guys; it was a really cool, awesome interview. One of the better ones I‟ve done!
www.inthismoment.com
The Mayhem Is Coming!
www.mayhemfest.com
Spotlight On:
Pocket Aces Skate Shop Interview and Photos by Michael Demos Berks County Pa. needed a good skate shop and it got one in Pocket Aces. Located in West Reading, Pocket Aces is the go to destination for anything related to skate boarding. They‟re not some overpriced mall store just looking to make a sale..They are a knowledgeable, fun, family owned place that truly cares about the people and the sport. I got a chance to sit down with Store Owner Rachel B. and she filled us in and told us all about the coolest skate shop in the area. Here‟s what she had to say…M.D. PI: Where is Pocket Aces located? RB: 516 Penn Ave, West Reading Pa. PI: This isn‟t the first Pocket Aces Skate shop am I correct? RB: Well, it‟s the first, but a new location. Our first shop was in Sinking Spring, Pa. We came out to West Reading because it‟s a great area. It‟s “artsy”. West Reading is more forward, there is lots of energy and music, and lots of art and food. It‟s a great location for a great shop. PI: How did you get your start doing this? Do you skateboard yourself? RB: Yes, I did…when I was much, much younger. My younger brother was a great skater. He had a sponsor, he skated for Tony Alva, he went out to California and did all kinds of great events, and he did great competitions all over the place. When he got older he didn‟t do it so much, but it got passed on to my two boys who are 12 and 14. We found ourselves driving a good distance, at least 45 minutes, to find a good skate shop for them. Opening our own place just seemed to make sense and it seemed fun. PI: Where did you used to have to drive to? RB: We used to drive out to Fishbone out in Lebanon, Pa. When we used to visit my brother we used to go to a great little shop in Long Branch, NJ. PI: It‟s got to be great for two boys to have a Mom that own a skate shop right? RB: Yes, I think so, but they also think it‟s uncool at times because Mom makes them work for what they get. They don‟t get any freebies, not yet at least. (Laughs) They have chores just like everyone else. Mom has to pay for the stuff, so they do too. (PI) Do they bring a lot of their friends in? (RB) Absolutely. They bring their friends and we pass a lot of stuff out at school. We hand out stickers or t-shirts or whatever is going on at the time. PI: A lot of kids do hang out in the store. What do you have here that attracts them? RB: We have a big screen TV and we play a lot of DVDs and a lot of skate videos. When the new ones come out we will have a premier. There are a lot of local teams and shops that like to premier their videos here. We will do events too. We had a Friday night movie night here not too long ago. We did the new Rob Dyrdek movie. We try and make it a fun place to hang out. The kids will come in sometimes just to hang out or to talk to the kids that work here. They will talk shop, or tricks, or whatever. We also try to organize events where everybody will meet up and go to certain parks. We try to keep it a nice community thing.
PI: There are a couple nice skate parks in the area. What do you personally recommend? RB: Oh my gosh, they‟re all good in their own way. Hyde Park in Muhlenberg, Stone Cliff in Reading, I also like the park in Denver, Pa. PI: It‟s cold right now, but when spring comes will you be organizing events? RB: Totally! This spring will be our second Bang-A-Rang. It‟s a big skate competition we hold at Stone Cliff and we have live music, a DJ, we give out prizes, and it‟s just a good day. (PI) Do you videotape this event? (RB) Not yet, but we want to. We are currently in the process of making our first Pocket Aces movie. Our friend Brad, who is a local High School student, is making it for us and it‟s phenomenal so far. The clips from it are great and it should be ready to go in March. We will definitely have a big premier for that as soon as I get a date together. PI: What are your long term goals for the shop? RB: I‟d love to continue with the way we‟re doing things, but maybe just expand and carry more stuff. I‟d like to get some Pro‟s in here to do some autograph events and demonstrations. We have a great skate team and I‟d like to start planning some good trips. I‟d like to put together a road trip in the summer where we can get some good video done. I just want to keep it going and keep it fun! PI: Do you have a shop Pro right now? RB: No, but we are looking. The young men that skate for our team are awesome and we are so very lucky to have them. They put their heart into it and are always trying to help somebody out. PI: Tell us a little bit about the products and items you carry. RB: We have decks, complete set ups, long boards, bearings, wheels, bushings, trucks. Pretty much any part you might need for your skateboard. We carry really cool t-shirts and shoes. We carry accessories like wallets and sunglasses. We sell DVDs. We try to carry anything you might need for skateboarding. We even work on the skateboards to help you out. PI: Is skate boarding a crime? RB: Some people think so, but I certainly don‟t. I think it‟s awesome! When we go to the parks the older guys are always helping out the younger guys and teaching them what to do. Even though it‟s an individual sport, it‟s a great community. You can go to the basketball court and see fights break out and the cops show up…but you don‟t see that at the skate park. It‟s an easy, great atmosphere! PI: Thanks for sitting down with us and giving us a chance to get Plug‟d In. RB: Thank you. It was my pleasure.
www.facebook.com/pages/Pocket-Aces-Skate-Shop/192019331883
From The Throne of The Rock God Rants, Raves, Reviews, and News for the Minions Wow! Its been a year already! 26 issue we‟ve released!. We are a bi-weekly publication so 26 issues is one year for us. So……..Happy Birthday Plug‟d In! In all honesty I started Central Pa Plug‟d In in December of 2009. We didn't realease our first issue till Februay of 2010. It took a while to line things up and get it to where we wanted it. As you can see it‟s a work in progress and we are always trying to improve. Im very proud of how far we‟ve come. We‟ve released 26 issues where some people said we wouldn't release 2. I guess we showed them huh? But, we‟re not done yet. We are starting a new year for ourselves and bring a whole lot of changes with us. We‟ve got some big stuff in the works In the summer we are hoping to start do video interviews and posting them on the website. Theres a lot of work involved in making that happen, but we‟re coming along nicely! We also have a bunch of other ideas that we are kicking around, but all in due time my friends! Happy Birthday to us and until next time….
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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, David Barber, Mark Kohl, Nicole Marie, Nicolle Stella, 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, Adrenaline P.R., Solid State Records, DRP Records, and all the amazing National and Local bands we‟ve had the privilege to work
www.crocodilerockcafe.com