Edirorial Team Texts — Sasha Pantera, Jim Daniels, Hell Danova, Underdog Resistance, Oksana Tsymbaliuk Layout and design — Evgeny Zhytnyuk Editor — Hell Danova On the cover: Stefan Schmidt (Van Canto, Heavatar)
Disclaimer Daily Metal has no rights for photomaterials, used in issue’s design with non-commercial aim. Thus, editorial group has no material responsibility.
Editorial Room So, one month went by, and we’re ready to present you the next issue of Daily Metal.
All rights for texts belong only to Daily Metal and their authors. Publication is allowed only with active hyperlink to the original source.
I’m very glad, that we continue developing further. New authors are joining us, new ideas appear in our heads. Finally, we’ve launched our web-site, although it is not totally filled with content yet. Summing up, after kind of ‘rebirth’ of the magazine, the editorial team woke up and started listening, analyzing, searching and writing, which is very-very cool. I also want to thank everyone for positive feedbacks to our previous issue, both from Ukrainian and foreign readers. Stay with us and join our team! Stay true. Hell Danova
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CONTENT
Flag of Hate was risen in Kyiv Snowy Caliban What’s next, Bon? New Stoner-Classics from Clutch Hungarian Extreme Avantasia Resurrection Brutal in a pack Persona Grata: Stefan Schmidt Mother YouTube National Rock-Channel Garage Rock School
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Flag of Hate was raised in Kyiv With the coming of calendar spring to Ukraine, a new season of hot concert events started for all the fans of heavy music. This marathon started with the arrival of German thrashers Kreator: organizers chose a special date for this concert – 8th of March, so they made a real high day not only for women. This year’s visit of Kreator to Ukraine became the third on Germans’ count, but it seems that every time fans become more and more impatient to see their idols. It was obvious from the hot discussions on metal forums, that this event caused a real agiotage among Ukrainian metalheads, and the great number of fans who stood in the queue in front of ‘Bingo’ club was only the confirmation of it. Here you could see some true-fans who were drunk as a lord or even puked-off – probably, this is how it should be at the thrash-metal concert, but I don’t get such celebration of coming of your favorite band, after which you can’t stand on your feet even before the beginning of the concert. However, despite a lot of visitors were completely inadequate, people tried to behave
decently and not to cause inconvenience to others. Domestic thrash machine Provocateur was chosen as a support. Pretty well-known in their homeland band fit into the picture of today's event really good, and everybody had an opportunity to get a double portion of highquality thrash at a reasonable price. Provocateur had a descent sound, although it wasn’t their best, but it didn't become an obstacle on their way to inflict a first crushing blow to today’s public. Every time watching this band playing live, you become affected with their proficiency – for sure, they are one of the best Ukrainian musicians. There’s only left to diversify their material a little, and guys will be ready to attack foreign lands. There were a lot of people willing to see this band, but not all of them could do it, because the performance started on time and it wasn’t long. Moreover, those people, who came to the club just before the beginning of the concert, faced another unpleasant surprise: wardrobe was overflowing. And it’s not that easy to show all your 4
emotions in the overcrowded hall. But quite possible, as practice shows :P For the guests from Germany Kyiv was the starting point of the next part of their tour to support ‘Phantom Antichrist’ album. Unfortunately, Ukrainian fans were not lucky to see a full-scale 3D-show – it was just impossible to take it to Ukraine, but nobody could complain about lack of impressions. Just when Kreator appeared on stage, people were immediately covered with a wave of uncontrolled psychosis. Even those who were late to see the warm-up, did not need long time to get the right tune: the crowd immediately wound up just after the first wave of Mille’s hand – it’s like an orchestra starts to play when conductor wave the stick. Not surprisingly, because Mille is just a clot of a nuclear energy, his voice is an electric charge running though veins of fans, and it’s enough to look at him just once to become obsessed with the desire to drown yourself in a mosh.
riments were humbly represented with only ‘Phobia’ – though it was rather good. Mille and the company did not show any mercy to the fans killing them with pleasure song by song. The only pause was an acoustic performance the beginning of ‘United In Hate’ by Sami, which allowed the audience take a breath, so then people plunged into the battle with new forces. There was lack of space even in the last rows, so you can just imagine what was going on in front of stage. From time to time I saw exhausted fans trying to get to the exit through the crowd, and their clothes was thoroughly wet after the hellish battles. Probably it was one of the few moments when they can observe what is happening on stage, because the rest of the time they were involved in a consuming slam, walls of death and other methods of demonstrating their feelings. However, these breaks were not long enough, because all the time Petrozza required the audience to show him more violence, more aggression and more chaos. After the 1,5 hours of show, Kreator made the final shot with ‘Flag of Hate’ and ‘Tormentor’ and left the stage. German quartet didn’t even play the encore, but for us it was more than enough – it seemed, if all this continue, fans will beg for mercy. Turning on light implied that it’s the end of the holiday, and more than a thousand people rushed to leave the walls of the club. Security even opened the emergency exit; however, it was impossible to avoid the crush.
Today Kreator is one of the few bands, who can recreate the atmosphere of the 80's – years of prosperity of raw, aggressive thrash metal. Those, who with their killing riffs force their followers to obey at once, and those, whose contribution to the thrash metal coffers cannot be overstated. Band presented 5 tracks from the new album, and also their best hits from the 80-th and post-millennial period. Years of style expe5
Today’s concert was one more proof that there is a great demand on thrash metal among Ukrainian metalheads. I can confidently say that this visit of Kreator we will remember for a long time – and not only as mega-gig, which took place in 2013, but also as one of the best events that took place within the walls of ‘Bingo’ club. Couldn’t even dream about better Women’s Day. Text – Sasha Pantera
Snowy Caliban All Kyiv citizens shall definitely remember that nasty Friday, on which the snow apocalypse started. Though, metalcore fans will recall this day even more, because on the 22nd of March, the German band Caliban visited Ukrainian capital. In fact, there were as many people at the concert, that those, who wanted to go mad, perfectly moshed and stood on the others’ heads, other ones could watch the performance without excessive punching. It looks like, only organizers were a kind of loosers, because Bingo club was not packed to the eyeballs at all. But, we’ll assume, that attendance suffered because of the furious weather, which has fully covered the city just during the concert. Thus, many people, frozen, but happy, had to walk their way home by foot. It is worth mentioning, that this concert was one among those, where foreign
heads were heated by very and very deserving bands, this time even female-fronted, which is quite interesting for such genre as metalcore. The evening started with the performance of Italian guests ‘Marry Me In Vegas’, which managed to shake those, who came to Bingo through snowstorm, and caused a turbulent moshpit with the song ‘Zombies eat brains, humans prefer heart...’. For me personally, though, the band sounded middlingly. Jinjer, bright representatives of the hard scene from Horlivka, Ukraine, were the second to enter the stage and defiantly made a firm show. Their vocalist, Tetyana, dressed in black basketball uniform, delighted the audience with both extreme and very pleasant powerful clean vocals. Generally, the band sounds as entire and confident, so it’s hard to accept that they were formed only in 2009. Jinjer has already 6
became very popular in the capital, but I’d say, they have really leveled up during the tour in Romania. Shortly, it was a perfect heating for Caliban. We’re waiting for Jinjer’s LP in 2013! And finally, the time has come for concert headliners and culmination splash of energy. I can’t say, that their performance was very special or bombastic, but still it was really-really good. May be, because Caliban have already visited Ukraine before, but a world-known German band, the history of which counts 8 albums and 17 years of existence, just can’t but please the ears of our listeners. After the concert, some band members freely moved among their fans and communicated
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with them. The next day Caliban gave a separate autograph-session in the ‘Divan’ restaurant. By the way, some fans had to walk there by foot through the whole city, because the transport system didn’t work at all... Summing up, I’d like to say, it was a cool high-level concert. And I’ll emphasize once more, that I’m proud for our Ukrainian Jinjer and hope, they will be the heads some day. Text – Hell Danova
Fresh releases
song. -‐ Listen to the lyrics attentively – they are full of meaningful stuff. Moreover, Bon Jovi is damn near the only singer, whose songs can’t be used for misheard lyrics videos. -‐ Right up to the 5th track you can make a sandwich, walk your dog or whatever. In a nutshell, all the hell starts after the track ‘Amen’. Text – Jim Daniels
What’s next, Bon? At first I thought that a new Bon Jovi album ‘What About Now’ is a matter of taste. Even to that extent that my cat who tolerate all sorts of music, rushed to other room with wide opened eyes. But again, after I listened to the album a couple of times it occurred to me that it’s not that bad. Let us turn it on once again and see why. First, you should listen to ‘What About Now’ just to carefully examine the cover. A strange collage with a soldier and banded hands makes you yawn. But for DM it turned a wonderful SMM tool. If you find someone else on the cover, like our Facebook page). The message of the album is quite clear – ‘Make love not war’. After you listen to it a couple of times, you will be able to find its unique taste. ‘What About Now’ comprises 16 tracks after 4 years of silence of American hard rockers. In fact, the album is not that dull, you should rate it yourself. Here you are basic guidelines. -‐ Ignore a trivial guitar pattern in every
New Stoner-Classics from Clutch Stoner-dinosaurs Clutch gave birth to their anniversary release this year: a new work titled ‘Earth Rocker’ became the tenth CD in their discography. Same name single, released as an aperitif, greatly heated the fan’s appetite: immediately after the release, album reached high positions in many charts and appeared at the 1st place in the iTunes Rock Album Chart. ‘Earth Rocker’ is a combination of all skills, that group gained over the years of its activity. First of all, I would like to draw attention to the sound: it became clearer and more expressed. The first part of the album is five powerful songs with hard 8
groovy riffs, rapid temp, catchy vocal chips and decor like a balsamic sound of harmonica in ‘DC Sound Attack!’. A measured track ‘Gone Cold’ with smooth, quiet, smoky flavor is the equator of this CD, after which the listener returns to inflammatory blues rhythms, sometimes accompanied by psychodelic batch, and often can start headbanging even without realizing it. It’s hard to carve out a separate track on this album. But it doesn’t mean there are no hits. On the contrary, it is so coherent and dense that it’s impossible to take yourself away from the reckless drive, created with mixture of simplest riffs till the very last song. Well, Clutch have never pursued fashion and their new disc can convey the right mood without any great efforts, again emphasizing that all genius is simple.
us to plunge into the abyss of killing grindcore songs. While listening to this album, you immediately remember early Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Brutal Truth. Welcome to 80-s, as they say. Brutal growl of vocalist sometimes is varied with piercing scream, which does not let you to get bored. According to the canons of the genre, the durations of songs is ranging from 1 to 2 minutes, except a couple of tracks. After the first half of this album instrumental thrash is waiting for us, which is absolutely appropriate and allows us to take a little rest before the next round of raping our ears. ‘Inhumanus’ is quite smooth and coherent album, that does not become boring after the first few songs, and for me it is one of the best releases in the genre in recent years.
In the treasury of Stoner fans this album will take the prideful place as the indisputable classic of the genre. Text – Sasha Pantera
Hungarian Extreme Extreme Hungarian band Jack has recently released their new album ‘Inhumanus’. This band has been pleasing us with a high-quality cocktail of hardcore, grindcore and crust since 1996. They even visited Ukraine once: Jack played at the Crashtest Fest which took place in Uzhgorod in 2010. Cover of the album is made in traditional socio-apocalyptic themes, which is typical for the style. In this new release guys did not get far from their traditional sound. From the very first track and with no preludes they offer 9
Text – Underdog resistance
really puzzles is the absence of Jorn Lande, who was what Avantasia was associated with since their first record. I wouldn’t retell all the twists of the plot, I’d just say that a young philosopher Aaron Blackwell – a reminiscence of Johann Faust in Victorian Britain – fell a victim to Tobias’ fantasies. To be short, it’s all just as usual, I mean spiritual unrest and the choice between desired and right. Poor, poor Aaron…
Avantasia Resurrection Tobias Sammet cooked a salad once again. I wound not dare say it is as thick and nourishing as three before it, but it’s neither a Lenten dish nor unsalted. In the menu find it as ‘The Mystery Of Time’.
The album turned quite integral and with even consistency, which is the way to the hearts of listeners. In my opinion it scored eight out of ten. There are really epic masterpieces like ‘Spectres’, ‘Black Orchid’, ‘The Great Mystery’. It’s also full of power metal classics like ‘The Watchmakers' Dream’, ‘Invoke The Machine’, and ‘Dweller In A Dream’. Nevertheless it falls short of my favourite sweeping ‘The Scarecrow’ of 2008, which in my ears in the best of all Avantasia tries. Text – Jim Daniels
Right after a live DVD ‘The Flying Opera’ was released in late 2011, Tobias announced that Avantasia project is over, which brought about rise of heart attacks cases over the world. The fans started flooding the Web with tons of indignation. And all of a sudden in 2012 Tobias via its website said that Avantasia would go on. And on March 29th the dream became sound named ‘The Mystery of Time’. The subtitle of the album runs ‘A Rock Epic’, which in fact is more than a marketing ploy. In the kitchen where the salad has been cooked, great NAMES were spotted. Right, it is not a mistake. I’d like to write them caps lock on. As a proof just a few of them: Biff Byford, Bruce Kulick, Joe Lynn Turner, Bob Catley, Eric Martin, Arjen Lucassen (btw Tobi’s rival in metal opera arena), Oliver Hartmann. It was all polished with Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg orchestra. What 10
Brutal in a pack This beautiful warm spring I would like to make a short excursion to the fresh and most brutal powerviolence/grindcore releases came out since the beginning of 2013.
listening them it you will not forget it for a long time. Recently, our heroes made their appearance in the Three-way split with Sex Prisoners/Magnum Force (I haven’t heard them before, but I can say with confidence that these bands prepared a qualified material). So, new ACXDC’s material is still crazy and brainkilling: mad vocals, incredible speed and satirical texts – these guys did not forget how to play, nothing’s left to say! Also I would like to mention Magnum Force, which became one more interesting discovery for me.
I want to start with the most anticipated release of one of my favorite groups – ACxDC (Anti-Christ Demon Core). Ultrafast guys from Le Puente, the United States, making us happy since 2005. Although they do not have that rich discography (for the moment guys can be proud of 2 full-length albums and some songs in the compilations), but after 11
Another interesting release – the split of the Czech band Lycantrophy (someone who certainly will not be accused of lack of brutality, despite the beautiful lady on vocals). Explosive mixture of powerviolence and grindcore will not leave you indifferent. The second part of the split is presented by Holland grindcore/fastcore band Blood I Bleed – a real cacophony which is hard to describe, and it’s the speediest of all the described bands.
‘Post-mortem’ release of one of the first powerviolence bands out of Ukraine -– GAZ-66 Intrusion from Uzhgorod, came out in March. 5-track mini album ‘Halt’, recorded in a year after the band broke up, is an outstanding representative of classical powerviolence: the mix of quick and slow makes a complete picture of sound Apocalypse. Unfortunately, we will not see them playing live, but still have a chance to enjoy the unexpected release “from the dead world”. For those, who haven’t heard this band – you should correct this mistake! Finally, EP from grindcore followers Foible Instinct (Kiev), who definitely are one of the best Ukrainian bands. 5 new songs in oldschool grindcore style will not leave you sad during dark and cold evenings. I am especially satisfied with band’s position according to all this copro/porno grind, which is some kind of illness of the music scene of CIS (don’t forget: grondcore is Napalm Death and Terrorizer, but not coprophilia). ‘FxGxMxDx – False grindcore must die’, as says the same name song of the band. So enjoy the new material and come to the live concerts! Text – Underdog Resistance 12
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Persona Grata: Stefan Schmidt In late March the founder of German act Van Canto Stefan Schmidt released a side project Heavatar. At first I thought there’s nothing special about it, it is quite ok when metal acts release a couple classical-inspired songs. But none of such experiments struck me like Stefan’s album «All My Kingdoms. Opus I». Why? IDK, really. Perhaps of unusually rough vocals compared to other power metal stuff. Or the fact that he did not overloaded the songs with classical motives, just inserted small pieces. Or maybe because you can’t help loving such MUSIC. Jim Daniels listened attentively to the words of Stefan Schmidt about the album, the project future and the new Van Canto album. Heavatar started something like that. I had this friend of mine building me the most
adorable 7-string I guitar I had ever been allowed to put my hands on. I got it in September 2011. So I played a lot on it while we were on tour with Van Canto from September 2011 to January 2012 and quickly had some cool riff ideas that could not be sung, haha. I thought it would be a good idea to use Van Canto’s live break to team up with some friends and record an album. And yes, all Van Canto mates are doing background vocals on this album – great! I did all the recordings, mixing and production by myself and showed it to Napalm Records when it was all done. The reaction was great, and I’m a guy who “never wants to change a winning team”, so I was 14
very happy that they decided to release it. The production went quite easy, I started songwriting by the end of 2011, and we finished recordings in July 2012. Apart from the drums I recorded everything in my own studio and also did the mix and mastering. We put a lot of work into big background choirs, performed by my friends of Van Canto and by members of the Blind Guardian choir crew that I got to know during the last Guardian recordings, where I was part of the choir. The album is titled as Opus I – All My Kingdoms. At least it would have made no sense to call the debut Opus II, haha. The debut is just released and I definitely want to bring Heavatar to the stage, so let’s wait and see. I always like if a band or project has a certain idea. I think it’s not a bad thing if somebody tells you that your band sounds like this band or that band, as long as you are able to put something special on top. Of course we are not the first one to include classical parts into metal compositions, but the way we did it is something special, I think. I really tried to imagine what it would be like, sitting together with Bach or Beethoven and writing METAL songs. It just felt like Bach said “Hey I have this cool part here, let’s try to include it in the chorus” and I answered “ok, but let’s transform the chords a little bit and perhaps take a variation of it for the bridge”. Of course I know that I am not such a great composer like Bach or Beethoven, but I ignored that fact and tried to write songs together with them. This and the fact that the singing style is heavier than in other classical inspired metal bands makes it special, at least I hope so. I know that we do something special with Van Canto and this also helps side projects like Heavatar. And that's what it is, it's a side project, but I wouldn't mind if it gets bigger. 15
I don't want to build up a competetion between two bands of mine, this would be like deciding for one child or the other. Though I definetly want to bring Heavatar to the stage, I think that the bigger part of my musicians work in the near future will go into Van Canto. I’m not a friend of blaming destiny for everything that happens, as this would mean that I’m totally out of control about how my life should be. I was deeply touched by music since my childhood, I started playing piano aged 6 years old and I started playing guitar with 13. Since then I also was interested in writing songs, so it was clear quite early that music will be an important part of my life. I have never been a full time musician because I think it’s important to get some impressions from the world outside the music business to gain some serious inspiration. So music has always been a very important part of my life, but not the only one. I don’t have any fears or phobias, to be honest. And I’m happy that I do not have to pick any bright spot in my childhood, because I had a really great childhood throughout and I am very thankful for that. I think this is the reason why I mostly write quite positive lyrics, I’m a positive guy. Attitude to music changed with the success of Van Canto. I have a more realistic view on the music business and have realized that the most important part for me by making music is writing songs. Of course it’s cool to play gigs, to give interviews and to record albums, but to be happy I would need nothing but writing songs. But to get to this point I definitely needed to have a look inside all this business things, and of course it’s great to play on a big festival and have thousands of fans in front of the stage, don’t get me wrong. But I’m somehow happy, that this is not the most important part for me. We are just finishing songwriting for the new Van Canto album and will record it in summer and fall. It will be released by the
end of 2013 if nothing unexpected happens. As always we will improve our style and have one or another experiment song, but Van Canto fans know what they get. I think the album will be faster and more symphonic compared to our last one. We will definitely have more own songs than covers, as always. But the covers are an important part of Van Canto, as they show what is possible with voices. It’s easier to get that if the listener already knows the song. On the first 3 albums we just wanted to take the biggest metal hits we can get. On our fourth album we chose the covers that felt like if we have written them. For the next record I’ll leave this question open for surprise – so that you have to do another interview with me in some months, haha.
metal-a-cappella-style afterwards. Most of the songs are written on piano or guitar, but from time to time I have an idea by just singing along, but I am NOT mumbling, I am screaming!!! You always have to think of the fact that a singer can only produce one note at a time, so the most difficult point is to arrange a full sound with just 5 singers. But when you get it, it sounds amazing and is the secret behind van canto. And of course I had a lot of practice by recording 4 albums. Thanks for your interest in Heavatar and Van Canto. It’s all TO THE METAL, RAKKATAKKA MOTHERFUCKERS!!! Text – Jim Daniels
We write a regular song and arrange it in
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Mother YouTube International act Suncrown became a sort of revelation to me. Looking through YouTube profile of Dutch drummer Tim Zuidberg I came across the band name. Well, let it be, let’s listen, I thought. As it turned out later the founder, or co-founder of the band is a Ukrainian keyboardist Oleg Biblyi. Suncrown made me proud once again that our people are very talented. It was a sin not to grab a chance, so Jim Daniels had a chat with Oleg Biblyi. Let us start from the very beginning. What were the acts before Suncrown? I started playing in bands Goverla, Apostate and Viter. With Goverla I recorded the album ‘Khurtovyna’ (Snowstorm – DM). Guitarist Sergiy Malyshev and me wrote all songs. But later we split because of difference of opinion. Band Apostate gave me very bright impressions. We gave two gigs with legendary act Therion and had a chance to visit many Ukrainian cities. In Vitet I made recordings for the album “Dzherelo”. Still the distance and lack of time made me leave the band. How did it occur to you to gather not just a band, but an international band? Actually, it has never occurred to me. When I almost lost any hope to find a good singer in Ukraine and started recording instrumental things, Darren Crisp wrote me via YouTube. I was stunned with his vocals and we began recording our first song «Destiny Call». Eventually we found other musicians and they were from different
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countries purely coincidental. Did you have any troubles with the casting? Well, it all worked out easily and quickly. We picked the guys we liked most and sent them invitations with demos. Introduce the band, just a few words about everyone. Darren Crisp is very talented and initiative. I think nothing would happen without him. He is a great singer and perfectly manages the material adding his vision. Tim Zuidberg is very popular online, he made a lot of drum covers on Rammstein, Nightwish, Sabaton etc. Ederson Prado is the quickest Brazilian bass guitarist. He also was a member of Burning in Hell. Gustavo Bonfa is a virtuoso of guitar and runs his
own guitar school in Brazil. Juliana Furlani is a very talented singer with beautiful voice. Uğur Kerem Cemi-loğlu is very initiative and dedicated. Kevin Ellerby is a very nice guitarist. He’s a true yes man and always ready to help.
album at our own expanse and we have placed it on Suncrown website at www.suncrownband.com/shop. I don’t really know much about promotion of the album as everyone can order it. We do not focus exclusively on Ukraine or the USA.
What are positive and negative sides of an international band?
How can you assess the album? What is the main feature that helps the album to stand out of the crowd?
First, every band member is a top gun, so we are quick to understand each other and put all the skill in the material. There’s only one negative thing, it’s very difficult to come together to the studio. How do you rehearse? Via Skype? No, we hold rehearsals at home. Everyone works on their parts. Then we listen to the material to make conclusions what should be improved and what already sounds perfectly. Do you have any plans to invite for recordings some celebrities like Vinny Appice?
I think we managed to make the album where everyone can find something special. We pay much attention to the lyrics, and they motivate people and help to open all the best what one can feel or do. What’s interesting about the upcoming album? Maybe some style difference? There will be much new in the album. For example, we are going to include choir in some songs. Soon we will publish the video of the choir recording. But we will preserve the epic line in our music. Is Suncrown set for a concert tour?
I think we will invite some famous guest musicians. How did the recording of your first album ‘Follow Your Dream’ go? While recording the process of band formation was on. We recorded songs step by step, made videos and new people joined us. Only Tim Zuidberg and Juliana Furlani came to Darren’s ‘Crisp Recording Studios’ and recorded the stuff there, all other guys recorded their parts at home and sent them to Darren for mixing.
We had a few invitations, but gathering in studio for the new album recording is of top-priority. Right after that we will think about gigs. When will you play in Ukraine? Cannot answer now. Text – Jim Daniels
‘Follow Your Dream’ was a self-released album in the US. How difficult is it to promote the records there rather than in Ukraine? At fist we were looking for labels, but their offers weren’t comfortable. So Darren suggested that we should release the 18
people are only discovering us, music TV, which is a follower of the Russian A-ONE before it changed the music format. I can say, we have nothing common with today’s Russian A-ONE – we have different formats, satellites, we exist and develop in parallel worlds, not disturbing each other. A-ONE is a ‘TV-Channel of cultural resistance’. Why ‘resistance’? Our slogan has broad and flexible ways of interpretation: as resistance to a wider layer of pop-culture, or as resistance to stereotypes about rock-music and alternative in general. In fact, A-ONE is a quite peaceful hom, which broadcasts rockculture into society. They say, the channel will get a new head. Is it true? I your opinion, will it influence A-ONE’s work and content?
National Rock Channel Perhaps, all Ukrainian fans of alternative music know about A-ONE TV-channel: from their TV-sets itself and web-sites, or with the help of numerous channel logos down the cities. So, I got a chance to communicate with A-ONE music editor Anastasiya Petrovich. Does Ukrainian A-ONE have any relationship with the Russian one? There is a lot of information about creation, functioning and format change of the old A-ONE in 2011. I want to emphasize that at the moment there are two channels with A-ONE titles: Russian, which adheres hiphop format, and Ukrainian, which stands for rock-culture. We are proponents of old traditions. Though, Ukrainian A-ONE is autonomic and independent for not a long time: its test broadcasting began on the 1st of July, 2011 (satelltie Astra 4A, 4,8 ° E). we are very young. That’s why many 19
Changes happen everywhere and constantly – small or global. Of course we all may sit and assume something, but who shall work then? So, we’ll live and see. What is the process of choosing videoclips, both Ukrainian and foreign? Does financial question play a role here? Western band, or national – in doesn’t matter, the main criteria – musical part. Clip should respond to our format. Actually, we don’t have such a thing as ‘paid rotation’, fortunately or unfortunately. But TV is a complicated multifunctional structure, which requires sufficient financial support. How would you characterize an ideal videoclip for modern rock-TV? Which video from the current rotation is your favorite, from both sides of music editor and listener? An ideal videoclip is a subjective question. Someone perceives the picture only through musical part, someone, vice
versa, gets interested in the band/artist, after having watched the video. And though the level of modern alternative clip making is quite high, there is no formula for an ideal video. It can be high- or lowcost – it depends on the aim, director’s vision, artists and a range of other stuff. What about my preferences among videoclips – they are too different, and everything depends on the mood. The main thing is the clip should be so good, that you want to watch and listen to it till the end.
We have already commented on this situation in our social networks: these were forced measures, for alternative music fans could watch their favorite clips in the future. Almost all posters of big hard music concerts contain A-ONE logo. Who is the initiator of this? I mean, do you offer informational partnership to organizers, or do they make the first step? I’d say, both. Our channel is unique, because alternative band and artists, wellknown on different levels, are the part of our TV, our contingent. Moreover, Ukrainian A-ONE is the only rock-TV on the territory of CIS. In your opinion, is there future for Ukrainian alternative musical mass media? Not only TV-channels, but also magazines, for example?
Does A-ONE plan to produce thematic programs, such as ‘ProRock’? If yes, can you share the secret? Yes, we have it in our plans, because without such programs, any musical TV, no matter how good it is, is just a music casket. Starting from December 2012 we’ve got new programs: ‘Rockumentary’ – documentary films about famous rockbands and musicians; ‘Rock-archive’ – live convert performances of outstanding rock bands and artists; ‘Live Music’ – small studio/rehearsals sets of rock bands, which are not so well-known yet. Of course, we have another ideas for our own production. But, all in good time. Many people from A-ONE audience are disappointed in advertisements a la ‘shop on the couch’, because, instead of watching videoclips, alternative music fans have to do with unnecessary advertising. How would you comment on this?
Unfortunately, or may be vice versa, the information is now mostly spread through the Internet. It is fast, affordable and free of charge, which, of course, influences the condition of Ukrainian mass media in general, not only alternative ones. But we are proud of our representations in the Web (http://vk.com/a1rock, http:// www.facebook.com/a1rock). We always try to react quickly and qualitatively to any feedbacks of our readers and watchers. It seems that we stay in touch with our audience more than any Ukrainian TVchannel. What about future forecasts – there’s future for Ukrainian alternative music. And this is the most important thins, because, in this case, there’s a future for the sources of its broadcasting. In what form – it’s just a question of time. Say some words to our readers :) Listen to right music. And watch A-ONE :) http://www.a1rock.tv/ Text – Hell Danova 20
Garage Rock School In November 2011 a new music project was launched in the city of Lutsk (Northwest Ukraine). It was called Garage Rock Sсhool. It was set up by two young enthusiasts Vova Khomych and Andrew Sobchuk, who are the members of the band Keto. After a year and a half the project transformed into a full-scale school where all volunteers are taught to play rock. Rock school is a full alternative to conventional music schools and fully allows the students to develop their music individuality. “Andrew and me had been cherishing the idea for a long time. We thought a lot how to embody it the right way. Than we found all necessary facilities and teachers and launched the such an experiment in Lutsk”, Vova Khomych says. “We had been closely watching what it was eventually turning up. There were nice results. To prove it, just visit our concerts.” The main idea behind the school was to 21
revive rock culture in the city, pull together people who think the same and create the environment for creating music. “Once we organized alternative rock festival “Velyka Rukhanka” and faced the problem that there was nobody to invite from Lutsk. At first we launched a rehearsal center, but over some time less and less bands stayed there. That’s why we set up the school where everyone can learn how to play”, says Vova. At first the school was based in the local cinema, right after that it moved to garment factory “Lutchanka” which premises look quite underground. An ideal place for rock parties. The teachers of the school are well-known Lutsk musicians, all of them are members of different bands. Half of them are music graduates, others are self-taught and reached heights in music merely because of their desire. Every teacher has his own education program.
“Our teachers have practice and they have an immense experience of live shows. They always adjust their schedule to the students and learn how to play songs which students like. It’s of paramount importance that people get thrills from what they are doing. But, first of all students are taught basics of playing this or that instrument”, says Vova. Now there are about 60 students in the school. They are all of different age and profession starting from a secondary school pupils to teachers, salesmen, journalists or programmers. Most of them have their own instruments, play in bands and just enjoy music. Students are taught in groups of several people. There are a few courses – guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals. Lessons, which last for two hours, are held 8 times a month. Nevertheless there are no set schedules of a course as everything depends on students’ skills and knowled-
ge. There are also two one month long courses of electronic music and mixing – new entries in the curriculum. Many students did not believe in success and ability for music, but took a risk and enrolled in the School. One of them is Vova Kozak, who teachers call ‘one man band’. 10 years ago he left music school where learned saxophone playing. A year and a half he enrolled in the School to play bass guitar. Now he takes singing lessons. “I visited an open lesson of the School. I liked its atmosphere and teachers. My friend attends guitar lessons, I wanted to be with him in that group, bu I didn’t know I could. That is why I started learning bass guitar. But I don’t feel sorry. Yhe School gave me a chance to learn from great teachers and try my hand in gigs. Moreover, it broadened my outlook”, says Vova.
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Rock School gigs are held three times a year. During shows pupils perform different covers on Ukrainian and foreign songs. Many acts which grew from the School are often invited to different shows around the city. Moreover the School often organizes workshops held by different Ukrainian musicians. Text – Oksana Tsymbaliuk
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Daily Metal hunts fresh blood! Visited a cool concert and want to share your impressions? Want to tell about a new release? Are you photographer? Musician? Designer? Web-designer? Got an ear for good music? Then join our team! P.S. we are also opened for any partnership with musical media, musicians, organizers of hard music events, representatives of music shops etc. Send your offers and comments to: hell.danova@gmail.com and metaldaily@gmail.com.
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