Highwire Daze Issue #138

I SSUE1 38

OCT|NOV2021 ST 31 ANNI VE RSARYI SSUE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

HIGHWIRE DAZE Sponsored by THE SANDGAARD FOUNDATION

Publisher Highwire Daze Magazine A General Partnership

INTERVIEWS with...

John 5....................................................................14 Cradle Of Filth.......................................................18 Taste.......................................................................22 Mad Margritt..........................................................26 Ariel Bellvalaire.....................................................30 Elliot Easton of The Cars......................................34 Frozen Tears...........................................................38 Madman’s Lullaby.................................................42 LastWorld..............................................................46 Betty Moon...........................................................48 Cherish Alexander.................................................52 Greg Leon Invasion...............................................56

Editor Ken Morton Managing Editor Danny S. Pasley Senior Photographer Jack Lue East Coast Editor Jupiter Lee Contributors Ken Morton Jack Lue Jupiter Lee James Grover Kim Crain

ARIEL BELLVALAIRE POSTER by JACK LUE..............32/33

Cover Art by Yannick d’Assignes of Smart Works Intl

CONCERT REVIEWS Recover Out Loud with Macklemore, KT Tunstall, Sandgaard, and more........................58

Cover Photos by Jack Lue HIGHWIRE DAZE 827 N. Hollywood Way PMB419 Burbank, CA 91505-2814 www.highwiredaze.com email: ken@highwiredaze.com Copyright 2021 Highwire Daze Magazine Opinions expressed within this publication do not neccessarily reflect those of the publisher.

All rights reserved. Nothing may be produced in whole or in part without the express and written permission of the publisher.

ALBUMS REVIEWS Deathcryptopia, The Fifth, Rich Kid Express, The Swansons, Swanee.........................................60 SKETCHES BY THE EDITOR................................................... 8 PRODUCT REVIEW BY JAMES GROVER Sean McNaab interview Part 1..............................10 IN MUSICAL ORBIT BY JUPITER Dream Theater, Newman reviews.........................12

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Sketches By The Editor Welcome to our 31st Anniversary Edition of Highwire Daze magazine! And what an issue we have in store for you, featuring an interview I did with John 5 with a Jack Lue photo shoot over at the Jesus Wall downtown. Here is a picture of John 5 and I briefly unmasked. It was an honor to chat with this legendary guitarist!

Editor Ken interviews John 5

Other highlights in this issue includes our coverage of Recover Out Loud, produced by The Sandgaard Foundation and Kevin Lyman of the Vans Warped Tour. Taking place in Las Vegas, this wonderful show featured Macklemore, KT Tunstall, and the mighty Sandgaard premiering their new single Believe. Check out my review of Recover Out Loud in this very issue.

The next issue of Highwire Daze will be out December 10th, so be on the look out for it! Thank you everyone for your support of the Highwire Daze print issue and see out at the shows.

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October/November 2021

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Behind the scenes by James Grover featuring Sean McNabb of Quiet Riot, Dokken, Great White, and Sons of Anarchy PART ONE Sean and I had met 2 years ago working in the music industry. I had the opportunity to sit and enjoy a conversation with one of the most hard working bass players in today’s music industry despite his busy schedule we stopped for a minute just to look back and here it is.

How did you start your career in music?

Basically my brother was a drummer I was a cornet and horn player I tried to be and I just couldn’t get a sound on the cornet and my brother being a drummer he got me into drums and I was like the world’s worst drummer,(laughs) So my Mom had a guitar and she gave it to me, it was a classical guitar so I just started playing with my fingers which led to playing bass and that’s what got me turned on to The Beatles, ELP and Yes, and all these bands and it gravitated me towards the bass. It was really John Entwistle of The Who that really turned me on to bass, I left the theater that day after watching the movie “Tommy” going “ I want to play rock and roll and to want to play bass”.

How did acting and music start as a career?

Well I grew up in Indiana and I was always in drama classes and along music classes, I always did plays at our Church and stuff like that, so I’ve been acting a long time since I was just you know a kid. Acting was actually before the music.

So I got my start there doing Church plays and it just kind of kept going. Music took over in my teens and got away from it. I got sober about 17 years ago so I decided I was going to revisit my acting career and started studying again, I have had several teachers here in Los Angeles and I’m currently a studio member at the Anthony Gilardi acting school, he is my coach and I am in his master class there, you know it’s just something, there’s a lot of parallels between acting and music, I’ve been on stage you know most of my life you know on and off, so I feel very natural.

What are your hobbies or interests besides acting and music?

Well those are my two careers. My hobbies You know we both love dogs, I got three dogs you have dogs, they’re like kids, but also the motorcycles I am really into that! I got three bikes out in the garage. We do a lot of riding, I am also a “Boozefighter” which is one of the oldest MC’s in Southern California been around since 1946. So I am super gratitude to be part of a legacy club that actually helps start the Southern California biker culture, most people think it’s a sober club “it’s not sober at all” (laughs), but that’s the common misconception it’s really cool to be a part ofand it’s the real deal.

So when you were in the “Sons of Anarchy” you actually really are an MC member?

I wasn’t when I was on “Sons” and I used to think I knew 10

something about MC’s (laughs) but then I joined one and I really learned what MC’s are all about, and you know that was a great experience for me nothing but love and gratitude for that experience and I got to be around some of the greatest actors on a daily basis with a lot to learn how to be professional on set, a great experience for me on a daily basis so grateful for that experience it really taught me a lot, it springboard me into playing supporting and lead roles in films and TV. What do you have going on for the future?

I have a couple projects going on right now, we got two scripts were developing for actors from my studio and we’re trying to create vehicles for ourselves so we’ve written two scripts and that’s an ongoing process, but if you’re an actor waiting around for your agent to call you know with auditions and parts that’s great but if you’re developing your own projects these are the vehicles for yourself and your buddies who are passionate about the acting crafts and that’s a double win you know so you have to be working and developing your own projects as well, as a producer and a writer.

Watch for Part Two in the Highwire Daze Issue #139, out December 10th!

Reach James Grover at: http://www.facebook.com/james.grover.311 October/November 2021

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In Musical Orbit by Jupiter Jupiter at Highwire Daze Online Crew East Coast Editor

Hey everyone, it’s Jupiter Lee - East Coast Editor. Check out my record reviews here and be sure to add me on Facebook! Link is at the end of my column...

Into The Monsters’ Playground Newman AOR Heaven Explosive riffs, soulful vocals and penetrating rhythms make up the thirteenth studio album from the band NEWMAN. Multi instrumentalist, singer, songwriter STEVE NEWMAN and drummer / percussionist ROB McEWEN have put together twelve tracks on this new release. So far there are two videos available Hurricane Sky’ and Give me Tonight’ . Opening with Start This Fire, it introduces you to a taste of what you’re in for! With its powerful melody and harmonies it will get your attention quickly. With shades of FOREIGNER track 02, Timebomb, has this down n’ dirty melody turning melodic while NEWMAN seems to effortlessly breeze though another awesome solo . Track 03, Holding On, is one of my favorites .With many radio friendly tunes like Don’t Come Running To Me, Lightning Tree, and Icon, I get a sense that these two share the same focus and work wonderfully together. Returning to their love of metal is possibly their heaviest tune, track 09, Into The Monster’s Playground. NEWMAN’s guitar solo really takes you to another place! Recorded between the summer of 2020 and the spring of 2021, INTO THE MONSTERS’ PLAYGROUND is available now. (Info: http://www.newmansound.com/)

takably from LABRIE, you know you’re in for the duration.

The piece goes through many changes. Multi - time signatures is something we’ve come to expect from them and with a time signature of 23/8, the intro is no exception. This piece alone is no less than nine minutes. Melodic and thunderous riffs are abundant in track two Answering The Call then delicately followed by Track 03, Invisible Monster. Track 04, Sleeping Giant. RUDESS has chosen the ‘Valente Electro Mechanical piano’ for the intro. Please refrain from tapping your foot, it could cause injury. This takes us into track 06, Awaken The Master. PETRUCCI’s abstract riffs are simply incredible!

Which brings us into the final track A View From The Top Of The World. Majestic movie soundtrack type horns and military beats begin, morph into a fast galloping instrumental passage then into LABRIE’s vocals . You can tell something is building. The multi - faceted tune comes in at twenty minutes and has a very unusual ending.There is no band like DREAM THEATER. A View From The Top Of The World contains seven mesmerizing tracks. With 70 minutes of music, how they are going to perform this masterpiece? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out! The album is scheduled to be released October 22 2021. (Info: https://dreamtheater.net/)

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A View From The Top Of The World Dream Theater

InsideOutMusic / Sony Music Progressive metal masters DREAM THEATER have just finished recording their fifteenth album, A View From The Top Of The World. Members include lead vocalist JAMES LABRIE, guitarist JOHN PETRUCCI, keyboardist JORDAN RUDESS, bassist JOHN MYUNG, and drummer MIKE MANGINI. Bursting into track 01 is The Alien. With a haunting, lightning fast riff combined with precise drum work and vocals unmis12

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HIGHWIRE DAZE

John 5 Photo by Jack Lue

John 5 Unveils Sinner

Interview by Ken Morton - Photos by Jack Lue Iconic guitarist John 5 has released his highly anticipated new solo album Sinner via Big Machine Records and it’s a thoroughly stunning manifesto of auditory artistry. Known for his work with the likes of David Lee Roth, Marilyn Manson, and of course Rob Zombie, John 5 has unleashed an equally compelling solo career. Sinner finds John 5 collaborating with the likes of Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, Carla Harvey of the Butcher Babies, and Peter Criss formerly of the almighty KISS, and the results are absolutely thunderous to behold. Highwire Daze recently caught up with John 5 doing a photo shoot with Jack Lue at The Jesus Wall in Downtown LA. Read on...

We’re here with John 5. We’re both in our masks because we’re in the middle of COVID-19. Let’s talk to John about Sinner. Is there any overall story or concept behind the Sinner album title, first of all?

Well, I believe, to be honest, we all try to be good people and we are good people, but we’re all sinners a little bit. We don’t HIGHWIRE DAZE

October/November 2021

talk about and deep inside, it could be anything. It could be just little white lies if you will, so we’re all sinners a little bit, some more than others.

The first single is with Dave Mustaine, like Que Pasa. Tell me about the experience working with Dave and how that all came about.

Well, I was, of course, a huge Megadeth fan just like anyone else. And back in the day, I saw them the first time on the “So Far, So Good...So What! Tour.” I bought Peace Sells when it came out and have always been a huge fan. I have always loved his voice, his writing, and his guitar playing, everything. I mean, the guy’s amazing. And I always wanted to do something with Dave and I thought, “Oh my God, this is a great opportunity and hopefully he’ll like it.” But he did like it.

And he was like, “Okay, cool. Let’s do this”. We had a James Brown sample in there before Dave’s part was in there and Dave just like killed it. You know, he just had that attitude and that perfect voice. It’s just so Mustaine, and I was so happy and I’m completely honored to have him a part of the song. It really is an honor.

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Another guest that you had on was Carla Harvey from the Butcher Babies who we actually did a photoshoot with too.

What was it like working with Carla on the album?

Well, of course being really good with Charlie, her boyfriend, I said, “Hey Charlie, you think Carla would like to do this?”

And you know, it’s just one-word, “Euphoria,” but we went through a bunch of other people to do it and it just wasn’t right. And something so simple as one word, but it’s complicated to really get that part, that deliverance, that perfect tone, and the attitude, just with one word. Carla knocked it out and it really is just a perfect, perfect delivery, if you will.

Georgia on My Mind features Peter Criss formerly of Kiss. I know you’re a big Kiss fan. What was that like working with Peter Criss in particular?

I’ve known Peter for a very, very long time, and I’m very close to him. I talk to him all the time on the phone and we’ll chitchat about music, and life, and everything. He loves cats and movies and documentaries. But he talks a lot about growing up and loving jazz music and loving playing jazz and an appreciation he has for Gene Krupa and appreciation he has for Buddy Rich. And he just loves that style, and he played like that. And with Kiss, you can really listen to those drum fills that he does, it’s very jazzy in that feel.

So, I was just going to have a solo guitar playing Georgia on My Mind just to end the record from all this crazy chaos - just some nice solo guitar. But then I thought, “Oh my God, it’d be great to have Peter on this.” And so I said, “Peter would you like to do this?” And he goes, “That’s one of my favorite songs. I would love to.” So, I flew my producer out there and, my producer whose name is Barry Pointer, how he mic the drums was just like back in the day like in the 40s. Just a couple of mics.

It’s not like a mic on every drum set like they do today. And before he started recording him, those microphones were live and he was talking and he was talking to the producer about the song. And the mics were on and it was being recorded what he was saying. So before the song starts, he talks a little bit about the song, and a little bit about me, and that’s how we started the song - about him talking. And we asked if it was okay if we use that and he said, “Absolutely.” So he got behind the drums and it was just like when he was a kid. It’s just like if you haven’t gotten on a bike for a while. But right away, you start riding. And that’s how he said it was. It was like when he was young, he would just play like that all the time and he killed it.

There was a new single that was released with David Lee Roth. Tell me about that song and how it came about.

I’ve been friends with Dave forever, like since the mid-90s and he would always say, “Hey come on over, and let’s get some food, and write some songs.” And we would go into the studio that night after writing these songs. And we’d have so much fun. It was no stress - it was just like a couple of friends get together, playing music, recording it. And it was wonderful because there was literally no stress with that. And he’s been releasing these songs and they make me so happy.

I’ll tell you about, like one song that is not released yet. And 16

I don’t talk about this in any other interviews, but it’s called, Nothing Could Have Stopped Us. And in my eyes, it’s such a wonderful song. Dave did an unbelievable job and it’s about Van Halen, and it just literally is one of my favorite songs that Dave has ever done. I hope he releases it.

Now, of course, David Lee Roth said that he’s going to retire. Could one really ever retire from Rock and Roll? Is that something that would even enter your mind?

No, I really don’t - everybody’s different of course, but I really believe that, I play guitar so much, you know, I’m always picking, I’m always playing. I really believe I will probably perish on stage or with a guitar in my hand for sure. It’s just retirement is something that’s not in my vocabulary. But if I was a singer or a drummer - that’s a different story. But I’m a guitar player and I will never retire. You’ll never hear those words coming out of my mouth. But, you know, everybody’s different and Dave has given us so much great music. Oh my God, so much great music. Thank you, David Lee Roth, for all the great memories and all the great music.

What do you think is made your collaboration with Rob Zombie so successful over the years?

Well, I think there’s such a mutual respect. I love Rob, we get along so well. He’s an amazing person. And of course, playing live with him and recording with him. It is incredible.

It’s an honor and we’ve been doing it for so long now. We’ve made a lot of great music and a lot more to come. You know, I don’t see an end in sight at all or a slowing down. We are at the top of our game right now, and I just love the guy so much.

Now you’ve also worked with Marilyn Manson. A lot of people see him as an icon, legend. How do you see Marilyn Manson as?

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Well, you know, Manson changed. I loved Manson when he came out. I was like very inspired and I loved all of that just like Kiss, or Alice Cooper, or anything like that. And I just loved everything about it and the music, and the vision, and all of that. I was really really into it. When I was playing for KD Lang, I would listen to it before I went on stage and it was just so much fun, all that stuff, the videos, all that. I really really love the albums he did and the albums that I did with him. It was a wonderful experience.

What do you hope that the rest of 2021 and 2022 brings for you?

Well, I’m so happy, because I never wished upon any of this. When you’re little, you’re like, “Oh, I want to do this. I want to do that.” This is far beyond my dreams, and I’m so happy with how everything has been going. I’m so happy to be doing the interview with you and it’s just wonderful. It’s a Wonderful Life just like the movie, but I am so appreciative of everything. I just want to keep playing and hopefully inspire some people and just keep enjoying life. It’s been absolutely wonderful.

And last question, do you have any messages for your fans who are reading this interview right now?

I would say, if you want to go after your dream, do it. Because if you don’t do it, someone else is going to do it. If you want to be a musician or a sports figure or anything like that, just like the Nike ad says, “just do it!” Because if you don’t do it, I guarantee somebody else is going to do it. And why not you?

www.john5.com

Australian Pressing Edition With Bonus Track

12 Classic New Songs & Bonus Track

Now Available www.mrrecords.com.au HIGHWIRE DAZE

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Cradle Of Filth Photo by Jack Lue

Existence and Artistry with the Legendary

CRADLE OF FILTH

Interview by Ken Morton Band Photo by James Sharrock Live Photo by Jack Lue

our elongated tour for Cryptoriana . I mean, we literally 2017, 2018, 2019, 3 most packed touring years of our career, I believe.

Legendary extreme metal band Cradle Of Filth has returned with an all-out vengeance, unleashing Existence Is Futile - their 13th exhilarating magnum opus via Nuclear Blast Records. Terrorizing the States now on their Lustmord & Tourgasm trek with Once Human and 3Teeth in support, Cradle Of Filth has been performing their classic 1998 concept album Cruelty and the Beast in it’s entirety. Prior to the tour, Highwire Daze interviewed Cradle Of Filth’s iconic mastermind Dani Filth to discuss the upcoming Existence Is Futile endeavor, the current tour, his David Hasselhoff connection, and more..

So, the album title kind of stems from our interaction with other humans during that time. And, I suppose, it’s very nihilistic, the concept, but it has a glimmer of hope because, for example, if existence truly is futile and that there is no purpose or nobody overseeing it and guiding us to a greater goal, then by that assumption, we’re free to do what we want, and so, we should enjoy ourselves while we have this gift of life. So, it’s not all doom and gloom, that’s what I’m trying to say. But, yeah, the new opus is drenched in the theme of philosophy and existentialism, I would say, overall. Fear of the unknown, life in the grip of death, the constant fear of death, uncertainty of faith in the cosmos, search for life’s meaning, and I guess also the meaningless of life, the absurdity of the human condition. And we say it was totally socio-critical, I mean Cradle has never been that band, but we have, I suppose, a little bit of social commentary on the album in the form of Suffer Our Dominion. I could go on all day about the title.

Let’s talk about the upcoming album, Existence Is Futile. Is there any overall story or concept behind that album title?

Well, some might think it was influenced by the pandemic, that may be true to some extent. But, the album was written before the pandemic even came along. I think it’s a by-product of us seeing the world for what it is and for 3 years, during HIGHWIRE DAZE

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Crawling King Chaos is the first single, I believe, and you have a video for that, too. First, let’s talk about the single, then, we’ll talk about the video. What was the inspiration behind Crawling King Chaos?

Crawling King Chaos is almost like this Lovecraftian character, the song namecheck’s Apophis, which is this cataclysmic event that’s supposed to happen, a large meteorite that might strike the Earth in a few hundred years time. But, anyway, it’s about the Advent of Chaos as like a personification. The namecheck’s also The Four Horsemen, Revelations. But, I like the Lovecraftian aspect of it as well, seeing that Lovecraft had a story called The Crawling Chaos. But, having spent, like I said, 3 years on the road, it does feel like the world is in the grip of a chaotic manifestation, and if anything, it’s that beast that’s leading us towards an inevitable cataclysm.

And the video, as well, is testament to that ideology, you have this demonic character that’s overseeing everything. It’s in a hellish sort of landscape or hellscape. That was sort of the angle we were going from.

Your video director, Vicente Cordero, his credits include 3Teeth who, I believe, you’re going to be touring with, Queensrÿche and David Hasselhoff out of all people.

Yeah, don’t mess with the Hoff!

Oh, exactly. You know it. So, what was it like working with him? And, did he have any David Hasselhoff stories he could share with you?

I believe he did, but I can’t remember it. Well, no, I’m sure he did. Working with him was awesome, he had to come over here. He actually shot 2 videos back-to-back. We have one forthcoming, which is for the track Necromantic Fantasies, which is also a very different song to that of Crawling King Chaos, which was put out there first because it’s more like a fist in the face, we’re here to come back with a bit of a bang.

And to show the brutality of the new record.

And I think, the contrast between the 2 tracks is cool, as well. And the video kind of shows a complete different color scheme. In fact, I’m going to get to see the first draft of the new video in a couple of days. I’m just seeing stills and the lighting, to make sure it’s in the right direction, but he’s a very talented director. I was very aware of his work with 3Teeth. He also work with DevilDriver as well, and that’s where the association came in. The fact that Dez Fafara’s our manager, he was like his go-to guy. And bless him, he had come to England, he had to self-isolate during the lockdown for ten days. We shot the videos back-to-back in the South of England. And though, and we had all these great props and everything. He also shot some stuff back in LA when he returned. We’re very pleased with it. It looks great.

Cradle of Filth, in general, has a cinematic vibe to it, and I love cinema in general and I think this glorious technicolored, monstrosity he’s created is very cinematic as well. I mean, it looks great. I’m really pleased of it, very much looking 20

forward to seeing Necromantic Fantasies as well.

With the current lineup, first, I want to talk about the newest member and then the one member that’s been with you for the longest so far. Let’s talk about Anabelle first. Tell me about her background, and how she became involved with Cradle of Filth. I know, she’s in Devilment, your other band...

Well, she was in Devilment for a little while. Devilment don’t exist anymore, we’re on a, like, permanent hiatus, just because I’m getting too busy with Cradle of Filth. I’m also dipping my toe back into the waters, with Temple of the Black Moon, with Rob Caggiano and John Tempesta - a band I was working on, before everybody kind of got more famous and there just wasn’t the time for it. So, Devilment, Anabelle I think she only played 1 show with us.

So we parted ways with Lindsay Schoolcraft, and Anabelle put forward as a replacement even before people really knew she was in Devilment, if that makes any sense. And I felt very sorry for her, because she joined the band back in November 2019 after our last show with Lindsay and last show prior to the pandemic in Belgium.

And then she was just synonymous with being anonymous, for a year and a half. Because her identity as a replacement wasn’t revealed until (a) live stream event, which happened in May. So, although she contribute to the record, she joined after we’d written a majority in the material, but her contribution was almost equal, she rewrote parts and we integrated them, moving stuff around and embellishing it, et cetera, et cetera. But, yeah, for the greater part of the year and a half, literally, no credit for anything. And she’s probably sitting there thinking, “Well, nobody knows, I’m even in the band.

When will this even end?”, but fortunately, that did end with October/November 2021

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the live stream, and now subsequently the new album.

I believe that Marthus is the longest reigning member of the band?

Yeah. See, yeah, he joined the band back in, I’d like to say 2007, actually, on the Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder. So, yeah, a good fourteen years, maybe fifteen.

What do you think makes you and Marthus work so well together that he’s been with you for quite some time now.

Obviously, he’s an incredible drummer, one of the best drummers in the world. He also writes a lot of the keyboards.

He’s very good at songwriting. Yeah, he’s just an all-around musician. He’s very much into it. He’s been a big fan of the band long, long before he became a member. I like working with him, in fact, it’s a great working relationship we have as a band at present, anyway, we’re all very good friends. I’ve recently just did the Bloodstock Festival in England, and it was just great, with everybody getting back together, after such a long period because even when we were recording the album, everybody wasn’t in the same place at the same time, because of the lockdown. So, the thing with Marthus, much like the other guys, is that we’re thick as thieves, and very much into what we do and what we’re about.

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What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming tour with Once Human and 3Teeth?

The most important thing is just getting back out and getting on the tour bus. But, I mean, honestly getting back on the tour bus, coming to America, the change in scenery. I always liked touring in America, anyway, meeting the fans, playing the gigs. We’re doing Cruelty and the Beast, but to be fair, we could play in ABBA tunes and I really wouldn’t mind. I know we’re promoting a new album in a way, but because of the pandemic, obviously, America missed out on the Cruelty and the Beast tours. We did it in Asia, and Australia, and Europe, but not America. I could you go on and on about what I’m looking forward to. One thing I’m not looking forward to is customs. US Customs is such a pain. I imagine, it’s probably worse with all the Covid business. But, yeah, I’m very much looking forward to it because essentially, it’s just a step in the right direction. It will feel like life’s kind of reverting back to a semblance of normality. If you can say going on tour with Cradle of Filth is anything like sanity, then, then that will be it.

https://www.cradleoffilth.com/

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TASTE sez ROCK IS GOD!

Interview by Ken Morton Taste unveils rock and roll in the grand and epic tradition of classic bands such as Queen and Sweet. With a brilliant career dating back to the 70’s within the vast Australian music scene, Taste is ready to make an impression all over the world above and beyond these pandemic days. Rock Is God is a compilation of their recordings now available via MR Records, featuring mega standout tracks such as Hello Can You Hear Me, Remedy, I Am God, and Rock Is Dead! In the New Year, Taste will present a brand new collection of songs entitled Brothers Forever - also from the MR Records compound. Highwire Daze recently interviewed Taste co-conspirator Ken Murdoch to find out more about the timeless and ambitious reveries of this eternally amazing collective!

Read on...

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in TASTE and how long the band has been together.

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Ken Murdoch, singer, guitarist, keyboards and chief songwriter in Taste. We formed in high school in the late 70s.

Michael and I went to school together and Joey was 15 when we met. He left school on the Friday, we played two local gigs, then played Festival Hall (10,000 people) with Sweet for two nights and then toured NSW for 6 weeks. I think he’s still enrolled at his old school! We then had 4 top twenty hits and two top twenty albums and played to big crowds including a gig on the banks of the Yarra to 13,000 people.

What was it like to reform a band in the 21st Century after not having worked together since the mid 70’s?

It was surprisingly easy. We had always kept in touch. We reformed for a huge 70s concert at Clader Park Melbourne with Santana and Alice Cooper. Virgil flew in from the States. The old chemistry was still there. The concert was cancelled at the last minute due to promoter issues but strangely enough we were the only act to get paid. It was the best paying rehearsal we’d ever had. Five thousand dollars! I had October/November 2021

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a few new original songs and Michael and Joey and I decided to go back into the studio and record. We found a new drummer Joel Wittenberg as Virg went back to Los Angeles. That became the ROCK IS DEAD album.

How did you wind up signing with MR Records?

MR Records asked us to do an Australian package tour and we were incredibly impressed with their organization and integrity. Shortly after they got in touch and asked if we’d be interested in a partnership. They distribute all our old and new recordings including merch and they work very closely with us on everything else. Really a management group. They’ve done a lot for us overseas, MR Records released an amazing compilation of TASTE songs entitled Rock Is God. How did you wind up signing with MR Records and what was it like to revisit these songs?

Rock Is God was MR Records idea as they felt a strong compilation of all our rocky stuff would really capture overseas attention, especially Europe, which it has. It was fun to revisit and decide what we should include. I think the mix of songs is correct in showing the heavier stuff with the interesting songs as well. They all seemed to gel despite some being recorded 20 years apart.

The name came from a DJ mixing up our album ROCK IS DEAD and single I AM GOD. Rock Is Dead is such a bold statement. Tell me a little about the inspiration behind the song.

When I wrote the lyrics in 2007 American/Australian Idol was everywhere and seemed to be monopolizing the music industry. There didn’t seem to be any long term plans for these artists. I thought the whole idea was basically a bad karaoke scheme to make money. You’d be hard pressed to remember any of the winners these days with the exception of Adam Lambert (thanks Queen). So I really was voicing my opinion…”don’t buy the ringtone, stick with the real songs” Speaking of bold statements, I Am God is such an epic song.

Give me a little background and inspiration behind that one.

I came up with the riff first. Its in drop D tuning. Sometimes great things come from playing normal chords with different tunings. Lyrically its from a short story that I wrote about what if God was not so benevolent as everyone believed and was playing us like a video game. “ I wonder what will happen if I send a tsunami here etc” It was hard to write the lyrics from a history of disaster point of references, so I drew back on my history lessons at school; “Deserts of Naim”, “Clondalkin Paper Mills” and “Screaming Turks of 1664” The video clip https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGAaXBzUevA was directed by Clayton Jacobson who had directed a huge film hit over here called “Kenny”. The vid was epic and had lots of apocalyptic vision and background shots. Our only initial criticism is we asked for more “robot spiders” HIGHWIRE DAZE

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(which he added!)

Give me a bit of background on the song 2020’s Dead and what was it like writing and recording in lockdown?

It was written with a friend of ours Les Brazil. It concentrates on mental health, which was something we experienced first hand when our drummer decided not to do the Brothers EPs with us due to the Pandemic really effecting him. He felt there was no reason to even continue with music so it hit him very hard. Early on Beyond Blue (Australian Mental Health organization) got on board with the song and royalties go to them every sale.

We had managed to record the bass and guitars before lockdown but in regard to mixing I would have to do it in my studio and then send out mixes for everyone’s approval. It was usually a little more democratic than that. We ended up getting a couple of different drummers to record where ever and whenever they could to the tracks for use which gave the tracks an interesting slant.We now are using a fantastic drummer called Anthony Ziros, who originally worked for us in the 70’s as Virgil’s drum roadie. Hes got the expertise but also bring a more heavier attitude with him.

Let’s go way back to 1977 and your single Rebecca. Tell me the story behind Rebecca and how it feels to have the track show up on TV shows such as Rage?

My parents bought me a piano when I was 16 and Rebecca was one of the first songs I wrote. It’s a fairly boy meets girl, boy loses girl story. I wasn’t so dark and angst ridden in those days. That clip on RAGE (Australian rock TV show) is from ABCs Countdown, an Australian institution for rock TV in the 70s/80s. We were the first band to play on the pilot. We were on it many times but unfortunately the ABC started to record over the show due to cutbacks. Luckily a producer jumped 23

in and bought what was left from the late 1977 onwards but most of our stuff disappeared.

What could one expect from your upcoming album Brothers Forever and how will it compare to the previous TASTE classics?

This album isn’t as dark as the other ones. My wife always says you never write any songs for girls so I had a crack with “I Can’t Sleep” and “This Could Be A Love Song”. But of course the albums still full of epic over the top songs. There’s a great Bjork track called “Play Dead” which is as heavy as anything else we’ve recorded. I can’t wait to sing that live!

I think it’s the most accessible album we’ve done. “{We All} Stand Up” got a lot of airplay across Australia and “2020’s Gone” made it to number 6 in Madrid. There’s quite a lot of interest in Europe and Japan. It’d be nice to tour again.

Has TASTE ever played here in the States or plan to do so in future days?

We nearly made it to the States in the late 70s. Seymour Stein from Sire Records came to our manager’s house and listened to our stuff and decided to sign us. We unfortunately changed management and broke up before that happened but there was lots of stories in the tween US magazines saying “young band from Australia coming soon”!! We have discussed with MR Records about touring with ex AC/DC’s singer Dave Evans before Covid hit. In the 70s we were good friends with AC/ DC touring a lot together. My favorite Bon Scott story is of him walking towards me in a TV studio grinning madly at me. I asked him “Why was he so happy” and he said “New Teeth!!”

Any final words of wisdom?

I think if you’re lucky enough to find a chemistry like Michael, Joey and I have throughout these years, always stick with it and believe in yourselves. Fame is great but enjoying the music you make is better than anything else you’ll experience. …….oh and wear earplugs!

www.taste-music.com www.kenmurdoch.com www.melodicrockrecords.com

What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming live show in February? And have you been able to play live at all during the pandemic?

No gigs or rehearsals but plenty of rehearsals with new drummer Anthony Ziros up until lockdown cock blocked us.

Sounding very big too. We can’t wait to get back onstage.

Will there be any future solo albums from Joey Amenta or any other members of TASTE? I’ve been stashing away tracks that don’t really suit Taste and threatening to put out a solo album but I spend so much time on Taste projects that it seems unlikely at the moment. I’m currently mixing our live album, plus a Live DVD, putting together a book on our history and throwing together videos for the album which is out next year. We’re also planning a box set so there’s some outtakes that I have to dig up.

What do you hope 2022 brings you for and for TASTE? Well if we’re allowed, we want to start touring again. We’ve got the new “Brothers Forever” album coming out and the box set to promote plus the live stuff. We are already talking about doing another album. We’d like to make it our heaviest yet, which should be fun. Just get back to smashing those guitars.

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October/November 2021

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A Rocking Encounter with

MAD MARGRITT

Interview by Ken Morton Mad Margritt is an explosive, high energy band based out of Atlanta, Georgia who has been rocking the world since the dawning of the new millennium. To celebrate their vast and epic collection of work, Mad Margritt has teamed with their longtime label Perris Records to present Best Of 1999-2021 - available worldwide on November 19th! Featuring fan favorites as well as three unreleased tracks, Best Of 1999-2021

by Mad Margritt is required listening for hard rock fanatics everywhere!

Highwire Daze recently interviewed Mad Margritt founder Eddie Smith to find out more about the songs featured on Best Of 1999-2021, their association with Perris Records, working with Derek St. Holmes from Ted Nugent infamy and more!

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Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Mad Margritt and how long the band has been together.

I am Eddie Smith, lead singer and founding member of Mad Margritt. We started in Miami, Florida way back in 1990.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?

We are currently based out of Atlanta, Georgia. We moved here in the mid 90’s because we were touring all over the United States and Atlanta is more centrally located than Miami. It takes almost a day to drive through the state of Florida so moving here definitely made things easier on us. The music scene is real strong in Atlanta. We haven’t been touring since Covid hit but fortunately we are staying busy because there are so many places to play in this area. Between Mad Margritt and a few other side projects, I have been averaging between five to six shows a week.

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How did you wind up signing with Perris Records?

When our first CD came out in 1999 we were touring all over the US, opening up shows for bands like Skid Row, Warrant, Ratt and Cinderella to name a few. One night during that tour we were doing a show in Las Vegas and Tom Mathers who runs Perris Records was in the audience. Tom had helped me a few years earlier distribute a 5 song ep that we put out called Cold Sweat. I had spoken to him several times on the phone but this was the first time we had ever met in person. I really liked the direction he was taking with Perris. He was working with bands like Warrant, LA Guns, Enuff Z Nuff, and Helix who were all very similar musically to what we were doing. I told him I was very unhappy with the record label we were working with at the time and by the end of the conversation we had worked out a deal to release the next Mad Margritt CD on Perris Records. That was back in 1999 and we have been with Perris ever since.

How did the idea of doing a Best Of album come about and what was it like revisiting some of the older songs?

It was actually Tom’s idea. He had mentioned to me that since Mad Margritt have been around for such a long time it might be a cool idea at this point in our career to do a retrospective ‘best of” CD that celebrates our long history and musical journey. The timing was perfect because we had just finished recording a new song and we also have a few other things in the vault that have not been released to the public.

Not only could we release some of our favorite songs from each of our previous CD’s but we could also put a few new things on there as well. As far as revisiting the older songs, it was a lot of fun hearing them again. I haven’t listened to some of those songs in years so it was really cool to hear where we were as a band back when those songs were recorded and also to see how much we have grown and evolved.

Thief In The Night is the first single and one of three unreleased tracks on the album. Give me a little background and inspiration behind that song.

Our guitar player Mark Cook came up with the music and he played me a demo of it earlier this year. I really liked it a lot and it took me less than an hour to write the lyrics. Nothing too deep lyrically, it’s just a fun, hard driving song with a lot of energy. We shot a video for it that will premiere on October 29th.

Lonely is another unreleased track on Best Of. What it the background and inspiration for that song?

That song was recorded back in 2005. It appeared on a CD that we only sold at shows. It’s never been available to purchase in stores or download so I thought it would be really cool to include it on the best of CD. I really like the song a lot and I’m glad people will finally be able to hear it. We recorded it around the time when my voice and vocal range really started to get stronger. The real high stuff I sing at the end of the song is the first time I had ever used that part of my voice in the recording studio. There is actually a note that I hit right at the end as the song is fading out that may be the highest note I have ever recorded. I had worked so hard at improving my vocals and my range and it felt really good to be able to hit notes that I was previously unable to hit. My vocal style, HIGHWIRE DAZE

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my approach to singing, and songwriting changed dramatically after that recording session. If you listen to music from our later CD’s like Animal and Love, Hate And Deception you can hear a big difference compared to how I sang and wrote on the earlier albums. One of the things I love about being a musician is to push myself and constantly grow and get better at my craft. I haven’t always succeeded at that but the times where I have like on the song Lonely, it’s been very rewarding.

And let’s talk about the third unreleased track Rock The Block and the story behind that one.

Earlier this year we were asked to appear on a tv show called Rock The Block. The show is on the HGTV network. The producers really liked the song Liar from our Love, Hate And Deception CD but they wanted me to rewrite the lyrics and change the arrangement so it would fit into the specific “Heavy Metal” episode that we would be appearing in.

We had such a good time being on set and it was super cool seeing ourselves perform on national TV. A week after we shot the episode they called us back to perform again on the season finale. It was great experience; hopefully we will get the opportunity to do something like that again.

Of the older tracks on the album, Nothing Can Keep Me Away features Derek St. Holmes from Ted Nugent. How did Derek become involved with the track and what was it like working with him?

Derek was actually one of my favorite singers when I was growing up. His vocals on songs like Stranglehold and Just What The Doctor Ordered are absolutely amazing. I met him back in 2001 and we ended up becoming friends. I asked him if he wanted to sing some backing vocals on a new song we were recording and he went down to the studio and knocked it out in one take. It was so cool seeing a legend like Derek singing a song that I wrote, it was very surreal. I grew up 27

listening to those early Nugent albums and I have seen Derek and Ted in concert more times than I can remember, being able to work with him in the studio was definitely something I will never forget.

with Mad Margritt. I do acoustic shows, I do fill in gigs for bands where I play either guitar or bass, I run sound, and I also host two Open Jam Nights every week where musicians from all over Atlanta can come out and jam together.

How close is Mad Margritt to recording for an all-new album?

It’s something that we would like to do at some point. We are all full-time musicians and the pandemic basically destroyed live entertainment so right now we are focused on performing and trying to recover from the nightmare we all just went through. I have been fortunate enough the past several months to get back to performing almost every night of the week but it’s been a tough year and a half for everyone.

What do you hope 2022 brings for you and Mad Margritt?

I just want to continue doing what I love: singing, performing, writing, and recording. I feel very blessed to be able to live out my dreams and play music for a living. I hope it continues through 2022 and beyond.

What has it been like to hit the stages once more after being away for months due to the pandemic?

It feels great to be back on stage. When everything shut down, I sat around watching Netflix for a few weeks but that got old quick. I ended up turning my garage into a jam room. I hooked up my PA system and spent hours singing every day in the garage and playing guitar so I wouldn’t be rusty when it came time to start playing again. I even held a live stream event to have some fun.

Are you currently involved with any other projects outside of Mad Margritt?

I do all sorts of things to keep busy when I’m not performing

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Any final words of wisdom?

We are super excited for everyone to hear the new CD. It’s almost like a musical photo album of all the different stages of our career, from the early days, all the way up to present day with the new song Thief In The Night. There have been a lot of great musicians who have played in this band through the years, many are still my close friends. In the booklet, we include a “Band Members Timeline” and it lists all the different line ups over the years and who played on each song. This CD is a tribute to all of the musicians I’ve had the pleasure of working with in this band and it’s also a tribute to all the fans who have been with us at every stage of our career.

www.perrisrecords.com www.madmargritt.com

October/November 2021

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Catching Up with

Ariel Bellvalaire

of Paradise Kitty

Interview by Ken Morton - Photo by Jack Lue Emerging rock guitarist Ariel Bellvalaire is best known for her participation within the ranks of Paradise Kitty - an all girl Guns N’ Roses tribute act that has been making quite a name for themselves all across the world. Ariel has been releasing solo material as well, described by fans as “Avril Lavigne with a hint of Van Halen.” Diamonds Or Coal and Elastic are the latest singles from Ariel, with the videos featuring the world starmaking premiere of her guinea pig Gucci! Highwire Daze recently caught up with the massively talented Ms. Bellvalaire to find out the latest happenings of her solo career, touring with Paradise Kitty, her poster shoot for this very issue with legendary photographer Jack Lue, and more!

How long have you had Gucci and how did Gucci enjoy being the star of your new video Diamonds Or Coal?

I can’t believe it but next month will officially be 3 years since adopting Gucci! He quite enjoyed starring in the Dia30

monds Or Coal, he was given tons of treats and was supervised by “Movie Animals Protected” to make sure he was safe and happy while filming!

What was the inspiration behind your previous song Elastic?

Elastic was actually a similar situation to Diamonds Or Coal!

(I had a theme going for these songs!) I was in a relationship that was constantly off and on. When either one of us would pull away, the other would pull closer and we always snapped back together like a rubber band!

In the video for Elastic, some of your Ariel The Aerialist skills shine through. Tell me about the inspiration behind the video.

My main goal for the video was to really showcase my daredevil stunts with a guitar. I’ve been an aerialist for a few years now and when I discovered it was possible to play guitar upside down while doing gymnastics, I was determined to find as many cool tricks that I could combine with October/November 2021

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guitar playing as possible. The director of the video, Hunter McCann, came up with the idea of playing guitar on the back of a moving motorcycle in the video and I was terrified at the idea! I decided to try it anyway and it became my favorite part of the video!

What was the experience like working on Broadway and appearing in Dearly Beloved?

Playing in Dearly Beloved was by far one of the most incredible performances I’ve been a part of! The talent Broadway performers have is on a whole other level. They can sing beautifully, act out scenes and dance! It was such an honor to share the stage with such incredible performers.

What was the experience like doing the The I Am King: The Michael Jackson Experience? Did you work with Lexii Lynn Frazier who was also in the show?

Playing in I Am King is so much fun! Any show where you can play Michael Jackson songs is always a great experience. Michael’s songs are so complex yet so well written and iconic. The music side of the songs are pure genius. Lexii Lynn and I have played shows together! It was a lot of fun playing harmonized guitar parts with her!

What has it been like to tour with Paradise Kitty in the age of Covid-19?

It was so great being able to tour again with my Paradise Kitty girls! It was my first east coast tour since Covid and the audiences were so much fun to rock out with! We all had so much energy while performing and were so happy to be back on stage together.

How did you become involved with Paradise Kitty?

Paradise Kitty was needing a lead guitarist for a Texas tour and I was recommended to them for an audition. I got the gig and after playing the first show, we all knew we were meant to perform together. We have a great time on stage and on tour!

In our last issue, you had yet to meet Slash. Has that situation changed? What has your connection with Slash been so far and how has he inspired your guitar playing?

I still have yet to meet Slash! I’m hoping to meet him soon and find out what his secret for keeping his hat on while rocking out is! He has been such an huge guitar inspiration for me. I love the way his solos are melodic enough to sing yet have incredibly intense phrases with a lot of bends. I try to write solos with him in mind and come up with parts that are melodic and singable.

How close are you to releasing an EP or full-length album?

I actually have a bunch of songs recorded or in the process of being recorded! I plan on releasing singles on a regular basis complete with power anthem choruses and face melting guitar solos!

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Are you currently involved with any other projects outside of your solo work and Paradise Kitty?

I recently had the pleasure of playing guitar with Molly Moore when she opened for Chromeo and played at the Bottle Rock festival! Her music is amazing, it’s a combination of so many styles and I love the R&B guitar parts!

What has it been like to do photo shoots with the legendary Guns N’ Roses photographer Jack Lue? It has been so cool working with Jack! He is such an incredible photographer and his live shots are legendary! I can’t say I have a favorite shoot or picture though because they’re all so good! He takes some of the best Rock an’ Roll pictures I’ve seen and is always so great to work with. Thanks for everything Jack!

What is your guitar of choice and why?

I am in a full on relationship with my Fender Big Apple Strat haha! That guitar feels so perfect to me when I play it and I love the fact that it has double humbuckers in it. It’s so versatile and can be used for every genre. I can play beautiful clean chords then bust into a distorted heavy rock solo! It’s great!

Any final words?

It has been so great to finally be able to tour again and I’m looking forward to rocking out with more of you soon. Keep an eye out for my next single “Monsters” which will be dropping at the end of October! It’s by far my favorite song yet and is so guitar driven!

https://arielbellvalaire.com/ https://www.paradisekittyband.com/ 31

PHY A R OG T O PH E U BY L D NE E I K T Z C N A A E J S AG M PRE E AZ D E R I W H G HI

Elliot Easton: Legendary Guitarist of The Cars

Interview by Kim Crain I had the great opportunity to sit down and “Shake it up” with Elliot Easton of The Cars, the left handed guitar player who’s melodic solo compositions were part of the history of Classic Pop-Rock that led to develop The Cars signature sound. The Cars had 13 top-40 singles. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of fame in 2018, where they reunited to perform at the ceremony.

Kim: As one of the original members of an internationally renowned band, how did The Cars come about, and what are some of your early memories of the group?

Elliot: The Cars came about as an outgrowth of a band with Ric Ocasek, Benjamin Orr and Greg Hawkes, that were previously called “Richard and the Rabbits,” which Johnathan Richman of The Modern Lovers named!

They had a different guitar player, different drummer.

My roommate who was a sound engineer and mixed sound for bands, answered an add in a local Boston paper, I think the Boston Phoenix, for a sound man for Richard and the Rabbits. He was my roommate and I had nothing going on that night and he was going to go see the band and talk to them about maybe working for them. So we went, and it turned out to be this Warner Brothers Party for Foghat, at a Roller Skating Rink. (outside Boston ) So I went along with my roommate Alan. I ended up really liking the band, particularly Ric’s songs! It was the first local band around Boston that was doing original material that I thought could be hits and recordable.

The guitar player, who is a friend of mine, he had a different approach, kind of a fusion approach to it. The drummer was a little more technical..

That band broke up and Ric and Ben started playing as a duo, they called it Ocasek and Orr. Just with acoustic guitar and bass in Harvard Square in a little pub called The Idler. Alan my roommate kept mixing sound for them.

After he would set the sound, cause it was just two mics, an acoustic guitar, and a bass, he would jump up onstage with them and play percussion. And all this time he was hyping me, you gotta hear my roommate, you gotta hear my roommate play guitar, over hyping me!

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Courtesy of the Elliot Easton Collection During that time Greg was off playing with Martin Mull and the Fabulous Furniture and Ric was playing in that duo thing. Ric decided he wanted to have a band again! I got invited over to Ben’s apartment to try out after my roommate was telling them how great I am. I was so nervous almost paralyzed; he boosted me up so much! So I go over to Ben’s house, Ben sits apart from me with his arms crossed looking at me and he said; alright, so play something amazing!

Eventually we just relaxed and we started jamming and playing and we liked each other and it sounded good. That grew into a band (Greg hadn’t come back yet) called Captain Swing, which consisted of Ric, Ben Orr, myself, a different keyboard player, Danny Louis, who now play’s with Gov’t Mule, a different drummer, and Ben wasn’t playing bass at the time, he was singing lead. We had a different bass player.

We made some demo tapes and Maxanne Sartori from WBCN in Boston was playing them. We were getting some local notoriety, getting a lot of gigs around New England.

Then we went to New York to play a place called, Maxes Kansas City, one of the places in the 60’s and 70’s that the Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, Andy Warhol and his October/November 2021

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superstar crowd, used to hang out there. We had this band, Captain Swing, we went down there and did this show called the showcase gig. We invited down a lot of the big management companies from New York to come down and see us!

A manager, Bill Aucoin, who was managing KISS and Billy Squire. Lieber and Krause who had Aerosmith. They came down and saw us play, and they had some real constructive criticism. They said your image is all over the place. The bass player looks like he should be playing for the Grateful Dead. The drummer is playing like he’s in the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Ben is not playing bass, he is wearing this awful silk peach colored Karate outfit his wife made him. The songs are a little long. The solo’s were a little jammy. You’ve got to get your image together. You’ve to get the songs more concise.

So we took all those criticisms really seriously and to heart, and we went back to Boston, we tried to fix what we thought was wrong. And that resulted in us getting The Cars together. We got rid of the bass player and put Ben back on bass where he belonged. Greg came back to play keyboards.

We got David Robinson from The Modern Lovers to play drums. So then we had a band that made sense. We were all on the same page. We consolidated our songs, tightened our arrangements, got our image together.

David Robinson, our drummer, was sort of like the art director of the band. He came up with the name, The Cars. He drew the logo, which is kinda like the license plate. He came up with that. We were talking about image and what we were going to wear onstage, and decided to wear black and white because we were so poor we could get away with a black T shirt and a pair of black Levis. And if everybody is wearing this same sort of stuff it looks like a band. We stayed with black and white for a long time, even after the band was making records, and eventually added the color red.

Then we made some demo tapes as The Cars. We did some live two-track demos of, “Just What I Needed”, “My Best Friends Girl”. Then this wonderful woman, this D.J., Maxanne Sartori of WBCN in Boston, she started playing our demo tape in heavy rotation alongside all the big hits of the day. So if you know anything about the radio business back then, they have like their own what they subscribe to like Billboard, but for radio, they called it a tip sheet, the Gavin Report. So our stuff is getting heavy rotation in Boston and getting reported in the Gavin. It would report all the top 20 records, Boston, New York, LA. This is 1976, 77.

The Gavin Report will show you what the big markets are playing.

They could see what the trends were around the country and what they were playing. So for BCN there was a column for the artist the label and the song. It would say like Aerosmith, Back in the Saddle/Columbia. Elton John, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road/Rocket MCA. The Cars, Just What I Needed, “Tape.” So all these radio people and record people and A&R people that subscribe to these reports are like, “What the heck is going on up in Boston?”

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Courtesy of the Elliot Easton Collection demo tape, so there must be something going on in Boston!

So they started coming up from New York, the A&R people, to check us out in Boston, and that’s what led to our record deal. This was like a fairy tale! I don’t think this could happen today! That’s how The Cars formed!

We signed with Elektra Records. We were looking for producers. Roy Thomas Baker who was just hot off doing Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), was a contender to produce our album. We were excited about that. He came and saw us. I think it was called Holly Trinity College in Massachusetts, and it was snowed out. Big snowstorm. There was like a dozen people there in a gym. He came and he loved the band. He said how would you like to go to England and make the first album.

And we did, we went to Air Studios in London, George Martin, the producer of the Beatles studio. We made the first album. It took twelve days to record, nine days to mix!

Like George Martin is dropping in and like lying down on the sofa in front of the mixing board. It was unbelievable!

Paul McCartney was recording next door. It was very heavy!

None of us had ever been anywhere really. I grew up in Long Island, had never been out past D.C. We had no track record, We hadn’t even proven ourselves, yet Elektra just rolled out the red carpet. They rented an incredible house for us in the nicest part of London, with a couple who cleaned and cooked for us! It was a dream come true. Recording at Air Studio! It was unbelievable!

Then the record came out. After that it was common knowledge what happened. The first album just exploded! “The Cars” - the bands debut album (1978). We got to play the US Festival, Live aid! It was a good time! It was a life-long 35

dream!

Kim: Was “The Cars” your biggest selling album?

Elliot: I think “The Cars” album is one of the biggest selling and Heartbeat City, our fifth album. That had “Drive” on it.

Kim: The Cars revolutionized the sound of American Rock n Roll and have a timeless sound which appeals to all genres including our youth. In 1978, The Cars were named best new artist by the New York Times and Rolling Stone Magazine. The Cars had six Grammy nominations (including best new artist) between 1978-1984, and won MTV’s Video of the year in 1984.

Elliot: Ric was the songwriter of The Cars, A lot of it has to do with Ric’s lyrics, cause he always explored the darker side of the human existence. Like “Who’s gonna Drive you home,” or, “You’re just what I needed, I needed someone to please.” He always explored relationships, the relationships between people.

I think a lot of The Cars music has a timeless quality, not trying to jump on some cutesy bandwagon. We were just trying to make music, we did not care about trends. We were not interested in any of that. It was just what it sounded like with the five of us making music together. It was up to the writers to call it whatever they wanted. Everyone just pitching in! That’s how we made our records.

Kim : It was very tragic to hear about Ric’s passing. What were some of the hobbies or past times that you guys shared together as band mates and friends?

Photo credit. Rob Shanahan

Elliot: Ric and I shared a love of reading and literature.

He also had a really silly sense of humor, and we would sometimes text each other really goofy stuff. Ric actually was a very quiet closed person, and very private. Outside of working on the band he did not socialize a whole lot. I hung out with David and Ben and Greg more cause Ric usually kept to himself. He was usually writing, stuff like that! But we loved each other and It’s just the way people are!

from the band Was (Not Was). We want to do some classic soul R&B. This is my next little venture.

Kim: As a guitarist, at what age did you pick up the instrument, and who were your influences?

Thank you so very much for joining me today! You are very humble and kind. So many guitar players have been influenced by your guitar playing.

Elliot: I got my first guitar at three, in 1956. My influences were the Cowboys, like Roy Rogers & Jimmy Dodd from the Mickey Mouse Club show. Stuff like that!

Also in 56, I saw Elvis Presley on television. It was one of the first shows he played. And immediately I brought my mom a comb and a glass of water. I had her comb my hair, slick it back, pull it down in the front, like Elvis. I grabbed my guitar and was checking myself out in the mirror. I’m a rocker at three! LOL! I’ve been doing this a long time!

Kim: With the pandemic going on, have you been working on any new projects ?

Elliot: People have been sending me tracks and I have been putting guitar on it! I am also putting together a solo R&B thing, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, with Sir Harry Bowens, who was one of the singers 36

I do a few different things. I do Elliot Easton’s Tiki Gods, which is kind of exotic, Polynesian Tiki music.

Kim: Very cool! Check out Elliot Easton’s Tiki Gods on Spotify or FB, and look out for shows with Sir Harry.

I will be listening to your Tiki Music and looking forward to hearing your new venture playing R&B.. Lets talk about this when it comes out!

Reach Kim Crain at kimcrain.com www.facebook.com/kim. crain.9231 www.instagram.com/kimcrainmusic October/November 2021

HIGHWIRE DAZE

One Amazing Album

Hit After Hit 40 + Years In The Making

20 Classic Songs

The Legend That Is

“Australian Music Royalty” Available Now On CD & LTD EDITION BLUE VINYL (2LP SET) www.mrrecords.com.au

Frozen Tears Unveils Brazen Whisper Interview by Ken Morton

Frozen Tears from Australia has returned to present their vibrant melodic rock reveries upon the world at large. Brazen Whisper is the name of their latest magnum opus now available via MR Records, featuring dynamic originals plus an inspiring cover of the classic KISS song C’mon And Love Me. Highwire Daze recently checked in with Frozen Tears mastermind Jon Powers to discuss the grand and intriguing soundscapes of Brazen Whisper, writing and recording in the middle of a pandemic, feedback from a former member of KISS on their rendition of C’mon And Love Me, and a whole lot more! Read on...

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Frozen Tears, and how long the band has been together.

Hi, I’m Jon Powers. Guitarist, Keyboardist and songwriter for Melodic Rock Band Frozen Tears.

Frozen Tears have been together amazingly for over 25 years but we did have a long hiatus away as life got in the way with kids, work and life. We never broke up and we still are childhood friends from playing music in various bands, from Thanis playing in more hard rock bands and myself playing in harder edged bands. But we both always had a love & passion for AOR & Melodic Rock.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?

We are based out of Melbourne, Australia. Leaving the effects of Covid out of the conversation the hard rock melodic scene is very healthy. With established bands like White Widdow who have flown the Aussie flag for a few years we have emerging bands like Wicked Smile & Ablaze to name a few now coming onto the scene. Its great to have some great Aussie bands enter the melodic rock world!

How did you wind up signing with MR Records?

The guys and MR Records had a listen to our pre-production of some of the songs and after a conversation with them they wanted to sign us and thus have been great supporters of the band. I think we surprised them with the final product as we were very particular on what sound we wanted to have.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the Brazen Whisper album title?

Well we were so happy with the how our first single ‘Brazen Whisper’ came to its overall sound and we also loved the name. It actually seemed like a perfect continuation from our 1st album titled ‘Silence of the Night’ which in itself, the title track ‘Silence of the Night’ was our first single too.

Select two songs from Brazen Whisper and what inspired the lyrics.

BRAZEN WHISPER – It’s a dark story about a dream of having broken up with someone you were with for a long time and having gone through the trauma of questioning how, why 38

and where you dealt with it ...

HOLD ON TIGHT – This is an uplifting story about believing in being in a positive relationship with your partner and holding tight to all the dreams and aspirations you might have for the future. Uplifting Positivity Has anyone in KISS heard or commented on your C’mon And Love Me cover and what made you decide to cover that song?

Yes, we have! Ex KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick loved the version of the song which, as one of my guitar influences, was a great accolade to have.

Who produced Brazen Whisper and what was it like working with them?

I mainly produced the initial stage of the album as it was difficult with lockdowns and once Thanis was in my studio to lay down his vocals we both finalized the vision of the tracks.

I still kept going with some initial parts.

After finally tracking all the parts of the album I got in touch with ‘House Of Lords’ engineer Ty Sims to mix and master the album as I know he had done a massive job on past albums from Tango Down, Romeo Riot and of course House of Lords.

Ty also enlisted Erik Johnson from ‘Bombay Black’ to add some backing vocals to some songs as well.

We also had our good friend ‘Bobby Miller’ on backing voOctober/November 2021

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cals for ‘Set Me Free’ and Stella La Rosa on ‘Can’t Stop’.

I even had my local pastor lay down the bass on one of our tracks “You”. Who says pastor’s cant rock!

Working on the album for mixdown remotely was a big ask but Ty was a pro and nailed the Frozen Tears sound that we wanted. Big drums, screaming guitars, big vocal sounds and a thick 80s arena mix.

in its rawest form and did exceptionally well in Europe and is still selling to this day after over 20 years and we’ve also had some great reviews for it.

What was it like working on an album in the middle of a pandemic?

I’ve had some experience working remotely for quite a while on session jobs from keyboards to guitars (Darren Phillips, Dangerous Curves etc ). The big bonus is that having your own home studio and being predominately the main supply of all the musical parts from bass, keyboards and guitars does help.

After having all the songs in demo format we enlisted a brilliant session drummer Glenn Welman from the UK to lay the drum tracks in the UK and he did a sensational job! Glenn has played with major players like Jordan Rudess (Dream Theatre)!

We have changed and moved forward with ‘Brazen Whisper’, more so in musical growth and production, but it still has the Melodic Rock stamp we had on our first release.

Then once all the drum tracks arrived I then added all the instruments, including some string instruments (Violins/Violas) for our ballad (Can’t Stop) and a few extra parts that I thought would enhance the songs.

As for playing live currently, well, the scene is in a standstill here in Melbourne, Australia so we will see how things pan out over the next few months.

For the record, we didn’t know how long this pandemic and lockdowns would pan out so we actually layed down enough material for 2 albums (over 14 songs!) so in essence we already have 7 songs close to ready now and will have another few more to add for our next release later in 2022.

Has Frozen Tears ever played live, or would you like to in future days?

Yes, we have played live and even done some TV shows.

Especially when we were asked to provide a theme song for a popular ‘Football’ club name South Melbourne FC which included appearance on networks and our song played on game days. The song will also be featured in a full documentary about the great player ‘world cup star Ferenc Puskas’ who coached that team to title success.

Maybe in hindsight, it was a great idea on releasing a shortformed album to showcase our new style and sound inview of a full release album next year!

Brazen Whisper was more of a short form album to introduce the band again after all this time away since our 1997 release.

If Frozen Tears could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?

I would say, Whitesnake. We love the band and their sound.

Who could deny the killer musicianship of John Sykes and the vocals of David Coverdale!

When you look back on your 1st album Silence Of The Night (released in 1997), what do you think of it now in retrospect?

We are very proud of that album. It was AOR/Melodic rock

Are you involved with any other bands or projects outside of Frozen Tears?

As for myself, I still do a lot of session projects playing keyboards or guitar for different artists and even composing/

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arranging. Currently I do have a few side projects that I’m working on including one with ‘DELTA 7’ and have been offered to appear on a few others but Frozen Tears is the priority for us.

What’s up next for Frozen Tears?

Next for Frozen Tears is our FULL length album. I have currently finished arranging and tracking all the songs for the next album in which we have 7 songs musically finished. Once lockdowns end here Thanis will be coming in the studio to lay down all the vocals and then it will be ready for mixing and mastering. So its exciting times ahead for us.

Any final words of wisdom?

Thanis and myself can say one thing of wisdom. NEVER give up on what you love. Do what YOU think sounds right to YOU. We might have been away for nearly 24 years but the passion is and was always there and we stuck it out together and proved we can still produce great melodic rock songs that we hope the world can enjoy the same way we do.

www.facebook.com/frozentearsaustralia https://www.melodicrockrecords.com/

The Electrifying New Live Album From Also Available From MR Records

Live Music As It Should Be Played.

Loud, Sweaty & Tough. Stunning Live Album.

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October/November 2021

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Please pick up any of these CD’s at the following locations: Amoeba Music - Hollywood, Bionic Records - Buena Park, CD Trader - Tarzana, Freakbeat Records - Sherman Oaks, Fingerprintz Music - Long Beach, Toxic Toast Records - Long Beach, Glass House Records - Pomona, Black Hole Records - Fullerton

MAD MARGRITT “Best Of 1999-2021” www.perrisrecords.com

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PER5882 - 670573058823 Release date: 11/19/2021

LASTWORLD “Fractured Mirror” For fans of Journey, Bon Jovi & Night Ranger.

PER5892 - 670573058922 Release date: 11/19/2021

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IN SONIC OVERDRIVE WITH

MADMAN’S LULLABY

Interview by Ken Morton It’s time to head into sonic overdrive with Madman’s Lullaby! Hailing from San Jose, California and signed with MR Records of Australia, the almighty Madman’s Lullaby is ready to rock an entire world with their raging anthems. They’ve opened for the likes of Michael Schenker, Lynch Mob and WASP, and judging by the hard rocking goods heard within the grooves of their latest album Nocturnal Overdrive – Part 1, it won’t be long until Madman’s Lullaby serenade fans on their very own headlining tours.

Highwire Daze recently interviewed drummer Eric “EJ” Arbizu to find out more about the thrilling auditory reveries of Madman’s Lullaby. Read on...

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Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Madman’s Lullaby, and how long the band has been together.

What’s up? EJ here. I’m the drummer/back up vocalist in Madman’s Lullaby.

Madman’s Lullaby has been around since 2007. I joined the band in 2008. This line up has been in place since 2016.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?

Madman’s Lullaby (MML) is from San Jose California. The local music scene is a bit of a mixed bag.

We have some of the most talented original and tribute bands here in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, the amount of quality Bay Area venues here has diminished conOctober/November 2021

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siderably over the years.

How did you wind up signing with MR Records and have you ever played in Australia?

I first met Andrew McNeice performing at Melodic Rock Fest. I was playing drums for Johnny Lima that year. I could tell right away that he is a quality individual. Andrew liked the new material we were writing for the “Sins of Greed” release and we decided it would it would be a great fit to be a part of his label.

Fast forward to now… Peter Hoffmann and his team at MR Records have continued to bring all the qualities of a solid label making it a no brainer for us to release “Nocturnal Overdrive” with them.

We were actually booked to play Melodic Rock Fest in Melbourne AU in early 2020. Unfortunately for reasons beyond our control, we were unable to make the trip. We do hope to make it out there sooner than later.

Is there any overall story or concept behind the Nocturnal Overdrive Part 1 album title?

Not so much of a concept or story behind the title. Mr Brett came up with the title and even though there is reasoning behind his idea, we like to leave this open for interpretation.

Select two songs from Nocturnal Overdrive Part 1 and what inspired the lyrics.

In Your Mind ~ This song was inspired by our brave men and women in the military. It touches on the daily internal battles whether deployed or finally back home.

Love Don’t Come Easy ~ This title is pretty self-explanatory and is definitely one of my favorites on the CD. Who produced Nocturnal Overdrive Part 1 and what was it like working with them?

Eric Hill at Blue Room Studios in Discovery Bay, California not only produced but also recorded everything except the drum tracks, mixed, and mastered Nocturnal Overdrive pt.1 and pt2. Eric Hill was awesome to work with. His input and suggestions throughout the CD were well received and very much appreciated. We’d welcome working with Eric Hill again.

What was it like working on an album in the middle of a pandemic?

Well? It sucked…lol However, the worst part was not being able to play live.

What was it like opening for The Iron Maidens at the legendary Whisky and how many times have you played that venue in the past?

The Iron Maidens are a solid group. We haven’t spent HIGHWIRE DAZE

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much time with them so there hasn’t been much interaction or communication. The packed house at The Whisky absolutely loved us though. The energy and interaction of that night was insane!

MML has played The Whisky 5 times supporting groups like Last in Line and Red Dragon Cartel Lots of appreciation goes to Jake and The Whisky staff for a great time every time.

What was it like opening for Michael Schenker and did you get to meet or hang out with him or any and members in his band at all?

We’ve opened for MSG twice. Once in Campbell, CA and once in Sweden. Michael is such an amazing musician. Personally, I turn straight into fan boy so opening for Michael has been very special to me.

Mr Brett (also a huge fan) has met him on multiple occasions. At our show in Campbell, CA he accidentally walked into our dressing room on his way to the stage.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t hang out. Probably would have pissed off the sold-out crowd waiting to see him. lol If Madman’s Lullaby could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?

That’s a tough one. There are too many amazing bands to list. Personally, I can say either Van Halen or Iron Maiden. There is a ton of others but they are two of my favorite groups. To see Eddie play again and be their supporting act? There are no words as to how insanely cool that would be.

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Are you involved with any other bands or projects outside of Madman’s Lullaby?

Well if Johnny Lima does anymore live shows, I’d probably be his drummer. I’m also Lead Vocalist for another Bay Area band called Swamphammer. Lastly, I’m currently working with some musicians as Lead Vocals and rhythm guitars to create a Styx tribute group.

Any final words of wisdom?

Wisdom? Not sure I’m the guy for that! LOL On a serious note, remember that everyone’s favorite big bands were once local bands. Get out and discover live music again. If you like a band, support them.

Buy the CD, Buy the shirt, and tell your friends.

These bands put their blood sweat and tears (and a ton of money) to bring everyone their music.

What’s up next for Madman’s Lullaby and when could we expect Nocturnal Overdrive Part 2 to arrive?

Currently I’m still in recovery mode from being hospitalized with covid pneumonia. Unfortunately, I doubt I’ll be playing drums for a little while. We are looking forward to 2022 to ramp back up with live shows.

Get out and support your local music scene!

As for our next release, MML is working close with MR Records and Michael Brandvold Marketing to release Nocturnal Overdrive Part 2 later this year.

Band Members: Chris Michaels - Lead Vocals Mr. Brett - Lead Guitar Luis Barillas - Bass/Vocals Eric Arbizu - Drums/Vocals

http://mmlrocks.com

Promoting the all new full length album, "Down In Wuhan" out August 28, 2021.

World-wide on all major platforms 2 NEW SHOWS! WHISKY A GO GO THURS. Sept. 30, 2021 8PM THURS. Dec. 1, 2021 8PM

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THE SECRET IS WELL AND TRULY OUT IT’S A CLASSIC ALBUM Available ON MR RECORDS www.melodicrockrecords.com

Into The Fractured Mirror

with LastWorld

Interview by Ken Morton LASTWORLD returns with their 3rd album (second for Perris Records) Fractured Mirror - another gloriuous collection of inspiring melodic rock and roll. Multi-Instrumentalist Jim Shepard and vocalist David Cagle are a winning combination, delivering a record jam-packed with songs that should be all over the worldwide radio airwaves. Highwire Daze recently checked in with Jim Shepard to discuss the making of Fractured World, his past experience working with country acts, his previous band Taxi, and other topics of intrigue...

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in LastWorld and how long the band has been together.

Hello, I’m Jim Shepard I play all the instruments and write the songs, and of course David Cagle brings them to life with his vocals.

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?

I’m based just outside the Chicago area and David is in Alabama. Chicago still has a good live music scene but nowadays tribute bands seem to be the bigger draw and work consistently... I’m not interested in being in a tribute band... but I have played in cover bands which is fun.... but right now I’m just focusing on LastWorld music.

How did you wind up signing with Perris Records?

I did a solo album (JADED) with some friends and It ended up getting released on Melodicrock Records... it seemed to do well enough for them and they wanted to keep working with me, I used 3 singers and they suggested I use 1 singer and make it a project/band... Cagles name came up who I knew thru some of the things he’s done....MRR released LW’s first album TIME and the reviews were great, but it never got released in the digital world... I asked and asked about the digital release but I wasn’t getting response.... so I contacted Perris Records, sent 3 songs from the second album, the reviews we received for the first and well, they liked what heard and read.... and here we are...

Is there any overall story or concept behind the album title Fractured Mirror?

Yes there is, two reasons, Self reflection, we all little cracks in our mirrors/World.... mistakes, good and bad times..... and.... It’s a slight tip of the hat to Ace Frehley. He has a song called Fractured Mirror... and in my pic for the album I’m holding my Cherry Sunburst Les Paul like the one he played... So I had two specific reasons.

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Select a song from Fractured Mirror and what inspired the lyrics?

Save Yourself, it’ll be the first single/ video.....

Inspired by if you’re down battling depression. You might have people helping you but ultimately it’s you who has to help yourself. It only gets better after denying.

What do you think has made the teaming of Jim Shepard and David Cagle work so well together?

Love of music, mutual respect.... And hopefully good/great songs.

What has it been like to work with JK Northrup once again on the mastering of the new album?

Well it’s always a pleasure, I listened to him and bands he’s played with over the years so when his name came up for mastering it was a quick yes.

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few... At one point TAXI was being looked at by Geffen and Atlantic Records.....

What has it been like to write and record a new album in the middle of a worldwide pandemic?

For me it didn’t affect any part of the writing and recording process....

In the 80’s you played in country bands including with RCA Recording artist Mel Hayes. What do you think of that time of your music career and do you still enjoy country?

Well it was Country Rock bands and back then we were Rocking Country songs the way Modern Country sounds like today. Touring with Mel was a good time and taught me a little about the business side of the music business.....

Everyone starts playing because you love music, but if you don’t take care of business bands won’t last..... simple as that..... and that goes for the small club COVER bands to the huge arena acts.

When you look back on your work on Taxi, what do you think of it now in retrospect? And would you like to release any new Taxi music?

TAXI was a band I started from the ground up, when I was putting it together my only stipulation was, we were going to play covers to get known and then mix originals....

Taxi became a band that could go play the local club one night, and then the next we would open for Todd Rundgren, Enuff Z Nuff, Off Broadway, The Byrds. Just to name a HIGHWIRE DAZE

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What was the experience like with Taxi opening for the likes of Todd Rundgren and Enuff Z’Nuff and did you get to meet or hang out with them at all?

It was always a good time, with Todd I got to have a brief conversation no hanging.... with Enuff Z Nuff I hung with quite a bit, even when we weren’t opening for them.... I hung with them at House of Blues when they played there... in their dressing rooms. I got to play two encores with them Fly High Michelle and New Thing....

Has LastWorld ever played live or plan to do so in future days?

As of now we haven’t, we are open to doing shows if the right opportunity comes along, Are you currently involved with any other projects outside of LastWorld?

Just LW right now, but write all kinds of styles so I’m sure I’ll have another project to have an outlet for those styles.

What do you hope 2022 brings for you and LastWorld?

Just more music/ album.....as long as Cagle wants to do it and people are still interested.... I’LL still do it Any final words of wisdom?

Don’t Text and drive..... Thanks so much.....

www.perrisrecords.com www.facebook.com/LastWorldMusic 47

Betty Moon and the World of Cosmicoma

Interview by Ken Morton Southern California based producer and songwriter Betty Moon has released her latest album Cosmicoma and it’s a thoroughly intriguing work of sonic artistry well worth seeking out. Cosmicoma is BettyMoon’s 10th studio endeavor and is the follow-up to her much buzzed and highly praised 2020 release ‘Little Miss Hollywood’. Once signed to A&M Records for her very first release, Betty Moon would declare a state of musical independence, founding Evolver Music in the process.

Highwire Daze recently caught up with Betty Moon to discuss the sonic world of Cosmicoma, life within the dreamscapes of Hollywood, her days at A&M Records, and more!

Is there any overall story or concept behind the album title Cosmicoma?

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I think as a world we’re in a bit of a “Cosmicoma”, that area between reality and fiction where we are not certain where things are going. There’s a lot of weird things happening in the world, but also at the same time we are inspired to make positive changes and be creative in new and exciting ways.

I don’t like to dive too deep into meanings behind songs or albums though, as I like to let the listener take the song and lyrics, making it their own.

Who is the guest vocalist on Are You Ready For Me and how did that come about? And give me a little background on that song.

Rapper/singer Relevant. We connected to work on a song for Cosmicoma and “Are You Ready For Me” worked out perfectly. We actually collaborated virtually and after figuring out the right song, he tracked his vocals with one of my engineers at my home studio. I wanted to get that male voice to hype up the track a bit and raise the energy/vibe.

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Select two other songs from Cosmicoma and what inspired the lyrics.

Both “My Only One” and “Where My Heart Is” are both rooted in nostalgia around my days being single and experiencing the ups and downs of dating and various relationships. There have been moments where I felt certain people were “the one” or even someone that perhaps I was stuck with for one reason or another. It’s going back into the mindset I had back then, and really digging into the emotions that I had during that part of my life.

What has it been like writing and recording new music in the middle of a pandemic and all of the social unrest in the world today?

Well, I try my best to avoid watching the news all the time haha. Most of it is just bad news that keeps us down, and I knew we had to be safe and do the right thing during 2020 so I was selective about the news I chose to believe without all the propaganda. I’m very much in support of making the world a better place, and I do my best in various ways including by making music that I think is valid for what I’m experiencing hence expressing. Last year I used the downtime to spend more time in the studio, outdoors and at the beach (safely) to come up with new ideas for this album and others coming up. Honestly, it was the easiest time I’ve ever had because I was stuck at home often and just did what I loved doing most (making music). So I got deep into it and loved making this album COSMICOMA come to life.

Since I did not interview you for Little Miss Hollywood, I wanted to ask you some Hollywood related questions. A lot of people see Hollywood as this glamorous place filled with movie stars and dreams. How do you see Hollywood as today?

I think Hollywood is iconic around the world as a historical place for the movie industry and for rock n’ roll. These days, I’m sure it’s still amazing to a lot of people but I really consider myself lucky that I got to spend time at some great clubs, venues and places around Hollywood over the past 20 or so years that others may never experience again and to have called it my home for the last twelve. Of course it’s still glamorous and has some great neighborhoods, restaurants, shopping destinations and more but truly I always find interesting new destinations to check out. There are endless possibilities here and I love that. However, It’s just not the same as it used to be, and maybe that’s a good thing. I think Hollywood is going through some big changes, and perhaps after the pandemic settles we’ll see a big transformation over the next few years which should be pretty cool.

Who is your favorite classic Hollywood movie star and movie and why?

Cary Grant is one that immediately comes to mind. I came across a real estate opportunity a year or two back and happened to find out he was a previous owner/occupant decades HIGHWIRE DAZE

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ago. The stars aligned which pushed me to purchase and update the home for a future owner. It was a bit magical to first step foot inside the home and realize the history that place held. Cary Grant is just one of those icons that will live on forever, and he had such an impact in film, Men’s fashion/ style and more. I’m still in love with Johnny Depp though.

His talent as an actor is mesmerizing. I saw him perform with Patti Smith awhile back DTLA and that was sort of surprising.

With your music being so sensual and dramatic, is acting or even musicals something you would ever like to do? Or has that already happened?

I love this question, and honestly I didn’t really think about that until now. So yes, I’d love that opportunity and I think it would be a lot of fun. I’m a huge fan of theatre, acting and I’ve done a lot of dancing as exercise and classes over the years. I believe that understanding theatre, acting and fashion is a huge part of throwing a good show as an artist so a lot of this goes hand in hand.

After severing ties with a major label, artists usually fade out never to be heard from again. What kept you going and inspired after leaving A&M and how did Evolver Music come about?

It was an interesting experience and I’m not going to lie and say “all good” about that time in my life. I can see how that may destroy most artists and rip them of their full confidence and potential. I went through that process, learned what I could and immediately got back to work building my own universe around music and performing. Because of that, I leveraged that experience and created new relationships and income streams to keep going as an artist. I started Evolver Music to avoid the major label train and remove any frus49

trations of being controlled by A&R people or being 3rd fiddle to other artists who come along. I was really inspired by keeping control of my art and figuring out creative ways to get myself out there without being in the red with another company.

Any chance of live Betty Moon shows in the near future and what could one expect from a live Betty Moon show?

I’d really like that, I think once the whole pandemic cools off and things are a bit more safe I’ll explore that option. I haven’t played live in a few years, but have released 3 albums and I get the most satisfaction from being in the studio and doing the business side of things. When I do play live though, expect it loud, some good cover tracks, plenty of Betty Moon originals and dancing the night away. Our shows have energy, groove and they are always a good time. Grab a drink and come hang out next time I play!

Has anyone from Depeche Mode heard or commented on your cover of No Good off the Pantomania album?

Yes! I had a ton of great feedback and praise on that one, which is random because I didn’t think it would get any more love than other tracks on the album. I love me some Depeche Mode and that was just a natural pick to include on the LP.

Mick Jagger’s son James Jagger seemed to get a kick of my version of Gimme Shelter which was a nice perk for the version I did which features Owen Barry on guitar. Check out his solo on the track. It’s epic.

What do you hope 2022 brings for you and the worldwide music scene?

I know 2022 will bring another Betty Moon album, that’s one thing for certain haha. For music as a whole, I hope things get back to normal for all those amazing touring artists who earn their living on the road. It’s so important for them and I know once that’s back the industry as a whole will be bigger and better than ever before.

Any final words of wisdom?

Learn what you can about the music industry, business, marketing and social media. The more educated you can be outside of being a musician, the better decisions you will make as an artist and for your career. When in doubt, hire an expert and read about what artists bigger than yourself are doing. People are typically an open book, so keep an eye out for the knowledge you seek. ;)

www.BettyMoon.com

Includes 6 Track Bonus Download Card

Also Available Limited-Edition CD

www.mrrecords.com.au

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Cherish Alexander and The Artistry of Change

Interview by Ken Morton - Photos by Jack Lue Cherish Alexander has experienced a brilliant career in music - working with the likes of Cyndi Lauper and Josie Cotton as well her own past bands and current solo material.

You could now add filmmaker to Cherish’s many impressive accomplishments. Created during the pandemic, Cherish’s inspirational new single Change Can Start With Me is garnering the aritst a good deal of acclaim. Finding herself in the director’s chair, Change Can Start With Me logs 32 actors, 64 takes, and 16 hours for a vibrant Face-Morphing Video. Beginning to make the rounds at film festivals, at press time it was announced that Change Can Start With Me is an official selection for the legendary Cannes World Film Festival!

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Highwire Daze recently did an an interview with Cherish Alexander at the Jesus Wall in Downtown LA, complete with a Jack Lue photo shoot. Read on...

First of all, is there any overall story or concept behind your new song, Change Can Start With Me? I think, initially, the song was born out of me just asking those deep questions of what the heck is going on. It was kind of the beginning of the pandemic and there was just so much turmoil in our planet, from George Floyd and the climate disasters and all the political tension and the protesta.

It just was kind of like we’re all tucked in at home.

For me, I just turned inward and just was asking those questions like how can I help make a change? How can I be the change on this planet? How could I help make this world October/November 2021

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a better place? I’ve always been passionate about that, with always having a spiritual sense of like a higher consciousness and higher way of being. And so that song was kind of born out of that, was me asking myself these questions, how can I make a difference.

How inspiring was it to put together an ambitious video like that with all these actors and everything?

The crazy thing is with that video, it was born so quickly and I was completely going a different direction. I was just going to do an animated album cover. And I started sort of moving forward with that and it just did not work at all. I was like now this is not what I want to do - and then I was thinking, how could I get it to making it feel like we’re all in this together on this planet? How can I create that? And then I was thinking -different ages, different ethnicities, different religions, just everyone coming together. I kind of had this idea and it actually came together quickly. It was a lot of work to get to the final product. A lot more work than I thought it was going to be.

Where do you find that many actors in the middle of a pandemic ready to do this?

So I know, exactly. That was like another thing. I’m like how do I make this vision come to life during COVID? So I actually have a friend, whose mom is an acting manager.

And so I actually called her first. I was like, where would I even start and put together something like this? And she’s like, you can go on actorsaccess.com and place an ad. And she goes, I don’t know if anybody will respond during COVID, but you just put what you’re looking for and take it from there. So I was like, okay. Well, I’ll just start there, I guess.

I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve never really directed a video before. I have been involved in my own videos for years and years and years and years. So I do have like experience with that. So I put the ad out and she was like, I don’t know, you might only get like a few. So I thought I’ll just put it out and see - and I got like over 700 submissions!

It was so awesome because it was from like age 5 to age 90 and then I just was so overwhelmed. It took me two and a half months to go through them and start figuring out who I wanted. And I was even at that point going am I even going to do this? This is like crazy. How am I going to go through 700 people? I feel like I picked the right group of people, you know. It just felt like all sort of like meant to be, you know. This process was super smooth. It was like the people came easily and every single person I booked showed up which is crazy for COVID. And I shot it in my garage. It HIGHWIRE DAZE

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turned my studio into a film studio.

How did the pandemic affect you as an artist overall?

Honestly, as an artist, I really dove into my artistry. And my creativity is pretty much what saved me. It just was a crazy time and just I mean, honestly, songwriting and just being an artist. I mean, I think my creativity comes in so many different ways, not just songwriting. I do graphics and stuff like that and everything turns into an art project in my world if you know what I mean. And that just kind of saved me. I always tell people that are struggling - find something that you’re passionate about, create something to get your mind off that.

What was your show back from lockdown and what was going through your mind that you’re going back on stage for the first time in possibly 16 months?

So my first show back, actually, was with Josie Cotton at the Greek Theater. And oh, my gosh. It was like the Greek Theater! I’ve never played there before. As a musician, that’s like a dream come true. They were very strict that everyone had to be vaccinated. In fact, they said last-minute they lost a lot of tickets because they changed the policy for people having to show vaccination. And like a lot of people canceled because they didn’t want to show vaccination which is crazy. But being backstage with all of those legends, the energy of people that have played that stage, it was like a dream come true. And thanks to Josie for that. She’s made a lot of dreams come true in my music life, actually. I love playing with her.

You’ve played with Cyndi Lauper. What’s that experience like playing with a legend? I mean, she was a legend then, too. She’s a legend now.

Yes. Oh, my gosh. It was absolutely incredible. She really was everything that she’s cracked up to be. And the cool 53

thing is if she was directing the music video and she just is a powerhouse. She walked in the room and you felt her presence like she just is larger-than-life. Also, it was amazing, too because I do have a few experiences with her like we got our makeup done together.

And I remember spending a whole hour just in the makeup room, me and her, for a full hour. She’s asking me about my career and I was in a band called The Painkillers at the time and she just was a kind, kind of person. But she also was like a no-nonsense person - she had her way of getting things done on the set because we’re running out of time and things need to be done. And so she was making it happen, but I do have a funny story about that.

So on the second video, because I was in two videos with her, and on the second video, I had forgotten to bring an undergarment for my shirt. And so it was kind of like a last minute thing, and I was in the video and they were like “You need to have an undergarment and she goes “Just use one of mine.” And so she gave me one of her bras..And I still have it to this day.

And what’s crazy, too, is at the end of that shoot, her manager came up to me, and they had asked me to go on tour with her playing rhythm guitar. And I was like my band at the time was like poised to like take off, and I was like, oh, I wish I could. I’m focusing on my own stuff right now.

Sometimes I wonder what my life would look like if I would have, I don’t know. Probably not that much different.

You never know. But I would love to run into her again. It’s been a while since I’ve seen her. I’d love to see her. I’m sure she would remember me.

Oh, another thing is, in the video, sorry, I had given her one of my crowns that I used to wear. I was in beauty pageants when I was younger and I went through this stage where I’d like wear them sort of like a Courtney Love vibe. I was wearing it in one of the shoots, and at the end of it, I gave it to her. And she was like, “Oh, my God. Thank you so much.” And then like, 2 or 3 months later, I saw her wearing it in a promo thing. I wonder if she still has that actually.

What’s up next for you in the future and in 2022?

I think what’s up for me next is - my video is getting a lot of recognition in the film festivals and stuff like that. So I’ve already been accepted in the Venice Short Film Festival. And I just found out last night I was accepted at the San Francisco Short Film Festival. So I’m kind of wondering where that’s going to lead. I’m praying for a Sundance acceptance.

It’s not really where I thought my life would lead. So I really just wanted to like focus on that and songwriting.

https://cherishalexander.com/

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Greg Leon Invasion presents Tell The Children

Interview and Photo by Ken Morton Greg Leon is best known for his stints with the likes of Quiet Riot and Dokken in their early days, and since then has amassed an impressive collection of solo material. Under the name of the Greg Leon Invasion, the musician would launch his own visions starting in 1983. And now in the post pandemic year of 2021, the Greg Leon Invasion has presented Tell The Children to the world – featuring 13 songs of classic hard rock that should absolutely captivate the minds of all types of music fanatics. The Greg Leon Invasion also features dynamic performances from Rick Brandt on bass and cello as well as Ronnie Ciago from Diane and the Deductibles (among many other massive credits such as Brand X and River Dogs) bringing his own supremely imaginative flair to drums and percussions. Here are excerpts from an interview Highwire Daze recently conducted with the band.

TELL THE CHILDREN Greg: I wrote the song years ago. It just kind of came to me.

I came up with this riff and it kept building on itself and then the lyrics came to me - and it was kind of fight of good and evil in the world - at the end you realize “Jesus saved you and Satan enslaves you, don’t make a foolish mistake, beleive in the word and your prayers will be heard. Tell the children today.” It’s not a preachy song and I’m not trying to preach to anybody or tell them how to think or how to run their lives.

If you do the right things in life, most likely good things are going to happen to you. And that basically all I’m trying to say. Do the right thing. Treat people the way you want to be treated

MEET RICK BRANDT Rick: It’s almost 50 years that’s I’ve been playing. I started playing piano first and then I went to the recorder - that was boring. In the 4th grade, my teacher came in my class and she was recruiting orchestra players. She asked me what instruiment I would like to play. So I wound up on cello and I’ve been doing that ever since. I’m still doing it. I played all over the world. I toured when I was 16 and was touring over in Europe. And I picked up the bass after the cello. The bass and cello are kind of similar - just different tuning. I did some guitar playing too. When I met Greg, I was playing up the street here in this tiny dive bar, My friend had a birthday party and I was playing bass for him. And Greg got invited and was the last guy to play.

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Greg: They made me wait until the very end because they said no one else would get up to play after I played. But I see this guy and I felt the way he played and it was like what I’d always been looking for in a bass player.

Rick: So that’s how we met and we starting playing.

ENTER RONNIE CIAGO Greg: We orginally had a different drummer and it was good - but when Ronnie came up here it was great! He was the missing piece of the pie - the icing on the cake. We played for four hours straight the first time we all got together and we came outside and looked at each other and one of us goes “we should call this a band!” And I was praying this would happen because I was looking for this feel - the real rock and roll feel - nothing phony about it - wer’re all playing, shooting from the hip and just locking into our roots and why we all play music in the first place. We all bring something totally different to the table, but it all comes out as Invasion music and the sound that’s us.

Ronnie: We’re all from different backgrounds. I grew up in New York. I started playing when I was 5. My dad was a jazz sax player and I was around music all of the time. I started playing with my dad and then I started playing with local rock groups. I went to Berklee School Of Music and then I went on tour with different fusion jazz groups - and then I started making records with people over in LA and I’ve ended up being on over 500-600 albums today.

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GUITARS CARS AND WOMEN IN 1983 Greg: That was my first record and there was a comraderie in that band too. We thought we were going to take on the world. And that’s where I came up with the name Invasion because I wanted to take over the world with the music and I knew we had what it took. We didn’t have good management. Some of the guys in the band - they were not going to be in it for the long hall. And here I am 40 years later - I’m still talking - I’m still playing - I’m still putting out records.

None of those guys are doing that now as far as I know of. It was a thing to just get girls for them or get high or whatever or an excuse to not have a job. I always did stuff on the side and I always did my music, because that’s just who I am. But when I listen back to that, I just remember fun times, girls we used to run with, the funny stories. Just being in a band and having brothers - I never had any brothers - I have two sisters Debbie and Nancy. I didn’t have any brothers and I’ve wanted a brother. Ronnie’s my brother now and Rick’s my brother now. It feels like a family. We call each other all the time and complain about everything. No we don’t. (Much laugher.) We love hanging out. But I listen to that record and I remember my youth and remember high school - because it was right out of high school pretty much. But we did that record in two days and we mixed it in another day and I had myself my first record - and we did the whole thing for under $1,400. It was pretty amazing.

QUIET RIOT and DOKKEN LEGACY Greg: Randy Rhoads was a really good friend of mine.

We’d hang out - I’d show him riffs - he’d show me riffs. The Crazy Train riff I gave to him - that was a song I showed him in his bedroom - we were sitting down and playing guitars together. And then when he got the Ozzy gig, I got the phone

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call from Kevin (DuBrow) and Randy to come in and replace him. We were going to keep the name Quiet Riot until we started playing live - and we decided let’s just change the name to DuBrow - when we get a record deal we’ll change it back to Quiet Riot. Everynbody in LA knew it was a fresh thing. It was a great band - Kevin was impossible to work with - God rest his soul. He was so argumentative - he had an opinion on everything - you were wrong - he was right.

I’m the guy that actually brought in Cum On Feel The Noize and Mama We’re All Crazee Now - I borrowed my sister Nancy’s Slade record and brought it in and that was the first argument we got in. He did not want anything to do with that. He started screaming at me. I’m a really peaceful guy and I like having fun, but I can’t stand it when someone yells at me. And so we go into it, and the drummer Drew Forsyth, he pulled us apart and walked me around the block a couple times to cool me off. There was no need for that. I was thinking of Van Halen and You Really Got Me - we needed a cover song to put us over the top. I thought it would be great and his voice was perfect for it.

After about a year with them, Don Dokken has been after me for a couple of years to play. How I met Don was we opened for him and my roadies accidentally loaded his equipment into my car. So I get a call from Don and he said, “Hey we played together last night at the Rock Corporation and I think your guys got my equipment.” So I checked in the van and sure enough there was his old Marshall heads.

He comes by to pick them up, we start talking, and he goes “Dude, I really love the way you play. I love your voice, We should do something together.” At the end of the Quiet Riot/ DuBrow thing, he was still after me and he had European dates booked and that was all I need to hear. I wanted to get away from Kevin and arguing, and it was great!

http://www.gregleoninvasion.com/

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MACKLEMORE Recover Out Loud Las Vegas, NV September 27, 2021 Photo by Jack Lue

Recover Out Loud with Macklemore, KT Tunstall, and Sandgaard Westgate Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV, September 27th, 2021

KT TUNSTALL Review by Ken Morton - Photos by Jack Lue Macklemore, KT Tunstall, Evvie McKinney, Daphne Willis, The Residency, and Sandgaard performed at Recover Out Loud in Las Vegas to help raise awareness about addiction and recovery. The show was taped at the Westgate Resort & Casino for streaming on iHeart’s Facebook and YouTube channels on International Recovery Day on Sept.

30, the very special event capping off this year’s National Recovery Month. And it was a poignant and magical night to remember!

Hosted by comedian Gary Owen, Recover Out Loud received significant support from the Sandgaard Foundation, Victoria’s Voice Foundation, Serve You Rx, Division of Overdose Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Westgate Resort & Casino. The many highlights included an epic headlining set from the HIGHWIRE DAZE

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THOMAS SANDGAARD one and only Macklemore, which tantalized the senses and sent the night into the stratosphere. KT Tunstall played solo creating her entire live set digitally - and the imaginative live process clearly captivated the audience. Sandgaard premiered their vibrantly inspirational song Believe, featuring Thomas Sandgaard (The Sandgaard Foundation, Zynex Inc, Charlton Athletic) on guitar and Warrant frontman Robert Mason on lead vocals. And how great it was to see Kevin Lyman of the Vans Warped Tour involved, lending his expertise and producing such an important event.

Attendees at Recover Out Loud included front line workers in the mental health field, impacted family members, and people in recovery from addiction, The personal testimonies were so gripping and powerful combined with live music that could change the world. Congrats to Recover Out Loud and the Sandgaard Foundation on this amazing event!

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ALBUM REVIEWS Furyous Deathcryptopia 1936529 Records DK

Review by Ken Morton And the dark legacy of the vastly underrated Willow Wisp continues, with various members pursuing their auditory artistry to even more cosmic proportions. Former Willow Wisp front man Air-Ik has unleashed Deathcryptopia upon an unsuspecting world, and what a mass of pure sonic devastation this one is! A conceptual project combining aspects of Black Metal and Hard Rock, Deathcrytopia has presented Furyous, the second single from their upcoming The Demon Quadrilogy Part 1 manifesto.

Along with Air-Ik as music composer and performer, Deathcryptopia partners in crime include The Garrgoyle (lyricist and composer) and fellow Willow Wisp co-hort Glenn Lee Alan Davis (aka GLAD – also of KOFN Underground infamy) who recorded and produced the single at The Funeral Parlor. With a passion for extreme metal, dynamic storytelling, and comic book art, Deathcryptopia is sure to inspire all types of music fans ready to take a ride into battle with The Demon Quadrilogy. https://www.facebook.com/Deathcryptopia

The Fifth The Fifth Weapon / Vanity Music Review by Ken Morton North Carolina hard rockers The Fifth has returned with a new lineup, presenting what is easily one of the very best EP’s of the year. Featuring founding member Roy Cathey from Cold Sweat and SteelCity, the five tracks found within The Fifth’s Self-Titled EP are instantly memorable and leave you craving a whole lot more. Cathey is definitely one of the most epically underrated rock vocalists on the planet, and he delivers the goods tenfold within the ranks of The Fifth.

Opening track Shake Little Sister should be all over the worldwide rock radio airwaves, it’s wickedly infectious melodies and seething vocals driving this one into the stratosphere. Calm Before The Storm is a brilliant mid-tempo tune that absolutely tantalizes the senses. Home shows The Fifth 60

unveiling a mesmerizing power ballad while Coming To Get You rocks your world with its sheer animal magnetism. “I’m a wild child looking for trouble,” the dynamic Cathey sings with fiendish delight on the glorious final cut Roll The Bones.

In addition to Cathey’s top notch vocals, The Fifth’s massively tight and intensive lineup includes guitarist Justin Womble, bassist Jake Tripp and drummer Gary “Zeus” Smith. This is one helluva rocking good time, short yet very sweet, and destined to spin on repeat for the rest of 2021 and beyond. https://www.facebook.com/thefifthmusic

Cold Hearted Rich Kid Express Squib Kick Records Review by Ken Morton Fans of hard rock, punk, and sleaze need to hop on board the Rich Kid Express and prepare for a raging ride of a lifetime! Imagine the Ratt-train crashing into Iggy Pop-mobile, and you are only beginning to envision the delicious sonic wickedness Rich Kid Express has in store for you. Fronted by mastermind Rob Richardson, Rich Kid Express has just unleashed a blistering hot new single entitled Cold Hearted – and what a gem this one is.

Along with its rip-roaring B-side Ride The Sky, the two songs contained within unveil the next great chapter within the powerhouse Rich Kid Express. These are two solid tracks to be sure and are well worth seeking out. Can’t wait to hear a whole lot more from Rich Kid Express in the months ahead.

One listen and you’ll be taking this rock and roll ride again and again… https://www.squibkickrecords.com/

Pushed To The Edge The Swansons

Golden Goose Entertainment Review by Ken Morton Pushed To The Edge is the latest and greatest single from The Swansons – and it’s probably the most infectious song this reviewer has ever heard about freedom and unrest in America. For within the sweet country pop melody is a commentary on the political turmoil of today – and no matter what side of the fence you stand on – there is a whole lot of thought, depth, and inspiration to be found within October/November 2021

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Pushed To The Edge. With a video that was filmed on the iconic grounds of the Griffith Park Observatory, the pride and joy of being an American is experienced tenfold with both music and visuals – two mediums The Swansons have thoroughly mastered. Pushed To The Edge is a testament to the turbulent times we live in. This is indeed a protest song from Swansonville USA and presented is the crucial recognition that we all need to unite and love one another.

– an absolute legend in the melodic rock field whose brilliant career and chart-topping singles have left a decided impact down under. Not as well known here in the States, MR Records has presented a Swanee Greatest Hits compilation that serves as a thrilling introduction to a legacy that spans several decades. 20 dynamic songs, originals and covers – certainly an all-encompassing selection of tunes that melodic rock fans must have in their music collections.

Pushed To The Edge is certainly The Swansons in their finest hour, showing that music can truly make an impact when times are tough. The massively talented husband-and-wife team of Joe and Angie Finley once again prove why The Swansons is a timeless award-winning band ready for the big leagues.. https://theswansonsmusic.com

From the grand and glorious rocking introduction of Tough At The Top, Swanee takes you into his amazing world of melodic rock. Fan favorites such as Crazy Dreams, Temporary Heartache, and Lady What’s Your Name are brought to ultra-vivid life for multi-generations to enjoy. Have A Little Faith is another highlight, showing how persuasive Swanee is when it comes to a country rock ditty. Covers such as Fooled Around And Fell In Love and Hold Your Head Up are superbly imaginative as interpreted by the one and only Swanee.

Greatest Hits Swanee MR Records Review by Ken Morton In the vast music scene of Australia, John Swan – better known as Swanee – is a national treasure

Be sure to listen to the very end for the sweeping and emotional Here’s To You, a grand finale leaving a definitive impression on long time fans and admirers yet to arrive. Thanks to the vibrant Swanee and MR Records for introducing his music to the world once more! www.melodicrockrecords.com

MOTHERLODE’S – FINGERPAINT Classic rock at it’s best!!!

Available Now On www.mrrecords.com.au

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