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ONE-HIT WONDERS FOR CHARITY
Sore Eyes’ covers EP benefits nonprofit
By Alex Gallagher
Sam Etling has always wanted to be heard.
In the hardcore punk band Dead Either Way, Etling was tired of listeners unable to comprehend his screaming. With his latest project, Sore Eyes, Etling just wants to be heard and understood.
“It was a matter of me wanting listeners to understand my lyrics, because I feel like what I’m talking about is really important,” Etling says.
Initially Etling’s solo acoustic project, Sore Eyes now features a group of local punk rockers. Etling met drummer Matt Slusser while he was playing bass for the surf-rock band Phantom Party. Slusser and Etling are now roommates.
Etling also recruited guitarist Nate Coughlin, who graduated with him at Mountain Ridge High School. Rounding out the lineup is bassist Ryan King, with whom Etling previously played in No Lungs.
Etling is no stranger to the punk rock scene or creating collaborative compilations.
Etling helped plan a one-hit-wonders compilation in early 2020 and planned to donate its proceeds to the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. However, when Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary, the project hit a wall.
“I was talking to my roommates a couple of months ago and I really wanted to create another one-hit-wonders album,” Etling says.
“We know tons of bands in the Valley and tons of bands from the Bay Area. So, I wanted to put this compilation together because I love the idea of a bunch of bands covering one-hit wonders.”
The “(Nearly) One Hit Wonders” compilation also features bands from Colorado, where Etling now lives. So far, Etling has been blown away by the music he has received.
“I was expecting a bunch of quick acoustic covers,” he says. “The only submissions I have gotten so far are fullband songs and are great-quality songs.
“Knowing that people care enough about this kind of thing to go into the studio and record a song is the coolest thing to me, and it makes me so happy to be a part of this community.”
The “(Nearly) One Hit Wonders” compilation may include Aaron Allen & Those Who Were There’s cover of the Rockwell hit “Somebody’s Watching Me.” Etling says it’s better than the original and is on repeat.
Etling was also intrigued by the Denver-based punk band People Corrupting People’s ska cover of the Pixies’ “Where Is My Mind” and the Celebration Guns’ cover of Orange Juice’s “Rip It Up.”
Of course, the compilation would not be complete if Sore Eyes did not have a song on the compilation. Sore Eyes covered Harvey Danger’s 1997 hit “Flagpole Sitta,” which Etling is excited to release.
Etling was having a hard time finding a good cause to support with the proceeds — until his close friend made a suggestion.
“My roommate, Lou, is transgender and mentioned the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, which is a super cool foundation for the Black-trans community,” he says. “They collected money for a COVID-19 fund for Blacktrans people. Before that, they created housing for them.”
He decided to recruit donations and release the music through Bandcamp.
“Our current plan right now is just Bandcamp, because it’s a lot easier for us to keep the money in the right place,” Etling says.
“If I threw the music up on streaming, it would be a nightmare to keep track of when the money comes in, and I would have to separate it from my regular music. Bandcamp offers a really good way for me to make a PayPal account and funnel all the funds into one account and donate that money to the charity.”
Originally, Etling wanted to release the EP in February, Black History Month. However, Bandcamp does revenue sharing on the first Friday of every month. He’s hoping to release it on March 5.
As for Sore Eyes, they hope their cover will not be the only music fans hear from them in 2021. They recently finished recording an 11-song, full-band album.
However, a release date is unknown due to the pandemic.
“I just don’t want to put an album out during a pandemic when I can’t share it with a live audience,” Etling says.
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INSPIRED BY LIFE
N8NOFACE shares Tucson culture with fans
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski guys who lived outside of the law. I tell a melding of ’80s/’90s nostalgic Born and raised near Tucson, Nathan Hose says “nobody” leaves his hometown. He wanted to make music, so he split and moved to Long stories like that. “I had a ton of friends from Nogales — even in my high school years. Growing up in Tucson, everybody was doing some kind of narco trafficking. I was the black sheep of synthpunk and grimy rap. He bought his first drum machine online because Tucson stores didn’t have anything unique — just mariachis, he says. “I wanted to do weird stuff,” he adds. “I came up listening to rap and hip-hop Beach in 2000. my crew. I love music, and I’d drag in my younger years.”
The fruits of his labor as N8NOFACE them to concerts.” Every day Hose works on music, is “Bound to Let You Down,” a He took one of his friends, who was while others go home after their job and collection of songs inspired by “break- half-Black and half-Mexican with braids play “Call of Duty.” He’s obsessed with ups, addiction and life lived outside the and jewelry, to a Rev. Horton Heat show. producing music. lines of the law.” In the crowd, Hose says, the friend did “It’s something I just can’t stop doing,”
“Everything inspired this,” he adds. not look like he belonged there. he says. “Everything I’ve lived through and done “He ended up digging it,” he says. “I’ve is in this album. My subject matter is had the same circle of friends since I was something you might find in a punk 14. I’m 40 now.” song. Growing up, I was around a lot of “Bound to Let You Down” is
N8NOFACE
n8noface.bandcamp.com
BRINGING LIGHT INTO THE DARK
Bury the Darkness stays positive during tough times
By Alex Gallagher
Bury the Darkness is an ambitious metal band whose message and sound differ highly from the Arizona metal scene.
“The name Bury the Darkness envelops the ideas we have that life is not always positive,” says vocalist Jared Harper. “We like to write about the dark side of life but show that there is light that comes at the end. It’s looking at darkness from a positive viewpoint where eventually bad times will end. We try to take that negative energy and turn it into something good.”
Their latest song, “Gone but Not Forgotten,” deals with the band’s collective emotions of losing loved ones. The musicians grabs death but put a positive spin on the message by saying the dead should not be forgotten.
Bury the Darkness’ prior song, “Break Me,” details the struggle with negativity and how to stay positive.
Previous band breakups dampened the musicians, but they came together to jam in late 2019 but did not officially form until November of that year. They count their official start date of November 2019 when they added guitarist Marc Rosenfeld.
While at Mesa’s Mountain View High School, Rosenfeld befriended drummer Jon Keeney in the orchestra and met Harper in an AP music theory class. Harper and bassist Brandon Brantley are childhood friends. Once they met Rosenfeld and Keeney, they all bonded over similar musical interests.
It was in that orchestra class, however, where Rosenfeld, Keeney and Harper started their music career. They taught Brantley to play bass.
The band, however, does credit its lessons in classical music as an influence on its sound and style.
“We have a very versatile sound: hard-hitting riffs, ambient production, powerful vocal melodies and emotional lyrics,” Rosenfeld says.
“We’ve all had experience with theory and classical, and we get to bring that all into the metal world.”
While classical music taught them how to keep a beat and play in a bandlike setting, Bury the Darkness channels new-age metal bands like Bring Me the Horizon and I Prevail.
Rosenfeld also credits the pioneering acts of modern metal like Slayer and Slipknot as influences on his music style.
“We try to give our fans a taste of every sound with contrasting soft and hard music,” Rosenfeld says.
“We’re working on changing an EDM song into a rock cover right now; even that has its own unique sound.”
Bury the Darkness credits producer Frankie Ghiloni, the owner of ToneHeart Studios, with the sharp sound of their singles.
“Frankie and his girlfriend, Hannah, have really helped us,” Rosenfeld says.
“Hannah has done all of our lyric videos and created our original logo, and Frankie does all of our mixing and mastering.”
Mentored by Matt Good of From First to Last, Ghiloni has worked other modern metal acts, like Asking Alexandria and Hollywood Undead.
Ghiloni isn’t the only person who has helped the band. We Came as Romans bassist Andy Glass designed the new merchandise and logo.
The logo features a figure-eight-like shape and an octagonal shape intersected by a triangulated cross spelling out the band’s initials of BTD.
While the band does credit influential colleagues, it truly is its ability to find light in dark times that makes it shine. The ongong pandemic has allowed them to do just that.
“I feel like right now, there’s so much to write music about, and I feel like there’s going to be a boom,” Rosenfeld says.
Bury the Darkness has five songs demoed in addition to the singles it has in the works. They’re hoping to livestream a concert and have their music played on the SiriusXM channel Octane.
Although times are tough, Rosenfeld has a saying that has allowed him to make his way through life.
“After every rainstorm, there’s sunshine and a rainbow. Right now, we’re definitely stuck in the rain, but we’ll make it through,” Rosenfeld says.
TEAMWORK
IS IMPORTANT
Dropout Kings find collaboration is their sweet spot
By Alex Gallagher
Dropout Kings are no strangers to collaborating with other artists.
The Phoenix-based trap-metal band teamed with former Of Mice & Men vocalist Shayley Bourget’s new band Dayshell in 2019 and upped its exposure in music. Helmed by Cactus High School graduate singer Adam Ramey, Dropout Kings wrote “Kombat” with Dayshell.
Once the two finished their lyrics, they turned their words over to Dropout Kings’ rapper and Phoenix resident Eddie Wellz to put his personal touch on the song. Wellz seems to relish not only in the opportunity to express himself but to meet new musicians.
“Getting the opportunity to work with different artists who have a different style is nice because it meshes well with our style,” Wellz says.
“It’s just nice to keep getting more chances to keep collaborating with more bands and more people.”
While it is easier to do features than pure collaborations, both provide great opportunities for bands to shed light on their favorite up-and-coming acts.
“I think the easier way to do it is if there’s an idea of what the artist wants the direction of the collaboration to be,” Wellz says. “But when there are situations where artists want a song created from scratch, those are always fun.”
Their true collaborations did not end with Dayshell, as they were able to connect with the budding Oklahomabased metal band Outline in Color and hardcore artist/engineer Blupill on the song “BottleRat.”
The song served as their most collaborative project to date, as it not only deviated from their conventional sound but showed how three artists of differing sounds are able to display their talents on one track.
Their latest collaboration with the U.K. rap/metal band Hacktivist is their most ambitious crossover to date.
The song, “I Ain’t Depressed,” serves as a “hype song for being depressed,” as described by both Ramey and Wellz.
“The lyrics were about how everybody feels depressed at one point or another, but at some point, you have to hype yourself up even if you have to lie to yourself to change your mindset or your surroundings,” Ramey says.
From its horror-inspired intro to Ramey’s screaming chorus, the song helps listeners escape negative headspace and dark emotions.
“When you are depressed and you feel that darkness and dread over you and you’re ready to release that energy, that song gives you that punch in the mouth needed to release that energy,” Wellz says.
“I Ain’t Depressed” proved to be challenging due to the pandemic and the distance that separates the bands.
From having to send lyrics back and forth with Hacktivist vocalist Jot Maxi to recording a music video, the project was a learning experience and a testament to modern music technology.
Dropout Kings launched an exclusive merchandise line to promote the collaboration.
While working with higher-profile acts is exciting, platforms like Featured X, a social platform where artists can reach out to one another to create music, have made it easier for bands like Dropout Kings to work with their idols.
The fact of the matter is that “we are really collaborating with a lot of people we are friends with,” Ramey says.
“We’re also always listening to people on all levels from local to megastars like Drake. As much as we make music, that is how we’re able to stay creative and have fun,” Wellz adds.
A prime example of this is their work with the local metal group Bury the Darkness, to whom Ramey was introduced through his digital marketing company, Push Digital Marketing.
The two bands wrote “Gone But Not Forgotten,” which discusses the struggles of coping with loss.
Bury the Darkness wrote most of the song and approached Ramey and Wellz for a feature.
The pandemic changed the music industry and forced artists to become increasingly more creative with ways to promote themselves and make a living.
“Now more than ever, a lot of artists are missing out on their biggest stream of income, which is touring,” Ramey says. “There is a cost involved, but it’s an investment. It’s always surprising what good things can happen when you put yourself out there.”
Ramey says the worst thing an artist can say is “no” when asked to collaborate on a song.
Dropout Kings have been signed to Atilla frontman Chris Fronzak’s label Stay Sick Records since 2019. The sextet is shopping for a new label and have several songs in the works.
They are also hopeful to make a return to the stage this summer and play festivals in Europe as well as Rebel Rock Festival in Florida.
While they have no timetable for release on their latest songs, they do plan to continue to treat fans to new releases every two to three months.
“Overall, we’re staying busy and trying to keep our brains busy during this crazy time,” Ramey says.
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REMEMBERING CHESTER BENNINGTON
Grey Daze strips down its music for new EP
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski suggested Grey Daze release an EP with The surviving members of Grey Daze are once again celebrating Chester Bennington with the release of “Amends… five acoustic tunes. “We just showed the label we had these performances,” Dowdell says. “They were the same songs done a different way. We’re all fans of ‘MTV Unplugged.’ We thought it was a great idea.” Stripped,” an acoustic version of the “Incredible” is also a word he uses for album that hit stores in June 2020. the response to “Amends,” which he says
“The idea occurred during the process resonated with many Bennington fans. of recording ‘Amends,’” says Sean “They connected to it emotionally,” Dowdell of Grey Daze and owner of says Dowdell, who lives in Queen Creek. Club Tattoo. “I received tens of thousands of messages
“Tom (Whalley, founder of Loma from fans. One song (‘Sickness’) went Vista Recordings) mentioned he wanted to No. 2 and was on the charts for 34 a couple tracks that were different from weeks. At the end of the year, we ended the record. When they did a distribution up on five or six different best-of-2020 deal with Target and Walmart, they album lists. I think we did justice to the wanted exclusive tracks.” music.”
Dowdell handed over acoustic tracks The music is Dowdell’s way of dealing that Whalley called “incredible.” He with Bennington’s death. He says he’s was so impressed by the songs that he at a point now where he’s dealing with Bennington’s passing better. Now, it’s about maintaining and trying to do what’s best for the music and Bennington’s legacy, he adds.
Fans haven’t seen the end of Grey Daze, as the group has another album’s worth of tracks with Bennington’s vocals.
“I shared the songs with the label,” he says. “They freaked out and love the songs. They’re excited about them, which is cool to see.
“Chester’s looking down smiling. I just know it.”
Grey Daze
greydazemusic.com
THROWBACK ALBUM
By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski water is incredibly clean, and the beaches R ichie Kotzen and Adrian Smith have a love for the American blues and traditional soul music. Together they explore both are beautiful. “We had a house we rented that was gorgeous. It was like something out of a story. We got up in the morning, went for a swim and then started working. We’d wrap it up, go for dinner and do it on their debut album, “Smith/Kotzen.” all over the next day. We really got a lot
Used to working solo, Kotzen says it done. We made a really cool record.” was a pleasure to work with Smith. The record features special guest
“I was so accustomed to doing performances by Smith’s Iron Maiden everything myself,” Kotzen says. “It’s bandmate Nicko McBrain on drums nice to be in a situation where we’re for the track “Solar Fire,” and Kotzen’s sharing the songwriting. I really loved friend and touring partner Tal Bergman it. It gave me a chance to have another on drums for “You Don’t Know Me,” perspective and sit back and lay back “I Wanna Stay” and “Til Tomorrow.” while he did his thing.” Kotzen plays drums on five other songs.
Recorded on the Turks & Caicos “We made a really cool record,” Islands in February 2020, produced by Kotzen says. “It’s a rock record — the Kotzen and Smith and mixed by Kevin likes of which people don’t make “Caveman” Shirley, the nine-track anymore. It throws back to our influence collection sees the two musicians trading of the late-1960s, 1970s, Free and Bad off on guitar and bass. Company. We had a great time on it.”
“I’ve been all over the world, so many places touring, but I hadn’t been to Smith/Kotzen Turks & Caicos Islands,” Kotzen says. “It was such a great vibe down there. The smithkotzen.com
Drake Bell is burning to perform again
By Annika Tomlin
The COVID-19 pandemic caused musicians around the world to cancel their tours and park the tour bus at home. Drake Bell was one of them, but he used the time to create music in the new albums “The Lost Album” and “Sesiones en Casa.”
“It’s just a bummer because I played like five concerts in 2020, maybe more than that,” Bell says via Zoom. “But still, going from hundreds of shows to like 10 the whole year was crazy.”
Bell will return to the stage, though, at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 13, at the Park Place Mall Drive-In Venue in Tucson.
“I play off of all the records,” he says about his live shows. “Obviously, I do the theme song (for ‘Drake and Josh’). I do ‘Found a Way,’ a couple of the other songs from shows that were also on my record and then some of the new stuff. It’s all mixed.”
One of the few shows he played last year was a socially distanced concert in October at a Florida college, which, according to Bell, was “really cool and very different.”
“It was really strange (because) that was the longest time that I had gone without performing,” Bell says.
“I got on stage and was like, ‘Do I even know how to do this? What am I doing? Shoot.’ Usually, it’s like I play this set every night for the past six weeks, so it was like, ‘Wait a minute, probably should have rehearsed.’ It went great, but that is the only show since lockdown.”
Bell did a socially distanced meet and greet after the show, which was also strange, but he needed to connect with fans.
“Everyone knocks Florida, but I felt incredibly safe,” Bell says about the 12 hours he spent there for his concert.
“When I got to LAX, it was packed, there were people everywhere masks down over their chins and then I arrived in Florida and it was pretty empty.”
NEW MUSIC DURING PANDEMIC
Prior to the start of COVID-19, Bell finished and released his first album for 2020, “The Lost Album,” which features previously unfinished songs.
“It was really nostalgic to go back and hear these songs and do it right from 10 years ago,” Bell says. “(‘The Lost Album’) came out in February and then COVID hit.
“I put out a song called ‘Diosa’ in July, and that did pretty well, and then I put out a song called ‘Waiting for the World,’ which is basically my quarantine song.”
When asked about his second 2020-released album, “Sesiones en Casa,” Bell says, “I forgot I released that last year, too. I released a lot of music that year — wow.”
“Sesiones en Casa” was Bell’s first primarily Spanish album. It featured “Diosa” and his 2018 song “Fuego Lento”
DRAKE CAMPANA
Bell grew up in Southern California close to Mexico, where he and his family visited regularly.
“Living in Orange County, where I grew up, it’s very hot rod culture and just very Hispanic,” Bell says.
“I was spending a lot of time there (in Mexico) and even thinking about moving down there and just fell in love with it. I would do songs in Spanish live, but they would be covers. Then, back in 2018, I was like, ‘I have to write my own song in Spanish that is original.’ I wrote ‘Fuego Lento,’ put that out, and just everyone flipped.”
Within the last two years, Bell also started sharing messages on social media in Spanish.
“The majority of my fan base is Latin America, and so I was like I don’t even need to tweet in English anymore,” he says. “If I tweet in English, there will be more people hitting translate than if I wrote in Spanish.”
Bell switched his social media handle from “Drake Bell” to “Drake Campana,” which means “bell” in Spanish.
“It was just something funny that I was doing with my fans, and they just thought it was hilarious,” Bell says. “They started making tons of memes like my passport … and all this stuff.”
The memes quickly went viral, with Bell posting his favorites on his social media pages.
“It was a viral thing for a second,” he says. “It was really funny, but then the United States picked it up. It’s like, ‘Oh, my God, he changed his name, he moved to Mexico, he’s doing this, he’s doing that,’” Bell recalls.
“My fans and I were like, ‘What?’ It was just something fun that I was doing with my fans and then it just caught on and took off.”
QUARANTINE AND THE FUTURE
During quarantine, Bell spent “a lot more time playing” and creating music.
“I’ve been able to have a lot more time to sit down at the piano, so I would say a lot more practicing,” Bell says about improving his piano skills.
“As far as songwriting, it’s not really any different. I just have more time to be creative and be home and write and do stuff.
“It’s sometimes hard to get motivated, but the time has helped. I’m not on the road. I’m not in an airplane. I’m not in a hotel or car. I’m sitting at home at the piano,” he adds, playing a few notes on the piano.
Bell hopes he can perform more in 2021. He’s always writing new music and wants to get the songs out there.
“I just want us all to get out there safely and back to normal life,” he says. “Playing live music was great, but not being able to do it is not great.”
Drake Bell Live
3 p.m. Saturday, March 13 Park Place Mall, 5870 E. Broadway Boulevard, Tucson $55 to $60 per car bit.ly/3px31rr
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AN ‘AMERICAN IDOL’
Songwriting is the heart and soul of Amelia Joyce
By Jacqueline Robledo
Amelia Joyce moved to the Valley five years ago in hopes of turning her musical passion into a career.
Twenty-four years ago, Joyce was born in Jackson, Michigan, with five siblings, all of whom would perform together. She took piano lessons throughout middle school and high school.
“Growing up in a small town, there weren’t a lot of opportunities for me to stay and try and develop my career,” she says.
“I always wanted to live out West. I came out here when I was 19 and chose Arizona because my sister lived here. I was hoping it would be my steppingstone to LA.”
Once she arrived in Arizona, the then-19-year-old singer moved to Peoria and performed in coffee shops and at open mic nights. She did not expect the reactions or opportunities that were to come.
“My first open mic night was at this busy bar, and I started playing a song
and everything just went quiet, and everyone was like, ‘Where the heck did you come from? You’re not from around here, are you?’” says Joyce, who now lives in Downtown Phoenix.
In 2017, she won Alice Cooper’s Proof in the Pudding in her first competition. She, in turn, opened for Cooper, Tommy Thayer and Ace Frehley, Rob Halford and Slash.
“I have such good memories of that,” she says enthusiastically. “I’m not a competition kid at all, but I met a lot of great people through that competition. I met the founding fathers of rock ’n’ roll. I didn’t grow up listening to that kind of music. I was into ’70s folk singers and singersongwriters. It was after I performed that I looked them up and I couldn’t believe what I read.”
Her success only grew from there. Two years later, Joyce was awarded a golden ticket to Hollywood for season 18 of “American Idol.” Joyce credits her friend, fellow Phoenician Wade Cota, who was in the top six of “American Idol” the previous year, for recommending her to a producer of the show.
“I saw the opportunities that Wade got, and I was like, well, it won’t hurt to try,” she says.
Joyce traveled to Hawaii to compete in the Top 40 before being eliminated from the competition.
“It’s kind of like a really intense summer camp with a bunch of kids from all over,” she says. So, it was a really good challenge for me with the TV element of it, and overall I’m super glad that I did it.”
Prior to returning home from “American Idol,” Joyce released a single that can be found on Spotify called “What No One Says.” Her single, “Cigarettes,” hit streaming services this year.
Although COVID-19 has put many opportunities on hold for the young artist, she says the show has helped her clarify the type of artist she would like to be moving forward.
“The heart and soul of what I do is songwriting,” she says. “To be able to have a career by performing my original music is the next level of what I’m working toward.”
At her gigs, she performs covers by the likes of Elton John, Billy Joel, Carly Simon and Carole King but sprinkles in original songs.
“That’s water to the fish,” she says with a laugh.
