Introducing: I See Stars

Recently I made the trip to New Haven to catch a band that I've only seen on YouTube. Silverstein is one of the biggest bands in Canada, quite possibly the biggest screamo one and they recently just finished about a 2 1/2 week US tour which included Madina Lake, Closure in Moscow, The Word Alive, I am Committing A Sin and finally the boys in I See Stars.

I See Stars hails from Warren, Michigan and are a self proclaimed rock group. They recently ride on with Sumerian Records and dropped their debut album '3-D' at number 176 on the billboard charts. A focal point of the fans' interest that night, girls were looking into their van constantly during their set along with the occupants of the Yale shuttle buses driving inches away from me. We talked everything from their bass player, Jeff Valentine's love for everything Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl to the strangest yet amazing thing that a fan has ever told them (it's insane!). Read on for the full interview!

So I know this tour is just beginning. I think you're three shows in, how's it been going so far?
Brent (lead guitar): For us, not really that good actually. We got into a accident driving out here and we had some other complications you know during the last couple days. But the tour itself has been great. The shows themselves have been actually surprisingly good.

What's your favorite part of touring?
Brent: Probably just visiting some of the-
Devin(lead vocals): Taco bell.
Brent: Taco Bell. I mean for us we like to explore some of the cities like today this was kind of a cool place. Just getting to see new places and meet new people and stuff are kind of what we really enjoy.
Jeff (bass): I enjoy this place specifically, it's really nice.

Who are your major musical influences?
Brent: We really like the first Panic At The Disco record, that's our jam. We listen to pretty much anything under the sun, I know that's kind of cliche but it's true.
Devin: We're very open minded.
Brent: We listen to anything from Sigor Ros last night to Owl City. You know, just anything, any kind of music.
Jeff: Sigor Ros and Owl City, that's great.
Brent: But I mean if you're talking about building our music by influences, coming from Michigan, obviously Chiodos was a very big influence. Just as kids when we were like 13, 14 years old watching them was kind of a cool experience for us. Um, Green Day but we really just like anything under the sun pretty much.

How do you guys go about the songwriting process? Do you do it all together or is it one person?
Brent: Um, it kind of varies you know from song to song. Some songs, I mean, most of the songs, we all come together and bring some of our own ideas and kind of piece it the way that everybody envisions it. Recently, especially writing for the new record, we've been kind of going off on our own time and writing our own little bits and pieces of music. That's kind of allowed us to do that and bring it together to kind of fit compared to the old process which was just sitting together and constructing ideas altogether.

If you weren't in I See Stars, what do you think you would be doing?
Devin: School.
Brent: It's a hard question. I mean, we've been doing this forever. I mean literally we've been together way too long. We've always been best friends, we're more like brothers now.
Andrew Oliver (drums): Um, electrical things.

What's the craziest thing a fan has ever given you?
Brent: We got a cake that was an I See Stars cake.
Andrew: Actually the craziest thing I think we've ever had to do is some kid bought a shirt from us off the Internet. I guess like he was wearing it during a car accident that he got in and there was like blood all over the t-shirt and he came up to us and he was like "I was wearing this and I got into one of my big traumatic experiences of my life," and he's like I want you to sign it. I was blown away. T-shirt covered in blood.
Brent: Legit like crusty. He didn't wash it. That was the weirdest thing I think a fan's ever brought to us.

Are there any future music plans fans can look forward to from you guys this tour?
Brent: Maybe not so much till after this tour. After this tour, we're doing our first headliner, kind of closing off the year with that so we're excited for that.
Devin: I mean 2010 we'll have a ton of stuff but it's confidential.
Brent: I mean, we're discussing a record, looking at a time frame for that. That in itself is kind of exciting for us.
Devin: And future tour plans.

I'm addicted to:
Devin: Taco Bell.
Brent: We have severe addictions to Taco Bell.
Andrew: We're also addicted to NFL Blitz.
Brent: Madden. Select video games. And then we'll buy like box sets of DVDs.
Andrew: South park now.
Brent: We just got into South park.
Andrew: Our bass players wants us to get into Gossip Girl.
Jeff: I mean it. She knows what's up.
Brent: You know what? I don't want to hear about it.
Jeff: Chuck Bass.

What's your favorite treat, not tree?
Brent: One of my favorites is Vanilla Wafers, that's my gas station snack.
Devin: I like sunflower seeds.
Jeff: Dove chocolate.
Brent: I don't want to hear about it.
Andrew: Danish. It's retarded but I'm into it.

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Thanks again to Jerry at WarmFuzzy PR for setting this up and thanks to the boys of I See Stars. You can find their music at their myspace and find them on their first ever headliner tour starting November 25th along with playing a show with huge players in the game including The Devil Wears Prada! Thanks for reading and look for more coverage soon from the most recent Silverstein tour!

"Jingle My Bells" <3

Hey there, it's been a while!
Hope you caught the last stream of interviews posted on here and also on the music website I've been working as features editor for, MusicRemedy.com!

Lately, my life has been full of shows, cd reviews and just general life living and something exciting that's happened is that I will be doing extensive coverage of the "Jingle My Bells" holiday show at Webster Theater in Hartford, Connecticut on December 19th. It features headliners like NeverShoutNever, Hit The Lights and A Rocket To The Moon, and is sure to be a great day. Starting at three, it features about fifteen acts on one stage, so it's going to be an amazing but long day.

I'll be interviewing both new and well known acts, like Hit the Lights, Weatherstar, Secret Secret Dino Club, Spark The Rescue and Ace Enders, so I was hoping to hear some question ideas from you folks!

Also, I'm working on a contest with Fearless Records right now, so look for that soon!

Meet...Hellogoodbye.

Remember that Real World episode where the cast picked three bands they wanted to interview at South by Southwest? One of the bands, instead of staying in a typical hotel (or sleeping in their van the whole time) decided to camp out, and the cast had to walk about three miles to get to their campsite do that interview. The band? Hellogoodbye.

Maybe that was the inspiration for the video for their largest mainstream single 'Here In Your Arms'. You've all heard the song and most definitely seen the video where Forrest falls in uninvited love with another camper that climaxes at the all camp dance at the end of the summer or maybe it's just another example of the goofiness, irony, and sarcasm that has come to be known as Hellogoodbye.

Recently I got the chance to interview Forrest, Joe and Travis while they were on tour with Hanson this fall on the 'Use Your Soul' tour. Giving off a different vibe from the other bands on the tour, they had a challenge sat in front of them at their shows, and they rocked them. I got their gig in Boston at the House of Blues and they had the crowd on fire from their craigslist missed connection to their Jacob from Twilight sightings. They recently dropped their new EP "When We First Met" and are taking their time playing around and recording songs.

Their goofiness, friendship for each other and just love for what they do was very present in the interview we did, with memorable moments being their dream tour line up and what they are addicted to! Meet Hellogoodbye.

How's the tour been so far?
Forrest: The bands are great. We're great friends with Steel Train so it's awesome to tour with them again.

What's your favorite part of touring?
Forrest: Exploring new places.
Joe: Indulging in the local culture.
Travis: Being able to truly live our dreams out every day.

Who would be your three dream acts to go on tour with?
Forrest: You want me to say Hanson, Sherwood and Steel Train, don't you?
Joe: Realistically or dream?
Forrest: Realistically, Steel Train, Limbeck and The Beach Boys.
Travis: Well, the old beach boys.
Joe: Dream? Jesus, Oprah and Santa.
Forrest: The old Jesus too?

My personal favorite by you guys is "All of Your Love". What's your favorite song to play live?
Forrest: Personally mine is 'When We First Met' off the new EP.

What would be your dream venue to play?
Joe: Anywhere in Greece.
Forrest: It would be pretty sweet to play a world tour. We've never played anywhere really exotic. I mean we've played the more standard international places like Japan and Australia. I've always thought that would be sweet.
Andy: But really though, there aren't that many venues in Greece...
Joe: Duh, the coliseum.
Travis: Alright. Well besides that.

What are you personally listening to these days?
Forrest: Phoenix has a great new album.
Joe: I've been looking at my top ten lately. It's shaping up to be a good year.
Forrest: I'm heading back to the classics like The Descendents.
Travis: So..classic rock radio?

What would you be doing if you weren't in Hellogoodbye?
Forrest: Wow. That's a good question. I have no idea. Before the band, I was heading towards graphic design but I probably wouldn't have made it.
Joe: Yeah. I've seen his 1998 portfolio.
Travis: Yeah, if the internet crashed and rebooted again, maybe it would come full circle.

Your videos always have a really original storyline be it Forrest running for president to love at a summer camp. If you had to make up a music video storyline on the spot, what would the concept be?
Forrest: Well, we actually just made our new video for "When We First Met". I don't know if you've seen it but it's about me and my girlfriend's hair growing back in like seconds after we cut it over and over again.

I'm addicted to:

Joe: Burt's Bee's lip gloss.
Forrest: You really need to call it quits. I'd say...candy.
Travis: I'm addicted to....
Joe: The night!
Travis: Ok, the night.

My favorite treat is:
Forrest: Best question ever.
Andy: Sweet treats, marzipan, flying saucers.
Forrest: Peanut butter and chocolate together. Every combination!


--
Thank you to Jose Martinez from Big Shot Media for setting this up, and check out hellogoodbye's sweet sweet melodies and general fun on their myspace.


His costar in the video was in the dressing room during our interview and was just laughing through Forrest's description of the video. Check it out below and see Joe's dazzling choice of wigs!:

It's been a few days...

but beware! I have plenty coming your way in particular today :)

..Last night I caught the EZ Bronz tour that Breathe Carolina is headlining currently. I have interviewed both of the boys on seperate occasions, with David Schmitt last night and Kyle Even during their last tour with Family Force 5. Their show last night was electric and even brought Kyle to tears at the end of the show when everyone shouted one last song and everyone was singing every word. They OWNED that stage. Cash Cash also put on a superb show like they always do :) I've seen both bands play twice now, within the last two months and hopefully I can catch them again soon.
In a exclusive interview with David (follow him @davidlovesit), he told me that they have another headlining tour and they are doing a little thing called Warped this year. The official announcement will be made in december on the Warped website. He told me the exact dates which he just found out that morning and I promise you'll all get a chance to see them there ;)

I also met some great other bands who will be included in my show write up coming up later today!

...and the NEW GALLOWS VIDEO CAME OUT TODAY. If you know me, Gallows is by far one of my favorite bands which may surprise some people but here it is: 'Misery'. Their latest effort comes out on the 30th so watch out for it!
It is an extremely intense video and once I instantly fell in love with. Starts out extremely slow and picks up like that with some grand shots of the lovely Frank Carter. Hopefully we see these gents on Warped Tour once again this summer as bands are begining to confirm already for this summer's festival. Enjoy :)

CHARTJACKERS.

Well hello there readers. So today I decided to be productive and put together my Queens Club interview and IT WILL BE UP TOMORROW. It has been very long in the waiting and it will be up in full tomorrow.

On other news, Chartjackers is a project out of the UK that I have been keeping my eye on, and it consists of four popular english "youtubers" that have gone through the process of producing a single and video for charity. The single "I've Got Nothing" has been released on UK itunes and as of a minute ago is available on the US itunes as well. Pick it up, and fall in love with it as ridiculously cheesy pop as it is.

The biggest Royals fans I know!

A perfect fit into the DanceRawrDance tour, Queen's Club is the hottest thing I know to come out of good old Kansas City, Missouri. It may seem like the strangest place there is for a band to come out of, but lucky for us they did! Jake Ryan, Daniel Eaton, Andrew Nichols and Tyler Bottles bring the latest bout of electro but with something a little bit extra.
I know I'm not the only one missing the grunge of the early nineties and Queen's Club is bringing it back. The tour was electro all the way with the other acts being Family Force 5, Breathe Carolina, Cash Cash and IRival, and they brought something a little different.

Find below the interview I did with the band in full (and their friend Sarah for emotional support!) after only their fourth show on the tour in Cambridge, MA!

Mix and Mark: So what's with the name?
Daniel: I had just come back from a trip to Taco Bell, and drove back to my house. We decided that I just liked the word Club and Jake liked Queen's-
Jake: That's it! I liked the word Queens and he liked the word club.

Awesome. I know the tour is just beginning, but how has it been so far?
Daniel: It's been really awesome. I mean I didn't really know what to expect but it's been even better then I expected. Like the crowds have been really cool, that's great for us. I only have good things to say and the other bands are really cool.

Have you guys gone on a national tour before?
Daniel: Not a full run like this one. This is our first like hitting every spot tour.

If you could tour with any three bands, who would they be and why?
Jake: I'd tour with Selena Gomez.
Andrew: Or Taylor Swift.
Daniel: Jonas Brothers would be a great tour.

What have been some of your favorite albums this year so far?
Daniel: Dirty Projectors is really good.
Andrew: Did that Phoenix record come out this year?
Tyler: Yeah it did!
Jake: I like that Mike Snow record.

What have been some of your major influences?
Daniel: Probably-
Jake: Britney Spears and Metallica probably.
Andrew: Aye.
Tyler: That's pretty solid.
Daniel: Kansas City Royals.
That's not a joke?
Jake and Andrew: No. Kansas City Royals.

What's the first show you went to?
Andrew: I saw Pedro the Lion. That was my first show.
Tyler: That was your first show?
Daniel: It was super rad.
Jake: I can't exactly remember my first show, but my parents have been taking me for a very long time. Well, I don't remember, I mean, seen so many but I can remember this show that definitely made me want to try and play music was, this is really cheesy, but this band called Johnny Q Public? I don't know if anybody has any clue. It's kind of like Six Flags, but it's really Yankee style like, it's called World of Fun and they're playing in a amphitheater and the guitar player's name was Bourne. He just jumped off his full staff and I was like 'WHATTT?'

How did the group come together?
Daniel: Jake and I were playing with another band, The Chariot and we played a show in Berlin. The show was fun, the after party more fun, they were playing dance music and we really enjoyed it. I don't know, I guess that experience, just being like this is really fun. We were thinking, 'Oh we can make this music that people like to dance to'.
Jake: Yeah, I think from that point I met Andy through Tyler and I was like 'man this guy is really talented' and we wanted to try just doing something, anything with him and then Tyler remembered how we had to gone to that after party or whatever and it was really fun. We thought we should try and do something together, kind of just as a side project. We kind of left that band and we really tried to do this thing. Tyler hooked up with us when we started making it for real and I think it's fun. I don't know..I like it.
Tyler: It's a pretty fun time.
Jake: It's pretty cool because these guys are my best friends and usually, I don't know how it really works out that way but it is that way for me.

I'm addicted to? :
Jake: I'm probably pretty addicted to pepsi in real life.
Daniel: I can't stop eating.
Andy: I'll say Kansas City sports teams.
Tyler: Wait! I'm last? Should I just say drugs?
Jake: Nooooooooooooooo!
Tyler: Coffee products. French press coffee.From other countries. I'm a coffee conniseur. Coffee and sand. You can just put those together.


If I had a million dollars I would:
Daniel: Probably try to get a bunch of gear for a studio and I'd probably go back to school.
Jake: I'd probably get married, I'd just need to find someone who'd want to marry me.
Daniel: We probably wouldn't be driving in a van.
Jake: With no trailer.
Daniel: We probably could afford it. We did it by choice. For this tour, we just didn't want to mess with it cause we just get better mileage and we can swing it right now because we only have five guys.


My favorite treat is:
Daniel: Sour patch kids.
Andy: Snickers candy bars.
Jake: I'm going to branch off and say whatever the snickers eggs are because they have like nutcracker shaped ones and they're always way better. They have pumpkin ones during this time of year.
Tyler: I like anything Reese's or cereal? Does that count? Cereal's good, with milk. I don't like it just plain.
Daniel: There are a lot of weird treats going on.


Do we have anything to look forward to after this tour?
Jake: Nope!
Daniel: This is it!
Andy: Nope, when we get a million dollars we're getting married.
Jake: I would build a baseball field with a million dollars too. We wanted to work together on a farm and then build a field of dreams and then some other sports stuff, like have some four wheelers, get our kids riding around.
Daniel: And be married.
Jake: I don't know about that! That was Dan's dream last night!
How about maybe a new album?
Dan: We don't have a official release date yet but it's coming early--
Andy: 2012.
Dan: early 2012 probably.
Tyler: We just signed with Tooth and Nail, so they just put out an EP with a few of our tracks.
Jake: They say they are going to ship us extra copies to sell here so that's out right now. Full length should be out soon.

--
You can find their music here on their myspace
and hopefully will be back on tour very soon!
xo

All The Pretty Girls on a Saturday Night!

Yeah! It's been a long time in the making, as were a lot of music videos I was particularly excited for this fall (A Skylit Drive, new 30H!3 remix..) and now Fun's "All The Pretty Girls" from their debut album as a band 'Aim and Ignite'.

All three boys in the band have splintered off from previous projects besides Jack Antonoff (the lead singer of Steel Train), Nate Reuss (former member of The Format) and Andrew Dost (ex member of Anathollo). This adorable trio have been melting hearts all over the country with their lovable lyrics and fun (pun alert!) live shows. Lucky us, they just released their debut music video for "All The Pretty Girls" and are jumping on the road again starting today in Tucson till the 15th on a headliner. Right afterwards, they are jumping on the road with Jack's Mannequin for a few more dates! Actually, the one (unfortunately) and first time I saw the band play was literally just a few days after they had formed and were out on tour with barely any instruments and were still working out the kinks and it was with Jack's Mannequin!

Here's the new video. I've had it on replay for the last hour, no big deal or anything. Come back to Boston!



Check out their myspace for more and their upcoming dates :)