Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Alternative Tentacles Records recording artists:
Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine
In the twenty or so years since his brainchild Dead Kennedys officially disbanded, Jello Biafra has made a career of spoken word gigs interspersed with musical collaborations with some of the most compelling figures in underground music. Recording projects and touring with the likes of Melvins, No Means No, DOA, Mojo Nixon and Lard (with Ministry’s Al Jorgensen) among others have kept his “hardcore as political weapon” message sharp, but the lack of his own band made these collaborations usually short-lived and left Biafra with a ton of songs that had never seen the light of day.
Inspired by Iggy Pop’s 60th birthday gig at the Warfield in San Francisco, Biafra laid plans for his own 50th birthday party and finally decided it was time to start a band of his own. Ten years before he had been attempting the same thing with the likes of guitarist Ralph Spight (Victims Family, Freak Accident, Hellworms) and drummer Jon Weiss (Sharkbait, Horsey). They had also previously worked with basist Billy Gould (Faith No More) who was tapped for the new group. After cramming rehearsal for a month the four piece band known as Jello Biafra and the Axis Of Merry Evildoers took the stage in a sold-out two night stand at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall and subsequently spent the next 9 months in rehearsal for an album project. Before entering the studio guitarist Kimo Ball (Freak Accident, Carneyball Johnson, Mol Triffid, Griddle) was recruited and the resulting twin guitar attack took the groups sound to new, noisier heights. The quintet now known as Jello Biafra and The Guantanamo School of Medicine released their debut LP/CD “The Audacity Of Hype” in October 2009, produced by Biafra and engineered by Hip Hop legend and long time Jello co-conspirator Matt Kelley (Hieroglyphics, Tupac, Digital Underground, Victims Family) at Prairie Sun Recording in Cotati, CA and San Francisco’s Hyde Street Studios.
The band’s sound retains some of the the spy-music-on-meth chaos of the DK’s while adding a healthy dose of Detroit style proto-punk mixed with layers of sonic guitar noise, and Weiss’ industrial excursions into metal percussion. Topically, the album explores how our forced Iraqnophobia and Homeland Insecurity continues to feed lawlessness at the top (“The Terror Of Tiny Town”) vs. a runaway police state and class war towards the bottom (“Three Strikes”, “Electronic Plantation”). “Clean As A Thistle” becomes more timely every day as “Family Values” blowhards get caught in sinful trysts, while album closer “I Won’t Give Up” offers an age of Obama anthem on how change comes from agitation from below, not glamour and sound bites from the top
Thirty years on, Jello Biafra has made an album that solidifies and expands his uncompromising vision and updates it for the new century, with a powerhouse band that promises to be a terrifying live machine, featuring Jon’s brother Andrew Weiss (Rollins Band, Ween, Butthole Surfers) filling the live bass position recently left vacant by Billy Gould’s return to Faith No More.
Don’t miss you chance to see Jello Biafra And The Guantanamo School Of Medicine at one of their three very special Canadian appearances !
April 2nd – Montreal – Le Studio
April 3rd – Ottawa – Mavericks
April 4th – Toronto – The Opera House
http://www.myspace.com/jellobiafraandthegsm
For more information or to book an interview please contact :
Melanie Kaye PR
info@melaniekayepr.com
Office:416-408-3223
Cell:416-823-9139
www.melaniekayepr.com
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Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
Useless ID
Yotam – Vocals/Bass • Guy – Guitar/Vocals • Ishay – Guitar/Vocals • Jonathan – Drums
History: During their first years, Useless ID was mainly active in the Israeli hardcore scene. After releasing two albums on their own label, Falafel Records (named after their favorite food), the band decided to tour the United States. While on tour, they caught the ear of Kris Roe (frontman of the Ataris). The Ataris and Useless ID ended up recording a split album together on Kung Fu Records. The band were then signed by Kung Fu, who put out their next 3 albums. In addition to those albums, Useless ID have been featured on the compilations “Short Songs for Short People” and the “Rock Against Bush” comps that Fat Wreck Chords released. They’ve also been featured in the documentary “Jericho’s Echo,” which showcased punk and hardcore acts from Israel. The band’s latest album :“THE LOST BROKEN BONES”(ON SUBURBAN HOME RECORDS) finds them returning to the States to record with Bill Stevenson and Jason Livermore at the Blasting Room in Ft. Collins, Colorado.
Hometown: Haifa, Israel. “It’s hard to go out on tour as airline tickets are not cheap. It’s hard to record in a good studio because there aren’t a lot of good studios. It’s hard to put out a record because there are no independent labels and especially no independent punk labels. It’s hard to play local shows because the country is so small. You pretty much have to do everything yourselves. The good side of all this, if there is any, is that our band took all these difficulties and decided that we were going to fight for it, no matter what, and not give up just because we’re from Israel and it’s a hard place to start a punk band.” They’ve now managed to move beyond the scope of just Israel, becoming an internationally recognized band that has toured all across the globe.
The Un-avoidable Politics Question: “We never ask any special credit for being a band based in the Middle East. We also never wanted to make a super strong political statement or try to get glued together with the hard time our country is getting/giving for its tricky political/religious status. We never cared about any of this at all. Whatever criticism we get for the state of politics in Israel and the Middle East, we do our best to explain the real facts that you don’t see on CNN, or in the worst case, just ignore it. We started this band in order to escape mainstream life in Israel, and there is a good reason for us to stay the way we are… our band is our escape from these difficult issues that every Israeli guy wakes up to.”
One of the most common things we hear on a daily basis is how “times are tough” for bands these days. Getting shows, finding someone to put out your records, and touring are all major hurdles that every band complains about at some point. Well, how about trying to do it in ISRAEL? When Useless ID got together over a decade ago, there was no “scene” to rely on for support, no clubs to set up shows, and there sure as hell weren’t any local record labels looking to put out punk bands. But they persevered, and today they can look back on an incredible track record – six albums, countless tours to the farthest reaches of the globe, and a slew of releases on punk stalwarts like FAT WRECK CHORDS, KUNG-FU RECORDS, and now SUBURBAN HOME in the US ,RUDE RECORDS in Europe ,BULLION/ULF in Japan, supported by Ear-say and OLEH! in Israel And they’re definitely not done yet. “The Lost Broken Bones” is without a doubt their best record yet, twelve explosive tracks of infectious power-pop that hearken back to the glory days of pop-punk. Long before the genre was bastardized by stupid haircuts and designer jeans, there were countless bands funneling their aggression into catchy melodies, and Useless ID continue to carry that torch with pride.
Day Jobs: Yotam used to be a mailman, but now he produces records for local bands. Ishay and Guy used to dabble in the age-old punk rock tradition of tossing pizza dough, but these days Ishay works in a record store and Guy runs a backline rental business that rents gear to international touring bands. Nobody knows what Jonathan does, but he has a drink named after him called a “Harpak”. It’s four shots of vodka in a glass. Matt from No Use For a Name is the only person to have ever consumed two Harpak’s and lived to tell about it.
Oleh! Extra:
These boys have an incredible track record – six albums and countless tours to the farthest reaches of the globe.
In the beginning of 2008, Useless entered the studio with Bill Stevenson, (drummer for the Descendents), and Jason Livermore, with the intention of creating the six and best Useless ID album they could possibly produce. The result, their new album The Lost Broken Bones. The album showcases many new sides of their long time musical experience through twelve explosive tracks of infectious power-pop that hearken back to the glory days of pop-punk.
With their fan base breaking through the walls of Israel, Useless ID continue to climb in popularity through constant appearances. They’ve managed to move beyond the scope of just Israel, becoming an internationally recognized band that has toured all across the world.
Tour(s): Have played shows in places many bands have never heard of. China, Russia, Palma de Mallorca, Australia, every single state in the US,Canada, Japan, Belorussia and Siberia.
Fun Fact: On their first tour of Germany, they didn’t wear a single piece of clothing on stage for the entire tour. Allegedly, they have since been forgiven by the German people.
Don’t miss your chance to see them live in Canada this Spring !
March 24 – Quebec – Dagobert
March 25 – Montreal – L’Absynthe
March 26 – Ottawa – The Rainbow
March 27 – Kitchener – The Schwaben Club
March 28 – Burlington – Red Rooster
March 31 – London – Moon Over Marin
April 1 – Oshawa – Atria
April 2 – Toronto – Soy Bomb Headquarters
April 3 – New Market – The White Rabbit
April 4 – Drummondville – La Brassée
For more information or to book an interview please contact :
Melanie Kaye PR
info@melaniekayepr.com
Office:416-408-3223
Cell:416-823-9139
www.melaniekayepr.com
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Monday, February 8th, 2010
Paper And Plastick Recording Artists :
A Wilhelm Scream
How does one gauge the success of a band pushing the envelope of a genre that receives little to no credit by the mainstream media?
In the case of A Wilhelm Scream, the answer is “Who cares?” – As a band playing punk rock for over a decade, original members Trevor Reilly, Nuno Pereira and Nick Angelini haven’t focused on success, image or whatever bandwagon a group can jump on to get their music into the ears of listeners: It’s the ideal of music from an honest place, playing to the kids who want to hear more than a simple love song, or want an opinion rammed down their throats.
Within this ongoing endeavor, A Wilhelm Scream has recruited the talents of Brian Robinson (bass) and Mike Supina (guitar); Two Great-Lakers who have strived to help develop the band into the most musically-diverse lineup they’ve had to date, touring all over the World in over 20 countries from Russia to Tasmania in support of their 2007 release “Career Suicide” (NitroRecords).
After spending a few months at home developing a follow-up self-titled EP, A Wilhelm Scream is back on the road to deliver punk rock that promises to cater to the kids who are fed up with “everything else”.
Don’t miss your chance to see them live on tour with Outbreak this spring in Canada !
March 18 – Toronto –Mod Club
March 19 – St. Catherines –Mikado
March 21 – Ottawa –Mavericks
March 23 –Quebec City –Dagobert
March 25 –Moncton –The Manhattan
March 27 –Halifax – The Pavillion
More dates TBA !
For more information or to book an interview please contact :
Melanie Kaye PR
info@melaniekayepr.com
Office:416-408-3223
Cell:416-823-9139
www.melaniekayepr.com
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Friday, December 18th, 2009
Thanks to you all for a successful first year for Melanie Kaye PR.
It has been a great pleasure working with so many very talented and amazing artists over the last 12 months !!
I look forward to working with them all again as well as many more in 2010.
Wishing everyone a great holiday and all the best for the New Year !
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Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Sleep It Off Records Recording Artists
LESS THAN JAKE
Performing in Montreal and Toronto
It’s been a wild and crazy ride for Gainesville’s Less Than Jake, who first met at the University Of Florida over a decade and a half ago. But instead of kicking their feet up and resting on their laurels, the ever-busy quintet have been working hard on the next chapter of Less Than Jake. Successfully extricating themselves from their major label contract (even though they still owed one more record to the label), they started their own label, Sleep It Off Records, and now are in the driver’s seat. “After a decade and a half of being in the band, we are now our own bosses for real and the excitement of that can peel paint off the walls,” says drummer Vinnie.
“People have a preconceived notion that Less Than Jake is a ska/punk band, that we’re wacky and silly, and that may be a certain side of ourselves live, but there’s also another side and that’s a beautiful thing about our band – it’s multi-headed,” he says proudly. “We can be different things at different times; we can be socially relevant and we can still be musically relevant 16 years after being together, still progressing musically, not only as players, but as far as musical direction. We can jump outside the box of what people expect, and now that we’re in control, what you’ll be getting is Less Than Jake -unfiltered and over-amplified.”
Don’t miss Less Than Jake at their two exclusive Canadian appearances :
Saturday , November 21st in Montreal at Le Medley
Sunday , November 22nd in Toronto at The Phoenix Theatre
www.lessthanjake.com
http://www.myspace.com/lessthanjake
For more information or to book an interview please contact:
Melanie Kaye PR
info@melaniekayepr.com
Office:416-408-3223
Cell:416-823-9139
www.melaniekayepr.com
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