The whooollleee interview with Mercury Rev, GrassHopper, Jeff and Jonathan…

Mercury Rev Biography…

Jonathan Donahue (vocalist/acoustic guitar)
Grasshopper (moth-light guitars, clarinet)
Jeff Mercel (drums, piano, keyboards)
Dave Fridmann (bass explore)

Although the members of Mercury Rev initially came together to record soundtracks for experimental student films and to make tapes for friends, the band from rural upstate New York would become one of America’s most successful experimental groups.

Mercury Rev’s 1991 debut became a favorite in Great Britain.

The Melody Maker and the Independent, hailed the album as one of the year’s best.

Mercury Rev survived the odds of personal conflicts to go on and record a list of acclaimed albums through the 90s, including 1998’s Deserter’s Songs, the group’s best-seller.

In 1999 interview with the L A Times, Donahue remarked “There’s a lot of emotions tied up in the record…We went through a few tough years. It’s just a very genuine, honest record. You can’t buy that or fake it in the studio.”

Mercury Rev have finally made their ‘great life-cycle album’. MERCURY REV have finished recording a brilliant new album, SNOWFLAKE MIDNIGHT which will be released on September 29, 2008.

Well, we made it down and back in one piece, which judging by the nick of Ian Brown as we left the VIP area, is a feat unattainable by other sons and daughters of Manchester. What did we see whilst there? Well, for a kick off the one thing we hardly saw any of was any bleedin’ taxis. I know it’s not the most Keef thing in the world to moan about, but in the name of Drew if you’re gonna put a festival on, put some bloody transport on too. Minor, slightly uncool whines aside, IoW wasn’t half bad. Apart from the fact that there is an increasing number of folk who, like me, are slightly grossed out by Iggy, who still don’t get the fuss about The Zutons and who could go the rest of their born days without hearing another spew of spittle soaked mockney bile from Lydon and his deeply un Sexy Pistols. Yeah, apart from THAT, the festival wasn’t half bad. Now it may have been the liberal jugs of Pimms available on site, but we found ourselves actually enjoying a NERD set, with Pharrell managing to inject some humour and charisma into his tiny unsmiling frame, and at least four recognisable from the original songs making their way over the heads of the arena. Oddly, The Wombats also managed to reach the increasingly rowdy fans (I blame the free drink pavilions that looked over the arena crowd) whilst as usual The Kooks succeeded in taking an open and happy crowd and sending them all off to the burger stands during their set. One thing – if you’re the headline act who’s taken the lucre for an appearance, and justified it in some convoluted inversion of your original manifesto, surely you would at least repay your loyal fans by spending some of the fee on a few lights and a bit of a show? Given your vocal performance and staged bile no longer cut the mustard, a few strobes and bit of dry ice wouldn’t break the bank would it? So why did Lydon and co ask us to crown an otherwise great days’ music with lukewarm delivery and 8 60 watt bulbs framing the stage?…something to dwell on as you wait on your bus home….

Fall Out Boy Biography and news:

Fall Out Boy are a pop-punk band from Chicago, Illonois who have been topping worldwide music charts since 2006. The Fall Out Boy band members consit of: -

• Patrick Stump – Composer, lead singer, rhythm guitarist and front man of Fall Out Boy.
• Pete Wentz – Composer and bass player.
• Joe Trohman – Lead guitarist, famous for his signature spin move “Trohmania”.
• Andy Hurley – Drummer.

In the UK Fall Out Boy have had decent chart success, with their highest charting single (”This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race”) reaching Number 2 in the official UK singles chart. Their follow-up single, “Thnks fr th mmrs”, only reached Number 12, however this was mst likely due to it being included in the chart topping album, “Infinity on High”.

Fall Out Boy’s success has led them to team up with other recording artists to create some fantastic musical collaborations. One such example of this is Timbaland ft Fall Out Boy – “One and Only”. They have also recently appeared with Keith Buckley, of “Everytime I Die” fame, to cover “Walk” by Pantera on live sets.

The band have just finshed touring with the Plain White T’s (PMN favourites), Gym Class Heroes and Cute Is What I aim For… Their latest album release ‘Infinity On High’ debuted February 2007 at number 1, on the billboard charts… and went platinum in a month. Look out for an awesome new cover of Michael Jacksons ‘Beat it’… guitar riffs and Patricks voice are amazing…

www.falloutboyrock.com

www.music.podshow.com

Biog:

Tyson Ritter …vocals & bass

Nick Wheeler …guitars & keyboards

The All-American Rejects are a Stillwater, Oklahoma based band, and we are all hotly anticipating their 3rd album which is due for launch later on this year… infectious melodies and harmonies, awesome rock guitar… ahh but you know that, everyones heard of them….

The duo that is Tyson Ritter (vocals, bass) and Nick Wheeler (guitars, drums, keyboards, & programming). The band released their first independent album in the spring of 2000 securing spins on Oklahoma radio. The songs compiling the album attracted opportunities for the duo such as mass local radio and press exposure, licensing on MTV’s Undressed, and opening bill for The Flaming Lips and Caroline’s Spine.

In the summer of 2001, The All-American Rejects released the E.P. Same Girl, New Songs and set out to tour the Midwest. By the end of the tour, the band had signed a recording contract with Doghouse Records..They recorded their international debut album with producer Tim O’Heir in Brooklyn, NY.

Their breakthrough 2005 album, Move Along, has been certified 2x Platinum in the U.S. the single “Dirty Little Secret.”

All American Rejects opened for Bon Jovi at the 10-night stand to open The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

News:

The All-American Rejects & Paramore are headlining the Bamboozle left show on April 5th 2008 at the Irvine Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. California…also announced that they were playing the Vans Warped Tour 2008 from June 20th to June 29th, a touring music and extreme sports festival n the states.

The Cribs, Indie Rock at its finest…

Biography:

Yorkshire, England’s the Cribs feature three brothers: vocalists/guitarist Ryan Jarman, bassist/vocalist Gary, and drummer Ross. The trio began playing together at an early age, making their debut at a family party in the late ’80s when twins Gary and Ryan were nine years old and Ross was just five. The brothers grew up with similar musical tastes, blending quintessentially British influences like the beatles, Sex Pistols, and Smiths with American indie rock like Beat Happening and Bobby Conn. Eventually, the Cribs got to play with both Beat Happening’s Calvin Johnson and Conn; Conn liked the band so much that he invited them to record with him in his Chicago studio. The Cribs released three singles, Another Number, What About Me, and You Were Always the One, before signing to Wichita Records in late 2003. The band spent 2004 readying their self-titled debut album which was recorded in London’s famed Toerag Studios, touring with the Datsuns and performing at that year’s CMJ Festival. Late that year they began working on their second album with Orange Juice’s Edwyn Collins as producer. The Cribs was released in the U.S. in early 2005. Later in the year, the band issued their second album, The New Fellas. Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever, which boasted production by Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos, arrived in 2007

Discography:

Main Releases

Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever 2007
The New Fellas 2005
The Cribs 2005

Singles

Men’s Needs 2007

Compilations

NY2LON 2005

www.thecribs.com

www.myspace.com/thecribs

www.music.podshow.com

Mae Shi Biography:The Mae Shi are a rock band from los angeles, Calif., formed in 2002. The founding members are Tim Byron, Ezra Buchla, Jeff Byron and Brad Breeck. In 2005, their longtime friend Corey Fogel joined the band.The band was initially formed by Tim Byron and Buchla, who had known each other for years, having spent time growing up in the Los Angeles suburb of Claremont together -Buchla played a collection of 30-year-old Buchla modules and sang, and a short list of drummers accompanied them. When Jeff graduated from college, he joined the band on guitar and Tim moved to bass. The three met Brad Breeck, who was studying at the California Institute of Arts with Buchla and had performed unauthorized versions of John Zorn’s game piece Cobra in an ensemble led by Buchla (the ensemble also featured future Mae Shi drummer Corey Fogel).Through the fall of 2003 and winter of 2004 they worked on their debut LP, recording songs in their living rooms and bedrooms using borrowed gear. They sent a CD-R of the record to Moon in April 2004, and one week later in an Instant Messenger conversation, he offered to release it on Kill Rock Stars’ sister label 5 Rue Christine. Terrorbird was released July 27, 2004, and the band embarked on a 31-day, 32-show tour to promote it. With no booking agent, they relied on contacts from friends and enticed people who didn’t regularly book bands to “book” the Mae Shi to perform at their special function. The band offered to play any birthday party, wedding, or bar mitzvah for $100. The tour was a success, and the band got the chance to play with bands they had long adored, such as Fat Day and Rapider Than Horsepower.In October 2005, they will embark on a second US tour, this one a six-week tour. Corey Fogel, who joined the band in the middle of their European tour as a mid-tour replacement for Brad Breeck when Brad suffered a family emergency, has joined the band full-time as drummer. Brad now plays guitar, keyboards and drums.In June 2006, it was anounced that Ezra Buchla had left The Mae Shi. As of this posting, the band is seaking a new singer.Mae Shi Discography:TerrorBird(2004)Heartbeeps (2005)Do Not Ignore the Potential (split LP with Rapider Than Horsepower) (2006)HLLLYH (2008)

Compilations

I (CD-R) (2005)II (CD-R) (2005)III (CD-R) (August 2007)IIII (CD-R) (August 2007)

Singles, EPs

To Hit Armor Class Zero (2003)Heartbeeps / Go Zbra (2005)Run To Your Grave 7″” (2008)www.music.podshow.com www.mae-shi.com www.myspace.com/themaeshi

Biography:Members include Jeff Cease, guitar; Johnny Colt, bass; Marc Ford, guitar; Audley Freed , guitar; Steve Gorman , drums; Eddie Harsh, keyboards; Sven Pipien, bass; Chris Robinson ; divorced from Kate Hudson, lead vocals; Rich Robinson, guitar; Greg Rzab (group member, 2000), bass.During the early 1990s, R&B rock group the Black Crowes catapulted their first record, Shake Your Money Maker–which Rolling Stone’s David Fricke aptly dubbed “a guitar-party cracker that marries white Southern R&B crunch and Anglo cock-strutting attitude in the beloved early-Seventies manner of the Faces and the Rolling Stones”–to multiplatinum sales by playing no frills, old-line rock ‘n’ roll. Throughout 1990 and 1991 they entranced audiences across the United States and Europe opening for Heart, Aerosmith, Robert Plant, and ZZ Top. Following their debut, the Black Crowes released Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, which entered the charts at number one. The group released several successful albums during the mid to late 1990s, including Amorica, Three Snakes and One Charm, By Your Side, and Lions in 2001.The masterminds of one of the few rock debut albums to go platinum in 1990–indeed, it had been a year since a rock band had hit number one on the Billboard album chart–the Atlanta quintet went from relative obscurity to pop celebrity in a matter of months. They topped both Rolling Stone’s 1991 readers and critics polls as Best New American Band, won an Elvis Award for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year at the 1991 International Rock Awards, and earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist, also in 1991. According to People magazine, after late night television host David Letterman heard the Crowes perform the single “Jealous Again,” led by the Robinson brothers–Chris, a captivating singer and the band’s lyricist, and reserved, guitar-playing Rich–he summed up their improbably wanton success by asking “Isn’t that rock and roll the way God wanted it to be?”Discography:Main ReleasesWarpaint 2008The Lost Crowes 2006Freak ‘N’ Roll… Into The Fog 2006Live 2002Lions 2001Greatest Hits 1990-1999: A Tribute to a Work in Progress 2000A Tribute To A Work In Progress… 2000By Your Side 1999Sho’ Nuff 1998Three Snakes And One Charm 1996Amorica [Clean] 1994Amorica [Bonus Tracks] 1994Amorica 1994The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion 1992The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion [Bonus Tracks] 1992Shake Your Money Maker 1989SinglesGoodbye Daughters of the Revolution 2008CompilationsAustin City Limits Music Festival 2005 2006I Am Sam – Music from and inspired by the Motion Picture 2006Ladder 49: Original Soundtrack 2004I Am Sam: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture 2001American Sampler 1998Furthur More 1997Hempilation: Freedom is NORML 1995

Guest

Live At The GreekJimmy Page 2000www.theblackcrowes.comwww.myspace.com/theblackcrowes www.music.podshow.com

Biography:Southern California’s Fu Manchu began crafting heavy, psychedelic-tinged rock in 1990 with their debut single, “Kept Between Trees.”Throughout the early ’90s the group honed their sound on similarly intense singles, and released their debut album, No One Rides for Free, in 1994 on Bong Load Records. Daredevil, also on Bong Load, followed in 1995. The group switched to Mammoth Records for their 1996 album In Search Of…; the next year, founding members Scott Hill (vocals, guitars) and Brad Davis (bass, vocals) added lead guitarist Bob Balch and former Kyuss drummer Brant Bjork to their lineup, and they released their second album for Mammoth, The Action Is Go.During this time the group gained a reputation as a powerful live act, supporting like-minded groups like the Melvins, Kyuss, White Zombie, Monster Magnet, and Clutch in the States, and Corrosion of Conformity, the Hellacopters, and Marilyn Manson in Europe. 1998 saw the release of Return to Earth, which collected their early singles, and the Eatin’ Dust EP, which was released by Frank Kozik’s Man’s Ruin label. Fu Manchu released their fifth full-length album, King of the Road, in early 2000, following it up with a lengthy tour of the United States. They took time off to work on new material, emerging in the spring of 2001 with California Crossing.As their live show neared perfection, they took an opportunity to showcase their stoner rock stage skill with 2003’s Go for It…Live! The following year they released two new studio discs, Start the Machine and (Godzilla’s) Eatin’ Dust. And in 2007 the band returned with an angrier but typically heavy album titled We Must Obey, a sarcastic rebuttal directed toward anyone with the gall to try and push them around.Discography:No One Rides for FreeTrapdoor Fucking ExitHung Out To Dry – EP 2007We Must Obey 2007(godzilla’s) eatin’ dust 2005Start The Machine 2004K7 Records 2003Harley Davidson Roadhouse Blues 2003It’s Trad, Dad 2003Go for It…Live! 2003Hip Hop Story [Soundtrack] 2003Girls! Girls! Girls! 25 All-Time Classics of the Girl Group Sound 2003California Crossing 2001King Of The Road 2000Eatin’ Dust [Cargo] 1999Eatin’ Dust 1999The Action Is Go 1997In Search Of… 1996Daredevil 1995CompilationsMotorcycle Mania 3 2004A Fistful Of Rock N Roll Volume 11 2003The Hot Chick 2002Twisted Forever 2001Respect the Rock, Vol. 1 2001The Hard + the Heavy, Vol. 1 1999Chicago Cab 1998X-Games, Vol. 3 1998Caged Heat 3000 1996Guest The Desert Sessions, Vol. 1 & 2Desert Sessions 1998www.fu-manchu.comwww.myspace.com/fumanchuwww.music.podshow.com

Biography:Formed in 1986 and playing their first show in 1991, Propagandhi have since developed a nominal work-ethic that has paid off in the form of releasing a few recordings (two of which got them international attention … one of which was actually good and didn’t embarrass the band beyond human comprehension) and travelling the planet, crankin’ out tunes and sharing perspectives regarding issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, animal-liberation, anarchism and, as one might expect, early 80’s speed-metal.Chris Hannah – guitar, vocalsTodd Kowalski – bass, vocalsJord Samolesky – drums, back vocalsDiscography:Live From Occupied Territory 2007Potemkin City Limits 2005Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s Ashes 2001Today’s Empires, Tomorrow’s…2000Where Quantity Is Job No.1 1998Less Talk, More Rock 1996How To Clean Everything 1993Compilations Prisoners Of War 2007Take Penacilin No 2005Liberation Songs to Benefit PETA 2003Kitestringing: The Prison Literature Project Benefit 2003Fat Music, Vol. 6: Uncontrollable Fatulence 2002Fat Music, Vol. 5: Live Fat Die Young 2001Hot Curly Weenie 1999Fat Music for Fat People 1998Physical Fatness 1997Teenage Kicks 1997Better Read Than Dead: Benefit for AK Press 1996propaghandi.comwww.music.podshow.com

There’s no drama about Operahouse, they’re just four guys who make music.

This Camden four-piece is made up of a combination of childhood friends and strangers with a sound comprising disco beats and chop guitar.

First single “Man Next Door” caught the ears of Zane Lowe, winning Fresh Meat & Jonathan Ross at Radio 2. Something like ska on speed this 2 minutes 30 seconds of sharp, punchy indie pop proved Operahouse could hit where it hurt.

It was also the Trophy Track on BBC 6 Music’s Queens of Noize show and ensured listeners of Xfm voted them Uploaded featured artist of the week.

So who are Operahouse?

Singer and guitarist Johnny Lloyd was brought up on an aural diet of The Velvet Underground, The Beatles and Led Zepplin. He started playing guitar at eight years old, then quit and took up the saxophone for a few years before deciding he actually preferred guitar. Originally from Newcastle, Johnny came to London via Rugby where he played football at school with Jimmy Cratch.

Bassist Jimmy Cratch started playing guitar with Johnny when they were about 15. He moved to London to study photography at Camberwell Arts College. When Johnny was looking for the right people to join the band he asked Jimmy to try out. But as Johnny and Alex Kaines were both playing guitar he really needed someone on bass. That’s when Jimmy stopped playing guitar.

Guitarist Alex Kaines was introduced to Johnny by a mutual friend in a café in south London over egg and chips. “Johnny was making some god awful music with some friends at home and he needed a new member”, recalls Alex. The two of them started writing songs together and the basis for Operahouse was formed.

Still only 18, Ben Niblett has been playing drums for five years. A friend of the band pointed him in the direction of Johnny and Alex. “We knew immediately he was the right choice because he can really play and he listens, which in our knowledge of drummers is quite rare,” said Alex.

And so the line-up for Operahouse was finalised and the job of crafting some great songs began.

“Johnny and myself write the songs in their raw format before Jimmy and Ben put their parts into it,” said Alex. “It then generally just mutates until it is what it is.”

“I don’t feel we have any limitations musically, everyone is good at what they play.”

And now as the band head out on tour in August with Tokyo Police Club, it’s a chance for you to see for yourself just how good they really are.

Discography

Born A Boy
1. Born A Boy
2. Telescopes

Man Next Door
1. Man Next Door
2. Wrecking Ball

Operahouse official site | Operahouse on Myspace | Operahouse on BT PodShow