We are getting closer and closer to that special time of year…. NO, not the holidays! I am talking about the annual Winter NAMM Convention, otherwise known as the Disneyland for musicians. Music Junkie Press will be covering the convention and we look forward to bringing you live coverage of new products, artist appearances, music news as well as coverage of the TEC Awards show.
This year will be the 30th NAMM TEC Awards and it will be an amazing one. Legendary musician /songwriter/guitarist, SLASH will be honored with the Les Paul Award. “The Les Paul Award named for the revolutionary inventor and esteemed musician, honors individuals or institutions that have set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of audio and music technology. Instituted in 1991, the honor has been granted to luminaries including Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Todd Rundgren, and Peter Gabriel.”
SLASH has not only achieved success with album sales over 100 million copies, won a Grammy Award, seven nominations and we can’t forget the recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. His infamous solos from Guns n Roses songs were the inspiration to many young guitar players as they aspired to be as great a guitarist. His work in Velvet Revolver brought on a whole new group of fans and then his solo work with Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, has once again brought him to the forefront of rock n roll. Most recently, with his recent release of World On Fire he has truly set the world on fire with and grabbed everyone’s attention. Check out coverage of their recent performance at the legendary Fillmore in San Francisco here.
The TEC Awards will also feature comedian Sinbad as the host and the event will be held on Saturday, January 24th and we will make sure to bring you a recap of the night.
~ Marisol
The NAMM Foundation is a non-profit supported in part by the National Association of Music Merchants and its 9200 members from around the world. The NAMM Foundation works to advance active participation in music making across the lifespan by supporting scientific research, philanthropic giving and public service programs. For more information about The NAMM Foundation, please visitwww.nammfoundation.org, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Singer/songwriter Eric Dash has just released a music video for his song, Ms. Sally Jones. After Eric’s first single, One More Love Song he quickly became a Vevo/Youtube sensation. About his new video, Eric says, “When you actually listen to Ms. Sally Jones it’s kind of sad. But that’s not what we wanted for the video. We tried to keep the music video humorous so it’s an easier watch. I think it came out great!” Check out the video here:
The song really highlights Eric’s emotionally driven lyrics coming to life in the upbeat pop track. The song is off the forthcoming album from Eric which he plans on heading into the studio for recording with producer Jack Joseph Puig (John Mayer/Goo Goo Dolls/No Doubt).
Make sure to visit his social media sites and stay up to date on his latest news.
The guitarist/vocalist Sean Danielsen from Smile Empty Soul has just released another solo EP, Food Chain which features five full band songs recorded at Babylon Studios in Van Nuys, California. “I’m really excited to be releasing my own solo music and doing my own shows,” said Danielsen. “It’s a nice change of pace for me, and a challenge that I’m looking forward to.”
Sean truly takes you on a musical journey through emotion and his passion shines through each song. He really captures so much in his songwriting that creates an immediate connection to the listener and opens the door to their soul as demonstrated in Rescue Me and Beautiful Things. Food Chain highlights the versatility of Sean as it brings out a heavier rock edge with some amazing powerful and aggressive vocals that really stand out. The guitars have a punkier edge feel and you get amped with the fast pasted drums, definitely a new Go To track to start my day off!
Sean is finishing up a round of acoustic shows and we had a chance to catch up with him. Check it out here:
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Music Junkie Press: HI Sean, Thank you for taking the time out to talk with us here at Music Junkie Press. We are excited to hear about your new solo release, Food Chain. Can you tell us more about the EP?
Sean: My new EP is just me doing up some of my songs without a band. I’m playing all the instruments, and working with good friend/producer Eddie Wohl, and we just take the song wherever it needs to go.
Music Junkie Press: From your new EP, which song is the most personal for you and why?
Sean:They’re all personal in a way, but the song I’m most happy with at the moment is “Waves”. It’s a song about going through the motions without any real hope for anything positive.
Music Junkie Press: You have always delivered emotionally driven songs, do you have a particular songwriting process?
Sean:I don’t have any one process that all my songs go through. I just make sure that each tune affects me emotionally in a way that might hit others as well.
Music Junkie Press:I understand you are setting out on a tour in support of the new EP. Will it be full band shows like the EP or acoustic sets?
Sean:Yeah, I’m doing 22 shows starting on Halloween in Houston, TX and going through late November. I’ll just be playing acoustic sets by myself.
Music Junkie Press:With the music industry experience so many dramatic changes in the last 15 to 20 years, what is something that you would like to see changed?
Sean: We’ll of course, I would like to see people supporting music again like they used to. Everyone out there talks about how important music is in their lives, yet they won’t pay for music they like, or support the musicians live. It’s not going to change because it’s just too easy to download for free with zero consequence. But what’s going to happen in the long-term, is that no one will be able to afford to be an artist for a living and you’ll have millions of part-time hacks making music of low quality, while all the musicians that have been dedicating their lives to music will have to turn to other things to make ends meet. Overall…… Music is getting worse, and will only continue on this path as long as there’s no money in being an artist.
Music Junkie Press: Sean, if you could go back to your 14 year old self, what advice would you give to yourself at 14?
Sean: Go to culinary school.
Music Junkie Press:We at Music Junkie Press are firm believers that music can heal, help, inspire, do you have a particular time in your life that you can share about where music helped you through something?
Sean:Music has helped me so much throughout my whole life. I’m passionate about music above anything else and always have been. There’s an emotional release that occurs when you hear a track that connects with your soul, and the lyrics relate to your life somehow. Music has always been there for me and always will be, and that’s comforting.
Music Junkie Press:What do you have planned after your upcoming solo tour?
Sean:I’m gonna do another run in Feb. in support of this EP as well, but I’m not sure after that.
Music Junkie Press:Lastly, is there anything else you would like to share with our audience and your fans?
Sean:Just the music on my new EP!!!! Please go check it out!!!
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It is definitely an EP to pick up and fall in love with. Check the dates below and see if you will be able to catch one of his shows:
11/19 – Louisville, KY @ Diamonds Pub
11/20 – St. Louis, MO @ Mad Magician
11/21 – Joplin, MO @ Rock 3405
11/22 – Cape Girardeau, MO @ Pitter’s
Make sure to visit his social media sites and stay up to date on the latest news.
The pharmacological definition of dopamine is “a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system that acts on the brain to control movement, emotion, pain and pleasure. It also forces the contraction of the heart in the treatment of shock.” The musical definition of dopamine is Lorelei Carlson and her new album named after the chemical. Dopamine arouses movement and intoxicating and sometimes painful emotions while it grips your heart and heats your blood until it steams in your veins. The effect is mystical, magical, disturbing and addictive.
The child of a bi-national couple of constantly moving diplomats who had lived in seven countries by the time she was 15, she knew she was special as a toddler. She absorbed the culture and music of each of those countries and a determination to put them to work in her own art for the audience that she knew would resonate with her. And they do. With a million downloads on Myspace.com, tens of thousands of followers and multiple albums, she is standing on the cliff of stardom. Dopamine should give her the rush to step off and soar,
The title song immediately immerses you in Lorelei’s hallucinogenic world of ache, dreams and lust, coming on with a soft kick drum downbeat and a synth buzz. Her ethereal voice that combines pain and dreams together traps you in a claustrophobic nether world of sex, abuse, and resignation but holds you aloof, above it all. He don’t care/He don’t share/So don’t follow/And don’t swallow. The urgency rises with the music, her voice surrounding you with churning images of hurt. It’s not the way you would/Just like you said you could/He’ll pull the arrow good/ and strike you like he should. The drum swells and the synth swirls with her voice, as if rising to a climaxand then release. But she tells us you can escape: What’s a woman to do when she’s not chased/Go slip a blue till he’s erased. No need to slip a blue, just hit repeat.
From the orgasmic darkness of “Dopamine”, Lorelei caresses you languidly with Nirvana’s classic “Rape Me”, her throaty voice gliding nonchalantly through the disturbing lyrics with muted drum beats and soft, sometimes electric synth tones. As with “Dopamine”, the effect is psychotropic as well as aural, with the synth arrangements coming on and then fading like a drug coursing through your brain. An anti-rape song written by Kurt Cobain as a warning to rapists that they will suffer the same fate someday, she puts her spin on it. She updated the lyrics in interviews with context, pointing out that not only women get raped and that rape is not always sexual. Musically, Lorelei has delivers a version that is frightening – she sounds like a passive, smiling former lover sliding a knife blade under your fingernails. Few woman, or men for that matter, could pull off this song as unequivocally and as powerfully as Lorelei has.
“Sandcastles” follows the musical and the lyrical landscape, circling gently around death with her signature languid treatment of hard topics. Simple snare hits and synth pssts carry her while she asks Sandcastles and a glass half full/When I dismantle, will I still be beautiful?. But she has not totally resigned herself to death: Grab ahold of me (I will hold myself in place). “Open Your Eyes” ups the tempo a bit with more complex but still muted drumming – kick and snare – combined with a horizon-distant synth violin. The hallucinogenic imagery continues: You opened the door and there you stood/My body lay frozen on the bed/I’m tellin’ myself it’s in my head.
The tempo really picks up with “Push the Button (The 8th Floor) ” with fast drumming, Lorelei rapping over a distorted male voice repeating “push the button”. This is the perhaps the most explicit of Lorelei’s lyrics about sexual vulnerability and detachment from loveless, perhaps abusive sex. But realistically I’m prey on top of your bed/When you open the door to my own demise/Just sit back and watch as I slip into disguise. As with “Dopamine” the song picks up speed and urgency, moving us to climax while she tells us she is zoning out.
She leaves us with a commentary on life in her adopted home, Los Angeles, where she has lived for the past four years. An observation on the difficulty of honest relationships in the City of the Angels, “Sunset Blvd” moves with a very spare, restrained snare drum, bass notes and Lorelei’s languorous voice, enhanced with perfectly placed echoes and overdubs. And everything just flows/Like a mid-summer’s night breeze blows/I didn’t have to try too hard on the boulevard…but here we are Found and lost.
The six songs on Dopamine extend her earlier work, especially the album 20 MG, but they also go beyond it into deeper and in many ways more personal and lonely territory. They remind me of fresh blood in a test tube: liquid, hot, steamy – but passive; the stuff of life, but not of this life. In some ways Lorelei Carlson and Dopamine are the stuff of our lives, but not of our world. But whatever world they are from, you want to go there..
We are very excited to announce the first solo show of Shimon Moore formerly of Sick Puppies. Shim has one of the most amazingly powerful vocals and I am so excited to hear that he will be continuing on with his music. That is one voice that cannot and should not be silenced! The solo show was announced via his Facebook page:
Here is is! My first solo show. Cant wait to see you all on December 6th at The Asylum! Thanks to Rob and everyone at WCYY for helping me put this on Hit up www.shimonmooreofficial.com for the tickets.
I hope he will be announcing more dates including one here in Northern California. We will try and see if we can bring you an interview soon. Make sure to visit his social media sites and stay up to date on his latest news.
Hemming (aka Candice Martello) was first introduced to the world through VH1’s Make or Break : The Linda Perry Project as one half of the Philadelphia punk duo Omar. Make or Break was developed by superstar producer and songwriter Linda Perry as the antithesis to reality music shows. Martello joined the show as part of a band, but it was her solo work and a song called “Vitamins” that caught Perry’s attention and started Martello on the journey of finding and developing the voice of Hemming. At the conclusion of the show Martello was presented with the opportunity to make a record with Perry that will be coming out on Perry’s label (Custard Records) this Spring.
Hemming’s unique songwriting stamp is her ability to beautifully personify inanimate objects. The idea for “Vitamins” came to her while doing the regular morning routine of taking her daily vitamin. The song is about relying on something outside of yourself, whether that be material goods, substances or another person, to be happy and fulfilled. The song was recorded three different ways before getting it right. The initial attempt included very experimental orchestrations, but the experimentation diminished the songs emotion. As an acoustic track the sound didn’t quite capture the beauty of the lyrics, and the final product was a combination of the two, a simple and subtle arrangement that allows the strength of the lyrics and the uniqueness of Hemming’s voice to shine. Check out the song here and download it on iTunes here:
Hemming is in currently in the middle of a twenty-seven date tour with Rachael Yamagata. The list of remaining dates are below:
11.05 | Nashville, TN | 3rd & Lindsley
11.07 | Charlotte, NC | Visulite Theatre
11.08 | Carrboro, NC | Cat’s Cradle Back Room
11.10 | Annapolis, MD | Rams Head On Stage
11.15 | Philadelphia, PA | Union Transfer
11.17 | New York, NY | Bowery Ballroom
In case you missed it, check out the video for her song, Hard on Myself. The song is currently available on the Linda Perry Project Season One EP oniTunes. It begins with a country twangy vibe and then her compelling vocals set in. She really is spectacular and the country feel is like a triumph of emotions at a Western high noon shoot out. Very creative and quite unique style, definitely a fave of mine. Check it out here:
Make sure to pick up the EP, which is available on iTunes and Amazon. Stay tuned for her new album set to release in Spring 2015. Also check out our article on the single by Linda Perry’s alter-ego BluStone.
Postcards from Jeff will be releasing a new album in the spring of 2015. Today they are offering a free download of their new song, Veronica. Head over to http://emailunlock.com/postcardsfromjeff/veronica and get your free download.
‘Postcards From Jeff is enigmatic multi-instrumentalist and producer Joss Worthington who writes, plays, records and mixes all his own material to produce snapshots – postcards – of the city life he looks down onto from his home and studio high in the bleak Yorkshire moors.’ Once you take a listen to Veronica you will be excited for the upcoming release. Joss does an amazing job of bringing his words to life when he sings and paints you a picture and scene through his melodies.
Make sure to visit the social media sites and stay up to date on the latest news.
Earlier this week, when I visited my 81 year old mother whom is recuperating from an infection in a skilled nursing facility, I was left to hear the complaining from the seniors about the younger generation, and exclamations of “What is the world coming to? Young men and women are not as passionate as they used to be, etc “. I simply do not agree since it seems that the spotlight is often on those that are not creating or passionate about their arts or even life in general. I know a young man who is amazingly talented and passionate in all that he does, that I would like to place in the spotlight and let the world enjoy his great gift of music and that young man is Ethan Teel.
The solo project of Ethan is The Owl-Eyes and earlier this year he released his debut EP, Wild Child. Ethan displays his great affection for various genres of music as he experiments with everything from pop, jazz, heavy metal, alternative, metalcore, hip-hop, punk, and so much more. In addition, he is not only a songwriter but a multi instrumentalist playing the guitar, drums, bass, and vocalist.
We had the opportunity for a Q & A with Ethan and are pleased to bring that to you here:
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Music Junkie Press: Thank you very much for taking the time out to talk with us here at Music Junkie Press. Can you tell us about the latest with what is going on with your music, The Owl Eyes?
Ethan: As of right now, I’m working with a group of guys to play my music live. Our plan is to hit the open mics in the St.Paul, MN area, and through word-of-mouth, talk to some local bands about opening up for them. Eventually, through all this, we’ll develop a relationship with the club and venue owners and having our own gigs will become easy as pie.
On top of that, I’m always recording and writing. There is one song I plan to launch for free on my website. It’s a collaboration with EDM/Pop artist “Madd Oso.” So far, it sounds bad-ass.
And there’s always web content. Keep checking my website for the latest news, blogs, videos, etc.
Music Junkie Press: I love the new Owl Eyes because it just seems that they are there taking the world in and just watching everything around them, always thinking. How did you come up with calling yourself Owl Eyes?
Ethan: The Owl-Eyes has always been the creative outlet for any of my works of art; whether it be film, poetry, and in the case so far – music. Since The Owl-Eyes is one person (me), there were some in the beginning thinking it would be much easier and simpler to just go under my name, seeing as how I am a “solo” artist. However, many producers and contributors in the past told me that going under a band name would be more marketable. Aside from that, what I do with my music is the same exact thing Trent Reznor does with “Nine Inch Nails.” So I basically told myself, “why bother with my legal name and just make a ‘band’ to go under?” And so I chalked a whole bunch of names down on my phone. One of them was “The Owl-Eyes,” and when shooting my music video back in the late summer of 2013, the video director said that she liked it, and so we went with that.
The origin of the name itself comes from the novel “The Great Gatsby.” In it, there is a minor character called, “The Owl-Eyed man,” and he is discovered in Gatsby’s library during a party. He is amazed that Mr. Gatsby actually has REAL novels in the study, and not just props. However, as the character points out to the protagonist, Mr. Gatsby hasn’t actually read the novels. He just keeps them in the study.
The point of this scene is to prove that Mr. Gatsby is a pseudo-intellectual. He seems smart on the outside – with his vast amount of books, wealth, and worldly experiences. But all of this is a front to trick people into think he’s smarter than he actually is; and it took a pair of “Owl-Eyes,” (Owls being a symbol of wisdom) to point this out.
Pseudo-intellectualism is horrendously large in the music world these days. There are multiple bands naming themselves after great philosophers, works of literature, a passage of scripture, etc; Yet their music, sound, and identity has nothing to do with the name at all. The name is basically a way for marketing to promote the band to teenagers who want to listen to something other than mainstream pop. The kids believe they are getting music with substance because of the name. But the only substance they are getting is blast beats or corny lyrics.
How does this connect to me? I hate pseudo-intellectuals, even though I am one. Pseudo-Intellectual’s talk out of their asses all the time to impress people, and while I recognize this as a pet peeve I hate, I do this literally ALL THE TIME. I figured, “what if I made myself to be the BIGGEST PSEUDO-INTELLECTUAL OF THEM ALL?!? I’ll be the hyperbolic mirror held up to the masses, so that people can look upon me and go, ‘Oh, I get it now.’ and then we can go on to bigger and better things; while also enjoying the music I create.”
And that’s why I called the band “The Owl-Eyes.” We are going to be the mirror that reflects to the world what we have become.
Photo Credit: Fairlight Hubbard
Music Junkie Press: With being so young and having such a great passion for music, did you grow up in a musical family or when did you see yourself immerse yourself into songwriting and creating your own music?
Ethan: Most of the music stuff comes from my mother’s side of the family. My grandfather could play trombone, tuba, and trumpet; whereas my mother played piano (she still plays piano for my hometown church). My grandfather was the first music “geek” in the family. He had an album of “The Mills Brothers,” that he would play over and over again. We actually played that album during the visitation when he passed away. It was such a strange yet welcoming juxtaposition; he was gone and yet we had all this really happy music playing. It was chill.
The seeds for my love of music began when I was 8 years old. I wanted to learn how to play the drums because I saw one kid play them at a local town jamboree. From there, the kid gave me lessons and I was learning about all these cool bands like “Black Sabbath,” and “Lynyrd Skynyrd.” But things really didn’t take off until I was 12; that’s when I discovered “School of Rock.” School of Rock is a for-profit, music education program serving nearly 10,000 students in over 138 locations. There are several different courses within the School itself, but all of them are performance based programs where kids learn a set list and then perform that set list in front of a live audience. It was at School of Rock that I met my local brand of mutants. There were kids just like me, who had the same passion and drive for the arts as I do; and because of this, we shared music recommendations like crazy and I started listening to way more music than I would have otherwise.
The nail on the coffin though – the moment where I decided that music would be my life – came at around 14 years old. I’ve always loved film and for a while I saw myself as possibly becoming a film director. I went to this camp called SOCAPA (School Of Creative And Performing Arts) where I got to direct, edit, write, and produce 2 original short films in the time span of two weeks. I had so much fun while I was out there, but I thought making movies would be as simple as putting my dreams and perceptions onto celluloid. I came to find out that the process was so much harder….maybe not even worth trying?
So I’m sitting in my parents RV, staring up at the ceiling at like 1:00am, and I was thinking to myself “well, what now Ethan? You’ve always wanted to be a film director right? You’ve looked up all these colleges about film, and now you’re having second doubts? What are you gonna do with you life?”
I had Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” on CD, and I had suddenly realized that I’ve never truly listened to an album all the way through. I decided to have a classic be my first album experience, and I played the entirety of the album, all the way through, on a low volume to where the music was crisp, clear, and never distorted. It was a soft and chill moment; the notes just spilling into my ear canal.
When it was all over, I clicked off the Cd and said, “That. I want to do that. I want to be in music forever and eventually create something like I just experienced.” And that’s how I got into music.
Music Junkie Press: What advice could you give to the youth who struggle to continue with their passion for music, either by being told to stray from the type of music they want to create or to follow a different path completely?
Ethan: I say do you. We all got that special drive and sometimes it just takes a lot of experimentation to find that one thing that makes us truly happy. When we do find that one thing, there is nothing better in the world. So do what you feel is right, cause if it ends up with you doing something you absolutely love, eventually people will come around to standing beside you. As long as you have the passion for it, and you express that passion vigorously through hard work and determination, with love and happiness…eventually others will stand beside you. Just remember, there’s no vanity in the presence of gratitude.
But to be more blunt, there’s actually two quotes that I can use to sum all this up.
“Men have called me mad: but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the excellent intelligence – whether much that is glorious – whether all that is profound – does not spring from disease of thought – from moods of mind exalted at the expense of general intellect.”
-Edgar Allen Poe
and finally…
“All works of man have their origin in creative fantasy. What right have we then to depreciate imagination?”
-Carl Jung.
Music Junkie Press: I understand that you are a multi-instrumentalist, do you have an affinity for one instrument versus the others.
Ethan: The first instrument I ever learned how to play was the drums; and they still remain to be my favorite instrument to perform live. I love being the front man because I can control the audience. I love the freedom of expression that being a front man allows for as well. But personally, I just love playing the drums because unlike guitars where your patterns are more melodically based (and therefore, you have to deal much more with music theory) on the drums, the patterns are more rhythmically based. With guitars, vocals, and other types of melodic instruments, you hear the music. But with drums, you feel the music.
To sum it up, lead vocals live and playing the drums are the two instruments in my wheel house of tricks that I always love coming back to.
Music Junkie Press: Do you have any upcoming performances you can tell us about?
Ethan: As of right now, no. But we are working on it everyday. Keep checking the Facebook page and the website for more info. Whenever we get a live gig, those two places will have the details STAT!
Music Junkie Press: Who are some of the most influential musicians that made an impact on you?
Ethan: All of the artists that I have ever listened to have influenced my sound and writing to some degree. To prove this, here are my top 20 Artists of all time (in order). See if you can hear the influences from them in my music.
The Rolling Stones
The Kinks
The Pixies
Dream Theater
Lamb of God
Slipknot
Death Grips
Sonic Youth
Gorillaz
Led Zeppelin
TOOL
Nine Inch Nails
Rush
The Black Keys
Mewithoutyou
The Flaming Lips
Primus
Radiohead
The Beatles
Pink Floyd.
Music Junkie Press: What are three things about yourself that you can share with us?
Ethan: I busted my head open once and had to get it “glued” back together. No joke. My father and I built this bridge that spans over this little creek towards my Grandmother’s house, and one day when I was 10 years old, while climbing around it, I fell off and cut my head open on some sharp rocks. They took me to the hospital and the cut was deep enough that stitches could’ve been a possibility, but frankly, I was freaking out so bad (cause I had never gone through any trauma ever before then) that they thought giving me stitches would do more harm than good. So they grabbed this stuff called “medical glue,” and, for intensive purposes, “glued” my head back together. Pretty neat huh? No wonder I’m so weird.
I write fanfiction. I haven’t been able to write as much now since I’m in college, but I still do. I geek out over everything and I also love to write. Naturally fan fiction would result out of these two things. It’s just an extension of what I do with my writing. I’ve written fan fictions for Avatar the Last Airbender, Artemis Fowl, Teen Titan, Sly Cooper, and Gorillaz. And I’m a little ashamed to admit this, but I’ll hold nothing back. Some of those fan fics got STEAMY!
My first performance ever with the School of Rock, I was attacked on stage by an elderly woman who came down to our school to complain about the noise. She literally pushed my head into the snare drum while she tried grabbing the over head microphones. But I still kept the beat going, and after she was taken off stage by management (while I was still keeping a steady tempo) we were given a standing ovation. TAKE THAT ELDERLY!
Music Junkie Press: If we could peak into your Ipod, what artist or song might we be most surprised at finding in there?
Ethan: Die Antwoord. Yes, I love South African Rave Hip-Hop. I also really dig August Burns Red and Suicide Silence. But I think mostly you’ll be surprised that I have Frank Ocean, Tyler the Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, and Childish Gambino on my IPod because I create alt-rock music, and all those acts are SUPER hip-hop. I think we are entering a renaissance age for Hip-Hop. We got all these forward thinking people within the genre right now. “Telegraph Ave. (Oakland by Lloyd)” has been playing on my phone non-stop. It’s slowly becoming my jam, and quite possibly a contender of my top 20 songs of all time.
Music Junkie Press: With music being so powerful and can help, heal, inspire people, can you share a time in your life when music was there to help you through something. Maybe a particular song or artist that was instrumental in getting you through something tough?
Ethan: There of course was the incident about Pink Floyd I mentioned earlier, but that wasn’t necessarily healing. I just wasn’t so sure what I wanted to do with my life, and the music I heard on “Dark Side,” was so awe-inspiring and jaw dropping that I made it a mission in life to recreate that moment of awe through my music.
I guess a good moment of healing through music always comes from Gospel music. Whenever I’m feeling blue, I just bust out my guitar and play “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” I do this gospel bluegrass version that this hymnal in our church has. Every time I sing it, I feel a rising in spirit and in confidence. Sometimes I just gotta remind myself that this plan of existence is only temporary (and to a certain extent, it isn’t really even real; cause what is reality other than a collection of our perceptions) and that “I gotta home on the other side.”
Photo Credit: Fairlight Hubbard
Music Junkie Press: With your emotionally driven lyrics, do you have a particular song writing process?
Ethan: Most of my song writing comes out of fail attempts of trying to play someone else’s tune. I then modify it into becoming my tune. For example, there’s a song I’m working on with a working title “Cigarettes and Dead Daydreams.” I basically came up with the song when I was trying to play “You’re So Great,” by BLUR. I couldn’t get the riff down right, so I just basically modified what I was doing until it became original. I even incorporated a riff from the song “Down by the River,” by Neil Young.
That’s the music side of the equation. Sometimes I will just have a lick that appears out of nowhere in my head that I have to write down (like in my song “Crazy Little Lady.” The main lick of that song just was playing in my head and I had to write it down). But most of the time, the music I create is a jumbled up version of every single song I’ve ever heard ever; I then throw three or more songs together, blend them, and modify the lick into becoming my own original lick. Not plagiarism. It’s Inspiration.
The lyrics themselves come after the song is written, usually. Sometimes there will be fair occasions where I’ll just have a poem in my head I want to put to music. But 9 times out of 10, the lyrics are set to the music after the melody is written; therefore I can come up with good lyrics to fit the mood of the song. You don’t want a happy-fun time song juxtaposed with sad emo lyrics. You want both to match in tone, theme, and mood.
They lyrics basically are portions of my emotions exaggerated to the point of hyperbolic nature. For example the lyrics for “Wild Child,” come from my punk rock, loner, rebellious side; just exaggerated to the sense of goofiness. “Hopeless,” is my hopeless romantic side (pun intended) turned up to 11. All lyrics I ever write are genuine emotions I feel and want to express, I just turn them up to an 11 so they get more specific in nature, yet broader in scope.
And that is my writing process.
Music Junkie Press: Lastly, is there anything you would to share with our audience and your fans?
Ethan: World Domination is at hand. Spread the word, share the website and facebook page; and you’ll be seated at the right hand of
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What an amazing young man with a wealth of talent and passion. I can’t wait to see what is next in store for this talented musician. When you look at Ethan and what he has to offer this generation, he gives us hope and rest assured, we will be in good hands.
You can pick up his EP Wild Childhere on iTunes. He has also just released his latest EP, Schizo Girlfriend in August and you can pick it up on iTunes here. Both EPs are also available directly through his website here: http://theowleyes.com/music. You are going to love it and soon you will be telling everyone about your new favorite band, The Owl-Eyes! Make sure to visit his social media sites and stay up to date on his latest news.
Sweden’s own DJ/producer/songwriter Aron Ekberg – otherwise known as AronChupa – has unveiled the official music video for his smash hit single “I’m An Albatraoz.” The track was originally released in Sweden in August, and has since garnered over 20 million streams on Spotify (on its way to triple platinum) and over 1 million views on YouTube. “I’m An Albatraoz” was released on iTunes in the U.S. last week, and the official video premiered exclusively on VEVO on 10/13.
Aron had spent quite some time wanting to create music in English, so he asked his sister if she could sing on a track that he began producing. The result was “I’m An Albatraoz,” which exploded to #1 on Spotify in Sweden and topped the viral charts. “I think this is insane and unreal, but very, very fun,” says AronChupa on his success. “I will try to live in this moment as much as I can, because it could all be over tomorrow.” Check out the video here:
Allow me to introduce you to Charlie Overbey’s new band, Charlie Overbey and The Broken Arrows. ‘Charlie spent years evolving as a musician, from Sunset Strip band Big Bang Babies to cowpunks Custom Made Scare to Deadbolt and Charlie And The Valentine Killers. Now he has emerged — not entirely unscathed — as a pretty serious songwriter.’
Today, Charlie is ready to shine in the spotlight as he makes his debut with his new band at The Viper Room on November 6th for their debut show. The band features Jimmy James (Hangmen, Masons), Dave James (Superbees), Jordan Shapiro (Supersuckers), Joe Ginsberg (Chuck Ragan) — and the new kid Charlie Nice – round out Charlie Overbey‘s stellar new band The Broken Arrows.
Charlie says, “We’ve all lived a lot, we’ve all toured a lot, and we’ve all loved and lost a lot. I believe this is the key to a group of dudes that can relate to one another, and hang with mutual respect as a cohesive traveling unit and as a Band Of Brothers. Only with this kind of bond can the magic translate on stage. The Broken Arrows have that magic.”
They are just about to release their debut record, The California Kid and you can check out their title track here:
Those vocals are so captivating and his songwriting takes you on a musical journey filled with emotion and vivid imagery. He definitely lands himself right next to some great singers/songwriters like Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen and many more. This is one new band that is very deserving of your complete attention so I hope you get a chance to check them out.
We are going to see if we can make it down to the debut show and bring you an interview. Make sure to visit their social media sites and stay up to date on the latest news.
Music Junkie Press 