Greetings from planet KNOBROCK;

It has been a long time coming and not a moment too soon, but Lily and I are chuffed to tell our 14 readers that we are on our way back, we’re refreshed, we’re chill, and we even look rested, thanks to some monetary splurging at the local Botox clinic.

What we are unhappy about revealing is that we are also now orphans, too, but hey, we are made of tougher metal than… say… Warrant.

We’re flying by the seat of our pants for a little while, but stay tuned and we’ll have loads of new crap on our little self-indulgent, rock ‘n’ roll blog, in the coming weeks, including the return of KNOBCAST, with Big Daddy Duane, and the “other” J.C. We also have some surprise new videos coming up, so why not subscribe to our youtube channel, too.

Don’t forget you can subscribe via email to KNOBROCK via the website, (which you will be reading this on, so there’s no need for that link), plus stop by our Twitter, Facebook, but probably not Myspace, because these days, we only really use that page as a ruse for stalking people. Links to all are located to your right.

But, until then though, rock on like David Essex, work for the weekend like Loverboy and remember; without the rock, we’re all just knobs.

- Annie@KR

Hi gang,

It’s with deep sadness that we post this message and tell you that the fearless knobrock sisters, Annie and Lily, lost their mum, after a brave fight with cancer, on April 8th 2011.

The girls are taking some time out to deal with their loss, have some chill out time and come back refreshed and invigorated and ready to once again rock like only a knobrocker can. 

Knobrock is a team of many, but it’s core are its sisters. Think of them as the Lennon/McCartney of the Beatles, the Stanley/Simmons of Kiss, or the Michael/Ridgley of Wham, and when you do, you’ll understand that KR just don’t work without them.

They’ll definitely be back, bolder and brasher than ever, but in the meantime, Glen Danzig’s been kind enough to put together a little clip, not for knobrock, but for … well, who knows. Thank you for your Les Paul insight, Nigel Tufnel.

Enjoy.

1. Do you fancy yourself as a bit of a wordsmith, with a love – or lust – for rock and heavy metal music?

2. Do you enjoy metal for its ferociousness, but also for it’s homo-erotic hilarity? AND 2a. Do you ‘get’ this question?

If so, we want to hear from you!

KNOBROCK would like to expand our brand of ridiculousness and we’re looking for writers to bring comedic gold to the table. Unfortunately for you, this isn’t a paying gig, so don’t get too excited about it, but if you’re a keen blogger, with a gift of the gab and you can make us literally ‘lol’ with your unusual insight into the psyche of a ‘guy in a band’, drop us a line.

Before you do though, let us just explain a bit further what we need in a writer:

a) A good vocabulary. If you don’t know the difference between say, council and counsel or moral and morale, you’re at risk of being on the receiving end of the wrath of Ann, so don’t give up your day job and don’t submit anything to us.

b) If you take your metal too seriously and you’re one of those comment posters over on blabbermouth.net, hurling abuse at everyone, as you fiercely defend your favourite band of all time, we shan’t ever work together, m-kay?

c) Small-minded genre-nazis aren’t encouraged to contact us either. Go to your live journal if you want to use homophobic slurs to describe anyone who doesn’t play the type of metal you’ve designated as heterosexual. The same goes for mainstream music. Yep, a lot of it is absolute bollocks, even pop fans will tell you that. Diversity is key here because us knobrockers love all kinds of metal and indeed all kinds of music!

It’s pretty clear from the current content and our other multimedia platforms that we’re here to have fun, make fun, have some laughs, but without dissing the greatest music of all time, not to mention its composers.

We’re looking for all sorts here, in locations all over the globe, from bands/band members, roadies, fans, parents, friends, tabloid journalists, contract-killers, you name it, who would like to guest blog on knobrock and rant about whatever it is that floats their boat or yanks their chain.

For more information and/or submission, email hq@knobrock.net and if you can include 500 words about anything, you’ll rawk!

What a pleasant chit-chat I had with the friendly front man of California hardcore punk band, TERROR. The band was in Germany, in the middle of a tour when Scott and I talked about COLDPLAY, psychos and what fills him with terror.

Lily: Okay, just to start off can you give me a quick history of Terror?

Scott: Sure, we started out in 2002 based out of Los Angeles.  We started making songs and then bands started asking us to go on tour and we did, and we started putting out records and that’s what we’ve been doing for about nine years now.

Lily: Cool, and how did you personally get into hardcore punk music?

Scott: My brother was into a lot of punk stuff which, I guess I thought was cool. I liked the energy and stuff but I was never really into that whole like anarchy… I’m a freak type vibe…

Lily: The more political kind of punk?

Scott: Yeah, and then when I found hardcore it was just like, you know, a little more real.  It was a little more real to me and it clicked with me more. That was in like 1988 and all the things I was into up to that point got thrown out the window and then I just wanted to go to shows and I started little stupid bands that sucked but then started doing other bands that got a little better and better and better and here we are 20 something years later.

Lily: Do you remember what bands got you… converted you I suppose?

Scott: Well I would say through the punk thing with my brother, SOCIAL DISTORTION was the first band.  I don’t know if they made that documentary movie, Another State of Mind?

Lily: Oh I haven’t seen that.

Scott: Yeah, it’s really cool.  If you ever get a chance to see it it’s really old but -

Lily: I love doco’s -

Scott: Yeah, I think when I saw that, something clicked in me.  In that movie they go on tour and they stay with MINOR THREAT who was, you know, one of the very first hardcore bands I got into.  So SOCIAL DISTORTION in particular, in that movie really clicked with me you know. SOCIAL DISTORTION is playing Soundwave. I haven’t seen them for probably 10 years so I’m definitely looking forward to checking them out.

Lily: There’s some good bands on the line-up.

Scott: Yeah, it’s crazy.

Lily: So can I ask you what fills you with terror?

Scott: [Laughs] I had a strange nightmare about someone on the bus last night coming to my bunk and stealing my blanket.  So stuff like that definitely fills me with terror.

Lily: Nightmares?

Scott: It was really weird because I thought it actually happened and this morning I woke up and my blanket was there and then, the guy in my dream, he was one of the first people I saw this morning and I was like, “did you take my blanket last night?”  He goes, “what are you talking about?”  I was like, “alright.”

Lily: [Laughs]

What would you say has been the biggest challenge for Terror?

Scott: Well we tour more than most bands, up to like nine or 10 months a year, so just trying to stay sane on the road and trying to not make each other jump off bridges and stuff like that.  Just learning how to get along with four other people, spending that much time together is probably the biggest challenge.

Lily: Do you have a mantra or any tools that you hold close to help you through the long hours on the road?

Scott: Like, you mean, my DVD collection so I can escape from everyone and just watch a movie and pretend I’m not on tour?

Lily: Yep.  Thank God for DVDs.

Scott: Yeah, I agree.

Lily: Now can you tell me about your vogelisms?

Scott: Yeah, I don’t know man.  There’s a website some girl in Toronto started.

Lily: Oh really?  A fan or a fanatic?

Scott: I don’t know. I’ve never met her. I was trying at some point to get the site shut down. I guess in one way it’s kind of flattering, in another way it’s really retarded and mean.  Some of the stuff up on there is definitely true but some of it is stuff I never said.

Lily: Has there ever been a scary time when someone has gone from a fan to a bit of a psycho?

Scott: Psycho stalker?

Lily: Yeah.

Scott: I mean, that thing’s weird but recently there was a Facebook of me and I had all these people saying “how come you didn’t add me on Facebook”, I was like, “what the fuck?”  So I looked and it was this person answering questions like they’re me and it definitely wasn’t me so we had to go to Facebook and put in a claim and it got shutdown. But I had people I know saying, “oh yeah blah, blah, blah,” and I’d be like, “what are you talking about?”  They were like, “yeah, you wrote me that on Facebook.”  I thought, oh this is getting kind of weird.

Lily: That would be weird.  Sometimes people have too much time on their hands.

Scott: Yeah, very strange.

Lily: Which of the seven deadly sins best sums you guys up?

Scott: Let’s go with wrath because that’s strong and evil and mean.

Lily: I reckon it’s the least offensive of all of them.  Not even offensive, but I reckon that’s a good one to go with.

Scott: Yeah, that’s cool.  As long as you approve let’s stick with it then [laughs]

Lily: Yes, I approve Scott.  What is the most obscure thing that you’ve ever been inspired by?

Scott: COLDPLAY.

Lily: COLDPLAY?  Really?

Scott: Yeah, I probably listen to them more than anyone else.

Lily: What music do you like to listen to when you want to chill out.

Scott: COLDPLAY, TOM PETTY, HOT WATER MUSIC, NEIL YOUNG, PINK FLOYD, stuff like that.

Lily: Cool. What excites you the most about the creative process of making music?

Scott: You know, when something happens and it just clicks.  It’s kind of like fitting a puzzle together, the lyrics and the song structure and all the timing and stuff, and sometimes you’ve got to force things and in the end you’re happy with the product but sometimes, you know, everything just clicks right away and you know you have a really good song and those, to me, are the best songs when you don’t have to work it and they just flow out right away from the start.

Lily: Yep, when it all just fits together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Scott: Yep.

Lily: Is there somewhere in the world that you haven’t toured but you’re dying to visit?

Scott: A couple of places that we really want to go are Alaska and South Africa. We’ve had a lot of talk and interest about going there but every time it gets close the people back out on paying for our tickets. We’re not going to fund our tickets.  So, hopefully one day that will happen soon.  I know that HAKARI went to Israel and said it was really cool.  Oh how cool, COLDPLAY just came on the radio here.

Lily: Oh how cool is that.

Scott: So those are the kind of places that we haven’t gone to and we want to.

Lily: Now you guys are currently in Europe and you’re doing the Soundwave Festival.  What else has 2011 got in store for Terror?

Scott: We finish this tour up right here in two days and then we go by ourselves to Greece for two shows, then New Zealand a couple of days before Australia and then after Australia to South East Asia for I think eight shows, and then we’re home for three weeks and then we have a nice six week US and Canada tour, and then back to Europe in June and July for festivals over here and then it will be July 17^th and I hope to God we take a break.

Lily: Yeah, I don’t know how you guys do it.

Scott: Me neither.

Lily: Six months ago I went interstate for only four days and I was ready to come home.

Scott: [Laughs) Where did you go?

Lily: To Melbourne [laughs]

Scott: Oh, cool.

Click to visit Soundwave's site!

Lily: Is there anything you’d like to say to the Aussie fans?

Scott: I just encourage people to pick up some new bands that I think are really good.  There’s bands, BACKTRACK, DEAD END PATH, TITLE FIGHT, ALPHA AND OMEGA and the new HAKARI album has been out for a little while, but those are bands I like, you know, keep me inspired and stuff.  So, you know, if people haven’t heard of them, check them out.

Lily: Alright, well thanks for talking to me Scott.

Scott: My pleasure.

Lily: I hope the rest of this tour goes well and I look forward to seeing you at Soundwave.

Catch TERROR at SOUNDWAVE in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, because that’s the only shows left, so….

Austin, Texas rockers, THE SWORD are taking the stage all over Australia next week, on SOUNDWAVE  FESTIVAL and I had the opportunity to spend some time with guitarist, Kyle Shutt, on the eve of the tour. THE SWORD, have a reputation for danger, which I planned to dig for, but first, I asked Kyle how THE SWORD came to be…

KYLE: We got together in 2003 and we – JD and I  - had known each other through different musical circles that we’d both been playing in and out of and we all just kind of eventually ended up in the same band.  A lot of people in Austin are in two or three different bands, so whenever we had decided to start THE SWORD we were all in other bands.

I think after playing the first Sword show we all knew that it was going to be bigger than anything we’d ever done before just by the reaction that – I mean from our first show there were more people at that than at any of our other band shows after being in them for like two years.  So we quit all our other bands and decided to focus full time on being in THE SWORD.

LILY:  Oh wow.  I guess, just going back a little bit to what you said about the different bands you were in and I think, I suppose the crowd reaction is a good indicator of which one is going to be the most successful.

KYLE: Yeah, it was just silly how obvious it was!

LILY:  So would you say that The Sword is exactly what you hoped it would be?

KYLE: Yeah, I mean really, it’s surpassed my expectations.  I mean, I think it’s just because of my naivety.  When I was first in this band I was 20 years old and didn’t really – like, I knew how – I knew what I needed to do to get to where I wanted to be.  I didn’t really know how – what it was like or how it worked.  Like, you know, you think a band is big and they’ve made it and then you look at your record sales and you see that you sold three times as many records as they have and you’re still sitting around, and you’re like, oh man, this is way different to what I thought it would be.

LILY:  Yeah, you could say that about almost anything in life couldn’t you?  We’re so busy making our life, planning it, and it never really turns out exactly how you want it to.

KYLE: True, very true.

LILY:  Now,  you guys have been categorised as doom metal, alternative metal, heavy rock.  How would you describe your music?

KYLE: We’ve always called ourselves a heavy metal band, and there’s so many different sub-genres that we don’t fit into.  No, we’re just an old fashioned heavy metal band.  Maybe we’re just not made for these times, I don’t know.

LILY:  I know, it’s funny isn’t it?  I got into heavy metal in the late 80s and it was just heavy metal.

KYLE: Yeah, it was – there was just Def Leppard playing heavy songs. (laughs)

LILY:  Yeah, and I was there, starting to get, into bands like Anthrax, Death Angel and that was thrash metal, but now I can’t keep up with all the sub-genres.

KYLE:  Oh, tell me about it.

LILY: I was listening to you guys last night and, like the main kind of  sound I could really hear, was BLACK SABBATH.  It’s such an old school sound, that guitar, really raw guitar, and that was – it just sounded like definitive heavy metal to me.

KYLE: That’s what we play.  I mean it’s just – we use the amps and turn them up real loud.  Yeah, our drummer plays the drums, you know, there’s no triggers, no crazy tricks.  We just get up there and do it like people used to do, I suppose we can anyway.

LILY: What kind of music do you like to listen to when you just want to relax or zone out?

KYLE:  I listen to lots of different types of music to be honest. Y’know,  it’s kind of just whatever mood I’m in.  I mean, I like to say that I like good music.  I don’t like bad music.  If it’s rap and it’s good then I like it.  If it’s dance music and it’s good then I like it, but there’s just so much music out there it’s hard to just get – it’s hard to be closed minded about it, you know.  When people just get kind of elitist about the whole thing and won’t let themselves listen to something because it’s not cool or whatever.  I’ve got no time for that.  There’s so much music out there that can influence you.

LILY:  That’s alright, and if you kind of limit yourself to one, especially like you as a music creator, you can kind of limit your creativity can’t you if you’re only listening to one type or one genre.

Now I read that your lyrics are often about us humans and our flaws.  Can you tell me a bit more about this?

KYLE: That’s a good way to put it.  I don’t write the lyrics but I can add to that.  You know, JD writes about everyday things just like everybody else does but he uses metaphors and things to make it a lot more poetic than a lot of people try to who do lyrics, and a song like Fire Lances of the Ancient Hyperzephyrians is really just about, like the fire lances being the nuclear weapons that America is in possession of and then the ancient Hyperzephyrians being the modern day Americans.  So the song itself is sort of told from the point of view of the future where a race of people in the future discover these ancient fire lances that were left behind from the modern days, and sort of what they do whenever they come across them.  So, and you know it’s – and like a song like Lords was just sort of about the Bush Administration to be honest, but you wouldn’t know it just by reading the lyrics, you know.

LILY:   I think there are a lot of songs about Bush.

Okay, now I heard that you guys were considered to be the most dangerous band in Austin.  Do you have any idea what this means?

KYLE: I don’t know if we’re the most dangerous band in Austin, but that is a funny title.  I don’t know if we deserve that.  We’re not really dangerous.  I mean, if you, you know, you cross me I’ll probably pop you one but I mean we’re not – there’s probably bands that you have a higher chance of getting hurt at one of their shows than THE SWORD, unfortunately.  What’s that band – TRAIL OF DEAD? They had won the Austin’s most dangerous band award and deservedly so because you used to actually – you know possibly get hurt at their shows.  Like their drummer, Angelo would kick all his drums out into the crowd and the bass player would pull his amp down on himself or some – I mean, they were nut bags.  Those guys were out of control!

LILY: There’s not literally an award is there for the most dangerous band?

KYLE: Yeah, you get a plaque.  Yeah, you actually – you show up and you get a plaque at the Austin Music Awards.

LILY:  Oh my God!

KYLE: Uh huh.  See we have been in recent years winning the best metal band, so I like that award better than the most dangerous band.

LILY:  Yeah, definitely, for sure.  What would you say has been the biggest challenge for THE SWORD?

KYLE: The biggest challenge for THE SWORD was when our drummer took a shit and decided to bail on a bunch of tour dates and we had to basically clean up the mess.  That was by and large the hardest thing that we’ve ever done, yep.

LILY:   Yeah, alright.  I can imagine that was hard.

KYLE: Yeah, it was a bummer on multiple levels, but it’s all worked out for the better.  So I can’t say that that was done any other way.

LILY:  Because you’ve got a tour drummer now?  You haven’t replaced your old drummer as such?

KYLE: No, I mean, we do have a tour drummer.  We didn’t really want to just adopt a new member straight away just because we didn’t know how the guy would react, just being on tour all the time, or you know, there’s different things like that.  We didn’t get somebody who was totally green.  You know, he’s been on some Dirty Van tours and stuff, but you know, he’s never done a European tour or Australia for that matter.  There were some little tests we wanted to run him through before we ask him to come on permanently but, you know, for right now he’s kicking ass and doing everything that we’ve asked him to.

LILY: Cool.  Do you have any rituals or habits that you do before you go onstage?

KYLE:  If I’ve got weed I’ll smoke it but, we don’t really have a lot of rituals per se.

LILY:  Yep.  Have you guys ever had an incident where a fan has crossed the line and gone from fan to stalker?

Just not quite stalker.  We have had a few insane haters that have gone out of their way to try to – I don’t know.  I don’t really pay attention to that stuff.  People are just crazy so they’ll do whatever they want on the internet anyway, but I’m just – I’m surprised that people will go so far to make you feel uncomfortable just because they dislike you, you know what I mean?  Like I try to just concentrate on things I like and try to be positive.

LILY:  Yeah, I think some people just – they obsess about it don’t they?

KYLE:   Yeah, you confuse them or something.  I don’t get it.  You ask them to keep your distance, but for the most part our fans are awesome.

LILY:   Yeah, and the internet has made it a little bit easier – well a lot easier – to have access to your idols. You can kind of dive in a bit deeper to your obsession (laughs).

KYLE: Yeah, it’s pretty nuts the internet, it’s crazy.   I just think it’s crazy now because all the kids that are being born right now, like, they’re not going to know a world without the internet.  They’re going to have their minds blown.  It will be like, well look here, we didn’t have the internet.  He had to get the phone book out.

LILY:  I know.  I think back to when I was a teenager and if someone had said to me, you know, when you’re in your 30s you’re going to have your own phone that fits in your pocket and it’s also a camera. I would have said, no way!

KYLE: Uh huh, uh huh.  The funny thing in 15 or 20 years, the iPhone is going to look like – you know, people are going to be like, oh are you still carrying that thing around?  Oh my God, lame!

LILY:  Yep, totally!   Now you’re about to do some touring obviously.  What else has 2011 got in store for you guys?

KYLE: I mean, you just said it pretty much. Touring is kind of job number one right now.  We’ve got some European shows that we’re doing in April, then some festivals kind of here and there along summer time that we haven’t really confirmed yet or anything, just sort of shows we’re talking about, but tours top one right now.

Click to visit Soundwave's site!

LILY:  So, we’ll wrap it up here Kyle, but before I say adios,  you’ve got the Soundwave Festival  just around the corner.  What’s your favourite thing about festival tour?

KYLE: The VIP pass that gets you in to the backstage place where all the free drinks are.  That is my favourite part, but I’m really excited to see Iron Maiden too, so that’s going to be like a double whammy for me!

Party on Kyle and catch THE SWORD at Soundwave in your capital city in only a few more sleeps!

It was day two in the studio when I caught up with a “very, very excited” Derek Sanders, singer of Florida rock group MAYDAY PARADE. The band was in Atlanta, Georgia, recording their fourth studio album.

Derek has been playing music since he was a boy so it was no wonder he was busting to talk about the new album.

Lily: First of all, can I just get you to give me a run down on how Mayday Parade got together?

Derek: Yeah for sure.  The basic story is there was two bands that kind of split to form one.  Me and some of the guys were in one band and some of the other guys were in another band, and for just – for different reasons we decided to quit our old bands and start this one, and then honestly from that point till now – we’ve had the band for a little over five years – it’s pretty much been nothing but just writing music and recording music and then touring and just kind of doing that over and over again, and it’s been wonderful.  We’ve been very lucky and we’re lucky to be where we are.

Lily: How did you personally find yourself taking this career path?

Derek: You know I started a band with Brooks, who is one of the guitar players in MAYDAY PARADE. We met when we were 12, in seventh grade, and we started a band then and, honestly, that’s kind of been all that I’ve wanted to do since then was to play music and to be in a band.  So it’s kind of been a dream of ours for a long time and it’s really cool that it’s come as far as it has.

Lily: So you were only a little boy when you started singing and playing keyboard?

Derek: Yeah and you know, back then I played guitar and sang, we were in terrible bands but we used to do cover songs at first and then write our own songs and then throughout the years of just playing in different bands, I feel like we got better and better.  Then out of high school, we decided to really take it seriously and start touring as opposed to going to college and doing something else in our lives.  We decided we wanted to really take it seriously and try and make it happen so we’ve pretty much been touring every since we graduated high school.

Lily: What do you think you would do if you weren’t in a band or playing music?

Derek: I really don’t know, and that’s kind of scary because there isn’t much of a backup plan.  I’d like to think that if  MAYDAY PARADE broke up today or if something happened and, you know, we weren’t in Mayday anymore, I would still try to be involved with music somehow. Y’know, I could be a songwriter or something.  That’s my passion, that’s what I love to do but if none of that worked out then, gosh, I mean, I really don’t know what I would do.  I would just have to kind of assess my life and figure out what I wanted to try I guess. Who knows!

Lily: Who inspires you to play better, write better, sing better?

Derek: Well, from the beginning, my family, my mum was the one who kind of wanted me to start taking piano lessons when I was younger, and my older brother got a guitar and started playing in a band and I just thought that was really cool.  So for the beginning that was kind of my inspiration for starting with it and then throughout the years, meeting all the people that are in the band, they’ve for sure inspired me to be better at what I do, absolutely.

Lily: Okay, tell me about the album. It’s day two of recording? How’s it going so far?

Derek: It’s going amazing.  I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for this CD.  It’s kind of hard to say, you know, it’s hard to remember what it was like, the exact feeling, you know, going in to record A Lesson in Romantics or Anywhere But Here. But I feel like this is the most excited I’ve ever been to record an album and I’m totally in love with these songs and I really can’t wait for everyone to hear them.

Lily: Can you tell me what the fans can expect to hear?

Derek: Yeah, well I mean it’s not fully completed yet, but for the most part I feel like we have a pretty good idea which songs are going to be on the album and the songs that are mostly finished. Some of them are totally finished and some of them are finished except for maybe some lyrics or maybe they’re just kind of at different stages.  We have total freedom on this record.  Whenever we made our last album, Anywhere But Here, I think that was..(ponders), you know, as far as the stuff that MAYDAY PARADE has done, that was the least “Mayday” because there was just a whole lot of outside influence on that album.  It was our first time doing an album on Atlantic Records and, you know, there were just a whole lot of people involved telling us what to do and what songs to play and just things like that.  That’s kind of not the way that we like to work.  So for this CD we’ve kind of got permission to just go in and make the CD that we want to make and then turn it in.  So I’m very excited about that.

Lily: So no restrictions, it’s just total creative freedom?

Derek: Yeah, exactly.  Whereas before we had to send all the demos and have the label kind of pick which songs they liked the most.  During the making of the last album, there were so many songs that we loved, that didn’t make the album and they [the label], ended up picking songs that we didn’t like as much but they liked more.  I still think that comes across on a CD.  If a band doesn’t love the songs that they’re going in to record then you’re going to be able to tell, you know.

Lily: That must feel awful to know that this is your bit of art that you’re putting out but it’s not your favourite bit of art.

Derek: Yeah, exactly.  That’s kind of the thing that really bummed all of us out about the last album.  I love the last album, I just feel like there could have been things that were different about it that I feel like would have made it better, but this time around like I said, we’re able to do whatever we want to do and we all love these songs that we’re recording so it’s going to be a good time.

Lily: Do you have a favourite Mayday Parade song?

Derek: I definitely know that some of these newer songs are for me personally, my favourite songs that I’ve ever written or my favourite songs that we’ve written together.  It’s kind of hard to say because it’s not finished yet and because they aren’t recorded yet but I really have a strong feeling that a lot of these songs are going to be my favourite songs.

Lily: Is there a favourite one you have to play live?

Derek: It kind of changes but Jamie All Over is always one of the most fun ones to play live.  It’s very energetic and the crowd always kind of moves around for that one the most and kind of gets into that one the most.  So Jamie All Over has been one of my favourites for a while.

Lily: What would you say is the hardest thing about being in a band?

Derek: The hardest thing is probably being away from home and just spending most of your life touring and travelling, which I guess isn’t really that bad, you know!  It’s a really good lifestyle, the lifestyle that we all love.  Yeah, it’s tough that you miss your family, your loved ones, the people that you can’t see every day, you know, you miss them but that’s the, kind of only negative side of it.  Everything else about it is wonderful and amazing.

Lily: What do you like to do for fun when you’re not recording or touring? Not that what you do isn’t fun.

Derek: Oh yeah, yeah of course.  Well, I’d say I like to read a lot and play video games and hang out with my friends and stuff, that’s about it.

Lily: What is your biggest pet peeve?

Derek: People who are rude I think.  I enjoy when people are polite and when people are kind, so just when people are rude for no reason.

Lily: Can you tell me something that your fans may not know about you?

Derek: I don’t know…there’s not a whole lot that’s really interesting enough to bring up. I’m vegetarian but a lot of people know that about me.

Lily: Can I ask you why?  I’m a vegetarian, can I ask you why you are?

Derek: For me, there’s several reasons but basically there’s a book that I read called ‘Eating Animals’ by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Lily: Yeah, I know him and I know the book.

Derek: Yeah, yeah, well I love him as an author and so I read that book and it totally just changed a lot for me and I just decided to – I guess mostly because of the book. I guess I’d always kind of known that there were bad things about eating meat and that it probably wasn’t a very good situation but I wasn’t very fully educated about it so reading that, there’s just so much more to it than I knew.  So, yeah, I decided I didn’t want to support it and it’s cool.  My mum’s vegan and so I get to eat like really good vegan food with her all the time, and you know, I’m not vegan, I’m just vegetarian but she makes awesome food that’s really cool.

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Lily: Now you’re coming to Australia for the Soundwave Festival in a few weeks that is going to brilliant. Is there anything you’d like to say to the Aussie fans?

Derek: Just that we are extremely excited.  We can’t wait to get over there and it’s going to be a good time, and really I guess, you know, thank you to everyone out there for the support and for us being able to come out and do a tour like this.  It’s unbelievable, so thank you very much.

Lily: Is this your first time to Australia?

Derek: No we’ve been once a few years back.  I think in 2007 we came to Australia with Paramore and Hot Rod Circuit and it was a great time.  It was such a good experience, so we’re very pumped to come back and do it all over again.

Lily: Excellent. Well thank you so much for talking to me Derek.

Derek: Thank you, I appreciate it.

Lily: All the best with the new album.  I look forward to hearing it.

Catch MAYDAY PARADE at SOUNDWAVE FESTIVAL in just a few more sleeps!!!

California rockers, UNWRITTEN LAW have toured Australia about 5,236 times now and we’re proud to share with you that they are about to make it to  tour number 5,237!

UNWRITTEN LAW are set to return to Australia, to showcase SWAN, their sixth studio album due out April 1st, on Shock/Suburban Noize Records.

Scott Russo, had this to say about the new album; ”It took a long time to write this record because we were creating something real in a time when fake, bullshit, phony music rules the airwaves. It seems like artists have forgotten the art of creating an album. Everyone writes one good song and then fills the rest of the album with B-Sides. We spent six months just writing the music and then I spent another eight months writing lyrics. For this album, we had to make sure that every song was a great song and there was zero filler.”

Marred by personal struggles, UNWRITTEN LAW channeled their problems into writing and have crafted one of the most personal rock records of their career. “There was a lot of interpersonal turmoil going on with the band itself and in our personal lives when we were making this album,” recalls UNWRITTEN LAW guitarist Steve Morris.

One such battle came in the form of front man Scott Russo losing his house and possessions in a terrible fire last year.  However, the band battled back in the face of adversity to make SWAN and kick-ass songs such as lead single Starships and Apocalypse and Dark Dayz make this record the catchiest UNWRITTEN LAW record yet.

Morris also added, “Looking back on the past few years, UNWRITTEN LAW can’t help but smile.  We had taken ourselves and the music from something ugly that no one wanted to be a part of and turned it into something everyone loved and was proud of.”

As long time fans of the ‘Law, the KNOBROCK gang guarantee  a simply fabulous show from these guys, so make sure you catch them in a town near you!

AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES:

THURSDAY 17 MARCH – CAPITAL, PERTH

Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au 1300 GET TIX,  www.heatseeker.com.au (08) 6210 2850

SATURDAY 19 MARCH THE HI-FI, BRISBANE

Tickets available from www.thehifi.com.au/brisbane

SUNDAY 20 MARCH – COOLY HOTEL, GOLD COAST

Tickets available from all Oztix outlets www.oztix.com.au and 1300 762 545

FRIDAY 25 MARCH – FOWLERS, ADELAIDE

Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au

SATURDAY 26 MARCH – ROUNDHOUSE, SYDNEY

Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au

SUNDAY 27 MARCH – BILLBOARD THE VENUE, MELBOURNE

Tickets available from www.moshtix.com.au and www.ticketek.com.au

KNOBCAST IS BACK, BABY!!!

After a brief hiatus – about six months, actually – Knobcast is back for 2011 and in our inaugural episode, we take a look at the highlights and lowlights of 2010 in the world of all things hard rock and heavy metal.

Remember you can subscribe to our podcast series on iTunes, Jellycast or download direct from right here on our site.

Click to listen to the latest episode

If there is one thing at KNOBROCK that we know, it’s that no matter what album you bring to the table for us to review, we will use all our sonic and rockin’ expertise and deliver you our verdict, like a mortician delivers the dead.

Having said that, it’s really refreshing when a band comes along that really ups the ante on the opposite side of the scale of complete dog-shit. THOUSAND WATT STARE, is that band.

Forget the enormous productions, the wailing solos and the glass shattering falsettos. This is the purist side of the rock ‘n’ roll journey; the roots, the raucousness and the filth. My God yes, the filth. THOUSAND WATT STARE’S self-titled EP is all these things and more, but firstly let’s get the history of this trio of whippersnappers…

UNWRITTEN LAW’S Pat Kim, was with us all through the late ’90s, up to and including 2011, with Dylan Howard bringing the beats to the ‘Law in 2008. TWS front-man, Chris Martucci, has been galavanting around the California punk scene with various bands, for a decade or so now, also.  But if you are too young to remember the glistening alternative and punk ‘zeitgeist’ of the ’80s and ’90s though – hallelujah – you can live it vicariously through THOUSAND WATT STARE’S bad-ass debut right here. This EP is tough, it’s carnal – and best of all these lads channel a spirit of fucking rock that will never date or become old.

From the opening track Downsider, I am catapulted flawlessly into the energy that this track excudes. I contemplate if this will set the tone for the tracks to come and then I put my [metaphorical] seat belt on and start the engine.

Photo by Bryan Kneiding. Click to visit TWS HQ.

This is followed by Lights Out, an instantly likeable groove.  By the first chorus you’ll feel like you are listening to this song live, the energy just flows so effortlessly. It’s a smooth groove for my little sonic road trip.

Just when I’m feeling completely satisfied, Bad Heart, begins and rocks me all over again. This is a definitive sing-along song and it cruises along nicely like a balmy summer night. The vibe is simply fabulous and this track actually reminds me of  an amazing indie-band of the early 80s, THE PLIMSOULS.

If I close my eyes and drink in tracks, Shine and TV Casualty, as well as pour beer down my shirt and smoke a cigarette, my mind’s eye and the music, along with the dank smell, takes me to a seedy Hollywood club, circa 1982, where the THOUSAND WATT STARE sound equated to rock and roll gospel. This was a time where underground bands were authentic, unpretentious and thankfully played no part in the shit that most popular music has evolved into today.

THOUSAND WATT STARE’S EP is old school but don’t be fooled by that over-used cliche – I’m using it exactly as it should be used. This EP is fresh. This EP is raw. This EP is a brilliant introduction from this Los Angeles based trio. So brilliant, if I’d never heard of them and you played me this EP and said, “These guys opened for The Specials in 1981″ I’d believe you.

Grab the THOUSAND WATT STARE EP on iTunes, http://www.facebook.com/thousandwattstare, your favourite mp3 site or your local record store and fucking pay for it, you pirating-gimps.