Heaven is a heavy rock outfit that has all the hall marks of the Australian pub rock culture but with international recognition! This impact internationally was due to hard driving yet melodic songs that captured strong conviction from CBS Records America. With notable tours under their belt supporting international acts such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Motley Crue and many others, HEAVEN proved to be formidable arena players.

ALLAN FRYER – VOCALS,
MITCH PERRY – GUITARS & KEYS
JOHN HAESE – GUITARS,
LAURIE MARLOW -BASS & VOCALS
JOE TURTUR – DRUMS

TOUR DATES
THURSDAY JUNE 14 BYRON BAY BREWERY

FRIDAY JUNE 15 KINGS BEACH TAVERN CALOUNDRA

SATURDAY JUNE 16 THE COOLANGATTA HOTEL

SUNDAY JUNE 17 THE HI FI BRISBANE

THURSDAY JUNE 21 NATIONAL HOTEL GEELONG

FRIDAY JUNE 22 THE EVELYN MELBOURNE

SATURDAY JUNE 23 THE EVELYN MELBOURNE

WEDNESDAY JUNE 27 GOVERNOR HINDMARSH ADELAIDE

FRIDAY JUNE 29 ANNANDALE HOTEL SYDNEY

SATURDAY JUNE 30 ANNANDALE HOTEL SYDNEY

SUNDAY JULY 1 WAVES NIGHTCLUB WOLLONGONG

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

 AUSTRALIAN TWO PIECE TO RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM ON JUNE 8 - PAPER SCISSORS ROCK TOUR ANNOUNCED

Fire up your engines, Mildura garage rockers Jackson Firebird are ready to launch their high-octane debut album Cock Rockin’ on June 8, 2012.

 Known for their brutally energetic live sets it seems fitting that Jackson Firebird should mark such a momentous occasion with the Paper Scissors Rock tour in Victoria and NSW.   Previously, the band has earned their touring stripes alongside You Am I, King Cannons, Snowdroppers, Little Birdy and the Fumes. Two killer visits to Byron’s prestigious Bluesfest sealed their fans, while this month, the pair have ventured to the UK to tour, including a performance at the Great Escape.

“Clearly a well-gigged band, they made their manic and unpredictable tempo changes look effortless and sailed through a set of hyperactive twists and turns with apparent ease: slide-heavy swamp-rock one minute, almost psychedelic-rock soloing the next… They stole the show.” -  Craig Elliot – theupcoming.co.uk

 Rugged, explosive, full-tilt Aussie rock & roll – Jackson Firebird (aka Dale Hudak and Brendan Harvey) have delivered one hell of a mighty wallop in the form of Cock Rockin’.  The album consists of ten killer tracks which perfectly capture the band’s no-holds-barred live show, recorded in Adelaide with engineer/producer Mick Wordley at Mixmasters studio. Laid down in various sessions over a 12 month period, for their debut Jackson Firebird had one aim: to capture their volatile live power on tape.  “Jackson Firebird is all about the live show,” insists Harvey. No frills, nothing fancy: just straight up, 12 bar lovin’ rock & roll.

“It was chaos distilled in a whisky bottle and poured all over the stage…” summed up The Brag in Nov 2011. Now it’s time to see for yourself. Hold on for the ride and turn it up loud: with Cock Rockin’, Jackson Firebird has landed.

PAPER SCISSORS ROCK TOUR

JACKSON FIREBIRD

With special guests River of Snakes 

Thursday 7 June – Retreat Hotel, Brunswick, VIC
FREE ENTRY

Friday 8 June – The Patch, Wollongong, NSW
www.oztix.com.au

Saturday 9 June – The Vanguard, Newtown, NSW
www.thevanguard.com.au

Sunday 10 June – Great Northern Newcastle, NSW
www.thegreatnorthern.com.au

Monday 11 June – Brass Monkey, Cronulla, NSW
www.brassmonkey.com.au

Thursday 14 June – Retreat Hotel, Brunswick, VIC *
FREE ENTRY

Friday 15 June – Wheelers Hill Hotel, Wheelers Hill, VIC
www.ticketmaster.com.au  & www.oztix.com.au

Saturday 16 June – Bended Elbow, Geelong, VIC
www.oztix.com.au  & Bended Elbow: (03) 5229 4477

Thursday 21 June – Retreat Hotel, Brunswick, VIC *
FREE ENTRY

Friday 22 June – The Loft, Warrnambool, VIC
www.oztix.com.au

Thursday 28 June – Retreat Hotel, Brunswick, VIC *
FREE ENTRY

Saturday 30 June – Settlers Tavern, Mildura, VIC **
www.oztix.com.au

* Mammoth Mammoth also appearing

** River of Snakes not appearing 

www.facebook.com/jacksonfirebird

twitter.com/#!/JacksonFirebird

www.warnermusic.com.au

“THE BRIGHTEST LIGHT” ALBUM LAUNCH DATES THIS JUNE…

KING CANNONS don’t much care for what is supposedly cool.

Since day one, their manifesto has been to be a band for the people.

The type of band that actually means something.

A band with a career that is based on substance over style.

KING CANNONS’ debut album “The Brightest Light” will be unleashed on the world on June 22 with releases confirmed in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland.

Having recently returned from the biggest tour of their career, a month-long blast through Europe, KING CANNONS will embark on a series of East Coast dates on June 21. The album launch set will be a white knuckle ride through the band’s assured debut with a couple of old favourites and new surprises thrown in for good measure.

Shihad’s Tom Larkin, one of the best-loved drummers in the world, will join KING CANNONS as a special guest-drummer for the upcoming June dates. Having produced the lion’s share of “The Brightest Light”, Tom is the ultimate addition to the line-up.

Also joining KING CANNONS on the upcoming tour is Major Tom & The Atoms, featuring ex-Little Red baritone crooner ‘Major’ Tom Hartney; an explosive 6-piece rhythm ‘n’ blues orchestra that perfectly fit the bill as the main support for these national launch shows.

Check out the video for ‘Too Young’ here:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

__________________________________________________________________________________

KING CANNONS – “THE BRIGHTEST LIGHT” ALBUM LAUNCH TOUR
With Special Guests MAJOR TOM & THE ATOMS

$25 – ALBUM & TICKET BUNDLE – MEMBERS ON-SALE NOW
(Access via the code word “CANNONS”)
General Public On-Sale: Monday 21 May

THURSDAY 21 JUNE – MELBOURNE ALBUM LAUNCH – THE TOFF IN TOWN
Tickets: $12.00 + BF
Physical Album Bundle Tickets: $21.60 + BF (Collected on night of show)
www.moshtix.com.au or 1300 GET TIX

THURSDAY 28 JUNE – SYDNEY ALBUM LAUNCH – OXFORD ART FACTORY
Tickets: $12.00 + BF
Physical Album Bundle Tickets: $21.40 + BF (To be received via post before 22nd June)
www.moshtix.com.au or 1300 GET TIX

FRIDAY 29 JUNE – BRISBANE ALBUM LAUNCH – THE OLD MUSEUM
Tickets: $12.00 + BF
Physical Album Bundle Tickets: $21.50 + BF (To be received via post before 22nd June)
www.oztix.com.au or 1300 762 545
www.oldmuseum.org or 07 3257 4089

SATURDAY 30 JUNE – RIVER SESSIONS FESTIVAL – MACKAY, QLD
Tickets: www.riversessions.com.au
(Major Tom & The Atoms Not Appearing)

__________________________________________________________________________________

KING CANNONS | “THE BRIGHTEST LIGHT” | OUT JUNE 22

Pre-Order your copy of “The Brightest Light” HERE! 

For further information check out:

www.theinsoundfromwayout.com

www.kingcannons.com

www.footstompmusic.com

www.theharbouragency.com

www.majortomandtheatoms.com ]]> http://maytherockbewithyou.com/mtrbwy/2012/05/king-cannons-announce-album-launch-shows-for-the-brightest-light/feed/ 0 http://maytherockbewithyou.com/mtrbwy/2012/05/calling-all-cars-strangers-and-arts-martial/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=calling-all-cars-strangers-and-arts-martial http://maytherockbewithyou.com/mtrbwy/2012/05/calling-all-cars-strangers-and-arts-martial/#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 04:38:38 +0000 Scott Smith http://maytherockbewithyou.com/mtrbwy/?p=8862

Being a hometown show for Calling All Cars, I rocked up to the Hi-Fi Bar on a wintery Melbourne, Friday night, expecting to be greeted by a reasonably packed house, so was somewhat amazed upon entry to find the Hi-Fi Bar pretty damn empty.  For those who turned up later on, shame on you for missing Perth band Arts Martial who incidentally were playing their first show in Melbourne.  Having no familiarity with the band prior to tonight, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by their earnest brand of harder edged pop rock.   Rule The World is the bands first single which you may have heard around the traps and I am sure the boys will build upon the following gathered by being out on the Delirium Tour with Calling All Cars and Strangers.

Having been digging Strangers first single Bred For Breeding,  (I mean the video is awesome in itself, featuring a Cinderella (Cinderella the BAND) t-shirt wearing “fan”), I was pretty keen to check out what Strangers were all about as a live band.  I got a glimpse of this a few nights earlier when they were supporting The Darkness at The Palace Theatre, but even though that was my first real time seeing the band live, I got the sense that The Darkness support performance wasn’t a real indication of Strangers as a live act.  So tonight it was time for the band to play a bit more intimate venue and play to a far more appreciative crowd than of a few nights earlier that were only after one thing – jumpsuits and falsetto!  As I suspected, tonight I wasn’t left disappointed.  The band has a real undeniable energy on stage and they are certainly an interesting concoction of personalities, which I haven’t quite been able to pinpoint, who the band remind me of.  Frontman Ben Britton possesses a real brooding kind of persona, with his real power coming from his vocals, rather than necessarily relying on a commanding and showy on stage presence.  Meanwhile, it’s the dual guitar attack of Mark Barnes (who incidentally sports one helluva handle bar moustache) and Ben Kinsela that provides the animated visual dynamic of the band with all amounts of guitar posturing.  Musically, Strangers are one of those types of bands that could be described as being many things, but for me, I just find it easier just to say they’re ROCK and really, that’s mighty fine by me.  It’s all about big riffs, some intense heavier moments, and songs such as lead single Bred For Breeding deliver a chorus that will reel you in hook line and sinker, then the band will throw in a bit of a curveball with a bit of tambourine for equal measure.  With an album yet to be released, the momentum for Strangers is gradually building and with the obvious fans they picked up from tonight’s performance, along with a stomping new single Persona Non Grata, Strangers will not be “strangers” for very much longer…that is guranteed!

I have witnessed Calling All Cars perform progressively throughout their evolution, but tonight in a way, was all about affirmation of the commanding live act that they have now become.  With confidence obviously at a high after the last few years playing stadium tours supporting the likes of AC/DC, Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age, as well as major festivals such as Big Day Out, tonight the guys came out with all guns blazing and put on a relentless performance for what was now a packed house.  Whilst they may have opened up early with Disconnect off their Hold, Hold Fire album, the rapport between crowd and band is anything but “disconnected”.  From heading out to sing from the mixing desk, to climbing up on the second level stairs to and running around the room at various other moments, frontman Haydn Ing showed that getting knocked out by an over zealous crowd as happened at the Sydney Big Day Out is one of the furtherest things from his mind.  Being a trio, unfortunately I have to push myself down that well trodden path of stating that “for a trio, Calling All Cars really do deliver one hell of a powerful sound”…well it’s true!  Of course, drummer James Ing and bassist Adam Montgomery are a pretty bitchin’ rhythm section and certainly keep the “thunder” rolling, in the midst of Haydn’s roaming the room.  It’s almost accustomed at a Calling All Cars show for there to be numerous displays of cruelty towards instruments and this time we found ourselves seeing Haydn’s customary Fender having beer poured over it, being slung around and thrown into the photo pit, not to mention finding itself being acquainted with a drumkit, but that’s just all in a nights performance!  The band may have only recently released the latest single She’s Delirious off of Dead Man Walking, but tonight we were treated to a brand new track, the product of the bands recent writing sessions for the follow up album and the good news, it kicked ass.  As Calling All Cars head into the studio to continue work on their new album, they do so having undoubtedly stamped themselves as being one of Australia’s premiere live rock acts.

Essential Information

Click here to view the full live gallery…

Venue: Hi Fi Bar, Melbourne

Date: 11 May 2012

Supports: Strangers, Arts Martial

Website:

Calling All Cars www.callingallcars.net

Strangers http://strangers.net.au

Arts Martial www.artsmartial.com.au

Venue: Hi Fi Bar, Melbourne, Australia

Photos by: Lens Of Rock (www.lensofrock.com)

Check out the full live gallery right here…

Check out our interview with Slash right here…

Check out our review of Apocalyptic Love right here…

Check out our recent interview with Myles Kennedy right here…

“This is unquestionably an exercise in rock & roll excellence” – 4/5 Rolling Stone

Recent Rock n Roll Hall of Fame inductee and one of the greatest exponents of the electric guitar, SLASH, returns this August for an unmissable tour in support of his new album ‘Apocalyptic Love’.

On his last visit SLASH sold out all of his Australian shows in under 10 minutes. Those shows were moved up to much larger venues and promptly sold out again.

So this time around, he will come not only armed with the most gifted rock vocalist of this generation, Mr. Myles Kennedy and the band of Conspirators, but with an arena production to deliver his fabled show; just as the rock gods intended.

SLASH & Co are set to perform an all killer career spanning set from early Guns to Velvet Revolver and 2 amazing solo albums, the latest of which, Apocalyptic Love, has garnered praise from fan forums to broadsheet newspapers and all points in between.

“Like some kind of rock ‘n’ roll kaleidoscope, the album evinces the legendary guitarist at his best from all angles. There are soft and subdued moments. There’s danger. There’s mayhem. There’s blues. There’s shred.” – Artistdirect

Like the new album, and the debut before it, the perfect rock marriage of Gibson and Marshall comes to life in SLASH’s live show.  “In front of a wall of Marshall amps Slash in top hat, leather pants and sleeveless shirt played his guitar like a man possessed racing from one side of the stage to the other” Triple M

Tickets go on sale Friday 1 June, 9am.
________________________________________________________

THURS 23 AUGUST – BRISBANE, THE RIVERSTAGE– LIC A/A
www.ticketmaster.com.au

SAT 25 AUGUST – SYDNEY, ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE – LIC A/A
www.ticketmaster.com.au

SUN 26 AUGUST – MELBOURNE, HISENSE ARENA – LIC A/A
www.ticketek.com.au

TUES 28 AUGUST – ADELAIDE, THEBARTON THEATRE – LIC A/A
www.oztix.com.au / www.venuetix.com.au

THURS 30 AUGUST – PERTH, METRO CITY – 18+
www.oztix.com.au

From the opening riff of the title track ‘Apocalyptic Love’ you hear that tone, you know that sound and of course it’s Slash, but when the unmistakable vocals of Myles Kennedy kick in, it’s like peanut butter and jelly, like salt and pepper, like well, two other things that go together perfectly.  You see where I’m going with this?  I’m stoked, not sure about you, but I am, that this album is solely one band now don’t get me wrong, I liked the first Slash record but to be able to hear this album and the cohesive band aspect of it makes it for a much greater listening experience for me.  Straight out of the gates this album is rockin’.  The title track and it’s swagger move straight into the fast paced, intense ‘One Last Thrill’ which I need to hear Myles sing live because if he can hit all those lyrics live, he will be more of a rock star than he already is, wow, it’s kick ass.

‘Standing In the Sun’ is great for six reasons, but I’ll only tell you two, as I don’t know why I typed six, but anyway, not only is it a catchy little ditty with a great chorus but you can hear the layers on this one, and the rhythm guitars of Myles that compliment Slash’s leads as well as the driving rhythm section of Brent Fitz and Todd Kerns.  It’s a fat sounding track and being only three in, it’s my favourite of the three, let’s see what can top it.  Up next is the first single you may have / should have heard, ‘You’re a Lie’ and when I heard this for the first time I was hooked, musically I love this track with the underlying guitar parts and the huge chorus (oh in case you haven’t guessed, I love a good chorus) but this one was the obvious and perfect choice for first single and fits the album, rather than a single surrounded by fodder.  Not the case at all here.

I can hear ‘No More Heroes’ being shouted back to the stage at a gig, it has that vibe in all its fist pumping goodness.  I can’t fault this album yet and as I said before, the fact this is a band is making me enjoy this so much more.  It’s exciting to hear a new band in essence so here’s to more of it. ‘Halo’ gives us shades of the Slash of old with that sleazy riff kicking the song off, a riff that is continued under the chorus, I love that by the way.  Another big rock track there, who am I kidding?  They’re everywhere!  ‘We Will Roam’ slows it down a tint tiny bit, don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a ballad but it’s the slowest song on the album yet, and I can actually hear this being a single and all over the radio, so fingers crossed as it’s a stand out so far, I dig this one, especially a double guitar solo, you can’t beat that, especially one that is an outro for the last 30 seconds showcasing the man’s talent.  Man I wish I could play guitar that good.

Acoustic intro?  What is this?  Oh wait, there it is, phew, I thought we were going to have a ballad, I had my lighter next to me and it was almost lit up!  But in fact it’s the six minute ‘Anastasia’ we’re hit with and vocally on this one Myles and his harmonies are killer, the riff on this one sounds like a sped up Godfather theme and it’s awesome, the six minutes allows Slash to have his freedom here and showcase a couple of great solos both of completely different feel which is something very cool.  What I love about that track is it didn’t feel like six minutes as I was so in to it.  ‘Not For Me’ starts us off slow and keeps that theme throughout the verses but builds into a monster, combining the best parts of the Slash, Myles, and The Conspirators.  Another song that needs to be played live and I could see that one stretched out into an epic on stage, a must for the set.

‘Bad Rain’ has me grooving along from the opening note, it’s got so much swagger and in fact, it’s just become my favourite on the album, this is a ripper, how can I explain it, it’s not the traditional huge rock number, it’s just smooth…  then we get ‘Hard & Fast’ not only in song title but in song itself, it makes me wonder if they will even use the words Hard or Fast in the song as it sounds like it’s just named after exactly what it is!  Oh wait, yep, they just did, well it fits ha ha.  What a contrast to the last song this is, I love it but I feel like I need to type faster, I can’t keep up!  There’s your show opener people, mark my words, you heard it here first!  Start a gig with that and see what happens.  Yeah, you’ll be in for one hell of a show, that’s what’ll happen.

Here’s a ballad, finally… now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a ballad, was just waiting to see where it would pop up.  Here it is with ‘Far And Away’ and Myles takes this one hands down, his vocals are suited for not only the big rockers but he knows how to bring it down and sing the slow ones too and he’s so good at it.  The song builds into some ‘power’ towards the end and Slash gets his time to say to Myles, ‘Hey Myles, stop it, this is my song’ and he shows us why with a nifty little solo thrown in there purely for that measure.  Last song on the album ‘Shots Fired’ does not mess around AT ALL, wow, what a perfect way to round the album out, an intense 3:48 and once again, chorus that requires gang vocals, great solo and well it’s just a great package of a rock song.

Did I say it was over?  What’s that? Deluxe edition bonus tracks?  Oh don’t mind if I do!  Is that a talk box?!  Yes!  ‘Carolina’ is amazing, how did this not make it on the album itself?  What a bitchin’ 70’s feel and groove on this one, wow, if you don’t get this song on your album people, you need to search this one out, it’s well worthy of a listen or twelve.  OK, I’m spoiled, another bonus track and unfortunately the last one… ‘Crazy Life’ sounds like it could be an anthem for many, well see, it has cowbell in it, thanks Fitzy, completely required and warranted.  Again, Slash, this should be on the album, amazing solo on this one too, if these are the bonus tracks I’d love to know what else didn’t make the album, surely there is more gold out there?

I personally loved this album, it’s exciting to me to hear new music from a new band, regardless of who is in it and how they came together, this feels like a new band to me and one I hope that will continue to make albums down the road.  Next step, hearing these live… can not wait.

Check out our chat with Slash right here!

Essential Information

From: USA

For fans of: R & F’N R!

Release date: 18 May 2012

Record label: Sony Music Australia

Producer: Eric Valentine

Website: www.slashonline.com and www.slashonline.com.au

Track listing:
Apocalyptic Love
One Last Thrill
Standing in the Sun
You’re a Lie
No More Heroes
Halo
We Will Roam
Anastasia
Not for Me
Bad Rain
Hard & Fast
Far and Away
Shots Fired
Carolina (Deluxe Edition bonus track)
Crazy Life (Deluxe Edition bonus track)

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

“This time around I just wanted to have a good time just making a record with these guys and I think there’s a lot of different feels and stuff but its all pretty rock and roll and that’s pretty indicative of what it is that I do.”

He needs no real introduction, he’s undoubtedly one of the most recognizable people in Rock and Roll today, and he is Slash, with the trademark hair, the top hat, the sound, the whole package.  Well, take note, Slash is back with a new album called ‘Apocalyptic Love’ and this time he’s recorded the whole thing with vocalist Myles Kennedy along with his new band The Conspirators featuring bass player Todd Kerns and drummer Brent Fitz.

In town in February where we had the privilege of hearing songs from ‘Apocalyptic Love’, we sat down with Slash to get more of an insight into the record and the band.

R & F’n R…

We had the opportunity to hear nine of the tracks and we loved them, they’re so heavy, is that what you were looking for this time around?
Oh thanks. I don’t set out to be like ‘I’m going to make this kind of record’ really, you know, the last one I knew I was going to put together this thing with all these different singers and sort of get all these people to perform on my record as opposed to performing on theirs which is what I normally do.  This time around I just wanted to have a good time just making a record with these guys and I think there’s a lot of different feels and stuff but its all pretty rock and roll and that’s pretty indicative of what it is that I do.

Is it fair to say that the last album was more of a project and that this one feels more like a true album?
I think so ha ha, yeah, there was definitely a concept to the first record and then this one was just going for the sort of, I knew Myles’ vocal style and I was just writing what I was writing and Brent and Todd just have a certain kind of impactful way of playing and just putting that all together and just making a good record.

Having ‘The Conspirators’, as a band now is that something that you hope to continue, or say if Fitzy for instance decided to move on, would you bring someone in, or is this a band you’re planning on trying to keep solid for a while?
Well that’s how it came together, it was thrown together sort of haphazardly when I knew when I was making the last album there was no way I wasn’t going to do a tour, so I had to go out and, the first thing that happened was I nailed Myles down and then once he committed to the tour I was like Ok I know all the musicians, all the rock musicians especially in Los Angeles so I just started rounding up the drummers I knew and that I’d played with and so on.  While I was doing that, some people had contacted me, and I say some because there was a bunch of them and they were all unrelated saying that you should check out this guy Brent Fitz, and he just happened to be in Vegas and I heard it so many time and I was like ‘fine already, I’ll go and check out this guy Brent.’ I was in Vegas and I got in touch with him and we met and got on really well and so I flew him out to LA and we did a rehearsal kind of thing, an audition I guess you’d call it, and out of all the drummers that I’d worked with at that point, he was the one that was behind the beat a little bit which is a way sexier way of making rock happen, very few drummers do it these days.  So I got him and I had a bass player that I’d picked up who was a great bass player, but in the first rehearsals it just seemed like he wasn’t really right for what we were doing, so Brent turned me on to Todd.  So anyway, this all came together and we rehearsed for two weeks, we rehearsed for a week, then Myles came in for another weeks and we did our first shows and it was pretty instantaneous from the rehearsals that there was this certain chemistry that was happening.  That’s a feeling that doesn’t happen very often, sometimes in a lifetime it happens once, so that was really encouraging so we went on and did some shows and came over here to Australia and did the MTV Classic launch and went on to do some festivals and we just kept on getting better at what it was we eclectically did.  Then I thought if I was going to do another solo record then I would just do it with these guys, that’s where we’re at, and going back to your original question, if Brent were to leave and do something else, it wouldn’t be easy for me to turn around and just get somebody else because we’ve really established a chemistry with the four of us.

So on this album did you write the songs for the band or with the band?
It’s initially still driven by me, I’ll come up with ideas, but I never sort of orchestrate a whole song and the arrangements all done and I go here play this and here’s the drum part and so on.  I just come up with the nucleus, the basic idea, like here’s a riff and here’s sort of the basic aversion of this idea and record it, send it to Myles wherever he is and see if he likes it, if he’s in to it.  If he likes it he might start writing some lyrics or come up with some chord changes and whatnot, and we’ll go back and forth like that and all the songs sort of get their start that way.  In this case as we were all touring, if it was us touring or if Myles was touring with Alter Bridge, when the tour was over we’d get Brent, Myles and Todd together and we’d just start going through the arrangements and that’s really where it starts to become a band effort, like here’s the changes that Myles and I came up with and they make up their own parts you know what I mean?

Tell us about the title Apocalyptic Love…
It’s the name of actually the first song off the record and when I first started thinking what are we going to call this thing, it’s always the last thing that you have to come up with is the title of the album, and I couldn’t think of any titles that really justified a label for the entire body of work, there wasn’t one line that really summed it all up.  So then it was going to be ‘Slash 2’ and I thought if worse comes to worse that’ll work but hopefully we can come up with something and in the back of my mind, Apocalyptic had always just been sort of a cool title, you know just as a song, so for the first time ever, no not the first time, second time, just take the song and make that the title of the album.

What’s the concept behind the cover art?
I just wanted to put a bunch of shit that I liked on the cover ha ha that’s all it was.  I had an initial idea involving two girls which was a little bit too risqué to make the album cover, even I was like it was a little bit too much, so then I got this idea to sort of do a sort of 70’s pop art kind of thing.  So I just put a bunch of crap on there that I dug, so there’s some cars on there, some snakes, some dinosaurs and girls and a guitar and all that kind of shit and I stripped some of that stuff away and just left it with what you have now which is the two chicks, the guitar, the top hat and had a great artist named Frank Maddocks actually do the rendering.

You worked with Eric Valentine again as a producer, what is it that he brings to the recording process?
That’s a good question; it’s almost an interview unto its self.  Eric was the guy when I was doing my last record, I’d been given a box of CD’s of all these current producers trying to figure out who I was gonna go with to make the last record, and he had done four or five albums that were all completely different, so it just showed that he had a lot of chops for different styles and so on.  One of the records he did was a Queens Of The Stone Age album called ‘Songs for the Deaf’ which is a fuckin’ great sounding record, so I called him up and I told him what I was doing and I was doing an album with all these different singers and stuff and he came down to this little demo studio that I was working in and I sort of played him all these crappy little demos that I put together.  He was the guy that really got the concept of all these different songs with all these different vocalists and I just felt comfortable that he would be able to put the right sonic touch to it. So we went and we put together the last record which was potentially a hard record to make, it could’ve been disastrous, but he was just fuckin’ great to work with, he’s technically a genius and on top of that he’s musically a genius and that’s a combination that’s rare in producers and musicians where you can find somebody that understands the workings of equipment that you’re working with and also understand chord structures and all that sort of shit.  He’s completely committed, 180% passionate about it and lives and breathes it which is exactly how I am so we get along really great, we have the same kind of musical tastes, we have the same kind of quirkiness about tuning and this, that and the other, so we just get on really well.

Watching the recording techniques on the studio updates, I saw you set up and play live.  Is that something you had to do on this album, was it the only way to essentially do it?
Yeah, it’s the way I’ve always set out to do it and in most cases I usually do, but the one difference in this record from all the other albums that I’ve done is usually what happens is you go in the studio and you play live with the bass and drums, and what you normally do is you do it with headphones on as that’s just the technique as you don’t want the amp in the room as there’s going to be too much bleed on the other tracks.  So you do it with headphones, the amp is in a separate iso-booth and headphones to me always sound like shit and I think they have a dramatic effect on the way that I play.  So I do a dummy track with the bass and drums just to have that raw energy, right, then I go and redo the guitars in the control room where I can have it coming out of the monitors on fuckin’11 you know?  But I’ve always wanted to be able to play live with the band and keep it, so on this record we built a room in the studio that had monitors in it, that had glass on the door so that I could see the guys and we could play together but the audio I was hearing wasn’t coming from headphones, it was coming from a real source.  That’s how we did it, we just played everything live, we kept all the guitars and very few overdubs.

Touring plans, I have to ask, any plans to come back and see us anytime soon?
Yeah we’re talking September / October.

Nothing set yet?
It’ll definitely be somewhere in there, isn’t that vague enough for you? Ha ha ha.

Lastly, is there anything you can let people know about the album that you want to give them an insight to?
You know, the album sort of speaks for itself; I’m really bad at verbally trying to describe the record, I think that’s very limiting.  Like you said, it was a hard rock record which that it is, best played at high volume, just like and good rock record, and sort of it’s somewhat of a journey and you just get in to it, and that’s basically it, I think it’s a good record though.

Good record?  Great Record…
I don’t go there ha ha ha.

Essential Information

From: Los Angeles, CA, USA

Band members: Slash – Guitars, Myles Kennedy – Vocals/ Guitar, Brent Fitz – Drums, Todd Kerns – Bass

Website: http://www.slashonline.com

Latest release: Apocalyptic Love (Sony Music Australia – May 18)

Check out our review of ‘Apocalyptic Love’ here

Australian Tour Dates

THURS 23 AUGUST – BRISBANE, THE RIVERSTAGE– LIC A/A
www.ticketmaster.com.au

SAT 25 AUGUST – SYDNEY, ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE – LIC A/A
www.ticketmaster.com.au

SUN 26 AUGUST – MELBOURNE, HISENSE ARENA – LIC A/A
www.ticketek.com.au

TUES 28 AUGUST – ADELAIDE, THEBARTON THEATRE – LIC A/A
www.oztix.com.au / www.venuetix.com.au

THURS 30 AUGUST – PERTH, METRO CITY – 18+
www.oztix.com.au

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Butch Walker has just appeared on an episode on ‘Live From Daryl’s House’, that would be Daryl Hall of Hall and Oates fame.  Check out the details below…

“Do you like the vocal stylings of Daryl Hall? Do you like paella? How about some red wine? Oh… I forgot.. Do you like to jam? If your name is Butch Walker, then HELL YES. sign me up for that. You can catch me doing the entire list of those things with Daryl on an episode of Live From Daryl’s House at http://www.livefromdarylshouse.com/

Eat your heart out, cheerleader girlfriend in elementary school that broke up with me after she gave me her vinyl single of “Kiss On My List”….”

Butch Walker and The Black Widows latest album The Spade available now: download the album on Amazon, iTunes

- Purchase the CD from Amazon or Best Buy
- Purchase the vinyl in the Dangerbird store

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Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.