Category: Features

Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani

“It’s funny, when I sit down and play guitar I remember the feeling when I was fourteen, struggling on the instrument, and to some degree I still struggle, but I’m just at a different level, but I’ve had plenty of opportunity to quit *laughs* you know what I mean? You ask yourself, well why didn’t you quit? Then I realized […]

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Richard Boucher of Funeral For A Friend

Richard Boucher of Funeral For A Friend

“I think we always like to keep our listeners on their feet *laughs* without giving too much away I think we’ll always be a band that’s definitely full of surprises and we’ll always try and better ourselves and keep things interesting. I don’t think we’re complacent people at all, so keep a watch on us as you’ll never know. *laughs*” […]

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Jasen Moreno of Drowning Pool

Jasen Moreno of Drowning Pool

“Resilience” well if ever there’s a band that typifies this word, it’s Drowning Pool.  Since the breakthrough hit Bodies blasted the band through speakers worldwide back in 2001, the band were hit with the tragic death of vocalist Dave Williams in 2002.  Releasing three albums in the years since, with two different vocalists, now in 2013, the band have just […]

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Mark Jansen of EPICA

Mark Jansen of EPICA

“I’ve heard some things about the crowds, for example Floor Jansen from Nightwish said on their recent tour that the crowds were really wild, crazy and amazing and that we will have a great time over there. So that definitely raised my expectations, so I really look forward to the shows.” The last 12 months or so, sure have seen […]

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Richie Ramone

Richie Ramone

“I don’t know, I think at this point in my life I was ready. I had a lot of great material and just wanted to do it you know? I think I owe this… you know I want people to see the other side of me…” Richie Ramone is known as the fastest, most powerful drummer who ever played with […]

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Robert Ortiz of Escape The Fate

Robert Ortiz of Escape The Fate

“This album represents everything we need to do right now.  This is our whole identity, this is it, there’s no turning back for us, it’s now or never, if this doesn’t work out for us then we had our chance…and we blew it, we have to, have to make this album work.” Escape The Fate, well there’s a band that’s […]

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Andy Dowling of LORD

Andy Dowling of LORD

Digital Lies is the new studio album from Lord, which will no doubt further affirm their standing as one of Australia’s leading, internationally renowned metal bands.  It may have been the best part of four years between album releases, but as one of the hardest working bands here in Australia with relentless touring, an EP release and the occasional video […]

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Ronnie Atkins of Pretty Maids

Ronnie Atkins of Pretty Maids

For over 30 years now, Danish rockers Pretty Maids have been at the forefront of European hard rock.  Back in 1987, they released their absolute classic album Future World and following on from their 2010 release Pandemonium, founding members Ronnie Atkins and Ken Hammer and co. deliver another slab of crushing melodic rock with new album Motherland.  All the trademark […]

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Travis Stever of Coheed and Cambria

Travis Stever of Coheed and Cambria

“I consider Coheed to be a rolling ball in a way, and every album has rolled through and collected the parts of that album, the experimenting and this and that and then we just rolled into what Afterman is. I think if I had to choose a record that represents that band, and I know most musicians would say this, […]

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Ken Casey of Dropkick Murphys

Ken Casey of Dropkick Murphys

“As a matter of fact I think the secret to our success is never looking to new, modern music because we’re never trying to change with the times or even from an engineering, sound standpoint, say well all the current albums sound like this. I think we want to sound as old and out dated as possible, that usually means […]

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Frank Turner

Frank Turner

“I wanted to make a record that sort of was a little bit more ambitious sonically, a big kind of guiding record for me was Weezer’s ‘Pinkerton’ which has always been one of my favourite records, but I was really pushing for that sort of vibe this time around.” After hitting the studio for the best part of 2012, recording […]

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Jenna McDougall of Tonight Alive

Jenna McDougall of Tonight Alive

“We don’t get big heads about anything, I mean being Aussies it’s our humour to cut each other down, so we really appreciate it and we’re hugely grateful for everything and for everyone’s support worldwide but I think we’ve got a really high bar set for ourselves so we’re always working towards something.” From Press Release: After coming back off […]

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Andrew McKeag of The Presidents Of The United States Of America

Andrew McKeag of The Presidents Of The United States Of America

“I didn’t know that it was just a rock and roll band with some clever, silly lyrics too, but just a rock and roll band and then I started playing with them and they’re just so tight without ever really discussing being tight. It’s not like we practise all the time, it’s just that everybody’s ears are open and you’re […]

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Fredrik Åkesson of Opeth

Fredrik Åkesson of Opeth

“At the time he said if it wouldn’t have been for ‘Heritage’ maybe the band wouldn’t have existed anymore. So it was in a way it was some kind of, well I wouldn’t say cleansing, but I’m proud of the album, I still like it, I understand people, hardcore metal fans because there was no screaming but in a way […]

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Noodles of The Offspring

Noodles of The Offspring

“We try to cater these shows to the more hardcore Offspring fans that have been around for a while you know, the fans that grew up with ‘Ignition’ and not just ‘Smash’ and all the records since, it’s kind of self-indulgent but it’s fun *laughs* and I think the fans are loving it.” From tour press release: If you were […]

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Ricky Warwick & Scott Gorham of Black Star Riders / Thin Lizzy

Ricky Warwick & Scott Gorham of Black Star Riders / Thin Lizzy

“I really think this is probably one of the best albums I’ve ever been on… I went there OK? *laughs* It’s just the way we wrote the songs, the arrangements, Ricky’s phrasing, his lyrics, Damon’s playing some kick ass guitar in there, Jimmy DeGrasso is like a fresh face in there, the whole deal. Lighting a fire is kind of […]

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Jon Dette

Jon Dette

“It’s been great man, it seems like it would be a little more challenging *laughs* which it is, but it’s a welcome challenge and I’m just taking care of myself out here, not having as many beers as I probably would like to have *laughs* but it’s been going great, the shows have been going amazing and everybody seems really […]

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Spencer Sotelo and Mark Holcomb of Periphery

Spencer Sotelo and Mark Holcomb of Periphery

“There’s one word that I can say is what we aim for, and I always aim for our set as a whole, collectively to be sort of a spectacle. I want it to look like one massive unit, I want it to look like a spectacle and sound like a machine and want us to all look the same way, […]

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Mike Herrera of MxPx (Allstars)

Mike Herrera of MxPx (Allstars)

For just over 20 years now, MxPx have been delivering their brand of punk to a fan base that extends to all corners of the globe, none more so than Australia.  This coming week front man Mike Herrera and his MxPx Allstars yet another visit to Australia for a run of headline shows.  Existing for 20 years in music is […]

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Petri Lindroos of Ensiferum

Petri Lindroos of Ensiferum

There’s certainly been a strong influx of metal bands hitting Australian shores in recent months and continuing that trend in a matter of weeks will be Finnish folk/viking metallers Ensiferum.  Having toured Australia back in 2010 supporting Sonata Artica, this run of dates will see the band on their own headline tour, in support of their most recent album Unsung […]

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Mike D’Antonio, Joel Stroetzel & Justin Foley of Killswitch Engage

Mike D’Antonio, Joel Stroetzel & Justin Foley of Killswitch Engage

“It’s a great way to come down here and get the most people, like the most bang for your buck with people watching because we don’t get here that often but when we do get here and see tonnes of people it’s a really great way to get our band out as much as possible.” From Bio: Sometimes, a much-loved […]

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Ian Berney of Birds of Tokyo

Ian Berney of Birds of Tokyo

“The whole idea of this record is like a very communal based thing like engaging people as listeners and it’s a record for a listener rather than a record for musicians or about a singer in the band or the band itself.  The idea of being able to read it as a headline sort of connected the community to the […]

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Deen Castronovo of  Journey

Deen Castronovo of Journey

“To write songs for the people and the people can like it, instead of writing something about drugs or chicks, that’s not Journey’s thing, it was more about beautiful ballads, great rock songs with a cool message for the people, they were a band for the people, still is.” As a band for forty years now, with some of the […]

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Jason ‘Cone’ McCaslin of Sum 41

Jason ‘Cone’ McCaslin of Sum 41

“We’re looking forward to coming, sucks that we had to cancel last time but we’re ready to come this time and we hope the shows will be good and it will be a fun time. I think this line-up is actually better, it’s probably the best line-up I’ve seen in a long, long time since I’ve been touring, so it’s […]

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Frank Bello of Anthrax

Frank Bello of Anthrax

“So this is an absolute beast that’s coming on the road and we couldn’t be more proud, we feel like we’re back with a vengeance and we’re really hungry, this is a hungry animal and I’m really proud of the band, I couldn’t be more excited, I’m so stoked to be coming over there.” From Press Release: If you have […]

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Chris Barnes of Six Feet Under

Chris Barnes of Six Feet Under

“I know we haven’t been down there before and it’s going to be awesome for everybody, man, for us, for the fans that haven’t seen the band ever down there. We’re just looking forward to it; we’re going to be at the top of our game so we hope everyone can stand the brutality.” When you’re given the title of […]

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Duff McKagan of Loaded

Duff McKagan of Loaded

“We just do our own thing and that’s what we’ve done, and we try to keep turning the screw a little musically on the new music that we write and we like to be a little different and we’ve got ourselves a nice little following around the world and Australia’s next.” From tour press release: When names like Guns N’ […]

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Gavin Butler of The Blackout

Gavin Butler of The Blackout

“We grew up and started as a live band and that’s all we’ve ever wanted to do with music, writing and recording is awesome, but playing live is what we love doing.  Just expect six massive smiles on some stupid Welsh heads.” From Bio: Originally formed in South Wales in 2003, THE BLACKOUT have gone on to shift over 60,000 […]

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Danko Jones

Danko Jones

“Trust me, when I’m in Australia for Soundwave, I’m not going to be out sightseeing, my job is to rock the Australian audiences.” With a comment like the above, it’s no wonder that Danko Jones have built up such a strong reputation as a killer live rock act since they begun in 1996.  Heading to Australia for Soundwave Festival and […]

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Jason James of Bullet For My Valentine

Jason James of Bullet For My Valentine

“Obviously you’re only as good as your last album, so we’ve improved and adopted a little less is more on this album, the songs only have what the songs need and we’ve matured a lot…” Bullet For My Valentine have been ripping it up now for almost fifteen years.  In that time have released three albums and helped pave the […]

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