The Mic: What got this band together and started in
this business?
Killer Strangelet:KILLER STRANGELET GOT TOGETHER BY LINKING UP FROM VARIOUS BANDS IN THE AREA. OUR CURRENT LINEUP GOT TOGETHER IN LATE DECEMBER OF 2008 WITH THE ADDITION OF OUR DRUMMER MATT CIRCLE. THE REST OF US GATHERED IN 2005.
The Mic:Who writes and produces all the material for
the band?
Killer Strangelet:ITS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT. EVERYONE PLAYS HIS ROLL.
The Mic:The band played in front of or with any acts
our readers would
know from the Mainstream?
Killer Strangelet:FLAW,PRIMER 55,SUM OF THE EARTH, BURY YOUR DEAD, CATTLE DECAPITATION, THE CAST PATTERN, MARC RIZZO, AND MANY OTHERS.
The Mic:Where can people access your music on the web?
Killer Strangelet:WE ARE CURRENTLY RECORDING, BUT WE DO HAVE LIVE VIDEO AND AUDIO FOOTAGE OF OUR MATERIAL ON OUR MYSPACE.
The Mic:Any embarrassing moments on stage?
Killer Strangelet:KORI BROKE HIS LEG ONSTAGE. LOSING POWER AND LIGHTS. STARTING TWO DIFFERENT SONGS AT THE SAME TIME. GETTING DRUNK AND THROWING UP ON OTHER BANDS GEAR.
The Mic:Any good stories you want to tell us?
Killer Strangelet:WE HAVE SOME WHOPPERS, BUT NOT TO BE SHARED IN THE PUBLIC EYE.
The Mic:Who is the bands musical influence?
Killer Strangelet:THERE ARE TOO MANY TO NAME BETWEEN THE 5 OF US, PLEASE CHECK OUT THE MYSPACE TO SEE THE LONG LIST.
The Mic:How did the band get together?
Killer Strangelet:3 DUDES PLAYING THAT FOUND A DUDE THAT WANTED TO PLAY AS WELL, AND THEN HE BROUGHT IN A DRUMMER SO WE COULD ALL PLAY TOGETHER.
The Mic:What is your musical background like?
Killer Strangelet:WE WERE ALL IN DIFFERENT BANDS. SOME OF US HAD GONE TO SCHOOL FOR MUSIC. SOME OF US NEVER FINISHED.CRAIG (GUITARIST) HAS A DEGREE IN MUSIC WITH EMPHASIS ON CLASSICAL GUITAR. MATT (DRUMMER) HAS BEEN ALL OVER PLAYING FOR DIFFERENT BANDS. MATT WENT TO A LOCAL JUNIOR COLLEGE FOR TWO YEARS FOR AUDIO ENGINEERING. KORI (VOCALS) WENT TO THE SAME JUNIOR COLLEGE FOR MUSIC PERFORMANCE, AND COMMERCIAL MUSIC. JON (GUITARIST) HAS PERFORMED IN BRANSON FOR VARIOUS BLUEGRASS BANDS, AND WAS THE YOUNGEST TO PERFORM AMONG THE GROUP. OGRE (BASS) SUCKED AT THE GUITAR AND MOVED TO BASS AND HAS PLAYED FOR VARIOUS BANDS AND FOUND HIS HOME AS THE WORLDS LARGEST BASSIST FOR KILLER STRANGELET.
The Mic:Any other members in your family that are
musicians?
Killer Strangelet:KORI (VOCALS) HAS A FEW COUSINS THAT PLAY FOR LOCAL BANDS, ONE OF THEM IS A STAR WARS COVER BAND WITH OUTFITS AND ALL.
JON (GUITARIST) FATHER USED TO PLAY IN BANDS WAY BACK IN THE DAY. CRAIG (GUITARIST) FATHER PLAYS GUITAR. MOTHER PLAYS PIANO.
BROTHER, IS PRESIDENT OF BRAINSPAWN AND AUTHORED FORTE SOFTWARE.
The Mic:What is the TOP reason why you want to play
music?
Killer Strangelet:CRAIG-"SHARE MY PASSION WITH LIKEMINDED PEOPLE"
JON-"GET ALL THE CRAZY OUTTA MY HEAD SO I DONT SNAP"
MATT-"PLAYING DRUMS ARE THE ONLY WAY I CAN EXPRESS MYSELF, SEXUALLY"
OGRE-"SO THAT EVERYONE WILL KNOW AND LOVE ME AS MUCH AS I LOVE MYSELF"
KORI-"TO MAKE MY MARK IN HISTORY, IM NOT A WARRIOR, AND I DONT HAVE ANY AMBITION TO DO ANYTHING ELSE. PLUS BEER AND BOOBIES ARE A GOOD MOTIVE TO PLAY MUSIC."
The MIC: what's your stance on file swapping?
Killer Strangelet:ITS GOOD TO GET YOUR MUSIC OUT THERE, BUT WE THINK THAT SHARING ALL YOUR MATERIAL DRAWS THE LINE OF MORALITY. SUPPORTING THE BAND AND BUYING THE CD FOR THE LINER NOTES BENEFITS EVERYONE. WE ARE MORE INTO WIFE SWAPPING.
The MIC:what is the process of making a cd?
Killer Strangelet:PLAY, RECORD, STOP, DO AGAIN, RECORD, DRINK, EAT, SLEEP, PLAY, RECORD, STOP, MASTER, MIX, REMASTER, SELL THE HELL OUT OF IT. WE ALSO HAVE A CD FOR TITS CHARITY PROGRAM.
The MIC:how do you get the word out about your music?
Killer Strangelet:YELLING IN MICROPHONES, AND VIA INTERNET, SOON IN RADIO.
The MIC:how is your local responce to your music?
Killer Strangelet:THE RESPONSES ARE GOOD. OUR CROWDS GROW EVERY SHOW.
The MIC:what is the farthers you have traveled for a gig?
Killer Strangelet:3OO MILES OR SO.. NOT SURE. WE'VE BEEN AROUND.
The MIC:What tune on the cd are you most proud of?
Killer Strangelet:WE ARE PROUD OF ALL OF THEM, FOR DIFFERENT REASONS. WE ALL HAVE OUR FAVORITES.
The MIC with Killer Stragelet
The MIC with The Dust
The Dust: from Half Moon Bay, CA
In the studio currently. New cd out DEcember 2009.
The Mic:Where can people access your music on the web?
The Dust:
www.myspace.com/thedust is the best place to do that. You can find us on www.youtube.com/thisisthedust to check out some videos too.
The Mic:Any embarrassing moments on stage?
The Dust:A few trainwrecks early on, but nothing too embarrassing. We are all pretty layed back poeple so we don't really get embarrassed. The best way to learn it to make mistakes anyway. WE are also the kind of people who don't want to make the same mistake twice so, we've learned a lot and just make sure we are super rehearsed and prepared for anything.
The Mic:Any good stories you want to tell us?
The Dust:How bout't the time we woke up in Arcata, CA and had to be in Seattle by 8PM. We got up at 7...no breakfast. Hit the road and were on schedule to get there just in time to load in for our Seattle show. Double flat tires just as we got off the windy east to west highway and had reached the 5. The guys at the garage hooked us up and put our van up on the lift ahead of like 5 other people who had been waiting longer. So thanks to those guys in Grants Pass who hooked us up and got us to our show just a little late instead of missing the whole thing.
Lots of good stories and fun times...
The Mic:Who is the bands musical influence?
The Dust:We all have different musical influences. That’s what makes the band cool. The number one influence is life and our experiences. I’ll name a few bands we really enjoy…
Suicidal Tendencies, Rage Against The Machine, Tool, Earth Crisis, D.R.I., Lamb of God, Slipknot, Meshuggah, Clutch, Pantera, Metallica, Helmet, Soulfly, Minor Threat, Killswitch Engage, Sepultura, Chevelle, and etc.
The Mic:How did the band get together?
The Dust:The three founding members have been tight for Twenty-two years…thus the title of the first full length we put out. But if we wrote that album again we’d have to call it Twenty-five. We all became friends and kept skating and surfing together all these years. Throw in some snowboarding and the college years and you can say we’ve been best friends for most of our lives. The band is an extension of that friendship we created and have worked hard to maintain. We hired Dave’s (the guy we're playing with on drums) step dad to paint the art for the cover of our CD, Twenty-two. The rest is history.
The awesome foursome has been together what?…its been almost two years now.
The Mic:What is your musical background like?
The Dust:WE all have some embarrassing stories about taking music lessons on some instrument we don't choose to play anymore. Then we all heard what we felt was real music later on and that inspired us to put down the traditional instruments and start playing rock instruments. Its always been a band situation for us since then. We learned to play together by writing our own riffs and beats and music. We never got too stuck on playing other people's music. We always wanted to express what we had inside. We've worked hard for a long time to finally feel like the audience is responding to us. It takes a lot of practice to get the feelings out in an authentic way so the people listening can really feel what you are feeling.
The Mic:Any other members in your family that are
musicians?
The Dust:Matt has a brother who was into a lot of brass instruments when we were kids. Brian has a brother who is a DJ. Josh's older brother was a drummer in some local bands when we little kids. Matt's uncles were in a band that toured with the Jackson Five back in the 70's.
The Mic:What is the TOP reason why you want to play
music?
The Dust:Man, how can you be alive and NOT be motivated to play music? It seems like ever since high school we have been into music, and trying to make our own came naturally to us. You can call us musicians if you want, but we just try to do what’s fun and what sounds good to us. We like to play stuff that fills us with energy. A lot of things that we see happen and things that happen to us in life inspire the feelings inside that come out in our music. I think the first band that really inspired me was Minor Threat. I wanted to do what they were doing.
A lot of what drives our song writing is that feeling when you’re about to go for something big on a skateboard or dropping in on a huge wave. There is that thing inside that tells you to bail or not go for it. We tap into the energy of that thing that makes us go anyway, despite the fear. It’s that energy that we have inside when we play our music.
The Mic:What has been your best show?
The Dust:We have had a lot of awesome locals shows with a huge crowd and everyone is going nuts having so much fun. I could mention one of those, but the ones that stick out even more are the ones where something unexpected happens. We drove two hours to play a show and arrived totally disgusted. We had been totally mislead by the promoter as to the draw and venue.
We set up expecting the worst. We were in this tiny lounge adjacent to a bowling alley. There were about five people sitting in there and we figured by the time we had played for 30 seconds they'd be running out the door.
We love what we do so we just set up and played like we always do. We couldn't believe it. Never judge people by their looks. We all know that, but this was such an awesome reminder. These people were coming up to us and banging their heads and throwing the goat. All of a sudden, people from outside were coming in to listen and just getting caught up in it. Then people stopped bowling and came in too. The place was packed and filled with so much good energy. It was a really sick transformation. Music and be so powerful!
The MIC with Lew from Beat the Bone
The Mic: What got this band together and started in
this business?
Beat the Bone:Well, my Brother and I always played music, so we just decided we would start our own band and see what happened.
The Mic:Who writes and produces all the material for
the band?
Beat the Bone:myself(Lew Nottke), and my brother Ray(Nottke).
The Mic:The band played in front of or with any acts
our readers would know from the Mainstream?
Beat the Bone:We have toured with Iron Maiden, Queensryche, and Rob Halford, and some other big names, but there is too many to list. It was truly an honor to do work with these people.
The Mic:Where can people access your music on the web?
Beat the Bone:Itunes, and any other digital online music store.
The Mic:Any embarrassing moments on stage?
Beat the Bone:Nothing really, I mean I broke a string once and went totally out of tune while playing, but its nothing embarrassing per say.
The Mic:Who is the bands musical influence?
Beat the Bone:Megadeth, Godsmack, Disturbed, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Creed, Black Sabbath, Rob Zombie,Social Distortion, Bad Religion, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hendrix, Drowning Pool and many many more
The Mic:How did the band get together?
Beat the Bone: refer to the first question.
The Mic:What is your musical background like?
Beat the Bone:I started playing guitar in high school, and the rest is history. Now I am featured on Guitar Masters Vol. One with legends much as Santana and Jimmy Paige.
The Mic:Any other members in your family that are
musicians?
Beat the Bone:My great grandfather was a touring musician in the big band era. Otherwise, obviously my brother.
The Mic:What is the TOP reason why you want to play
music?
Beat the Bone:Simple. Give people some enjoyment in their lives, something good to listen to, an outlet.
The Mic:What has been your best show?
Beat the Bone:Opening for Iron Maiden in San Francisco because the energy and the crowd there was beyond insane.
MIC Online Magazine taks with BLEED
The Mic: What got this band together and started in
this business?
Bleed: It was a decision to get back into the scene & kinda finish what we started earlier in our careers. We had all be in bands before when we were younger, some of us even shared the same stage once or twice, but the NJ/Philly scene died out in the 90's. When the original music scene came back in 2000 we decided it was time to re-emerge & do it bigger & better.
The Mic:Who writes and produces all the material for
the band?
Bleed: Chuck & Greg primarily write most of the lyrics with additions & ideas from the entire band. As for song arrangement, it's an entire band decision. We've been fortunate to be able to put songs together quickly because we work well with each other. That work ethic has carried on into the studio, were this band truely shines. With help from our past producers Mike Harmon (Studio Crash) & Tony Brattelli (Mega-Productions), we went on to produce 5 CD's in 9 years. Believe it or not, we may be a hard partying outrageous band live, but in the studio we're all business!
The Mic:The band played in front of or with any acts
our readers would
know from the Mainstream?
Bleed: We were extremely fortunate to have been a regular act at our favorite bar Whiskey Dix in Philly. It was attached to The Electric Factory so we had countless oppetunities to play pre-parties & after-parties for all the major concerts coming thru the Philly area. Many of these had the headlining bands coming over to hang out & watch us. Alice In Chains, Disturbed, Papa Roach, Sevendust, Queensryche, & Breaking Benjamin are just a few of the bands we did parties for.
The Mic:Where can people access your music on the web?
Bleed: Thru our myspace site.
The Mic:Any embarrassing moments on stage?
Bleed: Wow..alot..many of them caused by alcohol..haha. We're pretty known for our party crowd so trust me the bars do well when we play!
One that comes to mind right off the bat was the night Chuck decided to pay tribute to his South Jersey roots & try to pull off the pattented "swing your guitar around your shoulder move"..well lets just say it went flying off his shoulder & landed with a huge BOOM which I swear almost blew everyone's eardrums out!! I (Greg) had my eyes closed during it because I knew when he was going to do it. The crowd loved it!
The Mic:Any good stories you want to tell us?
Bleed: Well, lets just say there is WAY too many stories to tell here, & most of them would be censored. We have often talked about writing a book on the last 9 years as an original un-signed band because I swear to you we have lived like we were already famous. There are some funny stories written on the Bleed myspace site from friends which may just touch on some of our antics.
The Mic:Who is the bands musical influence?
Bleed: Everything & I mean everything. From jazz to country..each one of us has our own passion. Put us together & we are all on the same page though..modern hard rock with a hint of our past.
The Mic:How did the band get together?
Bleed: In a nutshell..It was joint decision between Greg & Chuck at first, then we had found a mutual friend from the past (Frank). From an ad response we connected with Mike & formed Bleed. Later we decided we needed a second guitarist so through another mutual friend we found Rich. When Frank left after a couple years with us, we added AJ who had seen us perform & wanted to join. The whole detailed story of Bleed is up on our myspace site if anyone is interested.
The Mic:What is your musical background like?
Bleed: We each had extensive musical backgrounds before forming Bleed, so more successful than others. But we each had the same base..feeling like we needed to go out & prove ourselves again & chase the dream.
The Mic:Any other members in your family that are
musicians?
Bleed: (Greg) My sister in LA (Jane Erik).
The Mic:What is the TOP reason why you want to play
music
Bleed: Well like we stated before, we've all been shooting for the stars since were little kids, it's in our blood & we love the creation of music & having people enjoy it. But we'd be lying if we didn't say we love the lifestyle also!
The Mic:What has been your best show?
Bleed: Too many to list over 9 years..the best shows are when we have a responsive crowd that is there to let loose & party with us..onstage & offstage..the show never ends..thats the Bleed motto!
www.myspace.com/bleed
