The Fray announced that they are going to be releasing their third album, entitled Scars & Stories this coming February.
Interestingly, they used some of the album’s budget to travel around the world a bit before settling down for the writing process. A lot of their songs from the new album are inspired by the places they’ve gone during those journeys.
The album is available for preorder, and will be released on February 7th.
Posted in Album Releases, Jill Storm, The Fray
Tagged album release, february release, new album, scars and stories, the fray
The Maine released their long awaited album, Pioneer, on December 6th, and have since gone on tour to support it.
They released a short video to show fans how the tour has been thus far.
Enjoy.
Posted in Jill Storm, The Maine, Tour Dates
Tagged pioneer, pioneer tour, the maine, tour update, winter tour
I had the honor to interview The Underhill Family Orchestra, who are an amazing up and coming band from Alabama.
How did y’all meet each other and what steps brought you towards where you are?
Most of us met while in school at The University of Mobile. Steven, Joelle, and myself (Brian) began writing songs for no particular reason other than the fun of it, and it wasn’t until a few months later after a lot of unexpectedly good response that we decided to expand the lineup as well as the sound. We’ve been through several lineup changes and seen members come and go, but the core group has stayed the same, and I feel like we’ve finally gotten a group that allows us all to do exactly what we want on an artistic level. It’s definitely the best creative and social chemistry we’ve ever had in a lineup.
Describe your sound, and where you drew influences from?
Our sound has been best described as rowdy folk rock. We each draw influences from vastly different artists and eras of music, so when you throw it all together it gets a bit hard to define. The biggest motif that winds almost universally through our music is that whatever we do, we do it big. We try our best when onstage to create a wall of sound that the crowd doesn’t just hear, but feels as well. Our quiet parts are dead silent, and our loud parts are absolutely huge.
You have some interesting instruments in your repertoire, including mandolin and tambourine. What inspired you to add them in, and how did it effect your overall sound?
Our instrumentation is based on creating a sound that resonates of the south. With all of us having grown up in southern Alabama, southern music has always been our natural voice, and so working with bluegrass instruments like the mandolin just fits. We’ve even had a fiddle player, honky tonk pianist, and banjo player at different points. Whatever adds to the sound without taking us too far from our southern roots.
What was the song writing and recording process like?
The songwriting on “This Is…” consists of a 50/50 mix of songs brought to the table by individual members, and songs written from scratch in collaboration with the whole group. A few of the tracks such as Grimm and Counting Letters were written by Steven, Joelle, and myself in Joelle’s bedroom back when we first started. Others, Sam specifically, were written much more recently with the entire group present for the whole process. The recording process was a learning experience for all of us. We recorded at Backdoor Studios in Mobile, and for all but one of us it was our first time in a professional studio. It was definitely one of the most educational and fun things that we’ve ever done together as a group. Our producer, Sean Murphy, was extremely flexible and gave us the time and breathing room to experiment and pay attention to details, and a lot of those tiny details ended up being our favorite parts of the album.
Where are you hitting on your current tour?
Our current tour route is taking us throughout the Southeast. The corners are Jacksonville, FL, Lynchburg, VA, Memphis, TN, and Lafayette, LA. We are running 28 days within that rectangle, and currently we’re on an off day in Birmingham, and gearing up for two shows in Tuscaloosa tomorrow.
Favorite forms of fun (outside of music)?
We’re all pretty big fans of Karaoke, that’s a major activity for us. Other than that, we’re generally pretty easy-going folks, and on an average night of the week you’ll catch most of us either working or hanging out at Serda’s Coffee Co, or laughing over a few beers at Hopjacks or The Blind Mule.
Where did the Underhill surname come from?
When we started discussing a name, we decided that we wanted to be “The (blank) Family Orchestra for a few reasons. The biggest reason that we started this group was to be able to spend time and be creative with our best friends, and that accounts for the “Family” part. The “Orchestra” has its’ place because it is a sonic layout that we try to emanate – a multitude of musical elements all being synced together to form a cohesive wall of sound. The name “Underhill” came in because it’s a surname that Steven has in his bloodline a few generations back, and we liked the sound of it.
Favorite tour memories?
There are way too many of those to list. The best thing about touring is all the new people we get to meet. There are times where we’ve showed up at a venue expecting a mediocre show, and been blown away by a great crowd. On the other hand, there have been times that we’ve expected a great show and ended up playing to four people. Regardless of what the night is like, we always come away with new friends. One thing I’ve learned is that the best stories come out of the worst circumstances. On our current tour route just a couple of weeks ago the radiator blew out on our van, and we spent three days stuck at Steven’s house in Mobile waiting for it to be fixed so we could get out on the road. It was miserable and annoying at the time, but the 6 of us being cooped up in a house for 3 days made for some great memories. We have a lot more stories than that filed away in memory, but you’d have to catch us off the record to hear most of them.
Artists who inspire you?
Jeremy – Sunset Rubdown, Joanna Newsom
Steven – Dignan, Colour Revolt, mewithoutYou
Ben – Iron and Wine, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, My Hotel Year
Jimmy – Fugazi, Square Pusher, Willie Nelson
Joelle – Billie Holiday, How to Dress Well, Fleet Foxes, Massive Attack
Brian – Led Zeppelin, Jack White, Dr. Dog
Thanks guys, you’re all amazing. Best of luck on tour!
Check out their website www.underhillfamilyorchestra.com for more information, and to listen to their music.
Posted in Jill Storm, Underhill Family Orchestra
Tagged alabama, folk rock, interview, This Is…, underhill family orchestra
WALKA is the music project of Chicago based Pat Walker.
Although he is hesitant to classify his music into any particular genre, he feels that “Glitch-Hop” suits it comfortably, although he also likes to call it a variety of other interesting names, like “Lazer-Funk” and “Blap-Hop”.
When asked what got him into the genre, he admits “I honestly don’t know how I got into producing music, maybe it appealed to me that this new age of electronic music was pushing the boundaries of sound”.
The music is hard to describe, something on an island far away from normal.
Walker calls the sounds 100% Organa-bass, because he creates his loops from scratch, as opposed to some other artists that use presets.
Maybe I should stop writing articles on how fascinating I find it that electronica is pushing the limits of what we all think of when someone says music. It’s just really phenomenal how suddenly our generation is able to string sounds together to make music with computer dubbing and loops, as opposed to the raw stuff of previous generations. Needless to say, I hope that we’ll always be able to appreciate a good guitar solo, or some genius lyrics, but the the future of music is vast, and rather exciting to consider.
Highly recommend listening to his music, because you won’t find anything quite like it anywhere else.
For WALKA updates and show info, you can also check out his Facebook page.
Hellogoodbye is heading off in a new direction [again] with their newest release, Killin Time
Different people have different opinions on the new sound, some commented saying that it’s reminiscent of the Beach Boys, others, saying it sounded like The Mighty Might Bostones.
There is even a guitar riff that reminds me of Linus and Lucy, the Peanuts theme song.
And maybe a little Vampire Weekend too.
Okay, decide for yourselves.
Point is, the song is crazy amazing, and I have a new favorite. The song was recorded over a two day span in Vegas. Impressive.
Looking forward to more new releases in the near future.
Posted in Hellogoodbye, Jill Storm
Tagged hellogoodbye, Killin Time, new direction, new music, song review
Underhill Family Orchestra is an indie folk band based in Mobile, Alabama.
They released their first album, and are currently touring the country.
Their music, which you can listen to by clicking this link, is a classic mix of folk and rock.
If you are interested in seeing them live, or getting updates, you can check out their Facebook by clicking here.
For more information, also, you can visit their website www.underhillfamilyorchestra.com
Posted in Jill Storm, Underhill Family Orchestra
Tagged alabama, feature, indie folk, new music, underhill family orchestra
Thirty-three years after their last album, Never Say Die, released, Black Sabbath is back.
Good for them. Music is not something you can really just “get over”. Once a rock star, always a rock star.
The band members, all now in their sixties, are the original four, consisting of singer Ozzie Osborne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Bill Ward.
Dressed in their iconic black, the band released a statement that they were going to kick off their 2012 World Tour in England, at the Download Festival in June of next year.
Black Sabbath members also revealed that they plan on releasing an album next autumn.
It’s just time,’ said Osbourne. ‘This time, for some magical reason, we have written about seven or eight songs.’
“It’s now or never. We are getting along great. Everything’s really good,’ Iommi also stated. ‘It’s like putting on an old glove. It’s fantastic.’
Black Sabbath, along with Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, were the fathers of metal music, birthing a new genre, all it’s own.
James McMahon, editor of Kerrang! Magazine is quoted saying:
“They are the Beatles of heavy metal. It all starts with Black Sabbath.”
The band launched their first official website, www.blacksabbath.comand now also have a Facebook page and Twitter as well.
Am I the only one who finds the idea of Ozzie tweeting to be amusing?
Well, welcome back, you dark geniuses.
Posted in Album Releases, Black Sabbath, Events, Feature, Jill Storm
Tagged Bill Ward, black sabbath, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osborne, reunion, Tony Iommi
Dana Destefano knows how to stand out.
Her and her boyfriend, bassist Gerald Rienton, started their rock band, The Dollparts, in a conservative Chicago suburb.
Their band name is inspired by the song of that name by Hole.
“I love the line in that song that goes ‘I wanna be the girl with the most cake’, I think that’s something every girl wants, to be perfect and have it all” Dana explained. There came a time when Dana was a junior in high school when she started freaking out about having a “Plan B” and living a safe, normal life that music doesn’t insure. But in the end, her love of music won out, and she caught the eye of a few industry people at a convention in California called IMTA.
She met her guitarist, Brian, in high school, and after helping fill in for a show, he’s been with the band ever since. Patrick, the keyboardist for Dollparts, met Dana at a Summer Music Camp, where he assisted and she taught vocals. The Dollparts went through a few drummers before finding Sean, who is both committed and talented.
I had the honor to interview Dana this weekend, so that’s what follows:
When did you first realize you loved music?
I’ve loved music since I was very young. My dad was always listening to classic rock when I was little, so it’s something I’ve grown up loving. I started playing guitar when I was eleven, and my passion to make my own music grew from there.
What are some of your most inspirational bands/role models?
Oh, there’s so many. I love the lyrics Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain write. They’ve both been a big inspiration to me. Also, I love Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley. Her lyrics are very honest and her voice is so pretty and nice, and I love her image and her style. I’m also inspired by Roger Waters from Pink Floyd. He knows how to put on an amazing show that you won’t see from anyone else, and every album is a story, not just a collection of songs. And I’ll mention one more. Foxy Shazam. They’re from Cincinnati. They put on a great show, too, and they aren’t afraid to try new things and grow as artists.
Did you come across a lot of challenges being taken seriously as a girl rock musician?
There haven’t been as many as I expected, but there was one that was pretty bad. I’m very much a girl. I have a pretty little girly voice, and I like to wear dresses when I play shows. Me and my band played a Halloween show, and we covered the song Astro Zombies by the Misfits. A few days after the show, I posted the video of it on Youtube, and a boy from another local band who went to my high school commented on it saying “If I wanted to heard Taylor Swift ruin one of my favorite Misfits songs, I would of just asked a homeless guy to sh*t in my ears.”, As if there’s nobody to compare my voice to besides Taylor Swift. If I were a boy, I don’t think I’d be such a an easy target for comments like that. And there have been some boys in bands who think they know more about the music industry than I do solely because I’m a girl, and I suppose there will always be boys that look at girls in bands and say “She’s hot” instead of commenting on their talent. But I’ve been lucky so far, not to get treated like that.
Explain more about the song Naperville (the Chicago suburb where the band originated), the signiciance of feeling trapped in a conformist town, and the need to escape?
I wrote that with a songwriter named Jimmy Messer. He came up with that cool little riff, and then we wrote the words together. I was in California when we wrote that.
I’ve lived in the suburbs all my life. In junior high, I had a really hard time. Every single girl shopped at Hollister and Abercrombie and they would all show up to school in, literally, the same outfit. If you didn’t have pants that say “Pink” on your butt, or a Coach purse, or play a sport, you don’t register as a person in their eyes. I was judged a lot for going against all of that superficial. I was a shy quiet girl, but I loved punk fashion. I’d wear combat boots and plaid skirts and all kinds of stuff that confused everyone else at that school. I figured I was just weird and wouldn’t fit in anywhere. I wanted to be myself, but nobody there could understand that. Counselors and teachers would try to “help” me, but there was nothing wrong with me except for that they were wrongly judging me and assuming I had problems I never had. It was a struggle but I didn’t want to be dishonest and pretend to like the things they like when I didn’t.
When I got to high school, I still had a hard time finding a group to fit in with. I started taking acting classes and going to auditions at John Casablancas when I was seventeen, and that’s when I started to figure myself out and gain confidence. I went to California later that year and saw all the different types of people and all the stuff that there is to do, and I knew that was where I wanted to be.
All the bands here in Naperville are the same. It’s not about talent, it’s a popularity contest. There’s a group of like six guys here that convince all the high school kids what’s “cool” and if you don’t fit into that, they wont even give you a chance. Outside of Naperville, people listen to the music and decide for themselves.
Other favorite things to do?
I like to model for fun. I have a few friends who are photographers and it‘s fun to get together and take pictures. I also love fashion and vintage clothes. I also like to bake cupcakes and other yummy stuff. I have a boxer dog named Ziggy Stardust that I love spending time with, but music is my life, really. We have band practice every Friday, and we’ve been playing shows more weekends than not. I love spending time with my band and playing my guitar, most of all.
Thanks Dana.
For me personally, I found this interview amazing, and inspiring.
I understand exactly where she’s coming from, music is such a haven.
It’s so safe, it never let’s you down.
To listen to Dana Destefano and The Dollparts (which I highly recommend, because their music is out of this world) like their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter for news updates.
All the best to The Dollparts, I have no doubt you will all go far,
Jill Storm
(Quick shout out to my very favorite E.T. who was a lifesaver in figuring out some pesky technical issues. She’s a saving grace)
Posted in Advice, Girls, Jill Storm
Tagged chicago, Dana Destefano, interview, rock band, The Dollparts
There has been no shortage of punk bands in the last 30 years. We’ve been various different styles, mottos, and while several bands played the punk game slightly differently, there have been a lot of the same. America loves punk. Maybe it’s their infectious energy, the riot against the norm mentality, but for whatever reason, these bands have stuck around for awhile.
Larry and His Flask, started by two brothers, Jamin and Jesse Marshall, was around for five years old when they decided to change up their punk roots by adding in some bluegrass.
The effect is positively eclectic, wonderful, dance around in the open air perfect. They have done what the Dropkick Murphy’s did to Celtic music, taken it and made something altogether new and fresh. Also, one advantage of adding in acoustic instruments to their repertoire is that they can play on the streets when they’re low on gas money, the band stated. Ha.
They released their biggest album yet this year, entitled “All That We Know”, and went on the Vans Warped Tour this Summer. I expect that Larry and His Flask are up and coming quickly.
So if you’re a big punk fan looking for something a little different, definitely check them out.
_Jill
Posted in Album Review, Feature, Jill Storm, Warped Tour
Tagged Jamin Marshall, Jesse Marshall, Larry and His Flask, punk, Warped Tour
“You use your heart as a weapon, and it hurts like heaven”
Starbuck’s free single of the week is “Hurts Like Heaven” from Coldplay’s much anticipated new album “Mylo Xloto”.
Posted in Free Music, Jill Storm
Electronics have come a long way. It’s safe to say that most people are aware of this fact.
If we were to take a look at children’s toys or computers ten or fifteen years ago, progress would be very evident.
So why, then, was I at all surprised when I heard that Bjork’s newest album Biophilia, was partially recorded on an iPad? Bjork has been known for being unpredictable, far before Lady Gaga took to the scene, so this can’t come as a complete surprise.
Biophilia, which means “the love of life or living systems” is going to have an application, allowing fans to interact with each track by visual display.
Scott Snibe, and interactive artist enlisted by the artist to help with the project explained to The Guardian:
“Björk’s put herself way at the forefront here by saying, ’We’ll release this album and these applications at the same time and they’re all part of the same story.’ The app is an expression of the music, the story and the idea.”
Other than being an absolutely ethereal and raw electronica album, from a stunning, and time honored Icelandic musician, portions of the album were recorded on a device I could slip into my purse.
Whoa, stop right there. The whole future of music is changing it’s form as we listen. Musicians that previously had no way of sharing their music can upload songs onto social networking sites, and gain fans. This didn’t exist 20 years ago, when most artist had to go through a record label to even get their music heard.
In some ways, there comes a sad nostalgia for the days of the 70′s rock band era, where everyone drove around on buses and people actually sat listening to music without doing a million other things simultaneously. A time where people believed in the music itself, and without the distractions of commercialism. They weren’t selling their faces or an image, rather, going out and giving people music to believe in.
Not to say that all modern music is heathen, and should be avoided at all costs. There are many upsides to the progression of the music scene. And certainly, we didn’t have electronica back then.
All in all, I think that we need to embrace change, and look forward to the future of music, what ever it may hold. And as long as a song still makes us feel more alive, or that we are not alone, does it really matter if it was recorded on a mobile device, or in a studio?
Oh! And check out the song Crystalline too. While it wouldn’t be something I would generally listen to, the delicate pixie-like vocals, along with crazy sound effects are worth a listen to, just to see for yourself how far music has come.
Rock n’ Roll Darlings,
Jill
Posted in Jill Storm
Tagged electronica, electronics, iPad, technology, The Guardian
A brief prelude to this post.
Hi, my name is Jill, just a rock loving girl from Chicago, who loves guitar, skateboarding, reading and drinking black coffee. This is my first of many posts for the Band Aid Records team.
I am thrilled to be a part of a group so devoted to music, and the inspiration thereof.
Thanks for reading!
NOW, for your feature presentation…. *drumroll*
Death on Stereo is a stunning new album, by my hometown’s very own, Umphrey’s McGee.
This incredible Chicago based band was started by five Notre Dame students back in 1997. Might as well admit it up front, I have difficulty liking bands that were formed within the last 11 years.
Hear me out…
Over the past 13 years, members of Umphrey’s McGee has done an excellent job of keeping close to their fan base. They have realized, that as Penny Lane stated in Almost Famous “We inspire the music”. I find it really respectable for a band to do that. When an artist is humble enough to admit that it’s not about who they are, but rather about the people who believe in them, and the music that inspires them, it makes you appreciative of that effort. And everyone loves a role model of a band.
Umprey’s McGee also proves that you can have your cake and eat it too. Not only do they serve up an eclectic concert (in the old jam band style of Grateful Dead, heavy on the improv and with a pretty trippy lights show), they’re also fantastic musicians who own their instruments, and produce music that is both multilayered and original.
And now, on this last album, they have hit the right chord when it comes to songwriting.
Many musicians today have the art of producing a good head banging in the car with your friends and at a party type jam. However the songwriting, the very poetry of music, is sadly lacking.
For example, take these lines from one of their older songs named “In the Kitchen” that is very relevant to me right now:
| “it was cold in the kitchen and the lights were lowas winter slowly stumbled home
the air felt different and it started to show as every breath resembled smoke i was short on opinions and i wanted to know if you’d still be here tomorrow ’cause it was cold in the kitchen and the lights were low as winter wrapped around Chicago” |
I believe that this band has made an unstoppable tour de force with this album. Their future looks bright as their highly anticipated light shows.
Which brings us to yet another interesting hook that Umphrey’s McGee has going for them is their concerts, which are known to be energetic, improvisational, and unique.
All this being said, I haven’t gone into the music itself that much. Here comes a challenge. What is good music writing? Very easily I could slip into the technical aspects of the very music, or I could go the other way, and describe what the music feels like. Although the overall tone of the album is pretty upbeat, and reflective in places, with some brilliant guitar riffs, and great vocals, I am a firm believer in letting the music speak for itself.
Here is a trailer they released for the album, I think that it speaks very nicely for itself.
Also, check out their website by clicking this link
or like them on Facebook by clicking here.
Rock on, Jill
Posted in Album Review, Jill Storm
Tagged chicago, Death by Stereo, Jill Storm, Notre Dame, Umphrey's McGee
