Eagles Of Death Metal

Just when it seemed that rock ‘n’ roll was destined to be overrun by mall rats and emo-chic haircuts, Eagles of Death Metal have returned with no pretense and nothing to pretend. From the sexy-as-fuck swagger that swings through the ‘70s-inspired rock ‘n’ roll sound of new release Death By Sexy, to the sexier-than-thou mustache that frontman Jesse Hughes sports as a proud vestige of his manhood, it’s all part of a much bigger picture: “This ain’t no Bible study, it’s rock ‘n’ roll. I came here to shake my dick and have a good time,” boasts Hughes, who started EODM with his best friend, Queens of the Stone Age frontman and EODM drummer Josh Homme. Sitting backstage at the Coachella Valley Music Festival, an annual musical mecca held not far from the frontman’s Palm Springs home in the Southern California desert, Hughes juggles our discussion amongst a seemingly endless sea of friends, fans and family, and amidst the din of the dissident sounds of bands as varied as reggae throwback Damien Marley, hip-hop heavyweight Kanye West, DJs Carl Cox and Daft Punk, and more emotive indie-scenesters Sigur Ros. But even in such cluttered musical confines, the unadulterated power of rock ‘n’ roll lives, and the sexy-machismo of Eagles of Death Metal thrives. It’s all about the rock, baby, and no one rocks harder than Eagles of Death Metal…

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The Electric Hellfire Club

“My motto is “Failure to evolve is exactly that, failure.” If I sounded the same that I sounded in ‘93, then I fucked up somewhere along the line. The intention of the band was not to create a formula and make a million dollars. The intention of the band was JUST to make music,” states Thomas Thorn, lead singer and founding member of the infamous Electric Hellfire Club.

Electronomicon is the fifth full-length release from Satan’s little helpers, and is certainly no failure. In fact, it is their most ambitious and best sounding album to date. Part of the genius lies in the fact that it was recorded at the famed Abyss Studios in Sweden, and produced and engineered by Tommy Tagtgren. EHC was the first American band to ever record there, (and may be the last, as studio owner Peter Tagtgren has decided to close the studio.)

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Elf Lettuce

Some bands find their strength in Satan/Jesus and others in sexual escapades. However, for the Madison quartet Elf Lettuce they draw off another, more untraditional source of power and unmitigated majesty.

“We have a mascot - a lawn gnome named Ricardo Perfecto,” begins guitarist and vocalist Alex White in a recent e-mail exchange. “He’s actually the second mascot we’ve had, because our first mascot, Eugene, was tragically decapitated after an audience member ‘accidentally’ knocked him off the rather tall stage at The Frequency in Madison in September.”

The stalwart band, rounded out by Jacob Lison (guitar, harmonica, vocals), Joe Murray (drum kit) and Eli Reichenberger (bass, vocals), took their loss in stride and managed to recover nicely after finding a replacement. 

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Endeverafter

Get up. Wipe off the eighteen layers of black eyeliner, stop whining about life, and F.Y.I., duct tape was not meant for clothes. It’s time to rock n’ roll.

Despite the assembly line of performing drones that are currently pervading the air waves, there is one band that has been stealthily building momentum in the background. Endeverafter holds the match to the gasoline of hard rock—and these boys are not afraid to ignite the fire.

The band Endeverafter was birthed two years ago in Sacramento, CA, where front man and lead guitarist Michael Grant, rhythm guitarist Kristan Mallory, bassist Tommi Andrews, and former drummer Austin Sinclaire decided that they wanted to go down in music history. However, the magic happened long before that, as Michael Grant explains, “I’ve been friends with Kristan for five years, with Tommi for three years, and [current drummer] Eric is one of my best friends.” Yet friendship is only part of the foundation that these band mates share. Perhaps learning a lesson from past legends, Endeverafter stands by similar musical fronts, “Our influences are in the deeper 60s, 70s hard rock,” Grant explicates the departure of former drummer Sinclaire, “We had a lot of creative differences, he was more into the glam aspects of rock. A band grows, and sometimes people don’t grow along with you, and you fall apart.”

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Enon

The name Enon has the Biblical meaning of “cloud” or “mass of darkness.” Now it also refers to a quirky trio situated in Philadelphia, although the band has been known as part of the New York music scene. Enon was formed by guitarist/vocalist John Schmersal in 1999, and was named not for its Biblical connotation, but for a small town in Ohio, near Schmersal’s hometown of Dayton.

Schmersal was originally part of the legendary 90’s experimental band, Brainiac, with Rick Lee and Steve Calhoun.  When singer Timmy Taylor died, Schmersal formed Enon with Lee and Calhoun. After the release of their first album in 1999, Believo!, Calhoun left the band and was replaced by Toko Yasuda on bass and Matt Schultz on drums. Lee followed Calhoun and left in 2002. The band has continued to make their unique sound heard by touring and releasing their fourth studio album, “Grass Geysers…Carbon Clouds” through Chicago-based Touch and Go Records.

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EOTO

The legendary String Cheese Incident has spawned several side projects, but none more current and relevant than EOTO, which features and is comprised of SCI alumnists Michael Travis and Jason Hann. In a recent e-mail interview I was fortunate enough to have Jason explain some things about EOTO. We started with the name.

“EOTO used to be End Of Time Observatory,” begins Hann. “We sort of pronounced it E-O-T-O for a bit and then started saying it as a word: EeOhToe. When we did that, some Japanese fans told us that it means “good sound” in Japanese. Since then, we’ve been the word rather than the letters.”

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Evanescence

As the constrictive walls between orchestrated classical music and modern metal have been hazily blurring, few have stepped through the sea of fog to challenge the listeners yearning ear. In dictionary terms, Evanescence is the act or state of vanishing away; the disappearance of vapor(s), of a dream, or of earthly plants or hopes. The solid reality, however, is a group concluding their second world tour in support of their quadruple-platinum album “Fallen”.

Frontwoman Amy Lee spoke with Maximum Ink from a bar in Tokyo about the recent lineup change, their worldwide notoriety, and Ludwig Van Beethoven.

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