Kodo Drummers

The first drum beat each of us experience is our mother’s heartbeat. This drumming continues as our own heartbeat propels us through each day of our existence. On Sado Island near Japan, the group known as KODO express their own heartbeats through drums. Taiko drums to be exact.“

Historically, every culture has had their own kind of drum. It can be considered as “a tool shared by all mankind,” explained Jun Akimoto, KODO’s tour manager. “It definitely has the “power” and “possibility” to appeal to and connect the people all over the world.”

During their performances, the KODO performers are clad in sweatbands and loincloths and meticulously beat their drums to create rhythms and patterns as old as our collective human heartbeat, yet as new as the ears that hear them. Drums with names like “Hirado-daiko” (flat-barrel drum), “Chu-daiko” (middle-sized drum) and the giant 800 pound “O-daiko,” (a double headed drum made from the trunk of an African Bubinga tree and the hide of a large cow) all have been chosen and woven into tightly composed and choreographed rhythmic and musical tapestries. KODO have given over 2600 performances in 42 countries on all five continents since their debut at the Berlin Festival in 1981. When asked about a favorite among their live performances, Akimoto replied, “All the performances we’ve done are memorable in their own way but to name one, the outdoor concert that we did at Red Rocks, Colorado in 2002 as part of a music festival made a lasting impression as the venue was unique. Also our concert at The Acropolis (in Greece) was amazing.”

Read More...

Lacuna Coil

I have easily listened to “Shallow Life,” the newest release from Milano, Italy born phenoms Lacuna Coil more times than any other release this year. With each play I am swept away by the dynamic interplay between the band’s two vocalists Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro and the bands infectious riffs n beats.  Whatever it took to capture the magic created on “Shadow Life” was well worth the effort.

Lacuna Coil has repeatedly been introduced to the US market over the past decade plus and while garnered increasing success, they have not yet attained what they are certainly capable of. “Shallow Life” may just contain the critical combination of elements needed to propel the band to substantial success. In 2006 their release Karmacode, peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200, but the highly anticipated “Shallow Life” which was released on April 21, 2009 in the US, debuted at number 16 on the Billboard charts. While their early releases contained a heavier gothic rock element, the latest effort has softened some musical edges to produce a more accessible and straight forward hard rock release. Thanks to producer Don Gilmore, who has worked with pop artists like Avril Lavigne and Good Charlotte, their sound has never been more polished or vivid while maintaining the key elements that continue to set the band apart from others. Subtle bits of industrial and electronica can even be found infiltrating these infectious new metal anthems.  Outside of the vocalists, Lacuna Coil contains Cristiano “Pizza” Migliore (guitar) , Marco “Maus” Biazzi (guitar), Marco Coti Zelati (bass, keyboards) and Cristiano “Criz” Mozzati (drums, percussion)

In July of 2004 I interviewed Lacuna Coil for the first time. I recently was again fortunate enough to exchange a few questions with the band as they were gearing up for their next big gig, The HardDriveLive tour. Vocalist Andrea Ferro took the time to answer my questions.

Read More...

Lacuna Coil

Italy is known around the world as the origin for some of the finest art ever created. It was the center of art during the Roman Republic and Empire as well as during the Renaissance. With such an incredibly rich history in fine art and some of the most recognizable works of art including the Mona Lisa, one wouldn’t immediately assume that one of today’s best rock bands is also from Italy; Milan to be exact. The band is Lacuna Coil and their music is their masterpiece and Dark Adrenaline is their latest work of art. Maximum Ink’s Aaron Manogue had a chance to chat with vocalist Andrea Ferro about the new record, their first single “Trip the Darkness” and the passing of their close friend and singer of Type O Negative, Peter Steele.

Maximum Ink: Your latest album Dark Adrenaline has been postponed a few times. How has the album changed over the time that it’s had to mature before its release?
Andrea Ferro: It’s been terrible. The album has been ready and it was meant to come out in October. Then the record label asked us if we could postpone until January because they weren’t ready or set up for the release. So we agreed with them because we didn’t want the album to come out without full support from the label so it was just a very simple logistic problem that we had to agree with. It made no sense to put out an album without the full support so we just had to wait and now finally the days coming close.

Read More...

Julian Lennon

Standing in the shadow of your father is difficult for almost anyone, but particularly if your father was one of the most famous, loved, and respected musicians in the world. JULIAN LENNON achieved fame on his own in the early 1980s’s with the Grammy-nominated platinum album, Valotte. In the ensuing years, he has retired and unretired from the music business several times, sailed around the world, and has ventured into the world of acting and film production. In the Fall of 2009, his childhood friend, Lucy Vodden (on who he based his drawing that would inspire the Beatles’ song, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”) died of lupus and he decided to write a song in her honor and donate the proceeds to research against the disease. This coincided with the launch of his latest project, theRevolution.com, an Internet-based independent record label of which his single is the first release.

“Basically, I got so tired and fed up with the industry as it was being run so many years ago for so many reasons.”, Lennon explains as to why he thought that theRevolution.com was needed.  I just didn’t feel that the artist was getting a fair deal and/or control of their work in any way, shape or form… I believe, of the labels as we know them, they’re very much becoming more like catalog companies just raking in the publishing, etc., from previously signed artists.

Read More...

Les Ballets Africains

Sarah went to the show to interview Hamidou and he tells her, “I don’t speak English”. Luckily, Sarah speaks fluent French, so she still got the interview, now that’s journalism!

Read More...

Jim McCarty

Jim McCarty is credited with helping found, and drumming for, two British rock band; Renaissance and The Yardbirds. The Yardbirds got their big break at the Crawdaddy Club in London when the Rolling Stones decided it was time to move on from their standing gig at the place. They later played the Beatles 1964 Christmas show. The Yardbirds as we all know boasted three of the most influential guitarists of all time, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

In 1982 Jim formed Box of Frogs with early Yardbird companions Samwell Smith and Dreja. Making two albums, the first featured Jeff Beck and the second Jimmy Page. Somewhere in all that he also began his work as a solo artist. His latest offering “Sitting On The Top of Time” is as he calls it, “focusing on the Renaissance side” of his musical stylings. He worked hard to make sure the lyrics were all positive. Jim added, “I kept trying to remain positive, which was difficult in these strange times.” I recently had the chance to question him on what all of these things have been like.

Maximum Ink: When did you first become interested in music?
Jim McCarty:  I’ve always been interested in music, since my grandmother had a stand up piano that I used to “mess around” on! The first magical moment was when I was about 16, and somebody took me round a local house where a live band was rehearsing in the sitting room. They played some Shadows songs, and I was completely blown away!

Read More...

Metric

METRIC – named after a synthesizer beat on a sampler. A band whose lead singer has dual citizenship, whose members range from Texas-raised to Boston-trained, New York hardened and Toronto nurtured. No wonder then this group of like-minded friends’ new album, “Fantasies,” is an edgy, coy and cosmopolitan masterpiece packing musical precision, sly hooks and savvy metaphors. Recorded in large part at guitarist JIMMY SHAW’s home studio and self-distributed in the States, “Fantasies,” is independent music with a capital I. Playing Chicago’s Metro June 14th, singer, songwriter and co-founder EMILY HAINES took some time out to answer a few email questions about the band and the new CD.

Read More...