INTERVIEW: Mike from Hey Monday

Interview with Mike Gentile of Hey Monday

 After the Hey Monday concert I was able to interview Mike Gentile, guitarist for the band.

How did Hey Monday start?

            Hey Monday started because Cassadee and me’s local bands had broken up.  She was in another band and had asked me to fill in on guitar. I kept filling in for them and then she asked me to join the band. After awhile the band disbanded but Cassadee and I still wanted to play so we formed Hey Monday. We knew people from our hometown that wanted to perform and we all just clicked.  Some of the original members have left because you have to be in the right mindset to tour. It not a normal and it’s very trying at times. Some people can’t handle.

How did you get signed to the label?

            Our old band that Cassadee and I were in, we did a showcase somewhere and met Jay Harron(sp) from Columbia records and he was interested in signing us. Even after the band broke up they were still interested in working if we were able to form a new one. So we gave him our new band’s demo and he happened to like it.

Is it easier for bands to become noticed with the Internet?

            I think it’s a catch 22. Because of the technology it has never been easier for a band to get their music out and keep in touch with fans.  But at the same time it’s also hard to survive because downloading is so easily accessible.   And it is hard to maintain a living as a band. Album sales are nonexistent. Everyone who is doing it now is just looking to put the band’s music out there and tour. It is hard to make money for a band because people don’t buy albums.

Do you think Facebook is helpful to keep in touch with fans?

            It is super helpful! We are definitely a social networking and Internet based band. We like to keep in touch with fans. Also we love to put songs and photos up. The more people feel they are closer with the band the more support they give us. The sites are easy to access. There is nothing easier than going to www.myspace.com/heymonday. So to us the Internet is crucial.

Any advice for upcoming bands or promoters?

            Get involved with the local the scene. Bands need the support from their hometown. Even for promoters, all starts at the local scene. Go to local shows, sell merchandise, push CDS. Even tonight, The Ready Set could not perform and a local band stepped in. To get your feet off of the ground you need to support and go to local shows. From there you meet people and it all escalates.

Any last thoughts?

            I love everyone that supports our band. We wouldn’t be able to do this without them. However you found out about us, we love you! As long as you keep coming out to show we will keep playing so thank you for the support!

Thank you to Mike for his time in the cold! I really appreciate you taking the time to do this! 

Who's Secret?

Name of Artist/Band: To Be Juliet’s Secret                 

Latest Album/EP:

Hometown: Macomb, MI

Members: Danielle, Jeremy, Nick, Mike, John and Matthew

Bio: It all started with a breakup and a piano. It began with a lonely heart that was unable to relate to the recent “love song” phase. With his passion for music, Michael Quinn created a new and unique outlook on love, relationships and breakups. Accompanied by his younger sister, they wrote songs in a clever, conversational style. After overwhelming positive feedback they decided to try their hand at a local music studio. Not long after their songs hit the internet, the music became an instant success. People from all over the world were dying to get their music any way possible. From that day forward, they realized the ability to change the world one heart at a time was an opportunity they wished to turn into a career. 

for more info www.myspace.com/tobejulietssecret

REVIEW: Hey Monday's Headlining Tour

The Hey Monday and Cartel tour was the last concert I attended. It was an overall great show. The concert took place at the Altar Bar located in Pittsburgh’s famous strip district. It was the first time I was at the venue and was really impressed with the design and layout. The Altar Bar used to be a church. The stain glass windows giveaway it’s previous life. The venue has two floors and during concerts the upstairs is used for the 21 and over crowd so they are able to drink. This is where I stood for the show. My friend and I were in the center so we had a pretty good view of the stage. 

The tour consisted of five bands. One of the original bands on the tour could not attend the date so a local Pittsburgh band took the place. The I-Drive is a four-man band. They have a more of an emo sound to them but sometimes it was hard to understand the lyrics. Also, they didn’t seem to have that much personality on stage. 

The next band was We Are The In Crowd. They are pop-punk group from Poughkeepsie, NY. Taylor and Jordan trade off on vocals making a unique blend of male and female voices. The songs they performed were very catchy and upbeat. The band was interacting with crowd but I felt like they were jumping all over the place on the stage. 

After them, This Century performed. They also have great music and catchy lyrics. I really enjoyed their set. The song were upbeat but not over the top. They had a nice stage presence but could have interacted more with the crowd. 

Then Cartel took the stage. They rocked it! They really got the crowd into the performance. Cartel played songs off all of their albums and yet again my favorite song didn’t get performed. Oh well! The one thing I felt that they could have done better was their level of energy. Will, the lead singer seemed to just be singer out to the crowd not really connecting with them. They could have just been having an off day too. 

Last, but not least Hey Monday took to their spot in the lights. They mostly played songs off of their new EP, Beneath It All! Cassadee, the lead singer was really into the performance and she also had to be on her guard. In the tiny venue people were crowd surfing! I’ve never seen anyone do that in close quarters especially with no barricade. In one part of the song, Cassadee stopped because there were two people moshing and to her it looked like they were fighting. In the middle of the song she asked them to stop. She really cares for her fans! They wrapped the show with an encore performance. Hey Monday played a song they covered on Warped Tour, Jason Derulo’s “In My Head” and it was amazing! Overall, it was a great night of performances. After the show I was able to meet and chat with some of the members of the groups. Everyone was super nice! It was such a great experience. 

Taylor from WATIC

Ryan from This Century

Mike from WATIC

Sean from This Century 

Joel from This Century

Jordan from WATIC

Mike From Hey Monday

Cassadee from Hey Monday

He Is We

Name of Artist/Band: He Is We

Latest Album/EP:  My Forever

Hometown: Tacoma, Washington

Members: Rachel and Trevor

Bio: He is We Is a fast on-coming acoustic band that will literally melt your heart. The powerful voice of Rachel mixed with the melodies and chords of Trevor’s perfectly tuned guitar are just too much to handle. 

Check them out! www.myspae.com/heiswe

Shhh!

Name of Artist/Band: Quiet Game Starting Now

Latest Album/EP: What’s Rightfully Ours

Hometown: East Bay, CA

Members: Tyler, Colton, Blake, Erik, Weston and Pierce

Bio: QGSN far exceeded our dreams as a band. We have been granted with so much success and happiness. This year has been filled with so many productive, uplifting, powerful, and positive events, the only way to remember it all is to thank everyone that has been there for us.

Listen here! www.myspace.com/quietgamestartingnow

I Love PA!

Name of Artist/Band: Going Gone

Latest Album/EP: Your New Best Friends

Hometown: Enola, PA

Members: Nate, Ian, Dan and Jared

Bio: We started out in a dimly lit, cinder-block basement, covering Blink 182 songs on the weekends and pissing off every neighbor in a one mile radius. Playing shows here and there around Lemoyne, Pa quickly became the next best thing to hitting the lottery. Meeting people and having our music find it's way to your ears and heart is all we can really ask for. Behind every song is us striving to get stuck in your head with catchy tunes and meaningful lyrics. What we truly want is to play shows and make music that means something to people. Forget the money and recognition if it means selling our souls and not being able to do what we love. We'd rather play shows in your aunt's backyard every 4th of July and never see a dime than create something that were not totally behind. Don't get me wrong, though. If the opportunity arrives one day, knocking on our door wanting to take us across the country, we'd do it in a heartbeat. For the first time in a long time we're serious about what we're doing and set on making things happen. 

For more information www.myspace.com/goinggonepa

Can't Stop! Won't Stop!

Name of Artist/Band:

Can’t Stop Won’t Stop

Latest Album/EP:

Hookups, Sex and Sometimes Love

Hometown: 

Toronto, Ontario

Members: 

Jaylin, Brett and Paul

Bio: 

 The band is currently taking time to work on a full-length debut album. They are also working putting together a tour. 

Listen to them at www.myspace.com/cntstpwntstp

ps happy black friday! 

Kiss Kiss

Name of Artist/Band: Kisses

Latest Album/EP: The Heart of the Night Life

Hometown: Los Angles, CA

Members: Jesse and Zinzi

Listen to them at www.myspace.com/blowkissess

ps Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

You? No Me!!!

Name of Artist/Band: 

Me Vs Hero

Latest Album/EP: Days That Shape Our Lives

Hometown: Blackpool, UK

Members: Sam, Daniel, Ross, Mike and Oli

Bio: Me Vs Hero is a 5 piece popcore band from northwest England. Rivaling stateside heavyweights such as SetYourGoals and FourYearStrong. Explosive sounds, filled to the brim with popriffs, beatdowns and gangshouts.

Catch up with them on www.myspace.com/mevshero

Fiction in Motion

Name of Artist/Band: Fiction in Motion

Latest Album/EP:  self-titled debut album

Hometown: Quebec City

Members: Michael, Seb, Mark and Jonathan

Bio: The band gained its popularity by its catchy, vibrant songs and increased its fan   base by the means of social networks such as MySpace and Facebook as well as PureVolume’s website. In September of 2009, the band was invited to feature on one of the popular television music channel MusiquePlus’ shows. Safe in the hands of Montreal-based music producer Luc Tellier, Fiction in Motion delivered their first album, which was released in February 2010

Read more information at www.myspace.com/fictioninmotion

End of the Month!

Name of Artist/Band: The Last Days of April

Latest Album/EP: Gooey

Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden

Members:  Karl Larsson

Bio:  If modern music was a living organism, its arteries would be clogged by today’s surplus of jaded, apathetic hipster acts – and Last Days of April would be a life-saving jolt to the chest. For over a decade, LDOA brainchild Karl Larsson has brushed aside prevailing trends to go with his gut, helming his band’s evolution from a convulsive hardcore outfit (as on their self-titled 1997 debut) to an avant-garde alt rock phenomenon (2000’s Angel Youth) to a high-octane indie pop powerhouse (2007’s Might As Well Live). Throughout the transitions, one thing’s remained constant in the Stockholm-based group’s oeuvre: a big, beating heart. Yes, music with a goddamn pulse. Rapturous guitar hooks that send electric currents through your veins; cards-on-the-table lyrics that slice right through the superego; cathartic, hair-raising choruses that grab you by the collar and shake you back to life. The kind of songs that ignite the airwaves (as they’ve done on hundreds of major radio and television stations around the globe) and leave audiences slack-jawed, fomented and goose bump-ridden – a common occurrence on the band’s countless European headline tours, festival gigs (Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Hurricane, Hultsfred, etc.) and jaunts in Australia, the US and Japan, playing alongside big guns like Chris Cornell, Guided By Voices, The Lemonheads, Tegan & Sara, The Ataris , At The Drive-In and The Promise Ring. 

Read more at www.myspace.com/ldoa

Who Loves Emily?

Name of Artist/Band: Rocky Loves Emily

Latest Album/EP: American Dream

Hometown: Detroit Michigan

Members:  Brandon, Pete, Sean, Andrew, Stephen, and Wood

Bio: What is the American dream? For Rocky Loves Emily that dream isn’t a white picket fence and a nine-to-five job. For them, the dream is something unique to each person, something that can only be defined from within. For Rocky Loves Emily, the American dream is traveling around the country in a beat-up van, making friends, and playing music that brings joy to people's hearts. The pop-rock group, who hail from a suburb of Detroit, MI, has lived their vision every day since the band formed in early 2009. They released their first EP at the stroke of midnight that New Years Eve posting three songs on the Internet “just to see what would happen.” The response was so positive the group booked a show at a local venue in Detroit— a performance that evolved into many more throughout 2009 and 2010. Rocky Loves Emily self-booked their own tours, aiming to hit the same cities every few months to reconnect with the friends and fans they met across the country. “We've definitely done this grassroots, with smaller shows,” Brandon says. “We've built our fan-base from the ground up. We like doing our own thing. I feel as if it keeps us honest and pure. You know the kids at the shows are there for you. Playing intimate shows has been a blessing because I feel like people come to our shows not just as fans, but as our buddies. We’ve made so many friends, and on top of that, I feel like I even know the name of each individual fan and what's actually going on in their lives.”


Read more at www.myspace.com/rockylovesemily

Mixtapes

Name of Artist/Band: Mixtapes 
Latest Album/EP: Thought About Growing Up
Hometown: Cincinanti, Oh
Members: Maura, Ryan, Kamal and Josh
Bio: "The band plays music that will draw you in, reminding you of that first time you heard one of those songs like the Replacements' "I Will Dare" -- a song that hits you in the gut, making your jaw drop." - pitchmusic blog 
Mixtapes is a band from Cincinnati, Ohio and Detroit, Michigan. You can download our album for free by clicking on the cover under this text, please download it and share it with anyone!. We put alot into the album and we hope you can relate to it in some way or another. 

hear more at www.myspace.com/mixtapesohio

ps. It's my birthday!!! :)

The Story So Far

Name of Artist/Band: The Story So Far
Latest Album/EP: While You Were Sleeping 
Hometown: Walnut Creek, CA
Members: Kelen, Will, Ryan, Parker, and Kevin


Check em out at http://www.myspace.com/thestorysofarca

Since Forever!

Name of Artist/Band: Since Forever
Latest Album/EP: L.O.V EP
Hometown: Nashville, Tn
Members: Zach, Taylor, Jesse, Brendan and Eric
Bio: Remember that time you liked that boy and all you could think about was what it would be like to kiss him and your friends told you that it wouldn’t work but you knew in your heart of hearts that it would be perfect because he really ‘gets you’ so you finally decided to grasp the courage to put your feelings on the table and you give him the greatest kiss of all time and when your lost in the moment and all you can smell is Hollister cologne and the rain pings the roof his mom's Buick LeSabre, you remember your childhood when you lived on pop rocks and coke and what it was like to run with no shoes or sneak out and sleep under the stars and you knew…it was love. That is Since Forever.


Get more info at www.sinceforever.net

Apple Crush

Name of Artist/Band: Justin Tyler
Latest Album/EP: Get Into Love
Hometown: Longbeach, Ca
Members: Justin
Bio: "SoCal singer/songwriter Justin Tyler playing music at 13 and seven years later, he's sure it's what he wants to do with the rest of his life. He released his first EP in early 2009 and followed Warped Tour that summer and the next to get his upbeat pop into the hands of new fans. "This is my passion, and I'm giving it my all," he says. "Whether it be a 15-hour drive to Chicago or a plane ride to the Bamboozle." - Alternative Press #269 December 2010(Hometown Heroes)


Check him out here www.myspace.com/justintylerrocks

One Step Away

Name of Artist/Band: One Step Away
Latest Album/EP: For the Broken
Hometown: Andover, Ma
Members: Terrence, Adam, Ben and Michael
Bio: One Step Away is not your average quartet. These award-winning young musicians have been called the "next big thing" by various music critics. With their incredible talent, One Step Away has morphed to become the young phenom they are today. 

The life of the band began in 2006, when lead guitarist Terence Healy and bassist Mike Nuzzolo started playing together. Vocalist, Adam Carrington, joined them a year later, bringing a unique influence to the band's music with his classical vocal training. The band soon released a short self-recorded EP of their music, which brought the band much attention around the local music scene. Drummer Ben Trudeau soon rounded out the quartet, bringing a strong positive energy to the band along with a new sense of style and personality. Fueled by their growing popularity, the band began writing for their debut full-length album in the early part of 2010. Working with Dan Malsch and Alec Henninger of Soundmine Recording Studios for several months, One Step Away recorded their full length album "FoFor The Broken", releasing in late Summer 2010.

Listen to them here www.myspace.com/1stepawayband

The who boys? the It Boys!

Name of Artist/Band: It Boys! 
Latest Album/EP: The Dream
Hometown: North Hollywood, CA
Members: Judah, Duck, Matt, Tommy and Jeffery
Bio: According to AP magazine, the guys planned out everything! From when things need to drop and tour dates!!


Check em out at www.myspace.com/itboys

Gold Motel

Artist/Band: Gold Motel
Latest Album/EP: Summer House
Hometown: Southern California 
Members: Greta, Dan, E, Matt, and Adam
Bio: GOLD MOTEL doesn’t exist, but if it did, you’d find it on a winding road somewhere in the sun-drenched hills of Southern California. Singer-songwriter Greta Morgan wrote her first song at age three and never stopped, cutting her teeth in the music business and honing her chops as a driving creative force of the Chicago jangle-pop act The Hush Sound. After four years, three albums and a relentless touring schedule that included shows to devoted fans on three continents, Greta packed up her guitar, her piano, and her record collection and headed to Southern California to write the songs which would become her solo endeavor.
Gold Motel represents the evolution of a musical identity that hearkens back to pop’s crowning achievements: the dreamy energy of The Kinks, the quickwitted lyrical dexterity of Elvis Costello, the unassuming sophistication of a Beach Boys melody, light as air and deep as the Pacific. The youthful energy and sheer joy of Greta’s work is captured on the Gold Motel EP, recorded with friend Dan Duzsynzski (of the band This Is Me Smiling). Until then, old and new fans alike can catch Greta at live performances throughout the US, where she charms and beguiles with all the talent and soul of a singer in the lobby of a gilded motel.-Lauren Henry


for more information www.myspace.com/goldmotel

Review: Taylor Swift

The first time I heard of Taylor Swift was my sophomore year of college. My roommate had her “Our Song” as the ringtone for her boyfriend. I thought it was cute and catchy. My roommate let me listen to her songs and I thought they were good. Then Taylor released Fearless. My roommate had the CD pre-order and was excited about the release. I really enjoyed this album. I went and downloaded this album and her previous one. The songs were starting to grow on me. When Taylor announced her tour my roommate and I had to attend! Her performance was amazing! The lights, theatrics and dances all combined to make you feel like you weren’t just in the arena but you were living the song! She was also very personable with crowd. She came and sang some songs in the back of arena. First she started on the stairs then moved her way down to a mini stage. Also toward the end of the show she came out sporting a Pittsburgh Penguin jersey. It was just great how she incorporated the city and crowd into her songs.

            When Taylor was due to drop her third album, I bought it on the very first day it came out.  My roommate pre-ordered the album from the website, pre-ordered the deluxe edition from Target and bought the album on iTunes. Needless to say she was excited to get the new record. We both contributed to the 1,046,718 record sales in the first week. Speak Now holds the biggest single-week sales since 2005. Also within an hour of it being released on iTunes it broke her previous record set by Fearless for most country digital downloads. And Speak Now marked the largest debut album release across all genres at Target in the history of the retail chain.

            This album takes Taylor into adulthood. She adds grown up details in her songs. “There’s a drawer of my things at your place,” from her hit single “Mine.” Other songs show off her voice and how much it has grown over the years. Again in “Mine” the line, “You made a rebel of careless man’s careful daughter” she lowers her voice to set the mood of the song. Other artists would just build up to that line but she just hides it beautifully. Other songs on the album show off Taylor’s romantic side such as “Dear John,” “The Story of Us,” “Enchanted,” and if you bought the deluxe edition, “Ours.” Taylor also continued to sing about boys. “Back to December,” ballad reminiscences about mistakenly leaving the one you love. The end to the album is “Long Live.” It’s about prom and winning prom king and queen. She wrote it like she attended but most of her high school was spent on a tour bus. The song is a powerful ending to a great album.

           

http://www.taylorswift.com/news#22263

http://www.taylorswift.com/reviews#21208

Review: Worlds Collide

With Fall Out Boy being on hiatus, I knew that side projects would start popping up. There are rumors that Patrick Stump is working on a solo album. Pete Wentz just debuted his new single from his band the Black Cards. It’s just natural that Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley have projects too. So what happens with you take two members Fall Out Boy, two members from Anthrax and the vocalist of Every Time I Die? You get the Damned Things! The band started four years ago in Los Angeles by Fall Out Boy’s Joe Trohman and Anthrax’s Scott Ian. After years of planning the band is finally ready to release their debut album, Ironiclast. “No one would have done this if it the material was garbage,” Trohman responds about the bands music. “The moment Scott and I sat down it just started to click.”

            “Even though we were taking it seriously…we had a lot of convincing to prove to the people we were serious.” Ian discussed people’s reaction to the band. Anthrax and Fall Out Boy have two different fan bases. It was hard to believe that these two groups came together to make an album. At shows it was obvious who where the fans of each band. But when the music started everyone seemed to mesh and enjoy the show.

            Some of songs on the album are different from one another. Some have heavy guitars while others are more like a power ballad. “If you go back and listen to greatest rock records you can here six of seven different kind of influences on the record.” Ian comments. Trohman describes Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy songs going from super-funk to reggae to laid-back rock. 

            When writing the songs the members did not pay too much attention to songs being too heavy or too poppy. “If it sounds killer, let’s do it!” Trohman states. The record is not trying to appeal to one specific fan base. The guys are just experimenting with different sounds. Ironiclast drops on December 14^th so we will see how everyone will react!

Bayer, Jonah. Worlds Collide. Alternative Press. December 2010. Pages 86-90 Retrieved on November 12, 2010. 

Storyline

Name of Artist/Band: Storyline
Latest Album/EP:  Self-titled 
Hometown: Springfield, Missouri
Members: Geno, Zack, Ashley, Bryant and Mike
Bio: Storyline is a female-fronted Pop/Rock band based out of Missouri with a sound similar to that of Jimmy Eat World, Kelly Clarkson and the All American Rejects. The band receives over 2500+ plays from their 100,000+ MySpace friends daily. Their current album, Welcome Home EP, was produced by Stephen Christian of Anberlin (universal republic) and features their hit Song "Welcome Home" which is the theme song for the tv series "Alumni" on The Halogen Network -- airing in over 12 million homes. The band has just finished work on their next album and it is scheduled to release June 8th on all online music sites and select Best Buy locations. The release will be followed by a Summer of touring.

Read more: http://www.myspace.com/storyline#ixzz15IUTpVIO

I love NY

Name of Artist/Band: Elizabeth and the CatapultLatest Album/EP: The Other Side of Zero
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Members: Elizabeth and Dan
Bio: Elizabeth's warmly personal songs reflect the diverse influences of her lifelong pursuit of music. She grew up in New York's Greenwich Village, just down the street from the Cafe Wha? and the Fat Black Pussycat, where her future heroes Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell got their start.


www.facebook.com/elizabethandthecatapult

Sweet Serendipity

Name of Artist/Band: Lee DeWyze
Latest Album/EP: Live It Up
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Members: Lee
Bio: He was born on April 2nd 1986 in Chicago Il. He was the winner on American Idol in 2007 and now has his debut album available! 


check out his official site http://www.leedewyzeofficial.com/