Today's Day in Rock
Van Halen Confirm New Album and Box Set
(hennemusic) After days of online rumors and speculation, Van Halen have confirmed the upcoming release of "Tokyo Dome Live In Concert", their first-ever live album with original frontman David Lee Roth.
Due March 31, the project features the band recorded live at the Japanese venue on June 21, 2013 as part of their tour in support of 2012's "A Different Kind Of Truth."
The package will be available as a double CD, four-LP set on 180-gram vinyl, and digitally. A deluxe collection featuring "Tokyo Dome Live In Concert" and newly remastered versions of their groundbreaking 1978 debut, "Van Halen", and their 6th album, "1984", will also be available as both a four-CD set and a six-LP vinyl set in special packaging. Read more here.
INXS Guitarist Has Emergency Surgeries For Severed Finger
(hennemusic) INXS guitarist and founding member Tim Farriss has undergone two emergency surgeries to reattach a finger severed in a boating accident last month.
Farris was injured on February 24; the band's label - Petrol Records - has confirmed the incident occurred when the guitarist caught his hand in an electric anchor winch.
"Tim has been treated at the Royal North Shore hospital for a week and is now back at home in recovery," says the label. "The accident has caused permanent damage to Tim's left hand and one of his fingers has been severed. He has undergone two extensive operations to reattach his finger. Tim is now at home undergoing further treatment to assist with his recovery."
"Tim is now home from the hospital with his family and undergoing physiotherapy as part of the recovery process," adds band manager Chris Murphy. "He is getting the best possible care and we hope with time he will regain movement in his finger. This was a terrible accident, we are all here to support him." Read more here.
Gary Glitter Found Guilty Of Sex Crimes Against Children
(Radio.com) British glam-rock pioneer Gary Glitter, famous for his string of hits in the early 1970s including "Do You Wanna Touch Me" and perennial jock jam favorite "Rock and Roll (Parts 1 and 2)," has been convicted for sex crimes against minors during his chart-topping heyday.
According to USA Today, Glitter (real name Paul Gadd) was found guilty in a London court of one count of attempted rape, four counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse with a girl under the age of 13.
The charge of sex with a minor could result in a life sentence for the singer. "Paul Gadd abused his access to young fans in order to give himself the opportunities to assault and abuse his victims," Chief Crown Prosecutor Baljit Ubhey explained. "Crimes such as these have repercussions for victims that can last for a lifetime." Read more here.
Gong and Soft Machine's Daevid Allen Has Six Months To Live
(Classic Rock) Gong icon Daevid Allen has been told he has six months to live as a result of inoperable cancer - and he's told fans he's not going to fight the disease any longer.
The 77-year-old Australian, a founding member of Soft Machine, has asked his followers to begin letting him go. He'd previously undergone surgery to address his illness.
Allen says in a statement: "It is now confirmed that the invading cancer has returned to successfully established dominant residency in my neck. The original surgery took much of it out, but the cancer has recreated itself with renewed vigour, while also spreading to my lung.
"I have now been given approximately six months to live. My view has changed. I am not interested in endless operations. In fact is has come as a relief to know that the end is in sight. I am a great believer in 'The Will of the Way Things Are' and I also believe that the time has come to stop resisting and denying and to surrender to the way it is." Read more here.
Electric Light Orchestra To Perform At The Grammys
(Classic Rock) The Electric Light Orchestra will perform at this year's Grammys ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday, mainman Jeff Lynne has confirmed. They'll appear on the live TV extravaganza alongside AC/DC, Madonna and other big names.
It's more confirmation that Lynne is taking the project seriously again after a cautious return to the stage in London last year. Following ELO's Hyde Park concert he said:
"I was really worried before the show; I was thinking, 'What the hell is it going to be like after all these years?' I thought the crowd would all disperse and go their own sweet way - but they all loved it." Read more here.
Nickelback Add New Bands To North American Tour
Nickelback will be kicking off the first leg of their North American headlining tour next and they have announced the support acts for the spring and summer legs of the tour.
The Pretty Reckless will be the opening act for the winter leg of the trek which is scheduled to launch on February 14th in Allentown, PA and conclude on March 15th in Vancouver, BC.
The band will take a few days off before kicking off the spring leg of the tour with support from Pop Evil on March 22nd in Nashville and they will finish the leg on April 7th in Tulsa, OK.
Lifehouse will then be joining Nickelback from an extensive summer leg of the tour that will begin on June 19th in Ridgefield, WA and wrap up on August 29th in Atlanta, GA.
Nickelback are launching the tour in support of their latest studio album, No Fixed Address, which was released this past November. See the tour dates here.
Rage Members Announce Their Break Up
(Classic Rock) The latest lineup of German rockers Rage have split, they've confirmed. Founding member Peter 'Peavy' Wagner and guitarist Victor Smolski issued a statement stating they would no longer work together and would also part ways with sticksman Andre Hilgers.
The statement reads: "After thinking it over carefully, Peavy and Victor decided to stop working together. This is due to musical and personal changes.
"We have developed in different directions in the last years that we cannot identify with the current band situation any more. In this situation we will also part from drummer Andre Hilgers.
"The last 15 years together were blessed with many highlights and great releases but this era is over now." Read more here.
Foo Fighters Release Austin City Limits Preview Videos
(hennemusic) The Foo Fighters are sharing a preview of their performance on the legendary PBS series Austin City Limits with the release of three performance clips from the show.
Set to air on February 7, the episode sees the Foos performing tracks from their latest album, "Sonic Highways", with the help of guests Gary Clark, Jr. and Jimmie Vaughan.
Preview footage includes "What Did I Do?/God As My Witness" with Clark, The Fabulous Thunderbirds' "Tuff Enuff" with Vaughan and Clark, and "Congregation."
The Foo Fighters filmed the recording of "What Did I Do?/God As My Witness" in the ACL's historic Studio 6A last March as part of the "Sonic Highways'" album and companion HBO series. Watch the ACL preview clips here.
Anthrax Producer Discusses Band's New Album
(hennemusic) Anthrax are currently in a Los Angeles studio working on a new album, and producer Jay Ruston reveals the band's plans for the project in a new interview with Metal Insider.
"They've been writing songs for well over a year," Ruston tells Metal Insider. "I sat in and helped them record the demos and basically made sure everything was heading in the right direction. Once we hit the point to where they felt they were ready to go, around Thanksgiving, we decided it was time to get going."
"We have 18 songs we're working with that made the cut," he continues. "We're going to try to record everything just to see what turns out the best. Out of those 18 songs, we've got 8 that we're working on."
"I didn't want to get too far ahead, because instead of Joey [Belladonna] coming in and singing a ton of songs, I wanted to break it up a little bit and finish these eight, then start another bunch from scratch, which we'll probably do in March. In the meantime, we're going to finish this first batch." Read more here.
Hoodoo Gurus' Mark Kingsmill Retiring After 30 Years
(hennemusic) The Hoodoo Gurus have announced that drummer Mark Kingsmill will be retiring from the band at the end of March after 30 years of playing with the group.
"Though he still enjoys playing drums, Mark has completely lost his appetite for the endless travelling and the many hours of hotel room boredom," revealed frontman Dave Faulkner. "The physical demands of playing the drums as energetically as he does are also exacting a higher toll on his body than ever before. Really, who can blame him for wanting a change?"
Kingsmill joined the Hoodoo Gurus in 1984 following the dismissal of original drummer and founding member James Baker; he first appeared on the band's second album, 1985's "Mars Needs Guitars!"
"None of us want to see him go and, to be honest, we even contemplated breaking up the band rather than try to replace him," Faulkner continued. "Apart from all the personal upheaval that his retirement entails (yeah, we're gonna really miss him!) there will also be a significant change to the band's musical personality. Mark, like James Baker before him, has a unique style of drumming and no-one else will ever be able to replicate it."
"Inevitably our sound will change - it's up to [guitarist] Brad [Shepherd], [bassist] Rick [Grossman] and I to make sure that the next person is as inspirational a player as Mark has always been, and that we don't diminish as a band. That will be no mean feat but, trust us, we will not settle for anything less than someone we feel is a perfect fit." Read more here.
Incubus Return With New Single 'Absolution Calling'
(Radio.com) Incubus appeared on Los Angeles radio station KROQ on Thursday morning to discuss the premiere their new track, "Absolution Calling", the first single from their upcoming EP.
"It started with a bass riff I think," recalled singer Brandon Boyd, who stopped by KROQ's Kevin & Bean Show (KROQ is a CBS Radio station) this morning with fellow bandmates Jose Pasillas, Michael Einziger and Chris Kilmore.
"Actually, Brandon was in Bali, in a land far away," explained Einziger. 'He had to leave on this trip so we were like, let's just try to make studio magic while he was gone so we started sending him idea. All four of us were in the studio jamming. That song just came out of us all in the studio improvising. It was like, oh wait, what's that? Oh cool. And it just evolved."
While the song will be available Friday on iTunes, the band will release a four song EP titled, Trust Fall: Side A on March 24. A follow-up will come after that with a release date yet to be announced.
'We've always made albums," Boyd said. We've always done the 10-or-more thing and we grew up with that, like many people in the world. But I think people under 30 don't really have that in their consciousness anymore and that's fine." Read more and listen to the song here.
Tiles Recruit Mike Portnoy, Ian Anderson For New Album
(TeamRock Radio) Mike Portnoy has joined Ian Anderson and others in making a guest appearance on the upcoming double album from Tiles. The US prog outfit have confirmed their sixth record will now be called Pretending To Run, after it became a far more complex project than they'd originally envisaged.
Among those also appearing are Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), Adam Holzman (Steven Wilson) Kim Mitchell (Max Webster) and Mike Stern (Miles Davis).
Anderson - who appears at the inaugural Ramblin' Man Fair in Kent in July - last year accepted a long-standing invitation to guest with Tiles, after he'd become a fan in 1999. The album was known as Other Arrangements at that stage.
Herin said at the time: "We sent Ian a moody atmospheric tune, and he wove some cool melodies in between vocal phrases - then cut loose with his trademark improvisation during the rideout solo. I think I listened to it 20 times to make sure it really happened." Read more here.
Metallica Classic Gets Master of Sock Puppets Makeover
(Banana 101.5) We've seen sock puppets parodying Slayer and hailing Santa in a black metal Christmas parody. Now the sock puppets are taking on the Metallica classic 'Master of Puppets.'
Under the clever name Lintallica, the sock puppets offer up such lyrics as "End of laundry day / Folding me away / Lost in the depths within this dresser / No other stripe in sight / Begin this lonely fight / Mismatched sock with just one purpose."
Even more hilarious is the chorus, which now goes off as, "Get glue that's Krazy / Googly eyes look lazy / Get glue that's Krazy / Yarn hair looks amazing / 'Mazing."
Radiohead's Selway Gives Update On New Album
(Prog) Radiohead drummer Philip Selway says that the band's ninth album is "coming along nicely" - although he can not predict how it is going to play out.
The band started working on the follow-up to 2010's The King Of Limbs in September. They took a break at the end of last year to concentrate on their various solo projects, but return to work next month.
Selway tells Drowned In Sound: "We'll make an assessment of where we are then. But we've been excited about what we've been doing so far - it's been a productive time."
Asked about the nature of the material he says: "There might be a core thing eventually, but we come at it from a number of angles. You don't really know ultimately what's the strongest intention until we've finished."
And he won't be drawn on a release schedule, noting: "You can find yourself six months down the line saying, 'I wish I hadn't said that, actually.'" Read more here.
Funeral For A Friend Featured In Latest Ghosts On The Road Episode
(TeamRock Radio) Welsh rockers Funeral For A Friend are the latest band to feature on FreqsTV's Ghosts On The Road mini-series. Previous artists to appear on the series which aims to give an intimate portrait go what life on tour is like include At The Gates, Gotthard and Protest The Hero.
In the short film, frontman Matthew Davies-Kreye talks about meeting fans, giving interviews to the media and working their touring schedule around family commitments.
He says: "You never really get the chance to experience the place you're in fully - you're always moving around when you're there. You've got to set up and all the things that come with being in a band when you release a record especially: press and talking to people. You're always focused on something else you have to focus on pretty quickly." Read more and watch the episode here.
Bob Dylan Praised By 'Breaking Bad' Music Supervisor
(Classic Rock) Bob Dylan has been praised for being easy to work with by film and TV music supervisors. The American singer/songwriter received an Oscar for his track Things Have Changed from the 2001 movie Wonder Boys, while his work has been used in over 500 silver screen productions.
And Thomas Golubic, music supervisor behind shows including Breaking Bad, says Dylan and his manager Jeff Rosen are incredibly supportive of film and TV projects.
He tells Variety: "To me there's been literally nothing more simple than clearing a Bob Dylan song. I take his music very seriously. I think he's America's greatest songwriter.
"A lot of times when you have artists who are so iconic you're stuck with a lot of middlemen whose job is to get as much money as possible or to make it feel as important as possible.
"With Jeff, he's really straightforward. He essentially has Bob's ear, and if Bob feels like it's something that he supports, it goes through." Golubic is not in praising Dylan. Read more here.
Motley Crue's Vince Neil Warns Young Bands About Trends
(Classic Rock) Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil says young bands should stick to their guns and not follow trends. Neil says too many acts fail to fulfill their potential because they try to tap into what's popular at the time, rather than hone their own sound.
He tells The Huffington Post: "Stay with what you're good at. I find that a lot of bands will start out as a great rock 'n' roll band but then the times will change into rap, so they'll try to incorporate that because they think it'll bring in more fans.
"Then it'll change again to boy band stuff, then they'll try to change to that. You can't do that. You're chasing your tail. You've got to just stick to your guns and if rock 'n' roll isn't in right now, who cares?
"Be the best rock band you can be, or the best pop band you can be. Don't try to be something you're not. I think a lot of people fail because they try to write too much for the times and not for their hearts." Read more here.
Slipknot's Corey Taylor Calls Out Gimmick Criticism
(TeamRock Radio) Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor has slammed those who claim the band's masks are just a gimmick. And he's underlined that it's unlikely they'll ever perform without their headgear.
The band are currently on the road in support of .5: The Gray Chapter, their first release since the death of bassist Paul Gray in 2010. They haven't officially confirmed the names of their new bassist and drummer, and haven't decided whether the pair will become permanent additions.
Taylor tells Linea Rock: "To everyone who thinks it's just a gimmick - live in it and you tell me it's a gimmick, you sh*theads." He also says: "I don't think you'll ever see a Slipknot 'unmasked' tour. Everybody asks me that. It's such a part of what we do and it helps us really embrace the music. I couldn't see that happening." Read more here.
Tad Doyle's Brothers of the Sonic Cloth Return
(Classic Rock) Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, the band formed by Tad Doyle, bass player Peggy Doyle and drummer Dave French, have released a new recording. La Mano Poderosa comes from the band's self-titled debut album, out this month on Neurot Recordings.
La Mano Ponerosa is the second new track from the band, following the release of Lava, which was premiered on Tad's website last month. "Originally the main riff was one of the first songs for BOTSC, conceived in 2007 and developed over a period of seven years until this release," says Tad. "Lyrically the subject matter is of the notion that one has been here for thousands of years. This comes with the realisation that there are 'old souls' who may have been here many times and have witnessed glimpses of past lives through a series of déjà vus.
"Some who have lived as hunter gatherers working soil, some as soldiers on bloody battlefields joining their blades with others flesh, and those who have witnessed their lives as other living beings and animals. This return to 'here', being the last time."
Steven Wilson Releases Perfect Life Video
(Classic Rock) Steven Wilson has launched a video for his track Perfect Life, from upcoming solo album Hand. Cannot. Erase. It's to be released on March 2 via Kscope, and followed by a six-date UK tour later in the month.
The follow-up to The Raven That Refused To Sing features Guthrie Govan, Adam Holzman, Nick Beggs and Marco Minnemann. The story explores the life of a reclusive artist who reveals she had a sister - but only for six months.
Wilson - the subject of a TeamRock Radio takeover day earlier this week - is the cover artist in the latest edition of Prog, on sale now and also featuring Peter Hammill, Beardfish, Luna Rossa, Pain Of Salvation, Toundra, Periphery and more. Watch the video here.
Yngwie Malmsteen Ruined His Career Says Ex-Singer
(Classic Rock) Yngwie Malmsteen's former singer Michael Vescera has slammed the axeman saying he ruined his career by "burning bridges and pissing people off."
He recorded two albums with the Swedish axeman: 1994's The Seventh Sign and 1995's Magnum Opus. And the vocalist says the guitarist blew his chance to be the best in the world because of the way he treated other people.
Vescera is on a South American tour with former Accept frontman Udo Dirkschneider, ex Iron Maiden man Blaze Bayley and Tim 'Ripper' Owens, formerly of Judas Priest under the Metal Singers banner.
Vescera says at a press conference to promote the tour in Brazil via RocknaMochila: "A lot of crazy stuff happened with Yngwie. But I think the main thing is Yngwie could have been the biggest guitarist in the world today, by far. And he's destroyed his career by burning bridges and pissing people off. It's unfortunate, because he changed the face of guitar and to be where he's at today is kind of sad." Read more here.
Singled Out: Yesterday's Saints' Generation of Vipers
Today Yesterday's Saints vocalist Matt Rice tells us a little about the story behind their brand new concept album "Generation of Vipers," which was released this week. Here is the story:
So for the entire album, Generation of Vipers, that we released on February 2nd, it's a concept album that tells the story of Satan through out time. The song "The Recruitment" that we are currently pushing is the third track on the album but second in chronology of the concept story. It's a tad difficult to talk about just one song without addressing how all of the album was developed. Warning I'm about to nerd out here. So we developed the concept idea and then created a storyboard of the entire album flow, rough titles, and decided on how each song should come across. Like, should it be heavy and fast, or slow; erie and doomy.
The Recruitment is the part of the story where, Satan, after realizing he can usurp the Throne of God needs to recruit an army. So with that we wanted to have the song envelop pre-battle angst and anticipation. So Albert, Witt and John set out to come up with the music to hit that chord. When they sent it over to me to put lyrics on it I was blown away. The brutality of the opening riff got me really excited. Then the insane speed the kicks and guitar ran at during the chorus scared the sh*t out of me at first. I wasn't sure what I could come up with at that speed. So I went cut time and shot for epic.
For lyrical inspiration I went to my main sources for the album: Paradise Lost, the Bible, other sources of ancient fiction, and the world's source of partially correct information; Wikipedia.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the album, get the ultra high quality download (1141kbps) here and learn more about the album right here!
All That Remains Frontman Slams Jenny McCarthy Over Vaccinations
(Radio.com) Philip Labonte of metal band All That Remains spoke with Radio.com about a variety of topics including the Super Bowl and he also shared his perspective on the current vaccinations debate.
Like many other advocates of vaccination he blames the anti-vaccination movement, at least in part, on celebrity Jenny McCarthy. "It's her fault! She's the one who started the whole 'You're gonna get autism' thing. So, nice f***in' job, Jenny! But, you know, it's science. It's a real thing. It's like this: polio isn't a problem anymore. You know why? Because of the polio vaccine!"
He continues, "It seems to me that Rand Paul is saying that vaccinations are good things, generally, people should get vaccinated, but it shouldn't be mandatory. As much as I don't think that the government should be in the business of saying 'You have to do this,' when I have kids, I'm gonna vaccinate them.
"I heard someone on the news this morning suggest a fairly realistic solution: if you don't want to vaccinate your kids, they can't go to public school. I would take that a step further, and say if your kids aren't going to public school, that should be reflected in your taxes. I like the idea that if you want your kids to go to public school, you have to vaccinate them. That, to me, seems fair." Read more here.
Motley Crue Jeopardy Clue Clip Goes Viral
(Radio.com) You've heard certainly heard Motley Crue sing "Girls Girls Girls." But have you heard the Alex Trebek version? During a Feb. 2 episode of Jeopardy!, one of the contestants (Colin) chose a high-value question in the "Hard Rockers" category, which led Trebek (who hosts the show) to give an impromptu dramatic reading of the song's saucy lyrics, to see if Colin could identify them.
"Girls, girls, girls, long legs and burgundy lips," the normally reserved Trebek read out loud. "Girls, girls, girls, dancin' down on the Sunset Strip. Girls, girls, girls."
The slight inflections and dramatic emphasis he gave to the words gave him away--Trebek was having fun with this. And the internet is reacting. A video clip of the reading is making the rounds, and it's even earned the attention of Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx, who called it "amazing." Watch the clip
Led Zeppelin Release Video For Physical Graffiti Reissue
(hennemusic) Led Zeppelin have released a new online video preview of the Super Deluxe Edition of the upcoming expanded reissue of their 1975 release, "Physical Graffiti."
Due February 23 (Feb. 24 in North America), the 3-cd set will include a bonus disc of material featuring alternate mixes of songs featured on the group's sixth studio album.
The band recently premiered an unreleased version of the track, "Houses Of The Holy",from the project, which features Led Zeppelin standards "Kashmir", "Trampled Under Foot" and "The Rover."
The original release hit No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 on its way to selling more than 8 million copies in the States alone, while topping the band's native UK album charts and reaching double platinum for sales of 600,00.
Anthrax Update Fans On New Album Progress
(hennemusic) Anthrax have issued a video update from the studio as they work on their 11th album. The band are sharing footage of sessions recording rhythm tracks; it's the latest clip following video released in December at the start of the project.
Anthrax have once again teamed with producer Jay Ruston for the follow-up to 2011's "Worship Music", which is expected to be released this year. Anthrax are up for a Grammy Award this Sunday in the Best Metal Performance category.
The group's version of Black Sabbath's "Neon Knights" and Tenacious D's remake of Dio's "The Last In Line" - both from the 2014 Ronnie James Dio tribute album "This Is Your Life" - go head-to-head alongside tracks by Motorhead ("Heartbeaker" from "Aftershock"), Slipknot ("The Negative One" from ".5: The Gray Chapter") and Mastodon ("High Road" from "Once More 'Round the Sun").
Purple Release DMT Video
(Classic Rock) Fiery Texan trio Purple, whose debut album 409 was described in Classic Rock as a "Riotous, gleeful punk rock noise", have released a video for DMT. It's the second video the band have shot for the song.
"I held so much anger in me for so many years until I finally graduated from high school, started partying a lot more and raging on the music," says Hanna. "And that is what Purple is all about. You don't know how many times I've heard 'Hey, you drum pretty good…for a girl'.
"It's that phrase: 'for a girl'. It doesn't make me mad though; it's funny. It just makes me want to be more bad-ass than the boys. Anger can be extremely inspiring that way."
Moon Duo Streaming New Song 'Slow Down Low'
(Prog) Moon Duo have released a stream of their track Slow Down Low from upcoming third album Shadow Of The Sun. The follow-up to 2012's Circles will be released on March 2 via Sacred Bones.
Founders Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada are joined by drummer John Jeffrey, who first appeared on last year's live album. They say Shadow Of The Sun was written during "a rare and uneasy rest period, devoid of the constant adrenaline of performing live and the stimulation of traveling through endless moving landscapes."
But the situation offered them an opportunity for reflection, which served them well when they decided to record in "a dark Portland basement." Check out the song here.
Marilyn Manson Made Borland Miss Limp Bizkit
(TeamRock Radio) Wes Borland realized he missed being in Limp Bizkit when he realised his dream of working with Marilyn Manson. And even though he doesn't listen to any other act in the nu metal genre, he's proud of what his own band have achieved.
The guitarist has left the band twice - first in 2001 then again in 2006 - but returned in 2009 after spending eight months in Manson's band. Borland tells Metal Insider: "When I was in high school I was a big Marilyn Manson fan. And when I was out of Bizkit I got to be the guitar player in Marilyn Manson. That was the last thing I did before I went back to Limp Bizkit.
"I went, 'Oh - I'm standing in a yard where I thought the grass was greener, a place I thought I'd like more, and I don't.' That was a big realisation, to go, 'This is what I've wanted to do since a handful of years after I started playing. This is the band I wanted to be like or be in.' And it wasn't what I thought it was, working with Manson." Read more here.
Neil Young Duets Classic Song With Jimmy Fallon
(hennemusic) Neil Young joined host Jimmy Fallon for a duet of his 1972 classic, "Old Man", on NBC-TV's The Tonight Show on Tuesday where he also performed another song.
Dressed in vintage Young attire, Fallon began the tune in a lone spotlight before the real Neil jumped in to exchange verses and looks during the performance.
Young reappeared later in the episode for an interview to promote his new high quality audio music player, PONO. The guitarist closed the show playing "Who's Gonna Stand Up?" - from his latest album, "Storytone" - with The Roots and an expanded band that included a horn section and backup singers.
Singled Out: Seek Irony's Devil In Me
Today Kfir Gov from the electro-modern rock band Seek Irony tells us about the song "Devil In Me" which is their first single from their debut album "Tech N' Roll". Here is the story:
"Devil in Me" is a song about addictions - whether it is drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex or a love infatuation - you name it. Every person and what the "Devil in Me" symbolizes for him/her. I decided to write it up kinda like a relationship between a man and a woman to give the addiction a life of its own in the song.
I felt it had a cooler storyline by turning the addiction into a living personality describing the addiction almost like a person with schizophrenic behaviour that has to go through a daily struggle of arguments and battles with that "Devil" inside, in order not to fall back into the addiction again and again.
I remember "Devil in Me" coming together very naturally, almost "too" naturally because usually what happens when I write songs is I come with a general idea for a melody and only then dive into writing the actual lyrics for it thus giving the song its soul. In Devil in Me's case, I remember us in the studio, writing the Electronica Drum beat plus the main guitar riff for the verse and chorus and after listening to it a few times, as we are recording it, that chorus melody just popped up in my head WITH the words "you are, you are, you are the devil in me, taking over" and right at the moment, that pretty much defined what the song was about for me. So in this Devil in Me's case, I guess it already had a soul of its own.
