| Punk Rock Paradise | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Punk Rock | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hello, my name is Matt and I'm a big fan of punk rock. Some bands that will be featured in my web page are Blink182, Green Day, Nirvana, Korn , and Limp Bizkit. Look for new features on different artists or clips and sound files of the bands above. E-mail for further information. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Band Feature: Blink182 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Mark Hoppus (bass, vocals), Tom Delonge (guitar, vocals) and Scott Raynor (drums) met four years ago at an annual Future Proctologists of America camping trip. Gathered around the campfire, these disturbed kids recognized in one another the same love for songs involving girls, friends, life and chronic diarrhea. On that night, a legend was born. After a short-lived turn as "El Cuatro and the Cajones," a mariachi band available for weddings, birthdays and ritual circumcisions, the boys put aside their sombreros and plugged in their amps, hoping to spread their goodwill, positive attitute and fondness for toilet humor throughout the world. Since those early days four years ago, Blink-182 has had the opportunity to tour extensively throughout the US, Canada, Japan and Australia with bands like (and including) Pennywise and NOFX. Heavily involved in the surf, skate and snowboarding scenes, Blink-182 has been included on Taylor Steele's surf video tours and on the '96 (and again in '97) Warped Tour. With the help of Billabong, the boys always try to look their best, despite the difficulties of life on the road and the hassle of trying to find pants that fit their peculiar groin regions. Over the years, Blink-182 has released a number of 7"s, and in 1995 they released their first full-length album, Cheshire Cat, on Grilled Cheese (a division of Cargo Music). In 1996, they signed a joint-venture record deal with Cargo Music and MCA Records. When questioned about the direction he would like to see the band take both musically and artistically, Mark, the grandfather of the group at 25 comments, "Well, it's nothing major. I try to eat right and I work out a couple of times a week, but only on my right side, so I'm basically only building up one butt cheek. And I could kick your ass with it right now!" Scott, the baby at only 18, says nothing, having been raised by a tribe of mimes in the hills of Poway. His parents threw him out of the home when he was only four weeks old after they caught him urinating on himself. Tom, the middle child at 21 is perhaps the proudest of his band, explaining, "We try our hardest in everything we do, and have a lot of fun at it. By the way, did you know that Mark only exercises one butt cheek?" Brought together so many nights ago by the light of the campfire, these boys have a promising future ahead of them. They have dedicated their young lives to playing fun, positive, energetic music for anyone brave enough to lend them an ear. And now with the release of their newest album, Dude Ranch, they are set to conquer the hearts and souls of America, the world and eventually Uranus. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Green Day & Korn Info | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
9/21/98 | GREEN DAY B-MOVIE ROLLS AHEAD SLOWLY Wondering what's up with the Green Day movie Billie Joe Armstrong told those in the press tent at the MTV Video Music Awards about last week? Well, there's not much to tell, other than "they are currently collaborating with different writers to develop a story idea and put a script together," according to Amanda Cagan, their publicist at the Mitch Schneider Organization. There is no title, director, movie production company, or release date for the B-movie horror film yet. But, Green Day will be starring in the film and creating all of the music for it and there will be a soundtrack album released, according to Cagan. As for No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani's involvement, Cagan says, "All we can say is that she was approached by the band to be a part of the movie, other than that we have no other information." - Carrie Borzillo Rocktropolis News -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9/10/98 Green Day won the "Best Alternative Video" Award at the MTV Video Music Awards. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8/27/98 Billie Jo and his wife are expecting another baby soon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4/21/98 GREEN DAY WREAK HAVOC IN SAN FRANCISCO In what's become par for the course, Green Day have once again gone haywire at a few appearances. On Friday (April 17), the band -- singer/ guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool -- taped a performance for MTV's Live from the 10 Spot at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco for contest winners, when Dirnt hit his nose with his bass during "She," bloodying up his face and causing him to leave the stage. Armstrong then pulled Gavin Freitas from the band Debris onstage to play guitar while he played bass on "Basket Case." Dirnt returned to the stage for two more songs -- nose fully bleeding. After the taping, the band played for an hour and 45 minutes for the 200 or so winners. The encore set included Cheap Trick's "Surrender," the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop," Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," the Who's "My Generation" (with their producer Rob Cavallo on guitar), and Pansy Division's "James Bondage" with Pansy's bassist/ singer Chris Freeman. Freeman also joined the band onstage for the Ramones and Berry covers. MTV VP Lewis Largent joined the band onstage for "My Generation." -Steve Baltin contributed to this story -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3/4/98-- Green Day Hits Japan Green Day has two recent releases in Japanese stores: the platinum-certified "Nimrod," featuring the International hit "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)," and a 7-disc CD box set of all the band's singles and their b-sides from the "Dookie" and "Insomniac" albums. Outside of Japan, look for the box set at import music shops. More U.S. Green Day shows are planned, beginning April 25th. Watch this space for more details soon! Green Day Spring tour of Japan 3/14 Tokyo - NK Hall 3/15 Tokyo - NK Hall 3/17 Nagoya - Diamond Hall 3/18 Nagoya - Diamond Hall 3/19 Osaka - Imp Hall 3/20 Osaka - Imp Hall 3/22 Tokyo - Blitz 3/23 Tokyo - Blitz In the early '90s, heavy music looked to be going the way of the dinosaurs: Well-heeled Brit-pop and well-scrubbed pop-punk were thoroughly dominating the guitar-rock landscape, and the few surviving old-school metal acts seemed hopelessly unable to adapt. But somewhere within the vast, murky Southern California wasteland, a dynamic new species was being born, a forward-thinking beast that disregarded the mistakes of heavy bands past while meshing dark, urban rhythms and low-tuned guitar sludge with violent, expressionist blasts of hip-core noise. That and the wildly emotional vocals of JONATHAN, which alternated between a bourbon-smooth croon and a viscerally sharp howl, made for a revolutionary mix that redefined heavy rock better than anyone had in a decade. The result was a monster 1994 self-titled debut album that went solid platinum, and by the time 1996's LIFE IS PEACHY was released, this beast had a fanbase over two million strong--and a legion of musical imitators so large it threatened to saturate the planet. It was time for a change of rules. Hence KORN's latest, greatest slab, aptly titled FOLLOW THE LEADER. From the broadened musical and emotional scope to the much beefier production values to the stunning cover art courtesy of Spawn-creator Todd McFarlane, FOLLOW THE LEADER is indeed an ambitious and deeply satisfying outing for the band. And while there is considerably more hype surrounding this rightly anticipated disc, JONATHAN is quick to put things in perspective. "Our only goal was to take our time on this album," he says. "Because I knew we had it in us to do something great. To full integrate both (previous) albums and put out a record we could be proud of...we wanted to do some phat shit." "I think working with a new producer and going into a new studio helped us grow musically as a band," adds guitarist MUNKY. "All of us really have that fire again about being excited about a record...We all feel like we grew, like when you grow out of some old shoes; your feet are all crammed in forever and you know you need to buy a new pair, but you need to save up the money to do it. We kind of saved up our confidence and made that leap into our new shoes." Fans of old-school KORN needn't despair--the new shoes kick just as much ass as the old pair. "Freak On A Leash" is a molotov cocktail of scathing, psychedelic guitar runs, hypno-groove bass grind, hip-hop jungle drumming, all sliced in two with an ingeniously placed scat line reminiscent of PEACHY opener "Twist." Then there's "Children Of The KORN," title courtesy of legendary gangsta rapper Ice Cube, who contributed an arresting series of verses to the tune, as well as a mallet-blunt mantra that speaks for every fed up kid in America: "Stop fuckin' with me!" Check the epic closing track, "My Gift to You," one of the band's heaviest songs to date, rife with the sort of lyrical honesty that's earned JONATHAN true street cred with the kids--and dismay from the parents. Which is just fine with him--KORN, after all, speaks directly to those disenfranchised with a world of spent opportunity and violence, due in large part to the short-sightedness of generations past. "Yeah," says JONATHAN, "I am pissed off that I inherited it. I wish sometimes that I was born back in the day. But today's society is so fucked up...we gotta thank the parents for doing that to the kids." Yes, they still rock. But FOLLOW THE LEADER also illustrates just how much JONATHAN's vocal and lyrical abilities have broadened from the "straight fuckin' cathartic rage" of KORN and PEACHY to a level that communicates a full range of human emotion, from regret ("It's On!") and empathy ("Justin"), to lighthearted if incredibly vitriolic banter ("All In The Family"). The band's musical growth is also well evident--from drummer DAVID's successful integration of D-Drum sampling to FIELDY's ever-more-percussive bass playing. Meanwhile, twin guitar towers MUNKY and HEAD have made their joint stylistic fusion nearly seamless. "It's like we're one person," adds HEAD. "We're one guitar player thinking. It's weird." The end result is an album that could well be KORN's swan song--and one that's sure to find the band's ever-growing throng of musical imitators scurrying back to the chalkboard. Although FOLLOW THE LEADER will not be officially released until August 18 on Immortal/Epic Records, MUNKY considers it a mission accomplished: "I think we've already achieved success on this record," he says. "We're all 100 % happy with all the songs. That was the personal goal for me." In the making of FOLLOW THE LEADER, KORN's also been busy with their ground-breaking live weekly Internet program, as well as the formation of its own record label, Elementree Records. Its first signing, California "death pop" outfit Orgy, has already drawn critical acclaim for its debut CANDYASS (Alternative Press enthusiastically endorsed the record, saying it displayed enough "smart melodies, head-banging crunch and electro-kicks to impress even the most fickle music fans"). CANDYASS will hit the shops the on the same day as FOLLOW THE LEADER. As for Elementree itself, FIELDY offers up the band's business philosophy accordingly: "I think we'd all like to sign some bands that everybody's scared to sign. And of course to make them as big as KORN, if not bigger. I think where we're at in '98, the whole decade is really hurting for some good music." In addition to the new record and the new label, KORN has also put together its own answer to Lollapalooza: the "Family Values" tour, an eight-week U.S. tour which will feature Ice Cube, Limp Bizkit, Orgy, Rammstein and, of course, KORN, in addition to a throng of breakdancers, fire-eaters and a myriad of other cultural oddities. Why would an already overworked band want to tackle such a monumental task? "There are all these festivals that have weak links in them," says DAVID. "It's not easy to put together a big festival because there are a lot of people involved--but we thought we could give it a shot and do something better." 1998 is proving to be an intensely creative year for the band. An ambitious new record that redefines the school KORN defined in the first place--that's already garnering massive airplay for its first single ("Got The Life"). An ambitious new label that's already undermining the alternative world. And an ambitious new tour showcasing some of the heaviest acts of the day. No surprise. KORN has always been about ambition--and much more often than not it's paid off. "We're not out to change the world, just music."
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