May 2012 | Music Junkie Press

Marilyn Manson in Cannes Film, “Wrong Cops”

May 24, 2012

First I must tell you, I have not always been a big Marily Manson fan. Actually I was one of those people who thought he was some “freakishly” weird looking wannabe musician many many years ago. I passed him off as a fad and paid no attention to him for several years. Then my son Ryan when he was about 12 or so started playing his music on the rides to school. I was always open to all types of music but I remember driving him and his friends around and hearing the 12 year old girls singing loudly on a ride to a concert, “Sex, Sex, Sex and don’t forget the violence”. I wanted to ban him from playing the song! Then I would catch myself playing the song when I was on my long drives to the Bay Area. Darn, I started really liking that catchy tune….. Then it was asking Ryan for what else he had of Marilyn Manson to listen to. I was then hooked as we would be listening to [Read More]

Talking with State Line Empire about Golden Girls, Tequila and Guitar Center!

May 23, 2012

Hard Rock Band State Line Empire is from my hometown of San Mateo. You may be familiar with this band since they won the Guitar Center’s Your Next Record with Slash contest and released their EP “Octane” which featured Slash on their song “Drive Me”. I was excited to see State Line Empire open up for Steven Adler’s band Adler’s Appetite at the Red Devil Lounge in San Francsico last year. These guys are incredible live and have such a great energy playing together. It is no wonder they won! State Line Empire features Tyson Yen on Vocals, Dave Pearl on Bass, Cat Place on Guitar and Jay Michaelis on Drums. I had the great opportunity to interview this incredible band and I hope you enjoy getting to know these guys as much as I did. The interview was with Tyson, Dave and Cat. Music Junkie Press: How did you guys form your band? Tyson: We all worked together in a previous project and we all got a long great. Soon after, it just seemed very obvious [Read More]

Smile Empty Soul and their new release 3’s

May 22, 2012

Today was the big day that I have been waiting for. The release date for Smile Empty Soul’s 3’s! I got to see Smile Empty Soul earlier this month at the Boardwalk in a small town outside of Sacramento for their Jagermesiter tour. That night was a long one with a six band lineup and we of course counted the minutes and waited for Smile Empty Soul to take the stage. They came out and right off had their die hard fans singing to “Don’t Ever Leave”. Then they played the single of their new album aptly titled 3’s, “Afterlife”. “Afterlife” has been receiving great airplay on XM Sirius Octane Channel and I am hoping with our help it will make it to the Big Uns Countdown soon. Well that night they had a pre-order available for their new album 3’s and I was of course rasing up front to buy it. So I waited and waited and then it came; that great little note in my INBOX letting me know that my Pre-Order of [Read More]

Burn Halo’s new lineup is Tearing it Down in Sacramento!

May 21, 2012

Burn Halo which was created by James Hart (frontman of Eighteen Visions) sometime in 2007. They recently went through some lineup changes. Don’t worry, Joey Roxx, their kick ass guitarist is right up front and center (well stage left to be exact!) They brought in Sonny Tremblay on drums, Chris Paterson on rhythm guitar and Ryan Frost on bass guitar. I have had the pleasure of seeing Burn Halo about 8 times since 2009 and I was ready to see Burn Halo with their new lineup at the Boardwalk- a small historical nightclub outside of Sacramento in Orangevale that has housed bands such as Hoobastank, Mudvayne, Thrice, Collective Soul, Black Veil Brides and so many more. For a complete list, visit their website listing of bands at www.http://www.boardwalkrocks.com/boardwalk.php So this night up on the bill would be a six band lineup to include: Force of Habit, Some Fear None, Track Fighter, The Veer Union, Burn Halo and headliner Smile Empty Soul on their Jagermeister tour. One of the early times I saw Burn Halo is [Read More]