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Interview with guitarist extraordinaire, J.R. Bareis of Love and Death

October 20, 2013

Aftershock Festival last month was filled with so many great bands and one of those bands that I was excited to watch was Love and Death. I have really enjoyed their album “Between Here & Lost” as it has some of my favorite songs like Meltdown, Paralyzed, Chemicals, The Abandoning, and those are just to name a few off! We had the opportunity to talk with lead guitarist, J.R. Bareis after their Aftershock performance and are pleased to bring you the interview here: Music Junkie Press: HI JR. Thank you for taking the time to talk with us here at Music Junkie Press. We got to see Love and Death at Aftershock and you guys were awesome. How was it playing at Aftershock for you? J.R.: It was good. We had a lot of fun. It was very good. I believe it. It was awesome. It was great all the people that showed up. It was very exciting. Music Junkie Press: They reported that they had over 30,000 people there. Who were you most [Read More]

The Pretty Reckless is a crowd pleaser in San Francisco!

October 20, 2013

Just only a week ago, I was at Slim’s in San Francisco and enjoying the incredible, Russian, British and American band lineup that comprised of Louna, Heaven’s Basement and The Pretty Reckless. You can read our reviews of Louna and Heaven’s Basement here. It was quite a night as these three very different bands came together and gave an amazing show that had the crowd continuously rockin out all night. This was the first time I saw The Pretty Reckless although I did get to enjoy Taylor Momsen as she joined Marilyn Manson on stage for the 2012 Revolver Golden Gods Awards. I have the footage in the Links below. One thing is for sure The Pretty Reckless has amazing stage presence and their songs are so damn good. I was immediately drawn in and excited to watch more. Taylor Momsen has stated in the past that her musical influences are Kurt Cobain and Joan Jett and that is exactly what you get with her! She has this amazing grunge style with this rockin attitude [Read More]

Exclusive Interview with Ben Draiman on his cover of Disturbed’s “Stricken”

October 19, 2013

Just over a month ago, we featured the very talented Ben Draiman for our Tuesdays Travels pick. He had mentioned he was working on a cover he was soon to release. Well, the time has come and the cover is out and is AMAZING! Ben has released his new interpretation of Disturbed’s “Stricken“. As you might know, Ben is the younger brother of David Draiman from Disturbed/Device. He has taken a great metal song and transformed it into a spectacular ballad. We had the opportunity to interview Ben to discuss more about this remarkable cover. First check out the cover: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzw6qNqQknc&feature=youtu.be] * * * * * * * * Music Junkie Press: Thank you Ben for taking the time to talk with us about your recent cover. I know that in the past you have covered another Disturbed song, “Darkness” as you paid tribute to your brother David while he was visiting you at one of your shows. Can you tell us what made you choose “Stricken” for your next cover? Ben: It’s a good thing [Read More]

Tony Harnell announces return as singer for TNT!

October 17, 2013

There must be some magic in the air today and the stars are all aligned because I have some awesome news to share! Tony Harnell has just announced his return as vocalist for TNT. I have told you earlier this year about Tony Harnell & The Wildflowers featuring Ron Bumblefoot Thal. I also loved seeing Tony perform in January at NAMM 2013 along with Cassandra Sotos and Ron. You can check out a video which we got of their great performance here: Tony Harnell has an incredibly powerful and distinctive voice that I have loved for a long time! Tony was the lead singer of the Norwegian Rock band, TNT during the highlight of their career (1984 to 2006) and has over 30 albums of experience as well as numerous awards. It is so exciting to see that he will be returning to TNT. You can read his Facebook post here announcing the news: So let’s all give Tony a warm WELCOME BACK and I can’t wait to find out about a US Tour!!!! [Read More]

AIRBOURNE releases new video “Back in the Game”

October 16, 2013

Earlier this year, we picked hard rockers Airbourne from Australia as one of our Tuesdays Travels pick. You can read more about that here. Well today, we wanted to share with you their new video for their rockin song, “Back In The Game” which is a balls to the wall song and you will be hooked instantly! We had been looking forward to seeing Airbourne at the Aftershock Festival back in September but they had to cut their North American tour short due to an emergency family situation. We hope that everyone is well. Here they are announcing with their new video they are back in the game with their old school rock sound that reminds me of when I first discovered my other favorite Aussie band AC/DC over 30 years ago. The video includes spectacular live footage shots that treat you to all the angles of their show and has you feel like you are part of the band. From slow-mo to Go-Pro to behind the scenes, it has it all! It makes you [Read More]

Louna from Russia is our Tuesdays Travels pick of the week!

October 15, 2013

For this Tuesdays Travels pick I want to introduce you to a band that we recently got to see perform live here in San Francisco. From Moscow, Russia I present to you hard rockers, Louna. Louna was in San Francisco performing with Heaven’s Basement and The Pretty Reckless for their Going To Hell Tour which in itself is quite historic with American, British and Russian bands together on the bill. Louna came out on stage and just rocked the place. Lou Gevorkian on vocals has not only has spectacular vocals but a high energy stage presence that reminds me of the days of the Runaways or early Pat Benatar. On bass, Vitaly Demidenko is jumping around with adrenaline flowing through his veins and gives us some crunchy bass lines. On guitars you are treated to a double dose of blistering guitars by Rouben Kazariyan and Sergey Ponkratiev. Bringing the sound all together with his lively drumming is Leonid “Pilot” Kinzbursky. Together, this band shows us that even though they may come from a country halfway across the [Read More]

Heaven’s Basement makes quite an impression on San Francisco!

October 15, 2013

Last month we told you how UK rockers Heaven’s Basement really stole the show at the Ernie Ball stage during the Aftershock Festival. You can read more about that here. Well this past weekend, Heaven’s Basement made their debut appearance in San Francisco at Slim’s where they were performing with The Pretty Reckless and Louna. The lineup alone was incredible as it had British, American and Russian bands touring together on the Going to Hell Tour and they really put on quite a show. Shortly before their set, we had the opportunity to interview Sid Glover and Aaron Buchanan as they told us about what other countries they look forward to touring next. We are pleased to bring you the interview from Slim’s right here: Heaven’s Basement truly has an incredible electrifying stage presence. These four guys give a 150% of themselves out on that stage and it continues from the first note to the last song. It is amazing to watch as they must high octane adrenaline running through those veins. Aaron definitely has an amazing talent to [Read More]