Mystic Knights of The Cobra

"MKOTC" or Simply Just "The Cobras"


By: Lisa Booth
Previously featured in september 2010 punk globe,.

Their Facebook describes them as "It’s only Bad Ass Rock n Roll. You know you like it! Stand and face of the undeniable. The year of the Cobra is upon us. - There is no end.



The unusual sounds from The cobra family consists of many members such as: Baby Cobra, Lady Cobra, Crystal, Gyptron, Chinatown Meatloaf, Hotel Trell, Call Me Donny, Night Moves, Big Chief, Ghostown, College Prep, Call Me Donna, Lockdown, Cakes, Hot Lips, El Leche, Sexual, Alcatraz, Hey Puto, Cup Cake, Lu-Lu, Ki-Ki, Soda Pop, Hebrew National and Dirty Nasty the Filthy Gentleman, All Currently residing on The East Bay of California Also being good friends with Green Day, They firstly got known to me whilst Gigging with The "Foxboro Hot Tubs" - aka,"Green Day" (alongside other Green Day friends "Prima Donna") on a mini tour of small town clubs in the USA.

So of course with myself being a Green Day fan, reading All the new news about The Foxboro Hot Tubs & their mini Tour - it also invited us to learn about the likes of the other bands such as "Mystic Knights of the Cobra, & Prima Donna" & after listening to their album i was as you could say a Tad "mystified" by them, and have been intrigued by them for months!

They recently took some time out of their busy schedule to answer some questions, and tell me all about Their New exciting plans, along with past news, fan information, and how they dealt with their recent tragic loss of a band member of their cobra family. So, Here's what They Had to say!

Punk Globe: How long you have been together as a band and how many of you is there in the band?

MKOTC: We have been together as a band for Six years this fall, we have 23 active members of the live band, with 8 core band members that play every show.

Punk Globe: The Band Name, "Mystic Knight of the Cobra" is so legend - How did you come up with The name for the band ?

MKOTC: It was the lodge that Vinton Harper went to on Mamas Family.

Punk Globe: "I am so very sad and sorry to hear of your recent band member loss, and I present you my condolences. I would like to ask, however how has the band coped with this.. and how long has it been now.... would you like to share some great memories of him?

MKOTC: August 9th it will be a year. Paul and Lady's birthday. It has been the longest year of our life. Booze helps with pain, he truly was a genius, the worlds largest rampage.

Punk Globe: How many albums have you released so far as a band and will we have anything new to look forward to?

MKOTC: We have one full length album out now. "There is no End" which you can get here: http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MysticKnightsoftheCobra . We are going back in the studio this summer to record the follow up, "Fade to Pink". Also a DVD and a b-side EP is planned.

Punk Globe: What record company are you currently with and have previously worked with?

MKOTC: We are on War-Tone but do everything ourselves. We are so indie it is stupid.

Punk Globe: What style of music would you describe the music you play- Funk punk? Party punk? Punk punk or just Rock n Roll?

MKOTC: Post-wave-Pop-Party-Adult-Punk, don't know where funk came from.

Punk Globe: Who is the main Song Writer/ Music Writer for the bands music and is there anything in particular that inspires you to get you in the mood for writing new material?

MKOTC: We buy our songs from the day laborers at Home Depot.

Punk Globe: Any future plans tours to look forward too?

MKOTC: Right now we are working on recording. We will be doing a national tour when the new album will be released.

Punk Globe: When is your next show so the readers can know where to come and see you play,?

MKOTC: Sep. 24th at the Uptown in Oakland Ca. ( http://www.uptownnightclub.com ) with the Fleshies. it is a Record Release Party for Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children Macnuggets. Tickets are on sale through Ticketweb or through the Uptown's site: http://www.ticketweb.com/

Punk Globe: Any Best Memories of shows you have done?

MKOTC: Our first show is still my favorite. The Hot Tub shows are always alot of fun. We just did a bunch of dates with Prima Donna. Best looking dudes in show biz.

Punk Globe: Your Friends with FBHT - How was your recent experience playing with the Foxboro Hot Tubs in NYC - the videos & pics look wild!!,

MKOTC: It was fucking wild. Lots, and lots of beer. Bill Murray, The Edge and Joan Jett. The kids in N.Y. were alot more responsive than we expected. Can't wait to do it again!

Punk Globe: I saw Them play as fbht in London, I was pulled on stage, it is Such a shame you weren't there too Id Love to have seen You guys play, as You played previously with Them in the USA, tell us about that?

MKOTC: I wish we were there. They did play "El Camino" at Wembley. Thats pretty cool.

Punk Globe: How did playing with them come about?

MKOTC: We are from the same magical town in California. It is a very small town. We have lots of friends in common. When the Tubs started their first tour, they were only doing dive bars. Which our magical town happened to have. We were booked for that night and they asked to join in on the fun. We payed them 40 bucks and 2 drink tickets per band member.

Punk Globe: Any future shows planned with them?

MKOTC: Not at the moment. We don't even know when they happen until a day or two in advance.

Punk Globe: The UK would love you, Do you have any plans to come play to the UK/Europe fans & give us some Mystic shows!?

MKOTC: YES!! we need to pay off our D.U.I.'s and get our passports in line. We will be there.

Punk Globe: Do you have Tattoos. & do you have a particular artist you like to use?

MKOTC: We all have ink of some sort. Our singer, Lady Cobra is an amazing tattoo artist, and does alot of our work.

Punk Globe: I love alot of Music/Bands from The East Bay area, Do you have Any good local bands to recommend?

MKOTC: We were brought up on Eastbay music. There are so many amazing acts. the funk-metal-emo crap doesn't sit well with Bay Area kids. London has the Clash, We have the rest.

Punk Globe: Which local bands are you friends with and like to play with?

MKOTC: We are very lucky and have made great friends with most of the bands we play with. The support system in the bay are is legendary.

Punk Globe: Which band would you most like to tour with?

MKOTC: Wu-tang Clan ain't nothin to fuck with

Punk Globe: Where can the Readers go on the Internet to find you and check out your tunes? Do you have a website for all your news?

MKOTC: The best place is on you tube. We also have a MySpace page:

www.myspace.com/mysticknightsofthecobra where people can check out some of our songs, videos, pics of the band, etc, You can also Add us on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mystic-Knights-of-the-Cobra

Punk Globe: Anything to say to the Readers & Fans out there?

MKOTC: Thank you very much. Come to the live shows. We always try to throw a memorable party. We will be coming to your town soon, so have a drink or 2 with us. Cheers!

THANKYOU COBRAS For sparing me your time. and I cant wait to catch you in London Some day.

Tiger Army

So - Who are Tiger Army?

With their last album - "Music From Regions Beyond" by Hellcat Records, which was released in 2007 has been mentioned by many as "The band's most distinguished work yet"!

I found the album a good mixture of music genre, and blends, fast, hard, raw, and even some rockabilly folk punk, its a mix of pure blending sounds for any ear, & the band are totally awesome,.

I was hooked by Tiger Army by listening to one song of theirs called "Atomic" which was off a compilation punk mix album, it then inspired me to look up their eps, The band, & history, which was fascinating,

This is where i found their last album "Music From Regions Beyond" with the

Title tracks:
1) Prelude: Signal Return

2) Hotprowl

3) Afterworld 4) Forever Fades Away

5) Ghosts of Memory

6) LunaTone

7) Pain

8) As the Cold Rain Falls

9) Hechizo de Amor

10) Spring Forward

11) Where the Moss Slowly Grows

Now, this major album gave the band some pure fan followers. When returning to the main stage at Warped Tour 2007 they burst the seams, which had created their popularity to expand their fan base worldwide, so in 2008, Tiger Army played a number of shows in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and Europe

The depths and struggles this band has gone through today, gives them a strong wave of perseverance and confidence that would have destroyed most bands in todays day and age,

With Members shot, Many band member changes, and the stresses the history evolves in itself, having todays current members as: Nick 13 - lead vocals, lead guitar, songwriter from 1996 - present)

Geoff Kresge - stand-up bass, backing vocals joined the band in 1999 - 2004, and re joined in 2008 - present

James Meza - drums, percussion joined in 2004 - present)

In early 1996, they played their first show with longtime friends AFI, borrowing their drummer Adam Carson for their set, at the legendary 924 Gilman in Berkeley,CA where bands such as Green Day, AFI and Rancid got their start, following on with regular local shows, creating a huge fan base & following, they then went on to the studio in the summer of 1996 to record a self-titled vinyl EP, now referred to as the Temptation EP.

This caught the eye of Rancid's / Hellcat Records Tim Armstrong, who then contacted Nick 13 and asked him to record an album!
Tiger Army then recorded their first full length self-titled Tiger Army, in January 1999. The bassist Joel Day left Tiger Army before the band was signed, so the Quakes bassist Rob Peltier was hired to play on the album.

They then recorded a second album, Power of Moonlite in 2001. where London May left shortly after the recording, and was replaced with Fred Hell.

On March 10,2003, Fred Hell was shot four times, once in the head, by armed robbers A bullet became lodged in his brain, putting his life in pause mode, having to go through intense therapy before he could ever play drums again. whilst the band were in the processes of recording Ghost Tigers Rise

The record was repeatedly delayed to make time for Fred to recover enough to perform, but his injuries proved serious enough to regrettably not be able to carry on and in July 2004 he resigned his position from the band,. In regret in which this is what tempted the band to hire Mike Fasano, whom was a drum tech for both Rancid and Tiger Army, he was then invited to play on the album for its completion.
which followed onto more bad news for the band where in September 2004, Geoff Kresge quit the band to focus his efforts on his new record label, Dead Body Records He then joined his wife Kamilla Vanilla with Horrorpops as a guitarist a month later.

Nick 13 quickly announced a new line-up for Tiger Army, featuring drummer "Wasted" James Meza giving you todays band memebers Nick 13 Geoff Kresge, James Meza,


http://www.tigerarmy.com/

http://www.myspace.com/tigerarmy









LISA BOOTH ~

Jason Chandler gives us the Goss

I recently had the opportunity of Jason Chandler from The frustrators agreeing to do a special interview,

He is A fantastic artist whom has designed many things,
From the Designing of images for skate boards, The drawings of comics - for his own comic "horrible comics", to
 T-shirt designs, & album covers,  He also enjoys playing with his own band "The Frustrators" currently with the following members:
Jason Chandler (lead vocals),
Terry Linehan (guitar, vocals),
 Art Tedeschi (drums),
 Mike Dirnt (bass, vocals)
& of course not forgetting Stanley The Chicken!
 They were all once members of other bands, Terry Linehan from Waterdog,
 Jason Chandler and Art Tedeschi from Violent Anal Death,
 and of course the well known  Mike Dirnt currently from Green Day, Foxboro Hot Tubs, and of course Not in The Network!
They have had two releases with Adeline Records, "Bored in the USA" and "Achtung Jackass".
& Here's what Jason had to say,

Thank you so much Jason for sparing the time for us.


Tell us a little about yourself, for the readers who don't know who you are.

Hi Lis! Thanks for having me over. I grew up in Massachusetts, which for a young guy was very hard to spell. I've always been in bands since 6th grade, most of them were a lot of fun and destined for obscurity. I graduated high school in 1987 full of schemes, some of which have actually worked out. I live in San Francisco now. I make my living drawing pictures and telling people how bad their websites are. About 10 years ago I got into a band called "The Frustrators." If that hadn't happened this interview would be highly unlikely.



When & how did you form the band? How did you come together as a band?

I only know it from my perspective. Most of my life I've been the guy who starts something... but this time around my good friend Art asked me to come try out for vocals one night at Mike's house where his new band was practicing. The band didn't have a name yet, hadn't been rehearsing very long, only had a couple of tunes, and "I Slept With Terry" was the only lyric they'd written by then. Apparently Terry and Mike had the initial idea to do a rockin' little project. Art and I had played in bands together since high school, and I was just glad to be hanging out with a familiar face out here in CA. So it felt like a regular band practice I guess. We ran through some covers -- maybe Crazy Train? Sheena is a Punk Rocker? I don't remember but we had some fun. After that we had band practice a night or two a week as I recall, drank beers, made noise, until we had our first set of 8 songs basically written and ready to go.



My Favorite Frustrators song, which was a single, is Trout. Tell us about The Frustrators albums & other singles they released.

Our first record was "Bored in the USA." It was 8 songs that pretty much showed the world what we were about and how to avoid us. Very soon after that Adeline asked us to put something on the comp "Might As Well... Can't Dance" so we spent some time writing "Trout" for that. A little while later we all decided to do another record, which ended up being "Achtung Jackass" which had 10 songs if you count "Tuort" (which you shouldn't because it was literally Trout backwards. If anything it should have counted as a negative number, so 8 songs

  Did you play Gilman with The Frustrators?

Yep. The big photo on the back of "Bored in the USA"  (pictured here) was from that show. I think Gilman was our 2nd show, and maybe the first one where we called ourselves the Frustrators. ... I just Googled it, yes indeed it was our 2nd show and the first one where we used the name "The Frustrators." It was in 1999. At that show we handed out hand-burned copies of our unmastered "Bored in the USA" which had just been mixed.   It was our first indoor show so it was nice.



Did you ever wanna make the band bigger and tour?

Nope. We once did a mini tour down to L.A. after "Achtung Jackass." But overall I think we've played a total of 8 shows in our history as a band which is weird. Your band should never have more songs than shows. So it's not anything like a desire to make the band "bigger" but it just would be nice to play more.

Do you have any funny memories or any funny gig stories to share?

The craziest part of this band is all the attention we've gotten because of our bass player. If this was a video game it's like we typed in a cheat code and got unlimited bass player power. People literally copy his tattoos. I'm used to playing loud little songs in rooms full of scruffy proto-adults where some people like it, some people don't, but most people are just trying to have a beer in the dark. If I can get one person to laugh or heckle me I feel like it was a good show. But by literally the 3rd show the Frustrators played very young people were pressed right up to the stage. They were singing along and seemed to know every word better than I did, which was creepy but pretty convenient.

 The Frustrators have been very quiet for a while now, do you have any plans to produce anything new?

Well actually we've hung out a bit recently and there were instruments involved. It would be awesome to come out with another record. I'll warn you if anything happens...

Tell us about Stanley the chicken.. how did he come about!

He never knew his real father. He saw his mother loaded into a shipping carton. He was the accidental product of biological engineering, a unique mutant step along the way to the development of the boneless chicken... but he escaped, and now they're looking everywhere for him. Actually I don't know. When I met Mike he had a very special rubber chicken named Stanley. I ended up incorporating a surly plucked rooster with the same name into some comics and drawings (like the cover of Achtung Jackass). I've been noodling an animated video for Trout starring poor Stanley. So far I've got a pretty workable storyboard but don't hold yer breath waiting for me to finish it!



What made you wanna be a musician and get into The Music Scene?

I never really thought about it. I played music with my parents when I was a kid. They were heavy into bluegrass and festivals and partying and so by the time I was 8 I'd been in plenty of situations where the only way out was to play some bluegrass music. By the time I was 11 I decided that the only way to move forward was to make the loudest, ugliest music I could. So near the end of 6th grade I got into "the music scene" of Norfolk Massachusetts playing a self-wired old Sears Harmony electric guitar in a band with my brother who played a little Casio CS-01. Over the next few years I figured out how to rent Knights of Columbus Halls, build speaker cabinets, write songs, etc. I never really understood the idea of a music scene. I was pretty much an outsider among the outsiders. Oh well. You just keep doing what you do and eventually you either become world famous or you go on to other things. I personally benefit from the fact that the first band I've been in that sounds really great (The Frustrators) is also the first one to exist during the Internet Age. So nobody can search for all the embarrassing old crap I did. And yet people all over the world are able to hear about this one good band of mine. It's pretty convenient.



What was the last music CD you bought?

Jimi Hendrix Live in Stockholm. It's working for me. I'm glad to know that even at my advanced age there's still huge veins of untapped music for me to like.



I hear your other band member Mike Dirnt has a passion for vinyls, Do you also collect vinyls, or have any cool collections?

I don't really collect things. I've got lots of vinyl, usually ones I can get for a dollar but a few that are just meaningful relics. I love listening to records. The time it takes to play one side of an LP is about the right amount of time a person should pay attention to something.

You're a busy man hiding in your bunker these days, with your drawing/art/Horrible Comics projects what are your plans with those, and where would you like to take them?

Drawing is like being in a band all by yourself. On the one hand you've got nobody else to bother you, nobody to set your schedule, nobody to fart while you're in a van with them. But on the other hand you've got nobody to bounce things off, keep you focused, hand you a beer. For me making comics is the most complex thing I've ever tried to do but it's like I finally plugged myself into the right outlet. I spend literally every spare moment of my life on this open ended project... a series of short stories about zombies, mutants, robots etc. called "Living It Up at the End of the World". It's taking forever. By the time I finish it I'm sure everyone here will have completely forgotten about it. Maybe I'll be able to sell it to your kids.



You designed the Foxboro Hot Tubs artwork for the "Stop Drop and Roll" album.
 I love the 60's style to it all,  What gave you the inspiration and ideas?

The 60's idea was all theirs.
The guys in the band sent me a book they'd been reading about what was happening on the Sunset Strip back when the music was popping off and leading up to the riots. I think they knew I was the right guy to design it since my style is a lot like that: all wacky and manly and scrappy. To me it's not "retro" (which makes me cringe), it's just the way good things should look. I even got to work with Julian Wasser, a photographer who was down there snapping the party people back in the day. In the beginning it was just going to be a web site which my pal Greg Schneider and I worked on together. I wanted the image on the screen to feel as real and scratched and worn-by-use as the tracks sounded. Then when it turned into design for a physical CD I wanted to keep that feeling going by doing everything in my power to make that CD felt like a tiny, old, vinyl LP. I'm really happy with how it all turned out -- when I pick it up I feel like a giant. There's some bits from the development of that design on my facebook page (facebook.com/horriblecomics) in one of the photo albums.



Do you think you can live the punk way of life when you're an artist as much as when you're a musician?
Yep. It's just the way you approach your life without compromising your individuality or your efforts to shock the world into becoming a better place.



How did becoming a dad affect your Art and Music?

Honestly I don't notice any difference since my son came around. But a lot of things kinda changed focus in the years running up to that. It's not like I write stuff that needs a Parental Advisory -- my instincts are to surprise and annoy people into action, not to disgust them or dwell on death or anything that kids shouldn't see. But things have gotten more complicated now that I'm what you'd call an adult. The hardest thing is to offend just the right people. When I was at the height of my hormone-drenched, poverty-stricken, angst-ridden, gleefully-cynical, post-highschool rebellion I realized the amazing power of offending EVERYBODY. It was the antidote for what I'd absorbed from a lifetime of exposure to mass marketing (those guys try to offend NOBODY, which is itself somewhat offensive if you think about it). But these days I've realized there are real villains and enemies in this world, people who spend a lot of effort and money directly trying to turn back the clock. So you have to pick your battles, and it's wasteful to attack your fans (but it sure is fun... I mean c'mon they're sitting right there!!)



If you had tomorrow afternoon off what would you be up to?!

Working on about 100 things that I've promised to do for people that are already behind schedule. Or reading Saga of the Swamp Thing. Or sleeping.

Thanks Lis and Punk Globe! Yer pal, ~JasonC

You can find The Frustrators at:
http://www.myspace.com/frustratorz

http://www.adelinerecords.net/artists/Thefrustrators

http://www.zazzle.com/frustrators

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Frustrators

ALSO - check out Jasons page on facebook & drawings, comics, album designs here at:
 http://www.facebook.com/HorribleComics

Thanks Jason Chandler you Rock!


Lisa Booth.


This is also featured in Julys Punk Globe at http://www.punkglobe.com/

Home from Tour I grabbed a quick Interview with Ty from Broadway Calls.

Up close and personal with Broadway calls.
By Lis Booth

Thank you So much for the interview guys,
 I have your last 2 albums & i think they totally Rock!,
But for the readers that dont know you,  Could you tell them a little about yourselves, and who the band are:

Thanks! We're a pop punk band from Portland, Oregon, which is in the Northwest corner of the United States. We love it here, but we're always on tour.



Broadway Calls is a great catchy name, How did that name come about?

There's a band from Portland called The Decemberists. They have a song called "I Was Meant For The Stage". It's a really amazing song about a man who,
 night after night performs for all the people that come into his theatre. Our band name was inspired by that song.  

How did you come together as a band, and how long have you been together.

Josh and I have been playing together for a long long time.
 We were in other bands together while we were growing up, and we finally decided to start a band that writes and plays our favorite kind of music.
 So we started Broadway Calls about four years ago, and  we've been going strong ever since.














You have played with some great bands such as  Alkaline Trio, the Bouncing Souls, Rancid, and The Offspring. how was that,

The Alkaline Trio tour was a dream come true.
 So was the Bouncing Souls/Bayside tour. We've been extremely lucky in the company we've been able to keep while on tour for the past couple years.
 To be able to consider the bands you grew up listening to, and still love, as friends, is a trip.

Tell the readers about your recordings you have so far released,

   Before we ever played our first show, we wrote and recorded six songs that turned into the "Call The Medic"... EP. We just recorded that in a freezing cold garage in January of 2006.
 It was my first time singing in a band for about six years. It was so fun, so we released it for free download online, and then a label decided to release it on CD.
 In September of 2006 we started recording our first full length album in California with Willie Samuels.
 That record was released by State Of Mind records, and then later re-released on Adeline.
 We toured extensively on that record for a while, and then last year we recorded and released Good Views, Bad News on SideOneDummy Records.

Your last album was not under Adeline Records, Are you still signed to Adeline Records ?

No. We are signed to SideOneDummy now, but we still work with Adeline on a daily basis.
 They're like family to us, and I think we will always be in touch with them.

Your getting a Huge fan base around you now, how does that make you feel?

It feels pretty surreal. I mean, we still have a long way to go before I'm satisfied, but to be able to show up to a city on a different continent
 and play and have kids sing along to songs I wrote in my bedroom is pretty incredible.

You have recently toured the UK/Europe, tell us about that:

We love touring over there. We went over to Europe three times last year, and they were all very different tours,
 and on each of the tours, we met new friends, and played in front of new faces. I love touring over there. I love the history, and I love the shows.

How was the reaction of the European fans compared to the USA,

I think the European fans really cherish the fact that a small American band is coming through.
There's so many incredible bands from America that  have never been able to make it over seas,
 so I think Europeans know that it's a big deal when a smaller, new band makes it over.
 As far as crowd reaction and craziness goes though, I've never seen anything in europe as rabid or wild as a California punk show.

Did you get to explore the sites of London - Did you love it?

London is a beautiful city. We've been there quite a lot for an American band.
 You can see us doing the touristy stuff over there in our Basement Royalty video.

I hear you have been on a constant on and off tour since you started out, i guess you all love to tour!! when do you plan on returning to London.

Hopefully before the end of the year. No promises though. We're trying to get a new record done.


I am from Reading home of the Reading Festi & i love the Reading festival, you played at Reading & Leeds festis last yr?
 Tell us about that

Those festivals were giant. We'd never played anything like it, and it was so much fun.
 We got to see a lot of bands that we wouldn't normally get to see in a "punk" show setting.
 Bands like Radiohead, Vampire Weekend, Crystal Castles. It was a blast. I'd love to come back and play in 2011.

Who did you grow up listening to?

Green Day changed my world when I was 12. As did Nirvana.
 Then from there, I got into Rancid, Nofx, Bad Religion, Operation Ivy, The Queers, etc.....

Who are you currently listening to?

All of the above, as well as The Menzingers, Against Me!, Off With Their Heads, Dead To Me, Comadre, Surfer Blood, The Weakerthans.....
 Honestly, too many to list.

What do you like to do on your day off!

RELAX!!! If it's hot out, we all love to go swimming.

For the girly fans out there are any of you single?!!

Ha. Nope.

Please tell the readers where they can find you online...

Follow broadwaycalls on Twitter!!
Also you can find us easily on facebook and myspace. Twitter is what I'm on the most though.
http://www.myspace.com/broadwaycalls
http://twitter.com/broadwaycalls
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Broadway-Calls/7912315767







Thanks for being great sports & answering the questions,
WHAT A Fantastic interview. Thanks so much To Ty of Broadway calls.

Lisa Booth.


Also featured in Julys Punk Globe at www.punkglobe.com

Lis Booth speaks to Don from JFA

JFA are also known as "Jodie Foster's Army"   signed to DC JAM RECORDS.

 They are a hardcore punk band formed with roots in  The mainstream Arizona, & California skateboard culture.
They formed in 1981 with original members
 Brian Brannon (vocals),
 Don "Redondo" Pendleton (guitar),
 Michael Cornelius (bass),
 Mike "Bam-Bam" Sversvold (drums).

Alan Bishop of Sun City Girls also played bass in their past, Over the years the band has included many other bass players and drummers but the main core always have remained as Brian Brannon and Don Pendleton.

They recently played the hoco fest with a huge outburst... heres what Don had to say when we asked him a few questions.


You have new music out with DCJam Records, Tell us about that and what your plans are..

*** Don
 We`are stoked to have a label that wants to put our stuff out!
Last year we did "to all our friends" (the live album) and we just finshed "speed of sound"
our first Full legnth studio album since 1996's "only live once"

Tell the readers about your Past recordings...

*** Don
 Well, the recent past I just covered. Before that there were a bunch of comps
and split singles and then the albums on Placebo Records (which folded in 1988)

What was the Last Gig you played.

*** Don
 At a cool repo man/pulp fiction restaruant type outside deal in the LA warehouse
district May 14. That will be our last show for 9 months or so (Brian is out of the country)

How was The Hoco Fest 2009

*** Don
 That was awesome!!! Total John Dillenger era hotel where we played to a (packed)
bar and then stayed over the next day to watch John Doe and Exene (X) and the Meat Puppets.
Before that, I do not think we had played Tucson in 10 years; plus it was Brian's B-Day
so he was in rare form!!!

Do you have any favorite things you like to do when your on stage
for example like bring out water pistols, crowd surf, join the mosh, drench ya self in acohol etc??

*** Don
 No, none of that. We don't "dress up" either...whatever we were wearing when we
skated that day...just plug in and go (let the music do the talking)

How does it make you feel when your on a stage playing to thousands of people.

*** Don
 really cool to the point of being so lost in it, that you do not remember any
of the songs you did...just fully in the moment!

Do you ever get nervous before your about to play?

*** Don
 Not really, but I do remember wanting to play well in front of East Bay Ray (DK's)
and some other guitarists I admire (Ron from TSOL, Jan Orig/Vandals) They are good players
so you don't want to screw up!!!


you have Played some great shows with some other great bands out there in the skate punk scene,
 do you have any fav bands you like to jam with

*** Don
 I like frontside five (they actually skate) and Jan from the Vandals (skates too)
has a new band called Anarchy Taco

i like to ask most of my bands this question, as i like to know who are the sounds in everybodys ears!
who are you currently listening to

*** Don
 I like the "new" (probably a year old by now) Rancid album

what influences have inspired you through to your music

*** Don
 In the late 70's it was the Damned/Clash/Pistols/Sham 69. Early 80's it was the
Dead Kennedy's (DK's), Big Boys, TSOL, Vandals etc. Late 80's new Model Army...and from then on
a whole bunch of different stuff

would you say your music is a release of energy and frustration

*** Don
 The music is energy for sure, but I would say the lyrics are more sarcasm vs
frustration.

will you ever retire from music or will you play forever!

*** Don
 I may not play live forever, but I will always play music

What do you love to do in your spare time,

*** Don
 Surfing!!!!!

 idols - do you have any? & why

*** Don
 No, not really. I was lucky to grow up around a lot of talented folks in
really good bands both in HB and then when I lived in Phoenix...so the folks most people
look up to are just guys I know from wherever. Before I moved to PHX I knew the bass player
from TSOL (bought surfboards from him) worked at a restuarant with the guitarist and
bassist from the Meat Puppets (those guys are WAY talented) and nowadays surf with the orig.
Vandals guitarist every weekend (legend of Pat Brown, Urban Struggle etc.) I do think Capt.
Sensible is an AWESOME guitarist and the orig. New Model Army bassist rules, but they are
not my idols.

What sounds did you grow up listening to?

*** Don See above

Do you listen to any uk punk sounds / who

*** Don See above, but before the pistols I would like to add the who and the kinks!

any plans come to Play in the UK?

*** (Don) Working a lot right now (music does not pay the bills) but never say never.
I would really like to play overseas!


Thanks for sparing some time to answer these Don.


You can find JFA at the following sites:
www.dcjamrecords
www.myspace.com/jfamusic

Lis Booth

Also featured in Julys Punk globe at www.punkglobe.com

OASIS Greatest Hits

 There is a good gig type feel running order of this collection of the band’s  best singles
This is supposed to be the perfect Oasis gig! so is it.. well
 there’s over 130 minutes of music here with what shows how much Time Flies which shows this is just Oasis and their 19-year life of their good old music..
 But for a band who stuck to a way of their own, they sure did change the style and themed of first of imaginations of a beatles cover band.!

Supersonic, I’m Outta Time, is so very different to then then Liam’s  angry pissed attitude,and Noels clean new cut self have emerged a total differet noise and sound of oasis to here and now then and now,

i love the classics as we all would and do & did, Supersonic, Don’t Look Back In Anger are what made them, champagne supernova and dont look back in anger i heard you say are whispering voices.
 Shakermakers are rare as gold dust right now, and a few tunes that they really should play live,
 They of course have set a standard or two. As one of The Best ‘British’ rock bands now of all times just like theyre first sounds of  The Beatles like type sounds., all because they made some pretty awesome Tunes, had bad attitude and bad boy image, and it sure as hell worked very very well for them.

They hit my big music era time from 1994- 2009 and they did mix a good bunch up well here, epic in fact!
the way these particular songs crash landed their way through everybody’s mind body & soul made them huge has empowered the nation you have to put your hat up to them & i think we know they will surely be remebered as a massive huge Rock n Roll band from The UK when you compared to bands like The Jam  Madness Beatles and so on.. i think they will be there,

So id def say this bands collection is one good collection,and all fans will love it, and it will step them into the next generation and leave 2010 with this greatest hits,
and we can then wonder what is next for the new next generation to come around the corner?

Lisa Booth

Also featured in Julys Punk Globe at www.punkglobe.com

Machine 22 - dc jam records

Machine 22 interview By Lisa Booth                 

Do you have anything to say to the readers & fans?

- We’re excited to share our music with all of you and play shows near your homes. Thanks for listening!

Please introduce yourself to our readers that dont know you, Who are you all & where are you all from.

- We’re Machine 22, a rock band from Minneapolis.

Jack Swagger (Vocals, Guitar, Keys, Percussion) from Apple Valley, MN,

Ben Pelowski (Guitar, Backup Vocals) from Rochester, MN,

Nick Pelowski (Bass, Backup Vocals) from Rochester, MN,

Devin Farlow (Drums, Percussion, Backup Vocals) from Rochester, MN,

and Karl Schmidt (Live guitar/backup vocals) from Belle Plaine, MN.

Tell us some history,

- Jack Swagger played in the band The Soviet Machines for over 2 years.

Ben and Nick saw Jack’s band open for Quietdrive on a few occasions and drew a liking towards the music.

Eventually, Ben, Nick and Devin’s band, Spies, started playing shows with The Soviet Machines.

Jack, Ben, Nick, and Devin got to become really good friends and Jack soon moved in with Ben and Nick

and Machine 22 was born. We quickly learned a set of tunes and then headed out on our first tour not

one month after forming the band. Karl joined the mix recently to give the band more depth for live performances.

How did you get to know each other, and how & when did you form The Band.. any funny memorys?,

- We all first met each other at shows in 2008. Eventually our two bands (The Soviet Machines and Spies)

started playing gigs together in the winter of 2008 and through the spring of 2009.

Jack, Ben, Nick, and Devin hung out a lot during and after these shows and in time, formed Machine 22.

Jack ended up moving in with Ben and Nick and the four-piece went on a Midwest tour in July of 2009.

After four months of playing shows, writing, and recording the band began taking shape.

Karl was the added to the line-up and the five-piece Machine 22 was complete.

Are you in any other Side Bands?

- None of us are “in” any other side bands, but Jack recently toured with Quietdrive

as a guitarist/back-up vocalist, and we all frequently jam with other musicians in the Twin Cities area.

What age did you all start to realise you wanted to play music and pick up an instrument - do you play any other instruments?

- Jack started playing drums when he was four, he started playing guitar and writing songs when he was twelve.

Ben got his first guitar in high school and taught himself how to play while listening to music, shortly after Nick

bought his first bass so he could jam cover songs with Ben. Devin’s dad has played drums since he was young and got

Devin his first kit when he was in the second grade. Karl got his first guitar when he was twelve years old shortly after

the movie School Of Rock came out and saw it in school.

This one is to the Lead Singer. How did you find your singing voice. -

ie: did you sing alot as a child who told you you could sing,?

- I come from a background of singers (Father, Grandfather)

and the first song I ever sang was “Hey, Jude.” My friends and family always told me I had a good voice.

I got my voice by singing along to all the music I liked and eventually molded my own style out of

everything that influenced me.

Back to the music, How & where can the Fans and Readers find you.

-You can find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/Machine22

Myspace: www.myspace.com/machine22music

Purevolume: www.purevolume.com/machine22

What are your Band inspirations through life so far, have they influenced your band/music in any way??

- Music is our lives. We all listen to music everywhere we go and our passion is playing together.

We like to have fun and try to find music in everything we do.

What Music are you listening to in the car or at home right now?

- Jack: The Riverboat Gamblers’ To The Confusion of Our Enemies, Ben: Brand New’s The Devil and God

Are Raging Inside Me, Nick: Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity , Devin: The Mars Volta’s Octahedron Karl: All Time

Low’s Nothing Personal

What Bands did you grow up listening to?

- The Rolling Stones, Brand New, Blink-182, The Beatles, Box Car Racer, The Who, Green Day,

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bob Marley

Do you all contribute to the writing/music - Who mainly writes the Songs and Music.

- The majority of our songs now were originally written by Jack for his old band.

But as Machine 22 formed, Ben, Nick, and Devin added in their own style and taste

on their respective instruments while in the studio and the songs evolved into what they are now.

Who would you like to do a Collaboration with if you had the chance. & Why?

- Jesse Lacey because he is an amazing song writer and Brand New is one of the bands

that really brought all of us together musically.

The Band are currently signed to Dc Jam Records,

Please Tell us - How did you find your experience with Dc Jam Records

& What were your feelings when they Signed You & You recorded The first session.

- We felt as though we were finally “doing it.” This has been all of our dreams

since diapers and we felt as though we were taking that next step to follow our goals

and really make this thing happen. The recording process was hard, long, and incredibly

addicting. All we want to do is record and release more music!

Where do you see your self in 10 years do you have any Big Ambitions?

- The sky is the limit. We want to get our music out there so that everyone can hear it.

We are all very ambitious people and hope our lives can be filled with music. It’s impossible

to say where we will be in 10 years, but we hope to be playing music together for the next 50 years.

Please tell the readers about any Current Projects and News you would like to share,

- Our debut CD will drop in April 2010 on DC Jam records and we hope to tour across the country after that.

What can we look forward to from you for 2010?

- Our debut CD will drop in April 2010 on DC Jam records and we hope to tour across the country after that.

We will continue writing and producing new songs to share with everyone.

Thanks Guys for your time.

Lisa Booth

The Piccadillys - London

I Recently reviewed the piccadillys, you can find their catchy london town style and a selection of demos. at my space

MySpace URL:

http://www.myspace.com/piccadillys

Paul Harvey (guitar/vocals) Bobby Butcher (bass/vocals) Greg Talbot (drums/vocals) heir from London UK,

Mystify is a very catchy echoed power pop / soft rock/indie touch style song with that london voice and london cockny style to it.

The feel of london shines through his voice and accent echoes through the song..and through all the demos.

Do to Me has a very catchy beat, indie style tune, which is a tap the foot to type/folk style,strong echoed vocals with a kinky oomf to his sexy voice.

loved the bass line with the very 60s style touched spots of the song..

Do to me.. ooh! listen to it youll love it im sure, i did!

the rest of the demos avail are Wasting your time which was a soft london accent strong vocalled through a gentle mellow song. with some powerful chords

running through,

following on to rewind starting off with a bug rock n roll ding and jive.. very catchy jivey and strong.

I then found shameless the complete opposite to rewind,! next.. it had a 60s touch with strong catchy vocals and great bass lines

mellow percussion fading away. to leave me with Back to bed,

what a beautiful soft gentle lyric'd song.. with oohs and ahhs fading through, a very cute lil folk/style love song with a jam and special touch and bursts of oomf..!

This Band The piccadillys have just released these amazing rock n rolly style/power pop demos for your ears,

has a simple touch of The doors here and there with their own special touch,

i think the new album will explode the streets of london back into the mod and rockers era where it does sometimes belong.and is truly missed by many..

This band belong in every club in camden playing everyday the london sound to ring in your ears!

Lisa Booth

Horror Pops

Three popular Danish bands, Peanut Pump Gun, Nekromantix and Strawberry Slaughterhouse were stirred together

to create a special mix called The Horrorpops, whom have been brought to you today under the label Hellcat/epitaph Records,

HorrorPops are a Danish band that formed in 1996, and today are currently residing in LA,

Consisting of 3 band members :

Patricia Day - Lead Vocals and Upright Bass,

Kim Nekroman - Lead Guitar and Vocals,

Henrik Niedermeier - Drums and Vocals

From virtually unknowns, - To The stars of "The Warped Tour" and stadiums across Europe,in 2008,

creating some Hard sounds and style with a mixture of new wave, punk, surf, ska, rockabilly, metal, goth, horror pop!

It has it all!

This Trio's self produced Third Hellcat album, Kiss Kiss Kill Kill, is lunatic and off the rails.!

Its a 12 track album with some awesome blended tunes:

01 Thelma & Louise

02 Missfit

03 Boot To Boot

04 Heading For The Disco

05 Kiss Kiss Kill Kill

06 Everything's Everything

07 Hitchcock Starlet

08 Highway 55

09 Horrorbeach Part 2

10 Refugee

11 My Picture

12 Private Hall Of Shame

Patricia has such a Sharp original voice, making the songs have upmost character with a special sound

that Horror pops are famous for,

This album is strong, variable, and very creative, giving a taste of sound for every taste in this music genre,

The music created blends so well with all their style, to make it one crisp original and individual album.

They are currently on a New spring tour touring the usa, rocking the states corners where ever they go,

I chose the Horror Pops for review, as One day a friend of mine, Gaelle, Played me a few songs off a compilation punk album

she picked up in Camden, The British sacred place of punk!!

one song in particular striked me, it was by The Horror pops!

before that; i had only vaguely heard of the band, and after that listen i was then very intrigued,!

i had an instant liking to them, got myself their new album, and wrote this review,!

I hope they catch your ears as much as they have caught mine,

They are a Very Talented, strong vocalled, extraordinary sounding band full of great potential.

Lisa Booth

A relentless occasion with the Foxboro Hot Tubs

A Relentless Occasion AT The Garage.      

Saturday.The net was Twitching, Twitter was Tweeting, The phone was ringing!.

Foxboro Hot Tubs Finally Announced a Secret Show

The relentless Garage, Highbury Corner, London. Sunday 1st Nov.Midnight.

The venue were giving out bands to secure a place in the venue,

when we arrived, There was a little flyer on the wall, announcing that ""Foxboro Hot Tubs"" were playing

Sunday 1st November, For a SPECIAL Midnight Show. £20 on the door. No Stage Diving!.

Sunday 1st Nov,Greenday had just played to around 20,000 fans at Wembley Arena that night, Which was the last show of their uk Tour.

They were on their way to The venue only having the capacity to hold around 500 people!

After a while a few hundred Green Day fans were all starting to turn up, wondering about, trying to jump the queue!!

and had mostly all emerged from the Wembley show.

The doors opened around 12:30 am They let you in with wristbands,paid £20 on the door,

There was a Kerrang Magazine Journalist and a couple of other guys Whom were with the Green Day crew for the Filming & Pics

hanging in the "press area" Which was a tiny area that they later got removed from!

The young girl next to me had flown in from Norway especially for the gig.

The stage at this point was still being set up,having sound check by the Tech guys, but the microphone volume was low.

We did try & tell them but they decided not to listen!

While hanging at the front we had sneak peaks of The Green Day guys popping their heads around the corner

where we later realised it was where they had taken pics.!

The time came when Foxboro Hot Tubs came on stage, Throwing Beer all over the crowd,

downing a Can as quick as they can, Then Billie Joe was introducing himself as "The Reverend Strychnine Twitch".

At that point Bursting into "Stop Drop n Roll" while the crowd went crazy!!

Tre cool was also throwing Beer all over the crowd at this point, and then so was Mike!

whilst kevin from Prima Donna, Jason White, supported the band play The Foxboro Hot Tub tunes & having a wild time!

The microphone at this point was still rather quiet, but we could still hear the clear vocals,

18mths after the release of the record, and theyre here playing an intimate gig to fans in London on a green Day tour!!!

What a truly Immense and intimate night it was, The setlist of many many songs went on through the night,

covering the album front to back. playing Stop Drop & Roll, Mother Mary, Ruby Room, Sally, Alligator...

Billie Joe Armstrong, - "The Reverend Strychnine Twitch" as he introduced himself as,

was inches away from me at the front row, he crowd surfed on heads, held our hands, sung in our faces,

kissed us, He basically entertained us to his full extend of what he could, whilst appearing to be very drunk

& very capable, having "The time of his life"!! He rocked london hard! And We Loved it.!!

The crowd were singing along to all the tunes, Pedestrian was a huge hit, where The Reverend's coat had virtually

got ripped off! At which point he had done many stage dives, his brown Reverends coat was all ripped,

he was then dancing around on stage in a white shirt drenched in so much beer,

The stage was a puddle of beer, Beer was everywhere he nearly slipped over.

He was pulling fans up on to the stage to sing and dance driving everyone wild. It was full on hype all night!

When The band burst into 27th Ave Shuffle."The Reverend" started singing in the microphone to me..!!

Then all of a sudden, he put both his hands out to me, and said "you" get up here!!

Then i was being pushing out of the crowd before i could refuse...

The bouncers helped me up on stage with Foxboro Hot Tubs!

Billie Joe firstly gave me a beer Then he passed me his Maraccas and got me to shake them!

I was a Bit Star struck at this point in a daze. he then carried on entertaining the crowd,

and getting the attention to pull more people up, so i told him to grab my friend.

and he did! He grabbed my friend Gaelle, dancing with Foxboro Hot Tubs, to 27th Ave shuffle. shaking Maraccas,

and 2 other girls were also up on stage,

After our time on stage was over, we were seen off to the side and back to the audience, they carried on playing hard,

bursting into dark side of night, Stop drop n Roll 6 times, "A quick one while hes away"

playing The "You are forgiven" So many times!,

Through the show They also blasted The Network, "Blood Sex & Booze", & Johnny be Good, My Generation,

and spoke to the crowd about how you pronounce "London Islington"!

They finished the show after and a good 2hour set, Playing at least 30 songs by the time you add 6 Stop drop & Rolls,

and many ""you are forgivens's!

That Show Was The best gig i have ever & will ever experience,The intimacy of seeing Green Day as Foxboro Hot Tubs well

Nothing will ever compare to that!

i had a truly Momentus & very intimate night,

Being entertained Personally by The Reverend Strychnine Twitch,

That - i will never EVER forget.

Check out their website here
http://www.foxborohottubs.com/

THANK YOU FOXBORO HOT TUBS.

STING!

Lisa Booth.