Highly Suspect
Like wearing a jetpack you didn't know you were wearing! This week's guest on Discover New Music is Ryan Meyer of Highly Suspect. More mature, back to their roots and a lot of fun...Ryan's excitement about the band's fifth album "As Above, So Below" is infectious! Breaking down tracks and where the band is now as a whole, Ryan hopes the fans enjoy this record as much as they enjoyed working on it. Plus, the guys go full circle with Muse and a quick round of Rapid Fire is played!
Highly Suspect’s Johnny Stevens was in a dark place. His relationship had crashed and burned and so had his dirt bike after an ill-fated desert ride. “I lived recklessly — and I didn’t really care if I survived,” he says. “There was no difference between being above the dirt or below it.” After that near-death experience, though, Stevens woke up.
The Earth, it turned out, needed Stevens topside, and new love was just around the corner. All those experiences, then, alchemized into the band’s fifth studio record, As Above, So Below, out July 19th on 300/Elektra. A saga of an album, As Above, So Below meshes Mad Max grit with indie-rock innovation to tell a tale as old as time that nevertheless seems brand-new: love lost and found again, a purpose renewed.
A Grammy-nominated five piece — Johnny Stevens [vocals, guitar], Ryan Meyer [drums, vocals], Rich Meyer [bass, vocals], Matt Kofos [guitar] and Mark Schwartz [synths] — Highly Suspect is nothing if not eclectic. Dabbling in hip-hip, electro-pop, and, of course, rock & roll, the band has spent the last 15 or so years melting faces and stealing hearts with their own brand of brutally honest swagger. With As Above, So Below, though, they’re firmly in their rock & roll pocket, though, cranking out grimy ragers and indie-rock opuses alike.
“I don't want to try to pretend to be something that I'm not,” Stevens says. “I am so tired of fucking fake bullshit. Drop the curtain, it's time to be real.” Here’s to staying on the right side of the dirt.
Shallow Side
Serendipity in up north Wisconsin! This week's guest on Discover New Music is Eric Boatright of Shallow Side. Hard work, loss, Spotted Cow, a lot of introspection and more went into the band's latest album "Reflections." Don't sleep on this band because Eric says Shallow Side are major rock contenders and this new album proves it! Plus, we play a quick round of Rapid Fire with...wet cheese???
Since coming into the rock scene in 2012, Shallow Side have released a little of everything - including several EPs, a full-length album, a compilation album plus a number of assorted cover songs and singles.
The band originated from the small town of Cullman, Alabama playing their special brand of rock n' roll.
Their 2017 EP, ONE spurred three radio singles: Rebel, Renegade (a powerful Styx cover) and Can You Hear Me that began to get them noticed and earned them the title of Loudwire's 'Best New Artist of the Year'.
In 2019, the band released their first full-length album SAINTS & SINNERS which contained their most streamed-song to date, Sound The Alarm. The album was produced by Michael “Elvis” Baskette (Mammoth WVH, Slash, Sevendush, Alter Bridge, Sebastian Bach). Like many bands, the Covid virus and shutdown halted much of the promotion and touring of the album.
2024 has brought the band's 2nd full lenght albumREFLECTIONS and include 11 bangers. The band used several producers including Kile Odell (Motionless in White, Cane Hill, Through Fire, Nita Strauss) and Chris Dawson/James Beattie (Any Given Sin, Saul, GEARS).
Their extensive music catalog has now surpassed more than 50 million streams globally, and their music videos have eclipsed 19.5 million views on their YouTube channel and another 25 million views created by users on YouTube.
All their music since 2006 has come out under Thermal Entertainment whom is also their management.
Facebook: @shallowsideband
Instagram: @shallowsideband
Twitter: @shallowsideband
YouTube: @shallowsideband
Official: https://shallowside.net/
Devour The Day
Successfully docking in 45 seconds! This week's guests on Discover New Music are the always funny and insanely talented Joey Walser & Blake Allison of Devour The Day. Everything in this interview is covered as the band breaks down their latest EP "Fragments Of Us" and how drive, failure & success, fans and much more have culminated in what they believe is the best work they've done. And, as expected, more off-the-rails fun is had in another round of Rapid Fire...including chafing.
Tim Montana
He's got practice fighting his mom's ponies! This week's guest on Discover New Music is Tim Montana. Validation and vindication is found in Tim's sixth album "Savage" which, according to him, is his best work yet lyrically. Plus, Tim gets into Letterman, ZZ Top, personal lyrics and more that have gotten him to the place he is now. As always a quick game of Rapid Fire is played...no bigfoot...but possibly...ALIENS!
Depending on what census you check, 44 residents call Wise River, Montana home. The town (if you could
call it that with a straight face) shares its name with the Wise River. The latter connects to the Big Hole
River, which once doubled as a boundary between various Native American tribes such as the Nez Percé,
Shoshone, Coast Salish, and Black Feet. “The Battle of Big Hole” went down on this land in 1877 between
the Nez Percé and the U.S. Army. Even with a “gnarly history,” a certain calm pervades the region these
days. Nestled under watch of mountains and sustained by the river, you could settle down here and be at
peace.
If you’re Tim Montana though, it’s the perfect place to run wild both literally and creatively…
Of course, the singer, guitarist, and entrepreneur grew up just 52 miles north and fell in love with Wise
River as a kid, but he officially settled there in 2023 after a long stint in Nashville (and even a spell in Los
Angeles prior). Coming back home inspired him to go even wilder on his 2024 full-length album, Savage.
The hooks hit harder, the distortion was cranked up louder, and the spirit became freer.
Ultimately, he alchemizes the energy around him in the form of eleven uncompromising and undeniable
anthems, forging a new frontier for hard rock in the process.
“I always thought Montana was really fucking metal,” he grins. “The state is a vibe, and I’m a vibe guy. If
you stick me in an office, I don’t vibe. There’s something about being where you’re from. Especially here,
there’s a weird, spiritual magic. There are things in the air that you can’t find other places. This musical
style was always in me though. I left it for so long, and I was in this Nashville space that I was burnt out
of. I got back here and wrote music that was true to my soul.”
Following a tumultuous and downright unbelievable childhood in a trailer off-the-grid, Tim left Montana
in the rearview at barely eighteen-years-old. Driven by a restless work ethic, he quietly carved out a niche
without comparison. Along the way, he performed on The Late Show with David Letterman at the behest
of the host (practically unheard of for a totally independent artist), collaborated with everyone from Billy
Gibbons to Kid Rock (cracking the charts for the first time), made a fan out of Charlie Sheen (who directed
the “Mostly Stoned” video), and even attracted his idol Dave Grohl to his corner. Forged by a long grind,
he fulfilled his destiny in 2023. Tim shook the rock world with “Devil You Know.” Christened “flawless”
and “One of the 30 Best Rock + Metal Songs of 2023” by LoudWire, the breakout single surged onto
Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay and Rock & Alternative Airplay charts. In its wake, iHeartRadio touted
him as an “On The Verge Artist.” Soon, he found himself booked for tours with Staind, Seether, Saint
Asonia, Bush, and Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains (another hero of Tim’s). Simultaneously, he and Gibbons
purchased historic bar and hotel Wise River Club in Wise River, MT.
Settled in Big Sky Country, he shocked Savage to life during sessions in an “1800s log cabin” on the Big
Hole River and at Wise River Club with producer Micah Wishire.
“Once I started writing this way, everything fell out,” he states. “I was like, ‘Let’s just be brutally honest’. I
recorded with people who I really trust in a place you’ve never heard of. To me, there’s nothing cooler
than that. Throughout the process, I’d fire up my Polaris off-road machine and we’d tear through the
backcountry. If I don’t nearly kill you three or four times, it isn’t a proper Tim Montana writing trip!”
Now, he heralds the album with the title track “Savage.” An ominous guitar melody glows like embers of
a Marlboro Red, and a tribal-style beat kicks in. Distortion ramps up on the chorus as Tim screams,
“Everything can go to hell. We can keep it for ourselves. Feeding the habit, watching the madness,
everything is SAVAGE!” On the bridge, strings dissolve into acoustic guitar, giving way to one last catharsis.
“Maybe I moved to Montana, because I think shit’s getting crazy in the rest of the world and I wanted a
fighting chance,” he laughs. “It’s not a political song though, but I’m looking at the world from a 30,000
foot view and telling a story of mankind’s greed, money, power, and wars. Overall, this expression is a
pretty savage version of me.”
On “Ashes,” the guitar wails, a groove twists and turns, and Tim assures, “Yeah, you’re my end of days.”
“I’m using these adjectives to describe a hot woman,” he grins. “The world’s ending, but you’ve got this
chick. If there aren’t some strippers dancing to ‘Ashes’, I’m going to be highly disappointed.”
He enlisted none other than Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett to lay down a wah-drenched lead on “Die
Today.” Tipping a hat to the “special operator community,” the chorus cuts deep, “Shadows can fill my
empty grave, ‘cause I forgot to die today.”
“It’s my favorite story,” he notes. “I’ve gotten to know a lot of special operators through the charity space.
The song is about the dudes who run into gunfire and lay down their lives for strangers. I equate it to my
version of Alice In Chains’ ‘Rooster’, so I told Chris to approach the solo like ‘Jerry Cantrell in 1992’. He
killed it!”
“Shut Me Out” projects one of Tim’s poignant and powerful choruses at full blast. He clenches back tears
as he sings, “Push me, pull me, use me, tear me down. It’s a little bit complicated out here alone sedated.”
“It’s about my childhood and not being wanted by the stepdad I had,” he sighs.
Clean guitar twists through a heart-thumping beat on “Right Again.” It builds towards a relatable and
chantable chorus, “Say you’re right again, no one ever wins.” He adds, “We wrote about this rough
relationship, and I hinted at some sobriety stuff in there.”
During “Lovely,” airy electronics dissolve into snaps and a skyscraping refrain, “Lovely, ain’t that lovely,”
topped off with a loose guitar lead for good measure.
He continues, “’Ain’t that lovely’ is a funny saying if shit goes south. I wanted to capture the smartass guy
I am with a little Nirvana-style guitar and lyrics about a nasty relationship.”
“Ain’t Comin’ Down” draws everyone into the embrace of Tim’s home state as he paints a vivid picture of
a cohort of local characters on “Just another Saturday DOWN IN Wise River.”
“Every name-drop is a local,” he affirms. “It was written about my first month back in Montana. They’re
the sweetest people, but they’re a little crazy.”
Then, there’s “Death Row.” Lit up by a fiery distorted boogie, it dissects “a toxic and nasty relationship.”
On “Get You Some,” he flaunts his braggadocious side over a stomping riff. Dedicated to “every lost kid in
every lost town,” he grins, “From a loser to a winner with my crooked middle finger now I’m four kids deep
buying five-star dinners.”
“My wife laughed and said, ‘Motherfucker, you don’t even buy me five-star dinners!’,” he laughs. “It’s
about starting at rock bottom and climbing your way up.”
Savage concludes with “Day By Day.” Once again, Tim shoots straight as he surveys his life, “I could be the
one I never had or wind up dead like my old man.” Alternating between strings and cataclysmic fuzz, it
explodes in one final burst of heavy emotion before subsiding on a clean outro.
“I wanted to tell this story,” he says. “Losing my dad to alcoholism was a big blow to me. I was almost
going down the same road, and I wanted to capture that. Some days, you wake up and it’s beautiful. Other
days, you’re struggling. It’s brutally honest, and it was a good way to end the record. Musically, it’s sweet,
then crazy and violent, and finally beautiful.”
Ultimately, Tim is telling a story that will resonate far beyond his home state.
“I feel like I’ve lived three lives in my 39 years,” he leaves off. “I’m still a wild man and a workaholic. I’m
going to keep telling my story. This is the most honest version of myself I’ve found, and I’m so glad rock
‘n’ roll embraced me. The chains are off, and I can sing about what I want to. Everything is savage.” – Rick
Florino, March 2024
The Warning
Apparently Rock Band is a great way to become a rockstar! This week's guests on Discover New Music is the The Villarreal sisters Daniela, Paulina and Alejandra of The Warning. These talented young ladies of the rock world felt a sense of maturity and ease in the making of their 4th studio album "Keep Me Fed." Plus, a triple round of Rapid Fire is played and the sisters have some different opinions on damp socks and horse-sized ducks!
The Warning infuse rock music with a much-needed shot of adrenaline. The Monterrey, Mexico
trio of sisters—Daniela “Dany” [guitar, lead vocals, piano], Paulina “Pau” [drums, vocals, piano],
and Alejandra “Ale” Villarreal [bass, piano, backing vocals]—charge forward with head-spinning
riffs, unpredictable rhythms, stadium-size beats, and skyscraping vocals. If anybody can usher
rock’s comeback along, it’s these three ladies. After exploding online with one viral moment
after another, The Warning parlayed this momentum into a series of independent releases,
including Escape the Mind EP 2015 , XXI Century Blood 2017, and Queen of the Murder Scene
2019 before releasing their latest album ERROR 2022 Lava/Republic) which amassed 110M
streams. The band continues their rock dominance with a growing social media following and
supporting legends like Muse, Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, The Killers, and Royal Blood.
Already in 2023, The Warning released their latest single “MORE” and are embarking on their
ERROR World Tour. The band concluded the US, UK, and EU legs that included headlines shows,
festivals and with dates supporting Muse and Royal Blood. Up next, the band will make a fall
headline runs in Mexico and LATAM.
The band is taking over MTV - they presented at the MTV MIAWS in Mexico and was an
Extended Play Stage Performer at the MTV VMAs.
The Warning has been chosen as the face of the Pepsi Black campaign, cementing their status
as one of the hottest up-and-coming bands in the music industry.
Nothing More
The classic whale penis switch-a-roo! This week's guest on Discover New Music is Johnny Hawkins of Nothing More. The band's latest album "Carnal" was a chance to get back to their heavy guitar-driven roots, reminiscent of the 2014 self-titled record. With star-studded colabs, a producing/mixing dream team and much more Johnny says this truly is Nothing More's best album yet! Plus, Brock & Johnny Play a quick round of Rapid Fire that gets outta hand fast!
NOTHING MORE combines the cerebral and sublime. The music Jonny Hawkins, Mark
Vollelunga, Daniel Oliver, and Ben Anderson make together is primal, elemental, and even
carnal. Their foundation is heady and heavy, filled with creative nuance that rewards repeated
listens, while the catchy hooks always soar, intertwined in a delicious dance between
accessibility and experimentation.
They’ve already earned three GRAMMY nominations and two gold plaques along the journey.
2022’s SPIRITS, which produced songs like “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT LOVE MEANS”
and the Top 5 smash “TIRED OF WINNING,” indulged the outer edges of NOTHING MORE’s
esoteric leanings without sacrificing melody. Two years later, CARNAL brings them full circle
with focused precision.
CARNAL harkens to their breakthrough 2014 self-titled set and the bombastic energy of songs
like “This is the Time (Ballast),” while powerful interludes and trippy transitions anchor it all
together. If SPIRTS was water, CARNAL is fire. NOTHING MORE sound biting, visceral, and
in-your-face.
“We wanted to go back to our roots a little bit on this one and see what that sounds like in 2024,”
Hawkins explains. “SPIRITS was an introspective, deep dive. We wanted this one to feel
immediate. CARNAL is a bit harder and more guitar-driven. There’s still a lot of depth in the
musicality. We maintain the niche, fringe, progressive elements, but we also made sure every
chorus is a banger.”
Kerrang! named NOTHING MORE one of 22 Artists Shaping the Future of Rock, alongside
Nine Inch Nails, Twenty One Pilots, and Bring Me The Horizon. And frontman Hawkins, who
met guitarist Vollelunga before they were old enough to drive, appeared with Billie Joe
Armstrong, Dave Grohl, and Hayley Williams in the English tastemaker’s Top 50 Greatest
Rockstars in the World.
“A real rock star should be someone who is a leader of culture through music,” Hawkins
thoughtfully demurred when bestowed with the honor. “They steer the world in some direction.
They can shift people to think in a different way. For a long while now, there has been a void of
bands of substance. Now, people are coming out of hibernation. They want something
philosophically minded.”
“IF IT DOESN’T HURT” became NOTHING MORE’s next Top 10 single in early 2024.
CARNAL also boasts the big and vibey “ANGEL SONG” (featuring Disturbed’s David
Draiman). “STUCK” “is probably the heaviest song we’ve ever written,” Vollelunga says of the
CARNAL’s diverse tracklist. “On the other end of the spectrum, ‘DOWN THE RIVER is very
singer-songwriter. ‘FREEFALL’ is an emotional ride.”
Confessional authenticity and passion bind all the songs together. The lyrics sprang from a time
of upheaval in Hawkins’ life, which eventually saw the singer relocate from Louisiana to
Tennessee. “My life pretty much went through a full reset,” he explains. “Everything got turned
upside down.”
“IF IT DOESN’T HURT” and “FREEFALL” address that season of turmoil. So does “HOUSE
ON SAND,” which draws inspiration from the Old Testament story about Joseph’s “coat of
many colors” and the New Testament parable about the wisdom of building a home on rock vs
the folly of building on sand. “I kind of built my whole life around a person and circumstances,
and it all crumbled,” Jonny laments. “It was a huge learning lesson, which I think many people
go through at some point in their lives.”
Rather than self-produce, NOTHING MORE sought out a producer for the first time in years.
They hired fellow GRAMMY nominee Drew Fulk, aka WZRD BLD (Motionless In White, Ice
Nine Kills, Wage War), after a single meeting because the chemistry between the five of them
was just that good.
A handful of diverse collaborations further enhance CARNAL, including phonk star Sinizter
(“STUCK”), I Prevail’s Eric Vanlerberghe (“HOUSE ON SAND”), and Draiman on “ANGEL
SONG,” which touches on “the eternal struggle between the free and rebellious spirit of the
individual vs. the crushing entanglements of the inevitability of societal systems,” Hawkins
explains. “While some of those systems are necessary to some degree in a civilized society, there
is a point where they ensnare as many people as they help. This song taps into that rebellious,
free-spirited instinct or hope in us all.”
“GIVE IT TIME” and “DOWN THE RIVER” are unapologetic messages of hope. “Those songs
are for anyone who finds themselves in a worn out or beaten down point in their life,” says
Hawkins.
Several interludes appear throughout – “| CARNAL |,” “| HEAD |,” “| HEART |,” “| SIGHT |,”
and “| SOUND |,” which mirror the icons and psychometric markers Hawkins used to build his
SPIRITS TEST. The 25-question quiz is a meta personality test inspired by the Myers-Briggs
personality test, the “Big 5” personality traits, the Enneagram, the work of Alan Watts, and a bit
of the Zodiac and spirituality.
Oliver hails SPIRITS as “probably the most progressive record we’ve released – dense songs
with lots of musical exploration, which has always been a big part of the band. Everyone fears
that a producer will make things too straight-ahead. But I’m doing a lot with effects on my bass,
letting it carry some of the grit. The musical identity of NOTHING MORE wasn’t neutered.
CARNAL is just focused.”
Similarly, Vollelunga points out that the progressive element was there from the beginning, with
a rhythmic crunch akin to Tool or Rage Against The Machine and a love for huge melodies.
“Jonny and I started jamming 20 years ago,” the guitarist recalls. “We played around town
locally in San Antonio. When Dan joined, he encouraged us to play outside of our city. We
became a ‘real’ band.”
Club shows, DIY releases, and a “battle of the bands” victory that landed them a few dates on the
Vans Warped Tour in 2007 gave NOTHING MORE the space to forge their unique identity.
Hawkins switched from drums to singing before 2009’s The Few Not Fleeting. Buzzed about
performances at major festivals earned the attention of Better Noise, who reissued 2013’s
self-titled album in 2014.
Songs like “Here’s to the Heartache” and gold-single “Jenny” made early splashes on the radio
before “This is the Time (Ballast)” became the No. 1 song of the decade on Sirius XM Octane.
2017’s The Stories We Tell Ourselves produced the Top 10 single “Do You Really Want It?” and
earned three Grammy noms, including Best Rock Album, Rock Performance, and Rock Song
(for the gold-certified “Go to War”).
Crowds who’ve seen Hawkins wrestle with the band’s self-made 14-foot-tall Scorpion Tail Midi
controller attest to NOTHING MORE’s uniquely immersive power. They’ve earned new acolytes
on the road with hard rock titans, including Shinedown, Five Finger Death Punch, Breaking
Benjamin, Papa Roach, In This Moment, and co-headliners Asking Alexandria. The Guardian
observed: “There’s a sophistication to NOTHING MORE’s angst that raises them above the
tumult-tossed pit.”
Musically, lyrically, and creatively, the band embodies determined evolution and a resilient spirit.
“It’s my time,” Jonny belts out in “Stuck.” “This is for the people who can’t break through / I
used to feel just like you.” He claims the next phase of his life with an anthem, encouraging
others to do the same.
NOTHING MORE charms and attracts fans of Linkin Park, Muse, Incubus, Deftones, and
like-minded acts that conjure genuine feelings with immediacy and integrity. Memorize the
arena-ready hooks. Get mesmerized by the intimate, communal live show. Dig deeper down the
rabbit hole into the work of philosophers and artists like Watts, Eckhart Tolle, and Carl Jung,
who inspire the band because there’s a place for every type of rock fan with NOTHING MORE.
Built to last, here to stay.
Wage War
Warped Tour can take years off your life! This week's guest on Discover New Music is Cody Quistad of Wage War. The band's fifth studio release "Stigma", according to Cody, is a complete collection on what the band has aimed to accomplish over the years. When it comes to Wage War, this album is as Wage War as it gets! Plus, Cody plays a quick round of Rapid Fire...and Bigfoot is a cult leader?!?!
In order to grow, we shed the weight of previous expectations and stretch beyond our potential.
Traveling a constant forward trajectory at lightspeed, Wage War not only push their own sound forward, but they also propel heavy music into new territory. The Florida quintet—Briton Bond [lead vocals], Cody Quistad [rhythm guitar, clean vocals], Seth Blake [lead guitar], Chris Gaylord [bass], and Stephen Kluesener [drums]—have always tempered a pummeling metallic onslaught with unshakable melodies. On their fifth full-length offering STIGMA [Fearless Records], they outfit this signature style with industrial grit and electronic sheen, leveling up into the future in the process.
“We made a record that is authentic and true to us, first of all,” notes Cody. “Secondly, it breaks boundaries sonically and lyrically and moves the genre forward. It’s a statement. We’re stepping out, breaking free from whatever subgenre we fit into, and saying something. We make the music we want to make. STIGMA is special, because it resonates beyond the genre labels we’ve been often categorized with.”
A near-decade grind naturally brought Wage War to this point. They have unleashed a string of fan favorite albums, including Blueprints [2015], Deadweight [2017], Pressure [2019], and Manic [2021]. Beyond looks from SPIN, Modern Drummer, American Songwriter, Revolver, Guitar World, and more, KERRANG! hailed the latter as “their greatest album yet,” and DORK raved, “It’s an embracing of being metalheads, popheads and just fans of good songs. On more than one occasion, there’s an earworm poking its head up through the dirt.” They also put up numbers, tallying hundreds of millions of streams boosted by the likes of “Stitch,” “Low,” “Manic,” and “Circle The Drain.”
Between selling out tour dates worldwide, they crafted what would become STIGMA with producer Drew Fulk [Disturbed, Motionless In White].
This time around, they nodded to inspirations a la Rammstein, Static-X, and Powerman 5000, busting out the synthesizers in the sessions. Another first, they watched movies in the studio such as The Matrix, Blade, and Tombstone.
“It was like a live mood board, if you will,” says Cody. “We’d change the lighting, watch a movie, and listen back. We were wondering, ‘What would all of those 90s industrial nu metal bands sound like in 2024?’ So, we decided to incorporate the riffs and synths into our sound to make it fresh.”
“Cody and I have always been huge fans of industrial metal,” adds Briton. “We finally put the pen to paper and started writing this way. It was really natural for us.”
They herald STIGMA with the lead single “MAGNETIC.” Emotional vocals warble through a glitchy haze on the verses until a thick stomp gives way to a chantable chorus, “Try to push away, but I’m right back at it. You and me are always gonna be magnetic.”
“I had an idea to make a melodic Wage War song with ethereal guitars,” recalls Cody. “It’s about how no matter what you do, you can never get beyond certain things. You run as far away as you can from an old relationship, family members, or habits, and you still feel tied together. It doesn’t matter how hard you try.”
“NAIL5” teeters on an axis between a deftly rhymed reprise and a distorted freakout. Wrapped in screeching synths, guitars seesaw in a seasick groove as Briton screams, “Let ‘em rot with the maggots!”
Cody comments, “For us, it’s a celebration of freedom and doing what we want to do. No matter what anyone says, we’re still here making records and doing our thing. It’s meant to be a wild ride.”
“‘NAIL5’ is a nod to ‘Stitch’ and ‘Manic’ at the same time,” Briton goes on. “It has this dark nursery rhyme, which is delivered like an underground rap. However, it ends with one of our heaviest breakdowns ever. It’s a wild ride.”
Elsewhere, “HAPPY HUNTING” storms out of the gate with an unapologetic sensory assault of danceable beats, guttural growls, and an unexpected electronic drop. “It’s the first industrial track I sent over,” recalls Cody. “It was the introduction to what we ended up doing. It’s chanty, and it has this energy where you’re jumping up and down the whole time.”
“It’s one of my favorites,” smiles Briton. “It bridges the gap from the beginning of the album to the end. It touches bases on all of the themes and sounds we were going for.”
Then, there’s “BLUR.” Keyboards glimmer through a neck-snapping riff as the chorus echoes, “Feels like it’s all a blur.”
“It’s a modern take on Wage War,” Cody observes. “It’s an ode to the past, but a look at the future. In terms of the lyrics, it’s about waking up one day and having a moment where you think, ‘How did I get here? Who have I become?’ It’s very introspective.”
The trip concludes with “Is This How It Ends,” illuminating another side of the STIGMA.
“It’s about the dichotomy of lovers to strangers,” Cody reveals. “You’re closer than you’ve ever been with somebody, and the bottom falls out. All of a sudden, you’re strangers. The title says it all. It’s the big epic closer.”
In the end, Wage War actualize their potential completely on STIGMA.
“There’s a song for pretty much every emotion on the record,” concludes Cody. “You can dance, mosh, or headbang to it. If you want to vibe and reflect, you can. I hope you listen to it, have some fun, and feel like you’re not alone.”
“We really love this record,” Briton states. “Everyone was pushing 110%, and it shows.”
Traveling a constant forward trajectory at lightspeed, Wage War not only push their own sound forward, but they also propel heavy music into new territory. The Florida quintet—Briton Bond [lead vocals], Cody Quistad [rhythm guitar, clean vocals], Seth Blake [lead guitar], Chris Gaylord [bass], and Stephen Kluesener [drums]—have always tempered a pummeling metallic onslaught with unshakable melodies. A near-decade grind naturally brought Wage War to this point. They have unleashed a string of fan favorite albums, including Blueprints [2015], Deadweight [2017], Pressure [2019], and Manic [2021]. Beyond looks from SPIN, Modern Drummer, American Songwriter, Revolver, Guitar World, and more, KERRANG! hailed the latter as “their greatest album yet,” and DORK raved, “It’s an embracing of being metalheads, popheads and just fans of good songs. On more than one occasion, there’s an earworm poking its head up through the dirt.” They also put up numbers, tallying hundreds of millions of streams boosted by the likes of “Stitch,” “Low,” “Manic,” and “Circle The Drain.” On their fifth full-length offering STIGMA [Fearless Records], Wage War outfit their signature style with industrial grit and electronic sheen, leveling up into the future in the process with singles such as “MAGNETIC.”
Keith Wallen
An ayahuasca trip can make for one hell of an album! This week's guest on DNM is Keith Wallen. Most know him as a member of Breaking Benjamin, but here we focus on his latest solo release "Infinity Now." Decades on the scene, a shaman, the unstoppable urge to make as much music while on this earth and much more create the driving force behind this latest record. Plus, Keith plays a quick round of Rapid Fire...look out NBA and everyone should be terrified of bears!
Breaking Benjamin guitarist and solo artist Keith Wallen is a prolific songwriter responsible for soaring melodies and hypnotic hooks heard across modern rock radio. The West Virginia-born troubadour uses his solo work as a vehicle to explore his multifaceted passions, moving seamlessly from the smart pop of ‘80s favorites like The Police and Depeche Mode to the big moody riffs of ‘90s grunge heroes like Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, and Stone Temple Pilots.
His co-writing collaborations include compositions with Saint Asonia, Fuel, We Came As Romans, Red, Dorothy, and Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch’s Love And Death. Wallen bares his soul as a solo artist with earnest resolve, powering his honest anthems with commanding vocals.
A former member of Adelitas Way, Keith was among his first calls when Benjamin Burnley decided to reform and reconfigure his band. Dark Before Dawn, Breaking Benjamin’s powerhouse comeback, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Ember followed in 2018.
Keith’s self-produced acoustic and piano-driven Allies EP arrived in 2014. His debut solo album, 2021’sThis World Or The Next, featured “Dream Away,” a song streamed 1.4M times on Spotify alone. His second solo album, Infinity Now, includes production and co-writing contributions from Kevin Thrasher (RIVALS, Jelly Roll) and work with Dan Braunstein (Spiritbox, Dayseeker) and Andrew Baylis (Sleeping With Sirens, Jelly Roll, Brantley Gilbert).
Produced by Kevin Thrasher (Jelly Roll, RIVALS) and mixed by Joel Wanasek (Rain City Drive, Scott Stapp), Keith’s sophomore solo album, Infinity Now, extends a warm invitation into the singer/songwriter’s heart and mind. Hard rock bombast meets intimate pensiveness via engaging songs like “Blackout,” “Strings,” and first single, “Headspace Holiday.”
As guitarist for Breaking Benjamin, a solo artist or songwriting collaborator, the common threads through Keith Wallen’s work are honesty, authenticity, and heartfelt spirit.
Black Crowes
The Black Crowes-iest Black Crowes record ever?? This week's guest on Discover New Music is Rich Robison of The Black Crowes. "Happiness Bastards" is the band's first album of new material in 15 years and, according to Rich, is a love letter to rock n' roll. Things fell into place easy for the Robison brothers this go around and has made for a culmination of all things "The Black Crowes." Plus, Rich plays a quick round of Rapid Fire with no disco or techno!
The Black Crowes are leaving the bullshit in the past. 15 years after their last album of original music, the Robinson Brothers present Happiness Bastards- their 10th studio album. Some may say the project has been several tumultuous years in the making, but we argue it’s arriving at just the right time. Call it brotherly love or music destiny that brought them back together, the highly anticipated record consecrating the reunion of this legendary band just may be the thing that saves rock & roll. In a time where the art form is buried beneath the corporate sheen of its successors, The Black Crowes are biting back with the angst of words left unsaid penned on paper and electrified by guitar strings, revealing stripped, bare-boned rock & roll. No gloss, no glitter, just rhythm and blues at it’s very best – gritty, loud, and in your face.
Since The Black Crowes reunited in 2019, they’ve made a triumphant return to form with over 150 shows spanning 20 countries worldwide, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Shake Your Money Maker, the album that put them on the map. Upon their return from the road, they knew they needed something new to show for their lost time. The Robinson Brothers and longtime bassist Sven Pipien headed to the studio with producer Jay Joyce in early 2023 and the experiences of years past transcribed themself through the music as the band found their way back to their roots. And it’s finally here – Happiness Bastards is out March 15, 2024.
Mick Mars
I didn't know you were in a Beatles cover band! This week's guest on Discover New Music is the one-and-only Mick Mars. With every note on his solo debut "The Other Side Of Mars" you'd never guess that he's pushing 73! With each song Mick's aim was to push and reinvent himself to show everyone...The Other Side Of Mars! And, before his trip to the dentist, a quick round of Rapid Fire is played with neither disco nor techno allowed.
When Mick Mars stepped back from touring with Mötley Crüe – the band he co-founded more
than 40 years ago – following their massive summer 2022 Stadium Tour, it seemed like the end
of an era.
Really, it was the beginning of a new one.
The legendary guitarist, whose riffs, solos and overall devastatingly heavy sound powered the
L.A. icons through four decades of world-conquering, multi-platinum sonic mayhem is, as he
demonstrates on his debut solo effort, still a serious force to be reckoned with. Only now,
listeners are reckoning with more Mars than ever before. “When it comes to my playing, there’s
the Mötley side and the Mars side,” the guitarist says. “Either way, I always have a very clear
vision of what I want to do.”
On the aptly-titled The Other Side of Mars, fans get that vision in its full, multifarious glory. To
be sure, there are plenty of characteristically riff-tastic, tough-as-nails hard-rock anthems (the
rampaging “Loyal to the Lie,” the deep-in-the-pocket groove-rocker “Ain’t Going Back,” the
hooky and melodic “Right Side of Wrong”) to be heard on the record. But The Other Side of
Mars also shows the 72-year-old guitarist heading into new and uncharted territory, tearing
through caustic, modern metal (“Broken On the Inside”), conjuring gothic-tinged soundscapes
(“Undone”), digging into anguished, slow-burning power balladry (“Killing Breed”) and
unspooling bluesy, cinematic instrumental workouts (the album-closing guitar showcase, “L.A.
Noir”). The music throughout the 10-track collection, meanwhile, is otherwise studded with slide
guitars, violins, violas, keyboards, glitchy freak-outs and all manner of sonic surprises.
“There’s a lot of ideas that I have that, I don't want to call them ‘left,’ but they are, you know
what I mean?” Mars says. Regarding those stylistic turns, he continues, “My feeling has always
been, I might gain some fans, I might lose some fans. But what they’re hearing, it’s all me.”
The guitarist enlisted a crack team of musicians to help him along the way. A key contributor to
the project was Winger and former Alice Cooper keyboardist (and, like Mars, Nashville resident)
Paul Taylor, who, in addition to performing on the record and assisting Mars in co-writing many
of the tracks, introduced the guitarist to powerhouse vocalist Jacob Bunton. “Jacob came into the
studio and it was like, bam!” Mars recalls. “And I just said, ‘Yeah, he’s the guy.’ And most of
his vocals were one take.”
The supporting band was rounded out by Korn drummer Ray Luzier, bassist Chris Collier, and
singer Brion Gamboa, who contributed lead vocals to two songs, “Undone” and “Killing Breed,”
both of which, Mars says, “required a little bit more of an angsty, desperation kind of thing. And
Brion really came to the table with that.” Alongside playing bass on all songs recorded, Collier
mixed and mastered the debut solo album.
But while Mars surrounded himself with a new cast of players for the sessions, there was one
figure who represented a significant link to his storied past: Michael Wagener. The much-lauded
German producer and engineer worked behind the boards on Mötley Crüe’s 1981 debut, Too
Fast For Love, and his relationship with Mars stretches even further back. “I had known him for
a long time, and I actually brought him to Mötley,” Mars says. Working with Wagener this time,
the guitarist continues, “he had such an understanding of where I wanted to go with the material.
And he never said ‘Hey, do this,’ or tried to change my mind or anything like that. He was just
really adamant about recording what I wanted to record, and making sure we recorded it right.”
The result is a record unlike anything Mars has offered up in his more than 40-year career. Take
the piano-and-strings track “Memories,” which, Mars recalls, he began writing “back when I was
still touring with Mötley. I gave it to Paul Taylor, and I had him transpose all my parts to
keyboard. And then I said, ‘That’s it.’ I didn’t want any drums, I didn’t want any over-the-top,
here-comes-the-sun-over-the-mountains in the chorus kind of crap. I wanted to keep it simple,
and focus on the melody.”
Or “L.A. Noir,” which, Mars says, was inspired by “old ‘30s and ‘40s B-movies about sleuth
detectives, flatfoots, private eyes, that kind of stuff. I came up with the main lick maybe 30 years
ago, and never really had a chance to do anything with it until now. I love that big-band sound
and era, so we tried to capture that, but with a real sleazy, noir-ish vibe.”
As for the album’s leadoff track and first single, “Loyal to the Lie”? Well, that one was easy. “I
wanted to do something that was just big and mean,” Mars says with a laugh.
But no matter what direction he’s going in on The Other Side of Mars, what ties it all together is
“that people are going to hear my tone – my sound,” Mars says. “I am what I am. Nobody else
can do it. And like everyone, I’ve got a limited number of years. So I'm gonna do all I can to do a
lot of stuff.”
To that end, he says that even as he unleashes The Other Side of Mars on the world, he’s already
working on a follow-up. And while he remains a member of Mötley Crüe (“when they need me,
I’m here,” he says), Mars is no longer spending his days and nights in arenas and stadiums
throughout the world. Which means, he says, he has more time to pursue his own musical muse.
“I'm trying to keep growing,” Mars says. “Because if you stop learning new things, if you stop
playing new things, if you close your mind, you’re done. You have to keep moving and creating.
Next!”