RUN RUN RUN has spent the past year crisscrossing North America four times in support of their independently released Good Company EP. The group’s rigorous touring has included stops at SXSW, CMJ and Canadian Music Week; shows with the Strokes, Psychedelic Furs, My Chemical Romance and Ween; and headlining gigs in more than 40 markets. Their frenetic indie sound and hypnotic lo-fi light show continually turn heads, including Billboard, which staged a showcase for the band in 2005. Their album, Good Company, was recorded with U.K. hit-maker Noah Shain and mentored by legendary front-man Steve Perry. Gearing up for more gigs this fall, including a spot at the Next Big Nashville music conference, RUN RUN RUN is diligently writing and planning their next full-length project, aiming for a release in 2009. www.myspace.com/runrunrun

BMI’s Pick of the Month is a monthly showcase series focusing on a hand-picked band or artist. The show aims to further introduce auspicious performers to both the music industry and public through a top quality venue and discounted admission. Past BMI Pick of the Month artists include Macy Gray, Counting Crows and The Feeling.

The band members found one another through My Space, and scored an early success after getting some play on local radio by winning a radio station contest judged by My Chemical Romance. The buzz on the group led longtime punk and hardcore label Epitaph Records to sign them to a deal.

In May 2006, Escape the Fate released a debut five-song EP titled There’s No Sympathy for the Dead, and then hit the road for a summer jaunt that included dates on the Warped tour. But just weeks before the group released its first album, Dying Is Your Latest Fashion, in September 2006, singer Ronnie Radke left Escape the Fate due to his reported substance abuse issues. A little over a month later he returned to the fold.

Their debut CD nonetheless reached #12 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and #19 on the Top Independent Albums chart. But by 2008, Radke’s fate became inescapable due to legal and addiction problems, and he left Escape the Fate again. Singer Craig Mabbitt from the group Blessthefall signed on to front the act, who are slated to issue their second album, reportedly titled The Fall, in the last quarter of 2008.

“We've been through a lot this last year, and we took all that anger, frustration and sadness and molded it into an album with huge rock choruses, in-your-face riffs and melodies, and drums that will give your parents a heart attack,” reports bassist Matt Green. “This new album isn't going to be a hardcore metal album and it's not going to be a soft melodic album. We are who we are; we are Escape the Fate.”

Frontman, guitarist and principal songwriter Shaun Morgan admits “Fake It” almost didn’t make the record. “We wanted to create songs that are a little different,” he explains.

Rounded out by drummer John Humphrey and bassist Dale Stewart, what the South African-bred, Los Angeles-based trio has created is a CD full of chart contenders, thanks in part to production whiz Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Daughtry).

Headbangers like “FMLYHM,” “Breakdown” and “6 Gun Quota” feel right at home alongside more pop-sounding numbers like “Rise Above This,” an ironically upbeat song inspired by the suicide of Morgan’s brother.

Formed in 1999 as Saron Gas and signed to Johannesburg-based Musketeer Records, they changed their name in 2002 with the release of their U.S. debut, Disclaimer. Radio smashes “Fine Again” and “Gasoline” earned the album gold certification and placed the band on the alternative metal map.

Then came “Broken,” a decidedly un-Seether-like ballad reworked as a duet with labelmate (and now ex-girlfriend) Amy Lee of Evanescence. Included on Disclaimer II — released as an alternate version of Disclaimer — the song was featured in the 2004 film The Punisher and became an instant Top 20 hit.

Their success continued with 2005’s Karma and Effect, a considerably darker effort that steered the band away from “Broken” and produced the singles “Truth,” “The Gift” and the eight-consecutive-week Billboard chart-topper “Remedy.”

Now, with Finding Beauty, Seether hopes fans will embrace the more experimental sound of the new disc.

“We wanted to write and explore the more melodic and musical side of everything,” Morgan says. “We can be heavy and rock out, but we can also write songs that can compete with any other song out there. That was a really big motivation.”

When the moment of truth finally arrived and Evanescence released their sophomore disc in the fall of 2006, fans crowed their approval. In a tremendous vote of confidence for Lee and new co-writer-guitarist Terry Balsamo, The Open Door debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart. The hard-hitting CD remained ensconced in the Top 5 weeks after its release. As evidenced by the album’s impressive chart showing, fans clearly believe Evanescence has lost none of their songwriting magic or performing fire.

In fact, the quartet has been heralded as forerunners of the wildly popular goth-metal sound (“without Evanescence, could there be a My Chemical Romance or Panic! At the Disco?,” Rolling Stone pondered recently). The New York Times praised The Open Door as a mélange of “growling guitar riffs, big buildups, beseeching refrains (and) emo-goth lyrics.”

But it’s fans who most passionately identify with The Open Door, perhaps because Evanescence’s enigmatic lyrics and turbulent melodies reflect the dramas and challenges in their own lives. Like a truth-seeking patient on an analyst’s couch, Lee explores the stages of soured romance on tracks like “Sweet Sacrifice” and “Call Me When You’re Sober.” On “Weight of the World,” she contemplates the life-altering toll of fame: “Feels like the weight of the world,” Lee sings, “like all my screaming has gone unheard.”

Formed in Little Rock, Ark., Evanescence has always cast a wide musical net. The band’s haunting fusion of rock, goth and classical music stems largely from Lee’s love of contemporary rock and classical music (she studied classical piano for nine years). “When I was in high school I listened to a lot of death metal bands,” Lee explains. “Both [death metal and classical] are intricate, complex types of music that are very dramatic, and I’m naturally drawn to that.”

The band’s independently produced early recordings, including the now-collectable CD Origin, resulted in a deal with Wind-Up Records. Released in 2003, the quartet’s big-label debut Fallen yielded the Top 10 singles “Bring Me to Life” and “My Immortal.” The album spent over 100 weeks on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, was certified gold or platinum in over 35 countries and earned the band two Grammys in 2003 for Best New Artist and Best Hard Rock Performance (for “Bring Me to Life”).

Now, Lee, Balsamo, guitarist John LeCompt and drummer Rocky Gray are returning to the road. Having demonstrated commendable grace under pressure, Evanescence can now celebrate their place as goth-metal heroes. Minus the drama.

That will all change with the Capitol Records release of their self-titled debut. As your average Saosin fan (and there are legions) will be quick to point out, the wait was a considerable one. “We were waiting until the songs were right,” says frontman Cove Reber with some understatement.

It’s been three years since word of the band’s full-length debut first surfaced, and in that time a lot has changed within the music scene from which they originally emerged and within the band itself.

Seemingly overnight, stylized bands playing strains of melodic post-hardcore have sailed up the pop charts. But for Saosin - Reber, bassist Chris Sorenson, drummer Alex Rodriguez, and guitarists Beau Burchell and Justin Shekoski - things have played out a bit differently. During the scene’s ascension, the band’s members have all but shunned the idea of a genre tag or an “image” - unless, of course, you count the jeans and t-shirts they soak in sweat every night onstage - and have instead focused their energies on making an album that will live or die strictly on musical merits.

“At first we said we weren’t interested in putting the album out on a major label,” says Burchell. “We wanted to grow first.”

But the band’s sound and its ambition grew tremendously during the recording of their 12-song debut, an album that exceeds even the wildest of expectations. From the dueling guitar crunch of opener “It’s Far Better to Learn,” to the nosebleed anthemic heights of lead single “Voices,” the livewire maelstrom of “Follow and Feel” and epic heartstring-puller “You’re Not Alone,” Saosin have created the kind of debut album that announces something indisputably new under rock’s sun.

“It was a long time coming,” says Sorenson, “but finishing the album really put a fire under our asses and we were better for it.”

The initial stages of the band’s debut date back to late 2003 when founding guitarists Burchell and Shekoski and original frontman Anthony Green began playing out, recorded a quick EP, Translating the Name, and embarked on a U.S. tour during which time Green exited the band. To the group’s surprise Translating the Name garnered the band a massive fanbase both online and at their live shows, which grew organically, and quickly.

The band, however, was so hands-off about promoting themselves that Google searches of the band turned up precious little info.

“It was cool if you knew about the band, we weren’t always easy to find,” says Burchell.  “But I think that really brought kids together, having to actually make the effort to track us down.”

A collection of rabid fans with ethernet connections soon began arguing about such pressing matters as how the band’s name was actually pronounced (it’s “say-o-sin") and what it actually means (Saosin means “small heart” in Chinese. The word comes from a 15th century proverb about fathers telling their sons who are being married off for money not to get emotionally involved with their wives, who could die at any time.)

In the winter of 2005, the revamped Saosin lineup with Sorenson, Rodriguez and new frontman Reber signed to Capitol, released a self-titled EP of demos and live tracks, and began pre-production on their long-awaited full-length debut. As the band recorded various versions of their new songs - both at their home studios and on a mobile recording unit that they set up on their tour bus – the burden of heavy expectations eventually gave way to genuine excitement.

“I would demo stuff with Chris,” Reber recalls, “and say, ‘This is really good – we can’t not run with this.’”

In turn, the album that Saosin began recording with producer Howard Benson (My Chemical Romance, Head Automatica) this past January, nearly a full year after they began properly demoing its songs, would live up to the band’s great expectations, and then some. More importantly, though, it proves that in a world of overnight success at least one group is devoted enough to write songs that are built to last. 

“This record is going to take us places,” says Sorenson. “We don’t know exactly where, but it will definitely be an experience getting there.”

Their self-titled album just debuted on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart at No. 22 and is in stores now. Check them out at http://www.saosin.com/.

Shown after the show are: Back row (l-r): BMI's Tracie Verlinde, Hot Like A Robot's Nick Leithoff (guitar), Chris Kolek (bass/keyboards) and Barker (drums), BMI's Myles Lewis, (seated) BMI's Joe Maggini and Hot Like A Robot's Jordan Clark (lead vocals/guitar).

BMI's "Pick of the Month" is a live monthly showcase series focusing on a musically impacting band or artist whose talent is worthy of attention. The series is meant to help expose these artists to the music industry and public through a show held at a quality venue with discounted admission.]]> 2006-08-13T18:00:00-05:00 http://www.bmi.com/musicworld/entry/533499 Artists, 3 Doors Down, AFI, Fall Out Boy, Gabriel, Peter, Kill Hannah, Kill Hannah, My Chemical Romance, Sounds, The, Musical Styles, Rock, Musicworld, On The Scene Mat Devine (vocals, guitar)

Dan Wiese (guitars)

Jon Radtke (guitars)

Greg Corner (bass)

“And I’m not running anymore, I’ll stand to face it all, I’ll fight for every breath/Until there’s nothing left of us“

“Believer” by Kill Hannah

A title could not be more apropos. Until There’s Nothing Left of Us, the latest offering from Kill Hannah, defines the blue-collar work ethic of this unique band, whose American spin on British modern rock reaches its apotheosis on their sensational new release. 

After touring relentlessly through the two years that followed their 2003 Atlantic debut, For Never & Ever (which featured the smash single “Kennedy"), the band dedicated six months to conceptualizing their sophomore effort with intense songwriting and constant demoing. After having a lifetime to write their first album, it was, admittedly, a challenge. But they’ve beaten the odds before.

No one sounded or looked like them when they first broke free from their art school roots, peddled their independently produced records at shows and local stores, conquered skeptics and built a loyal fan base. Their sound had no precedent in their hometown of Chicago, yet its influence would launch a subculture there and spread far beyond to others that would follow their musical and visual leads. Back then, they had a ferocious DIY-mentality, creating their own merchandise, passing out fliers in the snow, maintaining their heavily trafficked website and more. They still do.

With the final mixes for Until There’s Nothing Left of Us, they knew they had given all they had to this music.

And you can hear it - in the passion and poetry, the candor of their lyrics, the physical impact of their beats … all the elements that prompted Billy Corgan to hail them as “the future of Chicago rock” resonate here. Easily described as the bridge between the Killers, AFI, Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, this band owns John Hughes movies, worn out mix tapes and a comprehensive understanding of what came before them. Their sound is at once familiar and refreshingly original, showing undeniable growth by taking chances in a world where most art is being played safe.

While Kill Hannah had cut Forever Never & Ever far from home in sunny Los Angeles, Until There’s Nothing Left of Us was conceived and created back home in Chicago during the dead of winter. That, according to Devine, stamps every second of the album with a distinctive energy.

“Everything came from the stimulation I get from this place,” he insists. “I live in view of the entire skyline; the trains literally circle me. It’s almost like the city itself envelops me. Like any metropolis, it can be dark at times, but super romantic too. From nine to five, it’s absolute chaos, and then after six o’clock it’s completely desolate. At the lakeshore it might be totally placid and serene, and in the next minute these crazy waves crash in and freeze as massive piles of jagged ice. In a way, our music is like that too. From track to track on this record, and even within each song, we have moments of triumph and then we have moments of creepy romance.”

As the countdown for delivering Until There’s Nothing Left of Us began, Devine set off alone, exploring his city and finding magic in places that had somehow escaped his attention – a tiny Gothic church, for example, amidst the towers that loom over Michigan Avenue. Each detail stirred ideas – word paintings, a snippet of melody – that he’d record on his voicemail.

Soon the band gathered at friend/local drummer Garrett Hammond’s home studio and began taking all of their demos apart. “We’d rehearse and develop and record every single part,” recalls guitarist Dan Wiese. “Every note and every word got re-evaluated several times before everyone was satisfied.”

After wrapping up their intense pre-production, they hit the studio with Chicago native Johnny K. With a catalog that includes producing bands like Disturbed and 3 Doors Down, he seemed like an unusual choice for Kill Hannah. “But we wanted to experiment,” Devine explains. “My personal tastes lean toward European and 80s influences, and Johnny is known for doing straight-ahead rock or metal. In Chicago terms, it’s like we’re North Side and Johnny is, as he calls himself, a ‘South Side knucklehead’.” It was, of course, a perfect match.

They began by finding common ground as Johnny seconded their enthusiasm for the Cure, Peter Gabriel and the Psychedelic Furs. The plan, then, was to at once expand and refine their sound without losing the primal instincts that have driven Kill Hannah from the start.

“We love our first album and stand by it, but we also know that the most consistent criticism it received was that it didn’t have the raw energy that we have when we play live,” Devine says. “On the new album, we’ve got the harmonized vocals and electronics and sophistication that are so much a part of what we are, but Johnny’s perspective helped us to also bring that dynamic side of our show to the table too.”

If you’re lucky enough to have seen them live on tours with the Sounds and H.I.M., or headlining their now legendary shows at the Metro and across the country this summer, you’ll know immediately what all of this means.

From the album’s triumphant, instrumental opening, “Life in the Arctic,” which defines the context for the epic tracks that follow, through the siren-like riff that drives “Believer,” the drum and bass-inspired beats and delicate chimes that surge into waves of massive guitars on “The Songs That Saved My Life,” the seductive blend of emotive melody and body-slamming beat on the anthemic, lead single “Lips Like Morphine,” whose chorus fans began chanting at shows within days of the song’s appearance on the band’s MySpace page (myspace.com/killhannah). This is how Kill Hannah sounds onstage when they play with a strength only achieved by feeding from the energy of their fans and serving it back with immeasurable intensity.

Mat Devine’s lyrics for “Love You to Death” reflect his familiarity with that place where tragedy and romance unite, a Shakespearean vision that’s conveyed powerfully in classic pop song format. “Scream” pays tribute to their hometown, whose grandeur and intensity are critical elements of Kill Hannah’s style. And “Sleep Tight,” improbably intimate, provides the perfect coda.

Until There’s Nothing Left of Us is everything that the band and the legions that follow them could have wished for. But it’s only the start of the next exciting chapter for Kill Hannah.

Website: www.killhannah.com

Of course there have been two piece bands before, the two-piece is engrained indelibly in the lexicon of rock, Simon and Garfunkel, the Chemical Brothers, The Carpenters, Sonny and Cher, the list goes one. It is fair to say though that none before have managed to make as much noise with as little instrumentation as Death From Above 1979. Death From Above 1979 is a two-piece, two friends who met in prison; Jesse F Keeler and Sebastien Grainger that live in a funeral parlour in Toronto. To hear them on record, it is hard to believe that the only instruments being played (with the exception of the odd flute sample or moog oscillation) are the bass and drums. It’s a bit like how queen used to write “no one played synthesizers” in the sleeve notes of their early albums, well with Death From Above no one plays guitars “we don’t need them, and besides why would we want to put anyone else on the payroll?”

So where does this almost militant attitude to the guitar come from? Clearly Death From Above 1979 is a band that rock, really, really, really rock, but they also understand dance music. “We have both always listened to dance music, it runs along the same road as rock music. Most hip hop and dance music is made just with bass and drums so we wanted to see how far we could go with just those instruments. We wanted the music to be stripped down...and sweaty”. Death From Above 1979 are trying to make as much noise as possible without compromising that ideal, or compromising on anything else for that matter “we’re not very good at restraining ourselves, but we have tremendous will power”.

“We have very primal ideas about everything” explains Sebastien “our music is an expression of those primal ideas. Ultimately we want our songs to make people completely lose it.”

Constant road warriors the band spent the last year completing 4 tours of the U.S., 5 tours of the U.K., 3 tours of Japan, 3 tours of Australia, and 4 tours of Canada playing shows with The Killers, The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, The Futureheads, Anthrax and My Chemical Romance among others.

Kerrang Magazing captured the vast appeal of the band when they said “...their bass-heavy melodies have attracted metal fans and pop fans, hip-hop aficionados and hipsters in equal measure.” And Playboy Magazine described the new album “You’re a Woman, I’m A Machine” as “...deranged disco samples, creating a lean, muscular album of angry guitar and thudding drums.”

The debut album by Death From Above 1979 entitled “You’re a Woman, I’m a Machine” is in stores now on Vice/Atlantic Records.

“We had to pull ourselves off the road to get fully focused on the album,” says singer/songwriter Gerard Way. “We put ourselves under a lot of pressure to exceed what we’d done the last time around, which was a good thing. But at the same time we allowed for the music to evolve and grow. We experimented a lot, tried a lot of new things.”

Indeed, the set began as a full-bore concept album, until the group — which also includes Way’s brother Mikey on bass, guitarists Frank Iero and Ray Toto, and drummer Matt Pelissier — realized it was writing itself into the songs. “Half of it is about making a deal with the devil,” says Way. “The other half is taken from our experiences as a band.”

The raucous result contains bits of everything from Nine Inch Nails to Iron Maiden to Nick Drake and beyond, all delivered convincingly in a muscular, power-pop form. (The group’s name, incidentally, comes from Irvine “Trainspotting” Welsh’s 1996 collection Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance .)
What’s next for these purveyors of what Way calls “violent, unsafe pop music”? The “Taste of Chaos” festival tour, alongside The Used and several other thrashy outfits, during which MCR will undoubtedly win over even more fans. “We’ve really made a lot of progress in the past year, and had a lot of fun,” Way says. “We’re committed. Why stop now?”