ad - HARD ROCK LIVE

4 | wwwSFLMusiccom

COLOR

ad - packys

COLOR

ad - kelsey

6 | wwwSFLMusiccom

COLOR

ad - cheers

COLOR

ad - revolution live

8 | wwwSFLMusiccom

SEPTEMBER 2018 | Issue 75

PUBLISHERSean McCloskey

SeanSFLMusiccom

SENIOR EDITORTodd McFliker

ToddSFLMusiccom

DISTRIBUTION MANAGERMelissa A Smith

MelissaSFLMusiccom

CONTRIBUTORSRay Anton

Lori Smerilson CarsonTom CraigPaul Evans

Megan GarzoneAaron Gilbert

Peter ldquoBlewzzmanrdquo LauroSean McCloskeyTodd McFliker

Angel MelendezNathan RoseJay Skolnick

Melissa A SmithJason ValhuerdiJoseph Vilane

ADVERTISING INFOinfoSFLMusiccom

COVER PHOTOSean McCloskey

SFL Music Magazine is a community newspaper that is published monthly in Sunrise Florida All contents are copy-right The Sweet Music Group Inc 2018 and may not be reproduced without writ-ten permission of the publisher

10Bobby G

12Umphreyrsquos McGee

13Imagine Dragons

14Wayne Kramerrsquos MC50

18The Kelsey Theater

22Taylor Swift

28Warped Tour

30In The Studio Vol 1 with Day 4

34OAR

EchosmithPanic at the Disco

36Def Leppard amp Journey

40Bumblefest

44Jason Bieler

BampW

Joywave

Lit

3 DOORS DOWN

PENTATONIX

NONPOINT

HAYLEY KIOKO

10 | wwwSFLMusiccom

Bobby G PHD In The Blues

PHD in the Blues is Bobby Grsquos second release in just about a year Since he waited lsquotil the age of 73 to release his first it appears that he just might be trying to make up for lost time At least thatrsquos what Irsquom hoping Irsquod surely welcome a release every year from this powerful soul singer

Since a line I used in my review of his debut album Still Standing back in July of 2017 is once again true Irsaquom simply going to say it again With Johnny Rawls the perennial nominee and often winner of many soul blues awards having written or co-written the discrsaquos ten tracks yoursaquod be correct in assuming that this one is loaded with soulful blues That said let me just add that these are all new tracks written expressly for Bobby

On PHD in the Blues lead vocalist Bobby G is joined by Larry ldquoEntertainmentrdquo Gold on guitar Johnny ldquoHiFirdquo Newmark on bass Scott Kretzer on drums Danny Pratt on harmonica Ramona Collins and Trez Gregory on background vocals Cadillac Dan Magers on keyboards Eric Sills on shakers Rick Wolkins and Mark Lemle aka The Toledo Horns - on trumpet and saxophone and special guest the maestro

himself Mr Johnny Rawls on background vocals rhythm guitar keyboards and song compositions

As Bobby G very soulfully and very sincerely tells it similar to getting an education at the ldquoschool of hard knocksrdquo the blues is his teacher his preacher and his friend Musically itrsquos as stellar as the vocals and lyrics The rhythm work is precision work the Toledo Horns are heavenly horns and Larry Goldrsquos stinging blues guitar licks are as good as gold

This opening line of ldquoJust Canrsquot Stop Loving Yourdquo ldquoOh man Boy Irsquom a messrdquo cracked me up Bobbyrsquos in a bad spot thanks to being dumped by a woman Because he just canrsquot stop loving her he stopped smoking He stopped drinking He stopped cussing He stopped gambling He also stopped flirting He even stopped cheating

Although those are indeed great accomplishments they were all to no avail You see the truth of the matter is that although it breaks Bobbyrsquos heart theyrsquore much better apart Once again the rhythm is right in the pocket Larryrsquos lead guitar shines and Bobbyrsquos vocals along with smooth harmony and backup support from Ramona and Trez highlight the track

ldquoDonrsquot Change Lovin Merdquo may very well be

my favorite song of the batch With the silky smooth and soulfully sincere way in which he lets his lady know she can change the color of her hair she can change the clothes she wears she can change her point of view and anything else she wants to as long as she doesnrsquot change loving him Bobby is at discrsquos best on vocals On top of that the track also features Cadillac Dan putting on a flawless keyboard performance from start to finish with several monster solos in between This one drew a handful of replays

I promise you that by the second time you hear Johnny Rawls Ramona and Trez sing this songs chorus line yoursquoll be singing ldquoWhere Did the Blues Gordquo right along with them Paying homage to B B King Albert King Freddie King and Albert Collins Bobby voices his displeasure for todayrsquos music With the rhythm section doing their usual smoking stuff behind them Danny and Larry light it up with some seriously hot harmonica and guitar leads

Other tracks on PhD in the Blues include ldquoAinrsquot That a Good Thingrdquo ldquoNo More Picking Cottonrdquo ldquoHow Can I Missrdquo and ldquoWhole Lotta Moneyrdquo To get a copy of PhD in the Blues and to learn more about Bobby G and Third Street Cigar Records just go to the labelrsquos website at wwwthirdstreetcigarrecordscom - Peter ldquoBlewzzmanrdquo Lauro

12 | wwwSFLMusiccom

On August 17 Umphreyrsquos McGee had SoBe jamming for hours at the Fillmore Miami Beach Stemming from Notre Dame Uni-versity in 1997 the boys successfully mesh easeful jazz with rock metal funk blues reggae electronic bluegrass and folk Umphreyrsquos McGee is constantly putting out records In fact two releases have already been released this year

However the crew of six has earned a name for themselves on the live jam band scene In fact Umphreyrsquos McGee has played thousands of shows including the first-ever Bonnaroo and a three-night stand at Red Rocks At the legendary Fillmore three generations of music lovers enjoyed the concertrsquos general admis-sion seating and open floor in front of the stage While a major-ity of the people were somewhere between 30 and 60-years-old there were plenty of children and grandkids with earphones plugged into their iPads The laidback crowd of Dead Heads didnrsquot seem to mind

Following an impressive set by Spafford Umphreyrsquos McGee kicked into full-gear with a live staple 2011rsquos funky ldquoNipple Trixrdquo The vivid light show of blue green purple yellow and white danced above the grunged out boys in jeans and black t-shirts The skilled guitarist Jake Cinninger shredded metal in the heavy conclusion of the ldquoRemind Merdquo ldquoWe love this roomrdquo said vo-calist Brendan Bayliss ldquoWersquore going to have a good timerdquo Led by Kris Meyerrsquos and Andy Faragrsquos percussions attendees cre-ated a slow but steady wave of movement during new songs like ldquoXmas at Wartimerdquo and ldquoWhat We Could Getrdquo At the same time there was no shortage of familiar favorites including ldquoWhite Manrsquos Moccasinsrdquo ldquoPhilrsquos Farmrdquo and the geographically suitable ldquoMiami Virtuerdquo Throughout the evening there was minimal talk-ing from the talent but plenty of improvised wallops onstage and

cheers from the audience

Concertgoers didnrsquot get to experience some of Umphreyrsquos Mc-Geersquos intriguing covers of the Beatles Pink Floyd Nine Inch Nails or even Sugar Hill Gang

Regardless spectators were happy to settle for the bandrsquos fun take on Talking Headrsquos ldquoMaking Flippy Floppyrdquo Another conve-nient choice considering Talking Headrsquos iconic frontman David Byrne is headlining the Fillmore Miami Beach at the end of the month

ldquoTherersquos something uniquely Umphreyrsquos McGee that could never be mistaken for another bandrdquo keyboardist Joel Cummins says on the bandrsquos webpage ldquoI hope it makes people think a little bit or shed a tear or two Maybe you smile or laugh Life is hard We still believe music can heal and motivaterdquo

Umphreyrsquos McGee | The Fillmore Miami BeachBy Todd McFliker

BampW

Imagine Dragons | Coral Sky AmphitheaterPhoto Larry Marano

Imagine Dragons | Coral Sky AmphitheaterPhoto Larry Marano

14 | wwwSFLMusiccom

Wayne Kramer founder and lead guitarist of the radically influential sixties band MC5 will be bring his supergroup MC50 to Fort Lauder-dalersquos Revolution Live on September 5th SFL Music had the opportu-nity to chat with Wayne about his bandrsquos history their influences and what happened to the ldquoKick Out the Jamsrdquo outtakes

SFL Music How excited are you after such a great summer with MC50 and get this kicked off in the USWayne Irsquom chafing at the bit Irsquom getting a chance to play this music that I helped create so long ago umm with this line up of players is kind of a dream come true for me To really be able go out and play it as well as you know all these musicians Kim Thayil Billy Gould Marcus Durant and Brendan Canty they are all guys who are working at the peak of their artistic skills and theyrsquove approached the music seriously They are playing it just beautifully I canrsquot be more excited more excited about it To tell you the truth

SFL Music When and how did this idea come to you for MC50Wayne Well I love to play music for people and I love working with good musicians and when I saw the 50th anniversary of the recording of ldquoKick off the Jamsrdquo was on the horizon I thought well maybe if I got my book done in time we could tie the two projects together Then that would make both of them a little bit special and so far so good I think that you know itrsquos at least it this point Everything is going well Itrsquos just an excuse for me to get a chance for me to jump up and down on stage and rock out with my friends

SFL Music Therersquos nothing wrong with that Who was the first musician you reached out to about this projectWayne Well I made some lists of all my favorite guitar players bass players singers and drummers As I started to work through my lists I found out that it was going to be more difficult than I thought Because everyone that plays well is usually working So I had to really had to

put on my thinking hat and figure out who might be available Irsquom glad I started a year in advance I think probably I called Kim (Thayil) first and or maybe no I called Brendan (Canty) first Actually he was the first Yeah I called and Brendan said ldquoCount me in and sign me up Irsquom downrdquo Then I called Kim and he saidrdquo It sounds it would be funrdquo Then I called Marcus and he saidrdquo It works for himrdquo And finally we started off I had Don Was on bass and then I had Doug Pinnick from Kingrsquos X

SFL Music RightWayne But we ran into some scheduling problems with Doug and his band Billy Gould was available and Billy and I had been friends for years and I called him And he was available So it all kind of fell into place wonderfully

SFL Music Itrsquos certainly an exciting lineup and Irsquove followed it from March or April when your first announcement to the chang-es with everybody and there is also a long this tour you are hav-ing at some point Dan Was and Matt Cameron and I thought I read Greg DulliWayne Yeah and few more people You know depending on whorsquos around in what city that we are playing in Irsquom trying to collect the hometowns of everybody I know in music right now That way I can start to arrange some guest appearances of different people for the second part of the show The first part we going to play ldquoKick Out the Jamsrdquo from top to bottom And the second part wersquoll play a hand full of songs from the other two albums

SFL Music Thatrsquos great I hope Dennis Thompson will be able to come out I figure at least the Detroit shows but hopefully he can come out too It would be greatWayne Yeah hopefully Would love to have him

SFL Music Do you have any plans along this 35-date tour to re-cord any of it either audio or videoWayne Yes we are going to film a couple of shows and wersquore going to record a number of them I was just thinking today it would be nice to have bookends of ldquoKick Out the Jamsrdquo circa 1968 and ldquoKick Out the Jamsrdquo circa 2018 Kinda A and B lsquoem

SFL Music I agree with you I know you got the soon to be re-leased MC5 ldquoThe Total Assaultrdquo on vinylWayne Thatrsquos right The whole box set of all 3 of MC5 albums on red white and blue vinyl Itrsquos got great new photos and wonderful liner notes by Jaan Uhelszki She really did a great job of telling the story in the liner notes She is a great writer

SFL Music Since yoursquore doing ldquoKick Out the Jamsrdquo in itrsquos en-tirely I know that you guys recorded that album over October 30th-31st back in 1968 at The Grande Ballroom (Detroit) Do you have any plan to maybe release a deluxe edition with the stuff that didnrsquot make it onto the original albumWayne Irsquoll tell you a very sad tale We re-corded for 2 nights and we also recorded and in the afternoon in the empty ballroom You know just getting things in tune mic placement and all that kind of stuff But at a certain point Jac Holzman the presi-dent of Elektra Records had his brother-in-law go into the tape library and anything that was not released on a al-bum He instructed him to throw away the old

By Tom Craig

16 | wwwSFLMusiccom

tapes And all these out takes and other versions went into the trash

SFL Music WOWWayne Yeah itrsquos a heartbreaker The engineer the wonderful Bruce Botnick has a copy of a version of ldquoI Put A Spell On Yourdquo that we recorded that night and I think and one other song But otherwise all the rest of it is lost to the ages

SFL Music Missed marked Or missed namedWayne I wish I have had several people go on extensive searches for them and that in the end the story that finally came back That Hol-zman had to give his brother-in-law a job you know so he said go in there and you know anything that didnrsquot come out on a record throw it away Itrsquos taking up space Nobody thought of reissues and collectors in those days Sad but true

SFL Music Does that go for the 2 other albums as wellWayne It does Atlantic Records had a fire And they said our tapes went up in smoke Terrible

SFL Music Irsquom speechless Irsquom just wow Irsquom so sorry to hear that because no more than you are as a MC5 fan from way back Irsquom just wowWayne Would have been nice to have some of studio out takes and different versions and different songs that we recorded Also there were a number of songs that ended up on ldquoBack in the USArdquo that we had recorded in Los Angeles when we were still on Electra We couldnrsquot find those either They were about 8 songs that we cut in a couple days of recording with Bruce Botnick and they were good ses-sions We really were being creative in the studio and we canrsquot find those tapes either Itrsquos really the whole aspect of the MC5 legacy had been a great disappointment for me

SFL Music Oh gosh I can only imagine Wayne Irsquom so sorry For the 2 songs that Bruce has do you think you guys will be able to work something out where those will be releasedWayne Oh sure wersquoll find a way to get those out Cause they re-corded well and they kinda show the MC5 being the original power ballad band

SFL Music Well I must say that Irsquove seen it written many ways but my take on it was you guys were the blueprint for punk alter-ative rock and you were certainly in my feeling from back in the day which we are about the same zone one of the hardest driving bands out there You know and unfortunately I never got to see you guys live I had one opportunity and Irsquoll share it with you and get your take on it You guys were headlining the Easter Rock Festival in Ft Lauderdale in 1969 I had tickets to that show Irsquove read stories that apparently something went down in California and I donrsquot know if it was John Sinclair got a hold of you guys and said ldquoHey donrsquot go to Florida yoursquore going to be arrestedrdquo But that washellipWayne Yeah but what happen was a photographer happen to be in a hotel room when we were having group sex with a young woman And he took a picture and they published in the Berkeley Barb It was an underground newspaper they were very bold in those days There was nothing you know no genitalia were exposed in the photograph But you could tell that these people were you know doing unorthodox adult things and it was right about the same time that Jim Morrison got arrested for exposing himself in South Florida So when the local police found out that the MC5 was coming they issued a warrant for our arrest if we entered the state So we decided the better part of valor was to go back to Detroit instead

SFL Music As a solo artist did you ever come down here and record or do anything at Criteria or any of the studios in Florida Wayne I never recorded in South Florida I did come down there on tour a few times When I was with Epitaph I came down there on those van tours that we use to do And to tell you the truth I never did that well down there I ended up playing for 30-40 people It was a

little rough Thatrsquos why Irsquom hoping that we get a good crowd this time I know therersquos a lot of hard rock fans in South Florida And just look forward to seeing them all at the gig

SFL Music Who were some of the guys that came to the Grande Ballroom that you opened for or played with that were some of your favorites back thenWayne Canned Heat were a big favorite of mine Because they really got down When they played they played all out balls to the wall and they worked hard on stage and thatrsquos what I was always looking for I hated when bands would get up there and just stand there and pluck their guitars and I wanted to see people feel something Because I needed to feel something So I liked Canned Heat a lot Moby Grape came through I liked Skip Spence I thought he was great We played with Sly and the Family Stone one weekend We opened for them In those days we did 2 sets a night and both bands for 3 nights and Sly opened and closed every set with the song ldquoDance to the Musicrdquo 246 times I heard him play that song over the weekend But I loved that they were high energy and they looked good and the danced and they were exciting Thatrsquos what I was interested in Those were the bands I enjoyed the most

SFL Music What would you like to tell the fans down here South Florida that they can expect from your show at RevolutionWayne Well Irsquom carrying a message Me and the guys in the band are carrying MC5 message to a whole new audience a new genera-tion of rock fans But the message is one of self-determination and self-efficacy The message is one of you have endless possibilities but you have to take action You canrsquot sit around and talk about it You have a get out in the world and do something You have to make something happen And you can make a difference You can make a difference in your own life You can make a difference in your com-munity in your family and we are at a time right now where people of conscience people of good conscience and young people are really the ball is in their court now

Visit wwwSFLMusiccom for the full interview

18 | wwwSFLMusiccom

Tucked in about 15 minutes north of downtown West Palm Beach is one of south Floridarsquos coolest and most unique ven-ues the Kelsey Theater Located in the town of Lake Park the Kelsey Theater and its older sibling the Brewhouse is the brainchild of Palm Beachrsquos AJ Brockman SFL Music had the opportunity to chat with AJ about the Kelsey Theater the Bre-whouse and their very cool mural project

SFL Music Tell me about the Kelsey Theater AJ Brockman Kelsey has a long history In the late 90rsquosearly 2000rsquos it was Kelsey Club when The Buzz (1031 FM) was around this was the alternative rock Mecca Huge bands coming through like Alien Ant Farm Papa Roach and Janes Addiction Bands that were coming through on the radio tours so this was like the prime venue back then I came here for shows when it was the Kelsey Club and knew that vibe and we always wanted to honor that and when we took over we wanted to make it an all arts performing venue movies music live entertainment stage shows you name it and wersquove been open three years now Itrsquos really come into its own in the last few years

SFL Music Is there a partnership with the city Brockman So we are under CRA community redevelopment area that basically spans from 10th street Park Avenue all the way to 6th street Itrsquos about four or five blocks The city is in a weird spot where they have these great programs set up but the tax base isnrsquot here and the programs are just not yet fully funded

We are in a weird spot as far as that goes but the city has been extremely helpful They are very easy to work with when it comes to doing special events and permitting and stuff like that Lake Park is the only underdeveloped part left in Palm Beach Itrsquos set for a cultural revitalization

SFL Music The murals on the back of the building are incredible Brockman Irsquove always wanted to do a mural project even when I first started Brewhouse in 2014 Irsquove always had that vision of turn-ing that entire back wall into something cool I started the process way back then and it took 2 years to lobby the city and build a com-plete code from scratch that determines what mural can be done and how big it can be and how long it can be up We did the first mural when we took over that was October 2015 and thatrsquos what

you see behind here Thatrsquos the original itrsquos been there for 3 years now and then every four months we redo a part of it The first part never changes cause itrsquos the original the rest of the mural is always updated

SFL Music You have a nice eclectic group of shows here at Kelsey Theater Tell me how you go about bookingBrockman When I started this I had no idea about the music in-dustry and I got ate up and spit out Basically the first 2 shows we did were extreme financial loses When that happens you learn re-ally quick Really the first year we were just kind of getting our shit together figuring out how to do a successful show We cast a big net of what we wanted to do national acts tribute bands plays movies and then really after that picked what was working and what was not working

Itrsquos defiantly a long process and if anybody is looking to get into the music industry its probably one of the hardest things you can pos-sibly do The fact that we have even been open for 3 years says a lot I think Therersquos a lot of venues that have ten times the budget that we have that only last a few months so I think that says a lot and we are here Really the most marketable thing for me is being an indoor venue and are not subject to the elements The room can also be extremely intimate so we can host a lot of different artists

SFL Music Whatrsquos that one band that would be a dreamBrockman If I could do it The Strokes I would love that that would be my dream if we ever hit it big that would be a fly date for sure

SFL Music Tell me about the Brewhouse One thing that really stands out to me is all the art Brockman Irsquove been a digital artist all my life so I started in com-mercial graphic design I mean the commercial world doing websites but I really fell in love with using a computer to create art I always wanted to have my own gallery but itrsquos really hard to pay bills on art alone so we came up with this concept of having kind of a gallery co-op where you split the overhead between many different artists and they each have a spot on the wall Then we took that a step further and said alright well what is the one thing that artists need and the answer to that was exposure So how do we get you the most expo-sure and still have a gallery We started doing events and brought in live music and then we expanded our craft beer menu

We have a different model At Brewhouse each artist pays a low monthly fee to be on the wall A traditional art gallery model is com-mission based where it doesnrsquot cost anything to be in a gallery but the gallery owner can take up to 50 percent of your sales by the time you pay for your materials and your time you donrsquot make any money and I didnrsquot want to do that The artists that are really in this doing it for a living and put in the work to market themselves they make way over and above their monthly rent so it works out really well

To see whatrsquos happening visit wwwKelseyTheatercom or wwwBre-whouseGallerycom

20 | wwwSFLMusiccom

22 | wwwSFLMusiccom

Taylor Swift | Hard Rock StadiumBy Megan Garzone bull Photos Sean McCloskey

My first introduction to Taylor Swift was inevitable as a sixteen year old overly emotional girl living in the Bible Belt of Georgia how would I not find myself pining over three-week old relation-ships while crying to ldquoTeardrops on My Guitarrdquo I probably even picked up my guitar and strummed along because she got me Despite being a rock lover my grandfather raised me on old-school bluegrass so country has thrived in my veins for just as long as the alt-grunge scene of the 90rsquos And when Taylorrsquos mu-sic shifted from country to country pop to pop ndash I was with it The genre melding of her career felt natural as I aged with the CDrsquos The more heartbreak and young love she sang about the more I experienced in tandem and had music to fall back on And now as an independent woman finding her way in the world with no apologies Taylor has emerged a queen setting the soundtrack of our timeline in the fiercest way possible ndash with Reputation

The Reputation Stadium Tour is so much more than a concert Young girls moms teens and families pack in line hours before doors most donned in some of the most elaborate Taylor themed costumes you can imag-ine just to see everything the tour has to experience Thrones from her music videos outfits from perfor-mances Taylor trivia and karaoke are just some of the preshow museum style set ups through the Miami Hard Rock Stadium Upon entering each guest was gifted a white bracelet or ldquoa gift from Taylorrdquo (so cute) as they were presented to us

Joan Jettrsquos ldquoBad Reputationrdquo kicked in and the Swifties erupted into cheers against the setting sun as Queen Taylorrsquos time had come The bass-pounding electronic opening track off Reputa-tion ldquoReady For Itrdquo boomed throughout the stadium as smoke flares shot from the stage I can tell you I was not ready for it the fans were not ready for it we were not ready for it Taylor danced her way around the stage followed instep by her danc-ers in a glittering hooded black bodysuit Red Taylor who 1989 what Fireworks followed during ldquoI Did Something Badrdquo as Swift crooned ldquoI never trust a narcissist But they love me So I play lsquoem like a violinrdquo as her dancers spun her around as she was seated atop them Taylor closed out Act I of the night with a med-ley of older fan favorites ndash ldquoStylerdquo ldquoLove Storyrdquo and ldquoYou Belong With Merdquo

A giant cobra rose up out of the floor flanked by a series of smaller yet still imposing snakes taunting and chasing Tay-

lor across the stage as she performs ldquoLook What You Made Me Dordquo donned in a black and gold boxer robe Oh you didnrsquot know about the snakes Well see some-one called Taylor a snake on social media a while back which exploded into a bar-rage of emojis and comments aimed in her direction But shersquos flipped the script and embraced the imagery with her fans dubbing the pit in front of the stage the Snake Pit and snake jewelry deco-rating her both in videos and on stage Bringing the lights down Taylor addressed her

24 | wwwSFLMusiccom

adoring audience about how her music has always been about emotions and experiences you go through ldquoYou guys are sing-ing these words at the top of your lungs Irsquom singing these words into a microphone and itrsquos really great that you guys are here and have always been here for the most delicate emotionsrdquo she finishes with a smirk before kicking into Reputationrsquos ldquoDelicaterdquo During the song Taylor stepped into a gleaming gondola that took her high above the audience landing at the sec-ondary stage in the crowd there were some serious Tinkerbell Main Street Electrical Parade vibes going on

More snakes this time following Tay-lor to the B-Stage and towering over as Charli XCX and Camila Cabello re-turned to perform ldquoShake It Offrdquo It was at this time that crowdrsquos bracelets (gift from Taylor) really shined as they twin-kled to the beat flashing different colors like mini-fireworks Oh and then there was the real fireworks of course The crowd stared in awe as the light display bursts overhead of the stadium and confetti rained down continuously

Despite the mega-production of The Reputation Stadium Tour personally I think the highlight of the night came about midway when Taylor stood solo on the stage with her guitar and trans-ported the crowd back to her early acoustic routes Taylor has been using the eleventh song as a wild card with

each city hearing their own personal tune for the tour For Miami we were treated to potentially the only live performance (shersquos 99 positive) of ldquoBreatherdquo from 2008rsquos Fearless And while the fireworks and the fountains and the outfit changes are mesmer-izing there is something so relatable and so spectacular about watching Taylor return to her roots and sing heart-to-heart to her

fans

The final act of the night began with a video montage of Taylor in the wilder-ness of the American West Canyons and deserts sprawled along as ldquoGet-away Carrdquo began ldquoGetaway Carrdquo may just be my favorite song off of Repu-tation and its live counterpart is just as enthralling The night ended in a full blown party on stage with ldquoThis Is Why We Canrsquot Have Nice Thingsrdquo en-tertwined with just a tinge of ldquoWe Are Never Ever Getting Back Togetherrdquo and over 60000 screaming fans

ldquoAnd in the death of her reputation she felt truly aliverdquo read emblazoned on the screen as the music faded and the stage lights came down Since the show Irsquove learned that Taylor Swift is only the second woman to have sold out the Hard Rock Stadium the first being Madonna in 2008 This unapolo-getic Taylor is the fiercest Taylor wersquove seen but she still exudes sincerity when it comes to her fans and puts on one hell of a show

26 | wwwSFLMusiccom

28 | wwwSFLMusiccom

Photos Sean McCloskey amp Tanya van Kampen

BampW

BampW

30 | wwwSFLMusiccom

In The Studio ndash Vol 1 with Day 4By Lori Smerilson Carson

SFL Music and PowerStation Recording Studios joined forces to give a local unsigned artist the opportunity to experience a recording ses-sion as if they were a signed and funded label artist The artist will experience the process from song choice to working with a producer and a production team in a world class studio all the way to the final product

It all started with the building that powered New York City over 40 years ago Legend Producer Tony Bongiovi explained how he start-ed Power Station Studios in an old Con Edison power plant on the west side of Manhattan It is currently Power Station at BerkleeNYC since Berklee College of Music in Boston bought the building in 2017 Fortunately Power Station is still thriving right here in South Florida in the original state of Bongiovirsquos successful concept and technology Which brings us to this series Power Station Studios joined forces with SFL Music Magazine allowing a local act the opportunity to re-cord at a full line production studio under a top-level producer and engineer SFL is conveying this three-part series

Phase I ndash FocusLocal band Day 4 (Lead Singer Heather Curi Guitarist Adam Arma-ganian Bassist Harley Mitchell and drummer Justin Marsch) are get-ting ready to enter the studio (Power Station) to experience a profes-sional recording that will boost their musical career Theyrsquove played locally for the past several years and have won over audiences with their amazing unique songs and stage presence abilities Now they are ready to unveil their talent

SFL Music How did this all come aboutCuri We were looking for somebody who had the ability to take our music to that next level We really wanted a fully produced song that people can relate to that still sticks with the integrity of how we wrote it but better quality to sound awesome and rockin A Song that will be in everyonersquos head once they hear itrdquo

Producer owner Bongiovi partner Rob Roy further elaborated

ldquoWhen they first came to the studio (Power Station) they gave me their back story and that they were try-ing to achieve what their goals are and also what their limitations were Paul (Kronk -Chief Engineer) and I sat down and listened to them Afterwards we listened to their Sound Cloud page so I kind of under-stood what they were doing Part of what Heather just said was theyrsquore looking for a studio that understands their style their sound but also help them to get to a direction Now that borderlines producing and record-ing which are two different things because to come in and book the studio is one thing then to bring in a production team like what wersquore doing here with Paul NiK (Dee) and Brennan (Fulton) and taking it to that next level thatrsquos usually the part that most bands donrsquot have the ability to do just for budget I mean simple math You rent a studio you have the engineer but now you have three other people that have to come in Itrsquos a challenge with the budget

They (the band) came to me they want to take their songs to the next level they want someone to give them guidance and opinions and at least give them some extra tools to kind of fuse things together So I sat back and they asked me ldquowhat can you do to helprdquo Our engineers always offer our production ad-

vice in recording sessions but Day 4 is wanting focused production like a label artist So now wersquore looking at budget wersquore looking at time wersquore looking at resources Unfortunately in this world every minutes got to count and therersquos only so many hours that we can bill as a studio in a day So my thought was ldquohow can I bring something to these guys that they normally may not have the budget for and thatrsquos how we came up with this whole thingrdquo

ldquoI respected themrdquo he continued because they flat out knew what they wanted to do and they were honest to me about their situations and resourcesrdquo They wanted help to get from point A to point B So I said lsquoOK how can we bring things that we would do with a record label budget to these guys to get them from Point A to point B while everybody benefitsrdquo

Day 4 then played their song ldquoSave Merdquo live in the Pompano Beach rehearsal studio where we were interviewing so we could see and hear the pre-production version The minute they finished Bongiovi immediately addressed Mitchell ldquoYou play really good Yoursquore right on top of the beat Thatrsquos a hard thing to dordquo ldquoThank you thank yourdquo she replied Roy then confirmed ldquoSo thatrsquos the song wersquore going to do for this project They are doing three songs in the studio Obvi-ously everything is wrapped around this onerdquo

SFL Music Why did you choose this songRoy ldquoSo the ultimate goal was to record three songs Our motive here was to take one of these songs and produce it for this exercise I got Paul in and also Brennan and Nik because theyrsquore in this stuff every single day and each bring unique and highly skilled production abilities to the table What would be the song we think would translate the best represent them as a band stylistically and also translate to whatrsquos happening today They came back into the studio where we met (Power Station) and we were all on the same page the band myself and the production team There was a short list of songs that made sense From that short list came the three ldquoSave Merdquo which is the one for SFL Music The other two are ldquoLet Me Knowrdquo and a song called ldquoShow Merdquo

Those are the three theyrsquoll be doing in the studio but this particular song (Save Me) first of all therersquos a hook that was very clear The arrangement made sense in that it gravi-tated from one part to the next part all the way through to the end of the song I understand whatrsquos out there today what these guys sound like and the time we had to do this to coincide with three articles I felt this song would deliver a good overall bal-ance of the sound of the band screaming singing features the bass some cool guitar licks and freaking animal over there on the drumsrdquo he motioned to Marsch ldquoIt just seemed like a good song to start with that we could get done in the time in which we want to do itrdquo

SFL Music As for the engineering what are you guys looking to do with this songKronk Well the biggest thing for me is something that Tony taught me When you are working for the band my vision for the record must be what the bands vision is and just getting them there in the best way possible So that essentially is what I go for Listening to what the band is what they want to sound like and then using all the little tricks that I know of in the studio to get the sound what it is that theyrsquore going forrdquo

Starting with Power Station approximately 16 years prior Kronk ex-plained how he came onboard ldquoI knocked on the door of the studio I was 18 at the time and said lsquohey Irsquoll make your coffee take out your trash sweep your floors and try not to annoy you Can I hang out and watch what you dordquo Roy jumped in ldquohersquos being a little modest He took it under his belt and worked and worked and worked He showed interest and was tenacious and got to the point where he was running things on a day to day basis Fast forward 1213 years and the next wave of Power Station came around and it was time to anoint a new Chief Engineer Paul was the one I knew would work for it the most work the hardest had the talent and skills I offered it to him and I said two things lsquoDonrsquot disappoint me and donrsquot fuck it up Along that path he was subjected to my torture then Tonyrsquos torture which is what we call Bongiovi boot camprdquo

Kronk explained ldquonothing makes you work faster than having Tony literally kicking the back of your chairrdquo Roy ldquoas Tony is bellowing faster faster fasterrdquo Kronk ldquoitrsquos a good thing because I know hersquos doing it to push me to be betterrdquo Roy then revealed ldquoTony is also a pilot one of his hobbies his passion is flying his twin engine Coman-che plane and I say this because his analogy being in a studio is like being a fighter pilot in the middle of a dog fight and you have seconds to make the right decision If you make the wrong decision bang you crash and burn So thatrsquos one of the things he always taught was making decisions quickly and making the right decision which I

always took to heartrdquo

They already had some ideas of how they were going to record the song but make no mistake about it they knew where to focus Roy ldquothe three key elements to a hit single are very simple The song the song the song Thatrsquos one thing Tony taught me One of the things that sets us apart from studios down here is the ability to use ana-logue digital vintage modern all types of tools to be able to utilized We have a gigantic 72 channel Neve Console which is arguably the best sounding console of all timerdquo

SFL Music What made you decide to come to Power StationCuri We had some bad experiences with other studios that would say they want to work with us and then it didnrsquot turn out well We werenrsquot happy with the product So we did a lot of research and came across Power Station A few bands that we knew that we had done shows with had used them for recording so we listened to their sound and were like this is so spot on This is where we want to go this is the sound wersquore looking for These guys get itrdquo

Mitchell That was the other thing too it was hard for us to find a studio engineers whatever that understood our type of rock musicrdquo

Armaganian Or any modern music to be honest None locally

Roy Thatrsquos an interesting thing about where rock music is today as opposed to say 25 years ago rock dominated the airways where today it doesnrsquot

Marsch I swore Irsquod never sound like my father but I donrsquot know what the fuck is out todayrdquo

Marschrsquos father however was also a musician who played in an 80rsquos cover band as a second job He recalled ldquoI grew up sitting on the basement steps watching him practice I just took to the drums over a guitar I grew up on a lot of 80rsquos stuff A lot of Robert Cray Phil Collins Eric Clapton the more 60rsquos 70rsquos stuff from my dad I didnrsquot get into the metal stuff until Middle School when I found out about Metallica and Slayer My whole upbringing was 60rsquos 70rsquos 80rsquos and then to incorporate some of the metal stuff kind of developed a little of my own stylerdquo

He and Mitchell both hail from New Jersey prior to moving here in

32 | wwwSFLMusiccom

BampW

south Florida but she was influenced by a different rock genre ldquoI grew up on a lot of classic rockrdquo She revealed ldquolike Led Zepplin the Stones the Beatles even Creedence but Green Day is my favorite band as far as style goes What I want my Bass guitar to sound like in the studiordquo As for her instrument choice ldquoI started on the guitar first when I was 12 and then at 16 a cover band said lsquowersquore looking for a bass playerrsquo So I said lsquohello I am herersquo I just picked it up at 16rdquo

Armaganian the native Floridian had it all figured out or sort of ldquoI was going to be Eddie Van Halen Then I was gonna be Steve Vai Then I was gonna be Dream Theater Then I was gonna be Testa-ment Then I was gonna be Slayer Then I went to school to learn how much knowledge you could have and still not get paidrdquo Every-one laughed ldquoBasicallyrdquo he elaborated ldquoevery person I could find that was a great musician I tried to absorb everything I could from 1987 to here I love hard rock I love Classical music I love Jazz Of course I like shit thatrsquos technical and guitar player friendly but I also watch a lot of movie scores like I am a huge John Williams fanrdquo

Curi originally from Wisconsin leans more toward a bit heavier mu-sic ldquoIrsquom more into Alternative Metal industrial stuff like In this Mo-ment Def Tones Slipknot Pantera I also like Beyoncersquo Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey is my favorite Shersquos such a fantastic singer She has the greatest range of all timerdquo

SFL Music Heather are you the main songwriter on ldquoSave MerdquoCuri ldquoYeah for the most part I had this bass guitar that a friend let me borrow for a while and I had this idea in my head so I just picked it up and started playing on it Thatrsquos where I got the main riff from originallyrdquo She sang the main riff ldquoYeah pretty much all the lyrics I write I write in fragments so Irsquom super cool about when people have ideas I am totally open to creativity if somebody has a word that works better like shersquos (points to Mitchell) helped me with a couple of songs Why donrsquot you try this word it makes more senserdquo Mitchell ldquoyeah we definitely collaborate Sometimes shersquoll have a guitar riff or Irsquoll have a bass riff and wersquoll just show each other and build from thererdquo

This collaboration is how they came together to start playing in 2013 Curi recalledrdquo We met I had some ides We started jamming in her garage and it just clicked

SFL Music How did you decide on the nameCuri We were going back and forth with names for a long time We

came up with a cool idea Wersquore really into astrology and stuff like the sun and the moon

Mitchell ldquoWersquore both Geminirdquo

Curi ldquoYeah wersquore both Gemini so therersquos like four of usrdquo

Mitchell ldquoTrue true Therersquos four of us here itrsquos not just two

Curi ldquoIn every version of the bible on the 4th day it said that God created night and dayrdquo Mitchell ldquothe sun and the moonrdquo ldquoIt also had a reference to recoveryrdquo Curi added that this name also was in remembrance of some friends who passed away from drug abuse ldquoThey said on the 4th day they started to feel some of the relief from the systems and theyrsquod start to feel betterrdquo

Hence the scream in the song Curi saidrdquo I love scream-ing I actually prefer that over singing to be honestrdquoArmaganian (who met Curi while working a business type

job) ldquoThe crowd seems to like it toordquo

Curi ldquoScreaming just gets out so much more emotionrdquo This from the girl who took a pitch test in middle school which she revealed ldquoI nailed itrdquo Ultimately starting her path as a singer since the teacher requested she join basically every music group in the school

SFL Music To sum up the Day 4 soundCuri ldquoThe way we describe our style is like Mariah Carey and Slip-knot Some kind of collaboration maybe a balance between the twordquo

These four Day 4 will be heading into the studio so check out Octo-berrsquos issue to see how their next step toward success is going

SFL Music Why did you choose this songRoy ldquoSo the ultimate goal was to record three songs Our motive here was to take one of these songs and produce it for this exercise I got Paul in and also Brennan and Nik because theyrsquore in this stuff every single day and each bring unique and highly skilled production abilities to the table What would be the song we think would translate the best represent them as a band stylistically and also translate to whatrsquos happening today They came back into the studio where we met (Power Station) and we were all on the same page the band myself and the production team There was a short list of songs that made sense From that short list came the three ldquoSave Merdquo which is the one for SFL Music The other two are ldquoLet Me Knowrdquo and a song called ldquoShow Merdquo

Those are the three theyrsquoll be doing in the studio but this particular song (Save Me) first of all therersquos a hook that was very clear The arrangement made sense in that it gravi-tated from one part to the next part all the way through to the end of the song I understand whatrsquos out there today what these guys sound like and the time we had to do this to coincide with three articles I felt this song would deliver a good overall bal-ance of the sound of the band screaming singing features the bass some cool guitar licks and freaking animal over there on the drumsrdquo he motioned to Marsch ldquoIt just seemed like a good song to start with that we could get done in the time in which we want to do itrdquo

SFL Music As for the engineering what are you guys looking to do with this songKronk Well the biggest thing for me is something that Tony taught me When you are working for the band my vision for the record must be what the bands vision is and just getting them there in the best way possible So that essentially is what I go for Listening to what the band is what they want to sound like and then using all the little tricks that I know of in the studio to get the sound what it is that theyrsquore going forrdquo

Starting with Power Station approximately 16 years prior Kronk ex-plained how he came onboard ldquoI knocked on the door of the studio I was 18 at the time and said lsquohey Irsquoll make your coffee take out your trash sweep your floors and try not to annoy you Can I hang out and watch what you dordquo Roy jumped in ldquohersquos being a little modest He took it under his belt and worked and worked and worked He showed interest and was tenacious and got to the point where he was running things on a day to day basis Fast forward 1213 years and the next wave of Power Station came around and it was time to anoint a new Chief Engineer Paul was the one I knew would work for it the most work the hardest had the talent and skills I offered it to him and I said two things lsquoDonrsquot disappoint me and donrsquot fuck it up Along that path he was subjected to my torture then Tonyrsquos torture which is what we call Bongiovi boot camprdquo

Kronk explained ldquonothing makes you work faster than having Tony literally kicking the back of your chairrdquo Roy ldquoas Tony is bellowing faster faster fasterrdquo Kronk ldquoitrsquos a good thing because I know hersquos doing it to push me to be betterrdquo Roy then revealed ldquoTony is also a pilot one of his hobbies his passion is flying his twin engine Coman-che plane and I say this because his analogy being in a studio is like being a fighter pilot in the middle of a dog fight and you have seconds to make the right decision If you make the wrong decision bang you crash and burn So thatrsquos one of the things he always taught was making decisions quickly and making the right decision which I

always took to heartrdquo

They already had some ideas of how they were going to record the song but make no mistake about it they knew where to focus Roy ldquothe three key elements to a hit single are very simple The song the song the song Thatrsquos one thing Tony taught me One of the things that sets us apart from studios down here is the ability to use ana-logue digital vintage modern all types of tools to be able to utilized We have a gigantic 72 channel Neve Console which is arguably the best sounding console of all timerdquo

SFL Music What made you decide to come to Power StationCuri We had some bad experiences with other studios that would say they want to work with us and then it didnrsquot turn out well We werenrsquot happy with the product So we did a lot of research and came across Power Station A few bands that we knew that we had done shows with had used them for recording so we listened to their sound and were like this is so spot on This is where we want to go this is the sound wersquore looking for These guys get itrdquo

Mitchell That was the other thing too it was hard for us to find a studio engineers whatever that understood our type of rock musicrdquo

Armaganian Or any modern music to be honest None locally

Roy Thatrsquos an interesting thing about where rock music is today as opposed to say 25 years ago rock dominated the airways where today it doesnrsquot

Marsch I swore Irsquod never sound like my father but I donrsquot know what the fuck is out todayrdquo

Marschrsquos father however was also a musician who played in an 80rsquos cover band as a second job He recalled ldquoI grew up sitting on the basement steps watching him practice I just took to the drums over a guitar I grew up on a lot of 80rsquos stuff A lot of Robert Cray Phil Collins Eric Clapton the more 60rsquos 70rsquos stuff from my dad I didnrsquot get into the metal stuff until Middle School when I found out about Metallica and Slayer My whole upbringing was 60rsquos 70rsquos 80rsquos and then to incorporate some of the metal stuff kind of developed a little of my own stylerdquo

He and Mitchell both hail from New Jersey prior to moving here in

32 | wwwSFLMusiccom

BampW

south Florida but she was influenced by a different rock genre ldquoI grew up on a lot of classic rockrdquo She revealed ldquolike Led Zepplin the Stones the Beatles even Creedence but Green Day is my favorite band as far as style goes What I want my Bass guitar to sound like in the studiordquo As for her instrument choice ldquoI started on the guitar first when I was 12 and then at 16 a cover band said lsquowersquore looking for a bass playerrsquo So I said lsquohello I am herersquo I just picked it up at 16rdquo

Armaganian the native Floridian had it all figured out or sort of ldquoI was going to be Eddie Van Halen Then I was gonna be Steve Vai Then I was gonna be Dream Theater Then I was gonna be Testa-ment Then I was gonna be Slayer Then I went to school to learn how much knowledge you could have and still not get paidrdquo Every-one laughed ldquoBasicallyrdquo he elaborated ldquoevery person I could find that was a great musician I tried to absorb everything I could from 1987 to here I love hard rock I love Classical music I love Jazz Of course I like shit thatrsquos technical and guitar player friendly but I also watch a lot of movie scores like I am a huge John Williams fanrdquo

Curi originally from Wisconsin leans more toward a bit heavier mu-sic ldquoIrsquom more into Alternative Metal industrial stuff like In this Mo-ment Def Tones Slipknot Pantera I also like Beyoncersquo Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey is my favorite Shersquos such a fantastic singer She has the greatest range of all timerdquo

SFL Music Heather are you the main songwriter on ldquoSave MerdquoCuri ldquoYeah for the most part I had this bass guitar that a friend let me borrow for a while and I had this idea in my head so I just picked it up and started playing on it Thatrsquos where I got the main riff from originallyrdquo She sang the main riff ldquoYeah pretty much all the lyrics I write I write in fragments so Irsquom super cool about when people have ideas I am totally open to creativity if somebody has a word that works better like shersquos (points to Mitchell) helped me with a couple of songs Why donrsquot you try this word it makes more senserdquo Mitchell ldquoyeah we definitely collaborate Sometimes shersquoll have a guitar riff or Irsquoll have a bass riff and wersquoll just show each other and build from thererdquo

This collaboration is how they came together to start playing in 2013 Curi recalledrdquo We met I had some ides We started jamming in her garage and it just clicked

SFL Music How did you decide on the nameCuri We were going back and forth with names for a long time We

came up with a cool idea Wersquore really into astrology and stuff like the sun and the moon

Mitchell ldquoWersquore both Geminirdquo

Curi ldquoYeah wersquore both Gemini so therersquos like four of usrdquo

Mitchell ldquoTrue true Therersquos four of us here itrsquos not just two

Curi ldquoIn every version of the bible on the 4th day it said that God created night and dayrdquo Mitchell ldquothe sun and the moonrdquo ldquoIt also had a reference to recoveryrdquo Curi added that this name also was in remembrance of some friends who passed away from drug abuse ldquoThey said on the 4th day they started to feel some of the relief from the systems and theyrsquod start to feel betterrdquo

Hence the scream in the song Curi saidrdquo I love scream-ing I actually prefer that over singing to be honestrdquoArmaganian (who met Curi while working a business type

job) ldquoThe crowd seems to like it toordquo

Curi ldquoScreaming just gets out so much more emotionrdquo This from the girl who took a pitch test in middle school which she revealed ldquoI nailed itrdquo Ultimately starting her path as a singer since the teacher requested she join basically every music group in the school

SFL Music To sum up the Day 4 soundCuri ldquoThe way we describe our style is like Mariah Carey and Slip-knot Some kind of collaboration maybe a balance between the twordquo

These four Day 4 will be heading into the studio so check out Octo-berrsquos issue to see how their next step toward success is going

32 | wwwSFLMusiccom

BampW

south Florida but she was influenced by a different rock genre ldquoI grew up on a lot of classic rockrdquo She revealed ldquolike Led Zepplin the Stones the Beatles even Creedence but Green Day is my favorite band as far as style goes What I want my Bass guitar to sound like in the studiordquo As for her instrument choice ldquoI started on the guitar first when I was 12 and then at 16 a cover band said lsquowersquore looking for a bass playerrsquo So I said lsquohello I am herersquo I just picked it up at 16rdquo

Armaganian the native Floridian had it all figured out or sort of ldquoI was going to be Eddie Van Halen Then I was gonna be Steve Vai Then I was gonna be Dream Theater Then I was gonna be Testa-ment Then I was gonna be Slayer Then I went to school to learn how much knowledge you could have and still not get paidrdquo Every-one laughed ldquoBasicallyrdquo he elaborated ldquoevery person I could find that was a great musician I tried to absorb everything I could from 1987 to here I love hard rock I love Classical music I love Jazz Of course I like shit thatrsquos technical and guitar player friendly but I also watch a lot of movie scores like I am a huge John Williams fanrdquo

Curi originally from Wisconsin leans more toward a bit heavier mu-sic ldquoIrsquom more into Alternative Metal industrial stuff like In this Mo-ment Def Tones Slipknot Pantera I also like Beyoncersquo Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey is my favorite Shersquos such a fantastic singer She has the greatest range of all timerdquo

SFL Music Heather are you the main songwriter on ldquoSave MerdquoCuri ldquoYeah for the most part I had this bass guitar that a friend let me borrow for a while and I had this idea in my head so I just picked it up and started playing on it Thatrsquos where I got the main riff from originallyrdquo She sang the main riff ldquoYeah pretty much all the lyrics I write I write in fragments so Irsquom super cool about when people have ideas I am totally open to creativity if somebody has a word that works better like shersquos (points to Mitchell) helped me with a couple of songs Why donrsquot you try this word it makes more senserdquo Mitchell ldquoyeah we definitely collaborate Sometimes shersquoll have a guitar riff or Irsquoll have a bass riff and wersquoll just show each other and build from thererdquo

This collaboration is how they came together to start playing in 2013 Curi recalledrdquo We met I had some ides We started jamming in her garage and it just clicked

SFL Music How did you decide on the nameCuri We were going back and forth with names for a long time We

came up with a cool idea Wersquore really into astrology and stuff like the sun and the moon

Mitchell ldquoWersquore both Geminirdquo

Curi ldquoYeah wersquore both Gemini so therersquos like four of usrdquo

Mitchell ldquoTrue true Therersquos four of us here itrsquos not just two

Curi ldquoIn every version of the bible on the 4th day it said that God created night and dayrdquo Mitchell ldquothe sun and the moonrdquo ldquoIt also had a reference to recoveryrdquo Curi added that this name also was in remembrance of some friends who passed away from drug abuse ldquoThey said on the 4th day they started to feel some of the relief from the systems and theyrsquod start to feel betterrdquo

Hence the scream in the song Curi saidrdquo I love scream-ing I actually prefer that over singing to be honestrdquoArmaganian (who met Curi while working a business type

job) ldquoThe crowd seems to like it toordquo

Curi ldquoScreaming just gets out so much more emotionrdquo This from the girl who took a pitch test in middle school which she revealed ldquoI nailed itrdquo Ultimately starting her path as a singer since the teacher requested she join basically every music group in the school

SFL Music To sum up the Day 4 soundCuri ldquoThe way we describe our style is like Mariah Carey and Slip-knot Some kind of collaboration maybe a balance between the twordquo

These four Day 4 will be heading into the studio so check out Octo-berrsquos issue to see how their next step toward success is going

34 | wwwSFLMusiccom

OAR | Pompano Beach AmphitheaterPhoto Sean McCloskey

Echosmith | Coral Sky AmphitheaterPhoto Sean McCloskey

Panic at the Disco | BBampT CenterPhoto Megan Garzone

36 | wwwSFLMusiccom

Def Leppard amp Journey | BBampT CenterBy Ray Anton bull Photos Sean McCloskey

Remembering the success of their tour in 2006 Joe Elliott of Def Leppard and Neil Schon of journey decided to team up and tour once again This years ver-sion started in May and will have 60 shows ending in early October The bands will take turns and each lsquohead-linersquo 30 shows They visited us here Friday night August 18th at the BBampT center in Sunrise and we South Florid-ians greeted them with a packed house

Journey was first to hit the stage just about half past 7 The band started off with an introductory instrumental as a huge video screen behind them lit up several of the logos and the scarab beetle the band has used over the de-cades The singer Arnel Pineda had not come on stage yet At that moment We were witnessing the core lineup (minus Steve Perry) that created argu-ably the bands most successful albums

Escape and Frontiers The instrumental led into one of their biggest hits lsquoSepa-rate Waysrsquo Thatrsquos when Arnel came out and started belting out the lyrics that took me back more than 30 years His voice is so similar to Steve Perryrsquos itrsquos astounding Next up was a song off the movie lsquoVision-questrsquo soundtrack lsquoOnly the Youngrsquo then right into lsquoEs-capersquo Then with-out a breath in be-tween came lsquoStone in Loversquo and lsquoBe good to Yourselfrsquo From there came an instrumental featuring the pro-digious Neil Schon that fed right into lsquoLightsrsquo the ode of the bands birth-

place San Francisco After the next song lsquoLoving Touching Squeezingrsquo was a piano solo performance by Jona-than Cain

A ninety minute set is not nearly enough time for Journey to play every single

38 | wwwSFLMusiccom

one of their hits so the piano solo in-cluded bits of lsquoSend her my Loversquo and lsquoIrsquoll be Alright Without Yoursquo As the rest of the members re-emerged on stage the guys broke into lsquoWhorsquos Crying Nowrsquo and then slowed the pace with lsquoOpen Armsrsquo lsquoLa Do Darsquo preceded a spotlight stealing drum solo from Steve Smith He made the sticks dance across the heads The opening notes of lsquoAny Way You Want itrsquo closed out the drum solo The band then went into lsquoLibertyrsquo and paid homage to Aretha Franklin as images of her flashed across the big screen They cranked the tempo back up with lsquoWheel in the Skyrsquo and then slowed it back down again with lsquoFaithfullyrsquo Due to time con-straints the first band on stage in this tour doesnrsquot have the luxury of leaving the stage and waiting to be summoned back for an encore therefore Journey ended the set just before 9 pm with the rock standard lsquoDonrsquot Stop Believingrsquo

After that musical workout a timer on the stage let us know there would be a 30 minute intermission It seemed most in the audience would need that time to recover from the juggernaut we just witnessed

As the timer dropped to zero and the lights went out the opening chords of lsquoRock itrsquo sounded thru the arena while the big screen showed various fiery rocket launches With the same energy and top notch musicianship that just wowed us an hour ago Def Leppard proceeded into lsquoAnimalrsquo then slowed the pace down with the opening notes that

would lead into lsquoFoolinrsquo The way Joe El-liot talks to his fans he really is master-ful at being one with his audience lsquoAr-mageddon itrsquo follows lsquoWhen Love and Hate Collidersquo and lsquoLetrsquos Get Rockedrsquo Joe talked about the bands love of rock music when they were younger and about the tribute album lsquoYeahrsquo they re-corded that featured some of their fa-vorite songs and David Essexrsquos lsquoRock onrsquo which was the next song up

The guys then broke out the acoustic guitars and all gathered for the bal-lad lsquoTwo Steps Behindrsquo They picked the pace back up with lsquoMan Enoughrsquo and then went into one of their big-gest hits lsquoLove Bitesrsquo Going way back to 1981 the band next played lsquoBringing on the Heartbreakrsquo and the instrumental lsquoSwitch 625rsquo A drum solo by Rick Allen accompanied by bassist Rick Savage preceded the song lsquoHysteriarsquo where classic images of the band including deceased rhythm guitar player Steve Clark showed on the big screen behind them They closed the set with fan fa-vorite lsquoPour Some Sugar on Mersquo They came back to do an encore of two other fan favorites lsquoRock of Agesrsquo and lsquoPho-tographrsquo Both bandmembers an audi-

ence alike lingered well after the music was over just trying to make the magic last a little longer

The energy both these bands have is nothing short of amazing All the mem-bers were continually engaging the fans throughout the show and the crowd loved it While many bands today rely on impressive video displays behind them and stand bored as if their feet are stuck in concrete Journey and Def Lep-pard have the massive video screens simply as a backdrop They do not stop moving All this while playing their in-struments at a high level singing in key ndash Ray Anton

40 | wwwSFLMusiccom

The halcyon rsquo90s saw the rise of touring music festivals that paired iconic headliners and cult powerhouses with their respec-tive scenesrsquo up-and-comers Lollapalooza Warped Ozzfest HORDE and the less genre-bound more gender-powered Lilith Fair mdash before they all dwindled down from cutting-edge to ldquomehrdquo discontinued or stopped traveling they formed a mov-

able ecosystem that broke major musical groups in their infancy and connected audi-ences with many acts they other-wise would never have seen

Where do you go today for that mdash to support the insurgents whose first big step up would have been from creaky vans to back-of-the-pack tour buses

Who showcases as their mission the offbeat emerging talent that used to be the festivalsrsquo forte

Here in South Florida therersquos BUMBLEFEST a block party of great indie performers assembled at a quintet of West Palm Beach venues on one downtown street in a sort of scavenger hunt of fun Voltaire and Respectable Street anchor this yearrsquos Bumblefestivities with Hullabaloo Kismet Vintage and Sub-culture Coffee rounding out the Clematis Street circuit mdash noth-ing so far apart that one canrsquot wander on foot to take in all the

sights and sounds

Bumblefest belongs to a breed of hometown festival such as Fun Fun Fun in Austin Texas and III Points in Miami that absolutely wants your freak flag flying Theyrsquore here to connect you with the fresh good-vibe and sometimes strange music you didnrsquot know you needed Sure you could pile into Sunfest to see the Pix-ies or Ice Cube or whichever legacy act is playing a waterfront jammed full of people who arenrsquot really interested in music Or you could head farther west to the 500 Block of Clematis Street to see the bands that everyone else will be talking about one five or ten years out Thirty-three bands will play on six stages from 6pm-4am

Here are a few of the touring highlights

Hailing from Oakland California LUMERIANS are what Silver

Apples and Kraftwerk would sound like collaborating on a psychedelic space rock opera The group formed in 2006 with a name that references ldquoStar Trek The Next Generationrdquo is known for in-credible live shows with trippy visuals to enhance the equally out-there sounds A Lumerians audience is basically lulled into a trancelike state that is captivating to behold and insane to be a part of mdash a full frontal-cortex assault that is part cult of personality and part alien abduction Listening to albums such as ldquoTransma-linniardquo their slow-to-gestate 2011 debut or 2013rsquos ldquoThe High Frontierrdquo is like a Marshall Applewhite ascension ritual that you actually get to live through

rdquoI guess we live in a spaceship that bends the universe around it rather than flyingrdquo a Lumerian explained to Dangerous Minds in 2012 ldquoor maybe itrsquos a beach house except instead of sand and water outside itrsquos got taco trucks and human traffickingrdquo

Veterans of bills with the Butthole Surfers and more recently My Bloody Valentine the band is presently touring in support of ldquoCall of the Voidrdquo an album exhibiting shades of John Carpen-ter movie music and the Tangerine Dream-channeling Survive mdash they of the ldquoStranger Thingsrdquo theme It seems fitting that an act from Oakland one bridge over from the birthpod of hippie culture would be the new ambassadors of envelope-pushing audiovisual sex drugs and space travel

SANTOROS is a pure Mexican garage-rock psychedelic-surf act straight from Los Angeles The group is currently touring in support of ldquoBad Habitsrdquo a four-song EP thatrsquos all jangly beach-kissed fun in the sun ldquoWhen You Cry at Nightrdquo starts off as an instrumental throwback to the Ventures and evolves into a

keyboard-driven pop song about forlorn love on a sand dune someplace

Santoros embrace both their Mexican and Southern California roots Mostly raised in the San Fernando Valley the band members cut their teeth on LArsquos Echo Park music scene starting out as drink-ing buddies who decided to jam and liked what they heard The brotherhood that is Santoros was raised around music surf-ing and the west coast lifestyle It doesnrsquot hurt to have oldies stations and the mighty KROQ-FM to nurture bourgeon-ing musical passions and itrsquos no surprise that this combination of surf sun and fun would translate into the sounds the band is making itrsquos been the West Coast rock muse since forever PureHoney booked Santoros for an amazing Delray play al-most four years ago when they tripped through town with Psychomagic

SCOTT YODER could easily be mistaken for the 21st century version of Marc Bolan Hersquos a glam rock-inspired folk fella based in Seattle who spent his formative years playing in the Phar-macy for Burger Records and a self-described ldquoglitter-folk elf prince hellip touring the world with his backing band of glammy freaks and misfitsrdquo

Yoderrsquos specialty is the dreamy spell-casting ode to impossible love Think Big Star and Donovan at their most turned-up shar-ing a cloud with Nick Drake in a dreary sky and yoursquore starting to get the picture All pomp and circumstance thatrsquos simultaneously way too much but never enough the music is psych-pop and punk raised on the promises of T-Rex and Ziggy Stardust and filtered through a lo-fi dreamscape Check out Yoderrsquos ldquoGoodbye Lady Dayldquo and be prepared for the possibility of numerous in-concert romantic breakups with people so transported by the experience of Yoder in person they ditch their significant others to go live among elven royalty The band snuck into town on a Tuesday night three months ago and performed an intimate su-per secret surprise pop up for us at Kismet Vintage If you were therehellip you know)

GUSTAF the nom de plume of New York-based artist Lydia Gammill is in the bandrsquos own estimation an irresistibly dance-able combination of ESG Jonathan Richman and Alan Vega Dropping those names in an official bio sets the cool bar very high but Gustaf sounds confident enough to deliver A debut al-bum is due this summer in time for Gustafrsquos Bumblefest debut

The group itself mdash Gammill with Tine Hill Tarra Thiessen An-gela Tornello and Vramshabouh mdash hasnrsquot been around for long But Gammill is a veteran player and has put the work into making people sit up and take notice in a place Brooklyn where you canrsquot swing a cat without hitting a musician

PLEASURES are our local (Saint Petersburg) heroes dabbling in experimental psych rock and dark noise abstractions that wouldnrsquot be entirely out of place in a David Lynch film The band describes itself as dark and stormy space rock from the Swamp-lands of Southwest Florida and quite frankly it would be hard

42 | wwwSFLMusiccom

COLOR

40 | wwwSFLMusiccom

The halcyon rsquo90s saw the rise of touring music festivals that paired iconic headliners and cult powerhouses with their respec-tive scenesrsquo up-and-comers Lollapalooza Warped Ozzfest HORDE and the less genre-bound more gender-powered Lilith Fair mdash before they all dwindled down from cutting-edge to ldquomehrdquo discontinued or stopped traveling they formed a mov-

able ecosystem that broke major musical groups in their infancy and connected audi-ences with many acts they other-wise would never have seen

Where do you go today for that mdash to support the insurgents whose first big step up would have been from creaky vans to back-of-the-pack tour buses

Who showcases as their mission the offbeat emerging talent that used to be the festivalsrsquo forte

Here in South Florida therersquos BUMBLEFEST a block party of great indie performers assembled at a quintet of West Palm Beach venues on one downtown street in a sort of scavenger hunt of fun Voltaire and Respectable Street anchor this yearrsquos Bumblefestivities with Hullabaloo Kismet Vintage and Sub-culture Coffee rounding out the Clematis Street circuit mdash noth-ing so far apart that one canrsquot wander on foot to take in all the

sights and sounds

Bumblefest belongs to a breed of hometown festival such as Fun Fun Fun in Austin Texas and III Points in Miami that absolutely wants your freak flag flying Theyrsquore here to connect you with the fresh good-vibe and sometimes strange music you didnrsquot know you needed Sure you could pile into Sunfest to see the Pix-ies or Ice Cube or whichever legacy act is playing a waterfront jammed full of people who arenrsquot really interested in music Or you could head farther west to the 500 Block of Clematis Street to see the bands that everyone else will be talking about one five or ten years out Thirty-three bands will play on six stages from 6pm-4am

Here are a few of the touring highlights

Hailing from Oakland California LUMERIANS are what Silver

Apples and Kraftwerk would sound like collaborating on a psychedelic space rock opera The group formed in 2006 with a name that references ldquoStar Trek The Next Generationrdquo is known for in-credible live shows with trippy visuals to enhance the equally out-there sounds A Lumerians audience is basically lulled into a trancelike state that is captivating to behold and insane to be a part of mdash a full frontal-cortex assault that is part cult of personality and part alien abduction Listening to albums such as ldquoTransma-linniardquo their slow-to-gestate 2011 debut or 2013rsquos ldquoThe High Frontierrdquo is like a Marshall Applewhite ascension ritual that you actually get to live through

rdquoI guess we live in a spaceship that bends the universe around it rather than flyingrdquo a Lumerian explained to Dangerous Minds in 2012 ldquoor maybe itrsquos a beach house except instead of sand and water outside itrsquos got taco trucks and human traffickingrdquo

Veterans of bills with the Butthole Surfers and more recently My Bloody Valentine the band is presently touring in support of ldquoCall of the Voidrdquo an album exhibiting shades of John Carpen-ter movie music and the Tangerine Dream-channeling Survive mdash they of the ldquoStranger Thingsrdquo theme It seems fitting that an act from Oakland one bridge over from the birthpod of hippie culture would be the new ambassadors of envelope-pushing audiovisual sex drugs and space travel

SANTOROS is a pure Mexican garage-rock psychedelic-surf act straight from Los Angeles The group is currently touring in support of ldquoBad Habitsrdquo a four-song EP thatrsquos all jangly beach-kissed fun in the sun ldquoWhen You Cry at Nightrdquo starts off as an instrumental throwback to the Ventures and evolves into a

keyboard-driven pop song about forlorn love on a sand dune someplace

Santoros embrace both their Mexican and Southern California roots Mostly raised in the San Fernando Valley the band members cut their teeth on LArsquos Echo Park music scene starting out as drink-ing buddies who decided to jam and liked what they heard The brotherhood that is Santoros was raised around music surf-ing and the west coast lifestyle It doesnrsquot hurt to have oldies stations and the mighty KROQ-FM to nurture bourgeon-ing musical passions and itrsquos no surprise that this combination of surf sun and fun would translate into the sounds the band is making itrsquos been the West Coast rock muse since forever PureHoney booked Santoros for an amazing Delray play al-most four years ago when they tripped through town with Psychomagic

SCOTT YODER could easily be mistaken for the 21st century version of Marc Bolan Hersquos a glam rock-inspired folk fella based in Seattle who spent his formative years playing in the Phar-macy for Burger Records and a self-described ldquoglitter-folk elf prince hellip touring the world with his backing band of glammy freaks and misfitsrdquo

Yoderrsquos specialty is the dreamy spell-casting ode to impossible love Think Big Star and Donovan at their most turned-up shar-ing a cloud with Nick Drake in a dreary sky and yoursquore starting to get the picture All pomp and circumstance thatrsquos simultaneously way too much but never enough the music is psych-pop and punk raised on the promises of T-Rex and Ziggy Stardust and filtered through a lo-fi dreamscape Check out Yoderrsquos ldquoGoodbye Lady Dayldquo and be prepared for the possibility of numerous in-concert romantic breakups with people so transported by the experience of Yoder in person they ditch their significant others to go live among elven royalty The band snuck into town on a Tuesday night three months ago and performed an intimate su-per secret surprise pop up for us at Kismet Vintage If you were therehellip you know)

GUSTAF the nom de plume of New York-based artist Lydia Gammill is in the bandrsquos own estimation an irresistibly dance-able combination of ESG Jonathan Richman and Alan Vega Dropping those names in an official bio sets the cool bar very high but Gustaf sounds confident enough to deliver A debut al-bum is due this summer in time for Gustafrsquos Bumblefest debut

The group itself mdash Gammill with Tine Hill Tarra Thiessen An-gela Tornello and Vramshabouh mdash hasnrsquot been around for long But Gammill is a veteran player and has put the work into making people sit up and take notice in a place Brooklyn where you canrsquot swing a cat without hitting a musician

PLEASURES are our local (Saint Petersburg) heroes dabbling in experimental psych rock and dark noise abstractions that wouldnrsquot be entirely out of place in a David Lynch film The band describes itself as dark and stormy space rock from the Swamp-lands of Southwest Florida and quite frankly it would be hard

42 | wwwSFLMusiccom

COLOR

Apples and Kraftwerk would sound like collaborating on a psychedelic space rock opera The group formed in 2006 with a name that references ldquoStar Trek The Next Generationrdquo is known for in-credible live shows with trippy visuals to enhance the equally out-there sounds A Lumerians audience is basically lulled into a trancelike state that is captivating to behold and insane to be a part of mdash a full frontal-cortex assault that is part cult of personality and part alien abduction Listening to albums such as ldquoTransma-linniardquo their slow-to-gestate 2011 debut or 2013rsquos ldquoThe High Frontierrdquo is like a Marshall Applewhite ascension ritual that you actually get to live through

rdquoI guess we live in a spaceship that bends the universe around it rather than flyingrdquo a Lumerian explained to Dangerous Minds in 2012 ldquoor maybe itrsquos a beach house except instead of sand and water outside itrsquos got taco trucks and human traffickingrdquo

Veterans of bills with the Butthole Surfers and more recently My Bloody Valentine the band is presently touring in support of ldquoCall of the Voidrdquo an album exhibiting shades of John Carpen-ter movie music and the Tangerine Dream-channeling Survive mdash they of the ldquoStranger Thingsrdquo theme It seems fitting that an act from Oakland one bridge over from the birthpod of hippie culture would be the new ambassadors of envelope-pushing audiovisual sex drugs and space travel

SANTOROS is a pure Mexican garage-rock psychedelic-surf act straight from Los Angeles The group is currently touring in support of ldquoBad Habitsrdquo a four-song EP thatrsquos all jangly beach-kissed fun in the sun ldquoWhen You Cry at Nightrdquo starts off as an instrumental throwback to the Ventures and evolves into a

keyboard-driven pop song about forlorn love on a sand dune someplace

Santoros embrace both their Mexican and Southern California roots Mostly raised in the San Fernando Valley the band members cut their teeth on LArsquos Echo Park music scene starting out as drink-ing buddies who decided to jam and liked what they heard The brotherhood that is Santoros was raised around music surf-ing and the west coast lifestyle It doesnrsquot hurt to have oldies stations and the mighty KROQ-FM to nurture bourgeon-ing musical passions and itrsquos no surprise that this combination of surf sun and fun would translate into the sounds the band is making itrsquos been the West Coast rock muse since forever PureHoney booked Santoros for an amazing Delray play al-most four years ago when they tripped through town with Psychomagic

SCOTT YODER could easily be mistaken for the 21st century version of Marc Bolan Hersquos a glam rock-inspired folk fella based in Seattle who spent his formative years playing in the Phar-macy for Burger Records and a self-described ldquoglitter-folk elf prince hellip touring the world with his backing band of glammy freaks and misfitsrdquo

Yoderrsquos specialty is the dreamy spell-casting ode to impossible love Think Big Star and Donovan at their most turned-up shar-ing a cloud with Nick Drake in a dreary sky and yoursquore starting to get the picture All pomp and circumstance thatrsquos simultaneously way too much but never enough the music is psych-pop and punk raised on the promises of T-Rex and Ziggy Stardust and filtered through a lo-fi dreamscape Check out Yoderrsquos ldquoGoodbye Lady Dayldquo and be prepared for the possibility of numerous in-concert romantic breakups with people so transported by the experience of Yoder in person they ditch their significant others to go live among elven royalty The band snuck into town on a Tuesday night three months ago and performed an intimate su-per secret surprise pop up for us at Kismet Vintage If you were therehellip you know)

GUSTAF the nom de plume of New York-based artist Lydia Gammill is in the bandrsquos own estimation an irresistibly dance-able combination of ESG Jonathan Richman and Alan Vega Dropping those names in an official bio sets the cool bar very high but Gustaf sounds confident enough to deliver A debut al-bum is due this summer in time for Gustafrsquos Bumblefest debut

The group itself mdash Gammill with Tine Hill Tarra Thiessen An-gela Tornello and Vramshabouh mdash hasnrsquot been around for long But Gammill is a veteran player and has put the work into making people sit up and take notice in a place Brooklyn where you canrsquot swing a cat without hitting a musician

PLEASURES are our local (Saint Petersburg) heroes dabbling in experimental psych rock and dark noise abstractions that wouldnrsquot be entirely out of place in a David Lynch film The band describes itself as dark and stormy space rock from the Swamp-lands of Southwest Florida and quite frankly it would be hard

42 | wwwSFLMusiccom

COLOR

42 | wwwSFLMusiccom

COLOR

COLOR

to argue against that description Theyrsquore part BATTLES part Tame Impala with a dose of Grizzly Bear but completely origi-nal in their stage presence and sound

SEAFOAM WALLS are making a name for themselves in these parts for their take on heavy jazz Itrsquos a mellow affair that the band likes to use as a reference for comfort They describe their sound as ldquoSeafoam WALLS is the concept of using a hue of the color spectrum that brings one comfort Surrounding oneself with walls of that color is a way of creating a comfort blanket with music This is coupled with the idea that when in that comfort zone one will encounter their deepest (or shallowest) thoughts Everyone ponders their existence This helps it act as a method of inclusionrdquo

This is an apt description of a band that relies on good vibes and great sounds to bring colorful performances and great tunes to the masses The contemplative songs provided by Seafoam WALLS will bring a different dynamic to Bumblefest where the stages are soaked in hip-hop psych rock and all other genres of mind bending music Seafoam WALLS are a little more re-strained and perfect for kicking back closing your eyes and imagining some very chill scenario Comfort Seafood WALLS is all about comfort so come get comfy with them at Bumblefest

HURRICANE PARTY is the brainchild of Browardrsquos own Blue-

bird and Duval Countyrsquos Rickolous Its pophip-hop with a healthy dose of indie inspiration and psilocybin mutation The Party just finished recording two songs at Fuzzbaby Records Pampel-mousse and A1A have shades of the Strokes meets party rap from the golden era of hip-hop In anticipation of their appear-ance at Bumblefest this year the duo were kind enough to com-miserate on 5 questions we thought were important Below is a transcript of that interaction

1 Everybody likes a party what makes Hurricane Party the best party aroundBecause we are partying like a giant storm is about to take us away and destroy everything Like itrsquos 1999 man Like if spirit Prince road a giant purple wave into your house and told you this is the last chance u get to Party Except we arenrsquot Prince But he was way cool and could probably surf because he was good at everything

2 If you were at a party during a hurricane where would be the best place to hang out while the house is coming downWith all the pets and beers and speakers in the bathtub

3 Is there a dress code for the Hurricane Party partyFreak what you feel

4 Finish this sentence bee keeper is to bees as Hur-ricane Party is to ____Party

5 Why is loveBaby donrsquot hurt me Donrsquot hurt meno more

BUMBLEFEST (33 bands on 6 stages) takes place on Sep-tember 8 on the 500 block of Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach facebookcombumblefest - Tim Moffatt

44 | wwwSFLMusiccom

SFL Music Jason you are certainly one of the most underrated guitar players and songwriters in the music industry Your band Saigon Kick was huge back in the day You toured the world and had a couple Gold Records with Platinum Singles To top it off you are a local to South Florida

Jason Bieler I originally grew up in New York When I was about 11-years-old I moved to Coral Springs Irsquove spent a majority of my life down here

SFL Music Are you looking for-ward to your show at The Funky Biscuit

Bieler Of course A few years ago when I had first heard about The Funky Biscuit we were excited to do more jam-type of stuff I had a drum-mer with me Jonathan Mover who played with Aretha Franklin Mick Jag-ger and Joe Satriani When we played the Biscuit we did a weird interpreta-tion of our songs I immediately fell in love with the venue About two years

ago I decided to strip my catalogue down to a one-man storytelling poor man attempt at comedy singer-song-writer show So I went back thereFor me Irsquove never had more fun than in that type of relaxed environment Not to date myself but my crowds are a little more mature than they were 20 or 30 years ago The idea of tables chairs quality food and cocktails in a high-end environment really works for me and my current shows amazingly well

SFL Music What are your shows like these days

Bieler I just wanted to get back to writing music with zero commercial aspirations whatsoever Thatrsquos why I put together this improvisational writ-ing thing that would take about 24 hours from conception to release I didnrsquot want to get tied down by mix-ing and spend four months on a snare reverb Not that any of that stuff isnrsquot fun but I just wanted to sharpen my tools as a writer So I ended up releas-

ing about 150 songs via Bandcamp Things took on a life of their own in an organic way I thought it would be entertaining to reinterpret everything along with the catalogue from my past When a song is a good song whether its prog-metal or alternative country you should be able to get the essence of it across with a voice and a guitar So I wanted to challenge myself We are not necessarily on a big tour but I am playing Los Angeles New York Chicago London and Paris Irsquove been all over Florida Atlanta North Caro-lina and DC

SFL Music Out of all the cities you just mentioned are there any that stand out to you as a performer

Bieler Sure South Florida will al-ways be special because thatrsquos where I am from I have friends and family everywhere in Miami Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach My son grew up playing travel hockey for the Junior Panther program Saigon Kick was at Revolution Live a year ago to do

Jason Bieler

By Todd McFliker bull Photos Christopher Brickman

a benefit for the horrible shooting that took place in Parkland South Florida will always be special because it is my home While I am not a household name like Dave Grohl from Foo Fight-ers I am fortunate to have a group of die-hard fans who get what I do They are the ones who show up to support me and these shows have been spec-tacular I donrsquot want to say lsquointeractiversquo because that makes my shows sound digital It is a give-and-take with talk-ing and explanations The shows take on lives of their own based on whatrsquos happening in the room like a question that will be asked or a story thatrsquos told The shows are never scripted

SFL Music Where you get the proj-ectrsquos name Owl Stretching

Bieler When I started the project I was just discussing the whole point was to not be commercial And I al-ways loved the name Owl Stretching because the name of Monty Pythonrsquos TV show was Owl Stretching Time before it became Flying Circus As it began growing I was convinced to change the name to something peo-ple would recognize Thatrsquos where ldquoAn Evening with Jason Bieler of Sai-gon Kickrdquo comes from

SFL Music Are you a producer as well

Bieler In year 2000 I started a label through Universal with my brother Bieler Bros We worked with the metal band Nonpoint from Fort Lauderdale I produced their first two records We also signed bands from the UK For instance we signed Fiction Plane the band of Stingrsquos son Joe Sum-ner Therersquos also an Australian band known as Carnival that is fantastic I have been extremely fortunate not to ever have a real job

SFL Music I know your heroes range from Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads to Barry Manilow and Tom Waits Have you gotten to play with any of your idols

Bieler Yes Strangely enough the

first concert I ever saw as a kid was Ozzy with Randy Rhodes at Sunrise Musical Theater in 1981 Def Leppard opened up with their original band This was before (1983rsquos) Pyromania I saw them and was completely blown away As Saigon Kick grew we got to go to Japan and open for Ozzy at the Budokan That was around 1991 so it was the ldquoNo More Tearsrdquo era I became friends with Zakk Wylde who I am still friends with to this day He even had me onstage behind the gui-tar rig To go from a kid watching Ozzy onstage to being friends with his gui-tar player and opening for him I have been very lucky I also toured with the Ramones We did shows with Sound-garden and Cheap Trick I have been fortunate to play with some incredible bands over the years

SFL Music What does the future hold for Jason Bieler and his fans Bieler I am kind of adrift in a sea of non-direction (Laughs) I am simply making music that I want to make for the reasons that I started making mu-sic when I was a kid Itrsquos rather easy to lose sight of it all and get caught up in the insanity I just do what I do for the people who actually care Strangely enough that is the formula for me to be very happy

SFL Music Any final comments to South Floridians

Bieler I encourage everybody to at-tend the gig First of all itrsquos a wonder-ful venue If you havenrsquot been to The Funky Biscuit yet yoursquore doing your-self a disservice regardless of whorsquos playing When I am on the bill itrsquos go-ing to be a musical hot yogaPilates class for the middle-aged rocker So come out to enjoy a cocktail while hearing a bunch of songs and colorful stories

Jason Bieler of Saigon Kick

Friday Sept 28 2018Doors 500PMShow 900PM

The Funky Biscuit$2000 - $5000

44 | wwwSFLMusiccom

44 | wwwSFLMusiccom

SFL Music Jason you are certainly one of the most underrated guitar players and songwriters in the music industry Your band Saigon Kick was huge back in the day You toured the world and had a couple Gold Records with Platinum Singles To top it off you are a local to South Florida

Jason Bieler I originally grew up in New York When I was about 11-years-old I moved to Coral Springs Irsquove spent a majority of my life down here

SFL Music Are you looking for-ward to your show at The Funky Biscuit

Bieler Of course A few years ago when I had first heard about The Funky Biscuit we were excited to do more jam-type of stuff I had a drum-mer with me Jonathan Mover who played with Aretha Franklin Mick Jag-ger and Joe Satriani When we played the Biscuit we did a weird interpreta-tion of our songs I immediately fell in love with the venue About two years

ago I decided to strip my catalogue down to a one-man storytelling poor man attempt at comedy singer-song-writer show So I went back thereFor me Irsquove never had more fun than in that type of relaxed environment Not to date myself but my crowds are a little more mature than they were 20 or 30 years ago The idea of tables chairs quality food and cocktails in a high-end environment really works for me and my current shows amazingly well

SFL Music What are your shows like these days

Bieler I just wanted to get back to writing music with zero commercial aspirations whatsoever Thatrsquos why I put together this improvisational writ-ing thing that would take about 24 hours from conception to release I didnrsquot want to get tied down by mix-ing and spend four months on a snare reverb Not that any of that stuff isnrsquot fun but I just wanted to sharpen my tools as a writer So I ended up releas-

ing about 150 songs via Bandcamp Things took on a life of their own in an organic way I thought it would be entertaining to reinterpret everything along with the catalogue from my past When a song is a good song whether its prog-metal or alternative country you should be able to get the essence of it across with a voice and a guitar So I wanted to challenge myself We are not necessarily on a big tour but I am playing Los Angeles New York Chicago London and Paris Irsquove been all over Florida Atlanta North Caro-lina and DC

SFL Music Out of all the cities you just mentioned are there any that stand out to you as a performer

Bieler Sure South Florida will al-ways be special because thatrsquos where I am from I have friends and family everywhere in Miami Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach My son grew up playing travel hockey for the Junior Panther program Saigon Kick was at Revolution Live a year ago to do

Jason Bieler

By Todd McFliker bull Photos Christopher Brickman

a benefit for the horrible shooting that took place in Parkland South Florida will always be special because it is my home While I am not a household name like Dave Grohl from Foo Fight-ers I am fortunate to have a group of die-hard fans who get what I do They are the ones who show up to support me and these shows have been spec-tacular I donrsquot want to say lsquointeractiversquo because that makes my shows sound digital It is a give-and-take with talk-ing and explanations The shows take on lives of their own based on whatrsquos happening in the room like a question that will be asked or a story thatrsquos told The shows are never scripted

SFL Music Where you get the proj-ectrsquos name Owl Stretching

Bieler When I started the project I was just discussing the whole point was to not be commercial And I al-ways loved the name Owl Stretching because the name of Monty Pythonrsquos TV show was Owl Stretching Time before it became Flying Circus As it began growing I was convinced to change the name to something peo-ple would recognize Thatrsquos where ldquoAn Evening with Jason Bieler of Sai-gon Kickrdquo comes from

SFL Music Are you a producer as well

Bieler In year 2000 I started a label through Universal with my brother Bieler Bros We worked with the metal band Nonpoint from Fort Lauderdale I produced their first two records We also signed bands from the UK For instance we signed Fiction Plane the band of Stingrsquos son Joe Sum-ner Therersquos also an Australian band known as Carnival that is fantastic I have been extremely fortunate not to ever have a real job

SFL Music I know your heroes range from Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads to Barry Manilow and Tom Waits Have you gotten to play with any of your idols

Bieler Yes Strangely enough the

first concert I ever saw as a kid was Ozzy with Randy Rhodes at Sunrise Musical Theater in 1981 Def Leppard opened up with their original band This was before (1983rsquos) Pyromania I saw them and was completely blown away As Saigon Kick grew we got to go to Japan and open for Ozzy at the Budokan That was around 1991 so it was the ldquoNo More Tearsrdquo era I became friends with Zakk Wylde who I am still friends with to this day He even had me onstage behind the gui-tar rig To go from a kid watching Ozzy onstage to being friends with his gui-tar player and opening for him I have been very lucky I also toured with the Ramones We did shows with Sound-garden and Cheap Trick I have been fortunate to play with some incredible bands over the years

SFL Music What does the future hold for Jason Bieler and his fans Bieler I am kind of adrift in a sea of non-direction (Laughs) I am simply making music that I want to make for the reasons that I started making mu-sic when I was a kid Itrsquos rather easy to lose sight of it all and get caught up in the insanity I just do what I do for the people who actually care Strangely enough that is the formula for me to be very happy

SFL Music Any final comments to South Floridians

Bieler I encourage everybody to at-tend the gig First of all itrsquos a wonder-ful venue If you havenrsquot been to The Funky Biscuit yet yoursquore doing your-self a disservice regardless of whorsquos playing When I am on the bill itrsquos go-ing to be a musical hot yogaPilates class for the middle-aged rocker So come out to enjoy a cocktail while hearing a bunch of songs and colorful stories

Jason Bieler of Saigon Kick

Friday Sept 28 2018Doors 500PMShow 900PM

The Funky Biscuit$2000 - $5000

44 | wwwSFLMusiccom

a benefit for the horrible shooting that took place in Parkland South Florida will always be special because it is my home While I am not a household name like Dave Grohl from Foo Fight-ers I am fortunate to have a group of die-hard fans who get what I do They are the ones who show up to support me and these shows have been spec-tacular I donrsquot want to say lsquointeractiversquo because that makes my shows sound digital It is a give-and-take with talk-ing and explanations The shows take on lives of their own based on whatrsquos happening in the room like a question that will be asked or a story thatrsquos told The shows are never scripted

SFL Music Where you get the proj-ectrsquos name Owl Stretching

Bieler When I started the project I was just discussing the whole point was to not be commercial And I al-ways loved the name Owl Stretching because the name of Monty Pythonrsquos TV show was Owl Stretching Time before it became Flying Circus As it began growing I was convinced to change the name to something peo-ple would recognize Thatrsquos where ldquoAn Evening with Jason Bieler of Sai-gon Kickrdquo comes from

SFL Music Are you a producer as well

Bieler In year 2000 I started a label through Universal with my brother Bieler Bros We worked with the metal band Nonpoint from Fort Lauderdale I produced their first two records We also signed bands from the UK For instance we signed Fiction Plane the band of Stingrsquos son Joe Sum-ner Therersquos also an Australian band known as Carnival that is fantastic I have been extremely fortunate not to ever have a real job

SFL Music I know your heroes range from Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads to Barry Manilow and Tom Waits Have you gotten to play with any of your idols

Bieler Yes Strangely enough the

first concert I ever saw as a kid was Ozzy with Randy Rhodes at Sunrise Musical Theater in 1981 Def Leppard opened up with their original band This was before (1983rsquos) Pyromania I saw them and was completely blown away As Saigon Kick grew we got to go to Japan and open for Ozzy at the Budokan That was around 1991 so it was the ldquoNo More Tearsrdquo era I became friends with Zakk Wylde who I am still friends with to this day He even had me onstage behind the gui-tar rig To go from a kid watching Ozzy onstage to being friends with his gui-tar player and opening for him I have been very lucky I also toured with the Ramones We did shows with Sound-garden and Cheap Trick I have been fortunate to play with some incredible bands over the years

SFL Music What does the future hold for Jason Bieler and his fans Bieler I am kind of adrift in a sea of non-direction (Laughs) I am simply making music that I want to make for the reasons that I started making mu-sic when I was a kid Itrsquos rather easy to lose sight of it all and get caught up in the insanity I just do what I do for the people who actually care Strangely enough that is the formula for me to be very happy

SFL Music Any final comments to South Floridians

Bieler I encourage everybody to at-tend the gig First of all itrsquos a wonder-ful venue If you havenrsquot been to The Funky Biscuit yet yoursquore doing your-self a disservice regardless of whorsquos playing When I am on the bill itrsquos go-ing to be a musical hot yogaPilates class for the middle-aged rocker So come out to enjoy a cocktail while hearing a bunch of songs and colorful stories

Jason Bieler of Saigon Kick

Friday Sept 28 2018Doors 500PMShow 900PM

The Funky Biscuit$2000 - $5000

44 | wwwSFLMusiccom

44 | wwwSFLMusiccom