Issue 14

1symphonaticmagazine.com

HANNAH GILLBOTHERING DENNIS

TOP 14 OF 2014

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F O U N D E R E D I T O R I N C H I E F P H O T O G R A P H E R & D E S I G N E RS H A N A M Y E R S

c o d e s i g n e r & p h o t o g r a p h e rB R A N D Y N N L E I G H

S T A F F

Branda Cavanna, Candace Carter, Caitlyn Tanner, Josie Adnit, Lu Lu Green, Maisie King, Mike Martin, Mila Hrisimova, Sarah Kempster, Scarlett Grant, Victoria George

P H O T O G R A P H E R S

W R I T E R S

Abby Gillardi, Abby Griffey, Amanda Jensen, Amanda Puglisi, Anam Merchant, Brandynn Leigh, Brian Baker, Cassie Deadmond, Chelsea Gresh, Evgeniya, Kait Rairden, Kelli Coyne, Kim Cisneros, Kylee Gregg, Lauren Zaknoun, Lindsy Carr, Lori Gutman, Maeva Valbousquet, Meaghan Brown, Melanie Jacknow, Mika Schmeling, Penelope Martinez, Priten Vora, Sami Wideberg, Shana Myers. Taylor Novak, Victoria George


S T A F F

P H O T O G R A P H E R S

W R I T E R S

F O L L O W U S

C O N T A C T U S

[email protected]

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A L B U M R E V I E W S

I N T E R V I E W S

S H O W R E V I E W S

H A N N A H G I L L

G E T R E A L T O U R

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B O T H E R I N G D E N N I S

M A X

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albumr e v i e w s


On April 5th of 2013, Paramore released their self titled follow up to 2009’s Brand New Eyes. The album contains 17 tracks including the now platinum singles, “Still Into You” and “Ain’t It Fun”. The band went on to headlining tour, had their own cruise called “Parahoy!” and co-headlined a huge summer tour with the band Fall Out Boy. On November 24th, the released the deluxe version of the album which contains which contains 12 more tracks.The first addition to the album is a re-recording of “Hate To See Your Heart Break” which features Joy Williams and it the first time the band has collaborated with another artist on one of their songs. Joy’s voice adds more dimension to an already beautiful song. It is then followed by two the songs from the original album that were previ-

ously only available as b-sides. In “Escape Route” singer Hayley Williams sings of moving on from problems and being who you want to be. “Native Tongue” continues with this idea and explains how you don’t have to fit in with the “out crowd” and waste your breathe on people who are unimportant. The brand new track “Tell Me It’s Okay” is a previously unreleased demo from 2012. The song deals with growth and finding happiness. Hayley sings “ I thought It was my right to be as sorry as I wanted to be/ wasted all my teenage years being a mis-ery factory.” Since the days of 2007’s “Misery Buisness”, and the departure of the Farro brothers, the band has only continued to grow. The song is positive and uplifting. It is easily relatable and shows how you can move on and accept what happened in the past.The album closes out with eight live recordings from their show at Red Rocks during the summer’s “Monumentour”. Not only does the deluxe version want to make you listen to the songs again, it provides new favorites that you can listen to again and again.

If you’ve already picked your favorite album of the year so far, this one will change your mind.From getting signed to Rise Records back in July to releasing singles and now their debut album, White Noise,the band PVRIS is just getting started. They infuse alternative rock with synthpop in a way that can only be described as infectious and powerful. While their sound has changed since their self titled EP that was released back in 2012, they’ve only progressed in the best way possible. The album starts off with “Smoke” which shows off singer, Lynn Gunn’s, strong vocals from the very beginning. What follows are the two very energetic leads singles, “St.Patrick” and “My House”. Released back in July, “St.Patrick”, easily gets stuck in your head with its melodies and

lyrics. The album then slows in tempo with the song “Holy”, with honest lyrics that aren’t held back. Lynn sings “You can right all the wrongs just to feel you belong, but simply calling out sins don’t bring you closer to God. “ The song speaks to someone who doesn’t follow what they preach. With the clever repetition of “you’re just a poor unfortunate soul”, you’ll find yourself singing along very quickly. However, the most impressive of all is “Ghosts” with its beautifully done harmonies.The band has simply outdone themselves with a brilliant showcase of their talent. The album is full of songs that will please fans of many genres and it allows for the band to go in any direction they want in the future. You’ll be hearing more and more about them this upcoming year. Make sure you keep up.

REVIEW BY: LINDSY CARR

REVIEW BY: LINDSY CARR

albumr e v i e w s

ARTIST: PARAMOREALBUM: SELF TITLEDRELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 24, 2014

ARTIST: PVRISALBUM: WHITE NOISERELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 31, 2014

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of 2014STAFF PICKS

NEW TV SERIES

1) Monumentour

2) Warped Tour

3) Pierce the Veil & Sleeping With Sirens

4) The Glamour Kills Tour

5) Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die Tour

6) A Love Like Tour

7) All This Bad Blood Tour

8) Basement Reunion Tour

9) Brand New

10) Freaks & Geeks Tour

11) It’s Like They Never Left Tour

12) Live Forever Tour

13) The Weird and Wonderful Mar-mozets

14) Modern Baseball Headlining Tour

TOURS


ALBUMS

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Since the announcement of The Get Real Tour, many fans were anxious for the tour to pass through a city near them. With only a few dates left, the tour finally arrived in St.Louis, MO at the Fubar. Arriving at the show the line indicated just how many eager fans there were to pack the intimate venue. There was obvious tension in the air from recent events in the area, along with an angry business owner about the bands parking, Dead Rabbits made the decision to skip the St.Louis date and move forward to the next city.

As they say, the show must go on! Myka, Relocate was the opening band on the tour flyer and set the tone for the rest of the night. The fans were treated to guest vocals from Tear Out The Heart’s frontman Tyler Konersman before end-ing the set.

Up next was Our Last Night, who had been to St.Louis only months before during the Come Alive Tour with Set It Off. The crowd was very eager to sing along and participate whether it was singing Sunrise or Dark Horse (originally performed by Katy Perry). During Sunrise, Trevor climbed up onto one of the speakers that are on either side of the stage, informing the crowd as they sang along that he was going to jump, almost immediately after everyone was on edge when he took that leap of faith. Carrying Trevor safe-ly back to the stage to end the song. Our Last Night are definitely on the list of bands to check out if you haven’t yet. Their set was entertaining and always kept you on the edge of your seat.

The Color Morale has always generated a great turn out in the St.Louis area. The band kicked the set off with some songs from Know Hope and almost immediately the crowd surfing and stage diving began. The band is always keeping an eye out on fans as they crowd surf and tried as much as possible to catch them before smacking their heads on one of the speakers or microphone stands (which happened). Not only was there multiple fans crowd surfing there was also a fan dressed up at Ted the bear from the movie. Gar-ret brought them up on stage at the end and even jumped into the crowd at one point during the set. From start to finish this band always gives it their all and the fans give it their all as well.

For the headliner, The Word Alive, the production was phenomenal. Bringing in their own arsenal of lighting and fog machines, it definitely was one that you didn’t want to miss. The fans were treated to older songs as well as new ones from their album REAL. As I said before the lighting was brilliant and really brought another level to the set. Luke Holland performed the drum solo in which got him into the band as Telle said he is much younger than him and is full of so much talent. This left the fans wanting more as Luke left the stage along with the rest of the band, only to come back a few seconds later for an encore. Now this show ended a bit oddly as there was a girl who had been sitting on the edge of the stage the entire show and was punched in the face by some random dude. Telle as well as the rest of the band and crew saw this happen and immediately stopped the music. He asked for the lights to be turned on as they

found the guy heading for the door. Telle told him to come up onto the stage and apologize to her face. After he did this, there was an applause for Telle who stood up for the fan. It was an abrupt ending but it is nice to know that the bands are looking out for their fans and don’t let things like that go unnoticed.

All in all, this tour was made up of some of the most hum-ble human beings in the music industry. I have nothing but respect for them and everything that their music stands for. What a way to end the year than with this tour.

R E V I E W & P H O T O S B Y: C A S S I E D E A D M A N


found the guy heading for the door. Telle told him to come up onto the stage and apologize to her face. After he did this, there was an applause for Telle who stood up for the fan. It was an abrupt ending but it is nice to know that the bands are looking out for their fans and don’t let things like that go unnoticed.

All in all, this tour was made up of some of the most hum-ble human beings in the music industry. I have nothing but respect for them and everything that their music stands for. What a way to end the year than with this tour.

THE GET REAL TOUR

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HANNAH GILL

INTERVIEWS


You are only 17, yet your voice seems to be very raw and your singing sincere. Can you tell us a little bit about your vocal and musical background?Well, I have been singing ever since I was little, I sung in choir and performed in school musicals. Singing has always been a part of my life and I feel that has really influenced who I am. I like to express my feel-ings through singing, so anytime that I perform I am vocalizing my emotions.

You’ve covered the likes of Hozier and Alt-J. What is it about their music that draws you to these artists’ songs? Who would you consider your biggest musi-cal influences?I have always been drawn to different styles of mu-sic. Artists like Hozier and Alt-J have an amazing way of making interesting music that is unlike anything you hear on the radio. I aspire to make similar mu-sic; I want people to like my music for its own unique sound and style. Along with Hozier and Alt-J I also have been a huge fan of musicians like Ella Fitzgerald, The Beatles, Dr. John, and Joni Mitchell.

Instead of focusing just on music, you’ve chosen to remain in school? What’s it been like balancing a nor-mal teenage life with life in the music world?It is actually pretty fun; it gives me the option to still continue my education while doing what I love. Some-times it can get overwhelming especially now trying to apply to colleges, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I get to go to school knowing I am doing some-thing that only a few kids my age are lucky to do.

Do you plan on continuing your education after high school, or do you think you will pursue music full time?I’m applying to a few colleges around the New York City area so that I can further my education while still being in the city I love. If a larger opportunity arises in the music world I would gladly purse it while possibly taking online classes.

Coming from a small town, what’s the appeal in play-ing in a big city like New York City?I love being able to walk down the street and see something new everyday. Coming from a small town things tend to stay the same, but the feeling I get when I play somewhere in the city is so new and ex-citing. I could play at the same venue ten times and still find something different about it each time.

With a new EP and a cover record, where do you see your music career taking you in the next year?Hopefully we will get to perform more and more as the new EP and cover record’s popularity grows. Nothing is set in stone, but I can’t wait to see what 2015 has to offer!

You’ve been working with Spotlight 87? What has your experience been like in professionally recording and producing music?It has been amazing!! Everyone is so helpful; they blew me out of the water. When it comes to pro-fessionally recording I have had nothing but amazing experiences. Everyone in the industry has been so amazing to me and they have given me nothing but good advice. I love working with these professionals and learning more each day.

You’ve been described as having a fresh jazz vibe. Do you agree with this description? How would you describe your musical style?I would like to think of my music as a fresh take on classic jazz music. I want to create music that is both new and exciting while still connecting with that time-less New Orleans jazz sound that I love so much. I have always had a special connection with jazz music and I want to pay homage to that love through my music.

On Facebook, you acknowledge the members of your band. Do you consider yourself a solo artist? How big of an emphasis do you put on being part of a band?I do not consider myself a solo artist - even though it says Hannah Gill on the music we put out, I wouldn’t be able to do half the things I am doing today if it wasn’t for my band. Everyone has been such a huge help to me, in fact it was Brad Hammonds, my guitar player, who brought me up to New York to start recording. Being connected with people I care about is a big deal for me, I could never just forget about these amazing musicians who have helped me get to where I am today.

Do you write your own songs, and if so, where does the inspiration come from? I have written a handful of songs in the past and it is really a relatively new process to me. I started song writing about a year ago and I am learning each day. I like to draw inspiration for my music from the peo-ple I care about. The people you surround yourself with can determine who you are as a person, and I believe that I am surrounded by the best group of people possible. These loved ones give me the inspiration to write music that I have an emotional connection with.

How would you describe music? What is music to you? What has it done for you in your lifetime?Music to me is a way to share your feelings. Music has had such a profound effect of my life it is hard to put it in words. I was singing before I could talk! Music has woven into my life and plays a part in everything I do. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Who is in the band and how did it get started?Rachel Gentry (Bass), Cat Kaiser (Guitar & Vocals), Austin Taylor (Vocals), andMatt Fowler (Guitar). Aaron Trnka used to play drums.In the summer of 2012 Austin and I (Matt) hung out in my garage for an afternoon. After jamming and realizing our musical similarities we decided to try and start a band. Austin called Rachel who brought Aman and our first few rehearsals were spent playing Arctic Monkeys songs to-gether. Soon I invited Cat to come play with us and it was then that things took off. The first time we performed anywhere was our high school battle of the bands in which we won first place. After that we began working our way up from open mic nights at bars to local venues. Last summer our first drummer Aman left for college, but not before working our friend Aaron into the band.

What is the story behind the name?We practice out of my garage and before he moved to Georgia my neighbor, Dennis, used to have quite a bone

to pick with us. After several failed attempts to call my home phone and put a stop to us he would call the police to complain about the noise. There was a period of time where there would often be a cop car parked outside of my house listening about an hour after rehearsal.

What is the song writing process like?The foundation of our songs are usually created individu-ally. That normally means the lyrics and the chord struc-ture but once the song is brought to the table everyone is involved. Once everyone has a chance to interpret the song it becomes a Bothering Dennis song in the sense that everyone makes their mark on it even if there was already a general idea in mind. For example I’ve brought songs to practice where I have a certain drum beat in mind, but once I heard Aman’s beat instead the song sounded more natural.

What are some of your biggest inspirations?

I N T E R V I E W & P H O T O B Y : L I N D S Y C A R R

BOTHERINGDENNIS


SOME of our inspirations would be Arctic Monkeys, Greenday, Wonder Years, Cage the Elephant, Pixies, FID-LAR, The Orwells, Neck Deep, Motion City Soundtrack, The Vines, and Weezer.

Axis had a Battle Of the Bands competition to play The Big Orlando with big acts like Fall Out Boy and Weezer. What were your reactions when you found out you had won?When we signed up for the contest we never thought we’d make it. Cat and I were in English class when we found out and we just lost it! Our whole class applauded us. Aaron was freaking out too. Austin woke up to rapid texts and Rachel found out when someone called to con-gratulate her, basically we were ecstatic and incredibly grateful to everyone that voted for us. We were lucky to have the support of our school and our music friends.

What was the experience like?Best day of our lives.

What is your local music scene like?We receive a lot of love and support from the Red Lion Pub in Winter Park and we meet other great bands wherever we go. Something we really appreciate is the

variety of music around. Acoustic acts like John David Williams and funk/rock groups like Apollo Radio are always incredible to share the stage with and we’re happy to have made friends like them over the past few years of performing.

What is your favorite place to play?We couldn’t narrow it down to one because of the great experiences we’ve had at our favorite three venues: BackBooth, West End Trading Co., and Red Lion.

What are some of your plans for next year?We plan to record and release an LP with all 10 of our songs.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?Thank you to all our friends and family who have support-ed us and gotten us this far!

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I did some research and saw that you had up-loaded your first youtube video about 5 years ago. What made you decide to start a youtube channel with you singing? I just always loved music and started doing stuff in my bedroom on my piano and stuff. Youtube has always been a great outlet for having your own space to really share whatever you want and I think thats what drew me to it. I love just being able to do cover or originals or whatever and have a space where I can bring it to an au-dience of people who want to watch it.

I noticed a lot of collaboration videos as well. The mashup you did of Shot of Pure Gold/Lightning In a Bottle is one of my favorite videos of yours and not just because I’m a huge The Summer Set fun but because of how well the 2 songs worked together....how do you choose who you collabo-rate with in the videos? The Summer Set were some friends of mine and just came up with the concept of wanting to do original mashups. I basically hit them up and was like “yo what song are you guys wanting to share and collaborate with” and that song and Shot of Pure Gold worked perfectly. We got to-gether and pieced it together and sing different harmonies. Sometimes it just works perfectly like that and we’ve done a couple of those and usually we just sit down and work through our different material and see what works together.

There is such a mix of genres with the songs you’ve covered and thats different, seems like most people who cover songs stick to one genre. Do you think doing a wide range of songs helps with how popular you are? I think that as long as you stick to your own style it always comes through to your audience and that kind of goes with using these different genres. I love all types of music so being able to cover a Taylor Swift song and cover a Mi-guel song or something very different genres, is always super fun as long as I keep it in my own style. Thats what is always awesome about the cover thing, its their work, its the artists work, its just I love taking it and making it my own and paying homage to it in that way.

Whats it like knowing you have your start on Youtube and then you get to perform in front of a couple thousand people and they are all sing-ing your songs back to you? Its amazing. Its so awesome and this whole tour has been really great and just knowing that these audiences are coming out and they just want to have a good time. If any of them know my song it always blows my mind, it never gets old. Its amazing when people know the words to songs you’ve written and you’re like “wow cool


we’re doing this together right now”. Its awesome.

Do you have any preshow rituals for before you perform or anything you have to do the day of a show? Yea, I usually stretch about 30 minutes before I stretch for a while. I do some vocal warm ups and stuff and thats always really fun, making sure I’m warm and ready. You can’t just run out on stage. I think that you always need to prep in some way, Whether we have, sometimes a little ritual with whatever band guys I’m playing with, but with this tour I kind of do my own thing and make sure I’m ready to go.

Broadway, music, and acting...seems like you’ve done it all. What is one of your favorite things about doing each of these? I definitely started out with broadway stuff and I think it all comes down to live performance. Thats what I love the most. Thats in Broadway or doing concerts like this and whatever else. It all feeds back to working off the energy of the audience. Thats what I definitely love the most. Being able to jump from the music world and the acting world has always been very theraputic because its so difficult to really be grateful in one place I think for anybody. Being able to jump from each world makes me really grateful for both be-cause I realize that “wow I haven’t done any acting stuff in a while this is awesome” but i miss that a little bit and vice versa when I’m doing the other stuff.

Do you have one you prefer over the other or wish you could do more of one? I love music thats where my hearts at. I love both and I’ve been really lucky to be able to kind of balance both worlds. If I had to choose I wouldn’t want to give up music.

Broadway has been around for so long with so many classic shows. Is there one past or present that you wish you could perform in? Or is there one character you wish you could play? I love West Side Story of course, I played Tony at my camp a long time ago. That would be incredible to


play Tony on Broadway or something like that, that would be awesome. Theres so many great shows. I love In The Heights and all those great shows. I’d love to go back to Broadway and do some stuff there. That’d be so sick.

If you weren’t acting or singing then what do you think you would be doing? I always wanted to be a preschool teacher because I love kids. I can’t wait to have kids I mean I can wait but I definitely love kids and that would be awesome. I also love marketing and sort of that aspect of the world. It still has to be creative in whatever field I would choose to be in and I think that marketing is a world where you know you really have to stay on your feet and figure out whats next and figure out a creative way to put something out into the world.

Why should people listen to you? What do you think makes you stand out from everyone else? I just really try to keep things authentic. To me i think that any artist when they do that hopefully it speaks to people and it connects with them and i just want to connect with people with the experiences that I’ve had in the styling of music that i do and i hope people enjoy that.

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P H O T O S T A K E N B Y : H A N N A H P L Y M P T O N

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P H O T O S T A K E N B Y : S H A N A M Y E R S


P H O T O S T A K E N B Y : S H A N A M Y E R S

Issue 14

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