Category: Medium

A Conversation With, Entertainment, Interview, Medium, Music

Interview: Music Director/Drummer Todd Waetzig Discusses His Role In Blue Man Group Las Vegas
Photo: Lindsey Best

Since its inception in 1987, more than thirty-five million people have witnessed the imaginary, multi-sensory world of Blue Man Group, and it’s no surprise. The worldwide phenomenon combines an explosive arsenal of music, comedy and color that captivates audiences of all ages, languages and cultures.

Perhaps no venue offers more intimacy and spectacle than the specially designed Blue Man Theater at the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV, which features exclusive performance content that can’t be seen in any other Blue Man show.

Although the sight and sound is spectacular the heart of the show is the Blue Man character, which creates an immediate connection with the audience and a unique experience at each performance. The Blue Men do not speak but their band is considered their “tribe.” Contributing to the energetic and immersive sounds that BMG creates.

The Luxor band includes music director and drummer Todd Waetzig, who’s been with BMG for more than twenty years. I recently spoke with him about his role in Blue Man Group and more in this exclusive new interview.

How did you become involved in Blue Man Group?

Todd Waetzig: I was in Boston going to school at The Berklee College of Music and was in a rock band that played around town and wrote music. The guitarist in the band was also friends with one of the drummers from the Blue Man show in Boston and one night, he came to see us play at a local bar. He really liked the way I played. At the time, they were looking for a substitute drummer to fill in some shows and he invited me down for an audition. I went down and met some of the guys from the band and they asked me to do some crazy things on the drums to see if I could do it. Shortly after that they invited me to play drums with Blue Man.

Had you heard about Blue Man Group prior to being invited to audition?

TW: I knew a little about Blue Man but never knew exactly what it was. When I saw the show for the first time, I remember sitting there in the middle of the theater watching what was going on. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. It was overwhelming in a really cool way and I was completely blown away.

Read the rest of my
Interview with Todd Waetzig by Clicking Here.

A Conversation With, Entertainment, Interview, Medium, Music, Women Who Rock

Interview: Emma Taylor Discusses Her Ethereal New Single, ‘For Forever’

Following the release of her infectious single, “My Dear,” and having taking some time off to finish her education, singer-songwriter Emma Taylor is back with a powerful new track. The ubiquitously-charged, “For Forever.”

The single, inspired from stories the songstress heard from friends about unhappy relationships, is both poignant and poetic. Moreover, it’s a track that, when stripped to its barest of essentials, resonates deep with emotion and energy — both a key to Taylor’s signature sound. At its core, “For Forever” is a song that not only yearns for repeated listenings but also showcases the depth of maturity in Taylor’s vocal and artistic prowess.

I recently spoke with Taylor about the new single, her songwriting and much more in this exclusive new interview.

How did the new single, ‘For Forever’ come about?

Emma Taylor: All my songs have an underlying theme of love, loss and relationships. I love telling stories or taking a small emotion and creating an entire song out of it. I’m at the age where my friends have been dating guys or trying to date guys. Some of them are unhappy but will tell me they’re scared of being alone. I took that idea. It’s a song about being in a toxic relationship with someone but not willing to take the risk of being alone because you’re so used to being comfortable. It’s uncomfortable to have change in your life, and it’s something everyone can relate to. Not just with love but in taking risks in their careers. I drew all those emotions and put it into the song.

What else can you tell me about the writing and recording process?

ET: The basis of the song and the skeleton happened so naturally. Originally, “For Forever” was just a placeholder title. I tried to find different words but I just couldn’t get it out of my head. I remember when I first had the chorus and melody and posted the idea on Instagram. It sounds the same now as it did then. You know a song is going to be digestible if it sounds good with just guitar and vocals. If you can break it down and it still has depth you know it’s going to be special. This is such a deep song and I want people to just listen to the words and story.

Read the rest of my
Interview with Emma Taylor by Clicking Here.

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Interview: Lita Ford Discusses Upcoming Quakertown, PA Performance, Gives Update on New Album
Photo: Gary Brown — Shovel Head Studios

Whether it’s her early years as a member of the all-female, proto-punk rock group, The Runaways, her sultry vocal prowess and guitar sexiness on monster hits like “Kiss Me Deadly,” “Close My Eyes Forever,” and “Playin’ With Fire,” or the tenacity on tracks from her emotionally-charged album, “Living Like A Runaway,” there’s no denying that Lita Ford has earned the title of legend.

Never one to rest on her laurels, the reigning Queen of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal has been hard at work on her next project. A concept album being produced by long time friend, and famed guitarist Gary Hoey. Ford is also currently embarked on another round of summer touring, with a killer band that includes bassist Marty O’Brien, drummer Bobby Rock and guitar wizard, Patrick Kennison.

On Wednesday, August 28, Ford will bring her high-energy show to Quakertown’s Univest Performance Center, where she’ll be supporting another of the genre’s most legendary artists, Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe. The event is part of Quakertown’s annual “Sounds of Summer” concert series.

I recently spoke with Ford about her upcoming performance in Quakertown, new music and more in this exclusive new interview.

What can fans expect from your upcoming performance with Vince Neil in Quakertown?

Lita Ford: It’s a high-energy show with great songs and a smoking hot band. The good thing about it is that I’ve been blessed with great musicians and we all feed off each other. It’s a fun show from beginning to end.

What can you tell me about your musical relationship with Vince Neil?

LF: Vince is family. I’ve known him since the early Runaways days and the two of us grew up together in the music industry. He’s had a lot of great and devastating things happen in his life but he’s such a great guy. I just love him.

What do you think makes your music so timeless and special after all these years?

LF: I think it’s because it was real. That’s not to say that today’s music isn’t real, but it’s so sterile these days. Back in the 70s and 80s the music was just so raw. You could have as much hair as you wanted or wear really colorful clothes. It was a really cool vibe. It doesn’t seem like there are a lot of real rock stars anymore. It’s almost like once the 80’s ended they all started disappearing.

Read the rest of my
Interview with Lita Ford by Clicking Here!

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Interview: Cherie Currie And Brie Darling Discuss New Collaboration, ‘The Motivator’
Photo: Corey Parks‬

While The Runaways front-woman/solo artist Cherie Currie and Fanny drummer/vocalist Brie Darling had always been members of a mutual admiration society, the pair had never crossed paths until 2017, when Darling invited Currie and several other female powerhouses to contribute to the Fanny reunion album, Fanny Walked The Earth. The duo enjoyed each other’s musical company so much that they’ve forged what’s become one of summer’s most anticipated collaborative releases, The Motivator.

The 12-song album, produced by Grammy-nominated Dave Darling (Brie’s husband), features nine classic covers that not only shed light on Currie and Darling’s vast repetoire of influences but also showcases the duo’s infectious musical prowess. One of the biggest being their emotive take on The Rolling Stones classic, “Gimme Shelter.” Currie and Darling’s take on other hits by Buffalo Springfield, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon and The Kinks hold up equally as well.

The powerful collection is rounded out with three original songs, including the poignant rocker, “Too Bruised” and the groove-ridden and apropos “This Is Our Time.”

The Motivator will be released on Friday, August 2.

I recently spoke with Cherie Currie and Brie Darling about The Motivatorand more in this exclusive new interview.

How did the two of you come together for this project?

Brie Darling: I had done a record a few years ago called Fanny Walks The Earth. It was the first time that June [Millington], Jean [Millington] and I had recorded in forty-five years. During the recording we had the idea of having as many girl-band artists come out and join us as possible. So we had Patti Quatro, Cheri and a few of The Bangles and Go Gos. When Cheri walked through the door I noticed an immediate and undeniable energy. She was just awesome.

Cherie Currie: Even though I had been a fan for years I’d never met any of the gals from Fanny. So when I was asked to come in and do a backup, along with some of the other rocker chicks who’ve broken the ice over the past several decades, I was thrilled, and I was absolutely floored by Brie’s voice.

BD: What happened next was that Cherie had invited me out to do a benefit for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. I played drums with her on a performance of “Cherry Bomb”. The idea of working together was always simmering, and it finally came to be.

How did you determine which covers to include on The Motivator?

CC: Brie and I grew up with 60s and 70s music and have a natural gravitation to it. It was great to pay homage to the music we grew up with.

BD: I think we started off with somewhere around forty songs. It was really had to narrow them down because they’re were so many great ones.

What made you decide to include a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter?”

BD: I’ve always wanted to do that song, and Merry Clayton’s soulful high part. We had to really play with that arrangement to make it happen in a whole different way. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I remember when Cherie came out to put on her vocal she was dealing with some kind of cold. We kept that first take because it was so raspy and cool.

Read the rest of my
Interview with Cheri Currie & Brie Darling by Clicking Here!

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Interview: Palmyra Delran Discusses New Female-Powered Super-Group, The Coolies
The Coolies

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Interview with Palmyra Delran by Clicking Here!

1980's, A Conversation With, Entertainment, Interview, Medium, Music

Interview: The Alarm’s Mike Peters Discusses New Album, ‘Sigma’, Touring and Living Life to the Fullest
Photo by: Andy LaBrow

Originally intended to be part of double-compilation called Blood Red Viral Black, The Alarm’s infectious new album, Sigma acts as the sequel to 2018’s critically-acclaimed Equals and features contributions from such musical giants as original Alarm guitarist Dave Sharp and Billy Duffy from The Cult.

Sigma, as well as its predecessor, mark a creative change for Peters, who crafted most of the songs from lyrics he’d written while he and his wife, Jules, were going through cancer treatment. The result is a second volume of material fueled by heartfelt emotion, angst, and revelation.

In addition to the new album The Alarm will soon embark on one of summer’s most highly-anticipated tours, where the alternative British rockers will join post-punk auteurs Modern English and the charismatic Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel on what’s being hailed as The Sigma LXXXV Tour.

Peters’ Love Hope Strength charity will also host bone marrow drives at each concert aimed at finding finding donors for people suffering from blood cancers. To date, the charity has registered in excess of 200,000 people, with more than 4,000 potentially lifesaving matches.

Sigma will be released on Friday, June 28.

I recently spoke with Mike Peters about the new Alarm album, touring and more in this exclusive new interview.

How does the new album compare with some of The Alarm’s previous work?

Mike Peters: It’s very much a sequel from our last record, Equals, which came out last year. The music of both albums was conceived at the same time. Originally, it was going to be a double-album called Blood Red Viral Black, but on the eve of release we decided to switch focus and release a single album, Equals, with the knowledge that a sequel would be released twelve months later. There’s a lot of connection between the two records.

The material for these two albums came about a little bit differently than what you’ve done in the past. Can you talk a little about the songwriting process?

In times gone by I’d usually start at the top of the mountain. Where you’d have that initial expression, phrase or chorus, and then you’d work your way down to find the bridge, verse and finally, the lyrics. With this set of music I started at the bottom of the mountain with lyrics first. A lot of songs came out of the turmoil of the situation when I found myself relapsed from the leukemia I’ve carried most of my adult life. At the same time my wife, Jules, was diagnosed with breast cancer, so it was a double whammy. I put everything on hold while we faced this challenge together. There were lot of places where I found myself threatened, emotionally, and I’d write down my feelings. It was only after we came through the worst of these times that I showed my wife all the things I’d written down. That’s when she said to me “This is the start of a new Alarm record. Then I printed all the lyrics out and laid them on the floor around me and started looking for the music in the lyrics to go back up the hill. These albums are very different from how I’ve worked in the past. It’s been quite liberating.

Read the rest of my
Interview with Mike Peters by Clicking Here.

A Conversation With, Books, Entertainment, Interview, Medium, Movies and TV

Interview: Gabrielle Stone Discusses Her Inspiring New Book, ‘Eat, Pray, #FML’

Although Gabrielle Stone has never considered herself an author, the accomplished actress and director has always been an avid storyteller. But it wasn’t until a series of failed relationships — one which included a nightmarish divorce and another that ended with her traveling to Europe alone — that she decided to put pen to paper. The story of the events of her trip, the inspiration and thought processes are chronicled in her amazing new book, “Eat, Pray, #FML”

Told from the perspective of a woman seeking to find inner strength and resolve, Stone has documented a journey unlike anything she’s ever experienced. One that was not only personally cathartic for the author, but a story that’s sure to give others the inspiration they need to perservere.

In its truest form, “Eat, Pray, #FML” is an inside, pull-no-punches look at Stone’s personal diary, but it’s also a book that reads like a mystery novel and flows like a female-empowered Lifetime drama. Pulling you in from the start with its honest writing and heartfelt emotion. Better still, it leaves readers with the tools they can use to overcome any personal obstacle.

“Eat, Pray, #FML” is available in paperback and e-book exclusively through Amazon. Click here to order!

I recently spoke with Gabrielle Stone about “Eat, Pray, #FML” and more in this exclusive new interview.

What was the writing process like?

Everything was written in real time as it was happening. It just happened to be a crazy trip where some interesting things took place. This book will connect with any female who’s ever been in love, felt betrayed, or isn’t sure how to live with herself. I don’t embellish anything that happened on the trip and I wrote the book as if you were having a conversation with me. Yes, I slept with some people; I drank, and I smoked in Amsterdam. But I tell these things so that when I get to the golden nuggets of what I learned and how I found ways to heal, it will resonate that much more.

A lot of what happened in your relationship with your ex-husband and your discovery of his infidelity almost doesn’t seem real. Did you notice any warning signs?

I want everyone to know that I have no hate, resentment or anger toward my ex-husband. Having said that, I’m so happy to be out of that situation and being where I am now. The warning signs were there, but I always turned a blind eye and thought that we’d eventually fix things down the road. The truth is, he’d never been ok with my career, and whenever I’d go off to shoot a film with a kissing scene, or just be with male co-stars, there was a lot of jealousy. I went through a lot of hurt during that time because I was getting roles that were exciting professionally but then had to combat it with the berating and heartache from someone who was supposed to be one of my biggest supporters. It wasn’t as if I was working some other job and then decided to be in movies. He met me as a working actress. This is who I’ve always been. From an outside perspective, it’s hard to believe how he could’ve been so sloppy, but once I started finding things it all unfolded like it would in a movie.

Read the rest of my
Interview with Gabrielle Stone by Clicking Here!

 

 

 

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Interview: Jean Watts Discusses Her Etherally-Charged Single, ‘Feel The Same’

Singer-songwriter Jean Watts’ music can best be described as an eclectic combination of beautiful but dark. But the alluring songstress also proves she’s a force to be reckoned with. Case in point, her ethereally charged single, “Feel The Same,” which is equally as evocative as it is addicting. With a hauntingly infectious groove, soulful vocals and an accompanying music video that’s one part symbolic metaphor (complete with car explosion) and one part action film, Watts sings of taking back control in times of deep despair.

In addition to “Feel The Same” Watts is currently preparing to release even more new music that will be followed by a proper round of touring.

I recently spoke with Jean Watts about “Feel The Same”, her creative process and much more in this exclusive new interview.

To those who might not be familiar, how would you describe your sound?

Jean Watts: I’d describe it as beautiful but dark. Anthemic, but also real and inspiring. I want it to touch a lot of sensitive areas in a special way. That’s what I strive for with every song.

What attracted you to the song, “Feel The Same?”

I was in a session, working on my own tracks, one day when my producer showed it to me. Usually, I don’t partake in tracks that I didn’t write or have a hand in producing but I loved this track so much and felt it was a perfect fit with everything else we’re about to put out. I love the meaning behind it.

Read the rest of my
Interview with Jean Watts by Clicking Here!

Entertainment, Interview, Medium, Music

Interview: Stop Thrust’s Jordan Kai Burnett and Claron Hayden Discuss Their Unique Brand of Blues-Punk

Rising from the musical landscape of Astoria, a neighborhood in Queens, NY, blues-punk band Stop Thrust has been slowly making a name for themselves.

What makes the band so incredibly unique, aside from the often dual-perspective comparison to acts like July Talk and The Dead Weather, is that all four members of the group are seasoned pros of the musical theater. This offers another dynamic layer of craft to the band’s already impassioned performances.

The band will be performing at the legendary Rockwood Music Hall on Monday, July 8th before celebrating the release of their long-awaited EP at The LetLove Inn in Astoria, Queens on Wednesday, August 14.

Stop Thrust is: Jordan Kai Burnett (vocals), Claron Hayden (vocals, guitar), Will Schnurr (bass) and Matt Wills (drums).

I recently spoke with Jordan Kai Burnett and Claron Hayden about Stop Thrust and more in this exclusive new interview.

How would describe your brand of music?

Jordan Kai Burnett: We went down a rabbit looking at all kinds of bands we love and how they identify themselves and the way that music has evolved. When it comes down to it we like to call it blues-punk.

Claron Hayden: We’ve been influenced a lot by the associated acts coming out of Third Man Records — Jack White from The White Stripes, who’s now with Alison Mosshart [The Kills] in The Dead Weather. There’s also a Canadian band, July Talk, that’s inspired us. They add two perspectives the entire time and not just in a one or two song thing.

JKB: They’re a huge influence because of the male/female dynamic and the gritty, sexy nature of their music.

How did Stop Thrust come together?

CH: All of us have worked professionally in theater and other projects in music. Matt and I have actually known each other since we were kids. Jordan was in the process of developing material for a solo project and the two of us had done a few songwriting sessions where we compared notes and music. It came to a head that what we both actually wanted was to build a band that was fun, energetic and had a shared, dueling perspective between both angles inside of a relationship.

Read the rest of my
Interview with Stop Thrust by Clicking Here!

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Interview: Caly Bevier Discusses Her Edgy New Single, “Hate U Sometimes”
Photo: Lindsey Byrnes

It’s been a surreal four-year journey for L.A-based pop artist Caly Bevier. Following a trajectory that included overcoming a stage-three cancer diagnosis, earning herself a Golden Buzzer on NBC’s America’s Got Talent — where she was sent directly to the semi-finals by judge Simon Cowell — and an insatiable debut single, “Head Held High,” the inspiring singer-songwriter is back with her brand-new track. The edgy and ethereal “Hate U Sometimes.”

The song is a hauntingly inspired, groove-ridden track with universal appeal. One that describes the empathetic, and at times confrontational, feelings between significant others, partners, and family members.

All relationships have their ups and downs, but Bevier’s message resonates on much a deeper level. A sentiment that says even though we may not always agree, at the end of the day, we can still hold firm to our commitments to each other and say, “You know I love you, don’t you?”

I recently spoke with Bevier about “Hate U Sometimes” and more in this exclusive interview.

What can you tell me about your new single, “Hate U Sometimes?”

Normally, I’ll write all of my songs, but “Hate U Sometimes” was one that was sent to me. I could relate to it on so many different levels. I went in and helped re-write a few parts and the bridge. That’s how it came about.

What’s your typical songwriting process like?

It all happens naturally with producers and writers. Sometimes I’ll go into a session with a bunch of ideas that I may or may not use. Typically, the producers are the ones who will start a track, and then I’ll go lay down some melodies and lyrics.

How would you describe your sound?

I’ve been living in L.A. the past few years building a sound that I’d consider to be edgy-pop. What’s cool is that, in the future, I can go deeper into a more alternative-pop sound. Artists that inspire me are Halsey and Billie Eilish.

You’ve gotten to work with songwriters like Bonnie McKee, who’s worked with Katy Perry among others. What was it like collaborating with her?

It was extremely cool. Bonnie was in one of my first sessions and taught me how to do melodies and be comfortable with getting my ideas across. As a woman, you sometimes feel shy and might not want to say the line. She taught me to be confident and that’s really helped me grow as an artist.

Read the rest of my
Interview with Caly Bevier by Clicking Here!