Music
An Interview with Doyle
Since 1980, the hulking monsterman Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein has been leaving his giant, bloody footprints in the dirty landscape of punk and horror-inspired rock. His band recently rechristened themselves (previously Gorgeous Frankenstein) as Doyle after their monstrous ringleader and released their first album under the name, Abominator, in July. Doyle is also currently on tour with former Misfits bandmate Danzig, performing a set of Misfits classics at each stop of the Danzig 25th anniversary tour. SLUG had the opportunity to speak with Doyle about the new album and the tour. … read more
Whirr: Loudest Band in the World
Whirr is the loudest band in the world. Or, at least, they aspire to be. “We want to be the loudest band in the world,” singer and guitarist Nick Bassett says. “Mogwai, Swans, My Bloody Valentine, Manowar––that’s kindergarten. We blow them out of the water.” … read more
Spitting Iconic Fire
“We have so many good nights out with our friends, we write about when we have so much fun that we never want the night to end. You love your friends and you kind of just want them to feel what you feel,” Caroline Hjelt says of the inspiration behind the killer, upbeat dance tracks that the Swedish pop duo Icona Pop has been producing over the last few years. … read more
Mad Max & The Wild Ones: the New Normal
The standard order of things is that, when we find rock n’ roll, we use it to piss off our parents—not to start a family rockabilly band with Dad playing upright bass and Little Brother taking on lead vocals at the age of 4. But “standard” and “normal” are not words that anyone would use to describe the Maxwell family, nor Mad Max & The Wild Ones. … read more
Tolchock Trio: 2000–2013
Tolchock Trio, the group best known for being a performing contradiction by playing as a quartet, are finally calling it quits, three years after everyone already thought they did. However, they did accomplish two things most bands never do: They made more than two albums and stayed together longer than 18 months … So that’s something. … read more
Disillusion Tour 2013: O’Brother Takes the Spotlight
Atlanta-based experimental rock band O’Brother has gained an amazing amount of traction in a short time, releasing their first EP, The Death of Day, with the current lineup in 2009, and their first full-length, Garden Window, in 2011. Touring with bands as big as Manchester Orchestra, Thrice and even Alice In Chains, these guys are finally taking on a headlining tour of their own in support of their sophomore release, the excellent Disillusion. … read more
Songcraft at the CLC DIY Fest
It may be presumed that the Craft Lake City DIY Festival on Aug. 9 and 10 is limited to showcasing handmade crafts to hold and take home. However, joining the surplus of local artisans and DIY Engineers are 50 local musicians and performers who will show off their talents in the form of instrumentation. … read more
Baroness: Unbroken Remains
On Aug. 15, 2012, Baroness’ tour bus plunged 30 feet from atop a viaduct near Bath, England, injuring all nine passengers. Miraculously, everyone on the bus survived, though no one emerged unscathed. Despite this accident, frontman John Baizley moves forward, saying, “In an effort to move past that and get to somewhere a bit more rewarding than pitiful, our goal is, quite simply put, to be known as a good live touring band.” … read more
Winter Kills: The Rebirth of DevilDriver
Vocalist Dez Fafara has been a staple of the heavy music scene for going on 20 years now, and the man is a prolific music-making machine. He is the head of nu-metal giants Coal Chamber (who have just returned from a hiatus most fans thought would be permanent), as well as helming DevilDriver, the “California Groove Machine” of melodic death metal that defies boundaries and expectations, and contributing to a myriad of other projects with members of bands from all over the heavy music spectrum. SLUG sat down with Fafara as he runs his latest press gauntlet in support of DevilDriver’s upcoming release, Winter Kills, to talk about this new rebirth for his band and discover his unique inspirations and challenges as an artist. … read more
My Quality Minutes with Alison Moyet
It was wonderful news when Alison Moyet announced she was going to release a new album (the minutes) this year, and an even bigger surprise when it charted so highly in the UK charts (at Number Five, her second-highest-charting studio album there since 1987’s Raindancing to be precise)—a remarkable feat for any artist, especially one who hasn’t released new material in seven years and more specifically—in what remains a sexist industry—a woman. … read more