Ethanz Ride- Ethanz Ride EP Review

Artist: Ethanz Ride
Title: Ethanz Ride EP
Website: http://www.ethanzride.com
Style: Punk Rock
Rating: 8.4 out of 10
By C.W. Ross

 

This Orange County, California band got its start in early 2005, since then they have been building a loyal fan base. The band recently had the opportunity to perform at the 2007 Vans Warped Tour.

 

The band's lineup is, Justin (lead vocals), Dustin (bass, bkg vocals), Drew (guitar, bkg vocals), and Rob (drums).

 

Ethanz Ride combines Pop Punk, Rock and Alternative styles of music to form what they call, 'Punk Fusion.'

 

On this seven song self-titled EP you'll find songs that start-off a lot of the time with an almost heavy rock guitar lead in quickly followed by very active punk flavored fast drum beats and expressive vocals.

 

You'll also find some killer bass lines that help drive the songs. One of the best examples of this is found right at the start of the EP on track -1 "That Guy."

 

This EP offers up a nice bite-size taste of the band's music and should continue to get them noticed in music circles.

 

Dave Patten- Fly Away Review

Artist: Dave Patten
Title: Fly Away
Website: http://www.davepatten.com
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/davepatten 
CDBaby: http://cdbaby.com/cd/davepatten2
Style: Acoustic Rock
Label: Clark Records
Rating: 8.9 out of 10
By C.W. Ross

 

Fly Away is the follow up to Dave Patten's debut release, Too Close, Too Far. On this release Patten has surrounded himself with longtime friends and musicians, Josh Druhan (electric guitar), Chris Baglivo (bass), Brian Boyle (piano) and session drummer John Whitely.

 

The Havertown, Pennsylvania based group list John Legend, Ben Folds Five, Pink Floyd Led Zeppelin Neil Young, and Coldplay as a few of their musical influences.

 

For the most part the 12 songs found on this release have a soft rock sound with the guitar and piano parts getting their fair share of time at the song's forefront. It's Patten's vocals though that drives the songs home.

 

When I first heard the vocals found on Fly Away I thought that Dave Patten was a little bit older maybe in his late 30's-early 40's because of the little bit of grizzle that his voice has that often comes with a few years on the road. I was surprised to find out that Patten is only in his 20's.

 

Lyrically the songs deal a lot with relationships and dealing with beak ups. Track10, "Taken" a piano ballad is a touching song that deals with death and seeing someone again in Heaven.  Patten's vocals are dripping with pure emotion in the song.

 

When asked about where he gets his inspiration for his songs Patten said, "My emotions drive my song writing. When I'm really enveloped in a particular mood or feeling, I like to sit down at the piano and just bang out chords. I literally slam my hands down on the keys. After awhile something always comes together and I almost always have some idea how to get started on the lyrics..."

 

If you're looking for a nice mid-tempo rock release then Dave Patten's Fly Away will more-then-met your needs. I really liked what I heard on Fly Away and expect to be hearing a lot more from Dave Patten and friends in the future.

 

Red Carpet Rats Interview

Below is a recent interview that we done with Red Carpet Rats' singer Uni:

1. For anyone that hasn't heard your band's music before how would you describe it?

Red Carpet Rats is driving against traffic down a one-way street and yelling, "But we ARE going one way!" kind of music. It's songs to tailgate by. Makes you feel like you're hanging, I believe the criminal term here is loitering, in the parking lot, with one arm around that special someone and the other around your beverage of choice. Mine is Jack Daniels by the way. Yes sir. No deep, introspective, stroke-your-beard-like-you're-listening-to-Radiohead, intended message here. At least not yet. We consider it our moral and civic duty to use any means necessary to help you forget about any harmful toxins that may be in your life. And we're glad to be of service.

2. Who are some of your musical influences?

As a band, our musical influences cover a range wider than the state of Oklahoma. All swinging I might add. And when I say swinging, I mean in a Miles Davis at the supper club in a 3 A.M. jam kind of way. You want our back-story, I'm talking the ups and downs and ins and outs and in betweens of the 20th and 21st century's most slammin' popular music. Singing the praises of heaven movers and ground shakers from Van Morrison to Van Halen. Black Sabbath to The Black Crowes. Not just one, but both Elvises. Or is that Elvi? I'm not sure.

3. What do you hope that peopple take away from listening to your music?

Red Carpet Rats offers good-old fashioned, school's out, big blockbuster, summer fun. It's Will Smith versus the aliens. Russell Crowe against the Romans. The underdog of all underdogs fighting for truth, justice and your entertainment dollar. I like to think that listening to RCR is like riding the Cyclone at Coney Island, where you might feel a little light-headed afterwards, but man it was fun while it lasted.

4.What is the most interesting live show you ever played?

Funny how the mind works. You say interesting, I think excruciating. Ya' see, at one time we were gonna be cool and flirt with some alternate tuned guitars. RCR rocking classically like the Stones. Get our collective Keith on, so to speak. Had a few songs worked up. It was gonna be brilliant. Well... cut to the opening of our show when our fearless lead guitar player McCabe hits the first few chords and gets a "what the hell was that?" look, not only from the rest of the band, but also everyone in attendance. Ok. Gotta roll with the punches to get to what's real, right? And hey, it's not that bad, he can just switch to the guitar that's in the appropriate tuning, can't he? Of course not! Cause our rent-a-roadie-for-the-night got his wires crossed and thought we played all of our songs in that tuning. So here we are mid-song, as McCabe disappears to give someone side stage a piece of his mind and a few other things, while yours truly is left soldiering on with, oh yeah, of course my guitar was also tuned incorrectly! To make a worst-experience-of-my-life story short, we were a three piece for about 4 of the longest minutes in recorded history, sounding like a bad version of a band playing a bad version of a bad Sex Pistols song. I'm nevertheless proud to say that eventually we came out the other side and, after much therapy, have fully recovered, and are now ready to lead relatively happy, semi-productive lives.

5.What music do you avaliable now and where can people buy it?

Right now, we are threatening to release our first full-length RCR CD. It's our maiden voyage into parts unknown. Songs of faith, hope and jealousy. No, that's not the title, but it should be. We're calling it 'The Big Picture'. Just so we don't lose sight, ya' know? And when we are finally ready to unleash the beast onto John and Joan Q. Public, it will be available in all the usual locations. And some of the unusual ones. From iTunes to IHOP, that's our marketing strategy, and also where we get our sense of style.

6.What was the last two band's music that you listened to besides your own?

I've been up to my ears in RCR stuff for the past I don't know how long that unfortunately I haven't really had the chance to give a good listen to much else. And honestly, throughout the recording process specifically, I tried to implement a little something I picked up from producer extraordinaire Michael Wagner, who doesn't listen to anything except what he's working on at the time. Buuuuut, there's always a but, isn't there, now that the record is finished, I've accepted my mission and entered phase one of Operation: Full Media Assault. Sounds all military-like, huh? Nothing to be too afraid of, or maybe it is, it's my own radio show, 'Club Uni', on the U.K. based station Error FM, streaming on www.errorfm.com and airing every Monday at 6 P.M. EST. That's 6 A.M. the next day, for those of you in Bangkok! I'm spinning a lot of pop rock stuff from the way-back and not-so-way-back machine, and looking forward to becoming a hyperactive listener again. Feel free to stop by. I'll leave you + 1 at the door.

7.You mentioned in our earlier e-mails about a Red Carpet Rats comic book that's in development will you tell us alittle bit about that?

A while back, an engineer we were working with once told us that given our vibe, he wouldn't be surprised if one of us could fly. Now normally I'd chalk this kind of talk up to an over abundance of pot smoked in the 90's. However this time I thought, well that's it right there. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! What better way to get the Red Carpet Rats message to the people than that age old purveyor of the superhero credo, the comic book. So after brainstorming a premise, I beat the streets to get a first class company interested in the project. Just dotting the i's and crossing our fingers at this point. With any luck, we'll have a booth at the next Comic Con, sandwiched tightly between Supergirl and the ladies from Sin City!

8.Anything we missed that you want to touch on before we end the interview?

That all depends on what you're wearing! Actually, thanks to you and Indie Music Stop, we're flashing the Batsignal as we speak requesting everyone to be in attendance as we make our way across the map. It's a block party, covering about 65,000 blocks. Dress appropriately. Or as inappropriately as you like. Oh don't worry, the band will be cooking. Look for me, I'll be the one wearing cowboy boots and the 'Kiss Me, I'm The Singer' apron.

Website Links:

http://www.redcarpetrats.com

http://www.myspace.com/redcarpetrats

Tiffany Apan Interview

Below is an interview that I recently done with Tiffany Apan:

Interview:

1. How would you describe your music stylistically?

The style of my music is ambience mixed in with rock and classical vocals. We draw from many different genres and styles of music, but that is the basic gist of the music's style.

2. Will you tell us about your debut release, Poet?

Absolutely! It is an album that came together by my drawing for journal entries and poems that I had written throughout the years hence the name, Poet. This is a very personal album and I believe it is a good introduction to who I am as a person and certain aspects of my life. It is also unique in the sense that the music is such that people have found difficult to place into one particular genre. As a result, the released songs from the album are being played on a wide variety of radio stations ranging from goth to metal to pop to folk/americana and other genres. I love it because it is resulting in me reaching out to a broad range of audiences; people of all ages and all walks of life.

3. Where can people purchase Poet?

It will be available online and in some stores. A few places that I can think of off the top of my head include Amazon, CDBaby, some Borders stores, Dave's Music Mine, and FYE online. A complete list of locations on where to pick up the album will soon be up on my website and myspace.

4. Where does the inspiration come from for your songs?

Life, Love, the world, relationships, breakups, events that have occured in my life, history, the present, the future, EVERYTHING. I'm constantly getting ideas in my mind for new song. Anything can trigger it be it a glance back into an old journal, a news broadcast or current event, or a chat with a friend. I've been writing poems since I was a child and it is the best therapy (for me at least).

5. What is your favorite song that you've written and why?

That's a tough one as all the songs on the album are special to me. But if I had to choose one, I would pick Ashes to Dust. It's what best suits my state of mind at this time:)

6. Do you do many live show?

Well, we are just wrapping up a warm up mini tour for which we played six shows in five cities. We peformed in art galleries, churches, and clubs. Now in 2008, we are kicking off the first half of "A Poet's Labyrinth" Tour which is set to run for January through June and that consists of 12 confirmed shows and 10 cities. For one of those shows, we will be playing a show with the internationally acclaimed prog rock band, Persephone's Dream. We possibly may add one or two more shows on to the January-June tour schedule. The second half set to run from July through November will be announced in April or May.

7. What artist do you enjoy listening to?

There are many- I enjoy many different artists from almost all genres of music. But a few I can pick out include Sarah Brightman, Nightwish, Tarja Turunen, Loreena McKennit, Dead Can Dance, Lacuna Coil, Black Eyed Peas, The Cure, Judy Garland, Sarah McLachlan, Tori Amos, Celtic Woman, Mandy Moore, Opeth, Frank Sinatra, Bjork, Sade to only name a few.

8. Your bio. includes some acting credits especially in the genre of horror films. I'm curious how did you get involved with that and is acting something that you hope to pursue more in the future?

I've been acting since a very young age. I was involved with local and regional theatre from middle school up until mid college doing shakespeare, musical theatre, and cabaret styled shows. I have also always loved horror movies and I had the opportunity to be in a couple throughout the years. For me, the horror films are a chance to relax, have fun, and hang out with some people I wouldn't have otherwise met. Music is my primary career, but I plan to do some more with film and theatre in the future. I will also be contributing some songs of mine to a couple films, so watch for that;)

9. What's the one non-living thing that you couldn't make it through the day without?

Well on an everyday basis, I would have to say lip balm because even though I'm a big water drinker, my lips get really dry pretty easily. As far as being a singeis concerned, Rowen Poole of the band Persephone's Dream introduced me to a wonderful tea called Throat Coat. Now I'm never without it for a show or recording session along with Vicks and my mini vaporizer:)

10. Anything I missed that you want to tell our readers?

Check out my websites at:
http://www.tiffany-apan.com
http://www.myspace.com/tiffanyapanmusic
http://www.iacmusic.com/tiffanyapan