The Big Rock Show’s SPECIAL EDITION, with Tina Peek, features an exclusive interview with Mike Levine of TRIUMPH. If you missed it on Sept 30, it’s now available on PodOmatic.
Listen here, as Mike makes a second return to The Big Rock Show and reminisces on their past 30 years of success!
Sept 19th of this year marked TRIUMPH’s 30th anniversary. To celebrate, the band released a vinyl version of their 1981 “Allied Forces” album, bundled with an “Allied Forces” T-shirt, keychain, signed poster, and a letter from the band.
Find out why they wanted to release a vinyl edition of “Allied Forces”, as well as what Mike has to say about vinyl’s from 1981 and today’s. For all you hopefuls waiting for their next tour… Mike tells you more about it in the interview.
The band is humble to all their fans, who are the best fans in the world. Feel free to use the following banner and share the link:
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urArtistnetwork: How are The Organ Thieves prepping for CMW?
Chuck: We just started rehearsing for it tonight. We’ve been through a few different drummers over time, so that always changes things – not a lot but it brings different ideas and gives us something different to work with depending on what the drummer is capable of doing. We’ve all grown together – just growing closer as friends too. We’ve found what we like and we’ve found what we’re comfortable with. The sound of the band is always changing, but it’s in a good spot right now. Since we’ve been recording too – everything been really coming together because it’s under a microscope. You’ve got to really know what you’re doing. Sometimes everything’s so loud that you don’t know what you’re doing. You play what feels good. Now that we’ve recorded and listened back to what we’ve been doing we’re adding other parts – it’s good. It starts with a little riff and you get into other things. I pretty much write most of the stuff. I come up with an idea for some lyrics or just a song that I’m working on. I usually end up using an acoustic guitar. I’ll bring that to the band. Everyone’s into their own stuff so it all comes together and evolves from my acoustic conception. Lately I’ve been bringing a lot of songs in like that. Once we put a drumbeat it switches things. I’ll bring in the melody and then we’ll just kinda jam it out. It actually happens really quickly with us. A day of practice and we’ll finish with a couple of new songs. Our rehearsals used to be really casual, but the problem was it’s really easy for me to get sidetracked. The guys try to keep me on the same page as them. I’ll start writing new stuff or start coming up with ideas for things. Lately we’ve been focusing on the songs that we do have and set another day for me to come up with new ideas.
urArtistnetwork: Seems like you’ve been through a lot! What has been you biggest challenge to date?
Chuck: I think the biggest challenge was trying to pay for everything, especially studio time. I wanted to do everything on my own and tried not to get help from other people. That was the hardest thing – trying to get money together and then keeping everyone together. Keep writing new songs and keeping things interesting is always a challenge. I submitted some songs to a factor and they ended up giving us some money to do our stuff so it turned out amazing. It’s the best thing that’s ever happened in my life. I’m really thankful to those guys. Trying to get this thing on the road and get it moving forward. It’s good to know that they actually care. Makes you feel good. It gives me confidence. I’m coming into my own – more confident and being able to sing. This ideas in my head are becoming more clear. For me it’s more about writing a song and trying to get through to people. I don’t really care about fame and fortune but it would be nice to make some money outta it. I think the main goal for me is to make songs, get through to people and share what I have to offer. We’ve finished the record – I think we have like fourteen tracks with interludes. It’s pretty long. We’ve got a lot of material but it turned out pretty good. I’m really happy with it. So is the band and the guy that produced it loves it. We’ve got a really good group of people with us who are helping us do it. The record will com eout this year and when it does we’re going to tour until we can’t tour anymore. We just wanna play as much as possible. Getting this thing out there is the first step! We’re excited.
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on Thursday, March 3rd, 2011 at 2:41 pm and is filed under News.
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urArtistnetwork: How is The Love Machine preping for this year’s Canadian Music Week?
Jordan: We’ve been jamming a lot. I’ve been working with a lot of new sounds. We might try to mix it up at the showcase itself. We’ve been thinking about lights and other elements – make it that much more of a party! We haven’t figured out our set list yet. Generally we jam out a few things and see what feels right. We don’t have anything set in stone for the set yet. It should be fun. We’re planning to do a few surprises too! We’ve really come a long way since five years ago. We’re a lot more open as musicians and friends and that have definitely reflected on our music. Another difference is that we all sing a lot more. We’ve always tried to use vocals to our advantage but we’ve never had a lead singer in mind. We do what works with the music. Our overall goal is to get to a point where we get to play for more people, and more frequently. We’re trying to hone our craft and share it with as many people as possible. We’re heading in the right direction by writing a lot more – running on with music – it’s great!
urArtistnetwork: What’s in store for The Love Machine in 2011? What do your fans have to look forward to?
Jordan: We want to do a lot more touring. We want to head out east like we did last November. Our fans out there have been really good to us. We also eventually would like to head out west. We have a few video ideas that we want to release within the next year too. Working on a lot of, kinda not your standard release of things. For example, we’re working on different segments that we want to launch within the next year. Improve our online presence through Facebook and Twitter. We want to give our fans more insight to what we’re doing – keep everyone on the same page. We’re also going to work really hard on doing more live broadcasts; like Ustream. We did it last time we played in Toronto and it was really cool! It was fantastic to be interactive with everyone at once. People were communicating with us by typing questions and comments about the performance. It felt really cool to be live. Even if you’re not physically at the show you can still be a part of it.
urArtistnetwork: Technologies advances are definitely changing the way we approach and appreciate music.
Jordan: For sure! It’s all about how you can use it to your advantage and work with it as it evolves. Everyone should come check out our showcase at CMW – it should be really good. I’m excited just to be a part of it. It’s going to be fun! I think it’s a great time to see bands that you don’t normally get to see and I definitely want to get out there to check out some music myself – nothing in particular but I know its going to be a fun time an I’m really excited! Get excited!
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urArtist: ENDAST have been together for several years now. What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
The Big James:We’re one out of a billion bands right now. The over saturation of our scene is the biggest issue. It really makes it harder for us to stand out like it used to be – with the emergence of Myspace,Facebook and so on…I started playing in a band way before myspace existed. Obviously we’ve benefited from social networking as well, but it also hurts us in that we’re just another band so we’ve really step up our game to be able to do what we do and turn some heads. To overcome that we’ve really just in every way, shape and form we’ve got to be way more present than any other band we know. It’s a constant effort on my part to be active in the scene; not just on stage, but off the stage as well. I go to shows constantly. We help other touring bands as much as we can. We’re just constantly involved so we’re not just known as the band, but our good will in the scene
urArtist: What’s the ultimate goal for your band? How are you planning to achieve it?
The Big James: World domination. I plan to reach it with my beard! We just want to make a living doing what we love, and not having anyone to answer to. That’s the ultimate goal, to make heavy music and get paid for it. We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing and just plug away. We’re not the type of band that gives up easily. We’ve stuck it out over the years
urArtist: I was just looking through your tour history and the amount of dates you’ve played is incredible! What are you up to now?
The Big James: We played our thousandth show last year. We’re pretty close to 1100 now.
urArtist: With all that experience, can you give some advice to bands out there that are trying to hit the road & get into the scene?
The Big James: I’ve got a lot of advice. * laughs * The problem is a lot of kids don’t listen to it. The biggest thing is that people have to understand that it’s a community. In order to be able to tour you can’t just put it on your social networking websites “please book us”. You’ve got to be active and take some initiative. Be your own promoter. You’ve got to be a hundred percent self-reliant. We’ve taken a lot of initiative over the years trying to be autonomous. It’s only recently that we’ve branched out to work with other people on a professional level. Its grown to a point where we need that help. We can’t handle all the demand on our own. Essentially to get started you need to be as autonomous as possible and not rely on other people. A lot of bands are really good at making others work hard for them. You need to really get your hands dirty. That, and talk to everyone. That’s the best piece of advice. You’ve got to talk to every single person you meet and be a shameless self-promoter.
urArtist: While we’re on the topic, what’s your best & worst memory while on the road with ENDAST?
The Big James: There’s a lot. All the coolest things came out of touring, so I’ve seen some incredible stuff. Honestly, the thousandth show was one of the most emotional experiences of my entire life. It was incredible. Way too many people crammed into a small space and all the people I love were there. My dad was even there. It was pretty crazy. One of the worst moments of my life was in northern California in 2006. We were on tour and it wasn’t going well. The band we were touring with decided that they were going to drive home to Ontario from California instead of finishing the tour. So they left us and we were stuck in this parking lot trying to decide what to do. It was the first time I doubted whether or not I should keep playing in a band. I was miserable.
urArtist: But things are looking up now! You’re about to release a new album Black Cloud. What can people expect from this album and how does it differ from “Odds Against Tomorrow”?
The Big James: Odds Against was written when we were a lot younger as far as songwriting goes. The maturity of the songwriting in Black Cloud is a lot stronger. The other difference is that we wrote Black Cloud as an album whereas Odds Against Tomorrow was just a series of songs written as the band was getting off the ground. Black Cloud was consciously compiled as a whole. There was an effort for songs to work with each other.
urArtist: Can you reveal the writing process behind Black Cloud?
The Big James: Our guitar player Chris is the main songwriter so he’s constantly playing his guitar. When he’s home, he’s writing riffs and constantly working. He’ll then bring some of his stuff to the studio, present it to the rest of the band and we learn how to put it together. Everybody’s got a voice on how the actually songs are arranged, but Chris is the main guy who writes the songs. The way it comes together is a team effort. He comes up with the outlines and we fill in the colors. That seems to be working really well for us. He’s a riff machine!
urArtist: Who are your biggest influences as a band and will we hear any of them on the on this record?
The Big James: Every band is some of their influences. We’re influences by a lot of different bands. Our guitar player is old school. He’s influenced by all the older hair metal. Newer bands influence my brother, Chris. Our drummer is really into brutal stuff like death metal. So you hear a lot of elements of that especially in the drumming – a mix of DSI, 12 Tribes and Mötley Crüe.
urArtist: How are you guys prepping for the gig on March 10th at The Bovine for the Jagermeister Showcase for Canadian Music Week this year?
The Big James: It’s funny you should mention that. We had practice this week and we put together our set list. A lot of consideration went into how our set is going to flow. We want to stand out so a lot of thought went into picking specific songs and the order we want to play them. Our practice schedule is pretty rigourous. We’re practising constantly and every practice is a performance. We take it really seriously. It’s important to keep up your live show. We abuse ourselves pretty badly. Our set list is going to be powerful, strong and fast. It’s really going to explode and people are going to dig it! We are only playing tracks from Black Cloud at the show so I’m pretty stoked on that. We’re not playing any old material at all.
urArtist: Before I go I have to say, thanks for the T-shirt! The design is rad. Are you planning on releasing any new merchandise with the arrival of Black Cloud?
The Big James: We’re going to have a new line of apparel for the ENDAST fans. We want to have a whole new line of T-Shirts and we have some cool ideas for some other fun stuff – unconventional merch ideas, but we want the fans to have something different to choose from.
urArtist: Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?
The Big James: All of our parents have been incredible as far as financial support goes. As far as emotion support goes, anyone that I’m friends with, that’s ever come to a show…I rely very heavily on people who support my band. Even on our Facebook, whenever I need some love, they give it to me and that’s awesome.
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on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 2:18 pm and is filed under News.
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urArtistnetwork: 2011 is going to be huge for A Friend In London. You have a confirmed slot at the forthcoming Canadian Week, launching another Canadian spring tour in conjunction with this performance. How are you feeling?
Tim Schou: I’m feeling good. The band is feeling good. We’re really coming together this year.
urArtistnetwork: Are you doing anything special in preparation for CWM and the tour?
Tim Schou: Right now were participating in the Eurovision Song Contest; Europe’s biggest professional song contest. We were handpicked for the Danish division. It’s like the biggest show ever! So we’re playing the Danish finals on February 26th (four days before we have to go to Canada). If we win we’ll go to the European finals in May. Right now our concerns is really about that. We’re also rehearsing for the tour in Canada and we have been setting a lot of things up…lots of meetings. We’ll also be on Breakfast TV as well in Toronto for the second time.
urArtistnetwork: Awesome! Now you’ve been recording various singles for years and you’re finally putting together a debut album. How’s it coming along?
Tim Schou: It’s coming pretty good along. We’re talking to a bunch of different producers, just to get a feel where the sound was going and stuff like that. The idea now is to actually record some of the album in Canada. Just to get that spin on it as well and maybe work together with producer Greig Nori. We’ve met up with him a couple of times and he likes our music and us. We think he’s a really really good guy.
urArtistnetwork: Any influences or inspiration you’re pulling from for your album?
Tim Schou: Right now we’re saying that we go all the way from Justin Bieber to Radiohead. It’s about combining really good commercial pop and also pulling in the indie inspired things.
urArtistnetwork: Should we be expecting a new music video soon?
Tim Schou: You sure should! We just filmed a new music video and if all goes well you can expect to see it on Much Music, but I can’t promise that yet!
urArtistnetwork: Fingers crossed for you! Any last words?
Tim Schou: We’re just really excited to come tour Canada again. This will be our third time touring and we really love it there. Love the Canadian people & love the fans!
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JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON, CANADIAN ROCK ROYALTY TRIUMPH HAS LAUNCHED ONLINE SHOP AND BRAND NEW WEBSITE.
The fans spoke, and now they have gotten what they wanted. Canadian rock royalty Triumph, has launched a brand new, completely overhauled website and online store, for all your Triumph needs!
The website will serve as both the band’s official website and as a community for Triumph’s devoted and worldwide following. The new site (whose URL will remain www.TriumphMusic.com) will feature streaming music, videos, classic interviews and memorabilia, as well as many other options for fans to learn the history behind one of Canada’s greatest hard rocking bands. Additionally, by going to Triumph’s new site, you’ll be able to access the group’s Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter pages, as well as the group’s official YouTube page (comprised of kick-ass, vintage video clips), and the Triumph iLike page, where you can purchase downloads of Triumph music.
As the site content continues to grow, Triumph fans will be treated to exclusive free music downloads, a monthly newsletter, fan forum, and online store featuring rare merchandise bundles, including t-shirts, signed CDs, posters, videos, etc., among other goodies.
Right now, there are a total of four “bundles” for sale. There are three different bundles for the ‘Greatest Hits’ release (including a “digital bundle” a “classic bundle” and a “deluxe bundle,”) as well as a “limited edition bundle” for the band’s classic 1977 release, ‘Rock & Roll Machine’ (a release that celebrated its 33rd anniversary of release this past November.)
By special arrangement, the Triumph online store has imported 300 Box Sets that are available for sale in North America. The Box Sets are numbered and will not be sold anywhere else.
Keep an eye on www.TriumphMusic.com and visit it frequently, as you never know what surprises, exclusive content, and sales may lay in store for you.
And always remember…FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT!
About TRIUMPH
Formed in 1975, TRIUMPH (whose classic line-up comprised of guitarist / vocalist Rik Emmett, bassist / keyboardist Mike Levine, and drummer / vocalist Gil Moore) continues to be one of the most successful rock acts of the 70’s and 80’s, selling out arenas and stadiums all across North America.
The power trio from Toronto toured relentlessly, selling over fifteen million albums worldwide in the process, and penning such all-time great arena anthems as “Rock ‘n Roll Machine,” “Hold On,” “Magic Power,” “Lay It on the Line,” “Fight the Good Fight,” “Allied Forces,” “Never Surrender,” “Spellbound” and “I Live for the Weekend.”
Always purveyors of positive messages in their music, which continues to be a staple at Rock Radio, TRIUMPH headlined on some of the largest festivals of the era, including the 1983 US Festival in California in front of a throng of 500,000 screaming fans.
TRIUMPH was inducted into the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame in 2007 and into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2008, and the group reunited for 2 show-stopping performances at the Sweden Rock Festival and the Rocklahoma Festival in 2008.
Most recently, their 1979 hit “Lay it on the Line” from the ‘Greatest Hits Remixed’ package was featured in the summer blockbuster “Grown Ups” (starring Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and David Spade).
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Attention Organ Thieves fans. We’ve got some good news and some bad news…
Bad news is, due to some scheduling Organ Thieves will not be performing at this month’s Indie Week 2010.
Instead the band will be hard at work in the studio recording their debut album!
During a recent interview with The Chronicle, front man Chuck Coles mapped out the band’s hectic schedule.
Recording began on Oct. 1 for Somewhere Between Freemen and Slaves at B Town Sound Studio in Burlington, the album will be finalized at Beach Road Studios in Goderich.
Also on board is former Treble Charger front man Greig Nori who is producing the album and excitement for the debut disc is growing.
Steadfast Media recently tweeted “The levels are set, the tubes are hot, bass cabs are in the bathroom. Recording about to go down” and “Organ Thieves killing it in the studio! Jammin out like they were playing live. Tons of energy!”
OT also tweeted “A Friday AND Saturday not boozing. Usually this would be semi-upsetting. Not this time. #havingablast #excessivecoffeedrinking.”
So there it is. no showcase at Indie Week 2010 but Debut Organ Thieves album is being recorded right now as you’re reading this.
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As part of Canadian Music Week International, Amos The Transparent traveled to Brisbane, Australia to play at the BIGSOUND music conference.
Now in its tenth year, BIGSOUND includes an array of guest speakers, workshops as well as showcases for both local and international acts. Representing only one of the 7 international showcasing acts, Amos The Transparent acquired new fans and impressed the local media.
From Left to Right - Todd Arkell (Cool Planet Entertainment), Chris Wilson, Gary Taylor (VP International CMW,) Dan Hay, Jonathan Chandler, James Nicol
In an interview with Australia’s Rave Magazine, guitarist Dan Hay spoke about playing down under. “Being on the other side of the world and playing shows is pretty exciting for us,” said Hay. “In our live shows it really comes to creating some sort of relationship with our audience and that’s sort of been the best part of playing for this band for me through the last few years, feeling the way that our show is sort of creating an amazing interaction with our audience. It’s a bit of cliché but it’s the give and take of energy … creating that sort of dialogue is important for us.”
WATCH: Amos The Transparent Perform In a Brisbane Clothing Store!
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“Stone Bricks and Mortar” is debuting today at 4:30 PM! Here is what Street Pharmacy lead singer Ryan Guay has to say:
“Hey people,
A great person and dj at 89X in Detroit has decided to spin our track “Stone Bricks and Mortar” today at 4:30 PM! If it’s possible, we are asking you to check it out on their website :
and then after 4:30 PM e-mail Jay@89xradio.com and tell him that you really dig our music and it is cool that such a big radio station is supporting our asses!
89X is a big deal. It is one of those radio stations that you can hear throughout all of Michigan, most of Ohio and part of Southern Ontario. Its one of the big 10 and absolutely crucial for any young band to be played on. We are stoked! So please, for the love of whatever you love, send Jay an e-mail AFTER 4:30 and tell him that you dig us.
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The Big Rock Show’s SPECIAL EDITION, with Tina Peek, features an exclusive interview with Mike Levine of TRIUMPH. If you missed it on Sept 30, it’s now available on PodOmatic.
