Other Publications: Goldstar Rocks the Magazine (Aug)
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Jordonna Lobese The most interesting things in life are the things people do behind closed doors when no one else is watching. For artists, what they do in private, eventually comes to the forefront to be seen and heard by both large and small audiences. For the artists featured in this month’s Goldstar Rocks, The Magazine -- Stonebreed, Black Valentine, The Slit, The Who Generation, and Christopher Shayne, they have worked on their craft in front of audiences over the years as well as behind the scenes, and some have gone through lineup changes and adjust- ments. they are still trudging along making better and better music. These artists are progressing while shaping and molding our musical climate and becoming part of our culture. The time they put in to hone their craft is commendable, while others give up and fall by the wayside. Stonebreed, our cover story, is dropping their much anticipated cd in september. THese “hard rockers with a Southern metal edge” worked with “the legendary producer” Bill Metoyer who has worked with Slayer and Armored Saint amongst other great artists. Black Val- entine is working on their music tediously while playing live shows all over, The Slit is making headway through their music combined with social messages, and Christopher Shayne is commanding attention with their newest album “Turning Stones.” The Who Generation has seemed to capture the magic formula and make it their own after years of working in other The Who tributes. They have managed to build a successful career and are known as the “The next best thing to seeing The Who.” Rolly DeVore of The Who Generation says it best when he says, “If you’re gonna do something, then really DO IT.” Goldstar Rocks, The Magazine was created, essentially, out of the love for music and for the admiration of our beloved artists. We have really noticed over the, almost, 2 years with Goldstar and Goldstar Rocks just how important these publications have become in giving the artist/s a forum to show their works and for “exposure.” With the lack of publishing houses, record labels, and financing, these artists are having to seek out alternative means of exposure in a quest to show the work that is done “behind the scenes” and in private. Frank Yanno of Black Valentine makes a great point when he says , “First of all, this is not a good time to be a Musician. At this point in our Society people would rather spend $5 on a Coffee that’s gone in 10 minutes (but cost pennies and took all of 3 minutes to make) than 99 cents on a Song that they can keep forever (that cost Thousands of Dollars and hundreds of Hours to Write, Record, Manufacture, and Release).” Jim Madonna, host of The Power Rock podcast and radio personality, has carved out his niche and found his placement in the industry by providing these artists another means of exposure as well. This has proved a suc- cessful career move for him after, due to illness, he could no longer work his conventional job. Jim is also fea- tured in this month’s issue. Goldstar Rocks, The Magazine is always seeking out new writers that would like to donate their time in hopes of finding their placement in today’s changing industry. We are open to suggestions and comments. You can email [email protected] with your suggestions and comments. Thank you for supporting Goldstar and Goldstar Rocks, The Magazine! 2 3 4 produce a bit of an art form or a show that is a The Slit definite “must see.” From the use of the LED lights to the on-stage antics, they don’t disap- “Taking the Road point. When asked where their energy comes from, they say that it is out of frustration for our Less Traveled” society that is putting energy into the wrong plac- es by spending on things they don’t need. They By Jordonna Lobese don’t want society to live on “crutches” and be dependent on the corporations. They want to see people make wiser and better thought out choic- es. A nonconforming society is a free society or Genre: “”Guitar/heavy grinding rock with psyche- an original society. The Slit doesn’t play by the delic metal tinged with punk tendencies” “hard- rules. Although their music is unique with songs core grunge riffs” such as Beg, Elephant, and Powder, that leave Record Label: Come On Death the audience wanting more, their life philosophies Influences: Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin are definitely demanding some attention or at least the yearning to look over in their direction. Band members: They are paving the way artistically through their Dustin Liggitt -- Vocals words, actions, lyrics, and presentations. With a Thad Coleman -- Bass strong Washington grunge influence, their songs Bizzaro -- Drums are angst-filled and draw from classic rock, metal, Rob Ogles-- Guitar as punk genres. Other influences are Black Sab- bath and Zeppelin. They have a loyal fan base Website: www.comeondeath.com and are playing to sold out houses. Their upcom- Press: [email protected] ing shows, music, videos, and contact information Current Location: Los Angeles, CA can be found on their webpage at http://www. ComeOnDeath.com. Forget everything you’ve learned. Throw it out the window, and listen up! Live in the moment, but think beyond it and much deeper, if you can. Q. How was The Slit formed or creat- These are some of the concepts “The Slit,” mu- ed? sical artists from Los Angeles, California, would have you thinking about. The French philosopher A.I created it as an outlet for creative ideas in and moralist, Jean de la Bruyere, once said, audio form but has evolved into a sort of protest “There are certain things in which mediocrity is against the lame ass bands that are doing cov- not to be endured, such as poetry, music, paint- ers or originals that sound like everything else ing, public speaking.” The Slit runs with this idea so they might as well be covers and do it with by doing, “what is not easy” and by making truly little effort into their stage show. These people original music and presenting it as such. They are fans of music and should just stay as fans. don’t want to conform or bend to society and live Enough with the cosplay!! ‘regular’ lives; they want to be known for their originality and for leading the pack. They are Q. I’ve watched your performances and artists and want to be respected as such. They want to know where your energy comes are not followers. Or as Edgar Allan Poe once from? With Dustin doing somersaults suggested in his famous poem “The Road Not repetitiously on the floor in a pair of Taken,” it takes courage to take the road less tights or running all over the stage in followed; and The Slit are taking that road. a pair of shorts to the guitarist putting out some heavy riffs to the drummer in If you have ever seen one of their live perfor- that mask banging on the percussions. mances, they are definitely unusual, and they Is that mask comfortable to wear while 5 headbanging? A.The energy comes with the angry and frustration that I deal with living in a dumbed down society that will complain about the price of bananas being 79¢/lbs instead of 59¢/lbs but then will go out and spend $4 on a trendy coffee drink or $5 on a glass of draft beer. Too many people are caught up in this false state of reality that they will spend money on cable television that is at least 25% of adver- tisements convincing them to spend money on things they don’t need while making them feel help- less and poor because when people feel independent they can do things for themselves and don’t buy the garage they are selling. Q. The Slit has quite a following, and the audiences appear to get involved at your shows. How have you managed to gain and keep your followers? What makes them so loyal (aside from the great music and show presence)? A.I get them involved by not playing by the rules of the safety of the stage. Real art happens in the chaos of the unknown. Whenever you put yourself in a situation where things could go wrong you force yourself to create what the slaves to the society thought impossible. The fear is what keeps people on the stage and keeps people in line. The fear is what keeps people in line and restricted to their meaningless lives. Whether it’s the fear of religion or money. Some people spend their whole meaningless lives saving their money for an uneventful death. So maybe they are loyal because they are celoso they can’t get beyond the false boundaries they have created based on what they were taught. Q. Dustin, you are doing both vocals as well as bass. Do you find it harder to take on both roles in the band? Or do you wish you had a fourth member to play that role? A.It wasn’t harder, I only did it out of necessity because I didn’t have a competent bass player at the time. Now I have Thad to handle the bass, and now I am more free to achieve more in the show then I could when I had the responsibility of 50% of the music to play.