INDEX BIOGRAPHY 2 DOUBTS & FEARS (TRACK BY TRACK) 5 OUTCRY 6 WHAT’S LEFT 13 PLAYING A ROLE 7 IN MY CAGE 14 (IN HIS GAME) ONLY A PAWN 8 REGULAR MONSTER 15 LONG GONE 9 MIND’S HEALTH 10 LESS THEN EXPECTED 16 SAFEHOUSE 11 I CAN’T SAY IF I’M ME 17 DEATH ROW 12 SOUL TO BURN (BONUS TRACK) 18 VIDEOS 19 ENDORSEMENTS 19 RELEASES 20 Midriff - Doubts & Fears www.midriff.at [email protected] [email protected] - 1 - BIOGRAPHY THE SOUND Heavy riffs, slamming drums, thundering bass lines, a raspy voice and great melodies that doesn´t leave any music enthusiasts cold. Midriff serves American hard rock, peppered with some power ballads, which not only invites you to bang your head, but also to sing along. The power trio performs with an unusual setup - the lead singer being also the drummer. In April 2014 Midriff collected invaluable stage and performance experience touring alongside Napalm Records Artist, SERENITY and their War of Ages over Europe Part II tour. Firing up audiences at more than 150 live shows in the last two and a half years, Midriff is showing that there is really only one way to live the Rock and Roll life … on the road and on the stage. THE BEGINNING In April 2010 the longtime friends Paul (singer/drummer) and the brothers Jeremy and Joshua, from Kufstein, Tirol (AT), self-produced a full five song EP Grassman’s Cottage, which magazines continu- ously praised with rave reviews. To promote this EP Midriff played numerous concerts in Austria and also released their first music video for the song Pumping Iron (December 2011) together with guest star Martin Wildauer - the World’s Strongest Man. Due to the popularity, Midriff even made an appearance on Bavarian television. Midriff continuously played live gigs in Austria, Germany and Italy and in April 2012 traveled to England performing numerous unplugged concerts. In May 2012, after a good year of writing and recording in their own studio, Midriff released a music video, the title track of their new album Broken Dreams on the US Youtube Channel “BlankTV”. BROKEN DREAMS The first fulllenght album Broken Dreams was released on June 2, 2012 via office4music and since then Midriff - Doubts & Fears www.midriff.at [email protected] [email protected] - 2 - the album has been available on iTunes and Amazon. After concerts in Austria, Germany, Italy and England, Midriff rocked the stage at some international music festivals in summer of 2012, including the Rock im Ring Festival in Italy playing next to The Subways and Hardcore Superstar. The efforts of the trio were soon rewarded with their first endorsement deals with Murat Diril cymbals, Curt Mangan strings and Archetype Apparel. The bands increasing popularity caught the eye of the booking- and pro- motion agency Catapult Promotion which is based in Vienna and were added to their booking roster. Paul, Jeremy and Joshua find the inspiration for their songs melodies and lyrics in the everyday situa- tions and struggles of life. With a distinctive style they pack their experiences into meaningful stories that can be portrayed in both, full volume shows or quietly in an unplugged setting. Their heavy guitar riffs are first born on acoustic guitar, so it makes sense to perform the songs in Blackout. In December 2012 Midriff released the second EP within a year - Blackout. For this album, Midriff handpicked six of their favorite tracks off their first two albums and recorded them unplugged, in their own studio, with only two acoustic guitars, a cajon and vocals. That makes this album raw and back to the roots! DOUBTS & FEARS (2015) For Midriffs new album Doubts & Fears, produced in the summer of 2014 in their own studio, the band dives deeper into a darker, more mature sound. You can now sense how Paul, Joshua and Jeremy act more as a unit, and have discovered their own sound and style that lies somewhere between Black Stone Cherry, Alter Bridge, Seether, Stone Sour and Audioslave. The new album includes two songs that go a different direction. One of them is the strong soulful and groovy Minds Health, recorded with an Hammond organ. The second song In My Cage, is an emotion- al and very personal song, that displays the new depth and musical facets of Midriff. Lyrically and musically the album Doubts & Fears is a significantly harder, darker, more aggressive and raw album, than its 2012 predecessor. “After years of live concerts the band itself along with their fans wanted to hear new songs. Due to this desire the album had to be written and produced in a short period of time (February 2014) which was a new and challenging experience for the band.” MIDRIFF ARE Joshua Lentner - Guitars Paul Henzinger - Vocals & Drums Jeremy Lentner - Bass Midriff - Doubts & Fears www.midriff.at [email protected] [email protected] - 3 - TRACK BY TRACK THE ALBUM TITLE During the recording process much consideration was put into the name of the album. Everyone in- volved knew that the title had to reflect the mood and the more mature sound of Midriff. With a keen ear you may hear the passage Doubts & Fears in one of the songs on the album THE ALBUM COVER Long time designer, Daniel Hofer of Archetype Design in South Tyrol, designed the cover of the album and brought it to life. Daniel is the designer for Midriff’s logos, shirt designs, album and EP covers, since the release of Broken Dreams in 2012. In addition Midriff endorses Daniel’s clothing line Arche- type Apparel. DER SOUND In combination of releasing Broken Dreams and playing many live shows, Midriff found their sound as a band. While producing the album it was essential for Joshua, Jeremy and Paul that it reflects the energy and transparency of their live shows. Therefore, guitarist Josh recorded the guitar tracks with usually just one additional rhythm guitar so the songs can be played live as a trio, without sampling and modern frills. The three musicians aren’t fond of over-produced albums, the instruments should main- tain their own character. So when mastering the song, the dynamics, transparency and energy remained. In close cooperation with Norbert Leitner in Vienna, the songs received its final touch. 01 OUTCRY 02 PLAYING A ROLE 03 ONLY A PAWN (IN HIS GAME) 04 LONG GONE 05 MIND’S HEALTH 06 SAFEHOUSE 07 DEATH ROW 08 WHAT’S LEFT 09 IN MY CAGE 10 REGULAR MONSTER 11 LESS THAN EXPECTED 12 I CAN’T SAY 13 SOUL TO BURN (BONUS TRACK) Midriff - Doubts & Fears www.midriff.at [email protected] [email protected] - 5 - TRACK BY TRACK 01 OUTCRY As the first song on the new album Doubts & Fears, Outcry pushes the new harsh, raw sound of Mid- riff. Filled with heavy guitar riffs, old school drumming and a rough voice, the song goes right down to the bone. Because of the great sound and reception of the crowed when performed live during the European tour with Serenity, Outcry was chosen to be the first music video produced as a live perfor- mance that brings across the energy. WHAT IS THIS THING ALL FUTURE’S PAST SOME TRICK OR TREAT ALL DONE’S TO DO A WICKED GAME WE’RE HERE TO STAY THAT I CAN’T BEAT AND WHAT ABOUT YOU THE TICKING SOUND COME CHOOSE YOUR SIDE A BLOODY GRIND AND CHOOSE IT WISE THE WISH TO STAND FOR ONES THE TRUTH MY INNER GROUND THE OTHER LIES I’M ON MY WAY YOU STAY ALONE I’M NOT ALONE SO YOU WILL FAIL STAND UP MY FRIEND THIS IS OUR TIME STAND BY MY SIDE WE WILL NOT BAIL SO YOU WILL SEE JOIN IN MY FRIEND WE’LL CLIMB THE THRONE JOIN IN AND SHOUT WE’LL SHARE THE WIN WE WILL NOT BOW WE’LL SHARE THE PRIDE WE WILL NOT BEND NOW HEAR ME BROTHER YOU HEAR ME BROTHER COME ON AND HEAR ME OUT COME IN AND HEAR ME OUT WE STAND ALONE TOGETHER FRIEND WE STAND ALONE TOGETHER FRIEND COME RAISE YOUR VOICE AND SHOUT COME RAISE YOUR VOICE AND SHOUT Midriff - Doubts & Fears www.midriff.at [email protected] [email protected] - 6 - TRACK BY TRACK 02 PLAYING A ROLE With southern rock flair, Playing a Role is full of hard guitar riffs and a groove that will make you want to stomp your feet. The song arose in a very unusual way in the rehearsal room. “We are not a jam band, but Josh played that riff over and over again and after a few rewrites and working on the vocals - the song was perfected. This is one of our favorite songs!“ SHE’S STEPPING IN BEGINS TO TALK SHE LOOKS AT ME AND I KNOW WHAT’S UP SHE IS ACTING LIKE A FURY SMOTHERING ME WITH WORDS LIKE SHE KNOWS IT ALL RIGHT I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME I DON’T KNOW THE REASON WHY I DON’T KNOW WHY DON’T YOU TRY WHY DON’T YOU TRY WHAT’S HAPPENED IN YOUR LIFE YOU ONLY SEE YOURSELF BUT TAKE A LOOK THERE’S A MIRROR ON THE CEILING TAKE A LOOK SO YOU WILL SEE THE EMPTINESS IN YOUR SOUL THE WEAKNESS OF YOURSELF YO ARE PLAYING JUST A ROLE Midriff - Doubts & Fears www.midriff.at [email protected] [email protected] - 7 - TRACK BY TRACK 03 ONLY A PAWN (IN HIS GAME) This song shows the strong tendency for a new, darker and heavier sound of Midriff.