Crowgrrrl's Perch 11-28-04

CROWGRRL’S PERCH 11-28-04

By Athena Schaffer aka The Crowgrrl

CROWGRRL’S SPOTLIGHT:

This week’s Spotlight is on Boys Night Out (Part 2 of the interview with Horror Metal musician Damien Storm will run on Dec. 4)

When a band includes a "Sense of Humor" for $1 at their merch stands, you can expect nothing but Fun. That’s exactly what Boys Night Out deliver on their debut album, Make Yourself Sick (Ferret Records). Boys Night Out blend Punk and Metal in a sound all their own, one that still manages to bring Fun to the table despite their dark lyrical content.

Canada’s Boys Night Out are: vocalist Connor Lovat-Fraser , guitarist/vocalist Jeff Davis, bassist/vocalist Dave Costa, and drummer Brian Southall. (According to the band’s website, second guitarist Rob Pasalic has recently left the band). The Crowgrrl recently caught up with Jeff to talk about the band’s signature sound, their current tour, etc.

You have a unique sound that seamlessly melds Alternative and Metal. How did you guys come up with that?

It’s not a conscious thing. It’s not like we sit down and say, "we need a Metal riff here and a Punk riff there". We all write together, and through osmosis, our tastes just appeared in the music we write, I guess. Some of us are into Metal, some of us are into all kinds of different stuff. I guess it just kind-of comes through in the songs. It’s like this amalgamation of everything that we like to listen to and like to play. That’s just the way it comes out, I guess.

Do you bring in fans from both of those musical directions? Is it a crossover crowd in the audience?

Yeah. When we first started, it was more hard-core kids and metal kids that were into it. Our earlier stuff had lots more screaming. I guess some people think that it was heavier. But as the music started getting out and more and more people started getting into it -- it got more exposure and we started touring more - we started getting younger kids. We started touring with Pop/Punk bands, so we get that fan base. The kids who are into Hardcore and Metal still do come out, though not as much as they used to. But it is definitely a crossover. Up in the very front there will be a group of 14-year-old girls, then there will be a group of dudes moshing, and other kids standing at the back. Looking at the crowd, it’s a weird mix of people for sure.

Who does most of the songwriting?

I write the music and Connor, our singer, mainly writes the lyrics. I help out with the lyrics a little bit as well.

Which comes first for you guys?

The music comes first.

Some of the songs on Make Yourself Sick are pretty brutal. What are your inspirations? (I noticed there’s a lot of alcohol mentioned in the lyrics as well.)

The record touches on a lot of forms of self-abuse, be it through violence or drug abuse or alcohol abuse, self-inflicted abuse and relationships as well. There’s all kinds of morbid, dark, violent, awful injury off the road, and suicide as well. We try to touch on all the darker sides of people - of human beings, and how awful human beings really can be in the core of things. We try to get out any of our demons in the process. Very rarely is it literal. If it is, it’s to serve a purpose metaphorically, even if it is literal.

We’re telling stories for the most part. Sometimes there’s a personal influence into the story. Sometimes all it is, is just a story.

Tell me a little bit about the filming of the video for I Got Punched In The Nose For Sticking My Face In Other People’s Business. (you only have the one video from the album, right?).

That’s right. We had an original concept that was insane and ridiculous and would have cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars. It would have been really cool, but there would have been a lot of stuff that was not cool. There was a crucifixion that was going to go on and all kinds of weird stuff that just wouldn’t have been approved by anybody at all.

That’s what the internet’s for!

Yeah, this is true. But we don’t want to spend $100,000 on a video just to put it on our website. It would probably lose people some money, and those people would get pretty pissed off.

So, we talked to the director, and came to the consensus to just take some ideas from this treatment that we had and have some fun with it. Make it look cool and have fun, not really take it too seriously. Luckily enough, the director managed to find this office building in Long Island, New York where the company that was there was clearing out. It was just the perfect time when all of the desks and all of the personal effects and everything else was still there, but there was no one working there. We had this entire floor of the office building to shoot on. We took one really long, 20-hour day, and just went nuts and had fun with it.

There’s no real or deeper meaning behind the video. We just really didn’t want to come out doing a video like lots of bands are doing now where there’s this band playing in a room or warehouse, and there’s quick snappy shots of the band screaming and playing their hearts out. It’s just overdone. It’s kind-of lame. So we wanted to have fun with our video.

Are you doing any other videos from any other songs from the album?

No. We’re moving on to the next record now. If we do, it will be on a very small budget just for fun. Like the kind of thing that would just go up on our website. It won’t be another large undertaking to do a serious video for the last record.

So, there’s new product coming out?! Tell me about it.

We’ve been at home now for two months, more or less, just writing and doing demos for the record. We’re probably going to be in the studio come January, February, and beginning into March. The record’s going to be called Train Wreck. It’s coming out on the same label - Ferret Records. It’s cool! We’ve been working on it, and everything’s coming out very interestingly so far. It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Very cool! Are you incorporating any of the new songs in your live set?

Yes, we are. I think we’re playing like at least four new songs I think.

What’s audience reaction to them so far?

We played two or three shows last weekend. We only played two songs to give the kids a little taste. It was cool! The kids seemed to be into it. So, yes, the response has been good so far.

What is your live show like, for people who haven’t seen it yet?

We get up there and play the songs that we write, and we have fun. It’s just a Rock & Roll Show. It’s just absolutely crazy, just four or five dudes who love playing the songs that we write. We have a good time of it.

What’s up with your website? I notice the news section hasn’t been updated in awhile.

We update the news section on a weekly basis. When you first go to the website it pops up, it’s a box with little updates and tidbits in there. If you click on the actual "News" section, it’s old. The box that pops up when you first visit the site, that’s what we’re considering our News section.

What have I not asked that you want to see in print?

Absolutely nothing. It sounded good to me.

Boys Night Out are currently on tour.

Catch them at:

HALIFAX

WSOU Holiday Bash

w/ From Autumn to Ashes,

Blood Brothers

Poison the Well

Unearth

From First to Last

Folly

Seemless

MUSIC:

* One album that’s frequently finding itself in The Crowgrrl’s cd player these days is THOR’s upcoming album, THOR Against The World (which I was lucky enough to be able to check out). What a stellar album! This is Metal the way Metal SHOULD be - tapping into and channeling the very heart & soul of the genre! It’s extremely catchy and addictive, with a timeless quality that will make it just as fresh decades from now as it will be on its release. The minute this excellent album is released, The Crowgrrl seriously recommends readers grab a copy! (I’ll keep Perch readers posted.)

It’s hard to pick favorite or stand-out tracks, because each and every one of them is a metal masterpiece. The intro to the title track builds excitement, but on the first spin the listener might not yet know that elements from other songs on the album have a brief preview in this intro (making it even MORE fun on repeated spins), which launches into the defiant, anthemic body of the song. Megaton Man and The Coming Of THOR both paint vivid fantasy/sci-fi based storyline pictures, seriously sticking in the listener’s imagination. Creature Feature is another anthem, sounding a bit autobiographical on THOR’s part, but many others of us - especially in the Gothic community - can definitely relate to. Glimmer is just plain fun and downright Sexy, the saxophone added briefly giving it a special touch. For that matter, Easy Woman is another just pure fun song. Turn To Blue has a wonderful ethereal quality. Serpent’s Kiss kinda has an Alice Cooper-type feel to it. Gonna Have A Hard Time, Hard To Cry, and Long Time are all thunderously heavy, anthemic, yet with lyrics almost everyone can relate to at some point in their lives.

THOR already has videos filmed for two songs from the album: One is for the song Glimmer, which is also featured in the upcoming movie, Murder at the Presidio. (The movie will air on the USA Network in early 2005, and features Jon Mikl Thor and Lou Diamond Phillips). Directed by John Fasano, (who also directed the movie), the video for Glimmer includes clips from the movie.

The second is for the song Megaton Man is going to be Japanese animation or "Anime", which is one of the Crowgrrl’s favorite artforms! (The Crowgrrl has heard this song, and yes, I think it would lend itself very well to anime visuals!)

(Another cd The Crowgrrl can’t wait to hear is the soundtrack to the upcoming movie The Intercessor starring Jon Mikl Thor - I predict this soundtrack will Seriously Rock!)

* Children of Bodom are now off the road to begin recording their follow-up to Hatecrew Deathroll (Century Media) . In the meantime, they’re releasing the ep Thrashed, Lost, & Strungout which features two new Bodom tracks, covers of Alice Cooper’s Bed of Nails and Andrew W.K.’s She’s So Beautiful, a video of the title track, as well as the band taking the viewers on a tour of their hometown base, Helsinki, Finland. This is out in Europe already, but will be coming out in the U.S. on February 22.

* Shadows Fall is currently touring with Damageplan and The Haunted.

* Adipocere Records announces there is a line-up change for one of the bands signed to that label - Aquilon. In an official statement, Adipocere Records says: "Sébastien has left the role of guitarist to Stéphane Jeanninfor personal reasons. Stéphane has already played in many different bands and got a solid experience. Being an excellent guitar-player, he's bringing more power and cohesion to the Aquilon's music."

The new line-up is: guitarists Christophe Godbille and Stéphane Jeannin, bassist Sabrina Moise, Clavier / chant by Anne Greco, Chant / clavier by Alexandre Soles, and drummer Fabien Giordani.

* European readers, Tiamat are preparing to tour with openers Theatre of Tragedy, Pain, and Sirenia!

Theatre of Tragedy, Pain, & Sirenia

* Lamb of God are currently touring Europe in support of their new album Ashes of the Wake with As I Lay Dying and Throwdown.

* Motorhead resumed their European tour on November 4 after doctors gave frontman Lemmy a clean bill of health. Lemmy had managed to ignore a foot injury until it became so infected that doctors had recommended amputation (and, understandably, forced the cancellation of the U.S. tour). Lemmy was hospitalized in his native England, and put on a regimen of antibiotics. Two weeks later, he was released with a clean bill of health.

* KMFDM are taking their 20^th Anniversary Tour to Australia.

* Readers in the Boston area, be sure to check out nicki jaine!) and Ego Likeness at Ceremony on Nov. 29^th. This show promises to be deliciously Dark and Gothic!

* Kansas-based heavies Jumbo’s Killcrane are currently on the road in support of their newest album, "The Slow Decay". (Crucial Blast Records)

Catch their brutal assault live at:
Nov. 21, 2004 - Charleston, IL; Friends & Co
Nov. 22. 2004 - Madison, WI; High Noon
Nov. 24, 2004 - Lawrence, KS; Replay Lounge
Nov. 26, 2004 - Denver, CO; Larimer Lounge
Nov. 27, 2004 - Rapid City, SD; AFL-CIO Labor Lounge
Nov. 30, 2004 - Seattle, WA; Sunset Tavern
Dec. 1, 2004 - Portland, OR; Sabala’s
Dec. 2, 2004 - Arcata, CA; The Warehouse
Dec. 3, 2004 - San Francisco, CA; Hemlock Tavern
Dec. 4, 2004 - Oakland, CA; Stork Club
Dec. 7, 2004 - Albuquerque, NM; Launch Pad
Dec. 11, 2004 - San Antonio, TX; The Sanctuary
Dec. 13, 2004 - New Orleans, LA; Lounge Lizards
Dec. 15, 2004 - Little Rock, AR; Downtown Music

SCREENS (Large & Small):

* Hey, fans of The Crow! there is new merch from Neca including a boxed figurine case where Draven looks through the mirror and sees his Crow alter-ego. (Which is sure to be on The Crowgrrl’s holiday Wish List). These will be available through your local Hot Topic stores.

* Steve Alten’s "MEG" is heading to the big screen! It’s being directed by Jan De Bont of Twister, Lethal Weapon 3, etc. fame; and being produced by Jan and the entire Hellboy team. The screenplay’s being written by Steve Alten himself!

The book "MEG" is one Hell of a thriller! It’s based on the theory that Megalodons - the prehistoric cousins of the Great White Shark, are alive and well deep in the Mariana Trench. But the layers of cold water between there and the surface kept them from making an appearance. But humans ventured to the Trench - and enabled MEG a way to get to the surface spawning a new age of aquatic terror. With Alten writing the screenplay, the movie promises to be true to the book.

No release date is set as of yet. As soon as the Crowgrrl knows, so will you readers!

* Keep checking The Intercessor (starring JON MIKL THOR) official website, http://www.intercessormovie.com, for the movie’s trailer, which should be up soon. The Crowgrrl will certainly be checking for it as well! Scroll back up to the "Music" section of the Perch for more The Intercessor news.

PRINT:

* Greg Farshtey, author of the highly successful Bionicle Adventures book series, is doing a special 5-stop Bionicle Book Tour at Barnes & Nobles stores in the Northeast.

* Chapter One of my own book, Under Her Black Wings (yes, the title is with Glenn Danzig’s permission - I never would have used that title otherwise) is available to all my readers in the "Print" section of this site.

The chapter list (the actual titles of the chapters may be renamed, but the subject matter’s the same) includes:

here

All chapters are in progress, and as I research and as people share their stories, they’re included in the appropriate chapter. These should be available soon (to Crowgrrl's Flock Members only) to watch the work in progress.
Sign up here!

* Author Konstantinos is currently hard at work on his latest book, Nocturnicon. The Crowgrrl can’t wait to read it! In the meantime, readers, check out his two most recent books, Nocturnal Witchcraft and Gothic Grimoire!

* Gothic Beauty Issue #15 is now available for pre-order from the GB website!

Gothic Beauty Magazine has revamped its website, and it’s fantastic! Go to www.gothicbeauty.com and check it out.

Anyone in the UK interested in being part of Gothic Beauty’s new UK Street Team should email street@gothicbeauty.com with your brief details and mailing address!

Ad space is available for future Gothic Beauty issues. For specifics, go to www.gothicbeauty.com/ads and "be sure to mention that Athena sent you."

* David "Avocado" Wolfe, author and foremost authority on raw food nutrition, will be making a number of live appearances, both with seminars, and performing with his band, The Healing Waters Band. For more information on any of these appearances, check his website under "Events".

Dec. 28, 2004 through Jan. 4, 2005 - Maui, Hawaii; New Year's Raw Food Retreat

For those of us not in the San Diego area, the Nature's First Law World Headquarters has an online superstore at Nature's First Law www.rawfood.com where many of the items mentioned in David Wolfe’s books can be found. You can also sign up there for a great e-newsletter. This month’s includes info on Blue Manna (wild blue-green algae), raw organic cacao (chocolate), upcoming special events, and new items available from that website.

ATTENTION: CHOCOLATE LOVERS! Chocolate just doesn’t get any more pure than peeled, raw/organic Cacao Beans themselves. These Cacao Nibs are available from the Rawfood web site, they’re item # 0878. Bon apetite!

* The Crowgrrl’s current reading stack includes:

"Mind of the Raven:Investigations & Adventures With Wolf-Birds" by Bernd Heinrich, "Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard" by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart,

"Norwegian In 10 Minutes A Day’, "Norwegian Verbs & Essentials of Grammar" by Louis Janus, am re-reading an old favorite, The Rites of Odin by Ed Fitch,

I am even re-reading Meg by Steve Alten(to write up quiz questions for my son’s home-school literature class - he requested reading this book next).

* The Crowgrrl has finished reading Brimstone by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, which is the latest installment of their thrillers involving the protagonist character, FBI Special Agent Pendergast, who is a modern-day mix of Sherlock Holmes and Fox Mulder (of X Files), choosing the hard-to-solve cases that also have a strange, almost metaphysical touch. And this case is as strange as they can get! (From the verbal picture they paint, one can almost picture either Julian Sands or David Bowie in a movie role of Pendergast, which was glaringly absent in the film incarnation of Relic.)

Speaking of Relic, some of those characters are also brought back for this nail-biter: Vincent D’Agosta, now a police sergeant in the Long Island town of Southampton, and Laura Hayward, now an NYC police captain. But even if the reader hasn’t read any earlier Preston/Child books, this one stands on its own merits even for first-time readers.

In Brimstone, Pendergast and his colleagues are investigating a bizarre case where four men who had entered into a Satanic pact are found dead - burned from the inside out. Spontaneous human combustion? Is the devil claiming his due? Or is there a more mundane, murderous explanation behind the deaths? The cases begin in Long Island, then New York City, then take the team as far as Florence, Italy looking for answers. Not to mention, Pendergast comes up against some formidable foes in this one - has he finally met his match?!

Then, add in the nuances of the gathering of everyone from Satanists to hippies to religious fanatics to Goths outside of the scene of one of the murders; a fanatic with a messiah-complex who takes over Central Park, and newspapers and other "experts" portraying the murders as preludes to Armageddon. Not to mention an espionage-based shoot-out in a park full of children.

Brimstone is definitely a white-knuckled roller coaster ride! The Crowgrrl highly recommends it!

OTHER NEWS:

* Hey, Readers, you’ve gotta check out a product called Body Balance by Lifeforce. My family takes Body Balance every day! It’s much better than a daily multi-vitamin, that’s for sure! And another "plus", if we feel down or over-tired, a little more Body Balance does the trick to pick us up.

It’s a liquid, ionic, phytonutrient dietary supplement made from whole foods, and it contains a mix of over 120 vitamins, minerals, and phytronutrients that your body needs on a daily basis to keep healthy.

Why am I telling you about this because an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. I felt I had to share this as one thing most of my readers may not know, in July of 2003, The Crowgrrl was diagnosed with breast cancer. This is something I don't want anyone to have to go through what I did. I’ve refused the "conventional" paths of chemo/radiation/surgery, and have taken a holistic naturopathy approach instead (which I’ll go into in more detail in future Perch editions, or readers can e-mail me). I’m supposed to stay on a specific holistic protocol for two years. Withing 14 months the tumor was supposed to shrunk to half of its original size. Much to our surprise as of December, 2003, the lump (tumor) is gone! I’m fine! I firmly believe the Body Balance helped accelerate the healing.

Also Exclusively for the crowgrrl's readers you can get your own FREE quart of Body Balance. Go to this website http://www.lifeforcefamily.com Then put in this special redeption code 20485805.

Another Lifeforce International product in the online store, The Crowgrrl and family regularly use is Colloidal Silver. Silver is a natural antibacterial element that can be used both topically and/or internally.

* For those of my readers who experience annoying computer (pc/mac/linux) problems (or those of you techies who are annoyed at friends and relatives expecting you to be their personal tech-support 24/7), go to http://einnovations.net for around-the-clock help. I’ve personally done so, and my computer’s working like a dream since getting help from there.

* Anyone who hasn’t already done so, check out the Gallery section here on the Crowgrrl’s site. Prints and some originals are still available. So, buy ‘em already!

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