Saturday, June 29, 2019

DJ Interviews: Taming Sari Band


Hey there guys DJ Dizzy here & I sat down with a band called  Taming Sari Band who hail from Canada by way of Ottawa & they had a lot to say on their music so sit back, relax, & enjoy!



1)  We've all been entertaining one way or another from very young ages. Warren, Vocalist, started in music by taking Piano and Dance lessons. Our guitarists are cousins and one started playing because the other one got a guitar.  Adam Ouellette, drummer, started drumming in a marching band at 12.  Alex Pellerin, bass player, started in his high school stage band.

2) The list of influences is incredibly long and varied...but I think the bands' sound is attempting to channel into the energy of a time when Rock music was ambitious and freedom seeking. Naturally we love bands like and such as ACDC, April Wine, CCR - the list is very long. We love to cover The Tragically Hip and CCR. 

3)  We feel the best advice to give someone else performing is...if you love it...don't stop, find a way to move forward, use every bit of talent and social ability you have to impress upon others what stage of the path you're on and how they can help support you. Without family and close friends...this band would be no where. Never feel bad that those people love you and always support you.

4) This is always challenging to do but simply by being ourselves and thinking of how we can be creative, how we can add to something. Revision, listening to those you       trust. If you're going to ask for outside opinion, it's often good to listen carefully for the response, even if you don't like it. 

5) We will be releasing the album in September but a couple more singles will be released this summer with video first!
 

 The band will be playing lots this summer,
 
Please check out the Tour section on our website www.tamingsariband.com for all upcoming dates.

I wish them nothing but luck in their success & their career. So until then I'll catch you on the flipside! Stay awesome & rock n roll!

DJ Interviews: Jas Frank

Hello everyone its the DJ coming at you & I sat down with Jas Frank whose the lead singer of the band the Inoits as she had a lot to say regarding their music so sit back, relax & enjoy!

How'd you get started in music?Personally, I have been involved with music from a very young age. My mom has enrolled me into a music school when I was eight years old, because she thought that it was important for a child's intellectual development to be exposed to classical music. I have studied there for eight years, but I was never as interested in practicing a musical instrument or just reproducing music, as I was in using instruments to create music myself. My two Intoits, Marko and Slaven, have also studied music from a very young age and have been involved with various bands or music projects in Croatia over the years. They are both very talented multi-instrumentalists and Marko is making a name for himself in Croatia as a producer, as well.

Who are your inspirations or influences?
I listen to a very diverse range of artists, especially today when the whole world's repertoire is just a few clicks away. The first music I was really exposed to were the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, courtesy of my parents and their vinyls. I think this is where my love for great melodies and vocal harmonies comes from. From there, I moved on to the Seattle scene - Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains, and for years I wouldn't allow myself to listen to anything too remote from the alt-rock genre. Nowadays, I tend to listen to everything that has a great melody and that is guitar driven, especially if it is innovative in some way. Marko is very much into reggae, while Slaven listens to and is involved in all sorts of music genres, even though in Croatia he is primarily known for his involvement in Croatian traditional male singing groups called "klapa".

As for the inspiration to make music, I have to say that I am not a very fertile author, probably because I don't usually make a point of sitting down and writing songs, I do it when I feel like it. I write maybe 4 or 5 songs a year, usually when some life situation or experience hits me hard.

What advice would you offer to aspiring performers?

I am not sure I am really qualified to give any advice! Nevertheless, I would like to inspire anyone who has a desire to make music to simply do it, regardless of what anyone else says about their talents or regardless of any critics. Music is one of the most beautiful ways of expressing emotions or opinions and anyone should try to use it as such. Nowadays, a lot of people think that the singing has to be perfect or that the instrumental performance has to be perfect in order for the music to be good, but that is completely wrong, in my opinion. The best music is imperfect! Unfortunately, people are keen to criticize really emotional pieces of music, just because they don't sound like what they are used to hearing on the radio. And they are used to hearing songs that are artificially polished to the extent they sound robotic.

How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?
Our music has been called "avant-garde", "experimental" and "unique" by most critics who have reviewed our debut album "The Girl from Cherry Valley" so far, so I guess that there is something different about it, but frankly, I have no idea what it is. My voice has also been called "unconventional", and I personally think this is so only because people are not used to hearing a contralto voice as the lead in a band. The most important thing for me, and I think I can also speak for Marko and Slaven, is that the music we make is exactly what we would listen to ourselves. It has to be truly genuine and from the heart and we try not to compromise on that.

Any new gigs or albums in the future?
I must say that, at this moment, we are more of a music project than a band, because we have never played in front of an audience together and our songs are too elaborate in arrangements for the three of us to be able to play them live alone, without the help of additional musicians. We have only worked together in the studio. However, we would definitely like to play gigs sometime in the future, but I am not too pressured about it. As they say, all in good time.

As for new music, Marko and I have recorded some demos for a couple of new songs. One of these songs will be released soon as a single only, because it is quite different from our other songs, so it just wouldn't fit with the others. The other songs are probably going to be released as an EP or album sometime next year.

Special thanks to her for this interview & I wish her nothing but luck in her career. So until then I'll catch you on the flipside! Stay awesome & rock n roll! 

DJ Interviews: Grimsteel

Hey there everybody its DJ Dizzy & I interviewed a metal band who call themselves, Grim Steel as they shared their humble beginnings.


How'd you get started in music?


I remember in middle school I spent a little to much time playing Guitar Hero 3 and after I beat the game I thought to myself "Wow, this music stuff sounds like fun." so I dug out an old guitar out of storage and started to learn how to play it. I had a few friends in the neighborhood that I convinced to join me and we had a "Band" that really didn't really go anywhere but it was still really fun and as I look back on it now I think those memories are my most fondest of my middle school into high school years. We all inevitably went our separate ways as most high school friends do and when I started college I found I didn't have enough time to really meet up with a band so I got a bass and learned how to program drums and just became the whole band.  


Who are your inspirations or influences?


Id say Metallica, Iron Maiden and Avenged Sevenfold all have a large influence on my song writing and how I build my songs. But I also really love Video Game soundtracks like the Halo 2 OST composed by Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori, and the all mighty Doom (2016) OST composed by Mick Gordon. I try to focus more on structuring my songs with movements instead of normal "Verse,Chorus,Verse, Chorus, Break, Chorus" structure most songs use. Some of my songs do follow that normal structure but for the most part I try to use movements to tell the stories I like to tell and I feel that the scores of video games and movies have a hand in that. 


What advice would offer aspiring performers?


A really good friend of mine once said "I'm trying to become your favorite artist, but I'm also trying to become my favorite artist" and Its really stuck with me. So my advice would be to make sure you love the music your making and really enjoy doing music, no matter what genre or style. 


How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers?


I think the fact I'm mostly instrumental sets me apart. Not to say that just instrumental metal tracks haven't been done before, it certainly has and has been done well. but its not something you see every day. I'm not a very good singer, so I figured I should play to my strengths and just do my best to have the stories and emotions come out of the notes instead of my vocal chords. 



Any new gigs or albums in the future?


Id love to start gigging but, as a solo artist, it would take some legit techno-wizardry to pull off a live set. Its totally doable but It would take some figuring out. On the album front, the next Grimsteel album is a ways off. "From Ruins Once Possessed" just dropped March 15th so another Grimsteel album isn't even on the radar yet. But I do have a few project in the works with a few great music buds of mine who I have worked with before. So look forward to that! 

I wish them nothing but luck in the career & special thanks to them for doing this interview. So until then stay awesome & I'll catch you on the flipside! ock n roll!