DJ Interviews: Peter Lawlor

 

How'd you get started in music?

Usual way...bands at school and college. Turned professional in my early 20s.

Had quite a bit of good luck.

Who are your inspirations or influences?

Beatles, Kinks, Hendrix, Kossoff, Zep, Joe Pass, Trevor Horn, George martin, Eddie Kramer.

What advice would offer aspiring performers?

Work harder than you'd expect anyone else to do. Be BRUTALLY honest with yourself.

When you finish a track you're pleased with, imagine that you are in a competition and your

opponent's track is the track you've just finished. Now beat it.

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

I don't. Mozart said "I never tried to be original, I just tried to be good."

Any new gigs or albums in the future?

A couple of re-releases coming up on Spotify etc. Many gigs planned for the autumn and for next yea

DJ Interviews: Dark Days

 

How'd you get started in music? We all have been playing in bands since we were younger. I know for me going to my first concert (sevendust) really got me excited to play. 

Who are your inspirations or influences? We really draw from all over the place. All kinds of music and artist, if we have to name a few Rush, three days grace, ozzy, nonpoint, sevendust, to name few. 

What advice would offer aspiring performers? Do what you like do it with good intentions and work hard at it! But always have fun first! 

How do you set yourselves apart from other bands or singers? So our goal is to be real no backing tracks no fake vocals just real hard rock with passion and energy. We want to take the old school mindset of play anywhere and place and meet as many smiling faces as possible! 

Any new gigs or albums in the future? We have a ton coming up! This summer 3/5 new singles for release starting in June! Full album early 2022 with this summer shows starting to book and an online concert in the works as well! Going to be a fun summer! 

DJ Interviews: Fallen Piipl

 

How'd you get started in music?

 

Some friends introduced me to the likes of Metallica and Iron Maiden. I heard it and thought “I want to do that!”. I then went to concerts and was hooked on the dream of playing music to people. I started on guitar and then moved to bass when a band I was friends with had their bass player quit and needed someone to fill in at short notice.

 

Who are your inspirations or influences?

 

I don’t go out of my way to sound or be like anything or anyone. We are all influenced by everything we hear – things we like and dislike.

I leave it to others to comment on what they think my stuff sounds similar to.

 

Artists I love that have inspired me and made my ears happy:

The Angels

Metallica

Iron Maiden

Red Hot Chilli Peppers

Stone Temple Pilots

Beatles

David Bowie

Janelle Monae

 

What advice would offer aspiring performers?

 

Practice often and work hard at everything you do – your craft and musicianship as well as your networking, marketing and business aspects.

 

Stick at it. Persistence pays off.

 

Diversify what you listen to and what you practice. Look outside of your preferred genre. When we are out of our comfort zones is when we grow.

 

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

 

I don’t go out of my way to be the same or different to anyone else. My influences and experiences make me unique, but everyone trying to make it is working hard at the same things – music, socials, networking, marketing, gigging and so on.

 

 

Any new gigs or albums in the future?

 

Nothing in the works at present for Fallen Piipl, but I am in another band called MonkeyMan that has an album coming out in the next few months. 

DJ Interviews: THE THOUGHT HOOLIGANS

Let's Rock!

DJ Interviews: Shimmer Johnson

 How'd you get started in music?

Music has been a part of me since I was a little girl. I started singing with my family and friends when I was just two years old. Singing classic hits from Tanya Tucker and Crystal Gayle. To this day I still love their music. Growing up I performed anywhere I could; talent shows, school assemblies and more. 

In high school I sang in choir with one of the Osmonds children Scott Osmand. I lived in Branson Missouri for my grade 11 and 12. While I was there I performed in my Country band as well as Djing at local places in Branson. At 18 I moved back home to Canada. I started singing in rock bands and listening to more alternative music. I also did some DJ work and learned to sing and write in all types of genres. At 21 I met my co-writer Corey Johnson and the rest is history. We have albums in pop, rock, country, adult contemporary and even R&B. 

Who are your inspirations or influences?

I take influences from all genres. Some of my favourite artists include Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette. Then later on while living in Branson Missouri, I started listening to Shania Twain, Carrie Underwood, Reba, Linda Davis, Vince Gill and so many more. When I moved back to Canada I got into more rock type music. I loved No Doubt, Alanis Morisette, Tori Amos, Kate Bush and so many more. Lately I have been into more adult contemporary type music like Lauren Daigle, Sarah Mclachlan, Adele, Kelly Clarkson and more. I like to be diverse. I am a multi-genre artist myself. I have albums in all genres. 

What advice would offer aspiring performers?

Never stop doing your art. If it makes you happy then do it. I use music as my own personal diary. When I experience sadness, happiness, frustration and more I find writing a song helps me clear my head. It's great for the soul.

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

I think my voice is very unique from everyone. I don't sound like anyone else out there. The way I sing I don't go out of my way to hit crazy high notes if it happens naturally, then it was meant to be. I like to sing with emotion and grace. I like how people are able to connect with music. They are able to insert their lives into my songs. People can feel like I am singing exactly about them and what's happening in their lives. I am also a multi-genre artist and I like to combine genres together to make my unique sound. 

Any new gigs or albums in the future?

Right now I am doing a lot of live shows online via TIKTOK. I am looking to do more on INSTAGRAM as well. Live shows currently in Canada are not possible due to the Covid 19 pandemic. I am hoping things are back to normal in 2022. 

DJ Interviews Grunge Norris

 Hey there guys here's my interview with Grunge Norris enjoy!

1.

I got started around the mid 90’s as a vocalist & lyricist fronting a band with some school chums. We played mainly covers of bands like Metallica , Red Hot Chilli Peppers , Nirvana & The Kinks to name but a few. Around about 97/98 I started to learn guitar simply for the reason I was never very happy with the music other people put to my lyrics so I took up guitar simply with the aim of being able to write my own music with my own lyrics. I never thought I’d be good enough to end up as a guitar playing frontman but here I am nearly a quarter of a century later & very glad I took that decision in my formative years.

2. 

I have too many influences really to list each one but I’d say the main influences on me that inspired me to actually become a musician myself would be Nirvana & The Doors. I was transfixed by both those bands as a kid & they would really be the prime influences on me pursuing music as a career. My main influences for the next record I’m working on though would be , Kyuss , System Of A Down , Melvins , PJ Harvey , Iggy Pop & Jackson C Frank. I am also very heavily influenced by 90’s hip hop artists such as Wu Tang Clan , KRS 1 & Gangstarr to name but a few. In the 00’s Jack White was also a huge influence on me turning me on to people like Robert Johnson , Son House , Blind Willie McTell & other greats from the delta blues genre. I am also very heavily influenced by the films of Stanley Kubrick , Quentin Tarantino & The Coen Brothers so often take reference or inspiration from those guys too.

3.

My main advice to any aspiring performers & artists would really be just enjoy yourselves , enjoy the journey & take a moment every now & again just to enjoy the view from where you are at that point. Whether at the beginning the middle or the end of your journey try & enjoy each stage. When I was younger I was far too goal oriented. I never took the time sometimes to just appreciate the journey that I was on & the distance I’d already travelled. I was so laser focused on the end game that in some respects that made me make some bad decisions which we all do it’s just part of the learning process. But my main piece of advice would just be enjoy it.

4.

Well if you Google ‘ Grunge Norris ‘ there is only me so I’d say I’m unique in that sense. I think maybe what sets me apart at the moment is the genre hopping of the last record ‘ Bad Monkeys ‘ although with the follow up that I’m currently working on I hope to be a bit more specific than I was on the last record. It’s a very difficult question to answer really & one I’d be more comfortable leaving to others. I’m simply Grunge Norris no relation to Chuck.

5.

As of this moment in time due to the clusterfuck that is Covid 19 I have no gigs or live performances planned for the immediate future. I’m kinda in between band mates at the moment as well so there’s a lot I need to do before actually getting out & performing again although I do hope to get out playing live again in some capacity at some stage in 2021 & am planning also at some stage to do a live acoustic set over the internet. I can however inform you though that I am currently working on the follow up to Bad Monkeys as we speak. I have a plethora of new songs to choose from and at this moment in time it’s a possibility that I may indeed have enough material to release 2 records once I can get back in the studio again & start laying down some stuff. I hope to start doing that ASAP & at the moment am just demoing all my new stuff at home.

Ok Dizzy hope that’s cool for you tried my best to answer all questions as concisely as possible. If there’s anything else you need from me or you think I’ve overlooked then let me know & I’ll be happy to answer any further questions you may have.

If not let me know when the interview will be live & I will share the link with all my followers on Twitter.

Special thanks to him on this interview & I wish him lots of luck. So until then I;ll catch you on The Flipside! Stay awesome & rock n roll!