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Monday, February 8th, 2010
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12:16 pm - Lostprophets
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| Thursday, February 4th, 2010
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11:43 am
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| Sunday, January 31st, 2010
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3:10 am
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| Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
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10:15 am - Black Velvet Issue 63 Out Now
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Issue 63 of Black Velvet is out now and includes:
Interviews with Shinedown, Papa Roach, Paramore, Black Stone Cherry, All Time Low, Buckcherry, Lita Ford, Go:Audio, Madina Lake, Lorenza Ponce, Cobra Starship and Destine.
Concert reviews of Shinedown, Alice Cooper/Man Raze, Go:Audio, Paramore, Papa Roach/Madina Lake, All Time Low, Black Stone Cherry, Billy Talent, Bowling For Soup & Elliot Minor
Tons of album, single and EP reviews from the likes of Bon Jovi, Man Raze, Motley Crue, Elliot Minor, Paramore, Surefire, Lita Ford, K Jell, The Neurotic Spiders, Naughty Boys, Sparkling Bombs, The Hostiles, All Forgotten, Anavris and more.
'Me, Me, Me & My Rock CV' - If you have a job in the music industry you get to tell us what you do and why you do it. This issue we feature Glenn Milligan of Metaliville.
All the usuals such as Fanzine Reviews, Book Reviews, DVD Reviews, Supersonic Future Superstars (featuring Rotten Bark & Last Letter Read).
Advertisers this issue are: Bat Racers, Stiletto Red, Naughty Boys, Revengine, Altercation, HiroshAmour, TNS Records, Anavris & Pennant Boots
Order online from:
UK:
http://www.fourdogsmusic.co.uk
http://www.ethicalwares.com
http://www.punkrockshop.co.uk
http://www.beeunique.co.uk
USA:
http://www.atomicbooks.com
http://www.quimbys.com
AUSTRALIA:
http://www.waterfrontrecords.com
Or from retail stores such as:
UK:
Banbury Record Savings
Birmingham Dale End newsagents
Brighton Ampwitch Emporium
Cardiff Spillers
Derby Viva Hate
Dudley ST Records
Edinburgh Word Power
Leeds Jumbo Records
Redditch Train Station Newsagents
Sheffield Rocky Horrors
USA:
Baltimore, MD Atomic Books
Charlotte, NC Joseph Beth
Chicago, IL Quimbys Books
Cincinnati, OH Joseph Beth
Melbourne, FL Thee Shop
Lexington, KY Joseph Beth
Lyndhurst, OH Joseph Beth
Memphis TN Davis Kidd
Nashville, TN Davis Kidd
Pittsburgh, PA Joseph Beth
AUSTRALIA
Sydney Waterfront Records
Melbourne Missing Link
More info is at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com
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3:02 am
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Can you believe it's been over a month since we last went to a show? So finally Black Velvet's 2010 gig schedule kicked off and Twenty Twenty launched the proceedings playing at the Academy 2 in Birmingham. I've just put 12 pix up at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/twentytwentyphotos.htm
I interviewed the band before the show - you can read that interview in issue 64 of Black Velvet, along with a review of the show.
current mood:  exhausted
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| Monday, January 25th, 2010
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11:36 am
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I forgot to post here last week. I usually do when I've done an interview, but what with Twitter, Facebook and everything else, I actually forgot. I'll make up for it this week as there should be a few updates. ;-)
Did a phone a phone interview with Luke Johnson, now in Lostprophets, on Thursday. It was supposed to be at 2pm. I called the number I'd been given at 2pm (or possible 1.59 & 30 seconds) and the answerphone came on. I left a message. Said I'd call back a few minutes later... the answerphone still came on. I emailed their press officer who gave me a US number to call. Called that, got an answerphone. Started stressing out. Luke ended up getting in touch giving me a different number to call - I called it, it was dead! Tried again, still dead. The press officer also gives me this number. I give Luke my number. He ends up calling. Apparently he'd got two of the digits the wrong way round. He was due to do another interview a few minutes later, so we ended up agreeing that he'd call when he was done with the other press, which he had scheduled for the next hour, as then I could have more time and he'd be done with press for the day. At about 3.40pm we did our interview. Spoke for nearly 40mins - which was better than having to squeeze things into 20mins! I still managed to somehow miss out one of the questions I really wanted to ask though. Gah!
But all hail the mighty Luke for being so awesome. :-) (But of course, he's from Redditch, hometown of Black Velvet. OF COURSE he's going to be awesome).
Typed the interview up Thursday and Friday evening. It'll be in issue 64... since issue 63 is out soooooon.
current mood:  good
current music: Twenty Twenty - Raise Your Hands
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| Friday, January 1st, 2010
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11:02 pm - Happy New Year!
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I hope everyone had a nice Xmas and New Year's Eve. And so now we're in 2010. I'm hoping this will be a good year. That said, with the recession still ongoing and more and more jobs STILL disappearing, and now the threat of terrorism again after the nutter in Detroit, I guess we'll have to see how it goes. The pessimist in me is still optimistic though. Maybe it's because I know there are some good times coming and some great gigs scheduled for this year.
I got my laptop back yesterday, which obviously put me in a good mood. It died on me on December 12th when I had to do a BIOS update. Thankfully as it was under warranty it meant I could send it away to be fixed at no charge. I was thinking they'd wipe the whole laptop and start afresh since it wouldn't turn on for me - but when I got it back yesterday I turned it on and lo and behold all my programs, emails and everything else were still on there. Mr Laptop Fixer, you rule!
I'm trying to decide if I want to upgrade to Windows 7. Does anyone have it and is it worth upgrading to? I actually bought it but then read that there's no email program, so haven't installed it yet. Although I've just exported all my emails to Windows Live Mail from Windows Mail so I'll see how I like Windows Live Mail. Just as you start getting used to one thing, you have to get used to something else.
Issue 63 of Black Velvet is currently at the printers and will be out at the end of Jan. Go order a copy from http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/nextissue.htm and have it delivered to your door as soon as it's out. This issue has heaps of awesome interviews.
And here's a slideshow of issue 62 if you haven't yet got that. That's still available from http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com and the stores that stock Black Velvet.
  
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| Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
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11:58 am
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3 days till Christmas. Richey Edwards' birthday. Happy birthday Richey! I have about 2 pages of Black Velvet 63 to complete. I want to try and send it to the printers sometime tomorrow. This will probably be super-late in the evening as day job work finishes today so I will probably sleep late tomorrow! I will probably be up till 3 or 4am tonight. I'm such a night owl, I like sleeping all day and working on Black Velvet all night.
It was my birthday on Sunday. I wrote four album reviews and got the albums section of the next issue completed! Rage Against The Machine getting to number 1 in the UK charts made it a happy birthday. I downloaded the single a couple of times - bought one and got one of the 'free' ones. I hate crap manufactured pop that is only a success because it's had millions of pounds pumped into it. Nothing against Joe McElderry, he's a good singer - but he didn't even write 'The Climb'. I think they ought to stop allowing cover versions into the charts. Or even songs written by other people. Write your own or get out of the business! It was satisfying to see an iconic rock band having so many people back their song and getting it to number 1. Power to the people!
If only we could do the same thing with all the crap in the world. If people came together and stood up more and fought for things, we could get rid of so much crap and make the world a better place.
I hear that Catalan parliamant in Spain has passed a landmark vote to ban bullfighting. How amazing would that be if Bullfighting got banned? http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article6961985.ece
I was quite relieved I hadn't decided to fly to California for my birthday - since Sugarcult cancelled their Xmas show on the day of the show (on Dec 17th). Gutted. Poor Tim apparently had a respiratory infection and laryngitis and couldn't speak, so they had to pull the show on the day. I feel sorry for everyone who was looking forward to the show - especially fans who had flown from other States for the show. Thinking about it, if I was the band I'd have maybe done some meet n' greet or something for fans instead. Maybe they could have (Marko, Airin and Kenny) chatted with fans, done a Q&A or something... Maybe Tim could have been there but just not spoken, and taken pix with fans... Then the kids could have got *something*. The fans that had flown in would have had some sort of compensation for spending money on flights. I guess when something like this happens you don't think at the time, though.
I hope Sugarcult tour in 2010 and get their asses to the UK!
If I don't post again before Xmas, I hope everyone reading has a nice holiday.
And if you can, eat veggie turkey - not real turkey - on Dec 25th! ;-) You know it makes sense.
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| Saturday, December 12th, 2009
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9:27 pm - Paramore & Lost Emails
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15 photos of Paramore from last night's Birmingham NIA show are up at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/paramorephotos.htm
Interviewed guitarist Taylor York before the show. Gonna squeeze that into Black Velvet 63 (which is pretty much bursting at its papered seams at the mo). That will be heading off to the printers at some point over Xmas and will be out at the end of Jan.
Remember - if anyone asks you what you want for Xmas, ask for a subscription to Black Velvet! Tell them to go to http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/subs.htm to order one.
And if anyone's emailed me/Black Velvet either recently or in the last 6 months to my usual email address, unfortunately my laptop has just died - and is having to be sent away for repair. I guess all those emails will be lost (as I reckon my hard drive will be wiped). :-/ Hopefully there was nothing toooo important in there! Except all the emails from people interested in being featured on www.SaveAScream.com are gone too, and emails from people wanting to contribute to Black Velvet etc. If anyone was waiting for a reply or me to get in touch with them feel free to email again. Also, if you sent any photos for The Star & I section or anything like that send them again!
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| Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
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10:19 pm - KK
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Here are a couple of pix of Keri Kelli (Alice Cooper's band) with the latest issue of Black Velvet, taken after the Brighton Alice Cooper show, courtesy of Alice Cooper fan Bill Crowe. Thanks for the pix Bill - and thanks Sim for sending them to me. :-)
(Keri says above, "You need one of these!")
(Keri says, "Look, I'm in it! That's my interview! Yes, you REALLY do need one of these! Order it via http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com! OK!?")
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| Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
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10:32 pm - Alice Cooper / Man Raze / Buckcherry
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| Friday, November 27th, 2009
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6:46 pm - Go:Audio
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T'was a sad day yesterday. Aside from a million poor turkeys having lost their lives just to sit on the plates of America (hope you had a happy thanksgiving), the awesome Go:Audio announced they were splitting up.
Gutted.
Haven't been this bummed out about a band splitting in a long time.
Go:Audio were impressing me so much. Every time I saw them they were better than the time before. Every time I went to their live show I enjoyed it so much. 'Made Up Stories' is probably my fave album of 2009. I'd even go (no pun intended) so far as to say that I'd class them as my fave UK band at the moment. They were even almost a nice replacement for Sugarcult (who are busy with side projects and not touring), second only to Bon Jovi (hey, no-one will top Bon Jovi!).
The next issue of Black Velvet was going to have an A-Z interview with James that I did on the last tour. Since they have now announced their split I figure that there's no point in printing it in the next issue - which isn't out until the end of Jan - so I've put it on the Black Velvet website instead. You can read it at:
http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/goaudio.htm
(James with some vegan chocolate drops!)
Reading it back... When I asked how he'd like people to remember the band when they quit, I didn't mean quite so soon!
Maybe I need to not ask about when a band may quit just incase it tempts fate!
I'll really miss the Go:Audio live shows. The new songs they'd put on MySpace (they've been taken down today) were as great as their album tracks. I'm hoping they will go on to some good new projects. There's always the worry that new bands won't be half as good as the last one. Half the time the new projects they go on to aren't. I guess we will have to wait and see.
current mood:  disappointed
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| Thursday, November 19th, 2009
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7:07 pm
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| Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
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11:16 am
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December 1988, Birmingham NEC. Me, excited. Bon Jovi / Lita Ford, on stage. Bad seats, good time.
Five years before the birth of Black Velvet.
Fast forward to November 2009. Me, at home. 8.30, I pick up the phone.
The phone rings in the Caribbean. It's Lita Ford. Actually, it's not, it's her husband Jim Gillette. But he soon puts Lita on the line for me.
For the next half an hour I have a nice chat - well, interview, with Lita.
How cool it was to speak to the legendary Queen of Rock, Lita.
She's back with an awesome new album, 'Wicked Wonderland'.
I'll finish typing up my interview tonight, it'll be in issue 63 of Black Velvet.
Order your copy in advance at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/nextissue.htm
current mood: good
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| Sunday, November 15th, 2009
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4:26 am
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Went to see Elliot Minor this eve at Birmingham Academy 2. I've put 15 pix up at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/elliotminorphotos.htm
A review and bigger pic will be in Black Velvet issue 63.
On the way to the show I went in Borders to buy a mag for a friend and noticed Fireworks mag was in there. Nicky Baldrian did a little interview with me for Fireworks (him asking me questions about doing Black Velvet) - so I checked and I'm in the issue that's out now. :-) It's part of a piece on Independent Zines & Radio Stations. Pretty cool. Issue 38. Page 42. Look out for it.
current mood: sad
current music: The Fairwell
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| Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
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2:24 am
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| Friday, November 6th, 2009
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3:17 pm - Love's The Only Rule
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With the release of 'The Circle' on Monday in the UK, Bon Jovi were in town. You may have seen them on X Factor performing first single 'We Weren't Born To Follow' on Sunday. I went down to London Monday evening to meet up with friends ready for Bon Jovi's Radio 2 Live show at Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House on Tuesday. We were lucky enough to get into the event. Tuesday actually seems like forever ago now. Well, the venue was tiny. Without seats downstairs I think it fits just over 400 people. There was no barrier, the stage was super-low. A couple of cameramen were at the front recording it for the BBC. Chris Evans announced Bon Jovi who then performed for about an hour and a half. The main set was:
We Weren't Born To Follow
Who Says You Can't Go Home
You Give Love A Bad Name
Work For The Working Man
Whole Lot Of Leavin'
Prayer (acoustic)
When We Were Beautiful
Superman Tonight
Lost Highway
It's My Life
Someday I'll Be Saturday Night
The band then left the stage briefly before coming back for an encore. They decided to retake When We Were Beautiful and Superman Tonight, two of the new songs from 'The Circle'. And then rounded the show off with Wanted Dead Or Alive.
Before doors had opened I gave Obie (Jon's friend/sound engineer) a couple of Black Velvets (issue 61 & 62) as he likes to have a flick through occasionally (Obie is also involved with Soraia who Black Velvet has featured in a past issue). Later that night after the show Jon came over to say hi to us. I was going to give him a copy of Black Velvet - but he tells me he got one off Obie already (which surprised me!). He asked me how Black Velvet was going, which was nice. :-) It was nice to talk to him, it's been a while. Also had brief chats with Richie and Huey. I should have asked Jon when we're gonna do an interview, hehe, but... I didn't. Ah well, someday!
Wednesday was our 'day off' (although Bon Jovi were filming The Today Show and the National Lottery). Went to Camden, did some shopping, wasted some money, had a vegan meal at http://www.inspiralled.net and was also happy to find http://www.secretsocietyofvegans.co.uk/cts/.
Yesterday (Thursday) Bon Jovi were playing a secret show, similar to Tuesday's show except not for the BBC. Contests to win tix were on various radio stations including Absolute Radio, with winners being announced on the morning of the show. Contest winners took a boat to the O2 in the evening (apparently the band were on the boat with them) and the show itself was at the British Music Experience, an intimate venue in the O2.
The set was very similar to Tuesday except for no retake of WWWB & ST in the encore. Oh and they opened with a cover of 'Pump It Up'. Nearly forgot that! Jon's brother Anthony was filming on his camera - so hopefully some footage will appear on http://www.maxmouth.com or http://www.bonjovi.com at some point. The stage was a little bit higher although again no barrier and everything was very laid back and relaxed. No support band - just Bon Jovi on the stage for an hour. The only downer was that not so many real fans made it into the audience. I know a lot of Bon Jovi fans who would have killed to be at the show - but mostly (except for a handful) it was radio contest winners that overall didn't seem quite so fanatical. I'm super-honoured to have been there. Getting a ticket to this show was almost like winning the lottery itself.
After the show everyone made their way to the Indigo2 venue where there was a screening of the band's When We Were Beautiful documentary. This is great viewing and gives an interesting insight into the life of a touring rock band... well... not just any touring rock band - but the band that is BON JOVI - and how the whole hard-working, enigmatic enterprise works. You discover more about each band member and how they tick, and how Jon Bon Jovi himself is the focused brain behind the successful Bon Jovi corporation. You should watch it. Buy 'The Circle' CD/DVD package and it's included with the album. The director of the documentary, Phil Griffin, introduced it prior to it beginning. (Oh, and if you look hard enough you might even spot my hair/black gloves clapping in the distance in the odd live shot - as some footage of the final Madison Square Garden '08 show is on there - we were front row for that show).
Travelled back home today. I guess that's our Bon Jovi goodness for the year over with now... Get ready for 2010 - as the band start their world tour, including an impressive residency at the O2 arena in June.
current mood:  happy now
current music: Bon Jovi - The Circle
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| Thursday, October 29th, 2009
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11:25 am
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Bit annoyed at the mo. Just found out that a review that is in the new Black Velvet was posted online by a band 2 weeks ago! The issue only just came out this week! I guess this means the new contributor sent his reviews to the label who then sent them on to bands - and a band posted it on their page two weeks before Black Velvet came out.
I wasn't asked. I wasn't told. I'm bummed out.
This is pretty much the same as illegally leaking music.
It's not the whole album, but it's a song. Now I know how bands feel when they discover that someone put their music online and is sharing it before release date. It sucks.
I'm really disappointed in the NOW EX-contributor for sending this reviews to the label, and for the band for posting it without even being asked. A little bit of respect would be nice! They could have at least waited until the issue came out. It's no wonder zines don't sell so many if bands are posting up reviews before they're even in print. The review was even edited down a tiny bit by me to fit on the page - so they're posting the unedited, unofficial version.
What happened to respect? Why is there none in the world?
Why do people not realise how much hard work and time, effort and money goes into producing something and not distribute it without asking?
PS. I appreciate everyone who buys Black Velvet. It's only £2.10 plus postage. It's not much... Thank you to everyone who DOES buy a copy.
PPS. Hope I don't sound like I'm ranting too much. As I've said elsewhere, I'm passionate about the things I love - but I'm also equally as passionate about the things I hate! I guess it's because I'm a sagittarian. But imagine if you produced something and it was coming out on a certain date - and then someone took part of it (no matter how small) and was distributing it in advance without asking. You'd hate it too, right?!
current mood:  pissed off
current music: Man Raze - Surreal
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| Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
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2:46 pm - Black Velvet 62 Out Now
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Issue 62 of Black Velvet is out now and includes:
Interviews with The Used, Steel Panther, Keri Kelli (Alice Cooper), Man Raze (Phil Collen - Def Leppard), Spinnerette (Brody Dalle), Hardcore Superstar, Saving Aimee, Propagandhi, After Midnight Project, V For Volume.
Concert reviews of Lostprophets, The Used, Steel Panther, New Found Glory/Kids In Glass Houses/International Superheroes Of Hardcore, Spinnerette, Taking Back Sunday, Buckcherry, Saving Aimee and Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros
Tons of album, single and demo reviews of the likes of Not Advised, Spinnerette, Orange, Four Year Strong, Pound, Johnny Lima, New Generation Superstars, Research Turtles. The Used, Funeral For A Friend, All Time Low, Bullets And Octane, An Ocean Between Us, Bowling For Soup, Steel Panther, Buckcherry, AFI, Flyleaf, Gunfire 76, Memphis May Fire, Carolina Liar, Symphony Cult, Dame Fortune, Glass Spires and more.
'Me, Me, Me & My Rock CV' this issue features Pulin Modi of peta2.
'Over In The East' - our column from Japanese correspondant Ando Terumi
All the usuals such as Fanzine Reviews, Book Reviews, Supersonic Future Superstars (featuring Full Scream Ahead, Forgotten Roots and Sparks The Rescue).
Advertisers this issue are: Rock City Memphis, Two Side Moon Promotions, Margate, S-a-n PR, Pound, Orius, Product Recall, Her:Enemy & Oz Knozz
Order online from:
UK:
http://www.fourdogsmusic.co.uk
http://www.ethicalwares.com
http://www.punkrockshop.co.uk
http://www.beeunique.co.uk
USA:
http://www.atomicbooks.com
http://www.quimbys.com
AUSTRALIA:
http://www.waterfrontrecords.com
Or from retail stores such as:
UK:
Banbury Record Savings
Birmingham Dale End newsagents
Brighton Ampwitch Emporium
Bromsgrove M.S.B. Recording & Rehearsal Studios
Cardiff Spillers
Derby Viva Hate
Dudley ST Records
Edinburgh Word Power
Leeds Jumbo Records
Redditch Train Station Newsagents
Sheffield Rocky Horrors
USA:
Baltimore, MD Atomic Books
Charlotte, NC Joseph Beth
Chicago, IL Quimbys Books
Cincinnati, OH Joseph Beth
Melbourne, FL Thee Shop
Lexington, KY Joseph Beth
Lyndhurst, OH Joseph Beth
Memphis TN Davis Kidd
Nashville, TN Davis Kidd
Pittsburgh, PA Joseph Beth
AUSTRALIA
Sydney Waterfront Records
Melbourne Missing Link
More info is at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com
PLEASE NOTE: SOME OF THE UK ONLINE STORES HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPDATE THEIR SITES YET. IF IT'S NOT ON THERE YET EITHER EMAIL THE STORE OR ORDER FROM BLACK VELVET DIRECTLY. PAYPAL ACCEPTED.
http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com
current mood:  busy
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| Monday, October 26th, 2009
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1:26 pm - Zebrahead
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| Sunday, October 25th, 2009
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6:55 pm
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Had an email from a person that wanted to contribute to Black Velvet the other week. After numerous emails where he insisted he'd like to do interviews for Black Velvet, I finally got him to buy a copy to check it out (always good when someone actually reads Black Velvet before asking to contribute to it!). He has just offered me some feedback which I thought I'd print here with my reply (the first line replies to where he said he had some feedback if I wanted it - so I said that sounded like he had some criticism!):
----- Original Message -----
To: shari@blackvelvetmagazine.com
Sent: Sunday, October 25, 2009 6:27 PM
There are a couple yeah but before I get into it, I want to say I am thoroughly impressed with the high level of interviewees you have. From personal experience, it's not always easy getting bigger bands to talk to you and it's even trickier to get them for a decent amount of time. Plus, it's a nice defiance against the blog/ website culture. I'm more likely to read a magazine than I am a website. Zines used to mean something (if they weren't NME/ Kerrang or a big funded thing) and were the kind of things that would be left on coffee tables and read by a dozen people, covering bands that weren't that well known (if at all) but had something to say.
But honestly, I don't get that feeling from Black Velvet. I flicked through and I didn't really find anything in there that made me think "I'm reading something different". The vegetarian/ vegan thing is fine but there are specific magazines for that, like Viva. If I were to read it cover to cover, in the first few pages I get a fair few references to veganism and animal cruelty which made me, as a carnivore, feel like certain views were being put on to me. I thought I was getting a music magazine but there were times when I found myself skipping over vegetarian bits and thinking "Oh great here's another bit".
Secondly, I didn't find anything that really made me feel like I was reading something I wouldn't get in Rock Sound or Kerrang. Madina Lake, Black Stone Cherry, Duff, Billy Talent, Warped Tour, Download...all main features and all things that I could probably read in Kerrang, which comes out every week. You're based in Birmingham which, from what I can gather, has a fucking crazy music scene. It's spawned bands like Napalm Death, Godflesh and Black Sabbath (going on the rock thing). I was really disheartened that none of the featured bands were from the UK as there are thousands of acts that would kill to get in a mag like BV. The big music magazines follow the money (aka - the big US bands) which is fair but you're a non-profit which gives you the freedom to go "fuck it, I want to cover the Sheffield open mic night scene" or whatever. The kind of people that are going to buy BV are the people that are going to look for something different.
Those are the two main points I have. I'll ignore production values and stuff cause I get that whatever money is made goes into the zine but I will say this - I got sent a free copy of a US zine called Razorcake. It comes out every two months and it is probably one of the best things I've ever read. It's in black and white, the ink gets smudgy, there's fuck all photos and most of the pictures are artwork done by whoever's willing to draw something. But it's DIFFERENT and something I can relate to. Check it out - www.razorcake.org It's also not for profit.
Please don't take this as a massive attack at you or BV cause I can see that you put a lot of effort into it and I counted only a few different contributors but you're in such a unique position that you're a magazine that's actually SURVIVED this long and you could do so much more with the pages.
MY REPLY:
Cheers for the feedback. I've seen Razorcake before. We swapped issues a few times. It's a good zine although from what I can remember, the issues I read didn't feature many of my fave bands. All I can say is that we're all different. That's what makes us have our own opinions and you obviously have a different taste of music to me. I write about the bands I love. I don't do Black Velvet to make a success - although obviously I wish I could make it a career - but it's more important to me to write about the music I love and promote the bands I really like. Why write about bands I'm not interested in just because someone else might want to read about them? If it doesn't make you ultimately happy then it's not worth doing. Bands would be called sellouts if they produced music for people if they didn't like it themselves - so the same goes for mags I think. I do feature UK bands sometimes - for example issue 63 is going to have an article/interview with Go:Audio and issue 62 out in the next couple of days has a 2 page article/interview with Saving Aimee - although I do agree that generally less UK bands really win me over - although that's probably because USA is so much bigger than the UK. There are other UK bands I love though, like Lostprophets and Templeton Pek, who I've featured in the past. I really write about bands that really stand out - so if you're a UK band that is just 'ok' I'm not going to spend my money printing paper on you.
Personally I think it's good a rock mag has mentions of vegetarianism/veganism/animal rights. Yes, VIVA! etc put out mags but who's going to read that other than those converted already, on their mailing lists? I doubt a meat eater would choose to buy an animal rights mag from VIVA!. As you say, you can skip past the things you're not interested in. I try not to be too heavy on the veganism - but when you see footage and realise how much cruelty goes towards the murder of animals just for people to eat or wear then you can't help but want to speak out (especially when so many people choose to ignore and blindly pretend it doesn't exist). But if I do interview a vegan musician then I want to ask them about it as I think they enjoy speaking about the subject as much as I like promote it.
The bottom line is - I do Black Velvet for myself. It's my outlet for getting my own thoughts out to the world - whether it be bands I think are great and want to cover or things I think need more coverage (Fiona of Animal Aid actually told me at the Vegan Festival yesterday that a lot of the press don't want to cover the animal cruelty issues, like slaughterhouse abuse, so they don't actually get the word out as much as it should be out - so if I can do a tiny bit to help then I will).
Anyway, good luck with finding a mag that meets your needs for contributing to. Oh, do you mind if I print your email on my blog? I'd like to put it up with my reply - just to remind everyone why I do Black Velvet.
Shari Black Velvet
Alternatively, Glenn of Metalliville (http://www.metalliville.com) has just put up a nice review of issue 61 of Black Velvet. You can read it at: http://www.metalliville.co.uk/bankup/INTERVIEWS%20Folder/Black%20Velvet%20Review.htm - opening line 'This is one hell of a great issue...' shows how much as people our tastes differ and we can never please everyone all the time. Bottom line is - if you want to contribute to a mag it is always better to read it first than ask to contribute when you don't know what it's about. It's best for you and best for the mag. While I do agree with the 'you're not covering anything that national mags don't' thing, that line is used for many, many bands. So often bands are told they're not original, they're just creating the same music that has been done before - but hey, if that's what you love then do it. Don't create something that is 'different' if you don't believe in it and love it yourself.
I love constructive criticism as it makes us all grow, it opens our minds and makes us think - but ultimately at the end of the day you have to be happy and enjoy what you're doing.
PS. Buy Black Velvet at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com - and subscribe annually (4 issues quarterly) for only £8 at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/subs.htm
current mood:  blank
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1:47 am
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Insanely busy at the mo.
Went to see Bowling For Soup on Thursday. I've put a few pix of BFS up at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/bfsphotos.htm
A review will be in issue 63 with a bigger pic.
Today I went to the West Midlands Vegan Festival. I've just put a small report and bunch of pix up at http://www.saveascream.com/features2009ukwestmidsveganfest.htm
Sold a bunch of Black Velvet 59s to Laura who's going to see Boys Like Girls in Florida, on the way. She's going to take a bunch over there with her.
Issue 62 of Black Velvet is out super soon!
Still got a bad cough.
PS. Bon Jovi O2 Residency pre-sale tickets went on sale today.
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| Friday, October 16th, 2009
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8:15 pm
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In the middle of writing my Go:Audio review from Monday. Here's 12 pix of Twenty Twenty - http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/twentytwentyphotos.htm
Laid out my Madina Lake interview for issue 63 last night.
So much to do, so little time. Got my Papa Roach, Go:Audio, Black Stone Cherry and other interviews still to lay out. Got to get envelopes and delivery notes ready for the next Black Velvet. It will be out in about 2 weeks' time.
Looks like I might be in London at some point during the beginning of Nov.
My cold's slowly going. My voice is coming back.
Ohhh, I updated http://www.SaveAScream.com last night with 3 more interviews (and two more recommendations) - including my interview with Dennis Merrick, drummer of the awesome vegan straightedge legendary band, Earth Crisis!
Was also nice of the Madina Lake peeps to plug the SaveAScream interview with Dan on their website. :-)
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| Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
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9:42 pm
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I ended up doing my phone interview with Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach this evening. Yep, it happened. Yay. I was getting worried before it was due that my voice would go. My voice has been getting worse all day. An hour before I was talking to my mom and it was actually getting hard to speak. I could speak but in small bits and it would cut out, like a lead with a bad connection or something. Anyway, the phone rang just after 6 and I interviewed Jacoby. Apparently it was going to be both Jacoby and Jerry but there were phone connection problems so it just turned out to be Jacoby. I apologised for my sore throat and told him I hoped it wouldn't go during the interview! Thankfully I lasted all the way through. The worst thing was that he was front of house to do the interview as it was the only place he could get a reception and someone was soundchecking so there was noise coming down the phone at the same time. It actually doesn't sound as bad on the tape as it did in my ear. I'm part of the way through typing it up. I'll do that one and then I'll do my Go:Audio interview. Can you believe I've got 6 interviews done already for issue 63 before issue 62 is even out!?
current mood:  sick
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9:47 am - Not a Made Up Story
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| Sunday, October 11th, 2009
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2:49 am
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I need to go to sleep soon. Didn't have enough last night and my cold's getting worse.
Today I went to Birmingham to interview Black Stone Cherry. I interviewed Chris. I think we were in that VIP room at Birmingham Academy. One of the other members was doing an interview in the dressing room, others were in the production office, so we were taken up to the swish VIP room. All was fine until one of the other band's started soundchecking. The sound came right through the speakers as loud as can be into the room we were in. Chris said we should probably still stay there, since a guy had told us to do it there, so we did. I was hoping the loudness would not transfer to tape and a bit worried about how the interview would come out. All hail the mighty microphone. Getting a microphone has been one of the best things I ever did (after of course becoming vegan, and buying a humane bug catcher). I had a quick listen when I got home and I can hear Chris perfectly on the tape. Hopefully I'll type it up tomorrow.
I've put 12 pix from the gig up at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/blackstonecherryphotos.htm
Review and interview will be in issue 63 (that's the one after issue 62!)
PS. RIP Stephen Gately
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| Thursday, October 8th, 2009
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10:23 pm - Bon Jovi
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Bon Jovi have just put up a trailer for their Madison Square Garden DVD. What is really weird is that I had a bizarre sense of deja vu as I typed that first line. Anyway, the trailer is up on Backstage JBJ. You can only watch it if you are a member of Backstage With Jon Bon Jovi. Go and join at: http://www.bonjovi.com/join?referrer=1538168 - it looks awesome. I am not just saying that because I spotted my hair... It does look really cool. I don't know if it will beat Live From London for me personally, but I'm glad it has footage from the final show of the Lost Highway tour at Madison Square Garden. The venue looks awesome from above. It looks huge and glistening. I remember when I was there thinking it was smaller than I'd imagined, but in the video it looks big. At the same time there are the close-ups and moments of intimacy too. I can't wait to see the full thing. Excitement.
current mood: excited
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7:12 pm
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| Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
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10:38 pm - Just another manic Tuesday
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Yesterday was kinda crazy. I was supposed to do an interview with Papa Roach at one point but it ended up not happening due to the production assistant being given the wrong list! She was going to try to squeeze me in, but I said I could do a phone interview if it was easier - so hopefully I'll get a phone interview sorted before they go back to the US. However I did do an awesome Madina Lake one. Or two in one. I interview Dan Torelli (drummer). I wanted to do an interview with him for SaveAScream.com since he's vegetarian - and I figured I'd also do a little one for Black Velvet. Well, the interview was pretty awesome. Remember how my All Time Low interview was 15 mins long? This Madina Lake interview was 40 mins long! Actually it probably would've been longer but when we got the SaveAScream questions done and I realised we'd been talking for half an hour I told Dan we'd better do the Black Velvet ones quick! Today I typed up the SaveAScream.com interview - you can read it at http://www.SaveAScream.com/madinalake.htm - he talks about everything from competing with Papa Roach to being inspired by Tom Waits to being a sexy vegetarian with Jared Leto. I think it's a great interview. Well worth reading!
I've just finished typing the Black Velvet one although now I need to research for another interview that I just got an email about last night (when I got home from Papa Roach).
I've put 12 Papa Roach pix up at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/paparoachphotos.htm
And 12 Madina Lake photos at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/madinalakephotos.htm
Yvette from the Madina Lake message board just point out that Mateo has put one of the pix of him as his default pic on Twitter now, so that's pretty cool (considering they're not my best photos). I like when the people I've taken pix of use my photos. Did anyone notice that Luke (Lostprophets touring drummer/ex-Beat Union) used one of my pix from their Wolves show as his Twitter pic last month? I was thinking 'I recognise that lighting' - and then I finally clicked on it and it was my pic! :D
Ok, I'm off to do more research.
current mood:  bouncy
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| Monday, October 5th, 2009
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3:49 pm - The Friday Night Boys
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| Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
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4:07 am - All Time Low
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Went to see All Time Low this evening at Birmingham Academy. My first time to the new Birmingham Academy on Broad Street. Wow. It was kind of confusing when we got there. Different queues, different doors to go in, everyone scattered around, and hard to figure out how to get in quick. LOL. Doors opened at 6pm even though it said 7pm on the website. I figured the doors were going to open at 6pm since it's a Friday and there's always a club night at the Academy, but then the press officer told me my interview was at 6.25pm so I went to the Birmingham Academy website and it said doors were 7. However, when we got there, it was indeed 6pm. I'm not used to doing interviews after doors have opened. The band's tour manager came and found me for the interview and I interviewed Jack and Rian (I interviewed Alex last year on the phone, so it was cool to interview Jack and Rian this time). Only bummer was that I only had 15mins so I didn't get through all my questions. Got a pic of them with Black Velvet at the end though. I took them issue 58 as well as 61 since issue 58 had my interview with Alex in from last year.
The show was great. All three bands were good. It was shocking during the last song of The Audition's set when one minute everything was fine and Danny was singing. The next he was out of sight. We were stood pretty far over the side so couldn't see but it looked like something had happened to him and he was down on the stage. The band stopped and some crew guys ran over and a security member got onstage too. After a little while he managed to get up, someone was holding him up for a short while at the mic as he started singing again. As it turned out, he twittered later that he slipped on some water, sprained his ankle and knocked himself unconscious! Damn! Glad he's ok - although he said he was in pain. Hope he is better soon.
I've just put 15 small pix of All Time Low up at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/alltimelowphotos.htm
I got a cool one of Jack jumping:
I'll start typing up my All Time Low interview tomorrow and will write a review for Black Velvet. They will be in issue 63, since issue 62 is at the printers. If anyone wants to order issue 63 in advance send £2.10 (UK), 5 Euro (Europe) or $7 (US/Rest of the world) via Paypal to shari@blackvelvetmagazine.com - stating you want to pre-order issue 63.
current mood:  tired
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| Thursday, September 24th, 2009
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1:25 am - The best of a bad bunch
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I've transcribed my interview with The Used - so just figured I'd try and salvage a couple of pix to put online. I've put 12 at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/theusedphotos.htm
I've discovered that they look better on my mac, at a distance - however when I look close up at my mac then I can see black marks. Can anyone else see any black marks? However, when I look at them on my laptop I see no marks. I asked a friend to look and he sees no marks too. Weird. I'm hoping that all the mac users don't see black marks.
I need sleep.
current mood: exhausted
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| Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
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9:49 am - The Used
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Yesterday was funnnnn.
I went to Birmingham to interview The Used before their show at Birmingham Academy 2. It was the last show at the old Birmingham Academy. The really last show. We thought last month that the old venue was closing when the new one opened, but a couple of extra shows (ie. Steel Panther being one) took place at the old venue after it had supposedly closed. And The Used was the final, final one. I think. Unless they decide to use the venue again in a week or two. You never know.
My interview was at 4.15pm. I interviewed Bert and Quinn. The first time I interviewed The Used I interviewed Jeph. The second/last time I interviewed Jeph and Dan. This time I interviewed Bert and Quinn.
Little did I know that while I was interviewing them Jeph was tweeting. He twittered:
Quinn and Bert doin an interview http://yfrog.com/3dtp8j
I hate my hair from behind! (Quinn's contemplating my thought-requiring questions while holding the microphone, btw, incase you're wondering why he's looking down)
They had a photographer who also took some other pix, from a different angle where you can see part of my face. I would really like to see those pix. I probably look bad, but I'd still like to see them! He told me later that he is taking photos for The Used and they are on Quinn's camera.
After the interview I got a couple of band pix. Here's a pic of them with Black Velvet:
After my interview I had two hours to kill before doors so I went and sat on a bench and started transcribing the interview.
Took live pix but the lighting was pretty dark, so I'm not toooo happy with the pix. Not sure if I'll put any online yet. Need to go through them. I'll put one with a live review in the next Black Velvet (out at the end of Oct).
Right now I'm checking out the new Bon Jovi website, www.bonjovi.com. The fan club and Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation have been integrated into BonJovi.com instead of being separate entities. I need to do some work, but I think I'll check out bonjovi.com for a little longer... Go join the fan club if you haven't already - http://www.bonjovi.com/?referrer=1538168
current mood: good
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| Monday, September 14th, 2009
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6:48 pm - Libby Is A Lifesaver
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12:31 pm
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Had a busy weekend in Birmingham. Saturday I met a friend from Germany who I haven't seen since Bon Jovi played Madison Square Garden last July. Went to The Warehouse Cafe (veggie cafe) to eat and stocked up on vegan food from the vegan shop next door, while I was up there.
Yesterday went to Birmingham in the afternoon as Kerrang! Fest was on. Got there as Templeton Pek had just started their set. Watched 3 or 4 bands and then wandered down to the Academy 2. Was bummed we had to miss Saving Aimee and Elliot Minor as I'd have liked to have seen them, but I was down to interview Steel Panther. My interview was scheduled for 6.30pm although they were running a bit late so it ended up happening at around 7pm. I interviewed Michael Starr and Lexxi Foxx. I'll be typing that up later for the next issue. Was hoping to get some band photos and their press officer said she'd come and find me in the venue a bit later... although as it turned out I didn't end up getting any pix (think they were busy with Kerrang!), so that's a bummer - especially as I didn't think to even grab a quick one of Michael and Lexxi with Black Velvet while I was actually interviewing them. Gah!
The show was in the small Academy 2 (of the old Academy - since the new venue had Birmingham bands playing for its opening weekend) - and since there were a whopping 11 photographers the press girl had split us into two groups - each group taking photos for 2 songs instead of three. I think this is a really good idea and more bands/press companies should do this when there are a lot of photographers instead of turning some away. I was in the first group, and have put 15 pix up at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/steelpantherphotos.htm - I'll be putting a few other pix in with the interview and gig review in issue 62 of the printed Black Velvet. (Order your copy now by going to http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/nextissue.htm!)
current mood: tired
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| Saturday, August 29th, 2009
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6:49 pm
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| Monday, August 24th, 2009
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1:07 am
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I've just updated the SaveAScream.com website. It now includes:
New interviews with:
Crazy Arm
Eric Minella (Whisperwood)
The Captive Animals Protection Society
and recommendations of:
BareFaced Beauty cosmetics
Method All-Purpose Cleaner
Go to http://www.SaveAScream.com and read about them all. I'd especially love you to read the CAPS interview - as it's all about the work the Captive Animals Protection Society do - which is fighting against the cruelty of animals in captivity. We all know about how cruel circuses are, but a lot of people don't think about the cruelty of zoos and how horrible it is for an animal to be in a zoo. There's a trailer of a documentary at the bottom of the CAPS page that is well worth watching.
Add SaveAScream.com on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/saveascream
I've also added 12 pix of Million Dollar Reload from Download to the Black Velvet website - http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/milliondollarreloadphotos.htm
current music: Thrice - Beggars
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| Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
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1:33 pm
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Went to the Hare & Hounds in Kings Heath, Birmingham (my first time ever to that venue) last night for the Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros gig. I've put a few small pix up at: http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/edwardsharpephotos.htm
Was good to see Airin (Sugarcult) on bass.
...Although is it me or are we WAY OVERDUE a Sugarcult tour and new album?
Everyone go to http://www.myspace.com/sugarcult and tell them to hurry up.
I know they're having fun doing their side projects... but... nothing will ever compare to Sugarcult.
PS. A little thanks to Design Go who sent me a new mini-fan in the mail. I bought one on the way to Download back in June (as it was boiling) and the thing didn't work, at all. I wrote to them and told them and they have sent me a new one. This one works - which is nice!
PPS. What I would really like is for Sugarcult to support Bon Jovi. That would be the best thing in the world. Ever.
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| Tuesday, August 18th, 2009
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10:15 am
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Had a great day yesterday. I did two telephone interviews for the next Black Velvet. At 4pm I interviewed Phil Collen of Def Leppard/Man Raze - about Man Raze (and being a strict vegetarian!). He was really cool. I got it all typed up by 10pm - although need to work on making it into an article.
Then at midnight I called Australia and did a telephone interview with the awesome Keri Kelli. Since I haven't actually interviewed him since he joined Alice Cooper a few years ago I figured it was about time I did. Was on the phone for ages. Cue massive phone bill. Not quite sure how I'm gonna fit the interview into two pages. I bet it could take five!
Both interviews will be in issue 62 of Black Velvet. Order your copy now, 'cause it's gonna be a good one!
Heard the new Bon Jovi single, 'We Weren't Born To Follow' this morning. Nice thing to wake up to. I love it and am having to hit 'replay' constantly. Think I've listened to it 10 times already. Awesome song. The band at their best.
current mood:  chipper
current music: Bon Jovi - We Weren't Born To Follow
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| Monday, August 17th, 2009
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2:24 am - This entry is brought to you by the letter H
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Just put 12 photos of Heaven's Basement from their show with Buckcherry the other week. I know I'm late but I've been crazy busy with interviews and things and only just decided tonight to add a few.
http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/heavensbasementphotos.htm
Did a cool phone interview with Adde of Hardcore Superstar on Wednesday. Got that typed up the same night, made into an article Thursday and laid out for the next issue on Friday.
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| Monday, August 3rd, 2009
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4:20 pm
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SaveAScream.Com is now online!
SaveAScream.com is a new website (by yours truly). The website includes interviews, recommendations and more. We will be having interviews with vegan and veggie musicians, ethical companies, vegan campaigners, cruelty free product makers and more.
Check it out so far for interviews with:
The Dead Stars On Hollywood - Kneel Cohn
Donots - Ingo Donot
Ethical WARES
Funeral For A Friend - Matthew Davies
Handmade Vegan Chocolates
Hillside Animal Sanctuary
Live Native
Maniac - Shawn Harris
Mark Hawthorne
Midlands Vegan Campaigns - Kevin White
Plus recommendations of organic vegan skincare, handmade vegan chocolate and more.
Go to http://www.SaveAScream.com
Spread the word!
More additions to the site coming soon.
If you know any veggies or vegans that you think we should feature get in touch.
If you have any cruelty free products we might like and be interested in recommending get in touch.
If you are interested in being a part of the SaveAScream.com team and writing articles get in touch.
If you want to advertise get in touch!
Also, add SaveAScream on myspace at www.myspace.com/saveascream
If you're on Twitter, follow www.twitter.com/saveascream
Still hard at work on Black Velvet - but trying to do this at the same time! Make sure you order issue 61 of Black Velvet which is just out now.
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| Saturday, August 1st, 2009
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7:12 pm
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| Monday, July 27th, 2009
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3:43 pm - Black Velvet 61 Out Now
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Issue 61 of Black Velvet is out now and includes:
Interviews with We The Kings, Duff McKagan (Duff McKagan's Loaded), Black Stone Cherry, Madina Lake, Billy Talent, Ashbury, Damone & The Mission District.
Heaps of concert reviews including Go:Audio, Hundred Reasons, Papa Roach, Nickelback/Black Stone Cherry, Madina Lake, The Rasmus/Backyard Babies & Bon Jovi/Soraia @ Summerfest
A Download Festival 2009 report
A Warped Tour festival report
Tons of album, single and demo reviews including Billy Talent, The Audition, Green Day, Zombina And The Skeletones, Defueld, Sains Of Eden, Rachel Stamp, Ashbury, Eighth Wave, Jim Davies, Anti-Flag, Heavens Basement, Aiden, FACT, Mollygogo, Taking Back Sunday, Go:Audio, Eureka Machines, Young Guns and more.
'Me, Me, Me & My Rock CV' - If you have a job in the music industry you get to tell us what you do and why you do it. Answer the questions in the zine and we may feature YOU. This issue we feature Rob Spacey of Viva Hate store in Derby.
A new column by our new columnist in Japan. Wanna hear some rock news from Japan? Check Ando Terumi's column.
All the usuals such as Fanzine Reviews, Books & DVD reviews & Supersonic Future Superstars (featuring The Jokers and Winch House).
And your chance to win some awesome free Organica vegan chocolate (which tastes amaaaazing).
TO ORDER YOUR COPY:
Order from one of the following online stores and have it delivered to your home:
http://www.atomicbooks.com USA
http://www.quimbys.com USA
http://www.fourdogsmusic.com UK
http://www.ethicalwares.com UK
http://www.punkrockshop.co.uk UK
http://www.beeunique.co.uk UK
http://www.waterfrontrecords.com Australia (Sydney).
All do mail order and can ship anywhere - so no matter where you live you can read Black Velvet.
OR Buy from one of the following retail stores:
UK
Banbury Record Savings
Birmingham Dale End newsagents
Brighton Ampwitch Emporium
Bromsgrove M.S.B. Recording & Rehearsal Studios
Cardiff Spillers
Derby Viva Hate
Dudley ST Records
Edinburgh Word Power
Leeds Jumbo Records
Redditch Train Station Newsagents
Sheffield Rocky Horrors
USA
Baltimore, MD Atomic Books
Charlotte, NC Joseph Beth
Chicago, IL Quimbys Books
Cincinnati, OH Joseph Beth
Lexington, KY Joseph Beth
Lyndhurst, OH Joseph Beth
Memphis, TN Davis Kidd
Nashville, TN Davis Kidd
Pittsburgh, PA Joseph Beth
AUSTRALIA
Sydney Waterfront Records
OR Buy directly from Black Velvet with Paypal. Go to
http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/contents.htm to pay with Paypal.
You can also send UK cheques, UK postal orders or cash (UK or foreign) to Black Velvet to order a copy by mail order. Visit http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com for more info.
More info is at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com
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3:25 am
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Went to see and interview Saving Aimee at Birmingham Academy 2 today. Needed to go to Dale News which shuts at 5pm on a Sunday, so had to go up a bit earlier. Found out that Dale News is staying open and in its location down Dale End until next year - which is a good thing. Black Velvet can stay on sale there for a bit longer - although not sure how many people are going to walk to Dale News for it when the Academy moves to where the old Dome is. Hopefully Black Velvet readers will make a trip there for it. I decided to actually take a walk to where the old Dome is to see how long it takes from the train station (since I had an hour to kill between shops shutting and my interview). Unfortunately it was raining and I had a dodgy umbrella. The umbrella ended up in the bin and I ended up with soggy hair.
Luke and Sean of Saving Aimee were funny and cool to interview. Got a coupla band pix and then later took pix of the first three songs of their set.
I've put 15 b&w live pix at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/savingaimeephotos.htm
current mood: tired
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| Sunday, July 19th, 2009
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11:05 pm
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Did an awesome phone interview with Brody Dalle (Spinnerette, ex-The Distillers) yesterday. Was happy to discover that she's still vegan. Apparently the other week she kind of weakened and ate fish - but now she's back to being vegan, which is good to hear. Was awesome to talk to her, especially about vegan stuff. It's cool to discover other females in the music industry who care about animals - and do what they can to avoid contributing to any cruelty. I'm going to start typing it up now (was doing Black Velvet website work last night, and have just spent the evening proofreading for someone else).
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| Friday, July 3rd, 2009
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12:38 am
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Rob from Backstage With JBJ just sent me a couple of pix of me in the photopit from the Bon Jovi Summerfest show.
( Click for pix... )
current mood: good
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| Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
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11:51 am - USA
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So much to do so little time. I got back home from the US yesterday. I flew over there last Wednesday. Went to Milwaukee for Summerfest. Bon Jovi were headlining the opening night and were supported by Soraia. I met up with Chris of The Get Go the afternoon/eve I arrived, who was kind enough to drive me around to find a new suitcase since mine got broken in transit. Don't you hate how those baggage transporters don't care about breaking your suitcase or items? Part of the handle had gone from it when I picked it up at the baggage carousel! Thanks for that, people! I managed to find a new cheap one in Target though, so that's ok... although these baggage handlers ought to get billed, I think!
So next day was the show. I picked up my pass and met up with Rob and Darren of Backstage With Jon Bon Jovi, the official Bon Jovi fan club. Heard the awful news that Michael Jackson had died. :-( I've put Bon Jovi photos up at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/bonjoviphotos.htm. Soraia have also put a few of my pix on their myspace page - http://www.myspace.com/soraia
The Bon Jovi show finished just after 10.30pm and at that time Rise Against were still playing on one of the other stages, so I got over there and caught about 45mins of their set. I have never seen so many people at a Rise Against show. It was pretty cool - and they played all my faves at the end - 'Ready To Fall', 'Give It All', 'Prayer of The Refugee' etc. I then walked back to the bus stop and managed to get the bus just before midnight back to my hotel which was by the airport. I got to bed at 2.30am and had to set my alarm to wake up at 4am as next day I was flying to San Francisco.
AirTran are awesome. I will admit I was slightly worried about the airline prior to flying with them as I'd never flown with them before and was nervous incase my baggage got lost or the flight got delayed (you read horror stories for some airlines if you search online). Thankfully everything was perfect - and even better, you can get inflight internet with AirTran! I have never been on an aeroplane that had inflight internet so I was in heaven! It only cost $12.95 for the duration of the flight - and my flight was about 4 hours long - so that was uber-cheap I think. Although I didn't realise it was for the whole flight so I only went online halfway through (I was editing my Soraia pix first). The flight was awesome, free drinks and all that stuff for a super-cheap price. You can even pay with Paypal! I would definitely give an A++ to AirTran and recommend them to everyone.
So I found my cheap hotel in San Francisco. I was staying in the Mission District (not to be confused with the band of the same name, but back when I booked the hotel I thought it was pretty cool - since The Mission District are an awesome band! What is spooky is that back when I was researching for my Mission District interview a few months back one of the first websites I stumbled across was for the Mission District area in San Francisco. This was before I decided to go to San Francisco - so when I ended up searching for hotels and this Mission District one looked like the best bet it was pretty spooky. It was almost like someone, somewhere knew that I'd be ending up in the Mission District - back before I'd even decided to go to the US.)
Marko of Sugarcult was doing two DJ gigs that night. I decided to try and sleep for a couple of hours before walking over to the one place. I got there before he'd arrived though, so ended up walking around a bit before decided to go to a vegan restaurant instead. It turned out to be about 5mins walk from my hotel and is called Herbivore (http://www.herbivorerestaurant.com). Lots of great food. I had a veggie burger and fries and soya hot chocolate and brought away a vanilla shake, donut and chocolate cake for breakfast next day. I was too tired to go back to see Marko DJing so I just went to bed. Sorry Marko! My hotel has a loud disco Friday and Saturday nights which kind of put the dampeners on me getting much sleep though, since I was on the floor right underneath!
Next day was Warped Tour and I set my alarm to wake me up at 5.15am. Found my way to the venue, Pier 30/32, with ease. Gave out some Black Velvet flyers, picked up my press/photopass and headed in. I've put photos up at http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/warpedtour2009photos.htm
Went to say hi to Madina Lake who were doing a signing at 2pm. I think they were surprised to see me over there. On the way out at the very end I bumped into Marko and family who were just arriving. A San Francisco Warped Tour report will be in the next Black Velvet, along with a Bon Jovi Summerfest review.
I flew home yesterday, and was happy to finally get more than 3 hours sleep last night. Now I need to get my Warped Tour report and Summerfest review laid out and the next issue completed, so it can get off to the printers.
Couple of my fave pix:
current mood: chipper
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| Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
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12:47 pm
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| Monday, June 15th, 2009
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7:00 pm
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Had a hectic but fun Friday-Sunday at Download festival. I don't do camping so a friend (thankfully) drove from my house and back each day. Managed to get only 2 1/2 hours sleep on Friday night (due to finding out the M42 was closed on the way back and then getting stuck in a traffic jam on a motorway we didn't want to be on!) and about 4 or 4 1/2 on the other days. So dead now...
I had a second/third/fourth stage photopass. There are always so many photopass requests for Download and they can only have a certain amount in the main stage. Since Black Velvet's not as big as some of the big national mags and papers, or agencies, this meant getting a second/third/fourth stages pass. Thankfully most of the bands I really wanted to take pix of were on the second and Tuborg stage. Would have liked to have taken pix of Billy Talent on the main stage but you can't have everything! Of course Def Leppard and others would have been cool too - although I love Go:Audio who were headlining the Tuborg stage at the same time on the last night.
I'm going through photos now (although think I'm gonna do a few hours of non-Black Velvet work for a bit now). So far I've put Steadlur, The Prodigy and Steel Panther photos on the Black Velvet site. The links are in the Black Velvet MySpace blog. Keep checking that blog out as I will just put the links there or via Twitter as I'm so busy: http://www.myspace.com/blackvelvetmagazine or http://www.twitter.com/blackvelvetmag
A Download 2009 report with more pix will be in the next printed Black Velvet. (Order in advance to save money, from http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/nextissue.htm)
current mood: exhausted
current music: Hardcore Superstar
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| Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
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3:03 pm
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Anti-Flag's new album, The People or the Gun, has just been released and the boys have done a new ad for peta2. More info can be found at: http://peta2-blog.livejournal.com/423723.html
I'm thinking of starting my own cruelty free/vegan/veggie website as a friend suggested I should do one. I'm stuck trying to think of a name though. All the best names have gone. I wanted fakebacon.com but that's taken. Even starswithhearts.com like the small section of the same name that I have in Black Velvet is taken. Today I thought of nowhey.com and nowheyjose.com - but guess what? Both are gone. Gah! Anyone good at thinking of cool names? Send me your suggestions.
Also, yesterday I did an interview with Nick Baldrian of Two Side Moon Promotions. If you've ever wondered what goes into having your own press company - or are a band who wants to know more about the significance of a good press/promotion company, read http://www.blackvelvetmagazine.com/tsm.htm
current mood:  okay
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