I caught Ekotren and Anew Revolution on the final night of the “Restore The Insanity Tour” with Ill Nino, Fashion Bomb and Absolution February 19th in Allentown PA at the Crocadile Rock Café. Both bands killed. But let me start off by saying walking in I had no expectations and I was surprised to see they guys from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania’s Absolution there, so that was a plus.
Live, Absolution always brings it and their CD “Theory Of Existence” is a must.
Ekotren is touring in support of their new CD “The Dead Of Night” and I believe it is the best CD to be released this year so far. (You can check out ROCKNIGHTMARE”S CD review of “The Dead Of Night Here”) Their on stage performance was filled with a lot of energy. The band was tight. And judging from what I seen in the front row the fans loved every minuet of it. (Pictures of their set posted here)
Anew Revolution……Not to take anything away from any of the other bands, but these guys took the stage and just nailed it. The energy was high from the start of their set and they never let the it go. The fans started a circle pit during the first song and bodies started to fly every where. The band rock it for almost an hour never giving the audience a chance to breath. “ROCKNIGHTMARE” will be at a lot of shows this year and Anew Revolution’s performance will be the new standard we will be holding bands to. (Pictures of their set posted here)
I did have a chance to speak with Ekotren about their New CD “The Dead Of Night” and I caught up with Joey Duenas of Anew Revolution as well.
EKOTREN:
RN: What can you fans expect from you new CD “The Dead Of Night”?
Keith Finnell: The songs are more upbeat and are heavier than out last record “Light The Fire”
RN: Did you do any thing different this time around?
Keith Finnell: We used a lot of different stuff. Different amps, different places. We put more of an aggressive tone to it.
Derek Desantis: A lot of these songs we wrote closer to the time of recording. All together, we worked feverishly for three months straight just writing. On “LIGHT The Fire” those songs had been written over a broader range of time. So I think that shows the hard work and effort we put into “The Dead Of Night”.
RN: “The Dead Of Night” sounds bigger and more polished than “Light The Fire”.
Keith Finnell: We did about two and a half years of touring between records we learned a lot of stuff traveling and touring the country. I think we worked better together this time around than we did on the last record.
Derek Desantis: Our current lineup is a lot stronger this time. I think that has a lot to do with it as well. We communicate more openly and that shows in the writing.
Keith Finnell: We are on the same page now more so than the last record. This is an album not just a collection of songs.
RN: How is the record doing so far do you know?
Derek Desantis: We don’t know how many units we sold so far but the response has been great. We peaked at number seven on the radio charts with “End Of The Day“, that was pretty exciting.
RN: Active Rock Radio or Satellite?
John Sheldon: They are blending us in everywhere right now. They are getting us in Active Rock Radio with one track and heavier metal stations with 2 other tracks and we are also on Starlight Radio, Music Choice that kind of stuff. And soon we hope to be on Pandora Radio. So we are trying to get every outlet we can.
RN: Do you guys know what your touring plans are yet for later this year?
Derek Desantis: Nothing confirmed yet. But we hope to be back out on the road by mid April. We have to work this record and get it into peoples hands.
Joey Duenas of Anew Revolution:
RN: How has the tour been going?
Joey Duenas: Cold, every where we go we have snow. I think the only place we didn’t have snow was L.A. and New York.
RN: What do you have planned after this run?
Joey Duenas: We have a little break. A few weeks off. A much needed rest. Than we are headed to SXSW. And we do have another tour lined up that starts in the middle of March. And after that run there will be another. But we are looking to finish up in the fall and start writing a new record.
RN: Do you have any ideas for the record yet?
Joey Duenas: Not a lot yet. We have a few riffs here and there. But it’s hard for us to write on the road because everything is so chaotic. You never really get time to your self. You are always being interrupted.
RN: How well has “IMERICA” done for you guys?
Joey Duenas: It’s done really well. It has almost matched the sales of the last record in a shorter period of time.
RN: I have a hard time finding CD’s in stores. I had to order yours online.
Joey Duenas: The truth of it is, retailers are not selling CD’s any more. It’s all down loads. It’s not like the old days. If you got on a small label a store would buy your CD’s from the distributors with out a problem. Now they’re hesitant. We do well on iTunes. Our iTunes sales have matched our CD sales. Most of our record sales have been at shows. I think fans like walking away with a something signed.
Thank you to the guys in Ekotren and Anew Revolution for taking the time to speak with me and for putting on a great show.
For more info Check Out
Absolution
Ekotren
Anew Revolution
