Daily Archives: June 5, 2012

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH LAUNCHES SUICIDE PREVENTION INITIATIVE

Posted by Dante on

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH LAUNCHES SUICIDE PREVENTION INITIATIVE PROMOTING THE NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE

Campaign Launched Alongside Single / Video Release of “Coming Down”

BAND FILMS PSA AND 31 DATE SUMMER METAL HAMMER TRESPASS AMERICA FESTIVAL PLEDGES $1.00 F0R EVERY TICKET SOLD

Las Vegas, NV- Five Finger Death Punch has announced a suicide prevention initiative promoting the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.   In cooperation with the Lifeline, the band has filmed a public service announcement, which will be placed on all broadcast, cable and web outlets interested in supporting the initiative.  The PSA can be screened here:

.  In addition, Five Finger Death Punch has independently filmed a visually arresting video that accompanies the single release of “Coming Down,” which will premiere on VEVO on June 12 at 9:00AM Pacific.  The final screen of the music video offers a call to action in sharing, “Don’t ignore the chance to get help for you or someone you know who might be in crisis.  Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline now at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), suicidepreventionlifeline.org.”

 

Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Zoltan Bathory shares, “Through support and awareness, suicide can be prevented.  Five Finger Death Punch  is promoting the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline to build awareness that there is support out there for those in need through the Lifeline’s service, and others.  This is an important initiative we have taken on to place it on the consciousness of the public that you are not alone when in need.”  Dr. John Draper, Director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline offers, ” By sharing the message with their fans that suicide is preventable, the members of Five Finger Death Punch will undoubtedly save lives. We are thrilled that they are helping get the word out about this valuable 24/7 service.”  The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is administered by Link2Health Solutions Inc., a wholly owned affiliate of the Mental Health Association of New York City.

 

The Metal Hammer Trespass America Festival has pledged $1.00 for every ticket sold this summer to provide for its network of crisis call centers .  The 31-date tour, headlined by Five Finger Death Punch, will also feature Killswitch Engage, Trivium, Pop Evil, Emmure, God Forbid, and Battlecross.  The complete itinerary follows below.

 

5FDP’s current single, “Coming Down,” recently debuted as the #1 rated track at Active Rock Rate-the-Music, and is on pace to be the band’s tenth straight Top Ten single at Active Rock Radio going back to “The Bleeding” in the spring of 2008.  Five Finger Death Punch are one of the most heavily played bands at rock radio, as “Never Enough,” “Stranger Than Fiction,” “Hard To See,” “Walk Away,” “Bad Company,” “Far From Home,” “Under And Over It,” and most recently “Remember Everything,” has become an anthem in its own right.  The band’s current album, American Capitalist, continues to sell extremely well with 396,125 copies sold since its debut at #3 on the Billboard charts October 11th.  The imminent certification of the band’s third record to hit RIAA-Certified Gold status over the last two years, and  cumulative track downloads exceeding one million sold, displays that there are few in rock more relevant than Five Finger Death Punch over the last several years.

 

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is an asset for the general public that also provides a special service for veterans and members of the military.  When calling 800-273-TALK (8255) the individual dialing will be linked to the nearest of over 150 local crisis centers across the country to speak with a trained crisis worker.  The caller may “press 1″ if he/she is a veteran, military service member or concerned about one, which will route the call to the confidential national Veterans Crisis Line.   Earlier this year, the band returned from a visit to military bases across Kuwait, where they touched down for performances and or visits on bases that included Camp Moreell, Camp Beuhring, Camp Patriot and others.  This was 5FDP’s second visit overseas to perform for the troops in two years .  At the time, singer Ivan Moody shared, “What a stellar way to start the spring.  Playing for the troops is always an honor and seriously humbling. Can’t say enough about the experience- everyone was so respectful and warm. I hope we helped morale and it was a privilege to give back to those that give so much for us.”

 

The full METAL HAMMER TRESPASS AMERICA FESTIVAL itinerary includes appearances in:

7/13       Broomfield, CO                                                 1st Bank Center  GET TIX

7/15       Billings, MT                                                         MetraPark Arena GET TIX

7/16       Bismarck, ND                                                     Bismarck Civic Center GET TIX

7/17       Sioux Falls, SD                                                    Sioux Falls Arena GET TIX

7/19       Milwaukee, WI                                                 Eagles Ballroom GET TIX

7/21       Fort Wayne, IN                                                                 Allen County Expo Center GET TIX

7/22       Waterloo, IA                                                      McElroy Auditorium GET TIX

7/24       Lubbock, TX                                                                        Lonestar Amphitheatre GET TIX

7/25       Belton, TX                                                                           Bell County Expo Center GET TIX

7/27       San Antonio, TX                                                 Freeman Coliseum GET TIX

7/28       Beaumont, TX                                                   Ford Pavilion GET TIX

7/30       Nashville, TN                                                      Bridgestone Arena GET TIX

7/31       Evansville, IN                                                     Ford Center GET TIX

8/01       Cincinnati, OH                                                    NC Pavilion at Riverbend GET TIX

8/03       Battle Creek, MI                                               Kellogg Arena GET TIX

8/04       Rochester Hills, MI                                          Meadowbrook Amph GET TIX

8/05       Cleveland, OH                                                   Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica GET TIX

8/07       Oswego, NY                                                       Oswego Speedway GET TIX

8/08       Glens Falls, NY                                                                   Glens Falls Civic Center GET TIX

8/10       Scarborough, ME                                             Scarborough Downs GET TIX

8/14       Pittsburgh, PA                                                   Stage AE GET TIX

8/15       Hartford, CT                                                       Comcast Theatre GET TIX

8/17       Worchester, MA                                              DCU Center GET TIX

8/18       Newark, NJ                                                         Prudential Center GET TIX

8/19       Philadelphia, PA                                               Penn’s Landing – Festival Pier GET TIX

8/21       Charlotte, NC                                                                     Time Warner Amph GET TIX

8/22       Knoxville, TN                                                                      Knoxville Civic Coliseum GET TIX

8/24       Oklahoma City, OK                                          Zoo Amph GET TIX

8/25       Rio Rancho, NM                                                Santa Ana Star Center GET TIX

8/26       Phoenix, AZ                                                        Comercia Theatre GET TIX

8/28       Los Angeles, CA                                                Hollywood Palladium GET TIX

www.fivefingerdeathpunch.com

suicidepreventionlifeline.org

www.mha-nyc.org

 

Interview W/ L.A.GUNS Drummer Steven Riley & Hollywood Forever CD REVEIW

Posted by Dante on

Interview W/ L.A.GUNS Drummer Steven Riley & Hollywood Forever CD REVEIW 

Hollywood Forever

Label: Cleopatra Records

Produced and Engineered: Andy Johns

Release Date: 6-5-12

   Finally after 7 years L.A.Guns led by Phil Lewis has returned with a brand new album. Every now and then a band announces they are going to be releasing a new CD and I get my hopes up and more often then not I am let down. So to be honest I have tried to end all expectations and I try not to fall prey to the pre hype of any new release. That was not the case with “Hollywood Forever”. When I found out the band hit the studio to record this, my expectations where high and I could not wait to hear the finished product. Sometime last week I got my hands on a copy of “Hollywood Forever” and I have to say my expectations were met and then some.

High Lights:

Hollywood Forever is the fourth album L.A.Guns has made with legendary producer Andy Johns. Singer Phil Lewis sounds as though time hasn’t past, Guitarist Stacey Blades is on fire, Drummer Steven Riley still holds the back beat while Bassist Scotty Griffin brings the bands sound together with a killer groove. This CD did not disappoint. Hollywood Forever solidifies L.A.Guns as one of the true leaders among their peers.

　Track List:

1. Hollywood Forever
2. You Better Not Love Me
3. Eel Pie
4. Sweet Mystery
5. Burn
6. Vine Street Shimmy
7. Dirty Black Night
8. Underneath The Sun
9. Queenie
10. Crazy Tango
11. Venus Bomb
12. I Won’t Play
13. Requiem (Hollywood Forever)
14. Araña Negra (Black Spider) [Bonus Track]

I recently conducted an interview Drummer Steven Riley. You can check that out below

Steven Riley Interview

RN: Let’s talk about the new album that’s coming out June 5th “Hollywood Forever”.

Steve Riley: Yeah, the album comes out June 5th and on June 6th we are playing the House Of Blues here in L.A. We are getting ready to start the tour. We are planning on doing a ton of shows this year and really try to push this album. We are real proud of it. It’s our fourth album we did with Andy Johns producing and we are really digging it right now.

RN: Considering it has been seven years since your last album was this processes any different?

Steve Riley: It was different. We went old school on this one. We did a good pre-production on this. We did about a month in the rehearsal hall and put it together there. So when we went in to record, we went in fast because we were prepared and we knew what we wanted to do. It was a nice collaborative effort, and to have Andy Johns produce us again was big. We knew what we are going to get with Andy. He gives us that nice wide sound. And we are happy with the material as well. We had more songs so we had to pick and choose what went on the album. We are happy with the way it turned out, and the out look for it is great. We are going to put our best effort into promoting it. There is no big machine any more. So we have to do our part to make it happen.

RN: From start to finish how long did it take you to complete this record?

Steve Riley: It was all four of us coming off of a very long European tour. We took off for Christmas and went right in to the studio the day after. We started fooling around with some of the songs and we started recording February 1st.

RN: Scotty (Griffin) plays bass on this record as well right?

Steve Riley: O’ Yeah, he has brought in a lot of the material too. He is all over this album. He was very active with this record.

RN: For people that may not know Scotty really is not new. Scotty was in the band before Kenny Kweens. Kenny left and Scotty came back.

Steve Riley: Yeah, that’s right. We are real happy Scotty wanted to come back. Kenny was a great guy but he had a lot of other stuff going on that made it difficult for him to tour. So Scotty is here. Here for good this time. He is all over the album and we are just happy he is back with us.

RN: How did M3 go for you guys this year?

Steve Riley: M3 was great. We were selected to play on HDNet. That went out to like 20 or 30 million people around the world. We tore it. We started off M3 headlining the second stage and now the last three years we have been playing the main stage. We were not scheduled to play M3 this year. But we got the call. Cinderella was supposed to play but were not able to so they called us. They said the fans were very active in telling the people that run M3 that they wanted us there. So that was really cool. It felt good.

RN: How many new songs are going to be added to your set list for this tour?

Steve Riley: We are trying to balance the set out. There are a number of songs that we have to play at every show. Ballad of Jane, Rip And Tear, and Sex Action, there is no way around it. We have to play the staple songs. We are going to play new songs too. We have played new songs but we are limited on how much new stuff we can put in there because we have to play the old material as well. The people that have been our fans through out the years want to hear “I Wanna to Be Your Man“, and “Over The Edge” and that’s ok with us. They’re our songs and we love playing them. I know some bands hate it. But we are proud of what we have done and all the years we have been doing it.

RN: I see you guys are playing the CBGB Festival in New York on July 5th. That’s pretty cool.

Steve Riley: I am so happy you brought that up. The venue has changed a few times since it was posted. Now we are playing Friday July 6th at the Gramercy Theater in New York City.  This should be pretty good. It’s going on all over the city at a bunch of different venues.

RN: If you don’t mind I have a lot of questions that are not related to the new album. Is that cool?

Steve Riley: Go for it. I’ll answer anything you got.

RN: Ok cool. The “American Hardcore’’ album has to be my favorite non Phil Lewis L.A.G. album. Why didn’t you guys change the name of the band? Although I love the record, I think that was the last thing L.A.Guns fans thought they would hear.

Steve Riley: That was in the mid 90’s. That was a really bad time for a lot of U.S. bands. CMC offered the deal. They wanted the name L.A.Guns. Considering it was me and Tracii (Guns) they thought the name would be the selling point for the album. But it was definitely something else. We should have called it something else. It was the furthest thing from L.A.Guns.  I’m glad you liked it. It was something we knew we were capable of doing but it’s also something we knew we would never do if Phil was in the band. So with two new members in the band it was a stab at trying something new. I think the drag about the whole thing was calling it L.A.Guns.

RN: Looking back over the course of your career what are some of your favorite albums that you were apart of making?

Steve Riley: Wow, you know what, it would have to be L.A.Guns “Cocked N’ Loaded” and W.A.S.P “The Last Command”. In both situations we have just come off tours that lasted about a year and a half. And we went right into pre-production. Back then, labels wanted another product right away when you already had steam behind you. Both bands were so tight going into the studio for those records. We captured what we were looking to capture. The songs are great and they jump right out of the speakers at you. Those 2 albums are my favorite. I really loved the vibe that surrounded us while entering the studio on both of them.

RN: Do you have a least favorite album?

Steve Riley: Yeah, you know what? I am proud of every thing I have done. I had a hand in writing on all the albums I have played on. Looking back at the Jizzy Pearl album “Shrinking Violet” and the Ralph album “Wasted” and “American Hardcore” with Chris Van Dahl, I know those albums were not popular with L.A.Guns fans but I am happy with them because I was able to help write that kind of music. I would say my least favorite to work on was the “Hollywood Vampires” album. Not because of the material. I love what we did on that album but I didn’t like the vibe that was around that album. It was kind of like a burn out feeling and we choose a producer that took us to 11 or 12 different studios to record the album. It was a long pre-production it was just a bad time. The same thing can be said about W.A.S.P. when we did “Inside The Electric Circus”. Blackie (Lawless) had just fired Randy Piper. That was a terrible feeling going into the studio to record that album. There is a lot of good material on that album too but we just lost Randy. He was a big part of our sound and I think it was really noticeable. Those two albums were kind of big disappointments for me. Again I love the songs. I just didn’t like the process.

RN: You have had such a long career have you ever thought about writing a book?

Steve Riley: I just finished reading Bobby Blotzer’s book. I read everyone’s books and I noticed that some people write about one specific time in their lives. I have so much to write about. I have to do it some day because I have a pretty interesting story to tell.

RN: How did you make the transition from Steppenwolf to the 80’s glam scene?

Steve Riley: I have been recording with different bands since 1975. I was here in L.A. before that whole thing started.  Before Van Halen started playing clubs. I don’t think anyone really set out to do the glam thing because we were all influenced by it already. People like Bowie and the Rolling Stones. I think we were already doing the glam thing before it was called glam. We were already dressing the part. It was a wild scene out here. I think the glam thing came to most of the bands in a natural way. The shows and the presentation on T.V. got so big, everything got more glammy and things started to get a little to shiny. Back then I wanted to do anything I could do to just play. I was doing some pretty stupid shit just to keep busy all the time. And one of those stupid gigs led to Ron Keel.  You have to put yourself in the situation. If you think you are just going to sit back and it’s going to come to you, you’re dreaming. If you do everything you can do, even the stupid things that you know are going no where you never know who you are going to run into. I was doing a session with Greg Chaisson from Badlands, his brother Kenny Chaisson was in Keel, and he told me that Keel was about to record with Gene Simmons. So I joined Keel. I did their first record. That lead me to W.A.S.P., and that led me to L.A.Guns. I was an eye witness to the whole 80’s thing. I was here before the beginning of it. Before people starting lining the walk ways with all the flyers Quiet Riot was playing the Starwood and Van Halen was playing The Whisky. So I have seen it from the beginning. I have seen so much crazy shit. L.A. was so over the top crazy. If you had something going on, like I was in W.A.S.P and L.A.Guns, you had a green light to do just about anything out here. It was insane. I would say the craziest thing I seen was some of my close friends destroy themselves.  So yeah, I have had an amazing carrier and I have a lot of stories to tell, and I should someday get around to putting the pen to paper and get a book done.

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