Former THREE DAYS GRACE Singer: 'The Music Really Wasn't Coming From The Heart'
According to The Pulse Of Radio, former THREE DAYS GRACE singer Adam Gontier has spoken out about his reasons for leaving the band he co-founded after 20 years together. The original announcement by the band and his follow-up statement seemed to have conflicting views regarding Gontier's health and his motivations, so The Pulse Of Radioasked him why he made this move now. "For me, I think the thing that broke the camel's back was, I had enough of the money coming before the music," he said. "It's not perfect timing, but it had to be done, you know. For the sake of my own mental health and well-being, I had to do it."
Gontier elaborated on what went wrong for him after playing in THREE DAYS GRACE for two decades. "You know, the music really wasn't coming from the heart," he said. "I can say that on the record 'Transit Of Venus', there's maybe one or two songs that actually do come from my heart, but a lot of songs have been written just for radio and for fans, you know, to relate to. Quite a bit of it just adds up to the fakeness of the whole industry and how you're writing hits for other people and not yourself — and that's really what the band was, has been all about."
THREE DAYS GRACE announced Gontier's departure from the group earlier this week, although he officially resigned on December 21.
The band claims that he told them he was leaving through a letter from his lawyer, with no personal discussion or contact between Gontier and his bandmates.
THREE DAYS GRACE will appear as planned on a co-headlining tour withSHINEDOWN that starts on February 1, with Matt Walst of MY DARKEST DAYS filling in on vocals. The group will announce its future plans after the tour.
The tour is in support of the band's fourth album, "Transit Of Venus", which includes the No. 1 rock radio hit "Chalk Outline".
Gontier played a benefit show in New York City on Thursday night (January 17) and plans to begin work on a solo album in the near future.
Pictured below: THREE DAYS GRACE
STONE SOUR Drummer On His Stroke: ' I Couldn't Walk, I Couldn't Really Move My Left Side'
STONE SOUR drummer Roy Mayorga recently spoke to The Morning Callabout his 2011 stroke and his recovery, which lasted nearly a year.
"It was pretty scary," he said. "I couldn't walk, I couldn't really move my left side really well. It was horrible. I basically was not playing or doing anything music [related] for a good seven, eight months. And then I got better, I got off the meds, and got the confidence again to play drums and got behind the kit and then started recording [the] new [STONE SOUR] album … Almost two years later, I'm pretty much back to normal, and it's a miracle, man, I gotta say. I thank God and the universe and lucky stars I'm still here today. I'm just glad that's over with and I'm able to still walk and play drums and still be here with my family."
Mayorga praised his bandmates, who canceled the rest of their tour and waited for him to get better.
"That's incredible," he said. "I mean, that's a lot to be said for them. Those guys are truly my brothers, for them to do something like that. … Most bands would have gotten somebody else to play drums. But they didn't."
Roy also spoke about the departure of STONE SOUR bassist Shawn Economaki, who left the band just a month before Mayorga's stroke. "That was pretty sudden — he basically wanted just to settle and just do his thing and not tour as much," Mayorga said. "He wanted to do more sound engineering and more studio work. I think, actually, he's working on building a recording studio in Des Moines right now."
METALLICA To Perform Entire 'Black' Album At Australia's SOUNDWAVE Festival?
According to Australia's KillYourStereo.com, Soundwave festival promoterAJ Maddah has confirmed that METALLICA will play a two-hour set at this year's event, complete with the "Snakepit" rig, all but confirming that the band's setlist will include the entirety of METALLICA's 1991 self-titled effort.
The last time this rig was used was during METALLICA's 2012 European tour where the LP was played backwards, starting with closing number"The Struggle Within" and ending with "Enter Sandman".
Asked whose idea it was for METALLICA to play the "black" album in reverse on the most recent tour, the band's drummer, Lars Ulrich, toldRolling Stone magazine, "If you like the idea, it was mine. If you don't, it was James' [Hetfield, guitar/vocals]. For better or worse, I'm the setlist guy. This is all subject to change if it doesn't work. But the idea of starting off with the lesser-known songs buried down there and ending up with 'Sad But True' and 'Enter Sandman' seems like a winner. You finish with the money shot, which is the first song."
"Metallica" in 2009 surpassed SHANIA TWAIN's 1997 record, "Come On Over", as the best-selling CD of the SoundScan era. To date, the black album has sold more than 16 million copies in the United States.
Although METALLICA had scored their first radio and video airplay with their previous effort, 1988's "...And Justice For All", the black album was the band's biggest commercial breakthrough, producing five singles and making them into one of the most popular rock bands in the world.
OTHERWISE: 'I Don't Apologize (1000 Pictures)' Video Released
"I Don't Apologize (1000 Pictures)", the new video from Las Vegas rockers OTHERWISE, can be seen below. The song is a heartbreak anthem that most anyone who's had a difficult break can relate to. The track comes off of the band's debut album, "True Love Never Dies", which has sold nearly 30,000 copies in the United States to date.
"I Don't Apologize (1000 Pictures)" has already sold over 10,000 singles and is currently No. 22 at Active Rock Radio.
OTHERWISE was also selected to open this year's MMA Awards Showwith a performance of their hit single, "Soldiers". The program will air on the Fox Sports Network this Sunday, January 20 at 9:00 p.m. local time."Soldiers" was the first song by an unsigned artist to ever occupy the No. 1 spot on the Sirius Octane channel and has sold nearly 100,000 singles to date.
With vigorous touring all throughout 2012, OTHERWISE continues on with a heavy schedule into this year. Kicking off this weekend, OTHERWISE will hit the road with STONE SOUR and PAPA ROACH on a U.S. tour. The band is already confirmed for a number of festivals this year, so fans are encouraged to be on the lookout for updates and announcements.
Source: Blabbermouth.net
Courtney Love to Premiere New Music at Sundance Film Festival?
Courtney Love is headed to the Sundance Film Festival, but it’s not to promote a new film. The Hole frontwoman has scheduled a “one-night-only live performance” at The Star Bar in Park City, UT on Monday at 10 p.m.
The announcement comes three months after revealing to Rolling Stone that she was working on new solo material, which included a “really fast rock song” titled “This Is War,” produced by former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha. Love has said that she hopes to release “This Is War” on February 7.
Tickets for Love's concert start at $75 and are available at StarBarUtah.com.
Hollywood Undead Says Band Had “Complete Creative Freedom” While Making Notes from the Underground
Hollywood Undead scored the #2 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart last week with their highest-charting album ever, Notes from the Underground. Guitarist Jordon “Charlie Scene” Terrell says that the album’s success is partly due to the fact that the group didn’t have to answer to anyone while making the record.
“A lot of bands run into that problem where record labels kind of tell them what to do or what kind of music they should write,” Terrell tells ABC News Radio. “On this record they didn’t say anything, they left us alone. We had complete creative freedom so that’s a lot of fun for us.”
Terrell adds that the band has a few tracks left over from the Notes sessions which may be released sometime in the near future. “When you’re trying to pick 11 songs, everyone has a different opinion on what should go on the record,” he explains. “We try to be fair with it and try to figure out what’s best for this record at the time. So we have like, five songs left over or something, so we’ll probably put those on an EP along with maybe some other new ones we’ll record.”
Chris Cornell to Perform Solo and with Soundgarden at Separate Inaugural Balls Tonight
After the serious business of inauguration is over today, President Obama and thousands of special guests will be able to let loose and party at not one but twoInaugural Balls, one of which is so big that it'll be spread over five different exhibit halls of the Washington Convention Center. Both of the balls will feature some of music's biggest names, including Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, who will perform solo at the Commander-in-Chief's Ball and will be joined by his band at the Inaugural Ball. Other stars who'll be entertaining the crowd include fun., Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson,Alicia Keys, Katy Perry, Brad Paisley and Usher.
Here's a look at who's playing where tonight in Washington, D.C.: Commander-in-Chief’s Ball
Alicia Keys
Chris Cornell
Brad Paisley
Jamie Foxx
Jennifer Hudson
Marc Anthony
Inaugural Ball (Halls A, B & C)
Alicia Keys
Brad Paisley
fun. Glee cast
John Legend
Maná
Soundgarden
Stevie Wonder
Inaugural Ball (Halls D & E)
Alicia Keys
Black Violin
Far East Movement Glee cast
Katy Perry
Smokey Robinson
Usher
Listen to Anthrax’s Cover of Rush’s “Anthem” fromAnthems EP
Anthrax is giving us a taste of Anthems, an upcoming EP that features interpretations of classic rock songs from their favorite groups of the 1970s. Drummer Charlie Benantesays that Anthrax's cover of Rush’s “Anthem,” which is currently streaming atRollingStone.com, pays tribute to the Canadian prog-rock trio, who are one of his earliest musical influences.
"When I was first learning to play drums, I would strap on my headphones, play along with [Rush's 1976 live album All the World's a Stage] and be transformed," he tells Rolling Stone. "I don't [know] if you would hear anything that sounds like Rush in Anthrax's music, but the passion, the drive, the musicianship and the appreciation is all there." Anthems will arrive in stores on March 19. Here's the track list:
David Draiman Talks “Stepping Away” from Disturbed; “Darkness and Heaviness” of Device’s Debut Album
Frontman David Draiman says that it was necessary for Disturbed to go on an indefinite hiatus in order for him to work on new projects and grow as an artist.
“I think that the hiatus was more about us stepping away from something that basically encompassed our entire lives for 16 years and letting it breathe for a while, letting it sleep,” he tells RevolverMagazine in a video interview. Draiman adds that the upcoming debut album of Device -- his new side project with former Filter guitarist Geno Lenardo -- will be “free of the confines of what Disturbed had to be” with “no limitations or preconceived notions.”
Draiman notes that Distubred fans will enjoy Device’s debut album, despite the fact that he explores new creative avenues on the upcoming release. “Even though there’s definite darkness and heaviness on this record that will make the average Disturbed fan salivate like the Pavlovian dog…I think that I’ve gone places and the music goes places on this record that Disturbed has never gone,” he explains.
Device’s self-titled debut album will arrive at all the usual outlets on April 9. We’ll get our first taste of the new music when the album’s first single, “Vilify,” arrives at radio on February 19.
Filter Signs with Wind-up Records
Filter has a new record label. The band recently revealed that they're now a member of the Wind-up Records family.
"We're excited to enter a new phase of our career with Wind-up,” said frontman Richard Patrick in a statement. “They're expecting great things from us and we plan to deliver."
Fans can expect the band to release their follow-up to 2010's The Trouble with Angelsthrough Wind-up sometime this year, and to announce a string of tour dates to support it.
"I'm happy to say that based on the demos I've heard, this new album could very well be their best to date,” adds Wind-up Records President Ed Vetri. “Filter is more committed than ever to delivering great repertoire and bringing these songs to life at their live shows throughout 2013.”
