Mick Birchall Reviews

Where do you think your passion for music came from? Well, since I was a child, my mother always encouraged me to listen to music in general. In our house there were a lot of rock band albums like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and others ... so I believe this has greatly influenced my desire to become a professional musician. Who are your biggest influences? Some of my main influences are classical bands like Dio, Rainbow, Sabbath, Priest. But in addition, I also often listen to a lot of oriental and classical music. To you, what is the most important thing about playing live? The feeling of being able to play live is something that can not be compared to anything. The energy emanating from people during some performance compensates for all the effort that was made during the recording of the studio album. What is the one song you had wished you had written? I love everything I wrote and recorded with my band so much, so I am not thinking much about other compositions that are already ...

If you're familiar with this blog, then you should recognise the name The Outlaw Orchestra . I have spoken about them at length, I have reviewed their debut album and follow up EP, I have seen them live and reviewed their set. Hell, you'll probably have seen me, mouth off about them on Twitter. Honestly, I am so happy to have discovered their music. They're just one of those bands that I can just listen to and never really get bored. Their mix of hard rock and bluegrass is a fun concoction and whilst not original, I mean country-infused rock music existed before them, they certainly put their own spin on it. Ever since I did my feature article on them, I have been an avid listener and eagerly awaited new music, which is nowhere in the form of their new EP, God Knows We Tried .  I have to say, I like this EP. It's a fun and enjoyable little listen. The five tracks are indeed a great listening experience. Filled with all of those well-performed sounds that we have com...

Where do you think your passion for music came from? Not too sure where either of our passions for music came from. Maybe a past life? Maybe something that is part of our soul? Who are your biggest influences? There is a lot of inspiration and musical influence to be found in the world and for us as far a piece of music goes there are two major electronic groups that have stuck out the most and helped shape our minds to develop the sounds of The Radio Broadcast and that would be Crystal Castles and INNERPARTYSYSTEM . We love the DIY approach IPS takes when it comes to stage lighting and we love their heavy and raw electronic feel. With CC they come across a sort of mysterious. We love their punk attitude in the electronic scene. We really like their lo-fi gritty electronic sounds. We study these bands and many others to try and better ourselves as a band. We try to align our selves with similar sounding artists but we do our best to remind our selves that other bands and musicians ...

Shattered: Tony Pettry - Guitar, Fred Verett - Vocals,  Jay Wells- Lead Guitar, Shawn Conner - Drummer, Jonathan Warrington - Bass Where do you think your passion for music came from? Hello, I'm Tony Pettry the founder of Shattered and guitarist. I believe my passion for music came from all the things I had to deal with in life which made music my release and put me in the place where I was happy once again. Who are your biggest influences? My biggest influences are King Diamond, Iron Maiden, Kiss, and Danzig but there are so many more. To you, what is the most important thing about playing live? The most important thing to me is making sure we are on our game and don’t disappoint the fans. What is the one song you had wished you had written? The Lake by King Diamond . That is one of my most favourite songs and really gets me going. What are the biggest lessons learned over the years? The biggest lessons I learned is don’t just choose anyone to be in the band ju...

  Where do you think your passion for music came from? Both my parents were very into music as I grew up. My dad’s a drummer as well so I grew up listening to him jam with his bands in the basement. I’m sure that has something to do with it. Who are your biggest influences? The Beatles are my number one guns. I love the swagger of T Rex and the catchy hooks of bands like Weezer. To you, what is the most important thing about playing live? Putting on a righteous show and showcasing your music. I’m all about a good live show, but the song is what’s the most important to me, so it’s nice to be able to introduce people to em or sing along with the fans. What is the one song you had wished you had written? So many, but at the moment, I’m gonna say…Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus. Such a good hook. What are the biggest lessons learned over the years? Shit, I feel like I haven’t learned anything other than just gotta keep being true to yourself. Are there any bands/artists that you rec...

Days To Come: Justin Goodson - Vocals/Guitar  Brandon Rix - Guitar  Jalen Hall - Drums Where do you think your passion for music came from? Justin - I grew up in a military household and my dad and brother are musicians. I’ve always been attracted to music and the creativity of it. Who are your biggest influences? Brandon - Plini, Steve Vai, and Devon Townsend. To you, what is the most important thing about playing live? Jalen - Making sure I always give 200% no matter what. What is the one song you had wished you had written? Brandon - Kingdom - Devon Townsend. That song slaps too hard, and I, wish I were that creative. What are the biggest lessons learned over the years? Justin - Patience. Everyone’s journey is different and you can’t compare where you are with others. Set goals and work towards accomplishing them. Are there any bands/artists that you recommend that don’t much attention? Jalen - Sevendust, Joyner Lucas, and Tesseract. If there is one thing y...

 think at this point I've made it no secret that I'm a bit of a fan of The Dollyrots . Genuinely, ever since I saw them live, I have kept listening to them. In the car, out for a walk, even coming home from gigs, there's a pretty good chance that I'll have their music on. Once again, the band have turned to their fans to fund and release their latest record, Daydream Explosion . I have to say I was super excited for this record, all of the promotion and singles that the band have released have been exciting and excellent. If there is one word that you can certainly associate with this band it's consistent, they are certainly consistent. They keep their releases tight and they keep releasing music like clockwork and best of all they take their fans along for the ride. The new album is more of the same from them, which is not a bad thing, the band know what they are and they add just enough new to make it not feel like a retread of previous work. From a production...