Electronic and instrumental hybrid group touring with their new self-titled album will play two consecutive nights at the Majestic Theater Nov. 4 and 5. Members Mike Greenfield, Jesse Miller, Luke Miller and Mike Rempel like to keep things fresh for audiences at shows through extended improvisation on already richly composed tunes.
Madlife was formed from the breakup of the Los Angeles based band Merge in 2004. It is currently comprised of Angry Phil on vocals, Isaiah on guitar, Jimmy Minj on bass, and Kylio on drums. Over the years they have toured with bands like Marilyn Manson, Prong, Adema, Bullet For My Valentine, Trivium, and All That Remains. Their newest single “Be Tomorrow” is out now from the album Angry Sonnets for the Soul . The album was produced by Powerman 5000 guitarist Evan 9.
Maximum Ink: Can you tell us a little about where you are from? Do you think you carry the influences of where you came from with you today? How has coming from where you have influenced your musical tastes?
Angry Phil: I am from just outside of Toronto in Canada. I carry some of the influences. I was driven to get out of there and away from what I hated most: snow. My musical tastes have been influenced mostly by East Coast Industrial Music, coming mostly out of NYC.
MI: When did you first become interested in music?
AP: I have been into listening and playing music my whole life.
Eli Mattson is probably best known as runner up on TV’s America’s Got Talent, on NBC, where he lost to Neal E. Boyd by only 0.5%. He has made several appearances in Vegas with AGT winner Terry Fator. Eli started playing the piano at 5 and has been performing as a vocalist/pianist since the age of fourteen.
MAXIMUM INK: You claim Door County, WI as your home. What it is like to get chances to play your home town?
ELI MATTSON: “Well I lived in Door County as a kid, went to Southern Door, and worked at the Pizza Hut in town. After that I moved around a lot but what Door County really gave me was a start with music. My first regular gig was at Java on Jefferson when it was there. Now when I play there it’s great to see the people who supported me first.”
We’ve all heard the lousy Christmas songs that get beaten into our head over and over every single year since our conception. The one’s that make you go just a tad bit crazy and one more step closer to that breaking point. If you’re from the U.S., you know all about the corporate sponsored shopping spree we as Americans partake in, despite whether or not we have money. Now, I’m no Scrooge. But if I’m going to have to suffer through another year of thousands of meaningless dollars spent and seeing family half of us don’t like as it is, I want some kick ass music to dull the pain.
Life isn’t so bad these days for Patrick McBride of HourCast. He’s making music videos with porn stars, touring with legendary Zakk Wylde and Black Label Society, and being the lead singer of an up and coming rock band. Maximum Ink chatted with McBride about sharing the limelight with gorgeous adult film star Jessie Jane, what it’s like touring with BLS, and what’s coming up for HourCast.
Maximum Ink: There isn’t a ton of information out there about you guys. Tell us about yourself and the band. How long have you been a band? How did you get your start?
Patrick McBride: HourCast got its start in 2001 with Jerry Clews (drummer) and Dave Henriquez (Guitar Player). They wanted to combine elements of rock and electronic music. Then they found me as a lead singer. Later, we added Dave Sullivan (Bass Player) when we decided to take the band out live. We started on a street level in Boston playing shows. We went to every rock concert in the city with backpacks on and gave away our music for free. In a matter of months we found ourselves on tour with Sevendust, then Godsmack. Godsmack really gave us a huge break, bringing us, a brand new Boston band, on the road. Since then we’ve been out with 30 Seconds to Mars, Breaking Benjamin, Volbeat, The Damned Things, and now Black Label Society with All That Remains.
Jim McCarty is credited with helping found, and drumming for, two British rock band; Renaissance and The Yardbirds. The Yardbirds got their big break at the Crawdaddy Club in London when the Rolling Stones decided it was time to move on from their standing gig at the place. They later played the Beatles 1964 Christmas show. The Yardbirds as we all know boasted three of the most influential guitarists of all time, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. The Yardbirds were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
In 1982 Jim formed Box of Frogs with early Yardbird companions Samwell Smith and Dreja. Making two albums, the first featured Jeff Beck and the second Jimmy Page. Somewhere in all that he also began his work as a solo artist. His latest offering “Sitting On The Top of Time” is as he calls it, “focusing on the Renaissance side” of his musical stylings. He worked hard to make sure the lyrics were all positive. Jim added, “I kept trying to remain positive, which was difficult in these strange times.” I recently had the chance to question him on what all of these things have been like.
Maximum Ink: When did you first become interested in music?
Jim McCarty: I’ve always been interested in music, since my grandmother had a stand up piano that I used to “mess around” on! The first magical moment was when I was about 16, and somebody took me round a local house where a live band was rehearsing in the sitting room. They played some Shadows songs, and I was completely blown away!
We’re all swamped within the information age and bombarded with less than adequate bands that spew out music just to keep their record label at bay. However, very seldom do we have the pleasure of hearing a band stay true to their fans and themselves without ever selling out. In a nutshell, the aforementioned describes one of the most genuine hard rock bands out there today. The guys in Bobaflex have been in the business for years now, and through struggles inside and outside the industry, they’ve managed to stay relevant and remember how to play their trademark, soothe your soul one minute, kick your ass the next, rock and roll. Maximum Ink sat down with Bobaflex guitarist and vocalist Shaun McCoy to talk about what they’ve been up to and what they have in store this summer for our ears’ pleasure.
Maximum Ink: What’s Bobaflex been up to for the past year or two?
Shaun McCoy: Well, a little ways back our record label went bankrupt, so we ultimately had to fight a legal battle with regard to the t-shirts and touring. Once we got through that, we started to record a new album called, Hell in My Heart. We paid for the album, for every recording, and for the producer ourselves. Right now we’re working on a late spring, early summer release.
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