D.A. Sebasstian

It has been a long road for D.A. Sebasstian. Starting in the early 80’s with the Southern California punk band, XIJIX to the Latin tinged avant-garde Freaks Amor, to the wildly successful industrial band, Kill Switch…Klick, Sebasstian has never let up on his artistic vision, no matter how many times it bites him on the ass.

Sebasstian first tasted success when Kill Switch…Klick, was signed to Cleopatra Records, releasing the classics “Beat It To Fit, Paint It To Match,” and “Degenerate.” They also appeared on 19 compilation CD’s.

Two short years after becoming a cult rock star, Sebasstian found himself without a drummer and in debt. “I owed Cleopatra (records) all kinds of money,” explained Sebasstian. He decided to start a record company, first calling it “Irregular,” and then changing the name to “Go-Kustom” after hearing of another “Irregular” label. He then proceeded to release titles from artists Kill Switch…Klick, D.A. Sebasstian, The Penningtones, Circle Of Fifths, Bill Wolford’s Head, Exposure To Living and Drag Strip Riot.

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Shadows Fall

East coast, heavy metal monsters, SHADOWS FALL, find themselves on the razor’s edge between the new school and the old. Having 12 years of playing under their belts, and the dissident edge of the eastern metal scene, this quintet delve into a melodically aggressive area of music. As singer Brian Fair explains, “it’s a cross section of metal influences over the last few decades,” and the diversity is instantly apparent. With influences ranging from Iron Maiden to their favorites from the underground scene, SHADOWS FALL spawn their latest creation “Retribution.”

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Shinobi Ninja

A ninja is a stealth mercenary agent who is a highly trained assassin and an expert saboteur.  Like their namesake, the six members of Brooklyn’s Shinobi Ninja are professional musicians with a broad set of skills ranging from turntablism, to hard guitar riffs to off-the-cuff street lyrics.  With an innate ability to rock a party and the musical knowledge to pay homage to a variety of influential artists, Shinobi Ninja has already built a fan following that grows each time they take the stage. 

I spoke with Maniac Mike the band’s lead guitar player while the group was rolling to Virginia Beach for a gig. I asked him him which albums he considered Shinobi Ninja’s biggest influences. He rattled off a diverse range of albums, including Pantera’s “Vulgar Display Of Power”, Janet Jackson’s“Control”and “In Utero”Nirvana’s less heralded follow up to ‘Nevermind.’  He also gave props to classic hip-hop albums by The Notorious B.I.G. and Beastie Boys, which came as no surprise.

The band’s MySpace page features three sample tracks that highlight this wide variety of musical influences. In these tracks, one can quickly identify metal, punk, grunge, electronica, hip-hop, dance, rave, reggae, beats, and Rock n’ Roll blended seamlessly together. This eclectic style lends itself equally to both live and studio music but performing in front of an audience seems to be Shinobi Ninja’s favorite medium. “We are fans of music before anything else,” Mike told me, explaining how a group with such diverse tastes can work so well together. “Half of us are producers and we are all cognitive of each other’s style. No egos.”

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Silence is Broken

We all constantly hear people talking about their favorite local band. You know, the one that your best friend’s cousin’s brother-in-law is in and “they’re the next big thing!” It’s almost by default when we go to local shows nowadays that you’ll hear a few locals telling you you’re going to be blown away by their performance and music. And also as we all know, this is very rarely true. Then we ran into a band called Silence is Broken, and all those things we had heard were true. Maximum Ink Magazine sat down with vocalist Aaron Fishel and Drummer Kyle Urbanik to talk about where they came from, and where they’re going.

Maximum Ink: So how did you guys get your start?

Aaron Fishel (Vocals): Me, Jamison (Parker), the guitar player, and Shawn Wade, our bassist, started this band five years ago. We had just gotten tired of the scene around our hometown of Rockford (Illinois). Same bands, same people; like regurgitated everything. We’ve been doing nothing but shows. We’ve toured with Dope and Anew Revolution, 12 stones, played (WJJO) Band Camp this year, which was a major highlight for us. Pushing and pushing and pushing.

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Slash

Slash, a household name because of Guns N’ Roses, is without a doubt one of the most legendary guitarists of our time. His work with Snakepit, Velvet Revolver, and as a solo artist has shown time and time again that he is one of the best in his field. As a session artist, he has worked to enhance the music of some of the biggest names in the business and has influenced guitarists of all ages with his solid and timeless playing style. He recently embarked on a five week North American tour, opening for Ozzy Osbourne, in support of his latest self-titled solo album. It was truly an honor to have the chance to bring his fans this small glimpse of one of rock’s finest.

Maximum Ink: How do you think the music industry has changed since your early days? How would you like to see it change next?
Slash: It’s been going through some massive changes. The most important being the advent of the Internet and file sharing and also digital. We are still adapting to that, but that’s a major change.  It’s hard to say where it is headed in the not too distant future.

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Subatomic

We listen to music to feel something, to relate to something or to just plain have fun. And it’s becoming harder and harder to find a local band that you can listen to and just plain enjoy yourself. No corporate puppetry or influence laced through what could be and should be killer music. That’s why when we came across Subatomic it was something extremely refreshing. Their jam-oriented sound with catchy riffs and groovy basslines is just plain good music. Maximum Ink caught up with the hard rock groove trio to talk about their music and how they got their start.

Maximum Ink: Tell me about the history of the band. Where did you get started? When did you all start playing and writing music?
Bryan Moll (Guitarist/Vocals): Jim and I have been playing together since grade school and about 15 years ago, we got to know Sparko (Mark Dvorak-Drums).  So over the years the three of us have worked together on different projects, with different folks in a variety of bands, but the true version of subatomic came into being in 2006, when we began writing music together.

MI: Describe your music to someone who has never seen/hear it before.
Jim Roof (Bass): It’s our motto: Hard rock groove jams!

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Tantric

Tantric first hit the music scene with a self-titled debut in 2001 that topped the charts with swaggering, grungy singles like “Breakdown” and “Astounded” that fit right into the New Metal mode that has been a staple of rock radio giants like Nickelback, Staind, and Creed since the late 1990’s.“Tantric” went on to be certified platinum but the band’s follow up albums have seen the band cultivate a more selective audience. In the decade since their debut, the band has completely changed its lineup. Only front man Hugo Ferreira remains of the original members of the group. Tantric released its fourth studio album “Mind Control” in August 2009 and has been on tour regularly since then. On stage, Ferreira’s grave vocals are his most distinguishing characteristic, but off the stage Ferreira’s work in the rock industry has brought him a great deal of insight to the many sides of the music industry. From the creative aspect of writing music and producing videos to the business end of promoting a product that people want to experience. I caught Ferreira the night before a show in Santa Rosa, California on a brief break during their summer tour.

MAXIMUM INK: I just got done watching the “Mind Control” video. You get a chance to do some zombie acting and television smashing. What is it like to film a video like that?
HUGO FERREIRA: We filmed the ‘Mind Control’ at an old warehouse in Nashville. We made it look like a ward with props and a lot of creative ideas. I wanted to do something a little darker and edgier and I was given some reign for creative choices. We were pleased with the end result.

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