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Anthill Annihilator – Interview – Thanks for Asking!

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Anthill Annihilation

Anthill Annihilator – Interview – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

RRX: Every artist’s first song is a milestone. But so is the latest song. Describe the first song/album you recorded, and also the latest song/album you recorded; what are the differences?

Taran: Well, I’ve been working on recording Anthill Annihilator stuff for nearly ten years now, and those real early drafts ended up being more like practice for me than anything else. Some of the demos I made during AA version Alpha did end up going on to be the templates when we recorded Bic Dolls(our first LP release), but it’s such a night-and-day contrast that I really can’t even begin.

The biggest difference now would be that AA is currently in version Epsilon (the 5th iteration) and recording with the lineup we have now as compared to just me building tracks from nothing but metronome is worlds easier. I’m fortunate to have a group of the most creative, talented people I could ever work with that take the slogging doldrums out of composing.

RRX: Like songs, every artist has a unique feeling about their first show. What was your first show like? Was it your best show? If not, what was your best show like?

Taran: I’ve been playing shows since I was 12 or 13. Being raised in part by my grandmother, Deb Cavanaugh, I never really stoop a chance of not performing from the very first moment I asked her to teach me guitar.

Anthill Annihilator Epsilon played our first show back in early 2023, and it was kind of clunky trying to figure out arrangements around everyone’s schedules. Since then, each show we have played has been the best show ever, and I pride myself for managing to keep my bandmates feeling like shows are for fun more than they are work.

RRX: It’s a lot of fun living in the present, but we all collect memories and give birth to dreams. We’re talking dreams here. Where you see yourself next year? In the next five years?

Taran: Anthill is just a vessel to get the sounds out of my head. I have about 8 unrecorded finished albums that I’ve been cooking since high school (16+ years) just knocking around my brain. I used to joke that I’d dissolve the band once the work was done and they were all released, but at this rate we just keep writing new ones and having a blast doing it. I think I’ll start pushing record labels to help with release costs in 2025, maybe it’ll take off from there. Or maybe society will collapse in the next 4 years and all our unwritten songs can become folklore. Either way, I’m happy with how far we’ve come and the fun we’re currently having

RRX: We all get a little support from those around us. And we also can be impressed by our fellow performers. Who do you admire in your community, and why?First of all, I really think Troy NY is experiencing a cultural renaissance right now. Super Dark Collective, Jive Hive Live, Tummy Rub Records; all of those people have given us wonderful opportunities that I would be remiss not to mention. Gabe Stallman of Ampevene  has been Doing The Dang Thing for as long as I’ve been playing music and has been an awesome supporter and friend the whole time. Zeke from CZR is a lovely human whom I see at every show. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t stop moving ever. She really took us under her wing when we lost our good friend Ben Rowe

Taran: Ian from Mayheaven, Seth from Headless Relatives and Matt & Kiefer from Sunbloc are all fantastic people who deserve love and recognition as well. There are truly too many to list.

RRX: Our style comes from the extension of our influences. It’s like an evolution. We’re influenced, and it inspires us to influence. What can you say about your influences, and what you feel you’ve done with their influence as a musician or band? Have you extended their work?

Taran: When I was in high school. I always wrote with a sub-text of “what if all my favorite bands were one band?”

Now, I have a personalized style and I write with a sub-text of “Okay, don’t be derivative of yourself.”, kind of removing me from my influences, but expanding on the melting pot where it all started. This is why I like collaborations so much. That separation from influences tends to make something very interesting.

RRX: In the musical world, there are many supporting players. Recording engineers, sound techs, cover art designers. Who are three people that support the craft that you would like to shine a spotlight on?

Taran: Conor Grocki recorded, mixed and mastered Bic Dolls all by himself in exchange for some speakers and a few bags of coffee. He’s a local audio producer making films with518 Film Network. He’s going to be our engineer when we record our new EP at Tummy Rub Records in January 2025.

Lakota Ruby-Eck is a friend of mine since high school, he is also a local film person. His cinematography work is absolutely stunning, you can see this in the music video he did for our song An Endless Room Of Infinite Watching Eyeballs and everything else he does as Tomb Pictures.

I also have to shout out Sage, he’s the person I started the band with, who helped me move from AA-alpha to AA-beta. He’s currently living in the outskirts of town. Watching. Waiting. He doesn’t want you looking at him. Look away!

RRX: Every band has a song that they really thought was going to be popular, but it wasn’t. What was that song for you? Did you have a song become popular that you didn’t expect?

Taran: When we play our song The Monotony Of It All and I say the line “does anybody mind if I take my shirt off?”, people always cheer. Which is funny to me, because the next written line in the song is “fuck you, I’m doing it anyway”.

I did not expect the rambly song with the lyrics written from the perspective of a creepy exhibitionist-type person was going to be so popular, but people always tell me they like it. That one isn’t recorded either, we only play it live.

RRX: We let it out differently when we play music. The happy, sad, good and back; it can all be put out musically. Overall, do you feel better when you sing about the better times, or the worser times? Is there a difference you can describe?

Taran: Singing is absolutely my #1 therapy technique. I find no matter what I’m singing, singing it loud and meaning it always helps me work through stuff. In my AA-alpha era of writing, a lot of feedback I got was that my writing felt very negative. I believe it’s important to embody your writing, or at least acknowledge that it will always reflect some part of you. Now days I try to be honest, optimistic or silly with my lyrics. It feels better than writing AA-alpha felt.

RRX: What instrument would you add to the band if you could? Is there anything you are trying to do musically that would be helped with one or more additional players?

Taran: Oh, I have plans. The next iteration of AA, zeta, is going to be Anthill Orcheltralnator. I had a dream about it recently. I am already in the process of writing an opera for a wide array of instruments.

AA also has a long a rich history of using clever instruments. 420 Is The New 69 from Bic Dolls features Legos rolling around in a tin cup. Gargles Barbecue, also from Bic Dolls features a cup of silverware, coins and marbles being thrown down the stairs. In January, I have designs to include a theramin among other instruments into the mix. I think my ideal band size would be an octet. I would love to work with a horn section.

RRX: Is there a song you wrote that really died on the vine? Something you all like but somehow just couldn’t make it work. You swear never to play it live, that sort of thing?

Taran: I always hated doing that with my old band in High School.We’d spend countless hours writing something that I thought was really cool, only for someone else to give up on it. All of my unused riffs go into “The Pile”. I record everything we practice on my phone and painstakingly edit it into a size that fits the memory space. It is all duplicated and stored in my Google drive. I believed that everything can be recycled. So if we’re trying to shoehorn a riff into a place that it doesn’t fit, we store it and come back to it later. I’ve donated riffs from The Pile to mine and other friends other projects (my other band is Galene). It’s a good way to write. There are also jams we’ll come back to and relearn to turn into new songs. Nothing is lost, no waste. Endless resource to draw from.

RRX: Let’s talk about your next project, your next few. Just not the ones you’re working on now. The ones you have your eyes on for the future. What’s coming to us?

Taran: Well, I hate business but we should probably do a tour. Recording in January, so hitting the ground running playing shows is probably a good idea from us until we have the means to work on the next record. Making records is what I’m most excited for, I genuinely have over 8 rattling in my brain and Google Drive just waiting to go.

RRX: How does practice go? Is the road practice enough, or do you have a practice shack? If so, how does it look? What’s on the walls? What cool sh*t is in there?

Taran: If we aren’t actively putting our heads down working on a project, then practice is more like a hang in the jam room than anything else. We have a shared space at Gabe’s house with all the equipment and the painting of a sailor that I bought at a garage sale back in high school. I like to invite different friends and guests to practice if we’re not working on something in particular. I have a lot of really wacky and fun instruments so it’s fun to have different groups meeting up to have fun and see what happens. I’m convinced we actually have been able to consistently do Thursdays because of the fun factor.

You can find Anthill Annihilator’s music here.

 

More from Liam Sweeny…

Interview: Camden Cruz of Seven Kingdoms

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Staff
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U.S. Power Metal: An Interview with Seven Kingdoms

By Justin Smulison

Power metal may not be the dominant subgenre in the U.S., but that has only opened up the playing field for Seven Kingdoms, a quartet based in Florida, who has been one of the most consistent bands of its kind for nearly 20 years.

The band is uniquely comprised of brothers Kevin Byrd (Guitars) and Keith Byrd (Drums) and spouses Sabrina Cruz (Vocals) and Camden Cruz (Guitars). They use power metal as their musical template but expand upon it with elements of thrash, doom and rock. But as you will hear in this interview with Camden Cruz, they consciously avoid symphonic to maintain their identity among other female-fronted bands.

To commemorate their signing with Reigning Phoenix Music, the band released their newest EP, The Square, on Nov. 8, 2024. The Square contains four original tracks plus a cover of Mr. Mister’s 1980s classic, “Kyrie,” and the EP marks their ninth official release since their 2007 debut. They are also on the road through Dec. 8 in North America along with Striker, Lutharo and Osyron – local RadioRadioX audiences should take note of the Dec. 3 show in Brooklyn. In February 2025, they will support Unleash the Archers in Europe.

Horns up!

Song clips: “Through the Waves,” “Wilted Pieces”

SEVEN KINGDOMS:
www.SevenKingdomsofficial.com
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/seven-kingdoms/269540019
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SevenKingdomsOfficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sevenkingdomsofficial/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0PMYvG0U25tgSi8jQExPAC?si=Zd59_nhbQeKrYGN4dUI7Cg
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sevenkingdomsofficial
Twitter/X: https://x.com/7kskofficial
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sevenkingdoms

North American Tour with Striker, Lutharo and Osyron:

11/19 – Knucklehead – Los Angeles, CA
11/20 – DNA Lounge – San Francisco, CA
11/21 – Hawthorne Theater – Portland, OR
11/22 – El Corazon – Seattle, WA
11/23 – Jacknife – Kelowna, BC
11/25 – Dicken’s – Calgary, AB #
11/26 – The Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB #
11/27 – The Black Cat – Saskatoon, SK #
11/28 – Sidestage – Winnipeg, MB #
11/30 – Reggies – Chicago, IL
12/1 – Sanctuary – Detroit, MI
12/3 – Meadows – Brooklyn, NY
12/4 – Metro – Baltimore, MD
12/5 – Hangar 1819 – Greensboro, NC
12/6 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
12/7 – The Orpheum – Tampa, FL
12/8 – Conduit – Orlando, FL
# = Osyron Joins

European Tour supporting UNLEASH THE ARCHERS:

12.02 – Substage – Karlsruhe, DE
13.02 – Colos-Saal – Aschaffenburg, DE
14.02 – Live Music Hall – Cologne, DE
15.02 – De Kreun – Kortrijk, BE
16.02 – The Underworld – London, GB
17.02 – La Machine – Paris, FR
19.02 – Dynamo – Zurich, CH
20.02 – Legend Club – Milan, IT
21.02 – Backstage – Munich, DE
22.02 – Masters Of Rock Cafe – Zlin, CZ
23.02 – Barba Negra – Budapest, HU
25.02 – Szene – Vienna, AT
26.02 – Kwadrat – Cracow, PL
27.02 – Hellraiser – Leipzig, DE
28.02 – Rockhal – Esch-Sur-Alzette, LU
01.03 – Kronensaal – Hamburg, DE
02.03 – Patronaat – Haarlem, NL

LaMP / Oobleck @ Lark Hall, 11/9/2024

By
Mike Stampalia
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LaMP and Oobleck jammed in front of a packed and dancing Lark Hall crowd. DJ Tad Cautious entertained at the afterparty downstairs at the Eleven.

Photography by Timothy Reidy.

 

LaMP

Oobleck

Tad Cautious at the Eleven

More from Timothy Reidy …

Exodus – Empire Live – Review and Photos

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Staff
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Exodus

Exodus – Empire Live – Review by Jesse Skinner and Photos by Rachael Skinner

Bay area Thrash Metal legends Exodus, graced the stage at Albanys premiere live entertainment venue Empire Live on November 17th 2024. Releasing a toxic assult of bare knuckle brawl style thrash, kicking ass and destroying ear drums.

     Spanning almost 40 years, Exodus are renowned as the kings of thrash metal and the audience in Albany NY dove head first into the melee with no concern of the aftermath. Exodus wasted no time and gave everyone the auditory beating that they deserved. Guitarist Lee Altus and Gary Holt effortlessly showcased their bonding of guitar mastery, creating the iconic Bay area thrash metal sound that is unmatched. With some of the most creative and yet destructive sounding guitars riffs you will ever experience. Drummer Tom Hunting displayed a sonic assult of pure adrenaline. Proving age is just a number, being one of the most renowned drummers of his generation while also keeping up with his younger counterparts. Jack Gibson, bass player and the man that ties together the musical madness. Complimenting the rapid fire punches of Holt and Altus guitar riffs and beating the crowd along with Huntings drumming. Lead singer Steve “Zetro” Souza iconic screaming was the last declaration of war. Singing every song with ease while also engaging with the crowd. Paying homage to former Exodus frontman Rob Dukes, stating some of his favorite songs to sing are from his Era. Souza was the General in charged of the beatdowns,  commencing the wall of death to an eager crowd ready to participate. Exodus live is a experience of metal integrity, delivering thrash metal excellence with precision that will leave you begging for more. In the spirit of Paul Baloff, Exodus ripped Albany NY a new asshole like it was 1985.
    Exodus are headlining the North American Disaster Tour through December with support from Havok, CANDY, and Dead Heat. They are also scheduled to perform at the Milwaukee Metalfest in May of 2025. Gary Holt will also be making an appearance at the 2025 Extreme Music Awards on January 11th 2025 at Empire Live in Albany NY.

 

More from Rachael Skinner…

REVIEW: “A Moon for the Misbegotten” @ Schenectady Civic Playhouse

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Staff
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Review by J Hunter.

I understand the argument for community theater companies doing new plays versus old classics, especially given the area theater scene’s current inclination toward relevant, challenging (and, preferably, never-before-seen) content. There is also something intimidating about a venerable piece like Eugene O’Neill’s A Moon for the Misbegotten, both for the actors performing it and the audience experiencing it. But when you have a production of Moon that’s helmed by an O’Neill devotee like local actor/director Evan Jones, a line from another “classic” playwright, Arthur Miller, comes easily to mind: “Attention must be paid!”

The action takes place in and around the Prohibition-era front porch of irascible tenant-farmer Phil Hogan (Michael O’Farrell), who rules his rock-strewn Connecticut land with an iron fist and a vicious tongue. This management style has driven off two of his three sons, and the play opens with youngest son Mike (Joe Plock) about to make his escape with the help of his sister Josie (a transcendent Jennifer Van Iderstyne). It may be Phil’s farm, but it’s Josie’s strength (both physical and emotional) that makes things happen here. She also has a whip for a tongue – a weapon she freely lashes Phil with when he finds out Mike is gone and threatens to take out his anger on her.

Jennifer Van Iderstyne

But Phil and Josie aren’t just father and daughter; they’re a team. They automatically close ranks to befuddle and frustrate their outraged, Standard Oil-rich neighbor T. Steadman Harder (Marty O’Connor) when he attempts to complain about Hogan’s pigs fouling Harder’s beloved ice pond. Josie also assists Phil in various small-time scams he dreams up to make a little extra cash. But when Phil takes up an idea – voiced earlier by Mike – to swindle or blackmail Hogan’s friend/landlord/drinking buddy Jamie Tyrone (Patrick White), Josie refuses until it looks like Tyrone may sell the Hogan’s farm to Harder. Love and loyalty are put on a collision course, and the results are both shocking and harrowing.

Moon is all about chemistry, and Jamie & Josie’s chemistry (fueled by unrequited attraction for each other) is obvious from the jump, and their scene to start Act 2 is a multi-faceted acting lesson in the hands of White and Van Iderstyne. Love and attraction are powerful, but they run smack into Jamie & Josie’s respective personal & family histories, as well as the defenses they’ve both erected to keep the world from making their lives even worse. White has the ghosts haunting Tyrone flying in perfect formation as he “happily” drinks himself to death, while Van Iderstyne’s Josie starts out barefoot & tough as nails, but she wants to open herself up to the man she really loves in every way possible – which, of course, complicates Phil’s cunning plan.

Notices near the box-office warned the audience there would be an actor on stage working from a script. That actor was O’Farrell, who returns to the SCP stage after a gap of several decades. O’Neill’s a big meal to eat, so I was willing to “put up” with the script. However, having a script in your hand shouldn’t stop you from inhabiting your character, and O’Farrell simply abdicates the job, keeping his nose in his script as he spends most of his time sitting on a stump Stage Right. In a play where chemistry is king, O’Farrell’s Phil had zero chemistry with his only daughter and his only friend. O’Farrell may look the part of the cantankerous Irish immigrant, but that’s not nearly enough in any play, let alone a classic like Moon.

Patrick White and Jennifer Van Iderstyne

The real shame is that O’Farrell’s non-performance detracts from a production that is thoughtfully staged by Jones and perfectly framed by yet another stellar SCP stage design: everything looks barren and lifeless at Chez Hogan, from the rickety, patchwork construction of the farmhouse to the leafless birch trees at the back of the stage. Hope isn’t even suggested, let alone expected any time soon. Brian Starnes gives the same detail & care with sound design here that he did with Civic’s March production of August: Osage County. For Moon, Starnes perfectly mixes old Irish ballads with the banjo-intensive bluegrass that came from Irish immigrants “heading for the hills” and building families and traditions in the New World.

All in all, Schenectady Civic’s production of A Moon for The Misbegotten needs to be seen – not just for the wonderful, evocative work White and Van Iderstyne do (together and separately) throughout the night, but for the experience of seeing how one of the theater’s legendary works can still bring a smile to the face and a chill to your spine at almost the same time. Even in the exciting world of 21st century theater, when it comes to a towering piece like Moon, attention must be paid!

through November 24

Interview: Mike Fitz of Bad Marriage

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Staff
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Interview With Mike Fitz of Bad Marriage
By: Lori McKone
We started talking about the song Denim and Leather.
RRX: What made you choose that song to release as your new lyric video?
MF: Great song. I’ve been a fan of Saxon for a long time. They’re an equivalent to me, like a Judas Priest, where they blur the line with some songs and albums that were rock and roll and metal. Denim and Leather is a super catchy song, and the lyrics are fun. The message is special in that it marries rock and roll and metal fans when it says, “denim and leather bought us all together” and how fun it is to go to shows. The vocals are in our singer Johnny’s wheelhouse and he really captured the vibe of that song.
RRX: So, you’re happy with the response from your fans?
MF: Yeah totally. Everyone seems to like the song and we’re happy with the way it came out. We’ve been performing it for a few years. When we have longer set times, we’ll throw in some covers and that’s a revolving song. We decided to record it when we thought we fine-tuned it, you know, putting Bad Marriage’s, spin, or flavor on an old classic.
RRX: So, I understand the band has recorded a few new songs. Will you be putting that version of Denim and Leather on an EP, or are you working on a new project?
MF: That song will not be on any hard copy anything. It’s available now on YouTube and we did a cool lyric video and it’s on all the streaming and digital download stuff like Apple and iTunes and Spotify and it will live there. As far as a new record, yeah, we’re releasing a new full-length record very soon. Pre-orders are going to begin this month and the album will have at least 10 songs and we’re really proud of them. We might throw in one or two more that we’re still in the process of writing and recording. It just depends on how those come together in the time frame we’ve set but this will be our third full-length album, and our first full-length with Tommy in the band so it’s exciting for that reason.
RRX: When can fans expect to see the album released?
MF: I would say the first quarter of 2025. Continue to check out the Bad Marriage website for details.
RRX: Can you give fans an idea of the type of music they can expect to hear on this new album?
MF: Yeah definitely. I mean it’s still going to sound like Bad Marriage. I think bands that have something special have a certain sound that when you hear them you instantly know its an Aerosmith, or a Metallica or a Led Zeppelin song and on and on. Those are the bands that I’ve always wanted to strive to capture so people say, “Okay, that’s Bad Marriage, you know?” So yeah the new record is still going to have that Bad Marriage sound, but we have a new member of the band, Tommy Skeoch, and obviously, I’m sure we’ll get into that, he brings an outside element from his days in TESLA and just being a different style of guitar player and songwriter than me and Ian and the rest of the guys in Bad Marriage. He adds a totally different style of guitar. What he does with the whammy bar and stuff that he does really makes our songs kind of pop out more. And again, he’s been around the block. He’s written huge songs that have sold millions of records, so he has the experience, and we absorb that from him, we learn from him and it’s just a great fit for the band.
RRX: I totally agree. I was curious. How does Tommy’s skill contribute to the songwriting and recording process remotely?
MF: Tommy and I are very, very close. I do all the recording, the mixing, the mastering, everything that Bad Marriage does, right in my basement and we practice there as well. That’s what I love doing so it’s just kind of been my thing. I can easily write down ideas and email them to Tommy. He can listen to it, and it could just be two little guitar parts. I say, check this out. Write something, an additional part to it, you know? And so it’s easy to bounce ideas back and forth from me and Tommy, but he flies here a lot. We’re in New England, he’s in Florida so when we practice, Bad Marriage practices every Wednesday, so obviously, he can’t make those because we’d be spending a lot of money on flights and stuff. So, we practice and do whatever we do then we’ll brief Tommy on it and give him a crash course on songs we went over, whatever we plan on doing for the show or tour. If we have an upcoming show, we’ll fly him in a day or two before and then we have a rehearsal in my house with him. Tommy does his homework on his side. We do ours and it’s a pretty well-oiled machine. It’s been about a year since he’s been in the band, so we have a pretty good system now.
RRX: So how do you maintain that musical chemistry and cohesion when he comes in and out?
MF: I guess it’s the same sort of thing because our communication is so common and close, you know? We’re always bouncing stuff back and forth. He’s sending the ideas we’re sending cell phone videos or little music notes and with technology today, it’s just very easy where back in the day, yeah it would be tough. Today you can write a song through email and then have it all ready for when it’s time to actually record in the studio, which I do anyway. So, you know, he sleeps in my basement right next to all the guitars and the recording stuff.
Yeah I saw them in a Bad Marriage post, all lined up, side by side like they were having a play date.
Yeah. Oh no that’s not all of them, that’s only a few. (laughing)
RRX: How do you balance the touring schedule with Tommy’s schedule since he is based in Florida?
MF: Now that he’s in the band fully it is a lot easier than it was yeah. I mean now that Tommy is a full-time Bad Marriage his schedule is wide open so it’s just a logistics thing planning his flight a few days before we’re doing something so he can practice with us. We’ll do four or five hours of practice then we’re ready to go. Tommy’s a professional you know, which was one of the biggest draws when we hired him. Actually I don’t know if hired is the right term. I guess when I wanted him to become a permanent member of Bad Marriage. It was his professionalism and, you know, we gave him a bunch of songs to learn initially when he first came down and he nailed them, which solidified it. He’s a professional and he takes his job and his craft seriously.
RRX: So do any of the other band members have to adapt to fill in any gaps of sound for any of the performances?
MF: Yeah the dynamic is initially, and I guess it’s still ongoing because Bad Marriage was an entity for seven or eight years before Tom so we had an established sound and a way of doing things so yeah. I mean adding a sixth member and a third guitar player is not a walk in the park, right? You can’t just throw somebody else in and expect it to be magical so yeah, we’ve had to adjust some, but everyone was onboard, and if they weren’t initially, they are now. Everyone sees the good outweighs the bad of having another member. I mean, it’s another seat on the bus, another guitar, amp and less stage room that we’ve had, and we knew all that going in and it was not going to be easy but nothing much is. Nothing crazy has changed other than we have an added dynamic and that we all are embracing.
RRX: Curious. Who does the bulk of the songwriting now that Tommy has joined the band? Is it collaborative? All Bad Marriage? Mostly you and then you bounce ideas off other people?
MF: Yeah you said it. It’s initially me I think because I have the recording studio and I’m around it everyday. I wake up and fire up my studio and my guitars and that’s what I do. I like to say that I have the foundation or the backbone of the new songs and then it goes from there to a practice night. Every Wednesday we practice. So when the guys come down, not only do we practice or rehearse the songs we have to play for an upcoming show, but we also have allotted time that we’ll write some more and jam on some new ideas. So I’ll email like I said and they’ll some to practice and they’ll add their own stuff to it, and a lot of times it’s not fully written but I’ll have 60% of a song then the other guys will collaborate, and they’ll finish the arrangement. And then I worked a lot with Jonny, our singer. Me, and him are I would say the primary lyric writers of the songs; we work a lot on the lyrics and the melodies. But again, it’s a system that nothing really changed. The only thing that’s changed is now Tommy has songs that he’s worked on himself for years so he’s bringing those into the fold and kind of running it through the Bad Marriage thing to see if they can work and a lot of them can be within our Bad Marriage sound. So we have a lot to digest and make ours but yeah Tommy has a ton of material, we have a ton of material, so yeah, it’s a good problem to have.
RRX: Will any of Tommy’s song ideas be on the new album?
MF: Yeah totally. I can’t give you an exact answer, but I mean I would say almost close to half because that was the exciting part. It wasn’t just putting out another Bad Marriage record with Tommy, we wanted to give his fans more of Tommy with Bad Marriage.
RRX: So you have a couple of songs that are emotional songs like 300 Miles, how do you get in touch with your emotions and make a song like that? Is it always drawing from raw emotion or do you ever find it through something else like art or extracurricular activities? Where does it all come from and how do you successfully put it into a song that your fans are going to like and be in touch with as well?
MF: Right. It’s a very good question but it’s a tough one to answer because, for example 300 Miles, I wrote that before Bad Marriage was a band. I had the guitar part and a lot of the lyrics. That whole vibe of 300 miles away and you’re trying to get back to your relationship or your loved ones or whatever and I had that idea for a while. I didn’t know Bad Marriage was going to be a thing, so it wasn’t written. You don’t really write it specifically for something. You can try, but it’s not always going to work. When Bad Marriage started becoming a thing that was something of mine. I brought it forward to the guys and presented it to our singer and he wrote some additional lyrics, and it just worked. It wasn’t until we did that EP that you’re referring to that was produced by the bassist of TESLA, Brian Wheat, he’s a good friend of mine. When we were trying to work out ideas I sent him a bunch of my stuff and he liked that particular vibe of that idea, so we fleshed it out when we worked with him, and that’s what brought that song to life. He liked it. Otherwise I don’t know if it would have even come out. In that instance that song was something I had for a while so it’s totally situational lyric-wise, inspirational wise. The Pennyman song that we just put out just happened. I’d be enlightened and things would just come to me and I’m fortunate that I could lay it down in my studio so I could just get it out. The studio is where I can really get stuff down and its more solidified.
RRX: I often wonder what a rock star does when they are not creating and performing. I see on your website a hobby you are passionate about is metal detecting. How does someone get into such a hobby? How were you introduced?
MF: Bad Marriage, and I are specifically from New England and so I’ve always liked history. I wouldn’t say I’m a history buff and know crazy facts, but I appreciate it and where we live is very Colonial. It’s where the pilgrims first landed it’s where everything started for the United States. It’s very Colonial America so I’ve always been fascinated by the houses. Even Tommy is fascinated because I’ll be driving around town to go get coffee or run errands and we’ll pass a dozen houses in neighborhoods that were built in the 16-1700’s. So about 10 years ago I was living in Boston and at the time saw a TV show where someone had a metal detector, and it just hit me that I should get one and start exploring the tons of undeveloped industrial land. It’s like anything else, it’s addicting when you start finding some cool stuff and meet people that do it as well, you network and find new places to treasure hunt. You just fall in love with it. There are spots I’m investigating historically, where battles might have happened by looking at old maps in the library or town hall of houses on streets built in the 17-1800’s. You might do a Google Maps search and see those house foundations are now all covered by woods. All the good stuff is located on permission private property and sometimes the only way to be able to metal detect there is to know someone who can ask for that permission. Networking’s key in that instance.
RRX: How did Tommy get interested in metal detecting?
MF: Tommy’s a huge history guy. Before I knew him, he’s big into the Civil War, so when he started hanging out with me and writing songs in New England; I mean he visited with TESLA when they were touring, but they were in and out of here I believe. He never spent a lot of time here before, and he started falling in love with the area. He asked me to take him with me sometime and once I did, he loved it. He’s not as into it as I am, it’s a passionate hobby of mine, but I try and get him out once in a while, but he loves it. He enjoys it. People don’t realize how time-consuming it can be. I mean some days I’ll go out there for eight hours, barely able to walk afterward, and have found nothing.
RRX: Mike, is there anything that you want your fans to know about any of your upcoming music?
MF: Just that we’re all really excited about the new record. The Tommy thing is still fresh to us and we’re still, tip of the iceberg, kind of thing for music that we’re writing and songs that we’re coming up with, and everyone’s excited for people to hear it. I think we’re going to take pre-orders for some packages for the new recording like CDs and vinyl this month. Continue to check out the Bad Marriage website where you can link to all media sources at https://www.badmarriagemusic.com
RRX: Are you doing anything special with the vinyl for your third album and Tommy’s first year anniversary with the band?
MF: Yeah we always do but I can’t go into details, we are still brainstorming ideas, so nothing is final. We did something really cool for the first album that we might bring back and because it’s Tommy’s first full year well that’s just exciting.
RRX: Mike, thank you, I appreciate you giving me time to speak with and photograph you.
Check out Bad Marriage’s final show of 2024 at Devlin’s Tavern in Bellingham, MA and check out their website for February and March 2025 listings.

Photos: Apes of the State/Rent Strike/Myles Bullen at The Stone Church -Brattleboro, VT 11/15/2024

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Staff
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Rent Strike
Myles Bullen
Apes of the State
The Stone Church -Brattleboro, VT
11/15/2024
Photography By: Christopher Ebbs

“Cash for Coats” with the NolaNauts @ Palace Theatre, 11/8/2024

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

This month’s edition of the Palace Sessions was a charity event for Cash for Coats. The NolaNauts provided the entertainment.

Photography by Timothy Reidy.

More from Timothy Reidy …

Serpent and the Sun, Chapter 1 – Xperience Fiction

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Staff
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Serpent and the Sun

Serpent and the Sun, Chapter 1 – Xperience Fiction – by Liam Sweeny.

Chapter One

A glint of light from the upper window of the New Rochester Public Library caught on Blake’s shades, splashing a starburst across the windshield. Had he not known better, Blake might have mistaken it for sunlight. He cleared his throat, tossing a hand-rolled cigarette from the open window as he stepped out. The sound of his closing the door was deafening; it was the only vehicle on the once-gridlocked street. Two men stood motionless in front of the main entrance, fully-automatic assault rifles held muzzle crossed. The familiar red band across the back stock identified them as Directed-Energy weapons.

As Blake started toward the library, the men tightened up their stance. He got a better look at the rifles. Heckler-Koch i77s. The HK-i77s were all-purpose, with settings from tickle to fry. Most likely these guys were set to fry his ass should he pose a threat. Blake laughed to himself. Must be new guys. He could remember going to libraries when he was a kid. Back then they didn’t need a security detail.

As he got to the front entrance, the man on the left reached into his pocket, pulling out a small black plastic box. A biometric reader; an old one at that. Blake held up his wrist. The scar was invisible these days. The guard waved the reader over his wrist, with no result. He motioned to the other guard, who pulled out a wand. Blake stood in front of the second guard as he swiped the wand down. Silently, he looked over at the first guard, who nodded. They moved a few inches to the side; Blake was cleared to enter.

“Those things are out-dated,” He said. He pulled a chip out of his pocket and tossed it to the first guard. “Put that in your head-gear; swap it for your standard interface. The reader’s built-in.” He walked in without explaining how he got it. It was too cold out for long stories.

The New Rochester Public Library was a Greco-Roman marble edifice to knowledge. It was left untouched by both nature and human nature. During the devolution, books were deemed little more than glorified heating-wood, neither a guide to intellectual survival, nor a symbol of power. Now, two decades after the end of the devolution and the birth of the UEC, the Terrestrials were forced to see libraries as both.

Between the stained-glass window on the left side and the wide marble staircase on the right stood a large wooden table. Five men hovered around it, commenting on a map splayed out before them. One of the men Blake knew. He nodded as he looked up.

Hey Blake,” the man said, “Ya here to see Jameson?”

“Yeah, Timmy.” Blake looked down at the map. It was covered in marker lines. There were circular perimeters emanating out from the library. Zones of some sort. The remaining lines must’ve been power lines, sewer lines; none of which would be operable. New Rochester was one of the most heavily sanctioned regions in Terrestria; much of the above-ground infrastructure was destroyed by the UEC. The roads had been blasted to craters, making them impassible to conventional cars or trucks.

“So you’re the legendary Blake Chaplin, huh?” One of the men said as he looked up. He was much older than Blake, the hard lines of his face giving him the visage of living stone.

“Is that what they’re callin’ me now?” Blake chuckled. “Legendary?”

“You escaped a Sanctuary and lived.” The man said. “That’s word on the street, anyways…”

“Bobby, leave him alone,” said one of the other men there.

“Nah, I don’t mind,” replied Blake. “It wasn’t me, though…”

“Yeah, you and Mike Wynsee…” Suddenly the table got quiet. Wynsee was a name seldom mentioned. Anywhere.

“OK, back to work.”

A voice from the top of the staircase called the attention of the men back to the map. Blake didn’t have to even look up to know it was Jameson. They had a long history. When Blake did look up, Jameson motioned for him to follow.

They walked into the third floor, the most spacious area of the library. The tables that lined the center of it were filled with readers. Blake had been in enough libraries to know that they weren’t reading casually; it was their job. Some had books; others periodicals. The five microfiche machines were armed and spinning, manned by people who had to strain at times to read the old newspapers they were preserving.

Jameson took Blake into the third floor collection area, where he yanked the chain loose that covered the central staircase. They went up to the fourth floor, home to storage and Jameson’s office.

“Mike called you by now, I assume,” Blake said as he sat down on a pile of dusty books.

“Yeah,” Jameson replied, “I almost didn’t believe it was him. You know, their technology and all.” Blake nodded. Jameson wiped off his chair before sitting down.

“You’re lucky they didn’t kill you,” he said. “Are you sure you weren’t tracked here?” Jameson motioned up.

“They think I’m dead.” Blake pulled out what looked like a scientific calculator. It was one of his many hacks. He set it on Jameson’s desk.

Jameson picked it up, tracing his finger along the slim side. “What’s this?” He said. “Aside from a calculator…”

“It’s a null transmitter.” Blake answered.

“A null transmitter?”

“Yeah.” Blake turned it over, showing him the mode of invisible. “The Sanctuary scans biometrics.” He flipped the case as he spoke. “When it gets zero response, it returns what the programming interprets as a null sweep. One of the things this does is; it tricks the Sanctuary’s main system into reading a null sweep wherever it should be picking up activity.”

Jameson fiddled a pencil through his fingers as he stared at the hack.

“What’s the range?”

“Four hundred yards.”

Jameson cleared his throat. “It’s not gonna’ screw with our cloak, is it?”

“I’m just gonna’ assume you’re fucking with me on that…”

Jameson grunted. “Sorry.”

Blake could tell he’d been frazzled as of late. Five years ago, J’ would have never even thought to question Blake’s security sense.

“So why are you really here?” Jameson didn’t like to waste time or mince words, and he knew Blake wasn’t there to show off toys. And indeed, there were other matters at hand.

“Mike may have figured something out,” Blake said, “something big.”

“Big like what?”

Blake took a breath. This wasn’t going to be an easy explanation.

“We may have a way to counter PEALE.” He said. Jameson stared at him in shock. The PEALE system was what they’d been fighting for the past twenty years. Rather; it’s what had been killing them for the past twenty years.

“How!?!” Jameson had lost his eldest son to one of PEALE‘s strikes last June; a lightning burst. It was a direct kill; a message.

“It’s no guarantee,” Blake said, “And it may well backfire.”

“Just spit it out, Blake.” Jameson wanted payback, regardless of consequence.

“PEALE is artificial intelligence,” Blake started, “and I’m not telling you what you don’t already know, but that PEALE isn’t truly AI.”

“It’s not self-aware.” Jameson said. “Just a smart brick.”

“Right.” Blake reached into his coat pocket, this time drawing out an old smartphone.

“I haven’t seen one of those in years…”

“You’ve never seen one of these,” Blake flipped it open. A dull yellow power indicator turned to green, and the LCD display activated. An image appeared of a purely white background, except for a young boy; his face unusually fair, dressed in white cloth of some sort, very plain.

Jameson looked on. “Who’s that?” He asked.

“I’m Adam.” The voice came through a pair of speakers Jameson had plugged into an old FM receiver. He nearly jumped out of his seat when he heard it.

“What the fuck was that?” Jameson shouted. Blake chuckled, reminded of his own reaction when Mike introduced him to Adam.

“What are you, Adam?” Blake spoke into the phone.

“No one has figured that out yet.” Again the voice went through the speakers.

“Wait,” Jameson said, “Do you understand what we’re saying?”

“You’re not saying much, but yes.” Adam said.

“You’re shittin’ me, Blake,” He said, “Tell me this isn’t some fuckin’ joke.”

“I’m not a joke.” Adam said. “I know what a joke is, and that’s not me.”

Jameson looked at the phone, looked at Adam. Adam smiled. After a pause, Jameson himself smiled.

“Real AI.” He said. “Un-fucking-believable…”

“I prefer the term cyber-sentience.” Adam said through the speakers. “I stopped being artificial when I woke up.”

“Sorry.” Jameson just stared at the smartphone screen. He grunted, chuckled, made a few other unintelligible noises as he scanned the room back and forth, his gaze revolving between Blake and “Adam”. He got up, finally, running his hand along a bookshelf, tracing paths in the dust that had accumulated.

“So what’s our role in, umm … Adam?” He said, referring to the library.

Blake himself got up, and said something under his breath to Adam, who subsequently disappeared from the screen. The green indicator went back to yellow. When Adam’s housing was dimmed, he walked over to the window overlooking East Main Street, stood side-by-side with Jameson.

“We need you to hold on to it,” He said, “to him.”

“Why me?” He replied. “I’m not cut out for that stuff. I barely know how to hack a soda out of one of the old vending machines in the barrens…”

“We’re not looking for a hacker.” Blake replied. “If we were, Adam would be with Mike right now.”

“So what are you looking for?”

Blake paused. East Main Street below was dead. Not a shock; the current population of New Rochester could fit in the third floor of the library. Such a shitty small place for the tide to turn, Blake thought. But Mike picked it out, and Blake knew that if anyone was up to the current phase of the resistance, it was Jameson.

“Adam already knows more about hacking than you, me and perhaps even Mike combined.” Blake said.

“What he needs now isn’t a hacker, but a teacher.” Blake said, “Hell…maybe a dad.”

 

 

More from Liam Sweeny…

Direct From Sweden – The Music From Abba

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Abba

TROY, NEW YORK:     The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall is excited to announce Direct From Sweden – The Music of ABBA on Saturday, March 22nd!  Pre-sale for the show starts Wednesday, November 20th at 10am and tickets will go on-sale to the public on Friday, November 22nd at 10am.  Learn more below about Direct From Sweden – The Music of ABBA !

“The music of ABBA” are no strangers to the incomparable sound and look of Sweden’s greatest music export with meticulous attention to costumes, make-up, musical arrangements, movements and the singing, nothing is left to chance. Adding a few of ABBA’s live traits such as great solos, musical numbers and a complete live band with back-up singers, ensures an extra dimension unheard of in most similar productions.

Dance, sing along and enjoy the hits such as Dancing Queen, Chiquitita, Waterloo, Mamma Mia, The Winner Takes it All, Fernando, SOS, Take a Chance, Money Money Money, Knowing Me Knowing You, Super Trouper, Gimme Gimme Gimme, Voulez-Vous and many more.

With over 400 million records sold ABBA is Sweden’s biggest export ever!  When the Musical “Mamma Mia” hit the American Stages in 2000 it became an instant classic and the ABBA tribute was born.

ABBA is the greatest pop group of all time, only compared to Elvis and The Beatles.  ABBA started in 1971 and ended as a group in 1982.  Their music continues to be passed on from generation to generation and are loved by the whole world.

Direct from Sweden The Music of ABBA will deliver the closest ABBA experience you’ll ever get with some of Sweden’s most experienced and talented singers and musicians playing 100% live.  The audience will be on their feet the entire show!!

Tickets are on sale at 10 am, November 20th to Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Members.  Anyone can become a member and gain access to the pre-sale.  Single tickets go on sale the general public Friday, November 22nd at 10am via phone, (518) 273-0038, in person, or online at  TroyMusicHall.org.  More information on the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and upcoming programs is also available on the website at www.troymusichall.org.

 

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