Southern California has become a hotbed of talented thrash metal acts in recent years, however only one band has the chops to stand out above all others. Only one band has successfully taken the risks necessary to rise above the rest. From Pomona, CA, that band is “Bonded By Blood“.
Here to crack that thrash metal whip is “Bonded By Blood” bassist, Jessie Sanchez!
MS: Growing up did you like metal music a lot?
JS: Yeah, I grew up listening to a lot of punk and thrash metal. A lot of industrial music, I used to be really big into industrial.
MS: Oh really? I really like industrial too, what are some of the bands you are into?
JS: I’m a product of the MTV Generation, I like “Ministry” and “Rammstein” a lot. “Marilyn Manson” was probably what actually was my introduction to industrial.
MS: Musically I like a lot of “Marilyn Manson” but I can’t stand them live. They toured with “Hole” one time was the reason I even saw them.
JS: Oh really?
MS: Courtney Love would just stand on stage with her guitar and be magnetic, and Marilyn Manson did all these theatrics and I was bored out of my mind. It’s funny when I saw you on stage you were great, you are so kick back normally, but on stage!
JS: It’s like an on and off switch. (laughs)
MS: Yeah, it’s called performing, the way you whipped your hair around I kept thinking about that awful Willow Smith song about “whipping your hair back and forth”. (laughs)
JS: (laughs) Well it’s part of the work uniform that’s for sure!
MS: You guys are a good balance on stage. Talk about the “thrash metal revival”.
JS: The first album was a lot more “thrash” then the albums started to get more technical. And now with “Aftermath” which is our third album we are starting to sound more mature. The album coming out is pretty much the debut of the re-vamp of the band, it’s my first time on a “Bonded By Blood” record.
MS: Congrats!
JS: Thanks. The writing process was a different one this time around than the band was used to. It was a lot more laid back, this time, we were really honest with each other if we did not like something. We jammed out riffs and tossed ideas back and forth until we came up with something that we were all satisfied with. I don’t think the group has had that kind of honesty before, people weren’t as comfortable as far as communicating with each other. With the new line-up changes everyone is more comfortable, as we are all approachable people, and not afraid to be honest with each other. As a result of this we have a new record that there is nothing on I would go back and change. I think the whole band is satisfied.
It’s a Cho, Cho World - with season four of “Drop Dead Diva” already in full swing & her upcoming comedy tour “Mother” not to mention her too cool for school guest spot as Kim Jong Il on “30 Rock” Margaret Cho is in your face B!tches!
She even caught the attention of the Fred Phelps comedy troupe known as The Westboro Baptist Church, who called her a “Lying Pervert” uh, ok, we Cho fans already knew that, duh!
MS: Hi “Lying Pervert“.
MC: It’s true, when I read that I was kind of like, well, yes! I think that’s fine.
MS: The Westboro Baptist Church is so over the top, I find the the sh!t they say oddly funny.
MC: It’s really kind of flattering. Once they had a big picture of Elizabeth Taylor with the words “Fag Hag” underneath it. I thought it was just so flattering, some sort of signage for people who support gay rights, it’s really kind of amazing.
MS: BTW I watched the season four premiere of “Drop Dead Diva” you look like you are having a blast on that show!
MC: Yes, I have a really good time and I really love the cast. They are all really talented actors and we have really amazing guest stars all the time, which is a lot of fun. My favorite this year have been, Patty Duke…and I didn’t even get to meet Kim Kardashian, but I guess she is coming back soon, so hopefully I will get to see her. We’re always having all sorts of fun people drop in. It’s a great place to be for shooting “Drop Dead Diva“, Atlanta, GA, people are here everyday. Kathy Griffin just came through this past weekend and that was a lot of fun. It’s a cool place to be and being part of cast for four years and playing a character for four years is really great.
MS: The chemistry between the actors on the show rocks. I did watch the season four premiere before we spoke, Kim Kardashian wasn’t bad actually.
MC: She was good.
MS: Let's talk about your upcoming tour “Mother”.
Photo: Austin Young
MC: I have to put my tour schedule together for six months out of the year, because the other six months I am working on “Drop Dead Diva”. Every once in a while I’ll be able to get out and do a gig, but that’s pretty rare, finally I’m actually getting to go back out on the road. People have talked about my “Mother” impression all throughout my career, I wanted to do a show that was just, full on about her (laughs). It’s also about how I have become a “Mother” for the Queer community, I became a maternal figure within that context. This show is about my Mom, dedicated to Mom’s and about a Mom, which would be me I guess. (laughs)
MS: Do you ever want kids for real?
MC: No, no, I mean it is a possibility, it’s important to think, that even if I am not an actual “Mother” I still have to be there for Queer/LGBT young kids. You have to be there as an adult figure within the Queer community. We all have to do that it’s an important thing. In my generation I lost a lot of people that I looked up to in the Queer community. People that are “Generation X’ers” have to have much more of a parental influence to bridge that gap.
MS: There are plenty of people that I do that with. Since we were on the subject of Mom’s I had never really asked you if you wanted to become one, so I had to go there.
MC: You sort of become one by default, in the sense that when you age and get older you just become a kind of a “Mother” even if you don’t literally have child, you have one, we all do.
MS: I caught your guest stint on “30 Rock” as North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Il, you played a guy, but it really worked.
MC: Oh yeah, it was insane because I looked just like him. When I went outside, I was standing there in the bald cap and the wig…I got cruised by this hot older Bear. He thought I was a hot young Asian Bear, I’m like: “ I just got “Bear Cruised” - but I could not follow through on it exactly because I am sure he did not know I was a woman. (laughs)
MS: Yeah, I did not recognize it was you right off.
MC: It’s so crazy how much I look like him, it’s really scary.
MS: Tina Fey said it was one of her proudest moments on the show, having you on as Kim Jong Il, how cool is that?
MC: I really love her and am so proud to have been on the show and have played that character, I am actually North Korean. To be from there and to be isolated from my family because of this dictator, and to be able to make fun of him is a great thing, but it is also pretty sad too, it’s a weird situation.
MS: When he died what were your thoughts?
MC: I was hoping there would be some sort of a change, that it would be time for that country to open up, but that hasn’t happened obviously it has gotten a bit worse. There is less contact, less communication and less scrutiny.
MS: How’s your music going?
MC: I will be doing some music on “Drop Dead Diva” this year.
MS: Very cool!
MC: Also I am so excited to go out on tour as well!
MS: Out of everything you do is touring your favorite?
MC: Touring is and will always be my favorite job! I really love stand-up.
Margaret Cho is not a “Lying Pervert” keep up with her at: www.margaretcho.com
Boys will be boys, and “Midnight Red” is here to prove it. In the boy band tradition of The “Back Street Boys” & “New Kids On The Block“, who they opened for on tour. This group of exciting and talented young men are carrying on this pop tradition torch.
Hot on the heels of their EP “One Club At A Time” and their own tour as well “Midnight Red” is dropping, what is sure to be the pop anthem of the summer “Hell Yeah”.
So, let's get random with band member, Colton Rudloff.
MS: OK, I am going to throw out 10 random things for you and you saw the first thing that pops into your mind.
James Durbin Announces New Summer Tour Dates with Buckcherry, Drowning Pool and more
“Higher Than Heaven” scores 600% sales increase
June 2012- Los Angeles, CA – American Idol finalist James Durbin, who hit the road earlier this Spring on his first-ever national tour in support of hisWind-Up Recordsdebut album Memories Of A Beautiful Disaster,has just announced new Summer dates to run through August with bothBuckcherryandDrowning Pool.
Memories Of A Beautiful Disasterhas sold over 100,000 units, while his latest single, “Love MeBad,” hit the Top 30 on the Hot AC chart. Over 15 million people tuned in to watch James’ recent performance of fan favorite “Higher Than Heaven”on American Idol which resulted in sales of the single jumpingover 600% and catapulting the song into the top 5 on iTunes. Click here to watch the incredible live performance:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtGkptzkEtk&feature=share<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtGkptzkEtk&feature=share>
James and his band have now shared the stage with everyone from Evanescence to Steel Pantherto Judas Priest. Durbin's new dates with Buckcherry and Drowning Pool include stops in Canada,several dates across America (including a free outdoor show in Kansas City and a stop at the Ridge Festival in Chicago)and an outdoor show in Los Angeles on August 10th at Universal City Walk.
Tour dates 6-29- TACOMA , WA – Hell’s Kitchen- Headline 7-01 - GIBBONS, ALBERTA - BOONSTOCK FESTIVAL 7-03 - BRANDON, MANITOBA- Houston’s with Buck Cherry 7-04 - PRINCE ALBERT, SASK - Art Hauer Center with Buck Cherry 7-05 - SASKATOON, SASK Odeon with Buck Cherry 7-07 - BOISE, ID - RADIO FESTIVAL - 7/10 - SOUTH BEND, IN - Club Fever with Drowning Pool 7-12- LANSING, MI - The Loft - Headline 7-13 - KANSAS CITY, MO - KC Live Power and Light Dist. with Buck Cherry 7-14 - CHESANING, MI– Showboat Rockfest- festival 7-15 – NEWPORT, KY – Thompson House with Drowning Pool 7-17 - FAYETTEVILLE, AR - George’s Majestic – with Drowning Pool 7/18 - TEXARCANA, AR - Shooter’s – With Drowning Pool 7-19 - MIAMI, OK - Buffalo Run – With Drowning Pool 7-27 - CHICAGO, IL - RIDGE FESTIVAL 08/10 - UNIVERSAL WALK – headline
MIDNIGHT RED LAUNCH DEBUT SINGLE, “HELL YEAH”ON JUNE 19
PRODUCER RedOne UNLEASHES THE USA’S BEST KEPT SECRET WITH POP BAND MIDNIGHT RED
The boys are dropping their new single "Hell Yeah" this coming Tuesday be on the lookout for my exclusive interview with band member, Colton Rudloff for the music site www.chorusandverse.com and of course an "Entertain Me" exclusive as well...It must be summertime...!
As the massive popularity of acts such as The Jackson5, New Kids on the Block, Boyz II Men, Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC can attest, people can’t resist the simple pleasure of talented young guys singing together – and it doesn’t hurt if they’re not bad to look at either. Enter Midnight Red, a new group of exciting performers from across the country who are carrying on that legacy by bringing outstanding harmonies and electrifying dance moves to the pop landscape.
The buzz on Midnight Red was so strong that they were selected as the opening act for the New Kids on the Block/Backstreet Boys co-headlining tour last Summer based on the strength of their digital EP One Club At A Time on 2101 Records/Kings of L.A. Entertainment/Interscope Records. After wowing audiences across America while on tour with NKOTBSB, as well as their own club dates, the guys are now gearing up for the national launch of their first single, “Hell Yeah” from their forthcoming full-length CD release.
“Hell Yeah,” produced by acclaimed hit maker RedOne (Lady Gaga, Pitbull, Nicki Minaj) is an up-in-your-face electronic splash of pop with a driving club beat that will get you out on the dance floor. Arjanwrites.comsays "Hell Yeah!" is a hit-savvy tune by a promising new pop act that is, quite frankly, too irresistible to be denied.”
“Hell Yeah” will be available on iTunes and all other digital outlets on June 19.
While it seems everyone is talking about the recent British Invasion - take note of the recent popularity of One Direction and The Wanted - RedOne unleashes the USA's best kept secret with Midnight Red's "Hell Yeah." The group also stands out by bringing a surplus of solid dance tracks to their live shows. No matter where they perform, it's always their goal to make people want to get up and feel the beat, as evidenced by the amazing reception the group received at Universal City Walk last month.
Click hereto view the footage of the guys performing “Hell Yeah” at Universal City Walk:
Midnight Red is:
Joey Diggs Jr., 22, from Los Angeles, CA, who says his father, a singer who is best known as the voice behind Coca-Cola’s “Always” campaign jingle, taught him everything he knows. Says Joey; “I’m ready to show the world what it means to chase a dream and work hard to make that dream become reality.”
Thomas Augusto, 21, from Arlington, TX, was called the “little entertainer” because “my parents could never shut me up,” he says. A fan of Beyonce, Radiohead, and No Doubt, Thomas has spent years dreaming about being on a huge stage doing what he loves to do. “There were always pyrotechnics in my daydreams, so I know I am on the right track!” he says.
Eric Secharia, 20, from Burbank, CA, describes himself as a “hipster” whom you’ll never catch not smiling. Eric, who has been singing since age 6, and dancing since age 12, plays guitar and cites Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson as his main musical influences. “They are two people who truly stood out as performers that mastered their craft and used it to change the world,” he says.
Colton Rudloff, 23, from Buffalo, NY, was selected as Midnight Red’s fifth member after being discovered through videos he had posted on YouTube. A huge fan of American Idol, Colton credits the show for exposing him to many different genres of music. “I lean toward artists who have a passion for pure singing,” he says. “There’s no need for all the smoke and mirrors if you have a great voice.”
Anthony Ladao, 20, from Seattle, WA, is the “baby” of the group, and has been dancing since the age of 6 and singing since the age of 12. Seeing Usher perform at the MTV Video Music Awards first sparked his interest in dance and “from there it became my passion,” he says.
Midnight Red was formed in 2009 through the efforts of veteran A&R executive, and Kings of LA label founder, Pete Farmer and super producer RedOne, who brought the group to Interscope Records.
