Category: Interviews
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Of all the rock bands I’ve come across since starting Love is Pop, Dead Letter Circus is one of the most intellectual. Just pick any song from any of their albums and listen to it and you’ll see what I mean. Frontman Kim Benzie’s lyrics require deep thought to fully comprehend; they’re like riveting poetry…
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interview by Michael McCarthy Yesterday we ran part one of my interview with Tracii Guns. If you haven’t read it yet, please READ IT NOW. In part one, we talked extensively about Tracii’s new band, Devil City Angels, which also features Rudy Sarzo, Rikki Rocket and Brandon Gibbs. In today’s conclusion we talk about several other…
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interview by Michael McCarthy When you hear the name of guitarist Tracii Guns you probably think of his most famous band, L.A. Guns. But I did not ask any L.A. Guns questions during this interview. It simply didn’t occur to me. I’d written questions beforehand, of course, but I had so many questions about his…
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Back in 2012 I came across a song called “Karma Debt” by The Mynabirds and instantly fell in love with it. The sound of Laura Burhenn’s vocals alone was bewitching, equal parts velvety smooth and soulful, but her thought-provoking lyrics about war and debt were what really made my brain light up like a Christmas…
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I first encountered The Ballroom Thieves’ music when I was preparing to cover the Boston Calling music festival last month, checking out the bands I wasn’t already familiar with on Spotify. I was so impressed with their debut album, A Wolf In The Doorway, that I promptly bought their album from iTunes, as I still believe…
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Recently I reviewed Chungking’s incredible new album, Defender. It was a rave review during which I gave the album very high praise, comparing it to some of the greats, like Goldfrapp and Ladytron. I highly recommend that you read the review before reading the following interview with Chungking’s charismatic lead vocalist, Jessie Banks! But, if you…
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interview by Michael McCarthy It was only around twenty seconds into Night Demon’s debut full-length, Curse of the Damned, when I fell in love with it and knew it was going to be one of the very best metal albums I’d heard in a long time. The guitars were in the vein of Metallica’s “Whiplash”…
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review and interview by Michael McCarthy previously published on OtakuDX Before we get to our interview with J-Pop’s future stars 4TE, I wanted to present a review of their wonderful double A-side MORE / 一歩ずつ… 4TE — pronounced Forte/for-tay — is a red hot new Japanese pop group based out of the U.S. and if…
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Button:Pusher is the new double album project by Kiran Shahani of Bitter:Sweet and The Supreme Beings of Leisure fame. (The two albums are called Never Look Back and Cross My Heart.) If you’re not familiar with either of those groups, chances are you’ve still heard some of Kiran’s work. For one thing, he’s done the…
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interview by Michael McCarthy Back in July of 2013, I gave a very positive review to the debut album by Starkill, Fires of Life, which was a perfect blend of the death and symphonic metal subgenres. Nightwish as performed by Dimmu Borgir, if you will. Well, those artists continue to be among the band’s influences…
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I was recently introduced to the music of Veiga Sanchez, who goes by the name Salt Ashes, and after listening to just a couple of her songs I already fell head over heels in love with her sound. Like any artist, she has influences and those influences can be heard in her music. But, here’s the thing…
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interview by Michael McCarthy I won’t brag about the volume of music we receive on a daily basis now, but I will say that it’s often overwhelming. And it takes a lot to please me these days. Being good or even great doesn’t necessarily cut it. I have to fall totally in love with an…
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interview by Michael McCarthy On September 10th I saw Doe Paoro open for Sylvan Esso at their sold out show at The Sinclair in Boston and was immediately impressed by her incredible talent. By the time she was done her second song, “Hypotheticals,” I found myself thinking that she should be headlining her own shows…
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When we last interviewed the UK’s critically acclaimed Bat and Ball they were promoting their glorious second single, “Stops My Mouth,” which blended an easy breezy pop melody with poignant lyrics and haunting vocals courtesy of Abi Sinclair, one of the band’s two lead singers. (The other vocalist is her brother Chris.) The same description could…
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interview by Michael McCarthy You know how they say there’s a first time for everything? Well, here’s a first for Love is Pop – an interview with a black metal band. Wiki’s definition of black metal: “Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted…
