Reality Check - Andre Mistier of ISM Speaks On It 0 comments

We caught up with Andre Mistier from the innovative new NY outfit, ISM:

CWG: Your new album, "Urgency," due out on August 5th features the single "Sacred Cows"… What's the song about?

The song is a call to arms for all of us to acknowledge what is unique and important about each of us, and to use that to give meaning and purpose to our activities rather than just passing time in a daze waiting for something or someone to happen.

CWG: How did you guys come up with the idea to start a politically-charged
electronica outfit?

More fun than banking, safer than robbing a bank. I found that, in the process of trying to understand myself, I had to spend so much time thinking about how we all live our modern lives that eventually sharing those ideas just felt necessary.

And to talk to modern people, one should use a full range of modern sounds- the organic, such as human voices, violins, and guitars, and the inorganic and industrial, such as bleeps, whirrs, cellphone rings, and other electronic noises. How many people do you know whose day-to-day activities do not include both hearing human voices and hearing a phone ring, or a computer bleep?

CWG: Which political/social cause would you say is most important to the band?

The most important political/social cause to me is world ignorance.

I think a lack of understanding and just plain old stupidity, combined with a little fear and arrogance, causes most of the problems in the world.

However, other than world stupidity, environmental needs, and the search for new energy, seem to me to be the most pressing issues. You can argue about who owns what, and where one should draw the lines, but if there's nothing to argue over and no one left to argue with, the whole question doesn't really matter anymore.

CWG: Do you have any opinions on Gangster-ism?

Shit, bitch.

CWG: If you could invite 3 people to your "Party at the end of the world," living or dead, who would they be and why?

Bruce Li, cause I've always wanted to meet him, Mozart, cause that guy looked like he could party, and Gandhi, cause I bet he wouldn't eat too much.

I tell you who I would not invite: Genghis Khan. The guy drank from the tits of his yak, and then when their milk ran out, cut them and drank their blood. Anybody who does that can't have good table manners.

Same goes for the roman emperors- they'd just eat till they puked, then keep partying. But who's gonna clean the mess up, huh?

Reality Check #3 - Justin McCoy of Another Big Machine 0 comments

Sticky-sweet pop-rock, with a twist of that southern/arena rock sound, Another Big Machine is the hottest band to come out of the south since Vertical Horizon. With their self-titled album slated for a summer release, the boys are geared up and ready to go.

We were able to catch up with Justin McCoy, the band’s charismatic vocalist. He was forced to answer the questions against his will, and only agreed to do the interview because we chased him down the street for about 5-10 blocks…. This of course never happened, but Justin really did agree to do the interview amicably, here’s what he had to say:

CWG: Musically, who are your influences?

I have always been influenced by people who think and continue to think outside the box.

A few of the many are- the Beatles, Third Eye Blind, Counting Crows, Blind Melon, and Modest Mouse.

CWG: How did you land that sweet deal with Rising Storm?

Our previous manager knew Bill Richardson, the CEO of Rising Storm and introduced him to ABM. Bill really liked the project and was interested in being a part of it. We had a few meetings and talked about the future of ABM. Once the deal was on the table, Bill offered ABM an opportunity we could not pass up.

CWG: What would you be doing if you weren't in Another Big Machine?

I would be playing as much music as possible. Music is my life and I would continue to make a career playing music no matter what happened.

CWG: You all witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina first-hand.
What was it like to go through a large-scale disaster like that as a band?


It's mind blowing. New Orleans is one of the greatest cities in the world. There is so much culture and vibe in that city. When a place like that suffers such a disaster, it's upsetting. It weighed on our minds for a while but I think things are slowly getting back to normal.

CWG: What's the craziest thing that's happened to you on the road, or as your bio calls it "Touring the Redneck Riviera?"

We stayed in a band house on the beach in Florida one time.

Another band was sharing the house with us and they were a bit crazy. The last night we were there these guys decided to wreck the place! It was really crazy.

CWG: You guys have been together since high school, do you ever get on each other's nerves?

Not much. We all understand each other and we all know what buttons not to push. When you're around the same group of guys all the time, you learn how to keep things civil.

CWG: Who in the band is the most competitive/sorest loser?

No one in the band has that role. We see each other as equal partners in ABM. We are a unit and if one fails, we all fail. If one succeeds, we all succeed.

Artist to Watch - Another Big Machine 0 comments

Buy On:


Justin McCoy - Vocals
D-White - Guitar
Josh Lee - Drums
Dane Carmouche - Bass, Vocals

Myspace:

ANOTHER BIG MACHINE’s concoction of rock instrumentation, pop vocals, tightly constructed anthems and youthful exuberance has produced a gem of a self-titled debut album.

The seed of ANOTHER BIG MACHINE, a band called Addavoy that featured White and Carmouche, was formed in 2003 when several of the members were just out of high-school. Their sound was mature beyond their years - not deliberately crafted pop, what it became was a natural progression for the members - “We would just jam and jam, so our sound came off of what we did in rehearsals,” says Carmouche.

Another Big Machine - "Sedated"


Learning by getting out there and DOING IT was the only way to break out of their local music scene – a small, insular one at that. Their hometown, Gonzales, Louisiana, is about 20 miles from Baton Rouge. “Where we are from,” White explains, “you had to play cover music in order to play, period.” Soon they were peppering their covers of Tonic, Better Than Ezra and the like with songs of their own, and within a year they had self-released a CD and established themselves along the so-called Redneck Riviera, from Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas to Florida. In time, Addavoy popped up on the radar at a couple of major West Coast record labels and it was off to Los Angeles to showcase. The guys then headed back to Louisiana just in time for the mother of all storms to knock the wind out of their sails. Addavoy sadly became another of Hurricane Katrina’s casualties. In it's place came something new, invigorated by Carmouche's switch to bass, and the addition of Plaquemine and LA native / former GoodNight City drummer Josh Lee, the band truly became ANOTHER BIG MACHINE. Buoyed by a new name, a reconfigured lineup and renewed enthusiasm, ANOTHER BIG MACHINE retooled their sound. Near the end of 2005 the band began writing, and in May of 2006 recording began. McCoy, White, Carmouche and Lee crafted a sound that ranges from songs of ardent love like “Sedated” to the defiant stomp of “Do Me Like This.” The lyrical story of each track is perfectly punctuated by the instrumentation, which is why the album merges genres and styles with such ease.

ANOTHER BIG MACHINE had to, literally and figuratively, have things shaken up to get the right equation for their self titled debut. This equation adds up to some soul-stirring music that could serve as the soundtrack to many young lives.