KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Bassist On RONNIE JAMES DIO, Diminishing Record Sales

Cosmos Gaming conducted an interview with bassist Mike D'Antonio of Massachusetts metallers KILLSWITCH ENGAGE at last month's Rock On The Range festival in Columbus, Ohio. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

Cosmos Gaming: In reference to where you came from musically, do you feel like your music has changed at all?

Mike D'Antonio: I guess we went about it in a roundabout way. We were all in separate bands that played 10-minute songs that played 30-40 riffs per song and we didn't have any fans. So we took a step back and said "What would promote a person walking into a venue and seeing us for the first time — loving or hating us — but just knowing right away rather than having to listen to a song 30-40 times to understand what was going on?" So the original idea of the band was to strip things down but I guess that was also the rock way of doing things because it helped us get onto the radio. But it was never anything that we were strived to do.

Cosmos Gaming: We assume you'll be doing your traditional DIO cover tonight, are you planning on doing anything special considering his recent passing?

Mike D'Antonio: Umm, we will dedicate the set to Dio. It was a really sad thing. He was one of the few older guys who could still put it on every day despite his age. It's sad to see such great talent lost but we're not going to do anything special besides just sending it out to him.

Cosmos Gaming: Is there any reason why you initially chose "Holy Diver" vs. any other song?

Mike D'Antonio: The original idea for the cover was Kerrang! magazine was doing a 25th or 30th anniversary edition of the magazine and were putting out a CD of current metal bands covering old school metal bands and there was a long list of bands from like BON JOVI to POISON to DIO and even WEEZER who were thrown in there which was kind of weird but they had the artists and then the songs that were possibilities that the bands could choose from and we had chosen DIO just based on our love for the guy and his band who put out some pretty great metal songs and albums over the years. Not necessarily something that'll be on the radio, but great metal songs nonetheless. And the song they originally wanted us to do "We Rock" but we'd always been big fans of "Holy Diver" so we went to them and there was a bit of back and forth and we just asked if we could do "Holy Diver" and they eventually said "Sure, why not?!" That's why we initially recorded the cover, because we normally don't do or record covers. We're not the kind of band who wants to get known but just recording a bunch of covers. We were just happy to do it and it ended up turning out really well. It was also the first time we'd seen our singer sing-sing a song throughout the entire thing and we weren't entirely sure if he could pull it off because there's a lot of falsetto in Dio's songs so it was cool to see him actually do it.

Cosmos Gaming: Do you feel that by covering "Holy Diver" that it brought a whole new generation to love Dio's music?

Mike D'Antonio: I'd like to hope so. It'd be great to know that. Some of those older guys were suffering a bit to the end of their careers so it would be great for them to gain a bit more respect. Some 14-year-old who doesn't know anything about music can kind of grow into it and learn to love his music. Kids need to find their way somewhere along the lines whether it's by us showing them what good music is or other bands playing songs like that, you know.

Cosmos Gaming: Whom do you blame for the downfall of record sales?

Mike D'Antonio: A lot of it unfortunately has to do with the Internet and songs being available for free but I guess it's just because it's such a new thing that's going on so people haven't figured out how to corral it back into the way it should be. Songwriters need to make money, too. I guess the next step would probably be music services sort of like in the old days where you'd put a penny in an envelope along with one of those old RCA lists where you check off 10 CDs and stuff and I guess that'll come into play and Rhapsody where you pay a certain fee and then get whatever you want. The unfortunate part is that no one owns anything anymore. You're paying the same amount of money but you do not physically own anything.

Dream Thearter Vocalist Talks About Upcoming Solo Album

BlissfulViolet of Beyond The Dark Horizon recently conducted an interview with DREAM THEATER vocalist James LaBrie. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Beyond The Dark Horizon: Is there been a certain process or routine that DREAM THEATER follows to prepare before a tour? How do you prepare vocally to keep your voice in tact?

James LaBrie: Everyone has their own way of preparing for tours and shows aside from rehearsal. I jog every day, take a lot of vitamins get plenty of sleep. I warm up before the show and cool down after. I drink a lot of liquids, don't drink or smoke. All these things help me keep my voice in top shape.

Beyond The Dark Horizon: And what's amazing is the fact that you have been singing since childhood.

James LaBrie: My family always found a way to get me involved with music. I was listening to music since the age of three and singing since the age of five-that's for sure. According to my parents, I would always sit next to a radio and one day just started singing the lyrics to the songs that I knew. I remember putting on albums and I mean "albums," LPs [laughs] and singing songs because I loved it. I fell in love with it from the very beginning.

Beyond The Dark Horizon: What was it like growing up in Canada and coming from a family with a great musical background?

James LaBrie: My father used to sing and dance at a small local theater, my mother played piano, she still does, a little guitar as well. Her whole family and sisters would all sing. But my dad also sang in barbershop quartet, was in the church choir, so he'd even bring me there to sing with him. He also brought me along to the barbershop quartets, which were pretty cool because you were really able to focus on the sound of your voice compared to others, and really get a good feel from where you're coming from as a vocalist.

Beyond The Dark Horizon: Are your children musically inclined as well?

James LaBrie: Absolutely. My son plays guitar and my daughter sings and studies; she's doing fantastic and has a lovely voice. They're both extremely involved with music and listen to it all the time — whether they're in their bedrooms or walking around with an iPod, music is a huge part of their lives.

Beyond The Dark Horizon: DREAM THEATER has always been a band that never repeats itself. Where does your latest release, "Black Clouds and Silver Linings", take you?

Jame LaBrie: With that being said, we always want to challenge ourselves and strive to take us in a direction that's expressing ourselves musically but differently. I think with this album, it was really cool because it was kind of like a toss back with some of our musical roots. There are songs on there that sound like they might be from the "A Change of Seasons" and the "Awake" era. Even off the "Scenes of a Memory" with the song, "The Count of Tuscany". I think it was a really cool, very contemporary sounding album but still remaining true and maintaining our identity.

Beyond The Dark Horizon: Aside from DREAM THEATER, you recently announced the release of your new solo album, any details on that?

James LaBrie: It's going to be called "Static Pulse" and there will be 12 songs, on the album. It's very heavy and I'm really excited. I don't want to say too much about it at this point but were in the mixing stages and all the artwork is being done. It's a great band and we have fantastic players. It should be out by mid/late September.

Beyond the Dark Horizon: Do you plan to tour in support?

James LaBrie: I'm planning on touring in support but not too much since I'm always touring with DREAM THEATER. I would like everyone to know that this is a band, a unit and everyone involved is very passionate and serious about this and I think it would be exceptionally cool to get out on the road and do stuff on our own, but at the same time it would be a great idea to open up for a bigger band. We would basically do an in-your-face balls-to-the-wall-and-see-you-later deal.

Beyond The Dark Horizon: Being DREAM THEATER's frontman for 20 years, at the end of the day, what does the band and your work as a vocalist mean to you?

James LaBrie: It's kind of weird. You wake up, speak to people like I'm speaking to you and realize that it's the very thing that has given me the life that I have and it's who I am. It's bizarre in a way. You do fall into a groove and it's like anything that you've done for awhile — it just becomes the norm. But every now and then, I am jarred by the whole situation; I'm like, "Hey, I sing for a living. I'm doing want many people dream of doing, I'm living it." I think it really hits you when you go out on tour and perform before thousands of people. The energy and receptiveness of the crowd makes you realize what you do for people, it's just incredible and I'm much honored to be part of something that I always aspired to be.

In This Moment Frontwoman Talks New Album

101 Distribution recently conducted an interview with vocalist Maria Brink of Southern California's IN THIS MOMENT. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

101 Distribution: Cool. So Jesse Landry left the bass position recently.

Maria Brink: Yea. Kyle [Konkiel] is our new bassist and Jesse is no longer in the band, but it was a good thing. It was a mutual thing. He wanted to fly airplanes and it's so funny because he's been sitting in the bunk for the past year — while we're on tour — doing these flight simulating video games and it's so funny because we'd make fun of him. But he actually made the choice that he wanted to fly airplanes and he is flying airplanes now by himself, and getting more licenses so he can actually be a pilot.

101 Distribution: So you guys recently recorded the new album entitled "A Star-Crossed Wasteland". How do you feel about it?

Maria Brink: I love our new album so much. I think it's a defining album, as far as our sound is concerned. I think in the beginning, we were trying to figure it out and exploring different things, and I think on this album, we kinda found what our sound is. I guess the last album ("The Dream") was a lot more bright and [had] a storybook album feel, and this album went to a darker fairytale ... definitely a darker realm.

101 Distribution: What was your inspiration this time around?

Maria Brink: A few different things. For me, the way I like to do things ... I love storytelling, but I like to write about things that are super-passionate to me because I feel like if I'm not writing about things that I believe in — my personal feelings, [then] you won't really hear the emotion in my voice and to me, that's one of the most important things I can have. So what I did was I wrote about my experiences and kinda this metaphorical story type thing. There is definitely an underlying theme for this whole entire album of this post-apocalyptic wasteland world and "star-crossed lovers" is obviously where these two people are meant to basically fail and it's not gonna work out, so it's this star-crossed wasteland world. It's a cool theme ... kinda like a western desert feel to the songs about this cowboy on the search in this world. It's super cool, super fun and big metaphors of things I'm going through in my life. I went through a break-up and a broken heart, and a bunch of other stuff, so it's storytelling throughout my entire experiences.

101 Distribution: You said you broke up with your boyfriend. Is this the one you've been dating for like two or three years?

Maria Brink: Yeah. Jonathan Miller from DEVILDRIVER.

101 Distribution: So you're on the market now?

Maria Brink: (Laughs) I'm single, yes.

101 Distribution: Goodness gracious! A lot of guys are gonna hit on you at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival!

Maria Brink: You know, you say that, but men do not hit on me. It's so rare and few that men actually hit on me, whether or not they're intimidated because I'm in a heavy band or my tattoos - whatever it is. I actually rarely ever get hit on. Isn't that funny? People think I do, but I actually don't. I guess the men who are meant to be a part of my life won't be intimidated by me and will be stronger. There's a specific breed that won't be afraid. The man who is meant to be with me won't b afraid of me, so it's gonna take a strong man to step up the plate.

101 Distribution: "The Gun Show" is the first single. Tell me about the video and what was the idea behind releasing that song first?

Maria Brink: It's kind of a western ranch feel video for sure. I dressed up as a cowgirl and have these cowgirls in the video with me. We had so much fun doing it. It's just, I think it's one of the heaviest songs and we really love it, and it's just a fun, awesome, summertime kick ass song. It's pretty brutal because we wanted to come out with a serious bang and our next single would be our radio type single. This one isn't for radio. It's too heavy, but we decided to make an impact, kicking down the door and lighting up the place!