Shapiro Launches Velocity Records, Announces First Signing

Last month, a new metal label was born, as Los Angeles booking agent Dave Shapiro announced the formation of Velocity Records. The label, which announced their first signing yesterday (Abandon All Ships), is a partnership between Shapiro and Rise Records. Metal Insider caught up with Shapiro to talk about why booking agents are launching labels, what he looks for in a band, and why he’s going through Rise as opposed to doing it himself.

With record sales down and the country still in a recession, why did you decide to launch a record label now?

Even with record sales down and the economy in a fragile state, some of the indies are having some of their most successful and profitable years to date.  People are still consuming music, probably more than ever.  They just aren’t paying for it as much.  If the label and artist can cut the right deal and the label can keep their overhead down there is still profitability in record labels.  Plus I try to be very close with bands that I work with. It’s not just about the dollar and the business aspect of the label, but I also am really excited at the idea of being involved in these bands careers on more than just a touring front.

Are there differences between in what you look for in a band for the label and a band you book?

I only plan on signing bands to the label that I will be the agent for.  With that being said I’ll really be looking for the same things here.  Although I do like to book many different styles of music, I only plan on signing stuff to the label that is on the heavier side of what I book, as I think it compliments what Rise is doing better.

Other booking agents have also started labels. In what ways does it makes sense for booking agents to start labels?

In this day and age, labels have less money to spend on development. They’re relying heavily on the agent to develop their artists.  Agents are a much more important part of the picture than they used to be so I think it makes a lot of sense that since agents are brining more to the table, they get more involved on all levels of the artists careers.

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Exclusive: New Song/Interview With Finntroll

Finnish folk/black metal legends Finntroll return with their fifth full-length record, Nifelvind, on March 9. While the first video, “Solsagan,” is already out, Metal Insider and Century Media give you the premiere of another song from the album, “Under Bergets Rot.” An interview with vocalist Vreth follows, in which he holds forth on the Pagan Metal scene, the making of “Solsagan,” and what “Under Bergets Rot” is about, for those of you that can’t understand Swedish.

This is your second album with Finntroll. How has your role on Nifelvind changed from the last album?

I have gotten to know the band much better and I tend to speak up more than in the beginning. I had more input on this album than the one before and was more involved in the recording, mixing, producing, and writing-process this time. When I joined the band in 2006, over half of the songs were already written. Now I was there from the beginning and had lots more time to arrange my vocals. Also after being a member of Finntroll for four years now has taught me what kind of vocals fits what part.

Your keyboardist, Virta, just became a full-time member of the band. What made you promote him?

He has been around for longer than me as a session member. He was there all the time during the recording of Nifelvind and knew lots of the parts already, so it was an easy decision to bring him in and play on the album. We have also been thinking to make him an official member for quite a while now and what’s better than introducing him with a new album!?

Talk to me about the making of the “Solsagan” video. It’s a pretty intense looking video. Was it hard to make?

The actual process of getting it on tape was quite hard for all in the band, being covered in crap, cold, hungry and wet all the time. I was laying there for even a couple of hours more because of my soloshots of the singing parts. Not pleasant, but hey… It’s over now!

Listen to “Under Bergets Rot” from Finntroll’s new album, Nifelvind:

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Joe Satriani: “The Music Business Has Never Been Anything But Chaotic”

Joe Satriani needs no introduction, but we’ll give you one anyway. One of the best-known instrumental guitar players out there, he’s had a run of solo albums for over 20 years. He’s also designed guitars for Ibanez, launched the G3 Tour, and joined Chickenfoot, a collaboration with Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, and Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. With a new live album and DVD, Live In Paris: I Just Wanna Rock, in stores now, Satriani recently caught up with Metal Insider to talk about how the industry’s changed, what’s kept him on the same label for so long, and what it’s like designing a guitar.

You’ve been on Epic for quite a long time. What’s kept you at the label?

What’s kept me at the label is artistic freedom. I signed with them when I was still at Relativity, which was where my original deal was. I signed with Epic before Sony really took over, but for another band I had with a vocalist. So I had that deal alongside the solo deal for a while. Once Sony really absorbed Relativity and they fell apart as a label for anything other than rap or urban music, Epic absorbed me. That process started around 1994. In fact, the day we released the eponymous Joe Satriani album, Relativity ceased to exist. It was a really bad situation for a record to come out without a label. Epic hadn’t started yet.

But the guys at Epic and Sony have been great. They ask me when I’m ready to record another record, they give me a recording budget, and ask me if I want an A&R person, and if I don’t, that’s ok. Then they do their best to promote it, and they do it worldwide. It’s been great. Read more »

Arch Enemy’s Michael Amott On Touring, Signature Guitars

Arch Enemy has just began the “Tyranny Of Evil” tour with Exodus, Arsis and Mutiny Within. At their stop in Worcester, MA, guitarist Michael Amott took moment to discuss the band’s latest release The Root Of All Evil, his excitement to record new music, and the sad state of the music industry.

The “Tyranny Of Evil Tour” has just kicked off. How has the tour been so far?

Really well. We played New York last night (January 22) and had a ton of people there. I think 1,600 people, which is our biggest headline show in New York ever. So things are looking good. It’s been fun. Good bands.

Touring with thrash legends Exodus will surely open Arch Enemy to a new, elderly or “old school” audience. What is it like being a “new-school” band playing in front of an “old-school” audience? Has your experience with Carcass prepared you at all?

Well we’ve done lots of stuff before. I mean we’ve supported bands like Megadeth, Slayer, and Iron Maiden. So we’ve done a lot, and I feel that Arch Enemy can appeal to quite a diverse crowd. We’ve got the “old school” metal elements and classic hard rock harmony guitar parts, but then we’ve got a really aggressive edge as well. So yeah, we normally have quite a varied audience anyway.

Back in October, you released The Root Of All Evil, a compilation of 12 re-recorded songs spanning the band’s first three albums. What encouraged you to go back and re-record these songs with Angela Gossow? Was this something fans were clamoring for or something you decided on your own?

The idea came from the fans. Just people telling us that they’d like to hear something like that. So that’s where we got the idea and we thought “sure lets do it!” But we never had the time because we were always forging ahead with new music and new tours, and that’s honestly more what we are all about. But we had a little window about a year ago where we actually got into the studio and cut this record. It was a fun record to make and was kind of easy in a way because its songs that have already been written and arranged back in the day so to speak. So yeah we knocked it out and it came out pretty cool.

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Cave In’s Stephen Brodsky On Band’s Reunion, Tour

When Decibel came out with their list of the 100 top metal albums of the decade, Cave In’s 2000 offering, Jupiter, came in at #2. It’s not hard to see why. An ambitious album that found the band co-opting their until-then hardcore influence with space rock and, to paraphrase one of the album’s song titles, big riffs. Yet after a major label deal gone sour, and a few more albums, the band took an indefinite hiatus in 2006. Fans were excited when the band reunited for a show in Allston MA this past July, and the band released a four-song vinyl EP, Planets of Old earlier this year that will be released on CD with a DVD containing the Allston concert in January. The band recently wrapped up a four-date tour, and we got a chance to speak to frontman Stephen Brodsky about what led the band to get back together and how things have changed in the decade the band have been releasing music.

You just wrapped up a four date tour. Is that the way the band will be touring in the near future?

That’s probably the easiest thing in terms of what’s in the cards, when you consider jobs and families being involved in the picture. It’s fine with us, because I don’t think anyone really wants to go about doing this band in the form of a touring machine like we used to. We’re at the point where we realize Cave In is what it is, in terms of its name and its stature and its position among all the other music out there in the world. We’re comfortable in the niche that we’ve managed to create for ourselves.

What are your future touring plans?

We don’t have any, that’s pretty much it!

Ok then! You went on hiatus in 2006. What led you guys do to record Planets of Old?

The reason we took time off is because we weren’t all living in the same area, and it was impossible to get in a room and function like four human beings playing in a band. Our hiatus ended when we were all living in the same area, and [bassist] Caleb [Scofield] made a few calls to see what everyone’s schedule was.

Did you know the hiatus would result in you getting back together, or was there any point where the future of the band was in doubt?

It was a mix of both. You can never really perceive how people are going to move on with their lives. But it wasn’t a thought that really tortured any of our minds, simply because this band has undergone so many changes, and had a plethora of different adventures of all kinds, in and out of the studio, on and off the road. So if at any point it had to come to an end, we could all look back and say that it was a very fulfilling run.

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Throwdown Vocalist On Mudrock, Touring Choices

Throwdown vocalist Dave Peters took some time from working on the band’s busted touring vehicles (ooh la la, DIY!) to give us a call and discuss a number of subjects, including the band’s new album, Deathless, which is in stores now.

With the last record, you made a huge evolutionary leap in the sound of the band, your fan base and your general notoriety. What was your goal going in to record this new one? What was the next step for you?

I think our goal kind of remains the same for every record. We’re never setting out to reach a particular sales goal or play to any particular group of people or anything like that. At the end of the day, we just want to play music that is honest and real for ourselves. Our music is an extension of who we are, and we just want the music to, on a production level, sound the way that we envision it but we just want the most honest representation of who we are as people and what we’ve been through with each and every record that we recorded.

It seems like you really jived with Mudrock on going back to production. It worked out last time and worked so, so well this time. Why do you think the band worked well with your producer even though he isn’t known for working with hardcore bands and will you continue working with him?

Mudrock does a great job on the producer side of things. He does an amazing job with keeping us in check and he’s extremely honest which is something we appreciate. He’s not one to sugarcoat anything. If he thinks something sucks, he tells you. I think what we really wanted and what we really needed as a band and I think what a lot of bands could benefit from, whether they realize it or not, is that fresh and honest outside perspective. It gets so easy to find yourself, when you have an inside view of things, to lose sight of what you’re there to do, or the process in and of itself can become a difficult thing. I guess he is sort of our trainer in a way. It was cool and I definitely see us working with Mudrock again in the future. We came back to him for a reason. While he’s very straight up with us and honest, at the same time he doesn’t try to change the band or what we do. He goes into it understanding and accepting who and what the band is and doesn’t try to change that but rather accommodate it and make it the best it can be which is, in essence, what a producer is supposed to do. I think that line often gets blurred and you either get one end of it where the producer is in the room five minutes out of the day and he’s not doing shit except for collecting checks or the other end of it and he wants to be in the band and tries to rewrite songs entirely. Mudrock in a sense really gets it, you know?

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Dave Mustaine: ‘Endgame’ “Is Going To Launch The Return Of Heavy Metal In America”

Metal Insider recently got a chance to talk to one of metal’s reigning personalities, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine. Yesterday we posted part of our chat with the always outspoken Mustaine bemusedly questioning humanity after losing his wallet. Today he opens up about the “Big 4 Tour” rumors, how Endgame is going to bring back heavy metal, how his body of work ties in with world events, and his sprituality. among other things.

So I’m going to start with the elephant in the room that I’m sure you’re getting asked at every single interview lately. The Big Four Tour with Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica and Anthrax, any truth to that rumor? 

You know, there’s no way to answer any questions about Metallica for me. If I answer them politely, I get reamed. If I answer them funny, I get reamed. If I say something like when I said I believed my record was better than theirs, and even in that comment I said that they’ve got plenty of records that are better than anything that I’ve done, except this one… And for once it’s nice to be on the opposite side. That was taken apart. “I think my record’s better than theirs.” Well you didn’t finish the sentence you twat. I have no desire to answer any questions, at all, about Metallica. If something comes up, you’ll know, but as far as I’m concerned I can’t say anything about those guys and I won’t.

Fair enough, I’m definitely not trying to draw you into controversy.

It’s not you my friend, it’s the readers and the listeners. And then it’s the tabloid rag sensationalism writers that don’t really deserve a place in the metal community because one of the things that was really great about the metal community is we weren’t these back-biting bottom feeders that we’ve become right now. In the beginning it was all about a sense of community. The writers and the bands were friends of one another. They had the right and they had the respect of the bands even to give their opinion about the music, while you might not have gotten a great review, it wasn’t one of these reviews where you walk away feeling like you’re subhuman, and ‘god, what a dumbass I am to have written such a stupid record.’ When you walk away feeling like that and you’re the artist and they’re not, it just makes you feel kind of dirty. There’s some magazines that I can’t even read anymore. Magazines in the beginning that were the only credible source of heavy metal, and now they don’t even cover heavy metal, now it’s like alternative music and stuff. How can you cover alternative music if you were built on metal?

Endgame debuted in the top ten. How do you feel about that?

Its breaking down barriers. It’s great because I really believe this is going to launch the return of heavy metal in America. I don’t think we can do it ourselves. I’m not saying just Megadeth are going to relaunch heavy metal. I’ve said this is going to be the beginning of the return of heavy metal being really cool in America. You’re older than 20, you remember when girls had tube tops and there were no – products in there. Now if you find a girl that’s got real boobs that’s an anomaly. I remember when you used to say ‘Raquel Welch has fake titties, oh my god what are those? Fake titties, uh oh.’ Then you see someone that has real ones, and you’re like ‘I didn’t know they made those anymore.’

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Dave Mustaine: So Far, So Good, So Where’s My Wallet?

Metal Insider recently got a chance to talk to one of metal’s reigning personalities, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine. While we’ll bring you the full interview tomorrow, our chat began with the always outspoken Mustaine bemusedly questioning humanity after losing his wallet. Consider this a preview of what’s to come tomorrow, where Dave opens up about the “Big 4 Tour” rumors, how Endgame is going to bring back heavy metal, how his body of work ties in with world events, and his sprituality. among other things.

So you just said you were questioning humanity, why is that?

Well, we’re getting ready for our trip to Australia, and I went to go get gas this morning because I had to go get all my supplements, and nutrients, and medicines and clean underwear in case I get run over by a car. So I pull in the gas station, and since I had my yoga class this morning so I have on my shorts with no pockets. So I set my wallet on the back of my Mercedes, fill up the tank, take the nozzle out, stick it into the pump, put the gas cap on, close the lid, grab the receipt, hop in my car, and drive off with the wallet on the back of my car. I get on the freeway and I drive to my next appointment and I realize that I don’t have my wallet. Now talk about that feeling like someone just clogged your toilet. I was so pissed. So, I’m in a doctor’s office and this little tiny sign, the size of a piece of confetti, usually when I go in there it says “don’t use your cell phone,” it has now grown into like a drive in theater type screen size board saying “no cell phones in here.” And I’m trying to very secretly make phone calls and conduct business.

So I get out of the doctor’s appointment and this guy from a clinic that I go to calls up and tells me somebody has my wallet. So I called the guy, and he tells me to meet him at a Subway. I was going to say ‘just take the money out of it man, keep it for yourself as a reward because there’s no honest people in the world anymore.’ And then I’m thinking what happens if he found it and there was nothing in it? So I talk to the guy on the phone and he says “yea man all your credit cards, and everything’s all in here, your license and everything. So I drive up and I see him and this guys dressed like a pimp. I looked at him and thought ‘your money’s gone Dave.’ So I open up the wallet. Not only is the money gone, and I always keep several hundred dollars on me just in case of an emergency, but all my receipts were gone, and I’m good when it comes down to keeping track of my finances. I keep my receipts and shit. That’s why I’ve been able to stay successful in this business because I’m not a dumb ass rock star. So I open up the wallet. Receipts gone, moneys gone, one of my American Express platinum cards is gone, and my Screen Actors Guild card is gone. Three of my Amex cards are still there, my Visa cards there, my license is there. He took one American Express card and my SAG card, and I thought well the American Express card is a no-brainer, either I lost that one too or he took it. But the SAG card that is obvious that the guy took it so he could go up see some girl and go “hey ladies want to see my SAG card, I’m an actor. I’m acting like I’m an actor right now.

And promise girls he can get them roles in movies 

Here’s what’s making me question humanity. Everything was going fine. I was trying to get out of there and I said ‘let me go get you some cash for a reward.’ And he goes “Well, do you just have a bag?” And I went ‘a bag of what?’ and he says “A bag of pot.” And I said ‘Not on me. What do I look like, Tony Montana?’ I’m starting to stutter with the guy because I didn’t know what to say. I felt like saying ‘you took my fucking money, now you want me to go get you some pot? And you got my fucking SAG card too.’ So here’s where it gets weird. He goes “you might want to go look by the freeway, there’s a duck pond over there. You might want to go look over there because you know when you got on the freeway, that might be where your stuffs at. And I’m like “fuck.” And then I go drive along the freeway looking for a duck pond to see where my missing credit card and SAG card is. 

That sounds really sketchy. 

And then he gives me his business card. Not only do I suspect he took my money, he took my credit card, he took my SAG card, took my receipts, but he’s dumb enough to tell me where he did it, and then give me his card. So I’m just thinking how can you be half decent? That’s my question today. Can you be half decent? Does half decent count?

What’s cool is that you still have your license, you still have ID, it could have been way worse. 

Yea, and I think he knew who I was. I think that’s part of the reason why. “Man, you’re in Megadeth. I’ve been listening to Megadeth ever since I was twelve.” So I ask him how old he is, and he says “62.”

Check back with Metal Insider tomorrow for the rest of Mustaine’s interview.

3 Inches of Blood Guitarist: Leaving Roadrunner Was “A Good Thing”

3 Inches Of Blood released their third full-length, Here Waits Thy Doom, to much fanfare and critical acclaim earlier this year via Century Media after starting their career at Roadrunner. Guitarist Shane Clark sat down with the Insider for an in-depth discussion about the economics of being in a touring band and straddling the line between being a fun band celebrating metal while still being taken seriously.

One of the things I wanted to talk about was the artwork. It has to be among the best artwork I’ve ever seen. It’s fucking bad ass. And I really didn’t expect it from you guys, because before your artwork has been cool, but sort of campy. But this is borderline black metal art. Has the tone of the band changed? Are you more serious and less tongue in cheek now?

One of the things we wanted was not to do what was expected of us. We are very much into trying new things and being one of the pack has never interested us. We’ve done it countless times, have that painting done of a barbarian girl in a bikini fighting a bear with wings and lightning and shit all over the place, and we wanted to go the other way and just do a picture of something we created. And it was the influence of obviously the first Black Sabbath record and there is a great album cover by a band called Wishbone Ash called Argus. It’s kind of obscure, but just an album we know and it’s also a picture. And I think a picture is kind of like indirect lyrics in a way, where people can make up exactly what is going on with their own imagination. I find the more I look at our album cover, I‘m like, “what the hell is going on there?”

[This art] looks really cool, and the band has always been about celebrating metal. When people use the words “tongue in cheek” and “parody,” we feel people are kind of missing the point. When you hear “Holy Diver”’s lyrics and you listen to Rainbow, it’s the celebration of metal and speaking and writing about things that are epic and mighty. So with the artwork, we want to try something new, so people will not do the typical ‘ha ha it’s Manowar” kind of thing. We are celebrating metal; we are certainly not wearing fur man-panties and shit. We definitely don’t take ourselves that seriously. But when we do what we do, that celebration of metal and battles and brotherhood-type scenario, everyone comes together and has a great time. It’s escapism. Much like when I read a book or see a movie, I’m forgetting about my shit. I’m forgetting about my life for an hour. Same when you listen to our album we give people a chance to use their own imagination.

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Baroness’ John Baizley: On The [Blue] Record

Baroness vocalist/guitarist John Baizley apologizes in advance. Having just become a first time father, he might need to end the interview at a second’s notice. Thankfully that doesn’t happen, but Baizley and the rest of Baroness – Alan Blickle, Peter Adams and Summer Welch -have also birthed what Decibel is suggesting could be the album of the year with their second full length, The Blue Record. Metal Insider spoke with the singer/guitarist and accomplished graphic artist about album sequencing, hype, and selling out. The Blue Record is released this Tuesday, October 13 on Relapse.

The new record is called the Blue Record, as opposed to the Blue Album. Any particular reason why you changed up the name?

No, not really. We like to be fairly simple when it comes to titling our releases and it was just the way things panned out. I don’t know, I don’t really have a good answer for that question. [laughs]

Like what can you call the next record? The [insert color here] Collection of Songs?We’ve always felt like titling our releases something that is open to interpretation and accessible and obvious and non-challenging. It’s become sort of a joke maybe outside of our band, but we take it pretty seriously, and with each of our records there is a very distinct reason we’ve given it the title. It’s not something we like to discuss but the reason that we go such a basic and obvious route is… there’s kind of a cool tradition in rock-n-roll history that there are bands that just don’t see fit to give their albums long-winded pretentious or even insightful album titles. I think Black Sabbath [and] Led Zeppelin just to name two fairly obvious ones for me. Queen did the same thing. It offers a very open entry point for an audience.

The new album sounds more ambitious than The Red Album.

I think that any musician who’s interested in challenging himself has always got that stretch in mind. I think walking out of the studio from the last record we already knew 50% of the directions to stretch in. With the advent of Pete Adams as our second guitar player there was a whole new musical world that was opened up to us and we really tried to explore musically in that universe that existed as a conglomeration of the four of us. One of the most initial and basic ideas behind this record was to challenge ourselves, and in challenging ourselves we needed to try new things. We needed to put ourselves in situations that weren’t necessarily comfortable or easy to deal with. Areas that our technical expertise was lacking or the overall weaknesses of the band, we tried to develop them and turn them into competencies or strengths. I think that’s where some of the disparate sounds come from, just our disparate interests and just a common goal that we wanted to continue to keep open minds when writing, performing and making music within this band.

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