Showing posts with label the blackout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the blackout. Show all posts

12/17/09

The best and worst of 2009


Snowflakes are falling down Christmas bells are ringing…
It makes me realize that this year has to be almost over. 2009 has been a year full of amazing new rock bands, powerful albums, surprising videos, amazing gigs and revealing interviews. Though, we have to be honest and as a good critic I can’t just look at the bright sides of this year. There have been a few disappointments, a few horrible bands, some awful song releases and some embarrassing comebacks in 2009. Lets find out about the winners and terrible losers for what has been an amazing year so far!

THE MOST ROCKING ALBUMS…

1. Deep Insight, Sucker For Love
2. The Blackout, The Best in Town
3. Taking Back Sunday, New Again
4. 30 Seconds To Mars, This is War
5. The All American Rejects, When the World comes down

AWESOME SONGS…

1. Young Guns, Winter Kiss
2. Lostprophets, Where we Belong
3. The Blackout, Save Our Saves
4. Placebo, For What It’s Worth
5. 30 Seconds To Mars, Kings and Queens

CRUEL SONGS…

1. Lady Gaga, Paparazzi
2. Metro Station, Kelsey
3. Lamb of God, Set to Fail
4. Zebrahead, Girlfriend
5. The Last Shadow Puppets, The Age of Understatement

BEST NEW BANDS…

1. Young Guns
2. Attack! Attack! (UK)
3. Dinosaur Pile-up
4. The Blackout
5. The Cubical

CALL THAT A COMEBACK…

1. The Rasmus
2. Taking Back Sunday
3. Green day
4. Placebo
5. Michael Jackson

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO…

1. Guns ‘n Roses (comeback)
2. Panic at the Disco
3. Bring me the Horizon
4. Slipknot
5. Lady Gaga

BREATH TAKING PERFORMERS…

1. Ian Watkins, Lostprophets
2. Gustav Wood, Young Guns
3. Jimmy Urine, Mindless Self Indulgence
4. Tyson Ritter, All American Rejects
5. Sean Smith, the Blackout

REVEALING INTERVIEWS…

1. Little Man Tate
2. Young Guns
3. Attack! Attack!
4. Dinosaur Pile-Up
5. The Blackout

BEST VIDEO…

1. Lostprophets, Where we belong
2. Greenday, 21 guns
3. Young Guns, Winter Kiss
4. All Time Low, Weightless
5. Kings of Leon, Sex on Fire

Of course this is nothing more than my opnion and I can hardly imagine that you might have different thoughts about the best and worst of 2009. Though if the strangest thing occurs that we have a disagreement about something, you do have the permission to comment me about that...You can make a difference! Can we? Yes we can...

11/25/09

Interview with the Blackout


We are the children of the night, we are the children.... I wondered if Sean (vocals) really is a vampire. I was too afraid to stop by at full moon, but I did ask him some dark questions that reveal his dark and naughty thoughts. It seems that Sean talks a lot about “naked” fantasies in interviews, so my goal was to see if there is anything more about this blonde. Truth is, what you see and hear in interviews is really what you get. He may be a bit superficial, but I managed to uncover a bit of his dark and mysterious side. A side of Sean Smith that you would never expect him to have....

Sean, This will be a bit of a dark interview. It’s all about the night.

My favourite kind of interview!

What did you do last night?

Last night we played a gig in Brussels and then we just went back to the hotel and watched some soft porn, cause we’ve had been travelling all day. So it wasn’t a very eventful night, but hopefully tonight will be better and tomorrow in Amsterdam will be better again.

You’re a child of the night, what’s the difference between children of the night and children of the day?

I guess children of the night are a bit more mysterious and probably in an awful lot of trouble. We are lazy during the day, so I like to do things in the night.

Like?

Anything, go out, have fun and party. That is the kind of stuff I like to get up to during the night.

Where do you like to go out?

I started dj-ing a lot lately, I dj clubs and stuff. So I like to go out in club or gigs if there’s any show up.

What do you like to eat at night?

Anything, I would eat anything you put in front of me, but I love sushi more than anything, it’s so fantastic!

What do you usually do after a show?

Normally we do take a shower and then change. Not together! That would be strange…After that we just go out to a club or whatever is going on and just hang out really. We don’t have to go to work in the morning so we try to have as much fun as possible.

Are you going out tonight?

I’m not sure, but tomorrow we’ll go out in Amsterdam with the Young Guns, they’re a bunch of party animals as well, so that’s going to be messy!

You went to bed early yesterday, did you have a nice dream?

I have no idea, no sorry…

What is the nicest dream you’ve ever had?

I think that we’ve played Wembley Station once and everybody loved us, which is quite nice. I can’t think of any other nice dreams I’ve had. I normally don’t remember dreams, so this is the only one I can remember.

What is the worst nightmare that you’ve ever had?

I have nightmares about plane crashes. Like a week ago, I had this nightmare. I was in a plane and it crashed on a lake and it hit some trees. It doesn’t help that I’m completely scared of planes either. So I woke up less than happy. I dream a lot about planes lately.

Did you travel by plane?

No no no, we drove thank God!

Do you believe in dreams coming true?

I guess so, when we were younger we always used to setup our goals and when the band started we first used to play on the floor of clubs and venues and stuff. After that we were excited to play a stage and we even got to play in different countries. It’s really amazing for us that people like our band. It’s a dream coming true.

Are you spiritual?

Not really, I’m not very religious either. I probably don’t know for a fact what’s comes next. I just think that while you’re here you’ll just have to have as much fun as possible. So that’s kind of my philosophy I guess. You should party hard!

What do you think that happens after your death?

I have no idea. I like the heaven and the eternal party, but I’m not exactly sure. We could just rot in the ground as well. I’m not sure…

Are you going to Heaven or Hell?

Probably Hell, cause I’m evil.

Really? Why?

I do bad things

Like?

I don’t know if I cans say that, but I’ll probably end up in Hell sadly. But at least it is warm and there will be other evil people too to hang out with.

You like to hang out with evil people?

Yeah, they’re probably more fun to hang out with than people that are just to good all the time.

How would you describe your dark side?

It comes out in the night, in the day it’s a little bit better. How would I describe it? Naughty… Mysterious, probably annoying and probably a bit of a pest. At least when I’m in that mood. That’s about it I guess.

You’re not really coming off like a nice person, would you like to say anything nice about yourself?

I treat others like I like to be treated. I know that if I like to see a band I prefer them to be nice rather than miserable dicks. So I try to be nice, until somebody wrongs me I’m fine with a person.

How mysterious are you?

Probably not very, I guess that what you see is what you get and what I say in interviews is what you get. Yeah not very mysterious.

Are you afraid of the dark?

No, not at all. When I was younger my mother told me to eat carrots, so I could see in the dark. I’ve eaten so many carrots that I should be able to see in the dark, but it’s not true yet. I’m still trying.

So when I’ll see you perform tonight, your eyes will glow!

Yes! Hopefully! I recently bought a pair of sneakers that glow in the dark.

If you could be a vampire, whose blood would you drink?

I would like to get my teeth in Megan Fox or there is a girl called Sasha Grey. You’d have to look her up online.

I don’t know her.

No, it’s probably for the best. Yeah, but if you look her up online you will find out who she is and what she does.

Who is she?

Uhhhhm…. She’s an actress, lets say she’s an actress!

What kind of actress?

Uhhhm, she does…She is really good! She’s a really good actress.

Is she the one that you saw last night?

I wish, she could have been involved in that one, yeah that is kind of her work and the stuff she does. She’s fantastic!

Have you celebrated Halloween?

Yes, my friend had a house party and we all went there dressed up accept for Bob our guitar player, because he’s too miserable. He’s too miserable to have fun.

Is he a child of the day?

He’s an old man of the night, that’s what he is. We all dressed up like pumpkins and hang out and people got drunk and stuff. It’s fun!

Like what did you dress up?

I dressed up as a skeleton. I got my face paint, had fake teeth and got my hair up.

You dressed up at the Lowlands festival as well.

Yeah we did that, it was quite fun though. We enjoy dressing up, we’ve done it before though. It will probably happen again, but not tonight. I haven’t got any fancy dress with me.

I can bring you a fancy dress tomorrow.

I’d be the only one then! I’ll be on my own, everybody else will be laughing at me.

Maybe I can even get you six.

Then we’ll all dress as you! Right.

Is the song “I love myself and I want to live” a parody on a very dark Nirvana song?

Yeah, pretty much. The song is kind of about just being positive get on with your live rather then let depression dig you down and eventually killing yourself. That’s what the song is about. It is just kind of a good rocking party vibe.

You sing about how much you love yourself, but what do you like the most about yourself?

Just that I get to be in a band I and that I get to meet people and get to do interviews with people that offer me fancy dresses. Right now I’m just living the best possible life I’ve always wanted.

Would you like to be in a band for your whole life?

If I could yes, it’s not even a job. People say it is the best job ever, but it’s not even a job. It is too easy to be a job. It is just amazing and we work hard and we will keep working hard so we would like to do this for as long as possible.

There is no dark side about this “job”?

Not really, we do have long driving for hours and sometimes we argue and Bob is a dick, but that’s about it really.

You don’t really seem to like him…

No, he’s a dick! He knows it as well.

What would you do if a blackout occurred during your show?

This has happened actually, we played a show in the UK and all the power went out. We were playing with a band called Funeral For A Friend. They had a football, so we just kicked the ball onstage for a bit. Basically that was the show for like ten to fifteen minutes. When the power came back we played again. So we probably try to entertain the audience and ourselves. Probably with some terrible jokes, cause we have terrible jokes as well.

Like?

I can’t think of a joke, you can’t put me on a spot! I can’t think of anything…

What was the last joke that you told to somebody?

I read one in a magazine yesterday. There are two boys, one is twelve and one is seven. They go downstairs for breakfast and father says: What do you want for breakfast? The twelve-year-old says: I want f*cking cornflakes! Father beats him up and says go to your bedroom! Then he turns to the seven-year-old and he asks: What do you want for breakfast? And he says: Well I don’t want f*cking cornflakes! Terrible joke!

How are you going to make tonight the most special night ever?

We’re going to play naked! No we’re probably not going to.

You’re not going to dress up, you’re not going to play naked….

We are going to make all the audience be naked.

Really?

We’ll try

Well good luck!

I hope so! Everyone should ne naked, I don’t discriminate, boys, girls anything! Even animals.

Is there anything more you would like to say, dark stuff or anything about the night?

If you see me in a dark alley, run away! They shouldn’t run to me, I’ll warn them! There is a good chance I’ll bite them. Especially when they look like Sasha Grey.
Sasha Grey...

11/17/09

Interview with Young Guns


Who would expect that Friday the thirteenth could turn out to be such an amazing day? It had been a day of amazing music and lovely superheroes. It’s actually quite hard to describe my thoughts about this fantastic band called Young Guns, cause my thoughts are wild and all over my brain. Truth is…can’t stop thinking about them. I know that they’ll be a band I would always remember. Just when I thought that I’d know what rock stars were all about, Gustav (vocals) proved me wrong. With his modest, honest and sweet attitude he’s a true superhero to me! And that’s exactly what this interview is about.

Interview with: Gustav (vocals)
Interviewed by: Pearl

So despite of Friday the thirteenth, did you have a good day?

I have had an amazing day! The guitarist said to me today is Friday the 13th and it’s an important show to us. I’m quite superstitious so I was really nervous. The last two shows were amazing, but tonight it was busy and the crowd was really up for a good time. So we’ve had a lot of fun. At least so far Friday the 13th had been a better day than I could have possibly imagined.

Are you a superhero?

Am I a superhero? No definitely not, I’m far too lazy to be as courageous as superhero.

Have you done any good deeds today?

Today? No, I haven’t done anything bad, but I haven’t done anything great today. In my life I would like to think that I’ve done some good things.

Like?

A while ago we had a house party and a girl turned up. I don’t know who she was. Turns out she is quite young and she drank too much and became ill. And it turns out she nearly died. I didn’t know this, but her dad came round next day and thanked me cause she had like slipped into a coma and if I hadn’t given her CPR, apparently she could have been seriously ill or died. I was quite proud of that, but today we’ve done nothing courageous. I’ve just gotten up and been really tired and then played a cool show!

Would you like to be a superhero?

I would love to be a superhero!

Which one?

Spiderman, without doubt! I already knew the answer on that. He has always been my favourite. When I was a kid I had like eight costumes of him. He has this great mix of powers you know. He can kind of fly, he can swing around he’s really strong, but he can also be just a person. So definitely Spiderman!

If we would be in the year 2012 when the world goes under…

Hopefully not

As a superhero which people would you safe?

Who would I safe? Well I’d be selfish and I would firstly safe my mother and my brother cause I come from quite a small family, but we’re very close. I’m lucky that I’m very close to them and they’re very supportive. Without them I wouldn’t be anything. So they would be the first two I would save. And then I suppose logically it will be my friends.

What about your fans?

Well I find it hard to believe that we have any fans, so that’s a difficult question for me to answer. We still are a very small band, but if we have any fans I would gladly save them.

Would you save us?

I would definitely save you two; you’ll be on top of my list.

Do you feel like a superhero on stage?

Well, it’s funny cause in a good show and if things are going well, there are times when I feel different because of the adrenalin, the moment and the attention that people give to you. You do feel a little bit like a superhero, sometimes. And I think that is probably why some people find it addictive, cause it is like a rush really, an amazing feeling. So I don’t know if I feel like a superhero, but I definitely feel something different than I feel when I’m walking around as a person during the day. There is a definite difference between me on stage and me off stage. That’s for sure.

What’s the difference?

I’m offstage a lot quieter and a lot less of a show-off.

What to you is a legendary band?

Well my favourite band of all time is a band called the Police. So they are my favourite band, they are a legendary band to me. I also like The Beatles; they are obviously one of the biggest bands and best bands of all times. When I was a kid my mother was really into the Police. So the Police and the Beatles for me.

Do they influence your music?

Not so much the Beatles, but the Police definitely do. In a way they look at song writing. We may not sound that necessary much like the Police but it’s kind of in the way that they approach their song writing. Is definitely something we try to keep in consideration. They wrote like pop songs in essence like verse chorus, verse chorus, but tried to step outside the band music. I like to say that we’re a pop band, in a kind of popular sense. We just don’t necessarily have like the Britney Spears kind of vocals. Pop music is a lot more than the kind of horrible shit that you see. It’s just popular music that is written with a structured and catchy formula.

I read your lyrics and they’re really beautiful!

It’s funny cause I’m so far of being satisfied with my lyrics you know. I think that they can be an awful lot better. It’s very kind of you to say so though. And I do like the lyrics, but I like to think that I can push myself and get better all the time Do you know a band called Say Anything? They’re an American band. On the surface it’s kind of emo/indie, but his lyrics are like out of this world. Phenomenal! It’s just incredible. When I listen to something like that I just think that I should better give up. So thank you, but I would like to think that we can get a lot better.

How are you going to make your band a legend?

That’s a difficult question, I think…What I would like to be legendary for, if you would like to be legendary for anything, I would like to play small shows, in small venues and everybody has to go as crazy as they possibly can. We would like to be a big band that plays in small venues. So if I could be legendary for anything, it would be for that.

Tell me the truth, are rock stars just desperate womanizers or are they true superheroes?

Well it’s not like that. You know like everywhere else in the world rock stars are mainly guys and because of that they’re interested in girls. But I wouldn’t say that they are superheroes either. If there are superheroes, they would be people like doctors, people that really contribute. I think it’s probably unfair to say that much rock stars are just after the girls, cause there’s a lot more than that. But they’re not superheroes, they’re just somewhere in between.

http://www.myspace.com/youngguns