Truett & The Traitors: Music is Always First


Written by Elizabeth Osbern

I always find it interesting to ask musicians/song writers: what comes first, the lyrics or the music?  It seems an age-old question, like what comes first the chicken or the egg?  Seth Truett, from Truett & The Traitors, was instantaneous in his reply to this question. 
   
SHARE:

Fraught With Peril: The Final Strand


by Tamara Styer

Fraught With Peril is a group that’s hard to pin down to a particular genre. With their roots firmly grounded in heavy metal, the band has since broken new stylistic ground in recent years. Formerly known as Tainted Angel, Shelby Heger (guitar/vocals) reformed the group as Fraught With Peril for the 2010 album Shame of a Nation, recruiting Justin Larkin for lead vocals, with Alexander Hines on bass and Zac Otero on drums. The guys sat down with us to talk about their upcoming album The Final Strand, and on walking the tenuous line between genres. By Ryan Colvard.

SHARE:

Videovamp: You vs. Me vs. Them



Written by Tamara Styer

With his CD Release coming up this Saturday, July 16, at the Outland Ballroom, Clancy Leakey of Videovamp is unleashing a completely unique sound into the Springfield music scene. The machine-rock sound is awash in metal guitars and an electronic beat indebted to industrial band KMFDM, Smashing Pumpkins, the Pixies and an array of rock and electronic music.  We meet at Grad School, an eclectic establishment located downtown that serves up specialty sandwiches and other tasty morsels in the setting of a boxcar. Leakey with his burger, me with my falafel, we discuss the progression of music over the last five decades, sci-fi films, gas station food and the release of You vs. Me vs. Them.

SHARE:

The Shady Janes: Silence and the Sway


Written by Tamara Styer

Jamming in a wood shop converted into a practice space, The Shady Janes often invite their friends and family to hang out and listen to their tuneful music, including originals from their album Silence and the Sway, as well as covers such as "Monkey Gone to Heaven" by the Pixies. Pulling from influences across many genres, their Brit-rock sound is peppered with indie notes from the 90s to today. 

SHARE:

David Samples: The True Artist


written by Tamara Styer / photographed by Tyler Hutcherson

SITTING IN A SMALL living room with the members of his band, David Samples is hunched over an electronic pad creating his latest artistic vision. As he zooms deeply into the drawing, scribbling little lines and blobs around the deepest layer of interior design, I cannot see the end result he has in mind. Then he zooms back out and I can see the subtleties of detail hardly visible to my untrained eye, hidden deep inside the figure head of Samples' creation.
     Later we meet about his upcoming interview and photo shoot. As I pull out my journal, ready to jot some notes, I notice Samples has one out as well – a thick book full of writings and drawings, worn with use and creative energies. He explains that this journal embodies his main sense of worth in his band, Assembly Line Gods.
       
SHARE:
Blog Design Created by pipdig