Aiden over at Midnight Calling e-zine graced us with another fine review, this time of SmacOne's solo debut "Bootleg This". Check it out: http://www.midnightcalling.com/wordpress-mc/wordpress-mc/2011/02/smacone-bootleg-this/
Showing posts with label midnight calling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label midnight calling. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Reviews From the Midnight Calling E-zine Aug. '10
Christophe's Crossroads & Fear The Dead given a review in the Midnight Calling e-zine. http://www.MidnightCalling.com
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The multi-talented Christophe, formerly of Mockingbird Lane has, has launched a solo career, and “Crossroads” (2009) is his latest release. Christophe takes a large dose of Country, add some Cowpunk, and leaven it with Rock n Roll, and has come up with..well…Christophe!
“Red Dirt” is a Leonard Cohen-esque, biographical ballad set somewhere on that “fine line between heaven and hell”. The guitar reminds me a little bit of Chris Isaak. “You’re Gonna Drive me to Drinkin’ “ is in bit of a heavier country tone, with prominent percussion as Christophe relates a relationship gone bad. “Misery Road” reminds me of something that should have been on the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers. Deft guitar rides along with steady percussion to that “fork in the road” that can mean a journey down “Misery Road”. “The Life of an Outlaw” is a cowboy epic in the vein of Marty Robbins with a bit of Waylon. The sharp guitar gives a very updated, edgy touch.
For the vinyl junkies out there, Christophe has produced a fine single with “Fear the Dead” backed with “If the Don’t Shine”. Paying homage to “Night of the Living Dead”, this rollicking song will please the Horrorpunk in us all. The guitar is just awesome, and backing vocals are somewhat reminiscent of Social Distortion. Superbly packaged, this single is zombie-defying dynamite!
Check Christophe out at:
http://www.myspace.com/hardcoreokieboy
http://www.reverbnation.com/hardcoreokieboy
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The multi-talented Christophe, formerly of Mockingbird Lane has, has launched a solo career, and “Crossroads” (2009) is his latest release. Christophe takes a large dose of Country, add some Cowpunk, and leaven it with Rock n Roll, and has come up with..well…Christophe!
“Red Dirt” is a Leonard Cohen-esque, biographical ballad set somewhere on that “fine line between heaven and hell”. The guitar reminds me a little bit of Chris Isaak. “You’re Gonna Drive me to Drinkin’ “ is in bit of a heavier country tone, with prominent percussion as Christophe relates a relationship gone bad. “Misery Road” reminds me of something that should have been on the soundtrack of Natural Born Killers. Deft guitar rides along with steady percussion to that “fork in the road” that can mean a journey down “Misery Road”. “The Life of an Outlaw” is a cowboy epic in the vein of Marty Robbins with a bit of Waylon. The sharp guitar gives a very updated, edgy touch.
For the vinyl junkies out there, Christophe has produced a fine single with “Fear the Dead” backed with “If the Don’t Shine”. Paying homage to “Night of the Living Dead”, this rollicking song will please the Horrorpunk in us all. The guitar is just awesome, and backing vocals are somewhat reminiscent of Social Distortion. Superbly packaged, this single is zombie-defying dynamite!
Check Christophe out at:
http://www.myspace.com/hardcoreokieboy
http://www.reverbnation.com/hardcoreokieboy
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Interview in the Midnight Calling e-zine Jan. '09
I did this interview for the Midnight Calling e-zine. http://www.MidnightCalling.com
Jan 19
Christophe
MC: When you started recording again after Mockingbird Lane, was it sort of a “dark night of the soul” type thing or did you simply decide to get back into it?
C: I had slowed writing and recording to an almost stand-still after I had moved back to my hometown and hooked up with my now “ex”. Spent all my time working and dealing with the insanity of that relationship. My desire to make music was kind of curbed from all that I was going through. After her and I split I started kicking it with a few of my old friends and playing a little music to waste time down at the old Main Street Store. I just started putting what I was going through into the music. I wrote a handful of tunes through the end of ‘07 and that is what I recorded for “The Life Of An Outlaw”.
MC: Some of your work sounds along the lines of Nick Cave or even a bit of Leonard Cohen: quite dark, yet basically very straightforward, too. This is refreshing after listening to a lot of bands who seem to have taken being cryptic a bit too far. I love allegorical works, but I believe that there still has to be something the listener can relate to. What is your philosophy or methodology on composing lyrics?
C: Never really had a method. I sit down and write down what comes out as it comes out. I just let my soul speak. Sometimes it hides behind things… but usually it just opens up and speaks the truth. A lot of things I write about I don’t really think about or even realize myself until after it’s written… It’s my soul speaking to me so I can work it out.
MC: You had mentioned that your music is a blend of country/punk/death-rock. To some viewers this may seem like a strange combination. But I see the new cowpunk/honkytonk scene (what I term New Outlaw Country) as being much like the original Deathrock and early Deathrock revival scenes, i.e. very DIY and anti-commercialism; far outside the mainstream; with fans and performers being pretty close knit. I also see similarities between the very frank attitudes and camaraderie of both. What are your thoughts?
C: I totally agree. When I first started doing this, back before the Mockingbird days, a lot of people really didn’t get it and wouldn’t listen… but over the years the scene has really expanded and a lot of people are getting back to the roots. Everyone in the scene seems to be real open and honest. It’s just real folks being real. Times have changed and it’s time for all this crass commercialism to go to the wayside.
MC: Who are some of your favorite country punk and horrorpunk performers?
C: Shit… Hank III obviously. Joey Allcorn. My buddy Danny Trashville. Cancerslug. Ghosts Run Wild. Gabe Zander. Gotham Road. Wayne Hancock. I dunno… that’s just a few…
MC: You recently produced some tracks for Fear The Dead radio. Where are they located? Has their comp been released, and were you included?
C: I did a song called “Fear The Dead” that I wrote everything for. Sang and performed all of the parts except the drums. Blizzard recorded those for me. People that like my horror-punk stuff should dig it. As far as I know it’s not released yet, but they are going to use it on the compilation when they release it. If it doesn’t come out I’ll put it out on something. It’s a fun song… I’d hate for it to go to waste.
MC: Tell us about your new albums “The Life of an Outlaw” and “Ten Necromantic Classics”. How can fans get your music?
C: “The Life Of An Outlaw” is a live demo I recorded in Oregon at the begining of ‘08. All the songs I wrote the last couple months of ‘07. This one is limited to 100 copies and numbered. You can order them from me $10 postage paid through the MySpace or send me a money order too: Christophe, P.O.Box 3084, Shawnee, OK, 74802. “Ten Necromantic Classics” is a split I did with Thomas Gun (http://www. myspace. com/thomasgun), guitarist for The Necrophilicons and Nuke & The Living Dead. We decided to do an acoustic album of horror-punk songs to release for Halloween. You can listen to that and download it from my site or from ReverbNation. (http://www. reverbnation. com/tennecromanticclassics)
MC: What are some of your upcoming projects? Where will you be playing in the near future?
C: Right now things are up in the air. Been working my ass off because I hope to get the hearse ready for a show in Oklahoma in May. I have to rebuild the engine and hope to strip, repaint and revinyl it too before then. So I have not been working as much on my music and art as I would like too. I’ll be throwing down some bass lines for the 8 Bit Heretic stuff soon, so those should be online when I do… I just need to give myself a few days off to work on it. Joe D (http://www. myspace. com/thecultofjoed) has been playing lead for me lately so I’m sure we’ll try to set something up. Most likely around Oklahoma ’til I get the hearse ready.
MC: It seems like that once an “underground” scene gains a certain level of success and exposure; it turns into the same sort of rank commercialism that it originally stood against. Do you think there is any way to avoid this process?
C: No. If something is doing well, the suits will try to copy it. If they can’t copy it they will find people and wave money under thier nose to exploit it. History repeats itself. Always has, always will.
MC: Is there anything else you would like to add? Thanks so much for the interview!
C: Just for everyone to check out the site! Stop by every month to hear different recordings. Drop me a line, let me know what you think or of you want me to play in your area. If enough people want me somewhere and will set it up, I’ll hitch a ride or hop a bus and come play. Buy my cd’s so I can afford to press new ones.
Thursday, February 9, 2006
Interview from the Midnight Calling e-zine Feb. '06
http://www.MidnightCalling.com
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MC: Where does the name Mockingbird Lane come from? To me, it conjures up sort of an "American Gothic".
ML: Mockingbird Lane comes from two places… First, "The Munsters" television series. It was the street they lived on. That show was a large part in shaping me into the fiend I am today. Second, there where some experiments ran some years back… I won't really talk too much on that. If you do the research you'll find it. I don't want to give too much away.
MC: How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it before?
ML: I usually describe it as dark, gothic-punk. When I try to explain the different influences and styles of music that Blizzard and I have brought together into it people usually just look confused and walk away. So I usually just say Death-rock, Goth-punk or Horror-punk… That usually works for most occasions.
MC: I understand that "I Vampire" and "Wolfshead" are appearing on a compilation. What compilation is it? Has it been released yet?
ML: They were recorded for a compilation of Oklahoma bands that a fiend of mine was putting together, but it's not going to happen. Ended up being more money than he could acquire and I guess he lost interest. So if anyone wants to use them on a comp they are up for grabs, contact me.
MC: How about your Misfit's cover "She"? Has the Misfit's tribute CD come out yet? Does Mockingbird Lane plan to release anything soon?
ML: The first Misfits CD is supposed to be out now at Crypt of Blood Records. There should be a link on the mp3 page of my site. I'm not sure when the second Misfits CD will be released. As for our own CD, a lot of stuff has happened to keep us out of the studio. I will probably release another demo by October. This time it will be even more low quality. Some live stuff taken from video and some 4-track stuff we recorded last month when BJ got out of prison.
MC: What are some of your musical influences? Also, what do you like to listen to?
ML: My influences are bands like The Bolshoi, Concrete Blonde, Samhain, T.S.O.L., Josie and The Pussycats, The Sisters Of Mercy, the Church and 45 Grave. There are a lot more… that's just what comes to mind right now. I listen to a lot of different things… Mostly I listen to old country music though. I like that a lot.
MC: How's the search going for other band members? Are you and Blizzard still pretty much the "core" of Mockingbird Lane?
ML: It is still pretty much Blizzard and me. Now that BJ is out of prison we did some recordings with him. Abby may start to play bass after I get moved to VA.
MC: I'm dying to know (no pun intended): Exactly what happened in the Funeral chapel that night?
ML: Not much really happened. I never told the guys sitting in at that time that the chapel was haunted or that there was a body on display. They were a little nervous about practicing in a funeral chapel anyway and got freaked when my fiends drug out the corpse. The weird shit usually never happened until 1 am. So I figured I did not need to tell them the place was haunted on top of that but as soon as I started the first verse for "Monster Mash" lights started going off and on the temperature dropped considerably and there were a lot of noises and movement throughout the building. We saw some woman walking around in the other room and just all kinds of little creepy shit was going on. They tried to laugh it off at first. They thought it was my fiends trying to fuck around with them, until they realized everyone was in one room. The guitarist even swore the corpse was moving. He thought the corpse was someone I knew and was going to jump up and grab him… that I was trying to scare him as an initiation into the band. (I had previously done things like make the drummer jump through fire as initiation) After they had realized it was not a prank they were even more freaked out and never came to the gig or answered the phone again.
MC: How have your touring experiences been? Where have you enjoyed playing the most?
ML: Touring has not happened much because of the lack of band members. No one wanted to stick around long enough to go out. Our favorite place to play though has been Lawton Oklahoma. It's great there. The crowd is nothing like in the rest of OK and the bands we played with were great. Our Samhain gig was the best. We played with Eerie LN, Day Of The Sick, Earth A.D. and Antarctica Vs. The World. I was covered in sweat, spit, blood (real and fake) and all kinds of other shit no one wants to hear about by the time that weekend was over…
MC: What do you think of the U.S. Deathrock scene?
ML: I've never really been much a part of a scene or known of many of the bands. The little I have found out about and the bands I have heard are great though.
MC: What will Mockingbird Lane be up to in the near Future? Is there anything else you'd like to add?
ML: Near future holds a lot of moving around and hopefully some real recording sometime early next year. The way things have been going I don't want to make any promises. As far as anything to add, we want to hear from people. We want to know what you think, where you are from. Get on the site and send us mail and e-mails.
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MC: Where does the name Mockingbird Lane come from? To me, it conjures up sort of an "American Gothic".
ML: Mockingbird Lane comes from two places… First, "The Munsters" television series. It was the street they lived on. That show was a large part in shaping me into the fiend I am today. Second, there where some experiments ran some years back… I won't really talk too much on that. If you do the research you'll find it. I don't want to give too much away.
MC: How would you describe your music to someone who had never heard it before?
ML: I usually describe it as dark, gothic-punk. When I try to explain the different influences and styles of music that Blizzard and I have brought together into it people usually just look confused and walk away. So I usually just say Death-rock, Goth-punk or Horror-punk… That usually works for most occasions.
MC: I understand that "I Vampire" and "Wolfshead" are appearing on a compilation. What compilation is it? Has it been released yet?
ML: They were recorded for a compilation of Oklahoma bands that a fiend of mine was putting together, but it's not going to happen. Ended up being more money than he could acquire and I guess he lost interest. So if anyone wants to use them on a comp they are up for grabs, contact me.
MC: How about your Misfit's cover "She"? Has the Misfit's tribute CD come out yet? Does Mockingbird Lane plan to release anything soon?
ML: The first Misfits CD is supposed to be out now at Crypt of Blood Records. There should be a link on the mp3 page of my site. I'm not sure when the second Misfits CD will be released. As for our own CD, a lot of stuff has happened to keep us out of the studio. I will probably release another demo by October. This time it will be even more low quality. Some live stuff taken from video and some 4-track stuff we recorded last month when BJ got out of prison.
MC: What are some of your musical influences? Also, what do you like to listen to?
ML: My influences are bands like The Bolshoi, Concrete Blonde, Samhain, T.S.O.L., Josie and The Pussycats, The Sisters Of Mercy, the Church and 45 Grave. There are a lot more… that's just what comes to mind right now. I listen to a lot of different things… Mostly I listen to old country music though. I like that a lot.
MC: How's the search going for other band members? Are you and Blizzard still pretty much the "core" of Mockingbird Lane?
ML: It is still pretty much Blizzard and me. Now that BJ is out of prison we did some recordings with him. Abby may start to play bass after I get moved to VA.
MC: I'm dying to know (no pun intended): Exactly what happened in the Funeral chapel that night?
ML: Not much really happened. I never told the guys sitting in at that time that the chapel was haunted or that there was a body on display. They were a little nervous about practicing in a funeral chapel anyway and got freaked when my fiends drug out the corpse. The weird shit usually never happened until 1 am. So I figured I did not need to tell them the place was haunted on top of that but as soon as I started the first verse for "Monster Mash" lights started going off and on the temperature dropped considerably and there were a lot of noises and movement throughout the building. We saw some woman walking around in the other room and just all kinds of little creepy shit was going on. They tried to laugh it off at first. They thought it was my fiends trying to fuck around with them, until they realized everyone was in one room. The guitarist even swore the corpse was moving. He thought the corpse was someone I knew and was going to jump up and grab him… that I was trying to scare him as an initiation into the band. (I had previously done things like make the drummer jump through fire as initiation) After they had realized it was not a prank they were even more freaked out and never came to the gig or answered the phone again.
MC: How have your touring experiences been? Where have you enjoyed playing the most?
ML: Touring has not happened much because of the lack of band members. No one wanted to stick around long enough to go out. Our favorite place to play though has been Lawton Oklahoma. It's great there. The crowd is nothing like in the rest of OK and the bands we played with were great. Our Samhain gig was the best. We played with Eerie LN, Day Of The Sick, Earth A.D. and Antarctica Vs. The World. I was covered in sweat, spit, blood (real and fake) and all kinds of other shit no one wants to hear about by the time that weekend was over…
MC: What do you think of the U.S. Deathrock scene?
ML: I've never really been much a part of a scene or known of many of the bands. The little I have found out about and the bands I have heard are great though.
MC: What will Mockingbird Lane be up to in the near Future? Is there anything else you'd like to add?
ML: Near future holds a lot of moving around and hopefully some real recording sometime early next year. The way things have been going I don't want to make any promises. As far as anything to add, we want to hear from people. We want to know what you think, where you are from. Get on the site and send us mail and e-mails.
Sunday, June 6, 2004
Review from the Midnight Calling e-zine June '04
The e-zine Midnight Calling is back on-line with an old interview they did with us and a review of our 2003 Demo. Go check it out!
From the Midnight Calling E-zine at: http://www.midnightcalling.com
Mockingbird Lane - 2003 Demo
This demo by Oklahoma's deathrock band Mockingbird Lane starts with their single "Taken Under" (along with an excellent acoustic version) and then launches into a rousing cover of the Misfit's "She". The hard driving "I Vampire" and "Wolfshead" are soon to be released on a upcoming compilation. We hope we can soon hear a full length release from Mockingbird Lane. This is some good stuff! Enough said! (Aiden)
From the Midnight Calling E-zine at: http://www.midnightcalling.com
Mockingbird Lane - 2003 Demo
This demo by Oklahoma's deathrock band Mockingbird Lane starts with their single "Taken Under" (along with an excellent acoustic version) and then launches into a rousing cover of the Misfit's "She". The hard driving "I Vampire" and "Wolfshead" are soon to be released on a upcoming compilation. We hope we can soon hear a full length release from Mockingbird Lane. This is some good stuff! Enough said! (Aiden)
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