FEATURED ACT: GIRLSPICE
As everyone knows, GirlSpice have confirmed their split and are due to end all activities later on this year. With only one leg left of their worldwide final tour, ticket prices on sites such as eBay have rocketed up to staggering prices making this one of the hottest events events of the year. One of the most hyped up dates of the current North American leg is the one tomorrow (26th September) which will be filmed for the tour DVD at Madison Square Garden. The group have yet to release a few more final singles and also their upcoming greatest hits which will be available worldwide later this year. A short quote was released to us from GirlSpice member Carly on her feelings of the split and the upcoming final activities.
Carly wrote:Now that we're on the final leg of the tour, it's just really hitting home now that we're about to split! It didn't seem real before but now I know it's eventually coming to an end. Me and the rest of the group just want to thank our fans for the support they've given us throughout our career and for the great feedback we've received on these final projects that we've been working on and we can't thank you all enough. This probably won't be the last time you hear of us after this year but you'll definitely have to wait a while.
The final North American leg of the tour is set to start again later tonight (25th September) at the sold out Madison Square Garden, a day before the actual DVD shooting at the same venue. The final leg consists of 19 dates which will eventually end on the 26th October, the same day the DVD is released.
NEWS AND RUMOURS
- Rumours have started in the media that GirlSpice are set to release a Christmas album in December which will be aiming for the potential Christmas number one spot. It is rumoured that the girls were required to record one more album in their contract with their current label Boy Toy Entertainment. The album is said to feature covers of classic songs such as "Do They Know It's Christmas?", "All I Want for Christmas Is You" and a remake of their very own Christmas song with Birds of Madness, "Cold Christmas". Below is the track listing which was posted on various online sites over the week:
1. Do They Know It's Christmas? (Featuring various artists)
2. All I Want for Christmas Is You (Electronica mix)
3. Cold Christmas 2.0 (Featuring Birds of Madness)
3. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
4. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
6. Jingle Bell Rock
7. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
8. Silent Night (Dance-pop mix)
9. Last Christmas
10. Ribbon (New song)
- We have a range of festivals and events to look forward to later this year! We have the We Love Music Charity Event, SnowStorm, Midwinter Mashfest MMVI, Hell Night and of course we have the upcoming Hot Topic Awards! All of these look to be fantastic but we're sure the biggest festival is going to be out of SnowStorm and Midwinter Mashfest MMVI but either way, we can't wait to see them all! And who will be the big winners of the night at the Hot Topic Awards? We'll have to wait and see!
- Billy Maddison just recently performed a televised gig at Hyde Park infront of 100,000 fans to celebrate his million selling album. That's good but what just made it even better? He publicly dumped his girlfriend (now ex!) Brisky and dedicated the song "Irreplaceable" by Beyoncé to her with a few edited lyrics to make it more suitable for him. Here comes the juicy part! He even branded her words such as 'manipulative" and 'desperate', we love it and it was a fantastic gig enjoyed by all, very entertaining.
- Is Miss Vanity a man!? Well that's what the rumour is which was first brought up by Gemma Ferns, the pair have been in a public battle ever since Miss Vanity leaked a clip of Gemma Ferns cheating on Billy Maddison a night before the pairs wedding. Miss Vanity threatened to leak the clip if Gemma did not pay her a large sum of money and she refused which led to Vanity revealing the clip to all. But recently Gemma has brought up the idea that Miss Vanity is actually a man and we can tell you that when Vanity takes to the stage for her upcoming tour and festival appearances, you know what we'll be looking at!
- It was recently revealed that ex Thunderwolf guitarist and former celebrity Raven is dead. The talented guitarist was unfortunately killed in a suburban gunfight and although emergency services were contacted, it was too late. Raven was pronounced dead at a young age of only 27 and is said to be one of the biggest losses to the music industry in history. It is now revealed that friends and family of the talented young star are fighting over his multi-billion dollar fortune, more news is said to develop shortly.
- With over 10,000 views on Redtube and even more on Youtube, the sex video between Sýkn from The Violent Pyromaniac Enemies and Nick from Madbirds, leaked just a few days ago, has caused a lot of polemic between the couple and the fans. The video shows sick scenes between the two mutilating each other with blood everywhere.
As more as Sýkn has tried to get the videos off the air, every time one was deleted, another 5 would appear on both websites, making it impossible to contain the epidemy. The goth star also paid large amounts of cash to shut down both websites, but after 3 hours the suspension was made, people all over the world were calling Google demanding Youtube back. Google then opened Youtube again, by a judicial law against Sýkn's imposition. We were able to contact the controversial character soon after a meeting between him, his lawyer and Google affiliates, and he gave the following statement:
Quote:"Look, what happens between me and my girlfriend should stay private. I don't know who had access to that tape
but it's all worthless now...everyone has already seen it and are possibly seeing it right now."
The statement only assured us what everyone was suspecting over the past months, he and Nick are actually dating.
We were unable to find Madbirds's drummer, but got some declarations from fans.
"All the decisions Sýkn and Nick made on their lives with their careers and the role society imposed to them, due to
their personalities' disturbances, [...]. In short, I think it's all a publicity stunt."
(Anthopologist from DGT University.)
"SELLOUT!"
(Ex-The Violent Pyromaniac Enemies's fan, JTW, after watching the video.)
"Leave Sýkn ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONE!!"
(Obsessed Sýkn fan.)
"Yarrr...Wat 'ey do is 'eir busnis. YAR!"
(Only understandable phrase from Nick's fan PJT)
"I think they should go Pro. I mean, have you seen the video? Specially Sýkn...Gosh, I'd
love to work with that guy."
(Famous porn-star about video.)
The future of the couple is unsure. Picture of the sex video can be found here.
Legs above him belong to Nick, and his usual scars on the chest can be seem. Want to watch the video? Just go over Youtube or Redtube and you'll find it on the front page! STEPHANIE FIERCE INTERVIEW
Q: Hello Stephanie, how are you?
I am great, How abut yourself?
Q: Good thanks, now let's get started! How is the tour going? 70 shows in total, wow!
I know! lol 70 its a big number. Its going great. I am having the most fun time of my life. I never thought I will be touring around the world so soon. I guess hard work pays off. I can't believe its almost coming to an end.
Q: Do you ever get bored of touring or is it something that you're grateful to do?
I never get bored performing. It's actually the time were I can forget about all my problems and let go on the stage. The only time I get bored is when I'm on the tour bus, but trust me I have a pretty weird all girl band that tries to keep me entertained. And of coarse there is Roberto, he always makes me laugh.
Q: Your new album is coming out in November, do you think this is your best album to date and what is your favourite song from the album? Oh yes. I think this album is my post personal, most delicate and more carefully done to date making it my best. Last album I was really rushed to do most of the tracks on my last album, I didn't really get to pick nor write what I wanted except for one song. But now that I'm signed with Spice Records, they gave me all the liberty and resources I needed for this one. So I got time to sit down, write, and record. I also spent a lot of time doing artwork and all the imagery that is going to this album. Also designing things such as the cover of the diary and a lot of other stuff. I would also have to say my favorite song from the album so far is" Diary Of A Pop Sinner".
Q: We love the time machine theme and how you go to different time periods during the show, what inspired you to have the tour with that theme?
-Why thank you! Well, basically in order for me to go to different time periods, I have to go inside inside the "Time Machine" and by pressing a certain button, I am sent to that certain time period. The minor secret to the booth is that it is actually an elevator and every time I go inside, I press that button and I'm sent to the bottom which is my changing room.
Q: You worked with some amazing people such as Raven Comatose, The Rockers, GirlSpice, Bikki, Madison O'Leary and Stephanie Ortiz. Who did you enjoy working with most?
-Oh my gosh this is a tough question. Ughhh I hate you right now!! lol. Ok, I enjoyed working with my boyfriend. We have so much chemistry.
I also enjoyed working with GirlSpice, it was an honor to work with them. Raven Camatose is my girl and so is Bikki, they were fun to work with. All of those four I guess, sorry I can't choose, lol!
Q: You have an interesting track title on the upcoming album called "Sweaty Nights", now that sounds a little raunchy! Is it about what we think it is?
-Lol, Lets just say "Sweaty Nights" is the most "R" rated song in the album. It is a sex song about my sexual experience and I'm probably getting a parental sticker because of it. Well, probably not because I really tried to be as honest as possible but not in such a way I get a parental sticker. It is also the most up-tempo song on the album. Lost of moaning and sexiness. Lol!
Q: We know that the lead single to the album which is titled "Love Feels Like Grenades" is out 26th October and GirlSpice also feature on the track. How was it to work with them and can you tell us more about that track?
-It was a big honor to work with them. Especially when they are finishing their careers as group. I called them up, and to be honest I didn't think they would take the time out of their busy schedules to do this with me but they did. The song is about love and I though GirlSpice girls would fit in this the most. Also, this song's about how love can be really explosive and we just got to find the right vein to turn it off. I wanted a song about love on my album. I don't know one finished diary that does not mention the word "love" in it at least once. The song's beat is very cool. we used drums to imitate the sounds of bombs and we used my real sound of my heartbeat to make the beat. So this song is really personal from the heart, lol.
Q: Is there anything else we should know about the album that we don't know yet?
-I can say one thing that nobody knows yet and that's that there will be a special hidden track. But's that pretty much all I can say.
Q: Now a few more random questions, who are your inspirations?
-My inspirations are GirlSpice, Michael Jackson and Madonna. They all changed the way I think of music in a good way and a lot of my wors reflects their music and if it wasn't for them many young artist like me wouldn't be here.
Q: What's your funniest moment that you've had?
-The funniest moment I ever had was when I was doing a concert in London. A crazy fan jumped on stage completely naked, took the microphone from my hand and asked me if I could have sex with him. Lets just say the security department faced some awful screaming from me. But looking at it now, this had to be the funniest moment I ever had.
Q: Do you have a celebrity crush at the moment?
-Nope. I am dating Johnny, we have been dating for a whole now, We are happy together.
Q: Anything to say to the haters?
-Most definitely! Hi Haters, how are you? how it do?!!Lol, sorry I'm just laughing my ass so hard because I'm actually surprised you have read this far on my interview. You must "hate" me so much, right? Don't worry I love you too.
Q: Final question, what does the future hold for Stephanie Fierce?
-I definitely wanna keep doing what I'm doing. I don't think I'll ever stop. I am going to take breaks in my career but I definitely will never stop.
Hopefully I'll be like Oprah Winfrey by the time I can't sing or dance anymore. Or maybe I'll just focus on acting or hosting. I definitely do not wanna end up in one of those "Where Are They now? episodes on VH1.
Stephanie Fierce: All right thank you so much for interviewing me.
ARTIST OF THE MONTH
Our artist of the month is the one and only Billy Maddison! We recorded his recent gig at Hyde Park and we're still watching it over and over again, we can't get enough of the guy! His debut album has just recently passed the million mark, peaked at #1 in the UK and achieved 2x platinum there with sales of over 600,000, just missing out on a diamond certification! But we're sure he can get there on his next album, we can't wait for it! Not only is he a hit with his albums, his singles have been monster hits with his most recent single release "The Long Goodbye" achieving #1 in the UK and another single of his going top 10 there. Congratulations to him and the success he has achieved in such a short space of time and we expect big things from him in the future!
REVIEWS
Failed Youth - "Various Occurrences Whilst Intoxicated by Various Substances" (Single)
I’m loving this album! It has that rare mix between offering something different to what we’ve heard before and still achieving mainstream success - and, boy has it been successful! The album has gone top ten in 4 countries, including #1 in Canada and charted at #8 in the world.
Part of this mainstream success, we feel, is down to the band using less screaming vocals, which radio stations are notorious for rejecting, but we feel that the band have toned themselves down without selling out, or aiming to become mainstream. It just feels like you’re discovering the other side of the same coin.
I would definitely recommend buying this album as there is a song for absolutely every possible emotion.
Our top pick? We’ve Failed You, a deeply emotional, acoustic song about a heroin addict who relies on her child to care for her. The lyrics cut straight to the bone and make you feel every ounce of frustration and pain both mother and child feel. Spectacular song.
Stephanie Fierce - "Love feels Like Grenades feat. GirlSpice" (Single)
I like this song because it’s different. The first time I listened to it, I found the lyrics a little dark, and a little weird but the sound effects throughout were so interesting, and different. I love how Stephanie used her heartbeat to add to the track and how it mixes so well with the drums and the single sounds so dynamic. Every time I listen to this I pick up on something a little different that I hadn’t noticed before and it is actually very catchy! I love the electronic sound and I think Stephanie has found her place in the industry.
The more I listen to it, I also begin to realise just how clever the lyrics really are, which is often so rare with pop music, sorry to say it!!
This song has the potential to be something special and, I’m sure, with Stephanie Fierce’s fan base combining with GirlSpice’s, it will be a hit for sure!
The Wicker Man - "Darkest Tour" (Tour)
THE GOOD:
Nile’s Fear, The Wicker Man, and Revolução Armada really know how to rile up a crowd. Especially The Wicker Man. They were able to get the fans to do anything they wanted. Nile’s Fear also gained some new fans, as in the beginning the crowd was unsure of them, but at the end they were in love.
THE BAD:
Not much. Although during one song, fake blood was shot out over the crowd. That was a little grotesque. And Jägermeister was also poured over the crowd, which made a mess.
RATING:
4/5
If it weren’t for the blood, this could’ve been a 4.5/5. But it was great nonetheless!
Casting Thin Shadows - "The Phoenix and The Bronze World Tour" (Tour)
THE GOOD:
Casting Thin Shadows certainly know how to put on a lively and exciting show, fans were singing along and having a good time for the whole night and there was not a bored face from what we saw, an excellent tour which is being enjoyed by all around the world and especially the fantastic openers such as Billy Maddison, PANIC!, Final Heaven, This Comatose and Moronic Changeling. Brilliant! And if that wasn't enough, it was nominated at the IMA's for Best Tour.
THE BAD:
We're not massive fans of their music which could have dampened our spirits a little, meaning that we didn't enjoy it as much as some of their other fans who were having a great time. But putting our own opinions aside, we have very little negatives to say.
RATING:
4.5/5
Put this on your 'to do' list and go and see this show! A brilliant and thrilling show along with excellent opening acts.
HOT OR NOT
So what's hot this month? Who's being talked about a lot and what are we loving at the moment? Who and what is on the not list? Who's just a mess and what are we just not liking? Check it all out below!
HOT:
Upcoming Hot Topic Awards
SnowStorm Festival
Midwinter Mashfest MMVI
Billy Maddison's Hyde Park gig
Stephanie Fierce
PANIC!
The Cover Extravaganza
Raven's death
Sýkn and Nick's sex tape!
NOT:
Miss Vanity - Is she a man? Hermaphrodite? Who knows? All we can say is.. hot mess!
Overall, a hot month!
PANIC! INTERVIEW
[center][b][color=red]Q: Hey guys, how are you?
Ashley Perry: We're great, happy to be out of the studio after being locked away in Los Angeles for the last seven months.
Ryan Ross Hernandez: Yeah like Ashley said it's good to get some fresh air.
Q: Well let's get straight down to it, you've got a new album coming out soon.. tell us more about that.
Ashley Perry: Well, we went through a lot of heavy stuff as a band between when we released our last album and started recording this record. And it was nothing like, 'Oh, it's this situation on this day,' or whatever. It was just, personally, we were all growing up, and sometimes, when you're growing up, you're not always growing together, and when you don't talk about it, there's even more of a gap.... I've felt that a lot over the past couple years. We didn't ever talk about it because we didn't have time to talk about it. So when we finally had all this time to write these songs, and, you know Ryan and I hadn't written in a while and all of a sudden, we were in a room together. Like, 'Hey, let's write a record that's bigger than "Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner" All these people are expecting it.' And it didn't feel healthy, it didn't feel like us, you know? It didn't feel like what we started for."
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "I mean when Ashley and I started writing we had doubts, not just for us as a whole, because ... we wouldn't want to play with anyone else, you know what I'm saying? We didn't have any doubts in them as much as we had with ourselves, because Ashley and I didn't have the ideal break up a lot of people thought 'Oh, PANIC! is done no way can they continue with their faces not getting along' And that was true because for probably 2 months we didn't talk to each other we kept playing shows together but we never spent anytime alone and when I went over to Ashley's house to begin writing we just talked, a lot, wrote some pretty angry, depressing lyrics, then we talked some more and finally recorded a very personal record which was hard to do.
Ashley Perry: "When I was writing these lyrics, and they didn't feel good — some of it hurt, some if was like, 'Am I being too honest even with myself?' 'Am I hurting my bandmates with such harsh songs?' I had doubts that it was the right record. Then "Disloyal Order of the Ignorant" came out, and I remember talking with everyone, which was the first real conversation I felt we had in a real long time, we were all really honest with each other about where we had been with our lives over the past two years. Like, 'Hey, I lost touch with you. ... Let's backtrack a little bit.' And once that was done, it was back to the old us and back to the old reasons why we started a band and why we wanted to play music together."
Gabriel Hunter: "Not only was the whole thing with Ryan and Ashley affecting all of us but also that when that was going through it was like 'BOOM!' we're famous, we're mainstream. Like all of us took that a different way, I mean were seven different human beings and but none of us were ready for that success just out of no where. The recording process was seen as "therapy" by us. Before it was written, we were at the point of splitting, but through the lyrics and the music, we were able to let our emotions out at each other. After which we were able to openly discussed our problems with each other and become the closest we could be with one another."
Q: Would you say this is your favourite album to date? And do you have a favourite track on the album?
Ashley Perry: "By far. We have no doubts that this is our favorite album. I think for it being all personal experiences and more serious, matured songs, which I'm not saying our older stuff didn't mean much to us but it's just that recording "Broken Down on Memory Lane" helped so much it's not like previous records that we had to put them out because we had a commit to put them out at a certain put with this album we just took all the time we needed and a amazing record came out which we are extremely proud of. "
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "Wow, favorite song off it. That's tough because like Ashley said we are so proud of those 11 tracks on it. So, I can't decide on one song.
Gabriel Hunter: "I don't know I mean we do a lot of different stuff on this album that we hadn't done on previous material. But we have this sort-of acoustic ballad "Misguided Lifestyle", I think it's a very passionate song."
Anilet Lowell: "I would probably say a song Ashley wrote, a love song titled "There's Only One Exception When It Comes to Love" which brought tears to my eyes when I first heard it."
Nick Asher: ""Things Are Looking Up", it's a powerful up-lifting song about when we were on the brick of splitting up and how we rebuilt from step one, I think it's a perfect track to sum up the album."
Victoria Whatley: "I'm a sucker for the couple of ballads we have on the album, but like Ryan said it's tough to place one song above the other because their all great."
Joey Fallon: "I'll say "Too Careful" because it's they hardest track PANIC! has every done."
Q: I also hear you have a worldwide tour coming up, are you excited for that? A bit nervous?
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "Well we really haven't thought about it that much because for the last two months of the year we have the US tour then in early-2010 we play some places we've never even played before. So, were very excited to expand our fanbase which is already around some places that I had no idea we were. But above everything were happy to give the kid's around the world their money's worth and give them a show of a lifetime."
Q: And speaking of performing, you're also headlining the upcoming SnowStorm Festival! Congratulations on that and what were your first reactions when you found about this? What should we expect for that performance?
Ashley Perry: "Like mostly everything that's happen to us lately like the win at the Birdies we were like 'Your kidding right?!' So with every little thing that happens to us we get excited for, we get shocked because we still have that underdog mentality. But we don't have a setlist or anything for it yet because when we play at that festival our upcoming album will have already been out for a little more than a month so we are of course gonna play some new stuff from that with some classic songs."
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "Don't except anyone setting anyone on fire, don't except any cage dancing. We aren't a metal band, we aren't a pop artist. Anyone that has ever seen us live known that we don't spend a million dollars to have all these unnecessary crap that a concert doesn't need we just go out there and have fun. We know as long as we have a good time, we know the fans are going to have a good time too."
Nick Asher: "Yeah, because we are mainstream now doesn't mean we are going to have a freaking circus-themed show or any crap like that."
Q: And onto some more random questions for you now.. what do you love most about being in this business?
Ashley Perry: "It's the best job in the world! Were doing the thing we love the most with our best friends, we get to see some places I would have never imagined I would say, and the mind blowing thing as that all that almost 90% of the time you are having a good time with friends and your getting payed for all this. So, if I wasn't doing music I have no idea where I would be right now, because I speak for all of us when I say we hated school. All of us barely passed except Joey, even though he didn't graduate we still love him."
Q: Would any of you care to share a funny moment that you've had whilst on tour or anywhere else?
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "Woah, someone else has to answer this one because I would probably share a moment that was funny but so inappropriate."
Ashley Perry: "Well, during like the end of our last tour I think it was in Chicago. The rest of the girls and me were shopping around a mall in Chicago and the guys were already in the venue. So, when we got there Gabriel was in the bathroom warming up, we could hear him singing and Nick was jamming on his bass. Ryan and Joey were fooling around with some scissors and they were doing like this Chinese star thing and they were throwing the scissors to this pack of water bottles, I guess to try make it to break a water bottle or something. But like seconds after we got there Ryan throw it and it didn't hit the water bottles it hit this really nice flat-screen TV we had in the dressing rooms and the TV just fell from the stand it was on. Like when Ryan and Joey lifted it up the screen was smashed their was glass like everywhere. After it, it was pretty funny. But I guess you had to be there."
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "That was funny at the moment but like after that it wasn't because I had to pay for the TV so. But I had that much bad aiming, I mean the box was on the floor and the TV was on this stand and I just completely missed the box."
Q: Who do you class as an inspiration to the band?
Ashley Perry: "I mean believe it or not we don't have any band's or artist that inspire us to do music, of course we all listen to different types of music and we look up to some artist but it's like bands and music have the smallest influence on us. Our biggest inspiration comes from each other and the people we care about the most. I mean that's why our Christian belief are sometimes shown in our music because if you believe in something it's going to show in everything you do."
Q: Do you have any enemies at all? Any band you don't particularly like?
Ashley Perry: "Ha, I'll let Ryan answer this one."
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "Of course their are bands and artist I don't enjoy but we aren't knowing for having any enemies or feuds because in our opinion having feuds just mean you are desperate for attention."
Victoria Whatley: "God, just say it Ryan, he is trying to say media-whores."
Nick Asher: "I thought he was trying to say say talentless whores."
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "Let's just say all whores..."
Q: We all know you've had your fair few of smash hits such as "Brand New Eyes", "Disloyal Order of the Ignorant" and "We're a Media-Whoring Band, the Best There Is", congratulations on them! How do you not let the fame get to your head?
Ashley Perry: "Thanks! Well I mean we are probably the most down to earth band ever. We don't have huge mansions, we don't have a private jet and I mean we could afford those things but it's like 'Why waste money on those things?' Those things are just so pointless to us. We've never been blinded by money or fame. We feel like we are just the same group of people we were before making it famous. I material things don't matter to us.
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "I know this is going to sound cliché but we truly have the best fans in the world. I mean they are more like friends than fans. I mean we could just go outside our tour bus or the security gate at a venue and just toss a football around with them or just talk with them."
Gabriel Hunter: "If PANIC! wouldn't have taken the route we did and didn't know how important fans were, we wouldn't be the band we are today. Above anything our fans, our friends are the reason why we are here. We didn't even care if you actually buy our music if you just get it online for free because we know the economy is shit but as long as kids go out to shows and sing along to every word we aren't going anywhere."
Anilet Lowell: "The funny thing is that we know some kids that like when we have 5 shows in the northeast they all go to the show, it's the exact same setlist, we make the same stupid jokes we made the might before but the kids still have a good time."
Nick Asher: "We don't have meet and greets like some bands do, that it's just like sitting down on a table with fans just giving us stuff to sign and security is telling them to move along. We don't have those meet and greets, like we just hang around with our fans outside our tour bus and we just have fun with them."
Q: So what's on your rider then? Are you all divas who demand anything and everything or is it all quite simple?
Ryan Ross Hernandez: "No, I mean we keep it simple. We just ask for the basic stuff, bottle of waters, catering, towels. I mean we have huge dressing rooms because it's seven people we are a pretty big band but we don't ask for makeup artist or whatever. We have 3 chicks in the band so they help each other with what they should wear...
