Fuel The Scene Magazine

Review by Savanah Ruiz, photos provided by Greystone Canyon

Greystone Canyon has marked their heavy metal debut with While the Wheels Still Turn. This LP is loud, explosive, and impactful. While the Wheels Still Turn features nine tracks of heavy metal that blast through your sound system and really make one excited for the future of rock.

According to vocalist and guitarist Darren Cherry, the band “really wanted to make an album similar to old Ozzy Osbourne records where songs like ‘I Don’t Know’ and ‘Goodbye To Romance’ can sit comfortably”. While the Wheels Still Turn reaches this goal while delivering a sound that can only come from Greystone Canyon.

Being Melbourne based, the band chose to record in Goatsound Studios. But, the album was mixed in Canada by Grammy-nominated producer Glen Robinson, giving While the Wheels Still Turn a unique sound that only he could mix. This LP was inspired by old western films and the freedom of the Wild West, and this inspiration can be seen through the album artwork as well as the scenery that these songs create as you listen to them.

Whether it’s the drums, guitar, bass, or vocals, all aspects of these tracks are clearly thought out and allow for a truly enjoyable listening experience. “Path We Stray” is one of the best tracks due to the raw emotion of this track. You can tell that Greystone Canyon has really put their heart and soul into this album, and this track proves it.

After listening to While the Wheels Still Turn, it is clear that this four piece from Australia is bursting into the heavy metal scene with a hearty passion for the beauty of the past and a thirst to become the future of this genre. While the Wheels Still Turn was released March 9th in Europe, Canada, and the USA through Rockshots Records and through Hellfire Records in Australia on March 12th. You can buy the album through Amazon, Spotify, iTunes, and more.

Review by Savanah Ruiz, photos provided courtesy of Hayley Kiyoko

Hayley Kiyoko has created a masterpiece with her debut album, Expectations. At the young age of 27, Hayley Kiyoko has made a name for herself with the gay anthem “Girls Like Girls”, which went viral with over 88 million views and counting, as well as her latest EP, Citrine. But, Expectations really showcases her songwriting talent and proves that she is a force to be reckoned with in the music scene.

Through Expectations, Kiyoko creates an atmosphere with transition tracks such as intro track “Expectations (Overture)” and “xx”. Some songs even have their own intro, which helps give listeners an insight into Hayley Kiyoko’s mind and heart.

After listening to Expectations, you can tell that this was a passion project for Kiyoko and that she really put her all into perfecting this album. Sick beats like the ones in “Curious” and “Palm Dreams” showcase her love for dance, and songs like “Mercy/Gatekeeper” and “Under the Blue/Take Me In” showcase her cinematic side.

Furthermore, even though Hayley Kiyoko has gained popularity through her songs being relatable to the LGBT community, Expectations has songs that anyone can enjoy. My favorite track is “What I Need” which features singer-songwriter Kehlani, who broke charts with her track “Gangsta” off the “Suicide Squad” soundtrack. This song is playful, upbeat, and screams Summer track. I can see this being a radio hit for sure.

Every track on this album tells a different story, which was a goal for Kiyoko when creating Expectations. According to Hayley, she treated each track as a separate entity in order to prevent them from sounding the same and describes each track as “a mini chapter of who I am”. All in all, Expectations shows that Hayley Kiyoko is ready to take on the world with a fiery passion and some stories to tell.

Hayley Kiyoko starts the North American leg of the “Expectations Tour” April 11th, and just announced that she will be joining Panic! at the Disco and Arizona on “The Pray for the Wicked Tour” which kicks off July 11th. You can find her album on iTunes, Spotify, and more, and check out Hayley’s self directed music videos on YouTube.

Review by Rose Estrada, photos provided courtesy of The Ghoulies

When one considers what makes a band work, a lot of people tend to underestimate the value of proper theming. Drowned under the voices yelling “it’s all about the music,” is a harsh reality that a lot of musicians experience way too late – that being that presentation and cohesion matter. Artists from Metallica, The Ramones, Arch Enemy, My Chemical Romance and more showcase an understanding that how the music is crafted and presented is paramount to success. Elements need to come together to form a unified tone and theme for the band and, while this theme can be changed album to album, without some bridging stability the whole thing falls apart.

It is clear that The Ghoulies understand that as well.

“Midnight in America” is the latest release from the Denver-based punk band and from the very first song, one can craft a clear image of the band without taking a single look at any pictures or promotional materials. That image is one of Halloween.

Every component of each song hosts a variety of strengths. The guitars riffs provided by Adam Moore and Jake Yergert, along with the further backing of Spencer Lovell on bass create very Ramones/Misfitsesque rhythms that are nothing short of hypnotizing. Added to that is Connor Randall’s drumming, which regardless of tempo provides an energetic beat that is impossible not to dance or jump to. The soundscape is further enhanced by Dan Yergert on organ, who not only fills out the ambience with a distinctive creepy tone, but more often than not takes a leading spot on the songs as is the case in “Lust-Filled She-Demons of the Cold War”. To top it all off, there are Adam Moore’s vocals, an energetic delivery of melodies and shouts straight out of the 1970’s/1980’s punk scenes.

And yet, for as much as each band member shines in this album, the theming and production shine moreso. Every song, goes into the next without losing momentum. Every instrument and vocal, while clearly recorded using modern equipment, could have just as easily been recorded decades ago, as the production creates the feel of classic punk music. The organ certainly helps in that regard but more than that is the commitment to a sound and identity. This is a sci-fi/horror punk band album that must be listened to in one sitting and it is wonderful.

Lastly, this album is fun, something that often goes uncommented on when reviewing music. Every song has a catchy hook or chorus, from the shouts in “Black Cadillac” to the chorus in “Hot Rods.” It would not be hard to picture crowds singing along at a concert or on karaoke night. The music is danceable, singable, and overall enjoyable.

The album comes out March 31st, with pre-orders already available. The single “Eat, Sleep, and Be Dead” is available to listen to at their bandcamp page as well as through their official lyric video.

TLDR; Midnight in America by the Ghoulies is a fun enjoyable throwback to sci/fi/horror punk that is as much fun to listen to as it is put together. Listen to it at your first opportunity. Read below for our interview with them!

FTSM: For the uninitiated, how would you describe The Ghoulies and what can new fans expect from a live performance?

Dan: We try to create the kind of music that we want to listen to. We all grew up listening to punk music and some more traditional rock and roll- we’ve all always been huge Green Day fans and such. So when we started playing together, that’s the kind of stuff we were writing. But as time went on, we discovered the Chess Records catalog and 60s garage and 90s garage revival that inflected a lot of our writing. There’s a quote from a book called We Never Learn by the New Bomb Turks singer about bands in the late 80s that were “more concerned with ass-shakin’ than moshing” and how they drew from early rock and roll and hillbilly as much as the big 70s punk acts, and we think that description works for us too.
For our live show, we try to get people moving and we really like to go nuts on stage. We don’t really play any downbeat songs and we play a lot of covers just because we like to. We also try to play short sets!

FTSM: In the songs you sent us to review, there was a song labeled “Lonely” which does not appear under that name in the tracklist of the album and it stands out as a huge departure from the rest of the songs both in it’s Johnny Cashesque construction and it’s dirty and raw production. I was wondering if you could talk about it? Inspiration, vision for the song, why was it written/mixed that way, etc…

Jake: That’s a hidden track. At the end of college, Dan (our organist who played bass at the time) moved to Florida. This was tough for me as his twin. We don’t often write songs with a lot of personal moments, so this one is the black sheep on the album. I wrote this song in my last college apartment in the weeks before Dan moved and we’ve been sitting on it since the end of 2013. That Johnny Cash American Recordings album feel is exactly where we were aiming. “Lonely” is the last song we recorded and did it in just a handful of takes.

FTSM: What is the obscure Americana that your album is reportedly inspired by and how do The Ghoulies fit into that category?

Dan: We love going on the road and seeing all kinds of weird things in roadside attractions and such. We’re all into the paranormal and stories of American urban legends. We visited Roswell, New Mexico a few years ago and named our second album after the place. When we sat down to think about what we’d title the album (we had a lot of working titles), we tried to boil down what the songs were about. We came up with pretty much three groups of things: touring and highways, UFOs and ghost stories, and some of our anxieties and worries.

FTSM: What can you tell us about Elvis Christ? (Described on their bandcamp as “the saviour of our souls” and the title of a song in their previous album.)

Jake: Elvis Christ is our lord and savior. But seriously, we’re huge Elvis fans, and we even considered calling this record “‘68 Comeback Special” as a callback to his last great album. I think that started as a reference to a Cramps song, but became something else entirely. I don’t think a lot of people have really listened to Elvis’ stuff outside of his #1’s, but he’s way more than “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Jailhouse Rock.” His Sun Records stuff is great, then his soundtrack albums are terrible, and then you see him just barely touch his best stuff again in 1968 and 1969 before he really goes off his rocker and heads toward his death. It’s a pretty great but tragic story.

FTSM: Would you consider yourselves amongst the last holdouts of the late 70’s/80’s punk movement? Amongst the first wave of a new resurgence of American punk with a retro feel? Or something else entirely?

Jake: We didn’t know for a long time that we were trying to get to that Didjits/Cynics/Mummies sound, but that’s where we landed. I think we idolize the same things they did– ‘60s garage greats, backwoods rockabilly pickers, and really trash exploitation movies. If that style came back in a big way I think we would be happy as can be, it would be nice to be counted among them.

FTSM: In this album you did not have a single song hit the 3 minute mark, which was not the case in your last three releases (counting the live album). Was this a conscious choice you undertook or did that just happen naturally?

Jake: This is the first record where we had a producer. Ryan Perras at District was extremely helpful at cutting out the crap that doesn’t count. “Lust-Filled She-Demons of the Cold War” started out over 5 minutes long, and he helped us cut it down. We try to avoid the mid-tempo death knell for songs, but most of it comes down to Ryan saying “This part doesn’t add anything,” and trimming things down. We didn’t go in to write a short record, but this is by far the shortest we’ve released.

Dan: It helps that we went into this record knowing what we wanted to do a lot more than we ever had. It was a much more focused record, which meant there weren’t many diversions or experiments.

FTSM: What’s the strangest thing you’ve witnessed while on the road?

Dan: One time, in Norman, Oklahoma, we played an absolutely awful show at a DIY space in a warehouse. There was one guy there who was tripping absolute balls for the whole show. He was this really tall guy so we called him “Lurch” all night. He carried a rock around in his pocket, wrapped in a hankerchief. He would periodically take the rock out, stroke it with his finger, and whisper to it. Eventually, he started stabbing a mattress in the alleyway with a knife and rolling around the show floor until he was kicked out of the place by the promoter. We saw him score more drugs in the alley later.

FTSM: Are you already planning your next album or are you going to enjoy playing these songs for a while before worrying about what comes next?

Jake: We’re planning on a least one EP, if not several somewhat soon. We want to avoid having three years between our next release. Expect at least one Elvis cover.

Dan: We are always kind of scheming about what’s going to come next, so we’ll ride these songs for a while, but we’re pretty much always thinking about the future.

FTSM: If you had a late night AM radio show, what would you fill the time with?

Dan: I’m pretty sure we’d just make it a total copy of Coast-to-Coast AM, which is what one of our songs is about on this new record. Coast-to-Coast is absolutely bananas. They have really weird people and folks who claim to have been abducted by aliens and all kinds of conspiracy theorists on it. I’m sure we’d do something like that.

FTSM: What advice would you have for other bands starting out in their own local scenes and what do you think are the most important things we can all do to keep live music thriving?

Dan: When it comes to informing your music and style, more is more. Go see as many shows as you can, listen to as many records as you can, and talk to as many people as you can. Also, if it takes you a few years to figure things out, that’s okay. When we started, we were basically a Green Day cover band, then we experimented with ska for what feels like 20 minutes looking back on it. Now we’re here. So go easy on yourself.
As for keeping live music thriving, you just have to go to the shows and support the people. I think it’s a better experience. Seeing really good bands in local music has kind of spoiled us; it sucks to sit a half-mile away from Black Sabbath when you’re used to seeing your favorite bands about three feet away from you.

FTSM: Any other words of wisdom to share or anything that you would like fans to know?

Jake: Be an organ, eye, and tissue donor. Our drummer’s life have been saved twice by generous heart donors. Check the little box at the DMV– you never know who’s life you might save.
Also, read a book.

Review by Rose Estrada, images provided by Voices

It cannot be overstated that music is, at its core, art. Much like painters carefully selecting their palette or sculptors digging through a junkyard for the right looking scrap metal, musicians have to make choices in how they craft their sound. Sure, there are the choices in instruments, amp settings, and production; however, there is also the choice of which elements from the wide world of music are to be used to craft the song itself. Each musician pulls from their influences, building upon, imitating, and/or reconstructing what has been done to bring forth their vision into the world. Music is, in this way, a collection of elements brought together to create a greater whole.

So what happens when incongruent elements are forced together? One would think the song would fall apart. Voices, a metalcore band from Indianapolis, seems to have some thoughts on the subject in their new album, Resurgence.

The band consists of six band members. Drake Dell and Tim Snoddy are on guitars, with Greg Hill and Dale Rich providing bass and drums respectively. Rounding out the roster, the band has two vocalists, Clint Simpson and Blaine Gaiser, who provide earth shattering screams and clear melodic vocals. This is interesting because while the dual vocalist set up is fairly common in the modern post-harcore genre, the effect here feels inherently different in how they fit within the context of the band.

To talk about this, one has to talk about the music and a good starting point is the opening song “Demons.” The song starts with a faded ambient guitar lead, contrasted with an ethereal note which rings throughout the intro. This is interrupted by a EDM-like tremolo effect which leads into the song proper, which consists of a djent style rhythm riff over which a melodic guitar lead plays. This fades into another ethereal chord more reminiscent of an ambient album that a metal intro, after which there is a return to the hectic distorted guitar chord progressions accompanied by guttural screams. The chorus then introduces the second vocalist who provides melodies that are not just clean, but almost pop influenced in their delivery. Finally, right as the chorus ends the song goes back to the ambient styling of the intro for the beginning of the second verse before repeating the pattern sporadically throughout.

At first listen, it can come off as overwhelming or erratic, but upon a second listen one can identify a method to the madness. The ambient guitar lines become the distorted melodies over different parts of the song. The frantic rhythms and energetic screams contrast with the softer parts and more conventional singing. The elements themselves seem incompatible, but the finished product works.

The whole EP plays like this for the most part, switching between genres and conventions throughout each song for dramatic effect and joining together elements from djent, metal, pop, ambient, and EDM. The only exception is “Worth (Keep Me Blind),” the aggressive and thrashy second song in the EP, which is written more traditionally and therefore stands out in its conventionality.

Adding to the effect is the production. Rather than the tight, clear, and often times raw production of most modern metal, there is a feeling of space to this album. The soundscape feels larger and even a bit distant at times, which helps the songs sound larger than life and something one could easily get lost in.

Now, it is important to be clear on this next point. This album is mentally taxing. Between all the influences, the quickly shifting song progressions, the technicality of the rhythms, the contrast between high energy and low energy sections, and the divergence from traditional norms in tone and composition, Voices is a band that challenges the listener. It is a rewarding challenge, but a challenge nonetheless. After all, what worthwhile art isn’t?

Voices has blended together parts where they usually wouldn’t fit and created something to not only listen to, but admire. Avant-Garde art critic Clement Greenberg would be proud. Resurgence is available today from many music retailers including iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Tidal, and Spotify! Read our interview with them as follows!

FTSM: For those who may not know who you are, how would you describe your band, your music, and your live performances?

VOICES: Voices is a six piece Medicore band from Indianapolis,Indiana. Our music is is a blend of metal, pop, and post hardcore that make for a pretty interesting combo and our live show is pretty straightforward with some solid energy behind it.

FTSM: You recently released Resurgence, your latest EP. I’ve listened to both that and your previous release The Device//The Fallout from 2014 and I noticed some pretty big differences in the songwriting and production. Were there changes that you went in knowing you wanted to make to your sound? Or did it all happen naturally as you went along writing the new album?

VOICES: Going into the new album Resurgence we knew we needed to make some changes. We really wanted to step up our musicianship on this album and we wanted to create some very interesting yet catchy songs. Before we entered the studio we scrapped an entire EP’s worth of material because we all agreed it didn’t show any growth from the previous record.

FTSM: What is your favorite song in the new album and (if it’s not the same) which is your favorite song to play live. Why?

VOICES: Personally, my favorite song on the on the record is “Back to Life”, I feel that it’s hauntingly beautiful at times but still delivers a punch. The lyrical content was something I had never really touched on in-depth before hand. To be as open as I was with this song was rather cathartic. As for our live shows, I think my favorite song to play would be “Worth”. It has an energy to it that just gets me pumped.

FTSM: In my review I described your music as “mentally taxing” in that in between all the dynamics, the frantic rhythms, the contrast of high and low energy sections, and the overall production, it is almost a workout to keep up with everything going on. Were the songs as challenging to write? Also, what was the hardest song to complete?

VOICES: I think the songs were all kind of challenging to write because the process required us to step out of our collective comfort zones. We only had small ideas going into the recording process so we had a lot of fleshing out to do while in the studio. It made for a really fun and interesting process. It really helped having our producer Brian Thorburn giving us additional ideas and direction as well.

FTSM: You guys took a bit of a hiatus to do some restructuring coming back September of last year. What was the hardest part of that process of setting everything back up? Alternatively, what was the best part or the part you’re most proud of having accomplished as a band?

VOICES: I think the hardest part was just the time it took to get everything back in place. We worked really hard in finding members that we matched with and members that were on board with the direction that we wanted to take the band. For me, I’m the most proud of the fact that we were actually able to accomplish the restructuring. Sometimes those things can lead to the death of a band so it was really awesome that Voices didn’t become a causality of that.

FTSM: One of the first things you did after coming back with the new lineup was a video for your cover of “Mercy” by Shawn Mendes. It was a great choice but I’m wondering why you chose that song out of all the plethora of songs new and old that could be covered.

VOICES: What it really boils down to is we were already working on the album and we knew that the fans wanted to hear what Voices was going to sound like with the new members. There was a lot of skepticism going around social media and we were aware of that. So we decided that instead of rushing the new material we would do cover. “Mercy” was making its rounds on pop radio and we thought we could definitely do something to make the song not only a good product for Voices but at the same time something the new fans could grab onto.

FTSM: What is the best show you guys have played? What made it special?

VOICES: I think, to date, with the new line up, our best how was our Album Release show on Jan 22nd. We had a lot of people come out to support the release, great bands on the bill, and the atmosphere of the evening was great.

FTSM: Now that you have released your album and it is being well-received, what is next for the band?

VOICES: Music videos, working on the next album, touring, etc. The next steps for the band are securing shows outside of Indianapolis, which has been kind of difficult without the help of a Booking Agent. A lot of emails sent with no responses puts a damper on the excitement but I think that’s part of it. Other than that we filmed a video a few weeks ago that we are putting a lot of work into at the moment. And we have started talks about the next album as well. So at the moment our hands are full, which is a great thing!

FTSM: Having overcome challenges that have broken up bands in the past, what advice do you have for bands who are either starting out or going through a rough time (hiatus, losing members, etc)?

VOICES: I would say if you are serious about the band and your heart is with it than keep pushing for it. The biggest thing to know is things like that take time and you should NEVER settle! But, again, make sure your heart is in it.

FTSM: What “thing” do you want to talk about that you never get asked about during interviews? This is your chance to tell us everything you want to say on whatever subject you choose, so be sure to give it some thought!

VOICES: Most of the questions we get cover our talking points rather well. I will say that being an independent band takes a lot of hard work, time, and money. I feel like sometimes the scene is taken at face value and a lot of people don’t realize the amount of sacrifices struggling independent bands make. Just know that every time you share a bands post on social media, show a friend their music, come to a show, buy a T-shirt or even put a song on a playlist it means the world to the bands. Without the support of the fans we wouldn’t be able to do what we love.