Falcon Down Q&A

Your name: 

Daniel Childerley.

Where are you from? 

Devon, UK.

Name of band: 

Falcon Down.

  

How would you describe yourself and your music? 

I'm primarily a songwriter. I see myself as a songsmith, lyricist, guitarist and singer in that order. 

Who are your main influences musically? 

Honestly, in the same breath I like to listen to Lionel Richie, Alice in Chains, Weezer, The Police and the Beastie Boys but very few DJs have these artists on rotation slots. Too many other artists to list as I have a very eclectic taste but most nineties grunge bands had a big influence on me.

What do you hope to achieve in music? 

I have always hoped to write music that is either going to get under peoples skin and get them connecting with my brand or to land a licensing deal, no matter how big I would like some recognition for my songwriting and I feel that these two outcomes would be a sign of validation for my work. 

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? 

Starting out as Falcon Down back at the beginning of 2014. Up until that point I had lost direction and lost more songs than I care to count. This focussed approach and adopted persona is empowering me to write authentic music, undiluted and free of heavy production. Having Stuart Epps give high praise on my track 'Flame' was also an added bonus. 

And what’s the moment you want to forget? 

The way 'The Llamas' ended. Bad times for me musically and I fell out of love with ska music for a while. 

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why? 

My track Blink Blink from my latest album. It's the best side of me, not too heavy or reflective and not another love song. 

Where can we listen to it? 

www.falcondown.com/mayday-mayday-pt-1-album-review

Where can we find out more about your music?

Twitter @falcon_dan

www.falcondown.com

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/mayday-mayday-pt.-1/id989958339

My first 3 full length albums, 2 EP's and Christmas single can all be found on iTunes. 

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask? 

I really enjoy writing albums and Mayday Mayday, Pt 1 is the first instalment from the larger trilogy album titled Venez M'Aider, it will be out around Christmas time. 

I made a plan from the outset as Falcon Down that I would be forward thinking, I am on track and 2016 will see the launch of my album 'Guardians of the Analogue'. I will not be pigeon-holed into a set genre, I appreciate that this won't please everyone but I'm not about pleasing everyone. Staying true to my vision and the cross genre songs that I write is key to keeping my identity.
I don't and won't  play covers as I will not piggy back off the success of others. I remain a fan of the old school approach to making music and prefer to master pre 2006 "no one wins a loudness war". Here's hoping that some of my work grabs you and coining those famous words from Aliens "stay frosty". 

Lou Dominguez Q&A

Your name:

Lou Dominguez.

Where are you from?

Vienna, Virginia, USA.

How would you describe yourselves and your music?  

Folk/Americana.

Who are your main influences musically?  

Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, Leonard Cohen, U2, REM, Warren Zevon.

What do you hope to achieve in music?  

My goal is to get my songs heard by as many people as possible.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

Working with Producer John Jennings whose producing and playing credits include but are not limited to Mary Chapin Carpenter, Indigo Girls, John Gorka, Tracy Grammar. 

And what’s the moment you want to forget?  

LOL, Too many to list here. I once had a journalist come to a CD release party. She missed the show but asked if I could do a number as the house thinned out. I had done a bit too much celebrating after the set. I walked off the stage in the middle of the song like I was Axl Rose because I kept screwing up the song. 

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?  

Record Store. It's got a connection to the past, it's about music, it's straight forward, it's a good representation, although I hate having to pick one song :-)

Where can we listen to it? 

www.loudominguez.com

Email newsletters for bands at ReverbNation.com

Where can we find out more about your music? 

www.loudominguez.com   

www.facebook.com/loudominguezmusic?ref=hl    

twitter.com/LouDominguezwtp  

itunes.apple.com/us/artist/lou-dominguez/id726493678

www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_srch_drd_B00FYI657A?ie=UTF8&field-keywords=Lou%20Dominguez&index=digital-music&search-type=ss 

Liv Austen Q&A

Your name:

Liv Austen.

Where are you from?

I am originally from Norway - but now I live in London!

Name of band: 

I go under my name, Liv Austen, but I have a permanent band backing me.

Who else is in your band?

I have two guitarists; Lee and Mike, my drummer Luke, bass player Nigel and pianist Wayne.

How would you describe yourselves and your music?

I usually go between calling what I do new country and singer/songwriter. I feel the latter is a bit vague! I guess country is the best way to describe it. I love discovering new things to do musically with my songs - especially because my band is fantastic, but my songs are very lyric-driven. I wouldn't be a songwriter if I couldn't put the lyrics first. To me having something to say in your songs is incredibly important! But we also like to just have fun and entertain people.

Who are your main influences musically?

Great Nashville songwriters like Jessi Alexander, Brett James, Brandy Clark and Hilary Lindsey. Singers I love are Carrie Underwood, Jana Kramer, Little Big Town, Hunter Hayes and Lee Ann Womack to name a few!

What do you hope to achieve in music?

My goal is to be able to live off my music, meaning I would love to tour with my band and share my songs to audiences in different countries all over the world. I have so many songs I want to share and my next project will probably be another EP, after that I hope to start releasing full length albums. And I see myself as a songwriter just as much as I see myself as a singer, so I would love to have other artists sing songs that I've written.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

I think the highlight so far was to perform at the Brooklyn Bowl stage at Country2Country, the UK's biggest festival for modern country. I had no idea if anyone was going to show up and I walked on stage to an audience of several hundred people! It was a fantastic experience and has lead to a lot of great opportunities. I was very nervous and excited that day and probably didn't do my best vocal performance! But it was a wonderful memory and a moment that made me think "yes, I can do this".

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

Great question! When I was first starting out I would take any gig that came my way, and I remember performing in this quite trendy pub, with some guys thinking they were way too hipster and cool for my music trying to heckle me while I was performing. I can always think back to those first gigs from before I had a fan base and it'll definitely keep my feet on the ground!

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

That is incredibly difficult. But I am going to go with Rain On My Side, it is my first single from my debut EP and you can hear that it is somewhere between pop and country.

Where can we listen to it?

You can check it out on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUKRblGOJxI or on SoundCloud here: https://soundcloud.com/liv-austen/rain-on-my-side

Where can we find out more about your music?

Here are many different ways to find out more about me and hear my music:

www.livausten.com

www.reverbnation.com/livausten

www.youtube.com/livausten

www.facebook.com/livausten

www.twitter.com/livausten

www.soundcloud.com/liv-austen

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7pcJG4WgxymCV95qSNHtoS

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/workin-mans-dream-ep/id910477180

YouTube link to EP: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL21Kb9mz22Jfnn2sqzl60fL5QfZ43j8Ph

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?

I have quite a lot of shows coming up - both acoustic and with a full band - you can have a look on my website to see if I'm playing near you in the future!

Threatpoint Q&A

Your name: 

Chris James (lead vocalist).

Where are you from? 

Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Name of band: 

Threatpoint.

Who else is in your band?

Mike White and Alex Olivetti on guitars, Eric Ross on bass and Cj Krukowski on drums. 

How would you describe yourselves?

We are a groove metal band blending all sorts of different types of rock and metal into our sound. 

Who are your main influences musically?

Some of our main influences are Testament, Devildriver, Lamb of God, Soilwork, Killswitch Engage and Pantera just to name a few. 

What do you hope to achieve in music?

Music people will enjoy and remember. We all would like to tour Europe as well. 

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

Being able to share this experience with my best friends. We really have a family-like atmosphere in this band. And fans telling us they enjoy what we do. Without them we are nothing!

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

Getting smashed on blueberry margaritas and forgetting most of the words on stage. I really don't remember that show but people do. They just laugh and say, "It wasn't your brightest moment on stage". Funny shit!

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

Ah you're killing me here. We change it up a lot song to song. Fun to my head ..."Careful What You Wish For". The dynamics of it and live it's pure energy!

Where can we listen to it?

You can stream our entire disc on our official site. 

www.threatpointofficial.com

Learn how to put a song on itunes at ReverbNation.com

Where can we find out more about your music? 

We are on most of them. 

www.threatpointofficial.com

www.facebook.com/threatpoint 

www.twitter.com/threatpoint 

www.reverbnation.com/threatpoint 

You can also just do a search and find us all over. 

Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask?

Sure we are currently looking for a label to help us to the next level.  Also thank you to all those that support us now, the fans, magazines, radio stations, online websites and our families. 

The Gyro Q&A

Your name: 

Derek Lewis.

Where are you from? 

South east London.

Name of band: 

The Gyro.

Who is in your band? 

Siobhan (vocals), Ben (drums), Dario (guitar) and Derek (bass, lyricist).

How would you describe yourselves and your music? 

The Gyro is a funk alternative band that plays in sub-genres of funk; funk rock, soul funk, and acoustic funk.

Who are your main influences musically? 

We like bands that play in sub genres like: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Parliament Funkadelic, N.E.R.D

What do you hope to achieve in music? 

Since releasing our debut album 'Naked n Xposed', we're hoping to start touring soon. We also want to record and release another album called 'No Money Man', late 2015.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? 

Releasing our debut album 'Naked n Xposed' has been a great highlight, as the first album is always the hardest to make.

And what’s the moment you want to forget? 

Losing our cellist Lily. She left for personal reasons. She gave the band a wonderful sound. The cello really works with our music.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why? 

The first song written and released by The Gyro -'Got It All'

Where can we listen to it? 

https://soundcloud.com/thegyro/got-it-all

Where can we find out more about your music?

www.thegyromusic.com

www.facebook.com/thegyro

www.twitter.com/gyromusic

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/naked-n-xposed/id977692141

https://www.youtube.com/user/GyromusicTV 

https://soundcloud.com/thegyo

http://www.reverbnation.com/thegyro

http://thegyro.bandcamp.com

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?

The Gyro is rated No.1 on reverberation UK funk charts!

( http://www.reverbnation.com/main/charts?genre_geo=national&geo_country=UK&genre=funk&page=1 )

David Dewhirst Q&A

Your name:
David Dewhirst.

Where are you from? 
Currently, Chattanooga, Tennessee... but grew up in Detroit and have lived in Germany, Upstate New York, and Florida.

How would you describe yourself and your music? 
My tastes are eclectic and so is the music I write. I'm a throwback hippie and so that informs my music, but it's certainly not the entirely of what I do. I'm also very lyric-focused, and most of my songs play with language and words and meaning. I've formally studied writing and poetry and am a published poet from my college years, so those things are important to me.

Who are your main influences musically? 
The Beatles, Dylan, Tom Petty, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Phish. I think if you listen to my catalog on SoundCloud or Grumpadilly.com with those things in mind you'll hear each of them, to some degree... but I'm also certainly putting my own spin on it all, and people keep telling me other artists I put them in mind of. Most recently it was Springsteen and Mellencamp.

What do you hope to achieve in music? 
I want to get my songs out in front of people, and I want people to enjoy them. 

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? 
I have played in / fronted bands and done solo shows off and on for many years. I would be active and then take lots of time away from the scene. But this most recent round is different - I'm writing better than I ever have, and I feel like these songs need to come out. That in itself is a highlight :)

And what’s the moment you want to forget?
Hmmm. I've never been booed off, so nothing like that. Maybe the time I was playing a party at a frat house and one of the (very chemically altered) frat brothers managed to trip over the cables for both my mic and my soundhole pickup, in the process ripping the cable clean out of the pickup. Yikes, was I ever annoyed...

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
That's a toughie - like I say, I'm fairly eclectic and hard to fit into one well-defined genre. But maybe right now I would say Savannah Dreams of Bones; it's a pretty sophisticated extended metaphor lyrically, and musically it has kind of a semi-trippy groove thing going but with some decidedly modern elements as well. It's a little less rock than some others, but that's okay -- it still represents.

Where can we listen to it? 
https://soundcloud.com/david-dewhirst-2/savannah-dreams-of-bones-rough

Where can we find out more about your music?

https://soundcloud.com/david-dewhirst-2
https://twitter.com/DDewhirst_Music
https://www.facebook.com/DavidDewhirstMusic
http://www.grumpadilly.com

Two singles on iTunes, if anyone wants to enrich me by $ .70
Shine at http://apple.co/1EyHySC
Sink In and Stick http://apple.co/1I5Msb2

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?
First, thank you so much, Greg! Secondly, my Facebook page especially is sad in terms of Likes and lagging far behind Twitter, so if everyone could click on the page and give me a quick Like it might not be so sad ;) 

Heather Green Q&A

Your name:  
Heather Green.

Where are you from?  
Canton, Illinois, United Sates.

  

Who else is in your band? 
Scott Anderson (Lead Guitar), Lee Coulter (Bass) and Brian Riddell (Drums).

How would you describe yourselves and your music?  
Country with a little bit of rock and pop. Americana. We all come from different music backgrounds from blues, jazz, and rock. We are a very unique mix of musicians.

Who are your main influences musically? 
Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood and early Taylor Swift.

What do you hope to achieve in music?  
To have a long career and be inspiration to others.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? 
I have several! I opened up for Bucky Covington and Jason Michael Carroll. They are people that are successful in the music career path that I have chosen. They have great bands and have given me some great pointers and friendship already. I recently signed with Rae Records and Entertainment in Chicago. Thrilled to be part of that roster of musicians! 

And what’s the moment you want to forget?  
None at this point! I have been having a blast on stage sharing my music!

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?  
All of my songs are a chapter of my life. This is a very hard question. If I had to pick one it would be my new single "Holding Time" that was just recorded. It's about having fun in the summer time, making memories and just relaxing with friends.

Where can we listen to it? 
Holding Time is not released yet. We will provide the link when it is available! My song "Player" can be found on www.soundcloud.com/heather-green-guitarist as well as on iTunes.

Where can we find out more about your music?
www.heathergreenguitarist.com 
www.facebook.com/HeatherGreenGuitarist 
www.reverbnation.com/heathergreen13
www.soundcloud.com/heather-green-guitarist 
@HGreenGuitarist on Twitter

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?  
When I write my music it just comes to me. Each song is about a chapter in my life. It's part of my story and who I am.

Suburban Haze Q&A

Your name: 
I’m Paul.

Where are you from? 
We are from Newcastle, Australia.

Name of band:

Suburban Haze.

Who else is in your band?
Dylan Martin plays the guitars, Alex Longmire plays the drums and Joe Andersons
plays the bass.

How would you describe yourselves and your music?
Our music is pretty sombre and melancholic but we aren’t too much like that in real life. I think our music allows us to be get out a lot of those emotions without having them bleed into our everyday lives.

Who are your main influences musically?
Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Burzum and a host of others.

What do you hope to achieve in music?
Just to put out the best music possible.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
It’s hard to say, but recording a full length and shooting some videos for it was a blast.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?
We played a few pretty horrible shows when we started out, some of which we would definitely like to forget haha but probably nothing, they’ve all been good experiences

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
Well I feel the stuff we are working on the moment is the best representation of us and we are hoping to release that by the end of the year. Otherwise I would say our song “A Boy. A Bank” probably best sums up our older style.

Where can we listen to it? 
https://suburbanhaze.bandcamp.com/track/a-boy-a-bank-pt-2



Where can we find out more about your music?
www.suburbanhaze.com
www.facebook.com/suburbanhaze
We have links through to our other pages from our bandcamp

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?
Not really, just hopefully other people can enjoy it and find something in it

Alex Jordan & Co Q&A

Your name:

Alex Jordan.

Where are you from?

Dublin, Ireland

Name of band:

Alex Jordan & Co. 

Who else is in your band? 

Alex Borwick from The Young Folk on banjo and mandolin, Darragh Cullen of The Sour Seeds on bass and vocals, Conor McLoughlin of Sub Motion on guitar and Sean O'Connor of Sub Motion on drums and vocals.

How would you describe yourselves and your music?

We're a country rock group. We went to school together and played in different bands, but this is the first time we've played in this line up, and it's worked pretty well for us so far.
We all come from a rock background, however I've always had a country twang in my voice. I tried to fight it when I was younger, I sang and played in rock and blues bands and had a great time. I loved the music we were playing and still do, but everyone always said to me "you sound like a country singer", and growing up country music just wasn't cool, but I don't care what people think these days. That twang is what comes out naturally. So in the last few years I've decided to embrace my country roots, because of this the music I started making improved dramatically, it came out so much easier. I was able to combine my country vocals with my rock/blues influences and it all just worked.

Who are your main influences musically?

Zac Brown Band, Eric Church, John Mayer, Brad Paisley, The Eagles, Vince Gill, Trisha Yearwood, Lynyrd Skynyrd, the list is endless really.

What do you hope to achieve in music?

I want making music to be our careers. I love writing with the band and collaborating with other artists. But there's no better feeling than when we're playing live., We're not after fame and fortune (although they'd obviously be a welcome bonus) we just want to play to as many people as possible in as many places as we can.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?

I can't pick one, so I'll quickly talk about three.
Last March we played to a full room at the Button Factory in Dublin, and that was the start of Alex Jordan & Co.
We then started gigging for most of last summer, playing festivals all around Ireland. One of the most enjoyable shows we did was at Electric Picnic last year.
However personally making this first record and releasing it has been the highlight for me so far. I feel in one sense it was a long time coming, and I'm so happy that it's finally out, after it had been recorded and mastered I started contemplating whether or not to release it, and I almost didn't, but thankfully we did, and it's going well.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

I don't want to forget any of it! Everyone makes mistakes and regrets in this industry, but without them we don't learn, and that means we don't improve. I mean if we did everything perfect the first time, then the next move would be a negative one, if we peaked on our first performance or our first record, then we've done something very wrong. We're not trying to be a one hit wonder, we're here to stay.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?

Borderline (The first track off our debut EP Leap of Faith). The song shows what we do best, it's country with attitude, and a catchy chorus. It's the song that people talk to us about the most. It starts off this simple acoustic track with strong lyrics and then we get to the chorus where the whole band enters, and we all let loose. We're not a rock band but we're not a country and western band either, we think we're somewhere in the middle, and that suits us to a T. Borderline really demonstrates our sound, there's acoustic elements in it, it shows off vocal ranges, but we also get to rock out during it, the song shows off almost everything that we can do...almost.

Where can we listen to it? 
https://soundcloud.com/a-j-productions/sets/ep-1-shhh 

Where can we find out more about your music? 

Facebook: https://t.co/UMd0Wy8qkh
Twitter:https://twitter.com/AlexJordanandCo
Bandcamp: https://alexjordanco.bandcamp.com/
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/album/id980630708

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?

We've just released our debut EP 'Leap of Faith' it's available on all digital outlets.
We're currently booking gigs for throughout this year, and we've announced this week our first ever headline gig in the UK, where we'll be launching 'Leap of Faith' in The Water Rats, London on June 26th.

We've already started working on the next record, which should be out around Summer of next year, but we might release a single or two later this year or early next year.

New single from VanDeRocker

ALT-rock artist VanDeRocker has released her new single Without The Light.

It is taken from the Texan's album Jupiter's Kiss, which is due for release late this summer.

Adrienne VanDeRocker told RealSoundsOK: "Without The Light is very much a renegade anthem, celebrating the power of looking within and honouring your truth.

"It's too easy to put the blinders on and just float where our culture leads us, especially if we are led to believe we won't be loved or accepted should we stray from the pack.

"This is just a gentle reminder not to give fear of the unknown, fear of speaking that truth or fear of being different so much power.

"As for the music, I wanted the sound to be super stripped back and unpolished. The message is so fundamental, the track had to be reckless and raw."

Listen to Without The Light below and visit facebook.com/Vanderocker or twitter.com/vanderocker for more.

Derek Bishop Q&A

Your name: 
Derek Bishop.

Where are you from?
New York City has been my home for over 20 years.

How would you describe yourselves and your music?
I'm a keyboard-loving fella, who sings and writes über-catchy melodies paired with a darker lyrical side. Musically, it's essentially "Technicolor Pop". It's bright, very colorful, and chock full of ear candy. It has its roots in 80's synthpop, but it has sprinklings of Broadway, 70's prog rock, and even a little bit of The Muppet Show mixed in.  

Who are your main influences musically?
My main musical influences are the individual members of Fleetwood Mac. I've taken so much from each of their individual styles, that it feels like a very broad spectrum musically. I think you can hear their footprints in all my songs one way or another. I'm also influenced by a mixed bag of other elements. I'm a massive fan of the movie and music from Xanadu, so there's always going to be a little bit of that referenced on my albums. I also spent a good portion of my youth in marching bands, so I do tend to love the pairing pop tunes with the surprise symphonic instrument, like a saxophone, French horn, tympani, or marimba.

What do you hope to achieve in music?
I simply want to make unique, interesting and good product. In this day and age of the music business, you can't be in it with the goal to make money. My goals are to simply get better and grow as an artist. I'm doing this because I love it. I want to make music that inspires me, music that I would find interesting and music that - when I listen - makes me all warm and fuzzy. If a dozen, or hundred, or several thousands of people like that music too, then that is a big added bonus. 

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
The highlight thus far has been releasing my sophomore album, Bicycling in Quicksand, printed on vinyl. (It's officially released June 9th!) Holding that massive, tangible representation of all that hard work is so rewarding. As a vinyl record, not only does it feel real and vital, it also feels quite nostalgic: like a dream from my teenage years come to life. 

And what’s the moment you want to forget?
The moments I want to forget are the many times when my brain stopped working and I forgot the lyrics while performing live. It happens far too often. Luckily that same crazy brain that lets song lyrics slip away, also lets me forget the sheer number of times I've actually forgotten the words. 

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
Automatic. It's a nice, tight, little catchy number that has all the bells and whistles thrown in the mix. People expect bizarre sounds form me, but this song really hits it home. It's a strong pop song, with layers and layers of background vocals, but halfway through the wackiness kicks in. By the end, all semblance of structure flies out the window. Lyrically it's both a love song and an study on the focus and drive artist needs to have. I think balancing the story with the "everything-and-the-kitchen-sink" instrumentation shows off a sense of humor too.

Where can we listen to it?
You can hear and see my music here:
http://derekbishop.net/music_videos.html
https://soundcloud.com/derekbishop/sets/bicycling-in-quicksand

Where can we find out more about your music? 
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/bicycling-in-quicksand/id963256008
http://www.derekbishop.net
https://www.facebook.com/DerekBishopMusic
https://twitter.com/MrDerekBishop
http://instagram.com/derekbishopmusic
https://www.youtube.com/user/DerekBishopMusic/videos

Anything else you’d like to say about your music that I forgot to ask?
I feel this music has something for everyone, and I want all ears available and willing to take it in. I'm so proud of this work and I just want to share it with everyone. Thank you for this opportunity to do so!