New Year tour for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

LA outfit Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros have announced a major European next year.

It kicks off in Brussels in late January before dates in Holland, Germany, Scotland, Ireland and finishing in London on February 11.

The group had a run of summer shows that took in the UK, including appearances with Mumford & Sons at their Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park show in London.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros will also release their new single Life Is Hard on December 2.

It is taken from their self-titled third album, released via Mumford's Gentlemen of the Road label.

You can check out the video for the track above and for more information visit edwardsharpeandthemagneticzeros.com or facebook.com/themagneticzeros

The Professor and Naomi Kay Q&A

Your name:
Wayne Cox.

Where are you from?
Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Name of band:
The Professor and Naomi Kay.

Who else is in your band?
Naomi Koit.

How would you describe yourselves?
Indie, retro rock/folk, pop.

Who are your main influences musically?
I grew up on Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Stones, Deep Purple, Rush etc, and played in cover bands doing everything.....Zeppelin, Rush, Deep Purple, ZZ Top. Started to write and record my own music and then only worked in bands recording and doing our own material. Played and toured extensively. Went back to school to do a Ph.D., and mostly got into progressive jazz and songwriting. Became a songwriter and session player writing and working for named signed bands (through my prior music connections), or to simply write and record for myself. Also got heavily into being a self-indulgent soloist/lead player influenced by many great shredders and progressive jazz players. Later influenced by the songwriting of bands like Coldplay, indie roots bands, and pop bands like Smash Mouth, etc. becoming obsessed with developing the ability to write simple melodic, catchy pop songs with staying power.    

What do you hope to achieve in music?
At my age (early 50s), I am lucky to be working with a young and talented vocalist/violinist (Naomi Koit, 24). Her vocal abilities, playing and writing/co-writing abilities bring to me skills and interests that I just don’t have. She is, by far, the best vocalist and most professional player I have ever worked with – and I have worked with a lot of folks over the years. We seem to share a similar sense of what is good music, she brings in influences I don’t have, and my years of playing various styles, experiences and varied influences bring to her a lot that someone of her age hasn’t acquired (yet, at least). So it is a great combination, although distance and the fact that we are both extremely busy working professionals (I am professor of international relations, and she is a graduate student and has a career well under way) means that finding time to work on material and getting together to work is extremely difficult. We also live on different sides of the country. But our goals are similar.....to write and perform music that is good enough and will mean enough to our listeners that it will leave a legacy. For both of us, the creative side is the most important.    

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
There have been many for me. For the Professor and Naomi Kay, we instantly attracted the interest of some powerful players in the industry who went to bat for us. Indeed, we even got offers from major labels, but could not (or would not) end our existed professional working careers to dedicate ourselves to music/touring (i.e. unwilling to quite our day jobs under the promise that we ‘might’ hit it big – even with major label support). Knowing that we secured that sort if interest and got offers on the basis of nine rough homemade demos in this highly competitive and unpredictable industry was very reassuring to both of us. No regrets. Now, we are searching for ways to keep our primary careers, and yet still make some high quality recordings and put another album out that better reflects our full potential as both songwriters and players. We have made a bit of money, and are using my old music connections to get that done in the near future.   

And what’s the moment you want to forget?
There have also been many....too personal and depressing to share. Let`s just say, the music business can be nasty.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
For me, I Knew Everything is a good representation of our ability to make fun rocking tunes, and it displays Naomi’s skilled and infectious vocals. For her, I suspect that Was It Her is a good representation of her vocal prowess, emotion, writing, and violin playing.  Home is probably the best example of my writing and guitar playing style.

Where can we listen to it?
http://www.reverbnation.com/theprofessorandnaomikay

Free Electronic Press Kits from ReverbNation.com

Where can we find out more about your music?
http://www.reverbnation.com/theprofessorandnaomikay
https://myspace.com/the.professor.and.naomi.k/music/songs
http://ca.tunecore.com/music/theprofessorandnaomikay
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Professor-and-Naomi-Kay/294709497217277
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Professor-and-Naomi-Kay/294709497217277?sk=app_2405167945
https://twitter.com/PandNK

Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask?
We are in the studio now, doing demo work for a proper recording session in San Jose with some guest artists and a great producer. Check out our various pages for updates and perhaps the pre-release of at least one or two new songs.

New EP on the way from rising rap star Blizzard

RISING rap artist Blizzard will release his Testing The Water EP early next year on his own Eight In Brackets label.

Blizzard - aka Brad Green from Manchester, England - has already received praise from the likes of BBC 1xtra and fellow artists Ed Sheeran, Rizzle Kicks, Wiley and Misha B.

His previous EP - Sooner Than Never - hit number one in the iTunes hip-hop chart and Blizzard refuses to be labelled as "just a rapper". He also produces, sings and plays piano on the forthcoming release.

You can get a taste of Testing The Water above and for more on the artist visit www.twitter.com/iamblizzard or www.facebook.com/blizzarddubs

Ink Project return with new single

UK electronic/soul duo Ink Project are back with new single Keep Passing By on the Blind Colour label.

The London twosome - vocalist Melanie Dymond and keys/producer Jez Lloyd - released their debut album Inside The Sun in 2011 and followed that up with a series of one-off performances around Europe and a re-interpretation of Blondie classic rapture in 2012.

The remix of Keep Passing By takes a darker, more experimental direction, courtesy of new label signing Nate Connelly, who is currently readying his debut album A Dream About Being Lost for the end of 2013/beginning of 2014.

The track is available to download on Blind Colour via iTunes, Boomkat, Juno Download, Amazon and other outlets and you can have a listen below.

For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ink-Project/121344091250822 or www.twitter.com/InkProjectMusic

Indie trio Calgary deliver new single

NEW indie-pop trio Calgary will release their single Fight Fire With Fire on Friday ahead of the band's EP of the same name out in December.

The band is fronted by singer-songwriter Jakob Deist - who did a Q&A with RealSoundsOK back in June this year (finger on the pulse me!) - alongside bassist Kirill Teslia and guitarist Pete Wicker.

The EP was recorded by Mike Curtis, who has worked with the likes of Bury Tomorrow, The Dead Formats and Fozzy.

You can check out the video for Fight Fire With Fire below and for more information on the band visit www.facebook.com/CalgaryUK

New single from Fake Club

BULLET Brain is the new, self-released single from London rockers Fake Club.

The track drops in time for the band's silver screen debut in new film Powder Room, starring Sheridan Smith, Jaime Winstone and old touring buddy Kate Nash, for which they wrote tracks for as well as featured in.

It marks the start of an exciting period for the girls, with more European tour dates either side of Christmas and their debut album set for early 2014.

For more information visit http://www.fakeclub.co.uk/

Debut single from The Writer's Block

LONDON-based producers The Writer's Block have released their debut single (feat Anouck) Dancing In The Dark.

The trio - Detox, Kam and Haile - met at Westminster University in 2010 and formed TWB, combining their musical backgrounds and expertise.

Brit-school-educated Kam mans the keys while Detox and Haile assert their energies to the composition and different musical elements in the production. Previous productions have already found their way on to Radio1, Choice FM and 1Xtra.

TWB cite influences from both the traditional side of music such as Bob Marley and Michael Jackson, all the way through to modern-day acts such as So Solid Crew and Chase & Status.

You can listen to Dancing In The Dark below and for more information on the collective visit www.twitter.com/TWB_music or www.facebook.com/thewritersblock

New single and album from Invasions

CANADIAN five-piece Invasions have released their new single Rosy from their eponymous album, out last week.

The Toronto band say their music is what "spaghetti western era Clint Eastwood would love" and that the new album is a "lost soundtrack for a Quentin Tarantino movie".

You can listen to Rosy below and for more information on the band and their album, visit invasionsmusic.com

Beyond Vegas Q&A

Your name: 

Neil Miel (lead vocal, guitar, lyricist).

Where are you from? 

Melbourne, Australia.

Name of band: 

Beyond Vegas.

Who else is in your band? 

Darren Kestle, lead guitar. Our live band includes longtime musical colleagues - Steve Burns (bass, bvox), Craig Sayer (guitar, keys, bvox) and Jason Montgomery (drums).

How would you describe yourselves?

Unassuming, down to earth and very aware of the joy we have already given our friends and fans from around the world. We love creating our music and oversee every detail of our final product. We design our own artwork for our releases, produce and edit our videos and have complete creative control over everything we do. We self fund everything without any assistance from any record label. Having said that, none of them would know we exist, we are flying under the radar big time, which we actually don't mind.

Who are your main influences musically?

Well for me, I grew up on a cocktail of Sex Pistols, Bowie, Iggy Pop, Beatles, Smithereens, Del Amitri etc. and could go on forever about the bands I admire. I probably take a little hint of each of them subconsciously in performance and in my songwriting. Darren's influences (which he's just texting me) are U2, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Sex Pistols and Simple Minds. (That's funny, I wouldn't have picked him as a Pistols fan).

What do you hope to achieve in music?

We really have no preconceived ideas of success. Darren and I reunited as musicians after 20 years of not having spoken or meeting up. We had previously played, recorded and performed together in an obscure and long forgotten Melbourne guitar pop band, which did not progress any further than recording some demos and playing gigs in small hotels and the like. The fact that we have come together some two decades later to record songs released on iTunes, together with three videos on YouTube, and the release of our debut EP before Xmas surprises us in itself.

It is why we decided upon the name Beyond Vegas - we have no expectations yet the sky is the limit.

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

The release of our second single Love Me Blind and subsequent release of the accompanying video on YouTube. It is exactly how we would like to be seen and captures our style and (often) dark lyrics perfectly (see below).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3j-4Rv6yP0&feature=youtu.be

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

So far we have had none, tee hee!

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

Lie for Me. It was our first release on iTunes earlier this year, and was a benchmark for the quality of our songwriting and production abilities. I drove across outback Australia and listened to it about 150 times to ensure we had it right! It was a labour of love and a song we are immensely proud of.

Where can we listen to it?

www.reverbnation.com/beyondvegas

https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/lie-for-me-single/id591313124

Our latest release Love Me Blind is also available on iTunes.

https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/love-me-blind-single/id685751256

Learn how to get your music noticed at ReverbNation.com

Where can we find out more about your music?

www.facebook.com/BeyondVegas

www.beyondvegas.com.au

https://twitter.com/VegasOp

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

Essentially we are a duo - we either write the music together or I write on my own, not a bad combination.

The other guys I've mentioned earlier are longtime friends who I've played with over the last 20 years in various musical outfits and combinations. They appreciate what we're aiming for and love being involved in our videos and live performances. They are crucial to Beyond Vegas and are professional musicians in their own right. 

Voidstalker Q&A

Your name: 

Stu Cowley.

Where are you from? 

Living in Manchester but originally from St Helens, north-west England.

Name of band: 

Voidstalker.

Who is in your band? 

Emily Garrard - Vocals
Stu Cowley - Guitar and backing vocals
Joe Roberts - Drums
Ashleigh Talbot - Bass and backing vocals

How would you describe yourselves?

As four like-minded, forward-thinking musicians who just want to make good music with real meaning, trying to stay away from the standard verse-chorus-verse cookie cutter style of songwriting; for no other reason than it makes the music ultimately more interesting and allows for the freedom to say what we want in the way we want it. Also fans of science fiction and not taking ourselves too seriously.

Who are your main influences musically?

There's many, but the main ones include Opeth, Incubus, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Deftones, Tool, Devin Townsend, Soundgarden and Tori Amos.

What do you hope to achieve in music?

To make something that makes others feel the same way we do when playing it is the main aim, but being able to make enough money from it in the process to not have to do a normal job would be the dream.

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

Probably playing the Sparkle festival in Manchester city centre earlier this year. It was our first outdoor gig on a glorious afternoon, playing through a proper PA, and to a crowd of about 500 people. Everything really fell into place, and overhearing people saying great things about the songs whilst wandering around afterwards was extremely rewarding. A perfect gig!

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

We dont regret anything. I've had a couple of moments when a pedal has failed on stage and I've been scrabbling around on the floor trying to figure out whats gone wrong (which makes things interesting for the rest of the band), someone having one too many before going on and having a total brainfart trying to remember all the parts, minor learning curve stuff really. Personally I learn something new every time we leave a stage, so it's a constant evolution in truth.

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

The one I'm thinking of isn't online yet, it's in the final mastering stages along with the rest of our first album! The best representation we have online at the time of writing this would be Hotel Hovel, which was written when I lived across the road from a YMCA (in a flat nicknamed 'The Void', the origin of the band name). It represents what we do well because it mixes the upbeat, slightly frantic positive side of life with the introspection that resulted from seeing people getting carried away in ambulances after overdosing or hurting themselves (sometimes several times in one week).
If I had to sum it up in a sentence it would be 'life rock in light and shade'.

Where can we listen to it?

www.soundcloud.com/voidstalker/hotel-hovel-c-voidstalker-2012

Where can we find out more about your music? 

www.voidstalker.com
www.facebook.com/thisisvoidstalker

www.twitter.com/voidstalkerband
www.soundcloud.com/voidstalker
www.reverbnation.com/voidstalker
www.youtube.com/user/darktransient/videos

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

Just that we will be releasing our first album in the next couple of months, it's all recorded and is currently being mixed and mastered. We spent a lot of time and effort into getting it just right, and we're extremely proud of what we've created. Watch this space!

Wasting Arrows Q&A

Band name: 

Wasting Arrows.

Where are you from? 

Portsmouth, England.

Who is in your band? 

Stuart Hunt - vocals guitar

Paul Bailey - guitar / vocals 

Tom Hopkins - bass 

Phil Thompson - drums 

How would you describe yourselves? 

Wasting Arrows are a four-piece band whose repertoire consists of an electric  mix of chord-crammed, lyrically interesting and occasionally quirky tunes, tempered by engaging and energetic pop melodies.

The band was formed by Stuart Hunt and Paul Bailey, who became close friends at school and started writing music together in 2004. The pair formed the band Motif in 2006 and, following a string of drummers and one bassist, they finally formed the current line-up in early 2013. Bringing in their friend Tom Hopkins on bass and then after searching online ads,  finally found drummer Phil Thompson - well-known for his previous groups The Fret and Hazy Eyed Smiles. The new line up is now finally coming to fruition.

Wasting Arrows are currently in the throes of rehearsing and recording in preparation for their live shows and will pick up the pace a little in 2014 with more live dates, including out of town gigs and some new recordings as they have been working on some new material for the past few months.

Who are your main influences musically? 

Our influences our varied between the group. Influences include: Blur, Ride, Queens of the Stone Age, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, to name a few.

What do you hope to achieve in music? 

We just want to make music we enjoy and have people come to our shows and share our passion.

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

Having 80 people turn up to see us at our first and only gig so far at the Fat Fox (Southsea) on 31st July this year was pretty cool, hopefully it's a sign of things to come. 

And what’s the moment you want to forget? 

Loving every minute so far! 

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

It would probably be Taking Things as it's the song that really gelled in rehearsal and it kinda represents the starting point for the band where we all looked at each other as if to say "yeah this is gonna work" 

Where can we listen to it? 

http://soundcloud.com/wasting-arrows 

Where can we find out more about your music?

http://reverbnation.com/wastingarrows 

http://youtube.com/WastingArrowsBand 

http://soundcloud.com/wasting-arrows

Http://Facebook.com/WastingArrowsBand

Twitter: @wasting_arrows @WastingArrowsUk 

The Grand Trick Q&A

Your name:

Daniel.

Where are you from?

Sweden.

Name of band:  
The Grand Trick.

Who else is in your band? 

Stefan, Jonas, Magnus and Toby.

How would you describe yourselves?

We are a collective of musicians that plays heavy rock and advocates disobedience against the world mass manipulation.

Who are your main influences musically?

I don’t know. I don’t listen to music.

What do you hope to achieve in music?

Peace of mind.

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

There’s nothing extraordinary to report.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

Internal conflicts will always occur within a band. Some conflicts have been tougher than others. There have been moments involving fist fights that I rather forget. 

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

Hard question. Probably Mudbound. It has the groove and the riffing that is common for the band.

Where can we listen to it?

https://itunes.apple.com/se/album/mudbound/id600138968?i=600138977

Where can we find out more about your music?

https://itunes.apple.com/se/album/the-daily-dose-single/id600138968

http://open.spotify.com/artist/1NIvM3GupN73EiHv9H3t3W

https://www.facebook.com/thegrandtrick

https://twitter.com/TheGrandTrick

http://www.thegrandtrick.com/

Record company http://www.whitelinerecordings.com/

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

We are at the moment writing songs for a new album. And actually we are planning to tour UK in a near future.

Twin Paradox Q&A

Your name: 

Robert Anderson (Lead Guitar).

Where are you from?

East Coast Scotland, Dundee suburb.

Name of band:

Twin Paradox.

Who else is in your band?

Aletha Monaghan (Lead Vocals), Rowan Knox (Drums), Austen Cook (rhythm guitar), Jack Richards (bass).

How would you describe yourselves? 

After finding ourselves not fitting into traditional musical stereotypes we found ourselves defining Twin Paradox as experimental metal. Myself, personally being the main musical contributor to our songs, find myself bored with people striving to sound like the last thing. Armed with a few 60s style guitars, a rack full of crazy pitch-bending effects, retro kits and female-fronted vocals, we pride ourselves on the weird sounds that we can make. With most of our music sounding heavy, we do generally call ourselves Experimental Metal rather than just experimental, yet our songs combine metal with tribal beats, chuck berry licks, shred, creepy harmonies as well as squealing noises, pops and bangs that we can squeeze out of our instruments. We're working on a second load of songs post-EP that use crazy sounds, as opposed to the comparatively tame sounds of our "Where Has The Time Gone?" EP.

We find ourselves being compared to contrasting musicians, which, frankly baffle. We have been compared consecutively to Avenged Sevenfold and Sonic Youth.

Who are your main influences musically?

Rage Against the Machine, White Stripes, Hole, Avenged Sevenfold.

What do you hope to achieve in music?

Ultimately, to share our art with the world. I'm very keen on viewing music for what it is - an art form. I hate, more than others, the commercialisation of music, robbing it of its art. I, and the rest of the band, want to share true music with as many people as we can.

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

Getting to the latter stages of Soundwave Competition, the north of the UK's Biggest Musical Battle. We're still in and are down to the last 18! Exciting stuff.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

I'd personally like to forget the number of hours we've spent gorging on pizza at practice instead of actually writing music. There's something about that sweet, cheesy snack that sucks our motivation.

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

As tough as it would be, probably the track "We Are Not Where We Belong". Although there are only a few weird guitar sounds in there, I feel the dynamic of the band is most evident. You can hear the relationship between us, with tight guitar harmonies and our simplistic rhythm section. 

Where can we listen to it?

http://twinparadox.bandcamp.com/track/we-are-not-where-we-belong

Where can we find out more about your music?

Check us out on Facebook, where we mainly post: www.facebook.com/twinparadoxofficial 

This is our free-to-listen-to EP 

http://twinparadox.bandcamp.com/album/where-has-the-time-gone

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

Yeah, if you like our music, please, please drop the band a message on Facebook! We love feedback. And if you want to send us pizza to practice, please do.

Sacred Cube Q&A

Your name:  

Anthony Volpe (Guitar).

Where are you from?  

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,  USA.

Name of band: 

Sacred Cube.

Who else is in your band?

Chris Smith (Vox),  Cris McDonald (Bass),  Ian Baker (Drums).

How would you describe yourselves?   

A four piece original modern rock band sharing our love of music.

Who are your main influences musically?   

We have a wide range of bands we are influenced by - Led Zep, Guns N Roses, STP, Foo Fighters, Seether, Every Time I Die, Artic Monkeys. This list could go on...

What do you hope to achieve in music?  

Hopefully, just keep performing at bigger and better shows. Most importantly, getting our music heard and for our music to become meaningful to more fans. 

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

Performing at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. The venue is awesome and we had a crowd of a couple hundred people there. But our highlight might be changing soon.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?  

Thankfully, there hasn't been many of those moments. I guess when your playing live and an amp or bad cable starts acting up.

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

Well, a song called "Something Better" is a single we are going to start promoting now. I think this song represents us well because it captures our energy and intensity.  

Where can we listen to it?

This song can be heard @ reverbnation.com/sacredcube

Free music player widget at ReverbNation.com

Where can we find out more about your music?

Sacredcube.com is our new very own website   

Please check us out also at:

facebook.com/sacredcubeband

Twitter.com/sacredcube

reverbnation.com/sacred-cube

soundcloud.com/sacred-cube

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

We played in New York Oct. 15 at Sullivan Hall and be part of CMJ Music Marathon. The fact we were ask to play CMJ is awesome and we are honored.
I am asking for all of you to please check out our sites and find out what we're about. I am looking to grow this band and we need more Facebook likes, Twitter followers and reverbnation fans. Thanks in advance for your support, and thanks so much for your time.

To Be Frank confirmed for SXSW

IT'S been a bit of a busy time for Suffolk singer/producer To Be Frank.

After releasing the world's infra-red music video - which you can view above - the artist (aka Frank Pescod) has also been confirmed to play SXSW in Austin, Texas, next March.

And the fun is not stopping yet with his EP Half The Man due for release on November 3rd.

Frank said: "Being invited to perform at SXSW is incredible. It's amazing news and I can't wait to get out there."

For more on the artist visit www.tobefrankmusic.com

New album from Sirens & Shelter

ALT-pop artist Sirens & Shelter has released his new album Through The War on Engineer Records.

S&S - aka Scott Mallard - toured the UK twice last year and also played in Spain off their back of his eight-track EP The Midnight Arrangement.

Now he has teamed up with a few close friends for the full-length release.

The album is available to buy via iTunes and you can check out the video for Landing Lights below.

And if you want to find out more about Scott and his music, read the Q&A he did with RealSoundsOK just last month.

Debut EP from Forever Can Wait

SOUTHAMPTON rockers Forever Can Wait will release their debut EP Beauty&Grace on November 27th - a week after heading out on a UK tour with Out For Tomorrow.

Quintet Forever Can Wait were crowned winners of this year's Red Bull Studios Live at Download Festival and their debut single Rest was championed by Alex Baker on his Kerrang Radio show.

The band has been working hard on the road too. Last month their toured the UK with Croydon-based Press To Meco and are now preparing to join Out For Tomorrow next month, along with Chelmsford outfit Villains.

You can check out the video for the single Rest below and for more on the band visit www.facebook.com/forevercanwait

And you can download the new single Excuses by clicking on the following link - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/excuses-single/id714214035

New video from Heart-Ships

THIS is the video for Heart-Ships' new single Pinhole of Light off their debut EP.

It marks a big step forward for the Leeds band, who have been winning plaudits from fans and critics alike for their live performances.

If you like what you hear, you can find out more about the band at www.heart-ships.com or at www.facebook.com/HeartShips

Killing Fields of Ontario to release new LP

UK alternative outfit Killing Fields of Ontario will release their new album How The World Ends on October 28th.

The record was produced and mixed by the band's own Tom Loffman, who has previously worked on albums by VV Brown, Idlewild and Billy Bragg.

The album hints at influences of Arcade Fire, Local Natives, Frightened Rabbit and Interpol and have received warm praise from BBC 6Music's Tom Robinson.

You can check out the video for the single Cloud from the album and for more information on the band visit killingfieldsofontario.com where you will find links to their social media pages.

Music with a message from Kojo

AFRICAN musician Kojo 'Easy' Damptey has released his debut record Daylight Robbery, and hopes his message is heard by a wide audience.

Kojo spoke to RealSoundsOK about his background and how it affected the recording of his album.

He said: "As a musician, I paint pictures as an African from Ghana, a black man and an immigrant living in Canada. But I do hope Daylight Robbery speaks the souls and minds of people from all backgrounds.

"Most people would say it’s a political and conscious record. I would say it’s a soulful record that speaks to the many stories people face around the world. Stories of violence, race, injustice, hope and love. 

"In observing and living in a country such as Canada, you see how many a times people’s confidence are shaken and rights taken away. You see people of color being pushed around, never having a voice. People in these situations have lost their will, their thoughts and their imagination, hence the title of the record Daylight Robbery. 

"If we have been robbed of our will, our rights, our confidence, our history, our culture, and our identity you need to ask yourself: What are we going to do about it? How do we change this current system.

"Daylight Robbery speaks and engages with these issues, and asks you to engage too."

You can hear the record and download first single Chasing The Felon at kojoeasydamptey.bandcamp.com and for more information on the artist, visit www.easythepianoman.com

New album from Aviators

MIRRORS is the third full-length album from Florida-based producer Aviators, aka Tyler Shaw.

The 16 tracks were written, recorded, mixed and mastered by Shaw alone and his sound has been compared to the likes of Imagine Dragons, Anberlin, OneRepublic and Bastille.

You can have a listen to the album below and for more information visit www.soundoftheaviators.com

Free music from some Fairly Odd Folk

CANADIAN alt-pop band Lauren Mann and the Fairly Odd Folk have made their album Over Land and Sea free to download.

The LP - plus previously unreleased b-side A Traveller's Anthem - are available on noisetrade.com or by clicking here for nothing until the end of the year.

The band from Calgary has also just launched a funding campaign for their next album, which they are planning to record with Aaron Marsh early in the new year. You can find out more about that at their Indiegogo page.

For now, you can sample the band's sound below and for more information visit Lauren Mann's official website.

Eutopia Q&A

Your name: 
Leah Lennick.

Where are you from? 
We are both born and bred Londoners now living in the west of London. Alexander also has Greek heritage.

Name of band:
Eutopia

Who is in your band?
Alexander Sol (guitars, vocals, music and lyrics) and me, Leah Lennick, (synths, vocals, music and lyrics).

How would you describe yourselves? 
We try to make music in the balance between all things. That's what our name is about and that's what we seem to naturally create. It's rock, yet electronic. It's male and female. Classic and yet unlike anything that came before. Technically advanced simplicity. Part man, part machine, all music. We were once called 'decadance' that is a term we kind of liked. It sums us up really...pretty intense and a mash-up of all we love about music. Big guitars and sing-a-long anthemic choruses all washed down with full out dance bass and beats. Having said that we are suckers for a simple riff and a sweet vocal harmony too.

Who are your main influences musically?
Hugely varied (I bet everyone says that, but it's true). Everything from the classical greats like Beethoven and Mozart to Euro-trance and disco. Main rock influences can be drawn from Def Leppard, Malmsteen, Van Halen, Queen and Led Zeppelin. Dance, everything from Darude, Yazoo and John Foxx to videogame and movie soundtracks. We love proper pop like Abba and proper classics like Elvis and Johnny Cash. Basically, if it's got a great melody we are there.

What do you hope to achieve in music?
Everything. We would love to take it as far as we can. We try and make feel-good, clean music that everyone can enjoy. We write in a diverse style so the cliche applies that there really should be something for everyone. We would love to collaborate with all sorts of champs and play all sorts of stages, but first and foremost we want to make people smile.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
I hope it's too early to say, and I don't want to give a generic response. Up to date we have had some really proud moments. Releasing our first EP  in July, playing to ever bigger audiences and every time we get a new fan who loves what we do, to name a few. We hope the best is yet to come and everyday things get better so that's a huge bonus!

And what’s the moment you want to forget?
The gig we played to just our mums and the sound engineer was pretty special. Or the time we played a venue with only one DI so no synths or mic for me...that was great. Oh, we have had some howlers...too many to mention, but everything is a learning experience. We wouldn't be where we are now if we hadn't worked through some of our teething problems. When you have built things from the ground up, played the dive bars with terrible sound, irritated your friends into submission with endless 'demo releases', had furious rows, cried, sweated, bled...what comes out the other side is stronger, better and much more rewarding.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why? 
I think it would have to be the title track from our EP 'Satellite Of Love'...it's a pretty full on track, but it was probably the track we were most free on, and probably showcases most of the elements we try and incorporate into our work. We wanted to compose it like an orchestration. It has a fairly simple lead synth riff combined with some pretty complicated guitar work. Sometimes people confuse them for arppegiated synths...but they are guitars. Vocally we wanted to create a choral so we went for it. It has a big guitar solo too (which we love to include). Lyrically it's about truth, faith and love...things we like to write about. Yeah, I think it's probably our most ambitious track to date, but it sums us up in one piece.

Where can we listen to it?
We are on Spotify under 'Eutopia' but also on Soundcloud at www.soundcloud.com/eutopia-1


Where can we find out more about your music?
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/satellite-of-love-ep/id663078766
www.facebook.com/eutopiamusic
www.twitter.com/eutopiamusic
www.reverbnation.com/eutopia
www.myspace.com/eutopia77
www.soundcloud.com/eutopia-1

Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask?
We would just like the opportunity to let people know that there are musicians out there who really do work on their craft, learn their instruments, play live, care about their fans. Beyond the money and the fame, we believe in creating a brand based on good music, without the shock factor. We are a family and we hope you enjoy what we make. Our nest release will be our second EP which will be available in November. You can find our debut EP 'Satellite Of Love' at all good online stores.