Jägermeister Music UK Tour headliners announced

PUNK rockers Me First And The Gimme Gimmes are to headline the four-date Jägermeister Music UK Tour in December.

Noted as the world's best covers band, they feature in their ranks Spike Slawson on vocals, NOFX's Fat Mike on bass, Lagwagon's Joey Cape and Dave Raun on rhythm guitar and drums, with Foo Fighter Chris Shiflett on lead guitar.

They'll be joined on the tour by East London reggae-dub quartet The Skints as co-headliners. Two support acts will be announced in the coming weeks for the dates beginning December 18th with shows at the O2 Academies in Liverpool, Leicester, Leeds and Brixton.

Tickets are available from £10 a person (subject to booking fees) and are available now through ticketweb.co.uk

Supermonkey Death Grip Q&A

Your name:

My name is Johnny Trauma.

Where are you from?

I am from New York.

Name of band:

Supermonkey Death Grip.

Who else is in your band?

My partner in this project is Alex Mroz who co writes and produces the songs with me. Kris Bucko is our bass player slash co producer and recording engineer for our songs and our newest member of our band is Kevin McG.

How would you describe yourselves?

We are an eclectic band with multiple interest in music styles such as reggae, industrial, 70s disco all rapped up in rock music. You can say we are schizophrenic when it comes to music.

What do you hope to achieve in music?

We hope to conquer the world with our original style which is not easy to do in this day and age of cookie cutter processed music.

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

So far our music has been tracking well in places like Poland and Germany. We got on the charts with no label support mainly because of our manager Natalia who believes in our music and pushes our music in parts of Europe and is finding success by beating out band like Coldplay on the charts. This has been our highlight so far.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

The moments we would like to forget so far has been the one time we decided to play a local bar and were shut down because we were too loud.

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

I cannot pick just one song because they are like my babies. I know it sounds cliche but each one of our songs sound so different from the other that it would be to hard to choose. 

Where can we listen to your music?

You can go on  https://supermonkeydeathgrip1.bandcamp.com to hear our songs.

Where can we find out more about your music?

Our website is http://www.supermonkeydeathgrip.com

We can also be found on twitter at twitter.com/supermdg and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Supermonkey-Death-Grip/195906743632

Lions Named Leo Q&A

Your name: 

Rob Saranpa aka "NohawkRob" (I used to have a mohawk, now I shave my head LOL).

Where are you from? 

Bakersfield, California, USA.

Name of band: 

Lions Named Leo.

Who else is in your band?

Joe Barry - Lead vocals and trumpet

Tee Stevens - Lead vocals/guitar and primary songwriter

Samuel McKinney - drums and vocals

And myself on bass guitar and vocals

How would you describe yourselves?

A very unique and refreshing blend of alternative rock/ska/reggae/punk. FUN!!!

Who are your main influences musically?

Wow! Um, too many to list, we all bring our own musical tastes to the mix.

We have been compared to so many...Sublime, RHCP, Reel Big Fish, Madness. One producer said, "sounds like Korn mixed with Bob Marley!"

What do you hope to achieve in music?

Make people happy, think, and enjoy and do this by doing what we love for a living. Leave behind something musically immortal.

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

Personally I would say playing The Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood. This was a ReverbNation contest and there were some celebrity judges there; Aaron Rossi (Ministry drummer) Paige Montgomery - (music industry) and Dan Chlor - of the band Weapon X and a music industry professional.

Anyway, they told us at the onset to make sure we are 'creative'. After we were done one bartender just shook his head and said: "I've seen a lot of these and you guys are like the best I've heard and seen!". We did not win that night but we received a critique from the judges...they said: "Tight musicianship, great enthusiasm and stage presence but your genre is confusing."

WOW!!! We took that as a HUGE compliment!!! Especially after they told us to be creative.

We hear that a lot.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

Um...I forgot. LOL None really yet...love this group! We have our little issues like all but we are like a family. When we play in my town of Tehachapi,CA, my wife lets the whole band stay at our place. We dont like to party too much when we play so after the gig, usually at 2am, my wife Kit, makes us all shots and quesadillas and has all the bedding ready...she ROCKS!

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

TOUGH ONE! With two distinctly different lead vocalists and a trumpet so hard to choose.

Our lead singers Joe and Tee blend so well together I would have to say Can I Want the World There Too. Very upbeat, trumpet, dual vocals and FUN!

But it is amazing how different list different songs as their favorites...and there in lies our strength. It always comes down to the songs, and the ability to pull them off live!

Where can we listen to it?

www.reverbnation.com/lionsnamedleo

Where can we find out more about your music?

Our main site www.lionsnamedleo.com

www.facebook.com/lionsnamedleo 

www.reverbnation.com/lionsnamedleo 

@lionsnamedleo on Twitter

www.sonicbids.com/band/lions-named-leo

www.soundcloud.com/lionsnamedleo

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

We now have an incredible management team led by Grammy winner Dennis Rubenstein, and they are polishing us up to present to major labels. I believe we will be signed soon...question is by who?

We also have major gigs coming up at The Mint in Los Angeles on July 11th and The House of Blues in San Diego on July 27th.

New EP and tour from New Town Kings

TRAD-ska collective New Town Kings have announced a new EP and summer tour dates.

Pull Up & Rewind will be released on July 13th through Bomber Music and is available for pre-order by clicking here.

It is the first release with new vocalist Dabs Bonner, who brings a stronger reggae - and more politically aware - vibe to the party.

To accompany the release, the band head out on tour at the beginning of July as they play Norwich, Nottingham, Newcastle, London, Bristol, a home town show in Colchester, and then Guildford.

They will also be playing a series of festivals in August including The Big Gig, Nozstock, Rebellion, Boomtown Fair, Summer Live, Concrete Jungle and then the Undercover Festival in September.

For more on the band visit newtownkings.com or facebook.com/newtownkings and here's a few bits from their back catalogue to whet your appetite.

Kojo releases video for Africa

KOJO 'Easy' Damptey has released a video for his track Africa - taken from his debut record Daylight Robbery.

He told RealSoundsOK: "As a musician, I paint pictures as an African from Ghana, a black man and an immigrant living in Canada. But I do hope my debut record DaylightRobbery speaks to the souls and minds of people from all backgrounds. 

"Africa is a song dedicated to all past African leaders such as Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Nelson Mandela, Thomas Sankara, just to mention a few. While doing so it is suppose to inspire a new generation of African leaders and to shed light on the new ways the continent is exploited through neo-colonization. 

"All the songs on my debut record are written to engage and inspire different ways of thinking especially in a world where numerous are marginalized because of their color, culture, identity, gender. The times need to change."

You can watch the video below and get the track at kojoeasydamptey.bandcamp.com

For more on the artist from Hamilton, Ontario, visit easythepianoman.com or find him on Facebook.

New track from Princess Nyah

RISING dance star Princess Nyah releases her new single Champion on June 30th through Royletease Records.

The track's bass-line and creative horns come courtesy of Miami producer Llama Beats, with the help of Grammy Award-winner Angela Hunte on the pen.

You can check out the track below and for more information visit princessnyah.com

Adam Cooke Q&A

Your name: 
Adam Cooke.

Where are you from? 
Ontario, Canada.

Who else is in your band? 

Adam Ostrosser - guitar & vox
Steve Pelletier - bass & vox
Mike Scime - drums

How would you describe yourselves?

Melodically driven, with a short attention span. Rock, funk, reggae, soul and pop tunes live side by side in harmony.

Who are your main influences musically?

XTC, Led Zeppelin, Lenny Kravitz, Cake, Beatles, Neil Finn, George Clinton

What do you hope to achieve in music?

I'd love to find an audience that really enjoys my music, whether it's online or live. Writing and playing original music is incredibly fulfilling, anyone that wants to come along for the ride is a bonus!

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

I've played a couple of opening slots for 500-1000 people, and it's always a blast, especially when you get positive response.
The other highlight would be when I was in my first original band. We were in the studio and the producer was good friends with Daniel Lanois (the producer behind U2, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris). He dropped by the studio and laid down guitar tracks for two tunes when he was in town. While he was doing it he asked who the bass player was (which was me at the time) and he commented that he really loved the lines!

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

Ugh. Too many. Perhaps getting booked up at a Northern Ontario bar in that same band. We'd played once there during the week and the owner really liked us so he figured he'd put us in on a Friday. It was cheap beer night and the bar was full of very drunk blue collar rocker folks. At the time we were a folk/rock band with accordion and acoustic guitar. I knew we were in for trouble when someone yelled "SABBATH!" after our third original tune, which we were planning on playing all night. The culmination was us starting "Bust-a-move" by Young MC (in spite of my protests) and as soon as I opened my mouth and started rhyming the entire bar roared their disapproval. We stopped dead, finished our set and skulked off to our rooms, happy that we hadn't been strung up. Longest set of my life.

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

That's an incredibly difficult thing to do. My music isn't a mish-mash stick-it-in-the-blender type. There's elements of different genres in tunes, but I have straight up reggae songs beside hard rock riff songs beside disco/funk songs. It's incredibly varied.
As far as my favourite, at the moment it's a new song we're recording for the new album called "Bring the Spring", a riff rocker. It's huge fun and gets great response live.

Where can we listen to it? 

Ah, unfortunately it's not quite finished yet. Here's a link to one of my favourites from my last album 'Rock You Down' entitled "He said, she said"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5NA_usFFio

Where can we find out more about your music?

http://adamcookemusic.com
Twitter handle - @adamjamescooke
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Adam-Cooke/140880221120?ref=hl
Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/adamcookemusic
reverb nation - http://www.reverbnation.com/adamcooke
Itunes album 'rock you down' - https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/adam-cooke/id328279542

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

Hopefully music listeners will take a little time and dig around my first album "Rock You Down" since it has so many different genres represented. Thanks Greg!

XOVA Q&A

Your name: 

Wayne Lawrence.

Where are you from? 

Birmingham.

Name of band:  

XOVA. Pronounced cross over.

Who else is in your band? 

Stuart 'Hassle' Hoff [Trombone / Bvs] - Mikey Nanton [Keys / bvs], James Renford [Sax / Bvs], Boot [Bass] and Skins [drums].

How would you describe yourselves?  

Genre breaking - XOVA = Rock pop twisted with reggae, it is unique.

Who are your main influences musically? 

We take a bit from the old and from the new from the obscure to the most popular from Marley to The Beatles from Paolo Nutini to Bruno Mars from Beethoven to ELO.

What do you hope to achieve in music? 

To earn a living first and foremost as that would show us that people are liking our music and live show, then hopefully it become an international experience more often as we have already played in Finland, Holland, Poland and Belgium so would be good to take it all around the World, our feedback of likes and comments on various social media sites is really very international already which is a good sign.

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

Staying alive this long.....as so of my guys are getting on haha, but they still work at it like a teenager. Oh, so many highlights, but winning a slot on last year's Isle of Wight Festival from over 3,700 new and emerging bands was great and of course a wicked experience, but the real highlight - and not to sound to cheesy - is seeing the reaction of people in the audience who have never heard of us, getting off to our songs....it's what it's all about really.

And what’s the moment you want to forget? 

Personally its easy. I got laryngitis en route to Poland and my voice went totally before I went on stage. Luckily the rest of the band took over, especially Stuart the trombone player on lead vocals and if I recall we even got an encore! But as a band we had to deal with a really tragic event as whilst we were on stage in Holland we were informed our drummer's son had mistakenly been shot dead in a gang war in our home town, so dealing with that and helping Skins through that was pretty awful. But on a positive note, it helped us get closer and this band is like a family for sure, sometimes we want to divorce each other the next we want to party like crazy together.

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

9 LIVES, as it highlights musically the reggae and rock fusion with the brass licks that stands us out from the rest, plus its a pretty wicked track that Radio 2 picked up on and Tom Robinson of BBC 6 loved even saying: "This is one of the tightest bands he has heard in years" - which was really cool.

Where can we listen to it?

OFFICAL VIDEO OF 9 LIVES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Loa5cEGrXms
live video version of 9 LIVES
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpMrO6Bn4Ic
Soundcloud 9 LIVES MP 3
https://soundcloud.com/xova-live/9-lives-radio-edit-1

Where can we find out more about your music?

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/XOVABAND

WWW.TWITTER.COM/XOVA

WWW.SOUNDCLOUD.COM/XOVA-LIVE

WWW.XOVALIVE.COM

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

Email us for a free download, come and see us live  and always say hi to us. 

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

Dax Lion Q&A

Your name: 
Dax Lion

Where are you from?
I was born in Kingston, Jamaica. More specifically in the St. Andrew Region in small area called "Maryland".

Who else is in your band?
Dax Lion is a performing artist not a band. However, we have worked with various bands/musicians for live performances. Bands we have worked on music with/performed live with include - Uprising Roots Band, Sin City Prophets, Artikal Band, Judah Tribe Band, One Drop Routz Band.

How would you describe yourself?
I describe my music as conscious. This sound is unique and natural, it is driven by the mystic of existence, nature and things we see, hear, touch and know we feel on a daily basis. I would describe myself as a rebel with a cause that forward with a message that even i myself have to take heed to and learn from it. Understand clearly what i am saying "even I have to learn from what i am saying" therefore the message that I am bringing is even more powerful than I that is singing it and is of paramount importance today and for the future to come. JAH Blessed.

Who are your main influences musically?
Main influences musically are Michael Jackson, The Marley Family, Buju Banton, Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, amongst many others.

What do you hope to achieve in music?
I hope to reach the people through music. I use it as my form of communication. I find I communicate best not when talking, but when singing/performing my arts. I hope this music will not hurt, but will inspire and uplift all positively. I just pray and hope that what I have envisioned will manifest because if it does, this music will inspire all of us, even those that think they cannot be inspired, to act and do something positive for someone, something, themselves and the Earth itself or just to feel good and sing along. Blessed.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why?
The highlight of my career so far to me is when my songs Gwan Natty, Mr Poverty and Last Child was being played on the number one reggae station in Jamaica, Irie FM. Popular radio personality Ron Muschette premiered the songs. Also just being able to perform on the International scene is great as well. I was just in Canada and did a show with Junior Reid as the headline and I did some earlier this year with Steel Pulse and Inner Circle as headline acts and I also did a short appearance at the Reggae in the Desert Festival in Nevada on Daniel Marley's set, its been great and I am grateful for these opportunities.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?
I have no moments I want to forget really. I think in everything we learn from our mistakes and we all make mistakes from time to time, until we no longer make those mistakes again, so every moment happened for a reason to make us a stronger performer and singer.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why?
If I had to pick one song to represent my music I would open Pro Tools and merge all the tracks into one and bounce it as one long MP3 track. I think my music has evolved, evolves and is evolving still right now, if you listen from Gas Pon It to Reggae Jam Jam to Mr Poverty to The Prayer to Lyrics to Boom Draw, I think each track has a different feel/ emotions to it and different sounds to them, thus what I am trying to say is if all the tracks were on one MP3 as one track and you listened it from start to finish you would see that it represents my music entirely as it shows that my music is always evolving and I am experimenting with different sounds. It should be noted that reggae is my comfort zone so we always have reggae in the mix.

Where can we listen to your music?
You can listen to my music at my website www.daxlionmusic.com or Soundcloud www.soundcloud.com/daxlion

Where can we find out more about your music?
www.daxlionmusic.com
www.youtube.com/daxvernon1
www.soundcloud.com/daxlion
www.twitter.com/daxlion
www.facebook.com/daxlion
daxlion.blogspot.com
itunes.apple.com/us/artist/dax-lion/id418975454

Anything else you’d like to say about your band/music that I forgot to ask?
I would just like to thank all the supporters and rebels who trod along, God Bless.

New EP from Juliette Ashby

BRITISH singer-songwriter Juliette Ashby will release a new EP, Take It Over, on October 6th.

She showcased the five tracks at the Jazz Cafe in her native Camden last week, and she has already received positive feedback from VH1, BBC Introducing and BBC 1xtra. 

You can check out the tracks below and for more information visit www.julietteashby.com, www.twitter.com/julietteashby or www.facebook.com/julietteashby

Arkham Karvers Q&A

Your name:

Elliot Smith.

Where are you from?

Buxton, England.

Name of band:

Arkham Karvers.

Who else is in your band?

Greg Smith, Josh Reddy (also Buxton) and Dave Gash, Mark Lane (from Golborne).

How would you describe yourselves?

We're essentially indie, with reggae and ska influences. Someone once said it's music to listen to in the sunshine, which essentially sums it up quite well but we do have the odd night time number too.

Who are your main influences musically?

Bedouin Soundclash, The Police, The Clash, Milburn and Fat Freddy's Drop.

What do you hope to achieve in music?

Can't speak for the rest of the lads, however a small dream would be to one day be able to take it on the road and play to new people up and down the country at different little venues and show them what we've got. Also, to get some kind of backing and a full album released! 

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

We played a rooftop gig in our hometown of Buxton this summer, whilst around 300 people watched from a grass bank in front of us. It was a beautiful sunny day, and a perfect setting with the backdrop of Buxton's Crescent building. Brilliant! 

And what’s the moment you want to forget?

Not a thing! Even the shit gigs are great, we get along really well so even road trips playing to an empty bar in Blackburn are good fun.

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

I'd have to say "The Road". It's not got that reggae/ska element that many of our newer tunes have, but it definitely has a characteristically catchy hook and summery vibe.

Where can we listen to it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZX9xSFOgbo

Where can we find out more about your music?

www.facebook.com/karvers

www.arkhamkarvers.com

twitter.com/arkhamkarvers

soundcloud.com/arkham-karvers

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

We've got a few gigs coming up - 14th September Zanzibar Liverpool; and a huge one at O2 Academy Liverpool on 5th October! Ticket details are on the official site listed above, come and check us out!

The Longshots Q&A

Your names: 
Ben Hampton and Eric Johnson.

Where are you from?   
[Ben] The band was formed in Eugene, Oregon, and we’re now relocating to Portland, Oregon.

Name of band: 

The Longshots.

Who is in your band?  

[Eric] We've got myself on saxophone, Blake Hoshibata on guitar, Shane Connor on vox and keys, Ben Hampton on drums, Tom Wade on bass, Justin Canfield on trombone, and sometimes Ben Caiazza on trumpet 

How would you describe yourselves?   

[Ben] A handful of guys from Oregon who just happen to love ska and reggae. We all come from different backgrounds and are at different stages in our lives, but we keep playing shows, writing songs and meeting new fans. As our music keeps improving we seem to be finding out just how deeply we are connected to this music. This doesn't feel like a college party band any more, at least not to me.

Who are your main influences musically?  

[Eric] The Slackers and Westbound Train are the two big ones, but we all love the Aggrolites, Jimmy Cliff, Skatalites, Toots, Alton Ellis 

What do you hope to achieve in music?  

[Ben] To make music that we love and that our audience loves. We want to make people dance, we want to make people feel good, and we want to have songs that people can really connect to; songs that will stay with them and that they will want to listen to at home and connect with life events and all that goodness.
[Eric] Yeah, and make playing music our day jobs...haha.

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

[Eric] Well a couple things stick out. The first is sharing the bill and hanging out with The Skatalites in Eugene, TWICE! Also, playing the Folk Life festival in Seattle was killer. Our last show in Eugene was great but the kicker was a guy in front that none of us knew was singing along to every song, THAT was cool! Those type of experiences make all the shows that weren't as fun worth it.

And what’s the moment you want to forget?  

[Ben] That gig at a Unitarian church that ended with us loaning out all of our instruments and then not getting to play.....we didn't get paid or anything either, it was bad. 
[Eric] Or that one night where a particular member of the band was quite intoxicated and decided it was a good idea to yell at the crowd while we were on stage, in particular telling people how hot his girlfriend was.
[Ben] Oh man.....and pointing at each girl in the audience.  “My girlfriend’s hotter than you, and you, and you.....”

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

[Ben] Act Right. It was an indicator of the direction that the band’s music and songwriting would go in the next two years, and we still consider it to be one of our best songs.  
[Eric] Yeah, definitely.

Where can we listen to it?   

http://thelongshotsska.bandcamp.com/ It's the first track you can play, and you can hear our whole album here.

Where can we find out more about your music?

http://thelongshotsska.bandcamp.com/ 
https://twitter.com/thelongshotsor
https://www.facebook.com/thelongshotsska
https://soundcloud.com/the-longshots-or
http://www.reverbnation.com/thelongshotsska

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

[Ben] We are raising money for the release of our third studio album. You can pre-order your copy of the album and help us get the production done by visiting this site:   
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/be-a-part-of-the-longshots-3rd-studio-album#share    
We have roughly 14 new songs to record, and I think it’s easily our best material yet.
Los Angeles producer Brian Wallace will be producing the album. We couldn't be more excited to be working with Brian.  He produced one of our absolute favorite albums of all time, Westbound Train’s Transitions, and also produced the Western Standard Time-A Big Band Tribute to the Skatalites album that came out last year.