Author Archives: Jon Pacella

The Spaceman. Say those two words to almost any rock and roll fan and the instant recognition of Ace Frehley will be met with a still vital memory from a childhood love of Kiss. For some, it might be a funny story—like the now infamous interview on the Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder—or how nearly getting electrocuted on stage inspired Ace to write Kiss’ classic, “Shock Me.” Maybe you’ll hear they too, along with many others, stood in front of the bedroom mirror pretending to play “Deuce” or “Love Gun.” The former cab driver from New York City is in an elite group of rock guitarists who have made such an impact on people.

During his time with Kiss, Ace crafted some of the most memorable riffs in rock music. His live stunts in the ’70s became the stuff of legend—the smoking Les Paul that floated up to the top of the arena, the guitar that lit up or shot fireballs from its headstock. These and other over-the-top aspects of Kiss’ stage show would change the face of rock and roll and would become ingrained in the minds of every Kiss fan for years afterward. Unfortunately alcohol would become a monkey on Ace’s back which led to his exit from the band. This burden stayed with him throughout his post-Kiss career, both solo and with Frehley’s Comet.

Presently enjoying a life of sobriety, Ace made his comeback in 2009 with the critically acclaimed Anomaly. Now, in 2014, Ace is about to unleash his first new album in five years, the aptly titled Space Invader.

This new life hasn’t been without its own public trials however—mainly with his former bandmates. After a media circus surrounding Kiss’ induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year, there’s been a tug of war in the press, ending the induction celebration on a sour note. Looking past this and forward to the arrival of Space Invader on August 19th, we took the opportunity to talk to Ace about the new album, sobriety, and sure, vinyl.

Hi Ace! How’s it going?

Great! I’m in San Diego, looking forward to going to New York next week. I’m doing Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night. I’m sitting in with The Roots.

I heard about that. Sounds like that’s going to be pretty awesome.

Yeah! I’m doing some signings and other press, radio and stuff. It should be a great week.

You’ve been clean and sober now for, what about eight years?

Yeah, it will be eight years on September 15th.

Congratulations, that’s amazing.

Thanks.

What has been the most surprising aspect of sobriety, for you personally?

I think it shows in this new record, I was really focused when I went in, I knew what I wanted and I went after it. It’s nice to wake up the next day and remember what you did the night before. There’s a lot of plusses to sobriety.

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For close to 20 years, Northern Virginia’s Darkest Hour has been toiling away just under the surface to the mainstream metal scene. At the center of it all, founding guitarist Mike Schleibaum has guided the band through the tough waters of the ever-changing music scene, navigating them to their latest release, 2014’s self-titled album with new label Sumerian Records.

The band has honed their sound, and the metal masses responded with open arms, pushing their latest toward being their most successful release to date. This interview hit even more close to home—both of us going to the same high school mere minutes from Empire in Springfield, VA, where the band headlined a festive homecoming show before embarking on their European tour.

We stood outside the van, talking amongst friends, family, and bandmates. We toasted a beer, shared some whiskey, and a haze of herbal magic was in the air as we discussed Darkest Hour and pondered the current state of heavy metal and the validity of twerking in metal videos.

Welcome home! Feel good to be playing the hometown?

I guess we could call Springfield, Virginia our hometown. It is the closest to Burke, Virginia, which is where we first had band practice. It’s interesting to me to come back, because what happens out here in the suburbs is that you grow up and you usually leave. We haven’t played here in over a decade, which is nuts to me to think that there could be some kind of continuing…I don’t want to say “legacy,” but lingering thing about the band that’s existed. This isn’t a major city, it’s outside of Washington, D.C. This is kind of weird.

It’s suburbia.

Yeah. They have a lot of metal shows here, this club has been good for the metal scene.

Oh yeah, there have been metal shows here since we were in high school.

Exactly. This is where they buy the metal shows. I think it’s cool. I really like what they’ve done with the place, how they’ve changed it. All the people who work there now are younger people who are excited and into the music that’s now. It doesn’t feel like you’re in a museum.

It gave the club a little burst of energy?

Yeah, it has. I’m excited. When I got up on that stage to soundcheck, it was so fuckin’ weird. I was telling these dudes as we were loading in, I said, “When I was a kid, and we would try to play Jaxx [Empire’s former name] before anybody knew who any of our bands were, this is what I would have thought about all week. Nothing but the show, the show, the show.” I remember when being in a band was so new, that you would really love everything about it. It was cool. I hung out with some of the local bands that played today for a little bit.

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If someone told you to make a list of the best drummers in stoner rock, it’s a guarantee that Brant Bjork would be at the top. As the drummer of stoner pioneers Kyuss, Brant helped bring the sounds of the hot Palm desert to the world. Post-Kyuss, Brant would go on to play for Fu Manchu and release some surprisingly prolific solo albums.

After a stint with the mostly-reunited Kyuss which morphed into Vista Chino and released an album, Peace in 2013, Brant is back in a big way. With a new band, the Low Desert Punks behind him, Brant has a brilliant new album on the way. Black Flower Power is a heavy, grooving chunk of rock—a step away from the soulful, funky jams of his previous solo albums.

We talked to Brant as he was preparing to depart for a European tour to support the new album, talking a bit of vinyl, and even a bit of Kyuss.

Hi Brant! How are things going?

Things are going well. We’re just getting ready to leave for Europe tomorrow.

Leaving for the European tour?

Yeah, we’ve got like five weeks over in Europe, so we’re all geared up, ready, and excited.

Are there any U.S. tour plans after that?

We don’t have any U.S. dates planned as of now, but we’ve been talking about it. We definitely are going to pursue some U.S. dates, probably sometime next year.

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In 1985, thrash metal was in its prime. With bands like Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax from the U.S., and Venom, Sodom, and more out of Europe, the metal world had no idea what was about to take off out of South America. Sepultura, led by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, blazed a new path in the metal world, incorporating elements of their tribal roots with brutal riffs.

Fast forward to 2014. The Cavalera brothers have long departed their former band, and are making waves with their latest project, Cavalera Conspiracy. Max, seemingly allergic to resting on his laurels, has been working nonstop, releasing Savages in 2013 with Soulfly, and the critically acclaimed self-titled album from Killer Be Killed, a meeting of the minds between Max, Greg Pusciato (Dillinger Escape Plan), Troy Sanders (Mastodon), and Dave Elitch (The Mars Volta).

Cavalera Conspiracy is gearing up to release their third album, Pandemonium, on November 4th. We had an opportunity to talk to Max about the new album, family, Brazil, vinyl, and more.

Tell us a bit about the new Cavalera Conspiracy album, Pandemonium. What were some of your inspirations during the writing of this album?

We tried to go for a real brutal vibe. Get the brothers playing metal again, but in at a raw level, faster than ever. We tried to make a real fast record—most of the songs are fast. Very influenced by lots of grindcore.

Really? That’s a slightly different direction for you.

Yeah, that’s what we went for. That’s the idea for the album, and Igor liked it, but I told him that the songs were not gonna be like grindcore songs, because some of those are only like forty seconds. You don’t want to do that, and we wanted to keep the format of the Cavalera songs around three minutes, but we kept the fast aggression, the spirit of grindcore. It was based on that, and I think it was really cool, man. We had a lot of fun, and the three of us, me, Igor and Marc [Rizzo] recorded, and we had Nate [Newton] from Converge playing bass on top of it. That was the perfect setup for this record, having Nate on the bass. He was so killer.

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She’s the “Queen of Rockabilly.” She used to date Elvis Presley. And with a career spanning five decades, Wanda Jackson is still rockin’ today, most recently playing the Bang Festival in Los Angeles last weekend. In recent years, she’s collaborated with Jack White and Justin Townes Earle, and has even been named as an influence by Cyndi Lauper and Adele.

Although she’s released albums of varied styles of country and gospel over the years, her place on the throne as the “Queen of Rockabilly” is what etched her mark on the musical family tree. Wanda was there at the beginning, raising the bar and setting a new place at the table for women in rock and roll—and in the process earning herself a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I found myself back at Som Records in DC, sifting through the now very familiar dollar bin, and was shocked to see There’s a Party Goin’ On by the amazing Ms. Jackson. Surely this must have been a mistake, as original Wanda vinyl commands a fairer price. I quickly saw why it was relegated to the discount crate—the sleeve was split apart across the top and the minute scratches across the face of each side resembled USC’s offensive playbook.

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The term “renaissance man” is one that isn’t utilized a whole lot these days. In the case of Colonel J.D. Wilkes, the term fits like a glove. A bonafide Kentucky Colonel, Wilkes has been the enigmatic frontman for the Legendary Shack Shakers, a high-energy amalgam of blues, gypsy, twang, and just about anything else that they can fit in, for going on twenty years now. More recently, he partnered up with his wife Jessica in the Dirt Daubers, a more back-to-basics blues and rockabilly unit.

These two bands that Wilkes is most well-known for only scratch the surface of the man himself. Artist. Author. Musician. Filmmaker. He is doing it all in the name of preserving artistic elements of the South and keeping musical traditions alive and well. This is a man who is deeply proud of where he is from, and rather than yell “Yeehaw!” and rant about the War of Northern Aggression, he demonstrates the rich beauty and time-honored heritage of the unsung musicians who helped shape country and bluegrass music of today. Wilkes was a pleasure to speak with, and he could barely contain his passion for the music that is in his heart and soul.

How did the Shack Shakers decide to start back up again?

Well, our drummer had some heart issues that he got squared away. He got a pacemaker put in. I think it just came down to, the material was there, the desire was there, the health was there…the financial need was there. It was just a lot of things coming together at the same time, all those elements coming together. There’s also been offers for festivals and things. Europe’s come’a callin’. The demand is there. Timing, supply and demand, that’s what it’s all about. It’s a band, it’s a brand, it’s a product, and sometimes you have to go away before people can appreciate you.

Oh, yeah. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” and all of that.

That is exactly right.

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Have you ever discovered a genre of music previously out of your range of musical vision and gotten a bit fixated? This very thing has happened to me on more than one occasion. I’ve gotten on “kicks,” whether it was early country, reggae, or Norwegian black metal. I come across a style of music and become enthralled, and for a while I need to immerse myself in it. Once again, i found myself flipping through records during my weekly pilgrimage to Som Records in DC. I spotted a record, and suddenly it was 1996 all over again.

In 1996, I was working at the gone but not forgotten Tower Records. Capital Records released the first of many highly successful CDs in what was called the Ultra Lounge series. I popped the disc in the store’s stereo system late one night and was amazed at what I had just discovered. Artists like Lex Baxter, Yma Sumac, Martin Denny, and more all finding fascinating ways to invoke a mood.

The timing was right for this release—lounge music was enjoying a resurgence, influencing modern acts like Combustible Edison and Japan’s Pizzicato Five. Lounge music was featured in soundtracks to movies like Swingers and Four Rooms, and suddenly what was disregarded for years as “easy listening” was cool again. Capital saw the opportunity and took it, releasing over twenty volumes of Ultra Lounge, plus special editions and multiple Christmas albums.

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If you ask anyone who loves vinyl, most will agree that just seeing the jacket of an album can evoke an emotion in you, usually a nostalgic one. I personally love those moments when you are digging through the crates at your local record store and you come across that artist that just makes you smile. I was flipping though the cheap stuff at Som Records last week when it happened. Every time I see the Steve Miller Band, I can’t help but smile.

The main reason for this is because 1976’s Fly Like an Eagle was one of my favorite albums when I was a kid. The catchy rock songs grabbed me instantly, and I love the album to this day. Whether it was the spacey, just-a-little-psychedelic title track or the exciting adventures of Billy Joe and Bobbie Sue on “Take the Money and Run,” this album was one of the first that I actually wore out and had to get another copy. I use the term “wore out” somewhat loosely—I was young, and like most youngsters, didn’t handle my vinyl with the delicate care that we have learned as adults.

Recently, I realized that I had ignored the first half of the Steve Miller Band’s catalog, with the exception of the one early hit, “Living in the U.S.A.” I have been on somewhat of a mission, exploring the early material and acquiring the earlier albums on vinyl. The first few were a bit of a surprise to me, as I wasn’t expecting the different sound of the earlier recordings.

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Welcome to the second edition of Surface Noise, where I bring to you the best that the record store bargain bin has to offer. This week, we delve into the instrumental brilliance of Santo & Johnny.

Santo and Johnny Farina, two brothers from Brooklyn, NY, would make their unique mark on the music world. Santo’s prowess on the steel guitar is perfectly complimented by Johnny’s accompaniment on the traditional guitar, solidifying their status as top-notch players. Digging through the crates at Som Records in Washington, D.C., I came across this gem, and just couldn’t resist.

1960’s Encore came right on the heels of the brothers striking gold in 1959 with their smash hit, “Sleepwalk.” Though never quite achieving that level of stardom again, “Sleepwalk” would be forever etched into music history, immortalized in pop culture and diner jukeboxes for decades to come. That happens to be the way I discovered the duo, in the jukebox of the Tastee 29 Diner in Fairfax, VA. My late-night coffee drinking cohorts never complained when I fed the juke every time I walked in those doors. I was entranced from the first time I heard the song. It was simply beautiful, almost as if the music affected my brain like a drug. It was dreamlike, almost as if Tinkerbell had come in and sprinkled her fairy dust all over me, lifting me up in ethereal flight.

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