Category: interviews

Listen to “Death or Radio” from the forthcoming Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer release, Schematics.

In the dog days of summer, nothing sounds better than an ambitious power-pop album played at full blast in a top-down convertible. Fortunately, Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer understands this and has, over the course of five years, given music listeners plenty of refreshing pop confections that are not only fun to listen to but to sing along with as well.

Following closely on the heals of the split covers EP with Reel Big Fish, Duet All Night (featuring remakes of Madonna’s “Dress You Up,” Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney’s “Say Say Say” and Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me” among others), Zolof the Rock and Roll Destroyer is prepping for the release of their third full length album, Schematics, due in September.

I caught up with singer Rachel Minton just before she hit the road to start her summer (touring) vacation.

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New Model Army formed in England in 1980. Led by singer/songwriter Justin Sullivan, the band covered the same political territory as peers U2 and The Alarm but, at least in the U.S., never gained the notoriety—or experienced the record sales—that those two bands did. Mixing a punk ethos with a pop sensibility, New Model Army has influenced bands ranging from trash metal masters Sepultura to Irish folkies The Frames.

In the fall of 2006, the band inked a deal with U.S. indie label Devil Doll Records to release the BD3 EP. I had a chance to speak with Justin Sullivan at the tail end of the year while he was on tour in Portugal. Let it be said that Sullivan is one of the most well-spoken musicians I’ve ever had the pleasure of interviewing.

With a recently announced rare tour of the U.S., I thought it might be a good opportunity to dust off this interview (which first appeared in Skratch Magazine earlier this year) and unleash it to a global audience.

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I’ve had the opportunity to chat with Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol twice – once over the phone, once via email – and found him to be one of the most open musicians that I’ve ever dealt with. His responses to my questions have been well thought out, informative, and often very witty. Most recently, I sent off 15 or so questions to his publicist towards the tail end of 2006. And then I waited. And waited. And waited. And when it finally seemed like the questions were lost in never never land, I get a very length reply with answers better than I could have hoped for. These questions were answered just before Snow Patrol hit the road with OKGo and Silversun Pickups (this tour wraps up in the U.S. on April 6).

Before getting to the Q&A, take a listen to Snow Patrol’s contribution to the Spiderman 3 soundtrack, “Signal Fire”. Yeah, I know, EVERY blogger and music website out there was serviced with this stream, but you might as well take a listen as you read the interview. (WindowsMedia) (Quicktime)

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