New interview with Jason DeVore of Authority Zero on Red River Noise

I recently sat down with Jason Devore, lead singer of punk rock out Authority Zero. He's a great interview and totally approachable. After over ten years of doing Authority Zero, it was nice to see he hasn't lost his passion despite all the changes with the band and record industry over the years. We talked a little about that and the new upcoming album from Authority Zero coming out in June called Stories Of Survival. Read the full interview here:

Q&A Interview: Authority Zero

New interview with Tony Sly on Red River Noise

No Use For A Name is a punk band I've been a fan of since I was in high school, waayyyy back in the '90s. I saw them on Warped Tour and actually got to meet Tony Sly this year. In February, he came out with his first solo acoustic album called 12 Song Program. We talked about that amongst many other things. Check out the interview on our new website, Red River Noise here:

http://www.redrivernoise.com/2010/05/q-interview-tony-sly.html

Mini-cam Fun: Authority Zero, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Left Alone and Thieves

This past Sunday night was crazy on Red River. There was this big Adult Swim party-carnival-concert thing happening. When I arrived downtown it felt like a Saturday night. I wasn't there for any of that though. That's stuff isn't for me. I was there to see a punk rock show, a damn good one at Emo's indoor. Playing were Thieves (local opener), Left Alone, Voodoo Glow Skulls and Authority Zero. I captured some cool clips from my mini-cam. Here are some clips in order the bands appeared. Check them out.

4/12 Tumbledown returns to Austin

Ballad Of A Factory Man/Mike Herrera's Tumbledown from mike herrera on Vimeo.

The pun and western outfit lead my MXPX's Mike Herrera, Tumbledown, is playing Monday night at Mohawk. I saw these guys at Emo's last year. It was a fun show. You need to check them out. Tumbledown is the kind of country and Americana I do like. Cory Branan opens.

Official Statement From Remaining Members of Pennywise

August 21, 2009—The members of Pennywise, Fletcher Dragge, Byron McMackin and Randy Bradbury, have issued the following statement regarding singer Jim Lindberg’s departure:

“After 19 years with Pennywise, Jim Lindberg has decided to step down as lead singer. Pennywise has long stood behind the motto that you should always follow your heart and pursue what makes you happy, and we wish Jim the best of luck in his new ventures, whatever they may be. Pennywise has become a way of life for a lot of people, and has definitely become a way of life for us. As the three remaining members of Pennywise we feel that we are not done delivering our message to our fans.

”The band has always been about moving forward in life no matter what obstacles stand in front of you. We will begin our search for a new singer immediately. We will continue to tour the world and we are looking forward to writing new music. We've had a lot of good times and survived the hard times thanks to the undying support of our fans. We're looking forward to what the future may bring."


Sincerely Fletcher, Randy, and Byron

Pennywise is one of the most significant bands to emerge from Southern California’s second wave of punk rock. Formed in 1988 in Hermosa Beach, California, Pennywise has released nine full-length studio albums; one live album; two extended plays; and one DVD. Their most recent studio album, Reason to Believe, was released to over 500,000 fans for free through a limited offering from their new label MySpace Records. The critically acclaimed album was also sold physically and digitally the world over. “The Western World,” the first single from this watershed album quickly became the most successful single of the band’s storied career.

For more on Pennywise:

http://www.myspace.com/pennywise

New Interview With The First Child of Nineties Punk Rock, TAT

On this year’s Warped Tour, there is quite the diverse line up of old '90s Warped Tour (Bad Religion, Anti-Flag) and the newer Warped Tour (3OH3! and Brokencyde). Good, bad or indifferent, that’s the way it is. Being a long time Warped Tour attendee, I do tend to favor the harder punk rock and metal bands. That's what I grew up with. I do like to check out new bands I have never heard before in hopes of discovering the next big thing… or at least something new to add to my iPod. I can only listen to NOFX and Bad Religion for so long before even I go stir crazy.

This year, I saw a great new young band that I somehow missed last year. They were playing the Hurley Stage in the early afternoon and just caught my attention somehow as I was walking around. I thought maybe it was an older Warped Tour band because their music was a little throwback, assuming we can now label '90s music “throw back”. That band was the English punk rock trio, TAT.

Click here to read the full interview with TAT on Double Stereo

Some More Warped Tour Pics

Me and my good friend Ajay Miranda with Brad Bell and Craig Owens from Chiodos. Check out Ajay's interview on Double Stereo with Chiodos. For being such a huge star in the Alternative Press world, they were some of the coolest dudes you'll meet.

Me with Dallas Green from Alexisonfire at the San Antonio Warped Tour stop. In case you were wondering, it is pronounced "Alex-is-on-fire". They're a cool band from Ontario, Canada. You should check them out along with their interview on Double Stereo.


Me with Chris 2 from punk rock legends, Anti-Flag. Unfortunately I didn't catch their set this year, but I have seen them three times already. I was just stoked to get this picture.

Warepd Tour 2009 Teaser Pics

Yes, I went to the first official Warped Tour BBQ of 2009. I had always wanted to go to the BBQs. You hear all sorts of stories from the bands who have been over the years. It was very chill and still hot despite being night time. The food was excellent and I eneded up drinking something called "The Force". I didn't ask what was in it, but it was tasty. It was also cool because I didn't have to stop on the way home to Austin to get something from a drive through. Thanks for grillin' it up Kevin!
Me with Meg & Dia in the press area. I didn't interview them unfortunately. There was just no time to get everyone I would have liked. Plus, I already overloaded myself with other fantastic interviews which I will be publishing soon. Still, I couldn't resist the opportunity for a photo. I talked to them while they were waiting around that same press area. It didn't seem like they were handling the heat well, but they were very personable. The other dude in the photo is Nick Price, their drummer.
TAT's lead singer, Tatiana DeMaria here with a fan she pulled up on stage to sing along with her. The poor kid didn't know he was coming up on stage. I give him credit though. He handled it well and gladly sang the chorus. Now he can say he sang with TAT on stage at Warped Tour. What a cool memory to have for this kid.
Here is the Bad Religion merch booth where I wanted to blow all my cash that day. They had the best t-shirts of all the bands, hands down. Some of the others were just too over the top and overly colorful for the sake of standing out. Not my style.

The vans Warped Tour trailer. I just took this photo so people could get the phone number to text. I haven't tried it personally. Anyone see what it does when you text it? Probably promo stuff I'd assume. Who knows?

NOFX Backstage Passport DVD Review

As I gear up for this year’s Warped Tour, I watched the DVDs from the Fuse hit series, NOFX Backstage Passport. I watched almost every episode of the series when it aired last year. In fact, that is most television I watched all year in one sitting. I thought the concept was brilliant. I couldn’t wait to see the train wreck and debauchery set to the music of NOFX. The guys played shows South America, Asia, Israel, Russia and South Africa with nothing but hope and their instruments. After watching this series, I am even more bummed I don't get to see them live again in San Antonio this Thursday. Oh well, I have five NOFX shows under my belt to go off of for now.


Click here to read the full review on Double Stereo

Album Review: Prototypes And Painkillers by Strung Out

Prototypes and Painkillers is the latest release from Strung Out, one of my favorite punk rock bands and Warped Tour memories. An unconventional release of sort, Prototypes and Painkillers is a twenty five track album. Seven of which are previously unreleased while eleven, according to the info I received from Fat Wreck Chords, were out of print. It took me a bit to really listen to it all and absorb it all. Having all of Strung Out’s previous seven albums in my personal collection, I went back and listened to them all before reviewing Prototypes and Painkillers. It wasn't that doing so would make any difference for the review, I just felt like listening to them.

Click here to read the full review on Double Stereo

I'm Going To Warped Tour!!

Yup, I'm living out one of my childhood dreams this year. As usual I am heading down to San Antonio for Warped Tour, only this year as official Wapred Tour approved press. I have been going to Warped Tour since I was in high school only a few moons ago, but never as press. Now although I don't enjoy this new era of Warped Tour as much as I did in the late 90s, there is always some great new younger acts to be discovered. This year, I'm stoked that I will get to see bad Religion live again. I think it was the 90s when I last saw them live. I am also looking forward to hip hop act Shad and reconnecting with Fueled By Ramen artist, Versaemerge.

In the meantime, I will be posting Warped Tour themed reviews and interviews on Double Stereo in anticipation of the San Antonio tour stop. After my day in the hot sun at Warped, I will keep you all posted as to what to expect from my day at Warped Tour. For now, I share with you a video for my favorite Bad Religion song of all time, "Sorrow".

Album Review: My Everest by The Swellers

The Swellers hail from Flint, Michigan…not exactly the punk rock haven in comparison to places like California or Boston. Still, somehow up there in the Midwest The Swellers produced great punk rock that is worthy of the whole country’s attention. When I first saw them in Austin a couple of years ago or so at Red 7, I thought they were the poor man’s Rise Against. Their latest album, My Everest, sets them apart from those kind of comparisons.

Read the full review here on Double Stereo