Marmozets have parted ways with bassist Sam McIntyre. The band commented:
“We’re taking the time, while on a little break, to inform you that we have parted ways with Sam Macintyre due to the relationship becoming unworkable despite our best intentions and attempts. Please be assured that this decision is in the best interests of everyone involved. Thank you for all the love and support and we’ll see you soon… Becca, Jack and Josh.”
Former My Dying Bride members Aaron Stainthorpe (vocals), Calvin Robertshaw (guitar), Ade Jackson (bass), and Rick Miah (drums) have announced a new project called Towards The Sinister. The band, which also features guitarist Chris Revett, violinist Emma Allington, and keyboardist Mark Deeks, will perform material from My Dying Bride’s first four albums. New music is also planned.
Stainthorpe told Blabbermouth the following:
“I’ve not seen Calvin, Rick or Ade for a decade. They don’t live a million miles away. I ran into Calvin a couple of times at a festival in Scarborough up the northeast coast called Fortress Fest. I bumped into him a couple of times there, but that’s really about it. It was only when, I think, MY DYING BRIDE issued this statement ‘firing’ me that these guys came out of the shadows with loads of support, which was wonderful. It was great to hear from them. They suggested, ‘Let’s get together for a drink for old times’ sake.’ We met in a pub. Martin [Powell], our old violin player, tagged along. Dave Pybus, who used to be in ANATHEMA and worked for Peaceville Records, tagged along. We all had a really good catch-up. It was great fun. This was in October of last year. We didn’t discuss anything about reforming. We took a photo of all of us. I popped it on the socials, and that got people talking. And that got us talking. Honestly, we were talking about the old times. The ridiculous times. We did this festival, we did that gig, we got drunk here, we fell over there. It was brilliant. Then we were complaining about arthritic knees and all that stuff. The Internet sort of decided, ‘I wonder if they’re getting together?’ I got messages from Rick and Calvin, saying, ‘Should we have another get-together and discuss what the Internet is discussing?’ I said, ‘All right. Why not?’ We got together, and after a few more drinks, we sort of thought about the idea. No single person instigated it. As I said, I think the Internet instigated it. We mulled it over. Could we pull it off? Do we want to, more importantly? Rick was so keen to get behind the drum kit. Chomping at the bit, really. It’s been a long time for him. Calvin has had his own project, MANY SUFFER, which is great. You’ve got to remember: We, back when we were kids, helped write those early MY DYING BRIDE albums. We’re on them. We penned them. And we thought, ‘Yeah, let’s play them again.’”
He also confirmed that the group will focus on material from My Dying Bride’s early releases:
“[It will be material from] the first four albums. That’s the songs these guys wrote. They’re not interested in performing songs they didn’t help write. It’s the first four-album period, which we’ll concentrate on and which is the best period, according to the fans. I don’t see it myself; I’ve been writing MY DYING BRIDE songs for years and years. The rest of the boys, they’re not interested in playing stuff they didn’t write. The focus is the first four. We’ll do all of the classics. Obviously, we can’t do them all at the same time, but we have a decent setlist. You know what it’s like: There will be people in the audience screaming for songs that aren’t in the setlist, but they will be the next time we come around. We plan to play as many of them as we can, even some that have never been played live. We’re going to look into all of them.”
He also added the following about new music:
“Yes, there will be new material. Calvin never stops writing. I think he’s working on his second MANY SUFFER album, but he has written some stuff that won’t fit with MANY SUFFER but will work with us. I don’t think MANY SUFFER is a great deal like MY DYING BRIDE; it’s certainly more death metal. You have to remember, MY DYING BRIDE did a lot of death metal. It wasn’t all doom. A lot of that was Calvin’s riffs. We’ve got some new stuff. Like, a couple of songs that Calvin’s mooted to us, saying, ‘Would these work?’ They’re definitely going to work. But we’re not in any rush to do that.”
David Lee Roth (ex-Van Halen) has cancelled most of his summer shows. The only remaining date will take place in Sturgis, SD on August 7.
Roth has yet to comment on the cancellation of the tour. However, some have speculated that it could be related to low ticket sales.
Notably, Sammy Hagar (ex-Van Halen) commented on the situation and wished Roth well:
“Hey, Dave. Sammy here. I just got a call from Michael Anthony … about your tour getting canceled. And I wanna say from the bottom of my heart, I’m sorry. I hope you’re well. I hope there’s not a physical problem.
Honestly, Mike and I love the fact that you’ve been out there doing it, supporting the greatest band in the world that we were both part of. And, yeah, I’m really sorry. That’s fucked up. Supporting what we did in this band to keep this music alive. You and I, Mikey, Al [Alex Van Halen], Ed [Van Halen] cannot be replaced. So, when you’re ready to carry on, you go, brother. Mike and I support you.”
He also invited him to his Las Vegas residency:
“Come on, join us. Sing a couple of songs, M.C. the damn show. Come out and just do what the fuck you do [laughs], which is pretty damn entertaining. Anyway, hope you’re well. I really do. God bless, brother.”
[via Blabbermouth]
Last night (July 23), Bon Jovi’s show at Madison Square Garden in New York ended up getting cut short. Frontman Jon Bon Jovi was unable to finish the performance due to a sinus infection.
A statement was issued to Rolling Stone:
“Jon Bon Jovi spoke from stage and told fans he has been battling a sinus infection which led to the show’s early ending. As part of the Bon Jovi residency at Madison Square Garden, Jon has said numerous times that it has been a joy to return to live shows for the band. Updated information will be available shortly.”
Notably, the singer told the audience to hang on to their tickets until a rescheduled date is confirmed:
“I haven’t talked to anybody about anything, but don’t throw away your ticket stubs. I’m going to figure something out, okay? Just hold on to them. We’ll figure out how to reschedule. But I’m going to have to cool it for the night. I feel great. I’ll see you again soon. Good night.”
Last night (July 23), The Coverups, a covers project fronted by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, were joined onstage by Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson at the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego, CA for a cover of Mott The Hoople’s “All The Young Dudes.” You can see fan-filmed footage of them taking on that David Bowie-penned track below. The concert was part of the Fandom Party at San Diego Comic-Con.
Sick Of It All frontman Lou Koller has sadly passed away at the age of 59. His death follows a recent battle with oesophageal cancer.
The band issued the following statement:
“It’s with unbelievable sadness that we announce to our worldwide hardcore family the passing of our brother Lou Koller. The level of loss that we feel at this time is overwhelming.
This year would have marked Sick of it All’s 40th anniversary as a band, and Lou’s camaraderie, commitment and enthusiasm were always steadfast throughout the years. We have lost a beloved friend and an iconic frontman. Lou had the power to raise everyone’s spirits at our shows with a smile and a sarcastic comment, and he won people over wherever we played, from every culture and every corner of the world.
At this time of intense grief, we must again acknowledge the great help and support offered by everyone who donated to Lou’s medical fund. You all helped Lou feel very special and very loved as he battled away these last two years. His battle is over now and he can finally rest. Hopefully he can somehow still see and feel the beautiful, positive mark he left on the world.”
Asking Alexandria’s Danny Worsnop recently made headlines after discussing his lack of involvement in the group’s business matters. Now, the frontman has further clarified his role in the band, while shooting down claims suggesting the he doesn’t care about it.
Worsnop said the following:
“I notice a lot that online, and perhaps outside the internet, there’s become the general understanding or consensus as to what my feelings and perhaps priorities are with Asking Alexandria, and I understand to an extent how those conclusions were reached, because it’s often cited from replies to comments, or just small things here and there, namely regarding my involvement in the band in an official capacity or a business capacity, and often my personal non-enjoyment of the early record.
And I think I understand how you could see that and only that, and come to that conclusion. But unfortunately, they’re correct and accurate responses to kind of the only time it’s brought up in conversation. Because outside of the people who are coming to be negative or argue or make an accusation, that they are responses to, and they’re not necessarily negative — sometimes it’s just a concern or a curiosity. But I understand how you take that and go, ‘Well, it’s clear to see that he doesn’t care’, or ‘he doesn’t like it’ or whatever the other conclusions are.
So I just wanted to offer a different perspective because I think you guys only get to see one side of it because only one side of it’s ever brought up…
Asking Alexandria has been an enormously large part of my life, and I’ve loved most of it. There isn’t a single person in the band that can say they loved all of it, because we’ve been through some very trying and tough times. There have been moments where it has not been fun for each and for all of us. But it’s something I love, and I love them, and I love what we’ve created, and I love what we’ve built, and I love what we’ve been allowed to do as a job for our entire adult lives. It’s over half of my life at this point, and it’s a giant part of it. There isn’t a day that goes by that, in some way, shape, or form, I’m not telling a story from it, or thinking about it, or reflecting on it, both past, present, and future. Future.
In regards to my not being an official member or involved in the business, that was a byproduct of when I left the band, which was for personal reasons. And while I’m not going to get into those, because they’re personal… I’ve dug into a little bit over the years. You have to find that. But I never bought a part of the business back, and I don’t think there’s a net positive for anyone in me doing that, I don’t have, in terms of the business operation, I don’t have a vote. I don’t have a piece of it. I don’t have involvement in that, and I’m busy as it is with a multitude of different things.
Some public, some not, and it’s just more things that I have to a study up on during make very important business decisions, or at least weigh in on very important business decisions. On the people who are not massive fans of me and think I’m trying to do something, in some direction with the band, shouldn’t be like that because I don’t get to control that….
I mean, now you have four people voting. Ben [Bruce, former guitarist/vocalist] also doesn’t. Now you have four people voting. If me and Cameron [Liddell, guitarist], or me and Sam [Bettley, bassist], or me and James [Cassells, drummer] vote one way, and the other two vote another way. Now we’re to a stalemate.
Now they get to just decide things and figure out what they want for the band, what they want to do, where they want to go, how they want to operate, and I think that’s good. I’m more than happy to trust in their judgment of what they want to do. It isn’t a sign of me not liking the band, not loving the band, not having any passion for the band. It’s that’s purely a business arrangement.
And I think at the end of the day, I love playing music with my friends, and that’s what’s important. The way the band operates shouldn’t really shift people’s opinion of it or feelings towards it in one way or another, I don’t think. But I want to go on record and say I do love Asking Alexandria and I love the guys and I love playing music with them.
And I know I’ve had a couple weird years. I’ve had to live them, and I’ve had to live them outside of the 75-minute show. I’ve had to be inside the bigger picture of those years. And I’ve no desire to get pity, understanding, or anything at all from that. That’s just… I am aware.
That said, I suppose that transitions into the I don’t scream anymore [argument]. I don’t. I have no desire to. I don’t wish to downplay anyone’s enjoyment of it. I don’t wish to make anyone else not enjoy it. I don’t want to make anyone feel bad for not enjoying it. I don’t want anyone to think I don’t think they should because everyone likes what they like, and I love that.
I love that we can all have different tastes, different different things that we love, different things that we’re passionate about. That is just something I don’t enjoy. I spent a great amount of time in my life damaging my voice doing it. I don’t enjoy doing it. I don’t like doing it. I don’t like the way it sounds. I don’t like the way it feels. I reached a point where I was sacrificing doing the thing I love to do, which is singing, for the sake of something I don’t like doing.
Yes, there’s the argument of like, ‘Well, couldn’t you learn how to do it right and make sure that you’re not doing that damage?’ Yes, but then that kind of goes back into, I don’t like doing it. I also don’t think it represents who I am, or it translates what I’m trying to say in my music. I think it takes away from what I’m trying to say and what I have to say.
So it’s just not a part of me. And it hurts my feelings a bit — less for myself — more for just the world and how inhumane we seem to be right now, where that isn’t okay. It isn’t okay for me to choose to not do something that I don’t like doing because I should have to do it anyway because you want me to do it, and I don’t think that’s fair.
And I see the argument of of people being like, ‘Well, then they should find someone who will’, and if that’s what they want to do, that’s okay. I’m not going to be upset with them. I’m not. There would be no hard feelings. But based off our conversation as friends, not as people on the internet, we love playing music together. I don’t write their music. I didn’t have a massive involvement in the last album. There’s more to that.
Where I started writing, I wrote two songs on it. I wrote ‘Where Do We Go From Here?‘, which was originally supposed to be for my record, and they they wanted to put that song on there, and I said, ‘Absolutely, it’s yours.’
And I wrote ‘Things Could Be Different‘, but then it turned a lot into everything I was writing in that period of my life. It was just a lot of divorce stuff, and I didn’t want it to be a divorce album. I didn’t think it should be a divorce album, so I suggested, I was like, ‘maybe we get some outside help with this’, because I don’t think what I’m writing right now is appropriate for the band, and we did.
They they were reluctant at first, but we did it, and we got the album out of it, and hopefully some, or many of you, or all of you, loved that album. But my interest at any point in time has been to present musically what I think and what I believe to be best for the band, and what their vision is and what their goal is with a record at each step of the way.
All the way to the point where we’ve talked about doing heavier songs and bringing people in to do those screaming things. I was like, ‘Listen, I don’t do that, and that won’t be me. But we can stack this thing with guest vocalists and do it, and we’ll see what the future holds.’
…But I just wanted to go on record and just clear that air, because there’s a lot of speculation as to me thinking it’s just a job or a money grab. And I don’t know if you guys are familiar with the inner workings of the heavier rock side of the music industry, but it doesn’t pay that crazy.
I do a lot of things, and Asking Alexandria is one of them, and it’s one that I love. But no one’s retiring off it…
But yeah, I just wanted to clear that up because I think there’s a lot of speculation as to what my relationship with the band and the music is, and I wanted to clear it up because it’s very frustrating, and I try to respond with grace and try to explain things. And I understand that you can’t read the tone of someone’s voice, and perhaps sometimes the way I type sounds, like I’m being being aggressive or dismissive. Or maybe it reads empty, and that isn’t how I type it. I’m generally just trying to explain to people what the answer to their question was.
…I’m not the band. I have no control in that business. It’s generally, ‘Well you made the band do this’, and the answer says, ‘I didn’t.’ I’m actually not a part of that, or a part of it at all… We’ve compromised 10 million times during the course of the band’s career. We will continue to do so. I’m sure there have been many times where they have done stuff to make me happy, I have done things to make them happy. They’ve done things they don’t want to do. I’ve done things I don’t want to do. It’s with every single thing.
That is the nature of making music with anyone other than just yourself. …You compromise and you find things, and sometimes you like one thing better. Sometimes they like one thing better, and you kind of got to decide through as you go, but that’s all that to say. I’m not dismissive of of the band. I love the band. I’m very appreciative for it. I’m very thankful for everything it’s provided me, and I’m very thankful for everything I’ve been able to provide for it and for them, and see what the future holds.
The band isn’t doing anything right now. That again, is not a me decision. I agree with it. I think a little bit of time away is good for everyone. A little bit of a breather, a little bit of a break. It’s been a very, very long time, and everyone deserves to just breathe for a minute, and yeah, that’s all I wanted to say.
Because people seem to think I don’t care, and I do. And yeah, a lot of negativity and accusations just kind of get in my head… Me and the band, and we talked about it many times. And I’ve told them a million times. And when I see it online, it always makes me think. I’m like, ‘I hope I hope that they don’t think that as well.’
And I don’t believe they do, because we’ve talked about it a million times. But yeah, it bums me out because these are my friends and it’s something we built together, and I understand where conclusions can be jumped to, but yep, just setting the record straight.”
He also added:
“I don’t talk about AA business very much on here, there’s a separate account for that, same as they don’t talk very much about DW business on theirs. I just wanted to clear up some speculations and stress that I love them and the band and most definitely do not consider it to be a cash grab or a day-job. It is ONE of the many things I do, and I am very grateful for it.
That said, it doesn’t define who I am as a person or an artist, nor does it for any member of the band. I just wish and pray that people would allow me, them, and any other artist the grace to pursue and explore their passions regardless of how near or far they are from what that particular fan enjoys from them.”
[via The PRP]
Metal Anarchy 
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