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Musicwire TV has been hibernating for a short time (for very good reason), but it continues to get mad hits, and we will continue to love Kristen Wagner & Josh Shapiro of Bullet & Snowfox. They are hard working, talented musicians who deserve a sh*tload of credit for ALWAYS bringin’ it and just being badass, plain and simple. Check out their latest video for one of my absolute favorite B & S jams, Neurotic Nancy. Enjoy!

Remember when we sat down with uber-talented, sexy songstress, Karen Williams? She was one of Musicwire TV‘s first ever exclusives and while she was remarkably accomplished back then, she has even more going on now. Williams recently launched her new website, www.karenwilliamsmusic.com, that is beyond groovy, and she’s also getting ready to go on a few press tours, has released some great new tunes, and has a music video coming out which we hear is…well…pretty damn hot. But would you expect anything else from this woman? We love us some Karen Williams, and if you haven’t checked out her site or her tunes yet, then you’d better hop to it!

Again, that’s www.karenwilliamsmusic.com Now go turn on some K. Williams and shake your booty!

Oh, and remember this gem? It’s one of our first ever Musicwire TV exclusives from December of last year when we lucked out and got to sit down with Karen. Check it:

Yesterday, August 17, 2010, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT announced that multi-Grammy Award-winning artist, Cyndi Lauper, will headline the 14th  annual ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT Emmy Party. The popular ET bash is frequently referred to as the “hottest ticket” on Emmy night, and will be held at Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, August 29th at 8:00pm following the Emmy telecast.  Prince, Mary J. Blige, Duran Duran, Billy Idol, and Earth, Wind and Fire have all performed at past ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT Emmy parties.  The party will also feature music spun by Samantha Ronson.

“Well, we like to think of oursleves as a disgusting, dirty virus that we want everybody to get infected with….”

Remember these guys? Six months ago, Musicwire TV sat down with indie electro duo, Bullet & Snowfox, for our first ever exclusive with the band and, at the time, they had not yet performed live. Since then, frontwoman Kristen Wagner and guitarist Josh Shapiro have really made their mark on the music scene, playing at some of L.A.’s most legendary venues, including The Viper Room and House of Blues. They’ve also been spotted tearing it up at some of Hollywood’s more underground hot spots, namely Bardot, an ultra-exclusive lounge that sits atop Avalon nightclub and sees surprise performances from the likes of Prince, Perry Ferrell, and Macy Gray to name a few. I sat down recently with Josh and Kristen, and here’s what they had to say about their sudden success that continues to grow, well, like a virus…

MWTV: How are you guys feeling six months after our first interview? You’ve been busy.
KW: God, we’ve been playing like crazy!
JS: Yeah, every show is just getting better and better.
KW: Definitely, and it’s actually been surprisingly – you know, I know that a lot of new bands have a hard time booking gigs just because when you’re a new band, bookers don’t really know what kind of numbers you can pull, but for us it’s been so easy. Aside from the very first show that I reached out to the booking agent for, I haven’t had to approach anybody about shows. I mean, literally, every venue we’ve played has led to another gig.
JS: It’s like the domino effect. We impress somebody and then not even two days will go by and we’ll just get a phone call!
KW: We played six shows last month which is just insane, and the thing is, so many of them were just things that popped up last minute, and the cool thing is that some of them were at standard venues like the Silverlake Lounge, but some of them were specialty shows, like one of them we played at The Bang (art) Gallery downtown that literally popped up the day before the show. We’re really lucky that everyone in the band is such a team player, and that they’re ready to rally for whatever so if we have something pop up like that, it’s not difficult to get everybody on board and go do it.

MWTV: And Bardot?
KW: It was one of the most fun shows that I think we’ve ever played. I mean, it’s a great venue anyway, but it’s also fun to be in a really intimate environment with a lot of people.
JS: Drunk people! Everybody was drunk.
KW: A chick came up on stage and was dancing and doin’ her thing (pause) with me! She eventually got pulled off stage.
JS: Yeah, before she got to me because she was on her way.

MWTV: That’s great because I’ve never seen a single bad performance at Bardot, and I’m sure you were able to book some great gigs from contacts there.
KW: It’s funny because it seems like all of our shows have happened that way. The first time we played Crazy Girls – well basically we met this guy, Jake, who managed a band who was going to be playing at Crazy Girls and he needed an opener, so he asked us to do it. The booker liked us and asked us to come back, so that’s how we started playing Crazy Girls, and when we played our first show there, a guy that I know who’s a producer and mixer came to the show who has a friend who puts on events downtown, like Bloomfest and the art gallery – he needed someone for a Filter party at a loft downtown and so he referred us to his friend, we went and did the Filter party, and then from there, the same guy continued to ask us for other gigs so that’s how we ended up doing the Bang gallery show, and how we booked Bloomfest, and how we ended up at Commerce Casino (laughs).

MWTV: You guys have now played House of Blues and Viper Room – two legendary spots.
JS: I couldn’t wait to play at the Viper Room when I was living in Pittsburgh!

MWTV: Hard to believe that just six months ago you hadn’t yet played a single show and now you’re playing at venues like the Viper Room and House of Blues. You are going viral!
KW: Well, we like to think of oursleves as a disgusting, dirty virus that we want everybody to get infected with! That’s the plan! No, I mean it’s one of things – we’re really lucky to have a great group of guys that play with us on stage, that are up for anything and are totally committed to everything that we’re doing. They will rally for whatever pops up. We’re lucky to have a lot of friends that are really supportive that will come out to show after show, and it’s awesome that we’re able to play venues that make us available to new people that would never hear us otherwise.
JS: And we’re lucky that we make new friends every show!
KW: In this town, you don’t have the luxury of getting your feet wet and warming up playing shows. You have to be solid and ready to go from the second that you get out there.
JS: And we were!
KW: It was really important to us that we felt prepared, so I think that’s part of the reason once we started playing, that it was a really quick, rapid response from people because we had taken the time before setting out on stage to get prepared.

MWTV: Have you noticed that you’ve made any adjustments to your sound and stage performance based on audience and fan responses?
JS & KW (in unison): No!
KW: I think the thing is that we have such a clear idea of what we’re doing. I mean, we have these songs fully demo’d before we go perform them because, you know, some bands like to go and work out their songs on stage and maybe won’t have a finished song but they’ll sort of perform it to decide how they want to have it finish, and that’s just not our process. We want to make it sound good first, have it be a finished song, and then we want to get on stage and have it sound like what that recording would sound like so when people go to shows they’ll say, “oh yeah, this is exactly what the record sounds like.” Because it’s so fucking disappointing when you buy a record and you listen to an awesome song and you’re stoked on it, and then you go and hear it live and it doesn’t sound anything like what it sounds like on the record.
JS: Well on my part, I think the guitar parts are probably twenty percent, maybe thirty percent different. I get real fancy! Because recording-wise, you’re thinking just real simple and catchy, you know, and live it’s just like dirty, fast, and what looks awesome. So I mix it up.
KW: We just do whatever feels natural and I think that’s what we find is what the audience responds to. You can tell that we’re partying our balls off and having a great time on stage, so I think that’s what people react to.

MWTV: Now that you guys have played around a bit and you kind of know the LA venue circuit, do you have a favorite spot to perform?
JS: I would say Moscow at Boardners just because there’s four hundred people there I don’t know and they love it! I mean, you just get new fans every show and they just want to hear music and have a great time. It’s mostly kids – it’s eighteen and over, so people are just there. They’re not there to get wasted, they’re there to hear music and have a good time.

MWTV: Well, the kids are the best fans to have.
JS: Exactly. I’d love to play there every Wednesday because it would be new people, and it’s just religiously packed.
KW: Totally. I would say Moscow and Bardot are my two favorites.

MWTV: Where do you guys see yourselves in six months?
KW: On tour! Right? (to Josh)
JS: Yeah!
KW: I think so!
JS: Selling a bunch of records!
KW: Totally! I mean, obviously the EP will be out. Our video will be done within the next couple of weeks. We’re very excited about that! So yeah, hopefully when we get the video out and when the EP is ready to be released, we can get some more traction and get on the road! That’s kind of the goal.

MWTV: Do you have the van picked out yet?
KW: Well, we just found out that our drummer, Matteo, has one that needs a little mechanical work.

MWTV: Any Bullet & Snowfox updates since we last spoke?
KW: We have a new drummer from when we started playing and he’s amazing!
JS: He’s absolutely fantastic!
KW: We had been working with someone since last October and, you know, he didn’t really have the right mentality for what we’re doing, but it was random because it happened last minute [right before a show] so we were scrambling to find someone to fill in and learn the songs in a couple of days…he [new drummer, Matteo Eyia] plays drums with our bass player [Baron Von Luxury] who also has his own project, who’s also our producer – it’s a very incestuous relationship – so basically we asked him to do this one show just to fill in for our guy, and he did, and he sacked up, and had a great attitude, and played the shit out of it, and did an awesome job, and then the Bardot show popped up super last minute, and our regular guy was not available. So it was kind of weird, but the situation and timing worked out so great because the drummer that we had filling in is awesome, and he did a great job and has been acting like part of the team.
JS: He just brings a whole new energy. You know, he’s so aggressive, and so in the pocket – he’s like a sponge, like I’ll just tell him something about the song and he’s like, “okay,” and then does it ten times better than I would have expected!
KW: And it’s kind of one of those things where even when we’ve hit a wall in some respect – and I hate to sound cliché – but we’ve come out the next day or the day after in a situation that is ten times better than before, and again, it’s sort of that validation that this is totally the right thing. You know, I mean, when stuff like that happens obviously Josh and I have to get on it and tap into our resources and figure out a way to make it work, but when we do that, it always seems to work out, and always seems to work out better than had the status quo remained the same.

MWTV: And what does Susan Miller say for you this month? (www.atstrologyzone.com. Go there, kids! Susan Miller kinda rules)
KW: Susan Miller was very encouraging this month for me in terms of this kind of stuff, so it’s good. It’s crazy, it kind of feels like we’re finally in the payoff stage for what we’ve been working on this past two years. We’re at the tipping point for that payoff stage, so it just feels like a matter of time before it goes to the next payoff stage which hopefully involves money! That’s the idea. But the bottom line is that Josh and I love to play. We just love to be on stage, so that’s why I’m saying that it’s already paying off tenfold for all of the work we’ve done.

*Make sure to visit the band’s website for updates, show info, etc.: Bullet & Snowfox

On Sunday evening, July 11, 2010, otherwise known as free Slurpee day around the country, Grammy award-winning rock group, Train, headlined in front of a packed house at Los Angeles’ legendary House of Blues in honor of 7-Eleven and Slurpee’s Battle of the Bands, 2010. July 11 has appropriately been deemed 7-Eleven’s recognized birthday over the years, and what better way to celebrate than with live music, screaming fans, and a performance by Train.

Battle of the Bands consists of four main events where bands contend in groups of three to battle it out to compete in the final round of the competition. Sunday’s House of Blues concert was the first in a series of four, and the bands featured this Sunday were Ambience, The Welcome Home, and Levi Wear. The audience was receptive to all three performances, however, the final competitors of the evening – folk/indie-rock group, Levi Ware – garnered the most praise. And then came the Train….

Smoke, fancy dim lights, and train whistles permeated the main stage as an anticipatory intro to the Train performance, and when the band hit the stage, they were greeted with loud cheers and excitement from below. They certainly did not disappoint and played everything that the audience wanted to hear, including “Meet Virginia,” “Drops of Jupiter,” and, of course, their number one hit, “Hey, Soul Sister.”

Musicwire TV had the opportunity to sit down with Train frontman, Patrick Monahan, in the back of the Foundation Room at House of Blues prior to their show for an exclusive one-on-one with the artist. I was immediately struck by Monahan’s very zen-like and laid back demeanor. He has a calming presence about him that’s quite different from the animated zeal that he exhibits during his stage performances. He opened up about his life on the road with the band, his solo career, talked about some of his favorite new artists, and was also able to give advice to new musicians who are just starting out in the industry.

Patrick Monahan:

MWTV: You guys have had a pretty big comeback.

PM: Yes, it’s been a big year I think.

MWTV: Did you think you guys were going to wind up with such a big hit [with “Hey Soul Sister”] after taking a three year break?

PM: I suppose we didn’t really count on a really big hit like this, especially one that is far eclipsing “Drops of Jupiter,” but I think we learned a lot of really cool, valuable things in the last few years that helped us make a better record than we ever did so that it would have a good chance of doing well. I think that we’re less surprised than a lot of press people.

MWTV: And how did you come up with the new sound? It’s pretty different.

PM: I don’t know! I think that what happened was that I made a solo record and what that did was open my eyes to getting in a room with different writers and really, kind of, searching myself for the best I could be and, you know, we all did that. We all got in rooms with different people. I think it changed the way we looked at music for the better.

MWTV: And what do you think we can expect over the next year?

PM: Well, we’re going to do a lot more touring, but now it’s like, I feel like even though we have several more singles to get to on this current record, Save me San Francisco, I feel like it’s important that I start writing again soon so I’ll probably be making trips to New York and L.A., but I don’t see when I can do it until next year because, like, I wrote today with a guy and I’m just so exhausted. Trying to get sleep, I think, is going to be so much more important, and we’re traveling all over the world for the rest of the year and so I’ll probably wait until late January to get started.

MWTV: You’re a pretty new dad again, too, right?

PM: Well, I’m a dad for the third time, and she’s going to be two in a few months and she’s really neat.

MWTV: Is she inspiring any of your new songs?

PM: She is really musical! I can’t even believe it, like, since she’s been six months old she’s been yelling to music and “[Hey] Soul Sister” – that was a big song for her. You know, as a little kid she heard the incarnation of it and she responded, so she was definitely the leader of the pack as far as who liked the song.

MWTV: What’s behind the name of the new album, Save Me, San Francisco?

PM: Well, you know, the band came up in San Francisco and none of us live there anymore because what happened was we never really lived there. I mean, we came up there and played there for years and years, and always went home there, but we lived on tour buses and so we miss it. You know, we all went back to where our families were living and we used to always miss San Francisco. You know, it’s just a magical place so we just wrote this record. You know, these lyrics that I wrote are about stories of San Francisco, and it’s just kind of saying thank you.

MWTV: You didn’t get signed right away when you guys first started out. Was that discouraging?

PM: Yeah, it was really discouraging because what used to happen was if somebody said ‘no,’ they all said ‘no.’ Then somebody said ‘yes,’ and then the guy bailed because he was a weirdo, and then we got our hopes up, and then we were bummed out, and then a dude from Colombia Records was just, like, “you need to come to New York and just play a bunch of songs and then we’re gonna give you a deal,” and then we flew to New York and they were, like, “that’s not happening!” We were thinking, “what?” That was the best thing that happened to us even though it felt like the worst thing because we made a record, and “Meet Virginia” was on it, and then that record company did sign us. It was really cool because I feel like they were smart twice. They were right that they didn’t sign us, but they were also right that they did because they did really well with us.

MWTV: I love that you just went for it anyways.

PM: Well we had no choice. It was either that or stop.

MWTV: With that in mind, what advice would you have for new artists just starting out who do get discouraged in the beginning?

PM: You know, in the beginning I always used to say just play as much as you can in front of people because your sound really can’t develop entirely in a basement. I feel like you need reaction. There’s a different energy when you’re showing off for girls or whatever and, you know, something different happens and you try things out that aren’t great and you try things out that are, and then you should go record it. But secondly, I think that the best thing anybody can do is be him or herself and just be authentic. Take a chance at that because if you try to be something you’re not and you win, you’ll never be fulfilled, and if you try to be something you’re not and you don’t win, what a waste of your life, so be authentic.

MWTV: Do you think that it’s easier for bands to get noticed now because of the internet, or harder due to the competition?

PM: Well it depends. It’s easier to get noticed by people who aren’t going to sign you, but if that’s what you’re looking for then you need millions of people to notice you. Like if you want to get a deal because of Myspace, you’ve got to get a lot of peoples’ attention. You’d better pull your balls out or something, which I do a lot. You can probably see them now. (pause) I just figured I’d throw that out there but you didn’t seem to dig it so let’s move on to the next one. (Note: I did dig it, as a matter of fact.)

MWTV: I did, actually, and I can’t wait to transcribe that quote. I’m really looking forward to it.

PM: Yeah, it’ll be fun for you. But if you want people in the industry to notice, I don’t really know how to do it anymore. I don’t really know the best way. I just always think of the old fashioned way of just trying to write the best songs that you can. I think that in the end, you know, take it from a band who, you know, has the biggest song of our career after fifteen years. Like, it’s about a SONG!

MWTV: Are there any new artists that you’re listening to now that have recently popped up on the scene?

PM: I like Travie McCoy a lot. I think that dude is really good. I think Bruno Mars – that guy is outrageous. He’s the next dude, man! I love that guy’s voice. I really like LaRue. And then I’ve been writing a little bit so I haven’t really dug deeper than that but I like those three a lot.

MWTV: Are there any new artists that you’d like to work with?

PM: You know, I love MGMT. I don’t think that I could work with them, though, because I think that they do something that I probably don’t know how to do, but I’m really looking forward to them doing more that’s like that first record. That would be great if I could hear some of that. And then, you know, B.o.B is awesome. I’ve met that guy a bunch of times. I think him and Jason Derulo are super, super great. You know, there’s David Guetta – I’d love to do something with that guy. I think that would be really hot. That would be the guy because, you know, he’s got some cool stuff and I watched him a lot when I was in Germany because he seemed to be on every six minutes.

MWTV: Have you ever played around on the turntables, yourself?

PM: No, not really. I probably wouldn’t be the guy to turntable you!

MWTV: I’ll keep that in mind. Are you going to be doing any more solo stuff?

PM: Eventually, but it’ll be different. You know, I think I needed to kind of do that for the sake of – well, I think we needed a band cleansing and that was part of the cycle of that. I made a lot of mistakes in making a solo record in my approach to it and my intention behind it, so I wouldn’t do that again but I definitely would do some different stuff down the line. It would just be fun for me and the intention behind it will be way better. It won’t be to get away from my band. It’ll be to do something totally different and fun.

By Elizabeth Rosselle

Official Train website

For more info on 7-Eleven’s ‘Slurpee Battle of the Bands,’ please visit PR Newswire and www.facebook.com/slurpee

Also please visit www.talknerdytomelover.com.  A place where nerds and music lovers unite.

**Special thanks to Rachel Snyder of Ketchum PR, and to Reagan Alexander for making this interview possible.

*Special thanks to Lauren Magboo, Joyce Sevilla, Alexis Wallsh, and Rembrandt Flores of EFG PR for introducing us to Jonathan, and extra special thanks to Billy Barrera for lending his incredible film and editing talents.

Attention all punk, reggae, rock, soul, and hip-hop lovers! Wait, isn’t that most of us? Okay, well if you haven’t heard Tomorrows Bad Seeds, then it’s high time you gave them a listen. TBS’s music is a delicious blend of all things that make you want to get up and dance, with notable influences from bands like The Red Hot Chile Peppers, The Wailers, Steel Pulse, Led Zepplin, 311, and Black Flag to name a few. They’re a refreshing throwback to the post-punk ska movement of the nineties, modernized by some of the bands’ more current influences taken from styles like Dubstep and other similar genres.

The boys recently took off for the Vans 2010 Warped Tour and, in addition, have been chosen as Lionsgate’s Ambassadors in promoting the upcoming film, The Expendables, while on tour. TBS, sponsored by Body Glove, will be performing at the Skull Candy tent for the duration of the Warped Tour and, in between performances, the boys will be meeting fans and conducting interviews to promote the film which is directed by Sylvester Stallone, and stars Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Micky Rourke.

Musicwire TV caught up with two of Tomorrows Bad Seeds’ band members, Moises Juarez (lead vocals) and Sean Chapman (vocals/guitar), a couple of days before they headed off for the tour. The guys were beyond thrilled about the tour, and they were able to share some of that excitement with me while we dished on music, influences, and fun TBS facts.

MWTV: Warped Tour is coming up for you guys. Are you on cloud nine right now?

Moises Juarez: Yeah, we’re feelin’ pretty good about it.

MWTV: This is your first one, right?

MJ: Yes, that’s right.

MWTV: Tell me a little bit about your individual music backgrounds.

MJ: I’ve been singing my whole life pretty much. I grew up on Motown, and my mom raised me listening to, like, Sade, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, you know, all of that R & B type stuff, and I also grew up on the beach so there was a lot of punk rock and rock n’ roll. When you grow up in Southern California you’re influenced by everything. And as for everyone in the band, we pretty much all like all types of music.

Sean Chapman: Generally I grew up on a lot of hip-hop and old classic rock, and then I really got into the punk rock scene. I’m from Hermosa Beach so Pennywise and Black Flag, you know? All those types of groups, and I listened to some Reggae and got more into it when I joined Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds for sure, but yeah, but we all definitely open our minds to all music.

MWTV: How did you guys all meet and form the band?

MJ: We grew up in the same area, pretty much, and our drummer/bass player we met along the way in another band and then we all started jamming together. Me, Sean, and Matt have been in the band together for a long time. We all have known each other. We grew up in the same neighborhood, pretty much.

SC: We’re definitely not one of those put together bands. We have a lot of history together as a band.

MWTV: Who would you guys like to collaborate with?

MJ: Oh yeah, everybody! Sean wants to collaborate with Stevie Wonder.

SC: And if I could pull Bob Marley out of his grave that would be cool, too!

MWTV: Who writes most of your lyrics and then who writes the music.

MJ: We’re all involved. We all help out pretty much equally.

SC: Most of our songs are written through free style and we’ll just get into the rehearsal studio and just start jamming, you know, and we’ll have a riff or something and we’ll just start jamming randomly.

MJ: We’ll start spittin’ lyrics out, or melodies, and then lyrics start to come out within the creative process of the song, and then there are some songs where we’ll have the whole song written – you know, the lyrics – and then the whole song is kind of written around the lyrics.

MWTV: It sounds like you work really well together since you’re all so close.

MJ: Song writing is definitely not one of our issues. I’d like to see what we could do if we had some real time to hang out and write an album in a cool environment. I’d like to see what we could do with some serious time. It’s all about chemistry, I think. Once we start jamming together it kinda just clicks.

MWTV: Who would you say that your main influences are if you had to pick a few?

MJ: I like Stevie Wonder, The Red Hot Chili Peppers…

SC: Rage [Against the Machine]

MJ: Yeah Rage, The Wailers, Steel Pulse, and there’s a lot of old school Lenny tracks, too, and Super Cat, you know? John Lennon, The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Iron Maiden. And hip-hop – we love Jurassic 5 and we like Kid Cudi right now, too, and Eminem, Biggie Smalls, and we like underground hip-hop, too.

MWTV: Have you guys discovered any new music lately on sites like Pandora?

MJ: I don’t really use Pandora that much. I like to look up stuff on Youtube a lot. I’ve recently started listening to Die Antwoord lately.

MWTV: Oh, they’re awesome. Their interviews are wild.

MJ: Yeah, I mean at first I thought it was a joke but it’s real and they’re really serious about it.

MWTV: You guys have shared the stage with Fishbone, right? I would love to hear about that.

MJ: Angelo [Moore], the singer of Fishbone, is one of the most insane, abnormal characters that I’ve ever met just as a person, but on stage even more so. We also went on two national tours with the Wailers, we did Pennywise, and 311 recently as well. It’s been amazing to go on tour with bands that we grew up listening to. Fishbone is just – they are a hell of a show. I don’t know how they came up with their sound. They’re off the chain.

MWTV: What would you guys have done with your lives had you not become musicians?

SC: I would have probably ended up a construction man, or I wanted to be a pro-surfer my whole life.

MWTV: You guys all surf, right?

MJ: For the most part, you know? I used to wait tables forever and I liked it, but I wanted to be a fireman. I was going to take fire technician classes, but I always knew I wanted to do this. I mean, I went through all of the motions, you know, I graduated from high school, and went to college because you’re supposed to go to college, but I started taking music and music is such a big part of my life that I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. People go their whole lives wondering what they want to do with their lives and I don’t have that question in my life.

MWTV: Did you guys think that you’d be going on the Warped Tour right now

MJ: I used to do a lot of the booking for the band and in the beginning we would just try to book as many shows as we could and now we’re not having that problem, and it’s a pretty good problem not to have, you know? We’ve been offered so many good opportunities lately and we can’t pass them up.  Like this one [Warped Tour], and to be showcased against other bands in the big scheme of things, you know, it’s just a big old festival and it’s great.

http://www.myspace.com/tomorrowsbadseeds1

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