Home
Hardcore Hall of fame | Articles | News/Updates/Links Page | Interviews | More articles | Album reviews | Band pics | E-mail ME | My top 10 | Battle of the bands 2002 interviews | Thank you's | Metal artist on the rise
More articles
Hardcore Magazine

Murderdolls: Who are they?
 
Band Members Wednesday 13 - vocals Joey Jordison - guitar Tripp Eisen - guitar Eric Griffin - bass Ben Graves - drums Band Bio: In a world where it's all too easy to point out everything that's wrong about music, Murderdolls represent everything that could be right. And with the release of their self-titled debut, everything that will be right That may sound like a bold mission statement from a band whose songs include such frightfully decadent ditties as "Love At First Fright," "Grave Robbing U.S.A." and "Kill Miss America," but don't lose their point in the same self-righteous haze that's clouding over too much of the modern music scene. "I think a lot of kids will be medicated by this record, because it's not just another record with the depressing lyrics," says Murderdolls guitarist Joey Jordison, all too aware that he's treading in provocative water with the new outfit, a drastic change of pace from his other band, Slipknot. "To me, that's the point What would be the point of doing something remotely like Slipknot? I don't play drums in this band, I don't wear a mask in this band, and the music is a polar opposite. While still being heavy, it's a breath of fresh air compared to what I normally do, because it's fun It's catchier, more easily digestible, and has that fun factor to it, and there's nothing wrong with that, because everything can't be so heavy and depressed all the time." "It's not like we're writing Weird Al Yankovic comedy stuff," clarifies frontman Wednesday, "but how do you take these Friday The 13th movies seriously? They put funny things into them, and it's like that with our songs. There's not anything on this record that's been based on personal experiences They're all like short stories" So when the frontman sings, "I'd rather cut you than the wedding cake, and your bloody guts on my rented tux, and 'I do,' 'I do,' 'I do wanna kill you,'" he's not exactly making his case for the sociopath of the month club. Instead, he's offering us a slice of Americana through the eyes of the slightly disenfranchised. "I live in North Carolina, my life is boring, so what am I supposed to write about? I'm a movie junkie, and horror movies are all I watch, so my lyrics are inspired by everything from Ed Wood, to Fantasm and Night Of The Living Dead" Not to mention a musical cross-section that would shatter any semblance of sanity, ranging from the most obscure outfits on the outskirts of the '80s glam-metal scene, to the sexual ambiguity and punk rock piss and vinegar of Jane County. "What the fuck is going on with all these bands that look normal? Maybe that's why kids identify with them, because they can look like these guys, but I'm from a different schoolIf it didn't look cool, I didn't fucking buy it. They had to be glam, and they had to look cool, and I'm still like that with bands. It's important for people to see that there is something like us today, because a lot of kids don't remember The Plasmatics I want to do a show like that. I want to bring the danger element back, just the way it needs to be, something new for today Something as simple as singers who don't use mic stands anymoreI'm going to hold mine proud, like a battle axe!" "But it really doesn't even matter what's going on in music today, because we'd be doing this regardless," says guitarist Tripp Eisen, also of the industrial-metal powerhouse Static-X. "Bands are out there trying to do something with an image, but we're going to go out there and annihilate all of that. We had all the elements in place, but Wednesday was the lynchpin that we needed to really make it happen" Murderdolls began as The Rejects more than seven years ago, the brainchild of Jordison long before Slipknot became this millennium's metal revolutionaries. His lineup experienced substantial growing pains before he met Eisen while touring together in '99, and the guitarist then of Dope recruited Wednesday as a bassist. Bringing new songs of his own into the fold, it wasn't long before the bassist made the shift to lead singer, and Eric Griffin and Ben Graves rounded out the band's current lineup. A garage band in every sense of the word, they'd played only four shows with the duo of Jordison and Eisen on guitars, and had yet to perform with their new frontman upon the completion of the album. In fact, Jordison didn't even meet Wednesday until the day they entered the studio to record. "It takes a lot of balls for Tripp and I to do we're doing right now, because there are going to be people that don't understand it and don't get it, but we believe in it that much," says Jordison. "There are some songs on this album that were written in '95, and that's one of the things that I really like about this musicTwenty years from now, this music will still be good, and it won't sound dated at all. There are a lot of songs like "Die My Bride," "Slit My Wrist" and "Dead In Hollywood" that have a very metal-esque influence to them, as well as just being punk, glam-metal, blood and guts rock 'n' roll. It's all very trashy, too, just like the people that are in the band" "We're taking stuff from our favorite bands and doing it the way that we've always wanted it done, taking it to a place where we've never seen anybody try and take it," continues Wednesday, citing Mötley Crüe, Twisted Sister and Alice Cooper as significant influences on his share of Murderdolls' "violent Sex Pistols" sound. "We're bringing the danger aspect back" "I'm a danger addict, I can't get enough of it" laughs Jordison, "and believe it or not, I'll probably be in more danger with these guys than I was with Slipknot, because I won't be protected by the kitIf those guys ever tried to get me, I could just rise up or move backwards Now I'll have Tripp's guitar head stuck up my ass, and there won't be anything I can do about it" For more infomation on the Murderdolls:

ozzya13.jpg

Ozzfest 2002: Updates

Here are the tour dates:

July 6 Bristow, VA Nissan Pavilion ON SALE NOW
July 7 Pittsburgh, PA Post-Gazette Pavilion ON SALE NOW
July 10 Scranton, Pa. Montage Mtn. ON SALE MAY 4
July 12 Camden, NJ Tweeter Center SOLD OUT!!
July 13 Hartford, CT Cdnow.com Amph. ON SALE NOW
July 16 Boston, MA Tweeter Center ON SALE NOW
July 17 Boston, MA Tweeter Center ON SALE NOW
July 19 Holmdel, NJ PNC Center SOLD OUT!!
July 20 Holmdel, NJ PNC Center ON SALE NOW
July 24 Raleigh, NC Alltel Pavilion ON SALE NOW
July 26 West Palm Beach, FL Mars Music Amph. ON SALE NOW
July 28 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amph. ON SALE NOW
Aug. 3 Columbus, OH Polaris Amph. ON SALE APRIL 27
Aug. 4 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music CenterN SALE NOW
Aug. 7 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Center SOLD OUT!!
Aug. 8 Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Center ON SALE MAY 11
Aug. 10 Chicago, IL Tweeter Center ON SALE NOW
Aug. 11 East Troy, WI Alpine Valley ON SALE NOW
Aug. 13 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Amph. ON SALE NOW
Aug. 15 Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Amph. ON SALE APRIL 27
Aug. 17 Somerset, WI Float-Rite Park ON SALE MAY 31
Aug. 19 St. Louis, MO Riverport Amph. ON SALE APRIL 27
Aug. 20 Kansas City, MO Sandstone Amph. ON SALE JUNE 22
Aug. 22 Denver, CO Pepsi/City Lights ON SALE NOW
Aug. 25 Sacramento, CA Sacramento Valley Amph. ON SALE NOW
Aug. 27 George, WA The Gorge ON SALE NOW
Aug. 29 Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amph. ON SALE NOW
Aug. 31 San Bernardino, CA Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion ON SALE NOW
Sept. 5 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Pavilion ON SALE MAY 4
Sept. 7 San Antonio, TX Verizon Wireless Amph. ON SALE MAY 18
Sept. 8 Dallas, TX Smirnoff Amph. ON SALE APRIL 26

Ozzfest 2002 acts:

Main Stage
OZZY OSBOURNE
System of a Down
Rob Zombie
P.O.D.
Drowning Pool
Adema
Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society

Second Stage
Down (headliner)
Hatebreed (second headliner)
Meshuggah (third headliner)
*Apex Theory
*Lostprophets
*Pulse Ultra
*Neurotica
*Ill Nino
*Chevelle

Plus, from July 6 through Aug. 7:
*Andrew W.K.
*Flaw
*3rd Strike
*Otep
*SoiL

From Aug. 10 through Sept. 8:
*Mushroomhead
*Seether
*Glassjaw
*The Used
*Switched


OZZFEST U.K. UPDATE
Here is the latest on the Ozzfest U.K. bill. This is *not* the final line-up; more bands are still to be added for the show at Castle Donington May 25. Tickets are on sale now.
OZZY OSBOURNE
Tool
System of a Down
Slayer
Lostprophets
Cradle of Filth
Millencolin
Drowning Pool
Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society

Kerrang!/Radio One Stage
Hundred Reasons
Ill Nino
American Head Charge
Hell Is For Heroes
Mushroomhead
Otep
Pulse Ultra
Danko Jones
Nonpoint
Antiproduct

DOIN' THE OZZFEST SHUFFLE!
Rob Zombie has taken the nod to fill the slot vacated by the Chris Cornell/Rage Against the Machine band on the Ozzfest main stage this summer. Zombie maintains, though, that he will still put on a stripped down show that he has been wanting to do for a while now. He recently commented in the Los Angeles Times about the his decision: "As much as I love the big show and all the production, it becomes this huge thing of its own. Sometimes the show is so huge everything else gets lost...I haven't done anything like [this] in 12 years or something." Taking Zombie's place in the headlining position on the second stage will be Down, the New Orleans-based supergroup fronted by Pantera's Philip Anselmo and also featuring members of Corrosion of Conformity, EYEHATEGOD, and Crowbar. The band released their their highly anticipated second album, "Down II", last week. Hatebreed has also been tapped for the second stage in the slot preceding Down. Their second album, "Perseverance", was issued last week as well. And for the first half of Ozzfest 2002 party rocker Andrew W.K. will party on the second stage; Switched has been added to the second half of the tour.
Along with these additions to the bill there are some date changes as well. The July 10 Jones Beach show has been moved to Scranton, Pa., and the Indianapolis and Cleveland dates have flip-flopped: Cleveland is now Aug. 4 and Indianapolis is Aug. 13.

Godhead: Death is near
 

James O'Conner-Drums
Jason Miller-Guitars, Vocals
The Method-Bass and Programming
Mike Miller-Guitars

We have made it to the 21st Century. What was billed as the information age has quickly devolved into the age of inundation by meaningless, white noise data. Rising above the din are the Washington, DC based underground cult heroes gODHEAD. Years of hard work caught the attention of modern rock visionary Marilyn Manson, who signed gODHEAD as the first band to his newly formed label, Posthuman Records. The final result is the band's Posthuman debut, 2000 Years Of Human Error, set for release on January 23, 2001.

Produced by Danny Saber (Black Sabbath, U2, Rolling Stones) and mixed by John X Volaitis (Orgy, Marilyn Manson, Korn), 2000 Years Of Human Error captures the visceral aspects of the band's live performance, while highlighting the growth of the band's radical programming talents that give gODHEAD its unique razor-sharp edge.

From Jason Miller's aggressive and passionate vocals, to the sonic wizardry of bassist and programmer The Method, anchored by the driving musical force of guitarist Mike Miller and drummer James O'Connor, with 2000 Years of Human Error gODHEAD has captured in the studio, the heart and soul of the sound they honed over the past six years without compromising the pure power of their live performances.

As Executive Producer, Marilyn Manson oversaw development of the entire album. He played an essential role in taking gODHEAD to the next aesthetic level and aiming them towards the future. "He gave us direction on where he thought things should go," explains Jason Miller. "He worked quite a bit on 'Sinking' and 'Eleanor Rigby.' In a way, we both come from the same place - underground industrial goth rock. But obviously he's somewhere else nowand he's trying to bring us up there!"

Marilyn Manson and Reeves Gabrels (longtime guitarist for David Bowie) were two of the notable guests on 2000 Years. Manson lent his vocals to "Break You Down," while Gabrels played guitar on and co-produced "Tired Old Man." "'Break You Down' is a 'destroy your enemy' type of song," explains Jason, "but it's also laced with satire, so having Manson was perfect for it. And Reeves has been a friend of the band's for several years. He does amazing things with the guitar and guitar synths, so we had him throw his flare into 'Tired Old Man.' Everybody in the band has been a David Bowie fan as long as we can remember -- especially the newer stuff like 'Outside' and 'Earthling' that Reeves co-produced and had a huge part in. It was great to get some of that cool energy on our album."

Godhead, built a strong local following playing clubs in and around Washington, DC, eventually winning support slots on tours with bands like GWAR, Genitorturers and Christian Death, to name a few. The band also released three independent albums: gODHEAD (1994), Nothingness (1996) and Power Tool Stigmata (1998), which captured the attention of the underground rock press, and along with nonstop touring, helped to spread the band's fan base from the capitol city to the rest of the States and across the Atlantic to Europe and the UK.

Building their sound around the passion and musical proficiency of bands such as the Cure and Pink Floyd, gODHEAD uses modern electronics to create music that combines the best of the past and present. "We wanted something that captures our live sound - the raw toughness, but something that also shows our electronic side," says Jason. "I try not to listen to anything current. Instead I go back to the old records that influenced me. It's not like I try to avoid the radio like the plague, but I think if you stay true to why you got into music and not pay too much attention to what's going on around you, you have a much better chance of sounding unique." And on 2000 Years Of Human Error, gODHEAD has certainly achieved that goal.