Category Archives: Musical Musings

Twiztid’s Fright Fest to be final Juggalo performance at Tremont Music Hall

Stryknyn and a riot gear guy keep the pit going. Photo by Get Hashley Photography.

Stryknyn and a riot gear guy keep the pit going. Photo by Get Hashly Photography.

It was bittersweet arriving at Tremont Music Hall on Oct. 23. On the one hand it was familiar to pull up at 2:30 p.m. to a large crowd with lots of colored hair and painted faces that had already been there for hours. On the other hand it was sad knowing that Twiztid‘s Fright Fest event (part of the band’s Welcome to the Underground tour) would be a farewell of sorts to this historic venue, which will soon be closing.

But enough of the sappy stuff. Let’s get to the fun. First up at this showcase of underground horrorcore and hip-hop was a local trio that I cannot remember anything about. This may be poor journalism on my part, but these guys simply failed to make any impression on me at all. Next up was another local F. Dux (pronounced “Dukes”), whose set was relatively short but extremely hyped. It was highlighted by a song called “Machete,” and F. Dux had a strong presence that got the crowd moving. Next up was Trilogy, an act that seemed to keep the crowd hyped despite its lack of familiarity, which is a major accomplishment in my book.

Then it was time for the more established underground acts, starting with Scum. These guys are veterans of the underground hip-hop scene that have a lot of energy, but not a lot of showmanship. As good as Scum was, its performance was eclipsed by the next act: Wolfpac!

Wolfpac's sexy dancers. Photo by Get Hashly Photography.

Wolfpac’s sexy dancers. Photo by Get Hashley Photography.

Wolfpac has the total package of live entertainment because there’s no way the audience can’t pay attention when these guys are on the stage. The main vocals came from hyphen Daddy Long Legs and Buddha, who were backed by sexy girls dressed in tiny school girl outfits dancing on poles. As if that wasn’t enough, there was also a team of guys dressed in riot gear who’s only job was to get the crowd moving. This was also the start of my favorite part of being in any crowd: the mosh pit! Myself and the riot guys got things started and kept the pit hot through the duration of the set. Wolfpac’s set was highlighted by the songs “Let Me Hit It,” “Square Peg Round Hole” and “Death Becomes Her,” a rather fun song about necrophilia. “The Hitchcock of Hip-Hop” Prozak is always good at maintaining a high level of energy that translates well to the audience. Following Wolfpac, he probably made a few new fans at Fright Fest.

Boondox was the first of the three main Juggalo acts. The first thing you have to understand about Juggalos is that the artists have a gimmick or character they portray. Boondox’s gimmick is somewhat of a wicked scarecrow. Boondox delivered a high-energy set with signature songs such as “Seven,” “Freak Bitch” and “Death of a Hater,” finishing strong with “Monster”. Remember that thing I said about gimmicks? Next up was Blaze Ya Dead Homie, whose character is an undead gangster who was killed in the ’90s and resurrected. Blaze has several songs about things such as being buried and decaying like “Grave Ain’t No Place” and ” Maggot Face,” but has other ones that are just fun like “Walk It Out”. This was the point in the evening when more people started to crowd surf rather than mosh. Blaze was entertaining, as always, with a lot of crowd interaction and having the audience sing the hooks of the songs. After all that it was finally time Twiztid!

Twizted headlined the final Juggalo show at Tremont. Photo by Stryknyn.

The demented duo of Jamie Madrox and Monoxide Child, Twiztid has long since come into its own since its days as protégés of the Insane Clown Posse and now was the time to once again show off these skills. Twiztid has always been different from other Juggalo acts in one major sense – despite the faceprint and theatrics, neither lyrically or in its performances has Twizted relied on any sort of gimmick.

Twizid’s set was filled with crowd favorites like “They Told Me,” “We Don’t Die” and ” Sex, Drugs, Money and Murder,” as well as some unusual songs such as “Hom-Sha-Bom” and “Fall Apart”. One thing that has become a Twisted signature is elongated talking between clusters of songs. The fun part is that no one minds because Madrox and Monoxide are hilarious to just listen to talk about nothing. Sadly there was never a point during this set where there was any good pit action. Everyone in the back was just pushing to the front, the front pushed back and so forth. There were quite a few crowd surfers, though. The set ended with “LDLHA-IBCSYWA” (Love Don’t Live Here Anymore-It’s Been Cold Since You Went Away), an odd choice as a closer that proved to be powerful and amazing. The spoke for a few minutes and thanked the audience for their support to conclude the final Juggalo performance at Tremont.

From the DJ booth to the wrestling ring, Quasi Mandisco always talks smack

Leave a reply

With a record collection filled with old school funk, classic soul grooves, vintage R&B and a generous helping of classic rock, it’s not surprising that DJ Quasi Mandisco has been getting Atlanta dance floors moving for 15 years. He earned the Mandisco moniker while DJing at the Star Community Bar several years ago when Jim Stacy (then a co-owner of the bar) said, “You hit on all the white girls sort of like ‘Mandingo’. You’re Quasi Mandisco.’

When Platinum Championship Wrestling returns to Tudor Square (where PCW’s former Academy Theatre home used to be, coincidentally just a block away from Stacy’s Pallookaville Fine Foods) for Sacred Ground: Chapter Six on Sept. 26, Mandisco, in his tight white pants and hoop earrings, won’t be the one hitting on a particular white girl known as Miss Rachael. Instead, he’s employing the menacing Lei’d Tapa to give Rachael a beating in one of this year’s most anticipated matches at Sacred Ground.

“Sacred Ground is all about Quasi Mandisco,” he says. “I started with this company four years ago and worked my way to the top. Now when you think of PCW you think of The Priority Male himself Quasi Mandisco. Somebody’s been trying to take that away from me, some little girl who’s playing a big man’s game. Rachael Freeman suddenly thinks she’s important now because she’s had a match or two. Soon she’s going to have face the fact that she’s not as good as she thinks she is, she’s not as pretty as she thinks she is. She’s about to feel a whole lot of pain like she’s never felt in her life because I’m bringing one of the strongest, most athletic and baddest women in professional wrestling to kick in that pretty little face of Rachael’s. My recommendation to Rachael is to just stay at home and save herself an ass whoopin’. If she shows up on Sept. 26, she’s going to get hurt and there’ll be nobody there to blame but herself.”

When he’s not talking trash at PCW, Mandisco still DJs every Saturday at the infamous Clermont Lounge, Atlanta’s oldest strip club best known for the beer-can-crushing antics of longtime dancer Blondie Strange. When the Atlanta Ballet began searching for a new resident DJ for its 2014-2015 season, Mandisco was happy to start performing for an entirely different cast of dancers. While they’re preparing to take the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre stage, Mandisco is spinning in the lobby for patrons purchasing drinks and finding their seats.

“They’re both fun in their own ways,” he says of the contrasting atmospheres of the Clermont and the Ballet. “I play a lot of the same stuff at both places. I’m not going to play Prince’s ‘Pussy Control’ at the Ballet, but I still play Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, Michael Jackson, the Temptations – a lot of the same stuff. It’s fun because people are often surprised to be at the ballet and hearing Prince. To see people dancing through the lobby on the way to their seats, I think it adds another element to a fun night. I don’t talk all the trash there that I do at the Clermont and PCW, though.”

With his deep, smooth voice and sharp tongue, Mandisco’s Barry White-meets-Ric Flair persona has become part of the attraction when he performs at bars and clubs. As a lifelong wrestling fan, his transition into the antagonistic manager at PCW was a natural one.

“Once I started getting confident with DJing, when people would make bad requests and get on my nerves, I realized I could start cutting wrestling promos on people,” he says. “They thought it was funny and part of the show, so I kept doing it. Then I found out about the PCW school, trained for three months, and came in as a Bobby ‘The Brain’ Hennan-style manager.”

In addition to spinning at the Clermont every Saturday and inciting Porterdale audiences at PCW the first and third Saturday of each month, you can now catch Mandisco DJing on Friday nights at a new restaurant and music venue called Venkman’s. From more sophisticated ballet audiences to riled-up wrestling fans to some of the most unique strippers around, Mandisco’s polarizing persona and old school musical tastes never fail to get some sort of reaction from his audiences. Be it positive or negative, he really doesn’t care as long as they’re feeling it.

Ryan Cadaver ventures into the Unknown

Leave a reply

I have been an Unknown Hinson fan for about seven years. It all started when I got a copy of The Future Is Unknown and I listened to it nonstop for several months. I couldn’t stop listening to it and it seemed to get better and even more hysterical the more I played it. I would even say it’s still my favorite album, but Unknown Hinson would disagree. It’s not an album, it’s a CD.

Ryan Cadaver (left) talks shit (middle) with Unknown Hinson (right). Photo by Kevin Mayfield.

When I got the opportunity to interview Unknown Hinson for Wrestling with Pop Culture I was over the moon. I have admired this man for years. He is a master musician, songwriter, lyricist and a hell of a character. I was pumped all day to finally meet him and when the green room doors opened and Unknown invited me in, it was surreal. Meeting your heroes is always intense, but I was meeting my hero and interviewing him, so this experience was totally new to me. When we got situated I put on my serious face and started getting to business. I was relieved to find out he was eager to talk and had a hilarious response to every question I had. It would have been nice to have a longer chat with Unknown, but it was obvious that showtime was approaching rapidly. Being in a band myself, I absolutely did not want to be that guy who overstayed his welcome backstage. We did manage to have some hilarious conversations about party liquor, calcium, rock ‘n’ roll, prison and then we ended with some insight on his self production of his music and advice for up and coming musicians. I was kinda kicking myself for not saving time for more info on upcoming releases and Squidbilles, so the future remains a bit unknown. Until then, watch my interview with the King of Country Western Troubadours. Then catch him on tour this month and next.

www.unknownhinson.com

Motörhead practices familiar sorcery on “Bad Magic”

Leave a reply

For 40 years, Motörhead has been setting rock ‘n’ roll standards and weathering heavy metal fads thanks to its no-nonsense approach to hard rock. Lead by bassist and gravelly-voiced vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, this British band has been incredibly influential not only to the rock bands of the ’70s, ’80s and beyond, but also to the persona of WWE Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative Triple H. With Bad Magic, the band’s 22nd studio album, things are just as they’ve always been, which is exactly how Motörhead fans want them to be.

Standout tracks include “The Devil”, featuring Queen‘s Brian May on guitar, and “Sympathy for the Devil,” a gritty cover of The Rolling Stones‘ classic. But Satan isn’t the only subject matter on Bad Magic, though evil does seem to prevail throughout the album. The band kicks things into full throttle with “Victory or Die,” which sets a supercharged pace for the next 40 minutes or so. “Thunder & Lightning” keeps things revved up as Lemmy growls about the pros (“you get more pussy”) and cons (“life on the road isn’t easy”) of being a rockstar. Driven by the drumming of Mikkey Dee and a scorching guitar solo by Phil Campbell, “Shoot Out All of Your Lights” gallops across the fire and brimstone Motörhead has come to call home.

If there is a theme to be found on Bad Magic, it is one of self empowerment and standing up for what you believe in even when faced with opposition and adversity. With “Electricity” and “Evil Eye,” these messages are delivered with Motörhead’s classic aggression. On “Till the End,” however, we get that rare Motörhead ballad that emerges about once every album or so to convey a similar “don’t tell me what to do” message in a slightly more melodic manner. Throw in some small doses of paranoia and you have a Motörhead album like any other. After four decades of rocking on its own terms, there’s no reason for this band to start practicing any new sort of magic anyway.

www.imotorhead.com

Carolina Rebellion gets a dose of Stryknyn in his first View from the Pit

Leave a reply

Photo by Stryknyn.

I guess I should start out by introducing myself and giving a brief mission statement for View from the Pit. In wrestling rings I am known as Stryknyn. Concertgoers in Atlanta and surrounding areas know me simply as that shirtless guy tearing up the pit. I started going to concerts when I was 14 and have always enjoyed the aggressive release of moshing. More than 15 years later I still love the aggressive release of moshing. For me, concerts aren’t just about the music being played on stage. They are also largely about the passion, interaction and enjoyment of the audience. One day it dawned on me whilst reading a concert review of a show I had attended that the critics reviewing these shows don’t connect with the performance the way the rest of the audience does. That being said, I am not here to criticize a band’s performance. I’m just some jackhole wanting to have a good time. I want to give reviews from the perspective of those of us the band is actually trying to please, from my perspective, my View from the Pit!

For my first edition of View from the Pit, I was lucky enough to travel to Concord, N.C. for the sold out Carolina Rebellion at the Rock City Campgrounds at Charlotte Motor Speedway May 2 and 3. I’ve been to music festivals before, but this was a slightly different format than I was used to, so I was excited. The music was spread over four stages at each end of the park: The Monster Energy Carolina Stage, ReverbNation Stage, the Monster Energy Rebellion Stage and the Jägermeister Stage. As soon as the gates opened, people ran to the merch booths or the different stages to take their spots. The bands that seemed to have the biggest buzz for day one were Papa Roach, Motionless In White, Sammy Hagar, Chevelle, Cheap Trick and Korn, with many people highly anticipating the performance of Marilyn Manson, who had never before graced a Carolina Rebellion stage.

Photo by Crystal Wernett.

My show menu started later in the afternoon with Motionless In White on the Jägermeister Stage. A metalcore band out of Pittsburgh with heavy goth overtones, the band got the crowd jumping by opening with “Unstoppable” from the recent Reincarnate album. It was an odd choice to open with, but the crowd was rabid and the moshers went to war. The pit started immediately, quickly creating a cloud of dust as the pit area was dirt and gravel. There was a healthy amount of moshers and crowd surfers, and everyone followed good pit etiquette; those who fell were picked up, respect was shown to the girls in the pit and, best of all, there were no pit bullies. Motionless’ set was close to 40 minutes, closing with “Devil’s Night,” a fan favorite that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Motionless killed its set and the crowd’s adrenaline flowing.

From there I ventured to the Carolina Stage where Papa Roach was already performing. (With this festival’s format, if I caught all of one set I’d miss the first couple songs of the next band’s set on a different stage.) So, I had to carefully plot who I wanted to see and how badly I wanted to see them. That being said, Papa Roach’s set was mostly a “best of” list including “Scars,” “Between Angels and Insects” and “Last Resort”. I headed straight for the mosh pit, which was about fifteen strong. We went about two or three song with a good jumping and moshing combo before the pit bully entered! This guy, who was about 6’2″ and 240 pounds, came in swinging elbows down and kicking. (Author’s note: A pit bully is a jackass that goes into a mosh pit with the intentions of causing bodily harm to unsuspecting persons.)

After watching this guy plow through several people with no regard for their safety, I decided to deal with the problem. He charged toward me and I scooped him up with a fireman’s carry. I then lifted him over my head and dropped him face down in the gravel. Exit pit bully, never to return. Papa Roach finished up and I was off all the way across to the Rebellion Stage for Marilyn Manson!

Photo by J. Ann Dowis.

It was obvious that the majority of the first day’s crowd was there for Manson, as about 60 percent of the entire festival’s populous gathered in front of the Rebellion Stage. Manson made a grand entrance as always a lot of smoke and lighting starting with “Deep Six” from The Pale Emperor. The song got the crowd hopping and the heads banging, but didn’t get a massive pop as I don’t think the majority of the crowd was familiar with it. Quite the opposite effect for the next few songs, “Disposable Teens,” “mOBSCENE,” “Tourniquet,” and, of course, “Sweet Dreams”. The audience jumped, head-banged, and sang along. There were a few small mosh pits but more crowd surfers. As the set rolled on with hits like “The Dope Show,” Manson’s voice cut out from time to time. I wasn’t sure if it was him or the equipment, but it became apparent that he was getting frustrated. The end of his set left persons with no prior Manson experience scratching their heads. They closed with “The Beautiful People” Manson came off stage and went up to the barricade allowing audience members to sing along with him. When the song was over, he got back on stage and left(?)! If you are a Manson veteran like me, then you know he doesn’t say “Goodnight,” rarely takes a bow and never, ever says, “This is our last song.” Unfortunately, those not wise to his act were left with a sour taste in their mouths.

Korn was next on the Carolina Stage, but most of the festival’s population, including myself, called it a day. Additional first-day flavor was added by the Rock N’ Roll Chef Chris Santos, who was hosting an eat and greet featuring burgers and ribs glazed in his famous Jägermeister sauce. Good whatever God you believe in, this food was delicious and highly recommended!

Day One Scorecard
Pits I was in: 4
Moshers: More than 50
Crowd surfers: More than 60
Pit bullies: 1

Photo by Stryknyn.

Day two was sadly hotter than day one. The buzz bands for the day were Slayer, Slash, Godsmack, In This Moment and, of course, Slipknot. My day started at the Rebellion Stage with the Butcher Babies, a metal band out of Los Angeles fronted by two gorgeous ladies who are very proficient at working a crowd. I honestly don’t think the majority of the audience knew their songs, but all the songs in their 35-minute set were fast tempo and heavy, plus the eye candy factor is undeniable. The ladies, like pied pipers of metal, instructed the crowd and the audience responded enthusiastically. When they said bounce, we bounced. When they said mosh, we moshed. When the surf was up, the surfers went up by the dozens. It’s safe to say that the Butcher Babies made some new fans while also pleasing established fans.

Public Service Announcement

Crowd surfing carries a 200-pound weight limit. So, big guys (myself included as I weigh 221 pounds) keep your asses on the ground! It’s not fair trying to make 16-year-old girls carry your big asses.

Photo by Stryknyn.

Next on my menu was Breaking Benjamin on the same stage. Having just gotten back together, the band was full of energy, and so was the crowd. The set was mostly just a list of their radio hits such as “So Cold,” “I Will Not Bow,” and “Firefly,” and denoted more jumping and singing than moshing. The crowd surfers were in full effect for most of the set. Breaking Benjamin got a surprisingly big crowd pop for “Polyamorous” and closed out with “Diary of Jane”. Then I had to haul ass to the Carolina Stage to not miss too much of the one and only Slash!

I’m not going to lie, I am not at all familiar with Slash’s original songs. I just wanted to hear this guitar legend play. And no matter what he is singing, Slash’s singer Myles Kennedy has an immaculate voice. There wasn’t a lot of movement in the crowd for this set. We were all just soaking it in. The only songs that I knew were the Guns N’ Roses hits “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” which all sounded amazing! After Slash finished up, I waited around in front of the Carolina Stage for Godsmack.

Godsmack started its set with a song that I was unfamiliar with. The crowd, however, was in a frenzy. The pit opened up when the band started its second song. Though there weren’t as many moshers as other pits that day, but this was a harder-hitting pit. The set rolled through hits such as “Keep Away,” “Voodoo” and “Cryin’ Like a Bitch,” then switched gears to a drum battle between the band’s drummer Tommy Stewart and front man Sully Erna, then played a medley of snippets from classic rock songs like “We Will Rock You,” “Back in Black” and “Walk this Way”. The band closed its set with hits “Whatever” and “I Stand Alone” before which Sully demanded the pit open up more. During “I Stand Alone” the mosh pit was an absolute war zone, with more moshers than the whole set combined. As soon as Godsmack left the stage it was a mass exodus to the Rebellion Stage for Slipknot.

Photo by Stryknyn.

I got to the Rebellion Stage with Slipknot already in progress. Slipknot has never been anything less than a visual spectacle if no other reason than there are nine members wearing full head masks. The set was a good mixture of older songs like “Wait and Bleed” and brand new ones like “The Devil in I”. There were two very large mosh pits full of people who were obviously running on fumes, as well as a decent amount of crowd surfers. The rest of the audience was either singing along or just watching the spectacle. There is always a lot going on while Slipknot is on stage as the band never shies away on a big production. There is no shortage of pyro, smoke and lighting tricks, so one can easily just find oneself just standing still and staring at the stage. Slipknot front man Corey Taylor told everyone to crouch down and simultaneously jump up in the air during “Spit it Out,” which is a very cool visual. The band finished up with a two-song encore of “Sic” and “Surfacing” drawing the sold out festival to a climactic conclusion.

Carolina Rebellion was a great experience. I left exhausted and sunburned, but it was so worth it. If you dont want to get hit, stay the fuck out the pit!

Day Two Scorecard
Pits I was in: 3
Moshers: More than 40
Crowd surfers: More than 60
Pit bullies: 0

“Amaluna” celebrates womanhood through athletic artistry and music

Leave a reply

Miranda’s water bowl performance symbolizes her transition into womanhood.

Female performers are often central to the stories being told at Cirque du Soleil shows. But they have never been more celebrated than they are in Amaluna, which premiered in 2012 and features a cast of 70 percent women, with an entirely female band. A coming-of-age story told through music, dance, juggling, acrobatics and other amazing athletic performances, Amaluna follows Miranda as she not only begins her transformation into womanhood, but encounters her first male romantic interest when Romeo’s ship crashes on her island during a storm. Her transition is made complete during a spectacular performance in an enormous water bowl under the watchful eye of the Moon Goddess (and Romeo, who eventually can’t help but join her in the water). But there are many other important steps in Miranda’s growing process, which is a more tangible narrative than most Cirque shows told through some of Cirque’s most interesting acts to date. Rowenna Dunn, who has been Cirque’s touring publicist for eight years, tells Wrestling with Pop Culture what inspired Amaluna and where some of its more interesting acts were discovered.

I got to see the show during its opening weekend in Atlanta and noticed that it is a largely female cast with an entirely female band. Why was the decision made to do such a female-centric Cirque du Soleil show?

This is actually the 33rd production we have produced, and Cirque celebrated its 30th anniversary in January of this year, which was a pretty big milestone for us. Every time they create a show they try to come up with something different and something new for our existing fans as well as for our new fans. We’re changing with the times and keeping up to date with technology and things like that, so our shows that have been produced in the last couple of years are obviously much different than the show that were produced years ago. When the idea came up for this show, Guy Laliberté, our founder and owner, decided it was about time to really showcase women, their strengths, their acrobatic skill and their virtuosity. Traditionally with all of Cirque’s show, the ratio of the cast was about 70-80 percent male to 20-30 percent female. That wasn’t necessarily a conscious effort, that was just the way it fell. When this show came about, a conscious effort was made to really seek out these amazing female athletes, acrobats and artists to create the show. Similarly for the band, it’s the first time we’ve had a 100 percent female band.

The central story is a coming of age for Miranda as she becomes a woman.

Part of creating this show with a bit of a different twist and an emphasis on showcasing the strength, beauty and grace of women, we brought in Diane Paulus, who is a Broadway director and the artistic director of the American Repertory Theater at Harvard. She was brought in to bring a bit stronger narrative and more theatrical elements to the show. A lot of our shows aren’t necessarily telling a linear story, but in this case it was decided to have a very strong storyline. She drew upon a lot of classical influences, Greek and Norse mythology, a bit of a spin on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. That’s why you see Cali the lizard and Prospera, a female spin on Prospero. Diane has directed a lot of opera, so she drew from that background as she was creating this show, as well. It’s a linear storyline with a beginning, middle and end, but it is still very whimsical and open for interpretation.

You mentioned Cali, the male lizard character who seems to be Miranda’s protector. But he becomes a bit overprotective when she meets Romeo. Cali’s performance really stood out, even though this show is so female-centric.

Viktor Kee portrays Cali, Miranda’s overprotective pet, in Cirque du Soleil’s “Amaluna”.

He’s been her only pet and only companion on the island, so he sees Romeo as a threat when he arrives on the island. He’s been with the company for about 15 years and he created the role of the juggler on one of our other shows, Dralion, and has worked for a few different productions. That role was created with him in mind, so he was approached directly to say, “Hey. We’re creating this show and we have this storyline we’re putting together. We have this cast of amazing acts. How would you feel about creating this character?” With a lot of other disciplines and a lot of other theatrical performances, you might have somebody who would just do their main act on the stage and they’re not really doing much else throughout the show. But in this case Viktor Kee, who plays Cali, was really integral in creating that role and very invested in creating that role. You see him on stage for about 90 percent of the show. He’s pretty much on stage or in the audience or somewhere visible, in character, even when he’s not the main act.

The other act that was interesting to me was Lara Jacobs Rigolo and her intense stick balancing routine.

That’s our Balance Goddess. It’s demonstrating balance when Romeo is falling in love and trying to see if it’s going to work. That act was actually performed just as it was brought to us. We have a few different ways that we cast for our shows. We go out and find existing acts and existing pieces that we think would fit well into one of our existing shows, or maybe we have a bank of candidates we might draw upon at a later stage or use to replace an existing act. With that particular act, Lara’s father created it. So I guess he woke up one day and thought that was a good idea to start balancing those palm fronds one upon another and created a very beautiful and very lyrical act. So he was contacted by Cirque du Soleil to say, “Do you know any girls who know the act or can audition for it?” He said, “Yes. My daughter can learn.” She hadn’t actually done it before that point; he was the only one in the world that could do that particular act. So he flew to Montreal from Switzerland. She was actually in New York at the time, so she also flew to Montreal. He had about two or three days to teach it to her. He also taught it to a few other people who were auditioning for the act. She still had to audition and eventually won the role. I think there are two or three other people in the world who know it now. We actually have another girl who works in rotation and comes in and performs the act sometimes. He was charged with creating the act and maintaining the integrity of it. Cirque du Soleil said, “Wow! That’s beautiful. We want to integrate that into this particular storyline.” Alternatively, we will go to a lot of athletic competitions across Europe and around the world to draw upon the talents and skills and invite people in to create an act either in house or workshopping it together with another group of athletes.

I was actually going to ask how Cirque goes about discovering all the unique talents involved with its shows.

Lara Jacobs Rigolo plays the Balance Goddess in Cirque du Soleil’s “Amaluna”.

They go through days and days and days of views on YouTube, which is obviously the way of the future. But that one was pretty incredible and I know the creative team for this show drew a lot of inspiration from amazing female athletes, artists, acrobats, dancers and performers. So they have people that will send in videos of themselves for casting, but we do castings as well. Usually in the U.S. it’s a few times a year, we might go to Australia once a year, we might show up in a couple of different places across Europe. So it’s a lot of going through videos, seeing what’s trending on social media, seeing what new and different acts are popping up around the world. We’ve been doing this for 30 years and this is the 33rd production we’ve produced, so it’s very important to not just show the same old tricks.

Where can people see Amaluna over the next few weeks?

We’re in Atlanta through Nov. 30 then we head to Miami, which is a nice place to spend the winter months. We’re in Miami until the end of January, then we head to Houston. We have a little bit of a break after that before heading to Europe.

www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/amaluna/default.aspx

New Medicine prescribes a celebratory dose of rock ‘n’ roll with “Breaking the Model”

Leave a reply

Photo by Wade Spencer.

On it’s recently-released second album Breaking the Model, New Medicine offers a dose of rock ‘n’ roll attitude and swagger that is otherwise largely missing from today’s music scene. Celebratory songs like “One Too Many,” “World Class Fuck Up” and “Fire Up the Night” are unapologetic and debauched anthems that remind the listener just how fun rock music can be. After recent dates on the Uproar Festival, a performance at the Aftershock festival and opening for Pop Evil, the band hits the road once again with Halestorm Nov. 11-Dec. 9 before a hometown holiday show in Minneapolis on Dec. 20. First, front man Jake Scherer talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about the new album, Brock Lesnar and more.

You’ve toured with Halestorm previously, including the inaugural Uproar Festival in 2010.

Yeah. We toured with them on Uproar and we did their headlining tour before Uproar. Their first headlining tour ever, we did with them, which was cool. Then we did Uproar with them and we’ve also done Carnival of Madness with them [in 2012]. So we’ve done a ton of shows with them. They actually live in Nashville near us, so we hang all the time. They were in the studio while we were working on our record and we were down there while they were writing. They’re recording their record, like, a mile from our house. We’re just good friends and we’ve toured so much together and grown up in the scene together, so it’s really cool to be back on the road with them.

Have you guys ever done any writing or recording with Halestorm?

They all came to the studio and sang all the backup gang vocals on Breaking the Model, then we played them the record and they were all stoked. Me and Lzzy [Hale] have always talked about writing some stuff together. We actually are going to do some writing together on the bus on this tour and just see what comes out. We’re fans of each other, we respect each other musically and I think vocally she’s incredible. We’ve always talked about it, but it hasn’t officially happened yet. I have a couple of songs in my head that I think she would sound great on. So we’ll see what happens on this tour.

The name of your new album, as well as the attitude that is prevalent from one song to the next, seems to be a sarcastic approach to the current state of rock music. Was that the intention of this record?

Absolutely. You’re totally right. Breaking the Model is a mission statement about us and how we feel like we fit in the scene. We don’t feel like we fit into any scene. We’ve always done our own thing and on this record we really did our own thing. We literally made our record with no outside influence aside from ourselves, our fans and our producer. It’s very honest and brave. We were just making this straight-up rock record, not making it to format to any radio station or anything. It’s just for us and the fans. At this point in the music industry there are just formulas that are like beating a dead horse. We’re done with the formulaic songs and, “You should write it for this format or this or that.” We’re not interested in that. We wanted to just break all the chains of creative constriction and just make a record that we’re proud of, has attitude and is brave creatively and sonically. I think we came out with a great record.

It’s a lot of fun to listen to. I especially like the electronic elements. Was your producer responsible for all that or is that something you guys planned on adding?

I’ve always been a huge Nine Inch Nails fan, and you hear a lot of electronic stuff in a Rob Zombie record. I like electronic music in general. When we first started recording, I had some ideas and would be like, “It would be cool if we threw a drum machine or a synth part in here.” As we started working with that, it all started growing together with those elements and it also made it feel like it had way more depth to the sound. These days everybody’s got their headphones in. You have this opportunity with all these new sounds you can put on records and the way people listen to music, it’s so high quality and we can add in some sonic things that make it an interesting record without using technology as a crutch. The meat and potatoes are there. It’s a rock band, but we’re using it as a tool to expand the sound.

Right. It’s definitely still a rock record and has an old school rock attitude, especially in the lyrics. It sounds like you guys are having a lot of fun, which is kind of a rare thing in rock music these days.

We don’t want to be one dimensional. This record’s got a lot of depth, it’s got a lot of dimensions to it. There’s something for everybody on this record. Like you said, we tried to have fun with it. We want you to enjoy listening to it. That’s what rock’s about. You don’t want to be formulaic and predictable.

I understand you’re also a wrestling fan.

You know what? I grew up watching wrestling and I wrestled in school. When I was a kid, the University of Minnesota had one of the best wrestling programs in the country. When I was 8, 9 years old, lo and behold, guess who was wrestling for the Gophers but Brock Lesnar. I got to go to this clinic when I was a kid and I met Brock Lesnar before he was a pro wrestler. But he was still huge, he was a heavyweight. I have this picture of him where he’s holding me and my brother up in the palms of his hands with no problem. I always loved seeing The Rock and stuff like that, but meeting Brock Lesnar and then seeing where his career has gone was so cool. I always try to follow all of it as much as possible.

Of course now he’s the WWE World Heavyweight Champion.

Photo by Wade Spencer.

Yeah. It’s funny because he trains a lot in Hamel, which is this small podunk town in Minnesota and he goes to this cafe a lot. There’s a picture of him signed on the wall there. So this little dive breakfast place that I’d go to is where he goes to eat. It’s cool to see. He’s done UFC and he’s done wrestling and he’s won at everything he’s done. When I’m on the road I don’t get to watch it as much, but I try to keep up with it as much as possible.

WWE tends to favor bands similar to yours when it comes to entrance music, pay-per-view theme songs and things like that. Has your music ever been used by WWE for any reason?

No. But we have a song on our new record, “Desire Into Gold,” and that was the inspiration for me when writing it. When I used to wrestle, I would think about that. You’re just pumping yourself up for that one moment and I wrote that song all about that. We’ve been talking to them about letting them license that song because it’s a perfect match for them and it’s an audience we think would enjoy our music.

www.newmedicinerock.com