Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Here at HeadbangHere.net, we just had to get the down low. What are some of your guilty pleasures that one might not expect to find on your ipod? I mean, everyone’s got 'em, so you’re bound to get some great answers! Come take a look, a laugh, and even a listen as a ton of musicians and professionals in the music industry got together for the fun. Is there more cooking up at HeadbangHere.net? Yup. Are we going to plug this question into every interview we do from now on? Yup. Stay tuned…
*In no particular order besides alphabetical order:
Andrew Apanov (Ultimate-Guitar) – “I listen mostly to electronic music, since I happen to be a drum&bass (it's also known as jungle) DJ. Have been doing it for over 5 years now, and although I'm an editor-in-chief of one of the biggest guitar websites - that's my music =) My iPod's library consists mostly of musical podcasts and DJ mixes, though I have quite a few artists whose releases are constant residents in my playlist. First of all these are the likes of Break, Nympho, Spectrasoul, Icicle - techy, rolling, minimal and melancholic, though very funky sound. When listened on a proper sound system (wherever at home or on a dancefloor), tracks of these guys get under one's skin, seriously. Rarely there is more mainstream stuff like Chase & Status (really happy for the guys, they moved from underground to producing new Rihanna's album now) or Fresh, or Hospital Records' artists.”
Scott Beck (Ventana) – “Aqua – they’re a fun band that puts me in a good mood, plus dancing like an idiot to it in clubs is always entertaining. Also 9 out of 10 European metal bands seem to quote Aqua as an influence, ha!”
Ben Bruce (Asking Alexandria) – “My absolute guiltiest pleasure, I don't like to admit, would have to be the Moulin Rouge soundtrack! I am a huge Elton John fan, which again is a very guilty pleasure, and I thought the Moulin Rouge version of Your song was really something great. Incorporating the spoken word, opera, and full orchestras, not to mention Ewan McGregor has a great voice, it makes for a very fun and cheesy sing along whilst on tour with the lads!!!”
Re: Well, Christina Aguilera is a babe, and you can’t deny the piano man :-) This one’s for you, Ben!
David Bryan (Imperial Vengeance) – “Guilty Pleasures: There are many. Too Many. I have whittled it down to my personal top three though. Pet Shop Boys - "Its a Sin" (largely because of the production that the guys always have with their records, but you have to admit, they DO write a good song). Kate Bush- "Wuthering Heights" (Because she is the original High Priestess of Weird). The Bangles - "Hazy Shade of Winter" (A great "take" on a song, and just HOW delicious are the 4 ladies in question?)"
Liz Ciavarella-Brenner (Earsplit PR) – “A bunch of Cher records sit snuggly between Cathedral and Christ Inversion though I don't really consider it a guilty pleasure. I've been pretty vocal about my obsession with Cher for a lot of years now. Her early stuff -- "Dark Lady," "Half Breed," "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" etc. -- some of it borders on straight up gypsy music. Cher slays ;)”
Dave Davidson (Revocation) – “One of my guiltiest pleasures would probably be Fall Out Boy. Not really a fan of their older stuff but the last couple of records they've put out were awesome. Phil's guilty pleasure is probably Boys 2 Men, he will straight up sing that CD from front to back when he’s drunk and it always brings the laughs. Anthony is also into a lot of pop, right now I think he's on a Lady Gaga kick.”
Re: Alright, I can dig me some Lady Gaga.
Vince Edwards (Metal Blade) – “Bayside and 311 for me! Chad Sexton is one of the best drummers around and Bayside just writes good rock songs that don’t fit neatly into any “scene”.
Dan Fox (Ventana) – “Katy Perry”
Alex Gilbert (All About The Music/Ultimate-Guitar/SMNnews/Killer Tours) – “Linkin Park and Paramore!! Everything each respective band has put out I love – even the love ballads put a huge smile on my face! They’re both soooo catchy. Chester Bennington is one of my favorite singers/lyricists + Hayley Williams is a babe! Another would be real rap like Nas, Jadakiss, Styles P, Planet Asia, etc. – the list goes on for awhile… In a way, rap is the real hardcore, where they are talking about real everyday life and death situations, not just random shit talking, and no chugga chugga choo choos!”
Dana Gordon (Independent Music Media/Gibson USA) – “CCR....Creedence Clearwater Revival... John Fogerty was an amazing songwriter and even today CCR songs are a staple on American radio....for me whenever I hear CCR it brings me back to a time when I was just a kid and reminds me of a special person and time.”
Josh Grabelle (Trustkill/Killer Tours) – “Phil Collins - just undeniably catchy. Great songwriter! Adam & The Ants - one of my favs from when I was a kid. Meatloaf - can't deny the "loaf". The Format - it's like pop meets folk music. So good.”
Aidan Gray (SMNnews) - "I have to be honest, I love me a bit of Britrock. From Oasis to Kasabian to some of the more dance fueled singles that chart in the UK. Some of those tunes could make an absolutely meaty metal track. Nothing like a little drop-D and a burst of larynx to turn a top pop tune into a mosh worthy anthem."
Anthony Guzzardo (Earache Records) – “I have over 5 gigs of wrestling theme songs.”
Matt Haines (Killer Tours/All About The Music) – “People don't know that I listen to Stevie Ray Vaughn and when they see it, they freak out. It's awesome to see people's reactions and how much I know all the lyrics and guitar riffs.”
Rebecca Hollcraft (Becca) – “Josh Groban is one of the guiltiest pleasures on my iPod. His voice is so incredibly soothing and the songs have the most beautiful melodies...I a sucker for that. I also have tons of karaoke songs from various pop stars (Kelly Clarkson) and musicals (Wicked) so I can always expand my range!”
Nicole Hollis-Vitale (Deathwish Inc.) – “Hmmm Guilty pleasures... I feel like most the music I listen to are guilty pleasures, but... I love Mariah Carey. I have since I was a little girl, and even though I know she is batshit crazy and has half the voice she did when she first started out, I'm still a fan! I also can't stop listening to the new The Dream record. I have a thing for R&B. Most of the new stuff is kind of wack but this record is awesome, I also love Ne-Yo, Maxwell, John Legend and Mayer Hawthorne. I don’t necessarily think I should be guilty of those things, but my ipod on shuffle goes from Hatebreed, to baby making music, to indie rock and then Obituary. I'm all over the place I suppose!”
Sasha Horn (Metal Review/Novembers Doom/These Are They) – “There's a couple of things that I listen to that would be considered severely left of Metal. But keep in mind that listening to things far removed from Metal, makes Metal sound more Metal. Enjoy. Brand New - Daisy: Soooo totally emo-rock, with the emphasis on emotional. Granted, it's a horrible band name that can't be taken seriously beyond album number one, but don't let that sway you from indulging in this band of four that are extremely well-versed in the art of Fugazi meets Fall Out Boy (description in a nutshell). Translated, this means: Playground pop for the truly tormented soul. Carolina Liar - Coming To Terms: Now this is an interesting pleasure, because I'm pretty sure they're pro-God, which would totally destroy my Metal street-cred had I not owned a Metal Identification card for so damn long, but the fact that they're not force-feeding me psalms from the bad book means that I won't allow their denomination to tarnish their pristine craftsmanship in fusing the sounds of U2, The Killers, and Shiny Toy Guns (another guilty pleasure). I'm a sucker for a good hook, and CL are obviously suckers for writing them, 'cuz they're all over the place. Guitar-driven power pop at it's finest. Robyn - s/t: Robyn is a Swedish chick that came up in the industry about twelve years ago on the dirty wings of a major label and wrote the kinds of songs that were mapped out in conference rooms: Processed and disinfected. Whether the label dropped her or she opted to get the hell out, I'm not sure, but she fell mostly out of sight of the eyes of the states for over a decade (even though her popularity sustained overseas), only to resurface crafting the kinds of tunes that she said she wanted to make all along, but weren't fully embraced in the arms of the corporate. Electro-sugar pop akin to Britney Spears, but a little dirtier and a tad bit more street; she could stomp Spears in a heartbeat. I love the production on this album. Santogold - s/t: Let it be known that in my mind I have a love affair with Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and since she probably wouldn't give me the time of day, I lower my standards just a tiny, little bit and ask Santigold instead (she's since changed her stage name from Santogold to Santigold), and then she reads that last bit, backhands me in the cheek, and force-feeds me a watch. Yeah, she's got attitude like that. This lady is a veteran of the industry, having co-produced and written many songs for brand names and garnered stellar results. Now, she heads out on her own to throw out tough, danceable art-rock/electro-dub-punk. She's a leader in her chosen medium. I've read that she won't reveal her age, but she's upwards of mid-thirties, I think. And I like that. She shows the lollipop-lickers how it's done. Booyah.”
Emmanuel Jessua (Hypno5e/ABGOATR) – “Well, I hear a lot of classical music and latin music like Malher, Arvo Part, Tito Puentes, and Café Tacuba. I’ve grown up in South America and lived over there for 12 years. For classical music, all my influence for composition comes from classical music.”
Micah Kinard (Oh, Sleeper/Violent Lighting/Steadfast Modesty Clothing) – “My guilty pleasure band is Flickerstick. Haha, though that is not necessarily the most random thing you will find on my iPod. I also LOVE Fiona Apple and Sarah McLachlan, but I rep them proudly. haha.”
Gabriel Luis (Fallen Martyr) – “Muse and Radiohead. 2 amazing bands. What I like about them the most is that they are progressive music; they do and sound how they want. And that’s a pretty metal thing to do. Also, Radiohead is pretty strange. Strange bands are always awesome. 3 6 Mafia and Project Pat. I like rap, and sometimes I gotta listen to something else other then metal. I also find that it’s better to write new material when listening to music that is very unlike the style you play. You can pick up inspiration from anything if you really just have an open mind.”
Nick Miller (A Skylit Drive) – “I definitely have some guilty pleasures on the pod. I've been rockin’ some Natalie Imbruglia and Sarah McLaughlin. They both have some beautiful songs that are so well written. Definitely some song-writing inspiration. Plus Natalie Imbruglia is smokin’.”
Ryan Minic (Ryan’s Rock Show) – “This is going to kill any credibility--if any--that I have, but sometimes I'll throw on Justin Timberlake. Mainly because it gets girls horny, and I can’t hate on a dude whose music gets me laid.”
Natalie Perez (AMP Magazine/Hails And Horns/Killer Tours/The Examiner/etc…) – “Some of my quality pleasures includes Backstreet Boys, Boys Like Girls, Duran Duran, Fall Out Boy, Gavin DeGraw, Keane, Kings of Leon, My Chemical Romance, Panic at the Disco, Simply Red, Switchfoot, Tears for Fears, Three Days Grace, Tokio Hotel. Why do I choose these acts? Because they are like children to me; they grew up with me throughout my life and have helped me through the hard times and the good times and continue to burn within me and forever will until the day I die.”
Rich Nelson (Earache Records) – "As a nostalgic nod to my nu-metal phase you will find Limp Bizkit and Korn on my iPod. Certainly guilty pleasures as I've been exposed to much better music since my teenage years. Every now and then I'll get the urge to blast songs from Significant Other and Follow The Leader, though the Caffeine pants and UFOs stay hidden in the closet (you never know when you might need a quick escape via parachute!)"
Re: Excellent delivery my friend! Now I know y’all be lovin’ this shit right here, L, I, M, P, BIZKIT is right here:
Nate Newton (Doomriders) – “I can’t speak for the other guys but for me it would definitely be 80's pop. Maybe its nostalgia from having grown up in the 80's, but that era of music had a profound influence on me. Duran Duran's "The Chauffer", the Go Go's "Head Over Heals", Missing Persons "Noticeable Ones", Stray Cats "18 Miles To Memphis", Scandal "Goodbye To You", INXS "Mystify", General Public "tenderness", i could go on for hours...... Why? Because they were GREAT cohesive songs with great hooks. Just like all of my favorite punk/hardcore bands... Bad Brains, Black Flag, The Misfits - they all had catchy songs with hooks. This is something that I work very hard to put into Doomriders. I’m not interested in piling riffs on top of each other. I'm not interested in writing the HEAVIEST song of all time. Music like that doesn't stick with you. I want to write the song that you sing to yourself to get you through a shitty day at work and honestly... I learned that from growing up in the 80's and listening to pop music.”
Re: Hehe, check out “The Chauffer” live, and make sure you check out the song covered by The Deftones. That version is badass, too!
Ralphy Pinkser (Skateboard) – “Well to start my iPod only has around 4 out of 8 gigs of music (mainly metal) but I guess the left of center albums I have on it, right now, are "The Offspring- Greatest Hits", "The Smiths- The Best of the Smiths" and "The Smiths- Strangeways, Here We Come"... Regarding The Offspring, I've been a fan for many years (since 1997 or 1998) and got the album the year it came out. As for The Smiths, a bunch of my friends from college were really into them and after hearing them tons of times on my friend's playlists and many drunken sing-a-longs I decided to get these albums. Now if you asked me about CDs I owned you would get more embarrassing answers... Guilty pleasures (which I haven't listened to in many years) include: Creed - Human Clay - I'm a 90s kid... I loved this band and after 10 years I'm still telling myself "I still need to buy My Own Prison", hahaha. Linkin Park- everything from Hybrid Theory to Meteora... I loved this band back in high school and freshman year of college and purchased their prime albums.”
Re: Duly on Linkin Park. You and me both, brother! Here’s the catchy heartwarmer called “The New Divide”.
Cody Plucker (All Metal Resource/Killer Tours) – “Lady Gaga - Best pop star since Michael Jackson in my opinion. Rihanna - One of the best voices in R&B and pop. Creed - My Own Prison as with several songs off of their later albums are severely underrated and shit on by rock purists and elitists.”
Al Ravage (Ravage) – “It's not on my ipod, but recently while touring in California I picked up a cassette tape of the La Bamba soundtrack. It was the first 'rock" album I owned when I was a kid - I got it for Christmas when I was 8 years old, I think. And I annoyed everyone else in the van by blasting it. I still like the Los Lobos versions of the Ritchie Valens songs and the Buddy Holly song that is on there.
I also like the Orion The Hunter album by Barry Goudreau and some of the guys from Boston. We used to listen to that a lot on roadtrips despite its schlocky lyrics it is a really fun album, and we have been listening to an old cassette tape of the Top Gun Soundtrack a lot in the van ad nausea - everyone in the band can't get enough of that.”
Etan Rosenbloom (MetalSucks/Cerebral Metalhead) – "I don't believe in the concept of the guilty pleasure. Music taste is way too personal and uncontrollabe to necessitate defense or embarrassment. That said, I can't get the new Kelly Clarkson album, All I Ever Wanted, out of my head. I'm willing to give Adam Lambert a chance, but since he still hasn't released his album yet, Kelly sits high on the throne as the most compelling singer to emerge from American Idol. She's passionate and powerful, tough but vulnerable, and she's got such a classic pop belter's voice but without any of the histrionics that sink so many other pop singers for me. A great singer ain't nothin' without great songs to sing though, and that's where All I Ever Wanted kicks the most ass. There's so much quality songcraft on this fucker. I rock out unapologetically to "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "I Do Not Hook Up." Try as I might, I can't find "Cry" sappy. The title track has a killer Franz Ferdinand groove to it that more pop artists should use. And that's just four of the first five songs. Look, this is a mainstream pop album. There's shlock, a lot of the lyrics suck, and almost everything about "whyyawannabringmedown" is a horrible idea. But pop albums aren't really about the gestalt. They're about songs, and All I Ever Wanted has so many great ones, and Kelly even sells the bad ones."
Brent Schindler (Gwen Stacy) – “I don't think it's necessarily a guilty pleasure, but I have the soundtrack of the musical RENT on my iPod... it’s my favorite musical of all time.”
Amy Sciarretto (Roadrunner Records/Noisecreep) – “I’d have to say Jesse McCartney. It just feels good.”
Austin Spence (Embryonic Devourment) – “There's an artist I have on my iPod called MATISYAHU that's pretty odd for my tastes I guess. He is a Jewish rabbi that sings reggae style dance hall music. I just dig the sound and its great for throwin on the iPod while you're getting stoned. There's also another artist I listen too which Colin of the band VILE showed me called ZAP MAMA. This chick plays all the big weed fests and has the most interesting African music....open minded metalheads rule!”
John Strachan (The Funeral Pyre/Prosthetic Records) – “Morrissey/The Smiths – I have pretty much everything that’s been released by this man. Some of the best songs ever written and one of my favorite lyricists of all time. CSS – Amazing pop band. Just good tunes that are pretty fun to listen to. Vicente Fernandez – the godfather of mariachi. Unbelievable songs and definitely the first of his kind.”
Leticia Supple (Metal As Fuck) – “Things people would never expect to see on my iPod are: Hip hop would be the first one. I'm a big fan of international acts like Roots Manuva, and Nas, and underground local acts like Hektic, The Link, D.R.U.Z.E, Nikolai, Mase & Mattic, and others like old Crossbred Mongrels. I chose this first off the bat because I recently admitted on our site, in a forum, that I happen to get into some British hip hop in particular. It was met with an astounded "hip hop????" followed by total silence. Eeeek. Even though I'm pretty well renowned for liking my metal brutal, heavy, and evil as fuck, there's just something about hip hop. Of course, some acts are a bit like Aussie grindcore as well, lyrically, and some horrorcore (which The Link does extremely well, and this dude is a metalhead too by-the-bye) is brilliant. Whoopee and jug band music (esp from the '70s) would be the second one. The one band I'm thinking of is Captain Matchbox; it's a bit of everything, all acoustic, often fast as hell; it's a bit loungey, a bit jazzy, and sometimes it's perfect. I've been assured that if you're stoned it's even better... Not surprisingly, really, given that's how all of it was composed and recorded! The third isn't music at all. It's language programs. I've got Swedish, Croatian, German, French, and Finnish on my iPod at the moment, but the only language I'm really focusing on - mainly because as an editor I'm a total words geek - is Finnish. It's a beautiful, lyrical, and incredibly complicated language, and the technicalities of it astound me. There are 15 cases!! OMG. But the only words that have so far stuck in my head are personal pronouns, beer (olut/kalja), thank you (kiitos), swear words (like vittu), and random things like 'this is a table' (!). Some of my writers and photographers, though, are Finnish, so that helps ;)”
Kevin Talley (Daath/professional studio drummer) – “Abba!! In addition to Queen, they were extremely ahead of their time. They were just more subtle about it than Queen so the average person can't really tell they are over the top. Abba's phrasing, progressions, arrangements, and over all songs are incredible. Yes, a ton of cheddar is in there but that's all for the better. I love the cheese!! haha. It's so freakin awesome to crank Abba. If you don't know about it, you are missin' out!!!”
Richard Thomas a.k.a. Stitch (Mushroomhead/Ventana) – “Duran Duran - Greatest Hits. Anytime my band members see that in there I get busted on, I grew up always seeing their videos on MTV {hungry like the wolf was on every 10 minutes} it was always my favorite as a kid. I honestly think they are a great band and wrote some amazingly catchy songs, just don't hear that kinda song writing anymore.”
Mark Vieira (Prosthetic Records) – “There’s nothing really that weird in my ipod. I come from a pretty diverse musical background, and my ipod reflects that I feel. I mean, as “Prosthetic Records’ guy” I guess people might be surprised to find I have most of Oasis’ and Ryan Adams’ stuff, but I don’t know if that’s really that surprising at all.”
Jon Wilkes (The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus/Drummer vs. DJ) - "I have a huge guilty pleasure hidden in my iPod and she is known as Bjork. I listen to all of her records on a weekly basis. She inspires me!!!"
Re: Jon, I have a guilty pleasure for your song “Misery Loves Its Company”. Why did you guys make it so catchy?
Jesse Zuretti (The Binary Code) – “Guilty pleasures...you know, I don't think I'm ashamed of I to. Even the stuff people think is lame. However, I'm always teased for having such a huge admiration for Seal. I absolutely LOVE Seal. Seal has a huge influence on my guitar writing, oddly enough. My girlfriend (even her MOM!) makes fun of me for loving Seal. I think "Prayer for the Dying" is such an awesome song. I listen to it all the time. When I burn CDs for my girlfriend, I sneak it on there once in a while. I'll get a text message later on, with something to the tune of, "SEAL!!?? SEAL!!?? WHY?!" in it. I think the guitar & synth pad arrangements he writes are simply amazing.”
Re: Jesse, yeah bro, WHY?!
So now that you have some laughs in, some artists to now (possibly) check out, what are your guilty pleasures? Wanna comment on someone else’s guilty pleasures? Leave us some comment love!!