force multiplied bares all with rockality Sacramento’s Local Music Review tcnm issue 11 ● free dino vidovich cast the clarity and s ages the pack is coming FIND THE HOTTEST LOCAL SHOWS WITH THE TCNM FLYER GALLERY! get ready for terra ferno’s comeback the denver j band ep: a real good book
A Mile Till Dawn, Cast the Clarity, Terra Ferno, Force Multiplied Bares All with Rockality, Tell The Wolves, ForNever, The Denver J Band, TCNM Out of Bounds: The Scales, Ask Hellen Back, That Metal Chick, Featured Poetry, Sacramento Reverb Charts, Sept/Oct Flyer Gallery.
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Transcript
force multiplied bares all with rockality
S a c ra m e n t o ’s L o c a l M u s i c R e v i e w tcnm issue 11 ● free
dino vidovich cast the clarity and sages
the pack is coming
FIND THE HOTTEST LOCAL SHOWS WITH THE TCNM FLYER GALLERY!
get ready for terra ferno’s comeback
the denver j band ep: a real good book
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Front Page: A Mile Till Dawn Other Photo Credits: Stefan Adcock, Tell The Wolves, Force Multiplied, The Scales, The Denver J Band Marketing / Advertising Director: Shawn Ernst Editor/Graphic Design: M Montez Contributors: Johnna Dean, Shawn Ernst, M Montez, Stefan Adcock, Tonya Whitworth
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M eet the future of hard edged rock. A Mile Till Dawn combines high energy, fast paced and driven music with highly affluent technical skill and knowledge. Judging from songs like Saviors, Surrender and Isolation, you would think this
five piece band is comprised of long-standing veterans of the rock genre that have invented a fresh spin on what we know and love, but the truth is even more surprising. Don’t underestimate the power behind their youthful appearance because you just might get blown away. Get ready for a new day of music with: A Mile Till Dawn.
AMTD Members:
Kate Robinette (Vocals), Colyn Bowman (Guitar), Daren Wheeler (Guitar), Gabe Cheng (Bass) and Shawn Council (Drums).
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What brought you guys together to form A Mile
Till Dawn?
Colyn: It started with the band program at Rock Inc. Zac Diebels started piecing us together.
Shawn: Basically a long time ago in a galaxy far away, I joined the Rock Inc. band program. About two weeks into it, Colyn and I became the original mem-bers of A Mile Till Dawn.
After maybe a year or two in the program, we had a couple of member changes which led us to Daren joining, which was fantastic, and a third guitarist that we had rotating bass between Colyn and Daren. When our third guitarist left the program, we needed a bassist because we had our instructor playing bass or our guitarists rotating out practicing within the band program. We ended up doing a benefit for Chi Cheng, the bassist for Deftones and Chi Cheng’s son, our bassist Gabe, came by a week after the benefit show because he was interested in what we were doing. Our instructor sat down with our group and thought we would mesh really well and It worked out. It was perfect.
We got the core of the band going at that point but we went through several singers and the band program ended, so we moved to this location, House Of Hits. Slowly, very slowly but surely, we tried to figure out where we were going and what we were doing. We fell through with a bunch of singers. Nothing was working out and Zac Diebels, who ran Rock Inc. got in contact with us to suggest a kick ass singer that was taking private lessons with him. She was really inter-ested in joining a rock band and she was our style and age range, so he tossed Katie’s name our way. He said she was phenomenal and he wanted us to get together with her. Gabe and I played with her twice over a summer and that was right in the period when the band was looking for a new singer. We both told her she should most definitely try out for the band.
Colyn: Kate came into practice with lyrics almost im-mediately and we started working right away. As soon as the pieces came together for the band, we just stared playing shows. We’ve been playing shows since then.
Why did you guys change your original name
from Surrender to A Mile Till Dawn?
Daren: Surrender was generic and boring.
Kate: It doesn’t catch attention.
Colyn: We picked the name, Surrender after a song title.
Daren: When we had that name, we had a different bass player and we didn’t have Katie.
Shawn: We were a very under-developed band when we were Surrender and we were in the process of taking off to play shows in the music scene, so we decided to change it.
Colyn: We were, Mosh Pit Massacre… Sacrifice the Night… Surrender…
Shawn: What people don’t know is when we were Surrender, that was the most recent band name we promoted ourselves as before A Mile Till Dawn but there were a handful of names before that.
Colyn: As soon as we picked up Katie and Gabe...
Daren: That was the final piece, the final set.
Colyn: Yeah, we were done, we wanted to play shows and we wanted to invent the band as a whole set.
Shawn: We kept the music the same but we kept pro-gressing and we put everything into the songs we were creating. We also wanted to be represented by a name we could really own and would catch attention. We did some brain storming and put a lot of thought into what would fit our persona and music.
In February, I watched you guys tear it up on stage at The Assembly. What do you do to pre-
pare for a performance like that one.
Kate: I listen to a lot of pump up music in the car. I listen to everything from really cheesy pop to crazy weird glam rock. I sing a lot and get way into my head about it sometimes, but as soon as I hit the stage, I’m good.
Shawn: I’m almost the polar opposite of that as far as timeline. I’m really calm, cool and collected. I try to underplay it and then it kicks in as I’m setting up my drums. Sometimes I’ll listen to pump up music. I eat a lot of junk food.
Daren: I just kind of sit around and hang out and just wait until we play.
Colyn: We don’t have quirks. If anything, I’d probably grab an energy drink and blast some music around the house before a show.
Shawn: We all just hang out.
Gabe: I gather my thoughts, sort of vacate them from my mind and I just relax.
continued
6 Threat Con Nation Magazine
Has the age factor created an obstacle for you
guys? If so, how have you overcome it?
Daren: Maybe with the image we have, people think we are just a kid’s band at first because we are all under 21.
Colyn: It’s good and bad though because people think we’re just kids and then when they hear us they think ‘Wow! And they’re just kids!’
Kate: Music is what I’ve wanted to do since I was re-ally young, like 5 years old. I’ve always wanted to be a musician and when I hear people say things like, You’re really awesome! You’re really good! I tell them thank you! But sometimes they throw in, ...for your age and It’s like, eh, because I want us to be thought of as really good no matter what age we are.
Shawn: There are a lot of positives associated with the age thing too though. We get to experience a lot of things that revolve around music and we get to learn from older musicians that are friends and men-tors to us. It’s so much fun to get involved in that kind of community, but at the same time, we’re also not looked at as complete equals at times.
Kate: I have to stress that there really are positives. There are people who are our friends in this commu-nity that joke around about us being kids but for the most part, they totally respect us as musicians and as friends. We have formed great relationships with bands like, Once An Empire, The Alex Vincent Band and tons of others.
Daren: We’ve never met a band older than us that has looked down on us.
Shawn: And some of them aren’t even musicians. We meet people who are into online radio, promoters and people who work at venues who have gone out of their way to support us.
Daren: Photographers too.
Shawn: Yeah, and we go to shows just to hang out with these awesome people, which runs us into the issue of not being able to attend 21 and over shows. We were just talking about having to miss the FallRise show because it’s an over 21 show.
Colyn: And all those people we have connected with are going to those shows.
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Kate: I feel band sometimes because we can’t go and represent our band and ourselves and how much we love and respect these people because it’s a 21 and over show but Daren and Colyn are almost 21.
Did any of you have a preconceived idea of how the scene was before stepping into the local mu-
sic community as a band?
Kate: I thought people were going to shun and ignore us because we were so young. I feel so lucky to know all these super cool people and how cool and respectful they have been.
Shawn: I remember as a kid, I listened to rock music like Godsmack and Volbeat growing up and I played drums at that time. I knew I wanted to play drums in a rock band and I knew the style I wanted to play. I had an idea of how rock stars are and what that life-style would be like but it’s nothing like that now. It’s nothing negative or positive but it’s not what I expected growing up. I didn’t go to local shows and I didn’t know about local music, so I didn’t have the typical personal experience to the scene like other musicians.
Who have been some of your mentors?
Shawn: I love everyone in the community that I have met. Everyone has been great people but the people that I feel are good friends are Distorted Nation Ra-dio’s Travis Presley, he is definitely my buddy.
My first drum instructor at Rock Inc. was by far one of my favorites. Her name was Jess, she was 5 foot nothing and weighed about 110 pounds but she could hit the drums harder than any dude on the drums I’ve ever met.
Gabe: It goes without saying my dad is a big inspira-tion for me. I have gone to a lot of his shows and when I was 12, I went on tour with him. Seeing him work like that was really inspiring for me and I knew I wanted to do that when I grew up. Also, Nathan from Some Fear None is exceptional. He has been really great with helping us out. I look forward to working with him again in the future.
Colyn: We have been helped by a lot of people. I personally have. Troy from So Called Tragedy, Scott from Apple Z, Zack, Josh, Matt and Nathan. There are so many musicians who have taken time out of their busy lives to help us in what we are doing.
Kate: I know Matt Franks was one to me, he was my first rock vocal coach and he was just the greatest at
it. He’s the coolest guy ever. It’s hard to name every-one.
What can we expect off of the EP you guys are
creating?
Shawn: Kickassness
Colyn: We have been playing our 10 or 12 songs for awhile now and some of the songs we have written lately still have a similar sound to the old stuff but we really want to texture and rebuild some of it and make something more amazing.
Kate: I think we want to focus on making it a little bit more adult sounding. We are shifting over to a clean slate and we want to write some really raw stuff that still has an A Mile Till Dawn feel to it but will hopefully sound more mature.
Shawn: I just want to write music that people will say, straight up, this is great music. We want their minds blown.
Colyn: Hands down, I want to keep surprising the people we have surprised already. That’s exactly what I want to do.
F orce multiplication or Force Multiplied, refers to an attribute or a combination of attributes which makes a given force more effective than that same force would be without it. The
members of the Cameron Park, California band, Force Multiplied is exactly that, a force multiplied as each member combines each of their unique talents to create a multiple force.
After hearing about the internet based reality show, Rockality, I wasted no time in checking it out to see what the hype was all about. I must say I was im-pressed. Each episode offers a different insight to what musicians can or may go through in their daily lives on and off the stage. Most people that have not experienced life as a musician tend to think that bands just practice and play at local and out of town venues, but what most people don’t understand is musicians, like the members of Force Multiplied, need a business like mind to progress in their music career.
These musicians wanted to bare it all so you, the fans, could see what it is really like to be in an inde-pendent band when they’re not backed financially by investors or labels. Sit tight as I take you deeper into the lives of Force Multiplied and Rockality.
Force Multiplied was formed in 2011 by the way of Parker Mckee, who is currently the only original mem-ber in the band. Parker has a very unique talent that he adds as the front man to the band. Aside from his genius guitar riffs and his godlike abilities on the gui-tar, he has a wide range of vocal styles that I have never heard before. From one song to the next, he adds a different vocal style that not only captures your
attention but draws you in closer for a more extensive look inside his mind.
Tim savage, the bassist of the band has a name that suits him well, Savage. Aside from slapping the twink-ie filling out yo mouth he is slapping the bass. Tim offers a thunderous energetic style to Force Multi-plied. Just when you think basic bass riffs are coming, he delivers a monstrous shockwave to create a sound more astounding than Thor’s hammer.
Steven Martin, the drummer for Force Multiplied, is a force you do not want to reckon with. Aside from his daily nunchuck exercise routine and harnessing his chi, this man is a beast on the drums. Steven has this way of summoning everyone in the room to bring the building down to its core foundation. He has this killer instinct in his eyes when beating those drums that warns you this is his time and if you dare step in his world you better be on your game.
Force Multiplied brings 20 years of combined experi-ences to deliver a force even the gods themselves can’t control. In the first year, the band started gig-ging. They played 40+ shows, which would explain why they are now an opening act for nationals like Marilyn Manson, The Offspring, Black label Society, and many more. As these musicians bust their ass to make a name for themselves, it will not be too long before they become a household name.
Aside from their recording studio business and tour-ing, these motivated musicians have an internet based reality show called, Rockality. The show takes you behind the scenes and into the life of the band as they prepare for touring, practices, gigs and simply everything going on in their lives. There are currently
Threat Con Nation Magazine 13
Force Multiplied wanted to do something that would set them apart from other bands. After all, isn’t that what bands do anyway? I must say, Rockality was a brilliant idea. As you watch these episodes, keep in mind that they do not have a professional camera crew, it’s all them. They have researched and studied the art of filming to bring us all a more personal look
4 episodes for viewing at rockalitytv.com. Each epi-sode takes you inside of their daily routine and through the motions of being in a band. From the first episode titled Intro to the 4th episode About you, they deliver something that no other reality show delivers, non-scripted emotions. This reality show, folks, is as real as reality tv gets. Trust me, I have a ton of great things to say about Rockality, but it would be more rewarding for you to watch it yourself.
into their lives as musicians. What was the most im-pressive thing was the fact that not only are they a gigging band with a reality show, they also own their own recording studio business of which they offer a very affordable package. As you can tell these fellas are busy as hell and one would wonder how they would have time to do all this. It’s simple if you really think about it, they are determined and motivated to create something we can all enjoy of which is the pur-pose of any musician, to create and present some-thing for everyone to get into. So I ask that you take the time to watch Rockality because they offer some-thing for everyone.
I remember some time ago, there was a band that really caught my attention. This band was playing shows all over town and they were gaining some de-
cent momentum when everything came to a halt and the band announced that they were no longer going to be doing shows.
I was a little disappointed, but little did I know that they would be back and they are about to create such a co-lossal return, all of Sacramento on September 6th that is in attendance at The Boardwalk will know exactly what I am talking about.
After I got word that Terra Ferno was getting back to-gether I had to see if it was true. I received a phone call that validated Terra Ferno is in fact back and they have a new line up.
Jeremy Friedlander is now their new front man. Jeremy is no stranger to the stage, he has been in various pro-jects in the past, the most recent was Ghost Element, a metal band from Auburn, California. While Jeremy can scream and bring that metal element to the band, he can also stay true to their original roots as well as stay true to his own by delivering that alternative/rock feeling. I have seen Jeremy perform in the past and I can tell you, this guy does not f@#% around when he is on stage. I am extremely pleased to see Jeremy with Terra Ferno as I feel he is a great addition.
Another new addition to the band is Joe Decelle, the rhythm/synth/lead guitarist. Joe is also no stranger to the stage. Joe was in his first band in the mid 90’s, Wacked, an industrial / Hard Rock band where he played rhythm/ lead guitar. Digital Trauma, a project
created by Joe with the help from an artist known as “The Industrial Complex” from New York was an all ex-perimental, industrial, and instrumental EP that was well received and played on various internet radio stations globally. Joe also owns the website, www.forestoflostsouls.com that includes haunted house sound effects he has created through the years of his experience as a guitarist and through experimenting. Joe has gone back to his roots since joining Terra Ferno and I must say, it is a perfect fit. What Joe offers the band is this powerful driven force that was not there be-fore, from his melodic, to the crunchy in your face riffs, Joe is definitely prepared to bring you the new Terra Ferno.
Adam Murray, the bass player for Terra Ferno is the man responsible for making the floor shake with his devastating bass riffs. Do not let Adams subtle look fool you because when it is time, he knows just exactly what to do when he lays the bass down on you and it feels as though the Richter Scales are about to explode. Adam has been with the band since January 2009 and I think his devotion and motivation shows through his pres-ence. In 2013, Adam was a coach for Stairway To Star-dom, a Music contest put together by Skips Music to recognize the talent within our youth. It will be awesome to see Adam on stage again as he slaps his bass and slaps all you with his bass.
Robby Robbins, that name alone will be extremely hard to forget, sounds like a celebrity name, “What is your name sir? I am Robby Robbins, the drummer for Terra Ferno and i will set your ass on fire!” I have had the hon-or of sitting next to this man as he plays the drums and
She drags cherry stain across puckered lips, Orchestra sounding in Overture.
The stranger staring back through the mirror, Pale and beautiful like the moon.
She takes her leave down the darkened stairwell Straight on to center stage,
Crimson curtain shielding her from eager stares. Eyes closed and palms sweating she breathes in…
And out. In…
And out. In…
And as the curtain rises and amber light engulfs her She feels the battered wood beneath her feet
Vibrate with pregnant anticipation.
Her breath comes out in melodious soprano, Woodwinds painting her a sorrowful scene, Brass ripping at her heart with harmonies,
And strings tying her to the spot.
A tear forms in her painted eye As her ballad crescendos in climax,
And rolls down her cheek At percussion’s final beat.
The roar from the audience Falls on deaf ears
As the spotlight fades to black. She bids her old friend a watery
Farewell.
- Ashira Y Macy
█ Featured Poetry
man can he beat the hell out of that kit. Like every drum-mer, you do not touch their kit, i would say out of every band member there has to be something dark inside of a drummer, think about it. They get to beat the shit out of something for 20 to 45 minutes non stop. Is that really someone you want to mess with? Robby Robbins is definitely not the guy you want to mess with. He seems like a big teddy bear but holy damn have you seen him lay the smack down on his drums? He delivers such a moving force that the ground underneath tries to run from him. As each song ends you can see his facial ex-pressions and his whole demeanor changes, it’s almost like as if he were turning into the hulk.
Justin Time, why do all the guitarists have the cool names? This is a man folks that does not know how to quit, when his back is against the wall, he beats that wall with his axe (guitar). This is the man responsible for lighting the fire to create the inferno, also known as, Ter-ra Ferno. When you hear Justin play, you know exactly what he is feeling because you can hear it through his
guitar. He is one of the most emotional guitar players that I have met in this local music community. Justin knows how to emotionally get you, without leaving you in the corner rocking back and forth sucking on your thumb, he lifts you up and brings you to a whole new world,..HIS.
They’re back and it would be to cliché’ to say they are on fire, so I will say this, get ready for September 6th because The Boardwalk and all of it’s attendees will wake up the next morning trying to figure out what con-spired the night before. The answer will be, Terra Ferno b!tches.
classical and art music. New York is also one of the
birthplaces of hip hop, latin freestyle, be-bop, disco,
new wave and punk rock. It’s also one of the birth-
places of Salsa music born from a fusion of Cuban,
Puerto Rican and Dominican influences that came
together in new York’s Latino neighborhoods in the
1960’s.
Music author, Richie Unterberger describes New
York’s music scene and the city itself as ‘Immense,
richly diverse, flashy, polyethnic, and engaged in a
never-ending race for artistic and cosmopolitan
supremacy.’ Aside from the city’s historic importance,
in the development of American music, there are
some that feel its status has declined in recent years
due to a combination of increased corporate control
over music media, an increase in the cost of living and
the rise of local music scenes whose success is facili-
tated by cheap communication provided by the
internet.
There is one band out of the Bronx that lives, eats,
sleeps and dreams of what they do. They create mu-
sic from an artistic standpoint and aside from the ever
changing music history in New York, The Scales plan
on being a part of that changing history.
The Scales, a punk rock band hailing from the Bronx
all the way in New York emerged in 2009 to make a
statement and they plan on doing that through creativ-
ity, skill, and the motivation that keeps them moving.
Their music is a sweet combination of classic rock,
funk, blues, hip hop, and a complete groove of punk
rock for all you mohawk, spiked jacket lovers. They
have figured out the missing formula to hypnotize so-
ciety with their diverse level of musical talents. “She
gets What She Wants” a track that offers a taste of
classical rock with a touch of funk and with the
smoothest transition I have heard in years, they throw
some punk in there to complete the hypnosis process.
The track, “The Plan” is a fine example as to what
these fellas can do, not only do you feel, but you can
also hear the diversity they offer.
There have been many bands or groups that have
tried to combine, rap, hip hop, funk, blues and punk
rock all into one song and they did not succeed, at
least in my opinion, but that is where the Scales
shine. They have created this said formula to properly
scientifically place these different genres together to
combine them as one formula to create a sound like
no other. They have literally created a musical mas-
terpiece.
You can catch them on facebook, reverb and their
website and the next time you take your private jet to
New York, catch them live.
Bio: The Bronx's finest killer punk band. This trio delivers a raw and visceral experience as they take you beneath the surface and into the murky depths of punk rock, all three accomplished musicians provide energy and life time experi-ence making for a new and exciting sound, so enjoy and get to know The Scales.
For a while, I was involved in several projects locally and then I needed to focus on some family issues at home and narrowed that down a bit.
Other than guitar what other Instruments do you
play?
Other than guitar, I play bass, drums, piano and sing.
Tell me about some of your current projects?
I write and license music beds, occasionally I sit in with (ForNeveR vocalist) Adam Page’s project, Six-es&Sevens and do solo acoustic shows. Primarily I am focused on our new heavy rock group, ForNeveR.
You have a very impressive background, what is
next for you?
Advancing the agenda of ForNeveR. We have some interesting opportunities being weighed out. It’s a pret-ty exciting time for our new band. Other than that, just staying busy and open.
Do you have a background in music other than
being in a band?
Yes. I took lessons on guitar, piano and voice for years. I started out a music theory major in college then changed my study focus to Communication Stud-ies with emphasis on Audio/Video production. I have a
huge library of music business books and stay current on the state of the music “biz”.
What kind of mark do you want to leave for people
in the local music community?
What a great question. If I could be remembered, I would hope for two things. Consistently good music and affiliations and the willingness to help out any oth-er musicians with advice or whatever they need.
Describe what it is like when you are on stage and people are yelling and going crazy for your mu-
sic?
Creating music is my life. Sharing it and having peo-ple relate to it live is just mind blowing. When people come up and talk to me about it, I really open my mind and listen to how it moves and effects them.
Considering the experience and time spent in bands tell me the one thing you have learned is a
valuable piece of knowledge?
I’ve learned so much about music, business and life by being in bands. I’m learning more things every day. The most valuable thing I’ve come away with is to always take the high road. Consideration of the people you work with and those who follow your work. Do favors without expectation of “pay back”. The re-ward is already there.