Fighting For Ithaca : Thanks For Waiting EP

www.myspace.com/fightingforithaca

We got such positive responses from the guys in Fighting For Ithaca that they asked us to review their EP, Thanks For Waiting. Enjoy, guys and gals!

Okay so here's the deal, we listen to music just as much as our readers do and just as much as the bands we interview do. We all know what it's like to crack open a music magazine and expect an extravagant review that will encourage us to purchase a certain musician's work. The only problem is that it's written in such an uninteresting context that we're most likely going to skip the page and find something else to read.

So here we are, us at Sounds are giving you an in-depth review, heart to heart, about Fighting For Ithaca's EP, Thanks For Waiting. The guys were nice enough to send us a digital copy and we immediately began to work on giving you guys a look into what we REALLY think about the EP, listener to listener. There isn't one lie in this entire review whatsoever, it is our whole hearted and honest opinion so read it with care.

We'll start off with the first few tracks on the EP (we don't want to give too much away) let's just say that it blew us away. We were expecting decent music since the guys are so down to Earth, but let us tell you, their first few tracks were the most unexpected amount of amazingness that we could have ever asked for. They all had a nice melody (alongside the rest of the EP) and the music constantly kept us guessing. It was kind of like a box of chocolates, you never know which one you're going to pick out. The first track, Draw the Line, was an amazing set up for the rest of the EP, it was fast paced and it reflected their music wonderfully. Cause and Effect (which you can also listen to on their MySpace) was the song that really caught our attention due to the fact that it reminded us of driving around in the summer with the top down and blasting tunes as loud as our speakers could go, such a great way to enter the summer!

Cityscape, another one of the great tracks on the EP was so good that we actually put it on repeat for a least 15 minutes. We got up and danced to it, not to mention that it definitely takes a lot for us to dance to something. It's one of those songs that you can listen to over and over without getting bored of it, it could never be overplayed. The chorus is ridiculously catchy and we dubbed Cityscape as our number one favourite song on the EP. Trial By Fire, another song that you can listen to via Fighting For Ithaca's MySpace was the first song that we had listened to when we first wanted to get some of the guys' time to interview them. It got us hooked within the first 30 seconds due to its catchy tune and the chorus that had us singing at the top of our lungs.

We don't want to give you guys too much information about the EP or else you won't go out and experience it for yourselves, but let us tell you that it is one of those works that will make you change your perspective on music entirely. The tracks that we featured in this article aren't the only tracks on the EP by any means and the other unmentioned tracks are just as flawless as the ones we described. We're seriously in love with Fighting For Ithaca's Thanks For Waiting EP and we couldn't have asked for a better combination of down to Earth guys and their passion for their music.

If you haven't already, give them a listen or go out and buy their EP via

www.cdbaby.com/cd/FightingForIthaca

Or you can go out to one of their shows if you live in the Vancouver/Lower Mainland area as they covered in their interview!

Once again, thanks to Fighting For Ithaca for letting us review this masterpiece and thanks to our readers for letting us into your minds and hearts.

Darkness Rites

www.myspace.com/darknessrites

We promised that we'd give you guys diversity and let us tell you, Darkness Rites provides just as much diversity as anything we've ever encountered. With their heavy riffs and filthy, dirty breakdowns they're taking over the ear drums of everyone who listens to them. We can honestly say that if you were to go to one of their concerts, it would be one where you would fuck up and get fucked up, but leave having an amazing time. They're a breath of fresh air when it comes to the metal industry, providing us with new and enticing ways for music to be put together, not to mention that they made us want to jump into a pit and destroy. Take a look at what the guys had to say about themselves and their music!

S: What makes your band unique?

DR: Well we play European style metal but we are from Canada. We also really try to avoid trends and keep the metal alive.

S: Tell us something you would like your fans to know.

DR: We have fans? haha nice.

S: While recording your album 'The Accuser' was there any band drama that occurred, and if so, what was it?

DR: NO! We all know how to work with each other. Especially with touring we can never really get mad, other wise i don’t think we would have lasted as long as we have.

We also really try to avoid trends and keep the metal alive.

S: What's your favorite song to perform?

DR: Greg - I would have to say World of Filth, it has huge intensity and its seems to get some pretty gnarly circle pits going

Evan - World of filth, because our engineer/producer Chris Donaldson wrote the 2nd and 4th parts of the solo, and they are really fun to play

Cory - Systemic Human Massacre, Because its pretty 80s haha

Stevie - World of filth, because its fast

Josh - Set the torches, because the vocals are fast paced

S: Do you guys play covers? If so, what's your favorite cover and why?

DR: We have coverd 2 Pantera songs, Cowboys from Hell and Walk.. We all agree that Cowboys from Hell was the most fun, and got the best crowd response.

S: How long has your band been performing together?

DR: We started in 2004, since then we have released a Demo, Self titled album released on Big metal records, and recently released as second full length album titled “The Accuser”. And we plan on staying around for at least another 6 years

We have had quite a few member changes over the years. It can be hard to see people leave. But we have to look to the future, and make it a positive change.

S: Have you changed your line up since you guys started? If so, what was the hardest part about saying goodbye to your other members?

DR: We have had quite a few member changes over the years. It can be hard to see people leave. But we have to look to the future, and make it a positive change. We actually recently had to replace our vocalist Mike Mcfadden. Mike had other things he wanted to do with his life, and didn't want to be the one to hold the band back. We are still super tight, and Mike still helps us out with booking. Now we picked up a good friend of ours Josh Ryant. Who adds a new dynamic to the band and renewed determination to be successful.

S: If you could describe your band in one word, what would it be?

DR: Greg - Bitchin?

Evan - Towels

Cory - Metal

Stevie - Super-Metal

Josh - Good

S: What's a song that you have on your mp3 player that no one would expect you to have?

DR: Greg - Black Eyed Peas - My Humps

Evan - Norah Jones - Don’t know Why

Cory - I don’t have an ipod

Stevie - Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, Empire state of Mind

Josh - New Found Glory - Truck Stop Blues

S: 10. What's the best thing about being an artist that is yet to be discovered?

DR: Nothing... but it builds character

The guitar harmonies are insane, and its just generally evil as fuck.

S: 11. If you could have written one song previously written by another artist, what song would it be and why?

DR: Greg - Dechristainized by Vital Remains, The guitar harmonies are insane, and its just generally evil as fuck.

Evan - Panama by Van Halen, Cause its the best song ever

Cory - Chainheart Machine by Soilwork, its the perfect metal song

Stevie - Mordecai by Between the Buried and me, Because it has everything.

Josh - Domination by Pantera, So energetic, so heavy. best thing ever recorded by humans.

Check out their video courtesy of YouTube below:

You can also check out their merch store via their myspace at the link at the top of the page.

Fighting For Ithaca

www.myspace.com/fightingforithaca

With smooth and strong vocals alongside intense drumming & elaborate guitar riffs, Fighting For Ithaca are about to take the world by storm. Their songs are incredibly catchy and you just have to rock out to them, they're the songs that you sing along to in the car, in the shower, with your friends, and at their shows! We would recommend Fighting For Ithaca to anyone who's looking for music to go along with epic life journeys or long road trips with your best friends. They are absolutely amazing and give a whole new meaning to Canadian music, we here at Sounds were completely stoked to be able to interview these guys and expose them to the nation. Check out what Tommy, Curtis, Patty, Keigan and Jon had to say.

S: Tell us something about yourselves that's odd/out of the ordinary.

FFI: Curtis is a trained hypnotist and conspiracy theory expert, Keigan has jammed with Joan Jett, Jon is missing a thumb, and Patty and I are both from french Canadian families.

S: How did the 'bromance' between the 5 of you start, how did you guys meet?

FFI: Curtis found me and our first rhythm guitarist on craig's list, and then recruited Patty who he'd known for a while. We went through a few drummers and then had the incredible luck of finding the master of insane beats, Keigan Funk, also via craigslist. And recently we lost a guitarist (which is why there are only four of us in the music video) and then brought Curtis' bro Jon to kick up the guitars a notch! Now we feel as if the lineup is stronger and more cohesive than ever and that we have finally found all five ideal members for this band!

Curtis is a trained hypnotist and conspiracy theory expert...Jon is missing a thumb

S: Can you let us know if your EP, "Thanks For Waiting" will be released in mainstream stores such as HMV or Sunrise Records? If not, where can your fans pick up the hard copy of your tunes?

FFI: In a week or so, our album should be available for order via CD baby.com, and although HMV etc.. won't actually be stocking the album, they should be able to order it for you.

Or come out to a show if you live in the vancouver/lower mainland area! And if you don't, hopefully we'll be coming to you sometime soon!

S: What was the most memorable show that you guys ever played?

FFI: I think I can speak for all of us when I say I say the Vancouver date of Warped Tour 2009. Despite being on at the same time as some pretty killer bands like A Day To Remember and The Devil Wears Prada, we actually had a ton of people come watch our set. Even El Hefe from NOFX came and checked us out! This show also has the disticntion of being Jon's first show with the band. He wasn't even an official member of the band yet, but we only found out we got the gig three days in advance and didn't have a guitarist! So we called Jon in a panic and in three days he had mastered all our songs flawlessly and played a killer show with us! So I guess you could say that Warped was Jon's "Trial by Fire" :P


S: For all of the aspiring artists out in the world, what do you think the most important piece of advice is that you could give them?

FFI: My personal advice (Tommy, Bass) would be that because art is of such a personal nature, learn a lot about yourself, figure, what drives you, what inspires you, what your influences are, and most importantly, what your talents are. If you channel all of this knowledge toward doing what you love than regardless of commercial success or not, you will always have that fulfillment of creating something true of yourself. In terns of making a career of the arts...networking. It's all who you know. If you can deliver a product that you are completely confident is good, then it's just a matter of getting that to the right people. And practice a lot.

S: If you were to put together your own tour, who would you tour with and why? Also, who would you share a tour bus with?

FFI: I'd put us on tour with Story of The Year and Blink 182 because a) both of those bands kick ASS! and b) because I think FFI's sound falls somewhere in between both of these bands' styles. We're probably share a bus with Story of The Year because I doubt the pop punk elder statesmen in Blink would want punks like us on their nice bus. And from what I gather from watching Bassassins, them SOTY boys is some crazy mofos!

Art is of such a personal nature, learn a lot about yourself, figure, what drives you, what inspires you, what your influences are, and most importantly, what your talents are.

S: If you had the chance to be a part of any other band (whether broken up or not) who would you be with and why?

FFI: Personally I would say The Doors. I would love to have been the bass player they never had. (Tommy, Bass)


S: Who were your number one influences when you formed 'Fighting For Ithaca'?

FFI: Personally we all have a ton of varied and ecclectic influences. In terms of FFI I'd say my own influences were Funeral For a Friend, AFI, Alexisonfire etc...but my bass playing is influenced by a lot of different sources like Ska and Reggae, 1950's rock and roll, hip hop, and the band Joy Division.
As a band some I'd say Story of The Year, Anberlin, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus could be claimed as a collective influence. It also seems like most of us have been listening to a lot of All Time Low lately.

S: Where did your band name come from?

FFI: Curtis thought of it. It's a reference to Homer's The Odyssey, in which Odysseus is stranded far away from his home of Ithaca after the Trojan war and takes something like fifteen years to fight his way back, confronting the God Poseidan, making a detour to the land of the dead, being imprisoned by and enchantress, and finally assaulting an attack on a mob of suitors asking for his wife's hand who have taken over his house. The band name is basically about fighting to get where you belong. Fighting for your place in the world.

S: What's one habit that someone in the band has that you could all do without?

FFI: Pat has a habit of exposing himself that we could probably all do without.

Check out their official video for 'Cause and Effect' via youtube below!

Video courtesy of: www.youtube.com/user/fightingforithaca

hello, astronaut

www.myspace.com/helloastronaut

hello, astronaut is a one manned show based out of Fresno, California. His music is a compilation of rock, and soft acoustic with a poppy feel, it's something that everyone and anyone can get down to! Here at Sounds we definitely rely on Jordan Palmer's music to give us that little boost when we're feeling down and he definitely delivers without any disappointment. We were lucky enough to catch up with him a few moments ago, check out what he had to say!

S: Do you play covers? If so, what's your favourite cover and why?

H,A: I used to do a ton but not so much anymore, i think my favorite one was love story by taylor swift. haha

S: How long have you been performing?

H,A: i've been in bands since i was 13-14 but didn't start performing till about 16

i think my favorite one was love story by taylor swift. haha

S: Have you changed your line up since you started? If so, what was the hardest part

about saying goodbye to your other member(s)?

H,A: nope it's always been just me :)

S: If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?

H,A: shy

S: What's a song that you have on your mp3 player that no one would expect you to have?

H,A: i used to like this death metal band form the uk called annotations of an autopsy...uhh.. haha

S: What's the best thing about being an artist that is yet to be discovered?

H,A: it's still yet to be discovered ;)

S: If you got signed to a major label and toured, would you still pack your own equipment or hire roadies to do it for you?

H,A: i'd prob still do it myself haha

it's still yet to be discovered ;)

S: What were your first experiences with a groupie?

H,A: i haven't really come across any ridiculous groupiess yett

S: If you had an entire week to spend $10, 000, what would you do?

H,A: probably save it

S: Name one band that you would want to cover one of your songs.

H,A: umm, whoever would like to haha

S: What's a song you wish you had written?

H,A: free fallin by tom petty haha

Lucky for all of you fans & future fans, both his single and his EP are available on itunes, click on the following photos below to be directed!

You can listen to his song 'The Only One' via his myspace or you can listen to it via youtube:

CantStopWontStop

Photo cred: jason matos

MySpace: www.myspace.com/cntstpwntstp

Talk about local talent, CantStopWontStop will definitely can't and won't stop rocking and entertaining you guys! We're particularly drawn to this trio because they're from our hometown, Toronto, so that's extra kudos in our books. They tantalize your ear drums with a smooth electronic sound included with catchy beats that anyone can get up and dance to. Paul, Jayln, and Brett are all ridiculously talented and since they take the time to make the music, you should take the time to listen and enjoy it because we guarantee you that you will never hear anything like it!

S: What makes your band unique?

CSWS: We run stuff differently then a lot of bands we see, cutting corners doesn't get you anywhere its something we've all learned from past bands we were in when we were younger. If we are gunna do something, were gunna do it proper the first time. Selling cheap quality merch, half assed recordings, these are essential things that represent you as a band and especially when label shopping.. it is something they would notice and say "if your not gunna take yourself serious, why should we".
In the long run, everyones got there own ideas and plans to "make it big".
So what makes us unique? the fact that put everything we got in this, there were times when me and jay lived back at 1810 and it was ether pay to get on the subway so we could record or chose to eat something for the day..till this day i think we made the right choice.

S: Tell us something you would like your fans to know.

CSWS: Well i just asked jay, unfortunately he didnt understand the question haha

as for me and paul, we appreciate every song play, every profile view, every comment! and just all the support everyone has given us, it means sooo much to us. so thank you!

S: What's the most touching thing that a fan's ever done for you?

CSWS: any message anyone has ever sent us or a comment they have left us saying they put our music on at a party or that our song was stuck in there head or simply cant stop listening to a song is something we absolutely love to read.

'So what makes us unique? The fact that we put everything we got in this.'

S: What is your biggest accomplishment as a band?

CSWS: when watchout theres ghosts came to toronto with brokencyde i had to chance to hang out with jordan blake for a better part of the show, at the end of the night, he was the first person to receive a 2 song demo and we said if you like it top friends us. when the tour was over and he reached back home to cali we were on his top friends.

to us it was so rad cause he was a major influence on this band even getting started.

S: If there was one band that you guys could tour with, who would it be and why?

CSWS: hands down it would be Breathe Carolina, without david and kyle this band would have never started. chilling drinking with them is something i think is safe to say one of the best times me and paul have ever had, the chance to play with them tho we cant even imagine.

S: While on tour what's your method of transportation? Would you upgrade it in any way?

CSWS: well at the moment we rock it in the good ol 09 toyota matrix haha

an upgrade soon to come tho, esp with all stuff we need just to set the stage and once shine is finished making our drum kit and Clydesdale with our road cases it will be a must have item.

S: What's your favourite song to perform?

CSWS: jay said nuit blance, id prolly have to say every song and i had to call paul for this cause i had no idea what his favourite song to play was but he said 1810 forsure haha

'it all pretty much came together mid october 09! an autumn we will never forget'

S: Do you guys play covers? If so, what's your favourite cover and why?

CSWS: haha yea, at first we were gunna do a cover of tik tok by kesha but then we saw

t-mills remade it so we put a halt to that and kicked it a little old school and remade vanessa carlton's a thousand miles. everyone seems to dig it so thats all that counts!

S: How long has your band been performing together?

CSWS: about a year ago me and paul were in another band called the mayking it was like super pop but we wanted to have some electro stuff in it, me and paul wanted it a little more then the other guys and always talked about making a side project, it never got off the ground. 6 months later i moved to toronto, where i met jay randomly at a party. we were suppose to do an acoustic project we he came to my apartment i told him to forget it we were gunna play electro 3 days later jay moved in with me. it was still missing something tho and when i herd paul moved to the gta i knew he was the missing link, he came over to drink, it was the first time we had seen each other in about 7 months i told him my idea, he asked if i had a band name, i said "CantStopWontStop" and he said he was in! it all pretty much came together mid october 09! an autumn we will never forget

S: Have you changed your line up since you guys started? If so, what was the hardest part about saying goodbye to your other members?

CSWS: we would say no, but there is someone who would strongly disagree.

just due to a lack of enthusiasm and willing-ness to work we parted ways with someone we were going to work with before we even had really started to write anything. it was prolly the best decision we have ever made, i couldnt picture us being us with them involved. the hardest part of it was having to put up with the drama that followed, especially when we found out they got ahold of an early instrumental track and put there own vocals on it and tryd to pass it off on there own. it was entertaining to listen to tho, kinda reassuring that we did the right thing by letting them go when we did.

S: If you could describe your band in one word, what would it be?

CSWS: haha thats easy, CantStopWontStop ;) (k)

Alongside their amazing music, these guys are really down to Earth so check out their beats and let them know we sent you ;]

Yultron!

As our first post on Sounds, we're honoured to feature Yultron, an amazing artist based out of Los Angeles, California. His music is insane with a mix of electro pop and a side serving of originality. If you're looking for something you can groove and move to, this is who you've been looking for ladies and gents. We were fortunate enough to steal some of his time to get him to answer some questions for his loyal fans/his soon to be fans.

Lose yourself in his amazing beats, we know we did!

S: What makes your music unique?

Y: My music is unique because I try to do something that's never been done. I take multiple genres and blend it into a pop song.

S: Tell us something you would like your fans to know.

Y: I do this for you. Not me <3

S: What is your biggest accomplishment as an artist?

Y: There is no biggest, there is no smallest. there's just me. Can you dig it?

'I do this for you. Not me <3'

S: What's your favourite song to perform?

Y: Midnight love.

S: If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?

Y: Superhuman

S: For all of those aspiring artists out there, what's the number one piece of advice that you would give them?

Y: Never give up until you're the last one standing around

S: Do you think that it's better to have your music be diverse or to concentrate on one specific genre?

Y: There's no better or worse. It's what YOU want to do!! For me, I like being diverse but keeping it within 2 or 3 genre's so it's not too all over the place.

'Never give up until you're the last one standing around.'

S: If you were to design your own tour, what other musician/band would you tour with and why?

Y: Gym Class Heroes, Metro Station, LMFAO cuz we're very similar in a sense.

S: If you had the chance to be a part of any other band (whether broken up or not) who would you play with and why?

Y: QUEEN. cuz theyre the best. why else?

S: If you had the chance to change your genre of music, what would you change it to?

Y: Rap

Here's a video for his hit song, 'Baby Tell Me You're Alone' we fell in love with Yultron the moment we heard it, you'll do the same. Disclaimer: may be highly addictive!

Video Courtesy Of: www.youtube.com/user/Yultron

MySpace: www.myspace.com/iloveyultron

Yes you can buy his music on iTunes! Please do!