We’re pleased to announce that US band Ether Seeds have inked a deal with Roadrunner A&R guy Paul Conroy. The band consists of vocalist Dustin Lowery (the younger brother of Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery and Stereomud bassist Corey Lowery), former Liquid Gang bassist Eric Nagy, guitarist Stephen Seals, and drummer Billy Deputato formerly of Chlorophyll. Paul tells, “Ether Seeds has a ‘classic feeling’ hard rock sound with beautifully melodic vocals”. The band will begin recording their debut release in early August with producers Bill Appleberry and Tobi Miller (Adema, Wallflowers) at the helm. Did you know? Ether Seeds used to play under the name Single Bullet Theory but due to legal issues over the use of the name, Ether Seeds was born! Web site, touring, and record release information to follow shortly. Guys, welcome to Roadrunner.

Didn’t we previously mention that DKL was checking out bands coming through town? Well, now we expand on that…a few words from bassist Dave Kowatch on the songs, sights and sounds, seen and heard: 1) The Drowning Pool, Coal Chamber, Ill Nino, 40 below Summer tour at the W.W.F. center was the shit. I got down there early after having 2 Guinness beers on the ride down. Saw the boys in 40 and I.N. The show was loaded and killer. I saw some DKL shirts down there. Met These dudes, Frank and Ryan, at the bar that had a DKL shirt on and I had a few drinks with them, okay a lot of drinks. Thanx for hanging. I also saw Triple H, and the local street teamers, the Pit Dogs are still in effect. By the end of the night I was drunk, but met a few members from the band Dope. 2)Then Friday DKL went up to the webster Theater to see Skinlab. That is on hell of a drive there and back. Phil was tired, but did not fall asleep on the long ride home. We all were hanging out on their R.V. and it brought back memories of touring. The next day, the boys in Skinlab drove to my house and we all went to the city for the parade and the sites. In all the hanging and partying we left there tech in the bathroom, and lost him for 30 min. It was long day that ended up at St. Marks pl. and C.B.G.B.’s. So on the ride home, on the subway, we were still drinking and someone accidently stepped on a passenger’s shoe. This guy would not let it go. He and his friend wanted to take on all 9 of us, and we do not look normal at midnight, drunk and tired. So this dude pulls out a gun on us, yeah no shit, the whole subway cleared out in no time, like in a cartoon. Steev, being a large pissed off guy, just took over the situation and told the guy to leave. So even if you have a gun, you still can be a piece of shit, and so he left. Later that night we all went out to some local bars, and another huge fight almost broke out when S.L.’s drummer took a picture of a girl. She flipped and wanted the film. So basically we said fuck no and kept on hanging in the midst of her pissed off friends. *******DAMN SKINLAB IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH, I LOVE THOSE GUYS****** AND THEN REAL EARLY IN THE MORNING THEY WOKE ME UP TO JUMP START THEIR R.V. 3) Then all of us hit the Jagermeister tour in conn. It is great to see Coal Chamber live again. They were an early inspiration for all of us. They were sick as ever. It was a trip to see Cliff and Phil hanging out and doing shots. We hung with all the boys from Jagermeister and did shots right out the bottle. Thanx for the great time to the Jager crew, especially Rick Z. and Rich Hardesty, who has a cool cd. Currently, the band is “doing laid-back rehearsals,” as bassist Dave Kowatch tells. “we are in the studio finishing up a song, finishing the mixes actually.” Did You Know? The current place where DKL is recording these demos, it is the same place that Anthrax is recording at. It’s true. Dry Kill Logic leave with one last line today, about Fear Factory – “we were long time fans. They were the first band we toured with and they taught us a lot. We will miss them.” We mentioned yesterday that the band will be hitting a studio in upstate New York on Wednesday to do rough recordings of nine new tracks. Well, we now have a few song titles of these new tracks for you – “This You Never Want”, “Still Bleeding”, “Death Of The Day”, and “Neither Here Nor Mist”. Hey, and did you check out the www.espguitars.com homepage yet? Do it now… For the past month, Dry Kill Logic has been rehearsing 7 days a week…though bassist Dave Kowatch admits “might have missed 2 days somewhere along the line”. So, what do they have to show for the past month of rehearsals? Well, this upcoming Wednesday (Feb 6) the band heads into some studio in some town in upstate New York to do rough recordings of nine new tracks…to give others an idea of what they have been working on… Come Friday (Feb 8), Dry Kill Logic will be heading to the Machine Head concert at Irving Plaza in NYC to hang out, and see old friends and fans. All except possibly Cliff, who might have to stay back should he still need to throw vocals down on the new tracks from Wednesday’s recording session. Amongst your travels on this great wide web, be sure to check out Scary Guy’s Dry Kill Logic page – you’ll find buddy icons, wallpapers, lyrics & more whilst being sent in the right direction for everything DKL. Check it out at www.dkl1.cjb.net. Just a line to point you all in the right direction – RazorArt.com, some of our favourite folk on the web (big shout out to Thredz), is currently running a featured bands special on Dry Kill Logic. Check it out, and check out their most recent interview with DKL bassist Dave Kowatch. Excellent work… A very reliable source in the Roadrunner US office, that being the famed Marketing Matt, informs us that a new video from Dry Kill Logic was delivered late last week. New video? Yes. It was written previously that the band recorded a cover of the U.S. baseball anthem “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” for the upcoming PlayStation 2 game MLB Slugfest 2003 (due out in the US in March 2002) – a hardcore, full contact baseball game. Well, apparently the recording wasn’t a spot on cover, but more of a rendition of the tune. And the title of what came of this rendition is “Riot At The Bat Rack”. And, a video was made for the track. Marketing Matt tells the video features shots of the band playing in front of some green screen, live footage, as well as baseball plays. The song is signature Dry Kill Logic, very heavy. When are where this video will pop up has yet to be determined, but rest assured you will be afforded the chance to see it here in the future. Check out our cool Dry Kill Logic e-card. DRY KILL LOGIC is a beast of its own one that claws at you and gets under your skin and into your head the way that few bands do. Prepare for The Darker Side of Nonsense to do some permanent damage to your cerebral cortex – it’s out now! Full tracklisting is as follows: Nightmare Feel The Break Pain Nothing Assfault Weight A Better Man Than Me Rot Track 13 Give Up, Give In, Lie Down The Strength I Call My Own Goodnight ‘The Darker Side Of Nonsense’ is available now from: HMV, Virgin (퉌£2 off with Kerrang! voucher 20/6), VShop/Our Price, MVC, Andys, and good indies. Download Free Prong Cover – On September 23rd, Dry Kill Logic spent a day at the legendary Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The purpose of the trip? They recorded a cover of Prong’s “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck”, whose use was intended to be a “b-side” on the band’s upcoming US metal radio EP titled “Rot”. Well, all has come true.Today being the first time many of us here at Roadrunner heard this “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” cover, it shall be the same for you. Outside of recording the American Baseball anthem “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” in mid October for the upcoming Midway MLB SlugFest extreme baseball game, this is the latest recording from the talents of DKL. Hot off the E-mail… We asked Cliff what he and the guys thought of their trip over here and they had such a great time, they wrote you all a short note! “Hey everyone! Cliff from Dry Kill Logic here. I just wanted to take a second and write to you all and say thanks for an amazing time in September when we cam through with Spineshank. We had a blast, and we hope you did as well. You all kick a lot of ass, and we’re hoping to be back over really soon. I’d also like to say thank you to all the kids that took the time to write to us and express their condolences for the Trade Center bombings. The band and their families are fine, and we can’t begin to tell you how humbled we were by the kind words. You guys are definitely the shit, and we can’t wait to come back over there and play for you guys. Take care, be safe, and until next time… stay M.E.T.A.L. -Cliff & Dry Kill Logic” Did you see Dry Kill Logic live in the UK with Spineshank in September 2001? Check out our photos of the tour in the gallery. Currently www.ESPguitars.com is running a couple interviews online – one with Dry Kill Logic bassist Dave Kowatch, and the other with Machine Head guitarist Ahrue Luster. Check em out… DKL had a few seconds to rest before they got back on the road. They managed to crank out an awesome interivew with www.brakeout.net and let us know whats up with them at the moment. Check out their most recent interivew. Check out their official site at www.drykilllogic.com

What’s the word? Yes, you know – downthesun is indeed confirmed to play on the US H82K2 Tour – Slayer, Soulfly, In Flames. Now, a bit more detail, as taken from the official press release as given by our most fine US press department. As follows: downthesun Set to Wreak Havoc on Slayer’s H82K2 Tour New York, NY Extreme sextet, downthesun, are planning their first assault on the U.S. The band is confirmed to perform dates on Slayer’s upcoming high-profile H82K2 Tour, featuring labelmates Soulfly as well as In Flames. downthesun will jump on the tour beginning on August 3rd in San Jose, CA and continue through September. downthesun’s self-titled debut is the sound of anger, frustration, and boredom channeled into one enraged sonic outburst. The band’s twisted roots trail back to mid-1999 when bassist Kuk and sample operator Church’s former band opened for Slipknot. The Kansas City, MO natives garnered the interest of Slipknot’s Shawn “Clown” Crahan, who then steered them in the direction of other Des Moines musicians, including drummer Dan Spain and vocalist/former “Clown Tech” Satone. Completing “The Six,” as they like to call it, are co-vocalist Aaron Peltz and guitarist Bruce Swink. Together, downthesun are a radically belligerent and hostile lot, slapping the world in the face with their confrontational lyrics and pummeling rhythms. Crahan comments, “downthesun is based on a simple foundation, opposites compliment each other. Friend or foe. Truth or lies. On or off.”

downthesun ‘downthesun’ OUT NOW. And yes, this is also part of the Download 2002 campaign so you’ll be able to save 퉌£2 off and also get a free sampler CD. Tracklisting is: Medicated We All Die Enslaved Lucas Toole Zero Pure American Filth Pitiful Scapegoat Listen Eye Confide Jars Revelations Heavy/Brutal/Intense The check list for the upcoming self titled downthesun release: 1) Release date confirmed? Yes, it is. September 30th has been nailed down as the release date for downthesun’s self titled debut. Check. 2) Album cover approved? Yes, it is. See it for yourself, right here on this page. Check. Did You Know? Slipknot’s Clown did all the artwork for release…which obviously includes design of the cover which you just saw. True. 3) Tour lined up? Yes, it is. downthesun is confirmed to open all dates on the upcoming US H82K2 tour which starts August 3rd, featuring Slayer, Soulfly, and In Flames. Well, maybe not all the dates…due to curfew restrictions at some venues, there will be a few dates on this tour which downthesun will not be performing. It’s 11:00, do you know where your children are? Check. Exact dates forthcoming. Let’s get this train a rollin’… 2 Last Notes: Title Of This Story – The title of this story, “HEAVY/BRUTAL/INTENSE”, comes from our US Director Of Touring. In a message telling of downthesun’s confirmation to the Slayer tour, the line “these guys are HEAVY/BRUTAL/ and very INTENSE,” was used. Executive Producer – In addition to creating all the artwork for this release, Slipknot’s Clown also happens to carry the ‘executive producer’ credit for this album. Did You Know? The last album Clown was executive producer for was Mudvayne’s L.D. 50. True. Roadrunner Records is pleased to announce the signing of yet another new act, Kansas City’s downthesun. downthesun (note: all lower case letters) is a face-forward plunge to the underbelly of everything. Their self-titled Roadrunner debut brings together shredding guitars, a sludgy roar, and unexpected bursts of melody and electronics that Kerrang! Magazine has already hailed as one of “The Faces of 2002” (yes, they come equipped with a complete recording). “Roadrunner has always signed the greatest bands,” comments bassist Lance “Kuk” Collier. “Stuff that we grew up on, to some of the more recent bands.” It was Slipknot percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan that first caught wind of downthesun, and he didn’t have to look far – downthesun vocalist Sa-Tone used to be Clown’s drum tech. Alongside co-vocalist Aaron Peltz, bassist Kuk, drummer Dan Spain, sample & electronics man Church, and guitarist Bruce Swink, “The Six” – as downthesun call themselves – complete their lineup. Crahan offhandedly refers to the band as “The Truth”. “We’re ugly, we’re fat and we go against everything that rock stardom is supposed to stand for: we are THE TRUTH,” states Kuk. Besides overseeing all the artwork on downthesun’s forthcoming album, Crahan also served as executive producer, alongside well-known producer GGGarth Richardson (Mudvayne, Rage Against The Machine, Spineshank). It was this recording that caught the ear of Roadrunner Records’ head of A&R Monte Conner and director of A&R Mike Gitter. “The bottom line is that downthesun are absolutely 100% REAL – and it ain’t pretty,” adds Gitter “Powerful, but not pretty in the least bit.” That’s putting it mildly. Beyond the sickness? Listen for yourself – the track “Medicated” off their upcoming debut has been posted in our downloads section. downthesun, welcome aboard. Many a first-time happening this weekend in Des Moines, IOWA. Where to start…ah, yes – Stone Sour (featuring Corey Taylor and Jim Root of Slipknot) and downthesun will be playing their first ever show together (see end of update for show details)…in fact, it is the first show for either band while on Roadrunner Records. …this will be Stone Sour’s first time playing live under the name Stone Sour in this here the new millennium (first show played under the name Stone Sour since 1997, to be exact)…the band has been practicing for this weekend’s show in the basement of Corey’s home – back when Stone Sour first formed in 1992, they first used to practice in the basement of Corey’s grandmother’s house, back when Corey used to work at the Adult Emporium on 14th Street (Corey’s first job? Don’t know)…Rock… …for downthesun, this will be the first time a live show of their’s will be videotaped (Slipknot’s Clown is directing the effort)…that videotape will most likely serve as the first time YOU get to see live footage of the band, as this footage could very well be used as an early video for one of their songs…this will be the first and last time you will ever get the opportunity to buy a certain downthesun t-shirt (the band printed up 84 shirts of a design for this show, one time only, never to be printed again)…Roll… show details: Sunday, June 23rd Toad Hollar 1820 East Army Post Rd. Des Moines IA, 50320 doors at 6:00pm 1st Band at 8:00pm (Index Case and On A Pale Horse also appear) another first: this will be the first time for either band hitting the stage at Toad Hollar – neither has ever played there before. famous parting words: “If you’re not there, I feel very, very, sorry for you” – Corey Taylor, 06.21.2002

… doubleDrive, familiarize yourself with that name, folks. As most of this year has been spent recording their Roadrunner debut and getting everything in order, we are almost ready to go… So, here’s a quick update: Outside of a 30 minute set in July and a New Year’s Eve show back in the A.M. hours of January, doubleDrive played their first show this past weekend at The Bay in Chattanooga, Tennessee in teh good ol’ US of A. And the verdict after all this time off? “It was like the middle of a tour,” told frontman Donnie earlier this afternoon. Much of the reason was the sound, as a man by the name of Big Red was behind the sound board (you may know Big Red from seeing/hearing the likes of Soulfly, Danzig, or Sevendust live). Big Red should be making the trip with the doubleDrive clan come this weekend – a five date tour run with Days Of The New. Catch them whilst they are on this roll… Right now, there’s no escaping doubleDrive. We present the facts, courtesy of our US office, as follows: 1) email rec’d from frontman Donnie two days ago, containing a new pic of the band. 2) a call from Donnie himself yesterday whilst he was driving somewhere down south. He reports that the night prior the band had their first ‘full throttle’ practice since returning from mixing their Roadrunner debut in NYC. Here on out, more ‘all outta breath’ practices, a 4-5 nights/week schedule. 3) if you were in the US office, all you’d have to do it open your ears – you can hear the man behind The Production Gospel According To Dave cranking out a couple of the band’s tracks from their mix sessions, putting his expert ear on them. Speaking of which, just one day left on the mixing front – 1 new song and a couple re-calls. The Michael Barbiero (Guns N Roses Appetite For Destruction) will be heading the session, as he has done for the prior mix sessions. and… Earlier this week (Wednesday, to be exact) Double Drive arrived in NYC. Purpose? The mixing of their Roadrunner debut. In fact, location of the mix is literally right around the corner from the Roadrunner office. In spite of being so close, it took two days for Donnie (vocals) and Troy (guitar) – the members from the band in NYC for the mix – to stop by the office…their first time ever stepping foot up in there. Donnie and Troy are working with producer Michael Barbiero mixing the album at the same quick pace in which they recorded. “First day of mixing put one in the can halfway through the day,” tells Donnie, referring to finishing up their first track. “It’s very minisquous,” Donnie details. Huh? What he is saying is that they are busting it out, not looking for fine little problems. Troy swears, and perhaps rightfully so, that Donnie am making up words. So, how has the day gone for the boys from Double Drive thus far? They awoke at 12:30pm. “That’s what time Donnie got up,” Troy chimes in. Apparently Troy was awoken by Donnie waving socks around, or something like that…you get the idea. Come 2:00, they were at the studio – mixes, edits, re-edits, re-mixes of song “Imprint.” Also, started doing some “comping” previously not done (you figure out what that studio jargon means). The boys tell of a ‘latin jazz’ thing happening in studio A beside them…next week the recording of some strings for one of the songs, a first for the band. Roadrunner: Five words on (producer) Michael Barbiero? Donnie: He’s Rock and Roll royalty. Michael, the man who headed the Double Drive recording and currently heading the mix sessions, also happens to be the man who mixed Guns N Roses Appetite For Destruction. Words of wisdom Donnie. The rest of the night for the band holds another late night at studio, working hard into Saturday morning before shut down. After that? “Partying,” answers Donnie. “Hard,” Troy quickly adds. They laugh. Donnie and Troy will be in town mixing until the 9th, so keep checking back for more updates. Title of the album they are working on? Kung Fu Johnson, we are informed. They laugh again… more to come… Been a while since we made mention of this Atlanta based act. Well, they are hitting the studio come July 8th to record their Roadrunner debut. Where? Atlanta. Here’s a name you haven’t heard much on the Roadrunner site as of late, Double Drive. But you know the saying, when it rains, it pours…tis currently just the calm before the storm. That being said, let’s work on getting acquainted once again with Double Drive. And what better way to do such than through a live show??? There is none. Double Drive has booked a couple local US club dates for later this summer. They are as follows: July 26 – ON THE BRICKS – ATLANTA, GA August 3 – G STREET LIVE – WASHINGTON, DC So if you are out that way, be sure to check em out! Roadrunner Records is proud to announce the signing of the Atlanta based quartet Double Drive. Brought to you by the same A&R cat who brought Nickelback into the Roadrunner family, Double Drive is as follows – Donnie Hamby (vocals/guitar), Troy McLawhorn (guitar), Josh Sattler (bass), and Mike Froedge (drums). Band sound familiar? Quite possibly, as in 1999 they released an album titled 1000 Yard Stare for MCA Records. Since then, most of their time has been spent touring. They are now back home in Atlanta, where they are getting new material together for what will be their Roadrunner debut. No dates have been etched in stone as of yet for this project. More details to follow… Double Drive, welcome to Roadrunner. Fans of Roadrunner, welcome Double Drive.

From the desk of Jeremiah Pilbeam (drummer extraordinaire for the outfit known as Dirty Americans): “The Dirty Americans and Paul Ebersold are like Gibson and Marshall, they rock together!!! We really found a kindred spirit in Paul. His approach and understanding of what we want to be and accomplish as a band was so right on. Paul’s crew, Skidd (engineer) and Curry, were solid… Pressed for time we cranked out three tunes, one brand new song, ‘Lookin To Find’, that we wrote with Paul while down there in Memphis. One other tune, ‘Explode’, we re-wrote and changed for the better, and one, ‘Strange Generation’, that we just rocked out! Working in Memphis at Ardent Studios was a big plus. The vibe at Ardent, and in Memphis is strong and very heavy…What a better place for the Dirty Americans to get down than the ‘Dirty South’?”

On August 22nd, Type O Negative guitarist Kenny Hickey – along with his wife Bonnie & five year old daughter Megan – welcomed a new addition to their family, newborn daughter/sister Aliya Corrine Hickey. Aliya, welcome to the world. Kenny, Bonnie & Megan, congratulations.

Some things have been brewing in the Dirty Americans camp! Dirty Americans are set to begin recording on August 26th at Ardent Studios (ZZ Top, Led Zeppelin) in Memphis, TN with producer Paul Ebersold (3 Doors Down). Track listing thus far includes “Burn You Down” and “Strange Generation”. Dirty Americans hope to have a full length album out by Summer 2003. In other news…for those fortunate (?) enough to live in Michigan, two Dirty Americans headlining dates have been announced for the month of September: September 7 The Blind Pig (734) 996-8555 206-208 First Street Ann Arbor, MI 48103 With Special Guests: Inside Five Minutes, and Inner Receipe Friday, September 13 Rubble’s (517) 772-1132 112 W. Michigan Mt. Pleasant, MI With Special Guest: Broadzilla Today, we bring you music from the Dirty Americans, the demos submitted. ‘Dirty’ demos, if you will…give a listen, you’ll hear. From “the kings of dirty rock,” we present you “Burn You Down”. Shake it down in the music section…more Dirty American demos to come… Whilst you are at it, make sure to check out their official website, which is now up and running – www.DirtyAmericans.com. For each album a band does, the biography is rewritten. With that in mind, we’ve just posted up a new band biography. If you live in the US, make sure to check them out live. Remaining upcoming dates are as follows: Tuesday, May 21 St. Andrews Hall 431 E. Congress Detroit, MI with Monster Magnet Saturday, May 25 Leopold Brothers 523 S. Main St. Ann Arbor, MI Wsg: Krescent 4 Remember The Workhorse Movement? Not got their album ‘Sons Of The Pioneers’ yet? Now’s your chance – the album has been re-released on mid-price! We are pleased to inform you that The Dirty Americans will be releasing their debut album through Roadrunner. At the moment, the band are still in the writing stage and no release date has been set. Then WHM A&R Rep and now D-Am A&R Rep Monte Conner tells “The Dirty Americans have all the things you loved about The Workhorse Movement, but with a whole new dimension and flavor. They are the kings of dirty rock.” To see the live photos from the band’s debut Detroit show on August 11 last year all you need to do is check out the gallery! Other new songs written so far are: Super Free Trip to the Moon Gold Nuclear Bomb The Clone Wars Strange Places Sungod Burn you Down Explode Do I need to ask you if you want to see the lyrics to brand new Dirty Americans song ‘Super Free’? I guess not… SUPER FREE Don’t know if I’m stoned or superfree We don’t know karate man, we know crazy We always hit the road and freak it out Fleeing from our homes to the wild is what we’re all about I’ve seen mountains that have made me whole The desert sun makes me one I just keep letting go Thrill seekers riding hard to keep it cool We don’t need the bullshit the transmissions getting through THE RIDE IS WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT TIME AIN’T EVEN RUNNING OUT!!! I know I can’t stop screaming from a mountain top I’ll take my friends Any chance I can And now I’m standing tall free riding all day long I’ll take my friends Any chance I can I’m stoned…and I’m super free We don’t need you baby cuz what we need we get for free You mutha fuckers think you got me now Nine to five ain’t gonna drag my life down Did you know that The Dirty Americans, used to be signed to Roadrunner as The Workhorse Movement? “WORKHORSE is gone but the MOVEMENT lives on in Myron, Freedom and Pete along with a new drummer Jeramiah Pilbeam together as THE DIRTY AMERICANS!! More rock less rap than Workhorse, same amount of strange…” – and that comes straight from Myron’s mouth! An update straight from Myron – We have about 12- 13 new songs finished for the record, more are in various stages, we’re doing a cover of detroit rock gods the MC5 (“Call Me Animal”) it’s a great tune and fits very with the rest of the material we’ver written on this album, check it out on napster if you don’t know it. Our first gig is June 8, 2001 in Mt. Pleasant Michigan, USA at the same club (Rubbles) where Workhorse started. With Cornbread gone, a lot of the rap vibe is gone, so we’re concentrating on rocking out in strange new ways. The Dirty American’s material is similar, Freedom and I wrote almost everything for Sons Of The Pioneers so there is a familiar sound in the new material because we are still deeply involved in the writing process. We’re concentrating more on the songs that have a stranger rock vibe like “Heavy”, “Joe Mama”, “Beotch” etc. The new drummer (Jeremiah Pilbeam) totally has the John Bonham thing going on which fits perfectly with Freedom’s guitar playing!! Workhorse made a video for single ‘Keep The Sabbath Dream Alive’ shot in Detroit. The ‘Sons Of The Pioneers’ CD by the Workhorse Movement is still available at around 퉌£11.99 in stores.

The new album looks set to be released in early 2003. No specific date is confirmed as yet. Amongst the new songs for their forthcoming album, are “Nettie”, “I Like Girls”, “Valentine’s Day”, “I Need Love”, “Anesthesia”, “Why Won’t You Love Me”, “Above All Things”, and “Life Is Killing Me”. The album will be produced by Josh Silver, who also produced ‘World Coming Down’. Late last week, Roadrunner A&R received a cd of nine new Type O Negative tracks – demos the band has been working on, completely furnished with vocals (previous demos were all instrumental). Don’t expect to hear anything anytime soon, as A&R is keeping the cd close to their vest – i.e. for their ears only.

Our friends at www.megakungfu.com have got the low down from Johnny Kelly. Check out their site and read the feature below. It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything so I’ll try to update you as to what has been going on around here. The writing for the next record began sometime in January of this year. At that point we were rehearsing ideas a few nights a week. Most of the songs that Peter writes are written during rehearsals. Most of the time, he’ll bring down pieces of songs that he came up with while at home and brings it to the band the next night. Usually these ideas are rough melodies & riffs. During rehearsals, the song begins to take some kind of shape. Very seldom, does a song need little work. A song is in a constant state of change from the time it’s written to the time it’s printed on tape. We kept going to rehearsals up until April. Josh has a 16 track studio in his house that the band uses for making the demos of new songs that have been written. During the rehearsals my daughter Sophia was born. A month after Sophia was born Josh’s wife gave birth to their daughter also. In between diaper changes, feedings & sleepless nights, the band continued to rehearse and write. The rehearsals wound up producing I think, 10 – 12 songs. It was sometime around April when Josh got his studio together in his house and we started working there. The demo recording process is also a time consuming venture. Demos for Type O are just as involved as making the actual record at Systems II. A lot of time and effort go into our demos. What takes us so long to do demos is that we experiment with the songs until we feel that it’s the best the song is going to get. Let me clear something up before we go further though. I am not trying to boast or anything like that. I am not a big fan of recording. I enjoy live performance a lot more than recording. I’m trying to say that there is much more work in recording the demos than it is to record the actual record. By the time the demos are finished, we pretty much know how the songs are supposed to sound and it’s just a matter of trying to recreate what we did at Josh’s house. We have a great relationship with Systems II. They are considered family. Peter & Josh have been using Systems II since they were teenagers. The band has never used any other recording studio. Among all of the other excuses that I can use to explain why the demos are not finished is that our manager worked out an opportunity for us last spring. It was to record a version of the wrestler “Kane” from the World Wrestling Federation theme song titled “Into the Fire” for a new cd for the WWF. I don’t by whom or how it was decided that we were going to do his song but, I found it humoring that we were chosen. He looks like he could be in the band. This took a little time out of recording the demos. I remember after the track was completed, we were surprised at how the song turned out. Most Type O Negative fans are used to the way we do covers of songs. They usually don’t sound like the original versions. We always took the approach of “how would the song sound if it was one of ours?” This song is no different. I am told that the CD is going to be released in October but, things like that change constantly. I still have no idea who else is doing songs on the CD but I do remember that they were all much more popular than Type O Negative. Steve our webmaster knows more about the CD than we do. I think that he has something written about it on our website. Here we are in the middle of September already & the demos are not completed yet. We are making progress though. A few songs are completed. We’re expecting to have them completed shortly but after talking to Peter the other night, he mentioned that he has written two more songs. He always does this to us. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. He usually comes up with stronger songs around this time in the recording process. I guess he doesn’t feel pressure to write & they just come out of him. Usually when this happens, the song is demoed quickly & more attention is focused when we’re at Systems II. Both records that I have done with the band, he has done & the results were always good. So, I am anxious to hear them. I’m sure that everyone reading this is now familiar with what has happened here in NYC on September 11. The World Trade Center was attacked & destroyed by terrorists. It has been very hard to concentrate on anything since this has happened. My heart goes out to all the families of the people that are missing and were killed. I’m trying to take my mind off of the subject by writing tonight. It is so mind blowing to watch TV and not see those buildings. After being on tour for months, it was always great to see the skyline when coming into NY. I’ve always been in awe of the Twin Towers. I spent most of the following day watching the news with Kenny and our families. I’m still in shock! The city will come back from this and eventually things will get back to normal. The past few days have been spent watching the news and I haven’t spent too much time doing much else. I did get some e-mails reminding me that work has to get done. This journal is one of those things. The other is preparing for the upcoming dates that the band has booked to celebrate Halloween. It’s become some sort of tradition that we play a few shows around that time of year regardless of what our schedule is. As soon as July was starting to end, the e-mails started to come in asking if we were going to be touring around Halloween this year. I wasn’t certain if we were going to do it this year. Why would this year be different than any other? We hadn’t discussed anything about touring as of yet but, I knew the subject would be coming up soon. Because we’re busy with the new record, this run of dates is pretty short. We’re doing ten shows in eleven days. I’m looking forward to performing. We haven’t played live since New Years Eve. It’ll be fun to get out there for a few days. Speaking of tradition, when it was decided that we were going to do some dates, the Trocadero in Philadelphia was one of the first clubs to book the band. This will be the fifth year in a row that we’ll be playing there on Halloween. It’s usually a pretty wild night for all involved. The crowd seems to have an extra edge to them on that night. Philadelphia has really seemed to embrace us. It’s pretty cool! The band is pretty much divided when it comes to touring. Kenny and I enjoy it while Peter and Josh don’t. But this trip isn’t that bad at all. It’s a very short run and most of the shows are kind of close to home. It’s a nice way to get reacquainted with the road since we’ve been home for a long time now. It would be a whole lot worse for them if this trip was three months long. We’ll be doing that soon enough. With the dates coming there are things that have to be done besides playing drums. There’s lots of coordinating that has to be done now so that the trip will run smoothly and efficiently. All of the dates have been confirmed and most of the crew has been assembled already. There are lots of business details that have to be done now even before we begin rehearsals. It’s not the most Rock N Roll thing to do but it has to get done. But I honestly feel that you’re not too interested in reading about that stuff. It’s getting late and I still have a bunch of things to take care of before I go to bed. I’ll try to stay on top of my journal now that that there will be a few things to write about. Take care. Johnny