Former METALLICA bassist and current NEWSTED frontman Jason Newsted spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA, the reality television-formed supergroup he launched seven years ago with former GUNS N' ROSES and ROCK STAR SUPERNOVAguitarist Gilby Clarke, Tommy Lee (MÖTLEY CRÜE) and Canadian vocalist Lukas Rossi.
"It was a great experience, I made good money and I think I played some good five-string bass on the recording, so those three things were successful for me," he said.
"The whole Hollywood vibe is really, really the opposite of what I am: pretty much the direct opposite. I'm in first, last one out and play like I'll never play again and work as hard as possible all the time.
"When I came into SUPERNOVA, I had all my shit together and sat down with these guys and said, 'This is what we need to do if we want to get this record done.' And they went, 'Who made you boss?' So I was like, okay, fine: let's see how this goes…"
Newsted continued: "We ended up rehearsing about seven hours total. Total. Ever.
"I tried to be a leader — none of those guys have been in as big or as successful bands as I've been in. I wasn't trying to be arrogant, but that's the deal and they should have shown some respect for my opinion and my interest in the leadership role. They had their irons in many other fires at the time and I didn't. I moved out to Los Angeles to focus on that show and they spent more time walking around than anything else. Fortunately for me, at that time I discovered my painting. So if they hadn't been jacking off, it would have given me a chance to paint. So everything for a reason. The record got done, I put a big check in the bank, and now I'm selling my paintings. I make some wicked lemonade if you give me lemons, you know?"
AEROSMITH's latest concert film, "Rock For The Rising Sun", was released via Eagle Rock Entertainment on July 23. The group's connection with Japan began in 1977, when the band first played to capacity crowds in the Far East. And as evidenced by "Rock For The Rising Sun", the band-fan bond remains strong to this day. The director behind the release, Casey Patrick Tebo, is well-versed in not only his'SMITH (he directed their music video for "Legendary Child"), but has also worked with such renowned acts as MÖTLEY CRÜE, JUDAS PRIEST,STEVIE NICKS, LADY ANTEBELLUM, THE AVETT BROTHERS, and RUN-DMC, among countless others.
Tebo first began working with AEROSMITH in 2006, when Steven Tylerand Tebo met through a colleague, and the singer invited the up-and-coming director (who was in film school at the time) to shoot a few of the band's shows — for just the band's personal viewing. Soon after, the band was so impressed with Tebo's work that they hired him to start directing their live shows.
Fast forward to 2011, and AEROSMITH was hard at work on their 15th studio album, "Music From Another Dimension!", but took a break from recording to play shows in Latin America and Japan. Sadly, the Japanese dates occurred not long after tragedy struck the region, as the country experienced a massive earthquake, a monstrous tsunami, and the subsequent meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Despite warnings about possibly being exposed to radiation, AEROSMITHand crew, including Tebo, braved the risks and followed through with their visit to Japan. "I shot all this stuff and interviewed all these
Fan-filmed video footage of FIREWIND 's June 7 performance at this year's edition of the Sweden Rock Festival in Sölvesborg, Sweden can be seen below.
Vocalist Apollo Papathanasio left FIREWIND in January and has been temporarily replaced by American singer Kelly Sundown Carpenter(BEYOND TWILIGHT, OUTWORLD, DARKOLOGY, ADAGIO).
In a recent interview with Metal Assault, Gus G. stated about Apollo's departure: "People following the band for the past few years would know that we've had different session guys at the live shows even when Apollowas in the band because he just had to skip a few tours during the year. So whenever the schedule was getting too heavy for him and he would have to take care of stuff back home, we had to get other guys. So this time, he had to skip again and he was like, 'You know, instead of holding you guys back, I might as well just quit.' I think he did the right thing for him, for us as well, because we can only do that [getting session vocalists] so many times and we're better off trying to find a new permanent guy instead of getting replacements for a tour. So at least now we know that we have to find somebody new, and in a sense it's a bit sad, but at the same time it's some sort of relief."
Asked if Carpenter is going to be the permanent replacement forPapathanasio, Gus said: "We don't know yet. We're not going to rush that decision. We're really happy with what he's doing on stage; he's doing a really good job. But we have this tour and then we have a few festivals back home and then FIREWIND might be on hiatus for a while, so we're going to see what we're going to do."
Steve Adams of the Birmingham Post recently conducted an interview with bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee of Canadian rock legends RUSH. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.
On finally being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last month:
Lee: "It was really overwhelming and we all got choked up.
"Our fans have always placed more importance on us getting in than we have — we'd always thought it was no big deal. But at that particular moment it sure did feel like a big deal.
KING DIAMOND kicked off its European tour this past Sunday, May 19 at the Rock Hard Festival at Amphitheater in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen below.
KING DIAMOND's setlist was as follows:
01. The Candle
02. Welcome Home
03. At The Graves
04. Up From The Grave
05. Voodoo
06. Dreams
07. Sleepless Nights
08. Drum Solo (by Matt Thompson)
09. Shapes Of Black
10. Come To The Sabbath (MERCYFUL FATE cover)
11. Evil (MERCYFUL FATE cover)
12. Eye Of The Witch
Encore:
13. The Family Ghost
Encore 2:
14. Halloween
Encore 3:
15. Black Horsemen
KING DIAMOND in December signed a new three-album worldwide deal with Metal Blade Records.
British thrashers EVILE will release their fourth album, "Skull", on May 27 in Europe on Earache Records and in North America via Century Media/Earache Reco...
A video recap of HELLOWEEN's "Hellish Rock Tour Part II" with GAMMA RAY and SHADOWSIDE, which concluded on April 21 in Schwandorf, Germany, can be seen belo...
