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If you are looking for new Stoner Rock, Doom, Heavy Psych or Sludge Metal bands, then you have come to the right place. Heavy Planet has been providing free promotion to independent and unsigned bands since 2008. Find your next favorite band at Heavy Planet. Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Lineup Finalized For Doom in June Vol. 4

Crushing heaviness flattens Las Vegas as Doom in June Vol. 4 descends upon Cheyenne Saloon.

Heavy Planet is once again a very proud sponsor of this year's event.



Las Vegas, NV, Tuesday, April 29, 2014 -- Salem Rose Music announces final line-up for Doom in June Vol. 4 Music Festival in Las Vegas. This year the festival kicks off on Friday night (June 6th). In keeping with festival tradition, Saturday (June 7th) will feature music all day and well into the night. Doom in June expanded the format to accommodate more bands this year. Event takes place at The Cheyenne Saloon (3103 N Rancho Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130). Tickets are on sale now:

2- day ticket discount price $40
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/533967

"I'm proud I could put together a heavier than heavy line-up for Doom in June Vol. 4" explains festival founder Marco Barbieri, "We've expanded to a two-day format in order to add more bands. There is a greater diversity of talent and we've listened to the fans and made it darker and doomier this year."

Event sponsors include Fly PR, Vegas Star Bookings, The Obelisk, Heavy Planet and All That Is Heavy. To become a sponsor or to find out about vendor opportunities please contact Salem Rose Music.

Friday June 6 
(first band hits the stage just after 5:00 pm and show ends just after midnight) 

Spiritual Shepherd
Lotus
Whores of Tijuana
Wounded Giant
Night Demon
Spiral Arms
Big Elf
Satan’s Host

Saturday June 7 
(first band hits the stage just after 2:00 pm and show ends around 1:00 am) 

Spun in Darkness
Funerary
Black Prism
Deathkings
Trapped Within Burning Machinery
Secrets of the Sky
Godhunter
Demon Lung
Ides of Gemini
My Ruin
Pale Divine
Acid Witch
November’s Doom

VISIT THE BANDS ONLINE: 

VISIT THE SPONSORS AND VENUE ONLINE:
Fly PR

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Sunday Sludge: Ooze


The bulk of my Saturday was spent in an Indiana town sampling and celebrating various Dark Lord sticky syrups, coating my gullet with hefty shares from complete strangers quickly becoming bonded enthusiasts. The flavors, the notes, the metal spraying from the stage, the warmth between the winds... It somehow adds up to even more than the sum of its parts. What results is an ungodly palatable thickness and a feeling that if I enjoy this too much, I may find myself knee-deep in some shit.

To follow-up with the most appropriate Sunday Sludge act seemed a daunting endeavor given the shellacking dealt to my pre-frontal cortex just hours earlier. But Trieste, Italy's stoner-sludge quartet Ooze offer a supplement that's as effective as any. Ten quick rolls and churns on their self-titled follow-up to 2012's Sister Tank serve a viscous pairing that dodges the pitfalls of over-thinking or digging too deep for too long. The tempos hold steady, the sludge underlayment never dries out, and the tips of your fingers are caked with earthen honey.

When Ooze hit the gas, there's a dirty groove rousing your guilt and burning the back of your neck. Thankless Life keeps things evil with vile vocals and drums fluttering with clout. The movement of Experience The Hatred is glazed with unapologetic marquee guitars, a thumping wolf at the door marking this as just one of the album's rhythmic highlights. As the screeches of Dope Visions collapse, the infliction evolves into cool stoner-sludge balancing the jostle with the buzz. Ooze spread it smooth only to hammer it with clenched fists.

Night Gastic Reflux is choppy with hovering sustain, breaking to attack thick timber and level it with a chainsaw. That hover returns on the cymbal-heavy The Smoke Told Me How, fuzzed out and burning on slow deception. Here the boys stomp, glare, and snuff out the escape with thunderous slugs and sharp jabs. But the highlight of the album's thorax ultimately rests with the final minute of Theft of State. An ominous crafting of slick, wet cobblestones at first seems like a placid moment of clarity by comparison. But what underlies? Broken chains, a beast unleashed, and an assault of uptempo abandon.

The ash-sifting lurches of Shrine counter the track's horse-collar, but as the ascension becomes more focused, we're dealt piercing sustain. Oh, there's that hovering tapestry again, this time dark with promise. The sludgy gait remains evident through the album's closer, Row to the Guillotine, leaving a trail of murk and sticking to hooves. The slow roll-out is unsettled and we're left braised and road-rashed. I'll have another.

Ooze sway with a stagger, but they manage to keep one eye open. When velcro meets matted hair with this much deliberate trot, it's difficult to free an arm. They'll drag us through moments of swampy despair only to sling us upward with barbed guitars. But Ooze consistently return us to that humming comfort somewhere between filthy and tense. And that intermittent back-end kick is only way to know you're really alive.

For fans of: Eyehategod, Noothgrush, Fistula
Pair with: Dark Lord Russian Style Imperial Stout, Three Floyds Brewing



Saturday, April 26, 2014

Eye of the Stoned Goat 4 Festival May 3-4

Next Saturday and Sunday marks the 4th installment of the Eye of the Stoned Goat Festival. This year's event takes place at Ralph's Diner in Worchester, MA and features 20 bands for 20 bucks over the course of 2 days and also includes the reunion show of Sixty Watt Shaman. This is sure to be one hell of a weekend and to get you psyched as to what you can expect, the Electric Beard of Doom has dedicated his entire show this week to next weekend's festivities. Listen now!



Heavy Planet is a proud sponsor of this year's event! 

For more information please check out the following links:

Friday, April 25, 2014

Heavy Planet Catches Up with The Midnight Ghost Train



The Midnight Ghost Train are bringin' their heavy stoner blues to Europe this spring. This jaunt across the continent is nothing new for these notorious road dogs, and if you're over there I suggest you catch them if you can. We caught up with Steve from the band, and asked him about their new album, the follow up to the much beloved Buffalo, and what they will be playing on this tour. And it sounds like if you can point them in the direction of some chocolate covered bacon, they'd be much obliged.

Heavy Planet (HP)- Last I read you were undecided on a name for the new album, making any headway on that front?
Steve (S)- We think we got it figured out, but not 100% certain on it yet, so it is not yet ready to be unleashed. BUT all the photos for the record are done, and they turned out amazing, we defintley topped the last record photos with this new one.

HP- Got a tentative release date? When you going into the studio?
(S)- We go into the studio immediately after this European tour is over. Still No confirmed release date yet, but it should be sometime around October.

HP- What can fans expect from this album? What will be the fuzz to blues ratio?
(S)- Ha fuzz to blues ratio I dig that. You know, there is actually no fuzz used at all in our band. People are always asking me what kind of fuzz I use, and I'm sorry to disappoint everyone but I don't. I just use a lot of bass in my amps EQ that gives it that more organic fuzzy feel. But anyways this new record is going to be awesome. We defintley have taken a lot more care in the writing process and in crafting the songs. More singing on this record, more structure, better put together songs, better everything. We really wanted to top BUFFALO with this new record, and I think we will have no problem doing that. Its just all around different and better than what we previously have done. Its fresh, very bluesy, and just a more solid rockin out album

HP- This will be the first recorded album with Mike on bass. How will his presence influence the album? (S)- Mike has added an insane amount to this band with his playing. Me and my drummer wrote all the bass parts on our previous records, and to tell you the truth we dont no shit about bass. So having Mike writing this whole record with us has added a completely new deminsion to the rhytham section. The bass lines are smooth as butter, and he is just all around such an awesome addition to this band which will come through very clearly in this upcoming album.
What blues tunes would you like to see get The Midnight Ghost Train Treatment? Any blues covers in your current set? ~None in our current set since we have been working so hard on getting these new songs exactly where we want them to be, so we have been pretty focused on the new record. But yea we have played around with some real cool covers. We do a pretty awesome really heavy version of a Ray Charles song "What I Say" and Muddy Waters "Manish Boy" that we will soon unleash.

HP- You guys are notorious road dogs. You go to chains or try the local flavors? Still into chocolate covered bacon? (S)- We prefer to hit the local spots on the road, we love finding local diners, and local favorite spots, but to tell you the truth for the most part we eat an enormous amount of Subway. But we're done eating at gas station Subways they always are terrible and a huge disappointment. The venues tend to always think crappy pizza is a good idea for us which gets pretty monotonous. Mhhm that chocolate bacon you got us was killer, unfourtunatley we havent come across that again yet.



Wednesday, April 23, 2014

New Band To Burn One To:Youngblood Supercult



"Straight out of Topeka, Kansas comes four riff-worshipping bandmates that unite their love of seventies heavy blues, occult-ish doom rock, and a free and easy vibe in what they like to call Stoner-lite. I would have to say that their sound would not qualify as "lite" in my book, in someone else's, maybe. The band's first single "Season of the Witch" is a slithering, hard-driving, and catchy tune that wraps around a tight groove. The vocals reign supreme with their bravado and mighty soaring ability. Youngblood Supercult has played alongside fellow Topekians (I hope that's correct) and Heavy Planet favorite The Midnight Ghost Train. The band has a very straight-forward approach and a strong desire to make a name for themselves. Give Youngblood Supercult a listen, you'll be glad you did."



Sunday, April 20, 2014

Sunday Sludge: Graves At Sea / Sourvein - Split EP


Pastels piss me off. I can't stand the soft hues and saturation of all things spring, and Easter is particularly irritating for a myriad of reasons. It's everywhere, and so are the lies and misconceptions. Think of it as Thanksgiving's cute younger sister who pretends she isn't a dirty little whore.

I needed to blacken my season, particularly on a day like today. It didn't take long to find the perfect sludge/doom one-two, transcending coasts and spreading slow, steaming shit across my neighbor's holiday display. Cave-crawlers Graves at Sea lace up with veteran plodders Sourvein for a split that'll answer everyone's questions as to why you didn't make it to church this morning. These five tracks are low, filthy, and quite the opposite of the sunny-sided optimism taped to suburban windows.

Graves at Sea take first crack at convention on a Billy Anderson-recorded tandem of Betting On Black and Confession. The former offers an ominous and haunting drone hover until we're staggered by a collapse of grinding doom. Thunderous slugs welcome the trademark vocal accost of Gollum and abundant abrasion. Rhythms lurch and lag, pushing and dragging under a mood despondent with slivers of deception. The plod and stomp are snuffed by filthy swirls as we're reminded "You're born into this world of shit, and then you die."

Confession is only a tad more uptempo, courtesy of drum flurries until swayed-timber pacing returns. Violence is dealt with undeniable, unstoppable clout as temperatures steadily rise throughout the track. Sticky repetition brings the burn to a numbness, reigns continuously loosen only to re-tighten. When the elements break for a sparse riff reprieve, we're foolish to think we won't soon be crippled under a caked slab of beefy guitars. Chops quicken, the trot grows frantic, and our heads are swiveled.

Sourvein, on the other hand, craft a doom-and-shroom triptych of groove-laden sludge that's as thick and tasty as anything they've done. Drifter plods through murk and T.Roy may have cut back on chewing shattered glass, his pipes echoing into a nod of doom's history. The track steadily drives deeper amid a thicket of threaded psychedelia, and a guitar solo uncoils to punch the track's mossy tapestry into oblivion.

The warbled, weird Equinox agonizes with droning sustain, hovering until reverb shakes its skin with an intermissionary vibe. It's so fucking cool, and Follow The Light is the perfect *ahem* follow-up. Pendulums swing with morose realization, begging the questions "What light?" This closer is thick, yet bitten with swaying groove that lifts briefly. The track's midpoint is drenched in distortion, loaded on chewy riffs too big to swallow. Guitar licks try to spoil the buzz, but what they really accomplish is expanding the mindfuck. Meat cleaver drums drive us home as Mike Dean begins accruing accolades for his production.

These bands are to one another both kin and complement, as the sounds thumb a parallel helix yet manage to separate themselves from one another just enough. But that's hardly the success here. Each song on either side serves as its own showcase of a band intent on keeping too many false smiles from polluting our planet. This split simply crushes from either side of the wax. It's a tad bright outside for my squints to adjust, so I'm gonna sit here in my basement, blast this staggering marriage of dissonance and harmony, and wait for the fuzz to pound my front door.

For fans of: Buzzov*en, EYEHATEGOD, Electric Wizard
Pair with: Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Founders Brewing Co.

Reach back for a taste until your copy arrives in the mail...





Friday, April 18, 2014

LP Review 'Electric Mountain Majesty' by Mos Generator




For anyone new to Mos Generator, where the hell have you been? To use a completely made up metaphor, imagine a totally kick-ass denim/leather hybrid cut-off jacket, with more mileage and stories than you could ever experience, litter it with sewn on badges of the best 70’s hard rock bands, sprinkle it with a few beer and unexplained stains and rips, fused to your torso for all eternity: that is Electric Mountain Majesty!

14 years and six albums in (now on Listenable Records) and Mos Generator are thriving. Similarities are easily drawn with Black Sabbath at their more accessible groove reaches with vocalist Tony Reed’s wholesome growl and solid doomy riffs, but Mos Generator are much more than a ‘sounds like...’ band, carving out a slice of rock history for their own. Opening with ‘Beyond The Whip’, chugging along like a galloping bull high on LSD, the Port Orchard, Washington, boys carry a youthful burning spirit that can only be released through driving riffs and haze fuelled vocals. ‘Nothing Left But Night’ sounds like a song which could define their career, with enough groove-laden riffs to collapse a lung, sculpting the band’s core sound with pinpoint precision.

Throughout the record, the vocals are near perfect, exemplified on ‘Neon Nightmare’ and ‘Breaker’ where notes are destroyed and re-laid with a steamroller. With his vocals being a perfect cross of Ozzy Osbourne and Zakk Wylde, it’s easy to see where the rest of the band’s influences come from, but the natural organic roots of Mos Generator are ones to be appreciated, not necessarily dissected.

If you are still new to Mos Generator by the time you’ve reached this part of the review, go and listen to the title track of the record, or ‘High Ritual’, or any damn track, then sew your new favourite band’s patch onto your denim/leather hybrid jacket, and rock the fuck out!







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Thursday, April 17, 2014

Stumpfest 2014: An Interview with High Priestess Rynne Stump


Take a glance at the lineup for Portland's Stumpfest 2014 and it's difficult to make sense of how such a staggering three-day bill came together. Spend just moments speaking with the event's founder and organizer, Rynne Stump, and it's immediately evident how easily she can pull off such impressively heavy company. Words like friends, magic, and love dominate her vernacular more than fans or money, and a disarmingly genuine nature bleeds through each sentence.  Heavy Planet enjoyed an opportunity to gush as Rynne opened up about the annually-expanding Stumpfest and its past, its future, and its purpose.

Heavy Planet: This is the third year for Stumpfest, right?

Rynne Stump: Yep, third year!

HP: What are some of the origins of the festival?

RS: It just kind of came to me. I used to do booking in Portland and I did production there with my best friend, Chantelle Hylton, back in the early 2000's. And I used to do my own little shows around town. I guess the origins would be from that and moving to L.A. and not really having much of a scene down here. Some people could argue that with me, but I've lived here ten years and if you wanna go to a heavy show you've gotta drive to Pomona or somewhere on God's green Earth out there. A lot of my friends I met in Portland who do play in heavy bands, they'll come stay at my house when they're in town but usually they don't have a good venue to play down here. So a couple years back, YOB was doing their first stint out with Tool and I asked them on the last show, "What if I had a festival? Would you guys play it? If I booked a gig up in Portland, would you guys headline?" And Mike (Scheidt) was like "Absolutely!" And I thought, Well how cool would THIS be? Do a show every year with my friends, bands that I like, bands that I don't get to see. Maybe my friends from down here come and play up there, we'll just get everybody connected. So really it was just the idea of bringing my friends together and actually getting to see all these amazing bands that I'm missing living in Los Angeles. That's probably not a very nice answer, but it's the truth! [laughs]


YOB
HP: 2012 was one night, 2013 spanned a weekend, and this year's three day lineup is fucking killer! How big is this thing gonna get?

RS: I don't know! This year I was like, Maybe we'll go back to one night. Then I just had an outpouring of requests from bands that I really love, bands that played the first two years and I can't say no to. They're my brothers. The Rieseberg's in Norska, my best friend Mark (Bassett) in Diesto...  "Of course you guys are gonna play because I wanna see you! I never get to see you!" So aside of that, Ancient Warlocks came outta the woods and I love them, I love their record. Bands like Drunk Dad, who I just got turned onto a couple months back. I wanna see them, y'know?! One of my friends from elementary school, Kevin Spafford, is the drummer in Honduran. He sent me their album a while back and I was like "Oh my God, you guys have to play!" I got excited and I cast the net kinda broad and wide because bands like Trans Am, you don't know if they're gonna say yes or no. You don't know where they're at in their creative process. They haven't played shows in a while. The last time I saw them was actually at Mississippi Studios. A year and a half back they did a show for their record label, it was like an all day thing. They've been friends of mine for years, we worked together and booked them at Berbati's a long time ago. I reached out to those guys and it just so happened they finished their tenth record (Volume X) and they're lookin' for a show. The only thing was Sebastian (Thomson) is now drumming in Baroness. So I was like, "Can we get Seb out?" And Seb said "Yeah, we can do it." And he's gotta fly back for Moogfest in Asheville (NC) like the day after. They're friends and they wanna be a part of it and it's really exciting, but I had NO idea they would say yes. Red Fang, we were negotiating with them last year. Pretty much everyone that plays this knows me or is one degree away from a close friend.

Ancient Warlocks
HP: It seems so tightly knit, the entire thing...

RS: Absolutely! It's a total family affair. I had a lot of requests from bands I've never heard of or don't know and that's really exciting that people wanna play it. That makes it awesome for me because I get a chance to discover new music and see new bands myself and that's exciting. But for right now, it's really just... family. [laughs]

HP: I keep seeing the term "Bro-love."

RS: It's SUPER bro-love! And that's the cool part! If you're there, it's cool. You can experience it and be a part of it. It's really an intense thing. People in the crowd, the audience, they feel like they're a part of something, they feel connected to the musicians, they feel connected to the vibes that are being procured. Every band, so far, has brought an incredible set. It's insane, it's leveling! Everyone is rehearsing, getting prepped; they really take it seriously and I think that's the inspiration of love, friendship. It's not a competitive thing, it's not like we wanna sound better than anybody else. To me, it's Stumpfest. We all just wanna get a quality thing together. And I love that! It's happening naturally, it's something I can't explain. It's magic. That's the magic and power of love and friendship. And I have no idea what's gonna happen in the next couple of years! [laughs] It's its own animal, it seems like it just keeps morphing and evolving into this bigger, cooler thing. Hey, I'm just holdin' on for dear life here!

HP: Our readers are familiar with Norska, Black Pussy, everybody loves Red Fang. I'm not even able to attend and I was stoked to see the lineup, especially when Ancient Warlocks were announced. Are there any bands there people would be foolish to miss? You'll probably say all of them...

RS: That's such a tough question. That's the reason I set it up, these are ALL bands I would NEVER miss. Trans Am, who's gonna argue with that? They're one of the best bands on the entire planet! Unequivocally, Trans Am is one of the best of the best. It's been over fifteen years they've been together and they still just deliver. If you miss Trans Am, you should just... [sighs] That would be the one for me. I would NOT miss Thursday night. That's a hard question, that's not funny! [laughs]


Trans Am
HP: Sorry!

RS: I don't know, YOB? Red Fang in a 300-capacity venue? When I first saw Mastodon in 2001 or 2002 in Seattle, they were playing at this tiny club up there. It was mind-blowing! Seeing YOB in a small place, Black Cobra, I just can't say enough about this year. I don't even know how I did it. I have no idea.

Black Cobra
HP: When I first saw the bill, I think it was on Cat's instagram or something, I thought, You've gotta be kidding me! But it seems so much a celebration of the Pacific Northwest and an increasingly prolific scene, if you wanna call it that. What would you say is special to the area compared to other hotbeds of heavy music like New Orleans or Savannah?

RS: What I think is of utmost importance to these musicians is that they care, they give a fuck about what they sound like. And like I said, not in a competitive format. Not in a "We wanna make it big" format. They care because the music means so much. The tone, y'know? The carving of the tone, the heaviness. They respect the heavy. They respect their craft and, as you well know, anyone who respects what they do has the integrity to do BEYOND. You wanna evolve. You wanna transform, right? Isn't that the idea of art? To transform, to transcend. THAT'S what comes out of the Pacific Northwest. Transcendence through quality. These guys work jobs. They go home and work jobs. They take care of their families, they take care of this or that. But they can tell you exactly their pedal board systems, their handmade cabinets from dudes that MAKE cabinets in the Pacific Northwest. It's just such a beautiful place, it's like a garden. A garden for quality, heavy music and rock n' roll. I just believe all that rain, all those clouds...

HP: There's something about it!

RS: There's something about it, right!

HP: I've been told not just Portland, but the Pacific Northwest in general, is a strange and special place.

RS: They know how to cultivate sound, and that's the beauty. It's the respect, it's that respect for the craft. And that's art, that's the DEFINITION of art. It's not to bastardize and make thousands of dollars being a jerk, not knowing what the hell you're doing.

HP: And a lot o' people make a lot o' money doin' that shit...

RS: I know, I KNOW! You see bands like Yes and old school bands that are still doin' it for the love. They're not out there tryin' to make money, and I doubt they ever were. It's the integrity of the art.

HP: And you've got bands coming out retirement because they have bills. And it sucks.

RS: It depends on what band you're talkin' about! You know what I mean, we gotta watch it! [laughs] But there's nothing wrong with making money, either. The money is not the evil. The evil comes with how you're motivated by the money. It's what you choose to sacrifice to make that money. If you just so happen to be completely devoted to your craft and you happen to be able to make money on it, fuck... more power to you! And if you happen to make money without that? More power to you, but I'm not gonna listen to your shit. Good music is good music, it doesn't matter what it is. I listen to EVERYTHING! I listen to MUSIC, I'm a MUSIC lover. I sang bluegrass when I was a little kid and I still listen to bluegrass. But, like I said... with anything, with art, when it's really, truly there....people know it. And that's the beauty of being a human. ONE of the beauties.

HP: Yeah! I was raised on my dad's old Mountain and Allman Brothers records and it's funny now, I love this heavy stuff, this sludge and doom. But I was fed a lot o' good music as a kid. And like you said, good music is good music. It doesn't need to be categorized.

RS: No, it doesn't! It can, but it's not necessary. You know when something's good, you know when it hits you right in the sweet spot. I think that's one of the beauties of this year's festival: every band has a sweet spot. Every band that's on this bill has the potential to be headliners. Or ARE headliners!


HP: Right! I could ask which of these bands are primed to explode, but I look and I can answer my own question. ANY of them!

RS: Yeah, any show could have been developed over any number of these bands. I got lucky. The powers that be aligned and here it is. The beauty is that when things are right in the world, everything just works. It's a problem when you try to force things. Fortunately, the magic was in the air and everyone said yes! Everyone I asked said yes. Except Sandrider, because they were having a child or something. And I was like, We need to get some more days at Mississippi, because we love it there and they take great care of us. And I feel like if we have to move to a larger venue at some point, maybe for a night, we might do that in the future. But Mississippi should and will always be our home. I like the intimacy and I don't wanna have to start charging people a lot of money for tickets. That's another huge point of contention. I'm trying to keep the cost of the festival livable so people can come.

HP: And the tickets are modestly priced.

RS: I want everybody to have a chance to come to all the nights. It's all about the whole picture. Maybe some people don't wanna come to the same venue every night. But the people who ARE gonna be there all three nights are gonna experience something really special.

HP: Looking through photos from the first two years, there's nobody there that isn't smiling and loving the shit out of their life at that point.

RS: [laughs] Well, yes! It's fun! Everybody gets paid, everybody gets fed. I give a free t-shirt to every member of the bands. Usually I screen-print the t-shirts by hand but this year I'm gonna actually go down to a shop in town and have them do it because it's red and black and really intense with a red washout. I'm a printer, by the way. That's my college degree, printing. I have my own little set up here at my house but this year's artwork demanded a little more attention than I could provide with the time frame because I just got home from tour with Tool and I didn't have enough time to actually screen-print the number of t-shirts I'll need. So that's kind of a drag. I just went down and had a meeting with the printers yesterday and they said, "Come on down, you can help us!" So I'm actually involved, but I won't be doing them all by hand. But everybody gets a little love. My sister and I make handmade laminates out of nudie magazines for all the bands. High Times, Playboy, National Geographic... little collages for each band member. It's fun! Everybody is involved because they want to be. Our artist who's done the artwork every year, one of my dear friends, Gabriel Shaffer out of Asheville, North Carolina... he's done artwork for us at our home, and naturally he was the first person I asked to help me with this because it's a family affair! It gives us all a reason to get together. It's easy when it's just all your friends. [laughs] Everybody just likes to see each other and it's like a big reunion. And we get to bring other people into the fold. We make new friends, new relationships get forged, bands meet each other that maybe otherwise hadn't in the past. I know Floor is taking out Hot Victory, that happened because they all met last year. I think that's why it happened, at least. It's just cool. New bonds are made, that's the whole idea.

Hot Victory
HP: I wish more festivals were like this one. The way it's presented, the way it's arranged and delivered. It's difficult for me to describe as an outsider. I won't ask you to sell the festival, it seems to sell itself. But is there anything people may not know about Stumpfest that you feel they need to know?

RS: Not really! They just need to be armed and prepared to open their hearts, connect, and have a blast!

HP: Can they get in if they don't have a beard?

RS: [laughs] Absolutely! I don't discriminate! There's a lot o' hair goin' on, it's amazing! John Theodore, when I asked Life Coach to come up... We already had Phil (Manley) from Trans Am, and I was like "Come on, Johnny! You gotta come up!" And he was like "Man, Stump! That's a lot o' heaviness there, I don't know!" I told him he'll be fine! Because I want each night to have its own identity. What's a festival if it's one big clod and everybody sounds in the same ilk? It kinda gets to you after a while. So it's nice. That's maybe one thing that I'll leave you with. Each night crafts its own sound, its own style. And I've tried to cultivate it that way. We have one night that's different to keep it fresh for everyone who does want to come for three days. You ARE getting a different vibe on stage each night!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Don't sleep on this one, kids. It seems there's no over-stressing the heart that goes into Stumpfest at every angle. From Ms. Stump, through the bands, and directly into the lucky few in attendance runs a stream of unity and passion. If only the rest of the world would catch on, eh?



Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Exclusive Track Premiere: Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus - "Wind Seized"


The earthen, the primitive, the native. There's no doubt a connection between this world and another, but our technology and our mundane motions won't help you find it. Without the benefit of time or a seasoned guide, you'll trip and miss the point. If you've absorbed Sweden's Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus, you've been, at the very least, introduced to a wormhole leading to a timeless, sprawling expanse of lofted bursts of psychedelia. The patient, the timeless, the hauntingly dry-hung threads of Elefanta and Bloom interwove the heavy with the dusty swirl, promising no limit.

From JIRM's latest trippy 8-track jaunt Spirit Knife comes Wind Seized, a belted free-spirit epic of canyon-dipped vocals glazing an elevated terrace of red rocks and staggering majesty. These guitars sail only to erupt and spray a dusty terrain with gold flakes, stunning with solos, riffing and rolling with sticky cosmic hope. It's impossible to hide the beauty amid the heavy hollows as your head tilts 90ยบ and elemental variance threads spirals due North. This opus accomplishes more than simple seizure.

Small Stone needs your hovered commitment for two weeks, releasing Spirit Knife on April 29th. Just trust us, the album's balance of licks and buzzing hums is gonna drip from the corner of your mouth. But this streamer's an extended hand, an open door to a dimension you won't discover on fucking Pandora. Check it out below and drift... By the time your grip firms and you're carried home, you'll realize how fucking incredible it felt to get away.




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