SOMETHING TO BURN
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SOMETHING TO BURN

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"LA's Something To Burn, w/ special guests Muma & Subs"

Los Angeles Rockers Something to Burn Ignite Beijing
September 30 at the New Get Lucky

China West Entertainment and YGTwo present Los Angles hard-rock quartet, Something to Burn, performing live in Beijing, Friday, September 30 from 9:30pm at the New Get Lucky (Oriental Qicai World, Women’s Street, Chaoyang District, tel: 8448 3335) with local favorites Muma and Subs. Tickets are RMB 50 and available at the door. Tickets are limited, come early.

Famed for their explosive energy, Something to Burn is currently erupting across the L.A. music scene. Like their heavy rock forefathers Motley Crue and Guns-n-Roses, they’re quickly becoming the hottest new act on the Hollywood set. Combining the powerhouse rhythm section of twin brothers Jeff and Shawn Ballard (on bass and drums respectively) and Jimmy Norman’s Eddy Van Halen-inspired guitar; these Middle America rockers headed out west in search of their dreams. The band became complete when, in LA, they stumbled upon Alaskan native Toryn Green. “We saw him out one night, doing an open mic gig – apparently just arrived in LA for few days,“ explains Shawn, “when he hit that first note, we knew we needed him in the band.” Toryn’s Eddy Veddar-esque voice is matched only by his charisma and dynamism.

Something to Burn has built up a frenzied following based on regular gigs across the West Coast, including sold out performances at Johnny Depp’s rock n’ roll institution, the Viper Room.

The quartet has just finished work on their debut full-length album, produced by Carlos Villalobos (Filter, National Product).

Opening for Something to Burn will be two of Beijing’s hottest rock acts, Muma and Subs. Formed in 1998, Muma’s dark rock has gained nationwide recognition not only for their cross-country tours, but also for their most recent two recordings: 2003’s EP Yellow Star and their second full-length album Jelly Empire (2004). Jelly Empire garnered the band two Best Rock Band Awards and over a dozen nominations at the Pepsi Music Chart Awards and the Chinese Music Media Awards, both formerly reserved solely for pop musicians.

Subs, who will be fresh from a late-summer tour of Norway and Finland – including a set at Oslo’s Øya Festival – has been turning heads across China and Europe with their infectious brand of high-energy garage punk. While their intense live show continues to be the most sought-after experience in the country, they have just wrapped up work on a full-length follow-up to their EP, the underground success, Subs Life. Soon after their show with Something to Burn, both bands will be going to Holland to perform at the Amsterdam China Festival.

Something to Burn comes to China as part of Boston-based Planetary Group and Sonicbids’ Rock Beijing Tour, a concert series devoted to giving Chinese audiences a chance to experience up-and-coming western rock bands, and to give working bands in Europe and North America the opportunity to play gigs in China. Nearly 600 bands submitted electronic press kits to www.sonicbids.com in an effort to perform in China.

Added on September 7, 2005 by Arby76

Article can be found at http://upcoming.org/event/30309/ - Upcoming.org


"SOMETHING TO BURN INTERVIEW"



12.10.05

Something To Burn Interview

They *look* like a rock and roll band. They’ve got the tattoos, the hair, the ambition, and the hot lead singer... but underneath they’re actually pretty damn talented as well. I had the chance to chat with the band Something to Burn just before they went onstage at the San Diego Indie Music Festival. If you’re looking for the next big thing, Something to Burn just might be it. They rock hard, but their riffs are melodic and the singer’s voice is unique and recognizable.

From Something To Burn’s press kit, their history:

Twin brothers Jeff (bass) and Shawn (drums) picked up their instruments at early age, influenced by such greats as KISS and Johnny Cash by their older siblings. After destroying their hometown clubs in Kansas City, looking for the right force to get them to the next level, the two decided to move to Los Angeles. That is where they met Jimmy, a transplant from south Florida and a true guitar virtuoso with the same musical dream. The three quickly started honing in on their own unique rhythmic scape and realized it warranted nothing less than the perfect frontman to complete the sound. They found their missing link in Toryn, a truly dynamic and charismatic singer hailing from Alaska .It was the perfect fit, the “Something to Burn” spark was now fully ignited.



Anything to add to that history?

Jimmy: Just really where we’re going now... we’re hoping that by the end of this year we’ll be ready to start showcasing for some labels… see what interest we get. Hopefully keep playing shows, start touring a little broader, start touring further out in the US, hopefully more dates overseas, and more gigs in the East.



I heard you guys played in China, what was that like as compared to US audiences?

Jeff: It was night and day. They just appreciate music for music’s sake. Not that Americans don’t, but they (the Chinese people) just don’t have the opportunities of listening to so many different kinds of music like here in America. Over there everything is pretty cookie cutter... they make sure that everything’s within certain bounds of musical tastes for all the bands... but us going over there, I think gave them a taste of something else that’s going on in the world that they don’t get a chance to taste any other time.



The crowds looked huge, from your video.

Jeff: Yeah, just humongous.

Jimmy: Upwards of 10,000 people were at the festival, and the fans were able to really let loose. A lot of times there’s a controlled environment, but this time there were no guards they were able to get into the mosh...

Shawn: even the guards were putting up their arms and yelling with the crowd.

Jeff: Yeah, crowd surfing, mosh pits... they were able to go free and it was good. Normally they can’t do that, it’s all controlled.



What about your first gig together? What was it like?

Jimmy: It was actually perfect, actually a great show... everything went fine.

Jeff: That was at the Viper Room.

Jimmy: No, Club Vodka.

Jeff: I think we were a little nervous playing onstage with a new singer. We had no idea what he was going to do...

Jimmy: It was a tester gig, and then we lined up a really big gig at the Viper. It was sold out. The amount of people and energy... it was the best show that we had played until recently. It went off great; the crowd accepted our new singer, Toryn. We were better than ever. We were stronger than ever at that point and we knew he was gonna work out.



Do you feel that kind of pressure makes you perform better?

Jimmy: Yeah, I think... we hadn’t played in so long and then, gearing up the new energy with Toryn really helped rejuvenate the band’s attitude. Mentally, physically... we were ready to go again when it was time to play with a new singer. We were recharged and better than ever.



What else have you done to promote the band, besides Myspace?

Jimmy: Basically, just trying to get out, getting worldwide, and trying to get as get as many fans connected to the band all across the world as possible. Myspace is a big factor, but anything online that you can do to promote the band is a big help. We have an electronic presskit, by sonic bids, (www.sonicbids.com/somethingtoburn ) that can go out to people easily. Trying to reach people with live shows and, the internet, that combination. Hopefully we can start getting into radio towards the new year. We have a lot of ideas of getting into college radio, and playing college markets.

Toryn: One of the things immediate things we’re focusing on right now is we’re in the worldwide battle of the bands (http://www.worldbattleofthebands.com/). We’ve actually won the first round and the semifinals, now we’re going into the American finals (at The Gig (in LA) November 13th).

Jimmy: From then on, if we win that... The main finals in Hong Kong and it gives us another opportunity to keep that whole thing in the east going, hopefully we’ll be able to capitalize on some of the fans and the people we met the first time in China.

(note: The band did indeed win the American finals and will be competing in Hong Kong on Nov 26th!)



Are there a lot of bands in the LA scene that you tend to play with, or does it vary?

Jimmy: It varies a lot...

Jeff: In LA, it’s different. You can go to any club at any given time and there are bands playing... so we never really play attention totally to who we’re playing with, because in LA you can be playing in front of a folk band, you just never know, they put the sets together just to fill the club.



What are a couple of bands you’d like to tour with, if you could pick anyone?

Jeff: Probably an up and coming band, if anything, because everyone is under a little more pressure. And I’d like to play with MCR.

Shawn: I’d like to play with HIM...



When you get huge and are headlining your own tour, who do you want to warm up the audience for you?

Shawn: KISS.

(everyone laughs)

Jeff: It would be great to find an up and coming band. If we were able to be in that position, remembering what it took to get there, to find a band that’s working really hard and take some of the work off their shoulders and get them out on tour... if we were already that successful it would be great to take a new band out that we thought was great.

Jimmy: A band that’s struggling like we did, like we are.



Jimmy, this is mostly directed at you because I see your parents are here. Do your parents like your music?

Jimmy: They do actually, they’re picky because it’s their son, but they’ve seen me doing this for a long time and they really like it. It’s harder music for them, but they can understand there’s melody in our music, it still transcends a lot of ages, and they totally enjoy it. They love a good rock show.



Do you think that it inhibits you to know your parents are watching, does it make you ‘behave’ better?

Jimmy: Not really. I’ve been doing this for so long, since I was a little kid, so they’ve always been supportive of me. You get to a point where you know what you’re doing onstage, and it just comes naturally. You can’t really turn it off or on once you’re onstage; it just turns on. No matter who’s there.



What would you call your major musical influences?

Toryn: I grew up listening to a lot of Bon Jovi...

All: It shows!

Jeff: I don’t think our influences come out in how we sound. We love a wide range of music but we try to listen to more newer bands, to make sure we’re keeping fresh and make sure that we’re a couple steps ahead.

Toryn: A lot of bands try to sound like what’s out there right now and that’s a critical mistake. Because it takes a while to get a record to production, and by the time the record hits the shelf it’s too late. The last band I was in, we were more focused on how we were supposed to sound rather than what we were actually doing. In this band we just write the songs, we don’t have to put a lot of effort into making it sound new, the songs just have a newness to them. We’re not trying to sound like any one band.



What’s your songwriting process like? Is everyone involved?

Jeff: He (Jimmy) usually brings in a riff...

Jimmy: We try to get everybody on board. If I have an idea I’ll start with a piece of music, I’ll bring it in and everybody starts throwing their thing to it. Everybody’s pretty gifted as far as writing in the band so... Shawn might have a vocal line, Jeff might have a guitar idea… we are pretty much open to any suggestions. We all respect each other musically enough to let all the ideas come in till everybody’s happy. Then we present it. It’s going really well with the writing so far.



You guys have a CD out?

Toryn: there is a CD that was actually made with the band with the original singer. When I first auditioned for the band, I was given the CD to learn. They wanted me to learn a couple of songs, and I came back in after the weekend and I’d learned the whole record because I just loved the band. So we were able to jam through every song on the set... and when we decided we were going to be working together, we decided which songs we wanted to keep in our new form, and basically started working on new material. So the goal now is to remake another record with some of the old stuff and some of the new stuff.

Jimmy: We may try to go a little sooner, put an EP out of some of the newer material and some of the older stuff with Toryn’s voice on it. That may be our next step, to get an EP out by the beginning of year, that people can purchase on our website or cdbaby (http://cdbaby.com/) or any online outlet.



Any last words?

Something To Burn: Just rock!



So, check out Something to Burn on myspace (www.myspace.com/somethingtoburn), friend them, buy their CD, check them out when they hit a club near you.

Oh, and tell them Jade sent you.




- PUNKROCKBITCH.COM-columns


Discography

SOMETHING TO BURN - 2005, featuring, "Wires Across the Sky", and "Two Sides Of Wonderful"-

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

Of all the natural elements on this planet, fire has long been the most intriguing. Imagery of crisp flames, alive and assertive, striking a chord deep in the mental psyche: forceful, powerful, and uncontainable. Music, like fire, is an irrepressible force that brings out the riotousness in all of us... as does a single song from Something to Burn's debut album.

Powerful sustain and hardcore riffs accentuate the intense underlying rhythm of every track, relating to audiences in a primal accosting of the senses. With acclaimed producer Carlos Villalobos (Filter, National Product) "Something to Burn" has created a near flawless rock record, from the first thunderous explosion of the intro "Raise the Horns" to the last guitar harmonic glissando of "24 kts." Heavy pounding syncopated grooves of songs like "Strain" and "Picture" and the intense emotional pull of "Wires Across the Sky" and "The Wreckage" delivered both with such strong melody and musicality proving this band is a genuine rare find in the rock world today!

Twin brothers Jeff (bass) and Shawn (drums) picked up their instruments at early age influenced by such greats as KISS and Johnny Cash by they’re older siblings. After destroying there hometown clubs in Kansas City looking for the right force to get them to the next level the two decided to move to Los Angeles. That is where they met Jimmy, a transplant from south Florida and a true guitar virtuoso with the same musical dream. The three quickly started honing in on their own unique rhythmic scape and realized it warranted nothing less than the perfect frontman to complete the sound. They found their missing link in Toryn, a truly dynamic and charismatic singer hailing from Alaska .It was the perfect fit, the “Something to Burn” spark was now fully ignited.

Aside from the seamless performance and undoubtedly accomplished musicianship of Something to Burn, any promoter will find a full house of devout fans and an energy that will draw, attracting audiences from miles away with deliberate marketing and creative promotions and simple, hard-core rock n roll.

For your consideration and entertainment, formally offered up as an alternative to playing with matches: Something to Burn.

* While Something to Burn condones and encourages demolition, they are not liable for any personal injury or effects destroyed after listening to this cd.