WestFall

WestFall 2nd place local band of the year contest in Flint, Michigan - Banana 101.5 radio station

...WestFall w?? th? first opening act, th?? ?r? a band fr?m Flint Michigan. WestFall h?d t? d? ?n acoustic ?h?w b?????? th??r limited space ?n stage f?r musical equipment. B?t th?? sounded gr??t ?nd really g?t th? crowd rowdy wh?n th?? sang, Tenacious D – Tribute, everyone sang along, ?nd ?t ?nd?d being a taste ?f wh?t w?? t? come.

- Xtrememusic.net - S.J. Beers

...WestFall w?? th? first opening act, th?? ?r? a band fr?m Flint Michigan. WestFall h?d t? d? ?n acoustic ?h?w b?????? th??r limited space ?n stage f?r musical equipment. B?t th?? sounded gr??t ?nd really g?t th? crowd rowdy wh?n th?? sang, Tenacious D – Tribute, everyone sang along, ?nd ?t ?nd?d being a taste ?f wh?t w?? t? come.

- Xtrememusic.net - S.J. Beers

Recently local rockers WestFall debuted their brand new video for the song “Industrial Rodent”. Not only is this a great song, but the video is here to back it up. The video was shot in Detroit at the Packard Plant, which the band found out later, was also the same site where the new “Transformers: Dark Of The Moon” was filmed.
- Banana 101.5 - Tony Labrie

The vision of his father's former workplace, Flint's Delphi plant at Davison Road and North Dort Highway, was inspiring to WestFall lead singer/guitarist Bobby Kurtz.
"I had driven through Flint past my dad's old plant that was on Davison and Dort," Kurtz told The Flint Journal. "It used to be there but they tore it down. I started writing some things literally on a napkin on the way down to the studio. That's where the song 'Industrial Rodent' started.
"I think (the song is) important to the whole country and the economy. The economy is hurting right now and it's kind of saying, 'Help us create something that's going to get us out of the slump that we're in.'
"My dad was joking around because he was a 'shop rat' when he retired. That's where the title comes from. I thought the song was cool. Some people will get it. Some people won't. As far as the auto industry, it's amazing to take a drive through town and see everything diminishing."
That is the premise for the Flint-based rock band's video for "Industrial Rodent," which will premier during WestFall's show on Friday at The Machine Shop in Flint. For effect, WestFall - which also includes drummer Chad Kelsey and bassist/vocalist Erik Hutson - filmed the video at the old Packard plant on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit.
"We tried to film it in Flint," Kurtz said. "We went to Delphi and the UAW to try to get support. They said, 'Absolutely not.' We spent some time trying to go through the red tape. First of all, they didn't want any negative light shining on the company. We tried to explain to them the song does talk about needing some help. They said it wouldn't work.
"We went down to Detroit and did some scouting with the director and Erik, Chad and I took a drive and found that Packard plant. We thought that still having a connection to the auto industry would be really cool."

The industrial location, WestFall would later find out, was a popular place to shoot as "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" filmed on the actual hill on which the band plays during the video.
"They had props and trains and stuff on the set that we shot in August this last summer," Kurtz said. "We thought that was really cool. We shot at the same place they shot a scene from 'Transformers 3.' So it must have been pretty cool for them to pick that spot. We found that out after the fact. It was wild to see the specific video we found on YouTube (of 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon'). We were literally on that hill there. They had fake trains that had derailed off the track right there."
WestFall may be familiar to Flint/Saginaw residents. At The Machine Shop, WestFall opened for Puddle of Mudd, Cavo, Candlebox, Hinder, Seether, Theory of a Deadman, Fuel, 10 Years, Crossfade, Saving Abel, The Exies, Smile Empty Soul, Days of the New, Hurt, Cinder Road and Red. WestFall was also invited twice to present a live acoustic performance on the Flint radio station Banana 101.5 and, too, interviewed on Saginaw's Z93.3.
WestFall formed in 2000, shortly after graduating from LakeVille High School. The three members are inspired by classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd, who established the foundation for modern rock.
Kurtz's guitar soloing capabilities paired up with Kelsey's rhythms are bound together by Hutson's tight bass lines. The subtle distinction between Kurtz's and Hutson's voices naturally enhances the vocal harmonies that identify the sound of WestFall. And trading lead vocals in mid song gives them a creative twist while songwriting.
"Industrial Rodent" appears on its CD "7 Seasons," which was released April 30 but sent to iTunes in December. Kurtz admitted that WestFall is pushing the album, produced by Shane Grush at Fenton's Endings Studio, heavier now that it is available on the digital outlet and the video will become searchable on YouTube. Next up for WestFall is a DVD of the making of the album and the video.
"There are a couple songs on the album, we would have loved to do a video for. But with the budget and no label, we decided to pick one that's close to home for us but could affect people nationwide."

Preview

• What: WestFall video release party with special guests Lifted and Overdrive Orchestra

• When: 7 p.m. Friday

• Where: The Machine Shop, 3539 S. Dort Highway, Flint

• Tickets: $5 for the 18-and-older show

• Info: (810) 715-2650

- Flint Journal - Christina Fuoco Karasinski

The vision of his father's former workplace, Flint's Delphi plant at Davison Road and North Dort Highway, was inspiring to WestFall lead singer/guitarist Bobby Kurtz.
"I had driven through Flint past my dad's old plant that was on Davison and Dort," Kurtz told The Flint Journal. "It used to be there but they tore it down. I started writing some things literally on a napkin on the way down to the studio. That's where the song 'Industrial Rodent' started.
"I think (the song is) important to the whole country and the economy. The economy is hurting right now and it's kind of saying, 'Help us create something that's going to get us out of the slump that we're in.'
"My dad was joking around because he was a 'shop rat' when he retired. That's where the title comes from. I thought the song was cool. Some people will get it. Some people won't. As far as the auto industry, it's amazing to take a drive through town and see everything diminishing."
That is the premise for the Flint-based rock band's video for "Industrial Rodent," which will premier during WestFall's show on Friday at The Machine Shop in Flint. For effect, WestFall - which also includes drummer Chad Kelsey and bassist/vocalist Erik Hutson - filmed the video at the old Packard plant on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit.
"We tried to film it in Flint," Kurtz said. "We went to Delphi and the UAW to try to get support. They said, 'Absolutely not.' We spent some time trying to go through the red tape. First of all, they didn't want any negative light shining on the company. We tried to explain to them the song does talk about needing some help. They said it wouldn't work.
"We went down to Detroit and did some scouting with the director and Erik, Chad and I took a drive and found that Packard plant. We thought that still having a connection to the auto industry would be really cool."

The industrial location, WestFall would later find out, was a popular place to shoot as "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" filmed on the actual hill on which the band plays during the video.
"They had props and trains and stuff on the set that we shot in August this last summer," Kurtz said. "We thought that was really cool. We shot at the same place they shot a scene from 'Transformers 3.' So it must have been pretty cool for them to pick that spot. We found that out after the fact. It was wild to see the specific video we found on YouTube (of 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon'). We were literally on that hill there. They had fake trains that had derailed off the track right there."
WestFall may be familiar to Flint/Saginaw residents. At The Machine Shop, WestFall opened for Puddle of Mudd, Cavo, Candlebox, Hinder, Seether, Theory of a Deadman, Fuel, 10 Years, Crossfade, Saving Abel, The Exies, Smile Empty Soul, Days of the New, Hurt, Cinder Road and Red. WestFall was also invited twice to present a live acoustic performance on the Flint radio station Banana 101.5 and, too, interviewed on Saginaw's Z93.3.
WestFall formed in 2000, shortly after graduating from LakeVille High School. The three members are inspired by classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Lynyrd Skynyrd, who established the foundation for modern rock.
Kurtz's guitar soloing capabilities paired up with Kelsey's rhythms are bound together by Hutson's tight bass lines. The subtle distinction between Kurtz's and Hutson's voices naturally enhances the vocal harmonies that identify the sound of WestFall. And trading lead vocals in mid song gives them a creative twist while songwriting.
"Industrial Rodent" appears on its CD "7 Seasons," which was released April 30 but sent to iTunes in December. Kurtz admitted that WestFall is pushing the album, produced by Shane Grush at Fenton's Endings Studio, heavier now that it is available on the digital outlet and the video will become searchable on YouTube. Next up for WestFall is a DVD of the making of the album and the video.
"There are a couple songs on the album, we would have loved to do a video for. But with the budget and no label, we decided to pick one that's close to home for us but could affect people nationwide."

Preview

• What: WestFall video release party with special guests Lifted and Overdrive Orchestra

• When: 7 p.m. Friday

• Where: The Machine Shop, 3539 S. Dort Highway, Flint

• Tickets: $5 for the 18-and-older show

• Info: (810) 715-2650

- Flint Journal - Christina Fuoco Karasinski