Beer Fest

I was going to put up the trailer for Talledega Nights and proclaim it the funniest movie of the year already, but after watching the Beer Fest trailer, I think I'm handing it over to the film from Broken Lizard (Super Troopers.) As an added bonus, we're interviewing them for the first week back for the Marquette Tribune. Watch the trailer here

The Killers new album

The Killer have been very, very busy. Brandon Flowers recently attacked Panic! at the Disco and Fall Out Boy and said they were destroying America. Then yesterday he took it all back. He's also been busy growing a large beard and dressing like a cowboy (no joking). Anyhow, everyone in the press has been dismantling their first single "When You Were Young" and I challenge anyone to find a review of it that doesn't use the words "Springsteen" or "Meatloaf." As is usually the case, I didn't read these reviews in time to know that I shouldn't like it. I love it. Dammit. And in case you didn't know, it was widely reported that Flowers said this was going to be the "one of the best albums in the last 20 years." I wonder what came out in 1985 that was so much better he couldn't go back farther? Anyhow... Check out the new single and the new "western" themed album Sam's Town here

And check out a pre-review of it here

No matter what anyone says, this album is going to be the biggest of the year.

Interview: Better than Ezra

Travis McNabb was one of the nicest people in rock I've had the pleasure of speaking with. Very patient and a good speaker. Below is the story I wrote for the Daily Times:

Better than Ezra's list of greatest hits could probably fill an entire episode of the VH1 show “I Love the '90s.” “Good” hit No. 1 on the Billboard rock charts; “In the Blood” reached No. 4; “King of New Orleans,” No. 5; “Desperately Wanting,” No. 10; “At the Stars,” No. 17; and “Rosealia” peaked at 24. A decade's worth of hits? Nope. That list is culled from the three albums the band released from 1995 to 1999.

When the time came for its fourth major-label release, 2001's “Closer,” the band appeared poised for continued success. However, released a few weeks after the events of 9-11, the musical landscape was a far different place than what the band had become accustomed. For one, its label went bankrupt almost immediately following the release, leaving Better than Ezra dead in the water.

“Honestly, such a big part of the music industry has to do with the promotion team you have behind you,” drummer Travis McNabb said. “Every time we make a record, it's our job to make the best album we can, and tour and support it. To get other people to hear us, other than our die-hard fans, we need a record label and promotional people letting people know that we have something out.”

With “Closer,” that didn't happen. Still, not having a record label or virtually any promotion didn't stop “Extra Ordinary,” from becoming a multiformat hit, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart and No. 35 on the rock chart.

Now touring behind the 2005 album “Before the Robots,” Better than Ezra is back on the career path it had become accustomed to - being played on the radio, appearing on TV and having the full support of a record label. And as the lyrics from “Extra Ordinary” so eloquently state, the band still has “more hooks than Madonna got looks.”

But true fans of Better than Ezra, who call themselves “Ezralites,” have known this all along, even when the band wasn't being played on the radio.

“I think the fan following we had really started to become clear after our album ‘How Does Your Garden Grow' came out,” McNabb said. “At that point it was our least commercially successful album. But our shows were bigger than ever. We had this great following that would pay attention to what we were doing no matter if we were on the radio or not. Due to the Internet as well, fans were able to stay in touch and organize themselves better.”


With such a dedicated following behind it, where Ezralites meet on Internet message boards and organize cross-country trips to see the band, Better than Ezra has job security that most groups can only hope to attain.

“It's very exciting for us because we realize it's a very trend-orientated business,” McNabb said. “To have a career beyond that you can't be concerned with whether you're considered to be hip or cool, you need a good fan base and put on good live shows. That's what we've been doing. Continuing to do our thing and to stay in the game.”

When Better than Ezra happened to play a show with Aerosmith awhile back, that band's famous front man gave Ezra's members a bit of advice.

“Steven Tyler said you can't win if you don't stay in the game and continue to do what you love,” McNabb said. “Every once in awhile you get that shot again. All of a sudden you're on VH1 and you're on Jay Leno again.”

For Better than Ezra, that shot came with the release of “Before the Robots,” which features the inescapable single “A Lifetime,” which was played day and night by radio in 2005 and the latest hit “Juicy,” which people might recognize from its prominent spot on “Desperate Housewives.”

The current tour and the Riverfest stop will feature the new hits, as well as the songs that made the band famous in the first place. Being pretentious is not part of the plan.

“We're not the type of band that says ‘oh, we don't play that song anymore,'” McNabb said. “We understand people come out and want to hear the songs they know. Even if we play ‘Desperately Wanting' for the second thousandth time, once we play it for the crowd and they're enjoying it, it's fun again.”

For the non-Ezralites in the crowd, McNabb promises a show that won't be forgotten, along with a multitude of recognizable songs.

“Even if you don't know who the band is, you'll get to the show and recognize seven songs, I guarantee it,” McNabb said. “And it's not a recital, we interact with the crowd and there's a lot of spontaneity, that's what makes it fun. Kevin, our lead singer, must have got a class clown award in school because we never know where he's going to lead the band. It's a good show.”

With “Extra Ordinary,” “A Lifetime” and “Juicy” already hits this decade, and with more material planned for the near future, Better than Ezra is certainly back on track filling up that “I Love the '00s” episode as well.

Better than Ezra will take the stage at Riverfest on Friday, Aug. 4, starting at 8:30 p.m.

Interview: The Gufs

I think these guys are awesome, they're from Milwaukee, and I'm hoping they make it big again. Here's the interview I did with Goran while he was at some outdoor cafe in Chicago. Originally ran in the Watertown Daily Times:

Milwaukee may be best known for its many historical sites, and its affinity for brats and breweries, but it should also be remembered the city is home to accomplished rock act the Gufs. The band has six studio albums under its belt, with a seventh coming out this fall, but the only true way to experience the group is to see a live show.

“We’re a pop/rock band that tends to rock,” lead singer and guitarist Goran Kralj explained. “We’re a really good live band, we’ve got something to offer with respect to melody and content of lyric. It’s the kind of music that you listen to once and you like it.”

The Gufs sound is made distinctive by Kralj’s passionate vocals and the band’s lush yet hard-hitting instrumentation. A combination of ‘90s era rock and pop sensibility, the band has a sound that’s distinctly its own.

Outside of the BoDeans and the Violent Femmes, the Gufs are probably Milwaukee’s most renowned rock band. It is also lucky to have a devoted following - just witness the activity on the band’s MySpace page following its recent Summerfest performance.

“When we walked off the stage that night, we didn’t know how special the performance was until we started to receive all these e-mails over the past few days,” Kralj said. “Sometimes you’re up there during shows and it’s work, in the sense that you have to play well, sing well and then you don’t realize how special a performance it is. When I went onto MySpace the other day, I was blown away by the amount of comments and e-mails we received.”

The band may be best known for its 1999 Atlantic Records recording “The Holiday From You,” which hit 33 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart as well as the song “Give Back Yourself” which featured matchbox 20’s Rob Thomas on guest vocals. The album also featured the up-tempo rocker “Last Goodbye.” Two of the bands best-known hits, “Smile” and “Crash (Into Me)” came from their 1996 eponymous album.

The Gufs appearance in Watertown couldn’t have come at a better time. Coming off a seven year hiatus which saw frontman Kralj record a solo project, the band has reunited and is recording a new album scheduled to appear sometime this October.

The new album promises to combine the Gufs trademark sound with a more upbeat vibe.

“It’s more uplifting and positive, but still rocking,” Kralj said. “It’s not going to sound like a Radiohead album, we’re still a pop/rock band, but it will be interesting.”

Fans can expect to hear two of the new cuts at Riverfest, as the band has been battle-testing “Beautiful Disaster” and “Stars” at its latest live shows, both of which have received very favorable crowd responses, according to Kralj.

The Gufs plan to stick to its strength of playing shows in and around the Midwest following the release of the new album, which was always the plan anyway. In fact, Kralj started the group at UW-Milwaukee when he and fellow soccer teammate Scott Schwebel, now the band’s drummer, found they had similar tastes in music. He said the band was just about having fun, and somewhere along the line, people began to take them more seriously which ultimately led to their first record deal.

As far as getting signed to a major label and doing a full-length jaunt around the country now, the band has a “been there, done that” feeling. The members are more interested in enjoying themselves and seeing where it takes them. And this time out, the pressure’s off.

“There’s no plans to do a full-length tour, we’re going to keep playing to markets that we’re strong in,” Kralj said. “Touring behind our two Atlantic Records albums, we did shows left and right on tour in towns we’d never heard of. The last thing you want to do is play in front of a crowd of five people that don’t know you.”

“We got back into this because it felt right,” Kralj continued. “When you’re a new band the first thing you want is people to like you and come to shows. You want to get popular and once the record comes out, you want to be the next matchbox 20 or Third Eye Blind. It doesn’t always work out that way. Now we’re just playing for the love of being together, and just having fun.”

Playing and having fun seems to be working out, as the bands resurgence on the music scene has crowds across the state buzzing about the band.

“The great thing about Wisconsin and Milwaukee is they embrace their own, they embraced us, and we’re very proud to represent them,” Kralj said. “Milwaukee is proud to call something their own. It’s been awesome for us.”

“Smile” and a collection of other hits can be heard on the Gufs MySpace page at www.myspace.com/thegufs .

The Gufs take the Riverfest stage on Friday, Aug. 4 at 6:30 p.m.