It was only 2 years ago that Linkin Park was in Minnesota at the Excel Center in St Paul, and almost to the date of that second year: they have arrived again. The crowd is rumored to have been over 11,000 which isn't bad considering how cold it is here right now. The line is already down the block and packed inside the arena. People have been waiting to get in for quite some time and they're willing to wait a little longer for a band that causes screams where ever it goes. Upon entrance, the stage and all it's lighting is symbolic to the bands latest album : Thousand Suns. Triangular in shape, it gives optimum crowd coverage even if the stage is a little smaller than we first expected.
After the first 2 bands play their sets, LP is set forth to put forth another amazing show. Always impressive are the lighting effects this band chooses to display when playing any show. Flat screens flip around and reveal one very large monitor screen in the shape of a triangle. This showcases the band in various places from cameramen stationed in the pit. The crowd gets a first hand look at what it would feel like to be in the pit if they're in the seats. From LP classic songs to the newest in that line, the crowd gets them all. All in all, LP is always welcome in MN and we can't wait until they're here once again. Be sure to follow Linkin Park's new tour and catch them in a town near you! www.linkinpark.com
To see more photography coverage from this and many more shows, go to www.stillcodaphotography.com
After months of getting things set up, I was able to get this shoot under my belt. It's an idea that's been rolling around my head for quite a while so it was time to get it put into photos. I had two amazing models, makeup/hair stylist plus my 2 assistants. I couldn't have asked for a better crew! The whole idea for this shoot was to combine a little gothic intentions with some victorian dress. Needless to say, they are familiar to each other but just on very small measures. I wanted the intensity of the gothic but the subtle touch of feminism . I decided to make the photos more grainy/dirty once editing came about. It lent that final touch of grunge I love so much.
Our location was in a church in Uptown Minneapolis. This building used to be someones home then later became the church. It was beautiful inside! From the wanes coating, furniture, light fixtures, to pretty much every detail in the space, we were able to shoot in tons of different places. Here are some phone pics: After hair/makeup got done, Rin and Seamus were ready to shoot! After shooting the duo together, we did the solo portraits. I had a little surprise for them and brought out the fog machine for some special effects. We wanted that "chilling" factor to add more character to the finished photo. We had some problems getting it to correctly work on the stairs but it worked perfect once we got in front of the fireplace. After a hard days work, we got some fantastic photos taken! I was very proud of everyone's hard work and took the boys out for dinner to celebrate. Until the next collection, this will hold us over for a little bit ;)
So here are some shots from the day including some behind the scene shots.
After the collection was shot, I got my makeup/hair stylist in on her own little shoot. Chelsea has been a muse of mine for the last year, so it's always a blast working with her. Here's a taste of her portraits!
To see the total Secrets Reposed Collection and more photos taken that day, go to www.stillcodaphotography.com!!
Alright Peeps! It's that time of year again where our boys in RED are back in town on another amazing tour!!!! They have two shows in MN within two days: Friday Dec 3 at Roberts in Mounds View MN and Saturday Dec 4th at New Life Worship Center in Rochester Mn. Head over to http://www.redmusiconline.com/ to catch up on the latest album info and see what the boys are up to. Its going to be another breath taking album!
It's been a very busy few months since August. There are a few surprises on the way and a lot of work has been done to get more amazing things out to you guys! Currently, we'll be adding a few more people to the mix and starting a whole new music website! The site will encompass everything music, reviews, interviews, photography and so much more! We're working on creating the website right now along with getting some amazing surprises out there! I'll be going to LA for a week then Palm Springs for another week here in Nov to get some inspiration for the new site as well! We thank everyone for their patience as we want to make sure we do it up right.
There are a bunch of sick shows coming up all over so make sure you're checking out your fav bands to see if they're coming your way.
Edited and Interviewed by Morris Goodwin and Chelsey Goraczkowski of STILLCODA
As we enter the dressing room, we're instantly embraced by a band we've known since their beginning. That crazy summer of Halestorm shows around the Midwest now returns to us on a much grander scale. They're right where they belong: sharing the main stage with some of music's most talented bands. We knew they'd get here and here they are!
STILLCODA: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES YOU FACE AS A BAND?
Finding the catering! (laughs) All the smells and seeing the signs, but its nowhere in sight and we are hungry and no one can figure it out!
L: But you know, to keep a band together it takes a lot of time. I think in earlier years it was a little bit harder. We didn’t know each other quite well back in the day, but for the most part its easier to keep the band together because everybody is on the same page now. Still there are always challenges. Once you think you’ve had everything figured out, then there is something pains or and effects our day, like how to sell records, how to be creative and writing new songs and definitely the politics.
J: Today to be a band you have to do 4 or 5 times the work whereas a band 10 years ago hadn’t had to do so much
A: And that more work for a quarter of the results. It’s not always about the music. You have to be so much more than the band and as a whole
STILLCODA: WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR THOUGHTS YOU HAVE WHEN YOU GUYS FIND OUT YOU’RE PLAYING FEST/TOURS?
L: Our first thought that goes through our head was this was the first date on the Uproar Tour and when we scored this spot, we were saying ‘what were they thinking!’ (laughs) Yah know… Somebody really screwed up. I mean, we are on the main stage and I’m not saying that we don’t believe in what we do, but with everything that happens it really blows our mind that we are here. This is quite the lineup on this tour that you probably won’t see again. All these bands under one tour, it’s kind of a once in a lifetime career thing.
J: Its surreal!
J2: It’s kinda a lot to even just go and watch, let alone be on it.
L: It definitely blows our minds.
STILLCODA: TALKING ABOUT OTHER TOURS, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU PICKED UP WATCHING OTHER BANDS AND BEING A PART OF THE EXPERIENCE?
L: The fact that we need more pyro! The great thing about being with all these bands that have done it for years and years and years and are on this level and we are here, it’s like being a freshman in college from being a senior in high school. We are now freshman. We are getting hazed all over again, but it’s wonderful because its like being inducted into this old boys group with their exclusive club. And all these people have so much wisdom. We’ve been talking to Vinnie Paul a lot from Hell Yeah and he has so many great stories and all those boys have such good advice.
J: To get somebody like Vinnie Paul who we’ve looked up to our whole lives to come and say that he likes what we do is pretty mind boggling and these amazing people, the Hell Yeahs, the Avenged Sevenfolds, Disturbed and Stone Sours, they think of us as their peers and that just blows our minds. It’s very humbling.
L: Its not even so much the music, because everyone is such an amazing musician and we have learned a lot from that, but just as people, its really cool to see people who could be prima donnas and want green skittles and all that stuff, we would be fine with it. They’ve earned it, but they aren’t. They are these great down to earth people that reminds us that if and when we ever get to that point (of greatness) we don’t want to be like them.
STILLCODA: PIGGY BACKING OFF THAT, MUSIC ALWAYS HAS A PURPOSE FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL. TELL US ABOUT YOUR PURPOSE. WHAT DOES IT BRING TO YOU?
L: For me personally, I don’t know who I’d be. It became my identity at an early age. It’s become part of who I am. I don’t think I’d be the same person without it. With every year and the more I am in it, it becomes inadvertently your religion, your therapy, the way you define yourself and also how you learn. It kicks you in your butt and you learn more about yourself, though this (the tour) and through music…I need this.
J2: I think music is twofold. You can’t escape it. You see people try and you see the old guys in the bars playing. They should and they try to get away from it and you can’t.
A: It started out as an obsession. It was the only thing that we wanted to do growing up. It was tunnel vision. We knew what we wanted to do and now its evolved where all these kids and people come up to us and you get inspired to play by them watching us and that alone encourages us to keep going.
STILLCODA: NOW THAT “HALESTORM” THE ALBUM HAS BEEN OUT FOR A WHILE, WHAT THE REACTION YOU’VE NOTICED, NOT ONLY WHEN YOU PLAY BUT WHEN FANS COME UP TO YOU?
A: Intensity.
J2: It’s been really great. People come to have a really good time, with us and the people around them. The only thing I can remember, there was one show where people were going nuts and kicking each other’s butt. That’s one thing that some people do when watching a metal show. But a lot of people don’t do that when they come to our shows. They rock out and have a great time. It weird’s me out when you see people getting hurt right in front of me. You can’t even listen to the music at the shows, its crazy, but generally they come and have a great time.
L: They are really respectful at our shows and they feel the same way we do. Rock shows are supposed to be about being together. Its’ not us and them, it’s all of us. From a lyrical standpoint, we wrote this record and me being the lyric person you write these songs very selfishly. You write them about you ‘cause you have something to say, but the great thing is now I’m seeing over the past year and a half, its’ there’s (fans). It’s about them and all of a sudden I’m seeing in a room full of people that are just like me and think like me… It’s so incredibly humbling. It’s been an amazingly overwhelming response to the meaning of these songs and to hear the stories…we’re touching people, we’re talking and its neat.
STILLCODA: THE DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL! WHAT WAS THE EXPERIENCE LIKE?
J2: We got there a day early and got the chance to see Pretty Vultures and ACDC perform which was pretty cool. The next day was really busy with a lot press and didn’t get to see to many bands that day, but most of them were from Rock on the Range. But it was really awesome to see some of the other bands.
STILLCODA: KINDA JEALOUS NOT GONNA LIE
J: A lot of people had no clue who we were. We were pretty much brand new at the time. A few did come back from our first Euro club run we did, but it was an incredible crowd. They love to party.
L: Yeah, just crazy in the pit In between songs, especially when we did the echo (hey hoo)
A: When we did the drum solo and only in Europe and the UK do they clap. Not only did the clap, they shouted (oye oye oye!) It was the most coolest sound I ever heard. It got me so pumped up and I was speeding up. It was amazing.
STILLCODA: YOU GUYS PLANNING ON GOING BACK?
A: Oh yeah, We’re on the Taste of Choas Tour, I think with Buckcherry, Disturbed, Papa Roach, so many others after this tour and we are going to Japan for a show to do a special and we’re pretty excited to do that and then flying all the way to Europe.
STILLCODA: YOU GUYS GOTTA ENJOY SOME OF THE FINER JAPANESE EATERYWHAT’S ONE THING YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE WHILE WATCHING YOUR SHOW?
A great time, intensity and some oye oye! MAKE SURE TO CATCH HALESTORM ON THE 2010 ROCKSTAR UPROAR TOUR!! KEEP UPDATED ON ALL THE BAND HAPPENINGS AT:
Edited and Interviewed by Morris Goodwin and Chelsey Goraczkowski of STILLCODA
While hanging out between buses and watching people put the Jager stage together, we sat down with all the boys of New Medicine. Needless to say, we love it when hometown bands play on National Tours this big.
STILLCODA: SO LET’S GET THIS UP AND RUNNING.FIRST TIME, FIRST TOUR…
J: First day ever, kickin off the Uproar tour.It’s pretty awesome.
STILLCODA: AND YOU GET TO START OFF ON A GOOD NOTE TODAY.
J: Yeah, we’re in the best town right here…Minneapolis (laughs)
STILLCODA: AND RACE TO THE BOTTOM IS YOUR FIRST ALBUM. HOW ARE YOU GUYS FEELING ABOUT IT?
J: We are very proud of the album.It took a long time for us to get what we wanted, but in the end we worked very hard and we worked with great producers.We recorded six songs at once and then took a year and half to get the best sound and the best recording that we really wanted.We feel that it is a demonstration of our dedication and we are very proud of that.
B: It’s definitely a record without filler. We came into it with something that was true to us and something you can listen to front to back.We recorded a year ago and were confident in what we made.It sounds great and we are really proud.
R: We’re excited we worked with a lot of great people and excited to get it out there for everyone to hear.
STILLCODA: TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR RECORD LABEL, PHOTO FINISH?
J: It’s owned by a guy named Mac Alley.He actually discovered My Chemical Romance when they were nothing and brought them to Warner Brothers and they blew up from there brought on a lot of other great bands that we can all name.We were looking for an agency and they kinda found us one day and was signing first time bands said you guys have a great sound and we hit if off right away.Every other label was so formal. We knew they (P.F.) were with Atlantic, which is one of my favorite labels anyway and we’re definitely a band that knew what we wanted and it was cool that we could go to New York City and he say, ‘I want to sign you guys right now.’Now that’s how you do a record deal. (laughs)
STILLCODA: YOU GUYS HAVE 3 SINGLES OUT.TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THEM, SPECIFICALLY LITTLE SISTER?
J: Well little sister is about my sister, she passed away when she wasn’t even a year old, so I wrote the song about her.This year would have been her 18th birthday, so I wrote the song on what it would be like now and how it would be different and how she would have effected my life and have her be her own person.
STILLCODA: WHEN YOU ARE OUT ON TOUR, WHAT ARE A COUPLE THINGS YOU LOOK FORWARD TO AND THAT THE FANS TAKE AWAY WITH THEM?
J: It’s been really great.All the tours we’ve done in the last year, we’ve been the opening band and it feels like a lot of people go to shows that are really excited to see the headliner and some come for the whole thing and its our job to pump everybody up.It’s always really validating and exciting to be that first act.
B: We don’t want them thinking they can just sit there.We’ll say something, like “get up”
R: And that’s the cool think about touring.You find all these little pockets of people that are willing to rock out with you.It’s wild.
STILLCODA: SPEAKING OF PLACES, WHERE’S YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO GO?
J: We love New York and California is awesome.The weather is great there. But at the end of the day we love the coasts, but the Midwest is it.We feel at home here and going to places like Oklahoma and Canada, Chicago, Kansas City, Minneapolis.That’s where we like
STILLCODA: WHAT WAS IT LIKE AT THE BEGINNING CREATING THE BAND?
J: We all split off from another band.I (Jake) started writing songs for a new band and Dan came from the same band and we decided to stick together.Brady came from another band.Dan and I used to watch him play (bass) and he’s also an awesome frontman. Ryan was actually tuning our old drummers drums and I was like ‘wait, why isn’t he in our band.’ (laughs)We are a hybrid of everybody and started this new band and its definitely better and got along right away.
B: The band may be new, but we’ve known each other for a long time. So it happened pretty naturally.
STILLCODA: HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE NAME, NEW MEDICINE?
B: We came up with it in the studio.One of those last minute last day... We’re out in New York recording the album for three weeks.We decided that we wanted to keep it straight and have a name, so we all snap out pen and paper that first day and write every band name.We thought we had it and then the next day we’re like ‘that was bad.’We’d go back and forth and it was a tumultuous process.We got down to a list of three or four and New Medicine just kept coming back up and coming back up and we figured out that was definitely our name in the end.
STILLCODA: TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT JOY 2 THE WORLD AND WHY YOU WANTED TO BE A PART OF THAT ORGANIZATION.
B:When I was in college at the U (University of MN) I did a study abroad in Ghana and it was a real wake up call to see these women work for less than nothing. I wanted to give back, so playing music and being there really made it happen for me.
We’re in the studio hanging out and went on the internet and doing research about Ghana, we found Joy 2 The World.So we started to bring some people in to work together to support Joy 2 the World and it’s a great opportunity for us to be a part of something larger. I went last January to Ghana and do some work down there with these women and it was just a great experience.
J: Maybe we should tell them what Joy 2 The World is (laughs)
B:It’s a small non-profit that gives loans to women in Ghana that they can use to start to create small businesses and gives them the means to empower themselves.
STILLCODA: IF THERE WAS ONE THING YOU WERE TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS TOUR WHAT WOULD IT BE?
All: 3 meals a day…. Catering!!!
MAKE SURE TO SEE NM OUT ON THE 2010 UPROAR TOUR! TO KEEP UPDATED ON THE BAND AND UPCOMING SHOWS, CHECK OUT:
