During episode 11 we interview Frank Salvaggio from Anew Revolution and Robbie Crane from Ratt. Both are very stand up guys, very easy to talk to, and furthers my belief of having just a normal conversation with artists as opposed to doing a “Kent Brockman” type interview (sorry I say Trent during the episode).

In any event, we touch on the following items during the interviews, from Frank’s side his past in Slaves On Dope, putting Anew Revolution together, song writing, gear, etc. With Robbie we talk about Juan Croucier, Vince Neil, being in the band for roughly 15 years, Infestation, the drama surrounding the band, etc.

During the episode you will hear parts of the following songs:

Anew Revolution’s “Head Against The Wall” & “Ashes From Stone” both come off of the bands recently released iMerica
Ratt’s “Eat Me Up Alive”, “Best Of Me” & “A Little Too Much” all off of their latest release Infestation

Other items discussed:

Anew Revolution, Slaves On Dope, Unloco, E1 Music, Bill Meis, Frank Salvaggio, Joey Duenas, Ozzfest, Taproot, Sugar Ray, 311, Lemonade & Brownies, Snot, Drowning Pool, Nonpoint, Limp Bizkit, Shinedown, Sevendust, Gojira, Marilyn Manson, Hatebreed, Journey, Killswitch Engage, Projekt Revolution, Kittie, Insane Clown Possie, Coolio, Tara McLeod, Ivy Vujic, Randall Amps, Pearl Drums, Sabian Cymbals, ESP Guitars, Metallica, EMG Pickups, Ratt, Vince Neil, John Corabi, Motley Crue, Carved In Stone, Dust Brothers, Brent Woods, Kid Rock, Beastie Boys, Young MC, Tone Loc, Funky Cold Medina, Exposed, Steve Stevens, Paul’s Boutique, Phil Sousan, Out Of The Cellar, Vertex, Stephan Piercy, Al Pitrelli, Juan Croucier, Carlos Cavazo, Quiet Riot, Metal Health, Condition Critical, Robyn Crosby, Bobby Blotzer, Warren DiMartini, Michael “Elvis” Baskette, Roadrunner, Loud And Proud, Infestation, Fender Precision Bass, Rotosound Strings, Marshall Amps, Ampeg Amps, Hiwatt Amps, Steve Harris, John Entwistle, Metal Army America, Talking Metal, Mark Strigl Radio, Background Noise, Van Halen, Dan Lorenzo, Hades, Non-Fiction, The Cursed, Misery, Chad Gray, Mudvayne, Cory Taylor, Slipknot

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During this episode you’ll find two interviews, one with Ivy and Tara from Kittie, and another with Mercedes.

The first part of the episode was conducted in March while Kittie was touring with Gwen Stacy and God Forbid. The latter half of the episode consists of an interview that was conducted back in December. Had a great time conducting both, everyone was really down to earth when I spoke to them, and as I mention during both interviews, I feel that they should be considered pioneers.

One thing I really wanted to point out which I forgot to mention during the podcast is Tara’s playing style. During the interview you’ll hear her sort of play down her influences, or better yet things that she listens to outside of metal. The first song in their set starts up, the solo kicks in, and she starts finger picking during the solo, I mean blue-grass style! I don’t know if that’s where she got it from, but it was pretty cool to see her whip that out! And no, I wasn’t expecting midgets….er eh, little people!

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Had the pleasure of interviewing Ivy and Tara from Kittie last night at BB Kings in NYC. I had interviewed Mercedes from the band right at the end of last year. I have to say that her interview was one of my favorites, as we talked for close to an hour, although about half of that was edited out. Although this interview originally aired back in January, I do intend on releasing both of the interviews together as a podcast during the course of the next few weeks. This was the first time I have caught the band, and they did not disappoint. They played fifteen songs total, you can tell that they are extremely happy with their last album In The Black, as they played six songs off of the album. During the interview Ivy and Tara confirmed that Kittie will indeed be touring with Insane Clown Posse.

Opening for the band was God Forbid, this was my second time seeing them, as I had seen them at the Kobetasonik festival in Spain last June. For those of you keeping score I interviewed guitarist Doc Coyle back in November. At the time things were somewhat in limbo with the band, they were looking for new management, a new label, and working a new guitarist into the fold (Matt Wicklund, who I saw back stage). Byron announced during the show that they were recording a new album which should be out at some point during this year. The set list focused on Earthsblood and IV: Constitution of Treason. Aside from songs off of their previous two releases, they played Pantera’s Mouth For War during their set. After their show I had Doc right behind me sporting a Metal Sucks t-shirt, he was watching Kittie’s show and had someone with him at the time. I didn’t see it prudent to walk up to him and bug him, in any event, will be posting his interview shortly as well.

Opening act was Gwen Stacy, unfortunately, didn’t get to catch much of their show, although they did sound great as well.

Thanks to Bill from E1 for making everything happen.

Tomorrow night’s Mars Attacks will go live, I will have interviews with Joey Z from Life Of Agony/Steromud/Carnivore, Anthony Esposito from Ace Frehley/Lynch Mob, and Mark & John from Talking Metal. This is my second go round with Joey; the last time we spoke was right before L.O.A. went out and did the shows in Jersey and NYC commemorating the twenty year anniversary of the band. The podcast version of the interview is available here:

http://marsattacksradio.com/2010/03/audio/podcast-episode-2-life-of-agonys-joey-z/

The show starts at 7PM EST / 4PM PST exclusively on MarkStriglRadio.com