Our exclusive interview with Fahran

Fahran are an up and coming five piece melodic rock band from Derbyshire that are set to play both Download this weekend and Bloodstock later in the year.  We managed to grab some time with their drummer Josh "JR" Windsor.

I guess the majority of our readers won't have heard of you guys yet - although I suspect that will change over the next few months - can you introduce yourselves?

We have Nick Whitcroft as our singer

Alex Stroud on Bass

Jake Graham on Guitar

Chris Byrne on Guitar 

and JR Windsor on Drums! 

You're in the pretty unique situation of playing two of the biggest UK rock festivals this year - Download & Bloodstock - stupid question I know, but looking forward to them?

Nah not really... yes yes YES. We can't wait to be there playing electric and acoustic on the two best festivals ever! I'm already wearing my artist pass and it's only Tuesday! 

It's a huge opportunity for you - Have you ever played anything as big as these before?

We have played great gigs that have really stood out before, one of our favourites was Rock City with Heaven's Basement. But nothing can really compare to the size and scale of Download and Bloodstock. So....no! 

I'd imagine just being part of the backstage atmosphere is going to be a blast! - are you looking forward to bumping into anyone in particular?

Hoping to bump into/hug and never let go Iron Maiden. Also catching up with some bands we have had the pleasure to play with in the past like I AM I, UFO and Heaven's Basement. Really looking forward to catching their sets too! 

So let's get some background on you - you released your first album in 2008 when the average age of the band was around 16 - when did you first form the band ?

I have known Jake and Alex from a previous band when I was about 14. We released a few albums under Toxic Federation, but Fahran is a completely different band altogether. We have only been around about a year and a half at full line up with Chris and Nick and have already achieved so much more than any other bands we have been in.

Did you advertise for band members for Toxic Federation or was it one of these bands that formed naturally ?

At first we did. When Nick joined us, it was for Toxic Federation. But after jamming out demo tracks and talking about what direction we wanted to go in, it was a much better idea to start fresh as a brand new band with a new musical direction.

How did the band dynamics change when Nick joined?

The band got a much more mature sound. Songs had a lot more melody and thought into every aspect of the vocal lines and lyrically as well. He brought loads of ideas to the table. Not trying to big him up too much! But yeah...he can stay.

Your music is modern but melodic with a real "old school" quality to it - were you aiming for any particular kind of sound?

We try to take inspiration from our collective influences like Alter Bridge, Black Stone Cherry and Shinedown. But in the end, we don't aim for a set style for our songs. We just write what we think sounds and feels good to us and go with it. All of us have such diverse influences separately, it makes our song writing/studio time awesome. Like Bittersweet History is a real melodic, old school ballad. But We See Right Through You is heat, double bass pedal, metal! 

You write your own songs - how does that process work?  Lyrics first or a killer riff?

Killer riff! Usually someone comes up with an awesome guitar line, or Jake and/or Chris play a demo track they have recorded at home to us as a base idea. Then we play it out as a band, tweaking things, removing bits etc until we are happy with the music. Chris can be found sat in a dark room drinking loads of tea, writing his melodic poetry down and again, it's bounced around and changed until we are happy! Once the vocal melody and lyrics are done and we are all 100% happy, we starting recording and gigging them a few times.

How do you measure success ? - packed gigs, multi-platinum albums, songwriting awards?  What would you like to acheive?

Success to us would be a signed band, gigging every night and travelling from country to country, playing to packed out audiences! That would be amazing and is what we would love to achieve.

What's on the horizon after Bloodstock?

Continuing with our writing and recording for the next album that we plan to release in early 2014. Also, we are planning a tour and various other plans with some really amazing bands. Keeping really busy and making sure we are out there in everyone's faces this year!

ok a few quick fire  ones before we go ..  

If you can support anyone on tour - who would it be?

ooooooooh. I think it is safe to say, either Alter Bridge, Shinedown, Black Stone Cherry. 

..and who would you want to tour as your support band?

OUR support band?! Wow. ermmm.... Arthemis are a great band we have toured with before. They are at download on the Sunday and were a fantastic band to go drinking with. So yeah, they would be awesome to have with us!

What's on your iPod right now?

Lots of music, a few photos of my dog and drum kit and Season 3 of the walking Dead.. But I am currently listening to Lamb Of God - Blackened The Cursed Sun

Tell us something about Fahran that will surprise us !

This is such a hard question to answer!!! Our Artwork for the debut album was created by an Architect who so happens to be Nick's brother! Epic artwork innit!

Anything else you want to tell us ?

We shall see all you lovely people at Download and Bloodstock. Looking forward to every second! Thanks ;) 

Thanks to JR for his time - keep an eye out for these guys, they're destined for bigger things. Check out the album here.

NR

Fahran to perform at both Download and Bloodstock.

Download Festival – Saturday June 15

Bloodstock Open Air – Friday August 9

YOUNG UK HARD ROCKERS FAHRAN SET TO IMPRESS AT DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL AND BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR

Energetic young melodic hard rock upstarts FAHRAN have confirmed they are gearing up for appearances at two of the UK’s most prestigious rock and metal festivals this summer: Download Festival and Bloodstock Open Air.

As well as appearing on Download Festival’s Jägermeister stage on Saturday 15^th June, the Derby-based five-piece are honored to have been awarded the headline slot on the influential New Blood stage at Bloodstock Open Air on Friday 9^th August. 

Lead guitarist Jake Graham comments:

“Being confirmed for both festivals in the same year is just amazing, it’s still taking time to sink in! We all can't wait to get out there and show the crowd Fahran's live show, especially when we headline the New Blood stage at BOA.”

The news comes after a busy year for FAHRAN during which they have released self-titled debut album ‘FAHRAN’ after just six months of the band being formed to critical acclaim from rock press worldwide.  Their impressive debut offering won them tour supports with UK rock troubadours Heaven’s Basement and ex-Dragonforce vocalist ZP Theart’s new project I AM I, as well as a prolific slot at BT London Live in Hyde Park as part of the London 2012 celebrations.

The band are currently in the studio writing and recording their second album and look forward to headlining the Fethiye Rocks Festival in Turkey at the end of May before returning to their native UK to continue their summer of festival appearances.

To mark the occasion, the band are offering fans the chance to win a pair VIP day tickets to Download Festival on Saturday 15^th June.  

“We want to give something back to all the great people who have supported us this year, and what better way than to offer fans the chance to come and join in the fun with us at Download this year?” explains Fahran guitarist Chris Byrne.

For full details of the competition, head to the band's official Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/Fahranmusic

We hope to have an exclusive interview with Fahran coming very soon, until then you can check out the video for Fahran’s debut single ‘Cynics and Dreamers’ :

For further info visit: http://www.fahran.com

FM "Bad Addiction" video released.

FM have released the video for the song "Bad Addiction"taken from the recently released "Rockville 2"cd.

Journey,Whitesnake,Thunder LG Arena Birmingham 28-05-13

So 2 nights after the monumental Rush gig we are back for a 3 band package that I'll be honest have found a little strange from the day it was announced.

We saw Thunder's last show 4 years ago, Whitesnake ok new live cd and 35 year anniversary tour and Journey no new product for 2 years.

Walking into the arena the first thing you notice is that the venue is only about two thirds the size of Sunday's gig.They have the curtains in use and the last block is far from full. 

To a filling venue Thunder come on and show us why they should be thought of as one of England's finest ever bands.

Their 45 minute set had for me their top 8 songs and I only wish they would carry on and record more music.

Here is what they played:

Dirty Love
River Of Pain
Higher Ground
Low Life In High Places
Backstreet Symphony
The Devil Made Me Do It
Love Walked In
I Love You More Than Rock n'Roll

Danny Bowes has the perfect voice and was in fine form both vocally and his usual quick wit. Sadly his bad dad dancing gets no better.The guitars of Luke Morley and Ben Matthews both sounded great and if there is a better song live than "Love Walked In" then I am still to hear it.

Quite superb and band of the night for me.

After a quick 15 minute change over we are ready for DC and his troops to celebrate 35 years and the year of the snake.

After plenty of concerns about DC's voice on the last tour it was nice to hear he was in good voice although noticeably he sang the "Don't Break My Heart Again" chorus in a lower key. He also lets the band and crowd do their bit and hey the man is 61 and when he looks so good and can still work a crowd in the palm of his hand better than 90% of someone in their 20's who are we to complain.

Here is what they played over the course of 85 minutes:

Give Me All Your Love
Ready And Willing
Can You Hear The Wind Blow
Don't Break My Heart Again
Gambler
Love Will Set You Free
Guitar duel Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich
Steal Your Heart Away (including Tommy Aldridge drum solo)
Forevermore
Best Years
Bad Boys/Children Of The Night
Fool For Your Loving
Here I Go Again
Still Of The Night

Great to see "Ready and Willing", "Don't Break My Heart Again" and "Gambler" all back in the set. The last mentioned was dedicated to fallen friends with a montage of Mel Galley, Cozy Powell and Jon Lord on the back screen that had now sprang to life.

Nice to see Tommy Aldridge back on drums although his solo was pretty similar to the first time I saw him 25 years ago.

Reb Beach and Doug Aldrich are 2 of the finest gun slingers on the planet and again both were in fine form. Reb definately plays more solo's than a couple of tours ago which is right as he is such a great player and Doug is DC's right hand man and he can shred, riff with the best of them and always with a highly melodic tone.



High spot of the set for me was the title track of the last cd and
"Forevermore" with it's acoustic start and Doug soloing all over the end really hits home hard.

Nice to see "Bad Boys" back in the set and with "Fool For Your Loving", "Here I Go Again" and "Still Of The Night" as the last 3 songs the band left us begging for more.

Very very good & band of the night for Shazz.

Now this I find really difficult to put into print.

In 2005 we went to see Journey in America after a major health scare. As they wouldn't come to us we went to see them and a 3 and a quarter hour set and 33 songs later they were incredible. Everything we could have hoped for.

We were also at the Manchester Apollo for the show that the fan club begged for, again wonderful.

The 2 Jeff Scott Soto shows we saw were again superb and the first show with Arnel Pineda was again superb with crowd and band as one.

The LG Arena show of 2 years ago had some cracks in. New songs played with Neal Schon soloing all over them and the large Glee crowd knew very little .No interaction at all with the crowd and just doing it for themselves.

After a 20 minute break Journey came on and within minutes people started to leave.This continued for the rest of the set and I could see why.

A poor guitar heavy sound with many oldies played at near thrash pace, no crowd interaction and a setlist that had many unsure of who they were watching.

Here is what they played:

Seperate Ways
Anyway You Want It
La Do Da
Ask The Lonely
Only The Young
Stone In Love
Keep On Runnin'(vocals by Deen Castronovo)
Edge Of The Blade
Lights
Open Arms
Escape
Dead Or Alive
Wheel In The Sky
Be Good To Yourself
Faithfully
Don't Stop Believin'

We were down to a 80 minute set with no new material that Arnel had played at all.

Why?

What were they promoting?

"La Do Da" off "Infinity" was a surprise.

6 songs played off "Escape" which if you are a long term fan would be heaven but to a Glee fan it means nothing. As did the 3 off "Frontiers".

Neal used to play with such a melodic tone but now he seems to want to shred at all times with a flurry of notes.

You could only hear Jonathan Cain on piano at the start of "Faithfully","Open Arms" and "Don't Stop Believin" the rest of the time nothing.And he looked disinterested.

Deen Castronovo is a wonderful drummer but the songs seem to be played too fast and with a near thrash element.

Arnel sounded ok a bit strained at times and his constant leaping around got tiring to watch and his poor English doesn't help the crowd interaction.

Neal played a short solo before "Wheel In The Sky" and finished to silence.
As did the start of "Lights" too.

I was glad when it was over. As was most of the crowd who were left to leave in near silence.

I really don't know where Journey go from here in the UK?

The fan club euphoria that got the band over here has long since faded.They don't play any new material that they believe in and seem to be doing it for Neal.

Very very sad.

Would I see them again? I really can't say at the moment and I would never have thought that I could ever see myself saying that!

With a different running order I would have left feeling so much better.

Best band seen in last 2 days.

Rush by a country mile. Playing for the fans with new material included.
Journey take note.

Rush LG Arena Birmingham 26-05-13

377 days after buying the tickets and finally the day had come around.

We had digested the "Clockwork Angels" cd and read the novel and an expectant crowd gathered to witness a truly great performance from one of the finest bands on the planet.

Before the show on forums around the world the price of tickets has been a big point of discussion. This show cost £75 plus the usual extras and we had paid over a year ago but it was worth every last penny.

Starting with one of their now legendary videos showing the band being put together for the show, the synth intro to "Subdivisions" started set 1 which had a distinctive 1980's feel.

We had 4 songs from "Power Windows", 2 from "Signals",1 from "Hold Your Fire", 1 from "Grace Under Pressure" and 2 from 90's cd "Roll The Bones"




Not many bands could play such a diverse set of mainly fan/band favourites and get away with it.With a great sound and with the lights and backdrop providing a visual backdrop to get lost in.

Our seats were close enough to see everything but also far enough away to enjoy the spectacle. On the R30 tour in 2004 we had front row seats and at times the show passed over us.

The music was truly special with every instrument being heard and with Geddy Lee being in great voice. On the last "Moving Pictures" tour his voice sounded strained but with plenty of time off and gaps between all shows this seems to have helped.

Great to see the sheep back on the backdrop when "Force Ten"was played. My first Rush experience was on the "Hold Your Fire" tour back in 1988 in fact the night recorded for the "A Show Of Hands" cd and the long form video recently re-released on the "Replay" dvd set.

And the guitar solo on "Analog Kid" was greeted with an enormous cheer and applause from all of the crowd.

Neal Peart had split his solo up into 3 mini parts with the first at the end of the instrumental "Where's My Thing?". All as ever being amazingly played and thought out.

The first half of the set after an hour ended with "Snakes And Arrows's" "Far Cry" which had the first major pyro of the evening and a real wow factor before Geddy told us as they were all 100 years old they would take a small break!!

Here is the first set:

Video Intro (Gearing Up)
Subdivisions
The Big Money
Force 10
Grand Designs
Middletown Dreams
Territories
Analog Kid
Bravado
Where's My Thing (with drum solo)
Far Cry

Before set 2 the string ensemble gathered at the back of the stage as for the first time on a tour  the band had some extra musicians as if they need it.


The entrance video for the second half had Neal and Geddy as gnomes and Alex as a troll in a hilarious sketch  before "Caravan" started an hours music from last year's excellent "Clockwork Angels" cd.

After having nearly a year to live with the cd the crowd all knew the songs and they came alive and with the backing of the ensemble gave them even more depth.




During "Clockwork Angels" the lighting rig moved around giving them 10 smaller screens in the air to make the stage seem even larger. You can see the time and effort that the band put into their live shows as every light and screen add to the spectacle. With colours and shapes at the heart of it all.

The 1 2 3 of "Clockwork Angels", "The Anarchist"and then "Carnies" was incredible. Music, orchestra and sound at their finest. I can't wait to see the dvd (due out later in the year).

During "The Wreckers" when the backdrop had a boat struggling in storm lashed sea the light rig made it look like that it was raining on stage.How it joined the screens was magical.

"The Garden" again had stunning visuals with flowers popping up all over the place. At times you feel like you have been drawn in and are actually on the stage with them.

The band then played some oldies with the ensemble showing us a real depth to songs we have heard many times before. "YYZ" especially so with one of the guest musicians banging his head along to the music.

The ensemble left and the riff to "Spirit Of Radio" made the hairs on my  neck stand to attention before the encores of "Tom Sawyer" and "2112" took us to the end to a second half that had lasted an hour and 45 minutes.

Here is the second set:

Intermission (Clockwork Angels String Ensemble enters)

Set 2:

Video Intro (The Appointment)
Caravan
Clockwork Angels
The Anarchist
Carnies
The Wreckers
Headlong Flight (with drum solo)
Halo Effect (with guitar solo intro)
Wish Them Well
The Garden
Manhattan Project
The Percussor (drum solo)
Red Sector A
YYZ
(Clockwork Angels String Ensemble exits)
The Spirit of Radio

Encore:

Tom Sawyer
2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx/Grand Finale
Video Outro (Office of the Watchmaker)

We had a band at the peak of it's power not afraid to play an hour's new music and band favourites and not just a act living on their past.

The band were immense Alex's guitar playing and some great solo's, Geddy's bass playing was top level and as I mentioned earlier was in great voice and Neal Peart I could watch all night.


Was it worth the money?

Yes in every way. Lights, sound, visually stunning, pyro, flames, ensemble and a band on top form.

If this was the seventh and last time we see them then I'm glad I was there.

The Winery Dogs "I'm No Angel"

The Winery Dogs have released another video from their recently released in Japan debut cd .

Here is "I'm No Angel".



The cd will be out in Europe and the US on July the 23rd.

Also a short European date includes Islington Academy on the 5th of September.