Oregon-based AM Clouds craft adventurous rootsy indie rock that traverses both the internal and external landscapes of human experience. Their hometown of Bend offers extreme climate changes and expansive beauty, prompting them to coin the term ‘high desert rock.’ Even their name, AM Clouds, was derived from a phrase that was constantly broadcast across the Oregon weather forecast.
Meshing classic and alternative, the band connects the dots between several eras of rock music, from angular indie to psychedelic noise jams, equal parts Neil Young and Meat Puppets, Tom Petty and Uncle Tupelo. Their debut EP, War of Love, was released in 2017 and was welcomed with open arms by the local press, picking up heavy rotation on KPOV and KRFM. “We’re located in a rugged, remote place, where culture has a tendency to be overshadowed by nature,” Moon relates. “I think people really connect to hearing their majestic surroundings captured musically with a bit of cinematic flair.”
Made up of Bruce Troy Moon (lead vocals, lead guitar), Graham Boostrom (rhythm guitar, vocals), Pete Ficht (bass, keys, vocals), and Dan Paggi (drums, vocals), the band is both immediate and relatable, comprised of musicians committed to their individual tone but more invested in serving the overall sound. Since their inception, they’ve played across Central Oregon, sharing the stage with veteran roots rockers the Mother Hips and Portland’s psych-rock pioneers King Black Acid.
Their album, Rainmaker, was tracked at the Firing Room in Bend, Oregon with engineer Dayne Wood and mixed by Portland producer Jeff Stuart Saltzman (The Black Keys, Death Cab for Cutie).
Featured image by Amanda Marquez.
LINKS:
http://www.am-clouds.com
https://www.facebook.com/amclouds
https://twitter.com/amcloudsband
https://amclouds.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/am.clouds
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Drew Davies – Man On The Run
Mixed with all the right pop sensibilities as well as memorable harmonies and just plain good songwriting, Drew Davies adds his beautiful crooning style of vocals to his new track titled ‘Man On The Run’. The track chugs along with a stylistic beat and gives me the initial impression that, while definitely a fit for radio, the song still has street cred for the ‘cool kids’ that usually mean a future classic in the eyes of those who listen to music and not merely hear it.
About Drew Davies
Yorkshire born and bred, now London-based Drew Davies has released his single Man On The Run and prepares to release his forthcoming long player in the Autumn of 2019.On Man On The Run, Drew says “The song is an ode to modern dating; it portrays a frustrated character pushed to the edge after a failed relationship with a particularly fickle young woman, whose actions and words rarely matched up. Lyrically I wanted to play with the protagonist’s desire to write a straightforward love song but how his feelings towards the situation prevented him. The chorus refers to being ‘inside’ in both a figurative and literal sense, as a reference to both the emotional prison some relationships can leave you in and also how these feelings can boil over and cause us to act irrationally.”
The video is also available and Drew has now readied a full backing band complete with guitars, bass, keys, drums, and backing singers, bringing the full sound of the song to the stage as it can be heard at London’s The Finsbury on May 24th.
Musically, the self-titled debut is infused with a vast array of influences that stretch from 50s rock n’ roll to modern electronica. From the hook-filled, to-the-point numbers of Roy Orbison or Tom Petty, to the cinematic synth sounds of John Carpenter, Vangelis and Kavinsky, the music is imbued with a heavy tenderness; wrapped up in the genre-bending timelessness of artists like Bowie, Queen or Eurythmics.
The album was produced by Drew himself and was recorded at Tileyard Studios in London, before arriving at the hands of mixing engineer Steve Honest (Oasis, Michael Jackson, Fleetwood Mac), with mastering by John Webber (George Michael, David Bowie, Super Furry Animals) at the legendary AIR Studios.
Drew is no newcomer to the music business though, having spent the better part of the last decade treading the boards of venues and festivals across the UK with various bands, working in musical collaborations, writing for other artists and singing in session gigs to get by, all while fighting his own personal battles.
With his older tracks getting plays on BBC 6 Music, Radio X and MTV Drew has seen some of the highs and lows of the music industry; from cutting his teeth and paying his dues on the so-called toilet touring circuit to recording in some of the top studios on the planet.
Through these highs and lows, friendships and loved ones come and gone, successes, setbacks and everything in between, Drew continues to have such a fierce passion for what he does; pouring his heart and soul into his musical labors to produce his most personal work to date.
The first single ‘Man on the Run’ is imbued with a baritone alt-rock vibe. With a pulsating beat that builds through its verses into an uplifting chorus, it carries the listener through a lyrical journey much darker in content than the music would have you believe at first.
LINKS:
https://www.drewdaviesmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/drewdaviesmusic
https://www.twitter.com/drewdaviesmusic
https://www.instagram.com/drewdaviesmusic
https://drewdaviesmusic.bandcamp.com -
Kings County – I Ran
Kings County have released their new video for the track titled ‘I Ran’. To hear such a departure from the original can be either a beast or a burden. Kings County have done the former. Free from the chains of the original, both the track and the video give a reinterpretation of ‘I Ran’ with the heaviness of Kings County and the homage of fans. This is the perfect combination.
Check out our other features with Kings County HERE.
ABOUT KINGS COUNTY & ‘I RAN’
Kings County is back with an intense and hard-hitting video remake of the 80’s classic from A Flock of Seagulls “I Ran (So Far Away)” out January 29, 2021. The Orlando, FL. rock band took their own rendition of the single and video and catapulted it to the next level.
Kings County is Rob Dexter (Vocals, Bass), Steve Bell (Guitars, Vocals), Joe Lopez (Drums) and Bill Kania (Guitars, Vocals).
Dexter says, “We teamed up with Director Adam Arnali, who mixed elements from the original A Flock of Seagulls video with a modern look and guitar-driven sound of the band, creating a darker visual experience.”
“I Ran (So Far Away)” was produced by super producer Chuck Alkazian (Pop Evil, Soundgarden, Tantric) at Pearl Sound Studios (Asking Alexandria, Eminem, Filter) in Canton, MI.
LINKS:
https://www.kingscountyofficial.com
https://www.facebook.com/kingscountyband
https://www.instagram.com/kingscountyofficial
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSaG_L5KmHY9nxfvALuzPsA
https://twitter.com/kingscounty3 -
Beauty in Chaos ft. Kat Leon – Stranger (Holy Wars – Cruel World Mix)
Beauty in Chaos have teamed up with holy Wars’ Kat Leon and Nick Perez to come up with a completely different and sublimely beautiful reimaging of ‘Stranger’ from the ‘Out of Chaos Comes…’.
The video is a clear departure stylistically from the past videos of Beauty in Chaos. Featuring a more haunting and introverted visual, the video encapsulates with dark precision the mood of the new song, taking a dark turn from the original version in ways that almost hint ‘alternate universe’.
Not quite industrial, not quite darkwave, not quite post-modern, not quite dystopian, the Holy Wars Cruel World Mix of ‘Stranger’ rolls uphill to a dark crescendo with the bravado of original music and the swagger of legends.
Check out our Q & A with Michael Ciravolo, curator of all things beautiful and chaotic, about this new mix below.
How did you and Kat Leon come to work together?
I stumbled on Holy Wars after they opened up for a Schecter band… Papa Roach. I thought Kat had an amazing voice. I checked out a few of their videos on YouTube and just reached out. She and Nick came by and we hit it off well. They are nice, genuine and some of the hardest working people I have met in this business. After Michael Rozon and I did the music to what eventually became ‘Stranger’, I sent it to her and she poured her heart, soul and ‘story’ into the lyrics. It is my favorite track on ‘The Storm Before The Calm’, and I look forward to having her on the next record.
The new video seems to be an even bigger departure stylistically than the previous video. Is that a conscious decision and is the new remixes an influence on that?
I think if you look at all our BIC videos, I think you will see sort of that ‘pattern’. I strive for each video to be as different visually from its predecessor as possible. I had seen Fre’s work on a few Holy Wars’ videos and felt it was a perfect visual counterpart to Nick’s remix. With this in mind, I was happy that I could pull the ‘Temple Of Desire’ video together as quickly as we did as we needed to sit between this new ‘Stranger’ video and ‘A Kind Cruelty’. This new video is also as different visually as it is musically from the original version that closes out ‘The Storm Before The Calm’ vinyl.
Is the current album of remixes showing a hint at what the new album could be or may be?
I certainly love the ‘elements’ that the great and diverse cast of artists used in creating their individual remixes on ‘Out Of Chaos Comes…’. Not sure what of that will seep into the new album yet. I do know that I am looking forward to having both Kat Leon and Cinthya Hussey; who are a big part of this remix album, on what comes next. I think my off-the-cuff description of ‘Bauhaus meets Bjork’ is going to have to suffice…. for now 🙂 .
Check out our other features with Beauty in Chaos HERE.
ABOUT ‘STRANGER (HOLY WARS – CRUEL WORLD MIX)’
Beauty in Chaos announces the third video/single from their ‘Out Of Chaos Comes…’ album – ‘Stranger’ (Holy Wars -Cruel World Mix) featuring Kat Leon. This extreme sonic treatment to the original ‘Cocteau Twins-esque’ version that appears on ‘The Storm Before The Calm’ was created by Holy Wars guitarist Nick Perez.
BIC’s main-man Michael Ciravolo says “Since Beauty In Chaos is not a typical band, our videos are really the ‘face’ of BIC, I strive for each video to be different and as much of a 180-degree shift from the previous as possible! Fre’s video treatment on this video is certainly light years different than ‘Temple Of Desire’ so I can check that box! ‘Stanger’ is one of my favorite songs we have done. This was certainly a popular choice for many of the artists to remix, and I really love what Nick did with the song and his deconstructing approach, injecting sort of Massive Attack / ‘90s NIN sonics to it. As soon as I heard it, I knew it would be perfect for Fre’s editing style.”
Kat Leon adds “The reimagination of “Stranger” by Nick Perez (Holy Wars) is one of my favorites. I love how he restructured the song and made a new arrangement giving it an overall mechanical, dark, and industrial vibe. The music video for this track, edited by Fre Pacheco, compliments the song well with its intense and thought-provoking imagery. The idea to bury one’s self is the feeling in this video- using footage I previously shot waiting for the right track to showcase it and this remix of Stranger seemed to be a perfect fit. I would say the video for this remix was much of a remix itself using footage from my personal arsenal, footage from the original “Stranger” music video, and additional imagery bridging all worlds together.”
“The Cruel World remix is a dark cinematic interpretation of “Stranger”. The original piece was so lush and beautiful that it seemed it would be a great challenge to make it ugly and cold using heavy distortion, industrial elements, and tape”
Nick Perez (Holy Wars)CREDITS
‘Stranger’ written by Kat Leon, Michael Rozon, and Michael Ciravolo
Kat Leon; voice
Nick Perez: guitars, synths, and drum programming
Michael Ciravolo: guitars
Michael Rozon: pianoVIDEO CREDITS
Created and edited by Fre Pacheco (Flares and Glitches)
Additional footage by Erin Nahifeh and Arden Fisher
Drone footage by Leo Lesh
Original ‘Stranger’ video footage by Leslie Gladney and Eric ThirteenLINKS:
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/beautyinchaosmusic
https://www.instagram.com/beauty.inchaos
https://twitter.com/MichaelCiravolo
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/music-store
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/bic-blog
https://soundcloud.com/33-3-music-collective
https://beautyinchaos.bandcamp.com