This booze-loving Tokyo-based 5-piece – Australian, American and 3 Japanese – garage rock’n’roll band was formed midway through 2008 by Jude (guitar) and Mike (vox) and two years later were featured on the front cover of Japanzine after winning the magazine’s nation-wide battle of the bands with their 2010 EP track “Hey…What You Want?”.
More recently a number of their tracks from 2014 debut album “Heckling the Dawn” have been used for the Skateboarding Japan podcast while their tune “The Whiskey” is the theme music for drinkers and skaters delight podcast Got Faded Japan.
Prior to this, in August 2012 they embarked on a 10-day tour of New York where they played Manhattan hot spots Bowery Electric and Piano’s as well as New Haven’s Elm Bar and a handful of basement and loft parties in Brooklyn – before this trip 2 members had never been outside Japan.
Brooklyn’s Ishmael Osekre, an organizer of the festival Aputumpu, had this to say after seeing The Mootekkis at a Bushwick loft party: “This was pure rock’n’roll in a way that most people around here haven’t seen for a long time…it was just amazing.”
The Mootekkis have had the good fortune of having a lot of good people behind them. In 2013 they crowdfunded their debut album and in 2014 they finished in the top 10 of Tokyo’s 126 bands trying to earn a spot at Summer Sonic thanks to immense local and foreign support.
They’re truly humbled and wholly committed to giving rock’n’roll lovers something new with decades of respect for what has come before.
The Mootekkis are:
Mike (vocals)
Jude (rhythm/lead)
Koji (rhythm/lead)
Yo’cchan (bass)
Takahiro (drums)
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/themootekkis
https://twitter.com/themootekkis
https://themootekkis.bandcamp.com
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Kids on Bridges – Weapon Of Choice
Fresh from a support slot with Grammy Award Winner Beck and shows with The Hot 8 Brass Band, Soulwax and Calvin Harris, the Liverpool trio are just about to complete album 3.
The bands versatility has seen them described as somewhere between Phoenix, Foster the People & Mutemath with a hint of Daft Punk & Depeche Mode thrown in, and this has seen radio support from BBC 6 music, X Radio, and Radio 2 and two hype machine number 1 Kids on Bridges are currently heading back over to America where they are going to finish work on a brand new album and have drafted in Eagles of Death Metal bass player Jennie Vee to join them on a number of tracks, along with New Orleans poet Chuck Perkins. Having previously worked with The Chemical Brothers producer Steve Dub, the new album promises to be a sonic assault! Recently The Band has been on remixing duties for Grammy Nominee Ledisi and Beating Nile Rodgers to the remix of calling all nations for INXS’s Kick 30.
Although the guys are certainly no strangers to having great guest performances on their releases, the last single ‘Say Ok’ featured New Orleans drumming legend Zigaboo Modeliste of the Meters. The band also found themselves nominated for best Alt video at the Paramount Awards in Hollywood for the single ‘Something in the Water’ a song that has recently been featured as the Footlocker advert and is set to also be featured in a new American TV show as the show’s Theme song.
The Bands Track ‘Walls’ was used in many Anti trump marches across America and they were also honoured to be the UK representatives at last year’s Special Olympics in LA performing alongside Stevie Wonder.
With excellent performances at Creamfeilds, Wickerman, Bestival and Ibiza Rocks, the future couldn’t be looking brighter for the Liverpool Band.
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/KidsOnBridgesMusic
https://twitter.com/Kidsonbridges
https://www.instagram.com/kids_on_bridges/
https://soundcloud.com/kidsonbridges
https://www.youtube.com/user/kidsonbridges -
Fly Felix – Beautiful Animal
Fly Felix has officially premiered his new video for the track titled ‘Beautiful Animal’. I have to start by saying that I love the Tarot Card motif as an identity factor within each Fly Felix video. It’s an obvious continuation and lesson stamp giving an identity to each track.
For the song, the originality is present throughout with an original catchy hook and those vintage style recorded instruments, especially the acoustic guitar and the muted bass. But, the surprise is in the chorus! That subtle yet catchy drive behind the chorus makes this song signature.
The animation enhances the song in a way that gives it a cinematic animated look fit for a theater.
This, to me, is what Fly Felix is defined with. He has found his sound and that sound is original.
“Every Fly Felix song is represented by a unique tarot card, each offering a related lesson. Beautiful Animal’s animated story will take viewers into this tarot inspired universe, following the narrative of a woman and lion. These two figures are emblematic of the “Strength” card, which encompasses themes of Compassion, Bravery, Fearlessness, and Self-Acceptance.
The music video will launch a fundraiser in support of the National Forest Foundation, and the Northern Arizona Forest Fund. Support helps bring awareness to the health of our forests, watersheds, wildlife restoration, and preservation of crucial habitats.”
Fly FelixABOUT FLY FELIX
The indie-rock recording project of singer/songwriter, and producer Drew Tyler. Fueled by cosmic energy and driven by mysticism, Fly Felix sound waves soar across the Mojave desert and land in a vortex of alternative influence. To achieve an original sound, Tyler took a 4-month writing retreat at a secluded cabin in Sedona before moving to Los Angeles to record his first album. There, he partnered with keyboardist and composer Eric McDermott. The two self-released “The Sun Will Wake You Up” in early 2020, led by the debut single “Beautiful Animal.”
LINKS:
https://www.flyfelixmusic.com
https://www.facebook.com/flyfelixmusic
https://www.instagram.com/flyfelixmusic
https://twitter.com/flyfelixmusic
https://open.spotify.com/artist/1OaPgGaNb6zHnZyByt3eQD?si=W56k5krSThq8kpHb_a1JSw
https://www.youtube.com/user/paulVSdrew -
Beauty in Chaos Ft. Dug Pinnick, Zakk Wylde & Ice-T – Un-Natural Disaster
‘Un-Natural Disaster’ (Collide Mix) is the first song to be previewed from the soon-to-be-released album ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’, which will contain an extremely wide variety of remixes and alternate versions of many of the tracks that appear on their debut album ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’. Both albums are produced by Ministry’s Grammy-nominated producer Michael Rozon at Ciravolo’s own SAINTinLA Studio.
This track breaks the constraints placed on the debut album, not only due to the addition of synthesizers but also in the wicked unleashing of a blistering guitar solo by guitar guru Zakk Wylde.
“Zakk plays more notes on this solo than I did on the entire album, but with taste, technique and a ton of flair,” Michael Ciravolo laughs.
For this project, Ciravolo – a New Orleans native – teamed up with King’s X’s dUg Pinnick, who previously lived in Houston. Their shared experiences and memories of the chaos caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Harvey, along with the ‘beauty’ of those who came to help the victims, profoundly shaped the song’s music and lyrics.
“When Michael sent me the music and asked me if I would sing and play on it, I immediately said yes. I think it rocks!! And some deep lyrics were my thoughts. Since I come from Katy Texas, where it flooded a few years ago very badly and, not very far away, it was the same for New Orleans, I thought it was appropriate to sing about the un-natural disasters that are happening due to man’s ignorance,” says dUg Pinnick.
“It was fun putting my bass part on the track and a big surprise being on the same song with Ice-T and Zakk Wylde. What a great opportunity, I’m glad to be a part of this project. And the video shoot was wet!! Lol! And so much fun… and even captures the serious topic of this song.”
Ice-T, famed rapper, actor and frontman of Body Count, also spits out a poignant exclamation point to the extent of these tragedies.
“This song really hits close to home as I was born and raised in New Orleans. I lived in Los Angeles when Katrina hit, but watched as friends and family lost everything. My elderly Aunt was evacuated as the city’s services shut down, and sadly she did not survive the move to Alabama. She along with at least 1200 others lost their lives as a result of this devastating hurricane,” says Michael Ciravolo.
Vicente Cordero, who directed the accompanying video, also directed the three previous Beauty In Chaos videos, delivers a visually stunning interpretation of this song. Production credit for all four goes to Industrialism Films.
Originally from New Orleans and now based in LA, Michael Ciravolo has played guitar in Human Drama for the past 30 years, most recently on ‘Broken Songs for Broken People’ (2017). Perhaps best known as President of Schecter Guitar Research, he has also played live and recorded with Michael Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel since 1998.
The debut album ‘Finding Beauty in Chaos’ features numerous music luminaries, including Wayne Hussey (The Mission), Simon Gallup (The Cure), Robin Zander (Cheap Trick), Pete Parada (The Offspring), dUg Pinnick (Kings X), ICE-T (Body Count), Michael Aston (Gene Loves Jezebel), Michael Anthony (Van Halen), Dirk Doucette (Gene Loves Jezebel), Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Pando (A Flock of Seagulls), Evi Vine, Betsy Martin (Caterwaul / Purr Machine), Marc Danzeisen (The Riverdogs), Kevin Kipnis (Purr Machine / Kommunity FK), Rudy Matchinga (Red Scare), Johnny Indovina (Human Drama), and Tish Ciravolo (StunGun/ Daisy Rock Guitars).
On June 21, ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’ will be released via LA-based label 33.3 Music Collective on deluxe CD and limited-edition heavy-weight colored vinyl. It will also be available digitally across online stores, including iTunes, and streaming platforms like Spotify. CDs and vinyl can be ordered from the Beauty in Chaos website at https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/music-store.
“Families left homeless screams and cries. Harvey comes people lose their lives’ – ‘what can I say?… this track came out dope!”
– Ice T“When Father Mike asked me to put a solo on The New CRUSHINGLY STUPENDOUS BEAUTY IN CHAOS song & be in the Video with dUg & Ice-T, I was kind of hesitant about doing it, But when Father Mike said he’d thrown in a Thin Crust pizza from Joe & Pats in Staten Island, NY along with a BEAUTY IN CHAOS T-Shirt I knew THIS WAS MY DESTINY!!!”
– Zakk Wylde“What started for a fleeting moment as my ‘solo album’ quickly blossomed into so much more. My role as President of Schecter Guitars certainly put me in the enviable position of meeting a lot of great artists whose albums are a big part of my record collection. The beauty from all of this is the friendships that I have developed. . It was mindblowing to be able to put together artists that have never been on an album together, much less perform on a song before BIC. Two of the most recognizable voices in rock n’ roll … Robin Zander and Michael Anthony together on ‘Drifting Away’. Two goth-rock icons, Wayne Hussey (The Sisters Of Mercy and The Mission UK) and Simon Gallup (The Cure) on ‘Man Of Faith’ is another example of the magic on ‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’. Many of these artists are looking forward to being part of the ongoing evolution of BIC. I sincerely hope that whatever notoriety this record garners opens the door for other artists to want to join in. I do have a ‘wish list’ 😊. On a purely personal note, with the help of Michael Rozon, my dear friend and producer, I was able to create the record I have always wanted to make”
– Michael Ciravolo“Intense hurricane-themed song… The King’s X frontman’s poignant vocals and booming bass add gravity… An ominous Ice-T rap rounds out the powerhouse song. sleek electronic drums… full of dramatic string bends and speedy, head-spinning shred”
– Rolling StoneLINKS:
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com
https://www.beautyinchaosmusic.com/bic-blog
https://www.facebook.com/beautyinchaosmusic
https://www.instagram.com/beauty.inchaos
https://twitter.com/MichaelCiravolo
https://soundcloud.com/33-3-music-collective
https://beautyinchaos.bandcamp.com