Udo Dirkschneider, born in Wuppertal in 1952, is one of the German metal musicians who was internationally known early, alongside the Scorpions and Doro Pesch. His band Accept gets talked about especially in the eighties, their album “Balls To The Walls” sells like hotcakes.
Udo Dirkschneider becomes a genre icon due to his grater voice and his compact stature. In 1987 he leaves Accept in Friendship and founds the band UDO, where he is the only constant. Also with UDO lives Dirkschneider his love for classical heavy metal and is traveling internationally with the band.
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Voice of Aiko – Prescription Dream
In collaboration with Voice of Aiko, Arts Council England, and charities REST, MIND & APRIL, Enya Belak Gupta unveils a powerful new film to help tackle the global prescription drug crisis. Prescription Dream is a slick and stylish documentary that illustrates with chilling insight the terrible impact prescription drugs can have. The tense, unnerving tone employed throughout represents the helplessness and confusion of dependency sufferers. The film was released online on Wednesday 17th October 2018 with the aim of generating cultural discourse around this pressing issue. Working with Stakk Media and partner charities, the Prescription Dream will be released with a weekly vlog series sharing people’s personal stories of their experiences with prescription drugs. Voice of Aiko is also running musical workshops with those affected as part of the campaign.
What drove us to launch this project was hearing the shocking statistics and stories about what potential harm medications prescribed by the doctor can cause and how easily this can be helped by us just talking about it more, allowing people to make informed choices. We hope that with this emotional song, Enya’s stunning video, the artistic workshops and the weekly vlog we can raise awareness on this very important subject.
For more information please visit:
http://benzoinfo.com
http://www.w-bad.org
http://www.april.org.uk
http://www.mindincamden.org.uk/resources/articles/minor-tranxDirected and Concept by Enya Belak Gupta
Starring Calista Kazuko
Director of Photography: Aadhar Gupta
Edited by Enya Belak Gupta
1st AD: Elena Osipova
Gaffer: Sam Robinson-Horley
Spark: Ana Ferreira De Lima
Camera Assistant: Philip Reinking
Makeup Designer: Esmeralda Velia
Styling and Production Design: Enya Belak Gupta & Calista Kazuko
Color Correction: Teleking, Ljubljana
Grader: Fran Sokolić
Executive Producer: Aadhar GuptaShot at Leman Locke Hotel in London.
Music by Calista Kazuko, Samim Winiger, Miguel Toro & Jack Brown
In collaboration with London based charity REST (MIND) who provides support for individuals who may be experiencing difficulties due to Benzodiazepine dependency.
SPECIAL THANKS:
- Melanie Davis
- Jason Harrington
- Millie Kieve
- Locke Hotels
- Zoran Mihailović
- Sam Robinson-Horley
- Samantha Sheridan
- Lorraine Solomons
- Heather Yeomans
- Pink&Green Colors
About Voice of Aiko
Voice of Aiko is a creative collective of musicians, filmmakers, and artists joining forces to campaign for real societal change. Aiko’s first project Prescription Dream sees founder Calista Kazuko collaborate with fellow musicians Samim, Miguel Toro, and Jack Brown and filmmaker Enya Belak Gupta to spotlight an ongoing global prescription drug epidemic. In England alone, there are an estimated 1.5 million people suffering from medically prescribed benzodiazepine dependency, and more than 1 million patients are taking dependence-forming drugs unnecessarily. Antidepressants are also a major problem, with statistics showing that roughly 50 Americans die from prescription painkiller overdoses every day. In partnership with charities REST, MIND & APRIL, Aiko’s Prescription Dream project will raise awareness and open dialogue on this devastating issue. The campaign includes a series of musical workshops with Let’s All Create which use art to help heal those who have been affected. Voice of Aiko is grateful to be supported with public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://twitter.com/VoiceofAiko
https://www.facebook.com/VoiceofAiko
https://www.instagram.com/VoiceofAiko
https://tinyurl.com/voiceofaiko-spotify -
Jason Herring & The Mystery Plan – Electric Love
Jason Herring & The Mystery Plan released their new album ‘Queensland Ballroom’ on September 8 via Ten Millimeter Omega Recordings. With an infectious chilled atmosphere and dreamy female vocals, ‘Electric Love’ is the first single from this release. The accompanying video was directed by Jon Ecklund and Fiona Jones and produced by Dream Out Loud Media.
Based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, the band is comprised of Jason Herring, Otis Hughes, Jeff Chester, Amy Herring, Paul Jensen and Patty McLaughlin. This 11-track offering follows the band’s ‘Electric Love’ EP, released in June of this year.
Both of these releases involved production by legendary producer John Fryer, one of the most innovative sonic architects of our age. “John Fryer has practically soundtracked your entire life,” says Impose Magazine, with a musical imprint that is massive, having shaped the sound of nearly all early 4AD Records’ releases (Cocteau Twins, Lush, Kristin Hersh, Dead Can Dance), as well as bands from Nine Inch Nails and Love and Rockets to HIM and Depeche Mode. He is also one of just two artists behind This Mortal Coil, along with Ivo Watts-Russell, and the mastermind behind his latest project Black Needle Noise.
Jason Herring met Fryer while visiting Los Angeles, where his studio is currently based. After collaborating on the ‘Electric Love’ EP, they launched into the new ‘Queensland Ballroom’ LP, which sees the band take a turn from their trademark psychedelic folk sound to a more electronic downtempo groove.
After a hiatus of several years, bandmates Jason Herring (The Interstellars, Muchacho, Farfalla) and Paul Jensen (Fetchin’ Bones, the Interstellars) began writing songs again. Soon thereafter, the first album ‘The Future Ain’t What It Used to Be’ was released in 2010, followed by ‘Chateau Beaumont’ in 2012 and ‘Long Shadows’ in 2014.
“Our previous releases are a little melancholy, so Amy and I decided we should make this record a little more fun. A record outside of our norm” says, Jason Herring. “Electric Love was inspired by Amy and I feeling a bit randy in the studio – that’s fun, yeah?”
This whole experience ultimately led Jason Herring to collaborate further with John Fryer on music for a feature film and an HBO documentary. Fryer also appears briefly in the new video for ‘Electric Love’.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
http://www.facebook.com/The-Mystery-Plan-1498248636862179
http://www.facebook.com/10mmomega
http://soundcloud.com/10mmomegarecordings
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoUq0Xz_tBvIeOPc6oL59HA/videos
http://www.reverbnation.com/jasonherringthemysteryplan
http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/jason-herring-and-the-mystery-plan/id366403103 -
Mackenzie James Cregan – Woman From The East
LA born Liverpool based singer/songwriter Mackenzie James Cregan is set to release his next single ‘Woman from the East’ today (Friday 26th October).
‘Woman from the East’ portrays Mackenzie’s influence in 60s psychedelia while simultaneously maintaining a strong songwriting presence. The lyrically dark love song was co-produced by Jim Cregan, the legendary guitarist, and producer of the Rod Stewart band and Cockney Rebel.
Mackenzie’s love for music started at a very young age from being brought up in the entertainment capital of the world Los Angeles immersed in a highly creative family. Drawing influence from his father Jim Cregan and a star-studded array of other family friends who would visit the house, Mackenzie has always been immersed within an inspirational environment.
Woman from the East is a perfect example of a song that contains a strong essence of his Southern Californian roots, whilst containing various influences that Mackenzie came across in his musical upbringing. After exiting a psychedelic intro the song is driven by a tight rhythm section throughout, the song also includes a jazz-inspired sax solo backed by an electric tremolo guitar, along with a gypsy style acoustic rhythm guitar.
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/mackenziejamescregan
https://twitter.com/mjcregan
https://www.instagram.com/mackenziejamescregan