Throwback Thursday (September 11th, 2014): Indifference
Indifference began in the summer of 1999, in the dormitory of Kiski Summer School with guitarist and vocalist Khaled Dajani of Pittsburgh and drummer Chris Ochtyun of Youngstown. During their run, the band picked up different members from varying ethnic groups, using those ethnic backgrounds to add to the band's already unique sound. Adding to the most well known version of the lineup was bassist John Guentner. The band's two most popular releases of their four Cd's that were released were 2002's "The Dying Radio" and 2003's "The Mud Spider Ep." While together, Indifference had the privilege of sharing the stage with such diverse national acts as Mushroomhead, Oleander, Sponge, From A Second Story Window, Days of The New, and The Verve Pipe. The latter being an all acoustic, Mtv Unplugged style show, that showcased the band in a different light than what friends and fans had been used to. Following the release of "The Mud Spider Ep," and before calling it quits, the band added co-lead vocalist Chin, formerly of Cyrus to add even more diversity to the band's sound. Unfortunately the band dissolved around 2004 and Dajani went on to New York City where he still plays and performs and Ochtyun would later go on to form Youngstown band's Aura and River's Edge, as well as 4SJ. He now resides in North Carolina where he works as a DJ and turntablist.
Indifference began in the summer of 1999, in the dormitory of Kiski Summer School with guitarist and vocalist Khaled Dajani of Pittsburgh and drummer Chris Ochtyun of Youngstown. During their run, the band picked up different members from varying ethnic groups, using those ethnic backgrounds to add to the band's already unique sound. Adding to the most well known version of the lineup was bassist John Guentner. The band's two most popular releases of their four Cd's that were released were 2002's "The Dying Radio" and 2003's "The Mud Spider Ep." While together, Indifference had the privilege of sharing the stage with such diverse national acts as Mushroomhead, Oleander, Sponge, From A Second Story Window, Days of The New, and The Verve Pipe. The latter being an all acoustic, Mtv Unplugged style show, that showcased the band in a different light than what friends and fans had been used to. Following the release of "The Mud Spider Ep," and before calling it quits, the band added co-lead vocalist Chin, formerly of Cyrus to add even more diversity to the band's sound. Unfortunately the band dissolved around 2004 and Dajani went on to New York City where he still plays and performs and Ochtyun would later go on to form Youngstown band's Aura and River's Edge, as well as 4SJ. He now resides in North Carolina where he works as a DJ and turntablist.
Throwback Thursday (September 4th, 2014): Selling Out Like Bitches
This week's throwback Thursday comes from the Youngstownscene.com archives from March of 2003 and its a review of the split EP from December Son and The Champions of All Time called Selling Out Like Bitches. I was the writer who did the review. Remember, I was only 21 years old and new to the world of music journalism...plus, I was kind of a dick back then. - Brandyn Chaos.
Split EP’s are badass. But unfortunately, split EP’s with two local acts are tough to come across. December Son and The Champions Of All Time were willing to change that though as they joined forces to record Selling Out Like Bitches.
Selling Out Like Bitches is a four-track disc featuring two songs done by each band. But instead of having two original songs of each, the bands decided to have some fun with the project and do one original and one cover of each other. This leads to an interesting listen though as the two bands have styles with few similarities.
The first track is the normally poppy, upbeat rock band The Champions Of All Time doing a cover of December Son’s fan-favorite 'Grey Had A Face', which has been described by some as radio-friendly death metal. You can still hear the December Son in the song, but it definitely has it’s noticeable TCOAT parts in this version. The cover is not as heavy, a little faster and has a different lyrical structure in the chorus due to one singer not being as talented as December Son’s
For their original track, The Champions did a simple acoustic recording of their newest song, 'My Only'. It sounds a lot like their live version of the song, except it’s acoustic and recorded. It even features the talented December Son vocalist on some backing parts.
December Son covers TCOAT’S fan-favorite, '1,000,000 Miles'. Much like The Champions did, December Son manages to give their own unique sound to this version without butchering it. They take the original blueprint of the song, drop it to d, sing it with more range and throw in a December Son guitar solo and make it work.
Selling Out Like Bitches ends like a typical December Son set with their rock epic, 'She’s Got Nothing Left'. Over six minutes of solid rock with words that are made up uniquely for every time it’s played. For a song that was written solely as a live song, it transfers to disc fairly well and still manages to rock.
Overall, December Son and The Champions Of All Time managed to produce four rock tracks that are worth listening to whether you’re driving, making love or Selling Out Like Bitches
This week's throwback Thursday comes from the Youngstownscene.com archives from March of 2003 and its a review of the split EP from December Son and The Champions of All Time called Selling Out Like Bitches. I was the writer who did the review. Remember, I was only 21 years old and new to the world of music journalism...plus, I was kind of a dick back then. - Brandyn Chaos.
Split EP’s are badass. But unfortunately, split EP’s with two local acts are tough to come across. December Son and The Champions Of All Time were willing to change that though as they joined forces to record Selling Out Like Bitches.
Selling Out Like Bitches is a four-track disc featuring two songs done by each band. But instead of having two original songs of each, the bands decided to have some fun with the project and do one original and one cover of each other. This leads to an interesting listen though as the two bands have styles with few similarities.
The first track is the normally poppy, upbeat rock band The Champions Of All Time doing a cover of December Son’s fan-favorite 'Grey Had A Face', which has been described by some as radio-friendly death metal. You can still hear the December Son in the song, but it definitely has it’s noticeable TCOAT parts in this version. The cover is not as heavy, a little faster and has a different lyrical structure in the chorus due to one singer not being as talented as December Son’s
For their original track, The Champions did a simple acoustic recording of their newest song, 'My Only'. It sounds a lot like their live version of the song, except it’s acoustic and recorded. It even features the talented December Son vocalist on some backing parts.
December Son covers TCOAT’S fan-favorite, '1,000,000 Miles'. Much like The Champions did, December Son manages to give their own unique sound to this version without butchering it. They take the original blueprint of the song, drop it to d, sing it with more range and throw in a December Son guitar solo and make it work.
Selling Out Like Bitches ends like a typical December Son set with their rock epic, 'She’s Got Nothing Left'. Over six minutes of solid rock with words that are made up uniquely for every time it’s played. For a song that was written solely as a live song, it transfers to disc fairly well and still manages to rock.
Overall, December Son and The Champions Of All Time managed to produce four rock tracks that are worth listening to whether you’re driving, making love or Selling Out Like Bitches
Throwback Thursday (August 28th, 2014): Leviticus
Leviticus formed with no name in early fall of 1999 with singer/guitarist Brandyn Chaos and bassist Ricky Leonard. The band was planned to be nothing more than an experimental recording project. Several months later Chaos and Chris "Spyder" Leyda began work on a project that would bring in the changing times where alternative rock, ska, and punk were starting to fade and making way to a new breed of heavier rock, Chaos and Spyder wanted to bring all of that together under one roof. The two then added bassist Josh Himes who left shortly afterwards. The next major move for the band was the add Chaos's former schoolmate Chad Karr who would take on the drumming duties. With Himes now out of the band, Chaos decided to bring this project in with his unnamed project and add even more experimentation to the mix. Ricky Leonard was now the bassist of the band that would assume the name Insane, which lasted only a few weeks and one show. As tensions arose within the band, the four members all wanted different things and Leonard split with the band mutually, at which time Chad Karr decided to move to the second guitarist position and the band added former Explicit drummer Tom Pickstone, who brought with him former Third Hero bassist Dan Sebastian, laying the groundwork for the most well known lineup of the band. However Pickstone also only lasted a few weeks and one show with the band, as did their newest name Figure 8. The band finally assumed the name Leviticus, and moved Karr back to drums, and added former Incite bassist Gary Simon as the band's new lead guitarist. The band spent several months perfecting a sound that was just as much heavy metal as it was groove metal, hip hop, r&b, country, and alternative rock. Leviticus played numerous shows throughout the three months that they existed, finally coming to an abrupt end shortly thereafter, due to internal issues as far as the future direction of the music that the band wanted to do. Spyder, Simon, and Matt Whiddon (who was a brief edition to the lineup in the final weeks of their existence as backing vocalist and screamer) all wanted to incorporate heavier sounds; while Chaos, Karr, and Sebastian wanted to broaden the sound to incorporate more experimental elements, and a more progressive melodic sound influenced by the upcoming emocore sound that was beginning to make waves. The band amicably split during a house party with friends in October of 2000. The key members of Leviticus; Karr, Chaos, and Spyder patched up musical differences and within a few weeks of the split, went on to form progressive emocore band Acid Reign, who despite a constant revolving door of members, lasted ten years.
Leviticus formed with no name in early fall of 1999 with singer/guitarist Brandyn Chaos and bassist Ricky Leonard. The band was planned to be nothing more than an experimental recording project. Several months later Chaos and Chris "Spyder" Leyda began work on a project that would bring in the changing times where alternative rock, ska, and punk were starting to fade and making way to a new breed of heavier rock, Chaos and Spyder wanted to bring all of that together under one roof. The two then added bassist Josh Himes who left shortly afterwards. The next major move for the band was the add Chaos's former schoolmate Chad Karr who would take on the drumming duties. With Himes now out of the band, Chaos decided to bring this project in with his unnamed project and add even more experimentation to the mix. Ricky Leonard was now the bassist of the band that would assume the name Insane, which lasted only a few weeks and one show. As tensions arose within the band, the four members all wanted different things and Leonard split with the band mutually, at which time Chad Karr decided to move to the second guitarist position and the band added former Explicit drummer Tom Pickstone, who brought with him former Third Hero bassist Dan Sebastian, laying the groundwork for the most well known lineup of the band. However Pickstone also only lasted a few weeks and one show with the band, as did their newest name Figure 8. The band finally assumed the name Leviticus, and moved Karr back to drums, and added former Incite bassist Gary Simon as the band's new lead guitarist. The band spent several months perfecting a sound that was just as much heavy metal as it was groove metal, hip hop, r&b, country, and alternative rock. Leviticus played numerous shows throughout the three months that they existed, finally coming to an abrupt end shortly thereafter, due to internal issues as far as the future direction of the music that the band wanted to do. Spyder, Simon, and Matt Whiddon (who was a brief edition to the lineup in the final weeks of their existence as backing vocalist and screamer) all wanted to incorporate heavier sounds; while Chaos, Karr, and Sebastian wanted to broaden the sound to incorporate more experimental elements, and a more progressive melodic sound influenced by the upcoming emocore sound that was beginning to make waves. The band amicably split during a house party with friends in October of 2000. The key members of Leviticus; Karr, Chaos, and Spyder patched up musical differences and within a few weeks of the split, went on to form progressive emocore band Acid Reign, who despite a constant revolving door of members, lasted ten years.
Throwback Thursday (August 21st, 2014): Slander
Slander started out as Spoonfed before adopting their new name Slander in 1999. The band initially consisted of vocalist Dustin Mogg, guitarists Brian "Hollywood" Collingwood and Ryan Bocook, bassist Dan "Shorty" Morris, and drummer Joe Carbon, soon after adding Chuck on turntables, which didn't work out so he left shortly after. The band was a nonstop, hard driving party from day one, even giving their fans the nickname "Slander Sluts." The band gained more local recognition after appearing at the 2000 Page One/CD 106 High School Rock Off, where they finished in second place right behind local newcomers, Aphasia. After their experience at the Rock Off, Slander briefly added second vocalist Mike Illich and recorded their second disc Boulevard of Broken Dreams. The addition of the second vocalist proved to be an unsuccessful shift for the band and Illich later left the band. The band took their time and perfected their sound even more, without losing their edge as the ultimate hard rocking, hip hop flavored party band in Youngstown. The band again tried their luck at the Page One/CD 106 High School Rock Off, this time winning the competition, at which time they hit the studio again to record their third and final release, Stardom Postponed. While there was no real tension within the band, one thing that would become an issue is that Mogg, Morris, and Bocook wanted to move the band to Columbus and continue on and Collingwood and Carbon wanted to stay in Youngstown, so they band split amicably. Mogg, Morris, and Bocook went on to form the short lived project Sinthetic, and Collingwood would go on to play in Cyrus, replacing founding guitarist Bobby Rolley, Carbon also continued on with music forming his new project, Moral Dilemma. After the split with Sinthetic, Morris had a lengthy run playing bass in Noise Auction. Collingwood and Carbon both took lengthy breaks from music with Collingwood returning to the scene with former Cyrus bandmates in a new project called Dead II Me, later called The New Pharmacy before their 2013 split. Collingwood is currently working on his solo project called Awaken as One. Carbon returned just last year with his former Moral Dilemma bandmate Chris Byerly with their newest project Amnesty for Anstronauts. Dustin Mogg and Dan Morris are still in Columbus and currently not playing music. Ryan Bocook lives in Washington state and also is not currently working on any projects. In July of this year, it was announced that Slander would be doing a one time only reunion show at the 2015 MacabreFest music festival, they are also working on a new song or two to play at the show.
Slander started out as Spoonfed before adopting their new name Slander in 1999. The band initially consisted of vocalist Dustin Mogg, guitarists Brian "Hollywood" Collingwood and Ryan Bocook, bassist Dan "Shorty" Morris, and drummer Joe Carbon, soon after adding Chuck on turntables, which didn't work out so he left shortly after. The band was a nonstop, hard driving party from day one, even giving their fans the nickname "Slander Sluts." The band gained more local recognition after appearing at the 2000 Page One/CD 106 High School Rock Off, where they finished in second place right behind local newcomers, Aphasia. After their experience at the Rock Off, Slander briefly added second vocalist Mike Illich and recorded their second disc Boulevard of Broken Dreams. The addition of the second vocalist proved to be an unsuccessful shift for the band and Illich later left the band. The band took their time and perfected their sound even more, without losing their edge as the ultimate hard rocking, hip hop flavored party band in Youngstown. The band again tried their luck at the Page One/CD 106 High School Rock Off, this time winning the competition, at which time they hit the studio again to record their third and final release, Stardom Postponed. While there was no real tension within the band, one thing that would become an issue is that Mogg, Morris, and Bocook wanted to move the band to Columbus and continue on and Collingwood and Carbon wanted to stay in Youngstown, so they band split amicably. Mogg, Morris, and Bocook went on to form the short lived project Sinthetic, and Collingwood would go on to play in Cyrus, replacing founding guitarist Bobby Rolley, Carbon also continued on with music forming his new project, Moral Dilemma. After the split with Sinthetic, Morris had a lengthy run playing bass in Noise Auction. Collingwood and Carbon both took lengthy breaks from music with Collingwood returning to the scene with former Cyrus bandmates in a new project called Dead II Me, later called The New Pharmacy before their 2013 split. Collingwood is currently working on his solo project called Awaken as One. Carbon returned just last year with his former Moral Dilemma bandmate Chris Byerly with their newest project Amnesty for Anstronauts. Dustin Mogg and Dan Morris are still in Columbus and currently not playing music. Ryan Bocook lives in Washington state and also is not currently working on any projects. In July of this year, it was announced that Slander would be doing a one time only reunion show at the 2015 MacabreFest music festival, they are also working on a new song or two to play at the show.
Throwback Thursday (August 14th, 2014): Manifold Stud
Manifold Stud began in 1999 as Model Citizen fronted by one time Infidels member Mike Polombi. The band would eventually become the power pop trio known as Manifold Stud with bassist Keith Colclough and drummer Christian Desantis rounding out the lineup. The band picked up a loyal underground following throughout their years as Model Citizen and carried that following over to Manifold Stud, with songs such as "She Loves Me" and "Afraid" the band broke the mold for what most people thought that a poppy punk band should sound like. In 2003, Manifold Stud released their full length debut album "Phantasy Radio," to rave reviews from local 'zines Youngstownscene.com and Ziotablue.com and continued to increase their fan base until they disbanded in 2010. At which time bassist Colclough and drummer Desantis would go on to join forces with former Hellvis bassist B.J. Lisko on his new project, the Turbo Lovers. Mike Polombi has taken a hiatus from playing music and is currently in the military and lives in New York state.
Manifold Stud began in 1999 as Model Citizen fronted by one time Infidels member Mike Polombi. The band would eventually become the power pop trio known as Manifold Stud with bassist Keith Colclough and drummer Christian Desantis rounding out the lineup. The band picked up a loyal underground following throughout their years as Model Citizen and carried that following over to Manifold Stud, with songs such as "She Loves Me" and "Afraid" the band broke the mold for what most people thought that a poppy punk band should sound like. In 2003, Manifold Stud released their full length debut album "Phantasy Radio," to rave reviews from local 'zines Youngstownscene.com and Ziotablue.com and continued to increase their fan base until they disbanded in 2010. At which time bassist Colclough and drummer Desantis would go on to join forces with former Hellvis bassist B.J. Lisko on his new project, the Turbo Lovers. Mike Polombi has taken a hiatus from playing music and is currently in the military and lives in New York state.