Miami based hard/heavy rock act GEARS isn’t your average start-up garage band. Despite being confronted with a near disastrous setback at the cusp of their debut, headlining tour, jarring line-up changes, and financial challenges, the band has persevered and rebuilt.
Founded in February 2014, Trip 6 (Urban Rebel), Eli Parker (Endo), Tommy Herres (SCARLET CARSON) and Jimmy Wooten (SKINMASK) were all looking for new projects as their old ones had run their course. We all wanted to do something more modern, but still rang true to our influences. Something that we could aggressively market and tour on. So, we all met up in Miami after months of talking about doing something together and what came out was the first EP, "Set in Motion." They released Set in Motion in May 2014, immediately launching into their first headline run with support from I-Exist. Just three days into the tour, their equipment trailer disconnected, resulting in a massive, horrific accident; not only did they lose their gear, but the tour van was totaled and the band members sustained serious injury. In spite of this tremendous blow, the group endured and continued the tour without missing a beat. Later it developed that two of the founding members were unable to continue, leaving the band reeling and having to replace them with skilled, compatible substitutes: I was talking with a mutual friend, Joe Taback (12 Gauge Embrace) about needing a guitar player for GEARS because we let go of Eli and he suggested Bobby Thomas. I called him and showed him the songs and he was ready to go. As far as bass, I knew Chris from when Needlemouth was a thing out in Cali and I always liked his playing and he was super laid back & cool. I knew both of these dudes were definite upgrades at their instruments and were a better fit personality wise than what we had to deal with previously. In June 2015, Wooten and Six teamed with Corey Lowery (Saint Asonia, Stuck Mojo, Stereomud, Dark New Day) and Troy Mclawhorn (Evanescence, Seether, Dark New Day) on their new EP Pride Comes Before the Fall, and announced the addition of new members Bobby Thomas and Chris Dorame. They hit the road for their Riser Tour, once again with I-Exist, in July, wrapping up the run in September, but kept the momentum going with the digital release and lyric video for their debut single off of P_ride Comes Before the Fall_, “Face Down”. The band rounded out the year with the release of their much anticipated sophomore EP on November 10th, with a tour in January 2016. Before spending most of 2017 touring with the likes of The Bunny The Bear, Seasons After and Bridge to Grace, Trip and Jimmy went back into the studio with Corey Lowery to begin working on new music. "KING" is the first single released to come out of those sessions and also features Clint Lowery on guitar. We're still moving forward and, despite everything that has been an obstacle in the short time we've been a band, everything still keeps growing and getting better.
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Spearfish, SD based electronic alternative rock act Blacklite District (BLD) has released two videos for their single, "Goodbye," off of their third LP, Instant Gratification, one an official video and the second a Minecraft video.
Blacklite District follows no rules. With sounds of everything from electronic, EDM and hip hop, to hard rock and alternative, the band truly stands out from the pack of what has becomes today's generic sounding "Active Rock". Formed in 2012 by Kyle Pfeiffer and Roman James, ages 12 and 11 respectively, the band grew organically in their local music scene through the years to come. In 2011, BLD was discovered by Grammy Award-winning producer, Stephen Short (Paul McCartney, Queen), which resulted in a 10 day recording session at the world's largest residential recording studio, Sonic Ranch, just outside of Mexico in Tonillo, TX. The group re-located to Los Angeles and played some of the most famous venues in the world for the remainder of 2011. In 2013, the group released "With Me Now" as the lead from it's debut album Worldwide Controversy. "With Me Now" immediately went to #1 on SiriusXM channels Octane and Faction, hit the Top 40 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Chart (#32), and sold 100,000 copies. BLD went on a very successful US tour with Saving Abel in Jan-Apr 2014, with 26 of those shows SOLD OUT. After a legal battle with their management and record label, Blacklite District went on hiatus in late 2014. On August 23, "The Struggle" was release to radio and To Whom It May Concern went for pre-order at digital retailers. Revolver Magazine premiered the music video for "The Struggle" on August 25. The band also announced a 41 date tour called "The Struggle Is Real Tour". Blacklite District released a Nightcore remix of "The Struggle" to YouTube on September 6, which got over 2,000,000 plays and resulted in the single breaking the Top 40 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Indicator chart at #36. One month later, on October 6, the group released a Nightcore remix of "We Are The Danger" which got over 400,000 plays on YouTube. A couple of weeks later, the band released "Broken Souls" to radio, as well as a Nightcore remix which resulted in 500,000 plays and hitting #30 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Indicator. This was the second song in the month of October to break the Top 40 (along with "The Struggle.") "The Ghost of You and Me" was released as a music video and a Nightcore remix on December 28, 2016. The song was yet again a success for Blacklite District resulting in 400,000. On January 20, 2017, BLD released "Living In A Nightmare" as the first single from upcoming album Instant Gratification. With a coinciding Nightcore release, "Living In A Nightmare" broke the Top 25 on the BDS Indicator chart, marking the bands highest spot in chart history. The song has been streamed over 250,000 times. On February 24, famed radio DJ Lou Brutus posted the bands video for "Cold As Ice", which was released the same day. The song scored a whopping 350,000 streams in its first week alone, and as of May 2017, has over 3.5 million combined views on YouTube. "Cold As Ice" serves as the second single from Instant Gratification. In the summer of 2017, "Cold As Ice" was added to Spotify's "Rock Hard" playlist, and was put into rotation on SiriusXM's alternative channel Faction. In October, "Cold As Ice" was added to rotation on SiriusXM Octane, and it's Minecraft music video has over 10 million views on YouTube. There are about 4 videos about a Herobrine invasion with zombies and "nether watchers" and how the main character, a player in a blue suit, survives. There are 4 songs in total in the order of The Struggle, Cold as Ice, We are the Danger (possibly not from Blacklite District), and Just so you Know. Blacklite District released their third album Instant Gratification on September 22, going Top 10 on Amazon's Top Electronic Albums chart. Indiana metalcore band GLASS HANDS has released the Official Music Video for their single "Waiting Room." Filmed, directed, and edited by Brian “Bone” Thorburn at Threshold Studios in Indianapolis, based on concepts from Glass Hands and Brian “Bone” Thorburn, "Waiting Room" is the debut single off of Glass Hand's upcoming EP.
“Waiting Room is a song about watching yourself become a negative, apathetic person without the strength to do anything about it; feeling like you’re just waiting around until the end. Like anyone, each of us in the band have had our own internal battles, and we think that the feeling of numbness in depression is something a lot of people can relate to, and that’s what we wanted to do with this song. We wanted to relate.” - Glass Hands Glass Hands is more than a name change for the former Indianapolis based metal band Infamous. Glass Hands is the striking result of a 6 year evolutionary journey that scorched the definition of the genre. Glass Hands has already created a buzz with their technical guitar prowess infusing ambient and melodic harmonies topped with powerful lyrics. High energy live performances and undeniable chemistry is guaranteed with this five piece group. Delivering one hard‐hitting anthem after another, and driven by powerful guitars, aggressive drum beats, and poignant lyrics, this Midwestern outfit gave a taste of what was to come with the music video release of "Alone". This visual introduction to Glass Hands unapologetically speeds ahead with a barreling riff and unshakable chant. Greeted by the tremendous response to the video, the band released their debut EP Exit Letters on August 13, 2016. On social media giant, Facebook, the music video, "Alone", spread at a feverish pace and reached almost 275,000 people and currently has over 110,000 views, 3,000 shares, 300 comments in the first month. Fueled by this, the EP Exit Letters hit the iTunes Metal Charts at the #32 position and remained solidly in the Top 50 for the first week! Only a year and a half after the release of Exit Letters, Glass Hands released the explosive single entitled "Waiting Room", acommpanied by a visually captivating music video. The band plans to release a full‐length LP this summer, with a tour to follow. |
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June 2018
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