Aside
Tim Granda
Artist / Director / Animator
» Web Site
Tim Granda is an animator out of Michigan, and is the director of the upcoming animated film THE PLANET OF DOOM. He runs the online biker art ‘zine Doom Cycle, writes for Show Class Magazine, and is a co-owner of RIFF LODGE ANIMATION with David Paul Seymour. Tim attended the School of Visual Arts in NYC, and has worked and recorded for the infamous NYC club CBGB/OMFUG. He was one of the original Greasy Dozen, a member of the Mystical Freaks, and his chopper “Devotchka” was featured in The Horse Magazine.
Skinner
Artist
» Web Site
Skinner is a self-taught artist living in Oakland, California who has meticulously crafted a balance of extraordinary mural work, bizarre and antagonistic installations while maintaining a prolific commercial career. Influenced by 80’s pop culture, human struggle, myths and violence, “Dungeons and Dragons”, and the heavy metal gods, Skinner’s mind is one of psycho social mayhem fueled by a calculated chaos. His work has been shown all over the world in various museums, universities and galleries. He has been an ambassador of the alternative arts movement in countries ranging from Russia, Cuba, Japan, Europe and all across the United States. Don’t be surprised if you see one of his murals on a small side street in Scotland or some tiny village in Russia. Skinner has and continues to bring his own very specific weird art to anywhere in the world that can handle it. Skinner’s work has been celebrated in various publications including Blisss, Juxtapoz, Hi Fructose, and Beautiful/Decay as well as numerous European publications. In the fall of 2012 Skinner launched his own art and apparel company called Critical Hit. Realizing that his art is better kept in the hands of people who appreciate it on a day to day basis, he applied his strange visions and humor to an affordable media where fans of his work can find giclee and silkscreen prints, his hardback book “Every Man Is My Enemy”, t-shirts featuring his one of a kind designs, custom toys and figures, patches, buttons, zines and more!
Mos Generator
Band
» Web site
In 2001, the Port Orchard, Washington trio of Shawn Johnson (drums), Scooter Haslip (bass), and Tony Reed (guitars/vocals) emerged from the jam room and studio to the live stage as Mos Generator and began to shake the Pacific Northwest with their incendiary and uncompromising live performances. Between 2002 and 2007, the band four full length studio albums and, in 2008, released a collection of some of Mos Generator’s finest moments by way of “Destroy! The Mos Generator”. By 2008, the band needed a well deserved break to clean up their lives, follow a different muse, and to recharge the energies that make a hard rock band successful.
In 2010, Tony Reed began a relationship with Ripple Music that saw the re-release of the entire Stone Axe catalog, which opened the door to the possibilities of re-launching Mos Generator, and in late Fall of 2011, the long out-of-print debut self-titled “Mos Generator” album saw its re-release in a grand deluxe package. And, by the time of the re-issued debut album hit the streets, the band had already laid down the basic tracks for their first album of new material in over five years.
In October of 2012, “Nomads” will be received by a world-wide audience, who will experience an introspective journey into the depths of interpersonal relations, the struggle for soul survival, and the optimistic hope that it will all work out in the end, all performed over the bands trademark sound of explosive heavy dissonance combined with equally beautiful melodic passages.
Wo Fat
Band
» Web site
You can wade through as many press quotes about “Texas-sized” as you want or see how many top-whatever lists Wo Fat have made since the Dallas trio got started in 2003, but none of that is going to be the same as staring down their swampadelic fuzz groove for yourself. If you want to know the monster, shake its hand.
In 2014, Wo Fat will release “The Conjuring”, their fifth full-length and second through Small Stone. Like their last two, 2012’s “The Black Code” and 2011’s “Noche del Chupacabra”, it’s a heavy-riff/heavy-jam blast of a time – the kind of record that turns the vaguely interested into converts and that makes the corners on squares look even sharper. Guitarist/vocalist Kent Stump, bassist Tim Wilson and drummer/backing vocalist Michael Walter are jazz-combo tight and their roll is easy and natural, like you remember Fu Manchu being, but bigger-sounding and in the case of “The Conjuriing”, darker as well.
There’s been a creature lurking in the woods since Wo Fat’s 2006 debut, “The Gathering Dark” – their second album, 2009’s “Psychedelonaut”, pulled back on the threat some to lighten the mood – but whether it’s the motor-driven rush of “Read the Omens” or the you’re-already-lost-in-it riff-exploration of 17-minute closer “Dreamwalker”, “The Conjuring” is indeed a backwoods ritual. Bluesmen have sold their souls for less.
Veterans of Roadburn, slated for Freak Valley 2014 and self-sufficient with Stump handling the recording at his own Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas, Wo Fat push their jams farther than they’ve ever gone before on these five tracks. Topped off with a mastering job from Nolan Brett at Stump’s studio and an otherworldly cover courtesy of Alexander Von Wieding, the beast that Wo Fat’s tectonic riffage calls to earth has never seemed more real or more alive than it does on “The Conjuring”.
Slow Season
Band
» Web site
Press “play” on Slow Season’s second full-length album “MOUNTAINS” [RidingEasy Records], and you might just forget what era you’re in. It could very well be the sixties, seventies, or now. It almost doesn’t matter though because this is hypnotic, heavy, and howling rock ‘n’ roll that defies both musical and temporal categorization. The Central California quintet—Daniel Rice [vocals, guitar], David Kent [guitar], Hayden Doyel [bass], and Cody Tarbell [drums]—scale new heights, while recognizing where it all began.
“I’d love for people to wonder if this record is actually from 1969,” grins Cody. “We wanted to capture that spirit. That was the goal.”
In order to do so, the musicians holed up in Cody’s home studio, which actually doubles as his parents’ garage, and cut the ten tracks on “MOUNTAINS” throughout the course of early 2014. Hayden had just returned home from a short detour at college in Idaho before recognizing he belonged jamming with his brothers. Officially back in the fold, excitement to record proved pervasive. Moving when inspiration struck, they actually recorded the songs live on reel-to-reel tape. Eschewing the digital mindset of today and not even uttering the words “Pro Tools”, everything was caught on analog, giving the music a crackling kinetic energy.
“I like everything associated with reel-to-reel,” Cody goes on. “I love the sound. I like the mojo that comes along with it.”
“Working with the limitations of tape really pushed us to play our best,” adds Daniel. “You have to prioritize your ideas. You can’t layer too much on there. You also have to nail the takes. You don’t get to go back and cut paste. You have to feel it when you’re playing it. When everything comes together, it really shines because we’re all playing together on tape.”
They lock in during the album opener and first single, “Sixty-Eight”. It snaps into a bluesy riff and bombastic beat before Daniel lets out a soaring refrain and a screeching solo roars. “We wanted to nod back to Led Zeppelin,” the vocalist says. “We managed to get this really big sound in the garage. It’s very organic and natural. The subject matter is pretty gnarly, and I’d encourage everyone to take a close listen to the lyrics.”
That mystique carries over to the hazy “Synanon”, which details the exploits of a mountain cult nearby where the boys reside. Meanwhile, “Endless Mountain” drives forward on robust guitars and propulsive drums. It also reflects the overarching theme inherent within the title.
“MOUNTAINS embody a few things,” explains Daniel. “They’re difficult, seemingly insurmountable, and bigger than us. They’re both foreboding and beautiful at the same time. I had been doing a lot of hiking and backpacking in the higher Sierra Nevada. It all fit together. We live right next to Sequoia National Park, and we go up there all the time. We connect with the idea of man versus nature.”
Slow Season first emerged in 2012 with their self-titled debut. Supported by shows throughout California and nationally, they began to garner palpable buzz. Now, “MOUNTAINS” kicks off their next chapter. However, they’ll continue to exist within an epoch of their own.
Daniel leaves off, “I want to people to walk away knowing there’s integrity behind the music, the process, the words being sung, and the notes being played. We love what we do, and we hope that listeners do too.”
Summoner
Band
» Web site
Summoner are a heavy rock band from Boston, MA. We sling riffs so you don’t have to.
David Paul Seymour
Art Director, Original Story, Artist
» Web site
David Paul Seymour is a Minneapolis-based freelance artist and illustrator, mostly doing record cover, t-shirt and poster artwork for rock and roll bands. David has done work for some of the biggest names in independent label Rock and Metal; notably Agnostic Front, The Sword, Red Fang, Graveyard, Earthless, Kadavar, Church of Misery, Lord Dying and Ides of Gemini. David has also been commissioned by numerous noteworthy companies for apparel design, craft beer packaging, event posters and skateboards.
Growing up in the ’80s in the DIY punk and metal scenes, David made lots of friends drawing cheaply xeroxed handbill flyers for bands and venues in his hometown of Biloxi, MS. After spending most of his adult life working in the field of architecture, David has finally returned to freelance illustrating; coupling his lifelong passion for music and drawing into a successful business he dubs “The Art of Rock & Roll”. In just 15 short months, David has gone from unknown to one of the best artists in the genres he loves. Posters and art prints of his work continuously sell out and his client list reads like a who’s-who of Stoner Rock and Doom heavyweights.
David’s approach is old school; highly detailed, hand-drawn pen-and-ink originals converted into fully usable works of art at home in a digital world.
Tim Granda
Director, Animator, Screenwriter, Artist
» Web site
Tim Granda is an animator out of Michigan, who also runs Doom Cycle, an on-line magazine that covers the raddest artists in the chopper scene. He’s a regular contributor to Show Class Magazine, and worked for, recorded, and performed at the legendary NYC club CBGB’s.
As a kid, Granda used to pedal his BMX bike to the local 7-11 to buy the latest issue of Heavy Metal Magazine. Inside he discovered the works of Moebius, Druillet, Caza, and Corben, and his mind has been terminally warped ever since.
His passion for animation began at an early age when he discovered the film Yellow Submarine, and before long he was making stop-motion animated films with his parents Super-8 camera. He cites the work of René Laloux (Fantastic Planet, Gandahar) and Ralph Bakshi (American Pop, Fire and Ice) among his biggest influences.
Mother Crone
Band
» Web site
Mother Crone is a Seattle based Metal band, conceived in 2012 as a platform to explore the journey of our collective consciousness. With solid guitar riffs, powerful vocals, and driving unconventional rhythmic conquests, Mother Crone offers a tasty blend of heavy, soulful, tumultuous rock.
Touring music veterans Joseph Frothingham on guitar and vocals (Go Like Hell, Himsa, and Witchburn), Jeremy Schulz / Walrusdrummer on drums (Barbie Car, Only Human, and Hakai) and Joshua Hashman on bass (Vera Solaris) give us Mother Crone. Their debut album “Awakening” is set for release in February 2015 with Astral House Records and R-Evolution Industries.
Destroyer of Light
Band
» Web site
Formed in 2012 from constantly boiling musical cauldron that is Austin, TX, Destroyer of Light has taken a straight forward approach to tempering the disparate and harmonious parts of their influences into a total sum of slow motion tidal heaviness that bows to no altar but that of the riff. With the smoky flavors of hazed out doom and the stomping cadence of rock’s heyday, the band both tickles and deafens the ears with the theatrical flashes of Mercyful Fate, the ominous tones of Electric Wizard, and the ferociously feral feedback of a Sleep dirge.
Having released a self-titled EP and a live recording, Destroyer of Light hit the road and spread their interpretation of the heavy gospel all across the U.S. before hitting the studio in late 2013 to record their newest EP, entitled ‘Bizarre Tales Vol.2’. Released in January 2014, this sophomore effort was called “The perfect sludge/stoner/doom metal album for Halloween” by The Sludgelord, this most current release has taken Destroyer of Light to new towns and cities along the road they call good times and the love of music. As the fall of 2014 approaches, the band will be on tour throughout October and November in the midst of writing new material for their third recording.
