Big Rock Finish… reviews of independent music

Name: Awaking State
Album: (not yet named)
Released: (not yet released)
Members:
Kent Martell – Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano and Programming
Jason Iwanko – Bass and Backing Vocals
Justin Lant – Guitar and Backing Vocals
Brandon E.M. Savage - Drums and Backing Vocals

Website: www.awakingstate.com
Favourite Song: Love, Fuck.
Photo by: Adrianna Rependa

I vowed to never review music that wasn’t in CD or mp3 format for this website, because I was interested in seeing what a band could put together as a package. And these days, if it isn’t already painfully obvious, music alone does not sell records. And generally, if according to pop culture, music is barely even on the register with regards to selling records. And I’ve been met with generally very understanding bands when I say I want to review an album or EP from them, so I can say to the world “Hey! Go listen to these guys and buy their album!” And it’s extremely difficult to do that if they only have mp3’s on myspace or similar networking sites. I digress, in that for Awaking State, I was willing to give up this rule temporarily, and I will state right here and now, that I will never give up this rule again. Online players rarely work, don’t work the way I want them do, and generally are irritating because they depend on so much processing power from my poor little 3 year old computer that they generally are cutting out more often then they are playing. And that’s just plain frustrating. And honestly, you do not want someone frustrated trying to listen to your music… to review it.

Anyways, That was a bit of a digression. I’m doing this for Awaking State because I know just how big of a deal it is that they (well, half the band that I know of anyways, Kent and Brandon) were able to fly to California for somewhere between one and two weeks, depending on who you talked to, to record and mix with a woman named Sylvia Massy. Now that name means not a whole lot to me, not being all “with it” when it comes to the music scene, but this was obviously a big thing for them, and I can tell this was a very big deal, thus, a pre-quel of a review.

I think after a year of doing these reviews, I’m starting to be able to differentiate between different genres of music. I still think it’s basically the band just saying what they are… but I when I first hit play to a song that would play for more than 3 seconds on Awaking State’s Facebook fan page, I could actually tell that “Industrial” should be one of their titles. “Rock” is a given since… well if it’s not rock, what is it? And finally, I didn’t pick this one up right away but their myspace page states “Drum & Bass”. So the final verdict according to Myspace? Rock/Drum & Bass/Industrial. Final verdict according to Facebook? “Electronic Alternative” They all make sense, and I’ll just go by what they say.

Seeing as how at the time I write this review there IS no album, I thought I should at least let everyone know the songs that I was listening to to write this review, and they are as follows:

• Out There
• These Things
• Next in Line
• Ordinary Days
• Love, Fuck

And generally, as with any artist, I start to feel that yes, the songs are all from the same artist. (Hey, sometimes I feel like they’re not! And it weirds me out!) These songs all being from the Sylvia Massy mixing extravaganza, makes them sound much more polished than the previous versions that I had listened to before in passing. That’s a definite. It almost amazes me sometimes, how more of the bands I am writing about, aren’t already in the tops of being rich and famous. They definitely got “it”, as Awaking State obviously does… and yet they aren’t being handed keys to various high ticket cars and recording contracts worth millions to sit on, and scratch, their bums.

As for favourite song from Awaking State? I don’t really have one. Seeing as how I always pressure myself to pick one, I’m pretty certain I only picked “Love, Fuck” because there’s swearing in it, and I can be quite childish with regards to the idea of swearing. Like OMG! A swear word?? Is that allowed?? But yes. I very much like all the songs that I’d been listening to, now that they’re playing properly on my computer. The Drum & Bass and Industrial side (I’m assuming) of the music lets me believe this is a band that can be aggressive and not someone you want to bump into in a dark alley. Something just a little bit dangerous, that I’m sure will get the girls going crazy. And many of the boys.

I’m beginning to think that Awaking State would do well in the extreme sports market. Depending on the director of the video, any one of the songs I listed above could be played while people are wrecking themselves and their vehicles of choice trying death-defying stunts. If only there was someone currently doing a new extreme unicycle DVD! And…okay, I am currently very impatiently waiting for the beginning of March which should be Awaking State’s first show, and possibly their CD release show, where they had to cancel their February show due to a giant snow-storm. I believe the date announced was March 7, 2008. It’s somewhere in Oshawa, Ontario. To be honest, I have not a clue what the venue is. But I’m sure if you keep up on their website, you’ll find it.

So the last show that I went to in 2007 would have been the BROOMFILLER set at Rock & Roll Heaven. One of the strangest places I had ever seen a show at ever. It was awesome in the fact that I got to be put on the Media Guest List made it all that much sweeter. Unfortunately that meant I was actually working that night.

So being personal guests of BROOMFILLER was pretty awesome. It was weird because it was a Thursday night. I really dislike the fact that all the good shows are always on Thursdays. When I still have to work on Friday. But it’s a sacrifice I’m still willing to make.

Me and Alex (my date, and I suppose partner in crime) are settling in and getting our beers in while I’m checking my camera, when the band hits the stage. I can never tell the difference between the sound check and the show when a sound check is basically running through a whole song. So I took pictures. Why not.

Went back to my beer, and giggled just a little when Alex was thrown a video camera and said “Well, TFO it up!” Because… well… you know. French Canadian television rocks.

Anyways. The set started, and BROOMFILLER hit everything pretty hard. Considering I own all of their albums, I recognize all the song and generally took pictures of the band on stage while singing along. Making sure Alex didn’t trip over me while he was working the video camera was pretty hectic as well. And overall trying to find different parts of the venue to get the shots I wanted… difficult when there are people in the way. I definitely need to get a new lens. Richard suggested a fisheye, and I might just do that.

But anyways, the banter reminded me just a little of the banter from their show in the summer time. Some things never go out of style, and toilet humour is one of them. But the show was as energetic as I could ever imagine it. The fog machine… drove me nuts.

Loved it. Definitely a great way to end the year.
Couldn’t ask for anything more.
Well, maybe the beer that Richard bought for me at the end

Alright, so this was my first ever introduction to S.N.A.K. and it was definitely an eye opener. My best friend really had some issues with this band, being the former drummer, and refused to come with me to the show. To be perfectly honest, I only went to the show because jemo was playing and being that they were the last act of the night, generally means I end up getting introduced to other bands that come before. No biggie.

The night started with me being promised to be on the guest list by jemo, and when I showed up I was greeted with people whom I’ve never met before, but assumed they were in one band or the other, who were kind enough to let me in on my word that I am supposed to be on the guest list. Later when I met up with the guys from jemo (outside, I went to go find them since they had gone for dinner) I had no hassles getting back in when I walked in with them.

SNAK was the band who set up the show and usually when that happens you want to be somewhere in the middle. You have your own fan base show up, you have fans that come for the band before that hopefully will stick around, and you have the fans that come for the band after you, that hopefully showed up early. It’s a good ploy that’s for sure.

So remember me saying my best friend used to drum for them? That afforded me to get away with a copy of SNAK’s first album sayin’ you’re done. And me being the big dorky geek that I am, thusly ran around the venue trying to figure out who on earth was even in this band to get their autographs. Nothing funnier than going up to perfect strangers and saying “Can I have your autograph??” and them giving you just the slightest in strange looks as they’re sure they’ve never met you before.

Couple that with the fact that you then pull out a 6 year old CD that has been “off the market” and the questions start flying. They all signed it for me which was pretty awesome. Well, the three main guys, Dave, Tynur and Alex (aka wee one… now that there’s two Alex’s in the band) who were actually on the original disk that I had brought with me. And I tried desperately to keep how I got my CD a secret but someone finally figured it out.

But as to the show, it was great. SNAK somehow brought in a giant tube of bracelet glow-sticks to give to their (and anyone’s) fans and I was able to steal two and thread them through the eyelets in my ears, just to prove that I could. I would go in for certain songs and give them a listen, I definitely liked what I heard, and the crowd loved what they were witnessing. And I would go outside and hang with jemo since they were working the door while SNAK was on stage.

I think my favourite part of that night, and what made me fall in love with the band, was that Alex (wee one) comes up to me right at the beginning of the jemo set, and hands me a copy of their newest disk, 6 Months of Sundays, so I could hear what they had been up to since the last album that I had. That was just the sweetest thing ever. And when I popped it into my car that night, I decided they were people I had to keep in touch with.

And I did!

Fuscia (www.fusciamusic.com), lord knows how, was invited to play inside of a West 49 store in Vaughn… the one inside Vaughn Mills Mall in Ontario. Now to anyone who knows, this is one of those very yuppy malls that is a bit of a big-box discount store type feel with the giant Holt Renfrew Last Call store, but also has go-kart tracks and some pretty pricy stores in it as well.

So the boys are playing, and I follow Mikey S around like a lost puppy at times, and decided it would be an interesting place to go see them play.

Previous to this I had only seen Fuscia with a full on band, and everything is plugged in. I knew this was likely not going to happen inside a mall, but really didn’t know what to expect.

I got there just in time to meet up with the guys and talk to them about the photos that I take and the stuff that I do. In the end there was very little to set up. Mikey got to stay electric on his bass but with one of the smallest amp’s I’d ever seen. The guitarist was on an acoustic guitar. The singer had his microphone and a bottle of water, and the drummer was a part of the audience for the majority of the set.

The songs sounded awesome. A little strange in that they didn’t have all the power behind them that you would normally expect from a pop-rock band, but it was really nice to hear. That the musicians had talent and it really showed through when they performed the way that they did.

Sure it was one of the stranger places I’d seen a band play, but then again my friends in jemo did a tour mainly consisting of starbucks and chapters one summer. That must have been equally strange for them as well.

So here’s my ode to Fuscia, who seem to have sadly parted ways since the last time I spoke about them. But we’ll always have the memories. And I have a bunch of awesome photos.

One of many jemo (www.jemo.net / www.jemounofficial.com) shows that I have gone to in the past year, without exception this was a great show. Ciao Edie Roxx is a small little place just off of College and Bathurst in downtown Toronto. Has an oddly shaped room, stage, and a smoke machine, caters to what I would classify as a more up-scale, pay $10+ for a martini (I’m taking a wild guess at price here) where people would venture to after work.

The set was great. jemo as always sounded very tight, well put together, and had lots of fun. Songs that I recognized I have no problem singing along to, and new songs are always great to hear and remember for when they are finally recorded and released.

They also played a new (to them) R&B cover this night, “Crazy” By Gnarls Barkley. Which was surprising and really good. I’d only heard the song a few times (even though it was a top song very recently) and the way jemo interpreted it, and changed it around just enough to fit their style of music, was truly inspirational.

Not much else to say other than it was a great set.

Edit: There’s more to this story!
Alright, more than a year later I’ve got more to say!
I still think this show was awesome. It may not be a surprise to all of you, that I run the jemo unofficial fan site due to Jeff’s unfortunate lack of HTML abilities. And it’s there I posted a clip of the show from that night. Truly a great way to sing a song, make it your own. I believe it was the Barenaked Ladies (a great Canadian band) that made mention to bands doing covers, to not try and be the original artist, it’s much better to be your own artist with their song.

And other than that, that’s always been a GREAT venue. It’s really tucked away and not very noticeable. I do know that the drinks are just a little bit pricey, but overall, I miss going there, and need more musician friends to play at that type of venue.

This is touted as Strap-On Tools (www.myspace.com/strapontools) biggest show to date. And I would definitely agree. There really is no denying that these guys are my friends, and I’d been following them for a little over a year by this point. I was there when they got the news of playing the festival and I was there for many of their rehearsals, as well as their practice show the week before.

The lineup consisted of the ever-ending members, Brandon (Brando) on Lead vocals and Guitar, Duncan (Dunk) on Lead guitar/Backing Vocals and Chad (Chaddy) on Drums. Relatively new to the SOT clan is their bassist, Mikey (Mikey S.)

This was my first time at Warped Tour, and it seems to be run like a chaotic military machine. Bands sign in early in the morning to find out what time they are playing. They are limited to an exact 10 minute set-up/sound check, 20 minute set, and 10 minute tear down. (For the stage Strap-On Tools were playing for anyways) Fans arrive not knowing when their favourite bands would play, and therefore begin to line up at the gates the night before to ensure the best spot in front of the proper stages.

Onto the set. Strap-On Tools were the lucky/unlucky recipient of the last spot of the day. Good because they can forever claim they headlined the Kevin Says/Hot Topic stage, which was surprisingly 100% powered by solar panels, bad because they were playing up against I believe Billy Talent and NO/FX on the two main stages at the exact same time.

20 minutes. The guys played an amazing 20 minutes. Timing themselves to the near second in which songs were to be played for interest, popularity, and length of the tracks. I would say they made good choices. Unveiling their newest song along with songs that have always been crowd favourites. Everything sounded fantastic.

The only strange part was, while I stood, took pictures, and pseudo-danced to the music, a group of two decided it would be a good idea to start a mosh pit in front of the stage, by running, full force, directly into me as my back was turned. I think my only reaction was to push one guy as he started running back towards his buddy and they continued to body-slam each other for the remainder of the chorus before leaving.

Definitely a great show, I just wish it were longer!

Alright so I’ve figured it out.

I will celebrate a blogging lifestyle through blogging.

Starting February 13th, the first birthday of Big Rock Finish, and subsequently, Robbie Williams birthday, I will be doing a week of posts. One for every day.

A few will be re-posts of older shows I had gone to since they were sort of written and inserted into the site long before it officially released.

A few will be new posts I’d written but based around bands that I have already reviewed before. But it’s a different situation, senario and show so why not.

I believe I will finish off by taking Monday the 18th as my finale for the posting blitz. And will be making that my post on a new band called Awaking State. They just finished mixing and mastering, they’ve got posts on their Facebook, and I look forward to hearing them.

After that, we will get back to our regularly scheduled postings!

Here’s to everyone!

Let’s look forward to many more bands and much more reviewing going on!