Interview: Chris Dudley of Underoath

Recently I was able to catch up with composer/Underoath keyboardist, Chris Dudley, to discuss his recent scores for films like the Screambox exclusive, Night of the Missing, that is currently available for streaming. In this interview, I asked Chris about some of his favorite scores of all time, his process for making his scores for films he’s assigned to, how music can feel different when listening to it in different environments, and he also offered up some news about Underoath’s new album progress.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

The fifth LP from roots rockers, Uncle Lucius, is a solid slab of blues-driven guitar rock that hits its mark more often than not. Like It’s The Last One Left is the band’s first album since 2018, and their song “Keep The Wolves Away” was featured on the hit TV show, Yellowstone, recently that helped reinvigorate an interest in the band. Flash forward to 2023, and Uncle Lucius have returned with a record worthy of the legacy that they have built before them. The album was recorded to analog tape, with everyone playing together in real time, and you can really feel the energy of the band coming back together here. Uncle Lucius is back for all the right reasons, and I think we’re all better off for it.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

Today is a great day to share the new single from Chicago-based garage punk band, Trash Fiasco, called “One Bird.” Displaying the group’s elastic vocals and rhythmic drive, “One Bird” is straightforward without being mundane, and embodies every bit of reckless, gritty energy that their name suggests, as the band blasts their way through the song’s 70-second run time. With a sound similar to energetic punk bands like The Cramps and Wine Lips, Trash Fiasco have truly arrived. I was also able to catch up with the band for a brief interview below.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

Today is a great day to share the news that indie rock band, Sonic Blume, have released their latest single and video for “Falling Behind.” Sonic Blume is Max Connery on vocals/guitar/synth, Danny Murray on drums, Noah Sullivan on guitar/synth, and James Waltsak on bass, and this NJ-based band is onto great things on this track. The single comes from their latest LP, All Your Favorite Songs that is out everywhere you stream your music now. I was also able to catch up with this talented band for a brief interview below.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

Recently I was able to schedule a Zoom call with Nick Woolford (bassist/backing vocals) of Have Mercy to discuss the band’s latest full length record called Numb, that releases today via Rude Records. In this interview, I asked Nick about the band’s process for crafting the songs on this LP, the chemistry with their new drummer, how Taylor Swift’s Midnights led the band to some creative discoveries, and their favorite bands/venues in the Maryland area. Numb is available today here.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

Today I’m thrilled to bring everyone the latest single from Chris Garneau called “First Man.” On this vibrant single, it finds Garneau plumb the longing of a person’s first crush: the excitement, surprise, and, eventual heartbreak. The song comes from the forthcoming Out of Love release by Garneau. I was also able to catch up with this talented artist for a brief interview below.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

Today is a great day to share the new single from alt-pop artist from NY, who goes by Middle Part, called “Nowhere.” On this new track, the gritty pop elements showcase an artist willing to take calculated risks to expand his sound. The artist shared, “‘Nowhere’ is a refrain from all the anger that populates a lot of the record. It’s a confession of wanting to choose self-acceptance over continuously worrying about what others may think. Appreciating the present moment rather than placing oneself at the center of the universe is the key theme.” If you’re enjoying the latest single, please consider visiting Middle Part’s Bandcamp page here.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

Today I’m thrilled to bring everyone an early listen to alternative rock band, Night Windows, new single called “Something Simple.” With a sound that fits well within the realm of indie rock bands like Death Cab for Cutie, plus the emotional attachment of lyrics like Bright Eyes, Night Windows are breaking through at just the right moment in time. Taken from their upcoming 2024 LP titled In Memories, “Something Simple” finds the beauty in all things. As band lead vocalist Ben Hughes explained:

A one-take recording (guitar/vocals) from my room with the windows open. ‘Something Simple’ is about loss and longing. It’s about reckoning with the idea of greener pastures. It’s about the desire to move away, and the desire to return home – only remembering the good parts of what was left there. All these wishes and fears about the future. Hopes and dreams. And at the end of the day, it’s about leaning on the little moments that occur each day to pull us through.

If you’re enjoying the new single, please consider pre-ordering In Memories here.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

Recently I was able to connect with the lead vocalist/guitarist of Sublime With Rome, Rome Ramirez, to discuss the band’s latest EP called Tangerine Skies. In this interview, I asked Rome about how he and his bandmates turned the pandemic-era demos into the final cuts for Tangerine Skies, how the band chemistry has been since they acquired a new drummer, and the process for crafting their setlists when they’re on tour. Sublime With Rome will be on tour starting next month.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

Today I’m thrilled to bring everyone the latest single and video from NYC-based artist, BenBen (the solo name of Ben Wigler), called “Endless Summer.” On this vibrant summer song, albeit released during winter, BenBen channels his love of radio-ready rock into a crowd-pleasing package. BenBen shared:

This is, in many ways, the very earliest song in the BenBen stable. My best friend, James Byron Schoen (who I still make music with in the storied progressive metal band Edensong), and I first played around with the melody for the chorus when we were six years old! This song, which features the stunning vocals and violin of Camellia Hartman (ConorOberst/Skullkrusher) is about youth, about being a more mature guy and trying (failing?) to imagine what it’s like to be young, about obsession with getting first moments right and the fear and elation of being a shy person who is finally seen for who they are. It’s a playful, loving homage to the kinds of “songs of the summer” that blast on the radio (not many of them feature the West African Kora) and infect you with their incessant hooks and uncomplicated energy.

Get ready to fall in love with your next favorite artist.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

Today is a great day to share the new music video from We Owe (the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Christopher Pravdica) called “Slight Inconvenience.” The single comes from We Owe’s full-length record, Major Inconvenience, that will be released everywhere music is sold on December 1st. As Pravdica wrote on the track:

I did this track instrumental with backing vocals. Trying for a more melodic sound. I was gonna do lyrics, but I found this patient interview that I very much related to, and I dropped it over the music. It fit so well that I was like: ‘Yo, this works!'” Video director, Jim Larson, continued: “The song ‘Slight Inconvenience’ contains an audio sample from an actual therapy session with a catatonic schizophrenic from many years ago. So I decided to sample the visual portion of the interview and edit the footage to make a new version to accompany the song.

I was also able to catch up with this artist for a brief interview below.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

There’s something to be said for a band who knows how to make a well-crafted, thought out, and carefully mapped out album. AJR may have just made their early-career masterpiece on The Maybe Man, a record that is brimming with purpose, an ultra-personal touch, and better structurally organized than any of their previous four LPs. The Maybe Man finds the three brothers (Adam, Jack & Ryan Met) at a crossroads: they’ve just made their most commercially and critically successful record in 2021’s Ok Orchestra, the band recently announced their first arena tour, and yet the material found on this record is dripping with self-doubt. For a band that got famous with songs like “Bang!” “Weak” and the ultra-viral “World’s Smallest Violin,” the opening song/title track finds lead singer, Jack pondering vulnerably, “Wish I was a stone so I couldn’t feel / You’d yell in my face, it’d be no big deal / But I’d miss the way we make up and smile / Don’t wanna be stone, I changed my mind,” while getting into heavier material (lyrically) with “God Is Really Real” that comes to terms with their father, Gary’s, untimely passing. As close as I am to my dad, I can’t imagine going through life without my own mentor, and I commend AJR for tackling this concept head on with grace on The Maybe Man.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

The sophomore set from alt-country up-and-comer Daniel Donato, called Reflector, is a colorful collection of songs that are brimming with lush textures and shimmering guitars. From the vibrant opening bars of the song “Lose Your Mind” to the closing, near 6-minute opus of “Dance in the Desert Pt. 2,” Donato leaves his musical blueprint all over this record that showcases his unmistakable talent. The Nashville-based singer/songwriter describes his new record as “Cosmic Country” and it fits well within the same realm of artists like The Lumineers, Lord Huron, and the crisp ,country twang of Zac Brown Brand. When speaking on his new LP, Donato shared, “I think ‘Cosmic Country’ is a tale as old as time, really. It’s yin and yang in a musical form. It’s three chords and the truth, and then on the other side it’s exploration and bravery. I really went through a lot of years of grinding, and still am, to achieve this sound which is a vehicle for my personality, and the personality is a vehicle for my soul. So (Reflector) is more that than any other record I ever put out.” Daniel Donato is quickly climbing the ladder of notoriety on Reflector.

Adam Grundy 5 months ago

Today is a great day to share the news about Black Polish and their new single called “Streetsigns.” Black Polish is Jayden Nicole Binnix, and their sound transcends musical boundaries. They draw inspiration from bands like Paramore, Twenty One Pilots and Mitski, but their sound really needs to be heard to make your own judgement. ”‘Streetsigns’ speaks of wanting to escape your self destruction and be completely isolated free to do whatever you please,” Binnix explained. “It’s a love song for a place where responsibility doesn’t exist and guilt will never reside within you.” Black Polish will release their debut LP, Forest (Monsters Live In The Trees), via Riptide Music on January 26th. I was also able to catch up with this talented artist for a brief interview below.

Adam Grundy 6 months ago

It really does feel like yesterday that I was just unwrapping the CD of this Blink-182 classic, known to many as their [Untitled} fifth effort, and grinning ear to ear about the sound that was about to surround me for the next two-plus years of a standard album cycle. Little did I know, this would be the last studio album Blink-182 would record for eight (!) years, until they returned with 2011’s Neighborhoods. This studio effort was a flawless execution of slick pop-punk hooks, experimental rock, hip-hop beats, and a top-notch collaborative song with The Cure’s Robert Smith. While some longtime Blink fans were disappointed with the final result of this record (that succeeded the bulletproof pop-punk classic, Take Off Your Pants & Jacket), almost all of these fans now point to this album as a seismic shift in the band’s songwriting and offered glimpses as to where they would take their sound for the foreseeable future. This fifth LP was produced by Jerry Finn, and it would also end up being their longest album to date, clocking in at a little over the 49-minute mark. Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker should be looking back fondly on this momentous album today that would find Blink-182 breaking down the silos of what a pop-punk band should sound like, and blow the doors off the hinges in the process.

Interview: Chris Dudley of Underoath

Review: Uncle Lucius – Like It’s The Last One Left

Trash Fiasco – “One Bird” (Song Premiere)

Sonic Blume – “Falling Behind” (Video)

Interview: Nick Woolford of Have Mercy

Chris Garneau – “First Man” (Song Premiere)

Middle Part – “Nowhere” (Song Premiere)

Night Windows – “Something Simple” (Song Premiere)

Interview: Sublime With Rome

BenBen – “Endless Summer” (Video Premiere)

We Owe – “Slight Inconvenience” (Video Premiere)

Review: AJR – The Maybe Man

Review: Daniel Donato – Reflector

Black Polish – “Streetsigns” (Song Premiere)

Review: Blink-182 – [Untitled]