Era of Machines

Whats going on everyone!? I should have plenty of podcast episodes coming to you this month, so Merry Christmas! Fun fact I have to do Christmas shopping still, should I even bother at this point? I know I was inactive last month but I promise I will make up for it! Starting off December with a interview with the guys in Era of Machines! A 5 piece prog metal band (Currently a 4 piece) from Louisville, Ky that makes 4/4 standard music listener’s heads explode!

I’m pretty sure I have seen these guys live, well I know for a fact I have seen two of the members play in another local band. If you are a fan of Animals As Leaders or Periphery then they are the band for you! In this episode you will hear a snippet from their recent demo titled, “Echoes”. The song features fast, intricate drum patterns that break the time barrier, and ambient guitar melodies accompanied by crushing bass lines! The song has tremendous potential to be stellar and I hope they find a vocalists that will remain permanent! 

PS IF YOU DO VOCALS YOU SHOULD HIT THEM UP TO AUDITION! EVEN IF YOU ARE A SOUND CLOUD RAPPER, JUST DO IT!

In this episode we discuss where the name “Era of Machines” comes from,  How the band started, what type of music they are into, trying to stop the government from breaking the internet, shedding a few tears for the music venues that are no longer around, recommended shows to watch on Netflix, and much much more!

MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW THEM ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS!
– Facebook
– Website
– Era of Machines – Echoes (Full Demo)

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Flip The Switch

Good afternoon everyone! We are 2 days away from celebrating one full year of the Whatcha Recording Willis Podcast and to anyone who has listened to the podcast or that has given me positive feed back thank you so very much! To help make things come full circle here is episode 20 featuring the guys in Flip The Switch!!! Side note in the interview I say “Episode 21” because I have a second round interview with Softspoken that I thought was going to be uploaded before this interview took place. How ever the episodes are flip flopped so sorry for the confusion! EP 21 of WRWpodcast will be Softspoken round two, uploading the 27th!

Flip The Switch is a 5 piece rock/heavy metal/metal-core band based out of Madison Indiana! For fans of, All That Remains, Miss May I, even For The Fallen Dreams. They fuse a lot of elements from early 2006 metal-core with the vocal arrangements and the gnarly breakdowns! But they also offer a modern heavy metal sound with tasty guitar licks, guitar solos and eargasmic drum fills!
It should be noted that certain members of the band can play multiple instruments which not only helps them be more creative during the writing process but it keeps their sound unique and fresh. If you see them live you will see this Chinese Fire Drill theatrics and in no way does this hinder their performance!
Flip The Switch is making tremendous progress for a band that has only been around for a year! They have shared the stage with some big named acts such as Miss May I, Earth Groans, Wage War, Varials, and Gideon. They are set to release their debut EP “Any Last Words” Sunday November 5th at Madison All Ages Show! So mark your calendars because that show is going to be off the chain!

In this episode you will hear a teaser of the new single “Shoot Me Dead”, we talk about where the name Flip The Switch comes from, how the band formed, their writing process, musical influences, their stance on current political issues, favorite songs off the EP, name dropping local bands and we asked some questions from the Swiggity Swooty Club!

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Make sure to follow them on all forms of social Media!
Facebook
Instagram
Lyric Video for “Rise Up”

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Sun Dogs

Happy Friday everyone! The weekend is here, the rain is over, now take it easy and listen to the latest Whatcha Recording Willis Podcast episode with my good friends from Sun Dogs!

This episode is a little different than the previous episodes. It’s more of a jam session with a few questions but it’s nice being able to mix it up! If I would of known ahead of time that they would be playing a few songs I would of brought a whole arsenal of microphones to help make it sound better. How ever I used my trusty MXL990 mic and surprisingly it doesn’t sound like a potato!

Sun Dogs are a 4 piece rock group based out of Louisville Ky. They are super low key great so get in on the ground floor and invest your money into their band! No just kidding, they have been around for a while now and their sound is for those who crave good ‘ol fashion rock n roll!
I met these guys back in 2016 when a friend of mine, Kelly Scott Franklin (which I hope to have on the podcast soon!) told me he had some buddies in a band called Sun Dogs looking to record a few songs. Its an amazing feeling to have someone recommend you to other people so of course I was excited to record them! I’m not going to lie I was a bit worried about the whole thing since I didn’t have a studio space, I had a feeling not having a “studio” was going to make them look else where.
However Kelly let me use his basement to set up shop and now I’m forever in his debt! We ended up recording three songs and one of the songs aired on the Crescent Hill Radio!

So a year later we decided to set up shop once again, this time in someone else basement for a impromptu jam session and to chit chat about life! In this episode we talk about where the name “Sun Dogs” originated from, what we were doing when we were 19 years old, charities they would play for, The time they played 30 songs at a field party, debating if people who save trees use toilet paper, and much much more!

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Adam & Brandon of Pickwick Commons

Whats up everyone, happy Monday! Never fear Willis is here with a new podcast episode featuring Adam Loellke & Brandon Stuck from Pickwick Commons, a hardcore 4 piece out of Indianapolis Indiana! For fans of: Code Orange, Varials, Knocked Loose, The Ghost Inside, Kublai Khan, and Left Behind! This is a Skype interview so I apologize for the quality, it glitches out from time to time. How ever I’m glad our schedules lined up to do an interview!

I saw them a month ago with Cane Hill and My Enemies & I. I’m not sure why we didn’t talk about this but they opened up their set with a heavy cover of the theme song from That ’70s Show! Immediately upon hearing that cover I knew that they were going to kill it and despite a crowd of 20 people Pickwick Commons was pretty dam impressive! They have a similar vocal style to one of my favorite hardcore bands Code Orange. Not tone wise per say but similar to Code Orange they utilize other members of the band to hit certain vocal ranges/notes. Colin Fedorchak (guitar player) adds extra fry vocals that will make your hair stick up and Wes Holland (bass player) has a low growl that will make you feel less of a man, it’s super low and gnarly!
Another thing that impressed me was the songs themselves. Yes they were immensely heavy with a lot of swing & grove but they also had some melodic parts that most hardcore bands wouldn’t think of trying. I definitely recommend that you see these guys live because they are well rehearsed and have an amazing stage presence!

In this episode we talked about how Pickwick Commons started, playing at a run down venue in Cleveland, the split EP they did with Old Poet, utilizing Colin & Wes on vocals, playing Warp Tour, their cool day jobs (jelly), the hardships of booking shows, who they would like to play, and much much more!

 

FOLLOW PICKWICK COMMONS ON ALL SOCIAL MEDIA:
Bandcamp – check out the split EP!
Facebook
Website
Instagram
Twitter
Spotify
Youtube

 

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Ryan Matthews of Quick Runner

Hopefully your still able to see after looking at the eclipse today because here is a brand new podcast episode featuring Ryan Matthews of Quick Runner!!! Quick Runner is a 4 piece rock band from southern Indiana and if you are a fan of Concealer these guys will be your new jam!

This has been in the works for a long time! Ryan and I have been fan boying each other back and forth ever since a show at Taproom. The convo went something like this:
Me: “Your band is dope dude!”
Ryan: “Your podcast is tight!”
Me & Ryan: “COLLAB BRO?”

No but seriously his band is amazing and they write some catchy tunes! I like to say they are one of those bands that no matter how much of a genre snob you are you will find them enjoyable to listen to. You can check them out this Sunday (8/27/17) at Zanzabar with Darlington Paris and Midnight Channels!!! Click here for show details

Several months later our schedules finally aligned to chillax with some beers, talk about how Quick Runner came to be, what we’ve been jamming to lately, what local bands we would like to see play with each other, what Ryan goes through working at a liquor store and much much more!

Make sure to follow Quick Runner on all social media outlets!
– Facebook
– Soundcloud
– Itunes
– Instagram

 

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Softspoken

Really stoked that I was able to interview Chris Wethington and Billy Zimpleman of Softspoken! Unfortunately Logan, Garrett, and Zach couldn’t make it but we gave them a shout out any way. Softspoken is a 5 piece post-hardcore band hailing from Florence Kentucky who have been making great strides for a band that has only been around for less than a year!

My first encounter with Softspoken was back in 2016 when they opened up for previous podcast guest Light Treasons at Spinelli’s Downtown. Their sound was quite nostalgic, it reminded me of the glory days of early metalcore and I became an instant fan! The real cherry on top was their stage presence, they can really put on a show!

At the start of the interview you will hear a 15-20 second clip of the the new single, “Fix Myself” For the full song click here: Fix Myself

In this interview we talked about how Softspoken came to be, our tattoos, musical influences, signing to We Are Triumphant, recording with Cameron Mizell of Chango Studios, Chris’s time spent in Japan, and the really hard hitting question, “Do pineapples go on pizza?!?”

Make sure to also save the date for the release of their new debut EP Pathways out 3/17/17! Pre order at: Pathways on Itunes or Pathways pre order bundle! ____________________________________________________________________________________

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ROUND TWO!

9 months ago the Chris and Billy were over talking about Softspoken and how it all started. Fast forwarding to present day Softspoken has been touring, battling member changes and writing new material! The new members are Sam Scheuer on the vocals and Myka Meeks on the drums. You would think having two new guys would hinder the band’s progression but it has only helped skyrocket their sound and musicianship!

Despite some hardships the band is coming out with a brand new album and a new single titled “Begin Again” which you can listen to now!

Check out this amazing pre order bundle deal > HERE!

In this episode we talked about the addition of Sam and Myka. Their recent tour, recording again with Cameron Mizell, what the new single “Begin Again” means, discussing our tattoos, what they listen to on tour, why they created “The Speakers” Facebook group, and much much more!

Make sure to follow Softspoken on all forms of social media:
Band’s Website
Facebook
The Speakers Facebook group
Instagram
Twitter
Bandcamp
Youtube