Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

metallex78

Smoking Guns wrote:

More songs like Halo work for me. That guitar work on that track was really nasty and in your face.

Oh hell yeah, the riffing and soloing on Halo was like one of the riffier UYI or even AFD songs like Brownstone.
Loved it, and if there are more like that on the new one, I'll be happy!

Gibbo

Yep one of my fav from the album for sure.

-D-

BLS-Pride wrote:

Yeah time is flying man. Im excited for the new record. Confidence can be good. I have no doubts they can't improve upon their last outing. The chemistry of the band seems tight and they have a lot of shows under their belt. Hope those experiences lead to some good tunes.

HAHA VR said that before Libertad also!

Let's hope this isn't a repeat.

Mikkamakka

Halftime
Posted on March 3, 2014 5:53 am by Todd Kerns 3 Comments

March 3 2014
Las Vegas, Nevada

Whew…where to begin…

This blog is titled halftime as I am currently in a holding pattern between bass and drums being completed and guitars and vocals firing up. By the time you read this Slash will be in the great state of Florida on day one of recording Gibson Les Pauls through Marshall Amplifiers. Myles Kennedy, currently down under, will be coming ‘up over’ (think about it…give it a minute…), joining the team to do that thing that he do! I will be joining them soon to do that thing that I do as well. It has been a most joyous experience and I can say now, fully invested in every step of this process to this point, that you will not be disappointed. This album rocks. I honestly believe that this record is going to be even better than the last. It has all the elements that I look for in my favorite records. It’s catchy with gnarly riffs and loud as hell. It’s aggressive, confident and not interested in taking any prisoners.
You’ve been warned!

I’ve been essentially living in LA since the fall of 2013. We hunkered down in North Hollywood and began molding clay and chopping wood to build the music you will be rocking out to in mere months from now. We broke for the holidays and then really dug in. Slash, Fitz and myself pulled songs apart, put them back together, pulled them apart again, like we were creating the perfect Frankenstein killing machines. An unholy army of the night. An army of songs to attack senses.

Then the process would begin all over again with the arrival of Myles Kennedy. This can be better. This could be altered to make this melody really pop. More aggressive. More dangerous. More nasty.

Then our producer, Elvis came along and shit got real. We got even more serious. We had created an armory of weaponry and now we were going to make them indestructible. Make them fool proof and deadly precise. Mortally efficient. No stone left unturned. No riff left in the cold. No kick drum left unfocused.

Though it sounds like an inordinate amount of work, and in many ways it can be, I think we trusted our instincts even more this time. Not feeling so held down by the confines put upon us by the 3 minute pop song. Gone are the restraints of a ‘radio friendly’ industry that has eaten itself. Make music that feels right. That feels effective. That feels honest. That feels authentic.
I know we have done that.

Of course I’m saying this without hearing any final recorded guitars but come on…it’s Slash. He’s the best guitar player on the planet. That part is a no brainer. Myles Kennedy is the best singer in rock today. He has an uncanny ability to conjure a bulletproof melody wrapped in a clever rhyme scheme. For it to be anything but awesome would come as an extreme surprise to me. Since I’ve heard everything to this point I think it’s my opinion we’ll be trusting here.
The most important thing to us was that we make a record that our audience wants to hear. In turn I believe it is the record we have always wanted to make collectively and individually.
Myles is looser and easier like a seasoned professional. He has gone 8 rounds with the best and held his own. There is a quiet confidence in having the output of several hit records behind him. What’s one more? Don’t be fooled by that kind Spokane boy thing. There is a wolf in there that he lets out and we’ve all heard it. And none can howl like he can.

So what about the drums and bass? The drums and bass were knocked out in record time at NRG studios in North Hollywood. Brent Fitz played things he didn’t even know he could play. He was challenged and met that challenge time and again. The drums are big and aggressive and full of attitude. It is the best performance of his career. I think he’ll tell you the same.

As far as the bass goes Slash and I talked in depth about the most recent Motorhead album, Aftershock. Lemmy’s bass tone was gnarlier than ever but still had that fatness in the bottom end. Let’s do that, we agreed.

This is the most aggressive bass tone to date for me. Anyone who knows me knows the bass players that I love and most of them aren’t about flair they are about attitude. I think that is the perfect mixture for me. Just the right amount of technique with a heavy dose of attitude. I think Fitz and I built an impenetrable wall for Myles and Slash to climb atop and do their thing.

Michael ‘Elvis’ Baskette is an incredible producer with a contagious energy. In the short time I’ve known him we have become super tight. I think he is the man. I’m stoked to get out there and get singing!

Our engineer, Jef Moll, is a magician. A wizard. With them behind us we couldn’t lose. We are an army and we are sharp and trained and ready to kill.

BUSH was recording next door. Gavin Rossdale introduced himself to me one day randomly and was ever the English gentleman I remember him to be. Back in the 90s my band, The Age Of Electric, opened for Bush and Veruca Salt. Didn’t get much bigger than those two in the 90s. That sprung us to a whole other level. Gavin was a good guy even back then.

It’s funny I always try to remind myself to stop and really take in all that’s going on around me. It’s always such a whirlwind that it’s often hard to focus on all that’s swirling around you. This time in the studio was no different. It seems a practice in controlled chaos. In our world there are always cameras around. Things being filmed for this company, photos for another, exclusive pix for this magazine or that. There are always a lot of humans around. That tends to add to the chaotic energy but I’ve always kind of enjoyed that aspect of it. It’s not a regular job so one should never expect anything ordinary ever. I’m always pleasantly comforted by the tornado of activity and not at all surprised by it.

And so just like that its over. At least the first half is over. First you’re in the studio every day, all day. You live in Los Angeles. You drive it’s streets. You know it’s turns and your fave spots. You are a local. You belong there. This is home.
Then it’s over. That chapter closes as quickly as it opened and you go back to your ‘reality’ as seamlessly as you’d left it. Admittedly my reality is pretty goddamned surreal. It shouldn’t be any other way.

more here:
http://toddkerns.com/blog/

Smoking Guns

Damn Todd, you would be a great member of the NuGNR promotional team. You would fit right in with DJ. I am really excited to hear these tunes.

metallex78

Sounds really promising, but then again, Todd talked up some of the average tracks on the last album before release, so we'll see...

I'm getting pretty pumped though. If what he's saying is true, sounds like we're in for a treat!

Mikkamakka

I find myself back at Chateau Dammit on MY couch with MY TV after living for a stretch in Orlando, Florida where we finished the new SMK&C album. And WHAT an album.

I only wish I could tell you in depth how exciting this new collection of songs is but I’m sworn to secrecy. I would have my tongue cut out and be forever hobbled.

Suffice it to say that it is a powerhouse. I was quoted and requoted (and probably misquoted) in every magazine and website reporting on our in studio activities. I had called the album ‘raw’ and ‘dangerous’ and a little bit ‘sleazy’. Now in its finished state I can tell you that I nailed it right on the head. Am I the Nostradamus of Rock and Roll? Hardly. I just think I only verbalized what we set out to create without anyone actually trying to verbalize it at all. For a starter Slash is renowned for create music of this type and it all trickles down from there. Myles Kennedy, who is one of the kindest and gentlest souls I’ve come across in this cesspool (and I say that with all the love of a Sinner and a Conspirator) of a business, manages to spit actual venom in a couple of instances. The boy can summon a demon or two when the red light goes on. He is a skilled melodist and can weave a rhyme scheme with the best of them.

I mentioned in the past that I was as concerned as anyone that we would have a tough time crawling over the wall we built called Apocalyptic Love but with that wall so far behind us now I can confidently say we have surpassed it tenfold.

I will admit to some false modesty on my part. A lot of ‘golly gee I hope we can do as good as last time’ knowing full well that we would decimate anything we had done in the past leaving it all in our wake.

I went into this new chapter with the utmost confidence that we would achieve that very thing and then some. I knew that we are still hungry and still have things to prove whether to ourselves or otherwise. I believe there is always motivation to outdo what you’ve always done. Otherwise what’s the point of doing it? I knew this going into the new record. If we couldn’t top it what was the point? Challenge met. Dragon slayed.

***I just took a moment to listen to the first mix that was JUST sent to me as I was writing and I can tell you it is huge! Now I’m even more excited.

We spent a couple of months in Los Angeles rehearsing at our rehearsal space in North Hollywood before relocating to NRG Studios about 5 minutes away where we began principal recording. Drums and bass were all captured there. Everything is such a whirlwind now to look back on. It seems like it was over a couple of weeks or a couple of years at the same time.

There was a brief break where I appeared with the Sinners a couple of times, including a jam with Tracii Guns, then it was off to Orlando to knock this mutha out!

Orlando is fascinating as it is home to both Disneyworld and Universal Studios creating a bizarro alternative to California which houses DisneyLAND and Universal Studios. On top of that we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel which, of course, is bizarro reminiscent of Las Vegas’ namesake except there is no casino downstairs at all.

Adding to the sense of surrealism was the fact that we had landed in Florida – the heart of spring break-Florida style! Your imaginations may have had us wading through hordes of drunken, scantily clad college girls but quite the contrary. Orlando is the home of family fun so we tended to be wading through just that-families. Lots of Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt families having the times of their lives.

So there’s me floating around the hotel like an anime ghost all in black sticking out like a sore thumb amongst all the garishly vibrant. Then I would wander off to City Walk, Universal’s area of restaurants and retail, 100% failing at blending in. That’s ok. Let me pass on that you should never fit in. Never ever. Be you. You are you. You are not everyone else. Let them be them and you be you! I highly encourage this.

My days were spent drinking obscene amounts of coffee (what else is new?) and singing along with my brother, Myles. He would sing a song at night and I’d sing the harmonies the next day for that song before Myles came in to sing the next one. And so it went.

Many people have been asking about the Slash-Real to Reel videos we’ve been shooting from the studio. In Part 2 you can see me and Slash fucking around and Slash nearly spits up his coffee from my shenanigans.

Well, prepare for the epic tale to be spun here, ladies and gentlemen. Don’t expect anything too ‘epic’ but I shall solve that mystery for you all.

If you watch that video you can see brother Slash taking a sip of his coffee as I say ‘I’m sorry i was soloing in my head’ and then Slash stands as he is convulsing on his Folgers. Then I cackle like the Wicked Witch of the West!

And here is what you missed-

They edited out a part of what was said. We had just listened to a recording of a song and then Elvis, our producer, was explaining this and that about the arrangement to which Slash replied, “I didn’t really notice I was soloing in my head” meaning he was thinking about the solo he was going to play in the solo section of the song.

That’s when I said “Well, that explains a lot. I’m sorry I was soloing in my head”

Slash laughed because he is often accused of not listening or being distracted by friends and family. I think this explains it all. He’s always soloing in his head.

See not that epic a tale. Well, we thought it was funny.

A lot of people, bless them, have asked if I would be singing a song on this upcoming album. I have to be honest that I never even thought of that. Myles Kennedy is the lead singer for the Conspirators and that’s as much thought as I’ve given it. Myles is the best singer in modern rock if you ask me. He has feel, soul, chops, originality and is unimaginably consistent. Keep in mind he jumps from Alter Bridge to the Conspirators and back again without a hitch. That is very impressive.

It truly warms my heart that anyone would even ask if I were to sing a song but you can hear me screaming all over this thing. Myles and I have a great chemistry that way. I hope you dig it.

So just like every other amazing experience this one had to come to an end. Myles went home April 4th and I hung back to sing harmonies on the last song. It is a very special honor to be the last person to perform on the record. It was not lost on me. i savored every moment of it.

There is a great deal of depth on this recording. A very twisted journey. Many of the songs straight up rock like never before and then there are songs that have a real vastness to them. Slash is playing better than he ever has. It is an inspiring thing to see a man with nothing left to prove still pushing himself every time he picks up the guitar to find new terrain to conquer. And succeed! I think people are going to be blown away.

So with that I took my leave from the land of fun in the sun and made my way to…the land of fun in the sun…wait! What?

I’ve been a very fortunate man to have avoided one of the gnarliest winters all over north America. I bounced between Nevada, California and Florida. Not too shabby! I’m not bragging. I grew up in that shit. I feel your pain.

I spent a few days in Los Angeles dealing with taxes-yuck! Is there anything less fun? I mean probably but yuck right? Good to get that out of the way nonetheless!

Now I’m back in the great city of Las Vegas getting ready to reunite the Exile On Fremont lineup of the Sin City Sinners this Thursday night at the Palms Casino on West Flamingo. Gonna be a blast! Hope to see you there.

I would like to take this time to announce a special anniversary show at Vamp’d May 26th-Memorial Day. It will be almost a year since the release of Borrowing Trouble and we’d like to celebrate one last time in Vegas before I get whisked off to do the Aerosmith tour with Slash (more about that in a minute).

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To commemorate the anniversary of Borrowing Trouble’s release we will be releasing the live album Bootleg Confessional:Live In Vegas as a downloadable album via Pledge Music for a limited time for a steal before it moves on to iTunes etc.

The album was recorded live September 2nd 2013 at Vamp’d in Vegas and features 17 songs plus guests like Brent Fitz and Frank Sidoris from the Conspirators, Doc and Zach from the Sinners and Cian Coey from Meat Loaf. I’m really proud of it and I hope you enjoy it!

This May 26th will be a huge blow out of a show as it will be one of the last Vegas acoustic shows for me at least until 2015. I’m hoping to get some friends up on stage again. I’ve been picking my brain to come up with some fun songs to play and for some fun friends to play with!

So come on out to Count’s Vamp’d in Las Vegas May 26th to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of Borrowing Trouble and the birth of Bootleg Confessional:Live In Vegas. It’s going to be an amazing night.

The whole ‘Bootleg’ concept to me was a play on the cassette tapes of live shows my friends and I would pass around as kids. KISS bootlegs etc that you knew as well as any of their albums. That was wayyyyyy before the days of downloading so piracy was truly piracy back then. It includes a crazy rendition of Zep’s Stairway To Heaven by me and my co-Conspirators. Check it out.

So the other big news in our life is the Let Rock Rule tour featuring Aerosmith and Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators (or as we are affectionately abbreviating these days-SMK&C). I can’t tell you how excited we are to be doing this tour. I mean to springboard out of the recording of this album onto any stage would be exciting enough but to do it in the company of our heroes, Steven, Joe, Brad, Tom and Joey? That is mind boggling. If you would have told me that would be a reality when I was 15 I would never have believed you.

Earlier today Slash joined Aerosmith at the Whiskey A Go Go on the Sunset Strip to announce the Let Rock Rule tour and it has created a crazy buzz.

We are all busting. It’s still 2 months away but we are all GOOD TO GO! We’ve been off the road for a while and it’s time to get back out there. My sword is ever sharp and my thirst for battle never satiated. Let’s do this!

Well, there you have it. Recording finished. Mixing commencing. Sinners on Thursday. Acoustic show May 26th. Live album May 26th. Let Rock Rule tour will be here before you know it!

Exciting times, brothers and sisters! Exciting times indeed!

Expect the new single this summer but you didn’t hear that from me wink

Big Big LOVE to all o’ y’all
Your loyal and humble servant
Todd Dammit

http://toddkerns.com/blog/?p=373

FlashFlood

wow. dude. chill out.

I'm honestly excited for this album but pumping your own work like that is very, very, um...Bono? I like Todd a lot too, thought he was better live on lead vocals than Myles. But holy hype!

Mikkamakka

Slash

Who says a song can't be 8 minutes long? iiii]; )'

Smoking Guns

Good news on the long song. Todd is out of control. Over hyping shit. Good thing he is like Ashba and nobody pays that much attention to him. He fucking rocks though. Great performer and singer.

Re: Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

Re: Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

Re: Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

Re: Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

Re: Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

Re: Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

Re: Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

Re: Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

Re: Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

Re: Slash & The Conspirators new album WORLD ON FIRE due 15 September 2014

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