A Taste:

Black Sabbath, Whitesnake, Journey

“I’m never going to stop rocking,” laughs Mike White.

The Gentlemen Broncos star has no reason to ever stop, especially now that he’s played the film’s wild-maned Dusty. With long flowing locks and a skill with oversized spitball straws, Dusty is quite “rock n’ roll.” He’s the kind of guy you’d see outside of an Iron Maiden show double-fisting two Pabst Blue Ribbons and throwing up the horns, yet Mike imbues a strange calm into the character. It’s that zen which allows for the biggest laughs.

However, Mike wasn’t the only rocker on set. Filmmaker Jared Hess [Napoleon Dynamite] also has a soft spot for some good ole fashion distortion. Mike and Jared sat down with ARTISTdirect.com editor and Dolor author Rick Florino for this exclusive interview about what’s on their playlists. It gets you closer to Gentlemen Broncos, and it gets loud!

Check out their playlists below and in the video, and don’t miss Gentlemen Broncos in theaters now!

Mike White’s Playlist:

1. Genesis

Mike White: The ’80s hair band music that Jared has peppered throughout this soundtrack has now become my iPod playlist. I’m having a Genesis season [Laughs].

2. Journey

3. Whitesnake

Mike White: There are so many good ones! I was in L.A. during the ’80s, and it was never better than that. That was the heyday on the sunset strip.Jared Hess’s Playlist:

1. Scorpions

2. Black Sabbath

3. Ozzy Osbourne

Jared Hess: I like old stuff—Scorpions, Black Sabbath, and all the goodies. You’ve got to get a little Ozzy in there, man. The film is an eclectic hot mess of lots of stuff. The characters are so different it warrants a lot of different genres of music.

Watch video here!

—Rick Florino
10.30.09

Check out Rick Florino’s new novel Dolor available now for FREE here…

A Taste:

Mastodon, Kings of Leon, M.I.A., Black Sabbath

“The beauty of the world is, there’s something for everybody,” says iconic skinsman Matt Sorum [Velvet Revolver/Guns N’ Roses/The Cult/Camp Freddy] with a smile.

He’s right, and diversity is definitely one plus side of modern music.

Matt continues, “People can find so many things to satisfy themselves. I don’t think one form of music is better than another. If some people dig pop that’s cool. It’s up to the person who likes it. Would I rather go back and listen to Led Zeppelin IV? Yeah, I would. That album still makes me experience that entire feeling that I did when I first heard it. I went, “Fuck!’ and then it just became part of my life and my essence.”

In between producing The Darling Stilettos, running his boutique Sorum Noce and pounding out some of the biggest rock n’ roll grooves ever, Matt Sorum sat down with ARTISTdirect.com to talk music. He opened up his iTunes and gave us an exclusive look at what he’s spinning. Check out his playlist below!

Matt Sorum’s Playlist:

1. M.I.A.

I got into M.I.A. because of my girlfriend. She buys more stuff than I do. She still goes and buys records, which is cool!

2. Kings of Leon — Only By the Night

I listened to this album and went, ‘Wow, these guys have really found their niche!” They had this Southern rock thing going on and then they made this album with these great vocals, very simple structures and melodies. It said something too. It had great guitar tones. Everything was very simple but majestic like an early U2 album. I’ve heard dashes of that when I first listened to Rattle and Hum.

3. The Killers

I think the Killers are coming into their own and turning into a class-A band. I saw them at Coachella, and they were stellar.

4. Mastodon — Crack the Skye

I really got into Mastodon. Their new album is awesome. Brendan O’Brien produced it, and I thought the tones were really cool.

5. Alice In Chains

I’m very excited about their new stuff. When we toured with them, I realized that I forgot how many fuckin’ hits they had. They waited and were respectful. God bless them. Why shouldn’t Alice In Chains be on tour playing those songs?

6. Darling Stilletos

I’ve been producing this group and we’ve been dabbling in listening to a lot of older stuff lately. We’ve pulled out stuff I love—The Clash, David Bowie and The Stooges. I turned all of these young girls onto this stuff. Let’s recreate the message here! Why does rock n’ roll make people feel good? When I was a kid, it was a lifestyle for me.

7. Black Sabbath — Vol. 4

The greatest era of rock n’ roll ever was the ’70s. Sorry, it was. Where could you find a band like Black Sabbath on the same stage doing a concert with Earth, Wind & Fire and The Eagles on the same day? It was California Jam 1974. The headliner was Emerson, Lake & Palmer. What happened to the fuckin’ world? The closest thing I’ve seen to it is the Coachella lineup. Shit’s so stagnant. When one band blows the doors off, the whole culture will change. It’s going to turn on a fuckin’ dime.

8. AC/DC — Back In Black

With this album, AC/DC were like, “We’re back, and we’re going to throw down the rock.” That’s fuckin’ heavy [Laughs].

—Rick Florino
06.29.09

A Taste:

Montrose, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Budgie

What do Slash, Lars Ulrich, Scott Ian and Lemmy Kilmister have in common?

They’re all Anvil fans!

They announce their allegiance the Canadian thrash in the fantastic new documentary, Anvil! The Story of Anvil.

Drummer Robb Reiner breaks it down simply. “We’re Anvil! We’ve been fuckin’ kickin’ ass for years, man,” he bellows with a hearty laugh. The simplicity of the drummer’s statement resounds louder than a Black Sabbath riff. Anvil have rewritten the thrash book on kicking ass, and they’re never going to stop as evinced in the documentary.

Robb continues, “Even if the movie didn’t come about we’d still be rocking. The movie has changed things in a big way, but we’ve worked damn hard. We’re dedicated to one thing only: the music. It’s fantastic people are discovering it through the movie. I love it.”

You’ll love Robb and singer Steve “Lips” Ludlow’s playlist selections below. Check them out!

Robb Reiner’s Playlist:

1. Montrose — Montrose

“This is the almighty blueprint for hard rock power metal. The production is unbelievable.”

2. Cactus — One Way…Or Another

“Carmine Appice’s best drumming was in Cactus, and this album proves it.”

3. Grandfunk Railroad — E Pluribus Funk

“This is probably the most raw and heavy album Grand Funk ever made, and that’s why I love it.”

4. Black Sabbath — Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

“I love all of the Black Sabbath albums, but Sabbath Bloody Sabbath is hard to top. It inspired all metal, and the riffs stay with you forever.”

5. Deep Purple — Burn

“These are all great hard rock records than any rocker should rock out to [Laughs]. I love Burn because Ritchie Blackmore came to play finally. He felt like he was saving himself on the previous albums, but this one rips. Ian Paice plays drums like the motherfucker he always has been here. It’s a smoking album.”

6. Cream — Disraeli Gears

“This album has some of my favorite songs on it—‘Sunshine of Your Love’ included. It was right in the middle of the psychedelic period.”

7. Captain Beyond — Captain Beyond

“It’s an amazing progressive hard rock album.”

8. Foghat — Energized

“They’re probably my favorite boogie rock n’ roll band on the planet.”

9. Budgie — In for the Kill!

10. Thundermug

“Of course, you haven’t heard of them [Laughs]. They’re a Canadian band, and they’re fucking awesome.”

11. A Foot In Cold Water

“They’re another amazing obscure band. Their first album was mindblowing.”

12. Troyka

“They’re totally hardcore underground psychedelic metal. They were like a really really bad Led Zeppelin [Laughs].”

Steve “Lips” Ludlow’s Playlist:

1. Black Sabbath — Master of Reality

“‘Into the Void’ is probably the heaviest song ever! There are particular parts that are amazing like the beginning of ‘After Forever.’ I remember the first time I smoked a joint and listened to that—it was like walking through walls of tissue paper [Laughs]. The backwards symbols really freaked me out. I loved how bizarre how it was. Of course I can’t forget the opening of ‘Sweet Leaf.’ The coughing is great. I can really relate to what that song’s about [Laughs].”

“I was 15-years-old when I saw Black Sabbath for the first time in 1970. Nothing has ever surpassed that. There were certain moments that happened during that concert I’ll never forget. It was called The Beggar’s Banquet. They were opening for Three Dog Night. The lineup was Humble Pie, Black Sabbath and then Three Dog Night. When Three Dog Night came out, people were throwing tomatoes and watermelon at them. In those days, it was like five bucks to get in and they gave free fruit and vegetables to eat. After the crowd heard ‘Iron Man’ and ‘Wicked World,’ Three Dog did ‘Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog’ and they were covered in tomatoes. It’s as if every moment was tape-recorded in my mind—really unbelievable. Sabbath played for just about an hour, but it was probably the most incredible hour of my life.”

2. Montrose — Montrose

“This album was very influential. It was Van Halen years before Van Halen. You can even hear the similarities to The Doobie Brothers because of Ted Templeman’s production. It’s a very interesting sound particularly on the beginning of ‘Space Station #5.”

3. Grand Funk Railroad — Grand Funk

“This is one of my all-time favorite albums. I love ‘Paranoid’ and ‘Inside Looking Out.’ They’re such amazing songs. ‘Winter & My Soul’ is probably my favorite song on this album. The chords and the bass guitar are extraordinarily influential on everything that came after.”

4. Cactus — Restrictions

“This album has ‘Evil’ on it, and that’s one of my favorite songs on the record. It’s actually a blues cover song, but it’s really heavy. I was so influenced by the song that I wrote a track called ‘Safe Sex’ that used some of the same ideas.”

5. Deep Purple — Deep Purple In Rock

“This is my favorite Deep Purple album. There isn’t one lame song on this record. It is completely crushing and killer heavy from ‘Speed King’ at the beginning to ‘Hard Lovin’ Man’ at the end. ‘Child In Time’ is obviously the almighty classic. I love ‘Bloodsucker.’ Every song on this record is crushing. It’s probably one of my favorites of all-time.”

6. Cream — Fresh Cream

“My favorite song is ‘Toad.’ Ginger Baker’s drum solo is amazing. It doesn’t get any better.”

7. Captain Beyond — Captain Beyond

“My favorite song is either ‘Dancing Madly Backwards (On a Sea of Air)’ or ‘Raging River of Fear.’ They’re really heavy. The guitar playing is absolutely stellar. It was very ahead of its time in a lot of ways. It captured a lot of Hendrix’s overtones in a much more controlled and melodic fashion.”

8. Budgie — In for the Kill

“I love the song ‘In for the Kill.’”

9. Jethro Tull — Thick As a Brick

“I can’t listen to this enough. You can’t pick a song because it’s all one song.”

10. Uriah Heep — Very ‘eavy… Very ‘umble…

“‘Gypsy’ is great. This was the first horror or high screaming I heard on a record. Bands like Mercyful Fate and King Diamond were completely inspired by this. They were the originators. Uriah Heep was like a hybrid of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. You can’t help but love that. They’re amazing guys too.”

11. Jimi Hendrix

“Before Black Sabbath and Grand Funk, there was Hendrix.”

—Rick Florino
05.06.09

A Taste:

Led Zeppelin, Alice In Chains, Black Sabbath, Soundgarden

When Seventh Void drum extraordinaire Johnny Kelly whips out his iPod the first thing that plays is quite surprising. No, it’s not Venom, Black Sabbath or Metallica. It’s an episode of The Odd Couple.

“The Odd Couple is the last thing that was playing on my iPod,” laughs Johnny. “I was watching it on the plane to L.A. How awesome is that?”

Really, how metal is that?

Kenny Hickey and Johnny have been playing together in Type O Negative almost as long as Felix and Oscar have been making mischief in T.V. Land. However, with Seventh Void, Johnny and Kelly made some of their best music yet. On Seventh Void’s epic debut, Heaven Is Gone, they channel classic rock more than anything else. Nodding to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and even The Beatles, the album shows Johnny and Kenny’s knack for melody and love for a good old fashioned groove.

Their playlists also display that love for all things timeless in rock n’ roll. Kenny and Johnny each gave us a gander at their iPods in this exclusive feature. Check out what they’re spinning below.

Kenny Hickey’s Playlist:

1. Led Zeppelin — Physical Graffiti

“I’ve been listening to Physical Graffiti because we’re going to start writing the next record and I need to rip the songs off [Laughs]. I start with Zeppelin. I’ll go from Physical Graffiti to Sabotage and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.”

2. Black Sabbath — Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

3. Black Sabbath — Sabotage

4. Soundgarden

“Of course our intention was to do something fun with Seventh Void. I feel like we embraced our influences—Zeppelin, Sabbath, AC/DC, Soundgarden and Alice In Chains.”

5. Alice In Chains

6. AC/DC

7. Seventh Void — Heaven Is Gone

“There’s a funny story behind our album title. I had a friend who died on the operating table and was revived. He was religious. So when he was recovering, I said, ‘Bro, did you see the light at the end of the tunnel?’ He yelled, ‘No, it’s all a lie!’ He was really pissed off [Laughs]. That’s where we got the title, Heaven Is Gone.”

8. Type O Negative

“Our whole Type O Negative story would be a bestseller if we ever wrote a book. We basically hire outpatients to work for us just for entertainment value [Laughs]. We make the circus. That’s how we have fun. It’s an insane life. As we get older, we get odder. It’s getting worse [Laughs]. When I tour with other bands like Kingdom of Sorrow, I even bring the same nuts with me.”

Johnny Kelly’s Playlist:

1. Aerosmith

“I got on an Aerosmith kick recently. We had something that we had to do in Boston last weekend, so we drove up from New York. I sat in the car for four and a half hours by myself, and I was listening to a ton of Aerosmith. Since I was going to Boston I felt obligated. When in Rome…listen to Aerosmith [Laughs].”

2. The Beatles — Help!

3. Led Zeppelin — III

“I’ve got a Zeppelin tattoo on my arm!”

4. Led Zeppelin —IV

5. Shinedown

6. Elton John

7. Kings of Leon — Because of the Times

8. The Beach Boys — Pet Sounds

9. Alice In Chains — Facelift

10. Type O Negative

“Think of Type O like this…Put 12 guys in a bus together, add alcohol, idiosyncracies and it really makes for an incredible experience—both good and bad. It’s always memorable. Now that I’m older, I appreciate it more! When you go home, you have your family and you have to be a responsible adult. The minute you set foot on that bus, it’s a rolling mad house. It’s insane! I don’t want it to stop ever.”

—Rick Florino
05.01.09