In the Pit with Tetrarch

I'm psyched today to bring to you guys something way new to NewRockNews43.com: an interview with some of the vets here who're going on to bigger and better things in their career. The guys (and girl) in Tetrarch are probably still buzzing from their show last week where they opened for national-name acts Avenged Sevenfold, Seether, and Alter Bridge. The opening slot was during Atlanta's Project 96.1 Cinco de Mayo concert, and I'm jealous as all hell I wasn't home in time to be there. But I'm still able to see what's going through the collective Tetrarch mind, and I intend to see what these hard-rockers are thinking. So buckle up as I sit down (more or less) with Diamond Rowe and the rest of Tetrarch and look behind the scenes at what these guys are thinking about after they just finished one of the biggest gigs of their lives.

NewRockNews43: You guys have been together for over two years now, a length of time that many bands never make it passed. How have you guys kept up your drive to continue with Tetrarch all this time?

Tetrach promo

Tetrarch: Well, we have actually officially been Tetrarch since late 2007. It really hasn't been hard to stay together for us. This is something we all want to do, and we have always known that it would not be easy, but just like any career, it takes work, persistence and time to be the best, and that's what we strive to be.

NRN43: You landed the opening gig for one of the biggest annual concerts by a mainstream Atlanta rock station. What does that sort of achievement feel like?

Tetrarch: It felt absolutely amazing. The radio station emailed us asking if we wanted to open up the show and of course we said yes! Haha. It's always great to see your hard work pay off, and we had a lot of fun. Can't wait to do that every night except in the headlining spot.

NRN43: What goes through your mind when you say to yourself, "I opened for Avenged Sevenfold, Seether, and Alter Bridge"?

Tetrarch: Haha, in all honesty it's great! It's amazing thinking that I opened for bands that I was listening to everyday when I was like 15 and 16 years old, and now I am playing with them. It only makes me more and more excited for the future.


NRN43: A show of this caliber must validate all the hard work that you guys have put into your band. How does it feel to have this opportunity after working together for so long?

Tetrarch: It feels amazing. Just can't wait to have more and more opportunities like this. Everyone seems to be digging the band a lot, and that is very rewarding.


NRN43: When you're up on stage, what is the most gratifying part of it?

Tetrarch: I just love seeing the crowd feeling and getting into the music that we've created. We love putting on energetic live shows, so to see everyone having a good time is what is most gratifying to me.


NRN43: You guys have been working on recording some new material recently. How do you think this new material will differ from your older songs?

Tetrarch: The new material sounds much more mature in my opinion. While we still sound like Tetrarch, we took more chances with these new songs, especially vocally. There's a lot of heavy screaming parts as well as clean singing choruses, etc... There is no half-assing on this EP. Everything we did, we went all out.


NRN43: Your show with A7X, Seether, and Alter Bridge was at Atlanta's Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, a huge venue compared to smaller clubs in the city. How did you think it would feel to be on a stage of that size in front of the fans of three of the best known alternative/metal acts of the past decade? 

Tetrarch: It just felt amazing. It was great to just chill backstage with the guys who got you into playing music on a normal level. We want to be their equals in music and that's how we look at it. Not in a egotistical way, but we keep our eyes on the prize.


NRN43: You guys have received a substantial amount of radio play from one of the best known rock stations in Atlanta. How has that affected your ability to further your music?

Tetrarch: Well first off I want to thank Project 96.1 for being so great to us all the time. They have so much faith in our band and it's impossible to further a musical career without such support. I think the radio play and their support has allowed people to hear about the band in ways they otherwise never would have. It helps us reach a wider audience, and the more people hear the name "Tetrarch," the better.


NRN43: As a group standing in between being a national name and being an unknown, what sort of radio play do you see now as most conducive to your careers? Does college radio hold as much (or more) interest for you as mainstream radio?

Tetrarch: Well, I think any way that your name is being put out to the public is great. Whether it's to hundreds or to thousands of people, it's still going to help in some way. It gives the chance for people who have never heard of you to hear about the band and look more into it if they enjoyed what they heard.


NRN43: Some artists say that they feel most alive when they're up on stage. Does this apply to you? In what ways?

Tetrarch: MOST DEFINITELY. I LOVE playing live shows. Don't get me wrong, being in the studio is fun as well, but playing live is hands down my favorite. You get to interact with the people that you are making music for and trying to connect with. There's just nothing better then that.


NRN43: How has being in the Atlanta underground helped you to sharpen your teeth and prepare you for bigger things?

Tetrarch: Atlanta does not have the easiest scene to get noticed in. I think it's helped our work ethic a lot. We know not everything is going to come easily, and we are ok with working for it because it's all we ever had to do.


NRN43: You guys have concocted some pretty intense songs in your time together. Do you find that it's the intense nature of the music that gives you an extra kick when you write and play?

Tetrarch: Well, we're honestly not the angriest kids alive, haha. In all honesty, we're not even angry at all. But we make sure to write music that we love, and that's heavy, energetic music.


NRN43: Atlanta isn't really known in the mainstream as a hard-rock/metal hotbed. How have you found your way in a city where the predominant musical styles (rap and R&B) are very different from your own?

Tetrarch: Even though we write metal music, we try to incorporate things that everyone can enjoy, or at least appreciate. We don't strive to be a underground metal band. Fuck that. We want to be as big as we can, and appeal to as many people as possible like our musical idols have.


NRN43: You guys are clearly starting to blow up in new ways. How do you feel you're going to prepare yourselves for a whole new level of the music industry?

Tetrarch: We have a lot of great insight from different people who we know that help us prepare. We have been hearing and learning a lot about the music industry since we were young, and it's definitely not the easiest or anywhere near the most honest industry out there. But we're ready to put our minds to work and become the force to reckon with that we know we can be.


NRN43: When you look back and see how far you've come and what you've achieved, is there anything you would change? If so, what would it be?

Tetrarch: I actually don't think I would change anything. We have slowly and steadily carved our way through each level of being a band. I'm actually quite pleased with the progress we're making, and I think it's only going to get bigger and bigger.

So there you have it. Thoughts from one of the most popular bands in the Atlanta rock scene. Where Tetrarch will go from here is anyone's guess, but I'm sure psyched to see. Stay tuned for a review of Tetrarch's new EP, The Will to Fight.   

Learning Not to Break with Not Without Grace

Hey all, it's good to be back! After so many final exams I can't even see straight, NewRockNews43 is back with some great new reviews, new albums, new bands, and maybe even some interviews too! As I've been so busy with school lately, I haven't had time to keep up with the domestic NRN43 vets, let alone the international acts. But that makes for the best sort of surprises now that I have time to sit back and focus on the music. Some of my favorite things to come out of the past few weeks are new songs by that amazing Swedish alternative-pop band, Not Without Grace.
I first discovered and fell in love with Not Without Grace when I come upon their Mysace page and heard their songs "Cut Me Loose" and "Hide Away." The musical approach these guys (and girl) take is one that is unique and altogether exciting, and one that sets them apart in my mind from everyone else I've ever heard. A tranquil mix of alternative rhythms and lyrics and pop vocals set against pseudo-folk instrumentation, the music that Not Without Grace sets ablaze through the speakers wraps around me and just pulls me in. As that was the feeling I had when I first heard this band, I'm more than excited now to see what kinds of new tracks they've been busy working on.
One of the first tracks I heard from the new NWG catalog was "Devil in Me." The one thing I can say about this song is that it's got a great rhythm, and lyrics that are quite addictive. It has quickly become one of my favorite tracks of the past three months. "Say It" and "Old Man," too, released shortly after "Devil in Me" appeared on NWG's Youtube channel, have been on constant rotation for me. The slowed down and tranquil mood of "Say It" was just what I was looking for when I was studying for my finals, and as I listened, it was almost as if I could see the colors in the music flash before my eyes. Yet "Old Man" took it to another level entirely: the steady and deep rhythm of the song melded perfectly with Christoffer Franzén's guitar work, and as Linnéa Herlogsson took me even higher with her dynamic vocals, Alexander Herlogsson worked to a crescendo in the song with his own fretwork. One of the best efforts I've heard from Not Without Grace, "Old Man" is one of the must-hear tracks from their new list of releases.
Yet all three of those tracks are at least a couple months old, and Not Without Grace aren't staying idle for a moment. A couple weeks ago, they released "What I've Done," a track that is beautiful in its composition and masterful in its execution. Linnéa Herlogsson's voice is angelic and soft over the simple beat and rhythm on the cymbals. Every time I hear this girl sing, I wonder how she can hit those impossible notes, and then just lose myself in the brilliance of her vocal abilities. Yet the guitar work on this song also stands out in bold ways. Franzén's notes are transcendent and philosophical, painting pictures before my eyes as Alexander Herlogsson keeps things moving with his chords and riffs. The ways that Franzén and Alexander Herlogsson compliment each other in their playing is something that NWG as a whole definitely benefits from. An amazing track in every aspect, "What I've Done" is NWG"s way of proving that they have what it takes to be taken seriously as musicians and performers.
Even "What I've Done," though, isn't the most recent of NWG's releases. Uploaded just about a week ago, "Break" is a new sort of Not Without Grace song that I'm bristling with excitement for. A little darker than the songs that I've heard from Not Without Grace before, "Break" goes down to the deepest depths of human emotion and releases a musical explosion in the brightest of technicolors. Linnéa Herlogsson's voice is pensive almost as she sings the verses, but when she gets to the chorus, it blasts forward and with a rush, I'm taken away completely. The guitar work here by Christoffer Franzén and Alexander Herlogsson is impressive in ways that give me chills: to me, it's like these two guys have taken simple guitar chords and notes, and placed them in such a way that they seem to be coming from a whole army of guitarists. When I sit back and realize that there are only two guitarists playing here, I'm floored, as it sounds like there are guitarists all around me propping up the exceptional vocals of Linnéa Herlogsson. The semi-dark undertones of "Break" procure for Not Without Grace yet another key that I am doubly sure will unlock bigger things for them. In ways that are most commendable, Not Without Grace create a most unforgettable song in "Break," and one that will be on permanent rotation for me for at least the next four months. The bottom line here? These new songs are must-hear tracks, as they open up the Not Without Grace to new directions for their legacy, and I'm even more excited now to see what they come out with next. Brilliant composure, brilliant quality, brilliant execution. Just brilliant.

Key Tracks: "What I've Done," "Break," "Say It," "Old Man"           

Cube41: No, They Don't Care About Us

Hey all, sorry it's been a long while, but life happens. In any event, I'm back today with a great post on Cube41. I hadn't really heard from these Italian alternative rockers for about a year now (I know! a long time, but here they are again), but it seems that their time has been spent well: they're working on a new album, and have just released the first single and video on Youtube. Now, from the start, I'm way curious to see what these guys have got: their last music video for their song "Nasty Mind" (from the second release of their previous album, PLAY) was sick, and the song itself has crossover potential written all over it. You may remember that it's got a crunching guitar riff and bass line, as well as wicked strobes and vocals that blast forward in brash fury and alternative attitude. The drums, too, are exceptional, providing a rhythm that is altogether addictive. Listen here for a refresher:

But now the Cube guys have returned with something completely different, and I must admit that in the beginning, even I am confused. The first release from the as-of-yet untitled new album, a cover of Michael Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us," seems an odd choice for an Italian alternative-rock band whose last video threw back to artists like Shiny Toy Guns and Nine Inch Nails. The video, too, is weird in the truest sense of the word. Simply a flash mob with the desired choreography and totally minimalist, Cube41 themselves don't even make an appearance in front of the camera, and even the song seems drawn back a little. Though the video is just a girl in a studio demonstrating the choreography to Cube41's new rendition of a Michael Jackson classic, the video is at first a disappointment as it's so far from what I saw in the "Nasty Mind" video. But then it dawns on me: these guys have evolved; grown in artistic musicality and performance direction; they don't need a front shot in a video to establish their dominance over the track. I listen once, twice, three times, four, and then it becomes addictive; Cube41 have succeeded here precisely because they've done away with the superfluous effects of their last video and focused solely on the music. The "video" then is just a transport by which Cube41 can debut their new song to the public. In it, I at first think it's Michael Jackson himself singing, expecting some dramatic change to happen any moment now. But then I realize that this is them, this is Cube41; they have succeeded in their cover so brilliantly that I couldn't even tell it was a cover. They own this song and with the intrepid vocals laying staunchly over reverb guitar, and a bass/drum combo that makes the song.

The video of the flash mob in the main square of Cube41's hometown, Verona, Italy, is a powerful sight. In addition to having the power of an unexpected performance, when coupled with Cube41's cover of the Michael Jackson's classic track, the song takes on a guise it had never donned before. Is the cover minimalist? Yes. Is it odd and unexpected? Yes. Does it work? Yes! Yes! Yes! Cube41 have triumphed in their stripped-down cover of a Jackson classic, and prove that they can hold their own against the King of Pop while at the same time nodding to his legacy. Do they really care about us? I don't know, but after this cover, they should.