Email Author Lauren Wise

2011 Stories by Lauren Wise

• Alice Cooper: No More Mr. Bad Guy

  published December 15, 2011

  In the 1970s, Alice Cooper was the poster child of "the devil's music," a sexually ambiguous, mascara-smeared heavy metal demon with subversive... More >>

• Cake or Death? California Funkers Cake Hit Number One

  published December 8, 2011

  Most people remember Cake for the band's quirky, funky novelty hits: "Never There," "Short Skirt/Long Jacket," "The Distance," the profane take... More >>

• Dream Theater: Mike Mangini Steps Into Big Shoes as the Band's New Drummer

  published December 1, 2011

  Plenty of bands have soldiered on after a drummer bails, but when that drummer is Mike Portnoy, widely regarded as one of the best drummers of... More >>

• Avenged Sevenfold @ Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion

  published October 6, 2011

  Since 1999, Huntington Beach's Avenged Sevenfold has been on a tear. Emerging from the Southern California metalcore scene, the band firmly... More >>

• Mickey Avalon on Death, Sex, and Addiction

  published September 22, 2011

  You don't know Yeshe Perl, but you know his alter ego, Mickey Avalon. He is the last of the MySpace stars, dripping with heartache and sexuality.... More >>

• Mergence Keeps It Weird with Communes, Nomads, and Robots

  published August 25, 2011

  How can a self-respecting weirdo rock 'n' roll songwriter stand apart from the crowd? How does one manage to craft songs about typical tropes... More >>

• Hot Birds and the Chili Sauce @ The Compound Grill

  published August 18, 2011

  You've got to wonder about a band that's opened for both Gil Scott-Heron and Joan Jett. Phoenix-based Hot Birds and The Chili Sauce has done... More >>

• Godsmack's Shannon Larkin on Mayhem in Memphis, Drum Solos, and New Directions

  published July 14, 2011

  Godsmack fans are pretty damn dedicated. At a Memphis show in May, floods, tornado-caliber winds, and, ironically, Osama bin Laden caused a... More >>

• Cowboy Mouth's Fred Leblanc on Being Born Deaf and New Orleans

  published July 7, 2011

  Pete Townshend once claimed, "I have terrible hearing trouble. I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its... More >>

• Cowoby Mouth

  published July 7, 2011

  Cowboy Mouth is known for evoking positive energy: The 2006 Voodoo Shopped supported Renew Our Music (formerly New Orleans Musician's... More >>

• My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult @ Martini Ranch

  published June 30, 2011

  Year: 1987. Scene: A seedy Chicago bar. Groovie Mann and Buzz McCoy meet and bond over underground horror flicks and degenerate tabloid... More >>

• Deftones Discuss Why They're Not Boycotting Arizona

  published June 9, 2011

  Alt-metal, experimental rock, nu-metal, post-grunge — whatever you call the Deftones, it won't be right. They set the bar for... More >>