To musical purists, Los Angeles’ FIDLAR isn’t all that complicated. To the Urban Outfitters, vinyl-collecting teen set, FIDLAR could be seen as intimidating. To the dirty, denim-clad, skateboarding, chainsmoking neo-angst kids, FIDLAR is a voice. Acronymic for Fuck It Dog, Life’s A Risk, the band, in all aspects of their…
Al Jourgensen is 54 years old–a veteran in the metal scene–and has gone through more than most can fathom. He’s sold millions of albums and endured a decade of habitual drug abuse. He’s also been pronounced dead three times along the way, and has a ton of stories about roadie…
Anton Zaslavski isn’t what you’d call an ordinary DJ. Far from it. Yes, the Russian-German beatsmith is a gifted producer and maestro of the mixers who has rocked unforgettable sets inside numerous nightclubs and at many of the world’s top festivals (including Ultra, Nocturnal, and Electric Zoo). But during his…
Kansas City’s Aaron Dontez Yates has dipped his hands into both the worlds of hip-hop and rock ‘n’ roll, sold more than one million albums, founded a record label, and been featured in a ton of video games and films–including the upcoming sequel to the huge underground cult hit Devil’s…
It took a while. At first, it’s hard to be enamored with Katy Perry’s dynamic as a male listener: You either get it or you don’t right off the bat. Like any other modern pop icon, however, Perry’s single are as grandiose as they are ubiquitous, especially with the massive…
When it comes to Hollywood, metalheads are usually portrayed in a… not so flattering light. We’re the drunks and stoners, braindead from too much head-banging, clad in grimy vintage band t-shirts and greasy hair. Well, that may be so. But who is Hollywood to judge? I’d take our stereotype over…
The countdown to New Times’ 35th Annual Best of Phoenix is on, but it’s not too late to make your voice heard in our annual Best of Phoenix Readers’ Poll. Submit your top picks for the best Valley radio stations, dive bars, DJs and more and get entered to win…
MECC’s elementary school computer lab classic The Oregon Trail probably taught its users relatively little about American History. The lasting impression the game did leave was the idea that choices have consequences and that, sometimes, bad things just happen, regardless of how well you plan for them. When you lost…
Albert Lineses III has the sort of career that most club DJs would envy. As his alter ego AL3, the renowned selector not only was a huge player in the Latin dance scene for more than a decade but also spun sounds on some of the bigger radio stations in…
Elvis, Johnny Cash, King Diamond, Black Sabbath, Ramones, Fats Domino, Motorhead–these are just a few of the influences that make Danish rock band Volbeat tick. And it seems to work out for them. They’ve been headlining in Europe for almost a decade, and all of their studio albums have been…
The VMA’s, Miley Cyrus, “twerking,” foam finger-humping–I’ll be so happy when all the bullshit about this Disney star turned disgusting excuse for a pop culture icon is over. Usually it’s supposed to be hard to look away from an emotional trainwreck, but Miley Cyrus’s dead eyes and awkward tongue-wagging was…
So how was your summer vacation, yo? Don’t feel too bad if it amounted to hiding out in the air-conditioned comfort for three months instead of jetting away to some far-away foreign destination. Given the painfully high prices for airfare these days, it’s downright difficult to satisfy the itch to…
August is a paradox. It’s peak pool party weather, inasmuch as it’s too hot out to do much else, but it’s also the socially accepted time to begin wrapping up the pool party season, wearing white, pretending it’s summer instead of pretending it’s fall, etc. It’s a transition month for…
It’s been a little over a month since Hollywood Alley closed its doors for good after 30 years of successful business. This week’s cover story is an oral history of a bevy of bands reminiscing about the staple in the local music scene. We snapped a few pictures at the…
In heavy metal, there’s nothing better than an extremely talented guitarist. When a musician truly knows how to work some magic with that instrument it demands to be revered and acknowledged. But there’s a trade-off for said talent: Creative people are often labeled as “weird” by their peers from a…
Ever since the legendary Hollywood Alley closed earlier this month, the only thing that’s left of the renowned rock bar (other than many mementos of the place that were scooped up by regulars in the days following its shuttering) is memories. And plenty of ’em too, like 25 year’s worth…
Jamie Monistat VII is still in mourning over the recent loss of Hollywood Alley–so much so that the restaurateur and Blanche Davidian vocalist claims that he gets “bummed out at least 15 times an hour” about the closure of the Mesa bar earlier this month, as it was a favorite…
Miley Cyrus keeps breaking records. This week, her polarizing, bizarre, what-drugs-is-she-on? performance at the MTV Video Music Awards caused a Twitter avalanche, inspiring more than 300,000 Tweets per minute and upsetting the slightly classier Beyonce as the title holder of most Tweets in a minute in the process. As parents…
Sam Groove isn’t much of a gambler. However, the local DJ and nightlife promoter knows a thing to two about playing the odds, raising the stakes, and cleaning up big. For proof, just look at the success that Groove and the other EDM aficionados behind Hades Entertainment have had with…
Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein is most often identified as a celebrated member of horror punk act the Misfits, brought into the band at the tender age of 16 in 1980. Originally a roadie for the band, he was taught how to play guitar by his brother, Misfits bassist Jerry Only,…
Rock ‘n’ roll, to paraphrase punk icon Poison Ivy, is for misfits. A refuge for outsiders, oddballs, or anyone else even a little bit strange. The description is apt for the recently closed Hollywood Alley and much of its patronage. Over its 25-year lifespan, the Mesa rock joint and restaurant,…
In December 2012, Dagwood Reed was singing, playing keyboards, and writing songs for his sci-fi-inspired local band, Se7en of Nin9. His romantic partner of nearly 20 years had passed away a year earlier from Addison’s disease, but the self-proclaimed most positive person he knows stayed in high spirits. He loved…
