t h e e v en i n g s o n — l y d i a
TALKING SHOP Profiling music industry professionals
Name Bob Stevenson For whom do you work? Roadrunner Records Current position title? Promotion and publicity director How long have you been in this position? 15 years What are the main responsibilities? To work with the artists and look at ways to best expose them to the consumer and media alike. This includes setting up interviews with newspapers and magazines, dealing with radio stations and securing TV interviews. How did you get involved in the industry? I knocked on doors of the London record labels I was interested in working for, and thankfully EMI records gave me a job. I started doing all the shitty jobs for the different departments and quickly got a sense of how it all worked. Proudest moment? Being introduced to Price Charles and Lady Diana at The Prince’s Trust Concert in London with U2. Is there anyone you would really like to meet (living or dead)? Sir Winston Churchill. Best live show you’ve been to? David Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust’ at Hammersmith Odeon London and Pink Floyd ‘The Wall’ at Earls Court, London. Favourite venue? Madison Square Garden in New York. Favourite musical instrument? Violin. To whom should we be listening? Definitely the new Alterbridge album. What would be on your ultimate rider? Never been as lucky to be given a rider for myself, does pinching from the band’s rider count? Best way to spend a Sunday morning? Lazily, with friends having great coffee and conversation at a cool outdoor cafe by the beach. Any advice for people trying to break into the industry? Be persistent and confident, and if you have the chops to do this kind of work, doors will open. More importantly do this work for the right reasons. If you think it’s a free ride and a way to hang with rocks stars you won’t last long. This is a very tough job and should be treated with respect or it will eat you up and spit you out. 38 reve rb
magazine issue #052 — november 2010
Son Rise The Evening Son are genuine diamonds in the rough, and are at the forefront of a movement that is taking the Newcastle sound to the nation. Courtney Fitzsimmons speaks to the heavy rock quartet about the release of their new EP, Open, and what the road has taught them. “People can hear honesty, they just know when you’re being fake”, explains drummer, Sam Peterson. “Music is all about being passionate and wearing your heart on your sleeve. You have to remember, audiences are smarter than you think.” “People revisit the 90s, their inner child”, asserts vocalist Jared Campbell with an impassioned glint of pride in his eye as he describes the band’s sound. “People hear something that’s a space that they recognise, that they feel comfortable with.” Guitarist Cain Horton highlights how “seeing a band with their own sound is refreshing for the punters and you find more people relate to you”. ‘All Aboard the Boat Wherever’ is the band’s first single from the EP and the boys recently shot a film clip in the Cambridge Hotel carpark
with a who’s-who of Newcastle muso socialites, groupies and hangers-on all making cameo appearances. The EP’s title track is the one Campbell describes as, “the open arms to any message conveyed in all the lyrical content, it was named that to open up to people and the rest of the songs are calling to open up.” The group’s continued success has seen them spending more and more time on the road — recently completing a whirlwind run of east coast shows with progressive heavyweights, Dead Letter Circus. “When I get into the van to go and play with the people I love, and the people I love making music with, it is really satisfying and where I am supposed to be,” Campbell reveals. A sentiment shared by bassist Luke Price, who explains, “it feels like going home.”
The experience of playing and working with professional bands such as Dead Letter Circus and Mammal has affirmed the hard work the boys have put in over the last five years. “Time with these kinds of bands give you a new appreciation and understanding of how the industry works and how to be successful, you learn from people who have made the mistakes and done the hard yards before you. Being close to others who are on the same wavelength, doing the same thing and doing it together feels fun and really cool,” shares Peterson. “It feels comfortable, comfortable is home and it’s what you’re supposed to be doing — like you know you’re not wasting your time. Oh, and swapping merchandise is good, too.”
Lydia has had upward of around 15 member changes over the years, if not more. On stage it has always looked different to me and the fans. But I think the thing that really made the farewell US tour work was simply the music. Me and Craig (Taylor, drums) had with us two very talented musicians. I think Lydia fans, and myself alike, don’t really care who exactly is playing the parts on stage, but more so if the music comes across well and hits them in the way they paid for.
Will Australia be included in the Farewell DVD, and will it just include footage of the Farewell tour? The Farewell DVD will most likely only include stops that are in the states. We have had the best fans and done so many tours in the US. I feel like our fans here have more than earned a DVD to themselves. We should have it over in Australia though if anyone over there would like a copy.
Open is out now through MGM.
Hello and Goodbye As a leading exponent if melodic and ambient rock, there is a sense of bittersweet excitement that Arizona’s Lydia is visiting Australia for the first time as part of their ‘Goodbye and Farewell’ tour. Kevin Bull speaks with vocalist and guitarist Leighton Antelman about the upcoming tour, the leaving of band members and his future plans. What prompted you to include Australia on your farewell tour? I don’t think I could ever pass up a free trip to Australia. So, when the offer was made I literally confirmed a few days later. I’ve always wanted to see that continent. What was your initial reaction when Low Altitude Records passed on your latest release, Assailants? My initial reaction was probably what most bands feel when their music is passed on by their own record label. But after the initial shock and initial disappointment it really started to become clear that this was by far the best thing that could have happened to the band. I was not really ever happy with them, really with any label I’ve ever been on. [Laughs]. With the departure of Mindy (White, keyboard) and Steve (McGraw, Guitar), does it still feel like Lydia on stage?
In Steve McGraw’s letter on Myspace, he mentions irreconcilable differences and thick tension at rehearsals prior to his leaving. Are you able to expand further on what the cause of this was? This was, to put very simply, the standard case of Steve and myself wanting to go in completely different directions musically. It got too much for him and he did what he felt he needed to do. There are no hard feelings.
Tell us about the new project you have going? I’m actually quite excited. We have tracked about five songs so far and I will be back in Atlanta this December to do about four or five more songs. Hopefully a release date will be announced sometime later this year. Lydia will be performing at Blush Nightclub in Gosford on Sunday, November 21, and Hamilton Station Hotel in Newcastle, on Wednesday, November 24. Follow us on Twitter