Encore ~ Entertainment and Nightlife in Orange County

Archive for the 'Atreyu' Tag

Video: Hell or Highwater residency at Constellation Room in Santa Ana

June 8th, 2012, 9:26 am by

Orange County-based rock band Hell or Highwater is hosting a month-long residency at 7 p.m. every Tuesday night in June at the Constellation Room located inside of the Observatory in Santa Ana. The shows are free and open to all-ages.

What started out as the solo project of Atreyu drummer Brandon Saller, pictured left, has turned into a full blown rock band. Initially playing small local gigs under the moniker the Black Could Collective, in 2010 he held auditions and brought together a group of musicians to form Hell or Highwater. Since then, the band released its debut album Begin Again and headed out on the 2011 Rockstar Uproar Tour with fellow O.C. band Avenged Sevenfold.

Click here to see a photo slideshow of Hell or Highwater’s performance at the Constellation Room in February 2012.

We caught up with the band during soundcheck for night one of the residency. Check out our interview and clips from Hell or Highwater’s “Terrorized in the Night” music video in the player below.

Video by Tanya Lyon, for OrangeCounty.com.

Photo by Jenavieve Belair, for OrangeCounty.com.

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Posted in: Local Music • Upcoming Events • Video • • • • • • • |

Orange Pop: Bleeding Through stays the course

February 22nd, 2012, 5:46 pm by

For Bleeding Through vocalist Brandan Schieppati, to be nominated for best metal at the 2012 OC Music Awards is an exciting reminder that 13 years on, his band is still doing something right.

“It’s cool to be recognized by your peers,” he said during a recent phone interview. “You can start to feel insignificant at times, especially when you’re where we’re at right now.

“We’re not necessarily the most active touring band. We’re all getting a little bit over 30 now and we have home lives – people are married and have kids – so all that touring isn’t exactly the best thing. But when stuff like (being nominated) happens, that’s a good feeling.”

Bleeding Through is up for the trophy alongside two longtime peers and close friends, Avenged Sevenfold and Death by Stereo, as well as Anna Vexa and newcomers Railroad to Alaska. The awards will be given out March 3 at City National Grove of Anaheim.

On Jan. 31, the band released The Great Fire, its seventh album and second for Rise Records. Bleeding Through may not have hit the road lately as hard as in the past, but Schieppati says when it came time for studio work, it was serious business.

“We all have our personal obligations,” he says, “but when it comes time to do Bleeding Through stuff everyone puts their nose to the grind and really performs at the level where we’ve been performing. We’ve worked with producers before that have said that we’re one of the most intense bands they’ve ever worked with in the studio. We don’t f*** around and we keep the intensity level up.

“We still want as many people as possible to hear (the new album) and we’ll still do our touring obligations so people will get to hear it live.” To that end, the band is currently scheduling dates in Mexico, where it has a large fan base, and planning a July outing with Demon Hunter.

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Posted in: Local Music • OC Music Awards • Orange Pop • • • • • |

Review: Hell or Highwater brings straight rock ‘n’ roll to the Constellation Room

February 18th, 2012, 2:45 pm by

 It was a night of good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll in the Observatory’s Constellation Room in Santa Ana on Friday night with local rock outfit Hell or Highwater, fronted by Atreyu drummer and vocalist Brandon Saller, headlining.

Opening the show was three-piece rock outfit Diana Gone Wrong, which is currently featured on KROQ’s Locals Only program. Led by the group’s commanding female vocalist, Diana Gone Wrong revved up the members of the crowd, who irresistibly began to nod its heads along to the music.

Click here for a photo slideshow of fans and the performances.

Beta Wolf, another O.C.-based act, kept heightening the spirit of the room throughout its entire set until lead vocalist Grant Arnow took a spill onto the drum set at the end of its final song. Witnessing these onstage antics was much like an episode of MTV’s “Headbangers Ball,” with all of the exaggerated thrusting and jumping around. Orange Blossom Special took the stage next and brought us back into 2012, but nonetheless still played a lively and solid performance.

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Posted in: Local Music • Show Reviews • • • • • |

Orange Pop: Death by Stereo readies ‘Black Sheep’

February 9th, 2012, 7:51 am by

Times haven’t always been easy for Orange County-based hardcore punks Death by Stereo. But after 15 years, dozens of domestic and international tours, numerous member changes and a fistful of albums, the band has definitely showed staying power.

With its sixth studio album Black Sheep of the American Dream ready to drop in April – and a new label to back it, Viking Funeral Records, founded by Pennywise guitarist Fletcher Dragge – DBS is currently on a European tour with Agnostic Front that kicked off last week in Germany. The group is slated to perform at several late-summer festivals and is working on packing in as many shows as possible between now and then to support the new release.

Back home, the quintet – vocalist Efrem Schulz, guitarists Dan Palmer and J.P. Gericke, drummer Mike Cambra and bassist Paul Miner – has been nominated in the best metal category for a third year in a row at the coming OC Music Awards. Though they lost to good friends Atreyu in 2010 and Avenged Sevenfold last year, Death by Stereo remains hopeful the third time really will be the charm. They’ve even been practicing a little speech should they finally score the honor during the March 3 ceremony at City National Grove of Anaheim.

“It gets more and more exciting every time, especially when we don’t win every time,” Palmer says, leans against an old beat-up car in his driveway. “But we’re going to win this time and we want to say: ‘Thank you, Orange County.’ That’s our acceptance speech.”

“I don’t know what I would say, I’ve never won an award before,” Schulz (pictured) adds as he fidgets with his hands, unable to stand still for more than two seconds at a time. “I’d probably (just) say thank you.”

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Posted in: Local Music • OC Music Awards • Orange Pop • • • • • |