Echobrain
Photo: Chophouse Records

PETALUMA, California — No-Cal scenesters, local yokels, friends and even fans of Jason Newsted's old band showed up in force to witness the launching of Echobrain's first tour at an all-ages show at the Mystic Theatre.

Echobrain, with drummer Brian Sagrafena and singer/guitarist Dylan Donkin, is Newsted's first steady gig since leaving Metallica in January 2001. The bassist seemed overjoyed at the intimacy of the show, which took place in a small theater in a town known more for its chicken industry than its cosmopolitan culture. 

"It's the first day of spring today, and it's a fresh start for all of us right here," Newsted told the crowd.

Echobrain came out strong with "Colder World," an infectious tune with pop sensibilities and hard rock instrumentation. Newsted banged his shaggy head as Donkin, with dark crew cut and thick eyebrows, belted out the Beatlesesque vocals with a powerful set of pipes.

"The spotlight is on/ The spotlight is on/ Uh huh huh," Donkin growled on the grooving riff-rocker "HWY 44," while Sagrafena slapped the snare and tour guitarist Chris Scianni's moaning slide tone recalled '70s-era Joe Walsh. Newsted and Donkin thumped the descending chord progression as Scianni played through a talk box — an effect that allowed him to shape his guitar sound by talking into a plastic tube stuck in his mouth — making his slide playing sound like a raunchy harmonica. They let out the road-trip tune's jam a bit, but still maintained its structure.

"This feels wicked good, man," a sweaty Newsted assured the home field crowd. "It's been a long time."

Frontman duties were split between Donkin, who, as guitarist, singer and songwriter, was the central performer, and Newsted, who did all the talking. Scianni, in a knit Mets cap, and longhaired keyboardist/percussionist David Borla, both of New York duo Dangerman, helped fill out the band's lush, occasionally psychedelic and deep-grooved heavy-pop sound with cutting guitar and oceanic washes of electronic organ harmonics and white noise.

Newsted prowled the stage throughout the show, locking horns with each player, his body moving — even during quieter parts — as if he were still thrashing it out on the arena stage. He enjoyed the hell out of all the music, but he still seemed most at home when the band was hard crunching. Indeed, Echobrain sound like a young, hungry band, with fresh-sounding tunes whose often crisp arrangements just happen to be informed by a guy who knows how to get it across in a football stadium.

The seeds of the band were sown at a Super Bowl party in 1995, where Newsted and Sagafrena met. They began to jam together, eventually inviting Donkin to join them and record their self-titled debut at Newsted's home studio. The bassist's departure from Metallica, with whom he had played since 1986 (one sticking point being Metallica's policy barring members from side projects), paved the way for Echobrain to get serious.

Newsted said the band has its next album already written, and while the songs off the band's self-titled debut were mostly short and vocal-dominated, the newer material the band previewed was more drawn out, allowing room for improvisation.

One new tune, "Jelly Neck," opened up the mix so that Borla's organ and piano tones could be heard clearly behind Donkin's angry vocals. Another new one, "Dogfight," borrowed the Yardbirds' "I'm a Man" fast blues groove, popping it up a bit as Donkin played slide Telecaster, soloing with processed big rock tone, and Borla washed staticky white noise across the ending.

On tunes such as "Cryin' Shame," from Echobrain, Newsted messed around with a theremin. Moving the neck of his bass back and forth to manipulate the electromagnetic field created between the theremin's antenna and a metal loop, he created eerie screams and birdsong wails, even while simultaneously rolling out a steady-grumbling bassline. The keyboards sounded like ripples in electric water as Donkin moaned intensely into the mic. 

The night began with a set from kid-rock group the Moss Brothers, a favorite band and previous pet project of Newsted's. The Moss Brothers, 13-year-old singer/guitarist Reuben Moss and 16-year-old drummer Evan Moss (bassist Kyle Wilson filled out the bottom end), delighted the crowd with a set of surprisingly capable and original rock. Diminutive frontman Reuben, in round spectacles and an Ernie-and-Bert style striped T-shirt, announced the tunes, with members of the audience sometimes hollering back requests to repeat the titles.

" 'Whiner,' " the guitarist explained, somewhat frustrated, introducing a new one. "As in whining? You'll figure it out."

  Wilson and Reuben locked in on melody runs with prog-rock synchrony on the tune while Evan rode the snare and hi-hat to upbeat punk effect.

"You never drink/ You never think/ All you ever do is whine," Reuben sang, his youthful vocal tone juxtaposed against the band's mature playing.

During their own set, Echobrain busted out the Moss Brothers' "Promise to Promise," a playful, crunch-a-munching tune that began with the braaap braaap of a distorted Newsted bass run. The drums and bass alone backed Donkin as he bemoaned being grounded by his parents. In the spirit of Zeppelin's "Moby Dick," Sagrafena took a few ferocious fills before the band laid back and gave him a drum solo (with help from Borla on percussion).

"I told you guys," Newsted joked with his new bandmates. "The best song of our whole set was written by a 12-year-old."

Read about all of the shows we've recently covered in Tour Reports.

• EchoBrain

Brandy
Photo: Gregg Delman / MTV.com

With the buzz surrounding her marriage and pregnancy now neatly behind her, the expectant Brandy returns her focus to her music, as this week she premieres the fruits of a different kind of labor: her Full Moon.

Also featured this week are sophomore LPs from Natalie Imbruglia (White Lilies Island) and British foursome Clinic (Walking With Thee). And finally, it looks like all of us have got another thing coming. Again. The seminal heavy metal band Judas Priest joins the fray of legendary artists looking to recycle their old gold (or, more appropriately, lead) as four reissues hit the streets.

Out Tuesday, March 5:

• Rob Andrews - Host (Griffin)
• Apex Theory - Random Bursts (DreamWorks)
• Angel Dust - Of Human Bondage (Century Media)
• Billy Bragg & the Blokes - England Half English (Elektra)
• Blasters - Testament: Complete Slash Recordings (Rhino)
• Boggs - We Are the Boggs We Are (Arena Rock)
• Brandy - Full Moon (Atlantic)
  Read about it ... Fans Will Get A New Taste Of Brandy On Full Moon
• Brandtson - Dial in Sounds (Deep Elm)
• Segun Bucknor - Revolution (Afrostrut)
• Business - Hell to Pay (TKO)
• Catheters - Static Delusions & Stone-Still Days (Sub Pop)
• Clem Snide - Moment in the Sun (Spinart)
• Clinic - Walking With Thee (Domino)
• Conviction - Kill It (Thorp/Relapse)
• Carl Cox - Global (Strictly Rhythm)
• Christopher Cross - The Very Best of Christopher Cross (Rhino)
• DJ Payback Garcia - Aztec Souls — Best in Latin Hip-Hop (Mixed Connections)
• DJ Screw - Sentimental Value (Wreckless)
• Echobrain - Echobrain (Surfdog/Hollywood)
  Read about it ... Jason Newsted's Echobrain Make Very Un-Metallica Video
• Entrain - Rise Up 1: Live (Rounder)
• Faze Action - Abstract Funk Theory (Obsessive)
• Fleetwood Mac - Show Biz Blues 1968-1970 (BMG)
• Flying Luttenbachers - Infection & Decline (Troubleman Unlimited)
• Frustrators - Achtung Jackass (Adeline)
• Grip Weeds - Summer of a Thousand Years (Rainbow Quartz)
• Iced Earth - Dark Genesis Box Set (Century Media)
• Natalie Imbruglia - White Lilies Island (RCA)
• Insision - Beneath the Folds of Flesh (Earache)
• Jersey Street - After the Rain (Glasgow Underground)
• Judas Priest - Painkiller (reissue, Columbia Legacy)
• Judas Priest - Priest…Live! (reissue, Columbia Legacy)
• Judas Priest - Ram It Down (reissue, Columbia Legacy)
• Judas Priest - Turbo (reissue, Columbia Legacy)
• Karate - Cancel/Sing EP (Southern)
• Knodel - Dawn of the Butterfly (My Pal God)
• Kosheen - Resist (Kinetic)
• Ben Kweller - Sha Sha (Ato)
• Lazy Dog - Lazy Dog 2 (Astralwerks)
• Local H - Here Comes the Zoo (Palm)
• Lo Fidelity Allstars - Don't Be Afraid of Love (Columbia)
• M2M - The Big Room (Atlantic)
• Marillion - Marillion.com (Sanctuary)
• MC Solaar - Cinquieme As (Fifth Ace) (Elektra)
• Marc Moreland Mess - Take It to the Spotlight (Kitchen Whore)
• Meta-Matics - Complete Discography (Troubleman Unlimited)
• Anika Moa - Thinking Room (Atlantic)
• Modey Lemon - Modey Lemon (A-F)
• Mokira (a.k.a. Andreas Tilliander) - Plee (EFA)
• Nerissa & Katryna Nields - Love and China (Rounder)
• NOFX/Rancid - Split Series Vol. 3 (BYO)
• Oxbow - An Evil Heat (Neurot)
• Party of Helicopters - Space ... & How Sweet It Was (Troubleman Unlimited)
• Prevent Falls - A Newer More Shattered You (Equal Vision)
• Quetzal - Sing the Real (Vanguard)
• Bonnie Raitt - Give It Up (reissue, Rhino)
• Bonnie Raitt - Glow (reissue, Rhino)
• Bonnie Raitt - Green Light (reissue, Rhino)
• Bonnie Raitt - Home Plate (reissue, Rhino)
• Bonnie Raitt - Takin' My Time (reissue, Rhino)
• Random Logic - Numrebs (EFA)
• Red Flag - Red Flag: Fear Series Collection (Plan B)
• Req - Sketchbook (Warp/Nothing)
• Rinôçérôse - Music Kills Me (V2)
• John Selway - Journeys by DJ: Lightwave (Shelter)
• Tesla - Standing Room Only (Sanctuary)
• TRS-80 - Mr. Kickass (Invisible)
• Various artists - Afrika Underground (Counterpoint)
• Various artists - "All About the Benjamins" soundtrack (New Line)
• Various artists - Disney's Superstar Hits (Disney)
• Various artists - Echoes of Pink: A Tribute to Pink Floyd (Lakeshore)
• Various artists - "King of Kings" soundtrack (Rhino)
• Various artists - "Longshot" soundtrack (Trinity)
• Various artists - "Six Feet Under" soundtrack (Universal)
• Various artists - "Taina" soundtrack (Nick/Jive)
• Various artists - "Y Tu Mamá También" soundtrack (Volcano)
• Virus Nine - What Are You Afraid Of (Af Recordings)
• Vnv Nation - Futureperfect (Metropolis)
• Wishbone Ash - Argus (expanded reissue, MCA)
• Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society - 1919 * Eternal (Spitfire)

Coming Soon (Dates Subject To Change)

March 12:

• B2K - B2K (Epic/Sony)
  Read about it ... 'Uh Huh,' Ladies — B2K Are Single
• The Corrs - VH1 Presents the Corrs Live in Dublin (Atlantic)
• Destiny's Child - This Is the Remix (Columbia)
  Read about it ... Destiny's Child Mix It Up With Remix Album
• Eels - Souljacker (DreamWorks)
• Hot Rod Circuit - Sorry About Tomorrow (TVT)
• Indigo Girls - Become You (Epic/Sony)
• Wu-Tang Killa Beez - The Sting (Koch)
  Read about it ... Wu-Tang's Killa Beez Sting To Thrill With ODB

March 19:

• Alice Cooper - Welcome to My Nightmare (expanded reissue, Atlantic)
• Antibalas - Talkatif (Ninja Tune)
• Grateful Dead - Postcards of the Hanging (Arista)
• Jay-Z and R. Kelly - The Best of Both Worlds (Island/Def Jam)
  Read about it ... Bootleggers Get The Best Of Jay-Z, R. Kelly
• PPK - Resurrection (Tommy Boy)
• Simple Plan - No Pads, No Helmets... Just Balls (Atlantic)
  Read about it ... Alienation Lands Simple Plan On Movie Soundtrack, Warped Tour
• Patti Smith - Land (1975-2002) (Arista)

March 26:

• Celine Dion - A New Day Has Come (Epic/Sony)
  Read about it ... Celine Dion Covers Old Tunes On New Day
• Funky Green Dogs - Super California (MCA)
• Rubyblue - Beyond Pink (BAB)

April 2:

• Apex Theory - Topsy-Turvy (DreamWorks)
  Read about it ... Apex Theory Offer 'Hope' To Metal — Diggy-Da
• Tweet - Southern Hummingbird (Elektra)
• Various artists - Loud Records 10th Anniversary (Loud)

April 9:

• Baldwin Brothers - Cooking With Lasers (TVT)
• Bonnie Raitt - Silver Lining (Capitol)
• Quarashi - Jinx (Columbia)

April 16:

• Ashanti - Ashanti (Island/Def Jam)
• Jimmy Fallon - The Bathroom Wall (DreamWorks)
• Lil' Romeo - Game Time (Universal/No Limit)
• Various artists - "Spider-Man" soundtrack (Columbia)

April 23:

• Naughty by Nature - Iicons (TVT)
• Tina Novak - Been Around the World (Arista)
• Q-Tip - Kamaal the Abstract (Arista)
• Sloan - Pretty Together (RCA)
• Sneaker Pimps - Bloodsport (Tommy Boy)

April 30:

• Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow (MCA)
• Donell Jones - Life Goes On (Arista)

• Brandy
• EchoBrain
• Natalie Imbruglia
• The Apex Theory
• DJ Screw

Echobrain
Photo: Chophouse Records

In Metallica, Jason Newsted and his bandmates had the luxury of hiring pretty much anyone they wanted to shoot their videos. But now that he's scaled back his landscape with the grass roots alternative band Echobrain, Newsted has had to bring things closer to home, which is why he recruited his pal and blossoming director Danny Clinch to shoot the video for the group's first single, "Keep Me Alive." The track is from Echobrain's self-titled debut, which comes out March 5 (see ).

"Keep Me Alive" is a sprawling cut that blends organic, jangly guitars, weeping cello and melancholy vocals with otherworldly electric guitar noises. The tune evolves from hazy and lazy to block-rockin' in a style reminiscent of latter-day Soundgarden.

"There was a lot of footage [Clinch] shot on this old eight-millimeter camera he bought for a dollar at a yard sale," Newsted said of the song's video Monday from his home in San Francisco. "It's all f---ed up and grainy and scratchy. It's just beautiful."

The Echobrain video was shot last week at various outdoor locations near Newsted's San Francisco studio, and combines performance footage with psychedelic outdoor shots. Unlike the band's promo photos and album art, which obscure frontman Dylan Donkin's face, the video will finally reveal the singer's moody mug.

"We've intentionally kept it all mysterious until now," Newsted said, adding that the video complements the band's enigmatic vision. "I wanted it to be trippy and abstract without being too arty. The music has tons of layers of different textures and players. That's how the video is, too: very bright and vibrant and colorful. Just think of 'Wizard of Oz' colors and wild poppy field sh--. Blue, blue skies, super-green greens."

In addition to shooting "Keep Me Alive," Clinch also filmed footage the band may use for a future video for the more energized track "Colder World," which is already receiving airplay at numerous radio stations.

"It's probably a little more literal than what we're doing for 'Keep Me Alive,' " Newsted said. "There's a lot of wintry stuff — cold breath, frosty faces and ice."

• EchoBrain
• Metallica

Jason Newsted
Photo: MTV

After 13 years in Metallica, bassist Jason Newsted is ready to start a new chapter.

On March 5, Surfdog/Chophouse will release the self-titled debut by Newsted's new band, Echobrain.

"It's contemporary rock, and there's all kinds of flavors to it," Newsted said recently. "Metallica was meticulous perfection, regimented so that everything had to be exactly f---ing perfect when we got down to the studio. With Echobrain, everybody played in the room at the same time, and it was more of a jam-oriented record. We let a lot of things fly, and the human factor was very present."

Sonically, Newsted compared the disc to work by Jeff Buckley and Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, but he added that there are a variety of sounds and textures that defy classification.

"I like to call it 'tomorrow music' because I like to think it's a little bit different than anything else out there," he said. "Ten out of 10 people who hear it say, 'It's not what we expected, but it's magic.' People expect there to be Cookie Monster vocals and noisy, thudding death-metal bullsh--, and it's just not that. It's very musical and very beautiful."

Echobrain features Newsted, singer/guitarist Dylan Donkin and drummer Brian Sagrafena as well as a roster of special guests including Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, ex-Faith No More guitarist Jim Martin (who plays banjo and guitar) and classical musicians from the Washington National Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony.

The disc was written and recorded during Newsted's last year with Metallica and was mostly completed in June 2000, seven months before he left the headbanging titans.

Newsted stressed that Echobrain are a genuine band, not a solo vehicle or a throwaway side project. "I've got hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in this. It's a real record with real players. When we formed Echobrain, the deal was that everybody comes to the table with whatever they have to offer.

"Dylan has his beautiful voice and his songwriting. Brian has his skills as a drummer and arranger. And I come in with some money and my bass playing and my experience in the business and my connections with engineers. And we all put it together, and whatever comes out of it comes out of it."

While Newsted is excited about his work with Echobrain — who are already nearly finished with their second record — he admits he misses Metallica.

"The feeling that we got when we clicked as a band — coming down on the chord in the same place, stopping in the same place, creating this point/counterpoint, action/reaction — there's nothing like that," he said.

What Newsted doesn't miss, however, is the politics and the frustration. "Metallica has two control freaks," he said, referring to singer/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, "and it's very hard to get any kind of two cents in that monopoly. When it came time to do Echobrain and I got to call the shots on some different production ideas, it felt really good."

• EchoBrain
• Metallica

Jason Newsted
Photo: MTV

Bassist Jason Newsted toured, recorded and partied with Metallica 24-7 for some 13 years. After quitting the band in February, at least partly because of a ban on side projects, he suddenly found the flexibility to work on multiple projects with different artists.

Newsted, 38, is producing an album by punk-metal behemoth Speedealer and anticipating the major-label debut of his trio EchoBrain. Toward the end of the year, he'll begin producing New York noise-metal band Dragpipe before entering the studio with Voivod to play bass on the band's allegedly final album. And if he has time, he'll play drums with his hobby band, Papa Wheelie, or hook up with old pals from Machine Head, Death Angel and Exodus to record various projects.

"I'm busier than a busy person," he said last week from his San Francisco home. "People aren't scared to play this raucous, harsh music over radio speakers, so I think it's the perfect time to get in with some real serious, heavy bands."

Newsted's enthusiasm is refreshing considering the funk he was in after leaving Metallica.

"It wasn't easy to walk away from them," he admitted. "It was like having two of my children taken away from me. The first couple of months were real f---ed, and then I slowly came out of my depression and got back on the horse with EchoBrain."

Newsted left Metallica for several reasons. He wanted to play more of a creative role but found that frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich were running the show. He felt the band had lost its focus and was spending too much time involved in litigation and political rhetoric. And finally, he needed time off to recover from neck and back injuries he sustained banging his head every night onstage.

"Watch a couple videos from 1990 and it's not hard to figure out how I damaged myself," he said. "I mean, 200 days a year I would give myself full-on whiplash. In 1990, the doctor told me to stop doing that. Well, I did 10 more years of it after that and now I'm kind of in this spot. I can't perform as the performer people know me as, like a complete psycho. Doing that kind of touring is not in the cards for me right now."

EchoBrain's debut album is available on Newsted's own Chophouse label and may be reissued next year by Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures. The disc features Newsted, 24-year-old vocalist/guitarist Dylan Donkin and 23-year-old drummer Brian Sagrafena, along with a host of guest stars including Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, multi-instrumentalist Jim Martin (formerly of Faith No More) and various classical musicians (see "Ex-Metallica Bassist Jason Newsted Debuts EchoBrain"). The disc was completed mostly as a side project last June while Newsted was still in Metallica. The bassist has since written nine songs for the group's next record — fast action from a guy used to releasing an album every three or four years.

"I think I'll have six or seven records out before Metallica get their next one out," Newsted joked. "I'm just going for it."

Newsted describes EchoBrain as a cross between Jeff Buckley and Soundgarden. His creative flame was originally sparked, however, when he first heard Speedealer. At the time, Newsted was mastering the debut EchoBrain album in New York. Palm A&R head Michael Alago, who signed Metallica to Elektra in 1984 and enlisted Newsted for the band two years later, slipped the bassist a tape.

"I was going to retire after I finished mastering EchoBrain, at least for a couple of years," Newsted recalled. "Then I heard Speedealer and said, 'I guess I'm not retiring.' It sounded like 1982 Slayer coming out of the speakers. I said, 'Sh--, these guys give me hope for keeping metal alive.' "

Speedealer have released three records — eponymous discs in 1998 and 1999 and Here Comes Death, originally out in 1999 on now-defunct Royalty Records and reissued a year later by Palm. In addition to producing, Newsted will help arrange and write songs as well as play theremin on the disc.

"I played it on the U.N.K.L.E. record [Psyence Fiction], the EchoBrain record and a lot of side projects," Newsted recalled. "I think it will bring Speedealer some extra depth. When you've got the total chainsaw guitars and then some interlude sh-- with the theremin tripping in the back, it's gonna be very colorful."

Even though he'll jam out on theremin from time to time, Newsted will wear his producer hat for quite a while. In November, he'll enter the studio with Dragpipe, a six-piece hardcore metal band signed to Geffen on the strength of one song. He's scheduled to work with them through March and describes their sound as "angry music for angry times."

Early next year, Newsted plans to re-enter the studio with EchoBrain and then join forces with veteran experimental metal band Voivod for their next, and possibly last, record. The group's original lineup has reunited for the disc with the exception of bassist Blacky. Beside producing, Newsted will play bass on the record.

"I've been friends with those guys for many years," he said. "We wrote 'M-Body' together on [1997's] Phobos and I've worshipped those guys since 1984. When I was in Flotsam & Jetsam, we were peers and competitors. It's good to be on the same team finally."

With all the projects piling up, the thought of not being with Metallica doesn't weigh quite so heavily on Newsted. The memories, however, remain.

"I had a hollow feeling early on when I realized those guys would go on playing without me," he admitted before waxing rhapsodic about his still-favorite band. "I truly believe everything happens for a reason. People had to be forced to take a few steps back and take an objective view. Like, 'Holy sh--, look how we've messed it up and how we need to get our focus back.' We spent more time in f---in' court last year than we did playing our instruments. It's just a matter of them pulling it back together, and I'm behind them a million percent."

He even said the separation might not last forever.

"Never say never," Newsted said. "I would record and play with those guys whenever the time came if that's what they felt like doing. It has to come from them. They'd have to say, 'Jay, are you still into it?' And I would be. I'd be there 110 percent for them again."

• EchoBrain
• Metallica