Vendetta Red

For The Record: Quick News On P. Diddy, J. Lo, Eminem, Alien Ant Farm, Vendetta Red, Mekons & More

30 Oct 2003 05:16:00 EST

P. Diddy
Photo: CBS News

P. Diddy was acting straight "foolie" and putting some of your favorite celebs "on blast" during his radio-a-thon on New York's Hot 97 on Wednesday. The Mohawk-sporting mogul was on the station trying to raise funds for his children's charity efforts. Among those calling in to donate money to PD's cause was Jennifer Lopez, who, along with her fiancé, Ben Affleck, donated a combined $78,000. R. Kelly, who was in New York, also phoned in and pledged 20,000 big ones. Other big spenders were Jay-Z and Dame Dash, Eminem and Paul Rosenberg, and Busta Rhymes. In total, Diddy is said to have raised more than $250,000. ...

Alien Ant Farm and founding guitarist Terry Corso have parted ways, citing the divorce staple "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the split. The band's first show with temporary replacement Victor Camacho took place Wednesday in Birmingham, Alabama. ... Due to the California fires, Michelle Branch and Monica did not participate in this week's Monday Night at the Mic, the "battle of the bands"-style competition on ABC's "Monday Night Football." The game between the Chargers and Dolphins, set to take place in San Diego, was moved to Phoenix, and the segment was postponed until Monday, November 3. During the game between the Patriots and Broncos, Branch and Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George will take on Monica and Atlanta Falcons cornerback Bryan Scott. ...

Queens of the Stone Age singer Mark Lanegan will release the odds- and-ends EP Here Comes That Weird Chill (Methamphetamine Blues, Extras and Oddities) on December 9. A full album, Bubblegum, will follow in early spring. Lanegan will play a short West Coast tour in December, starting in Vancouver on December 11 and running through December 17 in Los Angeles. ... Meanwhile, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen is getting in on the side-project action on which his bandmates thrive. At the end of November, Van Leeuwen will release a disc by his band Enemy, Hooray for Dark Matter, which will be available for purchase on www.enemyonline.com. Enemy will support Mark Lanegan on a number of dates throughout Europe and the U.S. ...

The Recording Industry Association of America announced on Wednesday it will ask online music companies to implement parental-control filters on downloads, much in the same way that CDs have "Parental Advisory" stickers. The trade group is currently providing companies with guidelines for how to label downloads. ... Alt-country roots rocker Steve Earle will duke it out with conservative newsman Bill O'Reilly on Monday on "The O'Reilly Factor," which airs at 8 and 11 p.m. ET. Earle will also speak his mind on the road during the Tell Us the Truth Tour, which also features Tom Morello and Billy Bragg. Earle will join the outing on November 11 in Royal Oak, Michigan. And on November 7, an Earle concert documentary will premiere in New York and Nashville. The film will screen nationwide in the weeks that follow. ...

After opening for Dashboard Confessional and other bands, Vendetta Red will finally headline their own tour. The outing, with S.T.U.N. and Armor for Sleep supporting, kicks off November 10 and wraps up December 12 in their hometown of Seattle. Vendetta Red just released "Seconds Away" as the follow-up single to "Shatterday." ... The second major-label Blindside album, About a Burning Fire, will be released on February 24. The album was produced by Howard Benson and features Billy Corgan on the first single, "Hurray." Other track titles include "Follow You Down," "All of Us," "Swallow" and "Eye of the Storm." ... British indie legends the Mekons have returned to their raging roots for Punk Rock, which comes out January 20. The album features re-recorded versions of some of the first tracks they ever wrote. The band was inspired to rediscover the past after last year's career retrospective 25th anniversary tour. The Mekons will tour North America again in March. ... Irish rockers Ash have begun recording their fifth album in Los Angeles. Nick Raskulinecz, who worked behind the boards on the Foo Fighters' One by One, is producing the record, due in the spring. ...

10.29.2003

Russell Simmons and his Hip-Hop Summit Action Network will be holding a special tribute to Jam Master Jay outside the Queens Central Public Library in New York on October 30, the one-year anniversary of the pioneering hip-hop DJ's slaying. Jay's family is expected to announce updates on a biography, feature film, documentary and potential Queens street renaming in his honor. ...

Pearl Jam's benefit concert Wednesday at the Santa Barbara Bowl featured several special guests, including Chris Cornell, who, after playing solo acoustic versions of "Can't Change Me," from his 1999 Euphoria Morning album, and Audioslave's "Like a Stone," was joined by Eddie Vedder and the band for a Temple of the Dog reunion for "Hunger Strike" and "Reach Down." Former drummer Jack Irons, singer/songwriter Jack Johnson and Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante also joined Pearl Jam during the show, which raised funds for the Louis Warschaw Prostate Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. ...

Outkast, Missy Elliott, Mary J. Blige, Eve, Ludacris and Chingy are scheduled to perform at the inaugural Vibe Awards, to be broadcast on November 21. The show, which will be taped the night before, will be hosted by Queen Latifah. ... Chingy is reissuing his platinum debut, Jackpot, on November 18 with a bonus DVD. The extra disc will feature all of the Ludacris protégé's videos, including alternate versions of "Right Thurr," as well as live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. ...

Hilary Duff will release her first music DVD, "All Access Pass," on November 4. Along with videos for "So Yesterday," "Why Not" and "I Can't Wait," the DVD will include making-of documentaries about the videos and acoustic performances of "So Yesterday" and "Little Voice" from her "Sessions @ AOL." ... Sniffing for hits? Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 14 features 20 more humdingers including Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love," Justin Timberlake's "Senorita," R. Kelly's "Thoia Thoing" and Good Charlotte's "Girls and Boys." There are also a couple of surprises: Fountains of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom" and Liz Phair's "Why Can't I?" ...

Hazen Street, the first signing to Good Charlotte brothers Benji and Joel Madden's D.C. Flag imprint, will enter the studio with producer Howard Benson (P.O.D., Papa Roach) next week to begin tracking their debut album. Boasting an all-star lineup of contemporary pop-punk rockers and hardcore heroes, Hazen Street are comprised of vocalists Freddy Cricien (Madball) and Toby Morse (H2O), guitarists Chad Gilbert (New Found Glory) and David Kennedy (Box Car Racer), bassist Hoya (Madball) and drummer Mackie Jayson (Cro-Mags, Bad Brains, Shelter). ...

The Transplants' Rob Aston and Tim Armstrong (also of Rancid) have collaborated with Cypress Hill on a song called "What's Your Number" for B-Real and the guys' upcoming seventh album, Till Death Do Us Part. Due in March, the record will otherwise focus more on hip-hop. ... After completing a tour with the Deftones, which runs through November 22, emo-metal band Poison the Well will embark on a headlining tour. The first date is November 23 in East Meadow, New York, and the final scheduled gig is December 12 in Savannah, Georgia. ...

The home of longtime Great White drummer, Audie Desbrow, burned down in the California blaze that has destroyed nearly 2,000 houses. Desbrow was living in the Del Rosa neighborhood of San Bernardino. Desbrow recorded with Great White from 1986 to 2000. ... The Dillinger Escape Plan, High on Fire and Meshuggah are among the bands slated for inclusion on the tribute album We Reach: The Music of the Melvins, due in the summer. The album will be the second release for Fractured Transmitter, the imprint owned by Mushroomhead frontman Jason Mann. The label's first offering will be a Meshuggah EP in the spring. ...

Rob Zombie bassist Blasko, who has also played with Prong, Fireball Ministry and the latest incarnation of Helmet, will unleash material from his project the Death Rays through Antidote Records, according to the label's Web site. New Death Rays music is expected to surface next year. ... Speaking of Helmet, Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale confirmed on his Web site that Page Hamilton will be producing his solo debut. He also reported that guitarist Chris Traynor and drummer Charlie Walker recently split from his backing band, adding that Traynor has rejoined his former bandmate Hamilton in the new Helmet lineup. Rossdale is still working on material with Rival Schools bassist Cache Tolman and as-yet-unnamed replacement members. On the movie front, having shot his scenes for the Brittany Murphy comedy "Little Black Book," Gwen's hubby is now gearing up for a role in the Keanu Reeves comic-book flick "Constantine." ...

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Ever-Charitable Vendetta Red Don't Rest On 'Shatterday'

18 Jul 2003 07:55:00 EDT

Hit song is about doing more with life than just going out and getting wasted.
By Corey Moss

Vendetta Red's Zach Davidson
Photo: MTV News

SANTA MONICA, California — Vendetta Red have Chang's Mongolian Grill to thank for their breakthrough single, "Shatterday."

No, not because of a commercial, a sponsorship deal or anything like that — rather, singer Zach Davidson wrote the lyrics to the song while working at the restaurant.

Chang's is located in the heart of Seattle's trendy Capital Hill District, where Cameron Crowe filmed "Singles." It's known as a mecca for musicians and artists, "a parade of fashion sense," according to Davidson. However, after observing the area from his job each day, he came to find it empty, "a very vain perception of white people."

"['Shatterday'] is just criticizing us, like, is that all we stand for as musicians and as people involved in music and in the scene?" the singer explained. "Is that all we stand for is just going to a bar and getting wasted? My band, we've been trying to do a lot of things for Seattle, especially since we were homeless at one time and so starving we had to go to the food bank. So it's just sort of a challenge before the end comes to just be something more than just vanity."

If the message behind the song, which has a musical formula similar to "Smells Like Teen Spirit," seems familiar, there's a reason.

"Nirvana's definitely a big influence on us, especially the way they were able to put melody to what I feel is a very satisfying distorted sound," Davidson said. "I get the feeling when I listen to their records that there's a part of me that I couldn't scratch that they could scratch, and I love that about them."

"Shatterday" has propelled Vendetta Red, landing them on the Vans Warped Tour, where the song has become the summer anthem of 2003, but the motivation behind the song was more genuine than just trying to get on the radio. Davidson and his cohorts — guitarist Justin Cronk, guitarist/keyboardist Erik Chapman, bassist Michael Vermillion and drummer Joseph Lee Childres — take the challenge in it seriously.

Vendetta Red support several charities, such as Food Not Bombs and Human Rights Watch, and use the songs on their recently released major-label debut, Between the Never and the Now, to address serious issues they have struggled with.

"Stay Home," for instance, reflects on Davidson's experience growing up a victim of child abuse.

"[It's about] conquering it, not letting it make a loser out of you, not perpetuating those genes," he explained. "I don't believe that human beings are inherently prone to beating kids or getting wasted every night and beating kids or beating their wives, I think that it's what happens to your insides, and you get bitter as you get older if you let yourself. ... I left when I was 14 and I never looked back, and I feel like I'm a self-made man, and I want to be that kind of an example for kids."

Musically, Between the Never and the Now, blends styles from Seattle's grunge scene of a decade ago and the emo movement led by bands like Sunny Day Real Estate. Some of the songs were updated from past self-released albums, including "There Only Is," which Vendetta Red wrote at their second practice in 1998.

Known for relentless touring, the band spent two weeks on Warped Tour last summer but are having a more enjoyable experience this time around.

"It's great to go out onstage and there's like hundreds of kids waiting for you to play," Davidson said, still in awe. "I remember [last year] I'd see all these kids waiting for the Casualties or whatever, staring at an empty stage and I was like, 'Is it more fun to stare at an empty stage or to come over here and watch bands play?' So I went over there with my microphone cord to lasso a couple kids and bring them over."

Vendetta Red tour dates (with Dashboard Confessional), according to Epic Records: