Burst Magazine, Issue 5, May 2013

May 2013, Issue 5
bill
tsamis
exposed
depeche
modeastoryoffaith
anddevotion
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trier
onthelegendary
specialtribute
kurt cobain
Ryan
Key“We never imagined that we’d
reach a level like that”
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Ryan
Key
Burst Magazine
If there is a band that clearly stands out in the music world
today because of its uniqueness it is definitely the American pop
punk/alternative rock band Yellowcard. Formed in 1997 the
quintet has a rare musical connection to its fans and a signature
sound. Yellowcard comprises of five young people, very down-
to-earth and extremely talented...
Read the full story and interview on page 20.
pages 6-18
Tributes
pages 20-54
Interviews
pages 56-61
Album/EP reviews
pages 62-63
Pop Corner
Karolina Pacan
On Voices of The Soul
Miss Lakune
“How awesome can the maca-
bre be!”
Turn The PageTurn The Page
Cover photo process
by Dimitris Anastasiadis
www.artisan3.gr
Pop Corner
Director’s Cut

4
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6
The youngest ones might know Chris
Cornell from his solo career (that’s how I
got to know him in the first place), while
the hardest ones surely know Audioslave.
In any case, if it weren’t for Soundgarden,
we couldn’t probably talk today of neither
of them. Soundgarden come straight from
Seattle’s music scene in 1984, reach their
hiatus in the mid 90’s, break up in 1997
and announce their reunion in 2010. And
the story goes on…
Let’s travel back in 1984 and check out
a band called “The Shemps”, which fea-
tured Chris Cornell as drummer and vo-
calist and Hiro Yamamoto (and after his
departure Kim Thayhil) as bassist. Cor-
nell, Yamamoto and Thayhill will form
Soundgarden in 1984. Cornell continues
to be both vocalist and drummer, Yama-
moto plays the bass and Thayhill the
guitar, until drummer Scott Sundquist
joined in 1985. The band continued with
this line-up for a year, until Sundquist
was replaced by Matt Cameron, former
drummer of Skin Yard.
Soundgarden recorded their first songs
for album compilations (C/Z Records -
Deep Six) while touring, until KCMU DJ
Jonathan Poneman saw them perform-
ing and decided to fund their release.
Poneman and Bruce Pavitt, old friend
of Thayhil and Yamamoto, founded the
legendary record label Sub Pop, which
will manage and promote almost all the
important bands of the grunge/alterna-
tive rock era. Soundgarden signed to
Sub Pop and released their first single
“Hunted Life” in 1987. The band also
released two EPs (Screaming Life/ Fopp)
between 1987-1988.
The release day of Soundgarden’s first al-
bum “Ultramega OK” took place on Octo-
ber 31 1988, now signed to SST Records.
Cornell later stated that the choice of the
record label was a huge mistake because
STT “didn’t know what was happening
in Seattle”. The band’s first music video
“Flower” aired in MTV’s “120 minutes”
and the band earned a Grammy Award
for “Best Metal Performance” in 1990.
The album contained elements of heavy
metal, psychedelic rock, classic rock and
hardcore punk.
After completing the tour of “Ultramega
OK”, Soundgarden signing with A&M
records caused controversy and divided
their audience. Thayil stated at that time
“In the beginning, our fans came from
the punk rock crowd. They abandoned
us when they thought we had sold out
the punk tenets, getting on a major label
and touring with Guns N’ Roses. There
were fashion issues and social issues, and
people thought we no longer belonged to
their scene, to their particular sub-cul-
ture”. On the 5th of September of 1989,
the band released their second album
“Louder than Love”. Louder Than Love
became the band’s first album to chart on
the Billboard 200, peaking at number 108
on the chart in 1990. Because of some of
the song lyrics (mostly “Hands All Over”
and “Big Dumb Sex”), a Parental Advisory
sticker was placed on the album pack-
aging and it was the last one to feature
Yamamoto on the bass. Cornell in fact
said about the recording period of this
album that at that time Yamamoto had
excommunicated himself of the band and
that Cornell himself did the most writ-
ing. One month before the beginning of
the promo touring of the album, Yama-
moto left to return to college and he was
replaced by Jason Everman of Nirvana,
but he was fired just after completing the
tour. On this tour Soundgarden along
with Faith No More, served as opening
act for Voivod on “Nothingface” tour. Two
singles were released “Loud Love” and
“Hands All Over”, EP “Loudest Love” and
video compilation “Louder Than Live”.
With bassist Ben Shepherd becoming
the newest member of the band, Sound-
garden entered the studio once again
for the recordings of their third album.
Shepherd brought fresh elements to the
band and the other members stated that
his music and writing skills redefined
them. “Badmotorfinger” was released on
October 8, 1991. The first single “Jesus
Christ Pose” gained publicity, when MTV
decided to ban its video while many
listeners received it as anti-Christian
(the band received death threats while
on tour). Cornell explained that their
intention was to criticize public figures
who use religion for manipulation. At the
same time Nirvana released “Nevermind”
which gathered much more attention but
the public eye focused on Seattle music
scene and Soundgarden gained publicity
as well. “Nevermind”, “Badmotorfinger”
and “Ten” by Pearl Jam, brought grunge/
alternative rock music closer to main-
stream. Three singles came out of this
album “Jesus Christ Pose”, “Outshined”
and “Rusty Cage”, as well as a limited edi-
tion of the album containing the EP with
the palindrome title “Satanoscillatemym-
etallicsonatas”, featuring three covers,
a Soundgarden original and a live song.
After their American tour which lasted for
a month, they served as the opening act
for Guns N’ Roses twice and Skid Row.
In 1992 they were invited to play at the
Lollapalooza along with bands like RHCP,
Ministry and Pearl Jam.
The band’s fourth album was meant to
become the band’s more successful album
ever. “Superunknown” was released on
March 8, 1994 and debuted as number
1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.
“Spoonman”, “The day I tried to live”,
“My Wave”, “Fell on Black Days” and of
course the band’s most popular song till
today, “Black Hole Sun”, were the singles
that were released from this album. Their
sound was more experimental and the
lyrics Cornell wrote, under the influence
of Sylvia Plath’s poetry, spoke of sui-
cide and depression. The video clip for
“Black Hole Sun” became a major hit and
won the “Best Metal/ Hard Rock Video
Award” in 1994 Mtv Awards, while the
band won two Grammys in 1995: Best
Hard Rock Performance for “Black Hole
Sun” and Best Metal Performance for
“Spoonman”. In 1994, the band toured
for the first time in Oceania and Japan,
but after some months, Soundgarden
cancelled some shows because Cornell
was diagnosed with severe damage in his
vocal cords.
After the major success of “Superunk-
nown”, Soundgarden recorded one
more album before their break up. Their
fifth album “Down on the Upside” was
released in 21st of May, 1996. The band
made the whole production of the album.
However, despite the high sales and the
positive reviews, the album didn’t reach
the success of its predecessor. The sound
now varied much from their original
grunge style and was more experimental
with acoustic instrumentation, empha-
sizing on vocals and melody. It spawned
four singles “Pretty Noose”, “Burden in
My Hand”, “Blow Up the Outside
SOUNDGARDENA tribute to the grunge of the ‘90’s till todayWRITTEN BY ELENI LAMPRAKI

7
World” and “Ty Cobb”. The summer after,
Soundgarden went on the Lollapalooza
tour along with Metallica. Tension and
strained relationship between the band
members, which started during the lat-
est album’s recording session, came on
the surface. At the tour’s final stop at
Honolulu, Hawaii, on the 9th of February
1997, Shepherd threw his bass in the air
and left the stage. Two months later, the
band announced their splitting up, which
was followed by a greatest hits collection,
“A-sides”.
The band member had been pursuing a
solo career for over a decade. On October
6, 2009, all the members of Soundgarden
attended Night 3 of Pearl Jam’s four-
night stand at the Gibson Amphitheatre
in Universal City, and were reunited on
stage for the first time after their splitting
up.
On January 1st 2010, after months of
rumors, Chris Cornell announced via
his Twitter account the Soundgarden
reunion. The band made a few re-releases
and performed its first show in April.
They also headlined for the Lollapalooza
festival on the 8th of August. “Telephan-
tasm: A Retrospective” a new compilation
album, appeared on stores at the same
time and a week earlier it was featured on
the “Guitar Hero” videogame. The band
included a new song titled “Live to Rise”
on the “Avengers” soundtrack and con-
tinued with numerous live appearances.
Their newest album “King Animal” was
released on the 12th of November, 2012.
The album received positive reviews;
during its very first week of release, it
landed in position No. 5 on the Billboard
200 chart.
Soundgarden were called “neo-Zeppe-
lins”, as the influence of Led Zeppelin is
pretty evident in their music. During their
evolution, they were also influenced by
post punk British bands and psychedelic
music. Soundgarden is the first grunge
band ever to have signed sign to a major
label, although they didn’t achieve the
huge commercial success of bands like
Nirvana.

8
depechemodeA Story of Faith and Devotion
By Marianna Kofinaki, Eleni Leonida and Georgina Papada
Official Depeche mode Photos from pressherenow.com

9
For more than thirty years, too much ink
has been spilled by music fans and critics
alike in order to describe the contribu-
tion of Depeche Mode to the music scene,
both literally and figuratively. Maybe by
reading these lines you’d initially think
that everything is said by fans and critics
and done by the band respectively. Faith
and devotion are, in my opinion, the most
interesting parts of the band’s history,
so today, ladies and gentlemen, we’ll do
our best to shed some light in the least
“well-known” aspects of the legendary
band. Faith would be defined as the fans’
and critics’ support and encouragement
towards the band, as for devotion, it
would involve all those artists and people
actively involved in making music citing
Depeche Mode as their major influence.
Here’s some food for thought: Have you
ever thought how many people had paid
tribute to the band not only by means of
continuous praise, but also by means of
direct influences in their own music?
So let’s start with faith. For some people
talk is cheap, so they can summarize
their opinion on the band in just a short,
but at the same time spot-on, state-
ment: Depeche Mode became “The most
popular electronic band the world has
ever known” according to Q magazine,
“One of the greatest British pop groups
of all time” according to the Sunday Tel-
egraph and “The quintessential Eighties
techno-pop band” according to Rolling
Stone magazine and MTV. I think the
characterization that describes the huge
contribution of the band in the best
possible way is, to quote Alan Wilder on
the birth on some of the sounds featured
on Songs of Faith and Devotion (Pulse!
Magazine, May 1993), “There’s so many
sounds that are created from the voice
that you wouldn’t know were taken from
the voice, like rhythm sounds. The num-
ber of times I’ve been sitting in the studio
and said, ‘I wish I could get a bass that
would just go [mimics wet, thick hip-hop
bass-drum sound].’ Then I think, ‘Why
can’t I just go [repeats noise] into a mic
and sample it?’ It’s obvious; you spend all
day trying to get a synthesizer to try and
create this sound but you can just go [re-
peats noise] and you’ve got it. Then you
can send it through some other device
after that, and you’ve got something that
sounds absolutely nothing like a voice,
but the source was a voice. ... It is a very
interesting process.”
But how has it all started? Allow us to
take you back in time for a while. Thirty
six years from now, in 1977, schoolmates
Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed
a The-Cure-influenced band called No
Romance In China, with Clarke on vocals
and guitar and Fletcher on bass. Fletcher
would later recall, “Why am I in the
band? It was accidental right from the
beginning. I was actually forced to be in
the band. I played the guitar and I had
a bass; it was a question of them roping
me in”. In 1979, Clarke played guitar
in an “Ultravox rip-off band”, The Plan,
along with friends Robert Marlow and
Paul Langwith. In 1978–79, Martin Gore
played guitar in an acoustic duo, Norman
and The Worms, with school friend Phil
Burdett on vocals. In 1979, Marlow, Gore,
and friend Paul Redmond formed a band
called The French Look, with Marlow on
vocals/keyboards, Gore on guitar and
Redmond on keyboards. In March 1980,
Clarke, Gore and Fletcher formed a band
called Composition of Sound, with Clarke
on vocals/guitar, Gore on keyboards, and
Fletcher on bass.
Soon after the formation of Composition
of Sound, Clarke and Fletcher switched
to synths, working odd jobs in order to
buy or borrow the instruments from
friends. Dave Gahan joined the band in
1980 after Clarke heard him perform at
a local scout hut jam session, singing a
cover of David Bowie’s classic “Heroes”;
that was, let’s say, the official genesis of
Depeche Mode. How did the name come
up? It was taken from a French fashion
magazine, Dépêche mode (roughly trans-
lated from French as “share/dispatch the
fashion”). Gore said, “It means hurried
fashion or fashion dispatch. I like the
sound of that.” Gore recollects that the
first time the band played as Depeche
Mode was a school gig in May 1980.
Does this name sound somehow prophet-
ic to you? Prophecy fulfilled, so if you’re
still a doubting Thomas figures speak
for themselves: Depeche Mode have had
48 songs in the UK Singles Chart and
twelve top 10 albums in the UK charts,
two of which debuted at No. 1. According
to EMI, Depeche Mode have sold over
100 million albums and singles world-
wide, making them the most successful
electronic band in music history. Q maga-
zine included the band in the list of the
“50 Bands That Changed The World!”.
VH1 ranked the group no. 98 on his list of
the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.
Still not impressed by numbers? Let’s
talk about heritage, or, in other words
devotion: One of the most influential
groups over the last 30 years, Depeche
Mode have inspired generations of new
musicians while consolidating their
considerable reputation. In the process
they have sold over 100 million records
and played to audiences in excess of
30 million. Have you ever wondered how
many popular recording artists have been
hugely influenced by the band, due to
their recording techniques and innovative
use of sampling? The list is long, you have
been warned!
Let’s start by mentioning Pet Shop Boys.
The London duo, aka Neil Tennant and
Chris Lowe, cited Violator (and Enjoy the
Silence in particular) as one of the main
sources of inspiration during record-
ing of their critically acclaimed album,
Behaviour. In Neil’s own words “We were
listening to Violator by Depeche Mode,
which was a very good album and we
were deeply jealous of it”. As for Chris, he
totally agrees with his bandmate “They
had raised the stakes”.
Brandon Flowers, the famous vocal-
ist and frontman of The Killers, stated
“Before I even thought of myself as a mu-
sician, I was affected by Depeche Mode
as a person. I think about Some Great Re-
ward or Songs of Faith and Devotion and
they shaped me as an individual before
I even wrote a song.” According to Matt
Smith, the former music director of the
modern-rock radio station KROQ, “The
Killers, The Bravery, Franz Ferdinand —
that whole wave of music owes a tremen-
dous amount to Depeche Mode.”
In August 2008, Coldplay released an
alternative music video for their single
“Viva la Vida” which was inspired by the
“Enjoy the Silence” video. On their web-
site the band are quoted as saying, “This
is our attempt at a video cover version,
made out of love for Depeche Mode and
the genius of Anton Corbijn...”. The video
shows frontman Chris Martin dressed as
a king walking through The Hague.
“I feel more connected to Depeche Mode”
(compared to other acts of the 1980s)
claimed Magne Furuholmen, the guitar-
ist/keyboardist of a-ha. In July 2009,
a-ha performed a cover of “A Question of
Lust” during a live performance for BBC
Radio 2 – The Dermot O’Leary Show.
In 2010, while promoting their latest
album The Suburbs, Win Butler of Arcade
Fire cited Depeche Mode as an influence.
In his own words: “I grew up listening to
bands like Depeche Mode and New Or-
der and bands that used a lot of sequenc-
es and synth stuff [...] there are songs to
me on this new record that sound like
Depeche Mode mixed with Neil Young”
Colombian singer Shakira is also highly
influenced by Depeche Mode. Ximena
Diego, the author of the book Shakira –
Woman Full of Grace wrote in this book:
“At thirteen Shakira especially liked Dep-
eche Mode, an electronic rock band from
Great Britain. One day she was listening
to the band’s song, “Enjoy the Silence”.
She noticed that not only was she hearing
the music but also feeling the music in
her body. She said to her mother, “Every
time I hear that guitar riff, I feel this
weird thing in my stomach”.” When she
grew up, Shakira herself also stated that
the best concert she has ever attended
was a Depeche Mode one, and called
Dave Gahan “the best live singer I’ve ever
heard”.
Both Ken Jordan, member of the LA elec-
tronic duo The Crystal Method and Roger
Rose, lead singer of Christian rock band
Mad at the World, have also

10
declared their faith to the Depeche Mode
cult, as a major influence in their music.
Religious or not, techno pioneers Der-
rick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan
Atkins regularly characterized Depeche
Mode as an influence on the develop-
ment of techno music during the Detroit
Techno explosion in the mid-1980s. Fur-
thermore, appreciation of Depeche Mode
within today’s electronic music scene is
demonstrated by the numerous Depeche
Mode remixes by contemporary DJs such
as Ricardo Villalobos’’ remix of “The
Sinner in Me” or Kruder & Dorfmeister’s
remix of “Useless” (not useless at all, for
that matter).
What now, still not impressed? We’re
mostly talking to you, hard rockers and
metallers of the
world! At first,
let’s focus on the
case of Chester
Bennington, vocal-
ist and frontman
of Linking Park,
who cites the band
as an inspira-
tion. Chester is not
the only member
of the band to
show his devotion
for Depeche Mode.
Mike Shinoda
has once said,
“Depeche Mode
are one of the
most influential
groups of our
time. Their music
is an inspiration
to me...”. Shi-
noda did more
than just say the
words above: He’s
also remixed the
band’s song “En-
joy the Silence” in
2004.
Italian gothic met-
allers Lacuna Coil
are no exception
to the rule. Not
only has the band
cited Depeche
Mode as an influence, but also performed
a cover of the hit “Enjoy the Silence”.
Nu-metallers Deftones also worship the
Depeche Mode cult. To be more precise,
the band’s vocalist and frontman Chino
Moreno has cited Depeche Mode as a
huge influence lyrics-wise. As for guitarist
Stephen Carpenter, he has expressed his
admiration in his own way, with his own
quieter guitar playing in White Pony be-
ing inspired by Depeche Mode. Stephen
is not the only guitarist paying his tribute
to Depeche Mode: According to Darren
Smith, the guitarist of the post-hard-
core band Funeral For A Friend, “dark,
moodier stuff” in his band’s music was
“Depeche Mode-influenced.”
Raymond Herrera, the drummer of the
heavy/industrial metal band Fear Factory
is another devotee of Depeche Mode. In
his own words: “A lot of different music
influenced the way I play now. Like the
band Depeche Mode. If I could sound like
Depeche Mode, but be fast like Slayer, I
think I might be onto something”.
German industrial masters Rammstein,
who covered “Stripped” in 1997, have
cited Depeche Mode as one of their big-
gest inspirations. Richard Kruspe, the
band’s lead guitarist, said that growing
up his influence was “heavy metal on the
one side and pop on the other. (...) I was
afraid to tell my friends I was listening to
Depeche Mode. I loved the band. I loved
their melodies. That’s why in Rammstein,
you can hear a lot of melodies in our
music. (...) Personally, the band I thought
did the best at changing themselves was
Depeche Mode. If you follow there [sic]
career, it’s excellent.”
Faith received by the fans, devotion
expressed by the artists (after all, which
is a better indication of devotion from an
artist to an artist than inspiration itself?)
Quoting music critic Sasha Frere-Jones,
“probably the last serious English influ-
ence was Depeche Mode, who seem more
and more significant as time passes.” as
featured in his article in The New Yorker
on evaluating the impact of British acts
on the US market. In other words, Dep-
eche Mode ended up being many artists’
“Own Personal Jesus”, who saved them
from lack of inspiration both music-
wise and lyric-wise. Do you think this
statement is too far-fetched? In March
2012 issue of Mojo magazine, Gary Ny-
man cited Songs of Faith and Devotion as
the album that saved his career noting,
“[after listening to this album] [my] mu-
sic changed dramatically. It became much
darker. At School I was excused from re-
ligious instruction because I had no faith
and Songs of Faith and Devotion sud-
denly gave me something to write about
and something to be bothered about. [...]
I love Depeche Mode, always will.”
Last but not least, Depeche Mode has also
provided the inspiration for “a film about
music, about those who sell it and those
who buy it. Those
who direct it and
those who write
and perform it.
Those who just lis-
ten and those who
listen and never
forget, Master
and Servant…But
which is which”.
The film in ques-
tion, premiered on
April 1st in Bad-
minton Theater,
Athens Greece and
on April 6th on
Olympion, Saloni-
ca for the very first
time on the “silver
screen”. “101” is a
documentary on a
group of Depeche
Mode fans, fol-
lowing the band
to the very last gig
of their U.S. tour.
The documentary
is based on the
spur of the mo-
ment; its viewers
get the feeling that
they’re travelling
back in time along
with the band
themselves: back-
stage, joking, shar-
ing the stress of the tour crew, getting on
the bus with them, till the very special
Moment Dave Gahan sends all his posi-
tive vibes to the audience while on stage,
while performing songs like “Behind The
Wheel”, “Black Celebration”, “Shake the
Disease”, “Everything Counts”. Gahan
appears to be a singer larger than life, not
just a rock star but a true icon for more
than three decades.
We, the fans, still express our devotion
to the band and our faith that Dave’s last
statements that another album release
remains uncertain will lead to his change
of heart in creating another musical
masterpiece.

12
Kurt Cobain was born on 20th Febru-
ary 1967 in Hoquiam, Washington DC,
where he spent his early years along with
his family, till he later moved to Aber-
deen.
From an early age, Curt had started to de-
velop a vast interest in music. According
to his aunt Marie, “He had been singing
from the age of two. He had been singing
songs by The Beatles, like “Hey Jude”.
He was very charismatic even in such an
early age. When, on his 14th birthday,
his uncle made him choose between a
guitar and a bicycle as a gift, Curt opted
for the guitar. He started taking up a few
songs, including “Back in Black” by AC/
DC and The Cars’ “My Best Friend’s Girl”,
and soon he started working on his own
songs.
At the age of eight, a devastating inci-
dent had a strong impact on his life: His
parents’ divorce was something that
influenced his life deeply. His mother be-
came fully aware of the dramatic change
in his personality, with Curt being more
anti-social. During an interview in 1993,
Kurt said, “I remember feeling ashamed
for some reason. I was embarrassed for
my parents. I couldn’t face some of my
friends from school because I desperately
wanted to have the classic, you know, typ-
ical family, a mother, a father. I wanted
this safety, so my parents didn’t feel right
to me for several years because of that.”
After spending a year living with his
mother after the divorce, Cobain moved
to Montesano, Washington, in order to
live with his father. However, a few years
later, his teenage revolution became too
vast so he ended up being messed up with
his family and friends.
In school he wasn’t really interested in
sports. To him, sports were some kind of
torture, since violent behavior and bul-
lying became part of his everyday school
life. Due to his father’s insisting only, he
took part in the wrestling team in junior
high school. Although he was good, he
started neglecting his involvement due
to the abuse he received by other team
members. Later, he was enrolled by his
father in the local baseball team, where
Kurt avoided playing.
On the contrary, art classes were his
favorite, since he used to sketch during
other classes, even inspired by themes
relative to the human anatomy. Cobain
had a homosexual friend in school.
Sometimes, he was the victim of bullying
and harassment by homophobic students.
This friendship let some people to believe
that even Kurt himself was a homosexual.
During an interview in 1993 for The
Advocate Magazine, Cobain stated that
he was “gay in spirit” and that he “might
have become bisexual”. Plus, he declared
that he used to spray paint tags like “God
is Gay” in open trucks in Aberdeen. In
one of his personal diaries, he wrote, “I’m
not gay, although I wish I were, just be-
cause I’d like to piss off people who hate
homosexuals.” As a teenager growing up
in a small city of Washington, Cobain fi-
nally found his way through the blooming
punk scene of the Pacific Northwest, by
attending punk rock shows in Seattle.
The reason for entering the world of
music wasn’t far. Kurt started hanging
out in the practice sessions of his fellow
musicians from Montesano, the Melvins.
In the middle of tenth grade, Kurt aban-
doned his father’s home and moved back
to his mother’s place. Problems came
up a short while after, since two weeks
before his graduation, Kurt dropped out
of school realizing he didn’t have the
necessary grades to finish.
His mother gave him the following
choice: either find a job or leave the
house. A week later, Kurt found his
clothes and the rest of his possessions
packed up in cardboard boxes waiting
him outside the house. He was often
forced to stay at friends’ places and oc-
casionally sneaked in his mother’s storage
area.
According to his own statements, Kurt
revealed that when he had no other place
to stay, he lived under a bridge of the
river Wishkah, an experience which gave
him the inspiration of the song “Some-
thing in the Way” featured in Nevermind
album. However, Krist Novoselic claimed
that, in reality, Cobain never lived there
saying, “He used to hang out there but
you couldn’t live in those muddy banks,
with the tide coming and going. That was
a version of his own.”
In the end of 1986, Kurt finally moved to
his own house and he started working in
a beach resort approx. 32 klm far from his
mother’s house in order to pay the rent.
At the same time, he became a frequent
traveler to Olympia, Washington, in order
to attend in local rock shows. During
those visits, he started a relationship with
Tracy Marander.
A living sister we don’t know about, little
Kimberly Dawn Cobain, still uses her
brother’s name along with her own. Since
their parents’ divorce, things between
the brother and sister were rough, since
this break-up wanted to divide them but
never actually separated them.
Kurt’s involvement in music begins in
High School, when he rarely found some-
one to practice together. His acquaint-
ance with Krist Novoselic began back at
the time when he used to hang up in the
Melvins’ place. Novoselic’s mother had
a hairdresser salon, where Cobain and
Novoselic occasionally practiced together
in the room of the upper floor. A few
years later, Κurt tried to convince Novo-
selic that they should form a band, by
borrowing him a copy of the demo Cobain
has recorded with his former band, Fecal
Matter. After several months of listen-
ing to Kurt’s pleading, Νovoselic finally
agreed, and this is how Nirvana was born.
During the first years of their collabora-
tion, they have been reviewing a long list
of drummers. They finally opted for Chad
Channing, with whom Nirvana recorded
their first album, “Bleach”, released by
Sub Pop Records in 1989. However, Co-
bain wasn’t happy with Channing’s
We miss you!!!
R.I.P
27 bad luck
“herbalabortive...itdoesn’t
Written by Jo Gogou

13
style, so he led the band in search of a
replacement, ending up in hiring Dave
Grohl. It was with Grohl when the group
reached the peak of their success through
the release of their first album released
by a major record company, the famous
Nevermind.
Kurt’s struggle to bring the huge success
of Nirvana, together with the band’s un-
derground roots was huge and painful.
It was the time when he felt pursued
by the Media, comparing himself with
Frances Farmer (writer’s note: Frances
Elena Farmer (1913-1970): An American
film actress driven to a mental institution
because of too much publicity). He also
kept on showing his indignation in cases
of people claiming to be fans of the band,
without being at all familiar with the
band’s ideology.
Let’s refer to a sad event, the rape of a
young woman by two men, while Nirvana
had been performing their song Polly on
stage. Cobain condemned the incident
in the booklet featured in the American
version of the Incesticide album: “Last
year, a girl was raped by two sperm and
balls wasters while singing the lyrics of
our song “Polly”. I have a problem to
accept that there are such plankton spe-
cies among our audience. I’m sorry for
abusing political correctness but that’s
how I feel.”
Being accustomed from his school years
and his friendships, or should we say
his only friendship with his homosexual
classmate, Cobain had one extra reason
to loathe sexists and he was proud of
Nirvana’s live performance in an event
for homosexual rights, supporting No On
Nine in Oregon, 1992. Plus, Nirvana were
involved in Rock On Choice L7campaign
since its beginning. An article from his
diaries published posthumously, declares
that sexual revolution is only feasible
through the abolition of sexism.
His acquaintance and falling love with
Courtney Love didn’t take long to happen.
It all started in a live show in 1989, where
the couple first met. In 1991 they an-
nounced being officially together.
Love and drugs both came into Kurt’s
life, the latter about to cause unpleasant
outcomes.
In 1992, at about the time of Nirvana
appearance in Saturday Night Live, Love
found out she was carrying Cobain’s
child. A few days after the end of Nirva-
na’s West Coast Tour leg, on Monday 24
February 1992, Kurt and Courtney were
joined in matrimony in Hawaii. “I was
engaged during the last couple of months
and my attitude has drastically changed”,
said Kurt himself in an interview for Sas-
sy Magazine. “I can’t believe how happy
I am. Sometimes I even forget that I’m in
a band, I’m so blinded by love. I know it
sounds corny but it’s true. I would quit
the band right here and now. It doesn’t
matter, but I’m bound by a contract.” On
August 18, the couple’s daughter, Frances
Bean Cobain, was born. Her unusual mid-
dle name was given to her because Co-
bain thought she looked like a bean when
he first saw her in the ultrasound. Her
first name was given as a tribute to
Frances McKee of the British band
The Vaselines and not as a tribute
to Frances Farmer, as occasionally
claimed by some.
Love has received (and still re-
ceives) her fair share of negative
criticism on many aspects, mainly
due to the fact that she took full ad-
vantage of the publicity she gained
through Kurt. Being unknown in
showbiz herself, she was looking
for something to make her band
famous. Many people compared
Love and Cobain with Lennon and
Ono. Rumor has it that Kurt wrote
most of the songs of the album that
made her a star, Live Through This
by Love’s band, Hole, however such
allegations are not valid based on
actual evidence and facts.
At the same time, it was revealed
that one of the Hole’s songs was initially
written for Nirvana. The song in question,
“Old Age” was featured as a secondary
track in Hole’s album Beautiful Son.
In fact, a recorded version of the song
performed by Nirvana became public
through Seattle newspaper The Stanger.
In this article, Novoselic confirmed that
the recording session of the song in ques-
tion took place in 1991 and that “Old Age”
was a Nirvana song indeed, leading to
more speculation on Cobain’s participa-
tion in Hole’s songs. Nirvana had started
recording “Old Age” for their Nevermind
album, but remained unfinished because
Cobain had yet to finish the lyrics and the
group was running out of time in the stu-
dio. As for Hole’s version, guitarist Eric
Erlandson stated that he believed that
things were totally different, claiming
that Kurt was behind the music and Love
behind the lyrics .
In a Vanity Fair article, published in
1992, Love admitted that she was ad-
dicted to heroin during her pregnancy
(before she found out she was pregnant).
Farewell
Why???
We love you Kurt
work,youhippie.”
Thestoryofkurtcobain
photo:NicolaPittam/www.splashnews.com

14
She accused Vαnity Fair for distorting her
words, however this confession caused
a huge conflict among the couple. Since
Kurt and Courtney’s relationship had
always been in the spotlight by the media,
the couple was found chased by tabloid
reporters after the article was published,
in order to find out if Frances was born
as a drug addict herself. The division
of children care of Los Angeles took the
Cobain family to court, claiming that drug
abuse made them inappropriate parents.
The custody of the two-week old Frances
Bean Cobain was removed and the baby
girl was given to Love’s sister Jamie for
several weeks, till the couple won the
custody back, provided they should be
submitted for urine tests and to receive a
call from a social worker on a weekly ba-
sis. After several months of trials in court,
the couple finally won the full custody of
their daughter.
Kurt’s life and emotional stability started
falling apart dramatically. His first sui-
cide attempt, according to Love, took
place in 1994.
After a show in Munich, Germany
on March 1, 1994, it was diagnosed
that Cobain suffered from bronchitis
and acute laryngitis. On the next day,
Kurt flew to Rome to receive medical
treatment. His wife went to Rome
in order to be by his side on March
3. On the next morning, Love woke
up and found Cobain unconscious
due to combining a large dosage of
champagne and Rohypnol (Love had
a prescription for Rohypnol, which
she received when she arrived in
Rome). Cobain was transferred to the
hospital immediately and spent the
rest of his day unconscious. After five
days in hospital, he was allowed to
leave and he returned to Seattle. Love
later declared that this was Cobain’s first
suicide attempt.
This mixed up game between life and
death goes on when on March 18, Love
calls the police to inform them that
Cobain wanted to commit suicide and he
locked himself in a room with a gun in
hand. The police arrived and confiscated
several weapons, as well as a bottle of
pills from Cobain, who insisted that he
had no intention to commit suicide but
he was just locked in the room in order to
get away from Love. When love was inter-
rogated by the police, she said that she
never mentioned Kurt wanting to commit
suicide and that she has never seen him
with a gun.
Love, being a good wife, arranged for
counseling in order to deal with Co-
bain’s drug addiction, which took place
in March 25. The ten participants were
Cobain’s fellow musicians, record label
representatives and one of Kurt’s best
friends, Dylan Carlson. However, bass-
ist Krist Novoselic turned out the idea
as “foolish”. In any case, before the day
was over, Cobain agreed in entering
rehab and he arrived in Exodus Recovery
Center, Los Angeles, California on March
30.
Obstacles and negativity are obvious from
the very first night.
Stepping out of the building to have a
smoke, Kurt climbed the 2-meter high
fence in order to get away from the estab-
lishment. He took a taxi to LA Airport,
where he took a flight back to Seattle.
Between 2 and 3 April, he was spotted
on several locations in Seattle, although
most of his friends and family had no
idea of his actual whereabouts. On 3
April, Love got in touch with private eye
Tom Grant and hired him in order to find
Cobain. On April 7, the band announced
that they weren’t to participate in this
year’s Lollapalooza music festival, caus-
ing rumors to spread like wildfire on the
band’s imminent breakup.
On April 8 1994, Cobain’s body was found
in his home in Lake Washington by an
electrician who went there in order to
install a security system. Except for a tiny
amount of blood running from Kurt’s ear,
the electrician mentioned that he saw no
other sign of wound and that at first he
thought Kurt was asleep, till he noticed
the gun pointing at his chin. A suicide
note was found, stating “I haven’t felt
the stimulation caused by listening and
writing music, along with actual writing...
for so many years”. High concentration of
heroin and traces of Valium were found
in the body, which had remained there
for 3 days. Autopsy report states that
Cobain passed away in April 5 1994.
On April 10, a wake took place in a park
in downtown Seattle, where approximate-
ly seven thousand people came to mourn.
Recorded messages by Love and Krist
Novoselic were played during the memo-
rial. Love read excerpts from Cobain’s
note to the crowd and then fell apart

15
crying and cursing at the same time
because Kurt left her. At the end of the
wake, Love arrived at the park and gave
Kurt’s remaining clothes to the remaining
mourners.
All that time, his friend, partner and best
man Michael Stipe (R.E.M), had been
trying to figure out a solution , a help to
Kurt. Wanting Kurt to forget the drugs
during his attempt of rehabilitation, Stipe
recommended him working on a new
album. The song was never released and
Cobain gave up both in
arms and in life.
“Let me in” is a song
dedicated by R.E.M, one
of Kurt’s favorite bands,
to the fan they loved the
most.
Ironically enough, dur-
ing Nirvana’s last live
performance on MTV in
1994, Kurt had one sole
request: he wanted the
entire studio and stage
to be filled with white
lilies and candles. This
reminded of a funeral to
many. The last song for
the evening was Lead
Belly’s “Where did you
sleep last night”.
Secret soft spots, a
child’s heart and a love
which surely led Cobain
to the inner peace he had
always been looking for.
Messages that made
Kurt Cobain write his
own pages of history in
music:
Genius is a weird and
inappropriate word, and
hard work is underrated,
but Kurt Cobain had a
distinct and personal
take on the world, and
generally, when someone
strikes a chord with his
audience, that’s what
people respond to...I
have to admit that I
wasn’t particularly a fan
of Nirvana when I was
asked to work on In Ute-
ro, but during the course
of making the record I came to appreciate
that they were genuine about their band
and their music, that Kurt was capable of
sophisticated thinking, and that they and
their music were unique.
Steve Albini, quoted in “Steve Albini
Drops Anonymity, Answers Questions In
Poker Forum”, Stereogum (2007-10-06).
Nirvana were like...power-chord music
with the occasional Sonic Youth-y flip-out
in it. But the power of that band is Kurt
Cobain’s voice, which is just fucking
caramel–a beautiful rock voice.
Lou Barlow, quoted by Marc Hawthorne
in “Interview: Dinosaur Jr.”, The A.V.
Club (2005-07-20).
He had a touch most guitarists would kill
for.
Chuck Berry, according to Kurt Cobain by
Christopher Sandford, Orion Press, 1995.
People were trying to call me to do inter-
views on the anniversary of Kurt Co-
bain’s death. They want me to say some
poignant shit about some poor guy who
blew his head off. It’s just like, “Give me
a fuckin’ break, man”...Just say the guy
made some good records, and let’s get on
with it.
Frank Black, quoted by Scott Gordon in
“Interview: Frank Black”, The A.V. Club
(2006-10-19).
I remember watching Kurt come through
and thinking, “God, this music is nucle-
ar,” This is really splitting the atom. They
raised the temperature for everybody.
Manufactured pop never looked so cold
as when that heat was around. Nirvana
made everything else look silly.
Bono, quoted in Lorraine Ali, “Cries From
The Heart,” Newsweek (2002-10-28).
I was simply blown away when I found
out that Kurt Cobain liked my work, and
I always wanted to talk to him about his
reasons for covering “Man Who Sold
The World.” It was a
good straightforward
rendition and sounded
somehow very honest. It
would have been nice to
have worked with him,
but just talking would
have been real cool.
David Bowie, quoted in
“A Fan’s Notes,” SPIN
(1995-04).
Cobain was very shy,
very polite, and obvi-
ously enjoyed the fact
that I wasn’t awestruck
at meeting him. There
was something about
him, fragile and engag-
ingly lost.
William S. Burroughs,
according to Nirvana:
The Day-By-Day Chroni-
cle by Carrie Borzillo.
I’m sorry I couldn’t have
spoken to the young
man. I see a lot of people
at the Zen Center, who
have gone through drugs
and found a way out
that is not just Sunday
school. There are always
alternatives, and I might
have been able to lay
something on him. Or
maybe not.
Leonard Cohen, quoted
by Peter Howell, Ad-
dicted To Noise (1995-
08-06).
That kid has heart.
Bob Dylan, after hearing
the Nirvana song “Polly”,
according to Heavier
Than Heaven by Charles R. Cross, Hype-
rion, 2001.
The only person I have any respect for as
a songwriter over the last 10 years is Kurt
Cobain. He was the perfect cross between
Lennon and McCartney. He belted it out
like Lennon, but his melodies were so
Paul McCartney. They were dead bouncy
up and down - jolly melodies - but he was
a miserable fuck at the same time.
Noel Gallagher, quoted in Guitar World

16
(1996-05).
A couple weeks ago, one of my students
gave me a mixed tape of Kurt Cobain
and there was a version of “Black Girl”
of great artistry. Great vocal control and
subtlety, it’s almost as good as Lead-
belly’s.
Allen Ginsberg, quoted by George Petros
in “ALLEN GINSBERG. GROOVIN’
GURU. Beat laureate ALLEN GINSBERG
goes bananas,” Seconds, Issue 28 (1994).
He’s the most talented person I ever
worked with because he was talented
in so many different ways. He’s a guitar
player and a lead singer and he wrote all
the songs. He did everything for Nirvana
that it took Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
to do for Led Zeppelin. Kurt also designed
the album covers and wrote treatments
for the videos. He even designed the
t-shirts. He was really a comprehensive
genius when it came to the art of rock and
roll.
Danny Goldberg, quoted by Stephen
Elliott in “The Shorty Q&A with Kurt Co-
bain’s Former Manager Danny Goldberg”,
The Rumpus, (2009-01-30).
I suddenly realized Michael [Pitt] was
much taller than Kurt, and much more
buff, actually. Kurt was a wee little man,
with these big piercing blue eyes and this
tremendous smile — and that’s one thing
that nobody can replicate.
Kim Gordon, quoted by Rodrigo Perez
and Courtney Reimer in “Sonic Youth
Revisit Their Friend Kurt Cobain In ‘Last
Days’”, MTV.com (2005-07-22).
I still dream about Kurt. Every time I see
him in a dream, I’ll be amazed and I get
this feeling that everyone else thinks he’s
dead. It always feels totally real, probably
because I’m a very vivid dreamer. But, in
my dreams, Kurt’s usually been hiding -
we’ll get together and I’ll end up asking
him, “God, where have you been”
Dave Grohl, quoted in “I still dream about
Kurt” NME (2007-10-31).
Kurt really reminded me a lot of John
[Lennon] in his writing, singing, and gui-
tar playing. More attitude than technique,
but he had incredibly strong rhythm and
a great solo sense.
Jim Keltner, according to Classic Rock
Albums: Nevermind by Jim Berkenstadt
and Charles Cross, Schirmer, 1998.
And he could be a real grumpy bastard,
but that was part of his power. You know,
without saying a word he could make
the whole room feel like shit. You know?
And he also had an intense narcissism...
But he also didn’t have one ATOM of rock
star ego, and he needed it. He didn’t give
himself enough credit. I mean, he knew
he was the shit.
Courtney Love, in an interview with Kurt
Loder, broadcast on MTV (1994-09-08).
Rage and aggression were elements for
Kurt to play with as an artist, but he was
profoundly gentle and intelligent.
Thurston Moore, quoted in “When The
Edge Moved To The Middle,” The New
York Times (2004-04-08).
He was a revealing symbol [of Generation
X]. He called himself passive-aggressive.
There was self-pity, whining. There was
a diminishment, a diminution. He was
sitting there in his sweater, hunched
over his guitar, looking like a little lost
boy. Compare that with the great figures
of my generation: Jimi Hendrix. Pete
Townshend. Keith Richards. The great
achievements of rock--of the Sixties, in
fact--were done by assertion and energy.
This is why I’m worried about the future.
Camille Paglia, quoted in Playboy (1995-
05).
I went to see Nirvana at a small club
called the Pyramid on Avenue A in New
York City. It was hard to hear the guitar,
but the guy playing and singing had a
vibe; he hopped around like a muppet
or an elf or something, hunched over his
guitar, hop hop hop, hippety hippety hop.
I loved that. When he sang, he put his
voice in this really grating place, and it

17
was kind of devilish sounding. At the end
of the set he attacked the drum kit and
threw the cymbals, other bits and finally
himself into the audience. Later I saw the
same guy passing the bar. He was little,
with stringy blond hair and a Stooges T-
shirt. I felt proud.
Iggy Pop, quoted in “A Fan’s Notes,”
SPIN (1995-04).
Cobain changed the course of where the
music went. There are certain people
where you can see the axis of musical
history twisting on them: Hendrix was
pivotal, Prince was pivotal, Cobain was
pivotal.
Vernon Reid, quoted in The “Immortals -
The Greatest Artists Of All Time”, Rolling
Stone (2004-04-15).
In Kurt’s voice I could hear his love of
bluegrass music, of Bill Monroe and
Leadbelly. It’s in the twang of his voice.
Patti Smith, quoted by Jim Farber in
“Patti Smith still doesn’t change horses
midstream,” Pop Matters (2007-10-13).
Yeah, he talked a lot about what direction
he was heading in. I mean, I know what
the next Nirvana recording was going to
sound like. It was going to be very quiet
and acoustic, with lots of stringed instru-
ments. It was going to be an amazing
fucking record, and I’m a little bit angry
at him for killing himself. He and I were
going to record a trial run of the album,
a demo tape. It was all set up. He had a
plane ticket. He had a car picking him up.
And at the last minute he called and said,
“I can’t come.”
Michael Stipe, quoted by Jeff Giles in
“Everybody Hurts Sometimes,” News-
week (1994-09-26).
I was in Pioneer Square - I went to see
some band, I don’t know if it was the the
Melvins. Kurt was there - I think Kurt was
by himself and I was by myself. I went
over to tell him how much I loved Bleach.
He was very quiet and subdued. He said,
“Thanks - that means a lot coming from
you. Consider yourself our biggest influ-
ence.”
Kim Thayil, quoted by Greg Prato in
Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seat-
tle Rock Music, ECW Press, 2009.
I mourn for Kurt. A once beautiful, then
pathetic, lost and heroically stupid boy.
Pete Townshend, quoted in “Why he died
before he got old,” The Observer, (2002-
11-03).
And like I said I love Kurt Cobain and
Nirvana, the lyrics are so deep--stuff
like “The animals I’ve trapped have now
become my pets”.
Tricky, quoted by David Trueman in
“Tricky Business - An interview with
Tricky” on Amazon.co.uk.
He’s your archetypal small guy - wiry,
defiantly working class and fiery.
Everett True, in “Everett True Thrashes It
Out With The Latest Wizards From Seat-
tle’s Sub Pop Label Who Arrive In Britain
Next Week,” Melody Maker (1989-10-21).
Kurt’s wounds were so deep that when
the music floated to the surface after
being filtered through his soul, it was
incorporeal.
Steven Tyler, quoted in “A Fan’s Notes,”
SPIN (1995-04).
...With Kurt Cobain you felt you were
connecting to the real person, not to a
perception of who he was - you were not
connecting to an image or a manufac-
tured cut-out.
Lars Ulrich, quoted in “Lars Ulrich: Kurt
Cobain Didn’t Want to Share the Stage
with Guns N’ Roses,” Blabbermouth.net
(2004-04-01)
You know, I always thought I’d go first.
I don’t know why I thought that, it just
seemed like I would. I mean, I didn’t
know him on a daily basis - far from it.
But, in a way, I don’t even feel right being
here without him. It’s so difficult to really
believe he’s gone. I still talk about him
like he’s still here, you know. I can’t figure
it out. It doesn’t make any sense.
Eddie Vedder, quoted in “I’m Not Your
Fuckin’ Messiah”, Melody Maker Maga-
zine (1994-05-21)
He really, really inspired me. He was so
great. Wonderful. One of the best, but
more than that. Kurt was one of the abso-
lute best of all time for me.
Neil Young, quoted in “Reflective Glory”
NME (1995-07-15)

Songs dedicated and inspired by Kurt:
1. Kurt - Dan Bern
2. About A Boy - Patti Smith
3. Love Love Love - Mountain Goats
4. Let Me In - R.E.M.
5. The Day Seattle Died - Cold
6. Am I High - N.E.R.D.
7. Devils Night - D12
8. I Try - Talib Kweli
9. Do You Wanna Go Our Way?? - Public
Enemy
10. Sleeps With Angels - Neil Young
11. I’m Still Remembering - The Cranber-
ries
12. Dimebag - Cross Canadian Ragweed
13. Mighty K.C. - For Squirrels
14. Kurt Cobain - Wesley Willis
15. Innocent - Our Lady Peace
16. Nothing As It Seems - Pearl Jam
17. Just Let Me Breathe - Dream Theater
18. Coattails Of A Dead Man - Primus
19. Maybe Angels - Sheryl Crow
20. Malibu - Hole
21. Me And My Monkey - Robbie Wil-
liams
22. Put Down The Gun - James Kochalka
Superstar
23. Fire Water Burn - The Bloodhound
Gang
24. Here’s To Life - Streetlight Manifesto
25. Headless Boogie - Insane Clown Posse
26. Creamer (Radio Is Dead) - Limp
Bizkit
27. Hurricane Fresh - MC Lars
© Seattle Rex/www.seattlerex.com

18
If you were born and your parents gave
you the name Declan Patrick McManus
would you keep it or not? Well, young
Declan decided that this name wasn’t
suitable for his music career and quickly
picked up the stage name D.P. Costello;
as a tribute to his father, the musician
and trumpet player Ross McManus who
performed under the stage name Day
Costello. It was his manager in the mid-
70s who suggested the adoption of Elvis
Presley‘s first name. And that’s how Elvis
Costello appeared.
Costello released his first album, “My Aim
Is True”, in 1977 with the independent
label, Stiff Records, and in his picture on
the cover, his oversized glasses he wore,
were set as his trademark ever since. Cos-
tello wrote most of the songs late at night,
in order not to wake his wife or his son,
or on the way to work (data-entry clerk
on Elizabeth Arden) in the Underground.
The first 1000 copies in the UK contained
a form asking the buyer to send the ad-
dress of a friend, who then, would receive
a free copy. Later, in the same year Elvis
formed his permanent backing band “The
Attractions” (Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas
and Pete Thomas). Costello at that time
was characterized as a “very angry young
man”. Soon, he signed with Columbia
records. Costello recorded his second al-
bum (and first to be with the Attractions)
a year later, entitled “This Year’s Model”.
But it was the next one “Armed Forces”
that was both a commercial success and a
success in the world of critics.
During the ‘80s Costello experimented
with new sounds and genres from soul to
country. Significantly he released “Almost
Blue” in 1981, an album with country mu-
sic songs, as a tribute to the music with
which he grew up with. Two years later,
Elvis adopted another pseudonym “The
Imposter” and released “Pills and Soap”
as a political statement versus Thatch-
erism, which concurred with the 1983
UK general elections - Thatcher’s most
decisive election victory. At the same time
tensions were growing inside the band,
between Bruce and Pete Thomas at first,
and between Bruce and Costello himself
later, which led to the second’s retirement
and the breakup of the band. Luckily it
was a short retirement to take. He made
his comeback two years later, but this
would be the last collaboration with the
Attractions for many years. Later in the
same year he recorded “Blood and Choco-
late” and went back to his post-punk
roots. Although “Blood and Chocolate”
failed to contain a hit single at that time,
it featured “I want you”, one of Costello’s
most significant songs. The success con-
tinued with his next album “Spike” (and
his new contract with Warner Bros) and
his biggest single in America, “Veronica”
in 1989.
The 1990’s found Elvis Costello experi-
menting with instrumental, orchestral
and classical music. He composed the
tittle and incidental music for the mini-
series G.B.H., for which in 1991, he won
a BAFTA with his pair co-composer,
Richard Harvey. A few years later, after
an acclaimed collaboration with Brodsky
Quarter on “Juliet Letters”, he reunited
with the Attractions in 1995, for the al-
bum “Brutal Youth” (this was one among
the six Elvis Costello album’s featured in
“1001 Albums You Must Hear before You
Die”). Next year’s tour proved to be the
last for the band. Tension between Cos-
tello and Bruce Thomas grew once more
and Costello split up with the Attractions
once again. In 1998 he signed a multi-
label contract with Polygram Records,
later part of Universal Music Group. He
started collaboration with Burt Bacharach
and they released the critically acclaimed
album “Painted from Memory”. At the
same time he appeared in a couple of
soundtracks, for the films “Austin Pow-
ers: The spy who shagged me”, “The
Rugrats Movie”, “The long journey home”
and of course “Notting Hill” with his ver-
sion of Charles Aznavour’s “She”.
The new millennium found Elvis Costello
once again experimenting with more
jazzy and classical music styles. He ap-
peared in Steve Nieve’s opera “Welcome
to the Voice” and he also wrote music for
a new ballet, as an artist and in residence
in UCLA. In 2002 he toured with his
“new” band, the “Imposters”, which had
the same members with the Attraction
but a different bass player. In 2003 he
released “North”, an album consisting of
piano ballads, much closer to the style
we know him for nowadays. In 2004,
the song he wrote with T-Bone Bur-
nett “Scarlet Tide” was used in the film
“Cold Mountain” and nominated for an
Academy Award. Far away from his new
wave or post punk roots, he continued
with classical and orchestral work with “Il
Sogno”. He contributed to a jazz project
in 2005 and then attempted to write a
chamber opera which remained unfin-
ished, but material can be found in 2009
album “Secret, Profane and Sugarcane”.
In the last decade he has made numerous
appearances in television shows portray-
ing himself but he never quit music. In
fact we are expecting his new album
either late 2013 or early 2014!
This elvis has
not left the
building
elvis costelloWritten by Eleni Lampraki / Photo from Wikipedia

19
The following tickets, including the below listed range of
services, you can acquire in advance sale. Ticket-Order at
www.wave-gotik-treffen.com or call **49.341.2120862
Obsorge-Karte:
Limited up to 9999 Tickets for 25,- € each (including advance sale
charge), contains the following service-package:
• Camping at the Treffen-Campingground (agra-fairground)
• “Pfingstbote” (“Whitsun-herald”) - the Treffen-programbook
Please note:
Entrance and usage of the campingsite is not possible without the
”Obsorgekarte“. The ”Obsorgekarte“ is only valid in connection with
the Treffen-Event-Ticket.
Treffen-Event-Ticket:
4-Days-Ticket for all events within the 22nd Wave-Gotik-Treffen Whitsun
2013, 89,- € each in advance ticket sale (including advance sale charges).
The Treffen-Event-Ticket includes free using of public transport (tram,
city-busses, regional trains, suburban trains) within the zone 110 of
MDV (”Mitteldeutscher Verkehrs Verbund”) from 17th of june, 8.00 am
to the 21st of june, 12.00 am (except for special routes)
Parking Vignette:
For car parking at the Treffen-area you have to purchase a Parking
Vignette for 15,- € (including advance sale charges). Please note:
Parking at the Treffen-area (agra-fairground) is definitely not possible
without a Parking Vignette.
Furthermore we recommend to you: three soirees at the Opera House G Richard Wagner soiree G baroque ballroom dancing G Victorian ball G
Readings G videoshow G live adventure role playing G autograph-shows G exhibitions G motion pictures in the CINESTAR G concerts in sacred
venues G organ concerts G theatre & variety G Aftershow parties with well known DJs G Gothic-scene-fair in the agra exhibition hall No.1 G medieval
mile “Celebrant 2013” G pagan village G horse-drawn buggy rides G knight performances G medieval acrobats G fashion shows G fetish party
“Obsession Bizarre” G fetish performances G fire and light performance G esotericism More details will be published soon!
©goeart2013
The following artists already promised their appearance:
Treffen & Festspielgesellsaft für Mitteldeutsland mbH
Fernruf: 0341/2120862 G Weltnetz: www.wave-gotik-treffen.de G Elektronise Post: info@wave-gotik-treffen.de
<1979> (D) G A SPLIT SECOND (B) G ABNEY PARK (USA) – exclusive German show 2013 G ALEXANDER PAUL BLAKE‘S
AETHERNAEUM (D) – world premiere (D) G ALTAR OF PLAGUES (IRL) G ASLAN FACTION (GB) G BANANE METALIK (F) G
BLOODY, DEAD & SEXY (D) G BRIGADE WERTHER (D) G BRUDERSCHAFT (USA) G BURN (D) G C-LEKKTOR (D) G COPPELIUS
(D) G CREMATORY (D) G DARKWOOD (D) G DAS ICH (D) G DESIRELESS & OPERATION OF THE SUN (F) G DEVILISH
IMPRESSIONS (PL) G DIE SELEKTION (D) G DIGITALIS PURPUREA (I) G DUNKELSCHÖN (D) G ECHO WEST (D) G ENABLED
DISASTER (D) G END OF GREEN (D) G ENSIFERUM (FIN) G FEJD (S) G FIRE+ICE (GB) G FORMALIN (D) G FRANK (JUST FRANK)
(F) G GITANE DEMONE (USA) G GOD MODULE (USA) G GRAUSAME TÖCHTER (D) G HAGGARD (D) G HALO EFFECT (I) G
HAUTVILLE (I) G HECATE ENTHRONED (GB) G HENRIC DE LA COUR (S) G HYPNOSKULL (B) G I LIKE TRAINS (GB) G IAMX
(GB) G IN MITRA MEDUSA INRI (D) G IN STRICT CONFIDENCE (D) G INCITE/ (D) G INCUBITE (D) G IRM (S)
G ISZOLOSCOPE (CDN) G K-BEREIT (F) G KARIN PARK (S) G KMFDM (USA) G KOFFIN KATS (USA) G LACRIMOSA
(D) G LEAETHER STRIP (DK) G LETZTE INSTANZ (D) G LORD OF THE LOST (D) G LUX INTERNA (USA) G
MARTIAL CANTEREL (USA) G METALLSPÜRHUNDE (D) G NACHTGESCHREI (D) G NAMNAMBULU (D) –
reunion G NAUGHTY WHISPER (I) G NIN KUJI (D) G NOISUF-X (D) G NOMANS LAND (RUS) G OBJEKT/
URIAN (D) G ORANGE SECTOR (D) G OTHER DAY (D) G PASSION PLAY (GB) G PATENBRIGADE WOLFF
(D) G PATRICK WOLF (GB) G PHOSGORE (D) G POKEMON
REAKTOR (D) G PREDOMINANCE (D) G
PROYECTO MIRAGE (E) G READJUST (D) G
REFORMEDFACTION(GB) G ROBOTIKO REJEKTO
(D) G – exclusive world premiere G SALTATIO
MORTIS (D) G SEX GANG C H I L D R E N (GB) G SHE PAST AWAY (TR) G SHIV-R
(AUS) G SKELETAL FAMILY (GB) G SLEEPING DOGS WAKE perform
“Understanding“ – worldwide exclusive show (NZ/D) G SOFT KILL (USA) G SORIAH
(USA) G STILL PATIENT? (D) G SUICIDE COMMANDO (B) G SUTCLIFFE JÜGEND
(GB) G TALVEKOIDIK (D) G TEARS OF OTHILA (I) G TERMINAL GODS
(GB) G THE 69 EYES (FIN) G THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE
(USA) – exclusive German show 2013 G THE BLUE
ANGEL LOUNGE (D) G THE BREATH OF LIFE (B)
G THE KVB (GB) G THE MESCALINE BABIES (I) G
THE OTHER (D) G THE SPIRITUAL BAT (I) G
THE SPOOK (D) G THE TWILIGHT GARDEN
(USA) G THEATRES DES VAMPIRES (I) G THUNDRA (N) G UNITARY (S) G UNZUCHT (D) G VELVET ACID CHRIST (USA) –
exclusive German show 2013 G VERMALEDEYT (D) G VNV NATION (GB) G WELLE:ERDBALL (D) G WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW
(A) G WINTERKÄLTE (D) G WIPEOUT (A) G X-IMPROVISO (NZ) G X-IN JUNE (D) G XANDRIA (D) G XENO & OAKLANDER
(USA)

20
Ryan Key
burst presents
Interview by Hope VNZ

21
If there is a band that clearly stands out in the music world today because of its uniqueness it is definitely the American pop punk/
alternative rock band Yellowcard. Formed in 1997 the quintet has a rare musical connection to its fans and a signature sound.
Yellowcard comprises of five young people, very down-to-earth and extremely talented, -Ryan Key (vocals, guitars), Sean Mackin
(violin, vocals), Ryan Mendez (guitar, vocals), Longineu Parsons (drums) and Josh Portman (bass).
Not a typical punk band, using the violin in their music masterpieces, unusual for the genre. An almost overnight success, with their
single “Ocean Avenue” peaking at #37 on the Billboard Hot 100! In 2012, after signing with Hopeless Records, Yellowcard released
their 8th studio album called “Southern Air”, which Alter the Press ranked album number 1, Album of the Year.
We’ve had the pleasure of speaking with Ryan Key, lead singer and rhythm guitarist.
Enjoy!
interview
How did you come up with your
band’s name? Does it have any spe-
cial meaning for you guys?
I was not in the band when that was
decided. But I think the original mean-
ing didn’t hold a whole lot of weight. As
I understand it was a last minute deci-
sion before the band’s first show. Now it
means everything to us. It is a way of life
for us and our fans. I think it stands for
our relationship with them more than
anything.
Do you remember the first
time you went on stage
and you said to yourself
this is what I want to do?
Well, I knew I wanted to be
on stage when I played Tiny
Tim in A Christmas Carol at
age 6. But it actually wasn’t
a stage but a rehearsal room
with Yellowcard that I realized
I wanted to play music forever.
I just knew somehow that it
was what I was supposed to do
next.
Nowadays you can find
music all over the inter-
net, music is more accessi-
ble, in your opinion is this
good or bad?
Personally I think it is more
of a bad thing. I think it has
taken a lot of the magic away
from records. So many things about an
album are not important anymore. The
artwork, the sequence of the songs, the
build up to the release date, all have been
defeated by the Internet. I think we are
on our way back to the time when artists
just recorded and released singles a few
times a year.
You had such a little amount of
time to record your latest album,
but the outcome was far than amaz-
ing! How did you feel about that?
We went into the writing and record-
ing process for Southern Air so quickly
because we felt that there was a moment
we didn’t want to lose. We were really
inspired to keep moving the band forward
and I think that inspiration found a place
in the studio in a big way. We are ex-
tremely proud of this record, and amazed
by the positive feedback it has received.
You have mentioned that you had
decided to write about family in
your latest album. What other
issues inspired you during that
process?
I thought a lot about all the things that
had brought Yellowcard to the place
it was. This album was something we
needed, I think, to prove to ourselves that
we are here to stay. So I found inspiration
in lots of different places, but all of them
related to our journey in some way.
Did spending a lot of time as a band
in Jacksonville, Florida affect your
writing style?
Jacksonville provided a common thread
of musical influence, I think. We are all
interested in very different types of music
individually, but collectively we will
always have the punk sound we grew up
listening to.
Any experience you had together as
a band and you will never forget?
I think winning an MTV Video Music
Award in 2004 will always be something
we remember. It was such a surreal ex-
perience for us. We never imagined that
we’d reach a level like that.
Tell us more about your coop-
eration with your producer Neal
Avron.
Neal has produced every
record we’ve made since Ocean
Avenue. He is very much like
a sixth member of Yellowcard.
We have an amazing relation-
ship with him which allows us
to have a high level of trust and
friendship, but also profes-
sional respect. Neal knows
how to get the best out of each
member of the band.
How was your experience
of collaborating with Sil-
verstein?
Unfortunately I didn’t get to
go into the studio with them.
They sent me the song and
I recorded my part while we
were in the studio for When
You’re Through Thinking, Say
Yes Acoustic. The song came
out great though. I was stoked
to be a part of the record.
Did you have any musical
influences or people that
inspired you while composing your
own music?
I think our influences are always with us
when we write. One thing about Yellow-
card is that while the band was formed
around a common interest in the same
type of sound, individually our influences
are very different. I think that brings a lot
of diversity into the room when we are
writing music.
You have been writing for a long
time together. Does this make it
easier to create and experiment?
It does. We are always progressing as
songwriters, but we have learned how to
work together to get the best songs we

23
can over the years.
Violin parts in pop-punk are a rare thing to find but
you guys do it extremely well! How do you combine it
with your sound?
Sean has been a part of the band from the start. We don’t have
a science for it. It comes very natural for us. The violin is just a
part of what we do.
Should a band always be on the alert so as not to disap-
point its fans?
I think honesty is the most important thing. True fans will un-
derstand you if you are honest with them. You will never be able
to please everyone so you can’t get too caught up in worrying
about who is disappointed.
Are you touring this period? How is that going for you?
This particular tour is the longest we’ve ever done as band.
It has been a full 8 weeks with no sign of home. So we are all
pretty ready for a break. But I know Yellowcard and it won’t be
long before we are all itching to get back on the road again.
Who else, band or artist you would like to work with,
even make a CD?
I would love to work with Dave Grohl or Chris Martin in any
way possible. Just the chance to soak up an ounce of their
knowledge would be amazing.
How difficult is it to have personal life and keep things
private when you are in the public eye?
It is a challenge these days with the internet. It seems some-
times like fans are not happy with just music any more. They
need to have total access to every aspect of your life. We try and
keep it about the music. That’s why we are here, not to post
pictures of our private parts to gain notoriety.
What is your advice for new bands who dream of suc-
cess?
Hard work. As obvious as that may sound, it’s true. If you’re
willing to work harder than everyone else, then you can achieve
anything you want. The only ingredient for success I cannot pro-
vide, is the songs. You can work super hard but you have to have
great songs as well. And there’s no instruction manual for that.
One last question, what is more inspiring for you, long
session in the recording studio or the experience of a
live concert?
I love them both. Making records is such an exciting and crea-
tive experience. Live shows are the fruits of all our labor.
New album
OUT NOW

25
BAND INFOS, MERCHANDISE AND MORE:
WWW.NUCLEARBLAST.DE
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/NUCLEARBLASTEUROPE

26
WarlordAn interview with Bill Tsamis
By Elias J. Kay

27
Hello Bill and welcome to Burst.
During the last year everywhere
I look I see the name “Warlord”.
New merchandise, record reissues,
Warlord anthology, the “Sons Of
A Dream” management company,
live shows for 2013, etc… how do
you deal with this publicity? How
much have things changed since the
“Destroyer” days?
Well, the demand for Warlord to play
festivals in Europe hasn’t really stopped
for the past 10 years. We’ve been offered
to play everywhere. However, I had a
career as a college professor and there
was only a couple months during the year
when I could do anything apart from the
academic life. Actually, I had “no time”
because even during those 2 summer
months when there was no school I was
doing research and acquainting myself
with the latest scholarly works. It wasn’t
until Oct 2011 when I was hospitalized
for a severe “digestive illness” (I lost 70
pounds in one year). I personally thought
my life was over because I was so sick.
Although my college would have taken
me back no matter what and whenever
(and if) I got better, during that time I
did a lot of thinking and decided that if I
was going to survive this deathly illness, I
would return to music and just enjoy my-
self - thus I would retire from the college
life and play music. It just so happened
that the attention was all about Warlord
so I decided to go forward with a “new”
Warlord project which would incorporate
many ideas I had as well. It’s Warlord,
but it’s different. More medieval and epic
than the earlier Warlord. Very dark.
You’ve always dealt with religious
subjects in Warlord, from parables
to the battle of Good and Evil. What
was the story behind the “darker”
side of the band? What inspired
you to write songs like the “Black
Mass”, which by the way is one of
my favorite heavy metal songs of all
time?
Nothing. I wrote songs like Black Mass
and Child of the Damned when I was
18 and I just tried to use dark themes in
order to convey an image of power. The
songs are completely meaningless and
reflect my songwriting when I was at the
end of my high school years.
In the past, have you ever been
badly criticized by the fans or the
press, about a song or a decision
that you’ve made?
I’ve been criticized for lots of things. I was
criticized for the song “Deliver Us From
Evil” because it was too Christian. I was
criticized for Lordian Guard because my
wife wasn’t a perfect singer and the lyrics
were Christian. I was criticized for choos-
ing Joacim Cans to sing on “Rising out
of the Ashes.” I’ve already been criticized
for using Rick Anderson to sing on the
new album. Ironically, those are the only
two singers who love Warlord. I could
care less about the criticism. People don’t
know the whole story. Metal fans are
“quick to judge and slow to understand.”
Warlord reunited in 2001, released
the “Rising Out Of The Ashes” re-
cord in 2002 and played in Wacken
Open Air. Sadly, this reunion didn’t
last long either and you disbanded
once more. What happened back
then?
It was kind of a combination of things. In
May 2003 when I was working on some
themes for a new Warlord album, we
were driving home late at night (around
11:00pm). As we were sitting at a stop
light, I looked in the rear view mirror and
a Mercedes Benz came crashing into our
vehicle at 55 miles per hour. We were sta-
tionary. It was a massive car accident. My
wife’s hip was shattered and I received
some damage to my spine. So it was very
difficult for a few years for me to even
sit down for long periods and play the
guitar. It was difficult for me to stand up
for long periods and play the guitar. Even
to this day it is difficult but my spine has
healed as much as possible so it’s not too
painful. At the same time Joacim was
attacked and mugged in Sweden and he
received knife wounds to the face and he
was hospitalized. So the “stars fell out of
alignment for Warlord” at that time.
Personally I loved “Rising Out Of
The Ashes” record as well as the
voice of Joacim Cans. Was Joacim
your first choice for the singer’s po-
sition or not? Have you ever consid-
ered working with him again?
I knew Joacim from the Hammer Fall
“Glory to the Brave” days when they
contacted me to get my permission to do
“Child of the Damned.” We were already
good friends at that time. I think he’s a
great vocalist. Mark and I were ready
to do a new project in 2001 and Mark
asked me, “Who do you want to sing?”
And I didn’t even think twice about it. I
told him “Joacim Cans from this Swedish
band HammerFall.” *This was before HF
was well-known so Mark didn’t know who
he was. I sent Mark “The Dragon Lies
Bleeding,” “The Metal Age,” and “Child
of the Damned” and Mark said, “Yes,
this is our man.” I was shocked when he
received so much criticism from Greek
fans. Very “mean-spirited” criticism.
People can criticize whoever they want
but they don’t have to be “mean-spirited”
and call musicians “terrible names.” I
would love to work with Joacim again but
I wouldn’t want to subject him to these
“mean-spirited” attacks. The northern
Europeans had no problem with Joacim
singing for Warlord - they loved the
“Rising out of the Ashes” album, but the
Greeks basically “hated” the guy. They
thought he was a poser, when, in fact, it
was Joacim’s dream since he was 12 years
old to sing for Warlord. Like I said, the
only other singer who loved Warlord that
much is Rick Anderson. Jack Rucker and
Rick Cunningham didn’t care or under-
stand what Warlord was all about. They
would have worked with any band that
was doing a record. And they were just
“parroting” my lines in the studio. We put
those old songs together sometimes one
line at a time. I would sing the melody for
them and then they would practice it a
few times in the studio for 5 minutes and
record it right there. I remember the song
“Aliens” was done “one line at a time.”
People praise the first two Damien Kings
as if these singers loved Warlord when, in
truth, they could care less about Warlord
apart from the fact that we were record-
ing an album. They had no idea they were
singing classic heavy metal songs.
How is the scene right now for
heavy metal bands? Are things bet-
ter than they were back in the 80s
or about the same?
I really don’t pay much attention to the
metal scene right now although I have
noticed that many classic metal bands are
being discovered among young people
and, of course, greatly appreciated by the
older crowd. It may be possible that a
lot of young metal bands aren’t offering
the quality of metal that the classic metal
bands did. I certainly know that this is
the case with Warlord. The popularity
of Warlord has grown largely because
there has been a vacuum for this type of
melodic power epic metal in the contem-
porary scene.
Lately you’ve been using a lot the
internet and social media. This
includes a lot of sharing, from
personal info to file sharing (music,
photos, etc). In your opinion, inter-
net can help or harm a band?
Definitely. In this age of ‘social media’
this is probably one of the best ways to
market your band (or music) to the most
amount of people with very little cost. In
fact, back in March 2012 I was told by an
old Warlord fan, who is now a profes-
sor of Marketing at the esteemed Loyola
Marymount University that we should
do as much “social media” as possible. It
has certainly brought in a lot of people
from all over the world into our network.
Further, it gives fans the opportunity to
exchange stories, etc. in a kind of discus-
sion forum. Although the official Warlord
website is Warlord-Official.com, it is the
last thing we are preparing. It only exists
as a link to our Merchandise Store. But

28
the real Warlord Fan Club (Warlord Bat-
tle Choir) is right there on Facebook at
http://www.facebook.com/groups/war-
lordbattlechoir/ Anyway, ‘social media’
has worked wonders in naturally promot-
ing Warlord with little cost, although we
also go the conventional route with some
ads in magazines, etc.
I know that you’re a fan of movies
and movie soundtracks. Actually,
the music in your solo album “Sea
Of Tranquility”, reminds me a lot
of a soundtrack for some fantasy/
epic/sci-fi movie. What’s the story
behind that album?
Very simply, because it is a long story -
around 1990-1994 I went on a personal
quest to teach myself the piano. I first
started by transposing certain renais-
sance songs I knew from the guitar to the
piano. At first, it was difficult using both
hands on the piano (it is unlike the gui-
tar). But as I became better and better,
I progressed to Baroque music, playing
Bach and the like. I’ll never forget the
day when I was play a “Two Part Inven-
tion” by Bach and I thought to myself, I
should write “my own” piano/keyboard
music. With a good synthesizer and
sound bank I started composing melodies
and utilizing different sounds. I thought
I would put some guitar leads or melodies
in there too, but it sounded so pure to
me just as instrumental keyboards that
I didn’t use the guitar. The music was
totally for myself. I never expected any-
one to hear it. So, in that sense it is pure
and full of emotion, taking the listener
to distant places of the imagination. The
release by No Remorse Records is some-
thing I never planned on or expected. But
in remastered form is sounds wonderful.
I am happy that it was released on CD.
It’s not metal, but anyone who loves great
melodies and soundtrack type music will
enjoy it.
Your music work in Warlord and
Lordian Guard, shows that you’ve
experimented a lot and enriched
your compositions with a lot of
elements. How much have your
influences as a musician changed
through the years?
Well, my musical venture started when I
was 8 years old learning “melodic” music,
whether it was Simon and Garfunkel,
Peter, Paul, and Mary, renaissance music
or baroque music. In that sense I started
off “right away” playing melodic music
and I always loved melody (even when I
was a kid). At age 11-12, add some Black
Sabbath and Deep Purple influences.
At age 14, start adding Rainbow w/Dio,
early Scorpions, and some Judas Priest
and I just became a metal guitarist and
songwriter but I always maintained the
melodic aspect of music. As I became
older I was very interested in “epic” music
(especially film scores) so I wanted my
music to sound huge and powerful. You
will hear what I mean when you listen to
the new Warlord album (to be released
in mid-March 2013). So it was a natural
progression for me, even adding elements
of ecclesiastical music (which I always
loved), whether Gregorian or Byzantine,
into the mix. Some of my influences come
from Greek folk music from when I was
a kid and I used to hear my dad play
that deep minor music all the time. So,
essentially, I’ve blended all these styles,
maintaining a metal sound, but I always
put “music” before “metal.” The more I
grow, the more the music becomes grand
and epic, always retaining its melodic
flavor.
Between the time of the first War-
lord split-up in 1985 and the reun-
ion back in 2001, you had a project
called Lordian Guard. In this pro-
ject you kept all the familiar War-
lord melodies, but you’ve added a
lot of chants, hymns, keyboards and
orchestral parts. One can really tell
that you’ve put a big part of your
soul in this music as well. What’s
the story behind Lordian Guard?
Would you ever consider playing
Lordian Guard songs in the future?
Well, some Lordian Guard songs or
themes have been transferred onto the
Warlord canvass. “Pure” Lordian Guard
can never be done again because my
wife, who did all the vocals and narra-
tion has suffered from numerous failed
spinal surgeries and she simply can’t do it
anymore. However, if you hear the new
Warlord you will hear plenty of Lordian
Guard elements in the music. Now, it just
has that Warlord ‘bite,’ with Mark Zonder
on drums and Rick Anderson on vocals.
However, it still retains the grand epic vi-
sion that I had during the Lordian Guard
years. Back then, in 1995-97 I didn’t
have the advanced pro recording studio
that I have now so Lordian Guard always
sounded under produced. Now, though,
things have changed. My studio is totally
pro and I’m using a lot of “virtual instru-
ments” as well. The new Warlord is dark,
epic, and powerful music in a metal for-
mat. It is like Lordian Guard on steroids.
I’ve always considered you to be a
Christian as well as a philosopher
and a thinker. However, we both
know that Christianity condemned
freedom of thought throughout his-
tory. Have you somehow found the
perfect balance between organized
religion and free thinking?
Well, I don’t want to get into a religious
discussion but the statement that “Chris-
tianity condemned freedom of thought
throughout history” is a generalization
that is representative of some of the
power politics played throughout history
by the church. That is NOT Christianity.
THAT is “Christendom.” One exam-
ple, Martin Luther, though a Roman
Catholic Augustinian monk was hardly
someone who didn’t express “freedom of
thought.” We “protested” many of the
human teachings of the Roman Catholic
church when that element of the Church
was at its highest level of power and
control. Anyway, I can go on, but simply
put, Christianity, founded by Jesus, was
a completely new way of thinking about
the world. I’m highly educated in theol-
ogy, philosophy, history and the like and
“generalizations” as the one you men-
tioned are fallacies. Atheists, for instance,
are NOT all “freethinkers.” They adopt a
“naturalistic” or “materialistic” philoso-
phy. Thus, they view the world through
certain presuppositions and their conclu-
sions are predictable. Everyone views the
world through presuppositions. Christian
theism presupposes that God exists -
that’s all. And Christianity, of all the great
religions, though it lays down guidelines,
simply gives one “free will” to think
within that context. I ALWAYS examine
both sides of every issue. I know as much
about atheism as any atheistic philoso-
pher. So, am I “not allowed” the “freedom
to think” because I am a Christian? Peo-
ple use stereotypes and, for the most part,
it’s probably Christianity’s fault for help-
ing create these stereotypes. But “true
Christianity” is not a faith where one can
reign it in and give it a stereotype. The
measure of determining true Christianity
from false Christianity is Jesus. If one’s
faith conforms to his teachings it is truly
Christian. And Jesus never taught that
one should “check his brain at the door.”
If anything, he invited probing and
thinking - very deep thinking. Whatever
stereotype you have of Christians (from
your comment) I can assure you that I
“People can criticize whoever they want but they don’t have to be
“mean-spirited” and call musicians “terrible names”

29
am not of that ilk.
One thing that saddens me deeply is
that you’ve dealt with major health
problems in your life. You fought
your way through them though, and
always managed to come on top.
How is your health right now?
Well, not only my health but my wife’s
health. Like I said, she’s suffered from
numerous failed spinal procedures and
she is essentially bedridden with little
mobility. However, she has a strong will
and a strong spirit - plus, she is naturally
an optimistic person so she has learned
to deal with her situation and adapt. She
is a person of great courage
and strength. As for me, I’m
more pessimistic and more
of a complainer. My health
problem started in Jan 2010
and I discovered that I was
losing weight. I’m 6 foot 1
inches tall and I weighed
180 lbs. (which is not heavy)
for my height. In one year
I lost about 60-70 lbs. and
they wanted to put me on
a feeding tube. I thought I
was a gonner, but that was
okay if it was God’s will
(as strange as that might
sound to you). Anyway, after
going through numerous
tests and specialists it was
discovered that I have a rare
digestive illness which has
“no known cause” and “no
known cure.” I am being
seen on a monthly basis by
a top expert in that field
(digestive diseases) and she
has helped me greatly in
“managing” my problem so I
can have a decent quality of
life. Little by little I started
gaining weight by follow-
ing a nutrition regimen and
going along with her advice
and I now find myself at 172
lbs (which is perfectly fine).
So, although I still have
this problem and always
will - I have learned how to
manage it so I can proceed with music
or whatever I want to do, although I am
limited in certain ways. For example, my
diet is very restrictive. But I was once
near death and now I’m pretty much alive
and kicking - I can’t complain. Everybody
dies sometime anyway. I’ve lived a half
century which is far longer than most of
the people who have inhabited this planet
so I am grateful. I believe that “struggle”
is a good thing. I’m very much a Stoic
Christian. “Struggle” can either cause you
to perseevere with great determination or
it can cause you to “give up.” With all the
problems we have faced over the years I
have become a strong person with great
will and determination to move forward
no matter the circumstances.
I believe that the decision to record
new songs and play a few concerts
with Warlord, was definitely not
an easy one to make, considering
all the health problems that you’re
dealing with. What was the main
reason that once more breathed life
into Warlord? Did Mark Zonder
have something to do with it?
You’re right. It wasn’t easy. Mark didn’t
have anything to do with it apart from
when I gave the “green light” to eve-
rything he was more than willing to
participate. But it was a hard year - but
life is hard for everyone. You just have to
“press forward” like a Roman legion and
“not give up.” So that’s what I’m doing.
When my health fails utterly or I can no
longer do it then I will probably just do
some recording. But since there is an
interest in seeing Warlord live, and since
we’ve been able to put together a top
notch act, we will go out and play (as well
as record). Personally, I don’t know what
the future holds.
There always was a certain fuss
about the singers in Warlord. As far
as I’m concerned though, the music
in Warlord comes first. Having said
that, who is your favorite Warlord
singer?
I don’t really have a favorite. As far as
I’m concerned they were all just “instru-
ments” that I was using. Every single
word and melody line was dictated by me
either in the studio or on a scratch track.
The vocal melodies are just another in-
strument presenting my lyrics. I can work
with any singer and it would be the same
thing. I write everything even the vocal
melodies and harmonies. As a songwriter
I have always wanted 100% control over
my compositions.
Looking back in time, is
there something about
Warlord that you don’t
like and that you would
change if given the
chance?
Well, until the past couple
albums we never had the
production quality that we
wanted because our finan-
cial resources were limited
and Metal Blade was a small
label with no money. Now,
however, we all have our
own professional studios,
we use a Grammy Award
winning engineer, so the
music is well-produced and
sounds better than ever.
Still, though, even though
we recorded the “Deliver
Us” album on an 8 track for
$500-800, it remains pretty
much a classic. Good metal
listeners have always been
able to hear beyond the pro-
duction quality. But again,
“now” we are very pleased
because our music is sound-
ing the way we envision it to
sound.
Last question. Judging
from what you’ve al-
ready been through with
Warlord, the current
response from the fans
towards the band as well as the cur-
rent state of the music industry and
yourself as a productive musician,
how do you feel about the band’s fu-
ture right now? Has Warlord risen
from the ashes once more here to
stay?
Simply put, as long as fans want to hear
more Warlord, and as long as I am able
to produce it (that is, with regard to my
health), I will continue to compose and
record more Warlord material.

30
How did you fall in love with mu-
sic? Who cast the spell on you?
Your famil, a musician, a friend or
a teacher?
My first inspiration to learn how to play
the guitar was from Eddie Van Halen of
the legendary rock band Van Halen. I
wanted to be just like him, so at 13 years
old my parents bought me an electric
guitar from a pawn shop and it all started.
Soon after, I began writing songs and
then singing them.
Is America still the Promised Land
for musicians or are things rough
there too?
I think the United States of America pro-
vides many opportunities for musicians
and talented people in general. The coun-
try seems to be very entertainment-driv-
en. I also think the internet can provide
anyone in almost every part of the world
the opportunity to share their music and
talents. Even though I am located in the
USA, many of my amazing fans are in
other countries because of worldwide ac-
cess through Twitter, Facebook, my web
site, and YouTube.
In the past you formed a band, and
if you had talent and originality you
stood out. Nowadays with so many
educated and talented musicians,
do you believe it is more difficult to
succeed? Is persisting your dream
enough?
I think it is definitely more difficult to be-
come an international mega-star like The
Beatles, Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson,
Madonna, etc., but feel it’s easier to find
success. Labels just are not what they
used to be. Their budgets have become
smaller and the deals are not as good for
the artist anymore. However with digital
distribution and social media outlets, it’s
easier for an artist to make a living at an
independent level.
You write all of your own music;
where do you draw inspiration
from during songwriting and what’s
your favorite part in this process?
I try to find inspiration in almost every-
thing around me...the world news, love,
my own personal struggles or successes,
friends, fans, etc. My favorite part about
the writing process is creating something
that expresses an emotion, feeling, and
ideas through melody. I love just sitting
in a quiet room with just a guitar and lap
top.
Is there a specific background or
any story behind your songs or do
you just sit and wait for the music
to come?
There are times when I sit down and try
very hard to write something great, but
the best songs happen without planning.
My favorite songs come to me without
warning while I’m driving in the car.
Are there any musicians you’ve al-
ways looked up to and affected you
while writing your own music?
I definitely have some favorite musicians
and artists in my iPod, however when
writing, I just let my fingers and the gui-
tar lead me to something special. I can’t
think of specific musicians who inspire
my writing, but a few who inspire my vo-
cal performances include Myles Kennedy,
Chris Cornell, and Scott Weiland (to
name just a few).
If you could tour with an artist or
band, who would it be and why?
I’d love to open for some living legends
like KISS, Foo Fighters, or Bon Jovi. I’m
also a big fan of what Slash is doing as
well as Alter Bridge.
I’ve noticed you are taking part
in the VeeWall Vocals video con-
test and if you win, you are gonna
donate to Breast Cancer Research.
How important do you consider
charity is for a musician?
I think as a human being, charity should
be important. If you have the opportunity
to help those less fortunate, I say help. I
don’t normally do online contests, but the
VeeWall Vocals contest has a grand prize
of $100,000 USD and I see that as an op-
portunity to do something great for oth-
ers. If anyone wants to help the cause and
vote daily for my video “I Promise You”,
the link is veewall.com/vocals/video/
joshuaadams Voting ends April 29th.
Tell us more about your forthcom-
ing album.
It’s definitely different from any of
my previous releases with a lot more
electronic sounds, but still very simple
production. It incorporates rock, pop,
acoustic, dubstep, and dance sounds, so
I’m excited to see what people think of
it. I also solely wrote, produced, played,
engineered, mixed, and mastered all of
the songs. It should be released in early
spring on iTunes worldwide and through
my web site as a hard copy.
Any live shows on schedule?
I played over 320 dates over the past
few years, however there’s nothing on
the calendar at this time. I’ve decided to
focus on finishing up the new album and
promoting the VeeWall Vocals contest.
Dates will definitely be posted soon, most
of which will include solo-acoustic perfor-
mances at many Hard Rocks throughout
the USA. I am also hoping to visit a few
parts of Europe toward the end of the
year.
What does success means to you?
How would you define it?
This is a good question with a very simple
answer. Success to me is being happy and
feeling fulfilled. Many people go their
entire lives trying to find success, but
should realize that success may be sitting
on a secluded beach in the Caribbean or
enjoying time at home with their beauti-
ful family and friends.
If you had a wish for the future,
what would it be?
My wish and hope is that I continue to
find success and joy throughout my jour-
ney in life and music. I also hope to share
my music and happiness with many more
amazing fans.
http://www.JoshuaAdamsMusic.com
getting to know Joshua AdamsInterview by Hope VNZ

33
Burst presents
Voreas FaethoNInterview by Spiros Smyrnis / Photos by Raphael and Byron Aretakis
Aherusia is a very interesting Greek black metal band, which combines traditional
Greek music elements with the pagan essence and the frozen riffs of black metal. The
band is about to release the successor of “And Then Tides Shall Reveal”, named “As
I cross the Seas of My Soul”. We met Voreas Faethon, the front-man of Aherusia, at
Absente Cafe and talked about everything we should know about Aherusia.
Read that loud!

Burst Magazine, Issue 5, May 2013

Burst Magazine, Issue 5, May 2013

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Burst Magazine, Issue 5, May 2013