Jane’s Addiction

soulrocks — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:39:09 +0000

Jane’s Addiction were one of the most hotly pursued rock bands when they gained notice in Los Angeles in the mid-’80s, with record companies at their feet. Flamboyant frontman Perry Farrell, formerly of the band Psi Com, had an undeniable charisma and an interest in provocative art (he designed the band’s album covers), and Jane’s Addiction played a hybrid of rock music: metal with strains of punk, folk, and jazz. The quartet, comprising Farrell, bassist Eric Avery, drummer Stephen Perkins, and guitarist Dave Navarro, had already released its debut album as well, in the form of a live recording from the Roxy in Hollywood. Finally, Warner Bros. won the bidding war and released Nothing’s Shocking in 1988. The band’s abrasive sound and aggressive attitude (typified by the nude sculpture on the cover) led to some resistance, but Jane’s Addiction began to break through to an audience — the album spent 35 weeks on the charts.

www.janesaddiction.com

Chester French

soulrocks — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 17:48:11 +0000

Named for Lincoln Memorial sculptor Daniel Chester French, the L.A. via Boston duo Chester French — consisting of vocalist/songwriterD.A. Wallach and multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Maxwell Drummey– mix classic songcraft and power pop hooks with arrangements and beats that nod to synth pop and rap. Originally from Boston, Drummey began music lessons when he was three, moving from classical piano to jazz guitar to jazz and classical composition when he was in high school; however, Wallach, a Milwaukee, WI, native, dabbled in comedy, politics, magic, and drumming before settling on singing in his teens. The pair met in 2003 as freshmen at Harvard and began playing in a five-piece version of Chester French at local bars. After winning a battle of the bands, the group recorded its debut EP, Chester French’s First Love, in two days at Harvard’s on-campus recording studio, Quad Sound Studios. Wallach and Drummeywere so intrigued by the recording process that they became engineers at Quad Sound, and as they worked on their degrees and their first album, they paid for their recording by engineering sessions for other artists. Drummey and Wallach completed the album Love the Future in spring 2007, when they also graduated from Harvard. Their recordings attracted attention from Kanye Westand Jimmy Iovine, among others, but the Neptunes‘ Pharrell ended up signing Chester French to his Star Trak imprint, which released the She Loves Everybody EP via iTunes late in 2008.

http://chesterfrench.com/

soulRocks » LA Rock

Jane’s Addiction

Chester French