The 2017 Vans Warped Tour lineup will officially be announced on Wednesday, but it looks like the lineup has already been leaked online. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Vans Warped Tour
Vans Warped Tour Shares Annual Band Survey For 2017 Festival
Vans Warped Tour had another huge summer with bands like New Found Glory, Tonight Alive, Sum 41, Falling In Reverse and Whitechapel leading the way. The annual rite of passage for young music fans came and went with a blaze this year, and already have eyes set on next summer. The popular annual Warped Tour Survey, asks fans whom they want to see perform on next summer’s event. Led by co-founder Kevin Lyman, the team at Warped actually take this survey into consideration when booking bands, so choose wisely and let your voice be heard! Fill out the survey at this link, and also sign up for news and early-bird information for next year!
Video: Emarosa – One Car Garage, Headline Tour Dates Booked
Emarosa released a performance video today for their new single ‘One Car Garage’ from their recent album 131 (Hopeless Records)Continue reading
Vans Warped Tour Tickets On Sale, Lineup Announcement Tonight
Tickets for the 2016 Vans Warped Tour, Presented By Journeys went on sale today at 10 AM local time.
Following the on sales which are expected to be brisk as in many years, the formal announcement of most of the lineup will be this evening at the Warped Tour event, live streamed from Full Sail University in Winter Park Florida. If you can’t be there in person, feel free to follow the event on Warped Tours’ social networks. In addition to the lineup unveiling, there ill be live performance from Warped bands. As reported this weekend, a leaked poster has revealed most of the supposed lineup, although the festival has neither confirmed or denied this.
Bad Seed Rising On Touring
For a brand new band on the music scene like Bad Seed Rising, they are getting a crash course on the music business and how things work. Despite their young ages (14 to 18 years of age), one area they have been building up experience is in the live arena, where they have landed shows and tours along the way.
Frontwoman Francheska Pastor shared her experiences so far:
“I think we’ve done five solid tours now. We went out on a bunch of the Halestorm and Daughtry dates, and then we did a school tour where we went to a bunch of high schools to play there. Most of these are up and down the East Coast. The next one that we did was at this Camplify Tour at this camp. Then we went on tour with Saliva and Pop Evil. Then most recently we were on tour with RED and Adelita’s Way, and we won over the hearts of Adelita’s Way so they brought us on tour with them just a few weeks ago. Adelita’s Way are the greatest dudes ever. They’re awesome to chill with and they’re awesome.”
Pastor talked about how one of their tour runs came from a band discovered them off of their song on the Spy movie. Apparently Bad Seed Rising is drawing attention in multiple ways and the movie has become one of the newest ways they have attracted new fans.
Photo Credit: Caithlyn Willard (via Facebook)
“We have a show with Issues and Pvris. Pvris is like up and coming and they’re crazy good. We got onto that bill. They’re doing a hometown show in Atlanta, GA and we’re excited to play that. Tyler Carter found out about us through the movie called Spy. He saw the end credits of the movie and found out who we were and he added us to all of his social media and was like ‘oh my god…I love you guys!’ “
“He eventually Facetimed me at 4 am in the morning and convinced me to have the band drive to the East Coast Music Conference Awards and he didn’t have to do a lot of convincing. He just had to tell me if it was possible or not to have the band drive to go there. It was also along the way on our tour with Adelita’s Way. It was awesome. All of the people that I listen to and we listen to in one setting and it’s very overwhelming. There’s so many idols in one area.”
Photo Credit: Caitlin Willard (via Facebook)
One event Pastor and her band have set their eyes on is the annual Vans Warped Tour, which is an event many touring artists have received their starts over the years. Despite some of the negative press indirectly received over the past year, she was hoping Bad Seed Rising could take part in 2016.
“Oh definitely. It’s been a dream of ours to play Warped Tour. We’re terrified because Kevin Lyman…we saw the statement how he wants to an age limit on the people who are playing on the tour. I don’t think it’s going to happen but I just pray to god it’s not going to.”
She had also shared her thoughts on the briefly debated (but since squashed) issue about an age limit on the participants on the Warped Tour. Being the members being under 21, she shared her thoughts on the matter.
“I think if he were to do that, he’s eliminating the wrong people. Honestly they’re so innocent. We wouldn’t cause trouble like all of these older bands have caused in the past. Warped Tour (2015) was just a complete drama fest and it’s funny because it’s not even the younger people that are initiating these problems.”
Kosha Dillz On Networking On The Road
Kosha Dillz Live At Vans Warped Tour 2015
Kosha Dillz is one of the newest faces to make waves within the music scene in 2015, and his DIY approach at spreading his name out to the masses has made inroads with fans on various levels. His unique blend of hip hop music fusing English, Hebrew and Spanish lyrics has caught the attention of many new fans along the way on Vans Warped Tour this summer.
His name got out through blogging on various music tech sites such as Hypebot, discussing his experiences with promoting at and for shows and tours. His outlook on how to spread the word about his music has caught the attention of many readers, who eventually transitioned into becoming a fan of his music and even coming to see his performance at one of the Warped Tour stops.
Kosha Dillz Live At Vans Warped Tour 2015
“I’m trying to stay active during this time on social media and stuff. I’m giving shout outs to other bands and just being part of it. That’s what I like about it – being part of the entire get up. They’ve got 70 bands on here. I meet a lot of kids who’re like ‘man you played? I didn’t know you played…I wish I saw you play. I want to get your music anyways.’ ”
“There are other kids that are like ‘I look up all the bands before I come.’ Other people are like ‘I come because it’s Warped Tour.’ It’s a good thing. It’s something that people go to and never look the bands up.”
Prior to Warped Tour, he performed at South By Southwest in Austin, TX, and he shared his experiences and his thoughts on the ins and outs of promoting within such a large event.
“Yeah South By Southwest – you play ten times for 20 people each time, or maybe 200, and another for 100. On this one you’re playing for 100 or 200, or you could be jumping on stage with a bunch of other people, free styling with other bands for 10 people. It’s the same thing except you’re on a bigger stage and you have your own tent and people you’re taking pictures with left and right. That’s such a really cool experience,” he said.
Kosha Dillz. Photo Credit: Amelia Burns (via Facebook)
Back to Warped Tour, he adapted his past promotional tactics and his networking approaches and made it work with reaching unfamiliar attendees to checking out his music. Whether it was selling his CDs or simply talking to people about having his songs on a Warped Tour related CD compilation, he raised awareness of what he was doing and shared his experiences from this past summer.
“It’s been cool to tell people you’re on the Warped Tour compilation. I’m autographing those. It’s a nice experience to be like ‘yo…I’m on the CD that everyone’s buying!’ I’m one of the last tracks to finish it off. It’s kind of an honor that the song I made with the guy after….what’s going to happen after 60,000 views on YouTube and now it’s on 100,000 CDs that you’re going to sell. How cool is that? So I get to show people pictures of these shows and they’re stacked. The shows are huge. How grateful should I be? It’s like a second or third chance I never got.”
“The thing is, when I got the call to do Warped Tour, I didn’t expect to get the call. I was working hard and I could hope. I put one foot forward saying it’s only show time and time again if you work hard and do it DIY that something steps up and appears and disappears. It’s nice to hear a lot of people say we deserve it, but also it’s up to me if I seize the moment and take advantage of this. That’s what Kevin [Lyman] mentioned to us.”
During his time on the Warped Tour, he got to experience a lot of new artists he was previously unfamiliar with and bonded with those he knew from before. He shared some of his personal discoveries amongst his touring mates.
“Family Force 5 I think it is. They’re cool. I met them. Trace [Cyrus] from Metro Station – he’s a really humble dude. I like that they’re on the grind. Palisades – they’re my homies. They’re really dope. They’re from New Jersey. There’s a lot of New Jersey people. Candy Hearts are my friends. My homegirl Mariel [Loveland] – she’s dope. Le Castle Vania on the Beatport Stage, MC Lars, Koo Koo Kanga Roo – check them out. They’re amazing. Born Cages – I watched them play. New Beat Fund – they’re on Red Bull Records.”
“Riff Raff and Mod Sun are totally different. I love them both separately. I love their branding. I love the way they present their music, the colors and everything. There’s so much more. We live in LA. When’s the last time you’ve hung out with someone everyday for two months? I’m basically living with a bunch of people. I’ve never done that.”
Speaking Hebrish To The World: Kosha Dillz
Kosha Dillz. Photo Credit: Amelia Burns (via Facebook)
Being an indie artist in modern times can be quite the adventure, as learning how to win over an audience becomes a challenge. For New Jersey (now Los Angeles based) indie rapper Kosha Dillz, he spent this past summer on the Vans Warped Tour and expanded is networking base in front of a new audience he has spent the past few years building up.
So how has the Warped Tour treated him? “So far so good – it’s a cliché answer but after yesterday we’re learning a lot every day. This is the third show and it went really well. We got a nice set and we’re alternating our sets too so everyone’s getting a different experience.”
“We’re learning how to promote ourselves. It’s a different beast out here. It’s not like anything I’ve ever done. I’m grateful for that but also I’m a novice here. I may be experienced at what I do but out here I’m a newbie and it’s nice to learn a lot. I love learning,” he said.
Kosha Dillz Live At Vans Warped Tour 2015
Dillz originates from Edison, NJ and was born to Israeli immigrants. While his musical origins began in rap battles in New York City, he gradually incorporated his Jewish roots into his music and slowly shaped his sound into something a bit outside of the norm in the hip hop world.
“I grew up in New Jersey so not New York. People think it’s New York. I grew up rapping in New York starting up. I would drive up to the city or take a train. I did mostly sports, like wrestling and soccer. [I] wrestled in college, then I had a big stint with drugs, addiction, jails, institutions, and then came hip hop and became a hip hop a mania. It was a hardcore hip hop and underground hip hop festivals in the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe, and winning rap battles in the rap battle scene. I was finding success late. We didn’t have social media when I was seventeen. It was a whole another world.”
Kosha Dillz Live At Vans Warped Tour 2015
Rapping in English, Spanish and Hebrew is something that sets Dillz apart from the pack. Fusing his cultural roots with his surroundings in New York and New Jersey has inspired him to create his music in a way to introduce listeners into his unique yet eclectic world.
“I really try to embrace the culture part. I understand that I’m very different to people, so I say let me do something special. Let me try to do something different that no one else is doing and be dope. You can do different stuff like standing on your head, but I don’t think that’s dope. If you are making an amazing song that’s completely different from everyone else, so I was the rapper in Hebrew and Spanish – I was known for that. It sort of has a street hip hop flow, and freestyle at all shows keeps it like who knows what’s going to happen and create that space and energy. I think you have to do that when not everyone knows you. It’s show and prove out here. You have to tell them you’re dope and let them know what’s up.”
Dillz has made a career of releasing his own music through Murs’ label Murs 316 and is running a Kickstarter campaign for his forthcoming album.
“The rapper Murs helped put out my last album (Awkward In a Good Way) digitally. I just did a Kickstarter for my new project called What I Do All Day and Pickle. It’s kind of a spoof on Velvet Underground and Nico.”
“The songs I’m performing are from Awkward in a Good Way, my album with Murs. It has Murs and Gangsta Boo (of Three 6 Mafia) on there, and I also have some tracks from Varsity Blues. It’s called “Varsity Blues.” I’ve got “What I Do All Day,” which features Flint Flossy from Turquoise Jeep, a real big YouTube sensation. I have a lot of songs with vocals on them, like singers experimenting with R & B. Just creating music and getting it out there.”
He admits that events like Warped Tour have pushed him to work harder to reach new fans on every step of his adventure. Every step of the way has helped him shape his approach on how to reach new fans.
“I was addicted to the hustle and the DIY nature of things and the personal interaction. I was always good at that. So on Warped Tour, I did a tent called Bring It Back. It was a hip hop tent and all elements of hip hop, breaking, graffiti, DJing, MCing, and dance. They’d stop people and start a show. Then you’d get a big crowd and making it look good for photos and everyone would get nuts. Next thing you know people are watching it. People enjoy watching the others that are working hard to get where they are.”
“On this tour, on the set it’s another beast because the heroes are the person that is travelling, passing out the fliers and helping others. In no other culture is there anything where people are like ‘I’ll help you get stuff out of the trunk’ or ‘do everything for free’ so people can hear my music. The platform has been created to reach over a half a million people of likewise weirdos that’s gonna be like ‘yeah!’ Does this world exist? It does exist. It’s Warped Tour. It’s all different kinds of music – Eminem, Yelawolf…Katy Perry, Rancid, Green Day…so many different kinds of acts. At least on the hip hop reign, I’m filling in big shoes and I’m doing pretty good. So far so good and it’s only gonna get better as we go on.”
Dillz learned how that a family oriented environment like Warped Tour has helped him reach new fans. The ethic behind helping one another has rubbed off on his in a positive way
“It’s a very family oriented thing. It’s a great example for regular music because it should be family oriented – Like I support you because I want to support you. Ideally you would support me too. You can do whatever you want but this is spoken for so of course you’re supporting other people.”
“One thing I’m doing is I’m leaving my promotional stuff around by the bands. I want to make sure the bands know when to come see me. Getting the respect I deserve on the musical level – people know me for the hustle but not everyone for my music. This is a great time for them to hear my music. That’s what I’m really so happy about because to be given a proper opportunity for promotion – this is it.”
He admits that punk rock was something he was also somewhat exposed to at an early age as well. “The first show I ever went to was sort of punk rock. It was punk rock. I was going to say a New Jersey hardcore show. Our neighbor was in the band. I headbanged until my neck got so sore. I remember it. I only remembered that story on this tour.”
“Then I did hip hop starting at 17 and performing. Now I’m rocking all over the hip hop, the rock, [and] indie rock. I really graduated from pop. I really love pop music. I’m trying to write a hit song. I would love that everyone loved a hit song that people like. So that’s cool.”
Lastly, Kosha Dillz shared his interaction with metal and punk with his music. While his sound leans more towards hip hop, he is open to collaborating with other artists.
“I did a remix over GWAR once. Years ago I rapped over GWAR. If anyone wants to work with me and say ‘hey man…let me get you on this’…I’m just grateful people step to me and ask me. If it interests anybody or if anyone out there is listening…it doesn’t matter if they’re small or big…I like anything that’s dope. I would like to do something with Knuckle Puck or Man Overboard because they’re from New Jersey.”
Brotherhood By Metal – Whitechapel
Whitechapel. Photo Credit: Kevin Estrada
The past year saw a significant growth in demand for the members of Whitechapel, as touring behind their latest album Our Endless War helped them to become one of the fastest rising new faces in the extreme music scene.
They spent this past summer on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, and just completed their second day of the tour. Band guitarist Zach Householder shared his thoughts on their performance.
“It’s the second day. It’s insane! We played here for Knotfest – it was just as crazy. Every time we’re here it’s absolutely nuts. It will probably be one of the best sets on the whole tour. I don’t want to be jinxing the tour, but it’ll be the ones that’ll stick out.”
Phil Bozeman of Whitechapel, by Brent B Photos.
Their rise in popularity since the release of their latest album has taken them to new heights, including a co-headlining North American tour with Devildriver and an appearance on the Knotfest in 2014.
He shares his thoughts on his band’s success and what motivates audiences towards them.
“It’s weird because I wasn’t in the band in the very beginning. I took Brandon Cagle’s place and he’s actually doing sound for us now. He’s killer at that. I’m glad it worked out.“
“I was a fan to begin with when they were first coming out in Knoxville,” he said. “There’s something about it. You just knew something was gonna happen with this band. I was friends with many of them but I heard them and thought ‘this is just disgustingly heavy!’ I think it’s the weird alignment of the planets. It’s just something happened, something clicked, the vibe worked…the right time, the right place. What a lot of people don’t get with music, it doesn’t matter how technical you write shit. It matters how you feel about you feel about writing the music. You’ve got to have an image with the music that people can grasp onto. I think that’s what happened to Whitechapel. There’s something there to hang onto and can’t pull it out and say oh yeah…it’s there.”
Ben Harclerode of Whitechapel. Photo Credit: Kevin Estrada
Headlining the second stage also placed them further away from the main stage, as on the San Bernadino, CA stop had them atop of the lawn section and many attendees having to walk up a hill to the stage. Despite the minor dilemma, the show must go on.
“A little bit of a walk…whatever. Luckily everybody had no choice but to watch it, whether they wanted to or not,” he said.
Gabe Crisp of Whitechapel. Photo Credit: Brent B Photos
This year marks the band’s third appearance on this fest and the band has shown their appreciation towards the promoters for bringing them back. “We did it in ’09 with Slayer and [Marilyn] Manson, and in 2012 with Slipknot and Slayer and obviously this year with Slayer headlining and King Diamond. King Diamond’s sick and Slayer is just awesome.”
Being that this is their third time on this tour, the familiarity behind the set up eases the tension of handling everyday business. He shared the benefits of being a veteran on this tour.
Zach Householder of Whitechapel. Photo Credit: Kevin Estrada
“The easier the more fun,” says Householder. “Obviously we partied a little more on our first Mayhem and the second one. We don’t party that much any more and we take it easy. I like the fact that we’re done kind of early and hang out. We can kick back and watch Slayer and King Diamond on the main stage. I think it gets easier for sure. Mayhem takes such good care of us. We’ve always supported this tour. We love it.”
Picking a set list is always a challenge as a band’s career advances, and including songs to please the crowd within the allotted time is something they have to deal with as well. But Householder explained the different factors that goes into choosing songs to perform each night.
“Honestly when an album comes out we experiment a lot of songs from that album and then we go by whatever goes over live and what translates well live. Even an outdoor festival versus an indoor clubs, some songs work better in a club opposed to outdoor festivals. We just know by now what we want when it comes to a set. We pick the bangers off the album and if the hits have different vibes, then we’ll pick and choose from it.”
Prior to this appearance, Whitechapel had experimented with an appearance on this tour’s sister festival tour, the Vans Warped Tour in 2010. While that audience leans less towards metal audiences, they still caught the attention of curious attendees and gave them a taste of music heavier than their usual playlist consisted of.
“We did Warped Tour once. The shows were killer but it’s a little more crowded than Mayhem is. You’re fighting for food and showers a little more. That was cool too,” he said.
Householder shared his thoughts of playing for non metal crowds like Warped Tour and how much those earlier years factored into their exploding popularity.
“I think it’s a double edged sword. Sometimes the non metal crowds are like ‘holy crap!’ Maybe they’ve never seen anything that heavy before. We all know how judgmental and harsh metal fans can be, so when we play especially on this Mayhem, there are a lot of judgmental eyes on us that have seen us before, but they’re not turning around and leaving, so that’s the good part.”
Following this tour, Whitechapel will begin working on a new album and Householder talked about where they stand on that at the present time.
“As soon as we get home, we will be. Like I said in the past interview, we’re always writing and sending riffs to each other. We’re sitting down and start writing for the next album when we get home, and we’re aiming to record in January.”
“I feel Our Endless War had such a cool vibe to it – a lot of melody and hooks in it. There are still death metal parts but it is not straight bombardment the whole time. You can breathe. I think we’re going to keep doing that. You have a little bit for sometime for everyone. Let the music breathe. Let it be heavy. We’re going to hang out and feel what we’re writing this time around, even more so last time. I think everybody’s heads are in the right place for it. I think it’s going to be, if anything, it won’t be off the wall but it will be even deeper or darker.”
Householder also gave an update on the forthcoming DVD, which has been delayed but is expected out before the end of 2015.
“The DVD is coming out. It’s taking a little longer. I’ve actually seen the whole DVD part of it and the bio part of it and the live show. It’s sick! It turned out great. Now we’re producing the physical copies.”
“Everybody’s upset about it either way I get it. It’s coming and I promise it will be out. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. It won’t let you down. Sorry for the wait on that.”
“We wanted to do this right. There are a lot of issues when it came to some people not having their shit together. I won’t name any names, but it wasn’t anyone in the band. That’s what put us in a scare but we worked it out. Early fall for sure.”
Video: August Burns Red Release Animated Identity Video Clip
August Burns Red. Photo Credit: Kevin Estrada
August Burns Red have released a new video clip for the track ‘Identity’, from their album Found In Far Away Places (Fearless). You can see the clip at this link or below:
Director Drew Russ discusses the making of the clip in a comment:
“This video is a mixed media piece using custom designed illustrations combined with live action footage. All of the outlines were hand drawn (by Mike Cortada) custom for this video. Then, using a light box, outlines were then painted over on watercolor paper, combined digitally and composited into the video.”
Having just wrapped up a main stage appearance all summer on on Warped Tour, the band will next be seen on a European tour with Europe / UK tour with Asking Alexandria, Memphis May Fire, and In Hearts Wake.
The Devil Wears Prada Talks Facing Metal Crowds
The Devil Wears Prada. Photo Credit: Kevin Estrada
Being a band like The Devil Wears Prada and sounding the way they do can often be a challenge for those who are unfamiliar with their music. Over the past decade, the Ohio based act has built up a strong yet loyal following that live and breathe their style of metalcore.
They have once again appeared on the main stage of this summer’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, and are tackling larger audiences who are new to their style of music. Vocalist Mike Hranica talked about playing in front of vast crowds at these events, and how much that influenced how they approached their music.
“When we got started and doing Vans Warped Tour back in 2008, it didn’t really influence us too much. We were really influenced by bands like Killswitch [Engage] and As I Lay Dying. They were always doing an Ozzfest and still doing Warped and playing with rockier bands, poppier bands, and all the way to proper metal, Slayer bands. We tried to do the same.”
Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada. Photo Credit: Kevin Estrada
Ever since the band first appeared on the 2009 Vans Warped Tour’s main stage, longtime fans got their first experiences hearing their chaotic sounds and became addicted. While The Devil Wears Prada immediately became the pit kings at Warped Tour, things became a bit more of a challenge at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival supporting some of the heavyweights in the metal world.
“We get put in our place when we come to Mayhem. It’s actually tough guys and metalheads rather than at Warped Tour it’s a bunch of young bands. We’re less cocky on Mayhem than on Warped Tour.”
“Doing Mayhem three years ago was really eye opening and we know what we’re getting in for. Also at the same time, that was the best summer tour we’ve ever done and already the past two days have been ‘oh my god…it’s so relaxing to come to Mayhem.’ “
“Having such a fraction of the bands on Warped Tour makes it so much easier. We’re pumped. I think it will be a good summer with fans recognizing and doing shows like Graspop and Download Festival overseas. We know the fan dude there standing there like ‘what the hell is this?’ and by the end of the set will be like ‘I can vibe some of this stuff.’ We enjoy that challenge and trying to win people over. That’s a big part of the challenge.”
While playing in front of a tough crowd and seeing a sea of “what the hell is this” looks, bassist Andy Trick had an interesting view on it. “You can see it if you watch the people come up and sit down and then after a few songs they get into it.”