New Music Friday – Porcelain Black

Detroit’s tough-skinned pop singer, Porcelain Black, is gearing up for the release of her latest single, “Naughty Naughty.” The unofficial, sexy black and white video was filmed during a recent show at The Factory in Los Angeles. The official video for the song will be released early next year.

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New Music Friday – Reeve Carney ft. Bono and The Edge

Check out the just released video for “Rise Above 1” by Reeve Carney, featuring U2’s Bono and The Edge, from the Broadway production Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark. The video, directed by Aaron Platt and Joseph Toma, was shot in New York City and gives fans a peek into the making of the Broadway musical.

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Lady Gaga Dethrones Oprah on Forbes Most Powerful List

Forbes Magazine” just put out their annual list of the most powerful celebs and Oprah has been the reigning champ for the past couple years, but this year was beat out by the Queen monster herself, Lady Gaga.

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Hollywood Dame Exclusive Interview – Alex Band

The inspiring sound of Alex Band’s powerful, emotionally charged voice is immediately recognizable to millions of music lovers, thanks to modern-day classics like “Adrienne,” “Our Lives” and the chart-topping hit “Wherever You Will Go,” which Billboard recently named the #1 Adult Pop Song of the Decade. And though ‘We’ve All Been There,’ Band’s solo debut (released June 29 on his own AMB label through EMI), contains the first new material we’ve heard from the former leader of ‘The Calling‘ in half a decade, “Wherever You Will Go” (which he wrote at 16 and released at 19, remarkably enough) remains a staple of the Adult Pop format, while “Our Lives” is a heavily used bumper on ESPN and other sports programming.

If his fans feel that Band is long overdue for a return to the spotlight, the L.A. native has himself been chafing at the bit to make his return throughout the last five years, which he spent in musical exile. But the time has finally come for that voice to inspire us once again. “I’ve lived with these songs for years,” says Band, “and the whole point is to share them with everybody now.”

Describing the title song, which opens this stunningly wide screen album and sets up its thematic breadth, Band says, “It’s definitely about my own struggle, but I think everyone can relate to what I’ve been through from experiences in their lives. I think everything I’m talking about on the record is pretty universal. And knowing now that I’m writing for different cultures, with fans around the world, it’s important that what I’m writing about is generalized enough that people can take the songs in their own way. ‘We’ve All Been There’ is almost like a mantra—‘Here I am…these scars on my hands…doing what I can’—with this chorus behind me singing, ‘We’ve all been there.’ In a way, I was writing my own therapy.”

The torrid first single, “Tonight,” is now in rotation at Adult Pop radio, where Band remained a core artist during his years of silence. The track has also been used in the CW series “The Vampire Diaries” and can be heard in the TV campaign for this summer’s World Cup (just as “Our Lives” was played over the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics). The striking video, directed by TV veteran David Barrett (The Vampire Diaries, CSI: NY, NCIS: Los Angeles), working with the production crew from the “Twilight” series of feature films, features Band doing his own stunts, including jumping—or more accurately flying—off the top of a cliff. As the video reveals, the song describes a supernatural love story. “I didn’t want to write a conventional love song,” he recalls. “I wanted it to have some weirder meaning—and this was before the resurgence of the vampire love story, but I’d just seen the movie Underworld, and I thought it would be cool and different to write about a vampire trying to win over this girl and to be able to have her for one night. So that led to lines like, ‘Let the music take us over/We’ll fall into forever, all is right/’Cause I got you where I want you/Tonight.’”

At its heart, though, We’ve All Been There charts the course of a distinctly human romantic relationship, from its first stirrings to its final moments. “A lot of these songs are drawn from personal experiences,” Band confirms. “I got married at the beginning of this process and got divorced at the end of the record. ‘Love’ was written in the early stages of that relationship, when my ex-wife was going through medical problems, which we dealt with throughout the years. And ‘Leave (Today Is the Day)’ was the last song I added to the record, after we’d gotten divorced. So a bunch of these songs are extremely personal.” His then-wife’s illness led to the critical need for a liver transplant, which she had to forgo due to the waiting list. The experience inspired Band to devote his time and energies to the Donate Life organization, which is dedicated to building organ-donor awareness.

Band’s creative mechanism was also triggered by “what I’ve seen friends and family going through, and I’ve been hugely influenced by what’s happening in the world. And music, of course—I don’t think anyone can listen to my records and not realize I’m a huge fan of U2. I get massive inspiration from going to shows by some of my favorite bands like U2 and Coldplay. But the biggest inspiration for this record was what I went through—the frustration of it all and trying to stay positive. But it resulted in some good songs, at least.”

The title song’s companion piece is the culminating “Start Over Again.” “As soon as we wrote that one, I knew it had to be the last track,” says Band. “It goes into a jam-out section, with a choir of my overdubbed voice singing, ‘After all you’ve done/You thought there’d be someone/To give you everything you want’—that thought of, ‘Haven’t I done enough?’ But sometimes you don’t get what you want, and you have to accept that and start over again. It was a sort of epiphany, writing that song. So it seemed like the perfect epic song to end the album with.”

So where’s he been all this time? “After the second album,” Band recalls, “my partner in The Calling, Aaron Kamin, wanted to do other things, and since I was already pretty much doing everything on my own, I decided to become a solo artist.” But when the powers that be at RCA insisted that he do a “supergroup” album project, Band sought and got his release, signing with Geffen soon thereafter.

Thus began an elongated project that would span nearly two years, eventually encompassing no less than five co-producers, primarily including the veteran John Fields (Switchfoot), up-and-comer Daniel Damico and engineer Tal Herzberg, with Chuck Reed helming two tracks and Matt Serletic one. Playing alongside Band, who plays guitars and several of the basslines, were some of the best musicians on the planet, including drummers Abe Laboriel Jr., Dorian Crozier and Kenny Aronoff, keyboard player Jamie Muhoberac and guitarist Tim Pierce. The renowned Paul Buckmaster (Elton John’s ’70s classics) contributed string arrangements to several tracks, while the in-demand Chris Lord-Alge mixed the album, as he’d done with The Calling. Loaded with potential hits—and strikingly cohesive despite its diverse origins—the album was completed in 2007.

Later that year, Geffen went through a reorganization, putting the album in limbo. “At the same time, Stu Sobol, my manager for 10 years passed away, which was incredibly sad,” Alex explains. “So, between Geffen going through major changes and Stu passing away, I realized then that I had to make a serious leap of faith and believe in myself. I decided that, if I’m gonna fail, I’d rather fail doing what I want to do.”

Band spent a year in negotiations and a sizable amount of his own money to buy back the album master—so you might say he’s financially as well as emotionally invested in this music. He’s spent the last year creating his label, surrounding himself with a top-flight team and partnering with EMI, which is distributing the album in the States and releasing it outright in all other territories. “I’ve finally got creative control, which is the main reason I went through all this,” he says. So now I’m starting completely over as a solo artist and reintroducing myself to the world.”

I had the chance to talk with Alex and ask him about his upcoming album, his plans for the future, and what he likes to do in the little free time he has. You can read about that below.

When did you first realize you had an interest in music and what sparked that interest?

I don’t know what really sparked that interest. I mean, I was really into music as early as 2 years old so I don’t know. I remember my father used to listen to the Beatles and David Bowie. When I was 5 years old, he flew us all to Paris to see “The Phantom of the Opera” and that really started it all. I got my first guitar at 8 years old and started writing seriously. At 11, I made my first record and at 15 I had a record deal.

How did you break into the music industry?

Well really the first step was the record deal. A guy moved in next door to us and it turned out he was the VP of RCA and I knew that was a good chance so I drove him crazy and ended up signing. 10 years later Disney heard “Wherever You Will Go” and asked for me to perform it in the movie “Coyote Ugly” when I was 19 and a year later I recorded an album.

What makes you feel that your upcoming album is different from other artists in your genre?

I would say the songwriting, mostly. Its lush and timeless. I think its a good representation of that. “Wherever You Go” is still played and that was released 10 years ago. I write songs that are big, compassionate, and heartfelt.

What are some of your plans for promoting your album – do you plan on touring, doing ‘meet & greets,’ etc…?

Oh, I’m doing it all. I’ve been on tour for the past 5 months in Europe and America. My single “Tonight” is in the 20s on the Top 40 charts. I’ve been doing a mixture of radio visits, meet & greets, opening for other people. In Europe I was touring, doing openings, and tv appearances. I have a headlining tour that starts July 14th. I start shooting today for a big tv show, that I can’t mention who it is right now, for August. I’m doing lots of cool promotions.

What are some short term and long term goals that you have lined out for yourself. What’s next for you?

Short term would be to make my first single a hit, working hard with radio and with fans to push it as high as it can go. Long term would be to get the album out and solidify my career as a solo artist. Put out records way more frequently, I mean this is my 1st in 6 years.

Have you written or created a song that didn’t make the album cut that you wished would have?

I think I’ve written about 150 songs for this album. Recorded 20 of them. 14 made the cut. One extra for iTunes. One extra on the European version. so I’m sure that the others that were recorded will be released in some fashion, so no I don’t think I have one. Usually the labels allow for 12 songs on a record, and I used 14 since I created it myself.

Do you have any musical pet-peeves?

I would have to say music without heart, music that won’t be here 10 years from now. I like music that captures a moment in your life, so that later on when you hear it you will remember the moment that was special.

Besides music, what are your favorite things to do? What keeps you grounded?

When I’m home, which is rare, I like being normal. Taking walks, going to the movies, spending time with my family and being with my fiance. Relaxing really. I like to fly, too. I’m a helicopter pilot. Just recently I flew to northern California and back for a performance. Its a freedom thing, really.

What do you miss the most, besides family and friends, while you are out traveling?

My cat. Or, well, I have two cats now, so my cats. Just the comfort of home, especially when I keep going to Europe. I think in this year I have traveled 150,000 miles, been around the world about 4 times. I miss the places I eat, the drinks I know, just the things you take for granted. The simple things like going to bed and waking up the same time, which is hard with the constant changing of time zones.

What is one accomplishment you hope to make above all others in your life and your career?

In my life, having children. It’s definitely something that I want to do. In my career, well I’m not going to sit here and say I want to win a Grammy. I just want to keep making a living with my music, touring, making albums, and having the freedom to do what I want to do with my music. Keep having a fan base. I don’t have to be the biggest or the best, but just to do it and sustain my lifestyle.

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Images Via: Total Assault

U2 Giveaway!

The awesomeness of U2 is available via U2360° At The Rose Bowl DVD! You can buy it at Amazon (click HERE to buy) or iTunes (click HERE to buy) . Of course, being that we love our readers (in a strictly appropriate and legally acceptable sort of way) Hollywood Dame is giving away a limited edition U2 poster and one copy of the U2360 At the Rose Bowl DVD (we have the option of a DVD or Blu-Ray.)

All you have to do is tell me what your favorite U2 song is in the comment section below. Enter as many times as you like! Winners will be announced June 14th. Good luck! If you are Clay Aiken fan there is still time to enter for his new CD giveaway! Click HERE to enter…

Exclusive Sit Down Interview: Paper Tongues

Paper Tongues are an American rock band from Charlotte, North Carolina. The band consists of Aswan North (lead vocals), Devin Forbes (guitar), Joey Signa (guitar), Daniel Santell (bass guitar), Jordan Hardee (drums), Clayton Simon (synthesizer keys), and Cody Blackler (rhode keys). Their sound is described as fusing rock n’ roll melodies with hip hop beats, and includes elements of rock, funk, rap, and soul.

The group formed in 2007 when a few musicians with very different musical backgrounds decided to start a band. After playing together for a while, they decided they wanted to go to California to try and get a recording contract. This inspired their hit song “Ride To California“, which portrays the struggle involved to raise the money and find a way out there. They were able to save up enough money through donations from neighbors and a generous donation from a college friend in Georgia who told them not to worry about paying them back, but rather to just go and make good music. When they finally got to California, a chance encounter with a well known producer ended up resulting in a contract.

While eating lunch at a restaurant in Los Angeles, lead singer Aswan North met Randy Jackson. He went over to talk to him about his band, and even gave him the band’s MySpace site and phone number, and then left. Within hours of leaving the restaurant, the band received a call from Jackson expressing interest in their music. They have since supported other bands such as Everclear, Flyleaf, and Switchfoot, as well as headlining a tour of their own with Crash Kings and playing various other shows with Muse, AFI, 30 Seconds to Mars, Rise Against, and Anberlin.

Paper Tongues is no stranger to Hollywood Dame – We’ve featured them on the website before, both as an interview and as a part of our New Music Friday feature, but now their back with a brand new sit-down interview, answering questions about their pet-peeves, how they stay grounded, and their future plans. You can read about that below.

Was there ever a time where you felt like giving up music or quitting on the way to the top?

Cody: Well, yeah. There were a lot of hard times that left us with a disheartening feeling. But you just keep pushing and pushing and thankfully we have lots of friends and family who believe in us. We’re all like brothers, so we just keep working hard and are very committed in our hearts even though we feel wore out at times, but when we get a break we utilize it – get plenty of rest – and we’re ready to go again.

Being in a group can be overwhelming at times when trying to please everyone. How do you keep the balance?

Joey: I think we’re just really honest with each other. And I think we don’t necessarily feel like we have to please each other. We’re more like a family of brothers. We’re all just ourselves but we’re also just respectful of each other. I think we’re honest with each other, and we work through stuff when we have to. We don’t hide stuff, we don’t keep stuff under rugs so there’s not hidden build-ups and stuff like that. I think we treat it more like a family than a workplace, which helps in the long run.

Have you written or created a song that didn’t make the album cut that you wish would have?

Aswan: Yes. There are a lot of songs that we all love that did not make this album. The cool thing is we probably have about 15 songs when it comes to record number 2 already prerecorded to look at. And 8 songs for record number 3. I’m sure we’re gonna write tons more that are going to make the records so those 15 are not necessarily on there. There’s a song that we love, all of us, called “Promise” that we wanted to make the record. We unanimously as a band all collectively love that song and all wanted that song to make it. That song didn’t make it. During the development stages of another song we were all rooting for it but I think we could tell by the time we got our 3rd demo of it that it just wasn’t ready so our heart wasn’t really broke. There is another song that we got just in doodling mode, “Extra Extra,” that I personally wish would have made the record. Its an amazing song that I think it shows off just who we are even more than you get to see on this record personally just coming out but it still needs a lot of work. I think we were able to display on this first record just who we were and we feel like that was 4 years ago, and its fine because it’s our first record but by the time we do our second record I think we’re gonna be feeling like we’re in the present of it more than we are on this one because it took so long to produce and create and lock in.

Do you guys have any pet-peeves musical or band wise?

Cody: Yes. I don’t know if this is a pet-peeve, but I like to play real instruments like my fender rhodes. I don’t like when people tell me to play fake things.

Aswan: Like the tambourine? That’s a real instrument.

Cody: No no, I love the tambourine. I just prefer the rhodes and real things like that as to digital things. Another pet-peeve, you know its kinda gross… in our bathroom, when people pee in there and leave the seat up, the aroma fills the whole bathroom and there’s like a urine mist.

Devin: Musical pet-peeves, when people don’t roll their cables right. When cables are a mess it makes me want to throw up. It sounds really dumb but I’m serious. I can’t handle it when cables are a mess.

Jordan: I hate being woken up, and I hate hitting my knuckles on my snare drum cause it hurts.

Danny: I hate creasing my shoes when I perform.

Aswan: I don’t like that either.

Besides music, what are your favorite things to do and what keeps you grounded?

Aswan: I like to watch ‘Frasier’ and ‘Seinfeld.’ That keeps me grounded at night. That’s my bedtime stories. My all-time bedtime story is the movie ‘Elf.’ I’ve literally watched it over – I think its safe now to say 150 times and I can give you quotes right now if I needed to but not cause I want to its just because I’ve watched it so many times that I know everything that is going on in that movie. It’s a bedtime story so those are my things.

Joey: I think what keeps me grounded is coming home and seeing family and friends because they treat me like I’m the exact same and I am the exact same but it just helps me realize that, cause when you’re out on the road and you’re in all these meetings and parties or whatever, its easy to get in your own world so coming home to where everything is basically the same kinda helps me find my balance of the ground.

Clayton: I would say the same as Joey – Friends and family and stuff, but also for me I need to get outside when I’m off tour and go find a garden somewhere or a yard and do yard work. I’m serious, and it really actually helps my mind get clear and me to think. And, for whatever reason, when I get home I like to organize things. It helps me think about things more clearly, and that’s just my personal thing.

Danny: I love to listen to music when I’m not playing music. I honestly love falling asleep to music, any style of music. I love hanging out with friends. And I love when I do something wrong that this band disciplines me really well.

Jordan: What I like to do, and what keeps me grounded when I’m home, is to get on the open road on a 2005 Harley Davidson Sportster and just go 85mph, let my hair blow in the wind.

Cody: I like to run, I like to play soccer, I like to play football sometimes, and I like to watch movies.

Devin: I always bring my bike and some books on the road with me and when I need to get away I ride my bike to somewhere, coffee shops, and sit and read a book and drink coffee.

What do you miss most, besides family, while you are out traveling and working?

Cody: I miss just being able to go home and crash on the couch and just being able to have space around you in a regular home and being able to cook really good food in a real kitchen and eat it.

Joey: I don’t miss anything. I love being on the road.

Clayton: I miss sometimes just being completely by myself for a little while, like a day or two. And then I miss, the same as Cody, cooking.

Devin: I miss any sort of consistency in life like being able to do reoccurring things everyday. Like when I’m home I like to go certain places regularly and when you’re on the road there’s no consistency to anything. Everyday is kinda up in the air and it’s just hard to have that consistency.

Who do you guys dream of being interviewed by (other than Hollywood Dame, of course!)

Devin: Oh! Hollywood Dame!

Cody: I would love to be interviewed by Barbara Walters.

Danny: I would really want to be interviewed by Gwen Stefani.

Aswan: I’d love for us to be interviewed by Larry King. You know, go on ‘Larry King Live’ and definitely do Oprah Winfrey. Gotta be on the Oprah show. That would be really awesome.

Devin: One day, I would love to be interviewed by James Lipton.

Jordan: Bob Barker.

What is one accomplishment you hope to make above all others in your life and career?

Aswan: Honestly with our career, I’ll start there, we want to walk in the footsteps of U2, you know. That’s a hard thing for a band to say cause they are the greatest band on earth in a lot of regards such as what they’ve done with their music and how they’ve even lent their music to some of the greatest disaster relief programs in the world. And just the help that they have brought to African countries – it’s just been amazing. Though our goal and our dream would be to walk in their footsteps, to live out our lives in music the way they did and the way they do. They’re still here and they’re still doing it. We’d love to be, when we’re 50 and we’re 60 and 70, to say that we’re still here and we’re still doing it. I think personally each guy in this band has a different thing but I can say something about all these guys is that every man wants to know before his life is over that he’s been faithful with everything that he’s been entrusted with, with every gift and every blessing.

If you weren’t in the music field, what careers would you have chosen?

Danny: I would love to be a weatherman one day, still.

Jordan: I thought about being a Navy Seal but then I realized that I didn’t have the lung capacity.

Cody: I was planning on being a doctor or a chef.

Devin: I was possibly going to follow in my fathers footsteps and be a contractor. Maybe work with concrete, different types of mud. Or I was gonna stay in school, study English, and write books and be a teacher.

Joey: I was on my way to being in the music industry either way as a musician or as another facet of it, but one day I’m probably going to open a coffee shop or a venue. Probably definitely a venue.

Clayton: Before all this happened, I was planning on going into architectural design, but I also dreamed of being a storm chaser actually.

Aswan: Wow, never heard that one. For me, its always been music, will always be music. There was ever only going to be music. There is no other imagination or thought. This is it, period.

What’s next for you, short-term and long-term?

Aswan: Well for the band, short-term we’re getting ready to go play Bonnaroo, to let all the peeps know that honestly. We’ll be on the ‘George Lopez’ show Monday night. Everybody’s excited about that. And then after we get done with Bonnaroo, we’re coming back and doing a real big tour around the country with Civil Twilight and Neon Trees. We’ve got some other really big invites to do some openings for some huge bands, and there’s 3 that we’re really cool with and we love and we appreciate, so we’re not going to let that out of the bag until our management team decides who we’re going with cause we’d love to go with everybody. So that’s our short-term right now is to just keep on touring and keep on playing and taking these dates that’s been offered to us and to show up and do our job. Long-term we definitely would love to sell quite a few records. We don’t want to give out our personal number because its too big and audacious but it is a big number of the kinds of records that we would love to sell all over the world. We want to be an international band. We want to be known all around the world and we want to be able to travel the world. We want to play this music in Asia, in Europe, and we want to play this music in Australia. We want to go to a lot of places and play our music, and so that’s the long-term goal. Hopefully we can get to there soon.

A very special thank you goes out to Paper Tongues and their management team for taking the time to sit-down with me and making this interview happen!

Assets: http://totalassault.com/assets/?team_id=427

iTunes Buy Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/paper-tongues/id364197082

MySpace: www.myspace.com/papertongues

Facebook: www.facebook.com/papertongues

Official Page: www.papertongues.ning.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/paper_tongues

New Music Friday – Hodges

Hailing from Forth Worth, Texas, Hodges is an emerging singer/songwriter who has found a musical home among others who try and tell a story through their song. Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty recognized this when he recently signed Hodges to his RTel imprint on Epic Records. Hodges attributes his vocal strength to his mother, a former RCA Records recording artist. His undeniable ability to craft a melody stems from his father, a Julliard-trained musician, who taught Hodges the importance of sound songwriting.

Per Myspace:

“My influences are really the artists who know how to take the universal themes of songwriting and make them their own,” says Hodges.

Hodges has a wide range of influences, ranging from Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty to U2 and Peter Gabriel. If you are a fan of the tv show “Criminal Minds,” then you probably have heard his song “My Side Of The Story,” which incidentally is also the name of his debut album. It has been some time since the music industry has produced a singer/song writer with this kind of talent for writing ballads. His ballads range from mellow to having a rock edge leaving his audiences able to feel the emotions through the songs that he sings. While he has no official videos out for his music, you can watch an acoustic performance of his song “My Side Of The Story” above.

Artist Interview – The Script

the-script1

A little while ago we featured “The Script” on New Music Friday with their video “Breakeven.” (Click HERE to see it!)Hailing from Dublin, Ireland, and consisting of members Danny O’Donoghue, Mark Sheehan, and Glen Power, they are steadily climbing up the popularity charts with their new brand of Celtic soul, blending ‘hip hop lyrical flow with pop melodiousness, state-of-the-art R’n’B production with anthem rock dynamics, classic song construction with gritty contemporary narratives.’ Currently on tour with American Idol’s Season 7 Winner David Cook, they took a few minutes out of their busy schedules to answer a couple questions that many fans have been wanting to know the answers to. Those answers are below – Enjoy!

• What are some of your favorite places you have played?
Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland – Supporting U2. The New Shay Stadium – Cityfield New York. The Warehouse-Houston, Minneapolis-The Fine Line, New York – St. Patricks Day – The Highline Ballroon

• What is one of your most bizarre fan encounters?
We were using the bathroom in a truckstop when a guy came in and said ‘ I dont mean to ask you this now but can I have your autograph? ‘

• Who are some of your inspirations?
Coldplay-U2-Stevie Wonder-Timbaland-Tribe called Quest

• Where do you get your song inspirations from, lyrically speaking?
It can come from anything, anyone or anywhere. It can come from a conversation or a line thats said in a movie we are watching. Our formula is to have no formula, that way we never get stuck.

• How did you come up with the name for your band?
When we call each other up in the morning we would always say ‘ whats the Script? Whats the story, whats happening today? ‘ Also our songs our very storylike in nature and we started the band in LA so we felt that everything was pointing to that name.

• What are some of your passions outside of music?
Golf – Playstation 3 – Reading

• How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
In a live sense, we have become a better band, more confident onstage and more aware of what makes a show great. The music has evolved with our audience in ways we couldnt have imagined, people have taken their own meanings from the songs and made them a soundtrack to their own lives.

• What has been your biggest challenge as a band?
Adapting to the touring life, being away from home and the people you love.