The LGM Project » Featured

Tell All Your Friends

Chad Braga — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 23:40:58 +0000

“Emo – Genre of softcore punk music that integrates unenthusiastic melodramatic 17 year olds who dont smile, high pitched overwrought lyrics and inaudible guitar rifts with tight wool sweaters, tighter jeans, itchy scarfs (even in the summer), ripped chucks with favorite bands signature, black square rimmed glasses, and ebony greasy unwashed hair that is required to cover at least 3/5 ths of the face at an angle.” (UrbanDictionary.com)

Yes, I concur entirely with this definition. And yes, I was “emo” at one point (though I did smile and didn’t have greasy hair). In this time period, where my angst and anger ran my middle school days and part of high school, “emo” provided its followers with some truly genuine artists, at least for its genre. Enough with the introduction, let’s talk about TAKING BACK SUNDAY.

Taking Back Sunday – a quintet formed in 1999 from Amityville, Long Island, New York- shined in the “emo” scene with their emotionally driven songs, espeically found in their first LP Tell All Your Friends (2002). Tell All Your Friends was not only an album that claimed a base for Taking Back Sunday, but almost set a standard of what the “emo” genre can or should be. But of course as the years passed, their sound naturally changed, probably due to its crucial lineup changes with its members.

Up to the present, the band has been through multiple changes, including through their guitarists (John Nolan replaced by Fred Mascherino in 2003, who was then replaced by Matthew Fazzi in 2007 ) and their bassist (Shaun Cooper replaced by Matt Rubano in 2003).

This did not stop the band though. Their efforts after Tell All Your Friends were huge successes, pleasing old fans to gaining new ones with their albums Where You Want to Be (2004) and Louder Now (2006). Unfortunately, a couple months after the release of their fourth album New Again (2009), the band announce that their most recent members (Fazzi and Rubano) have left the band. At this stand still, we can only ask WHAT’S NEXT FOR TAKING BACK SUNDAY?

Answer: a reunion. This reunion comes in full circle for the band, as original members John Nolan (guitarist/vocalists) and Shaun Cooper (bassist) once again join Adam Lazzara (vocals), Eddie Reyes (guitarist), and Mark O’Connell (drums) almost a decade later. On the band’s website (takingbacksunday.com), a pop-up appears showing a picture of the original members with censors over their eyes (the picture shown above). One of the recent posts on the site is a short video where you see the members hanging out with Shaun Cooper and John Nolan present. At the end of the video, a quote streams “Sometimes it takes some time to remember where you were headed in the first place and the people you intended to to go there with. There’s no hard feelings, just the future.”

So yes, the original team that brought you Tell All Your Friends are apparently back with new material currently in the works. Now we can REALLY ask: WHAT’S NEXT FOR TAKING BACK SUNDAY…?

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*A teaser “announcing” the return of the original members of Taking Back Sunday.

Something Corporate’s Upcoming Performance at Bamboozle Left ‘10

Chad Braga — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:35:18 +0000

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It was nearly 3 ago when Something Corporate, a piano-based pop/rock band from Orange County, CA, did a surprise reunion show at 2006’s Bamboozle Left after had announcing their hiatus the previous year. This phenomenal performance (I know, cause I was there) was sure to be their last, or at least their last performance in a long while….

Well now the wait is over. On March 28th in Anaheim, CA, Something Corporate will return once again to the stage at Bamboozle Left for ANOTHER reunion show. According to SomethingCorporate.com: “It’s been ten years since Something Corporate put out its first demos, and for the first time since 2005, you can see the band perform live!”

To find out more about this year’s Bamboozle Left festival (tickets, band line-ups, locations, etc.), click here.

A Movie About Blink182?!

Chad Braga — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:56:58 +0000

According to ads on Craigslist (which can be found here or here) and Exploretalent.com (click here), there is an open casting call for those to play Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker -better known as Blink 182 – in a movie based on the band’s beginning years. The ads also call upon actors/actresses to portray the people that were involved in Blink’s world, including their wives, manager, and even their OLD drummer Scott Raynor.

Taken from Craigslist-

The title of the film is “Blink” it will mostly be about the beginning years of Blink with some Blink-182 stuff thrown in there.

The first part of the film will be thru the eyes of Tom. and later be seen threw all three band members. [notice how they spelled "thru" and "threw" instead of "through."]

Main Characters:

Thomas Matthew Delonge (Tom): 15-17, Caucasian, Tom has a prankster personality with a “get-go” attitude and a bit of a sensitive/random side.

Mark Allan Hoppus (Mark): 17-20, Caucasian, Mark has a laid back personality with a “class-clown” attitude and random.

Scott William Raynor (Scott): 14-17, Caucasian, Scott has a loner personality with a “nice guy” attitude and pretty shy.

Travis Landon Barker (Travis): 19-23, Caucasian, Travis has a bit of a “shy guy” personality but he’s not afraid to try anything.

Angels and Airwaves New Movie

Lance Christensen — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:57:23 +0000

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This will explain it way better than I can:

“After losing contact with Earth, Astronaut LEE MILLER becomes stranded in orbit alone aboard the International Space Station. As time passes and life support systems dwindle, Lee battles to maintain his sanity – and simply stay alive. His world is a claustrophobic and lonely existence, until he makes a strange discovery aboard the ship. Driven by the powerful music of ANGELS & AIRWAVES, “LOVE” explores the fundamental human need for connection and the limitless power of hope… A high-impact visual adventure, that resonates a common truth, that everyone has a story to tell and something even greater to leave behind.” (Apple Trailers)

An Interview with The Sway

Chad Braga — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:03:45 +0000

To describe the collision course of the two worlds that make up The Sway, some would call it luck or destiny or perfect timing. Personally, I’ll just call it a fortunate happening. Long story short, hailing from Nashville, TN comes Tim Akers (vocalist/guitarist), a talented and warm-hearted soul that joins the likes of Adam Sobolew (vocalist/guitarist), an avid and committed musician from Fresno, CA, to create pop music at its most genuine and catchiest. Although The Sway consists of a full band, the two frontmen give LGM an intimate acoustic performance taken place at an old, vintage car shop on a summer night in Fresno, CA. Their performance left us at LGM with the upmost confidence that The Sway will easily find their way into many many headphones one iPod at a time…

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Death Cab For Cutie Gets The Nod for “New Moon” Soundtrack

Brian Alamano — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 23:02:47 +0000

For most people watching the summer come and go is a tough pill to swallow. But we have a feeling that the band members from Death Cab For Cutie will be using blood to wash down that pill this time around, and they’ll be doing it with a smile.

With the newest chapter of The Twilight Saga, “New Moon“, already in post-production, the soundtrack to the film has started to be put in place with Death Cab landing in the lead single slot. The song, appropriately titled “Meet Me On the Equinox”, was specifically written and composed for the sequel by the Grammy nominated indie rock band. The song is set to be unveiled Sept. 13 on MTV’s website during the Video Music Awards broadcast. Billboard.com hinted at some other artist’s who might be on the new soundtrack as well, “While no other artists are yet confirmed, music industry sources have the sound headed in a more indie-centric direction than the first ‘Twilight’, with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear and Muse all in the running.”

The soundtrack for Twilight, the first film of the saga and the massive shadow that New Moon will try to shake, debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 1 and sold 2.2 million copies…lets see if the little brother can unseat his older sibling.

The soundtrack to New Moon will be out October 20th, 2009. While the film is set to hit theaters a month thereafter.

Interview with Cookie Tanney (Founder of Pretty Hurt)

Brooke Rolfs — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:41:45 +0000

Hurt so Good

Designer crutches, glamorous slings and light up canes, who would have thought? Cookie Tanney, as a matter of fact. Founder and Creator of Pretty Hurt, Tanney has made a name for herself in the extreme sports scene and is making headway all across America.

Tanney, a Huntington Beach native, moved to Fresno a few years ago and dabbled in a little bit of this and a little bit of that. She eventually grew restless and began to pursue a different type of avenue all together, crutches.

The concept came when a close friend, Ernie, broke his leg. Being the fashion forward gal she is, Tanney used her fearless senses to create a custom pair of crutches for him.

To her surprise, the crutches were a smashing hit and pretty soon Pretty Hurt was born.

Marking her one year anniversary of Pretty Hurt, Tanney has succeeded in being a part of the surfing US Open, touring with the Action Sport tour and signing on a team of riders (Adam Denny, Jeff Bohuslavsky and Patrick Ivison) to sport the Pretty Hurt name.

Doing big things and keeping the creative vibes going is what Cookie is known for best. Her spirit and passion has allowed her to achieve greatness.

If she has done all this in one year, we here at Lean Green Machine can’t wait to see what happens next with Pretty Hurt; keeping it PRETTY and makin’ it HURT so good!!

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Written by Brooke Rolfs

Urban Bikes

Maxwell Rowe — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:55:41 +0000

Ever since gas prices started rising, the economy took a downward turn and there was an onslaught of “go green” campaigns bike shops have been hitting record numbers and new shops are opening left and right. With new shops and an increased interest in biking and bikes there has been a new focus on design, color and usability. Top manufacturers and smaller manufacturers alike have been rolling out some awesome new “urban/commuter” bikes that make commuting easy and stylish. Prices range, but these are not your $4,000 road bikes. Good bikes are upwards of $900, but all ranges are available. Check out a great list of 2009 bikes in varried ranges at Urban Velo. When choosing a bike, there is no full fledge method for each rider. The best thing to do is test ride each bike that your interested in. All sizes vary depending on the company and size is only the beginning.

Trek District

Trek’s new belt-driven District single speed commuter bike is out of this world smooth, but not sure on the amount of “chain slippage” on major uphills. Great for flat areas though.

Republic Bikes

YEEEEZZYYYY?!!?

Lance Christensen — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:13:27 +0000

^^Click Picture^^

Featured Artist

Maxwell Rowe — Mon, 11 May 2009 04:24:39 +0000

Okay this is a first, but each month we, here at lean green, would like to feature an artist. Kind of a shout out to all the creative people out there, give them some exposure and a type of online gallery opening. This month we are featuring an awesome photographer, Isaac Riley (Isaac’s Eye Photography). He has been rockin the camera for a couple years now and really taken off. Apart from shooting high fashion and glamour throughout California, Riley thows it down when it comes to weddings, events and portraits. He has truely come into his own. If nothing else leave Isaac some props for his mastery and we hope to see much more from him in the future. Below is some Q&A and a gammet of some of his shots. For more of Isaac’s photos, check out www.isaacseyephotography.com .

ME: How did you start?

ISAAC: It all started when I needed photos of myself to put on my MySpace. I put up a sheet and used light on either side of me. I had a friend take a photo of me and I did the same for him. After posting them on MySpace, MySpace users asked me who took the photos and how much. It’s been a long road in regard to photography. It took lots of money for one thing, but has been very rewarding.

ME: Influences?

ISAAC: America’s Next Top Model

ME: What do you look for when photographing?

ISAAC: I look to capture the essence and beauty of everything I focus on. Whether it’s landscapes or a photo of a person.

ME: How do you continue to push the edge and improve?

ISAAC: Learning things on my own and allowing myself to push for new creative ways to learn and build off of what was learned previously.

ME: Why do you do what you do?

ISAAC: I love the way it makes me feel, I feel free to do what I want without anyone telling me what to do. I see art while taking photos and the end result is always rewarding. And most importantly making people that I work with happy is always a plus. My inspiration comes from the ability to make known what I love through my work.

ME: Hopes/future?

ISAAC: I would love to work for a modeling agency and shoot models from all over the world.

ME: How do you know when you got a good photo?

ISAAC: Clarity, great lighting, and capturing the person’s inner and outer being tells me that I took a good photo.

I’ve seen Isaac grow and improve and he has now reached a level where he can conquer the world. If like his stuff, let him know. He’s also connected with MySpace, email, isrealpaints@sbcglobal.net.