We are in our 6th week together, thank you for tuning in and logging on. I really appreciate the support that continues to come in. It’s been nuts around here, I’ve had to start vetting bands even more these days as i almost put on a band from Michigan that doesn’t even play Cinci. Plus Michigan, bla! I’ve received some 90 songs so far after taking over Native Noise. Each week I’m able to squeeze 10 to 12 songs in the hour we’ve got dedicated for local bands, after 6 weeks I still haven’t ran out of new music from mostly bands making their radio debut. INSANE. Skipping to next week I have half the show already full with new music, so if you want to be featured on next week’s show and haven’t already been on the program you better hurry and email me a link of one of your songs uploaded to dropbox or google, nudge@webn.com
THIS WEEK’S PLAYLIST:
HIGHBALL “FLY AWAY”
THE PEONIES “TALKING HORSES”
AVANTI “PRETENSE”
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SECRET CIRCLE SOCIETY “SOMETHING ABOUT YOU”
WATCHFROGS “LOST MY MIND”
MANGRENADE “MY OBLIVION”
SHAKE THE 5 DUST “SLEEPING”
THE WORLD I KNEW “CHAINS”
CALLMEGHOST “SLEEPING”
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GOD’S DIRT “ALL OF MY GOD”
RHYTHM & BOOZE “GOSSIP GIRL”
SPOTLIGHT BAND OF THE WEEK: AVANTI
Avanti is a female fronted post harcore/metal band who describes their sound as a combination of Breaking Benjamin and Killswitch Engage. Their sound features clean and harsh vocals, clean and distorted instrumentals, breakdowns, guitar solos, and a blend of new and older school sounds. The band formed in May of 2014 with Jasmyne on vocals, Cameron & Deliah both on guitar, Kerry rocks bass & vocals and Cody beats on the drums. Avanti released their debut EP Convictions last week, my favorite track off the 6 song EP is “Pretense” which will be featured after the Nudgecast and is in this week's edition of Native Noise.
Avanti is actually headed out this week on a week long tour down through Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas. They try and play at least 4 shows a month around the area and each summer host a multi-day festival for charity titled Forward Fest, working with organizations such as St. Jude's Children's Hospital and the Cincinnati-based A Voice For The Innocent, battling sexual abuse.
INTERVIEW W/ AVANTI:
Last weekend you released you're new EP "CONVICTIONS,” how much pressure did you put on yourselves working on this thing?
We had a lot of pressure on to get great quality music out there. Every show for almost a year, we would have missed sell opportunities due to us not having quality records on the market. We worked with Jesse Wall out of Solid Ground Studios in West Virginia, which was three hours away. We had to be efficient with our time to get the most out of each visit. We also wanted to make sure we were happy with the results and give it the time it needed to be high quality. Jesse is a great engineer and we meshed really well with him. We are really proud of this EP, but of course, after you listen to your music a thousand times, you find all sorts of improvements you want to make. Overall, we are extremely pleased with “Convictions” and looking forward to the future.
You guys are stressing that people buy the EP over just streaming on Spotify. How has being on Spotify benefited the band?
Artists being on Spotify is great for exposure and we are honored by people wanting to listen to our music. Unfortunately, streaming music just doesn't give artists the same kickback as buying the album online or at a concert. The music is just part of the experience; the artwork and presentation of the music is what gives our message life.
I noticed track one from Convictions is not available on Spotify, what's the reasoning behind that move?
That was a move Spotify made. I think their reasoning is to get people to buy Spotify rather than using the free app. Which is understandable. Either way, it encourages people to dig a little, which we like!
I see you are headed out on a big tour, is there anything you're hoping to do outside of just promoting & playing?
This tour will be a huge milestone for us as a band. Taking a week off of our day jobs and focusing on our passion is very exciting and beneficial for us. Growing as a band is a major goal for this tour. Everyone in Avanti works full time, so getting to spend time together outside of practice and shows is very valuable to us. Another major goal for the band during this tour is to gain experience. This is our first time truly going on tour and getting out there. We are going to make mistakes and probably play for like 5 people on a couple shows but that is okay. We have to make mistakes to learn and grow as a band and business.
Since you're going through Texas, do you think there will be a band fight over which burger place is better, Whataburger or In & Out?
There better not be. Whataburger is supreme. haha, just like the division of Gold Star and Skyline. I’ll bet have an even split.
How did you go about putting this short tour, what made you choose going south with stops in Tennessee, Arkansas and the HUGE state of Texas?
Our Drummer Cody, moved from Texas to start Avanti. To be honest, when the idea first came around he never believe someone would make that sacrifice. His family and all his childhood friends livethere. We'd always said our first tour would be to Texas and back to make it up to Cody for his leap of faith. As far as booking the tour, we just sought out local bands and made friends with everyone we could, and booked it totally DIY. We wanted to earn it on our first tour. That's something that's super important to us. Everything that is ours, we put in the work to get it.
With different vocal styles in the band, is it difficult when writing to determine how much screaming goes in verses more melodic vocals?
Yeah, it is difficult to decide. Some songs just come really easy and others require a lot of thought and collaboration. Some songs Cody will write vocals, others times Jasmyne will write. Sometimes we'll say, "Let's do a song of all cleans or all screams." Other times its, "Dude a scream would sound cool right there." After a battle of the Bands, a record company representative once told us to be more creative with our mix of cleans and screams. We achieve that a little more with every song we put together.
For the last three years you guys organize Forward Fest which benefits St Jude Cincinnati as well as A Voice for the Innocent which battles sexual abuse. What spurred Avanti to pull off a festival?
Avanti’s goal of setting up and running our own festival comes from our core and personal values We aim to unite local Southern Ohio musicians under one cause; to benefit others. We set up multiple shows spanning from Portsmouth to Cincinnati and even up to Columbus and partner with bands from their local scenes and offer them shows to get exposure outside of local scenes. This helps grow the Southern Ohio Music Scene by: giving exposure to other bands, creating contacts, and improving relationships between bands and fans, while raising money for great causes like St. Jude Children’s Research, A Voice for the Innocent and many others. Avanti translates from Latin to “Forward” and helping grow the local scene while supporting great causes is one way we can move forward together.
When is this year's Forward Fest, where it will be held and how does one get involved to help?
Currently, we are in the planning stages of Forward Fest 3. Once the EP Release and Tour are complete the bands, dates, and venues will start to become more clear. I can tell you we are aiming at the end August and Early September, and we have Ripley, Ohio, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Jackson, Ohio locked in. We are currently looking at adding one or two more cities and we are always looking for more bands to join the Forward Fest Alumni. If you are interested in being part of Forward Fest please contact Cameron Gulley at 513-668-1969 or emailing Avanti at avantiohio@gmail.com
Avanti is already doing big things in your first 3 years with a professional recorded EP, touring outside the Tri-State and pulling off a huge festival each year of your existence. What's your next move?
We are ambitious but realistic at the same time. The next goal is to play as many shows as possible this year and really drive the EP home. Another goal, is to shoot an actual music video for “Tell Me.” We believe this is one of the most solid songs on the EP and could draw in some fans with a good platform to peak interest. We are very excited to be hitting the year off on a great start and seeing what it holds for us.
CATCH AVANTI LIVE
March 11th at Thompson House, Newport, KY
March 19th at Rake’s End, Cincinnati, OH
April 1st at Northside Yacht Club, Cincinnati, OH
June 9th at The Underground, Cincinnati, OHYou can follow the band’s social medias
http://facebook.com/avantiohio
http://instagram.com/avantiohio
http://avantiohio.bandcamp.com
http://twitter.com/avantiohio
TRI-STATE’S LOCAL CONCERT CALENDAR:
THIS WEEKEND:
3/10
CHAOS AT THE CROW: Dear Agony & LIVE WRESTLING ACTION @ Old Crow Bar
Madison Theater Band Challenge Semi-Finals: Boxtrot, Conductor, Jones & The Hype Train, I.N.Y.A., Oak rose Lamp, Soul Butter, Tag, Wicked Peace @ Madison Theater
The Return of Donnie Canfield @ Froggys
Founding Fathers @ urban artifact
The Borderline Something / Motel Faces @ Madison Live!
3/11
ST CHRISTOPHER, CULT OF SORROW, HATRED WITHIN & RISENWOLF @ Tapout Bar
The Stewdio New Artist Showcase w/ Thundertaker / Lift the Medium / Nerak Roth Patterson Band / Temper @ The Old Crow
3/12
Rose Lamp / Rosedale / Forest Fox / The Dawn Drapes @ Urban Artifact
3/13
Static Falls @ MOTR Pub
3/16
Jamwave @ Queen City Radio
Room For Zero / Watchfrogs @ The Drinkery
NEXT WEEKEND:
3/17 FRIDAY
YOU VS YESTERDAY: JETTISON, DON’T CALL ME PUNK, THE PEONIES @
MADISON THEATER
Softspoken Pathways EP Release show w/ The Earth Laid Bare / Artica / Break Up Lines / Innova @ The Underground
THE RUFFINS / The Tangees / CallMeGhost / Efflorescence / When Autumn Calls @ Thompson House
Founding Fathers @ Northside tavern
3/18
Clairsentient @ Mad Frog
3/19
Go Go Buffalo opens up for Mac Sabbath & Okillly Dokilly @ The Woodward Theater
3/23
Life After This opens up for Bobaflex @ Bogarts
3/24
Infinity Spree Ep Release Party / As You Like It @ Madison Live! Infinity Spree will perform the new EP all the way through.
See You In The Funnies EP Release Party @ Urban Artifact
3/25
Third Person Omega opens up for TRAPT / Brian Goins / Greiving Otis / Crooked Rook / Lewi Kenwood. Trapt is going all acoustic that evening @ Madison Live!
Fast Forward Band @ Ft. Thomas Pub
March 31st
Big Ass Rock Show @ Bogarts
RIND / Sever The Ties / Secret Circle Society / Grieving Otis / Dangermonkey / Saving Escape / Lying In Ruins / Highball
Static Tension / Motel Faces / Shadow Of Shepherd / UP4DAZE @ Old Crow Bar
Go Go Buffalo @ City Nights
LOCALS @ LIVE! w/ SansAxiom / Day Needs Night / Jasper the Colossal / The Red Shift / Roosevelt @ Madison Live!
4/1
Thunderstruck w/ locals MOTEL FACES @ Bogarts
Zephaniah / Kingslayer @ Madison Live!
4/3
Night Demon / Forces of Nature / Split the Abyss / 80 Proof / Hellraiser / Solar Flare @ Mad Frog
4/7
Blank State / Dear Agony @ Thomspon House
Detached / The World I knew / Saint Christopher / Hopelessly Fryed / MCRNR @ Madison Live!
CallMeGhost @ The Underground
4/13
Jamwave @ Queen City Radio
4/15
The Nothing / Nightbeast / Tiger Sex / V-Twin Sin @ Madison Live!
4/22
Break Up Lines @ Madison Live!
5/6
Mandolin Bridge
5/13
CallMeGhost @ The 86 Club
5/27
Vesperteen w/ Circle It, Daniel In Stereo and Local Waves @ Madison Live!
Founding Fathers @ MOTR Pub
POWERFEST w/ OTHERS BY NO ONE @ Urban Artifact
6/09
Founding Fathers @ Southgate House
MOTR PUB has local shows 7 nights a week, check their schedule herehttp://motrpub.com/index.php/events/month/
Urban Articfact has shows nearly everynight
https://www.facebook.com/pg/urbanartifactbrewing/events/?ref=page_internal