HM Magazine Intern Diary: 6.19.09

Crazy day. Doug and I started the day by showing Kelly the new intern around a bit. She’s nice. She’s from Ohio so she and I talked about Ohio stuff for a while since my dad’s side of the family is mostly there and I have a good amount of connections there.

Trevor McNevan from Thousand Foot Krutch called right at 10 as arranged and we had a good conversation about everything from NHL video games to Aerosmith to Taco Bell to the song “Blue Monday” by… well… a band whose name made him a little uncomfortable to mention in an interview, though we laughed about it and he suggested I listen to it when I related that I hadn’t heard it in probably 10 years. Good memories. Let me just tease you with the tidbit that there’s a song on TFK’s new record, Welcome to the Masquerade that’s a nod to that song’s industrial flair. It was a really insightful interview and I can’t wait for you all to read it. Check out their first single off the new album, “Bring Me To Life.”

I also talked to Matt Mullins, Memphis May Fire‘s new singer. I felt like I got a lot of good info from him as well, and I think their Trustkill debut, Sleepwalking, is going to sell. They’ve got such a diverse sound, which is something we discussed at length, and I love Mullins’ style when he screams, how he changes up his diction tempo within words.

One band that was supposed to be on Memphis May Fire’s upcoming tour, Oceana, whose album we reviewed in the last issue, broke up yesterday, just as I was starting to get excited about the band. These things happen though. You should still give them a listen. They’ve got a unique post-hardcore, experimental sound, sort of like a The Receiving End of Sirens with more screaming. (Hmm, that’s my second TREOS reference this week; I think I’ve reached my quota.)

Speaking of obscure broken-up band references, my comment about Justifide the other day made me curious to see if I still had any pictures of me in my old Justifide t-shirt. Sure enough, here you go – proof that I’m not all talk (just mostly):

Now, before any of you freak out, that’s not my girlfriend – it’s an old friend of mine – and it’s the only picture I had of me wearing that Justifide shirt. We went to grade school together and she actually played a role in my becoming a Christian since she invited and drove me to the church that I was eventually baptized at a couple years after her initial invitation.

Haha enough nostalgia for one post. It’s probably a good thing I’m staying here during Cornerstone Festival. I love the Cornerstone experience and I always feel conflicted when I can’t make it but I’ve got a ton of work to do with our mid-July final deadline creeping slowly up – and at least I get to go to Warped Tour in San Antonio, which is while Doug will be away at C-stone. I’ve never been to Warped and I’ll be able to take photos and maybe interview some bands that I’ve never seen live like Thrice.

Don’t be that guy,
Corey Erb

“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” – African proverb

HM Magazine Intern Diary: 6.16.09

So I guess I scared off the other intern with my verbal bullying yesterday so she decided her car was gonna break down so she can’t come in till Friday. Ha! I see right through that, you’re not fooling anyone!

Naw, I hope it gets fixed (and for free, I hate car maintenance costs) and she makes it here safely. (Ha I guess I really am mean, aren’t I?)

Anyway! I got interviews with Thousand Foot Krutch and Showbread set up and will be listening to both forthcoming albums soon to further prepare. I proofread several articles, columns and reviews that have been coming in lately as well.

This afternoon, I got a ridiculously random idea for a book I think I’m going to write (no, Doug, I’m not going to steal your unpublished novel). I made some notes as thoughts came to mind but I think I’ll sit on it for a while till I can make sure it wasn’t just that I got some bad granola this morning or something…

Doug and I are going to see mewithoutYou play at Emo’s in downtown Austin with The Dear Hunter and Bear Colony in a bit. I’ll admit I’ve never been the biggest mwY fan but I enjoy deep lyrics so I’ll keep an open mind especially for their live show. I can say I’m looking forward to seeing The Dear Hunter, though. It’s ex-The Receiving End Of Sirens guitarist/co-vocalist Casey Crescenzo‘s experimental rock band, and I’ll be interested to hear them live since the only two albums they’ve released are acts I and II of a six-act story about the birth (to a prostitute), life and death of a boy known as “The Dear Hunter.” I wonder if they’ll play songs more or less in order of the story, or if they’ll just play random stuff. Their new album comes out next week so I suppose they’ll probably play a good amount of new material and that may take precedence over concerns of chronology. We’ll see if they break out any of the various horns or strings live that they feature on studio material. I hear Crescenzo has a really good live voice too. I guess he produced and even co-wrote some of the music on Falling Up‘s latest album Fangs!, which is a concept album as well. I’ll let you know what I think of all of them, and post some pictures if you’re lucky – and assuming I can get there on time and without getting lost ha.

Sleep now in the fire,
Corey Erb

“Crimson hands, brandish words which masquerade / If you flee from grace your souls can not be saved” – from “The Oracles on the Delphi Express” by The Dear Hunter