The self-titled debut album from KILL DEVIL HILL — the band featuringAppice, Rex Brown (PANTERA, DOWN) on bass, Mark Zavon (RATT,W.A.S.P., 40 CYCLE HUM) on guitar and Jason “Dewey” Bragg(PISSING RAZORS) on vocals — has had its release date pushed back to May 22 from the previously announced March 27.

Vinny Appice has anchored the rhythm and power live and in the studio for the music of DIO, BLACK SABBATH, HEAVEN & HELL, WWIII, AXIS,Rick Derringer, John Lennon, and more. He has recorded and co-written songs on over 25 albums and CDs, including many multi-platinum records. Touring the world for over two decades resulted in selling millions of records! Vinny‘s drumming can also be heard on numerous movie soundtracks, including “Wayne’s World 2″, “Heavy Metal”, “Iron Eagle”and “Bedazzled”. Vinny, the author of drum instruction book “Rock Steady” and DVD “Hard Rock Drumming Techniques”, has performed incredible powerhouse drum clinics around the globe. Numerous books have been written about BLACK SABBATH and DIO with the authors always mentioned Vinny‘s unique powerful drumming style.

Courtesy of Blabbermouth.net

A two-and-a-half-minute video clip in which SHINEDOWN frontman Brent Smith walks fans through “For Your Sake: Inside The Making Of Amaryllis” can be seen below.

“Amaryllis” sold 106,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 4 on The Billboard 200 chart.

SHINEDOWN landed the biggest debut of its career in July 2008 when its third album, “The Sound Of Madness”, sold 50,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at No. 8 on the Billboard Top 200. This marked the first Top 10 album of the band’s career.

SHINEDOWN performed two songs — “Bully” and “Unity” — on the March 26 episode of ABC-TV‘s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”.

“Amaryllis” arrived in stores almost four years after the band issued “The Sound Of Madness”. Brent Smith told The Pulse Of Radio that even though the band really came together on that last effort, they didn’t want to rest on their laurels while making “Amaryllis”. “We’re never really a band that’s gonna ever be satisfied,” he said. “We’re never gonna be complacent with ‘Oh, well, that’ll do.’ We’re the band that’s looking for the doors that everyone is afraid to find, because we like that. We like pushing the envelope constantly. It keeps us on our toes.”

The first single from “Amaryllis”, “Bully”, has already topped the rock radio charts. The new single is called “Unity”.

The million-selling “The Sound Of Madness” yielded six chart-topping singles like “Second Chance”, “Devour”, “If You Only Knew” and the title track. It debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, spending 120 weeks on the album chart.

SHINEDOWN is headlining the 2012 edition of the Avalanche Tour, which kicked off on March 27 in Anaheim, California, with ADELITAS WAY, NEW MEDICINE and ART OF DYING also on the bill.

Courtesy of Blabbermouth.net

Erna just finished a short tour to promote the release of “Avalon Live”, his upcoming live DVD/Blu-ray that features the singer and an eight-piece band performing songs from his 2010 solo debut, “Avalon”. A late spring release for the disc is planned, although an exact arrival date has yet to be confirmed.

Many fans feared when Erna announced his solo project a couple of years ago that it would mean the end of GODSMACK. But Erna told The Pulse Of Radio that nothing could be further from the truth. “For me, I didn’t go off and do a solo thing because I was angry at my band,” he said. “As an artist, I need both for balance. It’s just creative, you know, juices that need to come out and I can’t write some of the stuff I wrote for the solo record and fit it into GODSMACK‘s world. It doesn’t work, it’s not the same texture.”

The limited edition of “Avalon Live” will include the show, a documentary and behind-the-scenes footage on three DVDs, two CDs, a book, T-shirt, guitar pick, poster, incense, and a custom Sully Erna engraved metal box with a suede lining. There will only be 5,000 of the box sets produced.

GODSMACK will release a live album called “Live And Inspired” this spring. The effort will include 13 songs recorded at a show in Detroit, Michigan on the band’s last tour and will be packaged with a bonus disc containing four cover songs.

Courtesy of Blabbermouth.net

“Biggest Fan” is already the #2 most added record at Active Rock, withLoudwire declaring, “with crushing drum patterns, blistering guitar riffs and a serious solo, ‘Biggest Fan’ is going to pound your ear drums.”

Rose told The Pulse Of Radio that CALL ME NO ONE has turned into something bigger than he and Lowery first envisioned. “This isn’t really a side project. This is another band,” he said. “I mean, other people have done it, but I guess that the closest thing we could compare it to is likeSTONE SOUR to SLIPKNOT, you know. I mean, we’re gonna go ahead and do this, then when this runs its course, it should be right on time forSEVENDUST to get back and rolling.”

Lowery recently described the sound of CALL ME NO ONE as “kind ofNINE INCH NAILS meets FOO FIGHTERS.”

SEVENDUST guitarist John Connolly and bassist Vince Hornsby also recently launched a new project, joining forces with CREED/ALTER BRIDGE drummer Scott Phillips in a new outfit called PROJECTED.

PROJECTED has already entered the studio to begin recording its debut disc, to be made available later in the year.

SEVENDUST itself will begin writing its ninth studio effort this summer, with plans for an early 2013 release. SEVENDUST issued its most recent outing, “Cold Day Memory”, in April 2010.

Courtesy of Blabbermouth.net

Slash said last week that GUNS N’ ROSES will not perform at the event, and Stradlin‘s absence would seem to confirm that whether Rose shows up or not.

Slash told Rolling Stone earlier this week that Rose “hates my guts.” The two have not performed together since 1993. Rose currently tours with a completely different version of GUNS N’ ROSES featuring no original members but him.

During a 2009 interview with longtime friend and former road manager Del James, first published on Spinner, Rose called Slash a “cancer.”

“There’s zero possibility of me having anything to do with Slash other than by ambush, and that wouldn’t be pretty,” Rose told James. “There is the distinct possibility that having his intentions in regard to me so deeply ingrained and his personal, though guarded, distaste for much of ‘Appetite[For Destruction'] the band’s diamond-certified debut album] other than his or Duff‘s playing, Slash either should not have been in GUNS to begin with or should have left after ‘Lies’. In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed, avoided — and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better.”

Speaking to the Artisan News last week (see video below), Adler stated about the bad blood between Rose and Slash, “I have no idea why [Axl] would hate [Slash]. I don’t think Axl knows why he hates him. It’s been too many years. And my grandmother always said, ‘Stevie, time heals all wounds.’ And my grandmother has always been right — pretty much through my life, everything she said pretty much came to pass. And there’s been many times [where I thought], ‘Yeah, grandmother said that was gonna happen.’ [Laughs]”

Courtesy of Blabbermouth.net

Hale told The Pulse Of Radio that the writing process for “The Strange Case Of…” was split in two distinct halves. “We went into it right off the road, so the first half of the record that we wrote was very… We were writing some of the most aggressive songs that we’ve ever written, I’m screaming my head off, you know,” she said. “And then halfway through, started writing some of the most personal songs that, you know, we’ve ever written, and some things that I’ve never talked about before, and it’s interesting — there’s two definite sides and very real sides to what we do and who I am.”

Hale also said about the new disc, “With this record, we had just a better concept of our fans and a lot of what we did was inspired by them and the feeling that we got during our live shows.? Also, the music is bridging the gap between what we do live and what we can do in the studio.”

“The Strange Case Of…” follows up HALESTORM‘s acclaimed 2009 self-titled debut, which featured the hits “I Get Off” and “Familiar Taste Of Poison”.

“The Strange Case Of…” track listing:

01. Love Bites (So Do I)
02. Mz. Hyde
03. I Miss The Misery
04. Freak Like Me
05. Beautiful With You
06. In Your Room
07. Break In
08. Rock Show
09. Daughters Of Darkness
10. You Call Me A Bitch Like It’s A Bad Thing
11. American Boys
12. Here’s To Us

The band will be the openers for the Mass Chaos tour, starringGODSMACK and STAIND, which starts on April 13 in Augusta, Georgia.

Courtesy of Blabbermouth.net

“The Tour” is currently scheduled to wrap on September 23 in Hartford, Connecticut. Although the bands are officially co-headlining the tour,MÖTLEY CRÜE will open for KISS each night.

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons told The Pulse Of Radio that attending a KISS concert should be viewed as nothing less than a religious rock experience. “There’s something else going on, that somehow words don’t really get to — in the same way that, perhaps, when you think about a, a Southern Baptist church revival,” he said. “Your spirit is lifted when you walk out of there. You feel glad to be alive another day. I’d like to think that when you leave our show, you feel exhilarated — physically exhausted, but there’s something to talk about.”

MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx told The Pulse Of Radio that the band always has one goal whenever it goes onstage. “If we’re the greatest we can be, that’s exciting, and that’s what I believe that Mick (Mars) andTommy (Lee) and Vince (Neil) all want too,” he said. “They want to be the greatest rock band that MÖTLEY CRÜE can be. That’s why we always try to come up with new, twisted versions of our production, and I think our shows are so potent and, I think, contagious. It’s fun and it’s horrifying all at the same time.”

Courtesy of Blabbermouth.net

“Use Your Illusion”-era GUNS N’ ROSES drummer Matt Sorum has toldVH1 Radio Network‘s Dave Basner that founding guitarist Izzy Stradlinwill not be attending the ceremony. Sorum said, “[Slash] spoke to Izzyand Izzy wasn’t planning on coming. So I think that was like, if Izzy‘s not going to come and it’s not all the original guys, then it doesn’t make sense.”

Slash, who recently confirmed that the original band would not be playing, told Rolling Stone on Monday (April 2) that he’s “dead sick” of talking about the induction, adding, “I feel you’re totally obligated to be present and I would love to play, but it’s just something that’s not gonna happen for whatever reason.”

It’s been widely documented that singer Axl Rose‘s hostility toward Slashis the major stumbling block for any reunion, with Slash saying, “He hates my guts. It’s over a lot of different stuff; I don’t even know. There’s just no communication between us. I talk to Duff [McKagan, bassist] andSteven [Adler, drummer], but when it comes to old GUNS N’ ROSES, there really isn’t anybody that makes decisions.”

Slash will release his second solo album, “Apocalyptic Love”, on May 22, with a North American tour booked.

Also going into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on April 14 are theBEASTIE BOYS, the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, the FACES/SMALL FACES, Donovan and Laura Nyro.

The ceremony will be taped for broadcast by HBO, which plans to air it in early May.

Courtesy of Blabbermouth.net

ESE Rocks had the opportunity to talk with frontman Darick Parson on the phone to get some insight about the band, their first album ‘Parking Lot Rockstar’, and what the hell’s been going on.

You can check out the live interview here:

Or you can read the interview below:

ESE Rocks: This is Scottydawg with East Side Entertainment. We have Darick Parson on the line from the hard rock band Soulicit. How you doing today, Darick ?

Darick Parson: I’m doing well. How you doing brother ?

ESE: I’m doing pretty good. Enjoying the weather. I know you guys are from Wichita, Kansas. How has the weather been since winter’s almost been non existent ?

Darick: You know, it’s been fairly mild. We didn’t have any snow here in Wichita. It’s been a piece of cake here this winter so it kinda scares us for this spring and summer. See what they have in store for us. (laughs)

ESE: I hear ya. Tell us a little about Soulicit and when the band formed as a group ?

Darick: We got back together in 2002, me and Dan. We kinda grew up together as kids and went to school together. We both loved the hell out of music so it was kinda natural for us to get together and start creating music ourselves. We did the hard knock thing for a lot of years. Dan brought on his brother, Andrew, on bass and then most recently is Trent. But we started out playing in an old 1920′s converted gas station. We were too young to get in the bar so we’d have these huge house parties and that’s kinda how we got our start.

ESE: Being from Wichita, Kansas, how hard was it to get noticed by the music industry in that particular area ?

Darick: Man, it was definitely a challenge because nobody really looked at Wichita, Kansas and thinks what a great music scene and label/A&R guys aren’t necessarily sittin in Wichita lookin for talent but it’s that same way with a lot of cities. It’s definitely not an excuse so we got out there and just busted our butts and tried to reach out to as many people as we could. We grew our fan base here, cut our teeth here, and took that same attitude to the streets. That’s what you gotta do.

ESE: That’s cool. I’ve seen a lot of local bands pretty much in the same situation. Being from a town where the venues only play bands that play cover music and not originals. How were you guys able to break away from that and to move on to bigger and better things ?

Darick: We never actually did the cover band thing. It’s just not anything I was interested in. I got into music as an escape and a way to kinda release myself and to tell my stories and to tell my feelings. Singing cover songs didn’t do none of that for me. So I never really compromised on that. But like you said, it’s really tough to a be an original rock act in a music scene that would much rather have dj’s and karaoke and cover bands. That’s why you have to be really good with your song writing. You’ve gotta write good quality songs that people can listen to for the first time, have no idea who you are, and still get involved and grab on to it. So I think it all starts with your song writing.

ESE: Now that you speak of that, what is the writing process for you guys ? Do the lyrics come first or the music come first ?

Darick: Usually it will start with me having an idea of something. You know, I’ll have an idea for a chorus or a few lines. I’ll have an idea so I’ll take it to the rest of the guys and; luckily I have a band full of guys that are extremely talented at their instrument and what they do. They’re all very great songwriters their selves, so I’ll take an idea to the group and say, hey man I got this chorus or whatever and we’ll just work it through and everybody kinda adds their own personalities to it and that’s normally how it works.

ESE: Is there any advice you might give to struggling musicians that were in the same boat as you guys were years ago ?

Darick: The best advice I can tell them is keep at it, just absolutely keep at it. If it’s your dream, keep dreaming. You’re gonna hear no way more than you’re gonna hear yes. But never let those no’s keep you down or stop you from what you’re doing. You just gotta keep plugging at it and that’s what we do. We just refuse to quit. (laughs) We heard a lot and a lot of no’s. We got the bad end of a lot of deals and been taken advantage of but you gotta keep pushing through that. So the best advice I can give you is just keep grinding.

ESE: Darick, you personally, do you have any regrets or things you may have done differently in the past ?

Darick: Not really. I’m a huge believer in faith and I’m a believer in everything happens when and where it’s suppose to; so to me changing anything that we did, I don’t think would bring us to where we our today. So honestly man, no. I don’t think that I would change anything. I think the hard times that we went through built character as a band.

ESE: How would you describe your style of music to your listeners ?

Darick: We like to tag ourselves as American hard rock. We are just that. We are straight forward and good time rock and roll. We grew up on classic rock in the 80′s and that’s the kinda feel we wanna bring back. It’s catchy, guitar driven, American rock and roll. No frills, just rock and roll.

ESE: Let’s talk a little about your album, Parking Lot Rockstar. You self-released an album back in 2009. This album is your first release by a label company. Who produced the album and was there any difficulties along the way in creating the album ?

Darick: We actually went out to Orlando and worked with Brett Hestla. He did a little stint with Creed and he’s the frontman for Dark New Day and also Virgos Merlot. We heard a lot of his stuff and liked his sound. We thought that he brought kind of a different angle than what we had and we thought that’s what we needed. And it worked out really well. We had a blast, he’s a great guy to work with. I think that we got a product that we’re really proud of. It was tough. It’s a time consuming thing. We only had two and a half weeks to get it done. So we literally recorded an entire album in two and a half weeks. It’s very quick for an album but we’re super proud of it.

ESE: Two and a half weeks ? That’s pretty amazing. I’m excited to see what you’re gonna do in a couple of years for the next album.

Darick: We are too. We’ve already started writing for the next album. Hopefully we’ll get in the studio maybe this winter or the first part of next year but we’re super excited to work on the next one. We’ve gotta promote this one and we are but again, we’re super excited to get in and see what we come up with the second time around.

ESE: That’s kinda refreshing. A lot of musicians, they’ll put an album out maybe once every two or three years and here you are already writing for your second album.

Darick: That’s the way our label works. Thermal Entertainment and Kyle, our manager, he only has one speed and that’s 110 mile an hour. He’s kind of instilled that in all of us and exactly what you said, we don’t wanna sit around and beat a dead horse with a record for two or three years. We wanna release it, have fun with it, promote it, and blast it; but then move on to the next one. We’re lookin about a year. So that’s the way we move and that’s the way we’re gonna continue to move.

ESE: Now speaking previously about Brett Hestla, big name associated with acts like Dark New Day and Creed, how did you guys hook up with him and what was the experience like ?

Darick: I actually reached out to him. I heard some of his stuff in the past and I loved his recordings and his production work with mixing as well. So I just reached out to him and said hey man and would you be interested in working with a new act. Sent him a couple of demos that we had roughly recorded at that point. He took a listen and said yeah man let’s do it. So that’s kinda how it unfolded. We went out there. It was a blast. He was very nose to the grind since we had a tight time frame. So it was a lot of straight forward work. The good thing about working with him is that he makes sure that everybody’s havin a good time. I think that’s a necessary part of recording as well. You gotta enjoy what you’re doing at the end of the day.

ESE: What I like about your music is that it offers a variety of music all in one package. Everything from your fast paced tunes to get your day started to that chill out music when you’re driving home from work, like the song Complicated. You offer something for everyone.

Darick: That was our goal. We wanted a cd that you could plug in and listen to the entire thing without skipping tracks. Second, we didn’t want the whole cd to sound like one big song. We didn’t want it to sound like ten of the exact same songs. So it’s always been important for us to offer that diversity. Like you said, it’ll take you and smack you around, it’ll make you party, it’ll make you throw a fist in the air and make you reflect. That was important to us.

ESE: You know, I love the song Blow Me Away, with the lyrics “All week long, bitch won’t answer my calls” (laughs). What’s the insight with that song ?

Darick: You know, man, it’s a light hearted one for sure. It’s about real stuff. It’s about that typical chick who, during the day, won’t give you that time of day; but as soon as you strap a guitar around your neck and she’s got a couple drinks in her, and all of a sudden you’re a hero to her (laughs). They’re out there and it happens so what the hell, let’s write a song about it.

ESE: You guys are signed with Thermal Entertainment. How has the relationship been and are you given the ability to do what you want with respect to what may be the next single ?

Darick: First of all, it’s been absolutely great to work with them. We not only got a label and a management company, we’ve got two best friends out of the deal; with Kyle and Rhonda Favors, who heads Thermal Entertainment, so it’s been an amazing relationship. As far as the creative side of things, absolutely. We write all of our own tunes and we kind of define our own sound in what we want the album to look like with their input as well. It’s definitely a collective effort. When it comes as far as choosing singles, we’ve got a radio team put together that’s done our promotions so far. They’re the pros at what they do, so we kinda go with what they say and hope for the best. So far they’ve done amazing for us. We got our trust in those guys and what they say so go with it.

ESE: The first time I heard your sound “Hell Yeah” was on Sirius XM’s Octane. You guys are fairly new and in that aspect I mean new to the professional music industry. You’re single is not only being played on local radio stations throughout the country, but also heard on Sirius XM’s Sixx Sense, Lou Brutus’ Hard Drive, and on Octane. How cool is that to be heard throughout the country ?

Darick: Dude, it’s amazing. It’s a huge honor for us. We spent so many nights and so many days in the band listening to Octane and hearing all of our favorite bands on there. Also hearing a lot of bands that we were playing with at shows, we were wishing we could break that barrier. The Nikki Sixx program, he kinda hand selected us to play on his show. Lou Brutus did the same thing for us. If you think about those guys and what’s behind them and the experience that they have; to have them pick us and our tunes, it’s humbling and a true honor and a dream come true for all of us.

ESE: Do you remember the first time you heard your single “Hell Yeah” on Octane ?

Darick: Yeah I do actually. The time that stuck out in my mind, we had an off day. We were literally cleaning out the van and of course we had Octane blasting. With all four of us standing out there, boom it comes over the radio. Everybody just kinda stopped for a minute at that surreal moment and it’s like wow this is actually happening. That was huge. Being on the road, it’s cool to have people back at home pop on Octane and listen to us and have us there in their living room. So it’s amazing.

ESE: When you first heard it, did you know it was going to be played on Octane or was it more or less like a surprise shock ?

Darick: There was some talk of it so there was something that may potentially be in the works. It’s like so many things in this business, there’s nothing that’s guaranteed. You never know. We were hopeful but had no idea. We absolutely had no idea of when it was gonna play or if it was gonna play. When it finally did, you see like wow it’s actually happening. It was a huge surprise, definitely.

ESE: Can you tell us a little about the song “Hell Yeah” and the inspiration behind the song ?

Darick: Yeah man absolutely. On the surface, it’s a good throw your fist in the air party song. If you’re running late in driving, you might want to throw that one on (laughs). But actually more important to us and deeper than that, it’s a hundred percent true story about Trent, our brother’s drummer was actually involved in a real life high speed police chase. So one night, Trent was telling us the story and I’m thinking damn this is too good and we gotta make a rock song out of it. So not is it only a fun party song but it’s actual real events.

ESE: Coincidentally you guys have a video for the song that resembles the story. Can you tell us about the video and how cool it was to make ?

Darick: The video kinda makes more sense now knowing it’s a real high speed chase story right ? (laughs) The video is exactly who we are. We’re just laid back guys who like to have fun. Although this is a business and we take it very seriously but at the same time you can’t always take yourself too seriously or you’re just gonna get burned out. That video was a great opportunity for us to do just that. We had fun with it. We’ve got Andrew and Trent in Reno 911 shorts and Dan’s the anchor man. It was an absolute blast. If you watch that video and you watch us, that is exactly who we are. So it was great.

ESE: Let’s talk a little about touring. You finished up a tour with Anew Revolution and Anchored. How was that tour and what was the audience reaction to your music ?

Darick: It was great. It was an absolute blast. The guys from Anew Revolution and Anchored are some of the best guys we’ve met on the road. They’re extremely giving and forthcoming with helping us out. It was our first national tour and those guys have tons of miles under their belt so it was a perfect situation for us to learn from them and at the same time learn from ourselves. We could not have been happier with the crowd response that we got at the shows that we played. It wasn’t always necessarily the crowds that came to hear or crowds that even liked our particular style of rock and roll, but after our shows we had people coming over to our booth. So it was a great experience. We learned a ton and met some great new friends out of the deal.

ESE: Any crazy shit happen while you were on tour or anything you can divulge ?

Darick: Aw dude, let me tell you something. The guitar player for Anew Revolution, Joe Fox, he’s a great guy and a blast to be around and a crazy dude. I think if music doesn’t work for him or doesn’t work out long term, all he’s gotta do is start his own reality show and just have cameras following him around (laughs).

ESE: Right now you’re on tour with Wayland and Another Lost Year. How’s this tour been going so far ?

Darick: Great. Again, all the guys in both bands are just amazing dudes. These are guys that we definitely call our friends and would play a show with them any day of the week. To me, and I think all the guys share the same opinion, this is the best independent, under the radar, tour that’s out there. A night of these three bands is a show worth a thirty or forty dollar ticket. It’s rock and roll from start to finish and it’s bad ass. We’re proud to be part of the bill with those guys and again we’d hit the road with either one of them at a moment’s notice. It’s great man.

ESE: What do you think would be your dream tour ? In other words, who would you like to go out on tour with ?

Darick: I don’t know. There’s a lot of guys out there that I’d like to jump on a tour with. To me as a songwriter and musically, bands like Shinedown; which is a huge influence on me. I’d love to hit the road with those guys. And bands like Black Stone Cherry which is my favorite kind of rock and roll. That dirty southern new rock; I love that stuff. So guys like that, we’d love to hit the road and hopefully someday in the near future we can. I know we got some festival dates that we’re sharing with them so maybe we can shake some hands and put something together.

ESE: That’s kinda my next question. After this tour here, what’s your next move ?

Darick: We’re lining up our spring and summer festivals and we got some really great ones that we’re proud to be on. So this spring and summer is gonna be filled with festivals and other shows alike. For the rest of this year, our goal is to be on the road promoting the hell out of this record. As long as it’s up to Kyle, our manager, we’re gonna do just that. He keeps us busy and his goal is for us to play 250 shows this year and I don’t think we’re gonna have a problem hitting that.

ESE: That’s a hell of a lot of shows. I’m from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You have any plans on hitting Cleveland or the Pittsburgh area ?

Darick: Yeah, absolutely. We have a bunch of dates that we haven’t released yet and dates that are getting added every day. That’s kind of our bread and butter area right now is that particular region. We seem to do really well out there and the crowds really love rock music out that way which is amazing. We’re gonna be out that way and I can’t tell you when but it’ll be soon.

ESE: We’ll be looking forward to that. Something I’ve always been curious about with professional musicians. Success is always measured in various ways whether it be money, being played on the radio, or just happy playing clubs and bars. I consider you guys successful already. What do you think success means to you and your band ?

Darick: To me success is very long term. Trophies, awards, and radio spots are great to have and necessary but to me the true measure of success is longevity. Being able to play out record after record, year after year, tour after tour; to make this a life long career. So really until then, until I’m too old to swing that guitar around my neck and just physically can’t do it anymore, I haven’t been successful until that point.

ESE: Not coming out with a cane on stage won’t do ?

Darick: Hey don’t dare me man I’ll do it.

ESE: I seen an interview on Youtube you did with Extreme 107.1 radio. You mentioned an app for the Android and iPhone users that can be downloaded for free. Personally, I work in the cell phone industry. I downloaded the app for the Droid and iPhone. I was really amazed at how clean and precise the app was. You have everything from the band’s bio, upcoming shows, latest news, videos, and the ability to stream your songs. And the app is free !

Darick: We were just as excited and surprised as you. We as a band had nothing to do with it. Our manager, Kyle, set all that up and he did an amazing job with it. The first time we checked it out, we were like there’s a lot of content. It’s a full app. You’ve got schedules, pics, bios, and streaming music. There’s news on there so you can stay up to date with what’s going on so it’s literally having Soulicit in your pocket.

ESE: When I downloaded the app, I hooked up the phone to my car stereo and drove around town blasting your music. Made me want to go out and buy your album. This brings me to another question. What are your thoughts on those that download your music without paying for it on peer to peer websites ?

Darick: Well listen man, that kind of stuff is never gonna go away. So it’s kind of a double sided blade. If somebody wants to go through the effort of pirating my music, uploading it to their website, and then also having people go to their website and download it; that’s kinda cool. That’s a lot of effort that somebody’s going through to play our music and we are reaching out. But on the other side, our main goal is to get rock and roll to where it use to be. We want to bring it back to the forefront to where like it deserves to be and use to be. That’s all up to us as bands. Fans, radio, tv, magazines; and that’s where it starts. Pass up on the free one. Spend ten bucks on a cd and support the band. Go buy a t-shirt, go buy a ticket, go to a local show. It’s all up to us to change the environment of rock and roll and it starts with stuff exactly like that. Go buy a record, man.

ESE: Where else can your fans go online to check out Soulicit ?

Darick: Our actual homepage is www.soulicitrock.com and then on facebook it’s www.facebook.com/soulicit. Give us a listen and come to a show.

ESE: Any last words or anything we might not have touched base on that you want your fans to know either about Darick Parson or Soulicit ?

Darick: You know it kinda stems back on to what I said earlier, if you see us on a calendar that is close, come check us out. If you never heard of us and you see our name on a poster come check us out. Go check out a band anywhere in your area. It’s time that we all become a little more proactive as far as supporting rock and roll and bringing it back to where it needs to be. So check us out, check a show out, go buy a cd, go buy a ticket. It all starts with us and we have the ability and power to change the environment of rock and roll. So I hope everybody starts pitching in and doing that.

ESE: That’s awesome. Darick, it was a pleasure talking with you. Getting this interview was kind of unconventional. I hit you up on facebook and you reached back to me. I appreciate you taking this time out to interview with East Side Entertainment.

Darick: No problem, brother. Thanks so much for having us and doing your part to support rock and roll and help support Soulicit. I appreciate it.

In a March 31 tweet, Mustaine wrote, ‘”Got my 6 mos. X-rays 3/30/12 on my neck. Totally fused, and I can FINALLY start exercising. Thank God, and thanks for your prayers.”

Speaking to the Detroit Free Press in February, Mustaine stated about his surgery, “My neck is completely recovered. The surgery was a breeze. The doctor I used … did Peyton Manning‘s surgery. Fortunately, my recovery time has been a lot faster than Peyton‘s. He was in before me and I’m out playing before him. I wish him well in his recovery.”

When asked if he can still headbang, Mustaine said, “I can headbang, but I’ve found with the limitation of, ‘Do I want to headbang or do I want to be in a wheelchair?’ I kind of toned it down a little bit. There’s more body parts you can move around. I mean, I’m not dancing or anything like that but I’m making the best use of it I can.”

Speaking to Decibel magazine last November, Mustaine stated about his neck injury, “The way [2011's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival] ended, with me being hurt, I knew I was hurt, but I didn’t know how bad. Nobody knew the writing was on the wall. I pretty much thought, ‘Well, I”m hurt, but I’ll just take it easy, have a couple of glasses of wine. I’ll get through it, get a couple of trigger point injections, get an epidural.’ There were a couple of times they gave me a shot in my neck that numbed me up. I saw chiropractors and masseuses all the time. It inevitably gets to the point where you’re starting to take medication, and that’s never good, because if you’re taking something and you never feel the pain… You sawCurt Schilling when he was playing for the Diamondbacks, and Randy Johnson; I can’t remember if [Schilling] was playing for theDiamondbacks that time he had the bloody sock or if he’d gone back to Boston or not yet — [he] did some heroic feat where he had his foot put back together and he went out there and played.”

He added, “I’m an athlete, as a guitar player and as an onstage persona. But as far as being a musician that has to do hurdles — I don’t think most musicians, when they start playing music, think that they’re going to be playing this demanding-type music that those of us who are part of the ‘Big Four’ and all the bands we influenced and kind of created [play]. With the advent of the headbanging — which was not my invention, by any means; I’m not like Al Gore who invented the Internet — there was that whole headbanging thing that came around, it’s hurt a lot us… What is headbanging, anyway? It’s kind of like chronic whiplash syndrome, isn’t it?”

Courtesy of Blabbermouth.net