What They Thought – Chris, Craig & Luke
on December 15th, 2011In today’s round of ‘What They Thought‘ catch ups, we suss out the highlights of the year from Chris Maric, who runs the promo for the Riot! Entertainment group, who release shitloads of metal all year round. Craig from Melbourne band The Bennies who this year released ‘Party! Party! Party‘ also chimes in with his two cents as does Luke from Chopdog Promotions who run a host of local shows, toured Smoke Or Fire / Pour Habit and recently announced the Cobra Skulls / Dead To Me tour for next year. See below for their answers.
Name : Chris Maric
What you do : National Promotions Manager for Riot + hang out with rock stars. If you read an interview or a review with a band on one of Riot’s labels, I have organised it.
Where you do it : Mostly on my laptop sitting on the lounge watching Sons of Anarchy
Website Link : www.riotact.com.au
Two favourite Australian releases Of 2011?
1. Ouroboros – Glorification Of A Myth – Monstrous – one of the biggest sounding albums Ive ever heard
2. Sleepmakeswaves – And So We Destroyed Everything – when you dont want to hear vocals at all and just drift off, this is perfect!
Two favourite International releases Of 2011?
1. Fleshgod Apocalypse – Agony – The perfect combo of black metal and symphony – amazing
2. Destrophy – Cry Havoc – I love my hard rock and this is the best album Nickelback never made hahaha
Two Favourite Live Bands you saw in of 2011?
1. Iron Maiden – Soundwave/Syd Ent Cent – Bruce and the boys can do no wrong – ever!
2. Def Leppard – AIS Canberra – Hysteria will always remain one of my favourite albums – to see the band kill it twice in 5 days was just awesome
Australian band who kicked the most arse in 2011?
Melody Black/Segression/Mortal Sin/Ouroboros/At Dark – the list goes on – so many great local bands have risen up in the last 2 years
International band who kicked the most arse in 2011?
A Day To Remember – these guys just keep getting exponentially bigger – not many bands can say that these days
Biggest let down of 2011?
Soundwave Revolution getting cancelled – JUst cause VH didnt want to come, the rest of it couldve gone ahead no probs. Because all the bands were tied up to that festival, we had a very lean winter of touring as a result
Personal working highlight/s of 2011?
Riot has the majority of metal labels for Australia – Nuclear Blast/Metal Blade/Victory/Season Of Mist/Frontiers/Indie/Relapse and on it goes – I get to work with killer bands every week – The biggest highlights have been hanging with Def Leppard and Iron Maiden – Of all the big heritage bands I had still yet to either work for and/or meet, these were the last two on the list -
Australian band to watch in 2012?
4Arm – Modern thrash at the cutting edge – expect big things!
International band to watch in 2012?
Kvelertak – everyone is watching already but after Soundwave these guys will be massive!
What you are most looking forward to in 2012?
Riot has 13 bands on Soundwave 2012: Black Label Society, Hellyeah, Wednesday 13, Unearth, Black Dahlia Murder, Watain, Biohazard, A Day To Remember, Dillinger Escape Plan, Kvelertak, Cathedral, Meshuggah and Conditions – Im friends with them all so it will be like a giant two week party and a lot of hard work too!
Riot will continue to release a shit load of awesome albums and we have a few things planned to take the company further too – Keep an eye out!
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Name : Craig from The Bennies
What you do : Treat the bass guitar with contempt
Where you do it : Wherever I can find an un-melted face
Website Link : www.facebook.com/thebenniesband
Favourite Australian releases Of 2011?
1. Hightime – ‘Ishi Prende’
2. Smith St Band – ‘No One Gets Flossed Anymore’
3. Foxtrot – ‘The Bum Line EP’
4. The Decline – ‘Are You Gonna Eat That?’
Favourite International releases Of 2011?
1. The Aggrolites – ‘Rugged Road’
2. Blink 182 – ‘Neighborhoods’
3. Lou Reed and Metallica – ‘Lulu’
Favourite Live Bands you saw in 2011?
1. Hightime
2. Hawaiian Islands
3. Kujo Kings
Australian bands who kicked the most arse in 2011?
Spliff Street Band, Really High Time, Flopstrot
International band who kicked the most arse in 2011?
The Aggrolites
Biggest let down of 2011?
The Arthouse closing!!!!
Personal working highlight/s of 2011?
Naming a song ‘Up-hole-o Squirteen’
Australian band to watch in 2012?
The Tearaways
International band to watch in 2012?
Blind Melon
What you are most looking forward to in 2012?
Hopefully having a catch up with Ryan hahahah
Anything additional?
Thanks for another fucken unreal year of Bombshellzine
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Name : Luke Griffis
What you do : Direct / Promote / Tour Manage
Where you do it : Chopdog Entertainment
Website Link : www.chopdogpromo.com
Two favourite Australian releases Of 2011?
1. Hightime – Ishi Prende
2. Decline – Are you gonna eat that?
Also throwing in The Bennies – Party! Party! Party!
Two favourite International releases Of 2011?
1. Dead to me – Moscow Penny Ante
2. Old Man Markley – Guts n Teeth
Two Favourite Live Bands you saw in of 2011?
1. Pour Habit
2. NOFX
Australian band who kicked the most arse in 2011?
Hightime
International band who kicked the most arse in 2011?
Dead To Me
Biggest let down of 2011?
Missing the Fest 10 & losing Darren Lockyer when we most needed him
Personal working highlight/s of 2011?
Touring 2 of my favourite bands, Pour Habit & Smoke or Fire, Seeing Ska Weekender become more successful. Getting “Brittles Rixon” to work with Chopdog.
Australian band to watch in 2012?
The Bennies / Son of Dad
International band to watch in 2012?
Cobra Skulls / Menzingers
What you are most looking forward to in 2012?
Touring 2 fairly unknown but fantastic bands in March/April, Dead to Me & Cobra Skulls. The return of Pour Habit
Anything additional?
Get out and support some Australian acts, there are plenty of good ones kicking about, HIGHTIME, THE DECLINE, THE BENNIES, THE SMITH ST BAND, BATFOOT! Just to name a few.
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