Category: Artist Interviews

Drake Bell “Ready Steady Go”

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It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from young pop star/actor Drake Bell. The former “Drake & Josh” star has always had a taste for vintage sounds, and has no interest in following the conventional Disney pop star template. Ready Steady Go! brings the slick rockabilly sound to a new generation of fans with the help of his childhood idol, Brian Setzer. While this is primarily a covers album, the originals really shine here. The first single “Bitchcraft” is a well played 50’s swing single similar to The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. It would be nice to stick to a single musical era, but Drake wanders through his music collection for some variety.

You gotta love his picks here. It takes guts to cover The Kinks “Sunny Afternoon” which reflects his real-life situation. His admiration for executive producer Brian Setzer is so deep he covers two Stray Cats songs “”I Won’t Stand In Your Way” and “Runaway Boys.” Some tracks are just too ingrained for me to look at anew, but his more obscure picks like The Jags “Back Of My Hand” and The Move’s “California Man” work seamlessly with his vocal stylings, sounding great. The latter song and Cask Mouse’s “Bull” also showcase Drakes excellent guitar skills. He closes the album with a smooth lounge ballad “Give Me A Little More Time” and it definitely leaves you wanting more. Highly Recommended.

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I was fortunate to speak with young pop star/actor Drake Bell, we discuss his new album, voice acting and he gets to voice his side of the story when Buzzfeed.com posted a story that started a twitter war between him and fans of Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.

 

Below is the official video for “Bitchcraft”

The Power Popaholic Interview: Leslie West (Mountain)

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Leslie West is one of those little known guitar legends that everyone has heard, but few know just how influential he really is. In this interview, despite his leg amputation he’s all fired up for the release of Still Climbing. Leslie has been in rock for so long, there are few musicians he hasn’t had a relationship with. I try to ask some unique questions, and ask about some of the friends he’s played with over the years.

Note: all my musician interviews are now located on the top menu in alphabetical order (roughly).

The Power Popaholic Interview: Matt Whitby

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Matt_Whitby Matt Whitby is a power pop critic who lives in England and writes about music for popunderground. Recently he started a wonderfully simple site called www.disbandables.com The site tracks down some of my favorite power pop bands who have disbanded, then finds the lead musician(s) involved and has them answer a exit questionnaire. I love the idea that these defunct bands can be re-introduced to “new” power pop fans who never heard of them when they made an impact. Read the interview here.