Interviews 1
Meet the Velcro Lewis Group
If you stumbled upon the Velcro Lewis Group online, perhaps through their single “Bernadette,” which was featured on an episode of Showtime’s Shameless, and assumed they were a lost relic of a band from 40 years ago chosen by a music director steeped in rock ‘n’ roll gems, it would be hard to blame you. But listen closer and […]
Interview: Kenny Carkeet, Keyboardist for AWOLNATION
Kenny Carkeet has been making music with AWOLNATION — the electronic alt-rock band masterminded by frontman Aaron Bruno — since the project’s inception in 2009. “I’ve been playing with AWOL since the very beginning,” recalls Carkeet. “I met Aaron when he was still kind of creating the AWOLNATION thing…even before this was a band.” The […]
Artist Impressions: Minimoog Model D
Moog’s Minimoog Model D — back in production for the first time since 1981 — has been making waves among analog synthesizer fans. Among those fans are Greg Spero, touring keyboardist for Halsey, and AWOLNATION’s Kenny Carkeet. Both musicians took a brand-new Model D for a spin at the zZounds HQ. In addition to his […]
Jamie Kent & The Options on All American Mutt
Nashville-based singer-songwriter Jamie Kent and his band, The Options, recently swung by zZounds HQ for a few reasons. One was to showcase the Bose L1 Line Array and F1 Flexible Array loudspeaker systems. For the past few years, Kent has served as an artist representative for Bose, as well as Telefunken microphones and Durango boots. […]
Fender Refocuses on Acoustic Guitars
Billy Martinez, Vice President and Category Manager of Fender’s Acoustic Guitars Division, is on a mission. Data suggests that just 10 percent of people who purchase a guitar as a new player will stick with the instrument. Martinez not only wants more players to stick with guitar, but with Fender guitars. To do so, he thought […]
Andy Fuchs Interview
Andy Fuchs had a childhood that would make any guitarist green with envy: he grew up in a music shop during the halcyon days of classic rock. Yet despite his upbringing, Andy says the family business didn’t net him a roomful of gear. “Visions of Les Pauls and Marshalls being given to me for Christmas […]
EarthQuaker Devices: Interview with Jamie Stillman
EarthQuaker Devices always wows us with new pedals and their DIY, musicians-first attitude. This year, they took things up a notch by hosting the first annual EarthQuaker Day event at their world headquarters in the gilded city of Akron, OH. The event definitely embodied the EQD spirit with live music, pedal demos, a riff contest, […]
Winter Classic Brings Back The Feels
Winter Classic began in 2013 when, in their own words: “Jim and Spiros were bored. They played some songs. Sam expressed similar sentiments. Sam broke his shoulder doing a sick trick on his, then new, board. We asked James if he was bored. He was, too. He joined. We’re not too bored anymore.” To be […]
Roland’s 909 Day: Redefining the Product Launch Event
At their The Future Redefined event, nicknamed “909 Day,” Roland is rolling out a slew of new gear — and they’re also introducing a new way to launch products, breaking the mold of the traditional tradeshow approach. Backstage at Studio Six01 in Burbank, California, just before the Los Angeles leg of 909 Day kicked off, […]
