Driven Far Off

The latest on the indie, alternative, and rock music scene including news, music, contest, interviews, and more. Best described as your favorite place to find new bands.

Halifax Post New Demo

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Halifax has posted a new demo titled “Perfect Life” on their MySpace page. The demo features the bands new singer, Chris Brandt. A message from Chris can be seen below.

I can’t make you wait any longer! This is what my voice sounds like.

I just put a new Halifax demo, titled “Perfect Life”, into our music player. Keep in mind this is just a demo that we recorded in my house. We will be going into the studio with producer Dwight Baker to professionally record the album with in the next 2 months. Make sure to show us some love and tell us what you think.
WE REALLY WAN’T YOUR FEEDBACK.

P.S. I have more demos sitting on my desktop and i’m not afraid to use them.

Peace and Love,
Chris Brandt

Mike Leaves Halifax

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Halifax has posted a message about Mike leaving the band.

As you may or may not have heard, Mike has decided to leave the band. We part with him with a lot of mutual love, respect and understanding. We look forward to embracing the next chapter of Halifax with both a huge amount of appreciation for the last 5 years with Mike and the excitement of rising to the challenges that lay ahead to make Halifax shine brighter than ever. The band will be entering the studio this summer to record their new album with Chris taking over the lead vocal duties.

Love,

Halifax

Halifax Presale Tickets

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Halifax has launched a special presale to thank their fans for their continued support. All presale tickets sold on thru Halifax’s Fan Club. Ticketing will be only $5 each and have no service fee. Only a limited amount of tickets are available for the low $5 price, so act fast!

The shows below that have a * next to them are currently on sale on the Fan Club Ticketing website at http://tixx1.artistarena.com/halifax/. Shows not onsale yet will be shortly – and lots more shows are still being announced!

1/26 – Thousand Oaks Teen Center @ Thousand Oaks, CA
*3/1 – The Glass House @ Pomona, CA
*3/2 – The Clubhouse @ Tempe, AZ
*3/3 – University Theatre @ Las Vegas, NV
*3/5 – Chic’s Bar & Billiards @ El Paso, TX
*3/6 – White Rabbit @ San Antonio, TX
*3/7 – Java Jazz @ Houston, TX
3/8 – Univ. of Oklahoma – Union Court @ Norman, OK
3/9 – The Door @ Dallas, TX
*3/10 – The Foundry @ Joplin, MO
*3/14 – The Masquerade @ Atlanta, GA
*3/15 – The Social @ Orlando, FL
3/16 – State Theatre @ St. Petersburg, FL
3/18 – Jack Rabbits @ Jacksonville, FL
3/19 – The Casbah @ Tremont Music Hall @ Charlotte, NC
3/20 – Peppermint Beach Club @ Virginia Beach, VA
3/21 – The Ottobar @ Baltimore, MD
3/22 – The Rock and Roll Hotel @ Washington, DC
3/23 – First Unitarian Church @ Philadelphia, PA
3/29 – Hunt College Union Waterfront @ Oneonta, NY
*3/30 – The Knitting Factory @ New York, NY

Best of 2006: Bands

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Below you can find some best of 2006 lists from some of your favorite bands.

Jeff Kummer (The Early November)
1. John Mayer – Continuum
2. Justin Timberlake – FutureSex / LoveSounds
3. Goo Goo Dolls – Let Love In
4. +44 – When Your Heart Stops Beating
5. AFI – Decemberunderground
6. Saves The Day – Sound The Alarm
7. New Found Glory – Coming Home
8. Taking Back Sunday – Louder Now
9. Spitalfield – Better Than Knowing Where You Are
10. The Format – Dog Problems

Tim Spier (Say No More)
1. Copeland “Eat Sleep Repeat”
2. John Mayer “Continuum”
3. Underoath “Define The Great Line”
4. Taking Back Sunday “Louder Now”
5. The Format “Dog Problems”
6. This Providence “This Providence”
7. The Early November “The Mother, The Mechanic and the Path”
8. Gym Class Hereos “Cruel as School Children”
9. Say Anything “…Is A Real Boy”
10. Hellogoodbye “Zombies!, Aliens!, Vampires!, Dinosaurs!”

Most Anticipated of 2007
The Starting Line
The Almost
Anberlin
Mae
Sherwood
Relient K
Jimmy Eat World
Self Against City
Say No More (ha ha weeee)
Probably a bunch more that i can’t think of…

New Years Resolution
To tour for as much as the years as possible

Fondenst Memory of 2006
Signing with Drive Thru Records
(Being summereric was a close 2nd)

Tommy Guindon (Halifax)
ludacris- release therapy
plus 44
the strokes
jet-shine on
halifax.haha
john mayer- continuum
justin timberlake- future,sex, love sounds
he is legend- suck ou the poison
clipse
pharell

top 10 movies of 2006
borat
the departed
saw3
the devil wears prada
loose change (google it and watch it)
thank you for smoking
babel
v for vendetta
little miss sunshine
american dreamz

top 5 shows of 2006
LOST
entourage
LOST
entourage
LOST&entourage

top 5 memories of 2006
warped tour 06
my brothers wife and sister having babies
visting hawaii more often then last year
meeting an amazing girl from new york
playing live on carson daly

Jack Matranga (Self Against City)
Killers-Sam’s Town
The Fray-How to Save a Life
Quietdrive-When All Thats Left is You
Gym Class Heroes – As Cruel As School Children
Taking Back Sunday – Louder Now
Justin Timberlake – Future Sex/Love Sounds
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Stadium Arcadium
The Transit War – Miss Your Face
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
Rookie Of The Year – The Goodnight Moon

Top Ten Movies Released In 2006:
V for Vendetta
Lucky Number Slevin
The Da Vinci Code
Clerks II
Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
Jackass: Number Two
Borat
The Last Kiss
MI:3
A Scanner Darkly

Top Five TV Shows Of 2006:
Weeds
Entourage
24
OC
The Office

Brandon Swanson (I am the Avalanche)
the sleeping- questions and answers
The forcast- in the shadow of two gunmen
Gym class heroes- …schoolchildren
The killers- sams town
Sigur ros- takk
Hull- viking funeral
Punchline- 37 everywhere
Head automatica- popaganda
Rx Bandits- and the battle begun…
The starting line- based on a true story

Top Ten Movies Released In 2006:
I didn’t get to see any, I was stuck in our van!!!

Top Five TV Shows Of 2006:
Lost, WEEDS, Entourage

Top Five Memories Of 2006:
The Ratt getting wheeled up in a wheel chair to our hotel room in japan. He was wasted, and had pissed himself while he was passed out in the lobby between the elevators. Haha.
Getting tattood by Matt from no use for a name with Tokyo Hiros gun in japan.
Doing the last two weeks of warped tour in a van. (Smelly ass van.) And having a spraypainted cardboard sign on our merch tent. The tent was a hand-me-down from boy sets fire.
Driving from LA to NY or visa-versa numerous times to meet up with tours. (It takes 53 hours if anyone was curious.)
And last but def not least, being on a european tour and being in Amsterdam for about 4 or 5 days total. Our bus driver would drive us there after shows. Haha. Heineken on tap, “coffee shops” aka the weed store. What a glorious year it has been.

Jack Antonoff (Steel Train)
the mountain goats – get lonely
dr. dog – we all belong
rose hill drive – s/t
regina spektor – begin to hope
mike birbiglia – two drink mike
el oso negro – you dance the truth
joanna newsome – ys
the format – dog problems
m. ward – post war
sound team – movie monster

Top Ten Movies Released In 2006:
Marie Antoinette
the science of sleep
mission impossible 3
shortbus
the devil wears prada
little miss sunshine
wish i could say strangers with candy
deck the halls
brick
running with scissors…just kidding

Top Five TV Shows Of 2006:
the show about midgets on A&E
everyday italian
weeds
studio 60
law and order SVU

Top Five Memories Of 2006:
– the time my friend daniel silbert caught fire at a frat party
– when my sister took a shit on the street in new york
– MOOKA KINNEY!!!
– LUECKY KINNEY!!
– eating soup out of a pumpkin in montreal

Mike SaffertԚ  (Hidden in Plain View)
1. The Decemberists- “The Crane Wife”
2. Bob Dylan- “Modern Times”
3. Sufjan Stevens- “The Avalanche”
4. Camera Obscura- “Lets Get Out Of This Country”
5. Bruce Springsteen- “We Shall Overcome”
6. Billie The Vision & The Dancers- “I Am Pablo”
7. Cat Power- “The Greatest”
8. Belle & Sebastian- “The Life Persuit”
9. Ben Kweller- “Ben Kweller”
10. Saves The Day- “Sound The Alarm”

movies
1. Little Miss Sunshine
2. Nightmare Before Christmas 3D
3. CSA: The Confederate States Of America
4. Thank You For Smoking
5. The Science Of Sleep
6. Clerks 2
7. Hollywood Land
pretty much everything else sucked and I haven’t seen Borat yet, but
I’m sure that will be on there

tv shows
1. LOST
2. The Venture Brothers
3. Wondershowzen
4. The Sopranos
5. Flaver Of Love

memories
1. playing mainstage at Bamboozle in the Giants Stadium parking lot
2. recording an album with Brian McTernan
3. moving to Brooklyn with two of my best friends
4. doing our biggest UK tour to date
5. getting hit on the head with an acorn on E 14th St… that just
happened as I was typing this, it friggen hurts.

Chris Bazan of The A.K.A.s
Cursive – Happy Hallow
The Coup – Pick A Bigger Weapon
Tapes N’ Tapes – The Loon
Scissor Sisters – Tah-Dah
The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
The Rapture – Pieces Of The People We Love
David Bazan – Fewer Moving Parts
Mates Of State – Bring It Back
The Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, Thats What I’m Not
Talib Kweli – Ear Drum

Mike Ski of The A.K.A.s
Riverboat Gamblers “To the Confusion of our Enemies”
Butch Walker and The Let’s Go Out Tonites
Dresden Dolls “Yes, Virginia”
Anti-Flag “For Blood and Empire”
Rise Against “The Sufferer and the Witness”
Gil Bearline “The WizArd HAtz EP”
My Chemical Romance “The Black Parade”
Gym Class Heroes “As Cruel as School Children”
Thunderbirds are Now! “Make History”

Steve Soboslai of Punchline
Cursive – Happy Hollow
Saves The Day – Sound The Alarm
Procession Came Opposite – Are We Getting Through?
The Streets – The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living
Over It – Step Outside Yourself
New Amsterdams – Story Like A Scar
The Format – Dog Problems
Ben Folds – SuperSunnySpeedGraphic
Spitalfield – Better Than Knowing Where You Are
Black Pool Lights – This Towns Disaster

Dan Young of This Providence
The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth
Forgive Durden – Wonderland
mewithoutYou – Brother, Sister
Gatsbys American Dream – Selft Titled
Saves the Day – Sound The Alarm
Joe Purdy – Only Four Seasons
Sherwood – The Summer EP
Pete Yorn – Nightcrawler
Under The Influence of Giants – Self Titled
Rocky Votolato – Makers

Tony Hajjar’s/ Sparta Drummer Top 5 Albums of 2006
1. Deftones “Saturday night Wrist”
2. Neko Case “Fox Confessor”
3. Thom Yorke “the eraser”
4. Gran Bel Fisher “Full Moon Cigarette”
5. Brazil “The Philosophy of Velocity”

Austin (singer)HINDER Top 5
Jet – Shine On
Buckcherry – 15
The Rolling Stones – A Bigger Bang
30 Seconds To Mars – A Beautiful Lie
Ben Harper – Both Sides of the Gun

Blower (guitar) from Hinder’s Top 5
Papa Roach – Paramour Sessions
Buckcherry – 15
Jet – Shine On
Three Days Grace – One-X
My Chemical Romance – The Black Parade

Villebillies
Chamillionaire “sound of revenge”
RHCP “stadium arcadium”
Hank 3 “straight to hell”
Gnarles Barkley “st elsewhere”
Unknown Henson “sales from the coffin”

MTV2 Dew Circuit Breakout

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The MTV2 Dew Circuit Breakout is now down to its final three bands. Halifax, Zolof the Rock And Roll Destroyer and Fallen From The Sky need your vote if they are going to win. Head over to MTV2.com to listen to music and watch videos on each of the bands. You can then cast your vote for your favorite band and tune in Saturday Dec 9th, at 6:30 ET for Dew Circuit Breakout Finale to see the winner announced!

Halifax on tour

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Halifax will be supporting Hoobstank on their upcoming tour. Those dates and Halifax headlining dates are listed below.

11/18 Blingfest @ Ranch Cucmonga CA (w/ Unwritten Law, not Hoobastank)
11/21 Headliner’s @ Columbia SC
11/22 Music Farm @ Charleston SC
11/24 City Hall @ Nashville TN
11/25 New Daisy @ Theatre Memphis TN
11/26 Headliners @ Louisville KY
11/28 Sonar Lounge @ Baltimore MD
11/29 9:30 Club @ Washington DC
12/01 Stone Pony @ Asbury Park NJ
12/04 Ritual @ Levittown NY
12/05 Icon @ Buffalo NY
12/07 The Intersection @ Grand Rapids MI
12/08 Streeters and Ground Zero Nightclub @ Traverse City MI
12/09 The Machine @ Shop Flint MI
12/10 Meyer Theater @ Green Bay WI
12/11 Fine Line Music Cafe @ Minneapolis MN
12/12 House of Bricks @ Des Moines IA (Halifax Headline)
12/13 Remington’s @ Springfield MO
12/15 Meridian @ Houston TX
12/16 Granada Theatre @ Dallas TX
12/18 Bluebird Theatre @ Denver CO
12/19 The Black Sheep Colorado @ Springs CO
12/20 Launchpad @ Albuquerque NM (Halifax Headline)
12/21 The Clubhouse @ Tempe AZ
12/22 Key Club @ Los Angeles CA
12/22 Chain Reaction @ Anaheim CA (Halifax Headline)

Drive-Thru Records DVD Vol. 4

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Drive-Thru Records will release their 4th DVD on November 14th. The DVD will feature videos, interviews, and exclusive content from Hellogoodbye, The Early November, Halifax, Dave Melillo, I am the Avalanche, House of Fools, Self Against City, Houston Calls, and more.

Halifax On TV

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Halifax will be performing live on “Last Call with Carson Daly” on NBC this Wednesday Night (technically its really Thursday morning). The episode airs at 1:35 AM EST & you can find more information here.

Halifax will ALSO be on FUSE Tuesday Night at 10:30 PM EST on “Tip of Your Tongue”.. so make sure to tune in as its a Halifax packed week!

Halifax – The Inevitability of a Strange World

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Halifax

Artist: Halifax
Album: The Inevitability of a Strange World
Label: Drive-Thru Records
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: May 23, 2006

Overall: 8.6
Music: 9.5
Lyrics: 7.9
Production: 8.9

It’s been a long time coming, and when I say a long time coming, I mean basically a year. “The Inevitability of a Strange World” is Halifax’s debut LP for Drive Thru Records. This album is great. It’s not awesome, it’s not bad, but it’s great. It’ll make for good summer-driving music..or party music, depending on how you look at it. It’s no surprise the content of this album is more concentrated on being a big time rock band as the groups penchant for partying has been made public by several appearances on MTV’s “The Real World.”

The opening riff of “Nightmare” gets your head moving automatically and before vocalist Mike Hunau can even finish the second line of the song, he’s already shown us how powerful his voice can be. This is one of the strongest and catchiest tracks on the album.

The Motley Crue influenced “Our Revolution”(the song blatantly rips off the melody of “Kickstart My Heart” with the blessing of Nikki Sixx himself) presents us with a band that obviously wants to have more fun than bands that take themselves too seriously in this scene. The song was road tested for the past year along with “Nightmare” and contains what is probably one of the cheesiest “shout-a-long” parts on any band’s current touring circuit. Replacing the Crue’s “Whoah, yeah!” to “Hell yeah!”, you can just taste the cheese, but when you’re seeing this band live, you can’t help but shout along. To top things off, there’s an over the top guitar solo. Halifax are as close to hair metal as you can be while still retaining your fans. Honestly, I like hair metal. Maybe that’s why I love this song so much. It’s a feel good track that’s a lot of fun.

Keeping the pace of the album up is “Under Fire.” Interesting rhythm parts and a catchy chorus keep you jamming along for another three minutes.

“Anthem For Tonight”, “Hey Italy”, and “Snow In Hollywood” are more of the same driving rock that’s been playing for the past three tracks. The trio are all solid tracks, but aren’t as compelling as the previous.

“Such a Terrible Trend” will most likely end up on the next incarnation of “Power Ballads.” It’s not that bad of a song, it just brings the album’s fast and furious pace down a few notches.

Luckily, the opening “Ahs” of “Better Than Sex” make up for the slowed-down tempo of “Such a Terrible…” and the song fully kicks in, picking things back up. With Mike’s voice really shining throughout this song, the lyrics of the bridge stick out. “Still why do we breathe sex like lovers, but live like enemies?” The song even has a light breakdown that oddly enough fits in perfectly.

Unfortuately, we’re slowed down again by “Giant in the Ring” which is easily skippable.

What happened to the flow of this album? “Promise Me Tragedy,” “A Tint of Rain,” and “I Told You So” continue the pattern of fast, slow, fast. This band should just stick to writing pounding rock music instead of slow songs that will put you to sleep in thirty seconds.

“Murder I Wrote” closes the album mixing some of the best and worst elements of the band.

Musically, the band has expanded upon what made their EP “A Writer’s Reference” so wonderful. The guitar parts are metal tinged while still retaining their “punky” roots, and let’s not forget that solo in “Our Revolution.” The drumming is solid, and the bass helps keep the rhythm in check.

Lyrically, the band can improve. The “fun” tracks are great for what they are, but aside from “Better Than Sex” the “relationship” tracks need some work.

Dual production from Lou Giordano and Machine took a polished album and gave it a gritty live feel. The result was perfect for all of the faster songs. The band shines live and the “live sound” of the album is close to what you’ll hear when they take the stage.

The only thing strange about this world is that Drive-Thru’s release schedule is back on track. If they keep bringing us solid releases like this, they can easily reclaim their crown as favorite independent label of kids everywhere. As for Halifax, if the band keeps growing and gets the promotion they deserve, they will easily topple the crap passing for rock on the radio right now and will bring the fun back into a corporate market.

Tracklisting
1. Nightmare
2. Our Revolution
3. Under Fire
4. Anthem For Tonight
5. Hey Italy
6. Snow In Hollywood
7. Such a Terrible Trend
8. Better Than Sex
9. Giant In the Ring
10. Promise Me Tragedy
11. A Tint of Rain
12. I Told You So
13. Murder I Wrote