News: Tino Coury Talks "This One’s For", "Drink My Love Away", and More

Wed, 05 Sep 2012 09:29:41

Tino Coury spruces up pop music with classical charm, impressive vocals, and R&B swagger.

It's been a while since pop had a leading man, and Coury is well-suited for the job. His forthcoming album, This One's For, illuminates the numerous facets of this dynamic, diverse, and debonaire performer. It's instantly clear after just one listen to the single "Drink My Love Away". He's so good it's intoxicating…

In this exclusive interview with ARTISTdirect.com editor in chief Rick Florino, Tino Coury tells us all about This One's For, "Drink My Love Away", and so much more.

What's the story behind "Drink My Love Away"?

My best songs come from my own experiences. I'd gone through this situation before. "Drink My Love Away" [iTunes link]has an emotional lyric, but it's also a feel-good party record. If your relationship isn't going right, it's rough, and things aren't clicking, the best way I know how to deal with that is to go out with my friends, have a great time, and clear my head. That's the real message of the song and what I love so much about it.

How did the track come together?

I was in the studio with the producers Kadis & Sean. They were playing me a bunch of tracks, and I already had the concept in my head for "Drink My Love Away". When I heard this particular track, I thought it was perfect to marry to the concept. I didn't want it to be a sad song or a slow record. I wanted it to be a party record, but I also wanted an emotional lyric. I thought the track was perfect with the guitar loop, the tempo, the drums, and all of the little hooks. We started jotting down the words and piecing it all together quickly. There are a lot of little secret hooks from the chants to the percussion. There's so much for people to remember.

What's your take on This One's For as a whole?

I started out the album making a lot of R&B and urban records. Then, I got into more pop stuff like "Diary" and "Drink My Love Away". There's a good mix of soul and pop.

Is it important for you to tell stories lyrically?

That's my main thing. Every song has a story that people can connect or relate to. They're things I've gone through. I don't have any dance records that are just about going out and dancing. I stay away from that as a songwriter. I keep everything lyrical and relatable and try to tell a story with every record.

What influences that storytelling?

It's everything. It's life experience. It's seeing my friends go through something or watching a movie. Anything can spark a concept. I think about things to write about all day whether I'm in the shower or driving. It can be anything that inspires me.

What artists shaped you?

When I first got into music, I got my first guitar in seventh grade. My favorite bands were blink-182, Green Day, and New Found Glory. I'd also listen to U2. I'm a huge Coldplay fan. I listen to a lot of today's music like Usher, Chris Brown, and Justin Timberlake. I watch those DVDs and study their performances and how they entertain in the arenas. It's a mix of many different genres. I'll listen to Robin Thicke and study his vocal performance and dynamic. I'll bring that to my material. My iPod is filled with a lot of different things.

What's your approach to doing covers?

I'll change up the track or perform it acoustically. I leave my own touch, but I still preserve what people love about the original record. I definitely mix it up. It's cool for my fans to see a different side of me.

What ties the album together for you?

The cool thing about this album is it's about pushing no matter how long it takes or how hard it is. You've got to keep going and never give up. This One's For is for all of those people who didn't believe in me or said "No" to me. There are a lot of cool records like "Take Another Shot". They're inspiring. It's about the grind I'm going through as an artist trying to get out there and pushing myself. That's theme of this record.

—Rick Florino
09.05.12

Have you heard Tino Coury yet?

Tags: Tino Coury, blink-182, Green Day, Coldplay, New Found Glory, Robin Thicke, Usher, Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake

AMERICAN IDIOT CAST APPEARS ON 'TALKS AT GOOGLE' SERIES 6/14

AMERICAN IDIOT CAST APPEARS ON 'TALKS AT GOOGLE' SERIES 6/14 | Greenday.com Skip to main content area HomeNewsMusicPicsVidsTourIdiot ClubStore Subnav ExtrasRingtonesVoteInternationalRock BandFoxboro Hot TubsRusty Wired Series FleeceHoven Vision SunglassesAmerican Idiot BILLIE'S TWITTER E-MAILRSSITUNESTWITTERFACEBOOKMYSPACEYOUTUBE Sign up for Green Day's Mailing List AMERICAN IDIOT CAST APPEARS ON 'TALKS AT GOOGLE' SERIES 6/14

SHN (Shorenstein Hays Nederlander Theatres) and Google have announced a special live presentation with the cast of AMERICAN IDIOT as part of the Talks at Google series at their Mountain View headquarters. This very special event will take place this Thursday, June 14th at 3pm pst.

The event can be viewed around the world via livestream at this link.

The presentation will feature a live performance of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” as well as “21 Guns” by the entire cast. Viewers of the livestream can also participate in a Q & A by submitting questions directly to the American Idiot cast by clicking here.

“The Talks at Google program is extremely excited to host cast and creative from the musical "American Idiot", said Cliff Redeker, founder of the program. “This is the first time we've invited a Broadway show to the Googleplex and we're proud to share the experience with the world through YouTube. We look forward to hosting many more Broadway productions together with SHN as the season unfolds."

Talks at Google started in 2005 as an on-campus series to reach out to authors for exposure to the Google staff. The outreach has now surpassed Google employees and moved on to all who tune in via cyberspace. Everyone from then-candidate Barack Obama to superstar Lady Gaga has made their way to be on Talks at Google and it has since grown to include not just authors, but musicians, and now Broadway shows/performers as well.

AMERICAN IDIOT premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in September 2009 and played through November of that year. In April 2010, the musical opened on Broadway.

Tickets for AMERICAN IDIOT range in price from $31 - $100 and are now on sale at shnsf.com or by calling 888-746-1799.

For more information, follow this link, or find the show on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Full article at Broadway World: HERE

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UNO! DOS! TRE! Finished!! http://t.co/SzaLUoPT

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And it's FREE!!

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Aaaah yes. Here we are again. The not so secret show in LA area will be some time this week. Hash tag whatever

2 weeks 3 days ago

http://t.co/0mJIsycQ

2 weeks 6 days ago

For the upcoming green day dance party, there will be extra space. There's no such thing as too many friends. Chaos=love ;)

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News: Tim Timebomb Talks "ROCKNROLL THEATER", Reading, Evil, and More

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 08:23:08

"We've got an army behind ROCKNROLL THEATER," exclaims Tim Timebomb with a devilish grin. "It's not going to end. That's good news for me!"

It's good news for everyone else too because Tim Timebomb's ROCKNROLL THEATER on VEVO is the slickest, smartest, sexiest, and sharpest series to hit the Internet yet. In terms of original online programming, nothing compares. The Rancid frontman has crafted a vibrant brew of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Twilight Zone with a badass vaudevillian punk soundtrack. The first "season" is Tim's modern update of Dante's Inferno complete with AFI's Davey Havok as Satan himself. You've got to see it to believe it.

In this exclusive interview with ARTISTdirect.com editor-in-chief and Dolor author Rick Florino, Tim Timebomb [Tim Armstrong] breaks down the idea for ROCKNROLL THEATER, talks what's on his reading list, discusses favorite anthologies, and so much more.

Where did the idea for Tim Timebomb's ROCKNROLL THEATER come from?

The idea just hit me. It's an aggregate of a lot of things that I do. Tim Timebomb's ROCKNROLL THEATER was always going to be a musical show. I reached out to my buddy Dave Robertson who's a music video producer. I've worked with him dozens of time for Rancid and Hellcat Records. He's probably produced well over 300 videos for everyone under the sun from Tiger Army to Madonna. We came up with this script with my friend John Roecker, and I put the music together. We brought in Davey Havok from AFI who I've known since he was a teenager [Laughs]. We also brought in Lars Frederikson from Rancid and a bunch of other friends. It was a goddamn party, straight up! It was super fun. We shot it really quickly and built a little world with miniatures and sets. We didn't want it to be too serious, but we wanted it to be good. We got Kevin Kerslake on board who's a very talented director. He's worked with Rancid, and he did a few Nirvana videos as well as The Smashing Pumpkins and Green Day. We just brought in our crew that's been collected over the years. It wasn't a lot of strangers. It was so fun that we can't wait until we get this rocking. We've got more! We're going to keep doing this. ROCKNROLL THEATER is not going to die. I'm ecstatic. The response has made me so happy. So many people have been so supportive of it and they seem to get what we're doing. We're drawing references from the anthology TV shows of the late '50s like Boris Karloff's Thriller, The Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits. It'll work if it's constructed in the anthology format. We can draw in talented singers and people for two or three days. Guys like Davey are really busy, but they can shoot for a few days or take a day to record. The idea is to have a different cast for each episode.

Does writing script and developing a show come from a different creative place than songwriting? Or, are they intertwined?

I wrote the script with John and we've collaborated before. The songs were mine, and they came easy because I've always been a storyteller songwriter. I'm less abstract. Even going back to Operation Ivy and a song like "Bad Town" or Rancid songs like "Ruby Soho" or "Timebomb", those are about people. There's some sort of narrative in most of my songs. It lends itself to this. The thing that was new for ROCKNROLL THEATER was the actual acting because that's something we haven't done a lot of. A lot of the story in Dante is told in the song because I'm used to do it. I love to tell stories in songs.

What appealed to you about the story of Dante's Inferno?

It's the classic story of Dante but with a modern day take on corruption and greed—Wall Street in particular. Initially when we wrote it a year ago, Dante was going to be full-on Wall Street. He's still got that vibe of a Wall Street scumbag. He goes to Hell and meets Davey Hook. The idea was to put a new spin on a classic.

Was it important for you to examine evil from a different angle?

Definitely! Here's a guy who's so bad that the devil doesn't even want to deal with him [Laughs]. Lars is a trooper. Davey had so much fun too. It was a blast watching those guys act. They both really enjoyed it. They never had much training, but they love doing it. They're great at memorizing since they're both singers. Acting is different than singing and being in a band.

The production looks so top notch. Did it come together in a D.I.Y. manner though?

There wasn't a crazy budget. It's super D.I.Y. We totally did it ourselves. Making music videos is part of our community as well as making records and playing shows. I know how it works. It's something that I love to do and we've done a lot of it. We're essentially doing scripted music videos, and we were the first scripted show to go on a music video channel, which is VEVO.

Which anthology show was your favorite?

I loved them all! Boris Karloff's Thriller is my favorite. It had more of a horror vibe. I love The Outer Limits, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Twilight Zone obviously. They were all different. Twilight Zone was Rod Serling's and he was an award-winning writer. He was a WWII guy, and he cut his teeth on the radio. He brought in Ray Bradbury and a lot of great cats. Alfred Hitchcock was more murder-mystery style.

Are you a big reader?

I love to read. I read everything both Dean Koontz and Stephen King do. They're both incredible. You ever read Joe Hill's short horror stories? He's Stephen King's son, and he wrote a whole series of short ghost stories. They're phenomenal. He also wrote a book called Horns and one called Heart-Shaped Box. My favorite stuff he does is the short stuff. I found out by accident. I went to Spain in 2007 for six months just to get out, roll, and travel. I took his book Heart-Shaped Box with me, and it was dope. I was like, "Who the fuck is this?" We didn't have Internet in the South of Spain. I went to a hotel and they had internet. I went, "Who the hell is this writer?" I came to find out he was Stephen King's son. He didn't want people to know. I love horror, and I love reading. I just read a book called Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It's a fucking great book. This kid is a young writer. He was in the poetry slam circuit. He's very talented. The book is futuristic. It's a wild ride.

What's been the most rewarding aspect of the show so far?

The response from my friends…When it finally got finished and everybody started hitting me up like they were proud of me was so cool. I didn't really know what we were doing until it was finished. Then I realized. You just do it. You don't really know. My friends mean a lot to me and they were all happy I'm doing something fun and creative. I love creating and being an artist, but hearing the feedback is so cool.

—Rick Florino
11.22.11

Have you seen Tim Timebomb's ROCKNROLL THEATER yet?

Watch it here!

Tags: Tim Armstrong, Rancid, AFI, Davey Havok, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Operation Ivy, Boris Karloff, Rod Serling, Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Ray Bradbury, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Twilight Zone (TV Series): Season 01, Thriller (TV Series), The Outer Limits (TV Series)