#jenn ryan

[lovealwaysjenn-blog]

California dreamin’...

[offtherecordwithjennryan-blog]

Check out my full review of Crobot's "Something Supernatural"... *PROOF* that rock & roll is not dead and will NEVER die!!

[offtherecordwithjennryan-blog]

ITS HERE! ITS HERE!!! www.jennryan.org

I am pleased to present the new website that houses both my modeling work as well as what I've done thus far with Off the Record. I am super proud what Serdar Design created for me. He's rad times ten and I highly recommend working with him if you need ANY kind of creative business work done. Plus, he makes some mean milk + tea. Please check out the site and lemme know what YOU think! Hurray!!! xo

[lovealwaysjenn-blog]

ITS HERE! ITS HERE!!! www.jennryan.org

I am pleased to present the new website that houses both my modeling work as well as what I've done thus far with Off the Record. I am super proud what Serdar Design created for me. He's rad times ten and I highly recommend working with him if you need ANY kind of creative business work done. Plus, he makes some mean milk + tea. Please check out the site and lemme know what YOU think! Hurray!!! xo

[lovealwaysjenn-blog]

If you know me at all, you know that I'm never far from my Essentia Water bottle. My lovely friend Kia Nichole Harris Photography caught me during our last shoot with my trusty H20 sidekick. It looks like I may have been talking about boobs, too.

Boobs boobs boobs.

[offtherecordwithjennryan-blog]

I am *SO* excited and stoked to announce that www.jennryan.org is going LIVE on Friday!!! You'll be able to visit my modeling site OR my Off the Record site, both of which I am super proud of. BIG thanks to my friend Serdar Design for creating something special for little ol' me. I feel very honored to know and work with him. Here's to another year of writing/filming assloads of rad content for you all to enjoy!

STAY TUNED!!!

[lovealwaysjenn-blog]

I am *SO* excited and stoked to announce that www.jennryan.org is going LIVE on Friday!!! You'll be able to visit my modeling site OR my Off the Record site, both of which I am super proud of. BIG thanks to my friend Serdar Design for creating something special for little ol' me. I feel very honored to know and work with him. Here's to another year of writing/filming assloads of rad content for you all to enjoy! How about a tiny preview to get you all pumped!! 

STAY TUNED....

[offtherecordwithjennryan-blog]

30 minutes with Crobot's Brandon Yeagley

Wednesday October 29 in “The Dungeon” at The Maywood with Brandon Yeagley of Crobot

It had finally stopped raining long enough for me to run from my car to the inside of The Maywood in Raleigh, NC.  I met the guys from the Pennsylvania rock and roll band Crobot as soon as I walked in, introducing myself and receiving hugs + high fives; I liked them immediately. After they finished loading in their equipment + merch, we headed to the back room/dressing room aka “The Dungeon”, where I sat down with vocalist Brandon Yeagley to discuss their debut album while guitarist Chris Bishop hung out, drawing new artwork.

Jenn: First off, I want to congratulate you on the album dropping! (It was released the Monday before the show.) Brandon: Thanks! It seems like it’s been a while since we recorded and it’s finally a full circle moment. J: Have you seen it on the shelves yet in FYE? B: No but we’ve been seeing a lot of pictures from people posting about it. We heard that it was sold out in the first day in our local FYE store. J: How cool is that?! B: It’s pretty cool. J: Yeah, the last time I checked today on the iTunes Top Rock chart, you guys were in the Top 20. B: That’s. Awesome! J: I want to say you were at number 18 but don’t quote me on that! And also, kudos for landing the arena tour with Anthrax + Volbeat next Spring! It starts on my birthday, which makes it even better! B: And it’s what, four days after 4/20? J: It’s a sign. B: I think so. J: So, I’m not going to say how much Crobot reminds me of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath or Rage Against the Machine. I’m not going to tell you how much your vocals remind me of Chris Cornell or anything like that. But I will say, it’s that with the Hendrex-esque guitars and the dirty, groovy bass combined that make me want to smoke thangs + hump thangs! B: Yep! That sounds like what the Crobot soundtrack was meant to be played for. J: Exactly! I grew up on rock and roll; it lives in my heart and it lives in my soul. When I was doing my research on you guys, I came across an interview you did with Review Fix and I wanted to quote something you said: “We were all raised sucking on the tit of Mother Rock and Roll” (he started laughing) and that “No one can kill rock and roll”. I absolutely agree with you on both statements. B: Yeah, we all grew up listening to the things our parents fed us. It still carries to this day; it’s the best music. J: It’s timeless. B: Yeah, absolutely. We still jam all of that shit in the van.

J: What album (or two or three) impacted you the most growing up? B: I would say Corrosion of Conformity’s “Deliverance”. My mom had that CD and it was tucked away in her car at all times. If we didn’t have anything else, we would always listen to “Deliverance”. It wasn’t until a little bit in the middle of my career that I realized how much that played a part in my love of the stoner-rock genre and what eventually it turned into and where it’s progressed since then. Rainbow was another band. My dad would listen to Rainbow’s “Rising” all the time. I don’t think a lot of people experienced Dio first that way but that was my first experience with Dio… J: Rest in peace, Dio. B: … yeah. I love the Sabbath stuff too, with Dio. But there’s just something about Ritchie Blackmore and Ronnie James Dio together. And all the Zeppelin, all the Sabbath; The Beatles.

J: It’s very evident in every song that your heart + soul went into making this album. Can you tell me a little bit about the creative process with The Machine (producer) and he was able to help you guys capture the spirit of Crobot in each song. B: You know what? It was really synchronicity that brought us together. The whole story in how we met Machine is crazy all in itself. We played South by Southwest (SXSW) for the first time two years ago. We were working out everything with Wind-up Records so they threw us on a Wind-Up showcase in Austin. And apparently, Machine had all the times set for the bands he was supposed to check out on Eastern time so when he went to Texas, everything was all messed up for him so he accidentally got to the show an hour earlier then he was supposed to and caught our set. J: Serendipity. (Its SUCH a great word.) B: Serendipity, yes. J: A fortunate accident. B: We hung out with him that week and check out a bunch of bands with him, you know, really got to know him on a personal level. I mean, his track record is just bar none, in itself. J: Yeah, the first time I heard his work was his remix of White Zombie’s “Supercharger Heaven” for the “Super Sexy Swingin’ Sounds” album. So you hung out with Machine before working with him? B: Yeah, we got to know him and knew our children were safe in the palm of his hands, so to speak. When we went into the studio, it made everything that much easier, you know, not that we would have made it difficult. We understood where he’s coming from; working with bands like Clutch and our favorite bands, you know, he gets it. We went in knowing that and knowing that he gets us and just seeing him as animated as he was in the studio during pre-production. J: Like getting excited? B: Yeah, like jumping on couches and screaming! J: That’s a good sign. B: Yeah! Sometimes it was a bad sign but it was really fun, all the time. It was never work. It was a pleasure working with him. He pulled a lot of really good ideas out of us and he did some things that are sort of unorthodox in the recording process itself so we learned a lot from the process. We’re definitely an evolved Crobot now. J: When did you know that creating music was what you wanted to do? B: You know, I think we’re just the kind of people that are just born with the free spirit and it sort of finds us. Musicians are definitely a different breed of people and you’re sort of just magnetized to it. No matter how many nametags I collected or how many toilets I scrubbed or how many classes I attended, it just wasn’t filling that void. J: It just lives in your heart. B: Yeah! I got my first taste of it when I was 18, traveling and playing shows. Even though it was for nobody and we weren’t eating; dealing with all the hardships of the road but it was still the best time of my life! J: It was an awesome experience? B: It was! It really set me free. It was that ‘Eureka moment’ that I just realized ‘Ok, that was the test’. I learned that I love music. I mean growing up, I’ve always loved listening to music and studying the bands and their story… J: Learning every lyric frontwards + backwards! B: Yeah, exactly! My uncle would take me to record stores when I was 4 years old and I couldn’t read but I could pick out the Ozzy Osbourne records! I was just raised on it, you know? I just really feel that it found me. With just the journey of getting there, if you will, I couldn’t be happier. J: What’s one of the craziest things that’s happened on the road so far?  I know there have been oodles but try to narrow it down to just one. Bishop: Like in like the past week? (He and Brandon both laugh) B: I’m a boy scout. I don’t really party too much. I definitely choose my battles in that. J: I don’t know if I believe you. B: (Laughing) I’d have to say the Axl Rose story is pretty crazy. J: What? Wait, what? B: So we’re playing Rock on the Range and Guns’N’Roses are headlining the same night we played. Jake, our bass player, got all kinds of fucked up and crawled underneath the artist tent of where they were having Axl Rose’s meet and greet after they had kicked us all out. He snuck in and got a picture with Axl Rose and the picture, I wish I had it on me, is so hilarious! Jake’s got Axl Rose in like, a headlock and Axl seemed happier in that photo then a lot of the other photos he had to take that day. (He laughed) That’s probably the craziest. I’m sure there are some other crazy one’s that I’m forgetting about. J: I’ll take it! Anything with Axl Rose is awesome! That’s probably my favorite album of all time, ‘Appetite For Destruction’. I mean, rock and roll wise, it doesn’t get much better than that. B: Yeah and didn’t they record that in like, a really short period of time? (Yes! They recorded March-April of ’87 and the album was released in July!) I actually have the first pressing of that where they have the robot on the front. J: Oh no shit? Wow! That’s pretty rare. So if you ever need money… (he started laughing) sell that, and you’ll be good. B: That’s a gem in the collection. J: Let’s talk about a couple of songs on the album. I love the way the album starts with “Legend of the Spaceborne Killer”, it’s an incredible way to introduce the band. I also love “The Necromancer” and the harmonica playing. It makes me think of Aerosmith + Zeppelin, of course. The harmonies of “Fly On The Wall” remind me of Staley/Cantrell and that, my friend, is awesome! Alice in Chains is one of the greatest bands ever and I think Layne Staley has one of the greatest male vocals of all time. And I also love the appearance of the album title in “Fly On The Wall” as well.  “Queen of the Light” is my second favorite (emphasis on ‘second’) song on the album. What’s the story behind it? B: I think we were just jamming in the Wind Up studio and we just had this one laying around, maybe bits and pieces of it and we just put it together in the studio. I still have it, this yellow sheet that I just scribbled all the lyrics down on. It’s the story of the bride of the Devil who just doesn’t want to be the bride of the Devil anymore and in turn, wants to give up everything even though she had the Underworld at her feet and everything she could possibly ask for but it’s just tainted and she wants to do good. J: You said ‘taint’. (This makes him laugh A LOT which in turn, makes ME laugh a lot.) But that’s really awesome, that’s a cool story. I knew it was about a girl who wanted a different life but that’s cool it’s about the wife of the Devil. But would he have just one wife? I feel like he would be a very promiscuous man. B: Those would be the mistresses. Bishop: Oh, he’d have some hussies. (We all laughed.) (Check out the audio of Brandon discussing “Queen of the Light” here) J: Speaking of the Devil, I’m always drawn to songs about, you guessed it, the Devil. You know, “Shout at the Devil”(Mötley Crüe), “Runnin’ with the Devil”(Van Halen), “Devil’s Dance”(Metallica), “Sympathy for the Devil”(Rolling Stones). I’m not really sure what that says about me, as a person but the whole story of the fall of Lucifer is strangely beautiful. Tell me about writing “Le Mano de Lucifer”, which is definitely my favorite on the album. B: That was another one that we sort of pieced together. We were throwing around the idea of a slow, jam sort of song. J: It’s very “Stranglehold” meets “When the Levee Breaks”. B: We even joked that this was going to be the ballad and to justify the ballad… it just had to be about the Devil. J: Of course! B: Like you said, it’s one of the best stories of all time. The Devil as an antagonist is just the greatest. J: That’s why there’s so many songs about it; movies about it; books about it! (Calm down, Jenn) B: It’s just fitting.   (The Maywood finally turned on the overhead speakers because “Welcome to the Jungle” was suddenly screaming at us from the next room. The door had slowly crept open so Brandon got up to close it.) J:  Speaking of Axl. (We laughed) J: I’m actually glad you’re in here Bishop because I wanted to talk about the visual aspect of the album. I really dig that the album has trippy, psychedelic imagery for every song. It’s a cool + unique way to get the Crobot name out there even more. How did that come about; turning the album into something you could not only just listen to but view at the same time?

Bishop: I did a piece for each song and our manager actually brought up the idea, which I thought was a great idea and then just…made it happen. It was a cool thing. I remember when the album cover first came about. I was trying to make it cult-y, you know, and then that sort of set the direction for all of the other pieces. (I think the designs look like badass tarot cards. I would pay good money for some Crobot tarot cards. Just sayin’. Good. Money.)

J: What attributes to your drive as an artist? How do you define success? B: Weed; that never-ending bag. That is success. J: Isn’t it the worst when it runs out? B: But you know, it’s like listening to the radio. You have to listen to the shit to get to the good stuff sometimes. Those moments when you run out of weed, just make the moments when you get weed so much better! J: That’s true. That’s a good way of looking at it… B: I try to stay optimistic. J: …try to find that silver lining.

Then we did a word association type game, where I had Brandon answer my questions with the first song that came to mind. (Be sure to check out the audio here)

J: Song that makes you cry. B: It’s a Radiohead song called… shit. J: I’ve never heard “Shit”. (Bishop laughed) B: I can’t remember the name. It’s off of “OK Computer”. I wish I remembered the name of it but that’s the one! J: Song to sing in the shower. B: Anything James Brown. Prince! That is something I’d be caught singing in the shower. J: Any particular Prince song? B: “Bambi”. J: Not “Face Down”? (We laughed.) Song to drive fast to. B: Queens of the Stone Age “Feel Good Hit of the Summer”. J: Song that makes you want to break things. B: (extremely excited) “Break Stuff” by Limp Bizkit! (He + Bishop laughed) J: Oh come on! That’s too easy! (Showing him my notebook) I have ‘anything by Slipknot’. B: Maybe…any Crowbar song or Eyehategod. J: Song to have sex to? B: Prince. “Bambi”. (The laughter begins again) J: (I shout way too eagerly) “Face Down”! J: Guilty pleasure song. Bishop: Prince. “Bambi”.  (Again with the damn laughing) B: I don’t really feel guilty about liking Prince. J: You should not. B: I would have to say the first Maroon 5 album. J: It’s so good! (It really, really is. I love every song on it; talk about an album to have sex to!) B: It’s very good. I love it! I really do. But I do feel guilty about liking it now… J: If they had stayed like that… B: …I didn’t maybe 4 or 5 years ago but I feel guilty as fuck liking that album now! J: “Songs About Jane” is great, though. What’s the third song, “Shiver”? B: Yeah, yeah! (He starts mimicking the guitar.) J: That was the first song I heard by them. (I joined in, mimicking the hi-pitched singing of Adam Levine. It was a beautiful moment.) B: Its funky! J: Yeah, don’t feel too guilty for that. It’s a great album. And the song that’s currently stuck in your head. B: “Come on Eileen”. Who was that by? Dexy something. (Dexys Midnight Runners, to be exact. We all started humming the tune) Bishop: Yeah, it’s a big inside joke. J: And what is that? Who is Eileen? B: Our merch guy, Carlito had that on repeat on the way to New Orleans. We probably listened to that song about 30 times. It was pretty fun. Each and every time, it got a little better. J: Who would like to tour with? B: Soundgarden. Clutch, again, would be amazing. Graveyard is another band I’d love to tour with. J: I’m not too familiar. B: They’re awesome. They’re like Swedish, stoner rock. How would you describe them Bishop? Like Pink Floyd swallowing glass + smoking weed? (What a description!) Bishop: I don’t even know how to describe them; they’re just really good. I think that’s part of the reason of why they’re so good because they just sound like themselves but in a very nostalgic way.

J: And finally, I ask everyone that I talk to about his or her first concert. B: Type O Negative and Lacuna Coil. J: Wow! Again, RIP Peter Steele. B: I forget how old I was but I want to say I was probably 14. It was on the ‘Life is Killing Me’ tour. I’ll never forget, I was hanging out in the alley just waiting for the show with my Uncle Trace. And if you knew my Uncle Trace, you would know that he is just a fanatic when it comes to bands. If he has a chance to get backstage or catch a glimpse of anybody, he’s going to do it. So we’re hanging out in this back alley just watching to see if we can see anybody walking by the window that’s three stories up. And wouldn’t you know, we see Peter and Josh (Silver) walking back and forth but Kenny Hickey (guitarist) walks up to us and he says, (puts on his best accent) “Hey man, you know any place I can get a pack of cigarettes”? I will never forget it! We went in to the Trocadero, which is this old theatre with a really cool vibe on the inside. The first band was like, From Dusk Till Dawn or something like that (Dust to Dust, actually),then Lacuna Coil and then Type O Negative. But Peter Steele, man.  I remember Type O came out in their scrubs and Peter had the bass with the chain that was his strap and a jug of wine. J: What a man. B: And he finished that jug of wine. It was a gallon and he finished it. At the end of the show, he ripped the strings off of his bass. It was a pretty intense first concert! I was addicted after that. According to their Wikipedia page, Crobot is a band known for their high-energy performances as well as their affinity for beards, dubbing their fans “Beardos”, which I now consider myself for life. I’m so glad I got to see these guys perform in such a small venue because this time next year, they’ll be playing sold out shows all over (I mean come on, they’re opening for flippin’ ANTHRAX!) There are *so* many big things in store for these guys that will without a doubt seal their fate as mother effing ROCKSTARS. xoxo

(Guitarist Chris Bishop behind us as bassist Jake Figueroa noms on my beard while drummer Paul Figueroa and vocalist Brandon Yeagley have beard envy.)