crew
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Name:
Alan
Contact:
alan-thomson [at] houston785.fsnet.co.uk
Location:
West of Scotland
Role at musicxtra:
Occasional reviewer and eater of pies
When you started working for musicxtra:
It's not work when it's a pleasure to do
What inspired you to become a writer:
It's mainly about expressing my own thoughts and feelings, and then articulating that in way that others find instructive and amusing.
What gigs have made a big impression:
Anathema headline tour in 2008, Nightwish Once tour (2006?), Devin Townsend at BOA2010
Favourite bands:
Anathema, My Dying Bride, Devin Townsend.
Top 5 albums:
in no particular order, because this is difficult:
Once
Ki
A Natural Disaster
34.788% Complete
Hindsight |
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Name:
Aline
Contact:
hellboundcorpse [at] gmail .com
Location:
California, USA
Role at musicxtra:
Writer / Photographer
When you started working for musicxtra:
September 2010
What inspired you to become a writer / photographer:
Always a fan of words, I've been writing since I developed the dexterity to hold a pen.
Photography was a different story. In September, 2009, I took a little point and shoot camera with me to see my favorite band, Goatwhore. So happy to finally see them live, I began eagerly snapping zillions of pictures. Their singer berated me into the microphone for blinding him with my flash, and the crowd chuckled a bit at my expense. My stubborn ire was provoked! I went out and bought my first "pro" camera a few days later, and the rest is history.
Which gigs have made a big impression:
Behemoth, Goatwhore, & Job For A Cowboy, 2010 Australian tour. I shot that entire tour, and it was pure magic.
Favourite bands:
Goatwhore, Behemoth, Vader, Decapitated, Watain, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Soilent Green, Corrosion of Conformity, Gojira, Blackguard, Obituary, Suffocation...so many.
Top 5 albums:
Goatwhore - Carving Out the Eyes of God
Behemoth - Evangelion
Watain - Lawless Darkness
Cannibal Corpse - Vile
Corrosion of Conformity - Deliverance |
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Name:
Anita
Contact:
anita [at] anitalande.com
Website:
anitalande.com
Location:
Trondheim, Norway
Role at musicxtra:
Photographer
When you started working for musicxtra:
Beginning of 2009
What inspired you to become a photographer:
I love music, and I love photography. Seemed like a perfect combination!
Which gigs have made a big impression:
Nine Inch Nails at Sentrum Scene in Oslo is so far my favourite concert experience.
Favourite bands:
NiN, Motorpsycho, Kent, Massive Attack, Radiohead, Portishead, In Flames, Depeche Mode, among many, many others. My taste in music is very diverse.
Favourite albums:
Motorpsycho - Trust Us
120 Days - 120 Days
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral
Radiohead - OK Computer |
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Name:
Cj
Contact:
cj [at] indigobox.net
Website:
indigobox.net
Location:
North West, UK
Role at musicxtra:
Photographer / Designer
When you started working for musicxtra:
Some time in 2005
What inspired you to become a photographer:
Clickity click click clicking. Along with making things look pretty.
Which gigs have made a big impression:
2008 - Slipknot at the MEN Arena in Manchester.
Favourite bands:
Live, Audioslave, Third Eye Blind, Slipknot, just to name a few
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Name:
Kathryn
Contact:
westmore83 [at] aol.com
Location:
Yorkshire, UK
Role at musicxtra:
Writer
When you started working for musicxtra:
Early 2011
What inspired you to become a writer:
I love music and everything about music. The way I see it is that music shouldn’t just stop when the song has finished! Besides, it’s nice to talk about something I enjoy without being told to belt up and change the subject!
Which gigs have made a big impression:
AC/DC at MEN Arena in 2000.
W.A.S.P. at Nottingham Rock City 2010
Accept at Sheffield 2011
Metallica at Leeds Festival 2003
Lynyrd Skynyrd at Manchester Apollo 2010.
Anthrax at Bradford Rio 2003
Favourite bands:
Accept, W.A.S.P, AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Metallica, Scorpions, Bon Jovi, Thunder, Skid Row, Bad Company, Steel Panther.
Top 5 albums:
AC/DC - Powerage
Accept – Restless and Wild
W.A.S.P – Inside the Electric Circus
Scorpions – Blackout
Skid Row - Skid Row |
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Name:
Marcus
Contact:
marcusjervis [at] yahoo.co.uk
Location:
Norfolk, UK
Role at musicxtra:
Writer
When you started working for musicxtra:
About 3 or 4 months – I’m the new kid!
What inspired you to become a writer:
Simple – a love for the music in all its forms and a desire to be involved in spreading the word. My 9 to 5 pays the bills but metal is the true passion
Favourite gig:
For the experience alone, Iron Maiden, Dream Theater and Within Temptation at the Parc De Princes in Paris, June 2005.
Favourite band:
Tough one, but all things considered it would have to be Iron Maiden.
Top 5 albums:
Current
Threshold - ‘The Ravages Of Time’
Black Stone Cherry –‘ Folklore And Superstition’
Joe Bonamasa – ‘Ballad Of John Henry’
The Answer – ‘Everyday Demons’
Opeth – ‘Watershed’
All Time
Guns N Roses – ‘Appetite For Destruction’
Metallica – ‘Master Of Puppets’
AC/DC – ‘Back In Black’
Marillion – ‘Script For A Jesters Tear’
Iron Maiden – ‘Number Of The Beast’ / Piece Of Mind’ / Powerslave’ (can I count these as one choice.....?!)
There are hundreds more as well! |
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Name:
Marleen
Contact:
anvanya [at] ymail.com
Website:
www.anvanya.nl
Location:
The Netherlands
Role at musicxtra:
Photographer
When you started working for musicxtra:
Beginning of 2009
What inspired you to become a photographer:
I have loved photography since I was a kid and it got ‘worse’ as I got older. I learned a lot about photography at the Art Academy and from looking at awesome photographers. Portraits and concerts have always been my favourite subject!
Which gigs have made a big impression:
1998 - Tori Amos – Landgraaf, The Netherlands
2000 – Sarah Brightman – Royal Albert Hall, London
2005 - Nightwish - ‘End of an Era’ DVD show, Helsinki
2006 - D’espairsRay - Tivoli. Utrecht
Favourite bands:
I think D’espairsRay are an awesome live band and I think the band Nightwish have some awesome CD’s.
Favourite song:
Nightwish – slaying the Dreamer |
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Name:
Mary
Contact:
photos [at] oakers.co.uk
Location:
North West, UK
Role at musicxtra:
Photographer, editor, webmaster
When you started working for musicxtra:
At the start!? :)
What inspired you to become a photographer:
It all started a while back when I was still taking photos purely for memories... someone I'd photographed saw the photos and I ended up photographing one of their gigs... basically it snowballed from there because I realised just how much I loved photography!
Favourite gig:
Niightwish - Hartwall Arena
Doro - Manchester Academy... she was on FIRE!
Favourite bands:
Nightwish
Brother Firetribe
Entwine
Children of Bodom
Edguy
The list goes on!
Top 5 albums:
It always changes with me... so better not to think about favourites really! |
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Name:
Neil
Contact:
beardy1 [at] gmail.com
Location:
Liverpoolish, UK
Role at musicxtra:
Writer (and probably resident drunken buffoon too)
When you started working for musicxtra:
2006
What inspired you to become a writer:
I literally just fell into it! A friend of mine from TotalRock Radio asked me to write some reviews for her show's website in about 2003 and it's snowballed from there.
Favourite gig:
God where do I start?! A lot of them have merged into one now, one that really stands out is the Strapping Young Lad / Devin Townsend Band/Zimmers Hole tour some years back though, the "Masters Of Death" tour
with Entombed, Dismember, Grave and Unleashed has definitely been a highlight of my gig going and Iron Maiden's "Somewhere Back In Time" set at Wacken 2008 deserves a mention too.
Favourite band:
Death
Top 5 albums:
Right now I'd probably say
Death - Human
Edge of Sanity - The Spectral Sorrows
Sabbat - History of a Time to Come
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Anathema - Judgement
Ask me again in five minutes and I'll probably say five completely different albums though.
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Name:
Steven
Contact:
shargraves [at] yahoo.com
Website:
www.stevenhargraves.co.uk
Location:
Liverpool, UK
Role at musicxtra:
Writer
When you started working for musicxtra:
About four years ago I spent a week sober as an experiment to see what it would be like, and in that brief window of clarity, a number of unrelated events occurred; I got a pay rise, a new job, free gig tickets, and I also went to see a GWAR gig where I met a photographer friend who suggested I submit a write up of the show. I have been reviewing ever since. But also, never spent a whole week sober since either.
What inspired you to become a writer:
As a gigging musician in local Liverpool bands, and a published author, it made perfect sense to combine my twin passions of complaining about things and taking the piss, I mean, listening to music and writing.
Which gigs have made a big impression:
I've been to and played at hundreds, but I particularly enjoyed:
Anthrax, Liverpool Royal Court 1987 with Testament supporting. First gig I saw with a proper big name band and they were absolutely bang on form.
Clash of the Titans, NEC 1990 Suicidal, Testament, Megadeth & Slayer. An awesome thrash fest of monumental egos and even bigger riffs. Memorable for Jeff Hanneman's hilarious guitar hissy-fit, and Dave Mustaine's awful, awful singing voice.
Van Der Graaf Generator 2005 re-union gig in the Royal Festival Hall. Considering they split in 1976, I never thought I'd ever see them gigging, so I was fortunate to get to this show which sold out in minutes. While unconventional and unclassifiable musically, they do hit levels of sonic brutality that few bands can come close to - and without the aid of distorted guitars. Besides, any band that has 13/9 time signatures is going to appeal to me!
Favourite band:
My taste fluctuates between experimental and brutal music, so nothing is ever definitive, but for combining both, Van Der Graaf Generator, Voivod, Carcass, Zappa, Mr Bungle, and Fantomas. Dethklok gets a special mention too - as my 20 month old son loves them!
Top 5 albums:
Again not definitive, but off the top of my head I'd say these are albums I return to a lot:
Pawn Hearts – Van Der Graaf Generator
Sheik Yerbouti – Frank Zappa
Necroticism: Descanting the Insalubrious – Carcass
Dimension Hatross – Voivod
The Directors Cut - Fantoma
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Name:
Talena
Contact:
talenarose2 [at] yahoo.co.uk
Website:
www.facebook.com/talena.rose
Location:
Southampton, UK
Role at musicxtra:
Live music and cd reviewer
When you started working for musicxtra:
2010
What inspired you to become a writer:
Music journalists like Mick Wall and loving being around live music from an early age.
Which gigs have made a big impression:
Rammstein at Sonisphere 2010
Thunder at Hammersmith Apollo 2009
Aerosmith at 02 Arena 2010
Metallica at Sonisphere 2009
Bon Jovi at St Mary's Stadium
ZZTop at Hammersmith Apollo
Y&T at The Brook 2010
Favourite bands:
Aerosmith
Metallica
Guns n Roses
Bon Jovi
Whitesnake
Thunder
Y&T
Scorpions
Volbeat
Ozzy Osbourne / Black Sabbath
Top 5 albums:
Aerosmith - Nine Lives
Guns n Roses - Appetite for Destruction
Metallica - And Justice for All
Guns n Roses - Use Your Illusion (1&2)
Y&T - Black Tiger |
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Name:
Taya
More info:
Coming soon
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