True metal, hardcore, and punk junkies will not be strangers to the long and illustrious recorded legacy of Mike “IX” Williams. Influential on all fronts, especially with well-respected New Orleans sludge band Eyehategod, he has made massive contributions — as a musician, former editor of Metal Maniacs, and freelance music…
Fang With No Fraud, Powerhouse, To Be Hated, Out of Sorts, and FWA Presented by Idle Hands Churchill’s Pub, Miami Saturday, December 22, 2012 Better Than: An Xmas weekend spent with anything besides loud abrasive music and old friends, reminiscing about those who are no longer here, in a sea…
Yeah, yeah, yeah … The Holidays are all about family and delving into the true spirit of the season. But Crossfade and Pepe Billete are not fooled by any of that swill. We know that it’s all about the party and la jodedera. In his latest offering through Escoria Films,…
Julio Iglesias at Hard Rock Live September 21 and 22
From his humble beginnings making casual commentary on the likes of Rick Ross and Live a little less than a year ago, to storming the airwaves and Twitter culture, Pepe Billete has almost become a household name among the bilingual cognoscenti who like their TMZ with abuela’s congri and your…
All the greatest comedic acts of our time have used one recipe for success: an innate sense of showmanship and a keen eye for social commentary. For if not comedians, safe behind the veneer of jokes, who would call Drake an effeminate gorilla? Or even a Puerto Rican tranny?Both of…
It is no secret that jazz music is a national treasure. And locally, jazz served as the soundtrack to South Florida and its sunny lifestyle way before megaclubs and laptop DJs took over. But we’re not here to bitch about overpriced nightlife spots or knob-twiddlers. It’s simply time to celebrate…
See also ShipRocked interviews with “Gilby Clarke, Ex-Guns N’ Roses Axe Man” and “Godsmack’s Robbie Merrill.” Thanks to South Florida’s various ports, the region has become the epicenter of the music cruise phenomenon. We’ve already battled through the Bruise Cruise, uhntz-uhntz-ed aboard Hard’s Holy Ship!, and even done time (and…
Among the most politically polarizing figures in modern times, Venezuelan “president” Hugo Chávez has had the rare distinction of sharing the worldwide stage with other high-energy luminaries like Muammar Gaddafi (d. 2011), Kim Jong-il (d. 2011), Evo Morales, Fidel and Raul Castro, Daniel Ortega, and Rafael Correa. But with “less…
The last time Jacobs Ladder’s Sammy Gonzalez chatted with Crossfade, he was preaching the gospel of classical guitar. But these days, Gonzalez is grooving on his band’s ever-evolving “Miami Reggae Rock.” He and bandmates Oren Maisner and Brian Hernandez “are really into the sound and are gearing up to start…
Hailing from one of the most hardworking outfits in South Florida, one would assume that young Sammy Gonzalez has all he needs. But while we’re sure that rocking for ten years with Jacobs Ladder has its charm, Gonzalez has also developed an intense relationship with the classical guitar over the…
t first, we thought our ears were deceiving us yesterday morning. Surely, no one in their right mind would give this man, Pepe Billete, a job. Yet it turns out that in the Magic City — and specifically the offices of El Zol 95 — anything is possible. But then again,…
Adam Huss is no stranger to the local music scene, having tenured in the wildly popular Dreams You Die In. He’s also known to hardcore kids across the US as a solid booker from The Alley days. After a lengthy absence from local music, he’s back with a new outfit,…
The Axe and the Oak With Pretty Please and Fight Like Animals Grand Central Miami May 13, 2011 Better Than: Feeding ducks at the park. Last Wednesday evening, I sliced my hand open while trying to stuff some squid flukes with chopped prawns and veggies. And while that doesn’t mean…
Out of the Anonymous is a long-running local outfit that’s spent years making beautiful soundtracks for dreamers and paranoiacs. And while we’ve already had the opportunity to interview bassist Henry Rajan and guitarist Buffalo Brown, we come full circle today with the man who started it all back in the…
Sybil Gage is one of those rare chanteuses in the world of jazz who is capable of evoking some decidedly un-jazz feelings. Often compared to greats like Nina and Ella, Gage shares more with Janis Joplin, Eartha Kitt, Grace Slick, and Corinne Bailey-Rae than one would suspect. Her live engagements…
The Getback Right About Now (IOU Records) myspace.com/thegetback When this album dropped back in January 2003, the immediate buzz that it created among our group of friends was incredibly electric. We’d already been sweaty fans, massing to the band’s gigs, and displaying the kind of riotous energy people in their…
Using Voodoo connotations might rile the wrong feathers. But the bottom line is Monvelyno Alexis studied the nuances of Voodoo rhythms in his native Haiti after taking up the guitar at the age of 18. That he’d already fiddled with wind instruments like the clarinet, flute, and trumpet are beside…
Well, it was bound to happen. After springing out of nowhere with some serious observations on ’90s retreads Live, local hip-hop boss Rick Ross, and those swell white kids behind Major Lazer, we finally managed to track down el Cubanito behind the glory. Preferring not to meet in person, I sent him…
Yesterday, my Crossfade colleague Sean Levisman alerted us to the five dumbest dance styles of the 21st Century. And while daggering and choque are fairly creepy examples of taking sex (and sexual injury) onto the dance floor, I firmly believe that simulated sex is an integral part of breaking it…
Roach Motel What the Hell, It’s Roach Motel (Destroy Records) myspace.com/roachmotelrules Take the Dead Kennedys’ linguistically progressive rants, the social critique via saxophones of CH3, water it down with the mind-altering misused politics of Minor Threat, add a half-cup’s worth of the youthfulness of Youth Brigade, and mix in a…
On my second Fantasy Local Covers List for 2011, I kinda challenged the gals and dude of Shroud Eater to come through with a cover of any Justin Bieber track. It was originally done as a shits-and-giggles kind of thing, but these heshers actually agreed! So just to see what else…
