3 Quarters Dead

  3 Quarters Dead is a hard rock / metal band from North Carolina consisting of Mark Alexander on guitar, Sam Rhodes on guitar, Jason Sain on vocals, Matt Staley on bass, and Allen Royal on drums and have been together since 1999.
  They have four songs on there facebook and they're all really good. They also have a cover of Stone Temple Pilots song Dead and Bloated. I was sort of skeptical about listening to the cover at first because STP is one of my favorite bands and I've heard people try to do covers of songs and completely butcher it. This was different though, they actually did a really good job at covering Dead and Bloated. Jason's voice is perfect for this song and songs alike. The instruments were also done amazingly. The drums have always been my favorite part of Dead and Bloated and they were captured perfectly in this cover.
  Their other songs are really good as well, I especially like Sometimes. It's really put together well and sounds amazing. Also, really fun to sing along to. Songs that make you want to sing along are the best songs. And Arsenic is one of those songs that get your adrenaline pumping, it's pretty heavy more than the others.
  3 Quarters Dead is all around a great band. They've been around as long as Avenged Sevenfold but have less recognition. That needs to change!
  You can check them out on facebook here
  And their twitter here

Mansoor

  From Washington is Mansoor, I don't know much about him but I do know his music is very well written and composed. He's a rapper and has a song called Man's Blues. It has piano in the background that sounds absolutely beautiful and goes great with his voice. His voice is deep and clean, you can understand every word he says. I fell in love within the first few seconds of listening to him.
  Also, his song All Eyez On Me is so smooth, sort of short but still such a good song. I could listen to any of his songs all day long. They're almost relaxing and make you want to listen to everything he's saying. He's really put a lot of work into his songs and it shows greatly. I love his sound, it's addicting and he stays calm through the whole song and they really get a point across. I highly recommend listening to him, he's wonderful!
  He has more songs on his soundcloud (x) where you can listen to his songs. They're all quite good, I almost don't know what else to say. You'd have to listen to him yourself to know just how good he is because words just aren't enough.

AMA's 2014!

  This year AMA's were absolutely awesome! There were liver performances from amazing artist including Selena Gomez, One Direction, Imagine Dragons, Nicki Minaj, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Lorde and more! They were all great performances, I couldn't pick a favorite.

First thing first, Taylor was the first performance of the night with her song Blank Spaces and it was incredible. The song itself is so catchy and her performance was out of this world. She also won the Dick Clark Award for Excellence which she definitely deserved. With her album 1989 selling over a million copies in the first week, she's come so far. Starting off as a country singer, she's now pop, does amazing things for her fans and friends and is just a well rounded person! Congratulations Taylor!
  One Direction was nominated for 3 awards; Favorite band, Duo or, Group - Pop/rock, Favorite Pop/Rock album, and Artist of the Year. They also won for all three of those, the album of course, being Midnight Memories which came out a little over a year ago. They did a live performance of their song Night Changes and it was amazing! Every single one of them are exceptional and One Direction wouldn't be the same even if just one person was not in there. All of their solo parts were flawless, of course. They also couldn't be any

sweeter, every chance they get they thanks their fans for getting them where they are. Since the beginning they've been thanking their fans and haven't stopped. You don't see that with most bands or artist and I really appreciate them taking the time out of there day just to say thank you. They really are so sincere!
  Iggy Azalea won Favorite Rap/Hip Hop album along with Favorite Rap/Hip Hop Artist. She's come a long way and has worked hard to get where she is today. She's even got to collaborate with J Lo and Ariana Grande, which must have been amazing.
  5 Seconds of Summer were nominated for New Artist of the Year and won, while also doing a performance of What I Like About You. This band has also come a great distance and is amazing, every single one of them! Starting of in Sydney, Australia and now they're on the AMA's has got to be an amazing feeling! Also, winning New Artist of the Year, you could tell Micheal was the most excited he jumped so high out of his seat and the smile never left his face after that! They definitely deserved to win.

  Selena Gomez's performance of The Heart Wants What It Wants was beautiful! It was the first time the song had ever been performed live before and it must have been an emotional song for her because she cried a little during the performance. Non the less, she stayed up there and finished her performance flawlessly. Also, the background just behind her was amazing. It started off with clouds filling the sky and lightning and at one point there were wings and she was standing in the perfect spot for it to look like she had wings. The song itself was beautiful and her performance was great, as always!

Static In Verona

  Static In Verona is Rob Merz, an indie pop artist, out of Chicago who's actually been writing and recording music for more than 18 years, it's incredible! He's been in a few bands but is now on his own doing it all himself. In 2010, the album Be Quiet As You Leave was released, and since they have found additional influences in different music.
  I listened to their album Everything You Knew Before You Knew Everything, which was released earlier this year in March. The whole album is really well written and composed I absolutely love it! If I had to pick a favorite song from this album it would be 'Roman Candle'. It's really upbeat and catchy, I could listen to it for days. Every song just pulls you right it at the very beginning.
  Knowing that he does this all himself is truly amazing! Hearing all the different instruments in the songs reminds me of The White Stripes because that was just two people playing 20+ instruments. Although, Static In Verona is a single person playing many instruments and creating a whole album themselves and that takes a lot of hard work and dedication. All the work they have put into this music really shows, it's just truly awesome!
You can listen to the album 'Everything You Knew Before You Knew Everything' here

Fond of Rudy

  Fond Of Rudy is an indie/pop/rock band from Brighton, that describe themselves as "south-eastern calypso"! Fond of Rudy is Matt Ahwal, Paul Hillman, Tom Allum-Watts and Billy Marchant. From there videos it looks like they all play guitar or bass and sing.

  They have quite a few covers on youtube and I've watched them all, theyre really good. They're unsigned, but I believe one or two of the songs on their youtube channel they wrote themselves. The lead singers voice is really good and when it's more than one of them singing, they voices seem to coincide pretty well. They've done covers of The Strokes, Lorde and a couple others. They are really worth checking out, really nice guys too!

  I also suggest checking out there song To Be Mine, it's pretty good and catchy!

Youtube (x)

One Direction: FOUR

  One Direction's album FOUR was released today and it's quite an amazing album! If you get the Ultimate Edition you get four bonus tracks which are all really good! There one song Act My Age, which is one of the bonus tracks sounds like it's about when they get like in their 50's and they'll still be mischievous because it starts off with "When I'm fat and old and my kids think I'm a joke 'cause I move a little slow when I dance... I won't act my age, no I won't act my age.." It's a really catchy song, sort of sounds like an Irish folk dance at the very beginning before they start singing.
  One Direction back in 2010 has changed a lot and in a good way. They're still highly respectful and nice, you never hear anything about them doing bad things or anything. I think FOUR is there best album yet. It has a different sound, but I think they finally got where they want to be music wise.
  They did a live performance a few songs in Orlando, I couldn't be there personally but I watched online and it was great. Zayn Malik couldn't be there because he was ill, so I hope he feels better soon. The boys really pulled through filling in for Zayn.
  They're always thanking there fans for getting them to where they are now and I think it's really sweet because it's also true. A band is almost nothing without fans but at the same time they've worked so hard to get where they are today, they deserve all this. They started off on X Factor and now they're playing concerts for 60,000+ people and they've been together for four years and now have four albums!
  On the album FOUR it is very difficult to pick a favorite song because they're all so great! I have about 6 favorites but I absolutely love this whole album. I hope they keep moving forward and also never forget who they are and how they got where they are today. Although, I don't see them messing up too badly anytime soon.
  My only question is, what is the song 'Spaces' about? It sounds like it's about breaking up and going separate ways. Possibly the band, but I really hope not.

Dallas Frasca

  Dallas Frasca is a band out of Australia formed back in 2006. Dallas Frasca is Dallas Frasca on lead vocals and guitar, Jeff Curran on guitar and Josh Eales on drums. 

  In 2013 Dallas Frasca was part of a 24-hour circuit race in France and played a 40,000+ crowd. Europeans even named them "The next AC/DC"! which I think could very well be true. I listed to a few of their songs and theyre amazing! I first listened to their song "You Are Beautiful" which sends out a really powerful message and it's an amazing song. I even watched the music video, its different but I like it. (x) 

  One of my favorite things about this band has to be Dallas' voice! It's just amazing, it sort of reminds me 4 Non Blondes in there song What's Up. I also like there music videos they're just really cool. In the music video for the song Lizard Boy there's someone painted like a lizard and the way he moves around and acts is almost mystifying, you can't look away.

  Dallas Frasca has also played many charity events and back in 2009 they were invited by BBC to be 1 of 7 performing bands for International Earth Day in Montreal, Canada. In 2011, there songs Amongst the Leaves was in the film A Heartbeat Away. There songs have been in many surf films as well as Animals Rights campaigns. 

  Dallas Frasca is such a good band and I have just fallen in love with them, first from listening to their music to learning so much about them. I'm definitely buying one of there albums when I get the chance!

Despite

  Despite is a metal band formed in 1998, and in the band is Peter Tuthill as lead singer, Timmy Leng and Andre Gonzales on guitar, Matt D on bass, and Oscar Nilsson on drums. They're from Switzerland, which must be amazing! This band is also the first band I've gotten the opportunity to write about that is out of the U.S!
  Despite has a couple albums out, there first being released in March of 2009, called In Your Despite. This album has some guest vocals from Knut Agnred on Despite's song, MindPlague. Despite then released another album called Clenched in 2010. There most recent album was released February of 2014, called Epic, and from the album, they have a music video for there song As You Bleed, which is really cool! There's blood all over all the members and the song itself is really good!
 You can listen to their music on youtube, of course or there web page, which is here. There's also a link to a store on there webpage where you can buy Despite's merchandise!
  I really like this band, I listened to quite a few songs and the quality and everything about the band is so good! If you like metal, I suggest checking them out. The band as a whole is amazing and you can here each and every member, and you can tell they really enjoy what the do and that they really are good at it.
  You can like them on facebook here, and follow them on twitter here!

Melanie Martinez

  Melanie Martinez was on a show, The Voice, but was eliminated in the 5th week. After The Voice she started working independently. She wrote the song Dollhouse, which is an amazing song. In the music video she portrays a plastic doll, along with a brother, mom and dad, which is ideal for "The All American Family".
  Usually, you would expect a dolls life to be perfect in every way, but not the one in her music video for Dollhouse. Her dad is having an affair and the mom knows, but doesn't leave him. Instead, she "pulls out a flask and forgets his infidelity". The brother smokes weed and something strange is happening in the kitchen to no one should see. This song is really catchy and her voice is perfect for this type of music. It's kind of low, not real high pitched, and it's soft.
  Melanie has a debut EP out and is said to be releasing an album this October.

To Humans

  To Humans is a three piece alternative rock band out of Los Angeles, Ca. formed around 2011 with Danny Toranzo on lead guitar and vocals, Ace Anderson on bass and Jeremy Lombardo on drums. They recently released an album in June called Metacognition with 10 songs, which you can listen to and buy here. They also have the lyrics with the songs and you should definitely check them out, they're very deep and true. Lyrics from their song, Too Much To Ask, "All we think of, Is shut our ears and run our mouths, Is this way to much, to call out, Or will your ego bring you down?", pretty much speaks for itself. Everyone just talks, but never listens, not to themselves, not to other people, not to anyone.
  Their sound is so amazing, everything about the music fits together perfectly. They have a calming yet energetic sound and they make it work, they're one of those bands you could listen to for hours on end and never get tired of. Everyone in the band is so talented and you can really hear all of the effort they put into each song. It's not hard to find meaning in each song either which is always the best kind of music.
  They are very talented and seem very nice and, to me, they're a local band which is the best part!
  You can follow them on instagram here and like them of facebook here

Left to Right: Jeremy Lombardo, Danny Toranzo, Ace Anderson

Rage Against the Machine

  Lead singer Zack De La Roca and guitarist Tom Morello were both born in activist families which makes sense why there songs are so political. There's also drummer, Brad Wilk and bassist, Tim Commerford, they all formed Rage Against the Machine in 1991, and soon after released a self-produced 12 song cassette tape and that won them a deal with Epic, but they didn't sign until they were assured full creative control.
  There self titled album got them a spot in Lollapalooza and their video of "Freedom" on MTV. The band hoped to raise awareness for Leonard Peltier, who was an imprisoned American-Indian activist. The album grew in popularity when more people starting hearing the song, "Killing in the Name", which addresses racism and police corruption. I think it became popular because of the adrenaline it produces and the lyrics, "fuck you, I won't do what you tell me" and in 1999, their album Evil Empire made it to #1 on the charts, and that proves there music was getting out and reaching people.
  In 2000, Tim was arrested after a protesters started a riot against the police after one of Rage Against the Machines set, and he was charged with assault and resisting arrest, but both charges were later dropped after he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct.
  In October, shortly after there album, Renegade, Zack announced his departure of the band, mentioning a communication break down. Then Chris Cornell, from Soundgarden, joined the rest of the guys to create Audioslave, and they broke up in 2007. Later that year, in April, Rage Against the Machine got back together to headline Coachella and that turned out to be a reunion tour, that ended in Asia. (Wenner, Jann S. "Rage Against the Machine". Rollingstone.com, 2014)