NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

I n Western North Carolina, we had two modern rock radio stations. From upstate South Carolina there was  93.3 “ The Planet,”  an Active Rock radio station that played lots of ‘90s rock and neo-90s rock. They loved grunge and post-grunge. They played  Nickelback ,  Seether ,  P.O.D. ,  Flyleaf ,  Puddle of Mudd , and that kind of music. Then there was Charlotte’s  106.5 “The End ,” an Alternative rock station. While playing much of the same music, they also featured some newer groups, such as  Silversun Pickups ,  Thirty Seconds to Mars , and the occasional  The Almost  or  Saosin  song. The Starting Line was one of those emerging bands that was starting to be picked up on radio. The first single, “ Island ,” from the band’s third and final (latest) LP,  Direction ,  was a kind of break out for the band to mainstream alternative rock. The band had toured on their two previous albums and built up a fan base thanks to venues like the  Vans Warped Tour , but some band members grew tired o

Nineteen years ago, Hoobastank killed rock music when they released their only ballad, " The Reason ." The song rose to number 2 on Billboard's Hot 100 and is the only song remembered by the band, despite the group having several Alternative radio hits. The band formed in 1994 and played local gigs with Incubus and Linkin Park before those bands were popular. Like Incubus and Linkin Park, Hoobastank were known for an eclectic hard rock sound--something listeners of their 2004 hit probably wouldn't get if all they knew was their biggest song. And no, it wasn't the band that ruined rock music, but it was certainly an indicator of the changing of times when music A&R pressured rock bands to follow the Hoobastank model. IT'S SOMETHING I MUST LIVE WITH EVERY DAY. Howard Benson produced Hoobastank's sophomore record, The Reason . We've talked about Benson as a rock producer of bands like P.O.D. , Mae , and The Starting Line . While Hoobastank's

Lauv is somewhere between a household name and an sad-boy indie pop star. With 18 million monthly streams on Spotify, the singer-songwriter certainly has a large fanbase. And with his inclusion on many playlists, he also gets many passive listeners as well. One of the ways that Lauv has collected so many fans is through collaboration. Besides today's collaboration with Troye Sivan , Lauv has collaborated with BTS , Anne-Marie, LANY, Alessia Cara, and many other artists who also have active fan bases.  HURTS LIKE HEAVEN. In April 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, Ari Staprans Leff , better known as Lauv, spoke with Silverstein 's Shane Told on his podcast Lead Singer Syndrome.   Told usually interviews rock singers, usually part of the emo and punk scenes, but as Told explained, during the pandemic many musicians had more time on their hands to interview, including Lauv who was mostly at home pondering " Modern Loneliness ." But through the interview, Lauv reve

In 2007 Aaron Gillespie released Southern Weather   with producer Aaron Sprinkle , under the moniker The Almost . At that time Gillespie was known as the drummer and clean vocalist for Underoath , a band that had just released their biggest record, Define the Great Line , the year before. In many ways, Southern Weather was like the first Foo Fighters record written and performed by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl .  Like Grohl, Gillespie played almost all of the instruments on the record, wrote all of the songs, and then assembled a band to tour with the record. Often filling in on bass, though, is Gillespie's good friend Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line .    WINTER DAYS MAKE ME SAY, “WHAT THE HEY?" Like all of Aaron Gillespie's projects,  Southern Weather  captures a moment of sincerity in the singer-songwriter's life. Before what some conservative critics might say that Gillespie became the a gitprop for exvangelical deconstruction, The Almost's Southern W

In 2008, The Starting Line went on hiatus. Disillusioned from the recording industry after their sophomore record and major label debut, Based on a True Story , was neglected from promotion due to the band’s label, MCA being acquired by Universal Music Group and forming the sub-label Gergen Records. This prompted the band to sign with Virgin Records and release their third record, Direction . Unlike Based on a True Story, Direction was better promoted. Still, even with the new promotion the band had enough. GETTING CLOSE TO WHATEVER MATTERS. The Starting Line’s hiatus included a few tour dates together and live recordings. The band is yet to release a full-length follow-up record to Direction, but in 2016 they released a three-song EP titled Anyways . Lead singer Kenny Vasoli said at the Slam Dunk Records festival in 2011: “ People keep asking us when we're getting back together, and the answer I have is yesterday. And what happens when bands get together? They write music. So, w

In 2016, Jake Miller released a style-changing EP titled Overnight . The south- Florida-based singer started his musical career while he was a student at the University of Miami , posting videos of his music online. Miller cut his teeth in Hip-Hop, opening for Snoop Dogg and releasing several Hip-Hop EPs and a full length record in 2013. Miller’s music always featured a tropical house melodic elements, but in 2016, Miller shifted more to singing, releasing Overnight without any rapping. The seven-track EP of feel-good electronic vibes, are brimming with youth, vitality, and sexuality.  YOU DON’T HAVE TO GO NOWHERE BABY.  With only two minor pop radio hits, 2014’s “ First Flight Home ” and 2019’s “ Wait for You ,”  Jake Miller certainly isn’t a household name.  But the late summer sounds of  Overnight  were refreshing in a year of turmoil. In an interview with Zach Sang , Miller discusses his change in sound and his new life in Los Angeles. While explaining his change in style, Miller

  Today, we’ll revisit high school in a playlist The Angsty Aughts. This playlist will compile and celebrate the Emo songs I’ve blogged about. For this list, I’ve decided to focus on scene music from 2003-2009. I’m sure that a second generation of Emo featuring Olivia Rodrigo and Goody Grace will be a post in the future. For this playlist, I've decided to stick to a high school theme because that's what Emo does best, so I listed the song as "Class of" based on the year that the song was introduced. Enjoy! Listen to Angsty Aughts on AppleMusic . 1. " The Sound " by Further Seems Forever (Class of '03), the song of the day. 2. " Embers and Envelops " by Mae (Class of '03) 3. " All of Me " by Watashi Wa (Class of '03) 4. " Coffee " by Copeland  (Class of '03) 5. " Crushcrushcrush " by Paramore  (Class of '07) 6. " Sick in the Teeth " by Jonezetta (Class of '08) 7. " Spiders &quo

This is our third entry from The Starting Line's Direction. I've talked about how this album was my summer of '09 album , and I learned a little about the album's producer . This morning, I awoke at "7 am" actually 7:30 rested, not wasted, to the blaring guitars of this song as my iPad alarm clock song. Lyrics like "21" and "Something Left to Give" make the 23 year old at the time singer/lyricist Kenny Vasoli sound much older. In "Something Left to Give," the young singer thinks about leaving a legacy for his children and grand children--something many in their late twenties today don't think about. In "21," Vasoli worries that the rock star lifestyle is making him "already hazy." WHEN THE MEDICINE THAT KEEPS ME WELL IS SETTLING. The Starting Line were signed when Vasoli was only 17 years old, and the band's debut album was released a year later. The Pennsylvania band were a part of the Warped Tour scen

Howard Benson has two Grammys for his production and quite a few Dove Awards, the Christian version of the Grammys. Benson started producing hard rock bands in 1989. Ten years later, his production for P.O.D.'s The Fundamental Elements of Southtown went multiplatinum. P.O.D. kept producing records with Benson, and other rock acts followed. Benson's early records have that early 2000s hard rock style you can hear in bands he produced like Crazy Town, Blindside, Trust Company, My Chemical Romance, Flyleaf, and Hoobastank. But little by little, Benson was developing pop sensibilities. In 2005, Benson produced The All-American Rejects' Move Along and Hoobastank's "The Reason" was a pop mega hit. He went on to work with Kelly Clarkson, Daniel Powter, Daughtry, and Rascal Flatts, as well as being a go-to producer for hard rock acts like Red, Skillet, and Of Mice and Men. But somewhere in the middle, lies Benson's alternative and pop-punk records, like Relient K,

  I n Western North Carolina, we had two modern rock radio stations. From upstate South Carolina there was 93.3 “ The Planet,” an Active Rock radio station that played lots of ‘90s rock and neo-90s rock. They loved grunge and post-grunge. They played Nickelback , Seether , P.O.D. , Flyleaf , Puddle of Mudd , and that kind of music. Then there was Charlotte’s 106.5 “The End ,” an Alternative rock station. While playing much of the same music, they also featured some newer groups, such as Silversun Pickups , Thirty Seconds to Mars , and the occasional The Almost or Saosin song. The Starting Line was one of those emerging bands that was starting to be picked up on radio. The first single, “ Island ,” from the band’s third and final (latest) LP, Direction , was a kind of break out for the band to mainstream alternative rock. The band had toured on their two previous albums and built up a fan base thanks to venues like the Vans Warped Tour , but some band members grew tired of touring,