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 Artist
Advisory Board
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StarPolish's
Artist Advisory Board (AAB) insures that the advice, resources,
and rewards we offer are perfectly tailored to the needs of
our community. The AAB is made up of emerging artists as well
as accomplished artists who have a serious interest in helping
others to excel.
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Tom Morello was born in New York City in 1964 and grew up in Libertyville, Illinois. His father was a member of the Mau Mau guerilla army which freed Kenya from British colonial rule; his mother is a founder of Parents For Rock & Rap, an anti-censorship organization. Tom entered Harvard University in 1982, was active in the campaign for university divestment from South Africa, and graduated with honors in 1986.
"I lived in Libertyville for 18 years, and in the whole town there were maybe three or four other blacks and an equal number of Asians. My mom used to play the Temptations, War, and James Brown at home. I got a guitar when I was 13 or 14, and I was determined to become Jimmy Page or Ace Frehley of KISS. But I got disenchanted with taking lessons and stopped playing for four years. I didn't pick it up again until I heard the Sex Pistols album. Seeing the Clash in Chicago was a life-changing experience. They were more powerful than any band I'd ever seen because of the conviction, the realness behind it."
"My Harvard friends went on to become professors, doctors, lawyers, bankers. They had a difficult time understanding why I wanted to be a socialist rock musician. My musician friends had the opposite problem... in `86, I moved to Los Angeles. The glam scene was in full effect -- I was appalled! In `88 I joined Lock Up. We made an album for Geffen, toured, eventually broke up. I met Brad Wilk when he auditioned for Lock Up, and he and I had a great playing chemistry together. He was the first guy I called when I left the band. We started auditioning a lot of people, looking for the right chemistry, while I taught guitar to support myself."
"Rage heightens the contradictions: in the intensity of the live show, in the brutality of the music, in the content of the lyrics. It's a political assault which might force you to consider the ideas that are put forward."
As captured on their three studio albums to date, the music of Rage Against The Machine is a fierce and uncompromising meld of punk-inspired hard rock and politically-charged rap. Joining Tom’s searing guitar riffs, vocalist Zach de la Rocha delivers the message, Tim Bob (aka Timmy C) lays down the thick basslines, and drummer Brad Wilk brings the beats. Since forming in 1991, Rage has garnered a considerable fan following as they preach their message. In fact, their second album, 1996’s “Evil Empire,” entered the US album charts at number one. Before signing with Epic, Rage Against The Machine recorded a 12-song cassette which sold over 5,000 copies at the band's live shows and through its fan club. In fact, the album version of "Bullet In The Head" on the first self-titled album is taken directly from that self-released tape. In its first year of existence, Rage Against The Machine opened shows for Ice-T's Body Count, Public Enemy, and Pearl Jam. The band supported Perry Farrell's Porno For Pyros on the latter's July 13, 1992 debut performance; toured Europe with Suicidal Tendencies; and appeared September 11-12, 1992 on the second stage of Lollapalooza II in Los Angeles dates. Rage's influences range (in their words) "from Bad Brains to Malcolm X, from Led Zeppelin to Che Guevara, from Minor Threat to Martin Luther King Jr., from Public Enemy to the Clash."
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As leader and co-founder of legendary rap group Public Enemy, Chuck D redefined rap music and Hip Hop culture with the release of PE's explosive debut album, Yo Bum Rush The Show, in 1987. His messages addressed weighty issues about race, rage and inequality with a jolting combination of intelligence and eloquence never seen before. The group's subsequent seven albums were released over the next 13 years, all meeting with critical acclaim from publications as disparate as Time and The Source, and worldwide sales in the millions. And at the close of 1999, The New York Times named Public Enemy's music to their list of the "25 Most Significant Albums of the Last Century."
The numbers that reflect their extraordinary career are staggering. The band has embarked on over 33 tours, performing over 1200 concerts to fans in 40 countries. Three albums are certified multi-platinum; three more are gold, with four gold singles and a platinum-selling home video.
The critical and commercial success of Public Enemy opened the doors for Chuck to deliver his message through a number of different mediums, extending his reach to all segments of the population. He has hosted his own segment on the Fox News Channel, published a best-selling autobiography, "Fight The Power." Is a highly-sought after speaker on the college lecture circuit (lecturing at universities ranging from Harvard to Howard), is a prominent member of music industry non-profit organizations MusicCares and Rock The Vote (which honored him with the Patrick Lippert Award in 1996 for his contributions to community service) and started the record label SlamJamz. He served as national spokesperson for Rock The Vote, the National Urban League and the National Alliance of African American Athletes, and appeared in public service announcements for HBO's campaign for national peace and the Partnership for the Drug Free America. He is also a regular guest on numerous television shows including Nightline, Politically Incorrect and on CNN.
Most recently, the media has anointed Chuck as the spokesperson and major proponent of music on the Internet. In September, 1999, he launched a multi-format "supersite" on the Web, Rapstation.com. A home for the vast global Hip Hop community, the site boasts a TV and radio station with original programming, a slew of Hip Hop's most prominent DJs, celebrity interviews, free MP3 downloads (the first was contributed by multi-platinum rapper Coolio), social commentary, current events, and regular features dedicated to empowering rap artists with the knowledge to turn their craft into a viable living. The site has partnered with some of the most exciting and innovative companies on the Web, including RealNetworks, House of Blues Digital, Launch, Tucows, Rioport, Communities.com, New World Culture, All Earth, and AudioGalaxy.
Chuck has also launched a radio station on the Internet, Bringthenoise.com, and in a landmark move, made Public Enemy the first multi-platinum selling act to release their album via the Web before it was available in retail stores. He challenged and expanded the traditional methods of retail distribution, arranging for the album to also be the first-ever to be released on a Zip disk. Chuck's involvement in the Internet has landed him on the cover of The Net, Wired, Bomb and Yahoo Internet Life magazines, and he was the guest editor of the 1999 year-end issue of Red Herring, one of the tech industry's leading business magazines. He has also been a guest contributor to Time magazine. His outspoken advocacy of the Web also been profiled in Forbes, Time, USA Today and The Industry Standard, and he was named to Upside magazine's "Elite 100" list of Internet leaders, alongside the likes of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
He is currently working on a second book, has formed a rock band that will release an album later this summer, is booked to deliver keynote addresses and sits on panels at over a dozen conventions this year alone, and continues to appear as a guest lecturer at colleges across the country
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Formed in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, during the mid-80s, The Mighty Mighty BossToneS have come a long way since their early formative days. The name is justified by vocalist Dicky Barrett, who claimed that “any band can just be mighty.” The musicians built a solid foundation in the USA through their fusion of ska and punk, with influences from soul and funk as well as thrash and heavy metal. They have played across America to packed venues consisting of a beautiful mix of fans: cult followers, skinheads, punks, metal heads and college students alike. In 1992, they were recognized at the Boston Music Awards where they received accolades for Best Single, Best Album and Best Rock Band.
Their early recordings surfaced through the independent Taang! label, including an EP featuring cover versions of hits by Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen. Their increasing notoriety led to interest from the major labels with the victorious Mercury Records signing the band. The band's success led to media interest in the USA which resulted in a cameo appearance in the movie Clueless, a ska version of Kiss' “Detroit Rock City” - featured on the tribute compilation Kiss My Ass - and imaginative merchandising. By 1997, the band's high profile was elevated in America by an exhaustive promotional campaign and the release of the excellent Let's Face It.
In Dicky’s words:
“Well, well, well. Three holes in the ground, sixteen hands on deck, eight hearts together pound. The Mighty Mighty BossToneS, ‘Pay Attention,’ the follow-up to the successful ‘Let’s Face It.’ Platinum, someone mentioned. Well it couldn’t of happened to a nicer group of guys. You got to hand it to them. The guys from Boston get what they deserve. Hard work, a passion for the music they make, a love for one another, and a genuine respect for the people that call themselves fans of their band. You can put those in whatever order you want. Perfect timing. This is exactly what you need to hear, at this exact time, and we all know why that’s the truth. Sixteen strong new songs. These songs are fucking great. Thought out, not just half assed. ‘Pay Attention’ is the name of the brand new studio album by The Mighty Mighty BossToneS. The Kings still. They started all of this, sixteen handedly. Eight heads still wear eight crowns, eight hearts, still pound together, sixteen feet still on the ground. My name is Dicky Barrett and I’m in The Mighty Mighty BossToneS.”
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Hailing from San Pedro, CA, Mike Watt is now sitting on his throne as the genuine musical maverick. Through a 17-year campaign that began with Watt as bass player for the genre-blending punk band The Minutemen, he has truly inspired an entire generation of alternative rockers. In 1985, The Minutemen were cut short in their prime with the untimely death of lead singer and guitarist D. Boon. May he rest in peace. But the Minutemen-- along with Watt's subsequent trio fIREHOSE-- continue to influence legions of musicians. A master of the do-it-yourself approach, Watt has ventured where few of his reputation would dare by always pushing artistic boundaries. As a result he continues to be celebrated by both critics and peers as one of the most vital and influential artists to have emerged from the early eighties punk rock scene.
Watt's first solo album, Ball-Hog Or Tugboat? (Columbia, 1995), featured guest appearances by no less than 48 of his friends-- including Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Lemonhead's frontman Evan Dando, Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, and the Beastie Boys' Mike D. Watt returned in 1997 with Contemplating the Engine Room, a 15-song concept album inspired by his father's life in the U.S. Navy, recorded with only two other musicians-- Tom Waits' drummer Stephen Hodges and Geraldine Fibbers guitarist Nels Cline.
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Drums, bass, two guitars, vocals. That's the foundation of rock 'n' roll’s time-honored formula. But the best bands are smart enough to know that real rock ‘n’ roll, while respecting tradition, isn’t created from a formula. Honest rock ‘n’ roll is made without pretense.
You don’t need an attitude or a manufactured, airbrushed persona if you’ve got talent, energy, heart, soul. Great chops. Great songs.
The Clarks have pledged their allegiance to what’s been characterized in their press clips as American rock ‘n’ roll. They’ve had Pittsburghers convinced for years; fans throughout the Midwest, East Coast and South East also have become believers. It’s not every day a regional band can perform original tunes in front of thousands of people - and the entire audience can sing the words to every song. It’s a common occurrence for The Clarks, whose self-released catalog has sold in excess of 140,000 records.
The Clarks don’t bludgeon listeners with heavy sociopolitical commentary or hard-to-digest message songs. Their references tend to be more subtle, as in the title track of their most recent release, "Let It Go," with its allusions to Radiohead and Shawn Colvin, or "Born Too Late," in which a series of historical figures are name-checked not just because of their importance but because of the impact they had on a writer who wishes he could have shared their moments in time. They fuse their words to indelible melodies with killer hooks.
A full-time band for seven years, The Clarks have made six indpendent albums including a well-received live album.
While The Clarks’ confidence and fanbase has grown, it remains unaccompanied by arrogance - and no matter how many fans can sing their lyrics, that won’t change.
Rock ‘n’ roll without pretense. The way it’s supposed to be.
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When Fighting Gravity took the stage in Philadelphia after 9-11, no one knew what to expect. Years of playing to packed houses couldn’t have prepared anyone for what they were about to witness. Schiavone McGee, the lead singer for Richmond-based quintet Fighting Gravity, came out from behind the curtain and stood silent for a moment, his fellow band mates waiting in the wings. The spotlight came up and his soulful voice came over the hushed crowd – “Oh say can you see by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed…” – “The Star Spangled Banner” never sounded so sweet. You could hear a pin drop. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.
For this roomful of loyal fans it was an awe-inspiring moment and like so many nights before Fighting Gravity had risen to the occasion putting their fans at ease, signaling that everything would be all right with the world. For more than a generation, it’s all this rock and roll institution has known. Giving their audience what it needs is what they love most – and what they do best.
Simply put, there is no such thing as a “typical” Fighting Gravity show or an “average” performance. With a schedule that finds the band on the road more than 250 nights a year, Fighting Gravity is a national touring “machine” and its energy-drenched live show is its trademark. Whether in concert with Aerosmith, or on an extended jaunt with Cowboy Mouth, or playing a festival with their old friends Vertical Horizon, there’s no mistaking the hold that Fighting Gravity has on its ever-growing following who over the years has effortlessly committed the band’s lyrics to memory.
Fighting Gravity has always embraced its audience with open arms and remembered its grassroots beginnings. Perhaps that’s why its original fans are still around as the fresh-faced “all-agers” enter the fold and a street team 1500 strong heeds the call along with 25,000 e-mail subscribers via www.fightinggravity.com. From small club gigs and down and dirty college tours [chronicled in a feature article by Rolling Stone senior editor David Wild in the magazine’s annual college issue] to summer festivals and sell-out performances in major metropolitan areas, the members of the band respect the people that keep them out there as a viable touring entity year upon year.
Not too long ago, the band embarked on its second USO tour playing for American troops in the Far East. After visiting Singapore and performing at the military base, they traveled to the tiny Micronesian Island of Chuuk for their next show. Buried deep in these waters is a major shipwreck site from World War II overgrown with brilliantly colored coral reefs. Some eight thousand miles away, much like the convergence of Fighting Gravity’s contrasting musical styles, the past and present collided, and for one moment time stood still. The native peoples had never seen an “electric” performance by a band in their lives. And then, Fighting Gravity took the stage. That’s what they do.
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Spirit Creek is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with. In the past 3 years alone this band has earned the honor of performing with 26 National acts including Creed, 3 Doors Down, Nickelback, and Bush to name a few. Spirit Creek delivers an energetic live performance that combines montrous guitars, powerful vocals and a driving rhythm that encourages the audience along for the ride. This successful formula combined with constant touring and promotions has garnered Spirit Creek an incredibly loyal fan base throughout the Midwest. College audiences have been particularly receptive to this band, with Spirit Creek performing on over 40 campuses in the past year alone. Their reputation as a total crowd pleaser has made them one of the most sought after college acts in the Midwest. With all the attention Spirit Creek has recieved in recent months, along with their recently completed 5 song EP produced by Steven Haigler (Fuel, Clutch) and Mastered by Ted Jensen @ Sterling Sound it won't be suprising to see them join the ranks of the National acts they've performed with.
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Edie Carey's musical career began the moment she stuck her two-year-old head between the green, sticky seats of her baby-sitter Grace's car and belted out "Love lift us up where we belong!" Since then, Carey has attempted Aretha, growled to Sam and Dave, and even embraced her puritan side as a singing Hester Prynne, but somewhere around fifteen she accidentally fell into the world of folk music. However, though she considers folk her real home, she has never forgotten the day that someone told her she had "white girl soul." (Needless to say, she was relieved to discover that there was a special soul category for privileged white girls from Boston with cousins named Flip, Skip, Trip, and Nip.)
Regular New York venues include Fez, The Bitter End, The Living Room, CB's Gallery, and The Postcrypt. Carey has also headlined prestigious folk rooms such as Club Passim in Cambridge, Fire and Water in Northampton, The Mercury Cafe in Denver, The Rich Forum in Stamford, and The Met Cafe in Providence. She has performed the streets of Telluride during its annual Bluegrass Festival, and stolen the smaller stages at the Newport Folk Festival, earning friends and fans from across the country. Carey recently began a series of tours around the U.S. to promote her first album, "The Falling Places."
Along with Ani Difranco, Sandra Bernhard, and Rufus Wainwright, Carey was recently nominated for a 1998 GLAMA award in the Acoustic/Folk category for her song, "If I Were You."
Carey's debut CD, "The Falling Places," recently released through Accidental Poet Productions, can be heard on several folk-friendly radio stations, including WBOS and WUMB in Boston, KOTO and KGNU in Colorado, WPKN, WRTC, and WSHU in Connecticut, WJFF in New York, and WYMS in Wisconsin.
She has appeared with such artists as Leo Kottke, Cliff Eberhardt, Luka Bloom, Brooks Williams, Lucy Kaplansky, Dee Carstensen, Melissa Ferrick, and Sandra Bernhard.
Edie’s second album, entitled “Call Me Home,” was released on August 22nd, 2000 as a follow up to her critically-acclaimed 1998 debut, “The Falling Places.” “Call Me Home” features such acclaimed musicians as drummer Shawn Pelton (Saturday Night Live, Shawn Colvin), bassist T-Bone Wolk (Shawn Colvin, Carly Simon, Saturday Night Live), and Red House Records Recording Artist, Cliff Eberhardt.
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"The Worst Alternative Band in the World"
Spinning Images began 40 years ago, somewhere in coastal England. The myth was passed on for generations, until finally reaching its peak sometime in 1994. The Spinning Images Torch was passed to four new members sent on their own to make music in a world that has destroyed what was once beautiful sounds. Spinning Images set out on a tri-state mission to find people who would also like to hear something different. The people came and they hated it. But that didn't stop them. They played and played everywhere that had a PA system, eventually selling 9000 CDs over the span of 47 years. Without any help, the band has created a scene of violence and hatred of them personally, and the music.
John Hagedorn grabbed the torch and ran like a bandit in a crack house. He began writing songs about girls and other ridiculous material. Swindling and swiping from legendary greats like Maccaus, Sunny Day Real Estate, Epstein, and Colon Cancer. He offends everyone on stage with his unorthodox antics and swearing. But don't let that stop you. Buy an album.
Rob Siano is the drummer. Coming out of NYU like an insomniac investment banker, Rob has tricked many clubs, radio stations, and record stores into promoting the material. He plays drums like somebody else, specifically Joey Stopin, Mitch Mitchell, William Goldsmith, and Tobias Wilson. Either way is fine.
Brian Kearins is the face of the new millenium. Playing licks like Clapton, Malmsteen, Satriani, and Sting, this boy has recently lost his mind. This Manhattanville College student also teaches little boys guitar lessons in his spare time. His stage performance is sticky and he moves like a rod of lightning. Check him out in your local grocery store.
After several failed attempts at replacing former bassist, Rod Fingerblister, Spinning Images created a clay mold, and Chris Schleich was born. It was our first time making a bassist, so it came out all messed up, but he's our first born, and we think he's a hottie. He plays bass like Evan Marriot, and his favorite band is Dogstar. He's a libra and has a fancy for fingerpainting. He likes long walks on the boardwalk, eating carrots, and changing lanes. Come watch Chris grow into a young boy via webcast every Tuesday at 8pm, on www.SpinningImages.com.
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