V Festival - Fran Healey Has Wedding Ring Crisis

TRAVIS frontman Fran Healey had to halt his band's performance at the V Festival in Chelmsford this weekend – when he accidentally dropped his wedding ring.The ...

Published: 2008-08-19 Provider: Contact Music

Album Preview: Gym Class Heroes Invite Patrick Stump, Busta Rhymes to Party Under “The Quilt”

When Rolling Stone caught up with Gym Class Heroes earlier this year, the band dished about collaborations with Daryl Hall and Busta Rhymes for the upcoming The Quilt. It’s an eclectic roster, but as the preview we heard yesterday proves, Gym Class Heroes are capable of casting a wide net and still making songs that have their own personal stamp on them. The Quilt kicks off with the energetic “I’m Innocent,” featuring “American Boy” songstress Estelle and production help from Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump, who worked on seven of the album’s tracks. Stump’s retro R&B finesse shines on “Blinded By the Sun,” which finds Travis McCoy’s raps taking on a reggae tone and Stump slipping in some vocal work for an updated take on Corey Hart’s “Sunglasses at Night.” “Peace Sign/Index Down” kicks off with mild piano under McCoy’s rhymes but builds into an agressive chant to “put up your peace sign, put your index down” — while McCoy hits hard, he’s no match for Busta, who warns listeners “if you ever get in my way, you know you’re done, son.” Hall shows up on “Fly With Me” for a haunting homage to McCoys cousin, who committed suicide last year. The Quilt doesn’t hit stores until September, but “Peace Sign/Index Down” and “Blinded By the Sun” are available on an iTunes EP now. [Photo: Getty]

Published: 2008-07-10 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

New Blind Melon Singer Will Always Have Shannon Hoon Right Behind Him [Memories?]

A special note to the Washington Post: If you're going to do a big article on Blind Melon and use the news that new lead singer Travis Warren, a diehard fan of the band who finally got the chance to...

Published: 2008-03-03 Provider: Idolator Keywords: blind melon,memories?,Shannon Hoon,Travis Warren

Gym Class Heroes Frontman Says New Album Will Prove He's A 'Lyrical Genius'

Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy says the band's upcoming album will prove he's a "lyrical genius."

Published: 2008-01-28 Provider: VH1 Keywords: Children, Artist, Heroes, School, Album, Class, Cruel, Gym, VH1, as, Performances, Chokehold, Ringtones, Frontman, Clicked, Lyrical, Nominee, Cupids, Genius, Movies, Extra, Prove, Shell, Shock, Songs, Vids!, VSPOT, 2007, June, Most, News, Rock, Says, Will, 100, A-Z, Hes, New, The, Top, VMA, 07, 20, 40, of, on, TV,

Travis Return to US for Fall Tour

Scottish feel-good rockers Travis are singing their way through the West Coast this November. The band are coming back to America after a string of US shows earlier this summer, including a stop

Published: 2007-10-26 Provider: Artist Direct

Gym Class Heroes Stoked To Get 'That Voltron Thing Happening' For New LP

Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy says the band's next effort will "definitely be a little sarcastic."

Published: 2007-08-16 Provider: VH1 Keywords: Children, Artist, Heroes, School, Album, Class, Cruel, Gym, VH1, as, Chokehold, DeGeneres, Happening, Ringtones, Voltron, Cupids, Movies, Stoked, April, Ellen, Thing, VSPOT, 2007, June, News, Rock, Show, That, A-Z, For, Get, May, New, The, Top, 19, 20, 28, LP, on, To, TV, 2, 5,

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Travis, "Closer" The Glasgow-based indie rock quartet has kept a low profile since releasing its last album in 2003, but the band is back to delight with this wistful, anthemic pop-rocker about getting, well, closer to someone. Its the first...

Published: 2007-05-08 Provider: New York Post Keywords: album, Buy, UTF, amazon, href, http, ie, music, pd_bbs_sr_, qid, ref, sr, target, www, today, music

Lunchtime Poll: Save “Sgt. Pepper’s” From Razorlight

The NME is reporting that a collection of worthy (Oasis, the Killers, the Fratellis) and not so worthy (Razorlight, Travis) bands are covering a collection of songs off Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the album’s release (it came out June 1st, 1967). We can already hear the maudlin wail of Travis butchering “Lucy in the Sky” and we feel something must be done. You are in charge of this project. You get to pick any band currently together and actively playing to join your team and take to the task of not fucking up cover versions of these classic tunes. What bands do you select and which songs do they play?

Published: 2007-04-06 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Lunchtime Poll

How Busta Rhymes Helped Gym Class Heroes Sew Their “Quilt”

Since we last spoke to Gym Class Heroes about the recording of their third LP, the band has embarked on a college tour to debut songs from their new album The Quilt, due this July. When we caught up with the band this weekend at Bamboozle, frontman Travis McCoy and drummer Matt McGinley talked about their recent touring, as well as their recording sessions with Busta Rhymes and Daryl Hall. “The college tour has been kind of a warm-up for us. We’ve been playing four or five new songs,” McGinley says. “We have more prepared, but we find that some songs almost don’t translate to the live show as well [right now].” “Some of the songs are a little moody,” explains McCoy. “Not that this album has dark undertones, but this past year has been so crazy for us with success and personal things, like my cousin committing suicide last November. It bubbled to a point where I went out to record in L.A. and I freaked out. I was so excited, but I was going through so much shit emotionally so I jetted out of L.A. and went back to Miami.” While in Miami, McCoy met up with Andre “Dre” Christopher Lyon, one half of production duo Cool & Dre (who worked on The Quilt). “Me and Dre are kindred spirits,” McCoy says. It was Dre who helped McCoy de-stress enough to head back L.A. and hit the recording studio — but not before hooking Gym Class Heroes up with a guest vocal from Busta Rhymes. In his best Busta voice, McCoy recalls Busta’s reaction after Dre played a demo for him on speakerphone: “Yo! I’m coming to Miami right now! If you don’t save me a verse on this song, I’m going to kill all of ya’ll.” Though McCoy says he’ll never assign song titles until a track is complete — “That’s like naming your baby before it’s born, and what happens if you name it Scott but it comes out looking like a Michael?” — the Bus

Published: 2008-05-07 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News

Bamboozle 2008: Five Bands That Broke Out

TYGA The younger cousin of Gym Class Heroes MC Travis McCoy, Tyga’s rhymes are the product of someone with a passion for hip-hop and a pop sensibility, as perfectly excecuted in his remix of the Plain White T’s “Hey There Delilah” and his current summertime single, “Coconut Juice.” Get It: Tyga’s debut, No Introduction hits stores June 10th. THE CAB Judging by the overflowing crowd at their early evening Bamboozle set, the Cab’s slick dance-rock sound has already scored a dedicated following. Blurring the line between post-Fall Out Boy emo and late ’90s boy bands, the Cab’s high-energy pop is radio-ready. Get It: The Cab’s debut, Whisper War came out last Tuesday. ALL TIME LOW The Maryland quartet have been steadily on the rise since their debut full-length came out last fall, propelled by tight harmonies and a battery of arena-sized hooks. Get It: All Time Low’s So Right, It’s Wrong in stores now. DR MANHATTAN Dr Manhattan’s spastic live performance involving a fur guitar strap, a spare bass drum to bang on and unending jumping. Even better is the carefully orchestrated cacophony, which is wild enough to give the band something unique but reigned in enough for a sing-a-long. Get It: Dr. Manhattan is out now. MAYDAY PARADE Mayday Parade pairs hard-hitting guitars with vocals dripping with desperation for a sound that heads towards fiery pop rather than whiny drone. At Bamboozle, fans overflowed into the pit of the next stage, turning the mass of humanity into a dance party. Get It: A Lesson in Romantics is out now.

Published: 2008-05-06 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Festivals, Bamboozle

Tom Morello Welcomes Slash, Perry Farrell, Flea at All-Star “Justice Tour” Stop

Tom Morello kicked off his seven-city “Justice Tour” last night by calling every able-bodied rock legend in Los Angeles for a surreal night of music and social awareness at the Troubadour. “This is what happens when I go through my Blackberry,” Morello joked to the crowd before Stuart Copeland snuck behind the drums and Perry Farrell grabbed the mike for a thundering version of the Police’s “Message in a Bottle” just twenty minutes into the evening. It was the start of a marathon night that would showcase unforgettable collaborations by rock royalty for more than three and half hours. The concert featured early acoustic performances by Morello, Pete Yorn, Jerry Cantrell and the MC5’s Wayne Kramer. Morello — acting as master of ceremonies and orchestrating the chaos — then brought out what would serve as the nucleus of the evening’s house band: Travis Barker on drums, Flea playing bass and a rotating lineup of Steve Vai, Slash, Dave Navarro and Morello sharing guitar duties. The dream team backed up Cantrell for a version of Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak” and rocked out covers such as Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.” Throughout the evening Morello spoke about the tour’s goal of promoting local social activism and tackling problems endemic to each host city. While the activism is integral to the tour, Morello is quick to point out that the mood is celebratory and he views each night as “a freedom party.” Sen Dog and B-Real of Cypress Hill didn’t need any help celebrating as they arrived onstage (joint in hand) to knock out “Insane in the Brain” and “Rock Superstar.” Morello closed out the show with a poignant rendition of the Woody Guthrie classic “This Land is Your Land” (like he did at SXSW) that had every voice in the packed club singing backup. [Photos: Shinn/Retna]

Published: 2008-04-16 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, Live Shows

In the Studio: Gym Class Heroes

“Yeah! now we’re cookin’, boy!” Travis McCoy yells, pacing the main room at the Deathstar studio in Los Angeles, still sporting his backpack and hoodie. With a new Dodgers cap cocked sideways, the Gym Class Heroes MC shouts, “Drum-and-bass! Drum-and-bass!” He’s leading his band through a rhythm-heavy new tune, as guitarist Disashi Lumumba-Kasongo strums his white Stratocaster through a wah-wah pedal like he’s playing with Sly and the Family Stone. It’s still before noon when McCoy begins rhyming: “Tell hip-hop I’m not illiterate/I got greater expectations than Oliver Twist/I went postal before Bukowski did/Tell Jack I’ll go out on the road with him. . . .” Slouched over an upright piano wearing a porkpie hat is Patrick Stump. On a break from Fall Out Boy, Stump is producing today’s session — for the Heroes’ follow-up to 2006’s As Cruel as School Children, which included the radio hits “Cupid’s Chokehold” and “Clothes Off!” “They’re totally serious musicians,” says Stump, eager to demonstrate the Geneva, New York, band’s musical chops. “Travis is a dead-serious MC. He’s very smart and very sharp and has said some brilliant things. And they have a blast doing it. Hopefully people will get a sense of that.” McCoy steps out of the booth to pour himself a sweet blend of merlot and Sprite, a new drink he calls the Travalanche. But he’s soon back in the room as the band slips into a classic roots-reggae groove and McCoy spits rhymes about a postmodern romance: “We can’t, more like we shouldn’t. . . . It’s hard to be a good man.” “It’s about what happens when you have a little too much merlot in you and you have access to a phone and a ton of girls’ numbers that you wouldn’t call otherwise,” he says. He thinks up a song title on the spot

Published: 2008-02-22 Provider: Rolling Stone Keywords: Rock News, In the Studio