Seven Questions In Heaven With SHEL

SHEL are sisters Sarah, Hannah, Eva, and Liza Holbrook. They were nice enough to spend Seven Questions In Heaven with us!

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
Eva: Our music is a journey, an exploration of moving sounds, so you hear classical and cinematic influences mixed with beatboxing, fiddle solos, raging drums, and thrashing mandolin.  Since we all sing, four-part harmony is a big part of our sound as well.

Who are your musical influences and idols?
SHEL: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Harry Nilsson, Bach, Chopin, Florence and the Machine, The Eurythmics, The Who, Imogene Heap, The Police.

What was the first album, cassette, or CD you bought with your own money?
Eva: The Police, Greatest Hits.



What was the strangest gig you've ever played?
Sarah: Our very first gig as young kids was a performance on vacuum cleaner pipes. Nothing's topped that for strange:) But the most nerve wracking is to play one of your songs while the bride walks down the aisle. You only get one shot. Talk about pressure!

What's the first thing you look for when you hit a new town?
Liza: A good spot for fresh fish tacos and a good drink.

What is your current favorite guilty pleasure?
Liza: "Don't Tell Em" by Jeremih. Also Oreos.

If they named an ice cream flavor after you, what would be the name and why?
Hannah: This actually happened!  An ice cream shop created a flavor to match our song "The Latest and Greatest Blueberry Rubber Band." It was blueberry flavored with blueberry licorice.  I didn't even get to taste it because it sold out so fast!  If we did it again, I'd pick some sort of vanilla/strawberry cheesecake/cotton candy flavor to match our song, "The Man Who Was The Circus."

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five do you choose and what song do you all perform as the final jam?
Hannah: Best question EVER!    The Beatles, Sting, Ennio Morricone conducting the Boston Pops, Imogen Heap with her awesome vocalizing keytar, and John Mayer. And we'd jam out on Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks."

More SHEL: Official | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Seven Questions In Heaven With The Karma Killers

Today we're spending Seven Questions In Heaven with The Karma Killers' Micky James!

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
We consider our music as 'Night/Pop.' We blended a melting pot of our influences and infused them together to make what we feel comes across as 'Night/Pop' music.

Who are your musical influences and idols?
Our musical influences are very broad as a band. As for me, I am very influenced by The Beatles, David Bowie, Billy Idol, Michael Jackson, Nirvana, The Strokes... the list is endless.

What was the first album, cassette, or CD you bought with your own money?
The first album I ever bought was when I was around 6 or 7 and it was the self titled Third Eye Blind record. Still until this day one of the most influential albums of my generation. I listen to that record as much as I can.



What was the strangest gig you've ever played?
The strangest gig I ever played was back in 2012 with The Karma Killers. It took place at some bake shop in Gillette, NJ. It was bizarre. It's hard to explain.

What's the first thing you look for when you hit a new town?
Clothing stores. Always.

If they named an ice cream flavor after you, what would be the name and why?
Vanilla. Cause it's fucking awesome.

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five do you choose and what song do you all perform as the final jam?
Queen, INXS, Nirvana, The Doors, and The Rolling Stones. We would close the show out with Bohemian Rhapsody. It would be absolutely magical.

More Karma Killers: Official | Facebook | Twitter

Seven Questions In Heaven With Jasmine Thompson

Today we're spending Seven Questions In Heaven with Jasmine Thompson!

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
You will find lots of stripped back acoustic covers of mine on YouTube. I am also featured on a few more upbeat dance songs. My single "Adore" and the upcoming EP is somewhere in between the two styles.

Who are your musical influences and idols?
I love Florence And The Machine. Her voice is so emotional and her songs are amazing. I also love watching Pink performing live.

What was the first album, cassette, or CD you bought with your own money?
The Ting Tings' We Started Nothing.



What was the strangest gig you've ever played?
There was one gig in London where I was the only the one in the audience watching the band play before me and then they were the only ones in the audience watching me when I sang. I still had fun, but it was a bit awkward.

What is your current favorite guilty pleasure?
Sleeping in late and watching Netflix!

If they named an ice cream flavor after you, what would be the name and why?
It would have to be something other than Jasmine because I don't think actual Jasmine flowers would taste nice. Maybe they would call it TantrumJas like my YouTube channel, but I don't know what that would taste like either!

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five do you choose and what song do you all perform as the final jam?
Florence And The Machine, James Bay, Rudimental, Ella Eyre, and Pink. We would sing "Dog Days" by Florence And The Machine.

More Jasmine Thompson: Official | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram

Seven Questions In Heaven With Shannen Nicole

Today we're spending Seven Questions In Heaven with Shannen Nicole!

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
My music is more than a compilation of sound, rather, an expression of emotion. Each instrument, lyric, and tone stands for the individuals voice I've written from. I hope my music can transcend the realm of time and serve as a refuge.

Who are your musical influences and idols?
I chose not to be influenced by the music I listen to, rather the experiences around me. But, a few musicians whose live concerts have elicited a sense of magic into the room are: Vance Joy, Ed Sheeran, Of Monsters and Men, Coldplay, and Banks.

What was the first album, cassette, or CD you bought with your own money?
I bought a John Mayer vinyl of Continuum, one of my favorite albums.



What was the strangest gig you've ever played?
Freshman year, I was at the Junior Olympics for ski racing in Montana. It was the banquet, so about 1000+ in a huge room eating dinner. There was a stage with a jazz band playing, as I was eating, a few of my friends went up and asked the Jazz band if I could perform. They were hesitant but said yes. So a few of us ran back to the hotel room, grabbed my guitar (I bring my guitar, Stella Blue, everywhere with me) and before I knew it I was on stage in front of my competitors, friends, and coaches. I sang "Captive." It was pretty new to me because it had just been created. It was wonderful. Oh how I love spontaneity.

What is your current favorite guilty pleasure?
Shopping, eating way too much Chantelle cake. I started watching the series Lost last night and the next day am already on episode 17.

If they named an ice cream flavor after you, what would be the name and why?
That's tough. Well first, the flavor would be peanut butter, chocolate, and Oreo. But the Oreos and peanut butter wouldn't be fully blended because it's best that way. I took credit for creating this flavor, that is till I was at an ice cream shop a few miles North and found it. But the name would be "Summer Daydream," yeah a little cheesy. But that's my experience with it. Those flavors are a taste of summer, they take me back to a day of ease when I sat on a dock engulfing them.

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five do you choose and what song do you all perform as the final jam?
John Mayer, Arctic Monkeys, J. Cole featuring. Notorious BIG, Lana Del Rey, and Grateful Dead. We'd perform "Yellow," Coldplay. This was the first song at a live show that caused me to grasp the infinite. It makes me smile. And I would love to reinvent it with these artists. That would be cool.

More Shannen Nicole: Soundcloud | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Seven Questions In Heaven With Dead Stars

Today we're spending Seven Questions In Heaven With Dead Stars' Jeff Moore:

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
Fuzzed out pop songs with heavy drums, big muffs, and largemouth bass.

Who are your musical influences and idols?
Dinosaur Jr., Nirvana, and Weezer. If you put the members of each of those bands into a human-sized blender and pureed all 10 of them, then poured the contents into a glass over ice, then drank it down, that's what Dead Stars would taste like.

What was the first album, cassette, or CD you bought with your own money?
Billy Joel, "It's Still Rock And Roll To Me." That song rules. I bought the 7" at this old lady's garage sale down the street from my parents' house as a little kid. The vocal double tracking is super cool. Go listen to it.



What was the strangest gig you've ever played?
Once we had a gig where the booker only gave us an address on a piece of paper. We show up at this huge mansion and everyone is wearing these weird masks and performing creepy rituals. We start playing and at one point someone gives me some milk. I drink it and start hallucinating that I'm traveling through space time and I end up in a Victorian style bedroom where I proceed to watch myself grow old and die and then I'm reincarnated as the caretaker of an old hotel who's slowly going insane. Then I wake up and it's all a dream and I'm actually late to the real gig which wasn't that strange at all but was really fun.

What's the first thing you look for when you hit a new town?
A clean, quality, single person bathroom.

If they named an ice cream flavor after you, what would be the name and why?
They would call it "Dr. Peabody's Chocolate Caramel Marshmallow Secret Surprise (now with extra sprinkles!)." Because they would have to.

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five do you choose and what song do you all perform as the final jam?
Headliners would be the supergroup Satans Fingernails whose members include:

Jimi Hendrix: Lead Guitar/Vox
Frank Zappa: Lead Guitar/Vox
Brian Jones: Rythm Guitar
John Entwistle: Bass Guitar
John Bonham: Drums

The last song of their set, Dead Stars would be invited onstage to sing three-part harmony in the style of Peter, Paul and Mary and we'd do a psychedelic stoner rock version of "Puff The Magic Dragon."

More Dead Stars: Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | Bandcamp

Seven Questions In Heaven With Heyrocco

Heyrocco will release their debut album, Teenage Movie Soundtrack, on June 2nd (stream here), but today they're spending Seven Questions In Heaven with us!

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
Our tunes sound like a perfect combination of dad rock meets mom rock. Sometimes sad and sweet for the ladies or loud and pissed for the bros. Sound guys usually like us, if that means anything. Which we think does. For they are spies.

Who are your musical influences and idols?
We like a lot of classic rock bands like Sabbath, Led Zep, David Bowie, as well as '90s cali shit like Sublime, Fecal Matter, and Gin Blossoms. We obviously like of a lot of records, mostly consisting of loud guitars.

What was the first album, cassette, or CD you bought with your own money?
Chris Cool: Green Day, American Idiot
Tanner Cooper: Jimi Hendrix, Smash Hits
Nathan Merli: Shrek soundtrack



What was the strangest gig you've ever played?
Maybe on the back porch of the windjammer wearing bike helmets or in this cold weird mexican cellar in St. Louis on acid. Definitely the latter, we played with our trash pop dawgs Sun Club from Baltimore and there was literally one girl there. She let us all stay on the floor of her apartment while her roommate blared metal for 12 straight hours. It was sick.

What is your current favorite guilty pleasure?
Eating two of the same things in these towns we visit. For example, today we're one weinerschnitzel deep in Hamburg but as soon as I finish these questions we're going to go have another. Then probably lay in a park.

If they named an ice cream flavor after you, what would be the name and why?
Gotta give this one to my man "Ice Cool" because he wears the most ice and is by far the sweetest. Although hopefully the name doesn't imply the ice cream sucks and sat in the back of a freezer for a month.

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five do you choose and what song do you all perform as the final jam?
John Bonham, John Paul Jones, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and Jimi Hendrix playing "Dazed And Confused" into "Manic Depression" into "Space Truckin'" somehow going BACK into "Dazed And Confused."

More Heyrocco: Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter

Seven Questions In Heaven With Penelope Austin

Today we're spending Seven Questions In Heaven with Penelope Austin!

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
Lyrically it's honest. There is highs and lows throughout my album which I guess is a true reflection of my life. This is evident not only in words used but the way in which it has been produced. Delicate & extreme. This question in particular has always been a very difficult one to answer as there is a mix of genres that influence my album. But in a nutshell - it's sexy, suggestive, melancholy in moments and real.

Who are your musical influences and idols?
I have a massive soft spot for music from the '90s and for the legends even previous to this era. I suppose these beats and themes influence my music today with a modern twist. I dig power ballads although I know this sort of statement isn't deemed cool in this day and age! I love Stevie Nicks. Carol King. Janis Joplin. Amazing. Bruce Springsteen. Elvis Presley. Bob Seger. Elton John. Stop it. I also admire artists such as Lana and Florence but i'm teetering on dangerous territory here as they are not too dissimilar to me!

What was the first album, cassette, or CD you bought with your own money?
If i'm being honest here, the first song I ever bought with my own money was Brandy's single "Have You Ever" from The Sanity store in the Southern Highlands. However prior to this before I was introduced to pocket money, I pleaded with my mum to purchase for me two albums in a life or death manner. Boys II Men and UB40. Kind of surprising I didn't go into R&B.



What was the strangest gig you've ever played?
Not so much a gig but the weirdest/hardest crowd I played in front of was 100 kids at a Primary School. They RIPPED. ME. TO. SHREDS. It really made me question myself haha.

What is your current favorite guilty pleasure?
Dark chocolate in bed. After I've brushed my teeth. Its a thrill.

If they named an ice cream flavor after you, what would be the name and why?
Coconut Swirl. Hard to crack, but once inside the exterior its all kinds of sweet & sentimental. Swirl because I like to think I can hula hoop. I can also promise unlike the coconut, I do NOT have a beard.

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five do you choose and what song do you all perform as the final jam?
Freddie Mercury. Elton John. Meatloaf. Stevie Nicks & Annie Lennox. No divas in this bunch although Elton is known to sometimes have a doozie. Fuck the stage would be fun. Closing song... It would have to be a medley. Or if Elton chucked a tanty I'd suggest "Across The Universe" by the Beatles for shits & giggles.

More Penelope Austin: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Seven Questions In Heaven With Gay Paris

Today we're spending Seven Questions In Heaven with Gay Paris singer Luke Monks!

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
Gay Paris sounds like a terrible mismatch of ideas, Satanic punk-rock, stoner-soul and huge metal riffs. The important thing to remember is that they are all heavy songs.

Who are your musical influences and idols?
Personally, I want to be Aretha Franklin, but thanks to current ontological difficulties, this will not be possible. I love storytellers and wordsmiths – Nick Cave, John Darnielle, Colin Meloy, and Aesop Rock. Lachlan probably would worship at the Church of Fugazi whilst Dean performed hecatombs at the grave of Dimebag. Simmo grew up listening to pop-punk, so let’s just leave that alone.

What was the first album, cassette, or CD you bought with your own money?
Oh man. Snoop Doggy Dogg, Doggystyle. I bought it at a pawn shop and it was already scratched up pretty bad. Track 16 ("Gz and Hustlas") would always skip and that was my favourite song at the time.



What was the strangest gig you've ever played?
Rock N Roll Markets at University of Sydney. We're not really a family friendly kind of act, but seeing little kids shaking out with their parents instead of pointing and crying when the bad man said those things that are best left unsaid – that gave me hope for the future.

What is your current favorite guilty pleasure?
We don't really believe in guilt. If you are doing it because you want to do it, then doesn't Socrates say that this must be a good thing? I'm not going to argue with such a great mind as that.

If they named an ice cream flavor after you, what would be the name and why?
Probably call it a SundaySurprise, because when you open the tub, you a presented with the blood of Christ instead of ice cream.

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five do you choose and what song do you all perform as the final jam?
This is tough due to our rampant narcissism, but I'll give it a shot (I'm only avoiding rappers because I can't stand rap-rock, otherwise it would basically be Wu-Tang and Ace Rock). Death (the proto-punk one, not the metal one) Clairy Brown & The Bangin' Rackettes, Pantera (only because Dean would sulk if given the chance of necromancy, we didn't use it to resurrect Dimebag), Queen, and The Jesus Lizard and for a final encore, we all sing Nick Cave's "Death Is Not The End."

More Gay Paris: Official | Facebook

Seven Questions In Heaven With Redlands

Today we're spending Seven Questions In Heaven with Redlands singer Ben Lohle:

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
Well, we're an american indie pop rock band from Denver, CO and we touch on a handful of styles.

Who are your musical influences and idols?
For me personally, I'm very fond of singer-songwriters because it's such raw talent and not like what you see nowadays where these kids hide behind a computer and drag stuff around. Eventually, I see myself taking my music more in that direction because that's my true passion, but I'd say I'm heavily influenced by artists like Tom Petty and Ryan Adams.

What was the first album, cassette, or CD you bought with your own money?
Honestly, I think it was like a Backstreet Boys album. Millennium, I believe haha.



What was the strangest gig you've ever played?
So we had a show cancel on us when we were on tour in Florida a few years back and we wanted to play a show so we all got on the phone and started calling all the bars and venues in the area. Well, we ended up playing this one place, I forget the name, but it was a gay bar and little did we know, but it was known to be the "gayest" bar in Florida haha. Anyways, that was a weird show, but I think we all milked it for what it was worth. We all drank for free and partied pretty well that night and surprisingly they loved our show, or us haha we couldn't tell, but we didn't care.

What is your current favorite guilty pleasure?
Currently, I don't know. I feel like I've cut everything out of my life that I should feel guilty about partaking in, but I like Starbucks now and then.

If they named an ice cream flavor after you, what would be the name and why?
Hmm they'd probably call it Creepy T-Rex because when we go out and get crazy I like to get up on the stage or a table and do my best T-Rex impression haha.

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five do you choose and what song do you all perform as the final jam?
Tom Petty, The Maine, Augustana, Ryan Adams, Parachute. I think we’d all HAVE to cover "I Want It That Way" by The Backstreet Boys because that would be too great hahaha.

More Redlands: Official | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | YouTube

Seven Questions In Heaven With Bryan McPherson

Today we're spending Seven Questions In Heaven with Bryan McPherson, who will be releasing his third album, Wedgewood, on June 10th through O.F.D. Records.

Describe your music for our readers who may not be familiar with you.
Folk music. Music of the people.

Who are your musical influences and idols?
I grew up on Bob Dylan, Guns N Roses, Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Michael Jackson, '90s punk bands like Rancid, NOFX, Avail and lately I have been listening to Bill Faye, Leonard Chen, Townes Van Zandt, Bright Eyes, Tom Petty, Against Me!, Billy Bragg, and Bruce Springsteen.

What was the first album, cassette, or CD you bought with your own money?
I bought GNR's Appetite For Destruction LP.



What was the strangest gig you've ever played?
I have played so many strange gigs. I just played in a cave in Germany. It was pretty rad.

What is your current favorite guilty pleasure?
Haribo candy.

If they named an ice cream flavor after you, what would be the name and why?
Del Fuego. Because it would be hot.

Final question: You're the opening act of a music festival. You can get any five artists, living or dead, to perform on the bill with you. Which five do you choose and what song do you all perform as the final jam?
Prince, Bob Dylan, Sex Pistols, Nirvana and Janis Joplin singing "Purple Rain."

More Bryan McPherson: Official | Facebook | Twitter | Pre-order Wedgewood