Follow Friday: Municipal Waste, Destiny Petrel, Hawthorne Heights and More.

Municipal Waste

Somewhere between traditional thrash, punk rock, and metal, you’ll find Municipal Waste, a band that has become synonymous with circle pits, shred solos, and all-around heavy speed.

Formed in Virginia in 2000, Municipal Waste carved their path in the DIY scene with influences from bands like D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies, Slayer, Nuclear Assault, and more. They quickly found fans in the crossover metal/thrash scene thanks to the consistent riffage of guitarist Ryan Waste and demanding vocalist Tony Foresta, and they hit the road touring through the US and Mexico only a few years after forming. They also released their first full-length album, Waste ‘Em All, in 2003. The guys also got a pretty quick reputation for not only playing full speed ahead but bringing the party along with them, essentially forming every show they play into a full-on rager with little to no rules, even leading to occasionally being banned from some areas and shows being overly policed. By 2007, their third full length The Art of Partying arrived and they headlined tours through Europe including a set at Reading and Leeds Festivals, touring alongside Suicidal Tendencies, and more.

As a result of their tenacious touring, continually ripping records, and all-around work ethic, the band signed with the legendary Nuclear Blast records in 2011 and released the album The Fatal Feast in 2012. The album hit #3 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and was hailed as a “thrashterpiece” by Decibel Magazine. In 2019, the band decided to write an EP dedicated to the styles that really brought the band together, crossover thrash, punk, and metal, and they released The Last Rager. Although the band is not going anywhere anytime soon, they did approach writing the tunes differently.

We did these tracks especially for ‘The Last Rager’ and in fact, that was the very first time we had done that. We usually have tracks and ideas left over from stuff in the past, but this time around, we wrote these tracks especially for ‘The Last Rager’.

Tony Foresta to Overdrive

The band planned to hit the road alongside Testament and more, but for now sit and wait to party again. In the meantime, check out their tunes below.

Municipal Waste plays Regular Slinky guitar and Regular Slinky bass strings.

Destiny Petrel

New York-born but Los Angeles dwelling Destiny Petrel has built quite the career and reputation for doing the one thing people typically don’t want to do, work hard and get good at your craft.

Not only has Destiny hit the stage playing with artists like Lauren Jauregui, Grace Vanderwaal and Jake Miller, but she has become an in-demand session musician with producers like Dre Moon, Metro Boomin’ and more.
With a style that floats effortlessly between r&b, neo soul,jazz voicings, rock and some blues, it was easy to spot Destiny’s skill. Capped by her intimate vocals, Destiny popped up on our radar via her social media presence. On Instagram alone, she has amassed a following of almost 100k followers, leading her to do demos for brands like Fender, Boss and more.

Some may say that being involved with so many things could be spreading yourself too thin but Destiny sees opportunities abound, and you can’t shy away if you’re looking to make music your career.

Music for me is a way of life. It connects people and makes people feel. That’s the reason why I’m so passionate about it ‘cause of my compassion for others. Life is about relationships. I just want to be that bridge. The bridge for people to connect to each other. For me, I feel the connection with people when I express myself through my creativity in music. I think that’s why I never want to leave the road.  There’s so much love being shared there.

Destiny Petrel to Orangewood Guitars

Now Destiny sets her sights on releasing more of her own music, so keep your eyes out for that!

Destiny Petrel plays Regular Slinky electric guitar strings.

Hawthorne Heights

When music fans debate the quintessential sounds and bands that make up a specific genre, and the word ‘Emo’ is mentioned, a couple bands immediately come to mind, often among those mentioned sits Ohio’s own Hawthorne Heights. Blowing up on the scene with their first two albums both of which went gold, the band in 2006 followed it up with their single “Saying Sorry” which also earned gold status. Hawthorne Heights has faced and endured personal hardships, numerous lineup changes, and shifting trends in the music landscape but has stuck to their craft of honing their signature brand of angsty pop-punk well into the 2010 decade.

In the beginning, the band built their fan base on demos and a series of self-booked national tours sharing the stage with From Autumn to Ashes and the Descendents. In 2003, Hawthorne Heights inked a deal with Victory Records, which led to their full-length debut, The Silence in Black and White which quickly became the label’s highest selling debut album and launched one of the bands biggest singles “Ohio Is for Lovers”. 

In 2006, Hawthorne Heights followed up the success with their second album, If Only You Were Lonely with a DVD titled This Is Who We Are. Leading up the record’s release was a controversial decision by Victory, where they urged the band’s street team to help the record chart above R&B singer Ne-Yo who had a record slated for the same date. This included a call to action to rearranging store displays to hide Ne-Yo’s record and make Hawthorne Heights more prominent. The incident and relationship with the label came to a head when the band decided to leave Victory Records (which violated the contractual agreement which called for two more records) and sued the company for various reasons including unpaid royalties and tarnishing their name in the aforementioned controversy. Victory Records counter sued, stating that Hawthorne Heights just wanted to jump to a major label. The band continued to be a headlining act on the popular Nintendo Fusion Tour in the fall of 2006. Following several court dates, Hawthorne Heights returned to the road in 2007, when tragedy struck as guitarist Casey Calvert died in his sleep just several hours into the tour due to a lethal combination of antidepressants and Vicodin after a root canal just before the tour. Forging on as a four-piece, the band resolved their issues with Victory Records, which landed them a record titled Fragile Future. In 2010, the band would switch labels to Wind Up Records for the release of “Skeletons” meanwhile, Victory completed their contract with the release of Midwesterners: The Hits which consisted of songs from the band’s first three albums. The band went on to form their own label Cardboard Empire. After several EP’s beginning with Hate of Summer in 2011 to Hope in 2012, Hawthorne Heights released one of their most ambitious records to date titled Zero, a post-hardcore conceptual record about a dystopian, near-future America. In 2018, the band released Bad Frequequiences with the complimentary album the year after titled, Lost Frequencies which consisted of additional tracks from the same session that were never released. 

Now taking direct action to help venues across the country, Hawthorne Heights is hitting the road for a virtual tour called Stay Home bringing professional sound and visuals directly to your living room and supporting the band and your local venue. Check out their website for ticket details and their official music video for their latest track “Hard to Breathe” above.

Hawthorne Heights dig in with Ernie Ball Burly Slinky electric guitar strings and Hybrid Slinky bass strings. 

Kid Bloom

Multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter Lennon Kloser crafts a world of approachable yet unique signature style music known as Kid Bloom. Blending 70’s /80’s influences with modern indie vibes, the combination of slick synths and 808 backbeats romance the ear and make you groove with an interlaced open bass. Kid Bloom’s influence and sonic palette are diverse ranging from Tame Impala and The Weeknd to David Bowie, Travis Scott and Big Star.

Kid Bloom’s latest EP, which dropped August 14th, 2020, titled Blood Sugar features a collection of songs that range and highlight the different worlds of Kloser. From the first single “Wounded/Surrounded” which talks about the theme of not victimizing yourself and shutting the world out, to the extremely hooky “Sledgehammer” which mixes Kid Bloom’s dreamy psych influences. On this latest album, Kid Bloom partnered up with Jesse Rutherford of The Neighbourhood for the hypnotizing track “In One Ear” and the harmonies to the title track Blood Sugar, which speaks about Lennon’s personal struggles with diabetes which he’s had since he was 16. Jumping from instrument to instrument check out the official music video for Kid Bloom’s song  “Sledgehammer” above.

You can’t touch it, no one can show you, but if you can inspire something, then it changes the world.

Lennon Kloser to Pure Nowhere

Make sure to keep up with Kid Bloom on his official website here and listen to his latest tracks below.

Kid Bloom vibes with Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom and Regular Slinky electric guitar strings.

Incase We Crash

Championing from Ontario, Canada, Incase We Crash is an authentic pop-punk band that relentlessly delivers uptempo dynamic hooky music that is proudly their own. The band’s debut EP Soul Paint highlights the group’s combination of in your face riffs, powerful vocals, and choruses that are strong enough to compete with the biggest names in their scene. Frontman Simon Austin is fully aware of the juxtaposition of vulnerability and power of his voice soaring above the hard-hitting drums. Opening for bands like Ernie Ball family members Creeper and Waterparks, Incase We Crash keep up on their upward trajectory with their recent single of “Garden” and the official music video for the single “Wolf Boy” above. 

I start with a demo template or sometimes a guitar riff and then I build it up. Sometimes it’s a vocal/melody idea or a phone demo…We do a lot of reusing, readjusting, and rejigging.

Simon Austin (lead singer) to WCBG Radio

Make sure to keep up with the latest on Incase We Crash on their official website here and listen to their latest tunes below.

Incase We Crash doesn’t play games with Ernie Ball Regular Slinky, Power Slinky, and Burly Slinky electric guitar strings and Power Bass Slinky strings.