Getting to Know: Duran Duran, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes, and Amber Ryann

Get To Know:

Los Angeles-based hip-hop artist and producer Amber Ryann has felt an innate drive to create and to be involved in art for her entire life. Her music’s originality and diversity are derived from multiple sources – her father who was a hip-hop producer, her mother who was a fan of late 90’s R&B and hip-hop music, and the fast-emerging early 2000’s emo, hardcore, and alternative rock scenes. Amber’s broad taste in music and her willingness to share her inner self with complete honesty has set her apart along with her impressive artistic talent on the guitar, drawing, and videography.

Watch: “All My Friends” official music video.

Sounds Like: Julia Michaels, H.E.R, and contradash

Listen: Spotify, Apple Music

Follow: Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook

Gear: Ernie Ball Regular Slinky guitar strings and an Ernie Ball Music Man – Cutlass guitar.

Get To Know:

Making their name with full-bodied, hard-hitting punk rock reinforced with a hard rock undercurrent, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes were formed in 2015 by Carter, former lead singer with the successful U.K. punk band Gallows. Carter was a founding member of Gallows in 2005, but in 2011 he came to an impasse with the group over their musical direction. After a brief stint with another project, in March 2015, Carter launched a new project, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes, with Carter on lead vocals, Dean Richardson (formerly of Heights) on guitar, Thomas Mitchener (another alumnus of Gallows) on bass, and Memby Jago (who’d previously worked with the Ghost of a Thousand) on drums. With a sound that returned Carter to the forceful sound of Gallows, Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes made their recorded debut with the 2015 EP Rotten, and in August 2015 they dropped their first full-length album, Blossom. The band was soon touring regularly in the U.K. and Europe, and in 2016 they introduced a new lineup, with Mitchener and Jago replaced by a new rhythm section of drummer Gareth Grover (formerly of Gallows and Haunts) and bassist Tom “Tank” Barclay. Carter & the Rattlesnakes’ second album, Modern Ruin, was released in January 2017 and saw a slight return to the more melodic alt-rock sound the frontman had explored with Pure Love, with positive results — the album sold well and the band was a major draw that year on the festival circuit. 2019’s End of Suffering, which included the bruising single “Crowbar,” continued in a similar vein. 

Watch: Official music video for “Juggernaut“

Sounds Like: Gallows, Cancer Bats, The Bronx

Listen: Spotify, Apple Music

Follow: Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter

Gear: Skinny Top Heavy Bottom electric strings, Earthwood Phosphor Bronze Light acoustic guitar strings, Cobalt Hybrid Slinky bass strings. 

Get To Know:

British music icons, Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records, had 18 American hit singles, 21 UK Top 20 tunes, and have continued to perform to huge concert audiences around the world since the band first formed in 1980. Consistently fusing art, technology, fashion, and a signature sense of style with their unique and infectious brand of music, singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bassist John Taylor, and drummer Roger Taylor have proven themselves timeless, always innovating and reinventing, to remain ahead of the curve. In 2006, Dom Brown joined the band as both a session player and touring guitarist, although not considered quite a full member still. Their last album, 2015’s Paper Gods, was the band’s highest-charting release in 22 years and was hailed by critics and fans alike as their best body of work in more than two decades. A global, three-year, sold-out arena tour followed. FUTURE PAST is their highly anticipated 15th studio album and boasts esteemed producers Erol Alkan, Giorgio Moroder, and Mark Ronson behind the board. It features special guests Graham Coxon of Blur on guitar, Mike Garson from David Bowie’s band on the piano, and guest vocals from Lykke Li, with more exciting collaborations to be announced soon. FUTURE PAST will be released in October 2021 alongside a series of 40 thrilling projects and events celebrating their long and illustrious career.

Watch: “Invisible” Official music video.

Sounds Like: Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, The Human League

Listen: Spotify, Apple Music

Follow: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok

Gear: Skinny Top Heavy Bottom, Ultra Slinky, and Regular Slinky electric guitar strings.