The Witzard

Fred Mascherino & Frank Zummo (photographer unknown / SOURCE: Night Owl Public Relations) Distinguished song-writer and guitarist Fred Mascherino (ex-Taking Back Sunday, Say Anything , The Color Fred) and prominent drummer Frank Zummo (SUM 41, Street Drum Corps, Mötley Crüe) have teamed up for a song collaboration. Their mesmerizing Indie Rock anthem, "Be Here Now," sees a world-wide release today, via Mascherino's very own Heading East Records. "'Be Here Now" is about the challenge of staying in the present moment," explains Fred Mascherino. "Something that's hard to do with today's technology. Our phones remind us of what's coming up and we re-live the past in our constant posting. But to unplug and appreciate where you are right now, by giving your full attention to the person in front of you or by giving yourself time to relax and process life, can be a really powerful action." In late 2020, after a year of confined ...

Say Anything's SA/2023 line-up (SOURCE: Dine Alone Records) Say Anything have returned to release their first new music together as a band since 2019's would-be swansong, Oliver Appropriate. "Psyche!" reunites Say Anything's mouthpiece and mastermind, Max Bemis, with the band's original drummer, Coby Linder, former bandmates, Alexander "Alex" Kent on bass [and] Parker Case on synths and programming, and adding into the fold Brian Warren (Weatherbox) and Fred Mascherino (The Color Fred, Taking Back Sunday,) who, actually, briefly toured with Say Anything through 2014, offered additional production on the track, alongside Case. With his signature snarl, Bemis proclaims in the opening lines of the song, "we are born again. We've died and sprung to life, so wet and fresh." "Psyche!," replete with lyrical nods to the band's contemporaries in the Pop-punk scene—"I will sing the requiem" (Saves The Day,) "blink a...

J.R. SLAYER (CREDIT: Robin Laananen) Just a few days before the release of their eagerly-awaited Will Yip-produced debut EP, Not Rotten, comes one of J.R. SLAYER's stand-out tracks, "The Fade Out." Keeping with the feeling of falling into Earth-shattering love that washes over the entire EP, "The Fade Out" feels nostalgic and hopeful while rocking amidst soaring guitar riffs and melodic Indie Punk sing-alongs. Out on Yip's label, Memory Music, this Friday, Not Rotten sounds as opposite as it can from Cody Votolato's past work; it's clear that the Seattle-born, LA-residing artist is at a new place in his life. "There's so much bad shit in the world, there's a lot of bad things happening. But when you fall in love with someone, you have this feeling that all that stuff can disappear momentarily," Votolato explains. "Everything goes away but you and this person and your feelings about them and yourself." J.R. SLAYER comes ...

JR SLAYER (CREDIT: Bob Sweeney) What started as a creative catch-all for Cody Votolato has morphed into one of 2022's break-out bands: J.R. SLAYER. And that's pronounced "jay-arr" slayer, not "junior" slayer, just for clarity's sake. J.R. SLAYER seemsingly first started years ago as a character and an illustration, a simple, aimless piece of imagination. "I think the world is gonna die before I do," Votolato sings on their new single and the title track to their debut EP, Not Rotten. "And if that's true, I just want to spend the rest of my time right here, sitting next to you." Produced by Will Yip (Title Fight, Anthony Green, Touché Amoré,) Not Rotten is a celebration of the feelings, words and, music that gives life color and energy to break through the bleakness. It sounds as opposite as humanly possible when compared against Votolato's past work; with melodic Indie-Punk sing-alongs, Bubblegum-Pop choruses, and soar...

We've Got A Flyer On You will (hopefully!) be a new recurring column here at The Witzard. It's set to feature, examine, and re-visit mixed bill/genre, once-in-a-lifetime, iconic, and otherwise noteworthy Punk/Hardcore show flyers and their corresponding line-ups. As often as possible, we plan to speak directly with the promoters, bookers, flyer artists, soundmen/women, show attendees, and, most importantly, the artists themselves. If all goes well, we're even hoping to, eventually, cover a handful of shows we attended ourselves in years past, as well. For this slightly re-vamped edition of We've Got A Flyer On You , we'll be spotlighting a noteworthy musician, rather than a singular infamous show, for each installment. Fred Mascherino is the guitarist, frontman, and namesake of West Chester, Pennsylvania-based Indie Rock/Emo band The Color Fred (T.C.F.) Mascherino recently started his own label imprint, Heading East Records , whose first release was T.C.F....

Fred Mascherino & Eddie Reyes are both former members of beloved Long Island, New York-based Emo Pop/Post-hardcore band, Taking Back Sunday (TBS.) Mascherino was in TBS from 2003-07 and played on their seminal albums, Where You Want to Be (2004) and Louder Now (2007,) while Reyes was a founding member of TBS and played on nearly every release from 1999-2018. Eddie Reyes & Fred Mascherino played together on the aforementioned albums, Where You Want to Be & Louder Now , as well as 2007's The Louder Now DVD: PartTwo CD/DVD set. Since parting ways with Taking Back Sunday , Fred formed his own bands, The Color Fred & Terrible Things , and briefly played with both The Lemonheads & Say Anything . The Color Fred released their first album, Bend to Break , in 2007 and a follow-up EP, The Intervention , soon after in 2009. The Color Fred side-project, Terrible Things , released a self-titled album of their own in 2010 on Universal Motown Records, which include...

"'[PROJECT 2] is a concept mixtape that covers the themes of fame, isolation, Armageddon, suicide, immortality, dark magick, and Christian mysticism. "Glass Half Empty" is the mid-point of this story and deals primarily with the emotion of helplessness... How do you see the glass? Can you see it any other way? Will my visions ever change? [PROJECT 2] on the horizon," self-described Occult Hip-Hop emcee Mahatma Crowley wrote within recent Facebook and Soundcloud statements... Mahatma Crowley's ghoulish delivery vaguely reminds me of his grizzled barking predecessors DMX, Ja Rule, Rick Ross, Yeezus-era Kanye, and at times, even Death Grips' frenzied frontman MC Ride. "Upon first hearing Crowley & The Beholder's Trinity's latest single, "Glass Half Empty" this past moon-lit Saturday evening, I was instantly reminded of his fellow Horrorcore peers Flatbush Zombies—who recently, for whatever reasons, played The Tonight Show Starri...