Indie record stores across the country are teaming with Metal Blade Records, http://recordstoreday.com, RED, and Decibel magazine (see list of prize sponsors below) to host The Search For The Next Great Metal Band.

The search, announced at the Noise In The Basement Creative Conference in Baltimore, will officially commence on October 1^st 2008 and will continue through April 18, 2009 (Record Store Day 2009), with in-store performances from regional champions and a promotional compilation CD. As well, Metal Blade artists Unearth will host a listening party and pre-release signing for their upcoming album The March at The Sound Garden in Baltimore as part of The Search For The Next Great Metal Band event.

The winning band will be chosen by Brian Slagel, founder of Metal Blade Records.

For those with an unyielding mandate to rock hard, here’s how it will work…

Bands who lean heavy and can take it to the people, live, are encouraged to submit 3 of their best songs, a bio, a press photo, and all of their digits and links to participating independent record store outlets starting on the contest commencement date (10/1), who will in turn, submit the bands to the certain brutal scrutiny of our judges. (Find full details on submission requirements at participating stores)

The winning band will benefit from the national exposure with both the public and the metal community, and will receive a prize pack from following sponsors, (complete value and make-up of prize pack still being determined):

• ESP GUITARS
• KRANK Amplifers
• Puma
• Rotosound
• *District Lines
• Atticus

A confirmed list of participating stores nationwide will be found on www.recordstoreday.com.

Post from: Metal Martyr

Rolling Stone Magazine recently caught up with Metallica at Record Store Day on April 19th and conducted an interview with drummer Lars Ulrich. Here is a few excerpts.

RS: You went through four boxes of Sharpies signing autographs on Record Store Day. Can you talk about that marathon meet and greet?
Lars: I think the intense energy and all the love carried us through. I didn’t even take a pee break! It’s probably the longest we’ve gone for as long as I can remember. We used to be like, “Where’s the beer? Fire up the Misfits!” It would be a lot more reckless. Now it’s more personal and less about you and your beer needs. It’s funny. You’re at home chilling out in your backyard, being a parent, and driving your kids around town and you conveniently forget. At 9 a.m., I spent ten minutes wiping the shit off my nine-month old. At 12 p.m., I was in the dog park cleaning up dog shit. Then you get into a car drive down to Mountain View and go, “Holy shit!” By 2 p.m., they’re saying how amazing you are. It’s easy to forget in your own little bubble.

RS: What did you take away from the fans this time?
Lars: I would say the main thing is that it continues to reinforce how varied metal fans are; how difficult it is to define who they are. You are talking about fans that cross all lines of age, gender and cultural backgrounds — it’s not categorizable. You see parents there with their kids who say they finally found something in common through Metallica. I walked away totally humbled, whereas in my twenties and thirties there’s these big black holes. I didn’t remember walking away with that feeling.

RS: You signed a lot of Guitar Hero controllers. Is that cool?
Lars: It’s fucking way cool. Our kids love playing Guitar Hero and Rock Band. It’s awesome. There’s something really positive coming out of video games. It’s so cool to sit there and have your kids talk to you about Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and Soundgarden.

RS:What made Metallica want to be part of Record Store Day?
Lars: It was a no-brainer for us. It took three seconds to decide to do it. The record store has been such a huge part of our lives. When I was twelve, fourteen years old in Denmark, the record store was the Holy Grail and the guy who worked there was my hero. I would go two to three times a week and get Judas Priest, Accept, Triumph; this guy was like a God to me. In America it was places in San Francisco like the Record Vault where we’d sell our demos, T-shirts, hang out.

RS: How would you feel on the day the last record store in America closed?
Lars: I’d do my best to try and be there playing “Fade to Black” as the last song, but I don’t think it’ll come to that. iTunes? I’m there as much as everyone else, I’m not against that. If you look at vinyl, fifteen years ago CDs came out and yet it continues to make more of a comeback. I don’t think you’ll be able to kill the record store, at least not in major cities. I’m worried about the smaller cities. I’m against these soulless megastores.

Read the rest of this interview at Rollingstone.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

Shadows Fall’s Brian Fair and Ben Orum from All Shall Perish both have been quoted at Recordstoreday.com.

Brian Fair (Shadows Fall):

“Independent record stores have always been the only place to find great music that is off the mainstream radar. I used to love heading down to our local spot to sift through the new imports or albums from some small label I had never heard of. In the days before the internet the only way to find out about new underground bands was either a cool neighbor an older brother or the local independent record store. Luckily I had both and it lead to a record collection I am still very proud of. I still love that feeling of walking into a great independent store and having no idea what I might find. It’s like a treasure hunt. hahaha”

Ben Orum (All Shall Perish)

“Ill never forget how I got into metal, it was a small indie record store in my home town. They had all the stuff the big guys were to afraid to stock.”

If you have a feeling or a good record store story please comment below and tell us about it…

Image from http://RecordsStoreday.com Click on the image to go to Record Store Day web site.

Post from: Metal Martyr

Post from: Metal Martyr