“All right people/Welcome to the show/Are you ready to rock?/Are you ready to go?/Now we’ve got what you want/And we’ve got what you need/So get your ass down here/And let your ears bleed.” – Stand Up For Rock’N’Roll <br><br> It is as clear a statement of intent as you’re ever likely to hear. One verse that says everything you need to know about Melbourne, AU four piece Airbourne and their debut album, Runnin’ Wild: forget your worries, get down to the front of the stage and lose your mind to some ear-bleeding, sweat-soaked rock’n’roll. Or, as the song continues, “Drink your beer/Drink your wine/Let’s have a good time.” Stand up for rock ‘n’ roll indeed. <br><br> Airbourne vocalist Joel O’Keeffe first realized rock ‘n’ roll was worth defending at the tender age of nine. Born and raised in the rural Victorian town of Warrnambool – population: 32,000 – the local pastimes revolved around playing football and falling down drunk. For young Joel, however, his only interest was devouring the albums he’d stolen from his uncle by Rose Tattoo, AC/DC, The Angels, Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs and Cold Chisel. “It’s hard to explain, but that’s always what I wanted to hear,” remarks Joel. “Straight-ahead Aussie pub rock.”<br><br> By the age of 11, Joel had picked up his first guitar and was trying to emulate the riffs of his Oz-rock idols. Paying close attention was younger brother Ryan, who’d also fallen under the spell of his brother’s “adopted” record collection. By the time he’d turned 11, and with Joel now 15, Ryan had bought his first drum kit and the brothers were spending their weekends rehearsing, much to the delight of their neighbors, who constantly sent the police over to the O’Keeffe household to plead for silence. “It got to the point where the cops would just end up saying, ‘Look, come on, guys, we’ve gotta stop coming around here ‘cos we’ve got other people to arrest,’” laughs Joel.<br><br> Instantly convinced that their futures lay in rock ‘n’ roll, it would take the O’Keeffe brothers several years to find like-minded musicians in their hometown. After a few false starts that saw the band perform as a three-piece with a now long-gone bass player, Joel was introduced to guitarist David Roads when the two worked at the Hotel Warrnambool. Bringing their guitars to work and, after their shifts, jamming on song ideas, Dave was soon asked to join the O’Keeffe brothers for a jam at their house. Bassist Justin Street completed the picture in 2003, when Ryan literally ran into him while stumbling home drunk from a party one night. Turns out his new mate played bass, and, yes, would be interested in jamming with a band that were looking to move to Melbourne. Finally, Airbourne were ready to fire.<br><br> Though it would be another nine months before the quartet relocated permanently, they began driving to the Victorian capital to play shows as regularly as they could, often returning to Warrnambool as the sun came up with just $25 to their name and a full day of school ahead of them. This exposure to the realities of being a working rock ‘n’ roll band in Australia would prepare them for when they finally made the move to Melbourne. The band quickly found a four-bedroom house that they could call home and started gigging relentlessly. “We absolutely attacked Melbourne,” says 20-year-old Ryan. “We painted the town with posters for every gig we were doing. If they were getting ripped down we’d go back and put them up. We had to walk, though, ‘cos we couldn’t afford a car.”<br><br> This work ethic helped create a substantial buzz. One-off shows in the Melbourne pubs became one-off gigs in enormodomes such as the Rod Laver Arena (concert stadium and home of various sporting events including the Australian Open) supporting the Rolling Stones and the recently destroyed legendary Aussie nightclub The Palace opening for Motley Cr&#971;e, a remarkable feat given that by this stage the band had only released one EP, the appropriately-titled Ready To Rock. National tours with the likes of Dallas Crane, Jimmy Barnes, The Living End, You Am I and Magic Dirt helped further hone their rowdy live show – it is, after all, not an Airbourne gig unless Joel has jumped on the bar mid-song at least once – while a main stage slot on the 2006 Big Day Out festival confirmed Airbourne’s reputation as one of the country’s fastest rising bands.<br><br> “It comes from growing up in Warrnambool and being pissed off with people telling us that all the bands we listened to were old and we should be playing Blink-182,” explains Ryan of the band’s explosive live show. “So we always go onstage and try to prove a point about how good rock ‘n’ roll is.” <br><br> In 2006 Airbourne got their biggest break yet when, after a huge amount of interest from several international labels, they relocated to the States to begin work on Runnin’ Wild with legendary producer Bob Marlette. With Marlette’s CV one of the most impressive in the business – his credits include albums by Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper and Shinedown, for starters – Airbourne embarked on a lengthy pre-production stint, whittling the 40-odd songs they’d written down to the 11 that comprise Runnin’ Wild. And just to ensure their immense live energy translated to CD, the band not only enlisted Andy Wallace (Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana, Linkin Park, Slipknot) to mix the album, but made sure that what was committed to tape was done so with the amps on 11. In 2007 Airbourne attracted interest from renowned A&R man Ron Burman of Roadrunner Records in New York, and by July, Airbourne had secured a worldwide record deal. <br><br>“One of my ears actually blew out ‘cos I had my headphones so loud,” laughs Ryan. “So I recorded the album with one ear!”<br><br> From the album’s fist-pumping title track to the anthemic What’s Eatin’ You and the self-explanatory rock explosions of Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast and Diamond In The Rough, Runnin’ Wild is an exercise in booze-and-sweat soaked rock ’n’ roll that isn’t looking to change the world by abolishing Free Trade, but simply provide the ultimate soundtrack to the biggest all-night rock party there is. <br><br> “You have to bleed and do anything you can to make sure the album gets out there,” says Joel. “Every day you wake up and say, ‘how are we going to do this?’ We haven’t had time off in three years. It’s every day, 24 hours.” <br><br> The album ‘RUNNIN’ WILD’ is set for release on Roadrunner Records in early 2008. <br><br>

Ever since he was eight years old, Gabriel Garcia knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life — write songs, sing lead and play shredding guitar for a hard-rocking band. “My cousin used listen to Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Pantera and all that stuff,” Gabriel remembers. “He played it for me, and he taught me how to play guitar. And then I just practiced my ass off.” Gabriel learned fast; six years later, at an age when most budding guitarists are still getting their chops together and dreaming of future stardom, his band Black Tide has already opened for Ozzy Osbourne and Lamb of God on the mainstage of OZZfest 2007, and are preparing to unleash Light From Above, their debut record for Interscope. <br><br> Don’t let Black Tide’s youthfulness fool you; Gabriel may be only fourteen, and his three bandmates all under twenty, but this Miami-based band is unquestionably the real deal. Gabriel, guitarist Alex Nunez, bassist Zakk Sandler and drummer Steven Spence hit the stage with a street gang’s confident swagger, and back it up with a combination of raw power and highly developed chops that would easily shame bands ten years their senior. <br><br> Though they’re too young to remember the Eighties, Black Tide’s music draws from the best hard rock and thrash from the era (think Guns N’ Roses, Megadeth, Metallica, Iron Maiden and Skid Row) while giving it a 21st century kick up the ass. “Shockwave,” the band’s calling card and the album’s opening track, is an utter classic — all bloody-knuckled thrash riffs, squealing guitars, rampaging drums, in-your-face vocals and an instantly memorable chorus. The rest of Light From Above is up to the same impressive standard; anthemic, take-no-prisoners tracks like “Shout,” “Black Abyss,” “Let Me,” “Live Fast Die Young,” the Maiden-esque “Warriors of Time” and their spot-on cover of Metallica’s “Hit The Lights” will punch any metal fan squarely in their pleasure centers. <br><br> Despite the obvious influences, what makes Black Tide’s music sound so fresh is the fact that all four members harbor vastly different musical obsessions. “We all agree with the Iron Maiden, Pantera, Megadeth — everyone’s into ‘em — but we all kind of branch off from there,” Zakk explains. “Alex is really into grind and crust-punk, and he loves bands like Bad Brains, Dead Kennedys and Phobia. Steve is into Rush, Dream Theater and newer metal stuff like Killswitch Engage and All That Remains. Gabriel’s into Satriani. Vai and Death, all that shred kind of stuff; and I’m into Meatloaf, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Doors. Things that really don’t make sense together, but it works for us!” <br><br> Black Tide first started playing Miami-area clubs about four years ago, shortly after Zakk — at the time, a lead guitarist for a rival group — agreed to fill in for a couple of gigs on bass. (“How quickly two shows become four years,” Zakk laughs.) Though Gabriel was only ten at the time, none of the older guys were remotely fazed by the idea of playing in a band with him. ““It wasn’t weird at all to be in a band with a ten year-old,” Zakk explains, “Because it was just like, ‘This kid is fucking talented!’” <br><br> After playing countless house parties and club gigs, Black Tide scored their big break when they talked their way onto the main showcase at the 2006 Florida Music Festival. “We did three songs in front of all these industry people, and everyone was like, ‘What the fuck was that? Who were those kids?’” Zakk recalls. “All of a sudden, we started getting all these calls from major labels.” <br><br> Interscope signed Black Tide and flew them to Chicago, where they recorded their debut album, Light From Above, at Groovemaster Studios, with Johnny K (Disturbed, Machine Head, Soil) producing. “They took four Miami boys and threw us into the middle of the Chicago winter,” laughs Zakk. “There was nothing we could do except work on the record day and night.” After the album sessions wrapped, the band scored their coveted main stage slot on OZZfest 2007. “It was crazy, man,” says Gabriel. “Sharing the stage with Ozzy and Lamb of God, it was just an awesome feeling. I’ve been listening to Lamb of God constantly for the past two years; then we got to meet them, and they turned out to be really cool.” “We learned so much about touring on OZZfest,” adds Zakk. “It was a crash course in learning what bands who have toured for years know. It was our first real tour, so it was like, ‘Okay — this is how you properly soundcheck; this is how you properly sing into a mic; this is what you should never say to a crowd in Detroit!’” <br><br> After ending 2007 on another high note — a six-week tour with Avenged Sevenfold — the band is ready to take it to a whole other level with the release of Light From Above. <br><br> You read it here first — 2008 is the Year of Black Tide. <br><br>