The official announcement has been made. As a band, Gravity Kills is dead. The official site will remain up, and those band members who are still working in music may have projects in the future. Check gravitykills.com for the full announcement.
(Wow -- an actual update! Yes, I'm still here!)
It's pretty apparent now that what most of us have hoped wasn't true probably is.
Gravity Kills has probably broken up. The proof has started to trickle in and the rumors are starting to be confirmed (unofficially, of course).
Here's a press release about Matt Dudenhoeffer's new job; sadly, it doesn't seem to involve rocking out. Jeff Scheel has moved to Oklahoma City, and may or may not be doing something with former Stabbing Westward members (and may have a job in advertising or marketing). Brad Booker is probably with Apartment 26 now (check their "from the band" page). Doug Firley bought a new house, but is still in St. Louis; no word on what he's doing as a job now (hopefully still something musical).
What's the main cause behind all this? Apparently, Sanctuary Records dropped the ball on promoting GK. That's all we know.
All of the above information came from various posts on the official message boards. It should be noted that THERE HAS BEEN NO OFFICIAL WORD FROM THE BAND YET. The above information, though probably correct, is not official in any way, shape or form.
In other news, I took a couple of the mp3s down because I needed the space for something else (sorry, school needs take priority over free stuff for you). I'd like to have them up sooner or later, but it won't be for a little while. (Note to Gina: I'll let you know when they go back up)
What's in the future for Perverted? Well, when the band finally makes an official announcement, I'll cover it. For long term plans, I hope to have the site always up. It may move servers or accounts, but I'd like to have it always up. I want to eventually have all of my live mp3s up on the site, and maybe some more if I can get them (but not until the site changes servers). Anyone want to donate a dump-truck full of web space? Actually, don't answer now; I'll ask again in a couple months.
Short-term plans: not much. I don't have a whole lot of time to play with websites. I'm a busy student, and all I have at home right now is dial-up. This situation won't change until probably next summer when I graduate and move somewhere else (to the Chicago area, if anyone wants to know). I will try to make small updates if we find out that former GK members are doing anything musical.
I wish the GK guys luck with whatever they end up doing, and I hope they keep us in the loop if it's something we'd be interested in knowing. I also hope they give us an official heads up soon.
Turns out Doug's finger is not healed yet. Some tour dates for the next couple of days are cancelled due to complications. A post about this is on the Gravity Kills message board in the "Announcements" section.
There's word that there's a GK poster in the July issue of Metal Edge magazine.
I added a new link to 311 Chaos, a site that, though it is a fansite for another band, has some slick GK desktop wallpapers and a couple GK mp3s. He also made a couple banners for Perverted, one of which I've put on the Link to Perverted page (I lost the other one, which I'll put up as soon as I get it again).
Yeah, I've been lazy. You've probably found out that Doug broke his finger on his keyboard a couple weeks ago. Here's Matt the guitarist's comments about that and a next single (from GK's message board):
The shows in the tour section ARE going to happen. Doug's finger is healing (he'll just have to be careful) and we plan on playing all shows starting the 19th. (We might have to keep Doug all drugged up, but we will do the shows!)
Love, Sex, and Money was "added" by 4 or more radio stations on their own, without push from the label's radio department. When the song does well on those stations, the song will most likely become the next single AND we have a video for the song consisting of mostly "live" footage. The video is badass. We predict either "Love Sex and Money" or "Personal Jesus" to be the next single. So guess what? Start requesting those songs at your radio stations now. I think Minneapolis, Las Vegas, and a few other stations are already on "Love, Sex, and Money". A station in NY has spun "Personal Jesus". thanks
I'm glad GK is catching on in a few places, because they sure aren't on the stations in central or western Michigan. Or Chicago, as far as I could tell when I was there. (Is it just me, or does Chicago radio especially suck concerning harder new rock music?)
On my message board, "Superspy" has some pictures from the Superstarved release party that he'd like to put up, but he needs a host server. Check his post for more details.
Here's another reminder that Gravity Kills will be on Rockline Monday night! The program will feature them and Jason Newstead's new band Echobrain. For more information, scroll down the page two or three updates ago.
Apparently Gravity Kills was on ESPN a couple nights ago, and "One Thing" was used in a hockey clip reel. Too bad no one really was aware of it beforehand. Gravity Kill's webmaster says he will post the clip on the site soon. More info here.
My excellent UK scooper James Hadley says that the current issue of Metal Hammer has a free CD with "Love, Sex, and Money" on it.
Here's an interview from November 2001 with Doug and Matt from DC-area music magazine Spore.
Orgy7 has posted some pics from the 12Apr02 show in Omaha.
Last but not least, two set lists from the current tour can be found posted in this thread. RachelJ posts:
hey i got a set list from last nights show at club raven in WI...
INTRO
LS&M
WANTED
FORGET
GUILTY
TAKE
(stop)
ENEMY
NEVER
FALLING
(stop)
PERSONAL JESUS
(stop)
ONE THING
15 MINUTES
ALIVE
ENOUGH
And BrianGk says:
4/10 TULSAA!!!!!!! OKLAHOMA!!!!!!!!! SET LIST GOES...LIKE THIS
INTRO
LS&M
---stop--
Wanted
Guilty
Take
---stop--
Enemy
--change--
Personal Jesus
--change--
One thing
15 Minuites
Alive
Enough!!!!
THE SHOW WAS SO AWESOME!..the capasity of the place they played was 999...I found out from the radio station that there were acually 1,400 people there that night that had tickets it was unbelive able!...GRAVITY KILLS! I HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT BACK TO TOWN SOON!...we'll have an even better turn out next time!
Brian
Just got this email:
To whom it may concern:
Please post on any and all related GRAVITY KILLS websites, as per their appearance on Monday, April 22, on the nationally syndicated radio program Rockline:
The show goes live at 8:30 PM PST/11:30 PM ET every Monday. The toll free number for people to call in is 1 800 344 ROCK (7625).
The show is heard on 130 stations across the country. A list of these stations can be found at Rockline's official website at WWW.ROCKLINERADIO.COM or the unofficial site at WWW.DRCHUCK.NET/ROCKLINE Or people can tune in via the web. Here is a list of the internet stations that simulcast on the net every Monday:
www.KATT.com (KATT, Oklahoma City)
www.WRIF.com (WRIF, Detroit)Thanks for your help promoting Gravity Kills!
Dave Bianchi
Associate Producer, Rockline
In other news, HMV says that the UK release date of Superstarved is April 15.
According to MTV.com, Gravity Kills will be involved in a tour this summer. Here's the article link, and I've also copied the entire article below:
While the status of the granddaddy of summer package tours Lollapalooza is shrouded in mystery, don't be fooled by a tour with a similar-sounding name. Locobazooka is the one that's actually happening.
Filter, Sevendust, Fu Manchu, Nonpoint, Mushroomhead, Gravity Kills, Reveille and Earshot are set to perform on the summer trek, which begins June 27 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, according to promoters. The music fest will visit a total of 16 smaller markets before wrapping up July 21. Two more bands are expected to be added to the bill, and a full itinerary should surface in the next two weeks.
Locobazooka launched a decade ago as a one-off show in Worcester, Massachusetts, sponsored by radio station WAAF, and continued as such until last year. For its 10th anniversary, organizers decided to take their show which last year included Disturbed, Kittie and Rollins Band on the road. The organizers' objective is to bring bands that individually would only play major markets to smaller cities. Tickets should cost approximately $20.
Joe D'Angelo
News of this tour is not up on Pollstar yet.
Also, here's a new interview with Brad Booker, GK's drummer for the last year or so. This is from OnTrackMagazine.
There's an interview with Jeff over at Shoutweb, and an interview with Doug from Origivation scanned by GK message board junkie Dave_R., who rocks for scanning and putting it up for us. The first one I listed on the articles page but I won't list the other one quite yet.
In fact, Dave_R. has a small page full of Gravity Kills stuff, and he links me, so I'll link him back. Check out his photos and stuff here.
Got the recent issue of Metal Edge that has a 4-page GK feature in it. Haven't read it yet, and in a month or two when the issue's off the stands, I'll scan and post it. Or maybe you should all just go buy it tomorrow. It'd be neat if the issue had a sales spike because of GK fans.
James Hadley says the UK release date for Superstarved is April 8. Thanks man.
Oh, here's another interview... A poorly written one at EastCoastRomper.com (can't tell who's being interviewed; I think it's more than one member). Added this one to the articles list too.
Cristy from Score Music Magazine sent me notice about their show review from March 2 in Cleveland.
Have you seen the redesigned Sanctuary Records site? Looks like they finally got a decent web designer. Congratulations! It looks really good now, though it shouldn't have taken them so long. And they have full length mp3s to download, including One Thing and Pitchshifter's new one Down.
Now I'll talk about Superstarved, because I can. After listening to it a bunch of times, I really like it. (Yeah, duh.) Do the verses of Wide Awake remind anyone else of Ted Nugent's Free For All? Yeah, that sounds funny, but seriously, if you sing Ted's lyrics over Jeff's, they fit too perfectly. I'm dead serious. It's unsettling.
Back to the point, I don't think there's a weak track. I can't even pick a favorite track. Hmm... thought I had more to say than that. Guess not. But really, the Ted Nugent thing.
Oh yeah, and I think Love, Sex, and Money should be the next single, because the title alone will catch the attention of the lowest common denominator radio listeners that make dickheads like Kid Rock popular and get radio play for Custom (I started a thread about this theory in the GK message boards, so flame me there, or at the Perverted board). But the difference would be that LS&M is actually good.
Superstarved is out today! Go buy it! Go buy it at Best Buy to get a bonus remix track of Love, Sex, and Money.
Any of you who've heard some of the demos might be a little surprised, because everything on the album got harder. Personal Jesus sounds great, and heavy. I think my favorite at the moment is Forget Your Name. Martin Atkins has kicked ass producing this disc. Go buy it, if you haven't already.
I updated the songlist to include the new album. Some day I'm gonna HTML-ize the songlist.
Added the St. Louis Post Dispatch article currently mentioned on the official GK page to the article archive. There's a couple other articles I need to add; I'll get around to those later this week. Let me know if you know of any I'm missing.
Here's a bunch more GK message board quotes from Matt the guitarist:
As you probably already know, the new CD "Superstarved" comes out March 19th at all your favorite record stores. The best way to support the band is to purchase the CD that first week. The resulting "soundscan" numbers will determine where the record debuts on the charts for that first week. make sense? So, if you get a chance, support the band by purchasing the CD the first week and getting friends to do the same. As always, thank you guys for being fans. You are why we do this!
Brad is working on another project down in Memphis. Jeff is in Europe doing press. Doug is busy maintaining his keyboard stand. That's about it. We're all getting ready for the St. Louis show on the 19th.
It's a one record deal with options. The options are up to the label. They may choose to pick up the "option" on the next record and that means we do another record for them. They can also choose to decline the option. So far, all things are positive at the label.
Keep up the good work and keep trying. Your help is appreciated. Hey, Chicago peeps, we need you to start requesting on Q101. That would be a great help! Thanks
Hey, the t-shirt available for purchase on this site (Gravity Kills "Superstarved" long sleeve jersey) is now only available in Large and Mediums only. XL's sold out and we will not be reprinting this particular shirt.
We will have two new shirts available soon, including a tee with the CD cover on the front (tour shirt) and a "Whore Army" military style shirt. The military shirt has a "Gravity Kills" new style logo on the front and military chevrons on the sleeves with "Gravity Kills" and "Superstarved" etched in the chevrons. Join the "Whore Army" and get your shirts soon!!!
That audio interview with Jeff Scheel over at XGR is pretty good. You should check it out if you haven't already. I added it to the articles page, along with another article I found from South Florida music magazine Rag.
The tour's over, so I'm replacing the tour link above with a Pollstar link. I'm done keeping track of tour dates; it's easier and usually more accurate to just send Pollstar.
Now that the tour's done, Matt Dudenhoeffer has been posting to the GK message board again. Here's a bunch of assorted quotes:
We may possibly be performing a CD Release party concert in St. Louis on March 19th. Stay tuned for details. Most likely, a purchase of the record will get you a laminate to get into the show and meet the band to get your CD signed. Details are being worked out now. Stay tuned for the big announcement!
We've been performing "One Thing" acoustically on some radio stations on the air during interviews. It sounds great acoustic!!! Hopefully you can find a recording of that out there somewhere.
O.K. fans, the best thing you can do for Gravity Kills right now is request "One Thing" at your local radio stations. Without radio, we would fade into obscurity. Please make calls frequently to your Modern/Alternative, Active Rock, and Mainstream radio stations to request "One Thing". Right now (3/1/02) the song is number 28 on the charts and moving up. Thank you for your support. The song sounds great on the radio!
We wrote a song "Suffocating" for the Spawn soundtrack. Moby was supposed to collaborate, but he did nothing. He sent us a few keyboard lines and samples. We wrote the song and used a few of his keyboard parts and samples. Moby chose his collaboration with the Butthole Surfers instead to use on the soundtrack.
We will be doing other tours this year, as well as a bunch of radio festivals coming up starting in April. Can't tell you about the tours yet though - it's secret. Ha ha
Well, yes, Jeff and Kurt have known eachother always. I knew Kurt since 2nd grade (we were neighbors) and I was a year older in school. We met Doug around 7th grade and Doug and I were introduced to Jeff about that time as well. So, yeah, we all have known eachother for a long time. The formation of Gravity Kills was 1994. We've known Brad since about 1997. Brad has been with us for over a year now.
We will do videos. Dean Karr expressed interest in directing.
The original plan was March 18th for a release date in the U.K. I think that has changed. It will be released 2 to 4 weeks after the U.S. release date.
If anyone has a recording of an acoustic One Thing, please email me.
Yep, me and my girlfriend saw GK in Chicago on the 8th, and here's a belated review. Great show, okay crowd. The crowd was obviously there for Sevendust. I don't have a problem with that. What I do have a problem with is guys who get near the front while GK is playing and just stand there, holding their place until GK gets done and Sevendust starts. You guys suck. Especially when you're bigger than me and I can't get around you. You keep those who want to see the opening band from getting the floor moving, because you won't move, either around or out of the way. Dicks.
The band sounded really good I thought, and the crowd got moving a little during Guilty and a pit started, allowing enough chaos for me to get around aforementioned assclowns to be near the front. The playlist as far as I can remember it, was pretty much what Riggs said it was in the previous news item. Unfortunately, Guilty seemed to be the peak of the crowd's activity. The response was still pretty good, and much better than what they got at the last show I was at (14Nov01, Royal Oak, MI, Pigface tour). And I got to meet joshfixen and KatyKat from the GK message boards. I'm sure I'll see them again at future shows. And I'll add that I didn't know if I'd ever meet a much bigger fan than me, but now I have. joshfixen is more of a fan than me and you (whoever you are) put together. The guy's seen like 3 dozen shows. Hard core. Thanks for the beer, yo. I owe you one. Oh yeah, and I even got to talk to Doug a little bit, but I couldn't hang out at the bus after the show because we had to catch the last Metra train back to my girlfriend's place. Maybe next time
In other news, Superstarved.com was updated a while ago with lyrics and liner notes, so go check that out.
James Hadley was cool enough to transcribe a Metal Hammer article about GK. You can read it by going to the articles page (it's the newest article).
The_Mudspreader has put some pictures online from the Boston show (30Jan02) of this tour.
Radio stations are still playing One Thing -- that's great!! I was afraid it was gonna be like when Crashing came out, when everyone seemed to drop it after a week or two. But it's not, and I keep hearing it. It's not as ubiquitous as that damn Linkin Park song they keep overplaying, but I usually can hear GK in the evenings if I listen long enough.
I know that I need to update the GK songlist with the new stuff. I'm going to convert it to html and change it up some from the lame text file format it's currently in. I'm also gonna omit some of the anal-retentiveness (forgettable compilations, one-track singles, etc.). I'll probably add cover pictures too. Don't expect to see that for awhile, though.
(Edited 03Feb02 - Fifteen Minutes was formerly known as Shame, not Shake, as previously stated in this update. Thanks to John Tracy for catching this typo. Shake is not on the album in any form, but may show up as a b-side in the future.)
Looking at the past few updates, it seems I'm averaging once a month. I can do better than that...
I've added a new page in the Miscellaneous section for various Preaching to the Perverted tour promotion images.
Tour dates for the Flaw/GK/Sevendust tour can be accessed through the link above.
According to the GK main page, One Thing is the #1 added song for active rock stations. Bitchin'. I've heard it on my local rock station twice. Start requesting, everyone!
On the GK message board, Matt the guitar player has said that the current tour set includes off the new album One Thing, Love, Sex, & Money, Fifteen Minutes, and Take It All Away. Fifteen Minutes was the song formerly known as Shame. The band hasn't said much else, since they're touring and I doubt they've been online much.
I'll be at the Chicago House of Blues show on Feb 8. So... uh... look for me, I guess?
Riggs provided a concert review of the Jan 29 NYC show on the GK board, and it was so entertaining that I'm reposting it (with permission). Thanks, Riggs. (Graphical smileys replaced with text smileys.)
what a long, happy night i just had!! Biggest Whore ever, and JUST seeing GK for his first time :). My my friend (Mark) and i first got to Hammerstein with DeadNancy, we just hung around for a few hours, hangin by the tour buses and whatnot. On line, members of GK's crew were runnin around to GK fans with a camera and CD single of "One Thing" for fans to listen to, and tape their reaction. I almost fainted when they asked me to do it!! FUCK YEA!! So i poured my guts out for new GK.
We get inside bout an hour later, and DeadNancy and i just hang round......when she spots Jeff walkin the floor! FUCK YEA #2! i was like, Yo Jeff!! told him who i was on the board, and recognized me :). I of course hugged him, got the s/t signed, and we talked about whats going on. I LOVE YOU JEFF!
Flaw played.....but mark and i were kicked out in the middle of the show for sparking some bud (well, i didnt, HE did, but of course, security were dicks). i was about to cry at the back door, cause GK means the world to me, when some guy sells me a ticket!!! i'm back in!! (but not before i meet Cobey from Primer 55)I'm back inside, in time for GK.New york fans suck. I'm from New York, but i don't suck. Why do they suck? the only thing they did was "boo" GK. i wanted to knock every one of them out. i was one of the few who were into it iin a good way. And god, GK IS the BEST live band EVER. Greatest show i've ever been to....other fans just dont know how to appreciate good music :)
play list:
-Love, Sex, Money (reprise)
-Love, Sex, Money
-Down
-Guilty
-Take It All Away
-Never
-Falling
-Blame
-One Thing
-15 Minutes
-Alive
-Enough
how do i remember that? i wrote it nice and big all over my arms with a red sharpee of course! i am hardcoreGravity Kills, thanks for a great night, even though all of the other people were dicks, you didnt give a fuck about them, and knew at least 2 true fans were out there, and gave it your all. GK team, thanks for getting me on camera, Jeff, thanks for the hugs and the autograph, Doug Matt Brad and Jeff, thanks for the great preformance. i love you guys
Apologies for the lag time in updates, but the size of this update should compensate somewhat.
First of all, go to Superstarved.com if you haven't already, and check out the previews of Breakdown and One Thing. You can download the full track here (download expires after 30 days; requires LiquidAudio plugin and Windows Media Player).
Matt Dudenheoffer says One Thing goes to Active Rock radio starting January 28th, then it goes to Modern Rock radio 2 weeks after that
(from the GK message board). Release dates for the Superstarved album are March 18 (England) and March 19 (US).
Gravity Kills (and Flaw) will be supporting Sevendust on their tour early this year. Sevendust is great live; I've seen them three times. One time was a show Creed was headlining *shudder*. I like Sevendust that much. This tour is gonna rock so hard. Tour dates are listed at Sevendust's site, but not GK's site yet. First show Jan 26.
The band didn't have time to finish Shake in the studio, but it could always appear in a soundtrack and/or as a b-side
(Matt on the GK boards again).
Gravity Kills is getting some serious press-- Here's a concert review from England's Kerrang! magazine (thanks to James Hadley for typing and sending this to me):
GRAVITY KILLS
Limelight, New York City
Tuesday, November 20
Rating: 3/5 ("Good")
Techno-metal mob get NY's feet movingIt sure doesn't bode well for Gravity Kills that first impressions are the hardest to shatter. Just listen to them. It's easier to mistake the band for a lesser-fit, fair-haired Nine Inch Nails. They certainly look the part. However, given a fair shake, the group's stellar chops and dynamic stage-show prove otherwise. After all, how often does one witness a mosh-pit in the middle of a church? Presented at New York's Limelight, nightclub institution and former house of worship, the band's fiery techno-metal fit had even some of the most jaded goths knocking heads.
The group's live show is a smooth though bombastic affair. Keyboardist Douglas Firley, who yes, is still wearing that dumb furry ski-lodge hat, takes the stage first, waving to the audience Hollywood Starlet-style. Jeff Scheel, appearing shirtless with low-waisted pants dangling from his frame, grabs the mike eagerly demanding the crowd to "make some f**kin' noise". Although the crowd is small, they reciprocate. A slight buzz erupts throughout the room as Gravity Kills launch into "Love Sex and Money", and embark on a relentless attack. What this band lacks in originality they make up for in stage presence. Scheel runs acroos the stage gripping the head of his microhone as if someone might take it away from him as Firley bangs the hell out of his rotating rig like a true rock star. The group nimbly move through favourites such as "Guilty" and "Blame", pausing just long enough to introduce tracks from their upcoming album, "Superstarved". Halfway through the set a mosh-pit forms, lasting until the group's ferocious closer, "Enough". From the sound of this crowd the fans may be superstarved for more music, which, for a band hungry for a larger audience, is perfect.
Nicola Elyse
And here's a short bit from Billboard, sent to me from one of my high school pals (thanks Nick):
Billboard Bits
Digital rock purveyors Gravity Kills have set a March 19 release date for its third studio album, "Superstarved." As previously reported, the set is the band's label debut for Sanctuary after two studio sets and a remix album for TVT. "Superstarved" was produced by Martin Atkins (Pigface, Ministry) and recorded at his Chicago studio.
Vocalist guitarist Jeff Scheel has described "Superstarved" as "more riff-oriented" and "grindier." The St. Louis-based trio has also integrated loops and samples with the "live" drumming of guest musician Brad Booker. North American tour dates in support of the album are in the works but have not yet been solidified.
"Superstarved" is the follow-up to 1998's "Perversion," which debuted at No. 107 on The Billboard 200. The band is perhaps best known for its 1996 modern rock hit, "Guilty."
-- John D. Luerssen, N.Y.