Post by rachael on Apr 7, 2007 15:05:50 GMT -5
www.lovehammersforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=237351#237351
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:40 pm Post subject: My Interview With Marty - Published 4/28/07
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any feedback is welcome!
Marty Casey - Rock Star: INXS: Catalyst For Success
Rock Star: INXS - a 2005 CBS reality series, in which 15 contestants competed to become the new lead singer for the Australian rock band INXS. Each Tuesday, the show would showcase the best of the best in undiscovered talent, with Wednesdays being elimination night. As the number of contestants began to dwindle, Chicago-native Marty Casey was just beginning his ascent to the top. But even before Marty's appearance on Rock Star, he and his band Lovehammers were longtime favorites of the Chicago rock scene. His song "Rain On The Brain" was awarded the Best Pop Song in the John Lennon Song Writing Contest and their locally acclaimed Murder On My Mind (2004) and L'Strange (2000) albums had earned them a large fanbase. The band, which includes the talents of Billy Sawilchik (drums), Dino (bass) and Bobby Kourelis (drums) combines pure modern rock with soulful lyricism. Marty's song "Trees" made its national debut on Rockstar and instantly became a fan favorite and the single was the No. 1 download at MSN.com. Following the Rock Star finale, in which Marty placed second, Lovehammers were signed to a deal with Sony/Epic records. At this time, Marty began writing what became their critically and nationally acclaimed debut, Marty Casey and Lovehammers, which was released in January 2006. They went on to join J.D. Fortune and INXS on their Switched On world tour and shortly after, headlined a tour of their own; Get Live. Having just recently released their "…And The Rest Is History" DVD, a live concert/ chronicled musical journey, Marty Casey and Lovehammers are just beginning to take the world by storm.
Although these days have proved to be a whirlwind of excitement, Marty graciously took some time to discuss life, his inspirations, his experience on Rock Star: INXS, and everything in between. When asked if he always wanted to become a musician, Marty responded that he's always been "double career-sided. I always did music because it was just fun. What kept me driven was creating and learning about writing music, but I went to college and majored in finance so I'd have a back-up plan. My parents had set me up to go to college and get a real job, but luckily, it took a turn. I definitely had both thoughts in my head. The dream was to always be a musician, but the reality was more to have a real job. I'm just glad it turned out this way." Marty's inspirations came from his brothers and sisters' record collection. "I listened to hundreds and hundreds of records, from Stevie Nicks to AC/DC, to really early rap music. My brother also listened to metal – really hard rock metal albums." He quotes his most influential inspiration as being "the album covers and seeing the different performers." Living in Chicago has instilled a work ethic in Marty. "What we took away from Chicago was hard work ethic, similar to Boston. It's just hard work, there's no magical dreamland LA where things just happen. You got to put the hours in and you got it make this happen. We're all hard working people and seeing bands like the Smashing Pumpkins – one of the biggest bands in the world, gave us the possibility to come out of Chicago and be a successful and inspiring band because the Pumpkins did it." Although Marty loves his hometown, the move to "dreamland" LA for Rock Star was "a shot of adrenaline. It completely changed my life in 15 weeks and you anticipate what it's going to be like. - I'm going to be on a national television show. It was a big boost of energy into your entire life. You have your normal existence and imagine everything's different 15 weeks later – it's pretty wild. The experience "definitely made me take myself seriously because before that, I never considered myself a singer. I just considered myself a guy that sang in a band. When I got done with the show, people were like "Wow, you have a great voice!" I've never believed anybody when they told me that before. Making it so far in the show was like "Wow, maybe I should start believing in myself. Maybe this could be my future – maybe music could be my career." Life at the Rock Star mansion is "hard to describe because you have no responsibilities, you have free everything and you're with a crew of really cool people that you'd never known before that have just come into your life instantaneously. It's an awesome period of getting to make 14 new friends and live in a million dollar mansion. It's like a Carnival cruise that never ends; you're always on it. You have people picking you up and telling you where to go, you have this game happening to you and you're going through it with everybody, yet nobody understands. It's bliss." Although Marty has opened for such acts as: Nickelback, Jerry Cantrell, New Found Glory, Interpol, Cake and Gomez, he would love to tour with Velvet Revolver, KISS, Puddle of Mudd, The Rolling Stones, Motley Crue and Aerosmith – "all the old school." Marty's love for performance is evident in each show and his favorite original song to play live is "This Town" because it always gets the crowd going. While his favorite song to cover is Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" – a pumped up Social Distortion version of it." He describes his live show as being "15% circus, 15% white light, 30% aggression, 20% comedy and the final 20%…worthwhile!" Marty balances this love for the live environment with the studio in his yin and yang theory, "You work so much on the creative side that you just want to go out and perform. Then you go out and perform for 6 months and you're like "man, I'm getting tired of performing, I just want to create again." They go hand in hand. I need both, because I can't just create, I need to go out and perform it and I can't just perform, because you get beat up on the road. You need to come back, get some sense of a normal life and then start writing again. That's the cycle." When he's not the road, Marty likes to renovate property. "I own a lot of property. I get into the nitty gritty of construction because it's so different from music that it takes me away. I stay so busy that I don't think about music." Acting is another passion of Marty's, and this past holiday, he and Lovehammers created a music video in support of their new single "Merry Christmas (All Year Long) The video, directed by Kyle Ervin, is reminiscent of the 1946 film It's A Wonderful Life, with a black and white feel and a special guest appearance from former Rock Star: INXS contestant Suzie McNeil. Reflecting on the whole experience, Marty "definitely enjoyed it, just because it was so out there for me. I really thought, "Man, I'd be a great actor!" But when you actually get the cameras rolling and you do it, it's wholly different. You realize the talent that people have, because acting is such a talent. You are portraying a whole different person because it is a whole new world. But I loved doing it – I'd love to do some fun ensemble cast in a movie one day. It's funny, I could never carry a movie (laughs) but I could do some smaller part in it. That would be super fun." Despite his US success, Marty is still hoping that he can bring the live show to the Philippines. "We've had two #1 songs in the Philippines, so I'd really love to go there." What's next for Marty? "We're recording some stuff for an acoustic compilation cd coming out in Chicago and finishing some demos in LA. Then we head out on tour again."
Marty Casey has discovered the secret to happiness and he is savoring every minute of it.
For more on Marty Casey and Lovehammers, visit their official site at www.lovehammers.com/ for tour dates, photos, sound clips and videos. Marty's official site can be accessed at www.martycasey.org The album; Marty Casey & Lovehammers as well as the exclusive "Merry Christmas (All Year Long)" single is now available in Apple's iTunes Music Store. "...And The Rest Is History" can be purchased at Best Buy locations and from the band's official store
Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:40 pm Post subject: My Interview With Marty - Published 4/28/07
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Any feedback is welcome!
Marty Casey - Rock Star: INXS: Catalyst For Success
Rock Star: INXS - a 2005 CBS reality series, in which 15 contestants competed to become the new lead singer for the Australian rock band INXS. Each Tuesday, the show would showcase the best of the best in undiscovered talent, with Wednesdays being elimination night. As the number of contestants began to dwindle, Chicago-native Marty Casey was just beginning his ascent to the top. But even before Marty's appearance on Rock Star, he and his band Lovehammers were longtime favorites of the Chicago rock scene. His song "Rain On The Brain" was awarded the Best Pop Song in the John Lennon Song Writing Contest and their locally acclaimed Murder On My Mind (2004) and L'Strange (2000) albums had earned them a large fanbase. The band, which includes the talents of Billy Sawilchik (drums), Dino (bass) and Bobby Kourelis (drums) combines pure modern rock with soulful lyricism. Marty's song "Trees" made its national debut on Rockstar and instantly became a fan favorite and the single was the No. 1 download at MSN.com. Following the Rock Star finale, in which Marty placed second, Lovehammers were signed to a deal with Sony/Epic records. At this time, Marty began writing what became their critically and nationally acclaimed debut, Marty Casey and Lovehammers, which was released in January 2006. They went on to join J.D. Fortune and INXS on their Switched On world tour and shortly after, headlined a tour of their own; Get Live. Having just recently released their "…And The Rest Is History" DVD, a live concert/ chronicled musical journey, Marty Casey and Lovehammers are just beginning to take the world by storm.
Although these days have proved to be a whirlwind of excitement, Marty graciously took some time to discuss life, his inspirations, his experience on Rock Star: INXS, and everything in between. When asked if he always wanted to become a musician, Marty responded that he's always been "double career-sided. I always did music because it was just fun. What kept me driven was creating and learning about writing music, but I went to college and majored in finance so I'd have a back-up plan. My parents had set me up to go to college and get a real job, but luckily, it took a turn. I definitely had both thoughts in my head. The dream was to always be a musician, but the reality was more to have a real job. I'm just glad it turned out this way." Marty's inspirations came from his brothers and sisters' record collection. "I listened to hundreds and hundreds of records, from Stevie Nicks to AC/DC, to really early rap music. My brother also listened to metal – really hard rock metal albums." He quotes his most influential inspiration as being "the album covers and seeing the different performers." Living in Chicago has instilled a work ethic in Marty. "What we took away from Chicago was hard work ethic, similar to Boston. It's just hard work, there's no magical dreamland LA where things just happen. You got to put the hours in and you got it make this happen. We're all hard working people and seeing bands like the Smashing Pumpkins – one of the biggest bands in the world, gave us the possibility to come out of Chicago and be a successful and inspiring band because the Pumpkins did it." Although Marty loves his hometown, the move to "dreamland" LA for Rock Star was "a shot of adrenaline. It completely changed my life in 15 weeks and you anticipate what it's going to be like. - I'm going to be on a national television show. It was a big boost of energy into your entire life. You have your normal existence and imagine everything's different 15 weeks later – it's pretty wild. The experience "definitely made me take myself seriously because before that, I never considered myself a singer. I just considered myself a guy that sang in a band. When I got done with the show, people were like "Wow, you have a great voice!" I've never believed anybody when they told me that before. Making it so far in the show was like "Wow, maybe I should start believing in myself. Maybe this could be my future – maybe music could be my career." Life at the Rock Star mansion is "hard to describe because you have no responsibilities, you have free everything and you're with a crew of really cool people that you'd never known before that have just come into your life instantaneously. It's an awesome period of getting to make 14 new friends and live in a million dollar mansion. It's like a Carnival cruise that never ends; you're always on it. You have people picking you up and telling you where to go, you have this game happening to you and you're going through it with everybody, yet nobody understands. It's bliss." Although Marty has opened for such acts as: Nickelback, Jerry Cantrell, New Found Glory, Interpol, Cake and Gomez, he would love to tour with Velvet Revolver, KISS, Puddle of Mudd, The Rolling Stones, Motley Crue and Aerosmith – "all the old school." Marty's love for performance is evident in each show and his favorite original song to play live is "This Town" because it always gets the crowd going. While his favorite song to cover is Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" – a pumped up Social Distortion version of it." He describes his live show as being "15% circus, 15% white light, 30% aggression, 20% comedy and the final 20%…worthwhile!" Marty balances this love for the live environment with the studio in his yin and yang theory, "You work so much on the creative side that you just want to go out and perform. Then you go out and perform for 6 months and you're like "man, I'm getting tired of performing, I just want to create again." They go hand in hand. I need both, because I can't just create, I need to go out and perform it and I can't just perform, because you get beat up on the road. You need to come back, get some sense of a normal life and then start writing again. That's the cycle." When he's not the road, Marty likes to renovate property. "I own a lot of property. I get into the nitty gritty of construction because it's so different from music that it takes me away. I stay so busy that I don't think about music." Acting is another passion of Marty's, and this past holiday, he and Lovehammers created a music video in support of their new single "Merry Christmas (All Year Long) The video, directed by Kyle Ervin, is reminiscent of the 1946 film It's A Wonderful Life, with a black and white feel and a special guest appearance from former Rock Star: INXS contestant Suzie McNeil. Reflecting on the whole experience, Marty "definitely enjoyed it, just because it was so out there for me. I really thought, "Man, I'd be a great actor!" But when you actually get the cameras rolling and you do it, it's wholly different. You realize the talent that people have, because acting is such a talent. You are portraying a whole different person because it is a whole new world. But I loved doing it – I'd love to do some fun ensemble cast in a movie one day. It's funny, I could never carry a movie (laughs) but I could do some smaller part in it. That would be super fun." Despite his US success, Marty is still hoping that he can bring the live show to the Philippines. "We've had two #1 songs in the Philippines, so I'd really love to go there." What's next for Marty? "We're recording some stuff for an acoustic compilation cd coming out in Chicago and finishing some demos in LA. Then we head out on tour again."
Marty Casey has discovered the secret to happiness and he is savoring every minute of it.
For more on Marty Casey and Lovehammers, visit their official site at www.lovehammers.com/ for tour dates, photos, sound clips and videos. Marty's official site can be accessed at www.martycasey.org The album; Marty Casey & Lovehammers as well as the exclusive "Merry Christmas (All Year Long)" single is now available in Apple's iTunes Music Store. "...And The Rest Is History" can be purchased at Best Buy locations and from the band's official store
