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Witty Banter is One for the Books
Recent Articles March 21st. A day that I will always think of amazing album releases. DC-based musician, producer, and singer-songwriter, Rachel Levitin, released Witty Banter
March 23, 2024
On June 21st, Alchemical Records and Transcendent Events will be hosting Monthly Mayhem, a full night of fun games, free food, and of course, rock n’ roll. Thrillkiller will be headlining. In short, they are a theatrical band that takes everything good about 80s rock and metal, puts it into a blender, adds music videos with action and horror movie elements, and builds a cocktail that is familiar, but still fresh and exciting. Other bands include Follow Your Bliss (a pop punk band, similar in style to bands like Blink 182, and who also promised a setlist of mostly brand new, never before released material), The Revived (a prog rock band with some amazing guitar work), Rise Among Rivals (a modern sounding hard rock band with electronic elements), and Flying Jacob (a hard rock group that tends to also flirt a bit with blues rock from time to time).
We got the chance to talk with Kevin Hock, founder of Transcendent Events. He, along with his wife Holly Hock, have played a major role in providing quality entertainment to Baltimore and the surrounding areas. According to Kevin, Transcendent Events started when he was 16 and trying to book gigs for his own band. He said, “when I was 16 years old, the only way I was getting shows was if I organized it myself. I would put together shows at VFW Halls and church halls, and make the flyers and advertise it myself. After a while, I really started to understand what people liked and what turned them off.” Aside from music, Kevin also puts together cosplay events, costume contests, street events, trivia, nerd luaus, and much more. Over the next few months, Transcendent Events will be hosting Storytime on June 22nd (a series of musicians doing unplugged versions of their music), Night’s Edge performing their new album on June 29th, and Bel Air Rocks on July 13th, with artists such as From Nothing and Great Fourth.
As previously stated, there will be a few different bands performing at Monthly Mayhem. We were fortunate enough to get an interview with two of these bands: The Revived, and Follow Your Bliss. The Revived started in 2013, branching off of a band called Fairgreen, a band with a more pop punk sound. The band is fronted by brothers Frank and Dan Hendrickson. Other members include guitarists Brian Melvin, John Amato and Rob Pallante, as well as drummer Jody Oliver. Of these musicians, Frank, Brian and Jody are the only people carried over from Fairgreen. Frank said his biggest musical influences are The Dear Hunter, Thrice, and Manchester Orchestra, along with a bit of pop punk influence left over from Fairgreen. So far, The Revived have recorded two albums, with the last one, Genesis, being released in 2015. “The book of Genesis has always been a very exciting idea for me in terms of lyrics, especially with this band,” Frank said. “These stories were part of my upbringing from a religious background, and has stuck with me through my adult years. There are a lot of interesting stories in the book and we thought people might be more interested in these stories if done in a different format.” The Revived have been working on a new album over the course of the last year, and are planning to release it “either late summer or early fall” according to Frank, promising heavier breakdowns and a new, more evolved sound. Also this year, The Revived are planning to release an acoustic album with all original material.After these albums, Frank said he might work on an album loosely based off of Thrice’s newest album, Palms, with a more conceptual, but less story driven sound. Unfortunately, the show at Monthly Mayhem may be one of The Revived’s last for awhile, as Jody Oliver is expected to move to Nashville in the near future; so see them while you still can.
We also got the opportunity to chat with the band Follow Your Bliss. The band is still very new, and as a result does not have very much recorded material, have been alternating members for the past few years, and what little material is available is not representative of their sound going forward. The birth of Follow Your Bliss started with a band called Over and Out, a group with a early to mid 2000s pop punk sound ala Blink 182. With Follow Your Bliss, they plan on changing their style to be more heavy and metallic, with influence from The Used. The band was founded by Charlie McCormick, who has played several roles over the years, but is now officially the lead guitarist. Other musicians include Patrick Zerilli as lead vocalist and secondary guitarist, Matt Buckmeier on drums, and Brian Wilson on bass. As previously stated, the band will be doing a setlist of mostly new material at Monthly Mayhem, and plan on releasing their debut EP over the next few months.
Monthly Mayhem is gearing up to be an epic showcase of the strength and talent of the Transcendent family. With five amazing bands, free tacos, trivia, and more, it will definitely be a night worth remembering. We forward to seeing you.
Logan Deiner is a writer and journalist who enjoys hanging out with friends and listening to music in his spare time. He enjoys most genres of music, and has a vinyl collection of over 500 records.
Recent Articles March 21st. A day that I will always think of amazing album releases. DC-based musician, producer, and singer-songwriter, Rachel Levitin, released Witty Banter
Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.
