FREERIDER
Second chances?
You don’t get a lot of those in the music business. Especially after your first attempt fizzles and you more or less put your rock dreams behind you, embarking upon other things like raising families and pursuing alternate careers.
But here is Freerider, a hard rock trio originally from Boston, back with songs from a CD called “No Ride Denied.” It was recorded in 1995 and first released in 2000.
Singer-lyricist-bassist Todd Erickson defines Freerider – which includes guitarist Steve Coyne and drummer Jeremy Waybright - as “a power trio with thick, melodic guitars with introspective and honest lyrics. There’s a universal element to it, going back several decades from classic rock to grunge and post-grunge and for people who love classic hard rock and as well as the Soundgardens and Pearl Jams of world. … We have songs about real places and events. We get involved in the spiritual, mental and emotional battles of life and living it. We try to end up in an optimistic place and avoid preaching.”
OK: So, why are the songs from “No Ride Denied” available now? Why does Freerider exist again?
“We’ve gotten a hold of something pretty life changing,” says Erickson, who readily acknowledges there’s a big heap of Band-From-Nowhere-Gets-an-Unexpected-Break aspect to this leg of Freerider’s journey.
And the break is …
Linking up with Harmonix, which is now partnered with MTV. The company that gave you Rock Band and Guitar Hero has a digital music distribution system, Rock Band Network. Freerider is among the first group of indie bands to be part of it, with a self-publishing initiative. Their songs go up for sale the day the store goes live to the universe near the end of November. It positions Freerider on the cutting edge of technology, gaming and self-publishing.
“Many gamers already purchase and play downloadable content from the Rock Band Store,” says Erickson. Up to now, these downloads have come from an array of already popular bands. You know, the Beatles, AC/DC, Aerosmith. Harmonix conducted tests of how indie bands might fare and discovered folks shopping at the Rock Band Store – considered gamers first, music fans second - had a hunger to discover new music.
Here’s how it’ll work: The Rock Band Network gives indie bands the tools, approval pipeline and store to sell their songs as game files for Rock Band 2. Gamers will be able to demo any song, check the ratings from other gamers and purchase the songs to play in the game. A song will be sold for $1 or 160 Xbox points.
Freerider was chosen for Rock Band Network by Erickson’s old pal Jeff Marshall, who is the Network’s executive producer. He knew Erickson from when he managed the ‘80s Boston rock club Spit and later ran the Monolyth record label.
Erickson had worked as a bar-back at Spit, had played in the post-punk band Shake the Faith. After they broke up, he formed Mere Mortals in 1991. Mere Mortals evolved into Freerider when the band members discovered there were already other Mere Mortals out there in the rock world. Their new moniker was inspired by the character in their anthemic pop-metal song “No Ride Denied.”
“Jeff thought we’d be perfect for this,” says Erickson, He says Marshall’s analogy was this. “‘It’s like you’ve been a mechanic all your life working with a really crappy set of tools and you’ve done OK, but somebody hands you brand new tricked-out Snap-On tool chest with everything you need to be successful in the new age of being a mechanic. That mechanic still has to decide to get up and go to work everyday.’ So, he’s given us a bright, new tool box and I’m doing everything to take advantage.”
Waybright, who has a ProTools home studio in Hollis, NH, has been busy remixing songs for the RBN. “I have been re-mixing the album we did in '95,” he says, “making the songs bigger, louder, punchier, and stronger.”
To that end, Freerider has begun booking gigs. To introduce Freerider to their new digital/social media/YouTube audience, the band is performing live on a community access TV show called "On Stage with Mantis" on Thursday, October 15. The "Wayne's World"-esque show airs live from WCTV studios in Wareham, MA. Freerider will debut their live show by playing a free, "edu-tainment" event for Repower America and Clean Energy Coalition (Wash., DC) at Port City Music Hall in Portland, ME on Thursday, October 29th.
What you'll hear on “No Ride Denied” is a mix of rockers and ballads. If the rockers come from an aggressive place, they don’t come from an angry place. There’s a sense of hope. “I’m seeing nothing but my faith is getting bigger,” sings Erickson on the opening track, “Spirit of Change.” In “Brand New Revelation,” he sings “Hello world, it’s nice to meet you after all this time/Been my whole life playing Atlas/Today I’ve changed my mind. … I’ve got a brand new revelation/And I need it to survive.” Prescient words then … and now.
And there’s plenty of new material in the pipeline – “20 years of songwriting stored up,” says Erickson.
“The modest hope is to gain a loyal following of Rock Band gamers who spread the word about Freerider, buy our songs and steer fans to our music sites and shows. Our wildest dream would be a Freerider song becomes a runaway smash in the game and propels sales of our music in to the millions of units. Either scenario is entirely possible.”
“My hope,” says Coyne, “is someone in this network of not-well-known bands will have a massive hit. Something will emerge because of it. We hope we can be the ones with the hit. That sound never really went away, which is another stroke of luck for us. We sound like the new batch of bands.”
“It’s a band that lived in obscurity, a phantom of our imagination,” says Erickson. “We stayed alive so we could write or play. Like it or hate it, it’s real and honest. We want to have an incredible amount of fun, and we want to take advantage of the new media in pipeline. We’ve given life to something we’d pretty much flushed the toilet on.”
Four Further Freerider Questions and Answers:
1.. Will “No Ride Denied” be available in that old-school CD format?
Likely. “Once the Rock Band Network is live and we have a feel for sales of our songs,” says Erickson, “we will determine what to do with the re-mixed material. For now, it will be fan-exclusive content we offer to fan club subscribers, concertgoers and promotional contest winners. If there is honest demand, we will remaster the CD for re-release.”
2. So you’re both a virtual and live band?
“We love to perform live and can't wait for shows to come together,” says Erickson. “ I actually prefer it to everything else except maybe the writing/recording/mixing process. We are hoping to roll the Rock Band exposure in to a niche audience that we can cater to for years to come. Only time will tell. As we keep saying, "Why not us?"
3. Outside Freerider, what’s life like?
Erickson has a wife and three children. He attended Arizona State, studying Mechanical Engineering and music . He’s done green construction and energy-efficient home projects. He lived in South Portland, Maine from 1998-2006. At that point, with Maine’s economy on the skids, he moved to back to Phoenix for work and a change of pace. But, with Freerider back in the game and with his wife not excited about Arizona, he returned to the Portland area this year. Coyne and his wife live in Hamden, CT. He completed a Master's degree at Western Connecticut State University and he is an elementary school music teacher in Mt. Vernon, NY. Steve has been writing and recording instrumental rock and jazz fusion compositions in his home studio over the last several years. Waybright is married with one child. He completed Percussion and Recording Technology programs at Musicians Institute, Hollywood and has a recording studio in NH, with a studio set up for live recording and digital mixing/mastering. He is also a professional landscape photographer.
4. Where can you find Freerider music now?
http://cdbaby.com/freerider
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=309466371&s=143441
http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/FREERIDER/58191240910
http://www.reverbnation.com/freerider
http://www.myspace.com/freeriderusa
Read more...