29 May 2007

Review: A Thousand Shades Of Cold Rochesterathome.com May 25, 2007
Category: Music

Throughout my travels, I have come to find out that Rochester is full of some talented bands. I have also been lucky enough to find a few that I truly enjoy listening to, one of those being A Thousand Shades of Cold. These guys are in the top three best bands in Western New York in my book, and are really one of my top ten unsigned bands in the country. They have a tried and true outlook on music and what they wish to accomplish, and go about it by playing some of the best rock/metal blends I have heard in some time. They are signed to Amherst Records and have a solid self-titled release out now. I had a couple minutes with the band and here is what they had to say:

Ten Questions: A Conversation With A Thousand Shades Of Cold - By. Brian Campbell

Rochesterathome.com: Tell me about a Thousand Shades of Cold live show.
A Thousand Shades of Cold: We strive to just have a good time up there, that's our number one goal. Besides that, we practice rigorously to be on point with our playing, so we can have fun. I think the most prominent aspect of our live show is the energy we produce on stage; everyone compliments us on how energetic we are.

RAH: How did you shape your sound musically? What is factored into the final product?
ATSOC: For our debut album, we combined rock and metal in a melodic package, hoping our listeners would gain a unique feeling from that. For the final product, we had the help of Rich Spalla (Stemm) and Mike Hatalak (It Dies Today) for producing our album at It'll Do Studio. They helped us pull out the sound we were looking for and get it down to disc. They were great to work with.

RAH: What music are you currently listening to in your downtime?
ATSOC: Each of us listens to different bands so it's too hard to list everything we are listening to right now. We all just love music and in the end we collectively like all the bands we all listen to. Can't get much vaguer than that. Although, Incubus, Glassjaw and Papa Roach (their new album rocks) are probably my most listened to bands right now.

RAH: Is there an overall message,(or at least one) that you would want to convey through your music?
ATSOC: We don't have a general message that is stated in our music, but if we were to get one thing across to the listeners, it would be to stand on your own. It takes a lot of guts to be your own person, so don't be afraid of who you are. Be independent, be strong and don't stop trying.

RAH: What is the best show you have ever played? Worst show, and why?
ATSOC: The best show was definitely back in 06 in Washington, DC at a place called The Mansion on O St. The place was like a giant maze full of tons of random things (too much to explain, look it up on the internet). It was amazing to see and play at. The worst show was probably at Palmeri's in Niagara Falls, NY. The show was great, the crowd was great, everything was fine but we were in the midst of trying new things on stage. Word of advice to all front men, don't yell at the crowd, they DON'T like it. I've since learned my lesson.

RAH: If you could play with any band or musician dead or alive, who would it be, and why?
ATSOC: I think we could all agree, we would love to play with any and all musicians, but it would probably be awesome to play with The Beatles or Michael Jackson (younger, non-crazy Michael Jackson). That would just be awesome.

RAH: Who are some of your influences musically, and how did they help you to write the music you do?
ATSOC: Some of our biggest influences come from 90's. We all grew up with grunge rock, and alternative bands in the lime light. I would say we pull some influence from bands like Alice in Chains, Sound Garden, Tool and Korn.

RAH: What can we expect musically from A Thousand Shades of Cold in the near future? What things do you have coming up?
ATSOC: We are definitely finding ourselves heading more to the rock and alternative side of things. We have one new song out since our album came out. It's called Running Dry, more of an upbeat rock song, you can listen to it on our MySpace page. We are currently in the works to hit the road late this summer. If all goes well, our first tour will kick off in July.

RAH: Tell me about your relationship with your record label, Amherst Records. How did you go about signing with them and how has the overall experience been for you?
ATSOC: Well we basically just got the president and owner of Amherst Records (Lenny Silver) to hear the four song demo we released in January of 2006. He loved it and that was it. We signed with Amherst in hopes that they could help move us to the next level. This has been a huge learning experience for us since then. We never realized how much work needs to go into a band to just keep above water. So this has given us a drive and determination to push ourselves forward, no matter what. Things are going very well with the label, and we couldn't ask for more. They are there for us and are supporting us every step of the way. The rest is in our hands.

RAH: In a music world that gets so caught up in labeling and genre classification, do you get tired of hearing your music labeled as different things? What would you label your music as?
ATSOC: No, not really. We are just trying to do something we enjoy and we hope others enjoy it as well. It makes no difference to us what we are classified as, just as long as people enjoy it. We definitely feel we are a rock band, just with a metal edge.

It would be wise of you to catch these guys while they are still a local band here in Western New York. And to do that, visit www.myspace.com/athousanshadesofcold. http://www.rochesterathome.com