KickPort News

UK alternative rock band, Order of Voices‘ self-titled album is making quite a splash in the modern rock world.

Order of Voices drummer Aynsley Dickinson is a KickPort Artist and we are really stoked that the band is doing so well.

Check out this review of the album “Order Of Voices” (2010) by ORDER OF VOICES on the German rock blog, Mescaline Injection:

Endlessly waiting for a new album by your favourite band sucks. Just take Tool. Or A
Perfect Circle. Well, I’ve got good news for you, for anybody longing for something fresh,
waiting for an album that’s pushing your adrenaline to new heights, electrifying your
whole body.

Hailing from Great Britain, Order Of Voices are ready to send these currents through
your system. They are young but experienced, and they have a whole lot of ambitions:
They want to create the best music you heard in at least ten years from a British band. I
can honestly say they accomplished that goal, and the only real competition from their
homeland I can think of may be Esoterica from London. Order Of Voices actually
managed to deliver such a good debut, that all your secret wishes may be granted.

One thing that really stands out is the guitar production on this album: Clear-cut,
striking, powerful riffs for the rhythm architecture and spherical, slightly reverbed
melodic lines - which brings me to the key word: melodies. Like Tool and APC, Order Of
Voices work with a huge array of melodies, full of drama, intensity and emotions which
bind their energy and release them in - simply - stunning moments, and don’t limit
themselves to spectacular refrains.

Just listen to “Burn Black Light”, listen to “Reaching Down”. These songs make you turn the volume up to eleven and fly along the music. Just everything seems to be fitting perfectly: guitars, drums and the incredible charismatic vocals, everything comes with just the right sound. Despite its proximity to the aforementioned popular bands that sound develops a life of its own, an own soul.

Count in the progressive ventures (”For Me”), multilayered vocals (”What I Breathe”)
and wall-of-sound techniques (”Forgiveness”). Put all these elements together and you
get a hit like “Don’t Falter” - wonderful, absolutely magnificent.

“Order Of Voices” is like a trip, a 40-minute voyage without a pause, coming with a
musical concept that keeps you thrilled from the very first to the last minute - you got
my word on that. And when the band is going full circle with the beautiful, balladic “Then
Fall” and the following instrumental “Into The Sea”, you’ll know. That’s really the
album you’ve been waiting for the whole time, even if you never heard of ORDER OF
VOICES before - until now. They truly might be “your new favourite band”!

9 out of 10 stars @ Mescaline Injection
Here is the original text (in German): http://www.mescaline-injection.de/?p=5226

When not touring, Lou Molino spends much of his time in his L.A. studio playing drums for various artists, both in town and over the internet.

His latest project is Yoso; a band with Bobby Kimball of Toto, ex-Yes men Billy Sherwood and Tony Kaye, and ex-Chris Squire Experiment guitarist Jimmy Haun.

“With KickPort = fat punchy bottom end like old analog recordings — nice.”

Louis Molino III was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. After seeing the movie “Get Yourself a College Girl” in 1964 he was in awe of Stan Getz and wanted to play saxophone. Unfortunately, his school didn’t offer sax lessons, so he was forced to settle for a coronet. The coronet lessons only lasted a few months before Lou wanted to try his hand at the guitar. He started on the acoustic and soon after he found an electric guitar and amp for the rich price of $50. Next, he was begging for a bass guitar and found a cool blue Teisco Del Rey at EJ Korvette in 1966. He joined his first band and played bass for almost a year. When he told his parents he wanted to play the drums, they refused to buy him any more instruments. An upholstered chair and the wood sticks from coat hangers served as Lou’s first practice drums, but he soon tired of telling people he played “chair.” He then convinced his younger brother to ask for a drum set for Christmas. In 1967 Santa (grandparents) brought a blue sparkle Sears kit. In no time, Lou had confiscated the drums from his younger brother, Paul.

By the age of 13 he was the drummer in a band of neighborhood friends, playing at local dances and “battles of the bands.” Lou received no formal training; drumming came naturally to him. He learned essentially by playing along to his favorite records, especially The Rascals, Vanilla Fudge, and Led Zeppelin. Later he taught himself to read music. By 17 he was playing professionally in Philadelphia area night clubs and at the Jersey shore.

After years of honing his skills in the Philly area, he made his move to Los Angeles in search of greater challenges. Within six weeks of moving to L.A., he was working with Cock Robin and later signed with the band to Columbia Records. Cock Robin released their debut album in 1985 and Lou spent the following year supporting the album in both the U.S. and Europe.

It was during Lou’s time with Cock Robin that he was introduced to producer Paul DeVillers (Mr. Mister, Yes, King Crimson), who would become a good friend. Lou was soon working with Paul on various projects in the U.S. and Canada.

Paul later introduced Lou to his friend, Trevor Rabin. Lou began working with Trevor, first on his solo album and tour, and then on film scores. Over the years of working together, Lou developed a close friendship with Trevor that is irreverently funny and continues today.

LouMolino.com

Originally from London England, pro drummer Chris Buck has made his home in Nashville TN for the past 11 years as a touring and session drummer.

Upon getting his first KickPort, Chris was overwhelmed with excitement:

“The Kickport is amazing!!!! Even on an 18 inch kick drum. It added presence, warmth, great low end and makes the drum feel great to play. Thanks Kickport!!”

Chris began playing drums at 12 years of age and got off to a great start when he joined the award winning Solent Concert Band. It was in this band that Chris received his formal training and he quickly learned to sight read complex drum, percussion charts. It became obvious that drumming was what Chris was born to do and he turned professional at the age of 17.

Chris utilized his reading ability and soon became in demand playing for the top musicals and shows in London’s West End and on national and international tours. Shows included Olivier award winning, The Jolson Story and The Official Tribute To The Blues Brothers sanctioned by Dan Ackroyd and Judy Belushi.

Over the next few years Chris played and recorded with many UK and touring artists including Cliff Richard, Howie Casey (Paul McCartney and wings) The Drifters The Platters and The Three Degrees.

Since moving to Nashville Chris has stayed busy both live and in the studio with many country artists including Jack Greene, Little Jimmy Dickens, Jean Shepard, Jeannie Seeley and more. Highlights include playing for Warner Brothers artist Gregg Holland and appearing on the Opry at the Ryman Auditorium with Jett Williams. Chris has also been heard frequently on Ernest Tubbs Midnight Jamboree, America’s second longest running radio show and he was honored to be asked to be in the house band for a benefit concert at the Wildhorse Saloon playing with Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings.

Currently Chris stays busy playing live and in the studio, extensively recording at the Project Room and Poolside Productions, recording demos with great songwriters such as Mark Collie, Ricky Lynn Gregg and Brian Glenn. Chris has just finished a duets album for Jack Greene featuring Vince Gill, Charley Pride and Lorrie Morgan. Chris is also the drummer for The Dean Martinis, a hip jump jive band in town, jazz great Abby Burke and can also be found playing with The Radio Daze Big Band.

Check out this great review from MusicRadar.com

When it was launched in 2009, the KickPort created a genuine buzz within the music industry. A simple device that is easily fitted to the front bass drum head, it claims to ingeniously enhance low frequencies. While its rise seems to have been meteoric, its development was anything but, as the small US-based team responsible spent years perfecting the design before marketing it.

The KickPort is made of acoustically-specified plastic, rubber and foam. Its main component is a 4″-long pipe which flares out in the style of a horn at the front end to a diameter of 5.25″. A rubber cup is attached to the outside of the pipe half way along its length. The cup is shaped to follow the contours of the flared section of the pipe.

For the time being, KickPorts only come in one colour - black. A white version of the KickPort will be available soon, with other colour options to follow later this year. A fitted KickPort actually grips the front head - the rubber cup ends up inside the drum and flips forward onto the head while the flared part of the plastic pipe visible outside the drum is foam-backed.

Trapping the head in this manner creates an intentional dampening effect, making any usual dampening unnecessary.

The function of the plastic pipe - the majority of which is located inside the drum - is to slow the exit of air produced from each stroke, compressing it along its length. The flared exit then allows for rapid expansion of the air as it meets the outside world.
Hands on

I tried a KickPort with my vintage Premier 20″x14″ bass drum which is fitted with an Evans EQ1 batter and a Remo Ambassador front head. Due to its size and design, the drum is not as naturally deep as many contemporary kick drums, and so it made for a challenging test-bed.

Fitting the KickPort was straightforward and took a few minutes. Once in, the effect was instant, giving the drum a noticeably fatter and altogether larger presence. There was also added focus to the sound, which made for a marked increase in punchiness.

Rather than simply being a ‘loud button’ for the kick, it followed the tuning of the drum sympathetically - wherever we pitched it - so proving far more versatile than we anticipated. What impressed us the most, though, was that the drum still sounded natural and warm - not as though it had been manipulated in any way.

VERDICT!!!:

It’s not very often that a product comes along that is so simple yet capable of producing such impressive results. Such effectiveness and ease of use comes on the back of the four years of testing and developing that took place before the KickPort was launched.
MusicRadar rating:

FIVE OF FIVE STARS!!

CONS: NONE!!

check it out at:

I am a little late posting this as Nikki and Rich’s played on the Jay Leno Show July 13. They were GREAT. They are both really talented and Nikki sings her butt off. Playing drums was new KickPort Artist, Phillip Fisher who was a founding member of Fishbone and now plays with Justin Timberlake and Wicked Wisdom. And it was very cool to see the KickPort in Phillip’s kit doing it’s thing!!

Here is the link and Nkiki and Rich play at around 38 minutes. You may have to watch a Lexus commercial before the song. Better than watching around 50 Lexus commercials (slight exaggeration) if you watch the whole show!!

http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/video/tuesday-july-13-2010/1238711/

Back at you with more later - a lot is going on in KickPort world!

Ite Missa Est

Hailing from Paris, France, hardcore/metal/death metal band Ite Missa Est is recording their new album.

The band’s drummer, Sydney Taïeb is a KickPort endorsee. He shared his thoughts on the KickPort as well as this teaser video of drum tracking with us:

“The KickPort had done his job perfectly!”

Watch the drum tracking teaser video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4avsVZfBao