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As many of you know Damon Call is no longer on the drummer's throne, and the band tragically lost Gary Burkhart, the engineer, mixer, producer, and co-producer of both the NINE TONGUES and AVENGER CDs.
But nevertheless ASKA os driving on! AVENGER rules! And their popularity is climbing all over the place. I'll have more up to the week info for you next time you browse this site, so bookmark it now for easy return.
Hi everyone!
Wow! It's already been a month since we kicked off the tour to the Pacific rim! We've been jammin' 6 nights out of 7 and we've enjoyed every second of it (well...most every second)! We've met some really cool people along the way and bumped into some good old friends here and there as well! I guess now would be as good a time as any to fill you in on some of the tasty details...
First, let me say that I will be VERY glad when travel makes another giant leap into the future. You'd think that as we near the year 2000, you'd be able to step into some "Warp-coil-flux-capacitor-temporal-causality-phase-transporter" and just materialize wherever you wanna go! Nope! We're still stuck in the world of 15 hour flights to get to the other side of the world--that flight from Portland to Seoul is a killer! You keep waking up, fully rested, like a kid saying, "Are we there yet?" I think my ass isstill numb!
Anyhow, we made it to Seoul, South Korea in one piece. Most of ourequipment even survived the apes' brutal treatment. Those baggage handlers areanimals! We were then quickly ushered away to the Hotel Kaya to sleep away ourjet-lag. Of course, we all woke up bright and early at 7:30am ready to go. Thecatch is that we NEVER, EVER IN A MILLION YEARS would get up that early for ANYTHING! It took a good 4 or 5 days of forcing ourselves to stay awake late to stop that nasty habit!Greetings to Lance Souther (and family) in Korea! This guy really helpedmake our stay there a very cool one. He took us out shopping in Seoul (inthe Iteh Won district) and showed us some really cool CD shops as well. Healso picked up a bootleg ASKA T-shirt that was for sale at one of the shops.You could tell the vendor was pretty amazed that he was selling a BOOTLEGT-shirt of a band that was standing right in front of him--and that we were smilingand actually kind of flattered that we were being ripped off! We also hadthe pleasure of having dinner at Lance's house--thanks, man! Also, a big helloto Mr. Yi, our driver in South Korea! He's funny as hell, and one awesomedriver! It was also great to see our previous Korean driver, Mr. Changagain. Check out the picture of him and ASKA on the Web site.
Anyhow, most of the shows have been packed! You can really tell that the ASKA word is getting out to the people. We've had several people tell us thatthey heard "Blood Of The Wolf" and/or "Leprosy" on HARDRADIO hardradio.com. Even more rockers have seen us on previous tours. Best of all, the general vibe isthat Metal is on the rise! People are tired of "Grunge" and "Alternative"(alternative to what?,,, Who knows?!!!). Everyone wants to see a great show and hear some true musicianship with in-your-face guitars, bass, and drums!Of course, we give 'em what they want!
In Okinawa, we'd like to extend a big thanx to Greg and Cameron Dunn.Greg is a fantastic guitar player. We met him at the first show on the island,and he and his wife made it to every show thereafter. We got Greg up on stageto play a song or two each night. Unrehearsed, he ripped it up every time (eventaking on tunes like "The Question," "Blood Of The Wolf," and"Killashandra" from the Nine Tongues CD). A big high five also to Brett Bowling who did akiller blues jam with us! We'd also like to extend a huge thanks to Takara Music on Kokusai Street. Atsushi and the staff there were all extra cool to us. If any of you everdrop in, make sure to check out the photos and autographs they put up ofASKA!
Right now, we're based in Tokyo, performing in and around several citiesin the area. Again, the shows have been great. The Japanese people neverstopped liking Metal, and they certainly dig ASKA. For those of you whohaven't yet checked out the "NINE TONGUES Quotes" yet, Japan's BURRN!Magazine said this about the CD: "This is the real thing! High-quality heavy metal,powerful and melodic. ...very bold, very strong sound." 4.5 out of 5stars. Our thanks again to Taka Okuno for the glowing review!Next on the tour schedule is a couple of days in Hawaii. Then we're offto Guam for a week and finally to Adelaide, Australia. We look forward tomeeting up with Steve Ravic of Metal Warriors (video magazine), and GaryCarson of Screaming Symphony (email 'zine and radio). With any luck, we'llbe able to hook up with them and do some interviews for their upcoming videorelease, e-zine, and even radio! We've also touched on getting somedistribution with 'em as well. Breakthru Distributors in Australia isstill going strong too so check 'em out and tell Alan we said hi!
Alas, that's it for now. I hope you are all having a great New Year, andI hope that you're still cranking ASKA in your CD player! We'll be back inthe US the first week of March. Our welcome home show will be at The Rock inDallas on March 13 (I'm pretty sure that's a Saturday). Start making plansNOW to be there! We'll also be sending out postcards soon. If you want one, make sure tosend us your current address! (Our apologies for not sending 'em last tour--wecouldn't tear ourselves away from the beaches in Panama long enough tothink, let alone write!)
We also love seeing all the kind words in the ASKA guestbook. Make sure todrop us a line at our website: http://www.cyberramp.net/~aska or
Sincerely,
Darren Knapp, George Call and ASKA
write Darren Knapp at: askaband@aol.com
write George Call at: georgeaska@aol.com
write Keith Knight at: keithaska@aol.com
write Jason Sweatt at: jasonCsweatt@yahoo.com
Here's a letter I recently got from Darren Knapp, global guitar wiz and all-around nice guy. ASKA is on home soil once again and their Halloween show promises to be devestating! So make sure you cruise over to the official site once you're done here and get specific date and time information.
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1998 03:33:22 EDT
To: danaeddy@hotmail.com
Subject: ASKA's back from tour!
Hi Dana!
Great to hear about the new band... lemme know when you're playin' so Ican check it out. I changed your email address... added the two new ones tothe mailing list. What I wanna know is when we'll see you again! We're at J.Gilligan's this Saturday night... it would be great to see you out there!
As for a rundown on the tour... hmmm... lemme give a condensed version:It fuckin' ruled! It's been forever since I've been back to Panama (I'massuming you knew I was born there). I left there over 10 years ago and neverhad the opportunity to go back until this tour.
It was great to see my (and George's) old stompin' grounds. We saw ourold schools, places we lived, a few relatives, and lots o' beach action. Istill haven't figured out why the hell we live so far from the ocean! Dallasis great, but I gotta have some salt spray and waves every now and then.
Anyhow, we've really enjoyed "doing the right thing" and I know we'vegained a huge legion of grateful fans in the process. I also love totravel... It's a no-lose situation. Everybody has a blast and we're all alittle better off! Cool, huh?
That's it for now... I would like to add that Dana Eddy is one cool Mo'Fo', and an outstanding singer--you can pay me later, bro! JK! Seriously,people, besides being a bad-ass musician, Dana's been a great friend! Thanksfor everything, man!
Yer bud,
Darren Knapp--ASKA
ASKA is one of my favorite local Dallas / Ft. Worth area bands and I'm gonna spend some time trying to tell you just why.
Back in the days of BRAINLOCK we found ourselves opening for these guys at Dallas City Limits... a club that is no longer open as a rock venue... and I took an instant liking to the guys in the group as well as their fans and crew.
Rock'n'Roll is supposed to be a festive celebration of life and music, and an ASKA show is all that and more. They've been true to their 80's metal roots and you still see plenty of hair at an ASKA show, which is refreshing with all the shaved-head / nipple-eyebrow-nosering / shabby shorts and crummy T-Shirt bands you see out on the scene these days.
Not that I don't dig those types of bands as well, it's just that ASKA has never sold out their followers.
Not once.
Damon Call, the drummer who started out with his brother George to form ASKA is no longer playing for the band. We wish Damon success in all his endeavors.
George Call is the frontman and he knows very well how to work a room. He sings very well, but if you watch closely, he could be a formidable lead guitarist in anyone's lineup. I have never asked him, but he has played the same Guild guitar since I've known him and it looks as if this is the guitar he was weaned on. He flings it around effortlessly and sometimes plays one-handed while urging the crowd to get louder with his other one.
Keith Knight is the bass player and he takes his role very seriously. You can tell by the way he strides the stage and hits all his cues.... whereas some bass players just act like set dressing, Keith is an active part of their 3 man frontline.
Darren Knapp is amazing.... he plays vicious lead guitar, sings lead on a few songs, ( Most notably "Before You Came" off their IMMORTAL CD ) and even knows the words to the ENTIRE "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang. If you've never heard a metalized version of this tune, get thee hence to the next ASKA show and see for yourself!
But what I want to say MOST about these 4 hooligans is that they really love their fans.
Oh sure, some bands claim the same, but very few do the follow-up that ASKA does. I got on their mailing list shortly after we met and it was a weekly newsletter that arrived in my mailbox forever after. They keep their fans posted as to what's up with them, and actually take time to personally invite as many as time allows.
When they're overseas entertaining U.S. service men and women all across the globe, their home team keeps everyone updated on their tour status and return date, so they never come home to empty shows.
I'll have more comments later...plus my own opinionated reviews of their CDs for you to check out. For now... PLEASE go see them live if you can!
I just thought you guys might like to see a picture of her.
Killashandra Picture
danaeddy777@hotmail.com
danaeddy@yahoo.com
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