Escape The Fate recording new album

Escape The Fate is recording their next album with their new singer Mabbit. Check out the official press release below.
"With an uncanny ability to always land on their feet, notorious Vegas rock group Escape the Fate have begun writing and recording with a spectacular new singer and a superstar producer. With John Feldmann (the Used, Story of the Year) lending his talents as both producer and songwriter, and with the addition of singer Craig Mabbit, formerly of Bless the Fall, Escape the Fate are on track to make an even more amazing record than their stellar 2006 debut.
Following the departure of singer Ronnie Radke in early 2008, the band performed a handful of shows with Mabbit, and the personal and creative connection was immediate. A fan of both ETF and Mabbit, Feldmann was the natural choice to produce, and in April, Escape the Fate began recording the follow-up to 2006’s Dying Is Your Latest Fashion, which featured the massive hit song “Situations.” “People are going to be blown away and definitely surprised when they hear Craig’s vocals mixed with Escape’s diverse sound,” explains bassist Max Green. “This is the next generation of rock.” The yet-untitled record is tentatively scheduled for a fall release.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to continue making music with a group of amazing people,” says Mabbit. “I’m loving what’s coming out of us in the studio right now and things couldn’t be going better. Escape the Fate is taking over the world, so buckle your seatbelts ‘cause we’re here to stay.”
After Radke’s dramatic departure, wild speculation spread across the internet regarding the future of Escape the Fate and direction the band would take if they were to continue on. However, fans can breathe a sigh of relief: the turmoil has left the band even more determined and fired up. “We’ve been through a lot of shit this last year, and we took all that anger, frustration and sadness and molded it into an album with huge rock choruses, in your face riffs and melodies, and drums that will give your parents a heart attack,” explains Green. “This new album isn’t going to be a hardcore metal album and it’s not going to be a soft melodic album, we are who we are, we are Escape the Fate.”

Moving to The Medic Droid

Q&A session

There are few bands named after "Star Wars" characters.

But The Medic Droid out of Phoenix couldn't have picked a better moniker.
Comparable to Orgy, New Order and Duran Duran, the trio has a foundation of electronica but with heavy doses of pop and rock. You can rock out to them or settle deep into the groove of their fiercely energetic and synthy beats.

Hector Bagnod, 23, who plays guitars in keyboards in the band said they're amazed at the success they've had in such a short time.

He's also pumped that they're helping put Phoenix on the musical map.

NOISE caught up with him in Portland, Ore.

Where does your name come from?

When I first met Chris in 2003, he always had an idea as The Medic Droid being a side project. He didn't take it on until 2006. The name is actually a robot in the movie "Star Wars." He was never a popular character though.

Are you trying to appeal to the electronica fans? Indie rock fans? Both?

We never meant to appeal to anyone. We didn't shoot for a certain crowd. Different genres ended up liking the music. People that go to raves like it and people who go to rock shows like it. We have a pretty wide variety of fans which is cool to us.

Describe the sound.

It's a mix of techno and electronic that's more structured around a rock song.

Are you big fans of Orgy, Daft Punk or New Order?

Definitely. We have a huge variety of music we listen to. We love '80s music and older music like Queen and Michael Jackson. I love New Order and new bands like Blood Brothers.

You guys come out of Phoenix which you don't hear much about musically. What's going on there?

It's kind of weird, the scene has been odd there. Jimmy Eat World is from outside of there. The music scene is starting to get huge. It seems like there's a lot of bands coming out of there right now. More screamo and rock-like bands.

What made you want to re-make "Into The Groove" by Madonna?

We wanted to do a cover. Most of the stuff we do is about having fun and we love a lot of '80s stuff. We were gonna cover "Your Love" by The Outfield but we wanted to get a song that had more energy.

What's it like for you touring in cold weather places?

It's really hard. It's crazy. The worst is the humidity. The cold we can kind of handle because I grew up in a small town in the mountains. We really don't do good in humidity. It feels like we're suffocating. We played in Florida and we started walking across the street to go to Target and we felt like we were gonna die.

How have fans reacted to you?

They've been awesome. We've had a pretty good turnout on this tour. It's crazy for us because we kind of came out of nowhere. We've had a couple shows where they just run up on stage with it. It's sort of like having a rave at a rock show.

Emo Music Blamed For Suicide Of My Chemical Romance Fan

A British coroner has raised concerns that emo music played a role in the suicide of 13-year-old My Chemical Romance fan Hannah Bond, according to NME.com. Bond hung herself from a bunk bed in her bedroom after informing her parents that she was going to kill herself and leaving a note signed "Living Disaster." The coroner investigating the girl's death, Roger Sykes, speculated that the girl was obsessed with bands like My Chemical Romance, saying, "The emo overtones concerning death and associating it with glamour I find very disturbing."

Bond's father, Ray, said at the inquest that his daughter had inflicted harm on herself previously as part of what she told him was an "emo initiation ceremony." Bond had also posted a picture of an emo fan with bloody wrists at her personal web page.

Her mother, Heather, said, "She called emo a fashion and I thought it was normal. Hannah was a normal girl. She had loads of friends. She could be a bit moody but I thought it was just because she was a teenager."

NME.com has received a number of responses to the case from fans of emo music, who largely rejected the coroner's suggestion that emo was a factor in Bond's death. One wrote, "I find it disgusting that small-minded people would assume that music has that much of an influence, that someone would kill themselves because of it," while another fan said, "I listen to My Chem, as do many of my friends, and we are happy people with happy lives."

Emo has been the center of controversy lately in Mexico as well, where fans of the music have been subjected to violence at the hands of other Mexican youth. My Chemical Romance singer Gerard Way called for an end to the attacks during a recent concert in Mexico City.