Ellenwood caught up with Australian Emma Louise before she kicked off her US tour at Hotel Café last Friday night. We talked about her new debut album “Head vs Heart” (which will be released in the USA on May 21st, 2013) and her song writing process and inspirations. After the success of Gotye (Grammy for best alternative music album this year) and the layers of music he created within a song, we are always excited to see what new artists from “down-under” bring to audiences in the US. Emma Louise had a hit last year in Australia called “Jungleland” and after listening to some of the tracks of her new debut album (most notably, “Freedom”), she’s certain to have a few more this summer. At about 7PM, she took to the stage as the audience came into the intimate venue. Her voice was solid and almost ethereal at times and the audience seemed in awe of her angelic voice mixed in with the synths and guitars. She’s confident, skillful and her songs seem to resonate with all those emotions that touch all of our hearts. This is definitely an artist to watch out for and maybe we’ll catch on to what our friends in Australia already know and be just as thrilled as they are to see how her career unfolds. Next week she heads to SXSW and then over to New York and Europe.

The three-piece musical threat began their nine-song play list with ‘If U Stay.’ Word of mouth has earned them plenty of new faces across town as people followed along in unison with lead singer Eric Podnar. Aside from delivering a stellar performance, what stood out most was the crowd interaction. Drummer Jeremy Cull began losing layers of clothing as the night progressed, leaving him with cheers and screams from all ladies present. Still, that didn’t faze him at all, as he continued to punish the clashing cymbals after each song. ‘I’m Pissed’ lived up to the songs title, driving aggression and hard hitting beats from beginning to end. ‘I Am The Dr.’ cured everyone’s musical illness in exchange for a fierce fever while the venues walls began to condensate. Bassist Bret Hamilton appears to be the missing member of ZZ Top, sporting a thick beard exceeding half a foot. Together, they delivered a healthy dose of music lasting short of an hour.

Deep inside the true city that never sleeps, guitarist Jason Achilles Mezilis of the recently founded group ‘Black Belt KARATE’ escaped the studio for a sit down interview mid week in Hollywood. At the time, conducting an audio recording inside of a quiet bar appeared to be a great idea, but the unquenched thirst of random faces filled the air with ominous conversations, resulting in bar hopping places, stop and go traffic and of course, parking issues. After miles of traveling, the party began at the ‘Snug’ in Burbank and concluded in a 67’ Mustang where details and new beginnings began to spill.

Last Tuesday, lead singer of Gold Motel Greta Morgan sat down with Ellenwood and had lunch at Tony’s Mexican Grill in North Hollywood to talk about the band’s new album and their East coast tour. On July 3, 2012 Gold Motel releases their second album self-titled, “Gold Motel.” To support the new album, Gold Motel will embark on an East Coast tour starting in their home town of Chicago with an in-store performance at Saki before playing everywhere from St. Louis to New York City.

Fans gathered outside The Book Soup on Sunset Blvd and waited patiently for a chance to have their books autographed. Crahan, alongside fellow band mate Corey Taylor, greeted fans before the book signing prior to the book presentation. Fans gathered for an opportunity to receive insight on the book and the idea behind its creation.