The Ringo Report

We sent a crew down to the 85th annual Arkansas State Fair to explore and see what there was to see.

According to our sources, you can shoot smoke out of your mouth with liquid nitrogen ice cream in front of a giant bu****le. Also there were seals flopping in the water, a woman shot an arrow with her feet and there were races between participants like a duck, chicken, goat, lamb and pig.

Drinking an icee and making your tummy hurt in front of the Barton Coliseum is a good way to enjoy a day.

Check out this week’s episode of the podcast where I talk about the shows happening this week, I also discussed the new album by Second Life LR and sing some Lana Del Rey.

The Ringo Report - Episode 22 Listen to the soothing sounds of Brandon Ringo.

Spotlight: GOWROW

RR: What bands/musicians inspire you the most creatively?

Gojira, Mastodon, Septic Flesh, Opeth, Entheos, JFAC, and Devin Townsend are some of the musicians and bands that Gowrow, as a whole, are inspired by. Our individual inspirations are so numerous and varied, you don’t even want to get us started.

RR: How would you describe your sound?

Our sound is constantly evolving. On our EP, you start with a death/doom dirge and end with a blackened groove metalcore monstrosity. Our newer material is gravitating much more towards a progressive death metal sound.

RR: What are the goals you’d most love to see the band achieve?

Our only goal is to continue making music together. Our EP took two years to make because we are all very busy people. There were life changing moments over the past 2 years that nearly put an end to Gowrow. We hope that people will hear the effort that has gone into making these songs a reality.

Next spotlight is a central Arkansas band who has a feature on their new album from Chaney Crabb of ENTHEOS 👀

In episode 21 I talked about a lot of cool shows happening in central Arkansas this week.

The Ringo Report - Episode 21 Ringo is back!!!

Spotlight: Skeletal Remains

RR: What bands/musicians inspire you the most creatively?

Monstrosity, Cannibal Co**se, Hate Eternal, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Decapitated, Death, Malevolent Creation, Pestilence, Obituary, Sepultura, Demolition Hammer.

RR: How would you describe your sound?

It’s death metal the way we want to play it. We love the old school Morrisound studios and related albums, and that style is what we enjoy sinking our teeth into.

RR: What are the goals you’d most love to see the band achieve?

We’re just going to continue pushing our own boundaries in songwriting and playing. We have a solid foundation and would like to further refine what we did on Fragments. And we’d really like to play 70k!

Spotlight: Sebastian Diaz

RR: What bands/musicians inspire you the most creatively?

The one person that I always go back to is Prince. Above all of his artistry, the thing that inspired me the most growing up was his commitment to his unique vision — I think that’s the most important thing any artist needs to have. He wasn’t afraid to be himself. Beyond him, my inspirations keep changing over the years. Ed Sheeran inspired me to make the most of my loop pedal when I was learning guitar. I watched Avenged Sevenfold’s “Live In The LBC” concert over and over again wondering if I could ever play like Synyster Gates one day. But to just a list a few artists for right now though, I’d say Tears For Fears, Plini, and Boy Harsher.

RR: How would you describe your sound?

I make instrumental music that is influenced by pop, new wave, metal, and ambient. My sound is cinematic and stylish, and originally, it was meant to be music for runway shows when I was working toward my fashion degree. I think my one song out right now, “Manahatta”, communicates that well. I don’t have a band to play this sound live, so when I do gig, it’s just me, my guitar, and my pedalboard and I have to adapt my songs into a loop pedal format. I do my best to sound as full as possible by layering my guitar — it’s the kick, snare, bass, rhythm, and lead. I try to make my lead playing feel like I’m singing, but I’ll throw in a shreddy bit here and there for fun. Too much shred though and it feels monotonous to me — it’s all about balance!!

RR: What are the goals you’d most love to see your music achieve?

I’ve been back in LR for a little over a year now, but I’ve had to take some time to get situated. I’m still finding my rhythm when it comes to the “scene”, but I’m at a place now where I think I’m ready to be out in the world and make my name known around town, whether it’s through my solo music or my new band — makes alternative metal and debuts at Vinos on June 13th. In the meantime, I’m working on recording and producing my music as best as I can. Creating beautiful music and playing live is what I want right now.

Food Truck Spotlight: Grilled Sandwich Company

RR: What inspired you to start a food truck and how did you decide on the concept of grilled sandwiches?

I was tired of working for other people and wanted to open a business, but I didn't know what to open and me and my dad got drunk on his back porch one night and decided it was gonna be a food truck. Then I did research on what food truck options were currently available in central Arkansas and the one option I couldn’t find a truck for was grilled cheese sandwiches, so I decided to go with that.

RR: What is your favorite sandwich to make?

My favorite sandwich to make is the El Choppo. The flavor of the beef mixed in with the cheese, mayo and veggies between that toasted garlic hoagie roll amazes me every time with how good it tastes and my customers always love it.

RR: What are your goals and dreams that you’d like to achieve with your food truck in the future?

I'd like to see myself in a brick and mortar space sometime within the next year. Yes, it will have a bar. I'll still keep the food truck running somewhere though.

Spotlight: Pig Sticker

RR: What bands/musicians inspire you the most creatively?

It’s hard to say who inspires us the most. We all draw from a range of influences from Slipknot to Pantera, Acid Bath, Melvins, Cannibal Co**se, Helmet, Bongzilla, Sepultura, Cattle Decapitation, Whitechapel, and even local legends we watched growing up like Sickshine, Deadbird, Crankbait, Weedeater, and Rwake

RR: How would you describe your sound?

To say our sound is aggressive would be an understatement! We strive to be as raw and abrasive as possible. We’ve been described as “Crust Sludge” or “Thrash Death” but tbh we have no idea what umbrella we fall under!

RR: What are the goals you’d most love to see the band achieve?

Our biggest goal right now is to put out a record. Something tangible for people to listen to, build our fan base, and most importantly we wanna play shows in as many places as we can. At the end of the day we just want to see people bang their heads and have fun with us!

Spotlight: Whether

RR: What bands/musicians inspire you the most creatively?

Dalhia-Nicole (vocals): Portishead, King woman, Fiona Apple, Gulch, YOB, Conjurer, Type-O-Negative
Stone (guitar): Matt Pike, James Hetfield and Bill Kelliher
Brian (guitar): Andy Switzky and Matt Talbot from Hum and Kurt Ballou from Converge are probably my biggest guitar influences.
Jon (bass): Comeback kid, converge, zao, skip James, sufjan stevens, Russian circles, sumac
Trey (drums): Black Sabbath, Faith No More, Pantera, Crowbar, The Melvins, The entire Little Rock Scene from mid 90’s to present day

RR: How would you describe your sound?

Dalhia-Nicole: Like a roller coaster ride through the asylum
Stone: I'd describe us like how old people f**k sloppy and all over the place (in a good way)
Brian: Ethereal doom/sludge
Jon: Like a locomotive crashing through a warehouse
Trey: Heavy emotional sludge/ doom with amazing vocals

RR: What are the goals you’d most love to see the band achieve?

Dalhia-Nicole: I'd love for us to be able to tour with the bands we love. On a stage big enough to lose my s**t on
Stone: Write more songs find our real sound
Brian: Wanna be biggern Mayga Dayyith
Jon: I wanna go to Europe super bad, I think the coolest way to do it would be to play the some of the festivals there.
Trey: Ultimate goal is to play roadburn in the Netherlands. But any trip overseas i.e., Japan, New Zealand, Europe

Spotlight: Kid Cult

RR: What bands/musicians inspire you the most creatively?

Nirvana, DIIV, Jay Reatard, Cage The Elephant, Green Day

RR: How would you describe your sound?

Shoegazey post grunge magic

RR: What are the goals you’d most love to see the band achieve?

Our goal is to tour forever

Spotlight: I Am The Catalyst

RR: What bands/musicians inspire you the most creatively?

Creatively, we pull from a wide range of bands and are pleased with the final product. Cory’s drums are influenced specifically by Mewithoutyou and Darkest Hour. And Lonnie’s vocals are influenced and inspired by Every Time I Die and Counterparts. Jacob, our bass player’s creative influence, is Gwar and Lamb Of God. Jordan loves Unearth and Living Sacrifice and I pull from bands like Martyr A.D., Remembering Never, The Acacia Strain, All Hell Breaks Loose, Incendiary, Slayer, Converge, and Integrity.

RR: How would you describe your sound?

We are a heavy hardcore band.

RR: What are the goals you’d most love to see the band achieve?

We want to write a full length and bring hope and a message of overcoming adversity. We want to inspire kids, change lives, and rebuild the scene we love dearly. We want to bring the party and the big mosh every show, to keep that dance floor moving nonstop, and see kids get unhinged with lots of two steppin’, kickboxin’, circle pits, and stage dives. Much love!