Amberian Dawn, coming soon to RBN

In preparation for the launch of Rock Band Network, our friends at RockBandAide had a chance to ask Finnish symphonic metal band Amberian Dawn a few questions.

Amberian Dawn will be releasing two tracks, “River of Tuoni” and “He Sleeps in a Grove,” day and date with the launch of the Rock Band Network music store in the near future.

For the full interview, head on over to RockBandAide.

… but can you do this?

Cetan Clawson can, and “White Heat” will be available for RBN the day the store launches.

Wait, what?

At least one fan of Bang Camaro thinks the tracks “Bang Camaro” and “Push Push (Lady Lightning)” are two episodes of an epic rock opera about conception in the back seat of a Camaro.

Bryn Bennett, co-founder of Bang Camaro, recently shared this fun fact while answering a few questions about life on the road with 20 guys, the band’s use of videogame soundtracks as a means of exposure, lessons learned, and much much more.

This interview is a must-read for all fans of Bang Camaro, as well as any artists on the fence about joining the Rock Band Network.

Here is the full interview, courtesy of RockBandAide:

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ALL-GIRL PUNK BAND TIJUANA SWEETHEART (FORMERLY KNOWN AS VAGIANT) TO APPEAR IN ROCK BAND NETWORK

“A rose by any other name would smell as drunk.”- RockBand.com forums

Due to a legal dispute, the truculent, wayward girls of the band formerly known as VAGIANT (Boston) have changed their name to Tijuana Sweetheart.

After hundreds of often off-beat band name suggestions from fans, the band selected Tijuana Sweetheart – a name which comes from a cocktail of the girls’ invention (and from the band’s unique slang term for ‘a prostitute’).

The name change goes into effect immediately. Merchandise with the band’s former name will continue to be available at the band’s forthcoming website, www.TijuanaSweetheart.com, for a limited time at a discounted rate. For comment on the name change, please contact the band’s formidable, motorcycle outlaw lawyer, John Taxiarchis, at john@taxilaw.com.

Three tracks from Tijuana Sweetheart’s album Trash Candy will appear on Rock Band Network: “No Mercy,” “Sticks & Stones,” and “Trash Candy.” The songs are being authored by the talented team at RockGamer Studios, and the band hopes that the launch of these new downloadable tracks for Rock Band will help get the word out about their necessary name change.

The band will debut their new name at their “Valentines are for Pussies” show at the Baseball Tavern in Boston on February 13th, with the Jeddo Stars, Tired Old Bones, and the Chemical Smiles (sponsored by Narragansett Beer).

Featured on the multi-million unit-selling video games Rock Band® and Guitar Hero® II, Tijuana Sweetheart (formerly VAGIANT) has managed to expand beyond the Boston bar scene and into living rooms worldwide. The band was nominated for Punk Act of the Year in the 2009 Boston Music Awards and has performed live with such bands as Bang Camaro, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, DMZ, and the Ducky Boys.

Tijuana Sweetheart is an all-girl punk/rock outfit from Allston, MA. They enjoy playing raucous live shows, eating chicken wings, and have recently determined, as a result of their band name brainstorming, that group consensus is an exercise in futility and now believe in benevolent dictatorship. (www.tijuanasweetheart.com)

VANCOUVER ROCK GROUP THE FURY PARTNERS WITH ROCKGAMER STUDIOS TO BRING THEIR MUSIC TO ROCK BAND NETWORK

Have we mentioned we love Vancouver’s rock scene? We really do, and here’s another reason why.

The Fury has only been around for roughly two years, but the female-fronted Canucks are already set to take the leap to the next level. Chase Patterson (vocals), Jon Wu (guitar), Royce Whittaker (guitar), Colin Campbell (bass) and Jay Vidler (drums) all combine to create a hard-hitting sound reminiscent of Bif Naked or Flyleaf, which will be just as much fun to sing as it will be to play on any instrument.

The Fury will make its Rock Band Network debut with two tracks, “Picture Perfect” and “Beauty Queen,” from their 2009 album Truth Comes Out (iTunes).

The band couldn’t be happier to have this opportunity to expose their music to the millions of Rock Band players around the world.

“We’re all psyched to be working with RockGamer Studios and to have our songs available on Rock Band,” says Wu. “It’s so killer to have a company give an independent band like us an opportunity to be a part of something bigger. I myself am such a videogame fan, I’m looking forward to see who’s better at playing our songs and only hope everyone will enjoy the music!”

Follow The Fury on Facebook or Myspace to catch all their latest news, and stay tuned to RockGamer Studios for more updates as the tracks near their release date.

FISTS UP! ROCKGAMER STUDIOS ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH BANG CAMARO TO PUBLISH THEIR MUSIC ON ROCK BAND NETWORK

For the uninitiated, Bang Camaro, a hard rock group out of Boston founded by guitarists Bryn Bennett and Alex Necoechea, has become popular for their unique definition of a “band”. With a dozen or so vocalists headbanging onstage — producing one of the best arena rock sounds you’ll ever hear live — “army” is probably a better description. The group was catapulted to the national spotlight in 2006 when their song “Push Push (Lady Lightning)” was included as a bonus track on the Harmonix-developed Guitar Hero II.

Since then, Bang Camaro has amassed a huge following, and they have continued to support music games by including their singles “Pleasure (Pleasure),” “Rock Rebellion” and “Night Lies” in the Rock Band platform.

For those of you who have always wanted to play “Push Push (Lady Lightning)” in full band format, you’re in luck! “PP (LL)” is among the first four tracks announced for Rock Band Network, along with “Swallow the Razor,” “Blood Red Rock,” and their popular single “Revolution,” which has been featured in blockbuster video games such as Madden NFL ‘10 and The Sims 3.

If you want to stay up to date on the latest Bang Camaro news, you can visit their website at http://www.bangcamaro.com/ or check out their MySpace page, http://www.myspace.com/bangcamaro

The RockGamer Studios team is so excited for the impending launch of the Rock Band Network, that we’re pulling all the stops to get *everyone* in on the action.

From now until January 31st, every time you order a track for authoring at our standard rate of $500 per track minute (rounded to the nearest minute), we will author a track of equal or lesser value for free. Yes, FREE! No gimmicks… we keep no royalties, so all proceeds from Microsoft go directly to you. You can order as many tracks as you want, and get every other track free.

If you’ve been thinking of hiring a top tier, Harmonix-recommended authoring service, now is the time to act. RockGamer Studios has over half a dozen tracks that have gone through the entire playtest/peer review process, and have been approved for sale the day the Rock Band Network store launches. That’s at least TWICE AS MANY as any other author or group in the Rock Band Network beta. We work hard to see every project through to completion, and hold ourselves to the highest of standards.

Our rates have never been any lower. We are launching this promotion because we want you, (the artist, label or distributor) to get in early on what could become the evolution of the music industry.

To begin the process, visit our Submit a Track page. If you have any questions, you can reach us via e-mail at staff@rockgamerstudios.com.

Buy 1, Get 1 Free – Deal Terms:

- You must have a signed contract and all submission materials delivered before January 31, 2010.

- Free track must be of equal or lesser length than the qualifying paid track.

– 50% of all authoring fees for each paid track will be due at contract signing, with the remaining 50% due once the project is ready for Rock Band Network peer review.

THE GUFS SIGN WITH ROCKGAMER STUDIOS TO BRING “BEAUTIFUL DISASTER” TO ROCK BAND NETWORK

If you grew up in or around the Milwaukee area, chances are you’ve heard of The Gufs. Right, RockBandAide?

The pop rock band has been building a rabid fan base since 1988, and still features all original members. In that span, they’ve nearly risen to the national spotlight, signed with a major label (Atlantic), produced a hit single with “Smile”, gone indie again, taken a seven-year hiatus, hit the studio again, and released a new album.

Now, a band that formed before the Internet was popular — heck, before the CD was an industry standard — is set to pioneer the Rock Band Network age with its haunting, melodic sounds.

Lead guitarist Morgan Dawley saw a big opportunity to expand The Gufs’ market. In his words, “Making things interactive for our fans is an exciting step into the future for our music, and we are proud to be collaborating with the talented staff at RockGamer Studios on making that future a reality.”

Here at RockGamer we are proud to announce our partnership with The Gufs to author “Beautiful Disaster” from their 2006 album A Different Sea (iTunes).

If you’re a fan of melodic pop-rock to the tune of Coldplay or former tourmates Matchbox Twenty, do yourself a favor and check out their MySpace page to sample their catalogue. You will definitely want to keep an eye out for The Gufs and “Beautiful Disaster”.

BALTIMORE ROCKERS BALLYHOO! TEAM UP WITH ROCKGAMER STUDIOS AND ENTER THE ROCK BAND NETWORK

RockGamer Studios is proud to announce a new partnership with Maryland reggae rockers Ballyhoo! (MySpace) to bring two tracks to the Rock Band Network.

Frontman/guitarist Howi Spangler originally approached us, asking us to help them get their music on Rock Band. We took one listen to their tracks and they reminded us of some favorites like Sublime, 311 and Slightly Stoopid.

Reggae is a genre that, in our opinion, is sorely lacking in Rock Band… there’s only so many times you can play that one Bosstones track before it’s time for something new, you know?

So, needless to say, we said “YES” immediately.

Howi couldn’t be happier to be part of the RBN. “We grew up playing video games and every after show house party we’ve been to on tour has had Rock Band. I think our fans are gonna trip when they find out they can play our songs on their gaming consoles.”

After we got back to Howi, he put us in touch with their manager, Steven Roeser, who helped them take care of all the paperwork. “We are really excited to work with RockGamer Studios to make Ballyhoo!’s music available to the Rock Band gaming world,” says Roeser.

RockGamer Studios is bringing two Ballyhoo! tracks to RBN. The first is “Cali Girl” from their 2006 album Do It For the Money!. The second is “Paper Dolls” from their latest album, Cheers!.

Anyone else excited about finally seeing some reggae make its way to Rock Band?

My name is Miguel from New York, and I fight dragons.

That’s right, the world’s finest (and possibly only) NES-Rock band — I Fight Dragons — is coming soon to Rock Band Network.

Metromix Chicago’s Best New Band of 2009 thrives on the nostalgia of the synthesized beeping and booping so familiar to everyone who ever owned a NES or Game Boy. IFD isn’t your typical chiptunes outfit, though… they are a bona-fide rock band who happen to be as proficient with real instruments as they are with game controllers.

Still, take one look at the band lineup on their MySpace page:

Brian Mazzaferri – Lead Vocals, Guitar, NES
Packy Lundholm – Vocals, Guitar, NES, SNES
Hari Rao – Bass, NES
Chad Van Dahm – Drums, NES
Laura Green – Vocals, NES, SNES, Power Pad, Power Glove
Bill Prokopow – NES, NES Advantage, NES Zapper, Keyboards, Laptop, Vicky the Computer Voice

Power Glove? NES Zapper? Best. Lineup. Ever.

IFD is partnering with RockGamer Studios to bring you a track from their album Cool Is Just a Number.

“No One Likes Superman Anymore” is the tragic tale of how we stop believing in pure, noble, simple heroes, such as The Man of Steel.

“We’re really proud to announce we’ve worked out a deal with RockGamer Studios,” says JJ Italiano, a manager so awesome that he built this NES/SNES cabinet. “They’re providing us with quality content for the Rock Band Network, and administratively have been accommodating and fair.”

Accommodating and fair. I think we have a new slogan.