News And Updates From Mikey & His Uke, Spades GT, And Heavy Lies The Crown!!

We're back with a packed news post on this Tuesday night, including lots of recent updates from an E.U.P. metal band, big updates from a former-ish Sault Ontario group, and leading off, a new cover video featuring familiar faces from here and afar, so here's what you should know!

The newest cover song from Mikey & His Uke dropped on the project's YouTube channel on Thursday, so what should you know here? In a rare metal turn, Bookclub frontman Mikey Hawdon tackled Nine Inch Nails' "Wish" this month with another far-flung all-star band, with Mikey on rhythm guitar, backing vocals, additional percussion, and (initially as always) ukelele. Joining him are skateboarding legend Tony Hawk (in his fourth Mikey & His Uke appearance) on vocals, ex-Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman, The Bronx bassist Brad Magers, ex-Every Time I Die drummer Ryan "Legs" Leger, and Stormylovechild/ex-Pink keyboardist Kat Lucas, and while not seen on camera, Mikey's Bookclub/Inner City Surfers bandmate Dustin Jones supplies backing vocals. The video footage was heavily edited in post production to have black and white and colour footage phasing out in increasingly trippy fashion, even adding in film grain.

I'm not a massive Nine Inch Nails fan, but this cover is well handled on all fronts, and props to Tony for singing while skateboarding in his footage! Watch for quite a cameo too. For the record, "Wish" was not on any Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtracks, but "Getting Smaller" was on Tony Hawk's Project 8. Mikey isn't playing somewhere recognizable in his footage, rather in another industrial area, this time with an unidentified person welding behind him. It'd be fitting if that was Dustin, but I know nothing. Strong work from everyone in front of & behind the camera, so give it a look below, and watch for Mikey's newborn daughter in the post-video thank yous (congratulations to Mikey on the new arrival!)

Next up, here's the latest from local/Barrie crossover thrash quintet Spades GT's Facebook page, so what's new from them in the past week? On May 9th and 10th, they posted two separate "Reels" (viewable here & here) of them at what I believe is the Anti-Queens show in Barrie last month, and it is a crying shame that these are just "Reels" given the high quality footage of the song in question from multiple camera angles! I wish these were full songs, let alone in a non-vertical and embeddable format! On Thursday, the band confirmed that guitarist Daniel Horton's Fast Life bandmate Andrew Moorehouse's involvement on their forthcoming album "Sewer City Radio" will be via a guest verse, though they did not reveal which song he'll be on. The full lineup for the Beer Bash 6 event that they're playing on in Toronto next month has also been revealed, though the former Jack Spades remain the only familiar band for local concertgoers among the announced groups.

Along with plugs for their airplay on CGCM Rock Radio and The Fast Life's recent battle of the bands victory in Barrie, they released the second advance single from "Sewer City Radio" as promised on Friday, this time going with "Final Girl", which you can now hear on Spotify and their YouTube Music channel in advance of the planned June 2nd release date. Unlike "Hands", this didn't debut live with Jack Spades in the Soo, at least as far as I can recall from their late 2010s gigs, so that will be notable for many listeners alone! I'll hold comment pending our likely fall review of the whole album, but give it a listen for yourself below, and stay tuned for more from Spades GT when we hear it!

Let's close today with recent news from St. Ignace, Michigan metalcore quintet Heavy Lies The Crown, as I'm about a month behind on their general updates from their Facebook page! Apologies for the delay, but at least I got to their two lengthy interviews on Sunday! On April 15th, frontman Brandon West posted this brief video to plug that their new order official band sweatshirts was in, and to contact the band on how to get yours. On April 24th, they were confirmed for another big downstate concert, this time Michigan Metal Fest in Battle Creek on August 19th, where they will be among dozens of bands opening for the likes of Born Of Osiris, Upon A Burning Body, and Psychostick. Stacked bill on paper, and hopefully there's a massive turnout at the Leila Arboretum in three months! On April 27th, the guys shared the video embedded below from guitarist Ted Olson's personal Facebook page, so what's new to see there?

The 19 minute live-stream sees Ted playing five H.L.T.C. originals in full ("God's Butter", "Cigar With The Devil", "Celebrate The Night", "Voices", and "Knucklebutter"), and it lets fans get an up close look at how he plays each track, though the visuals are better than the audio. He is playing along to the studio tracks, but the quality has some of those halts and pops that can doom webcam audio, so be warned. Strong performances regardless, so give Ted's live-stream a look below!

The following day, Brandon posted this quick video to thank everyone for checking the band out after Heavy Lies The Crown were announced for Michigan Metal Fest, and they followed that by plugging their TikTok page that has actually been active since February! I can't embed TikTok videos on the SMS, but in terms of exclusive content there, they started with two short videos of drummer Jaxon Massaway playing at a jam session (one has Brandon on vocals & film grain, the other has neither). This clip shows them setting up for their new music video, with the aftermath of the shoot seen by clicking here (it is initially locked for content but the blood is fake!). Jaxon (now wearing their Iggy mask) is seen drumming in this video with extra lighting. while a camera stationed beside him captured the band playing "Celebrate The Night" at a jam session on March 8th, albeit with very grainy visuals and sub-optimal angles of the band.

A video from the same rehearsal of them playing "Every Step Of The Way" was also posted, and while darker without an attempt to brighten the video in post, it looks much better as a result. Lastly for TikTok exclusives is this video of the band jamming with Brandon & Jaxon trading vocal/drum duties, and that's a switch that would work live with the right song! Lots of good content above and ahead from Heavy Lies The Crown, so follow them for much more on their 2023 plans, and stay tuned for more news and notes on the site as the week continues! Thanks everyone!