For all you Beatles fans our there, you’ve got quite a fun film experience coming your way! Not long ago we sat down to talk to Aaron Johnson the actor who plays the young John Lennon in director Sam Taylor-Wood’s upcoming film Nowhere Boy about the life of the Lennon when he was just some kind strumming a guitar with a whole lot of issues. One of the biggest challenges Johnson faced was having to actually sing and perform songs from the band live in front of an audience. Those are some big shoes to fill!

Check out more about how Johnson transformed himself into Lennon, performing live, and why he won’t be making the swap to “actor-turns-rock-star” any time soon…

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Avi Buffalo has pretty much been a band on the rise since they’ve first formed in Long Beach. The rise hasn’t just been steady or gradual either. As one of our Bands To Look Out For In 2010, we were completely correct in our hunch that this young band would accelerate faster than imaginable. Hype can be a scary thing for bands in the world of music bloggers talking you up or down because the buzz can die as quickly as it starts. However, with a brand new album released via Sub Pop and a record release show at Los Angeles’ famous Troubadour this weekend, Avi Buffalo has nothing to frown about now or in the near future.
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Lanterns won our BeatCrave Fav poll for February 2010, so here is our exclusive interview with the San Diego-based punk band as promised! We talk with lead vocalist and guitarist, Lowell Heflin, about the start of Lanterns, what punk really is, and a bit about what makes the San Diego music scene so great.

Check Lanterns out in our BeatCrave Exclusive interview below!

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Passion Pit has had one hell of a year, and we’ve been following them ever since Chunk of Change was commercially released as an EP. Every “Best Of” list they’ve made since then has been a reward that was well-deserved for their unique sound and energy on their albums and at their live shows.

Their full-length debut album, Manners, was even more successful and easily made them one of the top bands to book at any venue or at any festival. They recently kicked off a major tour that started with NYC’s annual Summerstage and will continue to play everywhere from London to Paris to Tokyo.

Tonight, they will be playing a sold-out Los Angeles show at the Henry Fonda. Get pumped up for tonight by checking out this exclusive interview I was able to get with Passion Pit’s drummer, Nate Donmoyer, below! Catch a glimpse of their ride of success in the past and what’s to come in the future.

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BeatCrave is excited to bring you band, Saint Motel, as part of our Know Your LA Bands series. It’s not too often that you meet a band at a Thai restaurant, hear one of the band members speak fluent Thai, then have another band member tell you they’re honorary Thai guests. That or have one of their moms come in only to exclaim, “I have the fake blood!”

With Saint Motel, everything is extravagant but it’s all done in a very homemade way. This is another way to say that Saint Motel is one very hard working band who knows how to engage fans, look professional, yet also just be who simply they are: Four normal guys who met in film school and decided to start a band that would eventually rock the hell out of LA.  If you haven’t been to one of their shows, that needs to be added on to your “To-Do” lists, because it’s music fully enhanced. They make sure of it.

We got the chance to chat with Saint Motel about everything serious, silly, and anything in between. Check out this exclusive interview with the entire band and learn what they think about illegal downloading, how they changed digital purchasing, and well… their possible careers as match-makers!

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BeatCrave brings you band, Cosio, as part of our Know Your LA Bands series. This five-piece band is no stranger to the pages of BeatCrave as they were not only a BeatCrave Fav of the week but also our winner for BeatCrave Fav of July. So we decided to please you, our loyal readers, as well as ourselves by featuring them in a full interview!

Cosio, a band that is part testosterone and estrogen, creates beauty in sophisticated form through their charming, mystical folk rock sounds. Led by tender yet unyielding vocals, their orchestration is enticing as a night out on the town in Paris. Although LA is comprised of mostly alternative and noise rock bands, Cosio combines every imaginable instrument for refreshing and unusual melodies that stick with you like a lifelong fantasy.

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Hip-hop can be mightily unforgiving when it comes to defining – and especially redefining oneself. Amanda Blank began her career with a string of increasingly high-profile guest spots on rap and later pop singles; but even though she moved from the likes of Spank Rock to Britney Spears with an ease and dexterity matched only by her effortless, rapid-fire delivery, even fans assumed she was essentially – if not only – a filthy motormouth whose thoughts wandered more often into the bedroom than onto the dancefloor.

With the release of I Love You, her solo debut, Blank wastes no time challenging that perception: although the disc doesn’t skimp on dirty talk, it’s first and foremost a collection of future club classics, with several more reflective tunes thrown in as an indication her music is more than ready to make its way into the mainstream. Crave recently spoke to Blank (real name: Amanda Mallory) via telephone to discuss the development of her album, reflected on redefining herself and her music in her own terms, and talked about the challenges of being a formidable female in hip-hop’s boys club.

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A little while ago we sat down with Gavin Hayes (vocals) and Mark Engles (lead guitar) of Dredg to talk to them about the one thing we care about the most, music. If your not familiar with the group, their a progressive/rock band from California who’ve been around for over 15 years. They’re latest album dropped back in June, and is entitled The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion. We were lucky enough to talk to these guys about their fans, their performances, and most importantly their tunes!

Without further ado, check out our two part interview below…

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***Some sad news everyone. Due to some schedule changes and technical problems, we won’t be able to bring dredg live to you. We will however have our interview with them up tonight on BeatCrave, so check back then!***

Next Monday, August 31st, lead singer Gavin Hayes and lead guitarist Mark Engles of dredg will be visiting BeatCrave.com for our first ever LIVE interview in which you will be able to video in and ask Charles questions! We’ll be talking to them about their latest album, The Pariah, the Parrot, the Delusion, their current tour, and whatever else you feel like asking!

To participate in the interview, all you need to do is come by BeatCrave at 4:00pm on August 31st and we’ll take care of the rest! You’ll be able to watch and if you like call in to talk to Gavin and Mark via our homepage! It’s that easy!

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