Illinois Entertainer November 2016 | Page 4

November 2016 • Volume 43 , Number 01 • www . illinoisentertainer . com

COVER STORY : GOOD CHARLOTTE

For protean punk – and part-time thespian – Joel Madden , of Good Charlotte renown , there ’ s only one thing better than his cameo appearance last year on Lee Daniels ’ hit TV series Empire , alongside his wife of six years , designer Nicole Richie . And that ’ s building an actual empire of his own , which he ’ s quietly been doing over the last few years with his bandmate brother Benji . And now said company – a label / management / production firm dubbed MDDN – is ready to be fully unveiled , via not only Good Charlotte ’ s rollicking new Youth Authority slugfest , but a bevy of upcoming 2017 releases from performers that the siblings have been developing in relative stealth mode . Tom Lanham spoke with Madden .

HELLO MY NAME IS ROBBY

You ’ ll have to forgive Robby Takac if he sounds a bit distracted . The Goo Goo Dolls bassist is staying busy this fall with his band , which is back out on the road for a 29-date run backing its inventive new 11th album , Boxes . But the musician is also an entrepreneur , with his own bustling Japanese-favoring imprint Good Charamel Records , his own studio , GCR Audio , where the artists sometimes record , and annual event in his native Buffalo , NY called the Music is Art Festival . Tom Lanham talked to Takac .

DAUGHTER

Shortly after Daughter ' s If You Leave LP was released – vocalist Elena Tonra and boyfiend / band guitarist Igor Haefeli broke up , leaving the band ’ s future in doubt for a heartbeat or two . “ So it was strange for a while – we were doing a lot of touring with us not , err , being in maybe the best place ,” she says . “ But now , it doesn ’ t really matter , because it works , absolutely . And it ’ s really cool .” Like Welsh outfit The Joy Formidable – which endured a similar schism – the couple decided that their creative collaboration was worth soldiering on with , no matter what . Not an easy decision to make , given the bruised egos and broken hearts involved . Tom Lanham discussed the band ' s unusual path with Tonra .

EPICA

Dutch symphonic metallers Epica are returning to Chicago via Concord Hall a mere nine months of their rescheduled North American tour , which was cut short the pervious year due to a family illness . At the time , the band was already in songwriting mode for its new album , which ultimately became the fantastic The Holographic Principle . Epica ' s writing and recording schedule became time consuming , especially when the band took a few touring breaks in the middle of the recording sessions . “ The writing took a year and the recording about five months because it was stretched over periods when we were away on tour ,” Simone Simons told Kelley Simms talked to lead singer .

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File

Remembering Herb Kent , local break-out bands .

Cinema Scopes

The Oscar contenders , Part One .

Sweet Home

Blues Reviews .

Media

Missing you Patty Haze .

Spins

Usher , David Bowie and Scorpions .

Record Store Day

Our complete list of Black Friday RSD releases .

Calendar

Over 1200 shows and 2100 bands in November .

Caught In A Mosh

The other Grim Reaper .

Studiophile

Uptown Recording and more .

Classifieds

You dumped your boyfriend ' s vocalist , now you ' re looking for another .

Gear

The pedal you ' ve been waiting for .

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