One of the many bands from Detroit who is getting national attention is the powerful four piece band “Core Effect”. Their combination of dark tones and contagious melodies has resonated with the music fans all over the country. Formed in 2005 by Randy and John, the band has evolved into a powerful force.
I first was made aware of Core Effect during an interview with WRIF’s Doug Podell. At the time Doug was the program director for WRIF and I was interviewing him regarding up and coming Detroit bands. One of the bands he was confident that was going to break out was Core Effect.
Their hit song “I Did It All For You” has received airplay from coast to coast. In the last year, Core Effect has definitely made an impact on the national as well as the local music scene. Through midwest and east coast mini-tours, C.E has been able to spread the word of Core Effect to thousands of rock and roll fans via their stage performances. Sharing the stage with big hitters like Seether, Powerman 5000 and Framing Hanley has exposed their music to throngs of fans hungry for bad ass Detroit rock and roll.
Recently, I had a chance to talk with Randy, Joe, John and Athear to talk about not only their past success but their expectations for their new release.
DL: Is there one song that is doing better for you than others nationwide?
Randy: Well, I Did It All For You has been getting airplay on radio stations all over the country. It’s been a great boost to us. In addition to airplay all over the U.S. we get frequent play on 89X and WRIF. Getting played nationally is great but there is something uplifting about hearing your music in your home town on radio stations that you’ve grown up listening to.
DL: Was there any secret to breaking into the national market?
Randy: Well, first and foremost you have to write a decent song. During our writing process we make sure and really focus on creating a strong hook. Afterwards there is quite a bit of promotion involved. We met Doug Podell at WRIF awhile back and he was a big help but one of the things that really made a difference was the fact that we hired a radio promoter. He got us started on college radio and built us from there. It was a great investment.
DL: I noticed you did a remake of the Black Sabbath song Paranoid, but you took a different approach.
Randy: Yeh, that’s a song that almost every band plays at one time or another and we just wanted to give it a bit of a new spin. So we slowed it up and gave it more of a powerful dark vibe. It’s just a song that’s a lot of fun to play.
DL: What’s your focus now? Writing or live shows?
Randy: Well you can never really take your foot off the gas in either area, but as of now we are working on our new CD. We recorded 5 songs in Philadelphia and we are laying down 5 more tracks now. We hope to have our new CD hit the streets in late summer or early fall.
In late 2009 I caught C.E. live at TNT’s. It was a 5 band show spotlighting local talent. All of the bands were good but it wasn’t until Core Effect took the stage did I really begin to understand the power that these guys have. The contrast between C.E. and the supporting bands was undeniable. Granted all the bands were talented, but Core Effect’s command of the room and powerful harmonies and hooks set them apart from the crowd and their song “I Did It All For You” completely brought the house down.
They’ve recently released a new single “Another Day “ which can be heard on their MySpace site (www.myspace.com/coreeffect) and you can catch them live on July 16th at the Dawg House in Clinton Township. I also recommend swinging by their site to give a listen to their fantastic version of Sabbath’s Paranoid.