(Submitted) The premiere episode of the Shockwaves Videocast features an inside look into the mind of metal historian and pioneering hard rock/heavy metal journalist Jon Sutherland. Jon talks about his involvement with the mid-70s/early '80s rock and roll magazine Record Review and the hard rock/metal artists he helped break in the US. Jon takes the viewer back to the late '70s, pre-MTV and VH-1, when FM radio was king and the airwaves were being ruled by what is now known as "corporate rock." A competitive long-distance runner at the time, Jon was one of the first American scribes to give major national coverage to then-underground hard rock bands such as UFO, Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, and Rush who were neglected by the mainstream American rock magazines.
According to Nalbandian, "I wanted to create a video podcast that would delve deep into the spirit and roots of heavy metal music. So many podcasts, TV & radio shows either on cable, satellite or the Internet today focus on the popular and commercial modern hard rock and metal music and rarely do you find a show that gives an accurate in-depth history on this genre of music told first-hand by the true legends, pioneers, creators and scholars of metal music." Nalbandian, who grew up listening to hard rock and metal since the age of nine, set-out to become one of the original heavy metal fanzine publishers from the early '80s with his HEADBANGER Fanzine, a nationally distributed Xeroxed fanzine (started in early 1982) which focused on the underground NWOBHM movement and also featured the very first profiles of then-unsigned, groundbreaking bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Armored Saint and Megadeth.
Nalbandian created the Shockwaves/HardRadio audio podcast (HardRadio.com) in October 2006 which featured a wide range of interviews with some of the top performers in metal music including key members from Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Rainbow, System of a Down, Ozzy, Scorpions, DIO, Anthrax, Accept, Exodus, Fear Factory and many others. Nalbandian's Shockwaves Skullsessions audio podcast (RoadrunnerRecords.com/skullsessions) soon followed focusing on intelligent and intense debates and discussions revolving around various metal-related topics. Musicians, record label execs, authors & journalists are amongst the guests on this unique heavy metal roundtable discussion. Past guests have included several key players and metal enthusiasts including Monte Conner (Roadrunner Records), Brian Slagel (Metal Blade Records), Bill Ward (Black Sabbath), Bob Daisley, (Ozzy, Sabbath, Rainbow, Uriah Heep), David Ellefson (Megadeth), Marty Friedman, Blasko (Ozzy), Herman Rarebell (Scorpions) and groundbreaking author/journalists Martin Popoff, Mick Wall, Malcolm Dome, Joel McIver, Ron Quintana, John Strednansky, and Ed Rivadavia just to name a few. Nalbandian states, "The Shockwaves Videocast is an extension of both of my audio podcasts but moreover gives my fans a detailed visual perspective of the interview, which many viewers have already described as a 'thought-provoking heavy metal history lesson.'"
Each video segment runs between 8 and 13 minutes in length. The first episode featuring Jon Sutherland is a 4-part episode and is now available for instant streaming and viewing here. The videocast will also soon be available on iTunes.
