Skip to main content

About Me - My Musical Journey!

Hey everyone! My blog Mad About Rock (renamed in 2017) was previously just known as carinasmusicreviews.blogspot.co.uk. It's run solely by myself (Carina), so a bit about me...

I have been writing for music sites/magazines for over 10 years now. I started out writing for a site called Totally Unsigned, which was for all genres but I focused on rock/metal, then I got asked to write for an underground metal site called Basement Sound. I was with Basement Sound (Records/Radios) for 3 years, getting some experience of radio shows, record labels and promotion, as I was an Editor/A&R/Promotions for them until the creator of it decided to call it a day on it due to other commitments, so I took over the site..all was good until someone hacked that site! 


So here I am, on my own personal space! I used to post other work I have done from other outlets also on my site but now Mad About Rock has sort of become its own thing which is cool! 

I currently sub edit, write news, reviews and interviews for Dark Art Conspiracy https://darkartconspiracy.com/ also and have done some awesome interviews over there with likes of Floor Jansen (Nightwish/Northward),  Lacuna Coil, Ensiferum, Finntroll, Oceans Of Slumber,  Black Dahlia Murder, Twin Temple, Havok and more.

I used to write reviews, features and do interviews for Stencil Magazine https://issuu.com/stencilmag but Stencil sadly ended in January 2020 (RIP). I wrote for Stencil for 8 years which is crazy! I got to interview incredible rock/metal bands!

In the past, I have written for Metal On Loud, Indie Band Guru, Ryan's Gig Guide (printed), Angle, Sound and Motion, CMS and more. Also as a freelancer, I write one-off guest pieces/features also and have had features in Terrorizer, (check out the live review for Terrorizer here: http://www.terrorizer.com/news/live-review-vader-immolation-16-april-2017-arch-brighton/) Burning Fist, Brighton XYZ magazine (https://issuu.com/xyzmagazine/docs/xyz_nov_pdf_web/20), Planet Loud and more. I like to continue promoting bands as much as I can, and regularly get promo releases sent to me from big metal/rock labels, as well as awesome underground bands! I write original interviews/reviews/news/features for Mad About Rock.

I also interview bands, and to date, I have had the pleasure of interviewing members from the likes of huge metal/rock bands (through various media outlets such as Stencil Mag, Dark Art Conspiracy and Mad About Rock) such as Dream Theater, Killswitch Engage, Nightwish, Trivium, Skindred, Wednesday 13, Halestorm, Shinedown, Atreyu, Black Stone Cherry, Papa Roach, Bullet For My Valentine, AFI, Billy Talent, Alestorm, Rise Against, Asking Alexandria, Sevendust, Lacuna Coil, Straight Line Stitch, Cellar Darling, While She Sleeps, Life Of Agony, 
Chris Jericho,  Havok, Finntroll, Ensiferum, Oceans Of Slumber, Textures, Ginger Wildheart, Cellar Darling, Venom Inc & more! 

I have also covered/reviewed live events such as MammothFest where I also was a PR Assistant for them when first starting out and from 2016 until 2019 I was on the press team until MammothFest sadly called it a day. I had great fun working for MammothFest! I have reviewed other events such as Download Festival (for Dark Art Conspiracy), Metal Hammer Awards and Breakout Festival for Planet Loud.


I'm constantly expanding my musical ventures and have done music PR work for The Origin Agency and Mammothfest in the past.


I also studied music at college, so I have a BTEC National Certificate/Award as I play the guitar also. Basically, music is a big part of my life, which I'm sure many others can relate too!! In October 2015 I was lucky enough to visit the awesome folks at Kerrang (the biggest rock magazine going!), as I got selected for journalism skills day with Kerrang, so got to meet and get advice from the team there, which was so surreal, seeing as grew up reading, and one of the reasons I wanted to get into music writing! In April 2016 I got to go back to Kerrang Magazine for a week work experience which was amazing and received some brilliant feedback! 


If you want me to do a review/interview or want to contact me about anything else music related please get in touch via the 'Contact Form' on the site.

Anyway thanks for reading and checking out my work - appreciate it greatly!

Keep rocking and discovering new awesome music! Let me know of any new music out there worth checking out!!


Carina, Mad About Rock 


Comments

  1. Hello Carina.
    My name is Catalina and I have been working with and helping local rock bands in building a rich alternative scene in the far away land of Medellin, Colombia, a region know for its prominent urban latin music. We are doing small steps, but it, nonetheless has become a thriving and exciting community of great artists that I am sure you will appreciate.

    I would love if you could premiere or maybe feature the band The Dekline and their debut single "La Vita Bohème" in your publication; after reading your articles on various artists for some time, I feel this band music will resonate with your audience. Below I will share some information about the song and the band

    La Vita Bohème is the debut single from the Colombian rock band The Dekline, for release on August 27 2019. The song was written and produced by the band members themselves and is representative of the core sound of the band, a mix of heavy guitars with a punk inflected sound, emphasis on melody and sometimes over the top excess.

    Here is the link to the song if you want to check it out:

    https://soundcloud.com/thedekline/la-vita-boheme-1/s-Awpzu

    We would appreciate the feedback you can give us and we hope that you are interested.

    The Dekline are three guys and a girl in their mid twenties that met at music production school in their native Colombia. They decided to make a band with the faith that guitar music will make a comeback in the next decade, Their music tries to canalise an encompassing, ambitious songwriting style and filters it through the ferocious sonic blueprint of punk, trying to surgically implant memorable melodies into the consumers head in an effort to help mask the sometimes serious or painful subject matter.
    .

    Soundcloud Link:
    https://soundcloud.com/thedekline

    Facebook Link:
    https://www.facebook.com/Dekline/

    Contact:
    catabernalsolano@gmail.com
    jeexxstudio@gmail.com
    thedeklineband@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SOULFLY/CAVALERA CONSPIRACY Guitarist Marc Rizzo, Set To Release Rotation March 30th Via Combat Records

SOULFLY/CAVALERA CONSPIRACY guitarist Marc Rizzo has set the release date for his new LP ROTATION, in stores March 30th via Combat Records/EMP LABEL GROUP/AMPED in North America, and COMBAT/SPV in Europe. ROTATION is the 4th solo release for Rizzo, following 2004’s COLOSSAL MYOPIA, 2006’s THE ULTIMATE DEVOTION (both released by legendary shred label SHRAPNEL), and the independently released 2010 LP LEGIONNAIRE. Produced by Chris “Zeuss” Harris (Hatebreed, Soulfly, Rob Zombie, Chimaira), and featuring cover art by Melody Myers (Escape The Fate), ROTATION is a blistering showcase of Rizzo’s pummeling eclectic diversity, showcased on album tracks including “Spectral Intensities”, “Thrash Boogie”, and title track “Rotation”, combining Rizzo’s penchant for pummeling, low-end riffs, with thrash-intensive leads and heavy Latin flavor. Check out an album teaser featuring “Spectral Intensities” below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4pU91aaGeY Originally a member of New Jersey lat

CHELSEA Announce First Batch Of ‘Mission Impossible’ Tour Dates

Punk legends CHELSEA have announced the first set of dates on their ’Mission Impossible‘ tour, starting at the Undercover Festival in Margate on April 14, 2018. 14/04/2018 UK- Margate, Undercover Festival 20/04/2018 UK- Coventry, Arches 21/04/2018 UK- Preston, Continental 16/06/2018 D-Stuttgart, Goldmarks 17/06/2018 CH-Bern, Rössli 18/06/2018 I-Torino, Blah Blah 19/06/2018 I-Bologna, Freakout Club 20/06/2018 I-Milano, Ligera 22/06/2018 CZ-Písek, Podčarou 23/06/2018 CZ-Ostrava, MC Barák 24/06/2018 SK-Kosice, Collosseum 25/06/2018 PL-Warsaw, Poglos 26/06/2018 PL-Wroclaw, D.K. Luksus 27/06/2018 CZ-Teplice, Knak Club 28/06/2018 D-Dresden, Chemiefabrik 29/06/2018 D-Berlin, Cassiopeia 30/06/2018 D-Düsseldorf, The Tube 13/07/2018 UK- Brighton, Prince Albert 14/07/2018 UK- London, Underworld The bands long awaited and highly anticipated new album ’Mission Impossible‘ was released on Westworld Recordings in October 2017. Undercover Festival takes place at Dreamland, Margate on Apri

Back On Earth Release NEW EP & Music Video

  Back on Earth hit the scene again with melancholic yet lyrically edge cutting "Brand New Day", title track of the brand new EP, featuring Richmond based Telltale, who's had previous support from Pop Punk's Not Dead on Spotify. With "Brand New Day", Back On Earth are going to cut it straight after a few years writing music and are set to gain fans all over the world. The track, which is a follow up to "Heroes" and "Somebody Else", is set to anticipate the new EP which was released on November 20th. Check out the video below: Tracklist 1 - Brand New Day feat. Telltale 2 - Back Home 3 - Until Tonight 4 - Somebody Else 5 - Heroes 6 - Until Tonight (Acoustic) https://www.facebook.com/wearebackonearth https://wearebackonearth.com/

SMALL TOWN TITANS' Viral Bluesy, Hard Rock "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" Topping 2020 Christmas Playlists

  York, PA heavy rock band Small Town Titans' incredible rendition of the classic "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" is fast becoming a Christmas standard! Showcasing the trio's bluesy, heavy influence and front-man Phil Freeman's phenomenal range, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” went viral in a matter of days in November, 2018, leading to charting on various Billboard charts including Holiday Digital Song Sales, Rock Digital Song Sales, Emerging Artists, while reaching #5 on the Next Big Sound chart. The song also reached #2 on the iTunes Rock charts, only being surpassed by Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody”. So, if you're ready to throw off 2020 and get into the Christmas spirit, add this exceptional cover to your playlist! "Our cover of this classic is a gift that keeps on giving for us and we're grateful for an era where songs are easily available to be covered. It's all thanks to Ben's (guitar player) insistence on making more content and our m

DEVILDRIVER Reveals Part One of New “Outlaws ‘Til The End” Interview Series

Globally renowned, chart-topping band DEVILDRIVER recently announced the upcoming release of their highly-anticipated full-length album of outlaw country-gone-metal anthems, Outlaws 'Til The End. The monstrous collection of savage metal interpretations will be released via Napalm Records on July 6, 2018, and pre-orders are available now in multiple formats via http://smarturl.it/OutlawsTilTheEnd-NPR with more format options coming soon. This week, DEVILDRIVER is pleased to reveal the first of several segments of a new interview commentary series supporting the release of Outlaws 'Til The End. The first segment, titled "Intro to Outlaw Country", features members of DEVILDRIVER as well as album guests Randy Blythe of Lamb of God, Lee Ving of Fear, Hank3, Wednesday 13, Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory and Brock Lindow of 36 Crazyfists discussing their personal introductions to the outlaw country genre and how it has influenced them as musicians. In the video, Faf

SETTLE YOUR SCORES' New LP 'Retrofit' Out Now via Mutant League Records + The New Video "Broken Heart Scenario"

  Cincinnati, OH pop-punks Settle Your Scores have released their new album "Retrofit" via Mutant League Records. The band is also debuting a nostalgic new video for the track "Broken Heart Scenario." Vocalist Christian Fisher says, "The Broken Heart Scenario video is living proof that it was never a phase. We wanted to capture the visual elements of 2005 emo music videos accurately, but with a humorous twist. This video is a salute to all the elder-emos out there. Stay true, and lay your eyeliner on thick."   Check out the video for "Broken Heart Scenario" below: Stream/Buy 'Retrofit' Here: https://orcd.co/retrofit "Retrofit" vinyl includes a limited 12" vinyl pressing + multiple apparel designs which each reference tracks from the album. Vinyl Pressing info: Blue Splatter: 150 Blue Marble: 350 'Retrofit' reunites the five-piece with producer Nick Ingram at Capital House Studio (Hawthorne Heights), who previously