We Speak Music

Sprawling 9 minute Andrew Scheps produced epic from Fellow Robot!

Published

3 years ago

May 10, 2023

Don Reed

“Stuffed silly with energy but incredibly accessible for fans of all genres”- Gigwise

Against everyone’s better judgement, Californian Indie-rock group Fellow Robot released sprawling 9-minute song ‘Poppy Fields’ on 21^st April to further tease their upcoming cinematic album “Misanthropioid”.

On the decision to release such an epic track in length for a single, lead singer Anthony Pedroza explains, “It’s 9 minutes and 46 seconds I’ll have you know”. “We fully own that it’s a long song, but it’s got 3 cool sections, starts quiet but ends with this riff barrage our label guy keeps calling ‘wizard walk-on music’.”

“It’s totally wizard walk-on music. Literally, what are you guys doing?” asked JR Gast from Seattle’s Salish Sea Records, who is helping release the band’s album through Tonequake Records.

Undeterred, Anthony continues, “We had a blast recording this song, even though the lyrics are dark. One of my favorite days was when Alex Navarro (guitar), who was brand new to Fellow Robot at the time, brought something like 5 snare drums for a section that we all played together. And yes, the ending is, let’s say, orchestral. But it’s really fun to play!”.

For ‘Misanthropioid’, ‘Fellow Robot has teamed up with Andrew Scheps (Green Day, RHCP, Adele, Metallica, Hozier, Johnny Cash) who helped co-produce and mix the album from his home studio ‘Punkerpad’ in Titton, UK.

Scheps joined the team during the peak of the pandemic in 2020 and over the course of two years helped the band complete the album remotely. Fellow Robot’s latest album will be released through Scheps’ own ToneQuake Records.

Fellow Robot originally started out as a concept piece in 2016, pulling lyrics from the sci-fi novel “The Robot’s Guide to Music” written by singer Anthony Pedroza. While deeply rooted to its origins, “Misanthropioid” is an album that lives closer to reality than science fiction however blurred those lines are these days.

Fellow Robot named their new album ‘Misanthropioid’, due to its brutally honest lyrics and melancholy feelings surrounding what it is to be a human. “It’s our soundtrack to the last few years” says Pedroza, adding “it’s a diverse take on the perception of emotion, especially regarding how we feel about our fellow humans”. The band does well in reflecting their disappointment of humanity, especially in the opening track ‘Rabbit’ which is a clear reflection of the BLM movement in the US. However dark ‘Misanthropioid’ is, it’s ultimately hopeful within its vulnerable and carefully stitched arrangements. The album at times is theatrical and dramatic, each song seemingly being sung by different characters in a stage production, especially in songs like ‘I’m Going to Hell’ and ‘The People Next Door’. “Society has many voices, and the space in between the harshest opinions are the most truthful”, says drummer, engineer, and cofounder Luis Renteria.

The origins of Fellow Robot are not abandoned as lead singer Pedroza’s novel has been adapted to a graphic novel, its first chapter being released this March through Donut Sounds Record Co. based out of Seattle. The Comic book has been beautifully illustrated by Josh Wolf, and features lyrics from Fellow Robot’s previous musical releases. “FELLOW ROBOT” the comic book takes place in both the future, past and present and is a mind-blowing treat for all loyal fans of the band. Here’s a brief synopsis to whet your appetite:

Among the debris on the outskirts of Saturn is Station FR29. Aboard the station is Fellow Robot, once a magnificent machine, now in disarray with the sole purpose of saving humanity through music. Only Fellow can disrupt the discordant frequencies that his human brother has created. Weak and on the brink of death, Fellow Robot must transfer his melodies and memories to Jason the Musician starting from his creation in 1929. Fellow’s last ditch effort to save humanity is through love, a feeling that his brother Frank Jensen has long forgotten.

In Issue #1 of FELLOW ROBOT, we get a glimpse of a dystopian future and a glimmer of hope and optimism in the past. This 15 Issue Graphic Novel has elements of historical and speculative fiction from a robot’s perspective amidst epic space battles, societal commentary and of course, Science Fiction. Fellow Robot and his human brother, Frank Jensen are diametrically opposed and throughout the run the debate of nature vs nurture is explored. FELLOW ROBOT is the tale of how a machine became a hero, and how a man became a villain.

We recommend highly that you get stuck in.

We Speak Music

SCARECROW’s John Blaze Delivers a Career Milestone With “Twisted” and Earns Josie Music Awards Song of the Year Nomination

Published

20 hours ago

August 31, 2026

Jimmy Star

John Blaze has spent nearly four decades fronting SCARECROW, the New York hard-rock outfit he founded in 1989, and in 2026 he delivered one of the most ambitious releases of his career with “Twisted.” Now, the song has reached another major milestone: “Twisted” has been nominated for Song of the Year in the Metal/Alternative category at the Josie Music Awards.

The nomination places Blaze and SCARECROW among this year’s recognized independent artists and songwriters at the Josie Music Awards, with the awards ceremony set to take place at Nashville’s legendary Grand Ole Opry. For an artist whose career has been built on persistence, independence and decades of hard-rock storytelling, the recognition gives “Twisted” an entirely new chapter.

Written by John Blaze and Chaffin, “Twisted” pulls together a lineup of guest players that reads like a rock family reunion, built around Blaze’s long-standing friendship with Dee Snider and the legacy of Twisted Sister, a band woven into SCARECROW’s story from its earliest days.

That connection goes all the way back to the beginning. SCARECROW’s original lineup featured guitarist Eddie Ojeda, best known for his work in Twisted Sister, and the two camps have remained connected ever since. “Twisted” makes that history explicit: Dee Snider appears on the record with guest vocals during the track’s climactic second verse and chorus, lending the song an instantly recognizable jolt of arena-rock power.

Snider isn’t the only marquee name in the credits. Mark Wood, founding violinist of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, contributes electrifying violin work that gives “Twisted” a cinematic sweep uncommon in modern hard rock. Rounding out the track are TJ Jordan on lead guitar and Bobby Marks on drums, creating a powerful, road-tested foundation behind Blaze’s signature gritty vocal delivery.

The Josie Music Awards nomination feels particularly fitting because “Twisted” isn’t simply another SCARECROW release. It brings together different eras of Blaze’s musical life while pushing the band’s sound forward. There’s history in the recording, but there’s also urgency. It doesn’t sound like a band looking backward. It sounds like one with unfinished business.

For Blaze, the nomination also represents recognition of a career that has largely been built outside the traditional machinery of the mainstream music business. Independent rock artists rarely survive for decades without a fierce commitment to what they do, and SCARECROW’s longevity speaks for itself. From the band’s early years and its 1991 debut, through the Blood, Sweat and 20 Years retrospective and the theatrical production I Am SCARECROW, Blaze has continued developing a world around the music rather than simply releasing songs.

That makes the Song of the Year nomination especially meaningful. After nearly four decades of building SCARECROW, Blaze now heads to the Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry with one of his most ambitious songs recognized in the Metal/Alternative category.

And there’s something wonderfully appropriate about the song that got him there.

“Twisted” connects SCARECROW’s beginnings to its present, reunites Blaze musically with figures tied to the band’s history, and demonstrates just how much fire remains in the project. With Snider and Wood contributing to the record and Blaze still driving the band he created from the ground up, the track feels less like a nostalgic reunion than a statement of survival.

Now it’s also an award-nominated song.

For John Blaze and SCARECROW, nearly four decades into the journey, “Twisted” has become more than another entry in the catalog. It’s a career milestone — and this September, that milestone is taking SCARECROW all the way to the Grand Ole Opry.