3PM is an alternative rock band based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia and they are also one of the 8 finalists in the "United We Rock Online Band Battle".

The band has been playing shows in Saudi Arabia for a while now, performing gigs in Riyadh and Dhahran.

3PM Consists of :

Sarthak Swami (Vocals/Rythm Guitar)
Jake Breeze (Lead Guitars/Backing Vocals)
Sue Tate (Bass/Backing Vocals)
Taylor Porter (Drums/Backing Vocals)

To get to know the band a little better, I recently got the chance to ask Taylor about the band's sound, their musicial background, bands they would like to share the stage with and a lot more.

Here's how it went:

TMR: First of all, hows it going ?

Taylor: It's going good. Just playing music whenever we can like always.



TMR: You guys are one of the 8 finalists in the "United We Rock Online Band Battle" if you win, who would you be looking forward to sharing the stage with ?

Taylor: If we had a choice who could play that day with us, Three Days Grace, 30 Seconds to Mars, Nickelback, and even Avenged Sevenfold would be some of our top choices.



TMR: Can you describe your sound ?

Taylor: Not really. With everyone in the band having such different influences, we all bring something different to the table. Our songs can vary from an upbeat jazz style song to a hard rock song with some background screaming.



TMR: Can you tell me about your musical background ?

Taylor: We all learned our instruments by listening and playing different types of music. I learned by playing along with bands such as Slipknot, Mudvayne, In Flames, bands like that. Sarthak began with bands such as Lifehouse and Nickelback. Jake got a lot of influence from Santana. While Sue has heavy influence from bands like My Chemical Romance.



TMR: Who are some of your all time favorite musicians ?

Taylor: Between all of us it ranges between people like James Hetfield, Joey Jordinson, Santana, Flea, Daniel Adair, Jason Wade, M. Shadows, and a lot more.



TMR: You guys have been playing some shows around Saudi Arabia (Khobar,and Riyadh for example) what do you think of the scene nowadays in KSA ?

Taylor: The music scene is like most places around the world now a days. Its growing like crazy. You can find bands playing all sorts of genres from all around the kingdom and its cool because music helps people from around the world to connect unlike anything else.



TMR: Who are some of the local bands that you enjoy listening to ?

Taylor: Hed2ground would definatly be one of the big ones we are pretty close with the band and enjoy having a jam session together every now and then.



TMR: If you where to share the stage with your all time favorite band for one song, who would it be and what song would you play ?

Taylor: We would choose to play with Avenged Sevenfold. We all listen to their music and enjoy the music they make. The song we would choose would be Afterlife because it has fun parts for all of us to play.

TMR: Would you like to add anything ?

Taylor: We would like to thank everyone who have supported us throughout our music careers and look forward to seeing the results of the United We Rock Online Battle. We would also like to say good luck to the other bands in the Online Battle.



I'd like to thank Taylor for taking the time to answer my questions, Make sure to check out the band's Myspace to get a taste of their material.

And also head over to www.UnitedWeRockBattle.com and Vote for 3PM for their chance to play at DDRF 09 and With Full Force Festival (Germany)... Good Luck Brothers !


check back shortly for "A Word" With Adrian Erlandsson from At Gates, Nemhain and Brujeria (which he is currently on tour with) and "A Word" With Lee Barrat from British hardcore titans "Gallows" !

Also last but certainly not least, keep an eye out for a Major announcement.

I've been slow on posting for a few days, but here's the second post of the day to pick up the pace.

United We Rock (Formerly known as Shamal Battle 4 DDRF), is the the annual band competition with the winning band getting the chance to play at DDRF.

This year its a little bit different, the winning band will get to play at DDRF 09 and also one of Germany's biggest festival's With Full Force, also over in Germany there is another online band competition with the winning band getting to play at both events, DDRF 09 and With Full Force (sounds like an awesome exchange) I wanted to get to know the bands competiting from Germany a little better, so to begin this new series called "Spotlight On United We Rock" here's a short interview with one of the finalists in the "United We Rock Online Band Battle Germany".

Human Suit is a metalcore band with thrash metal/hardcore influences. the band formed in 2005 and is currently unsigned. I got the chance to catch up with the band's guitarist Karsten Greifenhagen and ask him about the band's sound, if they heard of any bands from the Middle East and more, here's how it went:


TMR: Can you tell me about your band's sound ?

Greifi: We make a mixture of New-School-Thrash with some Hardcore-elements. Fast and melodic with some surprises. In this time we make a new song with Ska-elements, but with also our typical Thrash-sound, very crazy.



TMR: Who are some of your favorite bands ?

Greifi: Machine Head, Arsonists get all the girls, Pantera, The Black Dahlia Murder, Heaven shall burn, Killswitch Engage and Wolf.



TMR: Have you heard of any bands from the Middle East ?

Greifi: I heard about Nervecell, Beneath the remains and Through sunken eyes



TMR: If you where to win the "United We Rock" contest, who would you be looking forward to sharing the stage with ?

Greifi: Motörhead and Arch enemy (Angela comes from near my home)



TMR: Would you like to add anything ?

Greifi: We are a very little band and we want to win the battle. We are the only band of the 10 finalists without a deal. And that is so great for us, to present, that we are at the top without a deal.



I'd like to thank Karsten for taking the time to answer my questions and wish you guys the best in the competition.

Make sure to check out the band's song "Revenge Of The Toy Soldier" that will simply convince you to Vote For Them @ the United-We-Rock.de website.


It doesnt stop here, a ton of stuff is coming up, So check back daily !

That's right, its that time of the year again, where the build up to the Dubai Desert Rock Festival begins with the annual battle of the bands "United We Rock (formerly known as Shamal - Battle 4 DDRF )" 2009 is shaping up to be a pretty eventful year for the city's metal heads, on February 13th the almighty Iron Maiden makes a stop to play a show as part of their "Somewhere Back in Time World Tour ’" then on March 6th its the annual 2 day DDRF with a great line up so far Arch Enemy, Opeth, Chimaira, and August Burns Red (with more bands to be announced) are going to be a part of the 2 day festival.


The official United We Rock website was recently launched, and announced the 8 finalists that will get to compete for a spot at 2009's DDRF and also perform at Germany's With Full Force Festival, this is the first time the winning band will get to play at 2 major festivals, which will be a great push for the lucky head bangers, and also With Full Force will pick the best band from Germany to play at DDRF (awesome idea !).

The 8 finalists that you can now vote for on UnitedWeRockBattle.com are:

3PM (Saudi Arabia)
Abhorred (UAE)
Scarab (Egypt)
Bilocate (Jordan)
Beneath The Remains (UAE)
Perversion (UAE)
Sun King (UAE)
The Metaphysics (Iran)

Go check out the bands, vote for your favorite over at UnitedWeRockBattle.com, help spread the word and let the neck breaking begin !