Egypt Central | Home Runs, Apple Pie, and Rock 'n Roll

While my three and a half years at Clemson were unbelievable, driving into downtown Atlanta for a real nine-to-five is pretty cool too. My internship is at Definition 6, and one of our marquee productions is the “Coca-Cola Happiness Machine.” It came out well before I got here, but it was an online video that Def6 made for Coke, put on YouTube, and helped go viral to the tune of over 3.2 million YouTube views.

Today is especially hectic because this morning at midnight we launched a sequel to the original Happiness Machine video. Our Group Account Director, Stephen Boyd, and some other folks went down to Brazil and shot it a while back. Now the social media gurus and the marketing team (that’s me!) are spreading it through the web on Coke’s behalf. Check it out, the new video is embedded below…

Please leave comments and such.

On another note, Tommy’s last band of the week was stellar. If you haven’t heard of Egypt Central you should read about them in his post here. Well done Tommy, I enjoyed that one a lot.

After discussing a band named after an Egyptian god, we will transition smoothly to a band called Egypt Central. An alternative metal band from Memphis, Egypt Central consists of vocalist John Falls, guitarist Jeff James, bassist Joey Chicago, and drummer Blake Allison.

As far as the style of the band, I would best describe them as alternative metal/hard rock. If you like bands like Three Days Grace, Shinedown (especially their early stuff), Trapt, and Breaking Benjamin, then chances are you’ll like Egypt Central. While many people might not see them as being an especially innovative band, I feel that Falls’ voice and occasional screams add a level of uniqueness to the music, as does the guitar work of Jeff James. He throws in some nice solos fairly often, and his occasional use of the wah pedal (especially in the beginning of “Over and Under”) makes for a very cool sound.

As of right now, Egypt Central has released only its self-titled debut record, but another one, called White Rabbit, is slated for a May 17 release. Egypt Central self-released their first album in 2005, and had planned to issue a re-release once signing a new record deal (their previous label, Lava Records, had dropped them just before the 2005 release, prompting the band to release it themselves as a result of overwhelming demand). After many delays, the band finally found a new label (Fat Lady Music) and re-released the album in 2008, remastered, remixed, and with new artwork. The first single, “You Make Me Sick”, along with “Over and Under” (my favorite song by them) and “Taking You Down”, are among the most noteworthy titles on the CD. Links to these songs are below. I suggest you check out the entire record, and also keep an eye out for their upcoming release in May.