Ian Gavan, Getty Images Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins will remain behind bars after the Cardiff Crown Court denied his appeal for bail Thursday (Jan. 10). The Mirror reports that the singer, who was arrested late last year for alleged sex offenses relating to minors, appeared via video link from Parc Prison in Bridgend and Judge Eleri Reese denied his plea. With the ruling, Watkins will now remain in custody until at least his next plea hearing, which is scheduled for later this month. The vocalist has been charged with two incidents of conspiring to engage in sexual touching with two young children and another four offenses of possessing and distributing indecent images of children. Watkins bandmates issued a statement at the time of his December arrest, explaining, “We find ourselves in a state of shock. We are learning about the details of the investigation along with you. It is a difficult time for us and our families and we want to thank our fans for their support as we seek answers.” The band called off their scheduled tour after the singer’s arrest. The group has been supporting their 2012 album, ‘Weapons.’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/lostprophets-vocalist-ian-watkins-to-remain-in-police-custody-on-child-sex-charges/” title=”Next: Lostprophets Singer Ian Watkins Held in Police Custody” align=”center”] ?
PETA Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro has long been an activist for animal rights, and now the guitarist is proving it in his latest campaign for PETA. In a spot geared towards exposing the cruelty of animals led by the cosmetic industry, the rocker bares all in a squeamish series of photos. Throughout the photo series, Navarro can be seen simulating the torture animals endure at the hands of humans in the quest for perfecting cosmetics and household cleaners. Images of Navarro, like the one seen above, bleeding from the eye with patches of flesh ripped off and bleeding, accompany the message PETA is promoting, ‘Animal Testing Kills: Choose Cruelty-Free.’ The campaign not only calls out the heinous testing methods but helps promote cruelty free testing throughout the industry. In the behind the scenes clip below posted by PETA, Navarro talks about his first exposure to cruelty free makeup and how he learned about the inhumane practices, leading to his quest to become an advocate for the animals. “They’re not taking a bunny rabbit and putting mascara on it. They’re injecting a chemical directly into its eye to see what kind of adverse reaction happens to it,” Navarro explained in the interview. “In many cases, parts of their body are ripped open. They’re all alive, and they’re all aware. It’s torture for the animal, it’s terrifying and painful and probably one of the cruelest things done in the name of vanity.” This doesn’t mark the first time that Navarro has geared down for PETA though and if we were betting folk, probably not the last. He also participated in PETA’s ‘ Ink, Not Mink ‘ campaign, protesting the fur industry. Watch the clip below to see Navarro behind the scenes at his gory photo shoot and to learn more about cruelty-free animal testing, but be warned, it’s not for the faint at heart, as it contains some graphic images of animals. Watch Dave Navarro’s PETA Photo Shoot [Contains Graphic Images] ? [button href=”http://loudwire.com/dave-navarro-sends-canadian-musician-new-guitar-to-replace-stolen-instrument/” title=”Navarro Sends Canadian Musician New Guitar to Replace Stolen Instrument” align=”center”]
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor revealed last fall that he had been working with sound specialists Beats by Dre on something pretty special and now we know what that is. Longtime music mogul Jimmy Iovine confirmed at a Beats by Dre event that Reznor is contributing to Daisy, a new music streaming service that has yet to launch. Spin reports that Reznor’s title is Chief Creative Officer and that the service will feature music brought to listener’s ears by Beats Electronic, which Iovine co-founded. Though he didn’t detail exactly what Reznor’s duties would entail, Iovine stated that the musician would play a large role in Daisy’s look and feel and will focus his energies toward “the connection between the artist and the consumer.” Iovine added, “What’s missing from the digital music landscape is the cultural context. We need to bring an emotional connection back to the act of music discovery. With Trent and now [Daisy CEO Ian Rogers] we have the right team in place to do it.” At present, the Daisy streaming service is tentatively expected to launch in the second half of 2013. Even with the new gig, Reznor remains committed to creating music. It was just announced that his How to Destroy Angels band will offer their first full-length album, ‘ Welcome Oblivion ,’ on March 5. In addition, Reznor mentioned recently that he was working on new music from Nine Inch Nails. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-nine-inch-nails-songs/” title=”Next: 10 Best Nine Inch Nails Songs” align=”center”]
Photo by James Minchin Linkin Park continue to show their love to their fans by announcing their eighth Linkin Park Underground Summit , scheduled for Feb. 21 in Auckland, New Zealand. The summits have been designed to break down the barriers between fans and the band, with those in attendance having the chance to take part in a number of Linkin Park-related activities. At past events, fans have had a chance to meet and greet the band members, watch the group warm up on stage before the doors open, be treated to backstage tours, have the opportunity to walk across the stage, enter a raffle to take photos from the photo pit, hang out with the band’s crew members and take part in an auction of group memorabilia. Plus, there’s the opportunity to meet and share your love of Linkin Park with many like-minded fans. Passes for the New Zealand LPU Summit will go on sale Jan. 19 at 9AM Auckland time for LPUnderground fan club members at this location . In addition, those who are not members of the fan club may purchase tickets here . The band revealed that they will also announce further details about the New Zealand summit, including a Music for Relief event taking place on Feb. 20, in the coming days. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/linkin-park-only-north-american-2013-concert-las-vegas/” title=”Next: Linkin Park Announce Only 2013 North American Show” align=”center”]
Wind-Up U.K. upstarts Young Guns recently crashed the rock radio charts with their single ‘Bones,’ and soon fans in North America will be able to catch the band playing that song and more. The group has announced that they’ll join rockers 10 Years for a string of dates that will find them traveling the county through February and March. The tour launches Feb. 18 at the Exit/In in Nashville, with dates booked through March 16 in Houston. Tickets for the tour are currently on sale. After building their following in the U.K. with their 2009 EP ‘Mirrors’ and the follow-up album ‘All Our Kings Are Dead,’ the band finally broke through to a larger audience with last year’s ‘Bones’ album. The title track helped the group become the highest charting new band at Active Rock radio in 2012, with the song currently hovering around the Top 10. The band’s video for ‘Bones’ has also been a hit, garnering over 1.3 million YouTube views. The disc is currently available here . While the band is anxious to hit the road, they did reveal in a recent Facebook posting that they’ve been busy with the writing process and are “working on something special.” 10 Years / Young Guns 2013 Tour: 2/18 — Nashville, Tenn. — Exit/In 2/19 — Columbia, Mo. — Blue Note 2/21 — Colorado Springs, Colo. — The Black Sheep 2/22 — Denver, Colo. — Marquis Theatre 2/23 — Salt Lake City, Utah — In the Venue 2/24 — Boise, Idaho — Knitting Factory 2/26 — Spokane, Wash. — Knitting Factory 2/27 — Seattle, Wash. — Studio Seven 3/1 — Chico, Calif. — Senator Theatre 3/2 — Reno, Nev. — Knitting Factory 3/3 — Sacramento, Calif. — Ace of Spades 3/4 — Los Angeles, Calif. — The Roxy 3/6 — Las Vegas, Nev. — Vinyl 3/8 — Tempe, Ariz. — The Marquee 3/9 — Flagstaff, Ariz — Orpheum 3/10 — Farmington, N.M. — Top Deck 3/12 –Tulsa, Okla. — The Vanguard 3/13 — Dallas, Texas — Trees 3/15 — San Antonio, Texas — Backstage Live 3/16 – Houston, Texas — Scout Bar Watch Young Guns’ ‘Bones’ Video
Facebook: System of a Down System of a Down fans have been patient in recent years, with the group spending a lot of time on hiatus pursuing other musical avenues. Though the band has reunited for a series of shows over the past two years, there has been no talk about future albums or dates … until now. System have revealed their first two performances of 2013 , set to take place in August. The band has signed on to play Sweden’s Getaway Rock Festival on Aug. 9 and will also perform at the Frequency Festival in Austria on Aug. 16. Tickets for both events are currently available . At present, it is not known if these shows will lead to an extended run of performances, but the announcement of the two festivals provides a ray of hope. However, expectations should be tempered as the group’s members have other projects in the works for 2013 as well. Singer Serj Tankian released his ‘ Harakiri ‘ solo album last year and also spent time raising funds to perform his ‘ Orca ‘ symphony piece. However, at last check he was still composing a score for the ‘ Morning Star ‘ video game and had music from two side projects — Fuktronic and Jazziz Christ — in the works. Meanwhile, the website of guitarist Daron Malakian ‘s Scars on Broadway band teases that a new EP and album are coming soon. When pressed about new System of a Down music last year, Tankian told Loudwire , “It’s a good question and the answer is the same — we haven’t made plans of recording the new record as of yet. When we do, everyone will know. We haven’t really discussed another record as of now with any of the guys really. It’s just something that when it’s the right time, we’ll do it.” [button href=”http://loudwire.com/system-of-a-down-toxicity-top-21st-century-metal-songs/” title=”Next: System of a Down – Top 21st Century Metal Songs” align=”center”]
Facebook: How to Destroy Angels After teasing fans in recent years with a pair of EPs, How to Destroy Angels have revealed their plans for their first full-length album. The group, featuring Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor , revealed in a posting at their website that the new disc, titled ‘Welcome Oblivion,’ is expected on March 5. While that was all that was revealed about the long-anticipated album, the group has dug a little deeper into 2012′s ‘ An Omen ‘ EP, with a trippy new video for the track ‘The Loop Closes.’ Just as the song is filled with all sorts of digital blips and bleeps, the accompanying video offers something visually similar, with quick cutting and often blurred or mangled images of animals, natural disasters, eyeballs, human limbs and even the shadowy faces of the band’s members. The video can be seen below. The clip follows the band’s more story-driven video for ‘ Ice Age ,’ which arrived last fall. That promo found the band members in a remote cabin, with singer Mariqueen Maandig looking out the window as the climate began to shift into something similar to the song’s title. Speaking about How to Destroy Angels last year, Trent Reznor explained, “We’ve just been chipping away at this thing, and it’s been a nice pressure release valve really to have something to dump this energy into that doesn’t fit the other containers. It’s been fun.” Watch How to Destroy Angels’ ‘The Loop Closes’ Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/trent-reznor-how-to-destroy-angels-new-single-keep-it-together/” title=”Next: Watch How to Destroy Angels’ ‘Keep It Together’ Video” align=”center”]