Quote:H(enry) A(nderson):  And we're back.  Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a real treat for you.  Live in the studio right now is BandStand.  I'm here with singer and guitarist Gail Black and percussionist Eddie Lincoln.  Gail and Eddie, welcome, welcome!

G(ail) B(lack) and E(ddie) L(incoln) together:  Thank you, Mr. Anderson.

HA:  Wow, its a pleasure to have you guys back in the studio.

GB: We're glad to be back here.  We missed you guys...

HA:  Well, let's get right into it.  You guys have new music out.

EL:  Yes, the new record, "StageDive".  It's great.  Some of our best work, no doubt.

HA:  It's been a while...

GB:  Seven years since the last one came out.  Yeah...

HA:  So you all were on hiatus for all that time?

GB:  Well, there was some other stuff going on during that time, and we decided that we needed a break.  Eddie was playing with [Kaliburg's] Goat's Beard, and I was doing art, yoga, just chilling...  We were on the road for so long, and I just needed a break.

EL:  We decided that we weren't breaking up, just taking time off from BandStand...

HA:  So what brought you all back together? 

GB:  We weren't really ever apart, of course.  Eddie would call me every week, I'd go to see his band, and everything.  It was cool.  I just didn't really want to be the one on the stage for a while, you know?

EL:  Yeah, I mean, we've been writing and working together all this time.  Several songs on Goat's Beard's album were written by Gailly.

GB:  ... been kinda behind the scenes for a while, yeah.

HA:  But you guys eventually decided to go back into the studio...

GB:  Well, clearly.  (all laugh)

HA:  Alright.  Well, let's play some music from your new Album, ARC's "StageDive", and then we'll catch back up after the song.  [Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kExdn3LkEg]This is Stranger, from BandStand.[/url]

Break

HA: That was Stranger, from BandStand, and you're listening to KRTVN Channel 2. If you're just tuning in. We're here with BandStand live in the Studio.  So, this record is different than your earlier stuff, which was more kind of upbeat, more for the masses.

GB:  Yeah, this record, we really kind of wanted to stretch out a bit, and try to really make music which kind of stood out...

EL:  Yeah, from what's on the radio now, you know?

HA:  What do you mean?

EL:  Well, I mean, Channel 2 is pretty good, but a lot of it is older. More for older listeners.  Channel 11 is really blowing up now, and... well...

HA:  The pop station, right...

GB:  Yeah, its kinda shite, you know?  A lot of it is pretty canned.

HA:  How do you mean?

GB:  Canned, phoned in.  Its just some cute girl or some boy band singing to some producer created beat, isn't it?  It's asinine.

HA:  Wow, well, you know the kids like it.

GB:  Eh, what do kids know?  Look:  I think Madysin is a good looking woman, and she is certainly the Original in this country, but you all gave her artist of the year and she doesn't even play the guitar?

HA:  I can't justify her success.

EL:  She's got great marketing...

HA:  Well, let's talk about your record.  Tell us a little about it.

EL:  Alright.  Well, Gailly and I have been writing it for about four years.  We came up with material for three albums, and decided to pick eight of the best ones.  Then, in April, I think of last year?

GB:  Yeah, April. it was early April, back when all that fog was in town for like three weeks...

EL:  Yeah, so we called up ARC and then because we wanted to get out of Kaliburg, and were headed to Sulari anyway, and was like "We want to record this record."

GB:  Yeah, they were totally cool with us, and were like "You guys want to do it in the capital or where?"  And we were like "We're headed to Sulari anyway."  So they hooked us up with Jess Michaels as engineer, and Deano Fuentes, who did music direction.  Deano wanted to get us Val Jackson to produce it, but after talking with her, we were like "Val, we loved your work on that Gulf Stream record last year, but I think we need to just do this our self," and she was totally cool with that.

HA:  So you all just went to it?

EL:  Yeah, we recorded the synths in like two days, guitars and drums in another two days, and vocals and overdubs were done in a single day.  We had Jess work with us in post production, and we had a master in under two weeks.  Fastest we ever recorded a record!

HA:  That's amazing.  And ARC was cool with it the whole time?

EL:  Yeah, they were cooler than working with our old label at KMI.

GB:  I wish these guys were around for our first record.  I think we barely covered our advance in the first year.  it was nuts.

HA:  So you basically just speed recorded this record.  I mean, it sounds great.

EL:  Thanks, mate. But I mean, there was a lot of other stuff too.

HA:  What do you mean?

GB:  Since we didn't take an advance, we had rented this studio for a whole month.  So while we were mastering the album, we also were rearranging the songs, to make an analog version, which we put out online at the same time.  And we had some producers come in and remix a few of the tracks.

HA:  What?  I didn't hear anything about all that.

EL:  (laughs)  You gotta do your homework, man.  Look.  Can I spin one of the remixes?

HA:  Sure, What the hell...  What do you got here?

EL:  Check this out, it's the remix of the title song, StageDive.  Done by DJ Radon, from Yoshimi.  It's pretty dope.

HA:  Alright, well, let's hear it. 
Here's StageDive, from BandStand's new Album, here on KRTVN Radio 2[/url].

Break

HA: You're listening to KRTVN Radio 2 and we're here with Kaliburg Alt Rockers BandStand, who have just released their 4th Studio Album, and their first in seven years.  So, tell us about the music on this record.

GB:  Well, it definitely talks about a lot of the kind of things you see when you get inside your own head for a long time, you know?

EL:  The themes we explored were somewhat different than the stuff our fans are used to.  Certainly more mature, compared to the earlier albums.

HA:  I notice that, definitely darker...

GB:  We gotta be the dark to the pop princesses' light, you know, bring balance to the scene.

HA:  The music is pretty heavily electronic, more than your older music.

EL:  We played with some sequencers, but note for note, you will find that we probably have as much digital instrumentation, as we do the analog stuff.

GB:  I hear a lot of influences of our older stuff in today's pop, so we needed to go a different way with the music, though.  Lots of minor keys and stuff, this time matching the kind of darker more introspective lyrics with a darker grittier sound.

HA:  But I wouldn't call this record depressing or anything.  I mean, there are times when you gradually transition from the synthesized minimalism to full on alternative, within the same song and just let it rock.

GB:  I've found that we can play with relative quiet in the music too.  Our other stuff was so heavily layered, and it was pretty baroque.  This record was much more stripped down.

EL:  There were a lot of disco and what you might call popular, audience oriented influences on our earlier records.  But in this one, we wanted to play with dynamics within the songs themselves.

HA:  This is one criticism which has been leveled against the record.  It's not as coherent as your earlier records, sonic aesthetic wise.

GB:  Well, that's fair. It's not exactly a concept album.

EL:  We had a lot of fun making it, to be honest, whatever our critics say about how it sounds...

GB:  ... kinda cathartic...  Yeah, we had fun.  And at this point, in our careers, that's really what it is about.

EL: ... plus, it sounds different from the new music that is is on the radio now.

HA:  Will you all be going to FOMAT?

GB:  No.

HA:  Any Reason?  it is the biggest music event coming up this year...

EL:  (pauses)  well, to be honest, most of that music is not...

GB:  It's not our taste.  We'll leave it at that.

HA:  We'll leave it at that.  Let's play one more track off BandStand's new album, "StageDive", which you can get in any record store in the Republic, as well as on any of the streaming services, and so forth.  Thank you guys for coming in, and it is great to hear your music again.

GB:  Thanks, Comrade.  We had a lot of fun!

HA:  Here's BandStand with a track from their New Album. The song is called "A&R."

EL:  This is the analog recording from the Sulari Version!

HA:  Ahh, well, here is [Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVMPqMsUbR0]
A&R, by BandStand, the Analog Version, on KRTVN Radio 2[/url].

Quote:
OOC Source: Russian Defense

Kaliburg: For 8 and a half months the Imperial Strike Group, Deltaria's most powerfull naval formation, has been on deployment around the globe. First the ISG travelled to Malivia where it was greeted with a extensive ceremony and trained with ships stationed there. After a few days and a ressuply the fleet set sail for Vascania, where it was greeted by the Vascanian navy. No exercises were held but it was clear the two nations were on friendly terms as Vascania's navy was relaxed. The fleet returned to Artania to visit the Deltarian ally of Narikaton and Darnussia. Here, per agreement, the fleet refuelled and ressuplied once more, setting sail north and moving around the tip of Artania. This understandably angered, and to a certain degree startled, the Dorvish, who have been the sole naval power in the region for centuries. Deltaria send its fleet north deliberately, likely as a way to show Dorvik that it can, moving through international waters the ships had difficulty in the cold weather but, after several days of maneuvering, they departed for the south once more.

Now the fleet arrived near Kalistan several days ago, once again passing through the Ananto strait. Similar to the ASDE exercise around 1.5 decade ago the Deltarian carrier fleet and the Kalistani navy conducted exercises in the strait. Beforehand, when the Imperial Strike Group was still near Endralon, Deltarian high command and its Kalistani counterpart had organized the plans for the exercises, which would once again center itself around the Ananto Strait and Kalistani capabilities to defend it. In contrast to the ASDE exercises the Kalistani's now used submarines, a change of strategy compared to previous defensive exercises. These submarines proved effective, fictionally sinking a Deltarian frigate at first in the middle of the strait. While the Kalistani's had improved so had the Deltarians as their newly modernized carrier and the new composition of the strike group proved efficient. Air attacks from several long ranged airplanes were stopped by AA systems onboard the Deltarian frigates and Destroyers. Missiles launched from shore were stopped in a similar fashion, with only one scoring a direct hit on a Deltarian destroyer which damaged it, but not to a severe degree according to the simulation. But Kalistani submarines proved deadly once more when they sunk a Slava-cruiser while it was shielding the carrier. During the simulated battle the Deltarian scored some victories too, with R-33C and MiG-29 jets from the DNS Mrazek sinking two Kalistani vessels and a Slava-class cruiser launching a anti ship missile which severely damaged a Kalistani frigate. At the end of the battle the Kalistani subs were also succesfully kept at a distance thanks to anti-sub warfare systems onboard several Deltarian ships.

While Kalistan, in comparison, lost more sailors and ships in the simulation as a whole their high command still sees this as a succesfull exercise, proving that the focus on submarine warfare is paying off. Deltaria lost one frigate and one cruiser as well as suffering one damaged destroyer in the simulation. It is the largest simulated loss of the Deltarian navy since its creation. Despite this Admiral Roland Horák is, like his Kalistani counterpart, satisfied stating that, "While the damages and loss in the simulation are significant we still managed to protect our valuable ship, the Mrazek, which was the end goal of the operation. Besides that i can be proud of our sailors as during the exercise they adapted, seeing the effectiveness of the enemy subs they changed tactics and succesfully held the enemy submarines at bay for the duration of the exercise. Other than that we can also learn a lot from this exercise, giving us valuable insides into further increasing the protection of our fleets and adapt defensive, as well as offensive, battle plans on these experiences."

Kalistan and Deltaria have both once more learned lessons from this exercise. The Imperial Strike Group, after participating for a week, has refueled and ressuplied in Ananto and has set course for the Aldegar Canal as it slowly moves home. For 9 months the fleet has been sailing around Terra with 3 more months to go before returning home in Stefanisti, where the Czarina and a large crowd is expected to welcome it back in port.

Quote:Ministry of War Announces That Yingdala Has Secured the First Island Chain


Construction of the joint defense base in Kanjor (OOC Source: Wall Street Journal)

In a miraculous feat that has never occurred in Yingdala's long history, the Ministry of War has announced that the Grand Union has secured alliances and joint defense bases in all of the countries making up the so-called "First Island Chain" that surrounds Yingdala. Already, Terra has known about Tian'an's alliances with Vorona, Gaduridos, and Rildanor. With the completion of an alliance with Kanjor, as both countries are ratifying the agreement, Yingdala will be able to effectively defend choke points that are critical to free and open trade, not to mention it will make it even more difficult for foreign invaders to get near the Yingdalan homeland.

Strategists and economists throughout Yingdala have claimed that this achievement will make Yingdala stronger at defending itself and its allies, as well as create a greater sense of stability and predictability in trade, thereby encouraging more companies to consider international trade. However, although Yingdala has effectively secured its trade to the littoral states of Majatra, West Dovani, Seleya, and Keris - or the Eastern Hemisphere - the Second (Dolgavia, Telemon, Keymon, Badara, and Cildania) and Third Island Chains (Selucia, Davostan, Darnussia and Narikaton, and Beluzia) could still be dominated by a foreign adversary to deny Yingdalan trade to the Western Hemisphere.

Experts it deem it unlikely that Yingdala would deepen its relationships with Second and Third Island Chain countries, outside of Dolgavia, out of respect. It is believed that Tian'an feels the Jelbic Khaganate should secure the Second and Third Island Chain countries in Majatra, while Dorvik secures the Second and Third Island Chain countries in Artania and Macon. Historically, both nations have held spheres of influence in those regions and everyone knows that Yingdala tends to defer to history.

Although the First Island Chain has been secured, this does not mean that a "Grand Oceanic Wall" exists between Yingdala and the rest of Terra. At each joint defense base is a small, but significant, contingent of Army, Navy, and Air Force personnel and equipment. These groups are Yingdala's first line of defense and would allow the Grand Union to better prepare itself for invasion.

Another step Yingdala is taking is to assist Kalistan with the development of its navy. Bound by a friendship treaty, Yingdala has sought to fill the void left by Lourenne to help Kalistan secure its sovereignty. Though never a "strong" traditional navy in conventional thinking, Kalistan has historically made excellent and clever use of fast attack ships. These boats have been known to cause serious damage to larger, but slower, fleets. Clearly, Tian'an sees a stronger Kaliburg leading to a stronger Yingdalan defense.

In any event, the Ministry's announcement is a major milestone. Yingdalans everywhere should be proud that their government has invested so much to defend them from harm.

Quote:Hutorian Broadcasting Channel
International News

Kingdom of Hutori to Join ODEN


Marijuana Farm outside of Glentingham, Adelia

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joshua Woodbury, has announced that the Kingdom of Hutori would be formally joining the Organization of Drug Exporting Nations, otherwise known as ODEN. Hutori has been dealing with ODEN over a century ago during the Occupation of Davostan, when the Commonwealth Occupation Authority has used ODEN as it's primary and sole supplier of pharmaceuticals in Davostan, and something that later moved into Hutori itself, where ODEN regulated drugs can wide praise and use. While talks with ODEN collapsed following the right of conservative leaning Republican governments in Bekenial, the rise of the Monarchist has revive those old talks, with the Monarchist Party of Hutori firmly in the seat with a supermajority in Parliament, Prime Minister Carmichael has wasted little time moving Bill M-8, the formal ratification of ODEN, forward for a vote.

Minister of Justice Allison Wainwright has stated, ahead of fears this would lead to a massive infusion of drugs into Hutori, that this would in fact make it easier to control the drug trade in Hutori, not harder.

Quote:ODEN members respect local laws on drugs, and more important by joining ODEN we can ensure only top quality and regulated substances enter the Hutorian market. Further this isn't just about cocaine or heroin. Hutorian whiskeys, hemp, marijuana are just as covered and are able to be better moved between member states, opening significant economic possibilities.

ODEN-H, the soon to be opened branch of ODEN in Hutori, will be utilized as a Government Crown Corporation, jointly watched by the Department of Justice, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of International Trade, with it's inaugural Executive Director, Christopher Gilmore, already travelling to Kalistan to observe ODEN facilities there.