Josh Freese

Orange County didn't invent melodic punk rock, but its bands have embraced it and honed it to a finer degree than maybe anywhere else. The Offspring's new "Conspiracy of One" is the highest profile example of hook-laden O.C. punk of late, but plenty of others are still thrashing it out below the radar of the Billboard Top 200 chart.

Alt-rock drummer extraordinaire Josh Freese is honoring the promises he made as part of an outlandish marketing campaign he cooked up to promote his new album "Since 1972." One 19-year-old fan from Florida decided that rather than investing $20,000 in a car, he'd prefer to hang out for a week and play miniature golf with the onetime member of Nine Inch Nails, the Vandals and A Perfect Circle.

Josh Freese has an interesting big-fish story to tell. For the Orange County-bred rock drummer, a wunderkind in alternative-rock circles with numerous impressive credits already notched at 22, the big one that got away was Pearl Jam. Freese auditioned in October for the vacant drum chair in rock's hottest-selling band. He apparently was a finalist. Pearl Jam, which returns to live performance with benefit concerts Jan. 14 and 15 in Washington, D.C.

Josh Freese: The headline on a Friday Calendar article about drummer Josh Freese's marketing gambit called him John Freese

Alt-rock drummer extraordinaire Josh Freese is honoring the promises he made as part of an outlandish marketing campaign he cooked up to promote his new album "Since 1972." One 19-year-old fan from Florida decided that rather than investing $20,000 in a car, he'd prefer to hang out for a week and play miniature golf with the onetime member of Nine Inch Nails, the Vandals and A Perfect Circle.

Josh Freese: The headline on a Friday Calendar article about drummer Josh Freese's marketing gambit called him John Freese

Drummer Josh Freese has spent a fair amount of time in high-flying circles as a member of Nine Inch Nails, Guns N' Roses, the Replacements, a Perfect Circle, the Vandals and Devo. So when it came time to release his new solo album, "Since 1972," he figured it couldn't hurt to aim high, without ignoring the average punk or alt-rock enthusiast who might want to check it out. Freese created a tiered program in which the more buyers pay for the 11-song collection, the more they get for their money.

Moby, Leftfield, the Chemical Brothers and Danny Saber have all done remixes to freshen up John Lydon's first solo album, "Psycho Path," due in June on Virgin Records. The bulk of the album was recorded three years ago, but held back until last year's Sex Pistols reunion tour was over. In the notes about the songs, Lydon renews his old rivalry with the Clash, identifying them among those who "love to spout rhetoric without understanding a single damn thing they're talking about." . . .

A Perfect Circle developed an intensely devoted following almost immediately upon the release in May of its now-platinum debut album, "Mer de Noms." It's easy to see why. The L.A.-based quintet, founded by former roadie Billy Howerdel and fronted by Tool lead singer Maynard James Keenan, has crafted a powerful industrial-pop-metal hybrid for its fragmentary sketches about the struggle to find love and faith in an often loveless and faithless world.

Another bit of news from our favorite locale: Spaceland regulars and Silver Lake residents Old Hickory just finished recording a full-length album for A&M Records, due in the fall. . . . There are no immediate plans to reschedule Ice Cube and Westside Connection's shows last Sunday and Monday at Billboard Live in West Hollywood, canceled as a result of Sunday's shooting in L.A. of rapper Notorious B.I.G. . . .

Drummer Josh Freese has spent a fair amount of time in high-flying circles as a member of Nine Inch Nails, Guns N' Roses, the Replacements, a Perfect Circle, the Vandals and Devo. So when it came time to release his new solo album, "Since 1972," he figured it couldn't hurt to aim high, without ignoring the average punk or alt-rock enthusiast who might want to check it out. Freese created a tiered program in which the more buyers pay for the 11-song collection, the more they get for their money.

Orange County didn't invent melodic punk rock, but its bands have embraced it and honed it to a finer degree than maybe anywhere else. The Offspring's new "Conspiracy of One" is the highest profile example of hook-laden O.C. punk of late, but plenty of others are still thrashing it out below the radar of the Billboard Top 200 chart.

Josh Freese has an interesting big-fish story to tell. For the Orange County-bred rock drummer, a wunderkind in alternative-rock circles with numerous impressive credits already notched at 22, the big one that got away was Pearl Jam. Freese auditioned in October for the vacant drum chair in rock's hottest-selling band. He apparently was a finalist. Pearl Jam, which returns to live performance with benefit concerts Jan. 14 and 15 in Washington, D.C.

Josh Freese, drummer for the local band Xtra Large, plays on Paul Westerberg's new album and has been drafted into the former Replacement's touring band. Freese "left for Minneapolis this morning, and he's going out with them for eight weeks," Xtra Large guitarist Warren Fitzgerald said Wednesday. Plans call for the Orange County band to start work on its second album for Giant Records when Freese returns from the road.