What a week! Did two phoners yesterday: Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes and Skillet’s John Cooper. (New Skillet album Rise is a huge step forward for them! Look for it Jun 25th) Oli is looking forward to returning to the U.S. to whip their fans into a frenzy this summer on Warped, and John told me Skillet will be one of the bands on the Carnival of Madness this year. Those of you also heading to Carolina Rebellion, Welcome to Rockville, Rock on The Range or Rocklahoma will also get a chance to see Skillet work in some new tunes into their sets….Meanwhile, I was on Facebook last night with Dan Donegan after hearing his first single as a solo artist! Turns out he secretly has been writing and recording new music for the side project Fight or Flight with fellow Disturbed compadre, drummer Mike Wengren, Evans Blue singer Dan Chandler, Sean Corcoran, the bassist from Ra and Chicago native Jeremy Jayson on guitar.The first single is called “First of the Last” coming out in about two weeks, while the debut album, A Life By Design?, drops Jul 23. Lou Brutus will be on the hotLine with Mr Donegan next week! Hit the Fight or Flight website for more…..Slash loves animals and reptiles, as we know. He’s owned a ton of snakes, is on the Board at the LA Zoo, and has campaigned to save wild life preserves. He’s now championing the call to save the sharks! He recently filmed a spot for Shark Friendly Marinas in which he explains the issue and urges his fans to get involved. He says in the clip, “Recent data shows that over 100 million sharks are being killed a year. That’s three sharks every second. That’s unsustainable and it’s not cool. We need sharks to have a healthy ocean. Please get involved by ending the harvest. Don’t buy shark products, don’t fish for sharks and if you happen to catch one, catch and release. Let it go.” Check out the video campaign here…..Pulse Content reports System Of A Down singer Serj Tankian is releasing two albums this summer through his own label, Serjical Strike Records. First up on June 25th will be Orca, Tankian’s first true symphony, while July 23rd will see the release of a collaborative jazz-inspired disc called Jazz-iz Christ. Tankian recorded Orca in Linz, Austria last October with a symphony orchestra after a successful Kickstarter campaign helped fund the project. Meanwhile, the 15 tracks on the mostly instrumental Jazz-iz Christ features Tankian performing alongside guests like renowned pianist Tigran Hamasyan, flautist Valeri Tolstov, trumpet player Tom Duprey, former Police drummer Stewart Copeland and actor/musician Davis Alpay. So even though System are dormant, Serj is like a freaking creative fountain! He’s also found time to sing on some friends’ albums like the recent Device cd. Serj is a cool dude….And now this: 3 Doors Down bassist Robert Todd Harrell checked himself into a rehab facility on Wednesday (April 24th), one day after posting $100,000 bond and getting out of jail after being arrested on charges of vehicular homicide and driving under the influence. According to Billboard, Harrell’s attorney, Ed Ryan, confirmed that his client had entered a drug treatment program but declined to name the location. He added that Harrell had entered voluntarily and not under a court order.Police allege that the 41-year-old Harrell was under the influence as he sped down Interstate 40 in Nashville in his Cadillac and clipped the back of a pickup truck. The driver of the truck, 47-year-old Paul Shoulders Jr., was killed as a result of the crash. Authorities say that Harrell admitted he had been drinking and had taken prescription drugs before the crash. He was later also accused of bringing controlled substances into the jail when deputies found a plastic baggie hidden in his sock with eight additional Xanax pills, 24 Oxycodone pills and four Oxymorphone pills. Kids, let this be a lesson. Drugs kill. I don’t care how cool or how tough you think you are, in the immortal words of South Park‘s Mr Mackey, “Drugs are bad, m’kay?“…..Black Sabbath revealed their 20 city tour yesterday and my friend Paul put it in Road Rage, so check it out!….My friend Gavin Rossdale and Bush have launched a new tour and I am looking forward to connecting with him again at Rock on the Range next month! (Can’t believe we are around 3 weeks away!) Check Road Rage for the Bush tour….Drummers are celebrating birthdays today: Happy 38th today to Joey Jordison of Slipknot & Murderdolls, Happy 37th to Jose Pasillias II of Incubus. Saturday, Happy 62nd to Ace Frehley, Happy 29th to Fall Out Boy frontman Patrick Stump and coming in at 81 is Casey Kasem. Have a great weekend!