Great read by the singer for Trap Them about the finances involved in being a musician in a extreme/heavy band.
http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/07/19/trap-thems-ryan-mckenney-responds-to-sacha-dunables-metalsucks-column/
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
truth
"It's a saying they have, that a man has a false heart in his mouth for the world to see, another in his breast to show to his special friends and his family, and the real one, the true one, the secret one, which is never known to anyone except to himself alone, hidden only God knows where."
- Vasco Rodrigues
- Vasco Rodrigues
Louie CK
The opening scene from last night's episode of Louie. Yes, she's a plant, but that doesn't make it any less funny.
"You don't like rape?" LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNRNCk3YwqE
Embedding disabled. oh poo on you, Louie CK!
"You don't like rape?" LOL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNRNCk3YwqE
Embedding disabled. oh poo on you, Louie CK!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
the good old days
This may make me seem and sound like curmudgeonly old man, but I miss the days when the only way someone found out about a show/concert was either being handed a flyer (for smaller/DIY shows) or looking at listings in The Village Voice (for larger-scale small shows or big "concerts"). When one would go to the record store with some hard earned cash and actually LOOKED for new records to be turned on to. When someone made a flyer with a marker, scissors, glue and a photocopier.
Granted, I love, endorse and utilize the new technology to the fullest. The internet, Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, photoshop, etc. have all been a gigantic help making getting your name to, potentially, an entire planet of people in mere seconds. But at what price? It's too easy now to make a name for yourself. The passion that I knew as a youngin "coming up" in "the scene" just doesn't exist in what I see in today's music scene anymore. Ok, that's not exactly fair, there will always be SOME sort of passion involved in smaller/DIY circles of music, but it's definitely not the kind I saw as a kid. These kids have it too easy.
The world has shrunk exponentially. Reach out and touch someone.
Granted, I love, endorse and utilize the new technology to the fullest. The internet, Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, photoshop, etc. have all been a gigantic help making getting your name to, potentially, an entire planet of people in mere seconds. But at what price? It's too easy now to make a name for yourself. The passion that I knew as a youngin "coming up" in "the scene" just doesn't exist in what I see in today's music scene anymore. Ok, that's not exactly fair, there will always be SOME sort of passion involved in smaller/DIY circles of music, but it's definitely not the kind I saw as a kid. These kids have it too easy.
The world has shrunk exponentially. Reach out and touch someone.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Good times
DYN-O-MITE!
Last weekend was the best weekend I've had in a VERY long time. Thursday night I received a text from Ray from Full Blown Chaos.
"What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Not sure, why?"
"Wanna do gang vox on the new record?"
"Sure! When? Where?"
"8pm, Milford CT."
I had just played a show earlier in the evening in Milford CT! DOH! In any event, I did have plans, but I canceled so I could make it up to Milford. I must say, the new Full Blown Chaos record is going to be a monster. Everything I've heard so far has been absolutely stellar. Easily their best effort yet. Very much looking forward to having the finished product in my hands. Ray played one particular song where Mark pulled out a Marty Friedman-esque solo that blew my mind. When it came time to do the gang vocals, it was Ray, his guitarist Mike, my bassist Joe had tagged along and myself. It was quickly apparent that the main voices were Ray's and myself, since we're both singers. We were LOUD! Joe lost his voice very quickly. After we were done with gang vocals, Ray asked me "what are you doing tomorrow?"
"I think just having lunch with my mom and my brother. Sup?"
"I may have a plus one for Warped Tour tomorrow. Wanna go?"
"Yes"
Katz Deli will have to wait for another day.
Picked up Ray on Saturday and off we went to Nassau Coliseum. As we approached the arena, I asked him who was hooking us up? He says "everyone" and then further explains that he was "on like 8 different lists." However, on this day, Andrew WK and his band were going to be the ones who would be the source of the day's hospitality. "Hey man, we gotta hit 7-11. Kenny (AWK's guitarist) says they get shit on this tour and want us to bring beer." A case of Keystone and Budweiser later and back to the arena we go. Kenny met up with us in the parking lot and handed us a pair of VIP passes to use during the day. From there, right to Andrew WK's tour bus.
Now, I have been a pretty big fan of Andrew WK pretty much since he first hit big. I Get Wet is still in heavy rotation on my ipod. To be imminently entering his tour bus, I must say, was pretty god damn sweet. First person I meet is AWK's wife, Cherie, who was very nice. Everyone in the band and crew were all super nice and welcoming, which is a refreshing change. Lot of bands these days think they're hot shit and have their heads up their ass. They usually get slapped repeatedly inside my head. So far, no one has been dick enough for me to slap them in reality. However, everyone in this crew were all super friendly. After a beer and some small talk, off we go to the stage that AWK is playing. We get to an area behind the stage where different bands have their gear waiting under tents, and face to face is on stage. I went out front, just inside the barrier, to catch the rest of their set. They were awesome, as always. At this point, I had noticed Adam had tweeted "face to face rules" and a picture of them performing. I texted him to tell him where i was (behind the stage, at that point.) A song or two after I started watching f2f, Adam finds me by the barrier. I join him on the "civilian" side of the barrier (haha) and we're watching some more f2f when our mutual friend Chuck Haile comes walking by. He's on tour with Dillinger Escape Plan. I think he's doing merch, but as is the case with Chuck, I'm never entirely sure what he does or who he tours with. After jawing for a few minutes, Chuck gives Adam a vendor wrist band that now allows Adam to join us backstage. After face to face ended, we did just that. Dillinger Escape Plan was up next. Adam & myself, due to our respective credentials, were able to watch from the side of the stage, which is always the best place to watch a show. It was even more amazing to do so on a stage of Warped Tour caliber.
I used to be a fan of Dillinger Escape Plan back when they first hit. Inhuman had put out one of our 7"s on DEP's old label, run by their former guitarist (before they were DEP) Matt Beckerman. We played a show with them back then and there was even talk of doing a tour with DEP & Candiria (where we would've stuck out like a sore thumb.) Back then, they were innovative and exciting. However, lately, it feels like instead of remaining innovative and exciting, they've blended into the sort of spastic tech-metal that they helped pioneer. They're not at the head of the pack anymore. To make matters worse, visually, they look like every other asshole that infests Williamsburg. I had seen them a couple of times recently and was completely bored by them. However, on Saturday, I actually enjoyed their performance. Am I starting to warm up to them enough to give them another chance? Maybe. We'll see.
After DEP's set, Ray, Adam, Kenny and myself went back to the tour bus. As we're approaching, who had just gotten off the bus, Andrew WK himself! We all introduce ourselves and he graciously invites us onto the bus and tells us to make ourselves comfortable. Ray then starts playing some songs from the new FBC record and everyone is instantly excited. Kenny starts punching the walls, literally, and says "dude, this makes me want to punch a hole in my wife!" He says that several times during the course of the day, much to our amusement. After some relaxation, we make our way back to the stage, with Adam, Ray & myself taking our positions on the side of the stage.
Andrew WK hit the stage and it was as energetic as amazing as always. It was such a treat to watch the show from the side of the stage, I loved every minute of it. Adam was never big on AWK (but didn't dislike him, either), but I looked over and he was thoroughly enjoying their set. New fan born, right there, possibly aided by the friendliness and hospitality we were shown throughout the day. As usual, the set comes to a close with their big hit "Party Hard", which has a bunch of people, who were also already watching the show from the side of the stage, run to the front and...well...party hard during the song. Ray & myself jump on a mic for the final chorus. Adam hastily grabs his phone and videos this event. My friend Marc later remarked that the video looked like it was filmed by Michael J. Fox (ouch, haha.) And just like that, the set was over. Adam and myself briefly talked to Cherie as she passed by, when we see Ray talking with Kenny and Andrew. I don't usually fanboy out, but I had to tell him what a great show he/they just played. Talked to Andrew briefly then asked to take a picture with him.
This was the resulting picture:
Awesome on so many levels!
After that, Adam & myself went wandering around and managed to catch most of Whitechapel's set. They were brutal as all hell, and the crowd were beating the shit out of each other. After their set, we opted to skip Suicide Silence and made our way back to AWK's bus. More chillaxin and beer drinking for pretty much the rest of the day. Wandered around and hung out with more people during the course of the late afternoon. Adam briefly went off on his own to watch Reel Big Fish before getting turned away for more backstage access for some reason. The show ended around 830pm. After all the kids were shooed away, Ray, Adam & myself made our way back to the tourbuses for the band/VIP bbq that takes place every night after the show is over. After several hours of beer drinkin and meat eatin, I finally made my way home (after dropping off Ray) around 1130. If I didn't need to get up early on Sunday to record at my drummer's house all day, I would've stayed much later.
On Monday, Adam and myself still reveled in the amazing day we had together on saturday (over emails.) By Tuesday, a search we had both started had finally bore fruit: video from the audience of Party Hard from Saturday! Ray, Adam & myself appear at 2:15 on the left side of the screen.
I need more days like that.
Last weekend was the best weekend I've had in a VERY long time. Thursday night I received a text from Ray from Full Blown Chaos.
"What are you doing tomorrow?"
"Not sure, why?"
"Wanna do gang vox on the new record?"
"Sure! When? Where?"
"8pm, Milford CT."
I had just played a show earlier in the evening in Milford CT! DOH! In any event, I did have plans, but I canceled so I could make it up to Milford. I must say, the new Full Blown Chaos record is going to be a monster. Everything I've heard so far has been absolutely stellar. Easily their best effort yet. Very much looking forward to having the finished product in my hands. Ray played one particular song where Mark pulled out a Marty Friedman-esque solo that blew my mind. When it came time to do the gang vocals, it was Ray, his guitarist Mike, my bassist Joe had tagged along and myself. It was quickly apparent that the main voices were Ray's and myself, since we're both singers. We were LOUD! Joe lost his voice very quickly. After we were done with gang vocals, Ray asked me "what are you doing tomorrow?"
"I think just having lunch with my mom and my brother. Sup?"
"I may have a plus one for Warped Tour tomorrow. Wanna go?"
"Yes"
Katz Deli will have to wait for another day.
Picked up Ray on Saturday and off we went to Nassau Coliseum. As we approached the arena, I asked him who was hooking us up? He says "everyone" and then further explains that he was "on like 8 different lists." However, on this day, Andrew WK and his band were going to be the ones who would be the source of the day's hospitality. "Hey man, we gotta hit 7-11. Kenny (AWK's guitarist) says they get shit on this tour and want us to bring beer." A case of Keystone and Budweiser later and back to the arena we go. Kenny met up with us in the parking lot and handed us a pair of VIP passes to use during the day. From there, right to Andrew WK's tour bus.
Now, I have been a pretty big fan of Andrew WK pretty much since he first hit big. I Get Wet is still in heavy rotation on my ipod. To be imminently entering his tour bus, I must say, was pretty god damn sweet. First person I meet is AWK's wife, Cherie, who was very nice. Everyone in the band and crew were all super nice and welcoming, which is a refreshing change. Lot of bands these days think they're hot shit and have their heads up their ass. They usually get slapped repeatedly inside my head. So far, no one has been dick enough for me to slap them in reality. However, everyone in this crew were all super friendly. After a beer and some small talk, off we go to the stage that AWK is playing. We get to an area behind the stage where different bands have their gear waiting under tents, and face to face is on stage. I went out front, just inside the barrier, to catch the rest of their set. They were awesome, as always. At this point, I had noticed Adam had tweeted "face to face rules" and a picture of them performing. I texted him to tell him where i was (behind the stage, at that point.) A song or two after I started watching f2f, Adam finds me by the barrier. I join him on the "civilian" side of the barrier (haha) and we're watching some more f2f when our mutual friend Chuck Haile comes walking by. He's on tour with Dillinger Escape Plan. I think he's doing merch, but as is the case with Chuck, I'm never entirely sure what he does or who he tours with. After jawing for a few minutes, Chuck gives Adam a vendor wrist band that now allows Adam to join us backstage. After face to face ended, we did just that. Dillinger Escape Plan was up next. Adam & myself, due to our respective credentials, were able to watch from the side of the stage, which is always the best place to watch a show. It was even more amazing to do so on a stage of Warped Tour caliber.
I used to be a fan of Dillinger Escape Plan back when they first hit. Inhuman had put out one of our 7"s on DEP's old label, run by their former guitarist (before they were DEP) Matt Beckerman. We played a show with them back then and there was even talk of doing a tour with DEP & Candiria (where we would've stuck out like a sore thumb.) Back then, they were innovative and exciting. However, lately, it feels like instead of remaining innovative and exciting, they've blended into the sort of spastic tech-metal that they helped pioneer. They're not at the head of the pack anymore. To make matters worse, visually, they look like every other asshole that infests Williamsburg. I had seen them a couple of times recently and was completely bored by them. However, on Saturday, I actually enjoyed their performance. Am I starting to warm up to them enough to give them another chance? Maybe. We'll see.
After DEP's set, Ray, Adam, Kenny and myself went back to the tour bus. As we're approaching, who had just gotten off the bus, Andrew WK himself! We all introduce ourselves and he graciously invites us onto the bus and tells us to make ourselves comfortable. Ray then starts playing some songs from the new FBC record and everyone is instantly excited. Kenny starts punching the walls, literally, and says "dude, this makes me want to punch a hole in my wife!" He says that several times during the course of the day, much to our amusement. After some relaxation, we make our way back to the stage, with Adam, Ray & myself taking our positions on the side of the stage.
Andrew WK hit the stage and it was as energetic as amazing as always. It was such a treat to watch the show from the side of the stage, I loved every minute of it. Adam was never big on AWK (but didn't dislike him, either), but I looked over and he was thoroughly enjoying their set. New fan born, right there, possibly aided by the friendliness and hospitality we were shown throughout the day. As usual, the set comes to a close with their big hit "Party Hard", which has a bunch of people, who were also already watching the show from the side of the stage, run to the front and...well...party hard during the song. Ray & myself jump on a mic for the final chorus. Adam hastily grabs his phone and videos this event. My friend Marc later remarked that the video looked like it was filmed by Michael J. Fox (ouch, haha.) And just like that, the set was over. Adam and myself briefly talked to Cherie as she passed by, when we see Ray talking with Kenny and Andrew. I don't usually fanboy out, but I had to tell him what a great show he/they just played. Talked to Andrew briefly then asked to take a picture with him.
This was the resulting picture:
Awesome on so many levels!
After that, Adam & myself went wandering around and managed to catch most of Whitechapel's set. They were brutal as all hell, and the crowd were beating the shit out of each other. After their set, we opted to skip Suicide Silence and made our way back to AWK's bus. More chillaxin and beer drinking for pretty much the rest of the day. Wandered around and hung out with more people during the course of the late afternoon. Adam briefly went off on his own to watch Reel Big Fish before getting turned away for more backstage access for some reason. The show ended around 830pm. After all the kids were shooed away, Ray, Adam & myself made our way back to the tourbuses for the band/VIP bbq that takes place every night after the show is over. After several hours of beer drinkin and meat eatin, I finally made my way home (after dropping off Ray) around 1130. If I didn't need to get up early on Sunday to record at my drummer's house all day, I would've stayed much later.
On Monday, Adam and myself still reveled in the amazing day we had together on saturday (over emails.) By Tuesday, a search we had both started had finally bore fruit: video from the audience of Party Hard from Saturday! Ray, Adam & myself appear at 2:15 on the left side of the screen.
I need more days like that.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Some people really need to read this
They're/there/their is touched on, among other things. Correct spelling and grammar is sexy as hell.
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/10-common-errors-spell-check-won-t-catch-2039083/
http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/life/10-common-errors-spell-check-won-t-catch-2039083/
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Bits
What's been new in the last few months?
- After being shackled to spectacles since I was 7 years old, I finally manned up and got laser vision correction eye surgery a few weeks ago. The procedure itself wasn't bad and only took about 20 minutes. The only thing that had me nervous was the thought of the eye clamps to keep my eyelids open. Being a big fan of the movie A Clockwork Orange, I had something like this in my mind:
Wasn't nearly that bad, at all. The recovery was a bit rough. My eyes burned like hell and I'm going to be taking eye drops for another month or so. My mom stayed with me for a couple of days, which was nice. I slept a lot. My vision, while infinitely better than it was before, still isn't perfect. There remains a bit of fuzziness, as if I'm frustratingly still frustratingly a tad nearsighted. At least I'm already able to have shed my glasses and able to do the one thing I've never been able to do comfortably: wear sunglasses.
- It may very be possible that I FINALLY have a good lineup for exercise in pain that is Everything's Ruined. Diallo, the weirdo drummer that I used to jam out with back in high school, quit, citing depression as a result of breaking up with some girl that already had a boyfriend. So, yeah. Found Brian and not only is he an awesome drummer but he's an awesome dude. Joe from Pinebox took over for Muttley on bass. James is still on guitar. I was singing and playing guitar for a while, then decided that I'd rather just stick to guitar. Figured we'd need an actual frontman: better crowd interaction, better dynamic. Truth be told, I absolutely suck at writing lyrics. If i had the gift of the written word, I'd be the frontman and would have looked for a 2nd guitarist. However, over a period of several months, I only managed to write lyrics for 3 songs, 2 are being kept and the 3rd is being mercifully buried. We've been writing new stuff and working towards recording a new full-length sometime in the fall. Can't wait.
- After 12 years, Faith No More finally got back together and played at Williamsburg Waterfront last week. They were just as amazing as always.
- Hurricane Alex tore through my family's city in Mexico, Monterrey a couple of weeks ago. My cousins have been sending me pictures of the devastation. It's shocking to say the least. As far as I know, everyone in my family is ok.
That last one used to be a dry river that had been dry for about 20 or so years that had been turned into public park space.
- Finally went to a couple of Yankee games this year. I always passively enjoyed baseball, but after going to a Met game 2 years ago (first time I've been to a baseball game since I was a little kid) I started to enjoy it more. I'm not a statistic spouting nerd by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll watch a game on TV every now and again and go to a game. The new stadium is absolutely beautiful. First time I went with some broad I was seeing at the time. 2nd time I went with my dear friend Angela & her fiancee Greg. Have grown real close with them over the last year. I'm glad. They're good people.
I guess that's all I can remember for now. All the more reason for me to start blogging again.
- After being shackled to spectacles since I was 7 years old, I finally manned up and got laser vision correction eye surgery a few weeks ago. The procedure itself wasn't bad and only took about 20 minutes. The only thing that had me nervous was the thought of the eye clamps to keep my eyelids open. Being a big fan of the movie A Clockwork Orange, I had something like this in my mind:
Wasn't nearly that bad, at all. The recovery was a bit rough. My eyes burned like hell and I'm going to be taking eye drops for another month or so. My mom stayed with me for a couple of days, which was nice. I slept a lot. My vision, while infinitely better than it was before, still isn't perfect. There remains a bit of fuzziness, as if I'm frustratingly still frustratingly a tad nearsighted. At least I'm already able to have shed my glasses and able to do the one thing I've never been able to do comfortably: wear sunglasses.
- It may very be possible that I FINALLY have a good lineup for exercise in pain that is Everything's Ruined. Diallo, the weirdo drummer that I used to jam out with back in high school, quit, citing depression as a result of breaking up with some girl that already had a boyfriend. So, yeah. Found Brian and not only is he an awesome drummer but he's an awesome dude. Joe from Pinebox took over for Muttley on bass. James is still on guitar. I was singing and playing guitar for a while, then decided that I'd rather just stick to guitar. Figured we'd need an actual frontman: better crowd interaction, better dynamic. Truth be told, I absolutely suck at writing lyrics. If i had the gift of the written word, I'd be the frontman and would have looked for a 2nd guitarist. However, over a period of several months, I only managed to write lyrics for 3 songs, 2 are being kept and the 3rd is being mercifully buried. We've been writing new stuff and working towards recording a new full-length sometime in the fall. Can't wait.
- After 12 years, Faith No More finally got back together and played at Williamsburg Waterfront last week. They were just as amazing as always.
- Hurricane Alex tore through my family's city in Mexico, Monterrey a couple of weeks ago. My cousins have been sending me pictures of the devastation. It's shocking to say the least. As far as I know, everyone in my family is ok.
That last one used to be a dry river that had been dry for about 20 or so years that had been turned into public park space.
- Finally went to a couple of Yankee games this year. I always passively enjoyed baseball, but after going to a Met game 2 years ago (first time I've been to a baseball game since I was a little kid) I started to enjoy it more. I'm not a statistic spouting nerd by any stretch of the imagination, but I'll watch a game on TV every now and again and go to a game. The new stadium is absolutely beautiful. First time I went with some broad I was seeing at the time. 2nd time I went with my dear friend Angela & her fiancee Greg. Have grown real close with them over the last year. I'm glad. They're good people.
I guess that's all I can remember for now. All the more reason for me to start blogging again.
Backstage with Joe Rogan
Ariel Helwani goes backstage with Joe Rogan. A great conversation between two of the sports smartest analysts.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Open for business
It's been a while since I've had anything to say. Retreating into one's own head will do that. A couple of months ago, my mom suggested I should "write stuff down", since I do lot of traveling and do a lot of things and such. Little does she know that I'd already been doing that for several years, but stopped months ago. Maybe I'll find a blog binding service sometime and have those old Livejournals printed and bound into book form so she can read for herself (since she doesn't use computers.) Her birthday is in December, so that will likely end up my project for October.
In any event, I'm back to posting my ramblings on the interwebs. Hope you enjoy.
In any event, I'm back to posting my ramblings on the interwebs. Hope you enjoy.
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