Tag Archives: celebrities

A to Z of Making It, Copyright, Music, Piracy

Creativity involves Diversification

I love creativity.  It could be a song, a story, a novel, a comic, a movie, a photograph, a TV show or even a website.  We are overloaded with people creating something.  Some of it is good, some of it is bad.  However that is subjective to my tastes and interests.  Stuff that I like, a lot of other people don’t like.

Due to the Internet, the entry barriers to promote creative works have diminished greatly.  That is a good thing.  Sometimes it takes years for the creative works to be discovered by an audience that appreciates it.

Check out Randy Blythe’s Instagram account.  This dude, takes awesome photo’s and then adds a story to each photo that he takes.  He personalises his creativity.  You don’t have to be a fan of Lamb Of God, to appreciate the creative work of Randy Blythe.  He doesn’t even advertise that he is the singer of Lamb Of God, all he has are the words, “In some band. I try and be a good man.”  Make sure you check out his photos from Prague, during the court case.

Nikki Sixx is another, that is creating quite a few different creative outlets.  Apart from Motley Crue, he also has Sixx A.M.  On top of that, he is a book author, photographer, web show DJ and many more.

Check out the photos on his Tumblr account and on his Instagram account.  Even Nikki Sixx has started adding stories about his photos, in a similar vein to Randy Blythe.

There are others, like Claudio Sanchez from Coheed and Cambria and Corey Taylor from Stone Sour, that released concept albums and are branching out into graphic novels, comics and movie deals.  Robb Flynn from Machine Head is another that is building connections with his fans, by posting his Journals/Ramblings up once a week.

That is what it takes these days to make it.  You need to be creative 24/7.  You need to remain in the public eye.  You need more than just one outlet.  Selling music is a zero sum game.  Having all your eggs in the one basket, is not good risk management.  Spread out, diversify.

You need to connect with people.  It could take years or it could take days, so be prepared to put in time.  You probably will not be paid and any monies you are paid, would not be enough to support a family, but then again, all creative people create because they love it.  It is an outlet to them.  Somewhere through the years, this changed to people creating just to be paid, which is a shame.  Look back at all the masters of history, from Beethoven to Bach to Dali and Monet.  They created music and paintings, not to be paid in the millions, because they wanted too.

So don’t buy in to all of the piracy and copyright infringement bullshit, put forward by the entertainment industry’s lobby groups like the RIAA or MPAA or the labels/studios themselves.  Creativity can bring back many financial gains, you just need to be prepared to put in the time.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music, My Stories

Jesse Leach – What Do Ya Mean I Don’t Write Good Lyrics

I am always asked the question, how can I like a band like Killswitch Engage and then like bands like Kiss, Motley Crue, Bon Jovi or Bruce Springsteen at the same time? The answer is easy, I like music. I don’t care how people look, I don’t care what niche they are playing too. If the music is good and the song is good, I am interested. When I tell them that Chuck Schuldiner from Death is a song writing influence I get blank stares, like who is Chuck?

So I have been cranking the new Killswitch Engage album, Disarm the Descent on the headphones recently. I normally hear albums when they come out, and then I put them into four folders, the YEAH folder, the POTENTIAL folder and the SO SO folder. Of course the fourth folder is the TRASH.

The YEAH folder basically has albums or songs where on first listen through, grabbed my attention all the way through. The POTENTIAL folder has albums that have between four to six good songs. The SO SO folder has albums that have 1 to 3 good songs. I normally go back to the YEAH folder and those albums end up on my iPod for constant rotation.

Going back to the story, the Killswitch Engage album ended up in the YEAH folder on first listen through and the new TesserAct album Altered State will join it soon when it comes out officially. If any fans haven’t heard these albums, you can hear them in their entirety on YouTube. The TesserAct album is streamed by their label Century Media. This is interesting, as Century Media once upon a time pulled their whole catalogue from Spotify and other streaming services due to the low fraction of a cent payment per stream. The Century Media catalogue is now back in the streaming game however it looks like they are getting an additional stream income, by streaming albums before their release.

As every Killswitch fan knows, this is Jesse Leach’s comeback into the Killswitch Engage family. In my view, his comeback was set in stone by the excellent Times of Grace project that involved Adam Dutkiewicz and Jesse Leach.

I saw Times of Grace at the University of Sydney Roundhouse in 2012. It was a Machine Head gig, with Times of Grace opening, Shadows Fall on second, Chimaira was on third and then Machine Head. This was a side-show for the bands, as all of them appeared on the Soundwave Music Festival.

The touring band was Adam Dutkiewicz on guitars, Jesse Leach on vocals along with Joel Stoetzel from Killswitch Engage on guitars, Matt Bachand from Shadows Fall on bass (even though he plays guitar with Shadows Fall) and Dan Gluszak from Envy On The Coast on drums.

I am getting side tracked again. This post is about Killswitch Engage. Verdict on the album, I prefer Times of Grace.

How does the new Killswitch stack up against other 2013 metal and rock releases; This release is in my top 10 of releases for the year so far.

It’s brutal, it’s heavy and it makes me want to break stuff. It’s sorrowful, its melodic and it carries a message of power and hope. As expected, it has the usual progressive elements that Killswitch Engage are renowned for. The melodic stuff is done top-notch and Jesse Leach is exactly where he should be. No offence to Howard Jones, he sang on three brilliant Killswitch albums, however to me, it was just a matter of time before Jesse was back in the fold.

One thing is clear, Jesse is a brilliant lyric writer, so here is a selection of brilliant lyrics written by Jesse Leach.

1. Strength In Numbers – from the Times of Grace self titled album.

Our roots must balance our branches

This line speaks a million words to me. Before we branch out in our lives (this can be anything from a personal or professional viewpoint), how strong are our roots. Can our roots balance what we want to do. It’s that old saying, the foundations need to be strong before anything else can be done.

2. Fall From Grace – from the Times of Grace self titled album.

Aspirations bled dry
Eyes that once beamed with hope now only stare in remorse
Even through this pain
I will feel again
Even through these tears
I will love again

It doesn’t matter how bad it is, and how much we suffer. We still have this feeling that things will get better, that we will love again, that we will better people from the experience. It is this hope distortion field that all humans have, regardless if they believe in God or in something else. Even The End of Eternity which is from the same album has a similar theme “We are blind, our future’s crushed and forgotten, Destroyed by guilt, But there is beauty, There is life, hold fast for this could be, the end of eternity.”

Again the same message, from all the destruction of our dreams and hopes, there is still a beauty to be found, and that beauty is life. That is what no one tells you at school. Spending our younger years thinking that we are immortal, and then spending our thirties and forties as slaves to the tax system, trying to find out on what side of the income inequality gap we are on. No wonder I am on blood pressure medications. In Due Time from the new Killswitch Engage album deals with similar themes. “All that we suffer through leads to determination, the trials we all go through gives us the strength to carry on, something within us burns, desire feeds the will to live, a reason to believe I will see redemption.”

All the hardship and suffering we face strengthen us. Anyone that tells you they haven’t experienced hardship or suffering are lying. Our will to live gives us the desire to rise up again and again and again. The message is the same, it doesn’t matter how bad life gets, we always find to see the beauty of the day.

3. Live In Love – from the Times of Grace self titled album.

Don’t mistake kindness and compassion for weakness,
It takes so much more strength to be selfless and live in love.

Again another statement that puts a thousand different meanings into my head. I have gone out of my way to help others and all I expected back was respect. I wonder why when you show someone kindness, in time they then believe that they have the right to walk over you. There is always one or two that ruin everything. Rise Inside from the Killswitch Engage, Alive or Just Breathing album conveys the same message, “The time has come to make a difference, Why have we forsaken love, The time has come to raise our voices, So rise up and fight with me.”

 

4. Numbered Days – from the Killswitch Engage, Alive of Just Breathing album.

This is the voice of the voiceless,
We have learned by making choices

That is the only way to grow. Make choices. Don’t be a follower, be a leader. Some choices will pay off and some will hurt. We all have a voice these days. The internet made sure of that. My Last Serenade – from the same album, also covers the same ground, with the lyrics, “Your destination is a choice within yourself, Will you rise or become a slave.”

So the next time you come across a person, complaining about their lot in life, remind them, that they are this destination, due to a choice they made once upon a time.

5. The Forgotten One – from the Times of Grace self titled album.

Lead me to the crossroad, I can find my way home
Devils on my back and angels in between
The scars and dreams that made me believe
Where’s the crime scene in remembrance to me
When our eyes meet do you know the man beneath
Walk the line between desperate and redeemed

The classic story of making a deal with the devil at the crossroads. How far will we go to make it? That is what the whole verse is about. We walk a fine line in life. We can be sinners and saints. The crime scene depends on which side of the line we fall. If we choose to betray the ones we love, so that we can get ahead, will we still see the real person inside of us, when it comes time to look into our eyes.

6. Something’s Got To Give – from the Seemless self titled album.

All your money and possessions,
They mean nothing in the span of time

Isn’t that so true. In the end we all die. We will either be buried or cremated. We live with a large income quality gap. When judgement day comes, death doesn’t discriminate. There is no death gap.

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Music

Eurovision 2013 and Roid Rage

I just watched semi final number 2 and I came across Eythor Ingi from Iceland.  He sang a ballad called I Am Alive.  The song is average, however his voice, his look and his name stuck in my head.

So what do I do?  I go on to YouTube and search for his name.  He is in a Deep Purple cover band and he covers Child In Time.  If you want to separate the vocalists from the wannabe’s, Child In Time is the song.

He nails Ian Gillan.  Why did he do a ballad?  This guy has got some serious vocal chops. He never used them. The pressure to fit into a style, into a format.  When are people going to wake up. Uniqueness wins all the time.

At least Eythor lives up to his Thor viking name.  He doesn’t need steroids like Tim Lambesis from As I Lay Dying.  The latest on the hit man for hire saga is that the he was suffering from “roid rage” and that he “lost God”.  Fair enough, however I fail to see how that is a defense to organising a hitman.  I think it’s time that Lambesis takes responsibility for his actions.

Anyone heard the new Five Finger Death Punch song, Lift Me Up.  How similar is the vocal line in the verse to The Ultimate Sin from Ozzy.  It’s catchy.  It gets be head moving and it gets my foot tapping.

Rob Halford guests.  It seems to be that everyone is doing the same thing now, getting guest musicians and releasing two albums within 6 months of each other.  Coheed and Cambria did it, Stone Sour did it and now Five Finger Death Punch are doing it.

Finally, Bon Jovi pre-sales via Showbiz have not sold out as yet.  I went on line again and i can still purchase 4 platinum tickets.

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Music

Bon Jovi – What About The Free Fall? Hello to 133.

Another week, another drop for the greatest album Bon Jovi has ever done.

In eight weeks, What About Now has gone from Number 1 to Number 133.  The Greatest Hits album is at 182 and it has been out for a long time, so I am predicting that What About Now will free fall past the Greatest Hits album out of the Top 200.

It’s time to set John Shanks and Billy Falcon free.  Find a new producer, like James Michael.  Set Billy Falcon free.  Find a new songwriting partner.  Get Phil X to contribute music.  It’s time to bring the rock back.  It’s time to write an album for your audience and not for a teenage market that doesn’t care about you.

And what is happening with Richie Sambora?  The fans deserve to know the truth.  Is he in or is he out?  Is he going to join the tour at all?   

The days of Richie Sambora being in Bon Jovi appear to be over.

Will another Bon Jovi album be released?  I don’t think so.  No one cares about it, if it is crap and that is exactly what the current album is, CRAP served on a grand scale.

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Copyright, Music, Piracy, Stupidity

Fans Rushing The Stage – Part 2 – Copyright As Censorship

It looks like the video I was linking too in this post, was taken down from YouTube, due to a copyright complaint filed by SME (Sony Music Entertainment).  This is wrong on so many levels.

For starters, there is no music playing on the footage.  So I am struggling to understand how this infringes on any copyright.

Next, Motley Crue is signed to their own label, Eleven Seven Music, and the distributors are Universal Music Group and RED Distribution, LLC which is a Sony Music Entertainment division that handles distribution for independent record labels.

Again, this is a very far reach from SME to say that they own the copyright to a fan filmed video, that first has no music in it and it is from a band that is on their own label and use a division of SME for distribution ONLY.

I see this as legacy industries using Copyright as Censorship.

What these legacy industries fail to understand is that the internet is a copy system.  Here it is again.

And again.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music

I Don’t Believe In Love – Queensryche

Queensryche were opening up for Metallica when Operation Mindcrime exploded.  It was a ballsy move to do a concept album as they weren’t really established yet.  In the history of concept albums (Coheed and Cambria and Madina Lake are exceptions here), the bands normally make the concept album once they become established and see a certain amount of success.

I Don’t Believe in Love was written by Chris DeGarmo and Geoff Tate.  It was on the Operation Mindcrime album that was released in 1988.  The album was produced by Peter Collins.  Although the song is part of a larger story, on its own this song tells its own story.

The female character in the story, Mary, has just died. Nikky the male character believes it was him that did it, due to his drug habit, he has black outs and struggles to remember. He was even given the mission to kill Mary by the villain of the story Dr X.  When Nikky refused to do it, Mary was brainwashed by Dr. X to kill herself.

Every open hand’s there to push and shove
No time for love it doesn’t matter

What a line.  That is life in a nutshell.  From the day we are born, people are pushing and shoving us into what they want us to be.  No wonder we are all damaged a little bit.  How can we love, when we don’t even know who we are.  The person we see in the mirror is the molded one, the imposter.

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A to Z of Making It, Music

Far From Being Normal – That Is Why We Love Them

I remember a band member once asking me, what do I believe needs to be done to make it.   I always had the viewpoint that successful people are far from being normal.  The ones that make it had something to prove to someone.  There could be abandonment issues, broken homes, mental issues, drug dependencies or some other X factor.  Of course, there are the 1 percents of the small 1 percents of people who make it, that just keep on persisting their way to the top.

Let’s look at Motley Crue.  Nikki Sixx was the driver of that vehicle and look at his childhood. 

Machine Head’s driver is Robb Flynn.  He was adopted.  He had something to prove. 

Metallica at the beginning was all Dave Mustaine.  He was the one that had something to prove as he had the abandonment issues from Mustaine Senior.  Once he was ousted, it was all James Hetfield.  His Christian Science upbringing was the catalyst.  Lars was the connections guy in the band, while James was the driver.

Van Halen had David Lee Roth, the troubled son from a renowned eye surgeon.  Yes, I know that Eddie Van Halen wrote the music and the riffs, however DLR was the show, the ideas man, the troubled teen that had something to prove.

Megadeth had Dave Mustaine.  Mustaine had something to prove when he was in Metallica and after his ousting he really had something to prove. 

Dream Theater had Mike Portnoy.  Portnoy’s mum died in a plane crash and his step dad was a prick.  Talented as John Petrucci is, if Mike Portnoy wasn’t there, Dream Theater would never have made it.  Portnoy delivered the X Factor.

Slipknot had Corey Taylor. Corey had even overdosed twice in his teens.

Something to think about when our heroes mess things up.

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Music

Bon Jovi – What About dropping 20 places to 96?

The Bon Jovi tour juggernaut continues to book shows around the world.  Richie Sambora is still out due to personal reasons or issues.

The Australian tour just had Kid Rock added to the schedule.  Big thumbs up to Kid Rock for selling $20 concert tickets to his U.S. shows, as well as taking a cut on merchandise, parking and other sales.

Interesting to note, that Bon Jovi’s tour of Australia will be offering $32 ticket prices to Telstra customers.  However, this doesn’t mean that Bon Jovi is taking a loss or a pay cut.

Bon Jovi still get paid the monies offered to them.

This is Telstra taking a hit, so that they can push their brand even more.  This is Telstra sending a message out to fans of live music.  Telstra is saying, “Hey check us out, we are a real game player in the selling of cheap tickets to great live shows.”

However in order for the music lover to purchase, they need to be a Telstra customer.  So Telstra will be expecting a surge in memberships, which in turn, will be a surge in revenue.  It will be a big win for Telstra.

As a Telstra shareholder, I can’t complain with that.  Maybe they will increase their dividend payments one of these days?  What kind of $32 tickets they will be for a venue that fits 40,000 plus remains to be seen.

In the meantime, What About Now, the album described as the best thing we have ever done, by both Jon and Richie, continues to fall away on the charts.  After 7 weeks it’s down to position 96.

In comparison, the Greatest Hits album that Bon Jovi released in 2010, is still charting and selling.

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Classic Songs to Be Discovered, Music

Saraya – Love Has Taken It’s Toll and Runnin Out Of Time

The band was formed in New Jersey, by Sandi Saraya and keyboard player Gregg Munier.  One of the first names they had was Alsace Lorraine.  They then travelled to LA to make it.  They didn’t make it and returned home broke, ready to start over again.  In interviews from 1989, Saraya has stated that the other members didn’t have the same commitment.  This always leads to tensions.   So the band dissolves and the nucleus of Saraya and Munier start again.  They keep on writing new songs.  Then songwriting great Sandy Linzer came into the picture.

Linzer assisted the band in obtaining management with David Sonenberg.  Sonenberg then organised an audition for Saraya and Munier, with Polygram Records.  The rest is history.  Saraya and Munier secured a record deal.

Throughout all of this Linzer was still in the picture, assisting Saraya and Munier in fine tuning the songs they had been writing.

Guitarist Tony Bruno Rey joined during this period, bringing along with him his other Swift Kick band mates, bassist Gary Taylor and drummer Chuck Bonfante.

Songwriting for the album took over a year.  Before Saraya signed with Polygram, she turned down another major label deal, because the label said to her, that all she needs to do is wear a skirt and they will find the songs for her.

The first album was released in 1989.  It was produced by Jeff Glixman.

I actually made the decision to purchase the album because I saw Glixman as the producer.  He had produced albums that I liked a lot, like Leftoverture and Point of Know Return from Kansas, Corridors of Power and Victims Of the Future by Gary Moore, The Eternal Idol by Black Sabbath and the classic Odyssey from Yngwie Malmsteen featuring the talented Joe Lynn Turner on vocals.  So to me it was a no brainer, Jeff was the man.  I wasn’t disappointed.  Production was world-class.

Love Has Taken It’s Toll was the lead single, and it is the opposite of what Timeless Love is.  It’s a classic rocker.  The song is written by Sandi Saraya, Tony Bruno Rey and Sandy Linzer.  The vocal track you hear from Sandi, is the dummy vocal that she recorded as a guide for the rest of the band.  She did it so good, it was decided that it should be used as the final cut.

I remember reading in an interview, that one of her influences was Glenn Hughes and that he never got the attention he deserved.  Fast forward 24 years, and it is the same for Sandi Saraya, she never got the attention she deserved.  She had impeccable timing, a bluesy swagger and sex appeal to match the vocals.

Runnin Out Of Time has that Ritchie Blackmore feel, sort of like Speed King, Highway Star and Death Alley Driver from Deep Purple and Rainbow all merged into one.  It’s written by Sandy Linzer, Gregg Munier and Sandi Saraya.  The lead break by Rey is a song within a song composition.  The guitar work is unbelievable and the Saraya is pushing her voice to the limit.  It feels like it’s she’s going to blow her voice at any minute.  This is my favourite track on the album.  It was exactly what I was into at that time.   Sandi said that one of her favourite instruments is a Charvel Jackson RR Flying V.  I am assuming that she wrote quite a few riffs for the album.  

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Music

Thirty Seconds To Mars

This is one band that I never expected to get into, however the very Tool / A Perfect Circle sounding first album got my attention back in the early days of the 2000’s and A Beautiful Lie solidified it.  This Is War had its epic moments and so far the new album LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS is shaping up to be another monster.

I am really digging Conquistador.  You can hear it being performed in a large arena.  It feels like that is what they had in mind during the writing stages, the big anthem.  Even it’s opening riff, reminds me of early Black Sabbath for some reason.  Maybe due to the fact that I have been cranking early Sabbath recently.

Shannon Leto on drums is very underrated.  A lot of the songs from Thirty Seconds To Mars have significant drum patterns that really take the songs to another level.  (I still remember the We Will Rock You pattern that Shannon did for Vox Populi from the This is War album).

It’s the complete opposite to the first single Up In The Air.  That is another form of promotion that Jared Leto has down pat.  Chalk it up to his acting days.  Each video clip is a statement, a mini movie, a saga.  It’s very rarely over in 4 minutes.  I really like that part of the band.  Two out of two so far.

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