I love getting your feedback, comments and emails. And I love getting reactions out of people. I will even blog about an opinion that I don't even necessarily share just to see the reaction it gets.
I'm the type of person that will start argument over a belief I don't even have just for the sake of arguing, or to test how strong the other persons beliefs are.
But most of the time these are my actual opinions.
I'm almost 40, I don't like new music. I hate Dave Grohl for being nothing more than a celebrity who produces extremely lame and formulaic "pop" rock. I thinkTrent Reznor's best days ended in 1994 with "The Downward Spiral." I believe Kurt Cobain's death was a suicide not some far reaching conspiracy, and I hate The Blues as well as bands like KISS, Creed, U2 and Bon Jovi and 80's Hair Metal. I think guitar players today wear their damn guitars way too low and I find Heavy Metal just too damn loud these days.
I love Classic Rock like The Beatles, and Pink Floyd and old Punk Music like The Sex Pistols, and Iggy Pop, and 90's Music like Nirvana and Alice in Chains, and some bands currently making music like Radiohead and The Black Keys. I also like System of a Down. I miss the old days of sex, drugs and rock and roll, and I think all rock stars should take heroin. That's a little about me. What about you?
I reserve the right to provoke my audience. Any reaction as long as your reading being entertained and leaving feedback is all I care about.
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I want to do a series with some special guest contributors. If you're a musician, or maybe you're even just having sex with a
musician, then message me and tell me what you want to write about. If you're a musician with mental health issues then thats even better.
Get a hold of me and pitch me your idea and of course you'll get to plug whatever you want.
“…it is a massive change and it does alter the fact that people don’t make as much money out of records. But I have a take on that – people only made money out of records for a very, very small time. When The Rolling Stones started out, we didn’t make any money out of records because record companies wouldn’t pay you! They didn’t pay anyone! Then, there was a small period from 1970 to 1997, where people did get paid, and they got paid very handsomely and everyone made money. But now that period has gone. So if you look at the history of recorded music from 1900 to now, there was a 25 year period where artists didvery well, but the rest of the time they didn't. - Mick Jagger
In the midst of great waves of negativity these days about how file sharing is killing the music industry, Mick Jagger put things into perspective.
With everybody these days crying about how musicians can't make money anymore, I propose the following:
Historically, The vast majority of musicians never made any money anyways.
Even in the 70's & 80's during the height of rock, metal, excess and rockstardom, only a small elite ever made substantial money. There was no parity in the music industry back then. You had the 1%, the wealthy elite on one end and everyone else just struggling to get by on the other.
The Old Paradigm
In the old system, labels financed the making of albums and released music for a major cut of your profits. But record advances need to be paid back and releases that didn’t sell combined with changes in policy due to the ever changing trends of the musical landscape meant your band would most likely be dropped before ever seeing a single dime.
Power to the People
The rise of the internet in modern music has cut out the middleman that were the record companies. It doesn't even make sense in this day and age to even have a record deal and give away money and creative control when the technology exists these days to make and distribute quality music to a mass audience on your own.
The internet has made it possible for artists to reach out directly to fans. This means more money for the artists...or at least the potential for more money anyways. A new musical middle class who may not be making Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin money but at least have the potential to make a living by playing music.
A Double-Edged Sword?
Bands and artists that never would've made it through the front door of a record studio 20 years ago are releasing albums directly to anyone on the planet with internet access.
I know this isn't rock music but just to illustrate that even now, recording artists like Macklemore can debut an album at no 1. on i-tunes just by the sheer power of just having an intelligent social media presence.
The good thing is that with record companies no longer having complete control of the music industry the power to be in complete control of your music destiny is back in the artists hands. Anyone can make and distribute music.
The bad thing is that anyone can make and distribute music. Any asshole with a laptop can make an album.
There's a lot of crap to weed through out there, but this is the best time ever for artists to be in total control over how their music gets made and distributed. You're never gonna get a record contract and besides you don't want one anyways. MTV is dead and you're shit is prob never gonna make the radio. Online is the new market whether you like it or not, so you can either embrace it...or you can be destroyed. MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
WHY YOU LOOK LIKE AN ASSHOLE WHEN YOUR GUITAR STRAP IS TOO LOW
I view these kids who play with their guitars too low in much the same way I view these kids who walk around with their pants hanging around their God damn ankles.
It doesn't make you look cool, it just makes you look like an ignorant, uneducated piece of trash.
You kids pull your god damn guitars back up!
I'm almost 40 now. Since life expectancy these days is roughly 78 years, that technically puts me in middle age. My beef with douchebags who wear their guitars too low makes me the musical version of the angry old man who's always yelling at the neighborhood kids to 'get the hell off my lawn!'
I believe in first impressions. For example, when I see someone wearing their pants around their ankles I get the impression that this is someone who mistakenly believes they look good when they really don't and are willing to stick to this erroneous belief even at risk of ridicule, unemployment and profiling by law enforcement.
When I see someone wearing their guitar too low I get the impression that this too is someone who mistakenly believes they look good when they really don't, and that "looking good with the guitar" is ultimately more important than anything you actually play on the guitar.
And as a lifelong guitar player, I hold the instrument in a much higher regard. Yes the way you play is important because playing a certain way is better for your technique.
I also believe that if you wanna play great music then you need to look like you're playing great music.
But I think its disrepecting to the guitar and to all the great guitarists in history to viewyour guitar as nothing morethan simply a fashion accessory.
Wearing your guitar too low also hinders the rest of your band as it doesn't present the music very well. If you truly did care about image then you would never wear your guitar like that.
What do you think presents the music better?
someone who wears their guitar this?
or
someone who wears their guitar this?
Besides, the lower your guitar hangs, the harder it is on your fret hand wrist, and your technique will suffer as a result.
In the photo above, Prince, shows how its done. You should have the guitar no higher or lower than belt level. This length looks best and is easy on the wrist, unless you have short alligator arms which in that case you may need to stop reading this and seriously consider changing hobbies.
CORRECT. One again take note of the fret hand wrist and how it is resting in a natural, un-inverted position.
Incorrect. Playing like this will also make you an alcoholic and will eventually kill you as Steve Clark has already so masterfully shown us.
Correct
Incorrect
A NOTE ON JIMMY PAGE
Techically, I would call this too low, but Jimmy Page is an exception to the rule. His arms are so damn long that he can comfortably play this low. Note how his fret hand wrist is still in a natural, unbent position.
Also, he's not calling attention to the fact he's playing low.
He's doing it with class unlike the following douches below...
HOWEVER
If you're wearing pants and you wear 'em too low you look like an asshole but if you wear them too high you also look like an asshole.
Don't rest the guitar on your belly, it looks lazy. Also note how wearing the guitar too high also leads to the un-natural position of the fret hand wrist.
Besides, wearing your guitar that high does not give the impression of confidence. It just makes it look like you're trying too hard, and you have not yet reached the level where you can just let it rip without a care in the world
like this...
Who do you think looks like the more confident, able guitarist?
someone who plays like this
someone who plays like this?
or
like this?
The first two DOUCHEBAGS just look like they're playing guitar.
Hendrix and Gilmour look like THE GUITAR IS PLAYING THEM.
And that right there is the next level I want you toreach.
Dave Grohl talks about the beauty of minimalism in music, but have you seen and heard the shit he's been doing in recent years? its far from minimalist, stripped down music.
Hey all you young douchebags, Dave Grohl was actually in another band before Foo Fighters, you should look into it.
All Star jam at the White House? in a suit and tie? This isn't rock n roll
Celebrity Jam with Paul McCartney at a benefit concert?
Riding Led Zeppelins coat tails at yet another all star jam?
Another celebrity gig, the Kennedy Center Honors from 2012. You can't host an all star concert without Dave Grohl having to be involved.
And once again the Kennedy Center Honors from 2008.
Nirvana forever changed the landscape of rock music. They rallied against what was the socially acceptable musical norms of the time. It was a breath of fresh air when music had become boring, predictable, commercial, stale, and way too overproduced and image-oriented.
Dave Grohl has become the very thing that Nirvana was against. He has become the U2 of this generation. Formulaic, adult comtemporary, garbage with absolutely no artistic merit or relevance, and much like U2 eager to seek the spotlight of any all star jam, or benefit concert that might happen along.
Ever since The Color and the Shape, the Foo Fighters have been making the exact same album over and over again.
Dave Grohl exists only to attend grammy ceremonies, walk red carpets, host cable television shows, perform at benefit concerts, play in all star jams, form superbands and release highly commercialized and formulaic music. He's not a rocker, he's not a musician. He's just a professional celebrity these days.
If Kurt Cobain was alive to see Dave Grohl play with The Muppets he'd a died of shame.
One of the biggest things that get on my nerves with guitar players is when a guitarist is performing in public and they can't take their eyes off the damn guitar.
Watch the Video
Do you think The Beatles ever would've conquered the world if Paul McCartney was staring at his bass trying to make sure he didn't fuck up instead of smiling so big that every teenage girl in the America wanted to fuck his brains out?
If you said yes stop reading right now and go pawn your guitar then use the money to buy new guitar strings so you can hang yourself.
Don't look at your guitar when you play! If you can't play without keeping your eyes fixated on the neck of your guitar then you need to keep practicing. Who do you think is going to have the better performing career?
Someone Who Plays Guitar Like This?
Or Someone Who Plays Guitar Like This?
Turn the lights off when you play, it'll help you get used to not looking at your guitar. And in the extremely unlikely event that your lame ass band that plays the Yorgurtini to a crowd of zero, ever made it big, you're going to be playing in big arenas and when there will be little or no lighting at times.
I'm suggesting to you that its not so much what you're playing as much as how you're playing it, look at your audience. The majority of the music listening public isn't interested in the finer points of guitar playing. Shit the majority of people don't even play guitar. Your audience wants to be entertained.
We must be willing to let go of the life we've planned , so as to have the life that is waiting for us - Joseph Campbell
Since my wife has left me, I've pretty much read everything from people like Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, and Eckhart Tolle that I could get my hands on. I've learned a lot about letting go, but I've realized that letting go of your painful emotions isn't enough, and I wanna share that today. But first, let's talk about what letting go means to most people.
Indiana Jones "Letting Go" and taking a leap of faith
The term "letting go" is kinda deceptive. Have you ever tried to let go? you can't. The harder you try to let go the more you find out you can't do it. Letting go is more about acceptance, and allowing. Accepting the present moment as it is, and allowing yourself to experience your emotions rather than suppressing, or ignoring them.
The mistake most people, including myself have made is to ignore your emotions, or numb yourself to them through drugs and/or alcohol until you feel better.
Then one day you realize, "oh wow, that doesn't bother me anymore! I must've gotten over it!." but you haven't gotten over it. In reality all you've done is anesthetize yourself until you get so used to your pain, that you no longer realize its there.It's kind of like that game 'whack a mole,' if you stuff your emotions down, they will simply resurface some other way.
I wish I had learned that lesson a lot sooner...
You must allow yourself to experience your emotions. Some people *cough, cough* (you know who you are) like to think they are protecting themselves by locking their emotions inside, but that actually has the opposite effect. You are just locking yourself inside with the very demon you are trying to avoid. It's actually kind of ridiculous when you think of it that way. If you just open the door the demon always goes away.
SOMETIMES TO REALLY PROTECT YOURSELF YOU MUST BE DEFENSELESS
You know how a computer can't function properly if you have too many applications running in the background? Every time you experience something and don't deal with the emotional outcome of it, that is one more 'application' running in your subconscious mind. Just like a computer experiences problems when its applications are left running unattended so do we. What are some of the things we experience when we build up emotions and experiences we can't let go of? Stress, Depression, Sickness, just to name a few.
Ok so we definitely want to let go of our attachment to our emotional pain by accepting that its there and allowing those emotions to express themselves so they can go away. Then we can have peace. But isn't peace just something else we can get attached to? We let go of our attachment to our pain only to get attached to our idea of peace. Anyone undergoing a painful situation in life can decide to let go of their pain,
BUT CAN YOU LET GO OF YOUR NEED FOR PEACE TOO?
What good is it to let go of your emotional pain, only to become so attached to this idea of peace that when it's inevitably taken away, it causes you that very same pain?
The only thing certain in this universe is uncertainty. Let go of literally everything including your need for peace. It seems contradictory but I've found that the way to achieve peace is by letting go of it.
THE ONLY REAL PEACE IS FOUND IN UNCERTAINTY.
IT'S ONLY AFTER WE'VE LOST EVERYTHING THAT WE'RE FREE TO DO ANYTHING - Tyler Durden
Do you sing, and are you dangerous? - question from youtube.
Ok, imagine, if you can Johnny Cash on heroin singing Lou Reed songs, then my singing voice sounds nothing like that.
Am I dangerous? ummm...well I don't own any weapons, and if I'm not required by law to notify anyone if I move. I probably bring a gentler, more mad/paranoid/genius brand of insanity to the table.
I hate the band Tool. I've pretended that I like them since the mid 1990's just so my other hard rock friends would think I'm cool like them, but I'm almost 40 now, I'm sick of pretending, and I don't care what people think anymore. So I'm going on the record,
I f*kkin HATE Tool.
ooh, you're not afraid to have a weird haircut, you're such a rebel, what an important social statement you're making, pffft!
I find their music, pseudo-intellectual garbage. So they wrote a song that corresponds to the Fibonacci Sequence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_%28band%29). So what, we're supposed think you're the Da Vinci Code of rock bands just because you can f*kking add?
Here's another song that corresponds to another famous 'sequence' This should be right up your alley.
Oh and you're so cool because you know who Bill Hicks is and you included bits of his act in your album? I tell you what here's the obscure comedian who I'm going to put in my album so I can be cool like you.
Oh yeah and there's the whole 'I can't face the audience.' You gotta be a real prick to expect people to cough up $15 bucks for a cd, $50 for a concert ticket and drink $10 beers all night, just to be told that the band's lead singer is more comfortable with his back to the crowd. Well you sure are comfortable taking your fans money, and what do they get in return? they get to see some douche sing to a wall?
F*ck you! act like a man! If you're man enough to take people's hard earned money, at least be man enough to face these idiots who are convinced you're some some sort of God, you big pussy.
Oh, whats that now?
the songs are a personal journey for him and he has a hard time with
the glare of the lights when he’s trying to reproduce these emotions for
the audience. He needs a bit of personal space, and he feels more
comfortable in the shadows - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_%28band%29
Well, I can't possibly imagine the kind of personal space needed to produce such heartfelt lyrical gems as:
My shadow's
shedding skin and
I've been picking
Scabs again.
What a personal journey that must've been when you wrote that, or did you steal it from a 14 year old, Hot Topic, Mall Goths poetry journal, which you found inside her Nightmare Before Christmas, Jack Skelton Lunch Box?
Besides the fact that I think "Maynard James Keenan" is the most ridiculous stage name since "Jello Biafra," he is a pretensious, asshole...want proof? In the following interview, he was asked 13 simple questions by this website and he can't give a straight answer to even the simplest question.
________________________________________________
1. Who are your heroes?
When you say “Heroes” do you mean like survivors or those who were lost and now found? Or do you mean like Super Heroes?
I don’t own any comic books, but I have seen their movies.
2. When was the last time you said today was a good day? What is today? Is today Tuesday? I’d have to look at a calendar
to pin point the exact day. But if Today is in fact Tuesday, it was
today.
I think. 3. What or who still inspires you to keep on keeping on? Again. I’m gonna need a few more details here. Some specific nugget that helps me direct my focus. Do you like nuggets? 4. What would you rather be doing right now? Nothing I’d rather be doing right now than what I’m doing that
is not the things I don’t like doing. Things that I don’t like doing I
generally don’t do now. I usually do them later or not at all. Many
activities fall into both of these categories. In the interest of
keeping these responses short, let’s narrow the scope to what would I
rather be doing now fully clothed and sober. And we’ll build from there. 5. If you weren’t making art, what do you think you’d be doing? Art is a very subjective individual with no patience or
patients since he lost his license to practice. To suggest that I made
him, although flattering, is a bit like idol worship on your part. You
should see a Doctor. Not Art though. That would be illegal. 6. Who would you rather eat dinner with, Danny Devito or Dog The Bounty Hunter? Heh. I had to read that question a few times. In my head it
said something different and I started to puzzle out what sort of
cuisine/spices would go well with a 1944 First growth Devito. But I
misread the question. So now I’m just hungry and embarrassed. 7. What makes you cringe? Is cringe a word? It must be cause spell check didn’t try to
spank me just now. I should look up the word cringe on Wiki to see if
they have some fun facts to go along with the definition… Pause… Ok. Not
a spin off music term emerging in the wake of the Seattle “Grunge”
phase those poor kids had to endure. There was Munge, Booodge, and
Fudgit. But no Cringe. So I’m at a loss. 8. Give us your best recipe? Let us have it! This reminds me of a Steven Wright joke. Something about instant water. “What do you add?” heh. That was funny. 9. Do you have hope for this new generation of kids who
worship Lindsay Lohan, suck down TMZ, download music (and have never
even owned one cd or lp) and fast food gobbling generation that is in
their teenage years right now? Or are they a lost cause? As long as they/she has an ID that says she’s 18 or older, it’s all gonna work out for someone. 10. What in the world is affecting you right now? WHOA! Why? Can you tell I’m distracted? That’s fuckin trippy.
Can you see me right now? Are you like that Romper Room chic with the
creepy ping pong paddle? I just woke up and I was up late working in the
winery. And my phone just rang, but I’m doing my best to focus on these
questions. Lighten up. 11. The 80′s or the 90′s? And why? Now you’re really freaking me out. I was just thinking of time
machines when you typed that. Or when I read it or whatever. Do you have
one? Is that code for you have one? Seriously? That would be very very
cool. 12. What could you NOT live with out? I assume you are excluding the obvious stuff. But fuck, dude.
If you have a time machine we wouldn’t need anything. We could just go
back and forth when we needed something. Like water. Or food. Or food
and shelter and clothing. From Barney’s. What can your time machine not
live without. THAT is the more important question, McFly. 13. Give the internet some words to live by…. I have no idea what that means.
Jeezus! would it kill you to just answer one f*kking question.
Tool lead their fans on into thinking that they're smarter than the rest of rock fans if they can find the hidden decoder puzzle in their lyrics, but its a bunch of bullshit.
The only puzzles that you unlock is that,
* wow, you can add numbers * wow, you looked up, evolution, organized religion and Carl Jung on wikipedia and read just enough to convince your legions of retarded fans, that you're so smart, and intellectual. _____________________________________________
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