I have been invited to perform at the San Antonio Loop Festival on November 9th
It is nice to be recognized for something I do that I feel has been under-appreciated for years
Plus, it is nice to be included when I am so different from all the Live Loopers
In the words of Fest Founder Noah Peterson “That’s some pretty wild stuff, what you do is pretty cool and a great use of tech. I think you’re more than interesting enough and clearly different enough for a slot.”
I hope to see my San Antonio friends at the show
I have finally gotten this site back into shape and am ready to tell you about all the new things that are happening at Rockulaproductions. Please check out the new page for Countrockula’s Theater for the Insane. I am currently playing drums for the band GIRL who will be playing about once a month. The plans for PyroPlasticFlow have been modified. I will be collaborating with Meat Pie on a new version that can adapt to situations such as conventions and theme oriented events. We hope to have something out by the Halloween season. In Video/DJ news, I am currently appearing monthly for Dropitindeep Productions and am very happy with the freedom they allow me and the courtesy they show...
Read MoreI was out front of the rehearsal studio crushing cans for the recycling and wondering why musicians can’t seem to finish their beer when I saw an 18 wheeler quickly slow down in the street
He put it in reverse and started to back into my lot
As some of you know, I am very protective of the property and have taken some very inventive steps in order to avoid confrontation with all manner of interlopers , from homeless zombies to douchebag construction companies loading their equipment and cracking our parking lot
This guy totally ignored the NO TRESPASSING sign posted at the front of the property and was attempting to turn his loaded 18 wheeler around in a parking lot that was never built for such pressures
I yelled at him to stop and told him that he was not allowed to turn around in our lot
H...
This is the latest episode of Countrockula’s Theater for the Insane!
Read MoreIt’s been about 4 months since my last update and my life has been a tumultuous one indeed
The biggest news being that I have parted ways with Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs
It was the result of a year long struggle of conflict and compromise that resulted in a stalemate that couldn’t be resolved
To put it simply, my playing style clashed with theirs
I was feeling constrained and they were feeling stretched thin
Or, to quote Mario “Your musical vocabulary is about 3 times the size of what the band can handle”
It happened a couple of weeks ago and, although I have told people the news in public and on social media, I have waited for a bit of distance from the situation so that I may comment upon it with a more balanced view
I can honestly say that this is the first time that I have left a ban...
I have been watching a lot of documentaries on the history of firearms lately and I have noticed a parallel between the evolution of civilization and that of war
On the surface, you see the side with the better weapons technology becoming the dominant culture
Under the surface, nations succeed when they abandon outdated tactics, technology and basic principals of thought
But what about Democracy?
Democracy is held up (mostly by the US) as the most civilized form of government on the face of the earth
Why?
Because it is a non-violent change of power which makes the old methods of conquest seem barbaric
The US set itself as a shining example of virtue and confidence in itself by leaving it up to chance every 4 years
Obviously, the gun was a necessary measure to protect the liberties and freedoms t...
Tonight will be the third show that I have played with Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs
This one is going to be much more challenging than the previous gigs
Those were 1 set shows that tend to go by very quickly and have a limited amount of technical issues that require me to pay attention
Most of the set so far has been songs with backing tracks and one transition
Tonight’s set at lee Harvey’s will be a 2 hour set with a completely different set list as well as several different transitions
All that require that I not make any mistakes
The steps leading up to this point have been hard ones indeed
Having to learn two sets of songs is stanard for the working musician and nothing too unreasonable but that’s when you have a whole band to rehearse and complete tracks to accompany the process
Th...
One of the stronger emotions I encounter on a regular basis is the need to disconnect from the rest of the world
Things happen to frustrate or damage me and I just want to shut everyone out I’m sure that everyone feels like this but my problem is that it happens quite frequently
My recent bout of drama has been particularly painful and it that withdrawl urge has been kicking in again
This led me to listen to one of the most important albums in my collection
Gary Numan always seemed to tap into that emotion (or lack therof) In an age where electronic artists were humans trying to sound like machines, Numan’s music seemed to assert the exact opposite It wasn’t the precision robot-like music that Devo was performing (which FUCKING RULES!)
Gary Numan always seemed to tap into that emotion (or lack therof) In an age where electronic artists were humans trying to sound like machines, Numan’s music seemed to assert the exact opposite It wasn’t the precision robot-like music that Devo was performing (which FUCKING RULES!)
It was as if machines were trying to immitate humans
Read More Acrylic drums aren’t anything new
Created by Bill Zickos in 1959, mass marketed by Ludwig in 1972 and popularized by John Bonham, these drums were referred to by the un-initiated as “see through” drums
There were endless variations of both solid and transparent colors (there were even drums made of various pieces of acrylic, forming stripes and swirls)
The originals aren’t considered to be very good quality drums due to the weakness/thinness of the shells and bad bearing edges Advances in chemistry and drum making technology in general produced much better quality acrylic drums by 2001 when Ludwig reissued them
Since then, there have been countless major and independant drum companies that have produced their own version but acrylic drums have remained pretty much the same in concept since...
A few months ago, I was approached by Lezlie of Scary Cherry and the Bang Bangs to see if I would play drums for them
They had been tennants at my rehearsal space for a while and eventually I produced a background video for their live show
Ayo had quit and they were looking to take the band in a different direction
They wanted to flesh out their live show with backing tracks as well as video
I had shown them videos of PyroPlasticFlow and they asked if I could facilitate them going multi-media
I saw this as an opportunity to stretch those compromise muscles and this was going to be a compromise on one of my biggest predjudices
Being in a female fronted band
Here’s a joke I’ve been telling forever-
What’s the upside of being in a female fronted rock band?
You don’t have to worry about how...
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