Everything always has to happen at the same time. We were all set to spend a weekend in Seattle when it was announced that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club would be playing a show at…a race track….in San Diego. Â Next thing you know, we’re adjusting flights and hotels, because when your band plays anywhere within a […]
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I didn’t think it could get any better than the three November Avalon shows. After hearing each album in it’s entirety, I went into this show feeling like it might be a bit anticlimactic. Â I got to see the near original line up in a fairly intimate venue play every song….now what? But what I […]
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You never have a relationship with an album like you do when you’re young. As you get older, everything you encounter is compared to what you experienced before it. There’s this sweet spot in every music lover’s life when they make a transition from things their parents or siblings listen to, to seeking out things […]
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“I’m on the list.” “That’ll be $5 per person” “No, you don’t understand…I’m on The List”. “But you’re not on That List” There’s nothing like having a group of 5 of your friends start snickering at your list drama, when you’ve been like ‘oh sure, I’ve got a hook up for Steel Panther….let’s go, it’ll […]
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Somewhere deep in LA pop culture history will lie the memories of the weekend of what was deemed ‘Carmaggedon‘. I started hearing about it as soon as I arrived, and the hysteria the week leading up to it was mind numbing. My opinion on the matter was this: every day on an LA freeway there […]
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“When you’re high, you never ever wanna come down…” I will perhaps spend my whole life seeing pieces of the bands I love the most, because I never got to see them in their prime. I’m at ground zero for the music scene I first fell for, deep in the Sunset Strip under the fading […]
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July 13, 2011 | I spoke with Faisal and Firas of Acrassicauda at their rehearsal space in Anaheim a couple days before they embarked on the second leg of their U.S. tour. They talked about their favorite road food, progress on their upcoming album, and how they REALLY need to get a new drum set!
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“How did you get into metal music?” This is a frequently asked question, and my usual answer is that I always have been. But I think it’s more interesting to analyze specifically how the obsession started and how it morphed into what it is today, as I stood in front of a three piece playing […]
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“The shadow’s creepin’, only one way left to go You hit the bottom where the silence only grows It’s never alone…” I remember adding this event to my calendar like it was yesterday but it was really a couple months ago which doesn’t sound long but it feels like an eternity because life is moving […]
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When I saw the documentary Heavy Metal In Baghdad a couple years ago, mouth agape, I never thought I would actually see them in person. It would be my first time to the famed Whiskey A Go Go, an American icon in live music…and it was strange to me that it was to see a […]
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>Here’s a repost of a piece I did for Metalluminati, which is aimed at bands and musicians.   Social media has changed our lives in many ways — most good, but some bad. It can be really overwhelming when faced with so many options to promote yourself. As both a user of most social […]
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“Rock ‘n’ roll is an attitude, it’s not a musical form of a strict sort. It’s a way of doing things, of approaching things. Writing can be rock ‘n’ roll, or a movie can be rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a way of living your life.” — Lester Bangs There’s a moment in every music lover’s […]
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July 1, 2011 | Steven Adler took some time to chat with me via phone the afternoon before his Adler’s Appetite show in San Francisco. He told me about his favorite gift to receive from fans, lessons learned from Dr. Drew, and his own definition of the word “groupie.” Catch Adler’s Appetite at The Key […]
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June 30, 2011 | I talked to Kirpatrick Thomas and Sasha Vallely of Spindrift before their show at Bordello in Downtown LA. Topics included their partnership with IFC and most recent video for ‘Hellbound’, the allure of the American West, the state of psychedelic music, and writing in the Gram Parsons room in Joshua Tree.
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I had what most might deem an unusual childhood. In a world of Disneyland vacations, Girl Scout troops, and summer camp as normal childhood touchstones, I did things that would make teachers raise eyebrows during show and tell. I was raised in the back of my family’s store, and building that business completely dominated my […]
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