9.4.05
Disaster Relief - My Thoughts On It and How to Choose Wisely!

Though we all should help out in this time of need. ESPECIALLY when it comes to our OWN PEOPLE!!! We as a Nation should help without hesitation when it comes to our domestic welfare. Screw the other countries, take care of those at home first!

Here's my take on a few things before I suggest how you donate and to WHERE, most importantly.

On one hand, I'm a bit hesitant to shell out any cash for the simple facts that the STATE of Louisiana is first to blame for not having made the appropriations in advance knowing fully well that only meeting the Levee standard to contain a Cat. 3 storm would suffice. They blame the Federal Govt. for not complying to aid in the building up of the levee. Yet, I blame the Governor and the one before them for not taking a stronger stance to stand as THE STATE OF LOUISIANA and not always expect the Feds to "come to the rescue". Knowing damn well after what happened last year with 4(!) hurricanes hitting Florida and the Gulf region last year alone.

We sometimes forget that we are the United STATES of America and should remember that there may be a period where we are forced to stand alone from time to time. In the days of yore, the States had to be somewhat dependant on themselves to survive and not to expect a lot from the Feds. Now with technology and instant gratification, they expect everything to happen yesterday.

I believe that Rapper Kanye West should be banned, boycotted and made a mockery of for his unwarranted remarks on a recent Fund Raiser in regard to calling Pres. Bush a racist. Not to mention that the "Media" only showed blacks as "looters" and whites as "looking for food". I pretty much only saw some blacks with televisions, CDs and DVD players in their hands and carts, not food!! As far as Pres. Bush, I feel he acted quite appropriately and very quickly in the time it took for him to go though all of the annals of bureaucracy and then going through the checks and balances that have been established and then only to be told that he should wait 1 more day to physically be there to ascertain the damage himself to assure it was safe. He was told the same thing at Ground Zero and told by the Secret Service to be careful to make sure the rubble he was going to stand on didn't cave in and cause him harm. He had a job to do. To rally the support of a nation and do his job as our leader! I salute him!!

Despite everyone's glorious opinion of our current President, I firmly believe that he shines the most as a humanitarian. Especially in the wake of 2 tragic moments in recent American history: 9.11 and Hurricane Katrina.

Now, all politics and opinions aside, we all want to help out. It's in our nature as humans and AMERICANS, first and foremost. However, be wise where you donate your hard earned cash to in this time of need. There's a lot of unsavory characters out there that would love to benefit from your generosity.

I recommed first hand, to check with any reputable religious organization or your local Red Cross or Salvation Army affiliates to take care of the goods. In some cases, money is a better choice than clothes and canned foods. Bottled water would be just fine. But these organizations can acquire the resources at a better rate than you or I for the simple fact they are non-profit and can buy in much larger quantities. So the case of bottled water you purchased for ex, may have cost you let's say, around 15-20 bucks. They can get them in bulk rate for about 5 bucks a case!! So just send them the money and try to get whatever tax write off sheets they may offer you for the itemization for this years tax list.

I also recommend to check out the reputable websites such as www.RedCross.org , www.SalvationArmyUSA.org , or www.FEMA.gov for starters. I went to the official list on the FEMA website to get a list of CONFIRMED charitable websites to choose from: I got a page listed from National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster http://www.nvoad.org/membersdb.php?members=National It has a comprehensive list of organizations to choose from. Some religious, others are accredited and registered orgs to choose from.

We can all do our part in the recovery. However, I think this will turn into an economic boom for the country. Especially in the South when the reconstruction of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama's hardest hit areas will begin. Sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways! "Oh how I wish I was in Dixie, Hor-ray! Hor-ray!..."

As they promised in 1865, "THE SOUTH SHALL RISE AGAIN!" and she shall be stronger for it!

7.18.05
I recently ran across this and it's not to shabby in the least! Enjoy!

10 reasons to have sex
WHO WANT'S TO HEAR GOOD, LOGICAL REASONS TO HAVE SEX?!!

1. Sex is a beauty treatment. Scientific tests find that when women make love they produce amounts of the hormone estrogen, which makes hair shine and skin smooth.

2. Gentle, relaxed lovemaking reduces your chances of suffering dermatitis, skin rashes and blemishes. The sweat produced cleanses the pores and makes your skin glow.

3. Lovemaking can burn up those calories you piled on during that romantic dinner.

4. Sex is one of the safest sports you can take up. It stretches and tones up just about every muscle in the body. It's more enjoyable than swimming 20 laps, and you don't need special sneakers!

5. Sex is an instant cure for mild depression. It releases endorphins into the bloodstream, producing a sense of euphoria and leaving you with a feeling of well-being.

6. The more sex you have, the more you will be offered. The sexually active body gives off greater quantities of chemicals called pheromones. These subtle sex perfumes drive the opposite sex crazy!

7. Sex is the safest tranquilizer in the world. IT IS 10 TIMES MORE EFFECTIVE THAN VALIUM.

8. Kissing each day will keep the dentist away. Kissing encourages saliva to wash food from the teeth and lowers the level of the acid that causes decay, preventing plaque build-up.

9. Sex actually relieves headaches. A lovemaking session can release the tension that restricts blood vessels in the brain.

10. A lot of lovemaking can unblock a stuffy nose. Sex is a natural antihistamine. It can help combat asthma and hay fever.

So have yourself a cup of this natural java but be wise about who and how you do it!!

6.28.05
I recently read this blog on a MySpace prog\file from Amanda from GB Management in Hollywood, CA. I'm reprinting it here and giving her full credit. Hope she doesn't mind. My response to it will be after which rounds out the points from both of us, perfectly.

"Some general advice (that I seem to be giving a lot lately...)"
As some of you know, I get a lot of requests to review bands (and I love doin it, so keep those tunes comin)... I do this for many reasons.... a couple of the main reasons are (1) I love music and (2) I love helping bands get to where they want to be. If my humble opinion and advice can be of assistance, then I LOVE sharing it. I like to think that even if I have something "negative" to say that it's delivered in a way that is painless and digestable.

One bit of advice that I seem to be doling out a lot lately is about songs. WRITING WRITING WRITING. As bands trying to "make it" you need to have STRONG songs... now more than ever before.

Some ideas....

1. If you think you have an AMAZING SONG, have a complete stranger listen to it. (And don't tell them you're in the band.) You want honesty. You want an outside ear. Make sure it's a music fan - and someone that likes the type of music that you're making. (i.e. dont ask a dude driving a pick-up truck with a Metallica sticker on the back if he likes your tunes that sound like Maroon 5...)

2. "Analyze" the songs YOU like and pay attention to WHY you like them. I'm not suggesting that you try to be someone else - or copy someone else. I just tend to hear a lot of songs without a strong structure... or no hook... or no chorus... get what I'm saying?

3. The best songs are gonna be songs that are genuine. Just like I truly appreciate genuine performances, I also appreciate genuine songs. Don't try so hard!

4. Revisit old song ideas. There could be a song that you started writing a year ago and got SO stuck that you gave up on it. Now that some time has passed, bring it out again. Dust it off. See what happens.

One of my complaints of this industry (that I hope is changing) is that labels were being lazy... and allowing bands to be lazy too. "Give us 3 - 4 singles"... are you kidding? Remember when you could listen to an album from track 1 thru track 11 and NEVER skip a song??? We stopped getting that. For a while, every band who had a decent sound and a decent look was getting a record deal. Some labels even had the "lets throw everything against the wall and see what sticks" mentality. That's when money was really flowing. Before napster. Before itunes. Before mergers. But now the industry has been forced to raise their standards... and now it's up to bands to give us what we crave - AMAZING MUSIC. It's up to YOU to provide us that music. (And I know you can do it.)

Just write write write. Once you start getting into the groove, you'll be amazed at what you can come up with. And when you've written your "BEST SONG EVER".... send it to me. I can't wait to hear it!

Thanks, everyone! Keep it up! You all rock! (I know that sounds super-cheesey, but I honestly do mean it.)"

My response:
" Excellent and well written yourself! I don't think you could have summerized it in plain-jane English. I've actually found myself saying this alot lately as well. The main thing that I see is the bands focus more on their sound and their angst styled delivery. The screamo stuff needs to end and I see that trend starting to slowly die off, thank God!!

The bottom line is you want to write songs in 1 of 3 ways. 1. Has to be a great song overall, this is vague but you know what I mean.

2. Has to be something you'll be proud of further down the road. Nothing like writing a song about how pissed off you are at the fact Kerry lost or other political trends.

3. Most importantly, something you can play LIVE. Take KISS for ex. Paul's stuff is good and simple. It also means he can still do all the stage antics he wants without missing hardly any chords at all. Plus, your voice changes over time. You might be able to scream your lungs out, but what about in 5, 10 or 20 years? Take Geoff Tate from Queensryche. The man still has a gorgeous voice, but his range isn't as high as it was during "Queen of the Reich". See my meaning?

5.22.05
STAR WARS EP III - Simply put in a quote by Vader himself..."Impressive. Most Impressive."

Saw it at the 12.05 showing on opening night in Huber after work w/ a couple of co-workers. Best of the new series by far and yes, does tie Empire as the best overall.

Gives IV a whole new outlook and appreciation. However, I'm still not going to watch the originals until III's on dvd. Then I'll get the whole set and just couch potatoe it for 12 hours one long weekend! Impressive, would that be not?

I saw why the pg-13 rating was applied. Totally correct. However, I felt the end of the film was a bit rushed. Vader being "built" could've been just a tad bit longer. Seeing the parts come into the room and his reaction to them one at a time would've been cool.

And the funeral of Padme was not somber enough. Really didn't feel as much of a loss there as it should have made us felt. Yet, Vader didn't really react to as I felt he should have. Especially, in essence, since the emperor lied to him.

12.24.04
Though almost everyone here in America celebrates some sort of holiday in December, there are some that do not. However and whatever holiday it may be perhaps regarding your faith, it's still a universal message of giving that counts. Doesn't matter if you believe in the celebration of the recognized day of Jesus Christ's birth or not. The main concept of the season is still the same. The main problem these days are the materialistic drive and the diverse religious and non-religious ideologies that come with it.

In other words, have a great holiday, whichever holiday it may be. Slainte!

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12.12.04
This weeks' entry pertains to the importance of well laid out album credits and the option of liner notes.

Let's start with the credits first. Why are they SO important? Simple. Giving thanks where thanks is due. Especially for a solo artist, no one is an island in this ocean that we call the entertainment business! So, it's imperative to thank those who have worked with/for you in your quest for a career. Besides, nothing is cooler than having your name listed in an artists' credits as a testament to how much you mean to them. However, try to avoid the usual crap like, "You know who you are", "Not enough room but fill in the blank____" (that's a real low class one!) If the later is the case, then heartfelt comments like, "Due to the restrictive amount of space herein, I cannot thank everyone that I'd need to but know that I could not have gotten to this point without you!" or something to that effect.

In my youth as a fine collector of music, I would always look at every nook and cranny of an album to find discrepancies and other oddities to compare to. Especially with my KISS albums. I did find a few things that mattered in the collection process. Some track arrangements were incorrect, labels on records were different and other attributes that make the album unique. Sometimes a simple mistake can become a very collectible item! Let's go into this subject for just a moment...

For example, the KISS solo albums. They were rushed out so fast that many of them had the wrong labels put on the records!! You'd buy Gene's album and Peter's label info was on the disc! On an earlier version of Paul's solo album on CD, I've got a copy that had some trash in the facial area while it was being printed. In the printer trade, and as a printer, this is called a few different names, but for layman's terms, we'll just call it "trash" that got into the printing area. Namely, in this case, near Paul's left eye. But the trash effected the magenta as well as the cyan areas and actually makes it appear that he's got a purple tear coming from his eye! In brief, a 4-color process picture consists of CMYK - cyan, magenta, yellow and black. These are the main colors in the spectrum that allow us to associate color. Any other variation on these gives us the colors we see. These are also referred to "full-color" prints. A lot of your solid colored areas are referred to as "spot-color". Such as a solid background, in this case, the black b/g on the solo albums.

Now, anyone who has ever been a serious KISS fan knows most of the people that have been thanked in the liner notes of the records. They help interweave the KISStory of the band. Especially Peter's solo album. They are people from his old band as well as lifelong friends of his.

It's also an opportunity to use them for liner notes. Their purpose is to help your listener/fan being able to associate with you on a more personal level and to see the point of view of your artistic vision. Especially if it is a concept album of sorts or has a lot of personal feelings. Some albums for artists can be very autobiographical. Such as Britney Spears' "Britney" album or Rob Halford's "Resurrection". Good conceptual albums might be STYX's "Kilroy Was Here", King Diamond's "Them" or Queensryche's "Operation: Mindcrime". They often had liner notes that led into the album prior to the actual listening experience so as to give you a reference point of where it's coming from.

Liner notes that best stick out are on some well done Greatest Hits albums or some of the last few W.A.S.P. albums. They are usually a great way to associate your fans with you and your thoughts.

Lastly, I've had the great privilege of being mentioned in a few albums from artists/bands and have tried to frame those for display. It's a great feeling to know that someone realized how much I've had a hand in their work and thanked me for it. When it comes time to finalize TheHMD.com's album projects that are in the works, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a great credits listing as well as liner notes!
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11.29.04
I was shittin' kittens when I was watching the Bourne Supremecy last night to see that MIAMI VICE was finally coming out on DVD(!?!?!?) First thing I said was, "I read a letter from MV.org that they weren't even gonna consider it due to the royalties situation."

Ahh, but what is the catch? Will all of the music be intact as it was originally intended or is this just another Universal money maker to feed their machine and to give a damn about the real fans?

I think it's because of 3 things, actually. 1. The nostaglia of the 80's is FINALLY starting to come back. I see it in the retro programs like the "Retrosexual 80's" on VH-1 as well as the other 80's shows they carry almost 24/7 now!

2. I can also see it in the music,the fashion trends and in the movies. More or less, with the passing of Pres. Reagan this year made this generation wanted to know who this man was and why we held such high regard for him. (R.I.P. Ronnie!)

Most of us in the 80's always thought of him as "our" president. A grandfatherly man who knew how to play hardball with the commies. Which was the great fertile ground for a lot of the 80's ideals. Not to mention that MV was MTV's first cousin. So the lifestyle of the 80's was pretty enigmatic!

You can also see the comback for MV through it's "offspring". Jan releases his double album, though it's stillmissing several tracks. Grand Theft Auto - Vice City is sooooooo obvious. Fast & Furious 2 was based in Miami. CSI - Miami is pretty blatent. Let's face it, the culture is screaming for some real television that has fash and balls to create style like MV did in the 80's. Remember trying to wear the sockless loafers in the northern states like Mich and Ohio in the late fall early winter? BUUURRRRR I did!

Not to mention, gives a good reason for people to stay home. Perhaps that's it, the Gov't was scared to death of having another MV-esque show on for fear that the economy would go down again on Friday nights since everyone had to stay home to watch MV, Dallas and the lot! LOL

Some of the MV stars are still active in the careers on a fairly good scale to be seen. And the look is finally coming back! Let's just hope that the appitiete for drugs doesn't come with it.

3. Yet it does come down to money!! With the flood of 80's era television coming out on DVD it takes it to a new level! Our kids are experiencing what we always knew...THE 80's WERE COOL!! Now it's coming home to roost with the ability to be popped in whenever we so see fit to watch it in our busy schedule. But the companies, Universal in particular as being the biggest, see the big dollar investment in the older cataloged shows they've sat on for years. An excellent commodity. And with the really cool interactive movies they use for the root menues, I can only imagine how cool it will be. Needless to say, A lot of us are gonna be quite busy doing nothing but sitting on our bums watching the season 1 disc, probaly all the way through!!! Thank god there's no grass to cut! HA HA

Hopefully in the long run this might inspire the current decade to be a bit more in touch with what works and what doesn't in television these days.

Bottom line to this is, there's a lot of great music on there and then there's marrage of music and video is priceless!! It's the equivilent of the impact the Beatles had to the 60's as what Miami Vice had to television.

Slainte!

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11.25.04
Hope everyone had a wonderful Turkey Day. I spent some time with my folks, which I need to do more often. I do not spend enough time with them as much as I would like to.

On another note, I recently found myself at the Pres. William McKinley Memorial in Canton, Ohio. I usually go up there annually and sometimes continue farther north to visit the Rock Hall of Fame if time permits. Both places are something to behold. As one of our own from Ohio to serve us as President as well we are fortunate. Quite a nice memorial site. And not to mention that Theodore Roosevelt did the opening ceremony. What a fitting place for Pres. McKinley and his wife and 2 children.

We could only hope to have such a wonderful and often visited burial chamber to become part of history.

Today is also Bruce Gilley's B-day from Disturbing Impressions. Happy B-day Bruce!! ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
11.8.04
Just a quick entry. I'm in the process of doing some serious updating on the site. I appologize for letting it slide as long as it has. With the Showcases, the lack of a good running comp, supporting the President's re-election and other things, I've been really swamped.

As far as the subject matters coming up, the 2nd part of the fliers entry is coming, the crap about "Emailed you 2 weeks ago..." will be interesting. And my recollections about the campaign trail supporting Pres. Bush. Which I might say, was one of the most interesting projects that I've taken up. I'm proud to have served. As time permits, I'll be able to update the site more often and on a regular schedule. So bear with me. Also, the older entries will be archived onto another page by 2005. So there's more room without it looking overly crowded.

10.22.04
Actually, I have just cancelled the showcase for Nov. 13th due to Facelift having to cancel due to Stacey's being activated for duty. I want to wish him all the best and to come home safe to his family and band so we can rock out with Facelift again!!

Look for shows to resume again in Spring 2005. Possibly around March/April. Any interested bands can contact me for gigs around that time. Woohoo!!! I'll actually have time to update the sites now!! yay!

2004 was a great year for me musically and professionally. I've met several great artists that I've admired over the years and got to book Lennon for her first Dayton gig!! That was a blast. Thanks to Legacy and Automatic for being killer opening acts. All bands that have played in my showcases will be the first ones on my list to open for any national acts that I book. That is another bonus to being on the shows.

The shows were all great! So far though, I must confess that though I have a few faves visually and sonically(is that a word? lol) I must digress that the biggest surprises were a few bands in particular.

RifRaf was very cool. Especially since I hadn't seen them before that night in Showcase 6. The return of Assailant to the stage after a 2 year hiatus was totally refreshing. Especially with my light guy Choad from Mental Music in Cincy running the lights. They looked like Queensryche!!

Homeland this past weekend was the shit!! Even Rocky flipped on that one! But I must say my fave show so far was the Singer/Songwriter show at Canal Street. Though the crowd wasn't the greatest in strong numbers, the amount of talent on stage was incredible!! 12 of the best artists that the Dayton area had to offer. Or at least I could get to play that night. A few weren't available!! The farthest was Billy Carri coming from Cincy and had fans come as far as Cleveland to see him play this show!! That's totally kick ass!!! My fave had to be Craig Houston from Stranje. It was like Meatloaf meets Billy Joel!!!

Thanks to all who've played in 2003 and 2004!! Thank you for working with us trying to get this thing off the ground. It's a lot of work but a few interested party's are starting to catch on! Just remember all bands: to bring those crowds out or it's a washout for you. No crowd shots with your swag on means you do not draw!! That's a big rule in music business. You don not know which clubs or buddy's of club owners are watching this stuff so take to heart to dress sharply as if it were a label shooting your video instead. Take Animal Grace, 11th Voice or Soul Casket for good examples of quality dress for success.

And chicks with b/f's in bands, unless he doesn't come home with you, let all the girls come to the shows as they want. "Groupies" are the best customers for ANY band. They spread the word!

But most of all, thanks to Rocky from McGuffy's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are the shit brother!!

All bands need to thank Rocky for his support of your bands. In return, you need to support his club and bring those crowds!! Without a nice draw for him to make money from, there's no money for you and eventually no club for you if he can't afford to keep the doors open! Let's all do our part and support this symbiotic thing here and do our part. Also, all bands should approach Rocky on getting your swag. He's the best billboard for bands around here besides me!!

Lastly...BANDS!!! Contact Bruce Gilley from Disturbing Impressions to get those swags done!! He's fair priced and killer on quality!

www.DisturbingImpressions.com Phone - 937. 344. 6097 Email: Bruce@DisturbingImpressions.com

So there ya have it, a great club to play and sound good in, killer t-shirt guy to get your swag out on peeps' backs and a cool promoter who wants to shove a camera in your face and get you noticed. What more can we ask for?!?!? You to do your part to get those people in there to see you. So as Ken from DR. X would say...ROCK THE FUCK ON!

Slainte!

6.13.04
Just a quick entry to keep everyone informed as to "Why the hell haven't you updated Sonny Speaks?" Fine, here ya go. I haven't had too many good reasons to update with some quality material as of late until about a month or so ago.

Get this, I was at Never On Sunday's in Cincinnati recently to see my good buddy Billy Carri. Some guy handed me damn near a blank CD-R of his band's material and asked me if I wanted some music. I'm thinking, WTF? So I looked at it and said, "Um dude, if was really interested in your band, how would I be able to find out about you or book you?" There was almost no contact info whatsoever on this thing!

So I politely scolded the guy and had him right down the info by hand! LOL

Lesson learned. If you ever plan on passing out a CD-R of your material, always, ALWAYS have any and all contact info available on the disc. It doesn't take that long to print out a label and neatly place it on the disc. Include website addy, email addy's, AND a friggin' phone number!!!! Especially on your website's contact info page. If not, it shows that you aren't really serious enough to wanna get booked.

If you only knew how many bands I've turned down for gigs cause there's no phone number to call, you'd shit a golden brick. That's becoming a pet peeve of mine!

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3.1.04
This entry is in regards to fliers. Part 1

I cannot stress the importance of posting fliers. Especially if you want the public to even vaguely know about your exsistance as a band/artist. They don't cost that much to produce. Esp. if you have access to the office copy machine while the boss isn't around! LOL

As I was posting fliers for the upcoming TheHMD.com Showcase III at Rusher's in Springboro on March 27th and I came across a few others and thought to myself, "What the Hell"?

First point is the design of a good quality flier. They should have these common sense elements: