"SHE IS ELEGANCE WALKING ARM AND ARM WITH A LIE"
AM I READY YET?
Here's my answer: Who the fuck cares!?
Being ready for the monumental things in life is irrelevant. For what I want in life, I cannot be too methodical about. Anything that has brought me happiness and pleasure in the past has come under spontaneous circumstances. If something of great value enters my life anytime soon, being ready or not will not be the x-factor. If it's something I want, I will just go for it. And if it wants me as passionatley as I want it, then it will be blind to any lack of preparation of my part. And if it is meant to be, it will happen regaurdless of the methodology behind it.
I am not a piece of fruit. I will never be ripe enough for some people or some things. And I am okay with that.
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I have a beautiful 4 year old son named ASH that is the kickdrum of my heartbeat!. Below you will see him from this past Christmas. He kicked his Wiggles addiction and now is playing on the Jr. Suns team for 4-6 year olds. My son went through a tough first year of life. Details aside, there is a reason why we call him our "brave little boy". He is an inspiration to me and I respect him more than 99% of people I know.
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Things I have been involved with:
Alan's Fear (1991-1993. Singer/guitarist/songwriter. Gothic emo-core...yea, like AFI before there was an AFI. Bill Ramsey from Horace Pinker said we sounded like Rites of Spring got in a car accident with Sisters of Mercy)
Social Retardance Records (1993-1997, record label I started that put out tapes and 7"s from my bands as well as Ernie's Rubber Duckie and The Impossibles).
Ernie's Rubber Duckie (1994 - was their manager)
Snap Krackle Drop (1994-1996, played bass and sang/wrote a few songs)
Gang Lu (1997-1999. This was Jason's project. First it was a proto-screamo band than Jason fired everyone and made it an electronic project, but I did some guest MIDI work and some spoken word rants)
Terror.45 (2001. Punknroll band that I sang for featuring Steve from Casket Life on drums and Mike from White Demons/ADHD on guitar)
Billion Dollar Bastards (2002. Short lived punk-trying-to-be-powerpop band with a revolving door of musicians. Was singer/main songwriter/guitar-bass)
Blanche Davidian (2002-2004, 2007. Played guitar for two years and came back to manage them.)
Vodka Tonic Media (2004-present. Record label/management company that also did podcasting, radio promotion, internet radio programming, and event promotions.)
ANTI-SNOB.com (2008 - ???. A division of Vodka Tonic Media. Pretty much a music blog...or everything Vodka Tonic was without the label/band management aspect.)
I have been a bartender for over 8 years, most recently at the world famous HOLLYWOOD ALLEY . Come see me on most weekend nights! In 2007 I won the Phoenix New Times "Best Designer Drink" award . I book a few shows at the Alley from time to time.
Past bartending positions at Bash on Ash, Mason Jar, The Brickhouse, and Tupelo Tap Room. However I also have a "real" job ( 9 to 5er in a cube farm) which feels far more surreal than slinging drinks.
FRIENDS: Add Me!
BANDS THAT I DON"T KNOW: Please add ANTI-SNOB instead of adding me, please.
myspace generator
Elvis, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Marilyn Monroe, Ian Curtis...yea, basically everyone I'd like to meet is dead.
I love making mix-CDs for my friends. You don't have to date me or have a birthday for us to make that happen...just ask.
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I am one of those nuts that think Jack White is the new Marc Bolan. Other than that controversial revelation, here is my history as a audiophile.
1975: At the age of five and while my parents were going through divorce, I would go to band practice with my dad where he played in a cover band doing Doobie Brothers, Led Zep, and BTO.
1977-78: My mom re-marries a guy who is really into prog-rock (Yes, Moody Blues, 10CC), but I dug more his glam rock gems (Bowie, Cooper, Stooges)
1979: My exposure to flamboyant rock led me to KISS and I was a fan for years.
1982: I discover New Wave before I knew what punk was. Flock of Seagulls, Missing Persons, Ultravox, The Cars, Billy Idol.
1984-1986: First exposure to the Sex Pistols. This led to the usual suspects of punk, with Black Flag, DI, and TSOL being my top bands.
1987: Living near Chicago, I discovered the greatest punk band from the Windy City: Naked Raygun.
1988: Moved to AZ. Everyone was into two bands out here. Jane's Addiction and The Pixies. Both grew on me rapidly.
1990s: While keeping my old school punk roots, I gained exposure to a new breed of punk bands: Fugazi, Green Day, Econochrist, Monsula, Jawbox (& other Dischord bands like Shudder To Think), Pegboy, Didjits, Alice Donut, Face to Face, Avail, Operation Ivy, Rancid, etc.
1999: Viewing Velvet Goldmine re-acquainted my love for 70s glam. Brian Eno, Roxy Music, and T-Rex join Bowie, Alice Cooper and the Stooges as part of my regular listening habits.
2000: New roommates expose me to new trashy punk n roll bands like the Black Halos and DGeneration, which led to my discovery of the Scandinavian Rock Explosion (Hellacopters, Backyard Babies). Also that year I discover the best AZ band of all time, The Beat Angels, unfortunately a year or two past their most active years.
2000-2002: Every Tuesday I head out to the Emerald Lounge to hear Brian Smith of the Beat Angels DJ. This experience introduced me to alot of old and new power pop: Fountains of Wayne, Tsar, Red Planet, Cheap Trick, The Rasberries, Big Star, The La's, Bay City Rollers, etc
On my 30th birthday party at Hollywood Ailey (July 2000), Slash City Daggers cancelled because someone was thrown in jail. Ryan Wong offered me a last minute replacement, his new band Destruction Unit. This was my first taste of the new synth-punk movement which would lead to bands like The Lost Sounds, Phantom Limbs, Digital Leather, and A.R.E. Weapons.
The rest of the 21st century: Punk rock has become less a priority thanks to the Blanche Davidian guys introducing me to more psychedelic indie rock - Dandy Warhols, Tripping Daisy/Polyphonic Spree, Flaming Lips, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
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My Top Ten Most Played Artists This Week
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ALL THE FULL LENGTH ALBUMS I HAVE BOUGHT AND DOWNLOADED FROM EMUSIC:
Velvet Goldmine, Snatch, Die Hard trilogy, Dig! (the best thing about DIG! is that it makes the mid-90s look retro), anything with Pacino or DeNiro, anything with the Frat Pack (Stiller, Vaughan, Wilson, Wilson, Ferrell).
Notable flicks I watched on DVD so far in 2008: Kill Your Idols (NY/Brooklyn Music Scene doc), Revolver (Guy Ritchie's 2005 zen-gangster flick that finally made it's way to America a few months ago), American Hardcore (doc that chronicles punk and HC 1977-1982), New York Doll (Arthur Kane doc, damn was this depressing. Great footage both vintage and new right before Kane died. But just like Mayor of Sunset Strip you can only watch this movie once), Babel, Oceans 11 (original Rat pack 1960 version. Zeb was wrong, this is NOTHING like the George Clooney version), Serpico, Little Miss Sunshine, Good Night and Good Luck (they call it this in case you fall asleep during the film), Semi-Pro (the following may replace my current Will Ferrell quote: "Have I ever been to an orgy? Are you kidding? I Just Got Back from an orgy"), Panic in Needle Park (Al Pacino's first starring role as a heroin junkie New York 1970).
currently reading the third installment of the new world economic trilogy The Tipping Point (finising The Long Tail and Freakonomics last year), except now all these damn idiots are telling me that the rules of The Tipping Point no longer apply. Just finished Our Band Could Be Your Life which my wife got me for my birthday last July.