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1/24/02
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Hi, Since the holidays have a way of slowing down progress in other areas in our life, things have stagnated a bit. I'm still up in the air about getting my last project replicated. I think in order for me to become successful in selling all the discs I would have to secure some type of distribution deal overseas. It seems that people in Europe and Japan are a bit more open to different types of music than the US. Through use of the internet I should be able to reach that part of the world pretty easily so that would help in the promotional aspect. (I suck at promoting myself) So many things to do, so little time. The guitar showcase went well. I was last so Lou and Jason were a bit burned out when I got up to play (who can blame them). But we got through the tunes relatively unscathed. Lou has been thinking of putting together a progressive rock type show with students doing covers of some classic prog bands (with a few originals thrown in of course). So we'll see. I have started writing some music for a new project. I've completed the rhythm tracks to one tune and I'm almost done with the second. The second one is hellish to play so I've been practicing the bass lines to get them nice and tight. As far as the band goes we are still rolling along. The holidays have a way of stealing rehearsal time but we're back on track. We are all itching to record so we'll probably start soon. We have around 8 tunes written so we're pretty psyched. The bass player situation is still the same, that is, there is no bass player situation so I will be acting as the session man in the interim. I've recently acquired some new CDs that are pretty cool so here is a list of what I've been listening to lately.
-Sketches from the Thought Chamber (excellent metal fusion by Micheal Harris on guitar and Adam Nitti on bass) -Eponymous I and II (by a group out of Canada called "Spaced Out". This stuff is really involved. A few Mahavishnu elements are present. This stuff is pretty serious). -Extension of the Wish (by Andromeda. These guys are progressive metal a la Dream Theater but a bit more aggressive. The guitar player is great and his sound is even better.) Well that's it. |
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Hi- Musically things are fairly interesting around here. A couple of months back I sent my disk to Guitar Nine Records for a review and they were kind enough to write a favorable piece on my project. Since Guitar Nine posted that review some people have emailed me regarding the availablilty of the disk. Another interesting bit of news is a "live events producer" named Roberto Guarnieri contacted me about playing over in Europe. He has worked with a lot of people in the same genre of music as me like: Brett Garsed, Marty Friedman, Neil Zaza, and Paul DiAnno. He also mentioned that he would like to do an interview and review my disk in "Metal Shock" magazine. Sounds kind of promising but we'll see... My new project is underway and is progressing at a slow but steady rate. I have the rhythm tracks for two tunes completed and drum tracks for a third nearly completed. It's hard to tell at this point what direction this project is taking. The music is definitley getting more complex but I'm still trying to keep everything coherent and in some sort of structure. The band is progressing nicely. We had auditioned a bass player a week or so ago and he didn't seem like he was up for the task so that kind of sucks. I tell you it's tough finding a bass player who is into playing challenging material. It seems that people just want to stick to the easy stuff and not branch out. Oh well, whatever. The tunes are solidifying now, which is cool, so we're starting to talk about beginning the recording process (very cool). A bit of bad news. It looks like Garageband.com is in a bit of financial trouble. I really like this site because I think they have a great business model as far as member involvement. In order to upload your tunes to get rated and reviewed you in turn have to rate review other peoples tunes. It sounds so simple but it is really effective. I have gotten a lot great feedback and constructive criticism on my music by a lot of different people on this site. I hope they are able to wade through their troubles because I think they are one of the best music sites around. I recently picked up DreamTheater's new cd "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence and found it to be not as good as I had hoped. Let me explain. It seems that with each new album (starting from Awake) they seem to sound less and less like DreamTheater and more like their influences. It's like they are covering a bunch of other bands' music throughout each of their songs. One minute you'll swear you're listenening to Tool and the next it sounds exactly like Pink Floyd and then it goes on to something by Kansas. I understand that people try to emulate their favorite artists but this is a little to close for comfort for me. The musicianship is there, especially with Jordan Rudess on the roster but the cohesiveness and originality is not. I also noticed that Mr. Portnoy hasn't really branched out in his playing too much. Don't get me wrong, he is an excellent drummer and I know there are a lot of drummers out there who would give their first born to be able to do what he does. But I have been hearing a lot of the same fills and moves for the past few albums. Petrucci's parts are decent but again nothing earthshattering. The soloing is nothing compared to what is on Scenes but some of his rhythm work is interesting. Mr. LaBrie and Myung are pretty much status quo as far as their performances go as well. I know they are trying to evolve and move in a new direction but they have to get back to being DreamTheater instead of being everybody else first. Then they ought to progress as themselves with their own sound. I hope this mini-review isn't too scathing because it isn't supposed to be. I do enjoy DreamTheater's music but only when they were DreamTheater. Signing off |
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Hi- On the last update I mentioned a promoter named Roberto Guarnieri who was kind enough to email me concerning my disk. We have been in contact and there is a possibility of him distributing my cd in Italy. That would be pretty cool. He also reviewed my disk in "Metal Shock" magazine which is based in Italy as well. I hope to get a copy and put it up on the site (if it's a good review :-} ) Another interesting bit of news is that I will be doing a live interview on WVOF 88.5 FM (Fairfield CT). Gi Dussault who is the publicist of the "Upper Room with Joe Kelley" show, contacted me and was kind enough to see if I would be interested in receiving some airplay. Can't say no to that. The Upper Room show has had guests like John Scofield, Steve Smith, Victor Wooten and others in the jazz/fusion vein. We also talked about doing an interview. Since then I've been in contact with Joe Kelley and it looks like I'll be on the April 15th show (4-8pm) for a bit of a rap session. I think replication of the disk is iminent. I'm hoping to get 300-500 made. So my new goal in life will be to unload all the disks, yay. I recently finished getting the artwork up to print spec so it's just a matter of me making a very expensive phone call. My current project is gradually taking shape. I completed the drums and put down a bass track for the third tune (tentatively named "Uncle Knucklz"). I also began sketching some ideas for additional tunes. The band continues its quest for a bass player. Finding the right person is has been tough but we are progressing without much of a problem. Our music continues to become more and more interesting and complex. Our drummer Dale must be doing some serious "wood shedding" because his chops are starting to scare me. Jeff and I continue to write in tandem and the results so far have been good. Cool
CD's I'm listening to.
- Production is on the money. All the musicians rock and are funeral drum tight. The guitar sounds are excellent and everything sits nicely in the mix. The singer is easy to listen to and doesn't have that irritating "prog" voice (at least I don't think so). Pain of Salvation "Remedy Lane" - Production is not on par with the material which is really a shame because the material is excellent. The singer must be a mutant because his range is not of this world. Tool "Lateralus" - Production is awsome. Tool is in my top 5. This album is dark, heavy and spiritual. Being a rhythmic band the stand out member is obviously the drummer who employs some serious tribal rhythms in his playing. Also I think Maynard has one of the best voices out there today. Greg Meckes Band "Mission" - Production is decent, what really shines is the bass player (Jack Kulp). This guy is serious. He's a cross between Gary Willis of "Tribal Tech" and Victor Wooten. He gots the tone and the groove. The band itself is tight and the material is definitley approachable for the non musician. I favor the more aggressive tunes as there are a couple of "radio friendly" tunes that I skip over. Signing off. |
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Hi- So onward and upward. The radio interview at WFOV 88.5 FM(Joe Kelley's the Upper Room) was a lot of fun. Joe was a gracious host and his 20 years experience definitley showed. My inexperience as an interviewee also showed : ). We had a great time. I think it lasted close to an hour between the talking and playing some of my tunes. We plan on getting togther again at the end of the summer for another go. You can listen to the recording of the interview and my tunes on www.live365.com/stations/funk7. The station plays a lot of old school funk, jazz and r&b. When I receive the interview on disk I plan on putting it up to stream for those who want to check it out. I want to thank Joe and Gi for giving me the opportunity to be heard and for giving my tunes some airtime. My cd "Wyrd" is being replicated as we speak. The guys at Magnetic Air are taking care of it for me. They got some great people there who seem genuinely interested in getting the job done right and who will actually call you if they have a question about the project. I'm hoping to take delivery in the next couple of weeks. My current project is making some good headway. I recorded some pretty cool synth tracks and overdubbed some guitar to thicken things up a little on two of the tunes. The drums are almost done for tune number 4 so I'm making a bit of progress. The band is going well. We had a nice practice this week and we even had a guest to check us out and give an opinion about our work in progress. I think he was pretty impressed which is cool. We are up to 8 songs now. Let us now record!!. (thank you). Cool
CDs I'm listening to: Vanden Plas "The God Thing" - very different from their latest, "Beyond Daylight". Much darker and more aggressive and technical (oh yeah). It's an import so it costs a bit more but it's definitley worth it. Gordian Knot - I heard a lot of great things about this one so I tracked it down. I guess my expectations were too high because I wasn't sure what all the hoo ha was about. They're all talented players but the tunes didn't grab me like I thought they would. The overall production was very good though and it deserves some additional listens. |
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Hi- (RANT)Let's see, appendicitis, a case of cubital tunnel syndrome, intense frustration at the mighty UPS for not delivering my discs on time. (/RANT) Hmmm what else, oh yeah getting some air play on Papa J's Matinee (thanx Jim) opening accounts on Guitar 9 Records, CD Baby and Amazon.com which will enable someone to buy a disc without having to mail me a check first (I'll post the direct links when the accounts are up and running). Also trying to get a little press so maybe I'll be able to sell a few of 'em. (Reviews will be up in the coming weeks). Yeah, all in all I guess I've been busy. Cool
CD's I've been listening to: Nevermore-"Dead Heart in a Dead World"- This is serious in your face I'm gonna bludgeon you until you are a smear on the sidewalk kinda music. The guitars are huge, they sound tight and under control. The drums are relentless. The bass somehow makes itself known in all this chaos. The vocal range is insane. (Lyrics are pretty cool too). Yeah I like this one. |
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Hi- My
cd "Wyrd" is now available at The guys at Prognosis.com were kind enough to give me a review on their site. You can check that out here. There will be a lot more reviews coming up. I'll post the links as they materialize. I
wrote an instructional article which Dan McAvinchey at As far as radio goes I've been added to a couple of cool fusion stations. FusionGroovin which plays a lot of excellent "non-mainstream" jazz fusion. I've also been added to Attentionspanradio which is another great station of the same vein. Thanks to both Dean and Bob for their help. Also I'm psyched that Garageband was able to pull out of their financial difficulties and get back online. Congrats! Cool CD's I've been listening to: Al Di Meola-"Anthology" - This double cd is chock full 'o Al at his fastest and most furious. This disc has all the fusion "hits" like: Land of the Midnight Sun, Race With The Devil On Spanish Highway, Casino, and Dinner Music of the Gods. Also you get some pretty interesting live tracks: The Wizard, Egyptian Danza, and Medley: Short Tales of the Black Forest/Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars. What's really cool is the people he plays with. Such as: Jaco Pastorius, Phil Collins, Steve Gadd, Lenny White and Jan Hammer. Very cool. This recording spans his most aggressive phase and has only the best tunes. Martin Medesky and Wood-"Shack-man"- This disk is collection of laid back funk/fusion tunes. The production totally creates the vibe for the disk. It is dry and very live sounding. The music is organic and while not super technical it has some of the coolest grooves I've heard in a while. |
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Hi- Just checkin in, with a quick update. Got a new review from the Quintessence website which was nice. I gotta hand it to the people who take it upon themselves to review other people's music. It's not like they're getting paid for it and they deal with many many submissions and they have to actually pay attention to the music and write something coherent about it. I give them a lot of credit and I also want to say thanx to all the people who have taken the time to listen. A
couple of radio stations added me to their playlists. On
a more gruesome note I finally did have to have my left arm fixed
at the hospital. I visited an orthopedist and he felt that my condition
was only going to worsen so I figured that I shouldn't waste any
time. Essentially what he did was open up the inside part of my
arm about 5" where the elbow is and take the ulnar nerve out
of the cubital tunnel and tack it in a different location. The doc
did see that the nerve was a bit raw and irritated when he was moving
it so it definitley was not my imagination. It was an outpatient
procedure meaning that I was in and out the same day. The healing
process is going fairly well. I had the surgery probably about 2
1/2 weeks ago and I almost have full range of motion back. I was
able to play about a week after surgery so I didn't have to much
down time. Running hasn't been an issue really also I only had to
take about 10 days off. As far as strength goes it will be a few
more weeks before I can use it fully. So 13 staples later... On a lighter note the new disk is going well. I have 4 tunes completed as far as rhythm tracks go so that's pretty cool. The band is going well also. We are hoping to start the recording process this month. Uhhhhhhhhhhh... I think that's it. thanx for stopping by. (this page will more than likely be added to so check back every so often! |
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Hi- A couple of quick updates. I recently wrote another column for Guitar 9 records. You can check it out here. It's about right and left hand synergy and how combining sweep picking with alternate picking can help improve it. Thanks to Dan McAvinchey and G9 for letting me contribute. Another cool thing is that I got a nice review from Ytsejam.com which is an excellent progrock site. You can check out "The Next Big Thing" column here. Thanks Koggie. I also want to thank Gerrit-Jan Bloemink for his support and airtime on his radio show Symfomania over in the Netherlands. My arm is healing up nicely (so far), I've been back playing for a while now and I think I'm pretty much back up to speed. The new disc is coming along well. Drums are wrapped up for the fifth tune and the other 4 have completed rhythm tracks. The band finally started recording as well. We recorded drums for two songs, hopefully we'll do some more soon. That's all I can think of for now... |
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It's hard to believe that a year has past already. NYC is in the state of "orange" alert. Nice times we live in. A week or so ago a helicopter was hovering over my house, for about an hour or so. I remember when I would think that that was pretty cool. Now I think it's pretty scary. I live relatively close to Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, Gov. Pataki's house, West Point and Camp Smith. Needless to say I called the police to see what was up. Am I paranoid? Maybe. My wife works in a school in Queens NY. She and my 3 year old son commute there everyday. He goes to preschool there as well. Last night she packed a bag to take with her in case anything "happens". In case anything happens? It kind of hit me at that point. All the people who were lost, their family and friends. I can't imagine losing my son or my wife. Yet many people did. It's one thing to read about these families and their hardships, yet it's another to be affected directly. It makes you stop and think. I'm bummed out about the media, the people exploiting this horrible event. Tribute this and tribute that. People saying we have to move on, blah blah blah. Guess what I don't want to move on. I don't think we should heal all the way. I think that this wound should remain open. I think that we should feel it's sting for a long time. I don't want this day to turn into another paid holiday when people get drunk the nite before. I don't want to see Hallmark or whoever make up special 9/11 cards (though they probably did already). Let's fucking wake up here folks! This is a day of atrocity and death. A bunch of religious fanatics decided to hijack some planes and run them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing a whole lot of people in the process. Everyone is kind of saying to go on and have a normal day. Go to work, school, wherever.Wasn't that happening a year ago. Wasn't everyone just having a normal day? |
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Well looks like summer's over and the horrifying holiday season is within arms reach again. It's been a busy summer. Some decent progress has been made on the music front as well as the work front. Hey I've even seen my family a couple of times j/k. I've gotten some additional reviews done on my disk "Wyrd" and they are very positive. If you would like to check 'em out go to Progvisions, RoughEdge and an additional review was added at Prognosis. I really want to thank all these guys for taking the time to listen to my work and write an insightful review on it. Jedd Beaudoin of Ytsejam.com wrote up a great interview piece and review of my disc as well. I want to thank him for all the great work he has done. My new project is going very well. I've been working on the rhythm tracks for the seventh tune. The tunes are somewhat in the same vein as "Wyrd" but a bit more progressive and varied in nature. A lot of odd time and wacky changes are spreading virally through the disk. I've added analog synth sounds on some of the material to give the music a grittier edge. I'm also finding that the analog sound can really add texturally and atmospherically (yes I am a geek). I'm hoping to add quite a few more tunes (read no filler) to really make it a very worthwhile purchase. Also I'm going to try to put up a couple of clips in the near future. The band is going really well also. We have actually begun recording and we are making some nice progress. We have drum tracks down for four of our tunes. On one of them we have the rhythm tracks pretty much completed and we have all the acoustic passages recorded (very cool). Our drummer also recently purchased the Roland V-Drum Session kit. Now that thing is freakin' fun. Were hoping to add some of its cool sounds and abilities to our tunes. Stuff
I've been listening to: -very cool...rhythmic, neoclassical, progressive aggression. The singer is a pleasure to listen to. Not that high shrilly screechy stuff. The drummer is quite formidable...killer double bass chops...decent sounding kit as well. The guitar player is amazing...very technical and aggressive but yet conveys emotion...also has great feel. The bass player while having no real stand out solo parts is also quite good. He is somewhat noticeable in the mix but could be bumped up a bit more. The keyboard player is very technical but doesn't really convey a lot of feeling in his playing. He plays fast...that's it. It would be cool if maybe he added a bit more variety to his sound palette as well. The songs are well constructed and approachable. There is some repetitiveness as far as riffage goes and also how the song elements are put together. There most always seems to be a soloing duel between the keys and guitar. I'm not sure if that is part of their sound. All in all the disk is excellent. I'm kinda thinking that it may be my favorite out of all the Symphony X stuff that I have. Porcupine Tree - In Absentia -hypnotic...atmospheric...aggressive...moving. (I sound like a real reviewer huh?) lol Anyway this disk is truly a find. This band is so underrated (God I hate using that term) but it's true. The music is a cross between Tool, Pink Floyd, Opeth and Kings X. At least that's what I hear. The songs are emotional but you can still hear some serious musicianship. The vocal harmonies are stunning and the acoustic passages are lush with cool chord voicings. What the soloing doesn't have in technicality it makes up for in feel and note choice. The keyboards and assorted programming really add the the songs and they came up with some great sounds... kinda old school mixed with the new. The drummer is very good as well. I bet if they let a bit more of the heavier stuff come out we would be able to see how good he really is. The bass player has a great sense of groove and knows how to establish his place in the song and thankfully we can actually hear him! The singer is probably the stand out. What a great voice! Again not a super technical singer but just the character and quality of his voice is really astounding. He conveys A LOT of emotion through his singing..... A LOT! |
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First off I just want to say that RAKING LEAVES SUCKS! Now that I've gotten that off my chest, let's talk music. Over the weekend I got to play out a little bit with my bandmantes Jeff and Dale. It was a lot of fun. I backed up Jeff on bass while Dale sat in on the drum kit. Jeff's music is straight ahead rock with an acoustic feel and very marketable. The gig came about through some friends of ours (Grimey Noodles) that put on a semi performance/open mike deal. The gig was in Valhalla (southern Westchester NY). The core of Grimey Noodles consists of Joe Rodriguez, Sean Byrne, Terry Syrek, and their new drummer Augie. Nice bunch 'o fellers. The recording continues...rhythm tracks for 8 tunes are now completed. Sounding pretty good/weird/heavy/dark etc. I want to thank Jedd Beaudoin one more time for such a great write up and interview. Needless to say it went right into my presskit. Also I want to say thanx to Tom Gagliardi of the Gagliarchives radio show (soon to be syndicated, congrats). Who through a recommendation of a listener became interested in my music and is adding some of my tunes to his playlist (very cool). Also another great radio program "Hard Progressive Radio" hosted by Joel Allen has been kind enough to find a place for my music as well. Thanks Joel! The band is going also progressing along well. We have been doing a bit of tracking and things are starting to sound good. Finally! Stuff
I'm listening to: They went with a less produced edgier sound this time around and I think it suits them. The album is definitley guitar driven (cool). There is some cool orchestration on the title track, hats off to the keyboard player (Michael Pinella) for some very nice composing. The album holds together well and is well mixed and produced. The vocalist (Russel Allen) sounds great. His vocals get nice and growly and he sings with great conviction. The bass (Michael Lepond) and drums (Jason Rollo) hold down the fort nicely. The bass could be brought up a bit in the mix and should be featured a bit more. The guitar solos (Michael Romeo) are as usual frightening. I'd love to hear some new moves and maybe more of a melodic touch. Overall though he is very clean and very fast. The CD as a whole is ripping and I really reccomend it if you are into prog/neoclassical metal. Opeth - Deliverance Opeth is hard to describe but to put it concisely they are a cross between prog/death metal and folk music. Sound wacky? On paper it does but they really write some great music. The vocalist (Mikael Akerfeldt) moves from death style vocals to a fantastic clean voice. I prefer the cleaner stuff myself, but to each his own. The music is dark and brooding, very emotional and insightful...yep I like it a lot. While no one stands out on technical merit they as a band are very satisfying to listen to. Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) also had a hand in the CD as well. You can definitley hear his influence in the lush vocal production. Overall this disk is a great listen and gets ye old thumbs up. |
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The
big news this month is that we finally found a bass player. Unbelievable
but true. Yes we found someone who is into our music and has succumbed
to our god given charms (yea right). Anyways, his name is Joe Bottiglieri
and lives very close by, which is very On the homefront, things are progressing nicely. I have started the artwork for my next release and it's quite twisted so I'm happy with that. On the musical end, the new disc is coming along well. I started working on the ninth track and have been reworking the drums on some of the existing tracks. Also starting to add some interesting pads and textures to some of the tunes, don't know if I'll keep 'em but I'm experimenting. It looks like I'll have the chance to play some of my new material in a live setting at the end of December, not sure of the date yet. My instructor is organizing a showcase for some of his students. I'm hoping to play two new tunes and one old one. Joe will also be in the show and he'll be doing a Metallica medley on bass with Lou backing him up on bass as well. Should be very cool. As far as my current release goes. I've had a busy month promotion-wise. I've been lucky enough to have been added to some very cool radiostations. Progged Radio is a great station specializing in progressive rock and metal (Dreamtheater, Spiral Architect, Spocks Beard and many underground bands). Chan Weinmeister was kind enough to add me to his playlist. Check out his request page and...well...you know...request one of my tunes! Another cool station Delicious Agony, Progressive Rock Radio was also kind enough to add me to their playlist as well. They have a great archived interview section with people like: Mike Portnoy, Neal Morse, Djam Karet, Bill Bruford and many more. Definitley worth a look. The Canvas Prog Hour is another program centered around prog rock that took an interest in my work. I want to say thanks to Matt for putting me up on his playlist also. As far as reviews go I contacted Mike Sandomirsky of Guitar Mania and I sent him a presskit and promo copy of my disk. He really liked what he heard so he did a nice review on it and an interview as well. Well that's all I got to say...have a happy holiday! Stuff
I'm listening to: I met Terry at the National Guitar Workshop. He was (and still is) the instructor for a bunch of different guitar courses including "The Shred Planet" and "Rock Fusion". He also has video out "Shred is not Dead" which is a great instructional video on how to get your chops together. He recently put out an ep called "Obscura" so we did a trade and I tell ya this disk rocks! It's has four very well produced tunes on it that range from the manic to the sublime. He plays all the instruments and everything sounds very convincing. The first tune "to the peril of low flying birds is an aggressive foray into the world of oddtime. Track two "in the temple of hours" has some cool middle easternish instrumentation on it.. It is quite laid back until about 3 minutes into the tune then it kicks in and drives. The third tune "astronomy" is the only track with vocals on it (by Terry) it's also the longest track, clocking in at 8:37. It starts off with some acoustic fingerstyle and keyboard then it breaks into the main theme with some cool analog synth sounds. The soloing on it is frightening (in a good way) and is a trip to listen to. The last track "ritual dance at the foot of the mountain of om al saiif" is an instrumental that reminds me of Michael Harris. It's cool, heavy, full of oddtime and has some freakishly fast solos on it as well, very cool. I suggest that you click here and buy this disk 'cause Terry is a great talent. |
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