Top 100 songs of the 90's...

ok, so i've been asked by quite a few people to do a Top 100 songs of the 90's list. I imagine it was because of the atrocity that occurred on VH1's list. so, i agreed. I had some help from a few close friends, and i thank them. it was a hard list to put together. anyways, here it is, enjoy. If you disagree with my picks, email scott to complain. hahahaha! just kidding.

100 - Informer, Snow. who didn't enjoy making fun of this song?
99 - March of the Pigs , nin (don't get pissed, there is a lot of NIN on this list)
98 - Loser , Beck. you can't deny it, it was a clever song
97 - Black hole sun, soundgarden. not their finest moment, but a damn good song
96 - Sweet Dreams, Manson (obviously the cover). this introduced him into the stream.
95 - Freak on a leash, Korn. gotta give credit where its due, like it or not
94 - 911 is a joke, public enemy. why not? they were 'gangsta' before being 'gangsta' was cool (well, Chuck D was anyway).
93 - Hey man, nice shot, filter. it was nice to know that other people besides trent could program. eventhough Richie Patrick learned from Trent.
92 - I Alone, Live. Good song, good band. unfortunetely, not a good album.
91 - Hurt, NIN. (told ya). if you watch the video, there is a shoe that flies across the screen. that's paul from Beta Minus's shoe.
90 - I hate everything about you, Ugly Kid Joe. satirical songs rule!
89 - Walking After You - Foo Fighters. good song off a great album.
88 - You can't bring me down, Suicidal Tendencies. i still want a suicidal hat...
87 - The Figurehead (live), The Cure. Off one of the best live albums ever, Paris. I almost died listening to this. Happy 10th Rance!
86 - Black, Sevendust. i think i saw them 30 times on that tour. good to have clint back.
85 - Spit it out, Slipknot. gave everyone in Omaha and Des Moines music scenes hope. thanks!
84 - Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Monster Magnet. also check out Blown'em off. tripped out.
83 - Creep, Radiohead. I don't really care for them, but there is one part that you can't ignore in this song, and you know what it is. and it really has nothing to do with the song.
82 - Suck my Kiss, RHCP. the singles on this album were good, but this song was sweet!
81 - Only, Anthrax. i believe this song actually got Anthrax airplay...
80 - Floods, Pantera. RIP Dime. We miss you. one of the best outros in music.
79 - Push it, Static-x. heavy pop music. you couldn't get away from it.
78 - Plowed, Sponge. it was a catchy SRV knock off riff. Good song tho.
77 - What'cha Want, Beastie Boys. Can't talk about the 90's with out them.
76 - The Humpty Dance, Digital Underground. The girls in my highschool hated this. especially loud with a bunch of subs in the truck. Paul and I had fun.
75 - Suicide Blonde, INXS. i think every female on planet earth loves this song...
74 - Smack my bitch up, Prodigy. it was refreshing at the time.
73 - Into the Great Wide Open, Tom Petty. he's the man. still getting arrested at 60.
72 - Heartwork, Carcass. unreal. Thanks Scott!
71 - Wish, NIN (relax already...). ever seen the broken movie? hey Paul, do you still have the bootleg copy? that was even creepier!
70 - What do I have to do, Stabbing Westward. Good ol' chitown boys.
69 - hahaha, 69... Pretend We're Dead, L7. Anyone who tosses a used tampon into the crowd is aces in my book. hhahahahaha! its gross, but still kind of funny.
68 - Hole Hearted, Extreme. Despite their 'hair metal' pigeonholing, Nuno owned.
67 - Rape Me, Nirvana. it made people think. Kurt was good at that.
66 - Everlong, Foo Fighters. Great song off a great album.
65 - It was a good day, ice cube. and i didn't have to use my AK! i never really liked rap music, but i respected alot of those guys. they had an outlet for the same thing we did.
64 - nothing but a g thing, dre. see above
63 - Snooze button, snot. RIP Lynn. he was going to be the next generation of vocalists and lyricists. this album changed alot of things.
62 - Unsung, Helmet. page hamilton found a way to set himself apart in a 'grunge' scene that was full of imitators, and i have mucho respect for that.
61 - Serpent Boy, hed (PE). we all knew the words, and the music was very influential in all my bands.
60 - Stench, Drain STH. Chicks with guitars, always a good combination. and if they can actually play, even better.
59 - Freedom, Rage Against the Machine. i think we all rebeled after that...and started reading.
58 - Evenflow, Pearl Jam. helped create a whole new genre of music.
57 - Pisschrist, Fear Factory. This album was far ahead of its time (Demanufacture), and this was my favorite track on that record.
56 - Ice, Ice Baby, Vanila Ice (both versions). if you haven't heard the 'heavy' VI album, get it.
55 - Cherub Rock, Smashing Pumpkins. i never shut it off, but never bought it either. the sign of a great 'pop' song. that's right, i said it. do something...
54 - Nothing Else Matters, Metallica. maybe it was just played too much, i don't know, but it worked for them. and 'sandman' got old as shit...
53 - Longview, Greenday. that's right. we all owned it, and so did you. own up to it.
52 - Antigravity Love Song, Incubus. a wierd 'jazzy' song on a 'nu-metal record'? that's balls.
51 - Shut up and Drive, Deftones. kind of my theme song at the time.
50 - The Theme to Beavis and Butthead. if you didn't love this show and that song didn't make you smile, then fuck you. hahaha!
49 - Cornflake Girl, Tori Amos. its hard not to like Tori. i happen to.
48 - Personal Jesus, Depeche Mode. no, manson didn't write it. go figure. what exactly has he written?
47 - Iris, Goo Goo Dolls. Johnny Rez wrote a ton of great songs. still does.
46 - Wonderwall, Oasis. even though its kind of a George Harrison rip off, its still pretty damn good. and i love the Beatles, so it worked.
45 - Sober, Tool. this song shaped alot of the music i've written in the past. i never really cared for it until the music that i wrote took a different turn.
44 - Queer, Garbage. from the man who produced Nirvana. good album.
43 - Plush, STP. can't decide if i like the acoustic version better...yup, i do.
42 - Mouth For War, Pantera. Dime owned metal. still does as far as i'm concerned. It doesn't get much heavier than Vulgar Display of Power.
41 - Criminal, Fiona Apple. Something about a girl and a piano. too bad she's a bitch. great song however.
40 - Shine, Collective Soul. Anyone who goes platnium with a drum machine is amazing too me.
39 - Down in a hole, Alice in Chains. goes without saying.
38 - I'm Affraid of Americans, David Bowie & Trent. He did this song without Trent and it didn't work so well... Trent's version is actually a remix, its not the original version.
37 - Asshole, Deins Leary. Anyone up for the Leary Game?
36 - Hammer Smashed Face, Canibal Corpse. yes, there was a death metal scene in the 90's.
35 - Liar, Rollins Band. I've seen Henry quite a few times. The man is a genius with words.
34 - Counterfiet, Limp Bizkit. Fred can go away, Wes was the man here. i actually worked a show that they opened. wes was always cool. fred was always a dick.
33 - Jesus Christ Pose, Soundgarden. Kind of took dark music into the stream.
32 - SuperCharger Heaven, White Zombie. Best guitar tone of the 90's, right there.
31 - Not an Addict, K's Choice. More for lyrical content here. pretty unbelievable song tho.
30 - Alive, Peral Jam. being a big fan of SRV, i always like Mike McCready. although, anything after the 2nd PJ record is pretty worthless.
29 - November Rain, GnR. hard to mess with, its pretty Epic, and it paved the way for 10 minute long music videos. ya know, cause 3 and a half minutes of Axl wasn't enough.
28 - Them Bones, Alice in Chains. Even darker. those 4 guys did something amazing on that record.
27 - 1979, Smashing Pumpkins. Not because its the year i was born, but because it showed Billy's range.
26 - Mama, I'm coming home, Ozzy. insert Zakk Wylde here.
25 - Far Behind, Candlebox. amazing song, and some really cool guys to drink with!
24 - The Girls of Porn, Mr. Bungle. that record is why Korn exists.
23 - Juke Joint Jezebel, KMFDM. from Bad Boys to Mortal Combat, prolly on more movie soundtracks than any other song in existance. Not to mention the actual album, Nihil. which smoked.
22 - 6 Underground, The Sneaker Pimps. very overlooked song from that time period. i highly recomend it.
21 - The Philosopher, Death. Chuck Schuldiner. Period. He had the right idea when it came to metal. Read up on him. RIP dude.
20 - War Ensemble, Slayer. its slayer dude. come on.
19 - Joey, Concrete Blonde. Johnette Napolitano. One of my favorite all time female singers. Check out her work with Danny Lohner. She will make the biggest metal dude cry. Try it, i dare you.
18 - Decent, Fear Factory. Got them a gold record. even with Dino and Burt in the band.
17 - Davidian, Machine (fucking) Head. Changed metal. fuck that, it changed music.
16 - Jesus Built My Hotrod, Ministry. I had my nose broken during this song the first time i saw Ministry live. Josh brought me Jimmy Johns in the ER. at the time there was no JJ's in Omaha either. now that is friendship. thanks dude!
15 - Epic, Faith No More. this song introduced the world to Mike Patton. nuff said.
14 - Come As You Are, Nirvana. i never really got obbsessed with Nirvana, but i couldn't deny the impact.
13 - This Love, Pantera. one of the coolest breakdown riffs from the all time riff fucking master.
12 - Sweating Bullets, Megadeth. I always liked the Marty Friedman era Megadeth. and i always wanted to use that title. Thanks alot Dave...
11 - Would?, Alice in Chains. all i can say here is wow. that song has a feel that i've spent 10 years trying to recreate.
YOU READY FOR THE TOP 10?...
10 - Love You To Death, Type O Negative. this song moves me.
9 - Wherever I May Roam, Metallica. I didn't care much for '...Sandman', and in the 90's that was probably one of the biggest albums. This was my fav track. the video was cool too.
8 - Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana. This song paved the way for AIC, Soundgarden, and the whole Seattle movement. Although i didn't care much for Nirvana, i have much respect for what they did.
7 - Bored, Deftones. We have Madonna to thank for this. at least that dumbass did something right.
6 - Nutshell, Alice In Chains. one the best songs ever written on an acoustic guitar. and i will go to great lengths to have Scott Armstrong play this for me, even if we have to convince two guys doing a cover show to let him. thanks scott!
5 - Black Sunshine, White Zombie. ever guitar player knows it, and so does every bass player.
4 - Closer, NIN. it broke trent out. it pushed alot of buttons, and Trent is very good at that.
3 - Blind, Korn. Like it or not, everyone tuned down their guitars after this.
2 - Midlife Crisis, Faith No More. its on one of the best records of all time, Angel Dust. In fact, i should just say that Kindergarden and Everything's Ruined can be inserted in this spot as well.
AND NUMERO UNO
1 - I'm Broken, Pantera. it broke pantera into the stream, and i started to study Dime after i heard this record. one day i will post a picture of me by Dime's grave. when i get down there and take the picture that is. RIP! I think my buds Jessica and Timmy started a tradition. The Pantera Party! Pantera videos and alcohol. We have always done that, but it was never planned. Sorry about your carpet guys....

well, i hope you enjoyed this. it took me FOREVER! i'm still working on the review of Chinese Democracy. I can't seem to actually make it through a whole song without throwing up. Perhaps next year, i'll do a Top 100 of this decade and beat VH1 to the punch.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. Be safe! You have to come see me play in January...


Cheers,
d

New Songs!

What's up??? For those who haven't checked out the myspace lately, we posted a new song called 'beauty wasted', GO CHECK IT OUT!

This afternoon has been very productive. We've been working on a new song called 'Fractured'. Its one of my favorites thus far. Pretty proud of that.

In terms of this picture, i'm really not this little...

cheers!

d

heads up!

Here's the flyer for the 2nd ever BOH acoustic show. You should go...

The weekend has been good, aside from it being about -80 degrees outside or whatever. Spent some time in the studio last night with Scott working on some new acoustic songs. One of the songs was an older one that we never really finished, but i really really liked, so i came up with a working version and we'll see what happens. Its amazing when you write a song, and then other people put their spin on it. Scott was doing some amazing things on that song, and it just took it to a whole different level that i hadn't even thought of. its gonna be badass. The other song was a bit different. I had taken a whole different approach to it. Its not really tuned down at all (like a half step maybe). I was watching TV and was trying to vibe off the tv, and it worked. I'm a geek so i'll spare you the details of what i was watching... I played the song for scott and he said 'now, don't take this the wrong way....'. usually when someone says that, you prepare for something bad. and i was prepared because it was different kind of song. Sometimes certain things will work, and other times they don't. So, he says, 'it reminds of Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls.' Thats not bad, that's a compliment! I've listened to my fair share of John Reznik songs. And not the overplayed ones on the radio. Listen to 'Gutterflower' all the way through (skipping the songs Reznik didn't write of course), and tell me that its not good. I dare you. Anyways, so yea, Scott agreed with me, and I think that song is gonna be pretty kickass. It has a very somber feeling. its a very different song for me and a very different song for BOH. I left there last night feeling pretty damn proud of myself and proud to be playing with the guys i play with.

Last week, i ran into an old promoter friend of mine. I haven't talked him in quite awhile, and I was talking to him about BOH. He puts on 1 or 2 all day metal shows in Omaha every year, and he asked what we sounded like. I told him it wasn't really metal, and i told him who was in the band. He just kind of looked at me and smiled. I've gotten that alot since we put BOH out there. The whole philosophy of 'metal' is kind of a 'for life' kind of thing. I had to explain to him that all of us are all metal heads in every sense of that term, but we wanted to play something a little different. We wanted to expand and really explore our limits of what we can do musically. We are trying to break the molds we've created for ourselves. and its working.

d

possibly one of the greatest records ever made...

yup. best ever. it changed music. at least for me.

On the BOH front, we've been tracking more music in studio 'de Armstrong' of late. lots of cool tracks. i'm pretty excited to start playing them live. speaking of, we announced two more shows for January in Omaha. On Jan. 10th, we are at the Waiting Room in Bensen with Old Boy Network and a host of others, and then on Jan. 16th we are doing an all acoustic show at the Saddle Creek bar with the Jes Winter band and some others. Both shows will be a great time. And this is what i'm talking about. getting out of your comfort zone. we've never played with any of these guys (and we've wanted to play with them for quite some time, thanks for hookin that up lea!), much less played an acoustic show outside of Shea Rileys (the hideout i mean). so, yea, definetely out of the comfort zone, but it makes it that much more exciting. you all should come out. i mean you totally should, i'll be there.

studio...

for those interested, this is my make shift home studio. it consists of my computer, a line 6 tone port, and my guitars. that's it. pretty simple. So, remember my post on satanism? Me either, but in it i said that i had gotten hooked up with a free subscription to SPIN magazine. Normally, i don't dig indie stuff, but, hey, it was free. Anyways, in it, they have a section where 'celebrities' take a pic of themselves in their room or studio or whatever and then talk about the cooky shit in the room. I thought it'd be fun to do the same. There is no one else here, so you get the picture without me in it. Lets start with the giant piece of shit to the left. This was an old table top that i painted. Its a representation of my conception, from my point of view (or what i thought it was anyway). I'm not attached to this in anyway, but can't bring myself to throw it away. If you want it, let me know, its yours. Except the baby picture on it. Its me as a baby holding 3 hundred dollar bills. Bling bling! That i'm keeping. The other painting is the 'love pirate' symbol. Below that, my guitars. The acoustic all the way to the left was given to me by my father. Its the guitar he taught me on. He gave it to me last Xmas. It means the world to me. The Vader helmet..... yes, i'm a Star Wars geek, leave me alone! I managed to walk away with that at my last job. The print above my computers is the Dali print i've spoken of before. 'Apparition of Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach'. Dali is amazing, i highly recomend checking him out if you haven't before. Ive written many a song inpired by that painting. Other than that, just a bunch of random crap, pictures of my nephew, and a beer. haha, cheers! Anyways, that was kind of lame, but whatever, it was kind of fun. The BOH stuff is coming along good. There is so much music! We actually sat down earlier this week and started going through demos. I think there was something like 36 songs! I'm pretty excited about this project. More so than any other project i've ever done. These songs are so close to us and it shows i think. Last weekend I put together an acoustic show up at the Hideout (yes, you should go there, it used to be Shea Rileys). There were 3 sets. Steve Linell from Beta Minus, Lawrence Deal from Civicminded, and Ed Antone from DiFI. They all did sets. I will say this: these 3 musicians are amazing, as are their bands, but it takes sack to do what they did that night, and I have the utmost respect for them. Thanks for a great show guys! I left inspired and proud to know and learn from you. Anyways, its Friday again. Time to go out, have some drinks, and find some trouble. Cheers!

d

hmmmm....

so, black on high has got some massive ideas floating around. I'm really excited to see them come to life. I've always been one to do things differently. Being innovative really kind of excites me. Not just in the music, but in the marketing and promotion has well. I think its safe to say that i've never really been inside that 'box', so to speak. anyways, just know that BOH probably won't do everything like our collective other projects have. Its a bit nervous, and we have no idea if they will work, but that's the exciting part i suppose. Anyways... remember awhile ago i mentioned that DS acoustic album? Well, its still being worked on, but i wanted to post the instrumental version of this song because i'm pretty proud of it. Let me know what you think. It was a very different piece for me to write. Its a bit sloppy, but you'll get the idea. All those songs had at the time were numbers, so this one (at the moment) is just called '13-acoustic'. Enjoy.



dc

Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Hideout on Friday night! That show was fun as hell. It was good to see all the people I haven't seen in a long time. And, again, happy birthday to everyone (Wez, Cam, Paul, Lauren, Bec, etc..). It was definitely a celebration! I do remember one conversation I had that night with Collin from Truth In Ruin (badass metal band from omaha, check that shit out). We were talking about everyone kind of growing up together in the rock and metal scene in Omaha. How you grow and mature musically. It makes sense. The scene here is kind of like a family, whether we like it or not. Some are friends, some fight with each other, and don't speak at all unless they are foreced to. Sounds like family to me. hahahaha. anyways, looking ahead, lots of writing and organizing things. We will probably lay off shows until after the holidays. That's always a crazy time, and really, we need to be writing anyways. We need to take advantage of the season.

d

thought this was cool...

one of the funnest shows i've ever played.

so?

you going to the show on friday? you'd better, or i'll be mad at you. it may be our last for a little while. the writing is going good and we are going to try and formulate a record out of it. there may be something going on in January too, i'll keep you in the loop.

from the begining BOH has been an experiment. doing things we had never done before. writing about things that we never have before. certain themes and aspects of our lives will always be apparent in our music, but they are a little closer to heart in BOH. it feels a bit more honest. it all hits closer to home. probably why we are writing so much. we had all been under the umbrealla of 'metal' for the majority of our lives. unless your songs are about religion, kicking ass, or having sex, no one gives you credit or takes you seriously in metal. i know quite a few metal bands out there that actively put on a 'show' and try and come off like hardass satanist pimps. it doesn't work. its all a lie really. if you read my blog on a regular basis, you know my feelings on satanism anyways. i guess i just don't get it anymore. maybe i'll chalk that up to almost being 30. maybe i'm just a bit jaded by music in general. you write music for so long, you tend to critique everything everyone does. if its bad, you give them shit, if its good, you mimic it. its been that way since i was 17. i don't know. i'm rambling. i'm reverting back to the classic albums anyways. i can't do alot of new music. its all the same anymore. and about the same subject matter. I don't think i've taken out 'Angel Dust' in two weeks. That and 'The Real Thing' probably are the two most influential records i've ever heard. anyways, i'm done rambling for today.

d

HEY!!!

Go immediately to the Black on High myspace and listen to 'Ascension of Madmen' and tell me what you think. then come back and read the rest of my blog. It's cool, I'll wait......

i think the said 'blow to the head' i outlined in my last post really did me some good. I've been writing a lot more, and listening to a lot of different music. I think I've really opened up a lot musically. I've been catching myself doing weird little instrumentals. The idea behind them was 'the immediate and simple capture of what i was feeling at the moment'. I called them 'the realizations'. Here's #2. Let me know what you think. Simplicity was the goal. These are also a good rut buster when writing music.



Anyways, still writing lots for B.O.H. and I'm really excited for where that music is heading. I'm not sure if I mentioned this yet, Jeph Geaghan from Downshift found a bunch of old Downshift demos for an acoustic album that I wrote that never got off the ground (obviously!). So, Jeph is going to write some vocals and when that's done, I'll toss that up on the downshift myspace (www.myspace.com/downshift). So, that's kind of exciting. I actually completely forgot about that record until he emailed me one day with all tracks. They are a good 5 years old, alot of them were old 'Blueprint' demos that never made the last DS record. Anyways, we also just announced a new show on Nov. 7th at Shea Rileys in Omaha with our friends in Beta Minus and Noizewave. If you're in town, you should definetely check that out. Its also are bro Wezel's bday, so it'll be fun. Anyways, i'm out. Talk to you soon.

d

ahh, yes, that wonderfull addiction...

what's up guys? i've totally been slackin' on my blogging, but hey, shit happens. Good news, there is a show announcement on the horizon, and we'll announce that here soon. the writing is going good, we are all writing a ton of music, and things are getting rounded off. And with every piece of good news, there is usually a piece of bad news. This next show may very well be our last until the record is done (or perhaps its more than one record...). Anyways, fall is the best time to write. Nature is fairly depressing in the fall. everything is dying. that's the best time to write, in my opinon anyways. i'm finding inspiration in very odd places recently. you never really know when its going to hit you or what exactly is going to hit you, but when it does, you know. i went through a bit of a dry spell for a stretch, but its back. remember, it comes in cycles. if i tried to pinpoint it, i think it was the blow to the head last saturday at the School of Arms show. i was hanging out with Stella from Dirty Little Rabits and Sophia from 89.7 the river, and i was a tad close to the pit, and caught a nice elbow to my face. hurt like a bitch, but i've been writing alot since. maybe its the bruised lip (which i've never had before), i don't know. never underestimate a blow to the head i suppose. it can do wonders for you. i think the term is 'shakabuku'. google it. hahaha, anyways. i'm gonna run. Friday night is still young. Cheers!

d

Here's another goodie...

here's a promo video i did with my old band.

Downshift - Hollowcore

Thanks!

hey guys. thanks to everyone who came out to the acoustic show. scott said it very well that night, 'thanks for checking out our little experiment.' It was an experiment for us. i personally, have never done anything like that, so i was a bit nervous. we had a shit ton of fun, and hopefully we'll do it again soon. looking forward, back to the routine. practices start up again tonight, and we'll have some more show announcements here fairly soon. the songwriting is warp speed. lots and lots of music. and the funniest thing about it the titles we give them before they have lyrics. our process is fairly simple. when the mood strikes you write, and most of the time we aren't at practice. so, for me, i'll record at home, and send it to the guys, and we'll go from there. but, naming these things is pretty funny. they all have pretty dumb names when they are written. or names that make no sense. i got into the habit of watching south park when i get home from practice. 9 times out of 10 i'm recording after that. so, alot of the names i come up with are one liners from South park. there's one out there called 'mudmonkey' that i took from South park. Mr. Garison was referencing the turd that 'someone' left in the urinal. hahahahaha. i thought it was funny. i also have this picture hanging above my computer. Its a Dali print called 'Apparition of Face & Fruit Dish on a Beach'. Its an amazing picture. I get a lot of wierd titles from that too. Anyways, i gotta get back to the grind. See you soon.

d

tomorrow night!

tomorrow night is the night! first ever B.O.H. acoustic show at Sheas. man, i tell you what, trying to narrow the covers down was kind of hard. adding some, taking some out, shit, even last night we added one. I haven't even touched it yet. but, i'll get it done. I'm pretty stoked about the covers. It has to be the single most 'depressing' set of covers i've ever done! hahahahahahaha. but, they are all amazing songs, one of which is probably one of the greatest songs ever written on an acoustic guitar. Funny story about this particular song. My birthday was about a month ago, and me, becky, and some friends went out to celebrate. We ended up at a bar with a couple guys do covers on acoustics. This was kind of around 11, so i was, well, i had a decent buzz, hahahahaha. Anyways, I told scott i wanted him to play this particular song for me for my birthday. he said that if those dudes would let him, he would. I worked some magic, and boom, scott played this song and had everyone in the place in awe. It was amazing. Thanks Scott! So, i'm excited to play that song tomorrow. Perhaps we'll tell the story at the show before we play it. Scott tells it better anyways.

i think people will be surprised at some of the choices, and i'm sure people expected some of the others. hell, i even expected to play about half of these. and honestly, for me, alot of these songs shaped me as a player, and I can tell they had an effect on scott and josh too. we grew up listening to a lot of them, and they are fun to play. we may have some guests in that set too. We also are going to play the two original acoustic songs 'Would you love me more' and 'Under the cover of night' that are on the myspace page. Those too songs have very special meanings for scott and I, and they come across in those songs. Anyways, i'm not going to give away any more, you'll just have to come and check it out!

d

i just found this....

guess which one is me.....

Metal Sanaz- Dimebag Darrell Tribute Show in Omaha Part 3

yo...

we've been getting ready for this acoustic show next weekend. i'm pretty excited. its kind of wierd though. a lot of people who probably would've blown off a regular show, are excited for this one. i guess sometimes it takes different ways of doing things to get people interested in what you are doing. i will say, i'm excited for some of the covers. By the way, thanks to everyone who has emailed with ideas for cover songs. Unfortunetely, we can't do them all, but we did pick some good ones. some really good ones. so i'm pumped. we are still writing the heavier stuff as well. we've probably got another 6 that we will, from time to time, exchange for some of the older ones on the myspace page. Some of the new stuff is badass. I'm pretty proud of some of them. I did another solo in a song called 'The Acsension of Madmen'. I think i'm attracted to doing that because i've never really done it before. if the song calls for one, then it'll get one. if it doesn't, and some of them don't, then i won't. its another avenue that just adds depth to a song. and i enjoy testing my own limits. (and i just kind of liked this picture...).

d

i feel the need to quantify my review of the 'tallica record. it isn't unlistenable. if you dug anything from the black album on, you'll probably like this one. is it picking up where they left off with Puppets or Justice? No. That's where i was going. I was fairly brutal because everyone i've talked to about it says its as good as those records. So, having that mindset, i was very very dissappointed. just wanted to quantify.

d

becoming the critic....

So, i managed to get my hands on the leak of the new Metallica record, Death Magnetic, today. I've never felt so compelled to publicly become a critic of music, as I write a fair share of my own, and I have wanted to beat a lot of ass in the past for shitty reviews. But, this record inspired me to start commenting (not too mention to check my own shit!). Well, that and Ian Robinson's review of the record. I felt i could do it better. When you spend so much time writing music and studying other people's music, you know where people slack off or really put the time in. So, here we go, track by track. You ready?

Death Magnetic (not a bad title, kind of played out, i would have expected this out of Dave Mustaine)

This Was Just Your Life: Starts off with a heartbeat. Nice throw back to Sepultura, Chaos A.D.. I gotta say, I like it better when Max and the boys did it. At least it was Max's kid's heartbeat and it meant something, and not a weak attempt to be clever. I also have to say i was pleastantly surprised NOT to hear Lars's 'trademark' snare drum we'd been tortured with on St. Anger. Hammett's solo is killer. Good to have him back on his game. It also seemed that they kind of buried Truijio's bass. Can't have him stealing Lar's thunder.

The End of the Line: I think that i wrote the intro riff when i was 14. Not sure though. It became apparent at this point on the album that the actual 'recording' is kind of lacking. There is no punch to the guitar sound, no to mention the kick drum (cause i don't want to talk a whole bunch of shit on the drums, but i will anyways later). In my opinion, this is kind of standard on Rick Rubin recordings. My main focus here was on how bad the lyrics are. Unfortunetly, they don't get better. Again, Hammett's solo is badass. He and Marty Freidman should do a Shrapnel record. That'd be sweet. I'd actually pay for that (unlike Death Magnetic, thanks Lars!).

Broken, Beat, & Scarred: are you serious? This should have been on Load. Bad lyrics, beyond lazy drumming, but apparently Hammett flexed some muscle, cause, again, his solo is pretty sweet. He seems to be the saving grace on this record.

That Day That Never Comes: uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, really? That'd have been better off using the Drum Kit From Hell, and just sampling the drums. You can start to tell at this point that they picked out their favorite songs from the the first three records and tried to rewrite them. I'm guessing this was a sad attempt at Fade to Black. You can totally tell what influence Kirk had on this record. They're the only good parts. The solo is ok on this one, its hard to solo over shit. I noticed here that the guitar tone on this record is CRAP! Line 6 makes good gear James, learn how to use it!

All Nightmare Long: it seems now that Robert has as much pull as Jason did. They get two or three ideas in on a record, and that's it. After that, its James and Lars (and hopefully a little Kirk). Maybe we are spoiled now days. Lots of good drummers who understand that intensity is key. Lar's missed that boat. The drumming is so far beyond lazy, its pathetic. I think he may have had a Red Bull on the day he recorded this song, cause its the best of a bad bunch. And again, the lack of production seeps through here, and the lyrics are retarded. Solo owned. This should have been a Kirk Hammet solo album, and just had him solo everywhere there were vocals.

Cyanide: This seemed to be one of the three ideas that were obviously Robert's. Not a bad track, not a great one. This probably had a place on Puppets or Justice. Although, I'd die happy if i didn't have to hear the lyrical exhange with the words 'Suicide' and 'Die'. That's beyond played out. Not to mention retarded. Solo=owned. Kirk showed up to play but no one else did.

The Unforgiven III: This is where i will start to blame Rick Rubin. I never ever ever ever ever though in a million years I'd hear a PIANO on a Metallica song. Thanks Rick. The rest is too easy here. The song is terrible. Worse than anything on Load. Solo was sweet, but even Kirk couldn't save this piece of shit.

The Judas Kiss: Not terrible. Could've been on Justice. However, lyrics are still dumb. For the love of God, just let Kirk do it. Just let Kirk do the whole album. Give him a computer, a Tone Port, and the dfh. You'll get the best Metallica album ever written.

Suidice & Redemption: Finally!!!!! NO VOCALS!!!!! The last of Robert's ideas I'm assuming. A throw back to some old Cliff Burton instrumentals I imagine. Something is telling me they didn't play to a click track... Maybe it was a shitty guitar tone over an even worse drum sound. Who engineered this album, Lars?

My Apocalypse: A hint of Slayer here. Albiet, a small one, but its still there. Same shitty Rick Rubin recording, but the vocal delivery is great for thrash. Lyrics are, again, dumb, but the delivery made up for some of that. Solo, again, owned. If Kirk wasn't in this band, I would have expected this album to be from a young local band here in Omaha.

So, to sum up: I learned a few things by listening to this. One, Rick Rubin hires shitty engineers OR does a shit job himself. Two, Kirk really is still the shit. Three, imagine what Slayer would have sounded like with a better producer!!!!!!! Four, James's needs to stop writing the lyrics. And finally, Five, thrash metal musicians just don't age well musically. I kept thinking to myself through this whole record 'shit, Lamb of God could have done this better'. one is left to wonder, did they do this because they really felt it, or because they needed a paycheck?

I don't know, should i keep doing this? I will do it on the next Guns & Roses record, Chinese Democracy, because that is waaaaay too easy, but if you guys are in any way curious, I can do this on a regular basis. lemme know.

d

hahahahaha

these pictures were too funny! working on a lot of acoustic stuff. trying to figure out originals we want to play at the show. still writing a lot of the heavier stuff too. remember what i said about this stuff coming in cycles? I went through another bit of a dry spell where i wasn't writing anything that was any good. but, i'm back on track now. i'm hoping to write a lot this weekend, acoustic and otherwise. we'll see.

d

and here is yet another example of my lame photoshop skills. i'm getting better though. anyways... i hooked up a twitter site for the band. if you have never heard of twitter, its pretty cool actually. its considered 'mini blogging' and it will update to your cell phone. so, if i was to post something (its never more than 150 characters, i tried), you can set it up so it goes to your cell phone as a text. its pretty badass. you should sign up. its free for fuck's sake. i have my own personal one too. that was some entertaining shit. here's my personal one. http://twitter.com/dcdownshift

and here's the band
http://twitter.com/blackonhigh

check it out. its not as dumb as it may seem.

d

NEW SHOW!!!

Well, here it is guys. The acoustic show. If you have kept tabs on BOH for awhile, you'll know that we wrote a lot of the songs acoustically in the beginning. As we started transferring them over to electric, we started writing that way too. Its pretty obvious which songs were written which way. But, now, we are writing both ways, so its double barrell. This show is gonna be kick ass man. I've waited along time to do a show like this, and i'm pretty stoked it finally came around. We had always talked about doing a show like this, but didn't know who would fit. I happen to be talking to Ed from DiFi about it one night, and he was on the same page, so we decided to do it. We figured 'why not'? We are going to do originals and covers, I think both bands will play for about an hour or so, then we may have like a 'combined' cover type set, and Ed may do some on his own, who knows. Whatever works at the time! Its going to be a laid back, good time. I'm excited. You should go! And if there is anything you want to hear us 'try' and play, shoot me an email or email us through the myspace! And yes, the flyer is an testament to my lack of photoshop skills. but, hey, i tried.

d

i can ramble...

i just re read my post from last night. I just went on and on. geez. still makes sense to me though, although by my logic, that would also make planet earth evil, and if evil=satan, that would make planet earth hell. but, i'm not a 'philosophizer', just someone who likes to point out errors in other peoples logic (but who is willing to point out errors in his own). ANYWAYS. Exciting news from BOH. We are putting the finishing touches on an all acoustic show. that's right, all acoustic. prolly some covers too. why? cause we felt like it. that's kind of the point of BOH. We are going to write whatever music we want to. I've always felt somewhat constricted in my other projects. There was no room to branch out really. Some did try though (and that is why i have the utmost respect for Jesse from NS, you acoustic shit is badass!). I've always done acoustic stuff on my own, just for fun. its very organic and very honest. can't hide behind anything. if you jack up a chord, people will know. i imagine an acoustic show will be more intense (playingwise) than a regular show. The show is going to be at the end of September, and we'll make the announcement soon. it'll be fun. you should probably go.

d

hahahaha!

ok, so about six months ago i got a free subscription to Spin magazine. I'll usually flip through it once, and then toss it on the pile. the new issue came yesterday. and after sifting through all the little 'indie' shitnuggets, i stumbled upon an article on Stanton LaVey, Anton's grandson. the 'supposed' heir to the satanic throne here on Earth or whatever. i read the article, and then laughed my balls off for 45 minutes. He is the 'satanic' Paris Hilton. The whole article consisted of him talking about partying and who his friends are. Shit, even the Church of Satan kicked him out (talk about a blow to the ego!). How much of a jackoff do you have to be to get booted out of that church? I mean, really? And of course there was the expected push of his clothing line, I expected nothing less. Then he goes into his friendship with Marylin Manson. They start talking about how the Church of Satan isn't 'evil', cause there is no God. See, now this is where I get confused. Didn't God create Satan? And if there is no God, why is there a 'Church' of Satan? Wouldn't then Satan would be God, or a 'God' figure, in the 'Church of Satan'? And if there is no God, how can Satan be it? Satan would cease to be Satan with out God, right? He would just be some other dude. And kind of an asshole at that.

I have this theory. Man is born inherently good. Are criminals born criminals, or are they shaped by their environment? Are men born evil, or are they shaped by their environment? Its all based on the subconscious influence. So, my theory. Ok, well, i think its safe to assume that God=good and Satan=evil, right? that's kind of a gimme. Stay with me here. Take the criminal scenario. Say someone murders someone. That's pretty fucking evil right? Did they have the mental capacity to do that when they were born? No. They were shaped by their environment (and obvious lack of parental stability). They weren't capable of evil until their subconscious was influenced into doing so. So, that being said, its very feasible that man is born 'good' not 'evil'. Man is not capable of evil until he is influenced by his subconscious which is influenced by his environment. The environment may evil, but not the man. So really, if you lack the will power to control your own subconscious and make decisions for yourself, and not let the subconscious do it for you, then you will gravitate towards evil as your subconscious will guide you that way, assuming your environment is evil. Its not a choice. You were told to go that way, and ,no, it wasn't by Satan. It was by your lack of will power.

Its funny how some satanists say that Christians are being mindfucked by their given facet in the vast religion know as Christianity. But, really, they aren't and they haven't been worked over by their subconscious. They didn't allow their environment to influence their self conscious, thus their decision making skills. That's pretty respectable to have that kind of will power, and i like to think that most humans possess a certain amount. Some people, obviously, take it to extremes, but so does the other side. So, all in all, I find Satanism to be an illogical choice for human beings because its not them making that decision. Their environment did it for them, and they lack the necessary will power to control their own subconscious. Their environment influences their subconscious and they let it. I'm not the most religious person by any stretch, so don't get me wrong here. I'm not coming at this as a die hard Christian. Just a person who can smell bullshit through a Spin magazine.

So, just to recap, here's my theory on Satanism:
1.) If God doesn't exist, neither does Satan. If you don't believe there is a God, then you're and atheist, not a Satanist.
2.) If man is born good, some thing on Earth causes man to be evil.
3.) Your subconscious can control you if you let it, and it takes will power to control it.
4.) The environment influences your selfconscious.
5.) Man has control of his self conscious.
6.) Fuck, i don't know, i'm rambling. Just be good to each other, geez...


d

Stay tuned!!!

for another big big big announcement from B.O.H.. Super pumped about this one too! We are confirming some things, but it'll be badass! Trust me...

Thanks to all those who came out to the show! We had fun. It was a good first show. Thanks to Beta Minus for having us!

Today's the day!

todays the day man. we are fuckin' excited as hell to do this. we're stoked. i was on my way home from practice last night thinking about all the shit that i need to get done for the show, and something occurred to me. when you think, there is a voice in your head. who's voice is it? see you tonight!

d

2 Days

2 days before the show guys! Me and the rest of the guys are very excited to play this music for you. I did realize something yesterday though. When you hear the bands we've all been in (Downshift, Narcotic Self, Idle Apathy, Fornever) and you hear that members from each are playing together, you'd expect something brutal as hell. And believe me, we've talked about it. but, what i realized is that we'd be cheating you and ourselves if we did that. A lot of people expect this to be brutal. But, ultimately, it wouldn't do any one any good at all. A lot of bands in Omaha who have members that we in bigger bands in their past, have fallen into this rut. Their music sounds like one of their prior bands could have written it. That's a good indicator of being in a rut. I think anyways. Black on High's music would've had no place in any of the bands in our collective past. There may be parts that could've worked in Downshift or Fornever or who ever, but ultimately, it breathes as Black on High. Once I realized this, the slight nervousness faded, and the excitement and will to dominate grew. We're swinging for the fences guys.

8 Days

Hey guys, 8 days till show time. we are all pumped. Its been way too long since we've been on stage. this is a first for the collective, but I haven't been on stage since the beginning of the year, that being my final show with Narcotic Self. You become addicted to it. its weird. its not like a drug addiction, its like a motivation, almost like an orgasm i suppose. You do a crazy amount of work to get there, you hit that last note of the show and everyone cheers for you and there is no better feeling, and then you want to go to sleep. hahahahahaha! Seriously though, it is addicting. But in a good way. BOH is in high gear that the moment, tweaking sounds, beefing up the gear, figuring out a stage show. Its a lot of work, but its all worth it in the end. Assuming there is an end. Its a cycle. You write, practice, record, play shows, repeat. There's your album cycle. Its the last 10 years of my life.

d

ps....

if you haven't heard the new Scar Symmetry record (and you actually like metal), fuck dude, go listen to it! Its Dream Theater on crack!!!!

d

Structure and Consequences

so, i was thinking today. i write music because I'm compelled to, i can't help it. i come home on my lunch break at work and write. I play music because i feel the need to express the things visually (and audibly obviously) that i can't on a day to day basis. They are very different. In a sense, its my own self fulfilling prophecy. And that being defined as 'a false definition of the situation evoking a new behaviour which makes the original false conception come 'true'.' I become 'dc' and cease to become Dan. Its my own alter ego that I've created to embody the things i don't like about myself. i know understand Marlyn Mason, Alice Cooper, Slipknot, who ever. I get it now. it makes sense. You become it. Or, rather, it becomes a part of you, no matter how bad you don't want it to. i never wanted it to. but, it fulfilled itself. Those two people are one in the same. I think i knew that all along and its a gigantic circle. They tug at each other. Right brain, left brain maybe? Dan wanted to be in a blues band, dc wanted to be in a metal band (guess who won that fight). Dan wanted to be an architect, and dc wanted to be a musician (again, guess who won). Dan kind of likes techno, dc wants to kill Dan for kind of liking techno. you see the give and take here. that list could go on for quite some time. everyone has their 'alter egos', its figuring out who that is that really makes you at peace with yourself. Accepting who both sides are, moving forward. I've always been that guy who thought he could fly knowing full well he didn't have wings. but he didn't care, he was going to figure it out and do it anyways. and i think he's getting there. Ten days until the show guys. Scott was in the hospital yesterday. J and I went to see him. Its hard to see a brother down, but we knew he'd get through it (and he did). and you know what, he's gonna be stronger then he was before. that's the kind of dude he is. you can't stop scott. no one can. planet Earth should probably be afraid.

This is a picture of Dan (hence the collared shirt), not sure where dc was that night. And Scott in the middle and J on the right trying to kiss Scott.

Cheers kids, I'm gonna say goodbye to Tuesday.

d

Here's proof...

That i just don't photograph well. i don't know what it is. I have trouble smiling in pictures. I don't know why, and when i do try, it just looks cheesy. ah well. guess I'll just have to look like a bad ass all the time. hahahaha! Anyways, practices are going very well, and we are still writing a ridiculous amount of music. Some of it is getting fairly heavy. I knew we wouldn't be able to keep that monster at bay. We have a few ideas that we are kicking around that will keep the new music coming! I've also become addicted to buying stomp boxes and pedals on eBay. shit there are some good deals! I don't want to over do it on the floor, because i don't want to tap dance through an entire set, but i guess i never put all that much stock into a big pedal board. I always thought that a tuner, chorus, and wah pedal was enough. Was i ever wrong, geez! So, if any one reading this has any pedals they are looking to get rid of, shoot me an email. I'm always down to try new shit. We're all getting excited for the show. Eleven days...

d

ok, don't get mad...

so, i realized something this morning. Its important to stay on top of the times. Being 'old fashioned' doesn't work in this day and age. If you can't roll with the punches, you'll get left behind. You have to stay in tune with what is going on, and that kind of means what the younger generation is bringing to the table. If you can't relate with the younger people, you'll never get anywhere. I've watched alot of people make alot of mistakes recently because they don't know how to relate to younger people. Just something I've noticed. and of course I have a solution: stay young. Not in age (of course you can't anyways), but in attitude. How am I doing that? Black on High. Hahahahaha! you knew that was going to come full circle didn't you! I'm writing alot more now, lots of acoustic stuff, i'm really excited to do that part of BOH. I have a feeling BOH is going to be the embodiment of everything we ever wanted to do. There will be no way to pigeon hole it. And that's a good thing. I found this picture just now, thought you'd like it. This is a really good indicator of what life was like on the road with Narcotic Self.

d

Perfect is a skinned knee...

God, Mike Patton writes good lyrics! I just wanted to say that.

I realized something in this picture. Weddings are drinking contests. The one's who are coherent enough to be pissed when the bar closes at 10, win. Granted the reception started at 4, and i appreciated the free beer ( Boulevard no less, thanks Ryan!), but you see where I'm going. On another sad note, I'll be cutting the hair again tonight. I hate getting my hair cut. I always have it in the back of my mind that i need to keep it for one more show. But the shows are just starting up again, and frankly, I'm tired of it. I'm only happy with it if its short or really long. I wear hats during the in between time. Which is most of the time. And I'm wearing out another DC hat.

I heard the new Brian 'Head' Welch track today. I think it was called 'Flush'. Two things were made very apparent: 1.) you know who wrote the good shit in Korn, and 2.) Brain can't write lyrics for shit. He's an amazing musician, but shitty singer/lyricist. Sometimes guitar players have to realize that if they can't sing, they shouldn't. Why do you think i don't? hahaha. I've been trying, but its not good. So, I probably won't! So, I imagine the rest of his record is probably that way. Too bad. I know he found Jesus and all, but come on, even Jesus knows shitty lyrics when he hears them.

Anyways, one more day closer to Friday. Enjoy!

d

Update

Cheers! (this is one of the few times you'll catch me at the 49'r, Hi Kyle!).

Practices are going very well. The set for the 15th is about 6 songs. We also just posted a new track on the myspace called 'Razor Clean'. Go check that out right now. I'll wait................. ok, good, glad you dug it! Lots of other cool surprises are being worked at the moment as well. We'll keep rotating demos on the myspace as we finish them, so keep checking back! The cool thing about this project is that we are just doing whatever we want. We don't have to be brutal, we don't have to be complicated, and that opens up a ton of doors. I personally am doing a lot of things i've never done before. I think that takes some sack personally. I know way too many people who just write the same song over and over and over again. Trying to make it heavier or more 'radio friendly' in a futile effort to get noticed. Selling music is just like selling anything else, if you market it right, you'll sell it. If you don't, you won't. You don't have to be 'brutal' or 'user friendly' to get noticed. It has to be good of course, but there's always someone out there who will buy it. So why not take chances? Anyways, enough venting. Cheers.

d

what to say and not to say to a sound guy...

For those of you who are musicians, here's a list of things that were said to me last night while i was working a show. The first list is a list of very nice compliments that were given to me, and the second list is a list of things that will ruin your show before you even play, and just makes you look like you have no idea what you are doing.

list one.

5.) Dude, your monitors were right on dude! I totally could hear everything, that never happens here! (thanks dude)

4.) We've had nothing but bad shows here, but tonight sounded badass! (thanks Ed)

3.) Can i buy you a beer? The show sounded fucking sweet! (best thing you can ever do for a soundguy, thanks btw)

2.) Will you run sound for us next time? (being asked to do it again means you did something right the first time)

1.) You're not the regular guy that works sound here are you? you should be. (i was speechless since I'm kind of a hack at it).


List two.

5.) yea, uh, that's the kick drum feeding back.
- the sound guy knows dude. he's doing what you tell him to do.
4.) yea, you won't need to mic anything else, just my kick drum.
- know your telling him how to do his job. does he tell you how to play drums? the sound guy doesn't work for you, he works for the club, and has to shine your turd so people don't leave.
3.) we need to start on time cause we have another show at 11 at a different bar.
- still dumbfounded.
2.) why does nothing ever work here!
- do you want me to even try dude? (i didn't by the way)
1.) we have two songs left in our set!
- when a sound guys says you have one left, you have one left. if you bleed two songs together, you're lucky if he doesn't pull the plug on you. i should have, but at that point i was in the bar getting a drink to dull the pain of just having had to sit through 40 minutes of your music.

All but one of these was said by the same guy. i don't mean to be judgmental about anyones music, because creating music is the best thing you can do in the world, but when you get cocky about it, that's when it becomes lame. you, my friend, were quite lame last night. i hope your second show was better than the first!

Sorry, i don't mean to be mean. I've learned a lot about how to treat a sound guy since i started doing it. and believe me, i now know their pain.

not to trump the good news, but i like this picture. its me and josh from Black on High drinking beers by the River. good stuff. nicely done Kyle.

d

its official!

Black on High's first show with be August 15th @ the Waiting Room in Omaha for the Beta - Minus CD release party! mark the calendars. it doesn't matter how much it costs, cause you love me and will support it anyways. and, shit, come on, first show dude! we play first of course, so get there early. like 7, so you don't miss it. i'll see you there!

d

?

Henry Rollins said 'Its sad when someone you know becomes someone you knew.' Is it sad if you do it on purpose?

d

WWHRD?

i mean really? what would he do? its a very valid question.

d

Dimebag...

i remember the day dime died. i was in Atlanta when i got the phone call. the voice on the other said 'some asshole shot dime!'. i was heartbroken. this was my tribute to him. this is me, josh (b.o.h.), gregg (rifles at dawn), jeph (downshift), J3507 (downshift/beta minus), and our friend JR. We were playing Suicide Note Part 1. Downshift went on to play Suicide Note Part 2 right after. That was for you Dime! I hope we did it justice.

d

?

ok, i'm going to try something. since i am not a very organized person, i decided to post song ideas on here. i usually write ideas for songs on little pieces of paper, business cards, text them to scott, any number of different things. I call it 'feeding the muse'. For those of you who aren't really familiar with the concept of a 'muse', and its going to be slightly different for everyone, I will explain how i see it. A muse is a center of inspiration, whether its good or bad, both, or neither. Every artist has one. That's what makes them artists. Its different for everyone, and you can't really tell anyone what it is. A muse is a very very private thing. The 'art' that comes out is the part that be hear, see, taste, whatever. So, from now on, with every post, i will have a little section at the bottom called 'feeding the muse'. Could be song titles, could be a lyric, could be a topic, it could be anything.

d

feeding the muse: 'continuous states of change'

me and the dean.

haha, me and jesse at that last sokol show. so, i slept in a little this morning. prolly cause some one fed me shots of rumple last night. not sure who did that, but who am I to pass on free booze? thanks who ever you are! its been kind of a wierd last couple weeks. i'm kind of at a cross roads in my life. every one has kids, is or is getting married, changing up their priorities, etc. i've been asked more than 15 times this weekend when i was getting married or having kids. i've been asked so many times, i have a scripted standard answer to that question. i'm not sure if that's completely messed up or just ridiculous. so, for those reading, i'm still a big kid myself, can't take care of myself really, i still play on playgrounds. alot. i'm surprised that some hasn't asked questions. i'm enjoying my 20's. I'm not doing anything serious until i'm at least 30. my uncle mark gave me that advice, and he's one of the most optimistic people i've ever met in my entire life. he loves life. everyday is a new day. a few years ago, I got into some trouble, and i went out to Detroit to spend some time with him and clear my head. he took me to this little stretch of beach on Lake Michigan right at the MI/IN border. It was amazing. While we were sitting there, he looks at me and says this 'you know why this place rules? Cause even God hangs out here.' So, now when ever something drastic happens in my life ( and i have 16 hours to kill) i go there.

good morning/afternoon, whatever you call 11:30 these days

what up guys? so, i was thinking this morning. i talk alot on here about writing music and this and that. For some reason, I feel the need to qualify how much a part of my life this is. Not for you, but for me. Sometimes you need to see things in writing to gain perspective. I write music constantly, and for those that do write music, you know it is not an easy thing. I've been doing this 'seriously' for about 10 years. Here's my 'official' discography':

Albums:

Downshift: Exit Loney - 2000
Downshift: Savior EP - 2002
Angel of the Story: A Tribute to Dan Rosseter (solo, and with Downshift)
Brown Bottle Church: 3 Song Sampler (self pressing)
Downshift: 'Hollowcore' CD single - 2004
Downshift: A Blueprint of Suppression - 2005
Downshift: A Blueprint of Suppression DVD - 2005

I never officially released any music with Narcotic Self.

Film Credit:
Haunted Nebraska: Downshift 'Better Days'
1320 Street Racing Vol. 1 - 'Hollowcore' (i think, i never got a copy)

Now, that may not seem like alot, but here's what never got released (or ultimately recorded):

Downshift: Untitled (follow up to Exit Lonely)
Downshift: A Deathwish for the Heartless
Downshift: The Recoil Index
Mac Dividends/Dj Genius: 'In the Air Tonight' Sample, i played guitar on
Tensioner: Tensioner
Untitled Project with Kristin Lee from SS Nova and 1982 Ferrari
Blackspoon: Blackspoon

Sometimes you get to a cross roads with a project and you know its just not going to work. A lot of these were that way. Except the music written with Kristin Lee, there were a lot of logistical issues that couldn't be worked out.

Currently working on:

Black On High: Untitled as of now (2009 eta)
Black On High: Music for When the World Goes Dark (2009 eta)
Downshift: Idle: The Irregularities
Theme for the Independent Film 'Abracadaver'

Busy Busy Busy. Anyways, i had to see that in writing for it to really sink in. Thanks for playing along. Here's another cool picture. This was my second time playing the Sokol Auditorium Upstairs with Narcotic Self.

d

blah.

man, i'm just blah today. i have no motivation to do anything. sometimes i think that writing so much music really does take a toll on the soul. you know what i mean? music is an extension of you, and when that gets thin, so do you. its almost like you put so much of yourself out there that there isn't a whole lot left inside. at least until the next round comes along. then there is too much, and thus the cycle repeats. again and again. anyways, i'm saying goodbye to Thursday. here's another goodie from the Ranch Bowl days. i had my highs and lows there, but i'm proud to say, I was a part of the last song ever played on that stage. nite.

dc

i think...

that falling asleep to VH1 is a bad idea. i'm starting to follow pop music WAY too much. 90% of the music on that channel is crap, but some songs are WAY too catchy, and i feel stupid for having listened to them in the first place much less recalling them in my nugget later. Case in point, that fucking retarded 'i kissed a girl' song. i hate that song. yet, i'm driving in La Vista today, and as I'm listening to Children of Bodom at an extremely loud volume, i started recalling that song in my head. i pulled over and screamed. I had to listen to Slayer even louder to scrub that shit out of my head. Although, I would have never heard Sara Barellies had i not woke up to 'love song' everyday for a week solid. and fuck you if you don't like her, she's amazing. Moral of this story: pop music blows, but every once and awhile, there's a jem. This pic by the way is one of my favorites. It was the last show that Downshift had ever played.

ok, one more...

just found this one. for all the myspace addicts, this is Narcotic Self and the one and only Metal Sanaz. She was cool as hell. and yes, i had to stand on a couch to get my head into the picture.

results!

ok, well, i guess my gut isn't completely full of shit! i think Scottie busted me out of my writing rut. i'm actually running with a few things i'm really diggin' right now. practice was good, and it rained! i love rain. except when i'm driving. if i can just sit there and get rained on, that i like. don't know why. so, all in all, next time my gut tells me the day is gonna be shit, i'm calling in sick to work and drinking all day! hahahaha! anyways, i hate to say it, but i'm going to bed. after a beer. or two. and some guitar playing. shit, who am i kidding, i'll be up till 2am doing shit.

for some reason, i like posting pictures. for those that didn't know or don't really now me, i have to be inspired 24 hours a day or i'm miserable. sometimes it comes out in music, and sometime other things. here's a painting i did for Cameron (downshift drummer) and his wife Dara for their wedding gift.

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experiment

ok. I'm going to try something. yesterday i woke up, kind of felt like shit, and there was just a weirdness about the day. something didn't feel right. i have no idea what it was, but it kind of fucked up my day. i couldn't concentrate on anything. but, i just knew that something wasn't right. nothing crazy happened or anything, but there was just an annoying weirdness lingering all day. but, this morning, something is different. something feels connected. so, here's the experiment: i will write more after practice tonight, and if it turns out to be a bad day, then my gut knows shit, and i will no longer trust it. my gut usually has shit for brains anyways. if its a good day, well, then thank God cause Monday's usually suck. have a good day kids!

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happy 4th of july...

well, happy 6th of july. busy weekend. trying to get back in the mode of writing music. this slump is bad dude. i did write an acoustic track i'm pretty happy with. I called it 'For The Life Of Me'. i like it. anyways, just diggin' through the vault of music pics i have from my 'career'. I like calling it that. makes me some how feel justified in still pushing it so hard. anyways, i found this pic. the boys in beta-minus should get a kick out of it! hahahaha. cool picture, good times. It was at the word famous Ranch Bowl, which is now a fucking wall mart. thanks for that. the picture is prolly at least 8 years old. as you can tell by the stage attire, this was back when JNCO's two sizes too big were cool, and if you didn't have a Dickies shirt, then you were just lame. My how times have changed.

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here's another pic from the collection, for those interested. this was my attempt to set myself apart. because, you know, the hair wasn't enough.

more demos

hey guys. had a very good studio session in studio del armstrong last night. i'm proud to say all the demos for the live set are almost done. a few vocal things and some mixing, and we might, just might, toss them on myspace. we'll see. i will also say that there is a show in the process of being confirmed. Let me just say its a very good band's CD release here in omaha. keep checking back for info on that. i'm super proud of this project. more proud than i think i've ever been. all of us are doing things that we haven't done before and they are coming out better than we could have ever anticipated. i have waited a long time to play with Scottie, and it was worth the decade wait. I knew it would be good, and I was right. I've waited a long time to play with Josh and Dave too. I'm in a very good place musically these days. On the listening front, lots of Children of Bodom. I love keyboards in metal bands. i tried to push it with BOH, but there seems to be a shortage in omaha. oh well. so be it. Been listening to the NIN (still) record alot too. If you haven't heard that, go to youtube and type in 'nin still'. watch 'becoming'. its amazing. trust me here. anyways, i'm off to feed my snake and reconfigure my studio. talk soon.

dc

????

So, i asked someone today what inspires them. more out of curiosity than anything. i'm trying to get inspired again. The things that inspire lyrics aren't the same as what inspires music. i'll have lyric material until the day I leave planet Earth. its the music part that i'm struggling with. i'm missing my fix of playing live. i haven't been on stage since January and its killing me. that shit inspires me. i went back tonight and watched a bunch of videos of old shows trying to get the juices rolling. didn't work, but lots of great memories. Especially the show in Des Moines that Corey Taylor introduced. Its on youtube if you care to see it. Damn. I felt untouchable that day. Same thing the first time NS played Sokol Upstairs in Omaha. I've never felt power like that before. The sheer adrenaline was unrivaled. Anyways, the inspiration thing. I go in strides. I'll write 20+ songs and then have nothing for months. Sucks. But, unfortunately I have to play the hand I've been delt here. Anyways, here's a quick pic the said NS show. Thought I'd share with ya.

so, i've had a lot of people ask me what the graphic is in the myspace player during the song 'Forgot'. So, here ya go...

FYI

i guess i've been living under a rock until recently. i saw Children of Bodom years ago with L.O.G. and Fear Factory and thought they blew ass. i caught a video of them recently killing time watching metal videos on demand. damn dude. they're badass. i must have caught an off night. if you have the means, go get 'are you dead yet'. its a guitar lesson.

revelations....

ok, so, i've been frustrated all day today trying to write music. nothing that is coming out is working. its just not. you have good days and you have bad days in writing music. some call it writers block. i just had a thought that warrants discussion though. no matter what, there is always a void left in the human soul. and its up to us to fill it. and it isn't one that family, friends, significant others, or anyone else can fill, cause they are human too. Music fills those voids. it makes us complete. whether its a piece of music that you write or a song you listen to. it fills that void. its an intangible. it fills the bullet holes in us. just though i'd share. it never occurred to me before.