Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

The Office

Monday, September 20th, 2004

The NEW office

For those that don’t know I have recently left the horror 9 to 5er that I was struggling at, so that i could engage myself in something more meaningful to me. This involves reviving my business partnership. I am also in the process of constructing a brand new Australian music venture in conjunction with Time Signature Studios to promote up-and-coming bands and established rock outfits, which through my 15+ years experience in the industry (playing bass guitar in band chillum/recording in studios/performing live gigs all around Sydney) screams of success. So where do I go to get the creative juices flowing required to construct this magic? Why the office of course. This isn’t your typical run of the mill office though. The office is a sun-soaked balcony in a sleepy suburb in Sydney (see image above). I just sit out there with the laptop and a coffee or 6, and let the fingers dance on the keys. The table comes with its own ornaments (yes the gigantic cat is real – 6 year old Himalayan called Billy) and the sounds of the outdoors, the fresh air, the sunshine all put me in a deep state of calm and working doesn’t seem like work at all.

I can’t describe the liberation you feel from casting off the shackles of a role where you have to be up at the crack of dawn to prepare yourself for the day, then travel on Sydneys rail system (I won’t even bother commenting further on that, suffice it to say that it is the worst rail system in the world BAR NONE), then work MORE than 8 hours at a job that is beneath you for a paycheck that covers your bills and not much else. Time-wise the breakdown was 12 hours dedicated to work (including travelling; actual work; getting ready for work), 8 hours sleep (hopefully), which leaves a grand total of 4 hours to yourself a day. Fuck That! If you wanted to have anymore time to yourself that involves eating into your sleep time. I can’t do that. not for another 40 years. I think the worst thing about it was standing around waiting for work, and spending that time thinking fuck this is boring there has to be something more meaningful I can do with 8 hours of my day. My mind would often wander to working from home and using the skills that I am both qualified and adept in. When you think like that for 4 months straight somethings gotta give. For once I made a decision for ME. It’s my life I should be living it the way that I want. Fuck this 2 weeks notice bullshit, that’s THEIR problem, not mine. I’ve done that in the past and given an employer 4 weeks. So I do believe this balances that out.

So I’ve taken this step and hopefully it proves to be the right one. I have a powerful piece of hardware at my disposal (and I’d like to be a geek and get a whole lot more) and the impetus and momentum to make this a success. Working for oneself incorporates doing things your way (hallelujah!), and you can take a break when you want for how long you want OR you can work a full day without a break if that’s your bag. You can have a day off in the middle of the week if that suits you better, and that means getting things like banking and shopping done are a breeze. Under that context a 12 hour day doesn’t seem so bad. In fact, under that context working 12 hours a day over 7 days doesnt seem so bad. There’s a lot to be said for autonomy. It’s the factor I value most when approaching employers. I value it even above the salary. It gives you freedom, in a place where you are stuck for 8+ hours a day, and in that sort of prison-like structure you need that freedom. Otherwise you may as well be the bitch on the block, bend over, grit your teeth and just bear it. I did a Shawshank Redemption, and escaped :)

I know many people do the suit and tie thing, and put the hard yards in, get the job done, and climb the ladder. If they can do that, then kudos to them. I’m the kind of person that doesn’t want to wake up in 30 years time and think where the fuck did my life go?, what did I get done? I want to be creative, I don’t want to live in the box. I want to be a bass player and make records, I want to be a web designer and create fresh devastating design work, I want to be a world class photographer and travel the world taking shots of beauty, I want to live oh why won’t you let me live!!!! Sorry had to get that off the chest hehehe.

So if you’re sitting at your desk, in your cubicle, and your online in your 30 minute lunchbreak and you are reading this and thinking to yourself “I want to own a petshop, I want to design a golf course, I want to be a professional tennis player, I want to bungie-jump off Mt Everest, I want to make money from carving little wooden pinocchios out of the dead branches that fall in my backyard… I want to live!” then take my example and MAKE it happen. Why dream about it any longer. Sure you have bills to pay, and you need the money to pay them, but in 40 years time when you’re Senior Manager at your cubefarm, and you’re 10 times as stressed and earning 10 times as much, those bills are still going to be there, fatter and uglier. Like a cranky, old friend they grow with you over the years. Take the plunge now while you are still young and have the energy to enjoy living your dream.

p.s. Thanks to Dave for suggesting I improve the readability of the site. Not one to mince words, the geek lets you know what does and doesn’t work on your site, without beating around the bush, so cheers for that dood. The vilesilencer is a living, breathing, coding dinosaur, it needs a back-end update, I’m aware of that. Tables are out CSS is in. I know I know. The silencer is built on a nested-table structure as complex and dense as a beehive (and just as sweet hehehe) and I’m not about to start fucking with it. I’ve added a line-height so that hopefully the site is easier to read, but I wont be making any drastic design changes anytime soon, so for now do as I do and maintain the rage :)

Posted in Bands, General, Music, Rants | No Comments »

I Saw A Lion He Was Standing Alone, With A Tadpole In A Jar

Thursday, September 16th, 2004

Aria Pro II Cat Bass

One of the classic lyrical lines from Dancing Days, one of Led Zeppelin’s many hits, that to this day I still don’t understand. Ahhhh the obligatory Led Zeppelin entry. You knew it was coming didn’t you? But did you know why? Here we go…

I first got the inkling to play bass guitar when my brothers mate Rob used to bring up his Cherry Red Aria Pro II Cat Bass (see image above) and his quadraverb, and he and my brother Mike on his Ludwig Vistalite Big Beat Series Drumkit would jam the rhythm section on a handful of Zep tracks. I always envied them, though at that young stage of my life I thought Zep sucked, I was into The Thompson Twins or Bronski Beat or something tragically gay like that. Anyways. I digress.

The day I knew I was going to be a bass player was when I found one of my brothers old Santana cassettes. The album was 1978s Inner Secrets, the track that did it was One chain (don’t make no prison). I heard the running-octave bassline in that track and thought to myself that’s it i’m taking it up. Other standout tracks were Move On (another great bassline), Open Invitation, Well Alright and Dealer/Spanish Rose. The last 3 tracks really showcase Carlos’s guitar virtuosity. If you think that Smooth track he did in the 2000’s is good you have to listen to the old stuff, you’ll cream your daks.

So where does Zep tie in? Well the aformentioned Rob wanted to unload his bass… and I bought it, and began learning by ear from tapes. The first thing I ever learnt on bass was the ending to Stairway to Heaven when Jimmy Page wails in with the lead. Then I went through a multitude of other Led Zep tunes, practicing them with my brother playing Bonzo on drums, before I found my masterpiece. I purchased 1969s Led Zeppelin II, and was struck absolutely dumb when I heard track 3 The Lemon Song. No band gives their bass player a solo, let alone that fucking long, but it works and it is honestly the best bass lead I have ever heard. I can play quite a lot of the solo and I found that it opens up a whole new world of playing to you. From learning that solo you can go places you couldn’t go on the fret board before. It is like an awakening. So you can see where this is heading…

I became a huge fan of John Paul Jones (JPJ) after that. Especially since he was a session musician and predominantly a keyboard player. He was probably the least known member of the band. He hid behind his keyboards, and was little known. John Bonham gained notoriety when he died, at age 32, from the increasingly common rock-star-alcohol-induced-vomit-suffocation. Whilst Page and Plant have been inseperable through many re-enactments and tours of the band, JPJ has faded into obscurity, doing his own thing, working on small unknown albums and only really popping up recently when he produced New Zealand band The Datsuns 2nd CD Blacken my thumb. He truly is The most underrated musician on the planet. Here’s an excerpt from an interview with ex-Guns’N'Roses and current Velvet Revolver bass player Duff McKagan, that nicely sums up my thoughts on JPJ:

Listen to John Paul Jones — he didn’t get that groove listening to “rock” all the time. He was a real soulful player, and there wouldn’t have been Led Zeppelin without John Paul Jones. No doubt about that. Amen :)

Now, you might think to yourself, dude my favourite band is Hootie and the Blowfish, what the fuck has Led Zeppelin got to do with them? Well, go listen to the album Encomium, which is a tribute to Led Zep by a number of bands, including Hootie. They fittingly cover the very Hootie-ish Hey Hey What Can I Do? and more importantly it rawks! Another band from the other end of the spectrum that plays on that album is Tool, and they are fucking hardcore.

That’s what Zep were about. Diversity. The music itself is complexingly brilliant. Twin and Triple neck guitars, Bassplaying mandolin-wielding keyboardists, and arguably the worlds greatest ever rock drummer, all gelled together with poetry style lyrics. Hey, don’t think they haven’t influenced your favourite band poindexter. You are probably sitting there singing along to Matchbox 20s latest dull hit on your iPod, oblivious to their influences and wondering how they do it. I’m telling you it was probably Led Zep. They were and are that big. If you like music and you don’t like them, then throw away half your CD collection because they sure as shit influenced all the bands you like.

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Switching Codes

Sunday, July 11th, 2004

Apple Powerbook G4

2 months in oblivion, but I’m back and busting to update The Silencer. So what have been my thoughts over the last couple of missing-in-action months:

(i) I was appalled at the beheadings carried out by the fundamentalist/extremist/terrorist groups in recent weeks, though I have watched several of the videos, including the one involving Nick Berg (be warned the video is extremely graphic). No one deserves to die that way. Whilst I can understand the killers motives behind taking and killing hostages, their method of execution is barbaric and will only prolong the conflict and create greater tension. I can see no end in sight anytime soon for this. We will also have to put up with hoax videos.

(ii) I think the Tahitian Temptress from Barker College in Sydney, Francesca Willis, is a total babe, and I wish the girls were more like that when I was at High School (Barker College was in close proximity to where I went to school hehehe). The school uniform photos were done in an artistic and professional way, and whilst sexy, I don’t think brought the school into disrepute. I’d be more worried, if I was the Headmaster, about Barker students drinking under age. Hey, I’m not preaching, I know it happens I’m not suggesting that 16 and 17 year olds don’t get on the piss… BUT, Francesca was suspended for portraying the school in a bad light. Surely, teenagers photographed having alcohol is far more damaging to the school and its faculty than a couple of sexy photos – My $2 worth hehehe.

(iii) I think Australia Big Brother 4 has outplayed itself, and is no longer a viable show (though you can still view my comments at the BB forum under the pseudonym RaGe). The Hot Tip? I think Paul or Trevor will take out the Million Bucks on offer.

(iv) The Day After Tommorow (2004)? saw it, and found it to be (like Independence Day (1996) before it) wallowing in self-praising American patriotism, that quite frankly detracts from what otherwise would’ve been a very good film… The plus out of the film is that it is arguably Dennis Quaid’s best performance and showcases his transition from ordinary to established actor.

Well, It looks like I’m back peeps. Woo hoo! and with a vengeance. Whilst Andrew Johns was too wrapped up in his comfort zone to switch from Rugby league to Rugby Union, I’ve taken the giant leap and moved from PC to Mac. However whilst Joey Johns had to make an all-or-nothing decision, I have the luxury of switching back and forth as it suits me. At this stage I’m looking at purchasing perhaps a low cost PC desktop to complement this laptop. That isn’t something that will happen in the near future though, as I want to really get to know this OS and machine back-to-front, and know I won’t whilst jumping back and forth between the 2. So you never know I may put the hot box (the Lian Li customised PC desktop I was building) back on the construction list… who knows? anything is possible at this stage.

So what incarnation of mactology did I get? Well if you know me, then you know I don’t do things by halves so I went out and got the 17″ G4 Powerbook, so that I had the combination of portability and power.

First Impressions? Well I have used Macs before so it’s not really first impressions lol. The first thing I notice is that I am heavily reliant on the mouse. The trackpad, whilst being nifty and clever, is still one of the most annoying things about a laptop. I am a little torn on the whole meese issue. I’ve never been a fan of the Apple one-button mouse. I know they think it’s ultra cool, but seriously, it’s perhaps the most backward thinking idea i have ever come across. They advertise it as “no scroll wheel”, like that is a good thing – umm I like the scroll wheel – its why im so reliant on the mouse. Getting rid of that is just plain dumb. Having said that I am conscious of the fact that Dave from Shintara will call me a dirty windows user if I stick with their mouse technology so I’m contemplating adopting the apple meese even though I don’t like it. I plugged in my mate Filthy’s optical USB PC mouse and it works superb on this, I nearly walked out of his place with the mouse still attached hehehe.

The whole comfort of having applications that you know everything about, plus being able to plug all the holes in windows, now all go out the window (along with that operating system hehehe), and I think that as much as anything is the challenge that I am looking forward to. PC’s for me are a bore and a chore. After using them for over 20 years in an expert capacity you get to the point where they are no longer a clever tool and become extremely tedious.

What’s creamed my daks me about this machine straight up? The screen… Its huge and it is exceptionally sharp – I’m sorry but unless you are using something like a 21″ SGI monitor on your PC then my screen absolutely and utterly shits all over yours. The other thing is the user friendly apps, like iTunes where you’re libraries are all sorted out by the application itself not the user. A lot of the tedium is taken out of the housekeeping tasks so that you just get to do what you are on the machine to do. The last thing is the speed. This thing flys, and I know in a previous article I haven’t noticed too much of a speed difference between say a 3Ghz P4 and a Dual-2Ghz but this is different. I think it is probably a little unfair as the machine is almost brand new and therefore devoid of garbage, but as far as straight out of the box goes, this thing is ultra fast – I was surprised – and that’s rare.

So what else has been happening? I’ve cracked the no-KFC ton, and I’m looking for a double century (and after that I guess Bradman’s 334 looms) and haven’t had Maccas or Burger King either in probably just as long a time… Take-away pizza and hot fish and chips still get a large workout though so I have to work on removing them from the diet.

I am about halfway through an ADSL application, so I will be a broadbander in the next few days, which will also be a welcome change. I’m looking at it for several reasons. First off, I find it ridiculous to have such a powerful machine and to have to sit and wait for shit to load on the net. Secondly, The deal that the geek put me onto looked too good to resist. 16 gig download a month, for a slight amount more than what I was paying for dialup – Un-fucken-beleiveable. Thirdly, I’m looking at getting back into the xBox scene, and thought what better way to do that than shift to xBox live in anticipation of the release of Halo 2, which is set to be the best multiplayer game ever released, bar none…

I’ve been back on the bass guitar a couple of times, care of the completion of the Time Signature Studios, in which I played a hand at building. I was a bit rusty, but it doesn’t take too long to get a few riffs and licks happening again. I’d love to get a fat Musicman Bass one of these days, but it’s not a high enough priority for me at the moment, given that they cost about as much as a new car. Oh By the way I have some dakcreaming before & after shots of the TSS studio which I will share once I get settled on this machine. Hopefully by next update so stay tuned on that one.

Vilesilencer Version 2.0 the second coming of the site is close to beginning construction. I have an idea for a brand-spanking new banner, and that usually prompts me to overhaul a site. Also in keeping with the new line on technology that I have taken, I want the site to reflect that. Previously I have dabbled with making the site available to as many browsers as possible. Now my thinking has changed. By making this site available to shit browsers like Netscape 4.7 (and just about every early version of IE), I have been one webmaster prolonging the use of those browsers – Time to cut the cord. Either download the latest versions of browsers or live in the past…

I hope fellow webmasters, who I know also contribute to the longevity of those dodgy old browsers, take the same steps to help remove them from the ‘net. I want the site to be super easy to build, maintain and render – so it will be a full CSS site in a very basic format. I still want to be friendly with search engines so I will cater to their whims for a little bit longer…

Until next time peeps. Maintain the rage!

Posted in Babes, Geek, General, Music | No Comments »

Chillum

Thursday, October 30th, 2003

I have way too much time on my hands obviously, and in my infinite wisdom (or severe lack thereof), I have decided it would be a fabulous idea to shift the entire Chillum website into the vilesilencer format. Don’t ask me why, I must be bored and because it’s so damn easy now I just feel like adding and adding until this thing bursts. Lots of band action pics to look at (they aren’t digital and they aren’t taken by me so don’t complain about them) and tracks to download. If you do choose to download, the tracks are not sitting on vilesilencer’s host server, because they don’t allow .exe files, so you will be taken to the server on which they sit. The tracks are in mp3 format and are stored as a self-extracting zip file. So how do you get your bands music on an mp3 on the web? send me an email and I’ll tell you, it’s not that complicated really but it helps if you have someone to record the music and mix it in the first place ;) the rest is easy. Anythine else happening? Nope. I still wanna be overseas travelling around and having a good time. Who’s gonna buy me an air ticket? If you can’t afford to put me on the plane then buy me a beer. It’s YOUR shout :P

Posted in Bands, General, Music, Rocking | No Comments »