Harassing your idols

We are now going into that other incident I alluded to last week, and this one ends up being more hopeful. There is a lot of background and complexity, though, so I am going to spread the telling out over two days.

First of all, I need to go back into the Twitter history of My Chemical Romance. I covered this a little in Gossipy, but basically the members were all on, they were getting a lot harassment from South American teenagers for not being gay, and it had gotten to the point where the only one who was tweeting regularly was Frank, and even he wasn’t tweeting that much.

Probably the other point that needs to be explained here is that a lot of fans like the idea of the band members being involved with each other, which sometimes the bands encourage. This is not limited to MCR – I think it happens with Of Mice & Men and All Time Low as well – but it happens a lot with MCR, and especially with Frank and Gerard, or “Frerard”.

That all happened before I was even on Twitter or into MCR, so I had heard of it, but I had not really thought of it much. I did sometimes get a glimpse of it from seeing the tweets that Matt Pelissier (their former drummer) would get. His did not have the sexual element in there, but still, there was a lot of ignorance and disrespect at times, and I could totally understand the frustration.

In the aftermath of My Chemical Romance breaking up, I have picked up some extra Twitter friends. Also, Gerard has been tweeting a lot more, and some people were maybe getting a little giddy with it.

On the night in question, one of my newer contacts was sending many tweets to Frank, and they were things like, if he would have sex with someone in the band to save his wife, or post a Frerard tape (“we know they exist” was added) to save his dogs, and things like that.

You probably think that sounds creepy. I agree. Even if you have developed a certain amount of tolerance for speculation on your sex life, mixing it in with threats to family members, including pets, is not comfortable. And I know there were more; I only saw some of it.

I was appalled, of course, but I was also surprised, because looking at issues of sexism and feminism, and seeing so many examples of harassment, there were interesting correlations.

All right, this was not misogyny, nor misandry nor misanthropy. This girl, and the others writing creepy stuff, love Frank and Gerard. They admire them. They want to be noticed by them.

I guess being offensive may get you noticed. There was probably some gradual buildup, where maybe it started with just innuendo and then the threats came later.

The role that the internet plays can be a factor as well. There is an element of anonymity that encourages bad behavior, and probably makes everything feel unreal.

There could be some latent hostility and resentment because the band broke up. Actually, there could be resentment of the love they feel for the band members. After all, it is a one-sided love. Bands love their fans in a way, and they meet some of them, but it’s not the same. Perhaps that distance makes it weird. They are real people, yet also unreal. Maybe that makes it easier to objectify them, and we have seen that people treat objects badly.

It’s weird that even though I feel like it was Gerard’s increased tweeting that drove the frenzy, the recipient was Frank. Maybe Frank felt like a safer object. He has been the more consistent presence on Twitter, and Gerard had recently established some boundaries on what would get you blocked. That could have had an impact.

I would call this sexual harassment. I would also say there was no harm intended and the ability to harm was probably not even understood. There are factors here with technology and celebrity that complicate it. So there was a lot that was interesting about it it, and I don’t know exactly how it works.

In the moment, even though there were flashes of recognition of this larger issue, I wasn’t thinking about how interesting it was; I just wanted to stop it. I am sure that Frank gets a lot of tweets, and that he does not see them all. It is likely he never saw these. I would also wager that he has a pretty thick skin. On a visceral level, though, I did not care about that. It was wrong, and I felt like I should do something, just like with Catwoman. This time it went a little better, and that was hopeful. More on that tomorrow.

Band Review: Bair

There’s a photo of Bair on their Facebook page, and it sits above their song files as I listen.  As I look at it, without being really good at ages, they look like nice kids – bright and good-natured and clean-cut.

There are two things that reinforce their youth for me as I listen to them, even though they probably aren’t really that young compared to other bands, and perhaps just look young to me because I am so old.

One is their earnestness. Their songs are passionate and strong and meaningful. Perhaps they have not yet plumbed the depths that some other bands have, but at the same time I don’t find any cynicism. When they sing “We’re gonna die here” in “Turn to Earth”, I don’t hear existential despair, or transcendence, but still, they mean it, and they are earnest.

The other element of that youth, then, is that they seem to have a lot of potential. The songs they have now are very solid, but it’s a small catalog, and I suspect there is a lot more in them.

To some extent there is a coffee shop vibe, with the seriousness and the playing for love, but they are a bit more theatrical than that, and a bit funkier, honestly. They do have some groove.

Of course, this is a four piece combo, and they do have keyboards and electronics, so it’s not just two people with acoustic guitars, and that helps fill out the sound. A lot of the groove comes from how they use the keyboards, though that is not all of it.

In addition, singer Leah Marie has an interesting vocal quality. She is frequently joined by the rest of the band in a chorus adding power, but it seems that they will always sound unique with her.

And ultimately, they are just babies. They have four songs, which you can buy on iTunes or listen to on Facebook. They have a domain for a web page, with nothing on it yet. They are new, but with potential. Check out those four songs.

https://twitter.com/bairmusic

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bones-ep/id589094938

https://www.facebook.com/Bairband

Yes, I am aware of this band because they followed me on Twitter.

Band Review: BearTrax

One thing I realized this week is that I have no idea how to review a DJ. I thought I felt out of my league with metal, but club music is so much more beyond my ken – I don’t even know what I’m supposed to be looking for.

However, BearTrax did follow me on Twitter, at least temporarily, therefore is on the list, and in the process of trying to review, I think I am at least able to help with the navigation.

First of all, the Twitter account leads straight to Beatport, where you can purchase Shalim EP and its individual tracks. Sales are important, but there are two problems with this. One is that you can only hear tiny samples of the songs, and there are only three. I must also add, they seemed expensive.

Now, I see today that the prices have gone down, so perhaps I was right. It was $7 (down to $5) and change for the whole, which seemed high for only three songs. That may be a genre issue again, because these are much longer tracks. Three tracks are about 22 minutes of music, compared to maybe 11 for regular songs.

However, what another tweet revealed when I was poking around was that there is in fact a Soundcloud page as well, and you can listen to quite a bit there. Yes, some people may be tempted to just listen, and not purchase, but I still very much value the ability to listen to something and know that I like it before I buy it.

On Soundcloud you can listen to individual tracks as well as DJ sets, and so you can get a much better idea of what you are getting, and if BearTrax is for you.

Is it likely to be for you? Again, I do not know how to answer this question. I can confirm that I liked it better than M83 – it tends more towards music and less towards ambient. I had it running in the background while I was working and it was fine, with no vague sense of irritation gradually increasing. That in itself is a win. There is some variation; it does not all sound the same. So probably, if house music is something you are into, this will work for you.

It is just not my genre, and that is nothing personal. As it was, various parts of writing this kept reminding me of Henry Rollins, and I will now be putting on some rock.

http://www.beatport.com/release/shalim-ep/1040131

https://soundcloud.com/beartrax-1

https://www.facebook.com/BearTrax1

https://twitter.com/RealBearTrax

Comics Review: Michael E. Russell Retrospective

I had written about my affection for Russell in July, as part of a larger piece about my love for the U of O comics scene, back in the day:

http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2012/07/something-about-eugene.html

One of the great things about that piece is that I heard back from a few of the other artists, so I am going to put links for their work at the end as well.

I’m only going to reference Hudson Van Curren’s Infantile Machismo (1990 and 1991) and Panels: UO Cartooning 1991-92, because I doubt you could find them now. Also, I know a lot of their value for me is nostalgic. I enjoyed the strips that were collected in them, and I was grateful that they were collected and I could bring them with me. Everything else is actually something that you can purchase or find on the internet, so that’s where we’ll focus.

Santa’s Lil’ Gimp: A Book Not For Children, written by Gregory P. Dorr and Illustrated by Michael E. Russell

I haven’t seen Bad Santa, but I believe there are some similarities, including the story of a touching relationship between flawed characters. Although it says not for children, it doesn’t require the censoring that Bad Santa would – there is nothing overtly awful, though there are allusions to some things. However, the main non-childlike aspect of it is the cynical nature of the ending. It’s interesting anyway.

Cort and Fatboy in The Secret of the Buried Unicorns, all by Russell, except the cover is by Adrian Wallace, who drew Nathan the Pixie at U of O

This is probably more obviously not for children, though it is still nothing intense. My first thought on reading it was how Portland it was, especially with the cast of characters, and I wondered if anyone not from the area could enjoy it. However, there is enough in there about making a living in the arts (actually, not making a living from the arts), especially radio, that there could indeed be a wider audience.

Beware the Sabre-Toothed Vampire and Sabertooth Vampire Unleashed, all Russell

It’s hard to imagine many things more frustrating than being a saber-toothed vampire. Russell imagines the potential complications thoroughly, and it must be said, adorably, and lets us know that the sound of this frustration is “Hrng!”

Beware is Season One, and Unleashed is Season Two. I was going to say that Season Two seemed to feature longer, more complex gags, but I’m not sure that’s true. I will say that I really enjoy Renfield in this. Due to his master’s disadvantages, he seems much more empowered, and that’s nice for him.

Jaxxon’s 11, by Mike Russell and David Stroup

You cannot believe how fun this is. Sure, you probably think a send-up of Ocean’s 11 using characters from the expanded and regular Star Wars universe has some fun potential, but as you enter the world you find it is built on a foundation of vast knowledge and affection for all of Star Wars, and science fiction, and life.

When I say life, I say that because the friend who is married and a parent, and is now kind of into things he would have mocked before, is something we all relate to, and has nothing to do with George Lucas. However, if you thought it might be a Life Day reference, going back to the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, well, it does get referenced anyway. Russell and Stroup clearly have deep knowledge here. I am sure there are references that I am missing, but it was still so much fun, and clearly a labor of love.

http://www.culturepulp.com/

Yeah, that probably looks like I finished the reviews, and am now linking to the artist information, but that is only partially true. I need to give kudos to CulturePulp.

It’s fun to read and it’s engaging, but also it has brought a lot of enrichment. That’s how I was introduced to The Breakfast of the Gods, and Stumptown Comic Fest, and many other things. I have read about picking mushrooms, and making ravioli, and learned more about Browncoats, Hellboy, and Guillermo del Toro. I miss the regular comic in the A & E, but it has still played it’s role, and there’s still stuff out there.

So, with that web site, you can link to a great deal of information, but I am going to give additional links, specifically for buying via Big Cartel, and for reading Jaxxon:

http://culturepulp.bigcartel.com/

http://culturepulp.typepad.com/Jaxxons11Vol1.pdf

And now, I will close with some links for other people who appeared in Panels.

Neal Skorpen: http://nealskorpen.com/

Kraig Norris: http://www.thecartooniststudio.com/CubicleDetail/421/Kraig-Norris

Adrian Wallace: http://jumbodeluxe.com/

My mind always puts Matt Bors back at U of O with us. There is no good reason for this. But since I can’t shake it, http://www.mattbors.com/

Not only about misogyny in comics

Something happened that bothered me, and I thought that was what I would write about today, because it is still comics, and then do a comic review tomorrow, and we have this theme going.

My problem, as usual, is that there is always more to it, so I can tell one story, or two stories, or several, and try and sort them out, and it gets very long. So, I will write something about this today, and then I will do my review tomorrow, and the music reviews the next two days, and Monday I will probably be right back here. We’ll see.

Anyway, I’ll start with the thing that was comics. One of the comic writers whom I was following was sent final art on a character by the artist. I won’t name either of them, but the character was Catwoman, and my concern was with her costume. It wasn’t even a plunging V-neck because it was way too wide to be a V.

I’m not automatically against sexy costumes, but this was ridiculous, in both her body proportions and the costume. For one thing, it would be completely impractical for burglary and combat, because she’s just set to fall out. Technically there is a dangling zipper she could pull up, but it does not look like there is enough leather to cover her disproportionately large upper part, and it clearly already chafes too much, especially without a bra.

It might be a practical outfit for a stripper, but even then it might peel away too soon without the use of tape, and the rest of the outfit is too tight for easy removal, so really the only thing she could do is stay there and be leered at, like an object.

It bothered me, and I couldn’t leave it alone, so I replied something along the lines of how “Nothing says ‘powerful woman’ like a fetishized costume falling off an unrealistic body.” The writer didn’t say anything. The artist responded “Get a life.”

I get that this is his work, and he was proud of it. It was well-drawn. I also know that I actually do have a life, and that is really not the most devastating retort out there. Still, I was now more bothered.

I hate conflict. I want everyone to get along and be happy, and I don’t ever want to make anyone feel bad, and I certainly don’t want people to dislike me, though I often find that I actually can live with that. Still, I really felt that I needed to say something, and that was the thing to say.

When I say it has been coming up everywhere, I mean it. I recently read Pat Benatar’s autobiography, and she had to deal with a lot of sexism, and sexualization. One blog post about starting to stand up to sexism after putting up with it for a long time linked to another blog post that was similar.

The connection between those three was that even though they all had different levels of acceptance (with the one there was even complicity), they all reached points where they said “No more.” One realized she could, one did it because she felt protective of some younger girls, and one did it because reading about the other one made her feel ashamed.

Actually, I’ve read many good pieces lately. A lot of people have dealt with it, a lot of people have written eloquently about it, and they probably get more readers than I do. The people who need to understand the most probably are not reading those pieces, or not getting them. I had another experience a few days later that was interesting too, and I’m going to try and explain that, but I think this is where I need to wait for Monday.

For now, I am grateful that the MOOC is about gender, and that the conference has panels on gender, and that there are so many thoughtful and eloquent voices out there. It’s a start.

Learning how to draw comics

Within a few days of each other, two of the comic book artists I follow mentioned people asking for advice about breaking in, but balking at doing sequential pages.

It was interesting to me that it was coming up. I can see that doing splashy covers would be fun but, if you love comics, it seems like storytelling is the big point here, and also that the need to be able to do that part would be obvious. The other thing that interested me though, is that I realized I have resources as I start the next part of working on the comic book.

Mainly I have been worried about color. When I used to draw more frequently, I tended to do it in pen or pencil. Sometimes I would use these waxy crayon type things for color, but I normally didn’t do it at all. As I started doing some rough sketches of the characters, two things became apparent.

One was that I have totally lost ground. I was not as good then as I want to be, but I was better than I am now. That was discouraging, but not completely unexpected. The other was that the colored pencils that I bought were going to be completely unsatisfactory. Okay, maybe it would be a while before anyone’s face or body looked right, but I at least wanted to see how Wren’s hair would come out, and it was awful.

I have a while before I absolutely need to make color work, and I could possibly even do the whole thing in black and white – a lot of comics do. However, it was a concern, and I was thinking, well, I can ask someone when I get there. There are things coming up where I should be able to learn more.

Right now I am taking a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on Gender through Comics, I am going to be able to attend the International Comic Arts Forum conference, and I have filled out volunteer applications for both Rose City Comic Con and Stumptown Comics Fest. On a side-note, I know that the big Comic Con is in San Diego, but it’s hard to imagine it being as good year-round for comics as Portland is.

Admittedly, none of those things listed would immediately show me how to color, but I thought I would meet people and maybe find book recommendations, and I would just be learning a lot. Seeing those tweets made me realize I could ask right now. And I did, and I got two book recommendations. Special thanks to David Hahn, plus Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett on that.

It will be a while before I am ready for the books, which is fine. My plan now is to just practice drawing from the comics I have. I will be trying to duplicate characters from Becky Cloonan (Wolves and The Mire, and maybe some Swamp Thing), Amy Reeder (Halloween Eve), Tom Derenick (Justice League), Ethan Van Sciver (Batman), Julian Lopez (Wonder Woman), Rich Ellis (Memorial), Bob Burden (Flaming Carrot), Gabriel Ba (Umbrella Academy), and probably some Van Von Hunter, though it’s a bit harder to tell who the artist is on that (their process may be more computer driven).

I know from the Comic Con movie that I need to be drawing out of my head, but I’m just not at that point yet. I need to try how some of these other styles feel while I’m finding my own. Honestly, I am not above tracing if that’s what it takes to get the process of forming these lines correctly, though I am not planning on that happening. I used to be pretty good at reproducing pictures out of coloring books and things, and drawing people from photos. It helped if it was already in two dimensions.

One thing I that I think will be good is that I have Black Canary and Donna Troy in both the Justice League and Wonder Woman comics. They don’t appear a lot, but they are both there and by two different artists. That should be helpful, and I can find some other character who has been portrayed by many different artists, and get a feel for different styles for the same character. And I own digital comics now! That’s what I’m doing for the MOOC. (I still prefer physical copies, but it’s a practical matter in this case.)

My thought is that I will be sketching other characters, and probably throwing in practice attempts at my characters, through November, and then I will probably redo The Bear in the Net, with full illustrations, before Christmas. Then I anticipate starting to draw actual panels in 2014.

It will be a long haul. At first I thought I could imagine doing eight chapters, and then going back to redo the first two, because I would improve enough to have hated the early work. Now that sounds like a bad idea, like if I need to wait a while to start, that’s okay. It can even be 2015. I mean, all of my plans are for getting good at drawing people. What about vehicles and guns? It’s a desert wasteland, so there aren’t a lot of plants and animals, but there is at least one each of a rat, pigeon, tree, and a young strawberry plant. There’s just a lot to do.

I expect to suck for a while, but I can live with that, because I also expect to improve. I don’t expect to ever work in comics. Yes, I’ve been wrong about a lot of things, but I still think I will be doing this for the film making. I will understand so much more about setting up shots and visual priorities after working through this.

You can’t generally draw every single gesture and emotion, so how do you convey the movement? Which this is most important to show? When Jane is rescued, we cut straight from the van to her getting into bed, because a scene with dialogue with Mitch and Jacob finding out she was alive would have dragged it out too much. That doesn’t mean a few panels showing their shocked faces wouldn’t be right.

So this is exciting for me. I still want to be writing new things, but now I’m adding drawing back to my life, beyond the bored doodles of fruits and geometric shapes that I do in meetings. I’m learning a lot, and I have people I can ask when I hit a wall.

And if at some point, continuing to be wrong about everything, I need to demonstrate that I can pull off sequential storytelling, well, I should have some pretty convincing proof.

Band Review: Reggie and the Full Effect

Something embarrassing happened with my review of Reggie and the Full Effect: I got obsessed with “Take Me Home Please”. Getting obsessed with the song in itself wasn’t a problem – I do that all the time – but it got combined with that crushing on the singer thing, which I have not done for a while, and I was just fine with that. Very impractical, but the review must go on.

Reggie and the Full Effect is the solo project of James Dewees, also of Coalesce, The Get Up Kids, Leathermouth and Deathspells, as well as working with New Found Glory and My Chemical Romance. Sure, you’re thinking I’m impressed with him because that puts him in three bands with Frank Iero. Well, yes, but what really gets me is that he is mentioned Circa Survive twice, and every time I am like “Wow! He is so cool!”

Actually, I think I started following James Dewees when I wrote Math Rocks:

http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2012/12/math-rocks.html

I didn’t end up using his stats in that one, because Jarrod Alexander did not have a verified account for comparison, but I had looked him up so I can confim that in December he had 5307 followers and he is now at 7817. This increase is good, because he is really doing a lot of stuff. Besides the formation of Deathspells and continuation of Leathermouth, he is reviving Reggie and the Full Effect and has a Kickstarter for that purpose, so that’s where we are going to focus today.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1592861974/no-country-for-old-musicians

For a Kickstarter project in general, this is a great one to back. He updates frequently with new songs and videos, and is very likable. I have pledged what I felt comfortable doing, but I hope this review sends a few more backers his way. After all, just one dollar gets you a message from Robo-Fonzie. I don’t know know a single other project where that’s true.

In addition, the music is amazing. I feel like I’m on shakier ground with this review, because he has such a large body of work that I have not been through it all three times. I have listened to everything I could find at least once, with some repeats, and “Take Me Home Please” over and over, but I can still give general impressions.

My first impression was, ‘Wow, anything can happen’. The music shifts easily from synth pop to metal to more clubby (which is not the same as synth pop) and things that are more core, and regardless of the often humorous nature of the content, musically they are completely legitimate. No wonder the mastermind can work with so many different types of bands – he is skilled and fluidly versatile.

I want to honor that talent and not get precious here. As I start throwing out song titles here it could be easy to think that there is some sarcasm going on, but there will not be. Let’s look at “Ode to Manheim Steamroller”. That does not sound like it’s going to be very serious, and perhaps in some ways it is not, but it gets a funky drumtrack and throws in some synthesizer and vocals that kind of references the lovesick teenager in the early 60’s, but is also very listenable, and more interesting to me than work actually produced by the Mannheim Steamroller.

(Actually, there are frequent spots where there seems to be some influences from the 50’s and 60’s, maybe some in the vein of the B-52s, and maybe some San Francisco beatniks. Again, he has some range.)

And then, if the reason you were listening to “Ode” is because you were listening to Promotional Copy, the next track would be “Dwarf Invasion”, which features Common Denominator, which is a Finnish Dark Metal band, featuring Klaus, except that they are really still James Dewees. (He has another alter ego, Fluxuation, which is British electropop.)

Actually, a look at the Kickstarter page will show you Dewees with his face inserted into various movie posters, continuing with the theme of him being comfortable in a variety of roles, and with a variety of hair styles. Perhaps some of it is camouflage, and some day he will go totally serious and produce an amazing symphony, but for right now what he has is fun, and has merit. And whimsy. There is some definite whimsy.

So let’s do some call outs. “Mood 4 Luv” has absolutely gorgeous keyboards. I can’t emphasize that enough. He comes up with really pretty sounds and melodies. There’s a British accent, but it is not listed as Fluxuation. It’s odd that this particular track is not on Greatest Hits ’84-‘87/ The Lord of the Bling, because it totally sounds like it could have come from 1985 when A-ha and other bands brought that beautiful synth pop to the fore of the industry. At least, it would be odd, except the songs on that album aren’t really from 1984-1987 either.

(Actually, album titles often have special meanings. I strongly recommend reading the linked Wikipedia artcle.)

“F.O.O.D AKA Aren’t You Hungary” (from Under the Tray) starts with an irrestible beat, and soul singing, then goes into blistering guitar, and then back to the start. It’s an odd way to go, but try not bopping your head along with it. I’m not sure it can be done. Then suddenly you are into the driving, powerful “Happy V-Day”, which would be a completely respectable song for any traditional rock band.

I like “From Me 2 U” a lot, and both Megan songs. I am tempted to say that Promotional Copy is my favorite album, and that might be true, only I really like Songs Not To Get Married To, and of course, “Take Me Home Please” is there. Perhaps, in its own way, “Whipped Cream All Over Your Body” is more romantic. However, “Take Me Home Please” after repeated listenings, still just stops me and fills me with longing, and puts me hopelessly in love with the singer, even though I thought I stopped doing that two decades ago. That’s power.

Anyway, the impression that I get over and over again is that James Dewees can do anything he wants to do. He can play with any band. He could write songs for other bands. I have no doubts about his talents or abilities. What he wants to do is put out a new Reggie album and tour, so show the man some love and go back him! He has about two weeks to raise another $5000.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1592861974/no-country-for-old-musicians

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Dewees

http://ratfe.net/

8/4/16 ETA: This still gets periodic hits, which is great, but it also bothers me because I really hate the whimsy line now. I don't think it conveys what I was trying to, deleting it would take nothing from the review, but it also feels dishonest. Sigh.

Band Review: Deathember

Hey, I’m listening to metal again! It’s still not my thing. Oddly, my “great guitar bands” listening today was Slayer, and I like Deathember much more than Slayer. This may mean that I prefer groove metal to thrash metal. That sounds plausible.

Deathember is a groove metal band from Huddinge Sweden. They followed me on Twitter and so I followed back. Their metal does have lots of loud growling vocals, but they do, in fact, groove. I have to give them credit for that. The guitar playing is top notch.

You can’t do lengthy descriptions on Twitter, but a lot of bands will link to their personal page, or at least a Facebook, because that will link to everything else. Although Deathember does have a Facebook, the Twitter account only leads to their Youtube channel.

That seems inefficient, but it might be strategic. I found that I liked the band more after seeing them. There is a lot of raw power in the sound, but there is extra appeal in the visual. It must be charisma.

It would probably still be good of them to do a better job of marketing. They do have tracks available on Amazon, but their Facebook page only mentions Big Cartel, and it doesn’t mention that they are on Soundcloud and Spotify. So, that’s something for them to think about.

The reason I mention that metal is not really my thing is that I know a lot less about it, and I can’t write about it from as informed a point of view. Therefore, I am probably not doing the band justice, but I am going to try.

“Quietly” is my favorite of the videos. No, there is nothing quiet about the song. It has an intersting texture, though, and a complexity of tempo that carries a real feeling with it. It’s not necessarily that it’s not angry, but there seems to be more to it than that. Maybe it’s complexity of feeling too. This may be my favorite for vocals.

“Scapegoat” is a little more typical of what you expect from metal, but one thing I noticed on it is that the percussion is really effective. On the other hand, the guitars probably shine the most in “There’s Nothing Called Equality”, which has a really compelling energy to it.

Ultimately, they all have to work together. It is the fusion of the drums, the guitars, and the vocals that gives Deathember their sound. However, if you listen to those three tracks, I think you get a good overview of their abilities.

You should also check out “The Linear Act”. I feel like the intro here is really kind of majestic. “Define Hate” reminded me of Master of Puppets-era Metallica.

Anyway, those are my general impressions. I know Sweden is known for hard and twisted metal, but that was not the feeling here. Start out at Youtube and check the videos, and then take it from there.

https://twitter.com/deathemberband

https://www.youtube.com/user/DeathemberBand?feature=watch

https://www.facebook.com/Deathemberband

https://soundcloud.com/deathember

A good year

I was catching up with two of my favorite coworkers at our work get-together, and I was telling them about the writing things that I was doing. I hadn’t even started the music reviews yet, but I was blogging daily, with all three blogs active, and I was starting to post the comic book and working on the new script.

Part of what makes them favorites is that when I finished by saying, “I know it sounds lame, but I’m creatively fulfilled so there’s that,” they totally got it, and did not think I was lame.

That’s pretty much what the last year has been about. I didn’t recognize what was happening at the time, and I don’t have exact dates. Sure, now I know the exact release date of Kids in the Street, but I did not realize that’s what was going on when the main All-American Rejects account was tweeting questions about videos and promoting it. By the time I was at their concert, I understood that they were promoting a new album, but I caught on slowly. Still, it was writing about that concert that paved the way for me to review bands, and it was important. (And it was a good show!)

I also can’t give you the exact date that I got obsessed with My Chemical Romance. I know it was after Valentine’s Day, I believe I ordered the four CDs in March, and my records seem to indicate that I had 19 pages of the comic book written around April 8^th. However, I can tell you the exact date that the band broke up, and that four days later I posted the last chapter of the comic book. This is the first Wednesday that I haven’t had anything new up since December.

So, there are some elements of goodbye here, and I’m going to try and make sense of that.

The first thing that I need to express is a lot of gratitude. I started writing again, and I’m a better writer. I’m more diligent. I gave up the video games to do it, which I needed to do. The material took such a hold of me that I would work a full day, and come home and write 13-15 pages some days, and that was a level of productivity that was completely new to me. In the past, my record was almost 30 pages on one Saturday, and then I didn’t write for a week because I burned myself out. This was a change.

I am better at naming characters now. That may sound minor, but I would spend so much time agonizing over it, and now, you know, write something with over 50 characters in it, and you get a fair amount of practice. So, when I had new dreams, even though I am not doing anything with them yet, the crack shot girl in the Old West mining camp instantly became Kate, and the hard luck girl in Toronto who stepped in to stop the DA from getting kidnapped and found herself facing a gun became Holly. As they got names, their hair color and personalities and clothing and backgrounds all became more clear, so maybe I am just better at characters.

I am also better at physical descriptions, kind of. I still get distracted from them. I decided at one point to go through and figure out everyone’s look, including what they were wearing, and capture that. I kept writing about their background and personality instead, and then remembering and tacking on a physical description. Still, I can do it.

I understand better what needs to go in to make compelling reading for a screenplay, and probably what can be missed.

Also, it’s just a richer world. There is more music, and more friends, and more color. The Rejects are a big part of that, and Twitter is a big part of that, but a huge amount of thanks goes the MCR. So, how am I doing in light of their breakup? It’s the end of the band as we know it, and I feel fine.

There are some twinges. That hope that maybe I could see them in December is a bit of a long shot now. However, the music is still there. The people are still there. You know what happened when I realized I loved the Ramones and the Clash? Death! Lots and lots of death. A breakup is considerably better. A lot of the kids are really upset, but part of being older is gaining perspective (at least if you’re doing it right), and really, this is okay, and this isn’t about me.

Plus, I did just finish killing off everyone but Frank, though, of course, it wasn’t really them. Actually, that was one of the things that came out with all of the Twitter mourning. Someone was complaining about people calling Gerard “Gee” because no one really calls him that. Well, that was embarrassing, because I had seen it enough that it felt right, and so in the comic book everyone calls him Gee. After the initial shame, I decided I was good with that, though, because it was another differentiation. It’s like making him Gerard White instead of Gerard Way. I didn’t want it to feel too close, so I guess this helps.

For mourning there, well, when I was done writing it I started posting it, and now that is finished I will start drawing it, so there is no end yet, and next week I will write about comic books.

Otherwise, I have an important point here that I am going to have a hard time expressing right. A big part of writing it for me was dealing with the things that are awful that you can’t help, and relationships and pain. Writing it did help, and it culminated in a way that I can’t even tell you if the ending is happy or sad. It’s both, and it’s what it needed to be.

The poetry fragment I ended with may give the best way to feel about life, and death, and getting attached, and even your favorite band breaking up before you got to see them live.

“Though nothing can bring back the hour

Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;

          We will grieve not, rather find

          Strength in what remains behind;

          In the primal sympathy

          Which having been must ever be;”

From Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood

             by William Wordsworth

Poetry Corner

“He said, "Dance for me," and he said,
"You are too beautiful for the wind
To pick at, or the sun to burn." He said,
"I'm a poor tattered thing, but not unkind
To the sad dancer and the dancing dead.”

― from Four Postures of Death by Sidney Keyes

Yes, that is from a poem that has been collected in a book of poems at least once, but the reason I know it is Watership Down, where it starts off Chapter 16.

I read Watchmen in August, somewhere in the middle of writing the comic book. Each chapter ended with a little quote or some lyrics or something, and I kind of liked that.  I also like when novels have quotes at the beginning of chapters, obviously. This fragment of a poem has come back to me many times.

I believe both of these works, and others, were influences on my decision to end each chapter with a quote once I started posting the chapters. I might have done it anyway; some of the poems were just screaming at me to be included because they were so connected to the emotions of the scenes.

The strongest of these was “Part One: Life XCVI” by Emily Dickinson. It kind of encapsulates Gerard’s journey of learning to deal with loss. Even at that point, he does have a third loss coming, though he does not know it yet. The other thing that made it seem appropriate, though, is that I know about the poem from an X-Men cartoon. It was from the animated series, when Jean Grey sacrificed herself, which led to her coming back as Dark Phoenix and many other things, but for that episode there was just grief, and Beast quoted the end:

“Parting is all we know of heaven, And all we need of hell.”

It stayed with me, and later I found the whole poem. When I wrote of a different sacrifice, and mourning (and yes, an unexpected return), it fit.

Actually, a lot of the poems came from other works. I know “Nothing Gold Can Stay” because of The Outsiders, and that section of “The Faerie Queen” because of the movie version of Sense and Sensibility, and the part that I took from “The Hollow Men” I not only know from On the Beach, but I used exactly the same arrangement Nevil Shute used.

“There Will Come Soft Rains”, to me, was first a Ray Bradbury short story that contained that poem. However, the poem, by Sara Teasdale, came first. And while the short story takes place after a nuclear blast, the poem was written before nuclear weapons were even a thing, but where WWI had shown that we could be really thorough in annihilating each other.

Initially I thought it would go at the end of Chapter 3, but lines from Yeats’ “The Second Coming” (which I know about because those lines were used at the beginning of Things Fall Apart, by the recently deceased Chinua Achebe, and my roommate read it in my sophomore year of college.) I thought I would not use “There Will Come Soft Rains” at all, and then, after Frank’s flashback in Chapter 13, it fit. Mikey’s back-story is all about anger and alienation. With Frank’s, the most horrible part right then is the solitude – the world does not know or care that he has been left alone, and that’s where it fit.

So, like the rest of the comic book, the poetry fragments pulled from all of my experience, and often it wasn’t as conscious as I thought it would be, possibly because I did not know my poetry as well as I should. A line would come to me, and I would think it was from one poem, and I would look up that poem, and it was not it, and it was not the phrase I needed, but it led me to where I needed to be.

“The Second Coming” was like that. I kept thinking “Slouching towards Bethlehem”, which I thought was from “Howl”, probably because of an essay, but then when I did find it, I found the lines that I did need. I kept thinking of “Splendor in the Grass”, and so I read Leaves of Grass, which was not helpful, except that I’d been meaning to do it one of these days, and now I have. At the same time, I kept thinking of “Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting”, from “Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood” by William Wordsworth. I love that stanza, but the poem is too long (much like Spenser’s The Faerie Queene). However, the line about “splendor in the grass”, which led to the title of a play, was in there, and it’s section was exactly what I needed.

Therefore, one important result of all of this is that I am reading more poetry. I kind of knew Whitman wasn’t going to give me what I wanted, but still, now I know. As I start my black history reading for the year, I’m going to read a compilation of Langston Hughes poems. Three of his poems have a strong hold on me (I nearly used “America”), so perhaps I should see what else he has. I love the bits of Pablo Neruda I have seen; doesn’t it make sense to seek out more?

All right, often it is only the fragments that work, and that is why it’s the fragments that keep popping up, but there’s value in that. With “Ad Finem”, I cannot agree with the overall sentiments there. She would be making a mistake, and yet the feeling is so relatable, and there’s something to that—and the way I use it is not what that poem is about, but it works for the mood.

I have been writing about how narrative and music can both be healing, and they do it in different ways. Poetry straddles this strange middle ground, sometimes evoking like music, sometimes explaining like prose, and sometimes doing both at once.

With everything about this project, I don’t know if I will ever do anything like it again, but every part has been valuable. Every part has changed me.

http://ficwad.com/story/207019

Me as a music writer

Continuing with the reflection that was going on last week, you may remember this post:

http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2012/05/i-dont-want-to-write-for-rolling-stone.html

My opinion of music journalism hasn’t really changed. I have been reading some articles on MCR’s breakup, and they fill me with so much rage as obvious things are gotten wrong, and points are broadly missed.

Okay, perhaps I am too emotionally invested to be a fair judge there, but I read a review of Chantal Claret’s The One and Only on another site, and again, there was rage. It was so juvenile in tone, and the language was imprecise, and it really bugged me.

I know it’s not always that way. I have read good pieces on Mudhoney, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show, and Ministry lately. Obviously, those were written more as historical articles than as reviews, but still, they were written with respect for the music, for the people, and with intellectual depth. That can happen! It usually doesn’t, though, so I am sticking with not pursuing professional music writing, and fully embracing it as an amateur.

I am really loving it. First of all, it excites and amazes me that the internet makes the world so small. I have reviewed a band from Turkey, and from South Africa, and a Swedish groove metal band is on deck for Thursday. Sure, the majority of them are from the US or England, just like in my youth, but it’s still cool.

Even with that, I’m becoming more aware of regions that way. Yes, English, but look at how many of them are from Manchester? Is that their equivalent of New Jersey? Will I have to make two musical pilgrimages? Can I get guides for both? (Actually, I’m pretty sure I could get people to take me around Jersey, and I have a few Twitter connections in Manchester. It could work out.)

Also, I feel like I am getting musically smarter. No, I don’t necessarily know more about music, especially on a technical level. However, a few months ago I mentioned having musical fragments get stuck in my head and having a hard time identifying them, and I am getting much better at placing things, perhaps because I am listening more actively.

Also, it’s exciting because I have been getting some good feedback lately. First of all, as I mentioned with Titors Insignia, they asked me to review them, and gave me sound files! And I got the following comments on Our Fold:

From a fan: Spot on that. It's fantastic you take the time to do this. Our fold have been my favourite 'new band' for a while now.

From the band: Thanks for the review Gina. Very honest and detailed. More or less hit the nail on the head. :)

Gush! I know that this is something I am doing strictly as an amateur, and it is just a hobby, and so there should be a limit to how much I worry about it, but I do! I want to accurately represent the music, and help people find their audience. Even if it’s not my favorite, I want someone who would like it to be able to read it and realize that this could appeal to them.

That of course makes me worry about being mean, too. I still have mixed feelings about that. Usually I send the band the link. With Crash Boom Bang and Bonaventure I didn’t, because they were not very positive. I have wondered if maybe I should only review the bands I really like, but that doesn’t feel honest. So, I guess I am going to keep doing what I’m doing.

Part of me also worries that there is such a backlog. I have scheduled my reviews through the end of May, and there are another 30 bands after that. I’m gaining new bands faster than I am reviewing them. I have thought about just doing a long stretch of reviews to clear that, but I don’t think I can. If I was trying to do five bands in a week I wouldn’t be able to do any of them justice.

As it is, they become such a part of me now. My original goal was to go over the catalog three times for each band, but with a smaller catalog that often ends up being more, or maybe I will just keep listening because I don’t think I have really “gotten” them yet, and so by the time the review is posted, that band is in my head forever. So perhaps doing this at all is a little crazy, but it feels like a privilege.

It’s interesting how it relates to the rest of the writing. Looking at the comic book, there were some scenes that it was always clear would happen, and then it was about figuring out what bound them in between. If I knew A D F and JK, then what was B C E G H and I?

This is kind of similar. I will listen, and there are words that stick out, like “curious and dreamlike”, and then it’s making those words make sense, plus adding pertinent information for the band. With “The Chancer” by Titors Insignia, “otherworldly” came up for the intro, and I was arguing with myself that it wasn’t really otherworldly, it was…and somehow there was never any word other than otherworldly, so I had to work with that.

So that’s what I’m up to, and I love it, and I am getting more confident about it. For the future, I have those 30 bands and counting, as well as concert prep, which I also take seriously. I am seeing The Gaslight Anthem April 16^th, and that means that not only am I going to listen to every Gaslight Anthem song before then, but I will be listening to Horrible Crows, and watching Every Word Handwritten, and listening to their opening band, Westchester United. And for Fall Out Boy in June, yes there is listening to them, but also With Knives and Damned Things. I think for MSI I can just listen to MSI, but I’m still figuring a lot of this stuff out.

I had taken a break from working through the guitar comments, but I am getting back on that. I have about 40 left, after listening to about 130, so I anticipate getting done around June. The plan then is to re-read Nothing Feels Good, but slowly this time, and listening to all of the bands mentioned.

At that point I will probably be ready to start checking out some of the bands that the kids listen to. There’s at least twenty that I had never heard of before, and I get the impression that most of them are in this next wave of what could reasonably be called Emo, except that maybe half of them lean more towards emotional hardcore and the other half lean more towards pop, but it’s too early to say. After that, I should probably start that Guitar Heroes of the 70’s book, listening to bands as I go.

I will probably often be running a little overstimulated. Fortunately, I may love that.

Band Review: Man On Earth

In the video for “Dirty Little Secret” by the All-American Rejects, various people hold up postcards describing their secrets. Reading the secrets is alternately disturbing and heartbreaking, and it draws a strong emotional response from me. (I said I’d mention the Rejects in every post this week; did you think I wouldn’t back that up?)

In Man On Earth’s “All We Want”, they have something similar going on, where different people have sent in short videos expressing what they want. A few are disturbing and many are heartbreaking, but also a lot of them are really touching, and as the video starts with the spinning globe filled with light, it gives the sense of our connectedness, as humans living on Earth.

In trying to describe Man On Earth, I think the best thing may be to say that there is a gentle passion to them, and yet that sounds like some kind of an entendre, which is not my intent. There is a depth and purpose and caring in the music, but it is not aggressive or in-your-face. It is gentle.

I listened to an interview with a radio station, and when asked to describe themselves, they said “Eclectic experimental rock based music with a commercial accessibility.” I can buy that. They listed influences as Muse and U2. Possibly, though I don’t think they really sound like either of them. Resemblance is tricky though. In some of their slower passages they remind me of Depeche Mode (when Depeche Mode is being slow).

In Man On Earth’s livelier passages, they remind me of Boys Like Girls, except more high-minded. However, if the band named Boys Like Girls focuses on romantic relationships and attraction, and the band called Man On Earth focuses more on the global nature of our relationships and humanity, well, there is a certain symmetry to that.

I’d say a good introduction to the band would be to go to their Youtube channel and play the Music Videos list. This is only six videos, but fairly well done. They do have other music videos on the channel, as well as the interview I mentioned, and tour updates, but these six videos are a decent sampling, and again, all fairly well constructed. I enjoy “All We Want” both as a song and as a video, but in general they do interesting things with the videos, which works well as I feel there is often a kind of cinematic quality to the songs. Their least exciting of the six is “I’d Be Good For You”, but I really like the song.

The other video I should especially call out is “Come In Closer”. This is an animated video made by two 19 year old college students who contacted the band saying they wanted to do it. First of all, what an honor that something you created inspires others to create. Also, the video is curious, dreamlike thing. There is not a complete unity of the style of the animation, but it is really interesting and often gorgeous.

Man On Earth’s music is available through iTunes and Big Cartel. They are also pretty good about posting tour dates, though I found their home page hard to read. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter. And yes, I know about them because they followed me on Twitter.

http://www.manonearth.com/

https://www.facebook.com/manonearth

https://twitter.com/manonearth

http://www.youtube.com/user/manonearthtv?feature=watch

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/man-on-earth/id41826387

http://manonearth.bigcartel.com/

Band Review: Partners

This is another band that I found on Twitter, but not in the traditional way. Mike Kennerty, of the All American Rejects, recorded their new album, Sixes, and sent a tweet with their Bandcamp link. They do not have a Twitter account at this time, but they are on Facebook.

Among their tags on Bandcamp is “screamo”, which I haven’t really listened to before, but I have read a little about it. Actually, their music reminds me of two separate genres. One is punk, with the intensity and brevity of their tracks. Only one of the songs on Sixes is longer than three minutes (“Indian Giver” at 3:05), and some of them are considerably shorter (the shortest, “Manners”, is only 1:19). Punk lies at the roots of screamo (via emotional hardcore), so that makes sense.

That being said, the songs are not as fast-paced as more traditional punk. Even the faster songs still feel within the realm of rock more than punk, though that can be a fine line. Actually, in some ways Partners reminded me of Crow Black Sky, who call  themselves black metal, though I question that classification. The similarity is due to the aggressive guitar, still with some intricacy in the lines, but hard-driving and emotionally strong. However, Partners are not as growling in the vocals.

Beyond that (punk and South African black metal), I can’t make any other comparisons; Partners are fairly unique among what I have listened to (which is admittedly limited).

I think some of that intricacy is achieved by giving the multiple guitars different jobs, so perhaps one will be firing off in a machine gun staccato while another one will be playing a gentler melody in a higher register, and suddenly you have layers. “Manners” just gallops. Melody is very much achieved via the instruments, where vocals are more shouts to convey the lyrics and the pain (or anger). These songs would be difficult to sing.

There are two albums available on Bandcamp. Jamme has five tracks, and individual tracks can be downloaded free. Sixes, with seven tracks, is available for purchase, but you can set your own price. All tracks can be listened to for preview, and the Sixes tracks can be purchased individually as well as on the album.

I suppose there was another punk similarity when I was listening to “Call It”. The simplicity and brevity of the lyrics (there are only four lines) reminded me of Pencey Prep a little. However, that is not their norm. Sixes opens with “Call It” and goes straight into “Nearly Met”, which has their longest and most complex lyrics, and the is followed by an instrumental, “Plan Is No Plan”.

I should point out, though, that reading through the lyrics has a completely different feeling than listening to them. The lyrics fit the songs, but understanding the emotions only happens by hearing them with the music. It’s the only way that you can pick up on the energy.

I spent most of my listening time with Sixes, but I especially want to call out two tracks on Jamme. I love the interesting structure on “Nothing” and “Noment” is really rocking.

http://partners.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/partnerswhatever