Geeky Year-End Wrap Up & a Thank You!

We want to take a minute out of our busy holiday schedule to thank ALL of you that have listened to the Decibel Geek Podcast since our launch back in April. It's been a fun year full of learning and, hopefully, improvements on the show.

We began the year with my clunky "Introduction" episode where I try to describe, between panic attacks, what the show is supposed to be about. Things have definitely changed since that episode and I think we may have to tweak it but it's a good reminder of how far the show has come.

We had a couple of moderately successful episodes with friends such as Mitch Lafon from Bravewords.com, Dylan Kinney of Nashville Comedy Theater, Doogie Vance of local radio fame, & Chris Higgins of Piranah where we discussed various rock and metal news items of the day as well as concert memories and our favorite rock documentaries. 

The floodgates finally opened on July 4th when I premiered my 2-part Vinnie Vincent special. Featuring some intriguing guests from the Ankh Warrior's past such as Rik Fox, Alexx Michael, & Keli Raven as well as current owner of the Vinnie Vincent Fan Forum Vic Radacic on the crazy behavior of Vinnie toward his internet fan base. Links to the episodes spread like wildfire across the internet; racking up thousands of downloads. It still gets hundreds of downloads per month. Look for new episodes on Vinnie Vincent in the coming months!

Part 1 Part 2

August saw another fascinating 2-Part special on the life and career of Rik Fox. Rik's stories of his younger days hanging out with KISS when they were broke and just learning to apply makeup as well as hanging out with the CBGB's crowd in New York made Part 1 a memrable episode. Part 2 focuses on Rik's ventures out west when he moved to Los Angeles just in time for the Sunset Strip boom in glam rock. This episode gives us the low-down on Rik's early days with WASP as well as detailed stories of working with Ron Keel and Yngwie Malmsteen in Steeler as well as other groups of the day. Rik's story reads like a "who's who" of rock and this interview gives it all to you.

September brought us the return of Bravewords.com's Mitch Lafon for a new feature entitled Geekwire where we try to cover as many rock and metal news stories in an allotted time. Mitch will be on in the future for sure as he has a unique perspective from the inside of the industry. The Geekwire episode also saw the debut of co-host AAron Camaro. AAron has been a welcome addition to the show and brings "the voice" to the proceedings. Born in the heartland of America, AAron is a tried and true rock and metal fan and his contributions will continue into the new year.

October brought us the addition of the monthly Nashville X-tra version of the Decibel Geek Podcast. Featuring interviews and rants focusing on the local Nashville-area rock scene, the Nashville X-tra episodes allow Chris and AAron some breathing room to let it all out about what is cool and what sucks locally. These episodes will continue into the new year as we plan to bring you more guests, more rants, and more entertainment to your localized ears.

We finished off October with our choices for the Top 5 KISS songs of the non-makeup era before going into November with a great conversation with Russ Dwarf of Killer Dwarfs fame. We had a great response on both of these episodes and took a week to have some fun with our new Radio Sucks Radio Show where Chris and AAron spin songs that no radio station would allow them to go near. We had a lot of fun with this episode and have more planned for the new year.

After another Nashville X-tra episode, we filled our December quota with our Top Albums of the Early 90's episode. We think we've finished the year strong with this episode and have had a good response from it. We love doing the Top 5 shows and it's always interesting to see our listeners choices as well as hearing how stupid we are for not picking certain albums or songs. All feedback is welcome!

So, in conclusion, I'm very proud that the show has come this far since April and we look forward to taking things to the next level in 2012. Hopefully, we'll be doing great by the time the Apocalypse takes place!

Wishing you all a Merry Whatever and a Happy New Year!

Chris Czynszak

Decibel Geek Podcast

Happy Hooligan's Holiday......Corabi to Jam for Kids in Nashville

Being a middle-aged married dad with bills to pay makes it pretty difficult to get out of the house to see shows. That's part of the reason we started doing the Decibel Geek Podcast. We live vicariously through the memories & discussion brought forth on the show. But if there's one thing that can get us out into the wild of Music City, it's an acoustic show with one of our favorite singers from one of our favorite albums performing for the benefit of helping underprivileged kids have a better Holiday season.

John Corabi, he of the ironclad pipes on the fantastic 1994 Motley Crue album as well as many other great projects, will be performing at Drifters in East Nashville this Friday, December 13th in what's being billed as the "John Corabi & Friends Acoustic Toys for Tots Benefit." It's a mystery as to what "friends" will be at this show but there's plenty of possibilities with so many of John's contemporaries living in town.

Corabi has spent the past year touring with Cinderella as well as a short stint with Russ Dwarf throughout Canada. You can hear Russ' thoughts on that tour in the recent episode in which he was a guest.

The show will hopefully feature songs from Corabi’s entire career including material from his Crue album as well as songs from his days in Union and maybe even a few nuggets for the new solo album. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

If you’re close to Nashville, try to come out and enjoy a great night of music while helping out a worthy cause. Admission is $15.00 but that can be bypassed by bringing an unwrapped toy to donate. That’s a small price to pay for some great tunes and good company. The show starts at 8:00pm. If you see a couple of middle-aged dorks in the audience acting like idiots, come by and say hello!

Episode 14 - Top 5 Early 90's Albums

From Makeup & Parties to Chainsaws & Paxil

We decided that we wanted to have a healthy dose of pissed-off listeners and we’re pretty sure that this episode is a prescription for just that. The early 1990’s for us old folks that remember it was a strange and magical time for rock music. Lots of transition was taking place in the pecking order of rock music’s hierarchy with the mass music-consuming public deciding to ditch the Aqua Net and makeup mirrors and adopt a lumberjack-chic style to go along with their newfound depression.  This swift change had a large impact on the music industry and created a wide pastiche of genres that began to branch out in all sorts of different directions. This era of change also produced some head-scratching tour packages such as Poison taking out a young Alice in Chains on the road as well as a package that included Alice in Chains with Megadeth and Slayer.

The “Alternative” Culture & What’s Old is New Again (huh huh huh)

In a quest to try and come up with a tougher Top 5 list than our previous episode that involved Top 5 Non-Makeup Era KISS Songs, we decided to try and pigeonhole 5 albums out of this crazy matrix of material that was being produced in this Gulf-War era of change.  Before we get into the list, we also discuss the recently-released PearlJam Twenty documentary as well as our take on the triumphant return of Beavis and Butthead to the small screen.

We Can’t Shut Up & the Pride of Bridgeport, Egypt

New rule for Top 5 shows. We’re not going to spoil you in this main entry with our picks. In fact, we’ll give you a link to go to a separate page to check out ALL of the albums we discuss in this episode. Our Top 5 choices are in here but so are LOTS of other albums because a. we’re loudmouths and b. we read off our also-ran list of choices that didn’t quite make the cut as well as some of the choices that our listeners suggested through various social media outlet thingys.

PS: We have a new update on Vinnie Vincent’s musical activity in this episode. It has a real outdoorsy feel.

Full List of Albums Discussed/Mentioned

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Episode 13 - Nashville X-TRA

We hope everyone is over their tryptophan-induced coma. Thanksgiving was a great time for us at the Decibel Geek Podcast. We had a lot to be thankful for this year. We launched the show this year and added co-host Aaron Camaro.  Our audience is growing and we love talking about music! In short, we’re thankful to YOU for listening to the show.

Today’s episode is a Nashville X-tra episode. We kick things off with a new Rage Against the Scene segment where Chris reviews some recent articles from the Nashville Scene and his reaction is not totally what you would expect. Could Chris be moonlighting as a hipster and disguising himself in skinny jeans, bad facial hair, and a bowler hat? Doubtful, but you’ll have to check out the segment to find out. Chris also has a bone to pick with 102.9The Buzz. There’s been a lot of aggression building up over The Buzz in recent years and Chris is ready to let it all out. Hear his thoughts on their choice to constantly spin 90’s tunes and the complete degradation of The Buzz Around Town. Something smells rotten in Nashville and it has dollar signs all over it.

This episode we also announce Decibel Geek’s recent inclusion to Stitcher Radio. If the tedious task of pushing “download” is just too much for you and you have one of those intelligent phone thingy’s, you can now check out the show through the Stitcher Radio app. Simply download the app, search for Decibel Geek, and you’ll be up and running and listening to us bitch about bands in no time! Just go to Stitcher to try it out!

Next up Aaron & Chris intro a review of the new 3Minutes to Live album. Well, I guess it’s not exactly new now since we drug our feet a bit on getting this up. Once we’re over this crack habit, the shows will be better (we think).  Anyway, Chris gives a track-by-track review and shares the good, the bad, and the ugly about this record. We promise, it won’t hurt a bit.

We finish off the show with some full tunes for your ear holes. We went for variety this time, so you’ll get Piranah, fORMER, and Fistof the North Star; something for ALL tastes. There will be more music-based episodes in the future so you’ll have a nice break for our droning voices. Hope ya dig it Nastyville!

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Angriest Guitarist Ever....The Treeman Cometh!

I don't know if this is staged/fake/contrived/whatever but I don't care. I laughed......hard!

I present to you The Angriest Guitarist Ever! 

This guy calls himself The Treeman and this video is jam packed with awesome! Thanks to the power of Youtube, you can now watch a guy that bears a striking resemblance to Santa Claus lay waste to a guitar collection, go through several wardrobe changes, curse like there's no tomorrow, and have an actual argument with his hand as if it has a mind of its own. This was too good not to share. Treeman, we love you!

Legendary Rock Interviews KANE ROBERTS (Alice Cooper Band)

It's not everyday you see a hulking machine-gun equipped guitarist that looks like he could rip your spine out through your eye socket. But, if you remember the Raise Your Fist & Yell era of the Alice Cooper Band, then you remember Kane Roberts. Kane may have looked like the musical offspring of Lou Ferigno but there's no question that the guy could play.

Mostly known for his work with Cooper, Kane has also had a strong songwriting career; collaborating with the likes of Paul Stanley, Desmond Child, and Jon Bon Jovi. Combined with his solo career, Kane Roberts has been fully -entrenched in the music industry for well over 20 years.

Our friends at Legendary Rock Interviews recently caught up with Kane and got his recollections on his time with Alice Cooper, working with KISS in the studio, as well as his future plans.

Check out the full interview HERE.

Episode 12 - Radio Sucks Radio Show

Another new episode already?? I know, it’s hard to believe but we just might be figuring out this whole podcasting thing and we’ve tried to cut back on the crack smoking in order to get some new material up for your ear holes.

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In this, our 12^th episode, the Decibel Geek Podcast proudly presents the Radio Sucks Radio Show. No, we’re not talking about two boom boxes giving each other head (although that is a stimulating idea). Corporate radio sucks ass. We know that you agree. Why else would you be checking out podcasts? With that thinking, we decided that we’d ignore our non-existent Program Director and play songs that we think are cool. You’ll actually get to hear stuff that hasn’t been drilled into your head for the past 30 years on a repetitive basis in order to fill a payola scheme for the sake of freebies and concert tickets.

This will become a regular feature on the Decibel Geek Podcast in the future; as long as we don’t get sued. We took pains to make sure that you hear the vast majority of these great songs but we are all about supporting the great artists that created this music.  If you hear something you dig on the show, check out the links on the Decibel Geek website to purchase music from the artist so they know they are appreciated.

Note to Security: He's in the band!!

Aside from the great music being played in this episode, Chris Czynszak & Aaron Camaro touch on some recent rock topics such as Anthrax’s Joey Belladonna being tackled by security at his own show and Aaron’s priceless reaction to being forced to check out the Lulu album by Metallica & Lou Reed.

Larry, Moe, & Curly

We don’t wanna spoil the surprise of what you’ll hear so all we’ll share is that you’ll hear tracks by Anthrax, Metallica, Wednesday 13, Killer Dwarfs, KISS, Skid Row, Motley Crue, & Double Virgo. And we’re NOT talking about the singles you’ve heard on corporate radio! So, kick back and get ready to crank some great rock and metal as Decibel Geek Podcast presents the Radio Sucks Radio Show!

Buy Some Tunes!

Anthrax

Metallica

Wednesday 13

Killer Dwarfs

KISS

Skid Row

Motley Crue

Double Virgo

Bruce Kulick Interview (KISS, Grand Funk Railroad)

Bruce Kulick was always considered the "nice guy" in KISS. But I think it goes deeper than that. While he is, in fact, a very nice person, Bruce Kulick is hands-down a great guitar player. While known for his ability early on to adapt to whatever situation he happened to be in, Bruce has blossomed into a creative, skilled musical technician.

In this in-depth discussion provided by our friends at Legendary Rock Interviews, Bruce talks about his entire tenure in KISS; providing frank thoughts on each album he performed with the band. Bruce also sheds light on recent activities such as touring with legends Grand Funk Railroad, his recent solo album BK3, as well has his involvement in the recently released Eric Carr CD Unfinished Business.

It's a great peek into the life and activities of a very talented "nice guy".

Read full interview HERE

Episode 11 - Russ Dwarf

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We enter the month of November with a guest from the Great White North. Russ Dwarf has been entertaining audiences for nearly 30 years. Best known as one of the founding members of legendary Canadian band Killer Dwarfs, Russ has seen it all in the music business and gives the Decibel Geek Podcast a taste of his extensive experiences.

In this in-depth discussion you’ll hear Russ’ recollections on such interesting moments as when Killer Dwarfs were sharing the same studio as KISS, the influence of Alice Cooper on Russ’ performance, opening for Iron Maiden with a buck naked drummer and why a healthysense of humor can get you through some of the muckRuss also shares his views on youtube, downloading,and what he thinks of the current generation of bands in comparison to the scene of the 1980’s.

Russ Dwarf is currently touring in Canada on an acoustic tour but is also involved with providing vocals for Canadian legends Moxy as well as the project Hard Road.
You can find out more by visiting www.myspace.com/russdwarf

Special thanks to Mitch Lafon at www.BraveWords.com for his help in arranging this interview.

Music Featured:

Intro Music: Manic Bloom – Push Off the Ground

First Break: Killer Dwarfs – Dirty Weapons

Second Break:  Moxy – Sail On Sail Away

Third Break: Hard Road – Miles

Fourth Break: Killer Dwarfs – Doesn’t Matter

Outro Music: Mindset Defect – By the Way

Please Lend Us Your Ears!

We know lots of our listeners access the show through this website and those ipod/mp3 player thingees. 

Now you have another option!

We know that it's a real hassle to have to press that "download" or "sync" button. The atrophy that can build up in the fingers over time can become crippling.

Trailer Park Smart Phone

We also realized that some of our listeners have graduated from two tin cans and a string for communication and have got themselves one of those fancy new-fangled smart phone things. So, we got an idea...

Decibel Geek Podcast is now available on Stitcher Radio!

Listen to us on your iPhone, Android Phone,  BlackBerry and WebOS phones..

Stitcher is Smart Radio for Your phone. Find it in your app store or at stitcher.com

Episode 10 - Nashville X-tra 2

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We’ve got a brand spankin’ new Nashville Xtra episode for ya jam-packed with some old interviews!  Really, it’s more exciting than we make it sound.  We start the show with Chris Czynszak & Aaron Camaro welcoming you back into the fold; the local rock & metal fold! The Decibel Geek Podcast is growing by leaps and bounds and is getting new listeners from around the globe but as some chick wearing red shoes once said “There’s no place like home” and we try to show that with these Nashville Xtra episodes.

We start things off with the premiere of Camaro’s Cut Out Bin; random ruminations on assorted albums, tapes, and demos that Aaron Camaro has recently checked out. Aaron reviews past cd’s by local acts of days gone by Lenny & Commander. By the way, if you are interested in owning the CD’s reviewed on today’s show, get in touch with us by leaving a comment or e-mail us and tell us you want it. We need to save the shelf space anyway. First come, first served.

Next we have a pair of interviews with two important cogs in the local music machine. We begin with a discussion with Andy Aquino of the Rutledge. Andy has quite a history in this town; performing in local bands over the years and booking bands in every nook and cranny in town before settling in at the Rutledge. He also doesn’t pull punches. In this candid discussion, you’ll hear Andy’s thoughts on topics such as what he looks for in bands that are trying to book a show as well as why the 16 different versions of L.A. Guns never seem to come here.

We finish things up with a quick talk with local concert promoter Jenny Jem George of Outrageous Productions. Jenny is constantly putting shows together in Nashville and works with a variety of rock groups. In this hard-hitting interview you’ll hear Jenny’s thoughts on why Skyline Chili sucks, why Nashville is a big step-up in comparison to the Cincinnati music scene, and why Chris should stick to sobriety. We also talk a little about music.

Before we go, we would like to get the word out about a very important charity to us at the Decibel Geek Podcast. Vince Liveri, a vocalist that was a well-loved veteran of the local rock and metal scene passed away recently. He was loved and admired by many in the local music community.  It would mean a great deal to me if any of our listeners could find it in their hearts to make a small donation to a fund that’s been set up to help Vince’s family stay afloat and pay off the funeral expenses. If interested in helping out, please check out www.nashvillemetalbands.bigcartel.com to make your donation. We wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important to us. Hell, we don’t even ask for donations for ourselves so you know it’s important. So, just buy a 12 pack instead of a keg and give up some of that beer money to help out a family in need.

That’ll do it for this time. Until next time, we’re out like the Titans 53 million dollar running game.

Featured Music:
Theme Song: Manic Bloom
First Break: fORMER
Second Break: 3 Minutes to Live
Third Break: Oblivion Myth
Fourth Break: Hello Kelly
Outro Music: Mindset Defect

St. WTF?...LOUTALLICA Trailer Posted

I remember a few years back when Metallica released the virus known as St. Anger unto the world. I remember writhing in pain while trying to stomach half-baked song ideas, drums that sounded like they were played by Oscar the Grouch, and James Hetfield's horribly off-key vocals. I remember thinking that there's no way Metallica could possibly put out an inferior product.....I was wrong.

St. Anger now sounds like an absolute masterpiece in comparison to this new "project" that 'Tallica (as James always so cornily puts it) is working on with Lou Reed, known as Lulu.

I have to wonder if this is just a big work that these guys are trying to pull over on the general music-listening public. But then, I remember what all of Lou Reed's material sounds like. This album sounds exactly like what I expected and it still blows me away how horrible it is.

I know there's a lot of musical know-it-alls that think that Lou Reed is a musical genius. While I'll give the man credit for some of his lyrics and some inventive songwriting back in the Velvet Underground days, I think Lou Reed is about as talentless as they come when it comes to singing. Maybe that's the secret. Maybe James, realizing how bad his voice has deteriorated over the years, thought that bringing in Lou Reed to sing on part of this album would make him sound better. Either way, it still sucks.

We're Coming for Your Eardrums

You can stream this entire album on the official website that they set up for it but I'm not about to post the link for you. I don't believe in abusing people. I've suffered through the whole thing for you and can sum it up in one word......shit.

It's quite possibly the worst commercial album ever released (which fits right in to the rest of Lou Reed's catalog).

Don't buy it for your collection. It might rub off on your other CD's and make them sound worse.

Don't bother downloading it for free either. It would probably give your computer a virus that constantly plays a loop through your speakers of a voice saying "What were you thinking? What were you thinking?."

The only purpose for purchasing this album would be to play it for a friend or family member that's in a coma. They would probably run screaming out of the hospital.

Lars Ulrich has finally found a way to beat those pesky downloaders. Create an album that no one in their right mind would even consider downloading. Congrats!

Episode 9 - Top 5 Non-Makeup Era KISS Songs

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Another show centered around KISS? I know, you’re shocked. We’re fans. We love KISS. Deal with it. There will be lots of opportunity to discuss the merits of new, fresh bands like Britny Fox and Pretty Boy Floyd in later shows.

Chris Czynszak reminds everyone of his discovery of KISS on Dial MTV in 1987 and his brother’s reaction and guidance to the more ‘pure’ era of the band. But Chris still has a soft spot for that non-makeup era of the band. He also makes mention of the recent passing of Eddie Balandas, a close confidant of KISS during their heyday as well as the iconic intro voice on the Alive II album from 1977. He will be missed.

Eddie Balandas & some other guy

Aaron Camaro shares his memories of first listening to Animalize as well as his monthly pilgrimage to the local record store to build build his KISS album collection.

Obviously, we’re not going to reveal what Aaron & Chris’ choices were in these here show notes. That would be anti-climactic and stupid (I know, like this show right? Thought I’d go ahead and pre-insult us).  Every non-makeup era album will be mentioned on the show but not every album will be represented in our Top 5. We aren’t including any of the compilations or live records from that time since Let’s Put the X in Sex is certainly not going to make either of our lists anyway.

A Fantastic Drink Coaster

The non-makeup era of KISS is largely ignored by the general public but is beloved by those of us that discovered the band during this era. The albums they released during those years are snapshots of a simpler time in our lives and the concerts were some of the best nights that we can (barely) remember. This episode of the Decibel Geek Podcast will cover the ever-changing state of KISS through the non-makeup era.

You’ll hear thoughts on Vinnie Vincent’s huge contribution to the Lick It Up album as well as an update on his most recent musical output. Mark St. John gets a quick mention in this episode that probably lasts longer than his actual tenure in the band. Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer are discussed and, of course, no discussion of the non-makeup era is complete without mentioning Eric Carr. By the way, check out the new album released by the estate of Eric Carr titled Unfinished Business that features song very cool Eric-written tunes.

Also included is a snippet of a great cover of the Asylum track Secretly Cruel reinterpreted and performed by Double Virgo. He took a song that was an average 80's KISS tune and turned it into a mid-70's sounding rocker that could have comfortably fit on Rock and Roll Over. Check out the video below to hear it.

Chris & Aaron are both big KISS fans but they definitely have differing opinions on certain aspects of the non-makeup era. You’ll hear them debate what they loved and what they hated. This was a fun episode to put together and think you will enjoy it as well. If you don’t, you’re not out any money so whatever.

If you're super lazy and want a minute-long sneak peek, check out the video below.

Intro Music: Manic Bloom

Break Music: Angel Garden

Outro Music: Mindset Defect

Youtube Video Music: fORMER

Quiet Riot: The Story of Quiet Riot - Movie

Okay, so that's not actually the title of the film and I'm taking a dig. What else is new? In truth, I'll be the last person to ever bitch about a "rock"umentary being made on pretty much any band (except Nickelback, of course). I'd much rather watch a movie about Quiet Riot than the millionth remake of some movie that bombed 20 years ago.

While I enjoyed the Anvil movie, this film has a lot more going for it in the "potential" department. I'm a total geek about this type of stuff but I think it's say to say that even most casual rock fan knows of Quiet Riot. Credited with starting the Sunset Strip/hairband explosion of the 1980's, Quiet Riot scored the first #1 album for a heavy metal band with 1983's Metal Health. This caused record execs to zero in on Hollywood and spawned hundreds of bands with hooks, looks, and enough hairspray to make Al Gore create a crappy movie years later.

This movie seems to be culled from personal home videos of drummer Frankie Banali. Through the magic of torrents, I recently watched the VH1 Behind the Music episode on Quiet Riot that aired many years ago. Their story is intriguing and, whether you liked the band or not, there's plenty of history, drama, and unintentional comedy that has surrounded this band over the years. The VH1 episode was completed well before the death of singer Kevin DuBrow. While Kevin made no excuses for his past behavior and big mouth on that BTM episode, the remainder of his life seems to be a mystery except to those within his inner-circle. It should be interesting to see what he was going through at the end.

The only complaints that I have so far (and you knew I would have some) are as follows. The title of the film is 'Now You're Here, There's No Way Back'. This may have been something that DuBrow uttered on a regular basis leading into one of their shows, but for a movie title, it sucks. Something generic like Bang Your Head: The Quiet Riot story would work better. As Sebastian Bach would say, "It rolls off the tongue." But I digress.

My other complaint is the availability of the trailer as well as the trailer's content. While I suppose this is just a teaser trailer for a film that will be appropriately hyped next year, I gotta ask, why bother hyping it at all if you are only allowing it to be viewed through the Noisecreep site? While I think Noisecreep is a fine site, in this age of instant gratification, you're not going to get many folks wanting to click through on this link to view this trailer that features mostly crowd shots from an arena show in 1983 while DuBrow tries to hype them up with his alligator mouth. I guarantee that a number of you reading this post will not bother clicking through since I can't just feature the video here on my site to help promote the movie. Oh well, maybe there will be more promo for this film the future. Until then, you'll have to feel the noize instead of seeing it.

-Chris Czynszak

Rockstar: LA Guns??

I've been sitting back the last few days taking in the Earth-shattering news of former reality show contestant Dilana joining the Tracii-led version of LA Guns.

I know what a lot of you are thinking. Who is Dilana? I know what others of you are thinking. Who are LA Guns?

For those of us that are a little closer to the geriatric stage of life, we remember LA Guns; a group initially formed by Tracii Guns (we're pretty sure that isn't is real name) and some guy named Axl. Axl eventually went on to form a little band that he's worked hard to sully the name of in recent years and Tracii later went on to hire former Girl frontman Phil Lewis. It was this incarnation of the band that had the most commercial success with a couple of minor hits such as Never Enough and the syrupy-sweet Ballad of Jayne.

LA Guns has gone on to become the crack whore of all rock bands. With the recent addition of Dilana, this marks the 40th lineup of LA Guns. A few of these lineups have been battling head-to-head over the past few years. That's right folks. There's MORE than one lineup of LA Guns rocking out at your local dive bar since neither Tracii nor Phil have enough sense to use a fresh band name to attract fans to their shows and seem content to toss out a medley of their hit for the 50-75 drunks that remember when the band was cool for 5 minutes in the 80's.

Choose Your Weapon

When your band's history is charted on a graph that looks like it was created by Ross Perot, it's not a promising sign for the future. And Dilana? Her name was last relevant about 5 years ago when she was vying to become the singer for the horrifically conceived Rockstar Supernova reality-band project. Her runner-up status combined with the fact that bassist Jason Newsted faked an injury to flee from the epic-fail-of-a-band left the public at large with a "meh" attitude toward the singer.

28 Years & 40 Lineups of Mediocrity

Until recently, LA Guns was fronted by former Love Hate vocalist Jizzy Pearl (what a clever name). I think he's probably happy to be off this trainwreck, especially after hearing the ridiculous audio poison that is LA Guns new acoustic album. The world needed that about as much as the Jonas Brothers releasing a death metal album.

Word has it that Dilana's management is now running the show for LA Guns and are doing a bang-up job of making sure that the group has no shot at success by basically snubbing every media outlet and rock/metal entity that has approached them for interviews. Since common sense is in short supply with the LA Guns camp already, this seems like a match made in bad-publicity hell. And before anyone thinks that I'm spewing this post out due to being turned down for an interview......I wasn't. I haven't bothered asking. Do I think I'm too big for them? Nope. Just too lazy. You're lucky I banged out this post at all so suck it!

-Cocked and Loaded to Fail

Chris Czynszak

Episode 8 - Nashville X-tra

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We begin this week with an explanation of Aaron Camaro’s hobby of hanging out with big, beefy dudes that like to oil themselves up and roll around with each other. In other words, he’s involved in microphone work for professional wrestling in the Nashville area. Aaron gives us the lowdown on all of the relevant info that you need to watch hulking guys beat the snot out of each other and Chris calls him out for trying to turn the show into a roid-themed infomercial. Chris hasn’t been impaled by a turnbuckle….yet.

Aaron Camaro's Baby Picture

Next, we are proud to bring you the first entry of Rage Against the Scene. This segment was a popular written feature that Chris used to write that was enjoyed by the Nashville-area hard rock and metal crowd. We decided to bring this feature back as an audio entity so you can hear Chris bitch all about what he hates about the Nashville Scene (publication) as well as the local rock scene in general. No one is safe from the ranting and Chris lets the bile spew forth with rants about the recent Soundland festival and why he thinks it’s nothing more than a bunch of secret-handshake bullshit that ignores a multitude of talent in the local area. He also tears into the Scene publication in general for swinging from Jack White’s nuts, only promoting one local record store and mentioning Those Darlins & Jeff the Brotherhood for the millionth time as if they are God’s gift to the music industry and should be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame immediately. Come to think of it, it would make sense since the Hall of Fame (ala Rolling Stone’s editorial staff) has about as much common sense and taste in music. Chris wraps up the segment by hinting at a future rant against 102.9 the Buzz in the future. Yes, his hate has spread to other avenues and modern rock is starting to fit in the crosshairs.

The Future of Music....So ironically neato! (sarcasm mode off)

Our feature interview for this Nashville X-tra premier is Chris Higgins from Piranah. Higgins had plenty of interesting things to say including his opinion of the local Nashville rock scene vs. playing out of town, some stories from the bands trip to Illinois to open up for Soil and what it felt like to have a room with hundreds of people singing their song back to them.  He also gives his take on whether Nashville has the ability to have a scene comparable to booms previously seen in Los Angeles and Seattle. With a tip of the cap to such local notables such as Ray LeGrand of Nashville Metal Bands, Higgins tells us what he thinks it might take to break Nashville as the next musical boomtown.  We touch on some personal history with Higgins’ recollections of his travels from his move to L.A. in the early 90’s to his time playing R&B music in North Carolina, to his return to metal in Nashville and how he became the skin-basher for Piranah.

 

There’s lots more planned for future Nashville X-tra episodes including interviews with venue managers, promoters, and more local band members. To our Music City rock & metal brethren, keep your horns in the air and your shot glass full!

Music Featured:

Intro: Manic Bloom

All Breaks: Piranah

Outro Commercial: Mindset Defect