After 2-3 years – everything changed. MTV suddenly got so POP. Then it seemed like 90% of everything was Boy Bands and other manufactured artists. 2 years ago MTV did everything it could to promote the band “Darkness”. Suddenly they are out of the picture.

CANT HELP BUT WONDER, WHATS GOING ON MTV?

Heres a couple of things I wish they could change – Let us know yours.

1. Stop being a corporate all the time! You have some form of responsibility to reflect all the different forms of music and artists not just the ones that is easy to sell. I mean after all – arent you supposed to reflect society in its entirety.

2. Believe MTV has got to make more investments in promoting long term, amazingly talented bands or artists. People may not like some artists right away but slowly they will grow and become a part of peoples lives – just like the Beatles.

Welcome to the musicians` life. Ups and Downs and a whole lot of writing block. I started wondering how many times that happened to me and as that thought occured to me I realised it has been this way ever since I can remember writing my first song back in 1997.

No wonder musicans get the bi-polar complex really easy – either way high or down below, but I thank God for my family – the fun family weekends and my work keeps me up and about. Keeps the Bi-polar in check, I am then reminded that ” Its just a tune – it will sound better with time”. Yea! nothing but time.

Do you remember the scene in Tenacious D – Pick of destiny when Jack Black has this mental block thing, when he had Kyle step into the pentagram drawn on the floor.. Haha! Yea .. That happens to all of us I guess.

Hope something comes up soon, till then I have the main melody singing in the back of my mind. Incomplete yet inspiring!

Kurt Cobain

Sex , Drugs and Rock and Roll - marketing hype

Clearly rock music isnt about that at all. When I first started playing guitar I often  met a lot of guys elder to me playing some crazy cool guitar. I was amazed at their lifestyles. Some were downright nerdy who never smoked a cigarette. They would shred some scales and I would drop my jaw listening to them.

Then again there were a few that I admired but they were all into something. I dont know what they were into but they always seemed they were intoxicted on something. They would play the guitar with emotion and make jaws drop as well.

Got me thinking – after all these years, come to think of it – It wasnt about the genre of music. It was about different people with different orientation.

During the late 90s with the grunge scene, I remember everyone wanted to be like Jim Morrison and like Kurt Cobain. It just seemed so much fun. Self destruction was actually “artful”.

With the violent death of Kurt, I guess it got many people wondering as to how far someone could push the envelope if they wanted to. I think rockers started being a bit more realistic in their outlook about being reckless.

Alice in chains , still one of the best bands I have ever listened to, are champions for me but I cant help but wonder why Layne Staley was depressed all the time. Alice is like Pink Floyd – transports you to another world. I guess the drugs did make these really talented people fall “down in a hole”. What I loved about Alice was the music it created, the unusual drum patterns with the toms and the harmonized vocals. Perfect combo! Lyric wise – you can hear Layne cry out to the world.

I guess there is always some hype everywhere. Thankfully long hair and makeup days are over. Whew! Now we can just focus on being ourselves. If you`ve watched rockstar, I am glad we are in the days of the reformed Chris Cole rather than his glam days.

Funny thing is I still love all them glam bands- loved their shreds, moves and grooves. It worked for them but it doesnt agree with me as an aspiring musician myself. But still we wouldnt be here if not for those guys who made me imitate them when I was younger.

Thanks to rock musicians and artists around the world. They truly make me feel like we arent alone. We truly love the music first and foremost. The hype well, its nothing but a marketing strategy. Lets face it rock music is targeted to a young audience. The young are restless and often supressed by parents and teachers – there would be no better way for them to express themselves freely if someone told them ” Sex, Drugs and rock n Roll” instead of ” Get high with God not with Drugs”! I think they would find the former more appealing. Its just a matter of letting them feel boundless. Usually most dont fall for the hype but unfortunately there are many who think its the ultimate truth.

Layne Staley

I have been thinking about this for a while now. I wanted to make a blog about the human experience. I thought it would be nice to share a few things and to learn from you as well.

I guess you can think of it as something like my version of a message in a bottle.

We just had these massive floods in the Philippines, Ketsana ( locally know as Ondoy) which wiped out many lives. Then a few days ago we heard of this Tsunami off Samoa, then the earthquake in Indonesia hit.  They just got me thinking about how delicate we really are physically. Our minds are strong but we were not designed to outstand and to overcome such things.

I saw family members in deep grief and my heart went out to them.There are all these events happening in our lives, affecting us all. Yea,the news is there to tell us and to inform us. We have journalists informing us by risking their lives even in war zones. I just watched this bit about camerawoman Margaret Moth in CNN and I am sure she would say that she risked everything to tell the world whats happening so that we can do something about it.

We need action. People arranged into groups and communities to help around without politics. If politics is a necessary evil that lets make it totally transparent. Let it not be able to hide anything from anyone.

Anyway so much about political things and ideologies running in my mind. I guess thats what in my mind right now, so there you go.

Ya know I`d love for you readers to drop in a few cents about your day, about your frustrations or victories. I would love to hear your opinions about anything.

Till next time.

Human Experience