Notes Magazine | 1 Also in this issue: The MONKEES, The BEATLES, and Steel FIREWORKS!
Features
12 58 60 74 62
Interview with Rew Asterik by Marlowe B. West Takez Manhattan The Patriotic Section by Steel Notes Magazine, photos Patriotic Section - Miss Independence Blondie Concert Review - by Mike Dorn , photos by Sheri Bayne Model of the Month - Josi Kat Photography by Tim Hunter
Articles 27 32 74 72 84 90
9/11 Museum - by Guido Colacci New York City Dance and Ballet l - Pictorial by Guido Colacci Blondie Concert Review - by Mike Dorn, photos by Sheri Bayne The Beatles Retrospective - by Marlowe Be West, dedicated to his Siister Jude Derek Oels Knows - by Derek Oels Interview with Vinny Martel - Alexxis Steele
ColumnsThomas Richmond
6 8 22 34 80
Rockin’ Facts by Roman’s Rant - Back in the USA Colicchio’s Corner Poetry Corner - Synchronicity by Puma Perl The Underground reviews The Not So Evil Dead by Stormy Boz
ReviewsSaxon, by Mike Dorn 26 28 56 78 92 98
CD Review Retrograde - By Puma Perl - Review by Guido Colacci Concert Review of Adrenaline Mob by Brian Matus CD Review Blondie- by Mike Dorn Concert Review- The Monkeesl - by Alexxis Steele, photos by Sheri Bayne Brodian’s Banter - What you say
Advertisers
Band Spotlight Podcast - CNEURADIO.COM Politick Radio Vero Concepts True Media Gary Pries Photography Big Paw Graphics cneuradio.com Pride Make Up by JMZ Playboy Energy Drinks Lisa Koza Productions Attractions Hair Salon & Modeling Agency Natasha NYC Fashion Designer Brian Lemburg Photography Jamberry Independant Consultant Lelanda.com Graphics & IT State Farm Agent Joe Brad
2 | Steel Notes Magazine
© Copyright Steel Notes Magazine 2014
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Letter From The Editor
Steel Notes Magazine | 3
Staff Writers
Michael Hendrick Stormy Boz Thomas Richmond Lori Kape Tom Martini
Steel Notes Magazine is a monthly magazine featuring what is happening in the art, music, entertainment, and fashion industry. Copyright is reserved. Re posting is whole or in part on other sites and publication without permission is prohibited. All right to photos belong to their respective owners. ♍
Gallo Locknez Stewart Brodian HQDeceit BBStrange Tony Angelo A. Jude Tim Caso Marlowe B. West Rayvin Stites Roman Adrian Stuehler
Photographers Gary Preis Larry Dell Sheri Bayne Bob Klein
On the Cover
Cover design by: Keith Boisvert Vero Concepts
Layout & Composition Magazine Design by: Leland Maurello Lelanda.com
Social Media
Facebook.com/SteelNotesMagazine
Twitter LSteelNotesMagazine
Google+LSteel Notes Magazine
4 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Contributors in this Issue
Stormy Boz
Alexxis Steele
Marlowe B. West
Puma Perl
Thomas Richmond
Derek Oels
Guido Colacci
Victor Colicchio
Roman
Stuart Brodian
Sheri Bayne
Mike Dorn
Brian Matus
Steel Notes Magazine | 5
Rockin’ Facts by Thomas Richmond
1967
Procol Harum’s ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ entered the Billboard chart, where it would peak at No 5. The song was written by the band around a melody composed by the group’s organist, Matthew Fisher, who was inspired by the chord progression of Johann Sebastian Bach’s ‘Orchestral Suite in D’, composed between 1725 and 1739.
1967
The Monkees went to No.1 on the US album charts with ‘Headquarters’ the group’s third chart topper.
1966
After holding a press conference aboard a yacht in New York City, The Rolling Stones kicked off their fifth North American tour at the Manning Bowl, Lynn, Massachusetts, with support acts The McCoys and The Standells.
2007
The White Stripes went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Icky Thump’ the duo’s sixth and final studio album. ‘Icky Thump’ won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 2008.
2012
Billboard.com named Olivia Newton-John’s 1982 hit, ‘Physical’ as The Sexiest Song Of All Time. Other classic Rock songs that made the top ten were Rod Stewart’s ‘Tonight’s The Night’, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’, Donna Summer’s ‘Hot Stuff’ and another Rod Stewart contribution, ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’.. ♫
6 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Steel Notes Magazine | 7
Roman’s Rant
Back in the USA! MAN! I could hardly wait to get back to America! When I started my punk rock band The Fux in 1996, I burned an American flag. I didn’t hate America, frankly I didn’t think much about it, and I wasn’t intending it to be disrespectful. I just wanted to create controversy. Actually, it was more about burning a guitar than anything, the flag just happened to be handy to cover the back of the guitar I had. I covered the back of the guitar, added a few modifications, and it was ready. Its primary purpose was to upstage a friendly rival band at a summer festival. I tried a practice rehearsal with the guys and it worked. It was awesome! The show went great. The punk rock recklessness of it all and the energy of a guitar on fire... the fact that it was a flag burning added to the anarchy atmosphere. That was the beginning of our fiery escapades and putting The Fux on the map. I went on to fine-tune the act, making it safer, getting it to the point that I could actually play it with my teeth while it was burning. (Jimi would have been so proud.) We started doing sets, then small local tourism, then bigger ones, then the North Eastern US, and finally England! I was still using an American Flag on the guitar for burning which went over well with our new British “mates.” Back in the States there were mixed reviews. Some were naturally offended. Others in the Anarchy scene really dug it. It didn’t bother me either way. The whole purpose in calling ourselves the Fux was to not have to care about being politically correct or following the norms and rules of the radio airplay status quo. I really had no political agenda, it was just fun as hell! Hold that thought... A band from England, Panic, comes over to the US to go on tour with The Fux. By coincidence, it is the 4th of July. Now first of all, regardless of any special holiday, they are awestruck by America as soon as they land, much like we were upon arriving in the UK. They see huge bridges, fantastic skyscrapers (NYC) and the music! Station after station of everything! Why, there’s not just one station playing non-stop rock ‘n roll but THREE! Britain has only BBC 1, 2, & 3, and rock is a 1-2 hour time slot in the course of selected periods throughout the day. (Totally unrelated to this article, I asked them what the first thing was they wanted to buy. They said Converse sneakers “trainers” they called them. Funny! and Taco Bell! OK back to the article.) The “Revolution! US vs. UK Tour” was
8 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
booked in NYC, Buffalo, Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, etc. (a play on our 4th of July, celebrating Americans freeing themselves from English rule. “Down with the British!” we were yelling. “Kill the rebels!” was their reply.) But even by our decadent standards, the parties were especially obvious due to the 4th of July. They didn’t have anything like it. They had a vandalism night, celebrating that bloke who tried to blow up Parliament. What’s his name? I don’t know. I don’t even care. I really don’t know about politics, here or there. And I don’t have to! That’s part of the point of this whole article. So here’s what our humble UK-punk-rockers-on-the-dole were learning about us: It’s a big party!The whole country is in on it! Keggers. Pool parties. Babes with tans in bikinis. Hot rods all over the highways, pulling alongside of you. FIREWORKS! Explosions of colors everywhere, all the time! Jesus, there was a car in EVERY driveway! TWO of them and more! It was all just like the movies, but REAL! When those guys had to leave, they practically cried. I felt bad. We really kind of faked them out. Hold that thought. Don’t worry, I tie it all together by the end. You have to keep reading, though. It’s your patriotic duty. Especially if you want to criticize me. We go to Europe. Land in Germany. The promoter is from the former East Germany, but by now The Wall was down. He had received higher education and was therefore qualified to work for the East German government. He was rewarded with the privilege of being able to order a car! And he had a choice of TWO to pick from (those ugly Russian boxy-things.) Wow! Of course it was a 4-year waiting list. Then, as he told it, The Wall came down and he was able to go buy one. Anytime, anywhere, any kind, like all the other Germans in “the West.” That’s one example of the communist influence I saw. Being as he was from Eastern Germany, most of the places he booked were former Communist Block venues and countries. It was an obvious thrill for him to see ALL of Germany as we all traveled together. I mean, we totally were digging it, but I was surprised to see him kind of amazed at visiting so much of his own country that he just never had the opportunity to go to because he WASN’T ALLOWED. So we land and proceed to the first show. Another band from Spain (actually Portugal, I can’t tell) and one from Sweden are on the bill. The driver from the Swedish band is there, but not the band itself nor the van they are to supply for us. We find out that they weren’t allowed to cross the border, because they only had enough bribe money to get the driver in his car through to come meet us. The band and van turned back to go get more bribe money. Damn. From the very first show we are asked, “is your music fascist or Anti-fascist?” And we get asked that a lot. And sometimes by little kids. What the? I heard the word “fascist” more times in one night there than I heard in my entire life. And when we drove into another country, which you could do in less than a day, we heard the same thing. Yeah, you can just drive straight in any direction and you’re in a different country with different languages and different spellings. These countries seemed so small, yet the governments of each were huge. Everybody knew politics. Even kids.
Steel Notes Magazine | 9
Europe was indeed wonderful to see. For me, it was new, different and beautiful. But there was something sinister underneath. We’d go to a little town to play and the monument in the center square would be an old Soviet anti-aircraft gun. We saw towns that had been reduced to rubble during the war that were still trying to be rebuilt. In the Czech Republic it didn’t seem to matter if they were still communist or not. Nothing really changed for the poorer people in the mountains and stuff. They didn’t have any more or less of anything. They mainly had less, like they were used to. In Czech we were treated like rock stars. Kids came from miles around to see ANY band play ANYTHING. We were stationed in this huge abandoned building - that’s what many venues were, bombed out factories that people would take over to squat in. I swear I didn’t see a kid the whole day in the little village at the bottom of the hill where we were staying. But when it was showtime, up on top of this hill, there were thousands, coming up this hill like ants. I don’t know where they all came form! There was no crowded parking, nobody had cars. There was no radio promotion. Social media consisted of a poster hanging in the town square. These kids had no personal computers, iPods, or cell phones. Nope. So when a show comes to town EVERYONE went to see it. ALL of the crowd listened to and watched ALL of the acts, no matter what kind of music it was. There was real solidarity (another word I was hearing a lot now.) The support was massive. When a band took a break, everyone left the building to smoke (this was before smoking regulations. It was just too dangerous to smoke in these places.) When the next band came in, they re-packed the place. The volume, vibe, and interior heat rose 100%. It was awesome, impressive, and flattering. They really, really appreciated us. After four dates in the Czech Republic, we are scheduled to go to Austria and then Italy. We approach the border of Czech/Austria. We are three bands in a van and a car. And a beat -up looking van and car, at that. (The car lead the way with a driver, a co-pilot, and another passenger or two that rotated between van and car. If you were in the car, you were driving or reading the maps.) We pull up to the check-point and get stopped. We can’t go through. We see them waving-on the nice newer cars, all Mercedes’ and BMW’s and stuff, and us poor filthy punk rockers are being questioned. “ Papers and ID!” OK, we have them. “Passports!” OK, OK. “Vehicle information!” It goes on and on. They actually weigh the vehicle. We go to get out and they rush us-”Back in the car!” What’s going on? Well, they just didn’t like us, that’s all. We looked like...gypsies or something. “Cross somewhere else!” they said. Cross somewhere else? That’s thirteen hours away! Why? “We would get in trouble letting you pass. Try somewhere else.” We turn the vehicles around (happy to get the hell out of there) and go back to the gas station right at the border. It slowly starts sinking in. That’s a former “Check-Point Charlie.” They can do whatever they want. There’s no rules. We have no rights here. They can just arrest us if they feel like it. And then who would know? Who would even find us? Hell, ten years ago they just SHOT anyone crossing here.
Now pretty, scenic Europe isn’t so fun anymore. We drive thirteen hours through the god-forsaken Czech Republic, through horse-and-cart towns that are pure dark with no lights at all, just praying we won’t break down. I swore a werewolf or vampire was going to pop out of the woods at any moment. And it did! “Look out! There, a ghoul!” Oh crap, it’s just a Czech prostitute trolling for Germans near the border. Seriously, it was scary. We had to drive back up to Germany, because that’s where we had been let in, and even then there was no guarantee that we would definitely be let out of Czech. That’s a scary thought. And it was growing on me. This sucks! And the damn maps...towns with names like Mnzcektzck or Kstvpigtz and whatever. I swore to my bass player that if we ever got out of there I would never fear being lost in Pittsburgh again! When we reached a new border at one in the morning, I called my wife, just mentally and
10 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
physically exhausted. I slept in a fetal position (that’s all the room there was in the back of the car) all the way to Italy, waking up at 7 am at the bottom of the Italian Alps. (Awesome!) So here’s where I tie it all together...Boy was I glad to be back in America! I never cared about politics (and still don’t), but I thank God I live in a country where I don’t have to. I don’t have to worry about who’s who or what....I don’t even need to know who the President is to have a car in the driveway. Or have a car even. Or a driveway! And I won’t get shot or imprisoned for having an opinion. Or not having one. And I have “rights” and stuff! I can probably be found if I ended up in an accident or a jail somewhere. And I can drive for miles and hours and days and weeks and still be in America with all these privileges. There are so many different cultures in our own country-the south, the north, the west...all different accents and cultures, but all the same language. And the same map. I can pronounce the damn names of the towns. I know there are exceptions to this, and there are lots of problems with our system. I don’t even know what I’m talking about when I go into those topics, but guess what? I DON’T HAVE TO! Ahhhh... what a RELIEF! OK, I burned a flag. It was a phase. I didn’t go to jail for it. I still burn a guitar for shows and I don’t use a flag, but I’m proud to live in a country where I could. I’m grateful to live in a place where I don’t need to know politics, be scared to have a religious faith or to voice an opinion, and where I’m able to travel to different states without getting a third degree. I don’t know much about all this stuff, but I definitely believe that many of the people I’ve met that have nothing good to say about America just never really had to live anywhere else. Go ahead and try it, loudmouth. Go live in a country the size of Kentucky and see how you like your options then. But until then shut the hell up! It’s time for a party! ♫
Steel Notes Magazine | 11
Marlowe B. West Takez Manhattan! Interviewz
Rew & Who? Marlowe B West: Once upon a time ... not so very long ago ... I was running the streets of Manhattan with this wild punk chick named Natasha ... She’s the original punk designer of St. Marks in the East Village ... You know her ... Everybody who is anybody knows her ... She’s the famous Natasha Adonzio NYC ... So I was telling her I wanted to start singing again and needed a band ... MBW: Once upon a time ... not so very long ago ... I was running the streets of Manhattan with this wild punk chick namedNatasha ... She’s the original punk designer of St. Marks in the East Village ... You know her ... Everybody who is anybody knows her ... She’s the famous Natasha Adonzio NYC ... So I was telling her I wanted to start singing again and needed a So she immediately dragged me all the way downtown to Otto’s Shrunken Head ... That’s where I first met you ... Re w Asterek ... Rew Starr ... ReW* of the weekly rock and roll variety show ingeniously called Rew & Who ? .. So ReW* ... Here we are ... Isn’t it crazy how all of a sudden ... BAM ... I’m co-hosting with you on your brand new monthly special for Steel Notes Magazine ... Tell me what’s your initial response and then I’ll tell you mine ??? Rew Asterick: I was thrilled when ‘Steel Notes Magazine’ contacted me to partner with *ReW & WhO?* for one show a month . We are always open minded and love to meet people with PaSSioN in this world to celebrate all the creative & good in the world. The night i met you at Otto’s was a really fun one. I just learned more about you right now than i ever knew!!! I look forward to learning more & more about you & STeeL NoTeS MaGaZiNe xXx MBW: How about yourself ??? ... I see you have a heavy duty band of your own ... Please tell us all about it ??? ReW*: Thanx,,, I actually play in a few variations of bands. I call my self ‘PuNkTRY’ cuz i have a punk rock heart & tell way too much information in my songz... a few have made it to TV & indie films.. my fingerz are always crossed to get the music and the songz out into the world... {thank you Genya for playing me on SIRIUS} I’m often called a girl Lou Red or a mix of Courtney Love & Carole King.... I love when people tell me who I remind them of... They are usually spot on.... lots of times it’s people I haven’t heard & I look them up & I”m so honored to be compared to them... ‘the ReWd oNeZ’ and ‘FLaCK BLaMiNGo’ are the two that i play with most along with doing lots of solo stuff. I love my bands and feel so lucky that so many people like playing with me.
12 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Each band has it’s own pulse and history. ‘FLaCK BLaMiNGo’ has been around a long time and features Billy {TELEVISION} Ficca on drums and Ricky {WoLF} Orbach on guitars. We have a unique chemistry and sound and have an incredible release called ‘that*S*rite’ that has been getting lots of attention over the past few years. ‘the ReWd oNeZ’ are made up of Donald Dixon on bass {who plays with any band project I am in}, Josh Creswell{my Ashton Kutcher} on guitars and keys, and Dr Andi {the chiropractor} on drums. We are
Steel Notes Magazine | 13
solid and full of ‘spunk’ and tonz of energy. We met thru lots of destiny and have stuck together for years. We just did some recording and are head over heels with it. We are for sure the non blood family that bands turn into with all the drama twists and turns and sticking together like glue. MBW: Tell me a story about ReW* and New York City ??? ReW*: Well I am a native New Yorker and just a few weeks ago I went to visit the Museum of the City of New York . They show a short film about the beginning of NYC & where it is today i swear i never realized just ‘How NYC I am’ my family tree was exactly the story in the film. My Great grandparents {on my mom side} & my grandparents {on my dad side} came over from Europe by boat, settled on the LES and Boom... New Yorkers for life! My great Grandmother Tilly had a speakeasy on the LES during prohibition, my Nana was in Vaudeville, my Mom was on broadway and here I am still playing in all the dives ... I have two amazing daughters following with their incredible talents... if there is a DNA called NYC .. well, we all have it! MBW: I love your energy and your kooky but intelligent personality ... Where, and how, did you develop such a beautiful open spirit ... I mean everyone I know loves you ... You’re fun and never a drag ??? ReW*: Oh you are too kind.. thank u... i guess it comes from making a lot of mistakes, ones that turn into miracles and just resisting conforming since it never worked for me in the first place..after years of people pleasing and learning the hard way! I for sure took many risks that I sometimes wonder how I made it this far.. These are pretty much the material I use for my songs and that’s why when i sing them I usually feel
14 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
naked with my clothes on.. plus drum roll please.. i actually graduated college.. after getting suspended from boarding school & never graduating from high school haha {they finally sent me my HS diploma years later}!!!! Plus I LOVE BOTH SIDES of the track... & always up for an adventure....got one??? ;)
MBW: Who are your strongest influences musically ...
I notice that you o all across the board sometimes ... I relate to that except I’m not too nuts about a lot of country ??? ReW*: Yes I am all across the board here...my biggest influences are songs that ‘TALK TO ME’ i’m me about the song than the artist. Lyrics that touch my soul are the biggest inspirations... so many artists have songs that are not always the ‘hit’ and those songs are the ones that inspire me.. some of these artists are.. Fiona Apple, Meshell Ndegeocello, R Kelly, 50 Cent, Madonna, Neil Young, Guns N Roses, the Spinners, Hoku, Carol King, Courtney Love, Eva Lin, Heather Hartley, Patti Rothberg, Marvin Gaye, Fiona, Bjork and I can keep going forever here... MBW: I know you have a real cool friend in Frank Wood ... We have him scheduled for an upcoming interview ... How did it come about that you do your shows at Otto’s Shrunken Head ??? ReW*: Yes he will be our first guest at 4:15 on our first ***ReW & WhO?*+ ‘Steel Notes Magazine’*** collaboration on Wednesday July 2. I know Frank since before there was an ‘Otto’s Shrunken Head’. I use to produce an annual Valentine’s Benefit for ‘God’s Love We Deliver’ in memory of my brother, Dicky, who’s birthday is February 15. So it would be the eve of his birthday into his birthday and he was a client of GLWD so it all worked. After a few of these events one year Vday fell on a Saturday & we did an all day thing at a place where Frank was working at in Tribeca. He was so enthusiastic and so helpful with the all day event that he joined forces with the Valentine’s Benefit and became my partner for every year after. We have remained good friends ever since and now are always there to help each other out . He usually loves to book Flack Blamingo cause of Billy Ficca & we all know Frank has a giant heart for Rock N roll royalty which Billy is for sure.
Steel Notes Magazine | 15
MBW: About ReW* & Who ... What happens when you get the sponsor you’ve been waiting for ??? ReW*: Oh that would be a dream come true. I could finally pay my assistant/director/saving grace Caroleen Stewart who has been helping me with every show. We want so much to make a living from this show and have GIANT ideas to develop the *ReW & WhO?* HeaL the NaTioN TouR. The premise wouldb e to take the show all over the globe highlighting ‘rizing starz & living legendz’ from every city and celebrate their passion. We could hire a camera/editing person & a sound person for starters and get our production quality a little more stress free. We really are arists who fell into to this and are ‘on the job training’ with easch episode.. We deal with a lot of tech stuff that keeps us on the seat of our pants every week. & of course with the tour we would play every night wherever we land!!
16 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
MBW: Do you and your bands Flack Blamingo The Rewd Ones have any gigs lined up ??? ReW* aLwayZ... somehow i manage to play.. alot! I have 3 solo dates left in June SaT JuNe 21 for MMNY //SuN June 22 @ Otto’s & Fri June 27 @ Bowery Ballroom. Since Billy has been touring the world these days with Television, I have to see whn Flack Blamingo is playing The ReWd oNez have a gig on Fri Aug 1 at eLla LouNGe.
Steel Notes Magazine | 17
MBW: Who is your favorite band in town ??? ReW*: hmmm that’s tricky cause i luv so many local bands.. and so many that pass thru our show... my daughter Eva Lin has begun to perform now about town, so I probably have to say my heart lies there. MBW: What other clubs do you like in Manhattan and where do you like to go for food ??? ReW*: I love every club that lets me play !!! I must say the Branded Saloon is a favorite & it’s where we have our monthly *ReW & WhO?* BK edition...haha food is my first love & that is why EVERY *ReW & WhO?* show celebrates the “FOOD OF THE DAY”!!! I love making my food at home these days but i love the 24 hour delivery in this town. I can always find something on any menu pretty much... name any cuisine and there is something i’ll like :) The last few spots I’ve hit are ‘the Coffee Shoppe’ “Fatty Fish’ Trader Joes’ ‘Peace Food Downtown’ ‘7-11 cuz they have my guilty pleasure Diet Mountain Dew in the BiG GuLP’!!! & the frozen yogurt places popping up are good for me! I luv CoFFee & HeRBaL Tea too xxx i just hate buying a bad cup of coffee .. MBW: I love the magic and excitement found in the recording end of music ... I’d be real interested in hearing about any studio work you’ve done ??? ReW*: I have all sorts of time in the recording studio. I have had magic and i have had total disaster.
18 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Steel Notes Magazine | 19
Making my masterpiece ‘that*S*rite’ was the biggest roller coaster of my life. It started as a magical weekend getting ten drum tracks and most of the instruments laid down. Then after all types of promises from the producer and after he took the $$$ he jumped ship and the project became my biggest learning experience. Tracks were lost, the engineer was fired from the studio, you name it it happened. Then somehow everything just took a while but the final project got done after endless blood sweat & tears and multiple places. Two songs off of it have won awards and one was on the Bad Girls Club and another in an indie film. Last week the ReWd oNeZ were at Atlas Media recording and knocked out a song and had the magic throughout the entire time... the song is debuting on July 4th on Genya Ravan’s ‘Chicks and Broads’ show on Little Steven’s Underground on Sirius. MBW: I know you have been involved in doing this sort of thing for a long time ... but ... Let me ask you “What is it like hosting your own Rew^ & Who show ... You look and feel right at home in front of the camera ??? ReW*: The eternal THNX ... I never set out & said I want to be a talk show host/producer. What actually happened was I was asked to be a cohost of a show & it originally was called ‘ReWBeeS WoRLD’ Bee quit & then overnight it turned into *ReW & WhO?* after a few months I moved the show to Otto’s Shrunken Head & now four years later I feel i was picked to do this. I feel it’s my responsibility to keep it going and manage it. It literally takes up 99% of my life and I am just doing what i am naturally doing to keep it alive. There is usually so much going on with booking, organizing and production that being in the camera with the guests is the time to get inspired and realize the why of doing it. We meet so many amazing people every show and i am kept in total awe from everyone who visits.
20 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
MBW: What would be the first thing you’d do if you came into enough money to live your dreams ??? ReW*: I”d probably pour it all into the show & get the private jet. But first i’d have to make sure my family was all settled in before i get onto the jet & take the hell off... ;) MBW: What makes Rew* happiest ??? ReW*: Heehee.... a bullzeye of course! ♫
Steel Notes Magazine | 21
Colicchio’s Corner by Victor Colicchio
Victor Colicchio is a new York based actor, screenwriter, and musician. As a screenwriter Mr. Colicchio is best known for his screenplay SUMMER OF SAM directed by Spike Lee. His acting credit include, Bullets Over Broadway, Goodfella’s, Inside Man, Brave One, Soprano’s, numerous television appearances on Law & Order, and NY Undercover
Lloyd Kaufman, Victor Colicchio, and Bruce Jay Friedman
Kaufman, & Bruce Jay Friedman | July 2014 22 | Lloyd Steel Notes Magazine Rocco Simonelli, Roy Frumkes,Victor Colicchio,steelnotesmagazine.com
Hi readers, This month was interesting. I had the honor of participating as a panelist on screenwriting during Hunter College’s 4th annual Writers conference. The discussion of course covered all topic from how to write a script and how to sell it. The moderator for this event was the screenwriting team of Rocco Simonelli, and Roy Frumkes. They are best noted for their film franchise THE SUBSTITUE starring Tom Berenger. Also on the panel, distinguished author, playwright, and screenwriter, Bruce jay Friedman. His screenplay credits include. SPLASH, STIR CRAZY, and DOCTOR DETROIT, to name a few.. Bruce is real old school writer. Born in the Bronx in 1930, Bruce served in the United States Air Force as a First Lieutenant. A very cool cat. He told he more than happy to pass his knowledge onto aspiring writers. He add “ I use to do these events to meet women. But I must say the Highlight of the event for me was meeting Lloyd Kauffman, co-founder and president of TROMA films. For those of you unfamiliar with TROMA FILMS….think TOXIC AVENGERS. Lloyd is graduate of Yale University, and attended class with Oliver Stone and George W Bush. Lloyd is one super intelligent, and extremely funny man. The event went well, and I had a blast hangin, with my “homies” I would like to ask you all to try and catch the new HBO series “LEFTOVERS”. The premise? 2 % of the worlds population suddenly disappears. The series stars Justin Theroux , Ann Dowd, and Dr. Who himself Chris Eccleston I attend a party to celebrate the filming of the final episode of the first season. The party was held at a place in Tribeca called 360. Named for the 360 panoramic view of Manhattan. A great party in a sweet location with an open bar ( I don’t drink) and food worthy of Chef Ramsey.
Victor and Chris Eccleston
The ‘360’ in New York City’s Tribeca
Steel Notes Magazine | 23
And speaking of food‌.. I dropped by Bella Napoli on 30th street and Madison Avenue for some excellent Pizza and to catch one of my favorite acts. The Baron Misuraca. The baron looks like Dracula but performs the songs of Sinatra, & Dean Martin. Check out his facebook page for show times. ♍ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Baron-Misuraca/309323430307
The Baron Misuraca at Bella Napoli
The baron looks like Dracula but performs the songs of Sinatra, & Dean Martin.
24 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Steel Notes Magazine | 25
CD Review Saxon by Mike Dorn
It’s hard to imagine that Saxon will soon be celebrating their 40th anniversary. Forming in 1976 under the name ‘Son of a Bitch’, it wasn’t until 1978 that they changed their name to Saxon. Over the years they’ve gone through many lineup changes, with the exception of original members, Biff Byford and Paul Quinn. Their latest release, a double live CD, St Georges Day Sacrifice – Live in Manchester, proves that they can still deliver. This CD has everything a Saxon fan would expect to hear, with the perfect mix of their classics and new material, and all of it delivered in true, neck-snapping, heavy metal fashion. Saxon already has several live releases, including last years ‘Unplugged and Strung Up’. So why release another live CD so soon after? The answer is simple: Why not? They sounded so good this particular night, it would be a shame to deny the fans of this great performance. Every year the band plays on St. George’s Day, in honor of England’s patron, Saint George, who died on April 23rd,303. This particular show was recorded live at The Ritz in Manchester, where Saxon fans were treated to a two-hour show, featuring some of Saxon’s best work. The CD was produced by vocalist Biff Byford, and mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap. When a band has been together as long as Saxon, I would imagine it’s pretty hard trying to come up with a set list that every fan would approve of. Some of the band’s hits had to be left off, but I was happy to hear that they included their cover of ‘Ride Like the Wind’ by Christopher Cross. ‘Princess of the Night’ immediately took me back to my head-banging youth-a time when I would draw band logos on my book covers and walk around my old neighborhood with my boom box. They also included ‘Denim and Leather’ (a Saxon staple), and a haunting rendition of ‘Broken Heroes’, a song dedicated to the British Armed Forces. That alone is well worth the price of the CD. For the younger fans, this performance also has some of the bands new material, including ‘Wheels of Terror’, ‘Stand Up and Fight’, and ‘Guardians of the Tomb’, off their 2013 release, ‘Sacrifice’. The band still plays with the same fire and passion as they did when they were a young hungry band trying to break into the music business. Nigel Glockler’s machine-like timing on drums and Nibbs Carter’s rock-solid bass playing make it easy for guitarists Paul Quinn and Doug Scarratt to trade off blistering riffs and solos. And at 63 years old, Biff Byford still sounds as good as he did in the band’s heyday. It’s obvious that for Saxon (to quote ‘Twisted Sister’) the fire still burns. This 2-hour CD proves that these forerunners of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal aren’t ready to call it a day just yet. Saxon fans, you owe it to yourselves to pick up this CD. It quickly became one of my desert island discs. ♫
26 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
The 9/11 Museum; Memorial for the Dead or Another Profitable Death Trap? by Guido Colacci
The 9/11 Memorial Museum opened on May 21, 2014. It is located beneath the Memorial plaza. Visitors enter the Memorial Museum through a main floor pavilion, where remnants of the North Tower’s façade are in the building’s atrium. BUT, the main exhibition space is located seven stories below the 9/11 Memorial at the bedrock foundations of the World Trade Center. This is 7 stories deep under ground. The Museum offers displays of “artifacts” from the WTC and 9/11 attacks that “survived” somehow when cement and steel were pulverized. There are also interactive exhibitions that tell in detail the “official story”, quiet contemplative areas to think about the stories you’ve just been told and so amidst the heartbreaking memories and artifacts I’m sure you will have an experience that changes any perspective of reality you may have had before going to the Museum. And just in case there may be some straggling , lingering doubts to the truth of 9/11 they offer programs that convey individual and collective stories relating the experiences of survivors, first responders, area residents and eyewitnesses. It also houses nearly 10,000 unidentified pieces of human remains, frozen for future analysis. And finally, a memorial exhibition honors the individual victims of the attacks that will have you in tears and you will hate yourself for ever doubting the “official story” … All this for $24.00 and folks don’t forget on your way out to stop at the gift shop. Although families of the 9/11 victims have criticized both the entrance fee and the greedy bad taste commercialism of the gift shop, nothing says “Remember 9/11” and honors the dead like a $10.95 coffee mug or a $35.00 umbrella, $40 sweatshirts with Fire and Police Department insignia or a $70 Platter with a map of the United States with stars that designate where the planes hit or crashed. Of course once you leave, it may hit you that out of all the hundreds of artifacts, and exhibits not a single scrap, nor seat or piece of luggage, not even a “SINGLE SCREW” from either of the planes that were the cause of the most complete destruction of buildings since Hiroshima and Nagasaki are to be found or seen. But why bring facts into this now? Let’s talk about the safety of the museum. If two huge towers had been destroyed on this spot and people died because they were trapped in the buildings too high up to descend to safety, you would think that they would build the museum on ground level where escape would be an easy thing, right ? WRONG AGAIN… The only thing I can think of that is worse than being trapped up in something is being trapped deep down in something, like 70 feet underground. That’s right, the museum is , that’s SEVEN stories underground through a labyrinth of hallways and staircases. Can you imagine 3000 people, which is how many people the Museum can hold, trying to evacuate from seven stories underground, amid the panic and confusion and screaming and possibly darkness, smoke or worse. The staircases are not continuous, they are all connected by long hallways between each. And as bad and treacherous as it was to descend the stairs of the towers before they collapsed , let’s bring some physics into this, gravity helps people go down but, not up. So now visitors will get a chance to experience the full terror of being in a confined space, disoriented, in an emergency, desperately trying to find a way out to safe ground from a literal “death trap.” Remind me again of the brain-trust genius architects who designed this gazillion dollar money-pit of doom ... as for me, I wouldn’t go near it, but I know millions of people will go, so knock yourselves out America. ♫
Steel Notes Magazine | 27
Puma Perl Review - Retrograde by Guido Colacci
What I knew about Puma Perl before reading her latest book Retrograde was that she was from Brooklyn, that she had written an amazing book of poetry called “Knuckle Tattoos”, and that she did readings of her poetry sometimes accompanied by a band. I remember sending her a friend request on Facebook and was amazed that she accepted. Here was this published poet and New York literary legend willing to share a friendship, albeit Facebook friendship with me. I also knew that she and I shared many experiences, mostly life and death of times in the Lower East Side and The Village, in the Bowery, in the mid 1970’s to the early 1980’s, the NYC music circus of survival. Before I read even a single word of her book, I knew she was first and foremost a survivor. So when I received the assignment to review Puma Perl’s new book, I literally felt my mouth watering … If you lived through those years, it’ll feel like home, memories ingrained as part of the very blood that runs in your veins, even though you moved out so you could bloom, you can still smell the smells, hear the sounds, and experience the hazy deja vu of self abuse. If you weren’t there you will feel like you missed something very important, I call it a baptismal, and even though it wasn’t pretty, it was home. From the very title of the book, Retrograde which in of itself means to go backwards… I found the title of the first poem “Gravity” a mocking irony of sardonicism which opens with the line “The night the birds fell” and ends with “Only the stars still matter.” Apocalyptic Jokes” deals with things left unsaid. Followed by an elegy to Jim Carroll and people who died… I read “I’m Still Losing”, I think she wrote it about me. Its been 30+ years for me and all my teeth are lost and after the last line of the poem, suddenly I don’t feel so good about myself any longer, I just saw myself in the mirror. Puma celebrates and muses over the little things that give us all a momentary safe pleasure. We often lose sight of these things until we’re reminded of them by someone like Puma, and we say “ohhh, yeah”. The next few poems, seem to ask questions but Puma also provides the answer. Sometimes I find the most confusing thing to understand is that the complex is really simple and the “confusion” is really understanding, but we must pretend the latter, because if everyone knew we already knew, we wouldn’t be able to just disappear at will, and it would make the simple pleasures impossible if we had to explain things. And just when I least expect it, she stuns me with her brilliance, even though I know it’s coming and I try to recover from “luck never gives, it only lends” and once again I’m slammed to the floor by her observation of a “hot smoking dancer girl who wears her fucking clit outside her
28 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
body”. She laments that in her next life she will be “really, really lucky”, like the dancer girl, but I know that she knows that luck has nothing to do with it and that nothing is a coincidence, and we all are who and where we are supposed to be. This is followed by “Needing” in which she makes the distinction between waking up needing and falling asleep needing, sometimes taking into account dreaming which has nothing to do with the cause and effect and result … The self-deprecating ”Living In My Skin” is next followed by the free flow form of “Synchronicity For Losers” and the punch in the gut, left gasping for air, raw truth of “Knives #5”, “Knives #9” and Knives #10. “Harvest Moon Dream Nightmare” transported me back to the first time I read Steppenwolf, in which I never knew if what Hesse wrote was real or a dream or perhaps a drug induced hallucination, Harry, Hermine, Pablo and Maria at The Fancy Dress Ball sequence. My mind further drifts to the scene from The Fantasticks in the funhouse carnival, and I have to ask, so tell me what’s unreal about what’s unreal? “Dreaming In Daylight” made me think that Puma and I have done more than 99% of most people and now we find that most of the 1% are gone. Moved away, numb or dead. We slip comfortably into a state of cliche truth, sadly you realize you’ve done too much when you already know how its going to end before you read the last words… The shotgun splatter effect of “In Space and Time” leaves me again gasping for air with the blunt force of Puma’s words; “24 hour b & b” and “they stared at each other long enough to stretch the moment into a memory” whew, just wow. “Poem From A Bad Girl’ brought me back to the days of 76, 77, 78, 79, 80 and started the chant in my head “one night in a thousand or was it one thousand in a night “. “Black Ink Corset” reminds me that although we have kicked, all we really have done is replace one set of needles with another and Puma ends it beautifully and painfully yet truthfully with the line “everything different is the same again”. If I had to pick one poem in the book, it would be “Words of Love” for it surpasses BRILLIANCE into MASTERPIECE. In “Finding A Moment” I am reminded how any frantic, dirty, casual encounter becomes intimate the moment you laugh together. “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame” made me smile and then chuckle mockingly, Blondie songs are mostly chick songs, and this guy knew all the words by heart. “Sweet Secrets” never reveals who is actually on their knees. “Illusions” makes me think to myself knowingly, I would have licked my fingers clean before I picked up the receipt. “Speak to me In Tongues” made me feel like the ghost from rock shows and junkies past as I came back to warn myself after the fact, just to be safe I never forget that we are survivors. “Anniversary” marks how unrelated one moment is to the other when we try to celebrate one year from the other and how absurd it is when it really doesn’t mean what its supposed to mean and how the small things have taken over the big things like a house that is covered in ivy and all other life is strangled out. “Do You Think” firmly cements in my mind how you can only stop pretending when we stop remembering, and sometimes its a good thing and then my mind wonders why we do it, why we question our desires, our past, our sins, especially when we know we really never had a choice after the first few times. “Divorce” is quite the farce, actually comical, when our hearts are not in it and its just out of habit. “Fuck Like An Anarchist’ can be summed up in two words “disposable sex’. “Electric Boom Boom” What gentrification means to a junkie is that just because the dope has fancier names and the dealers are better dressed and the dope costs 20 times as much in the end you’re still a junkie.
Steel Notes Magazine | 29
“Tech Love” is a biting piece about the degeneration of love and human contact in today’s world; retrograde, betrayed, splayed, overlaid, decayed, unafraid, underpaid, prepaid, masquerade, degrade. “Legs” is about getting old and thinking of things we never thought about before and sometimes thoughts turn to obsession and obsessions brings on depression and yet we get up every morning no matter how slow or how sad or how deep in thought we are. “The Heroin In My Needle” is a straight up love story. In “Another Year” Puma uses metaphor in a transparent take from the Greek myth of Scylla and Charybdis, the real question being, who is the real “Odysseus”? Story I Don’t Want To Tell” is about abuse, whether firsthand, secondhand or self inflicted. Abuse is abuse, just like no always means no. Youth never needs a net, in fact we bragged how we walked the strung out tightrope without any measures of safety, our scars worn like a badge of accomplishments. “Imprinted” makes me think of all the thousands of ghosts, the restless spirits, who died, for love, for fear, for fun, for real. Each a story, some were told most were not. The saddest being those that were never even missed. As we walked the streets, never alone always surrounded by the ghosts and restless spirits of tragedy and death and stardom. These streets we walked before, nostalgic and still warm for us, in the days when memories were still being made rather than remembered. When what was happening did not have time to ripen into a memory and how terribly wrong everything is today. “A_Alone” is another with the running theme about loneliness and loss, as if we can ever fix either one. “Nancy’s Legs” is about still not understanding what really happened. We were there. but we missed it. The romantic, tragic, love, hate, numb, incomprehensible, detached story of Nancy Spungen. “What is The World” is survival whether we want it or not, always wondering why we have to take the hard way out. “REWIND:” The Last of The Dream Nightmares” November 22, 1963, third grade, like yesterday, only 50 years later but as vivid in the B&W as it would be today in color, we could relive our moments on Youtube, and through selfies and we still wouldn’t remember as well as we do because we held those feelings that changed our lives, that made us glad to be where we were and who we were, no matter how bad, we knew no better and we would go back in a heartbeat if we had the chance, the wish, the prayer, but we used all those up in the years that followed. “Forever Retrograde” is an amazing work of word association followed by a three line summing up, and it repeats. A brilliant piece to almost close out this collection. Absolutely gut wrenching, achingly beautiful, bittersweet and painfully true. Puma seems to have written this in her own blood not from what bled out but from what she ripped out from deep inside. You will recognize yourself in this book. She makes no observations, she relates experiences. She runs the gamut of hustling, scoring, cooking and shooting, the beauty and ugliness of the high and the fall, and you begin it all over again but never told as a victim only as a survivor and a winner. Every story, every word comes not second hand, read about, heard or rumored but as her life. I know the authenticity of what Puma writes. I have felt the fear, seen the sights, smelled the urine, felt the blackness of the rush, tasted the vomit, slept in a nod, inhaled the Kool of the cigarette, and licked the blood from the works. Rest rooms, bathrooms, spare rooms, back rooms, staircases, hallways, doorways, broken couches, unmade beds. We thought the why, asked the obvious, wore the war, tasted the sweet. The smell of sulphur rises as the dope begins to boil in the spoon and you can taste the metal, nicotine stained filters strain the junk into the syringe with the graph shaped needle, and we would say a silent “bless the diabetics that are in our families.” ♫
30 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Join this list! Advertise with us! Advertising@Steelnotesmagazine.com
Be a part of SteelNotes Magazine Revolution
Advertisers Band Spotlight Podcast - CNEURADIO.COM Politick Radio Vero Concepts True Media Gary Pries Photography Big Paw Graphics cneuradio.com Pride Make Up by JMZ Playboy Energy Drinks Lisa Koza Productions Attractions Hair Salon & Modeling Agency Natasha NYC Fashion Designer Brian Lemburg Photography Jamberry Independant Consultant Lelanda.com Graphics & IT State Farm Agent Joe Brad
Steel Notes Magazine | 31
32 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Steel Notes Magazine | 33
Poetry Corner with Puma Perl Puma Perl is a widely published poet and writer. She is the author of two chapbooks, the
award-winning Belinda and Her Friends and Ruby True, and two full-length collections knuckle tattoos and the newly published Retrograde (great weather for MEDIA press). She was the co-creator, co-producer, and main curator of DDAY Productions, which mounted shows in various NYC venues. Her newest venture is Puma Perl’s A few months ago, I woke up from a dream with a line in my head.
All language evolves from a bass guitar. The melody of the dream faded, but the bass line continued to resonate. Later that day, I told my friend Cynthia Ross, B Girl bassist, who now plays with New
York Junk and Kee Cartel. Of course it does, she immediately responded. All music evolves from the bass guitar and all language is deep use of sounds and emotion‌just like the bass.
Shortly thereafter, I wrote a poem based on the dream, and began performing it with my band, Puma Perl and Friends, which often includes bass player Angello Olivieri, a blues man who plays with the Robert
34 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Ross Band, the Joey Kelly All Stars, and many others. I asked Angello how he liked the poem and taking his bass solos with it. I’m flattered! He replied, and you know what I always write at the end of any message, he added. SINCERE BLESS’SINGS OF B’ GROOVIN ‘ LIV , LUV N LIFE’’ (sic.) If you ask me, bass players do not get enough respect. Where would songs like Come Together or My Generation be without one? It’s not always what you hear, it’s those spaces between the notes, and, as Cynthia said, when it’s good, it’s more feel than sound. Or, as Leo Fender put it, Let there be bass. ♫
Synchronicity for Losers Listen to the trumpet Notes like jazzed rabbits All language evolves from a bass guitar The babble begins A confusion of voices I hate myself I want to die in rhythm, all together now Victories and legends pale beside the lost child There is no forgiveness Look down at your arm, it tells the story, you hate yourself you want to die Nobody hears you, it’s not easy any more, the toys are broken the runners are captured You are lost in the light I’d rather starve than eat your bagel; all language evolves from a bass guitar The babble continues I hate myself I want to die Out of control, companions troubled, abused, muddy mornings. Jackson Pollock where are you? They killed the colors, only the demons are still alive, peeling
and blistered, we don’t know what we’ve got or what we’ve lost, or where we wanna go, or what’s there when we get there, if we get there, desperate for precision, language of a bass guitar, gave birth to the babble I hate myself I want to die in the muddy morning Come back, Jackson Pollock I’ll prove you right ‘44 was a good year The days expanded and we wriggled out of the hard chocolate shell of a Tastee Freeze pop The years melted into motor homes and wine Wake up without a map Flashes of the absolute Kings of Nothing walk the earth, let the babble begin I hate myself I want to die I live I live I live I live Negative space, matter time, I live on I live on © puma perl, 2013
Synchronicity for Losers can be found in Retrograde, Puma Perl’s fourth published book, great weather for MEDIA, 2014. A second book release party will be held on Friday, July 25th, 2014, at Sidewalk Café, 94 Avenue A, New York, NY, and will include performances by Puma Perl and Friends, Joff Wilson, Red Gretchen, The Joey Kelly All-Stars, and more. Admission is free, no cover. Retrograde may be purchased from the author directly at pumaperl@gmail.com or at Amazon http://www.amazon.com/ Puma-Perl/e/B003VODDBK/ ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
New York Junk will play that same evening, with Ivan Julian and Split Squad at the Bowery Electric, 327 Bowery, New York, NY. Ticket price TBA. Stop in at both events!
Angello Olivieri will be playing with Puma Perl and Friends and The Joey Kelly All-Stars on July 25 as well. Check out his website to learn more about his upcoming gigs. http://angello-olivieri.com/
Steel Notes Magazine | 35
July Spotlight artist-
Interview with Marie Currie By Alexxis Steele
Marie Currie is a multi-talented artist that exudes passion and love from every fiber of her being, woven into every meticulously crafted piece of artwork she creates! I had the pleasure of speaking very candidly to Marie about her work and her love of art. Marie is not afraid to say what is on her mind, and she does not pull any punches.
Alexxis: Marie, when did you first discover your love of art and how old were you? Marie: It actually started in elementary school; I had just started seventh grade at Mulholland Jr. High when I was put into a clay class. That’s where I started winning my first awards, the gal - I don’t remember her name - was my art teacher, and that’s when I first started doing my busts, which people are not aware of. The teacher put me in a back room where she would give me fresh clay, and gave the rest of the class a mixture of white and red clay. That is kind of when I started my love of art. I have busts and stuff that I have made since I was a very young little girl. Marie: Of course then I became a singer with Capitol, a wife to Steve, then a mother, and a very successful mortgage banker. I was actually number two in the country with Impact Lending Group and then back to art. Alexxis: Are you still a mortgage banker now? Marie: No. After the collapse of the market, I continued until I damaged my hand badly in an accident at my house, which required me to have multiple surgeries, and at that point I was out of work for a year and a half and decided not to go back. Alexxis: I was going to ask you how your hand injury affects your ability to create your art, because you do such meticulous work. Marie: The thing that people may not realize is, that when I do my art, how hard it is to use my right hand, because of those surgeries I have had. Marie: Ten days after my second surgery my disability ran out, and that was my twelve month disability. I was unable to work because the doctor said I was disabled until December of 2013, so I could not pull disability and I could not pull unemployment until after December, and by that time I lost everything that I had ever worked my entire life for. It was very tough, and that’s why my heart goes out so much for people right now who are going out and trying to find work .
36 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Brass and Candle in a frame But it did force me into figuring out how I am going to make my next mortgage payment, then learning to use my left hand I became an activist about people pulling disability, when people such as myself that worked our whole lives cannot get it, when every person I see on the Judge Judy show says they are disabled! . Alexxis: I saw that you posted a comment about a piece of artwork on your Facebook page that read “Pretty good for only being able to use one hand.” Marie: I had to learn how to use one hand, which was casted for several months, and after that I just decided that is what I love to do, and that I would rather be poor and happy than wealthy and miserable! Alexxis: Right, exactly! Marie: So the mortgage banking industry - for me, after 14 years of tremendous success, I just couldn’t do it anymore, and I won’t do it, and that is what it really comes down to. Alexxis: So what inspires your designs? Marie: I don’t know… Alexxis: So something just comes to you? Marie: Well, I call them “My Helpers”,” My Angels”, and I am a very spiritual person, as is my sister Cherie my twin, as are my children. I live alone in the desert, I don’t have anyone that comes to my house, except for my children. Maybe every couple of weeks my son Trevor will come over, and I have my little
Steel Notes Magazine | 37
Chihuahua’s. I am a huge animal activist! Anyhow, I have come to pretty much learn to speak to the spiritual side of life, instead of an actual side of life, if that makes any sense. Alexxis: I noticed and saw your sculptures, and that they kind of have a dark theme. Marie: Oh, all of them do. I don’t know which ones you are referring to in particular. Alexxis: The hand, the one with the eye, the good and evil. Marie: Those are all back from the 70’s, and 80’s. I was married to Steve, and he bought me a kiln and I fired a lot of the Close up cross for brother’s seashells “Family Love” older stuff. A lot of that stuff though was from junior high school in seventh grade. Steve got me a work-table that I still work on today, with my crosses and guitars, and everything else. Those darker themes, every single one of those pieces- they are kind of spooky looking, and I am considerMarie L & Cherie R
Sculptures - Shoe and Hand with eyes, and Bird In Hand
38 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Winged Cross
ing putting them up for sale. I haven’t fired anything in about eight years, but I still have my kiln. Alexxis: Yes, you should! I know a lot of people who would love those! Alexxis: How long does it generally take you to finish a piece?
buy everything it takes to make them, and to put them together. I can’t even explain to you what it takes to make them, because it is so intense that by the time I finish pouring resin on a guitar, I am exhausted. I mean literally exhausted. I have a picture in my head of what I want to do, but how do I make that work? Like this one piece I just finished, called Blood Moon, that I couldn’t find, and of course they don’t have red or purple abalone, so I had to make it myself. It took me soaking abalone and food coloring.
Marie: Well, these Mosaic Guitars I have been working on have been taking me multiple days. Originally, I found a place that cuts and makes these shapes of guitars, and at that point of time I was primarily kind of focusing in on, really kind of setting it in glass, you know, with a lot of beadwork. First, I have to think of the colors,
Alexxis: Yes, I saw how you said about your hands getting stained. Marie: Oh my gosh, they are still stained. It looks like I murdered somebody! But then of course, it was not the proper color, so I went back and talked to an artist at a store, and I said I need help, I need to find out how to bring out red, because red is the hardest color to ever bring out in anything. Anyway, I figured it out and I’m not going to tell anyone what I did, but I figured it out and this Abalone is now purplish red , and the most exquisite thing I have seen in my life. Alexxis: I can imagine it is a lot of work. Marie: It took days of thought and execution, finding every corner of that piece filled with something, whether it would be one of my tremendous amount of vintage pieces of mine - anything from old pins to necklaces I’ve worn, and of course my belts. I use every piece that means something to me.
Cross with Wings
Steel Notes Magazine | 39
Cross and Hearts �Family Love
40 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Restored Jewelled Wooden Box Alexxis: That is amazing, it really is! So what are your favorite materials to use? Do you have any favorites? Marie: Well I would say the most fun I have is now with these Mosaic Guitars, but what I have loved more than anything is my belt-crosses. Belts that I wore back in the 70s and 80s I have turned into the most beautiful crosses. Crosses are my passion. But people stopped thinking they were something that they were passionate about. I just sold my 200th piece! Alexxis: I saw that. That is great! Marie: That’s crazy! I sold that many in a year, and of course I have a lot of pieces that never sold. But that’s a lot of energy and money and thought, going through everything I have, figuring out how I am going to make something work, so, as far as my favorite stuff, of course it’s my mosaics. Alexxis: You use a lot of jewels, I see. Marie: Yes I do. Turquoise, a lot of Swarovski crystals - ridiculously expensive. I have to be honest with you - even going to a Michaels, it’s just ridiculous, but I have a lot of pieces I purchased, which these guitars are really adorned with a lot of. Of course with my crosses, I would use one particular piece that was exquisite. Now with these guitars, I use two, three, or four pieces, maybe five. The centerpiece alone with other crystal and vintage broaches and such that I have found throughout the years. I add those onto these pieces. They are kind of a crescendo per se, of everything I have ever done in my life. All these things that I have never been able to find a place for, all of a sudden they are finding their home, and to me that’s spectacular. Where they
Steel Notes Magazine | 41
wouldn’t fit on a cross or they just did not work on anything else, now they’re working and it’s kind of exciting. I was telling my daughter this morning, when I started making crosses I got a tremendous amount of stuff and have spent much more money than I should have. I didn’t realize they had to be flat-backed and said, my God, I just blew $30 on something I can never use. Well, of course I saved the stuff and now I can sink those into the resin, and I can pull all that stuff out after a year and a half of them gathering dust. So it’s a lot of fun. Alexxis: Sure, absolutely! So I saw that you take a lot of things and restore them, like what you did with the antique Victorian oil heater. Marie: Yes, That was a long, long, time ago that it sold. It was back then out of my desperation to make money after my hand surgery, and I was really working that left hand of mine. That was the very beginning of my career, as far as this becoming a career. When I was making my crosses, the one piece that means so much to me was for a gal named Karen Kincaid. She had sent me her mother’s ashes, and I searched high and Cross with red jewels low for a silver satchel, covered in jewels, that a woman would wear around her neck, and she had sent me a vial full of her mother’s ashes. That is my favorite piece ever that I ever made. It was unbelievably stunning, so I began taking a lot of heirlooms, whether it’d be a cross, or mother’s ashes, and her father had carved four itsy - bitsy little hearts, and I incorporated that along with the mama’s ashes. Her brother was also passed and he had collected seashells for her, which I put on too. Those are the ones I have had the most fun with. As far as the most enjoyable and the pieces that send me looking are those that sometimes take weeks and months to find something. That is probably the most intense piece that I have ever done. It’s called Family Love. It may not be the most beautiful piece I’ve made, but to me it is. Alexxis: I saw another thing you did under your Gothic pictures with the iron candle holder. Marie: Yes, I sold that. Cherie helped me with that. Alexxis: I saw a picture of her working on it. Marie: Cherie is actually a woodcarver and is working on something for Kristen Stewart for the next two weeks. Alexxis: The talent runs in the family! Marie: Well, you know, we have always been artistic, and my mom, God bless her, has been an amazing artist, as far as drawing goes, and all of that stuff. Like I said, I’ve just sold my 200th piece, so I guess, yeah, there is
42 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
a lot, and I am taken aback by what I have even done that in a year and a half’s time. It blows my mind. Alexxis: Like the Dream Basket you did with the key. Marie: Well, that my brother actually bought. It was expensive. I know back then I used to go into people’s houses and they would phone me, and I would say if anyone has anything that is really different let me know. I would drive all over Hollywood, and I remember I picked up that basket up in the deepest part of old Hollywood. My brother was just really taken by it and he purchased it from me. So yeah, I love that piece, I truly love that piece, and I don’t know where it came from, just somewhere deep inside. Alexxis: Yes, it is amazing. The creativity just flows out of you!
Cross and Sachel for Karen Kincaid - “Family Love”
Marie: Well yes, it does, and what I am enjoying so much are these guitars. It is endless with what I can do with this particular line of mosaics. Like with my crosses, which were so unbelievably successful. Each one has its own life, it has its own look, never two alike.
Alexxis: I saw that , like your Wildflower shadow box crosses, the one with the horse head with the Swarovski crystals. Marie: You know that one hasn’t sold yet, which kind of shocks me, and truly it’s cheap, compared to what it cost me to make. But you know what, so many people are suffering, including myself. We are all suffering. A year ago that would have sold for twice as much, and I do my sales to help people out, and what sells, sells and what doesn’t, doesn’t. But about that horse; I don’t even make the shadow boxes anymore, those are history. I think I have three left or four left, and that’s it and I will never make another one. Alexxis: Marie, you do so many things - your painting, your sculpting, re-creating pieces, your mosaics, is there one thing that you enjoy doing more than the other? Marie: Yes… Being a mother! Being a mother to my children, that is what I enjoy more than anything I have ever done in my life! And that is what I really must say. Of course, when it comes down to art, passions come and go. My passion for my crosses went when everybody else’s passion for them went left or right. But my one passion that never ever changes is the one thing I have done so unbelievably well, that at least for my children no one could do better and that is being a mom. That is the only one positive definite tomorrow I’ve got, is being a mother. Alexxis: And you feel like that is your crowning glory, and biggest achievement. Marie: Absolutely! It doesn’t matter if I make another 200 or 2,000 pieces. The people that purchase them will
Steel Notes Magazine | 43
know me through my art. There are only two children that know me and that is my kids. Hopefully they will be like me to their children , and hopefully I live to see my grandchildren. That is the only absolutely no doubt, one thing that I have never failed at all, that I have been most successful at - and that is being a mama! Alexxis: There is certainly nothing wrong with that! Marie: There is nothing like it! Alexxis: Marie, where can people purchase your awesome work? Marie: I do have an Etsy store for credit-card-only transactions, Marie Currie Creations. Mostly the sales are actually done through my Facebook page - Marie Currie Creations. For the Mosaic Guitars that Steve signed, if any of them are left that have not sold, they will go on Steve Lukather’s Ebay page. Alexxis: Thank you so much, Marie, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this interview. Painted Victorian Oil Heater
Marie- Thank you so much for taking an interest in me, I really appreciate it, Alexxis: It has been a pleasure, Marie! ♍
Marie (left) & Cherie (right)
44 | Steel Notes Magazine
Cherie (left) & Marie (right)
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Dream Basket with Key
Evil and Good
Guitar signed by Steve Lukather from the band Toto
You can purchase Marie’s wonderful creations at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marie-Currie-Creations https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarieCurrieCreations Check out Marie Currie’s recently released novel“The Narrow Road Of Light” on Amazon www.thenarrowroadoflight.com http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I7DT3UA Marie’s Shop On Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarieCurrieCreation
Steel Notes Magazine | 45
Marie Currie’s Mosaic Guitar Collection
Blood Moon
46 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Eden Emerald Lady
Steel Notes Magazine | 47
Fire Sky
48 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Harmony Mind’s Eye
Steel Notes Magazine | 49
Peace Purple Haze 50 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Shadow
Steel Notes Magazine | 51
Reliance Truth
Spirit
52 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Whimsical Wings
Steel Notes Magazine | 53
Fantasyland
Wonderland 54 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Patriot Steel Notes Magazine | 55
Concert Review - Adrenaline Mob by Brian Matus
Photos from Adrenaline Mob’s set at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ June 8th was Adrenaline Mob’s last show on their most recent tour. There was a full house at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ to see the all-star cast composed of Russell Allen (from Symphony X & Trans-Siberian Orchestra) on vocals, John Moyer (from Disturbed) on bass, AJ Pero (from Twisted Sister) on drums and (Guitar Player Magazine’s 2008 Guitar Superstar of the Year Top Finalist) Mike Orlando on guitar. They kept the packed house captivated with a set list that included nearly all of the songs from both of their CDs, including fan favorites “Undaunted,” “Mob Is Back” and “Feel the Adrenaline,” ending their set with a cover of Black Sabbath’s “The Mob Rules.” Responding to the crowd’s chants demanding that they return to the stage, they played an encore that included Led Zeppelin’s “The Lemon Song” and Badlands’ “High Wire.” It was truly amazing to see so much talent on one stage. Be sure to join the Mob next time they’re performing near you. ♫
56 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Steel Notes Magazine | 57
Special Patriotic th 4 of July Section
58 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê
Steel Notes Magazine | 59
Miss IndependEnce
60 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê
Steel Notes Magazine | 61
Model of the Month
Josi Kat Photography by Tim Hunter
62 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Singer, international model, actress, producer & writer…….Your typical L.A. girl.
ê ê ê ê ê
With fond memories of playing hopscotch on the stars, which line the sidewalks of Hollywood Blvd. Josi was born into an entertainment family, so it’s always been in her blood. Both parents were musicians her Father plays drums and her Mom played bass. Josi’s grandparents owned the historic Hollywood Professional School, famous for its legendary attendees such as Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Ryan O’Neal, Val Kilmer and Melanie Griffith.
Born in North Hollywood, California she jumped right into the world of entertainment at a young age and was winning pageant trophies, until she decided to become a tomboy. Her musician parents, we were often on the road with the family in their groovy painted school bus, which pumped her veins with Rock n’ Roll and penchant for adventure and travel.
ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê
As a teen actor you can spot Josi in the movie Sid and Nancy, Diet Coke commercials and as the token punk rock student in the TV series The Bronx Zoo. Most infamously known as the singer for the punk band PISS ANT and dishing out plenty of attitude, bad girl strut and sassy lyrics; and later the founder of The FEARLEADERS, the cheerleading squad to the LA Derby Dolls Roller Derby team. When women’s roller derby first came back to Los Angeles there were no cheerleaders for roller derby. That is until punk rock singer Josi Kat formed the original FEARLEADERS in November 2006. Combining her love of singing, dancing and performing with a horror/gore, “grind-core” aesthetic, Josi, Co-Captain Nurse Heather and her troupe of rockin’, sockin’ bad girls write, choreograph and perform their own original routines, stunts and dances. Clad in fetish knee-high boots and black vinyl skirts, the FEARLEADERS have become a big attraction of the L.A. Derby Dolls bouts, which typically draw capacity crowds of over 2000. Their rude cheers have become a crowd participating sport within the bouts themselves and have led to this bad-ass anti-cheer and dance squad into making numerous television appearances. Well ahead of the curve by the time the sport of roller derby entered the mainstream, spearheaded by the 2009 film Whip It (which starred Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page), and now that all derby teams have cheerleaders and the concept has become a staple for hundreds of teams worldwide. Utilizing years of professional marketing experience, Josi (who also has degrees in Merchandising & Marketing from UCLA and FIDM) was able to land appearances for the FEARLEADERS on such shows such as MTV’s Parental Control, NBC’s Today in L.A., SPIKE TV, KTLA, A&E’s hit show Gene Simmons’ Family Jewels, Static X videos, The L.A. Fetish Film Channel and the CW. They’ve also been the subject of articles featured in international publications such as Hustler magazine, In The Wind Magazine, Bad Betty Radio as well as press mention in H Magazine, a feature in LA WEEKLY and Motorgirl Calendar. As one of Playboy TV’s favorite guests, the appearances led PISS ANT to star on Porn To Rock (VH1). Other appearances include LA INK (TLC), pranking Photos by Tim Hunter
Steel Notes Magazine | 63
ê
64 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê ê
Steel Notes Magazine | 65
66 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Photo by Justice Howard
Steel Notes Magazine | 67
68 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Photo by Justice Howard
Steel Notes Magazine | 69
band members on Chelsea Handler’s Girls Behaving Badly (Oxygen), iTunes commercials, and multiple Troma horror movies. Embracing all opportunities, PISS ANT also performed On Q Live (the Queer TV network) and then to sold out shows as the Christian band at Hollywood Hell House from the writers of Comedy Central, featuring Dave Thomas, Andy Richter, Bill Maher and Penn Jillette. You’ll also spot Josi in several music videos including Marilyn Manson, The Posies, and Dave Alvin and Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo Boot Camp. For all of you comic book nerds, don’t miss her as the villain “Anita Capers” in the pages of Nightmare Girl Comics. Her latest passion is producing “grindhouse” style music videos. Three of which have been show in L.A. clubs, in galleries alongside artists such as Clive Barker, and featured at the 2011 Fetish Film Festival. Josi’s other passion is yoga, she became a teacher & certified physical therapist though Loyola Marymount University. Having traveled extensively all over the world to over 40 countries she has gained a sincere appreciation for life, friends and family. As a civic minded activist, vegetarian, pit bull lover and supporters of many philanthropic organizations, she volunteers with animal shelters, the LAFD, LAPD, cancer survivor groups (Revlon Run, The Busted Foundation and St. Baldrick’s) and programs for the homeless (My Friend’s Place & Union Station), she cherishes her awards from the city of Los Angeles for her philanthropic work. I hope you enjoy the images from some of the world’s finest fetish, pinup and glamour photographers and thank you for picking up this book. ♫
Josi 70 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Steel Notes Magazine | 71
The Beatles
by Marlowe B. West - dedicated to my sister Jude.
*** The True Story Of How Beatlemania Transformed The World, Brought Families Together, And Inspired The World With The Message Of Love *** Ladies and Gentlemen and Children of all ages, I am your ringleader. My name is Marlowe B. West.
Four Little Boyz by Marlowe B. West Four Little Boyz A bundle of joy Sailed across the ocean On a wave of noise. Now everybody knows The way the story goes They simply exploded That’s what the record shows. Sing us a song Beatle Boys yeah yeah yeah Tell us “She Loves You Again and again The way you did then And... We’ll sing along Beatle Boys yeah yeah yeah We know the words And the sweet harmony So young and so free... That’s as far as my song got. In 1974 I acquired a Svengali who abruptly interrupted by saying he did not approve of my use of the word ‘noise’. So I scrapped it. Today, as I come across these discarded lyrics, it seems fitting. The way I left it dangling there. Unfinished and timeless. That is the same way I feel about the Beatles and Beatlemania. They were unexpected, out of control and a welcome change of pace to malicious slander in the scandalous sixties. When radical meant just that. Our goddess Marilyn Monroe, dead! JFK, America’s knight in shining armor, dead! Reality was simply a dead bore. Dismal! The Fab Four happened at a time the world sorely needed transformation. The headlines went from disastrous to hysterical. They turned the whole wide planet upside down. Spun it ‘round on it’s heels and never left a mess. Actually, aside from the Beatle’s catalog, which overflows with scores of delight, they never really did, ever, leave. They are still way up there on the top shelf.
72 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
I was equally taken by their fresh appearance as by their zesty sound. Hollywood had already succeeded in unleashing my raging inner rebel when I absorbed that blasphemous James Dean film. But the cause came not that many years later when the Beatles oiled those gears with their flopping mop tops. Most exciting was the way it caught on. It spread contagiously- a joyful epidemic we called the British Invasion. The Dave Clark Five were right on the Beatle’s heels. So were Gerry and the Pacemakers and Herman’s Hermits. An energetic sudden flood of Beatle wannabes splashed onto the scene, adding a tantamount of suppressed merriment to the souring and spoiled brat face of America. When Beatlemania hit, I got my young sister, Jude, all four original Beatle dolls, which were issued in 1964. Yes, she was named Jude seventeen years before the Beatles released “Hey Jude” (It was not the only naming coincidence my family shared with the Beatles, but more on that later) I saw the Beatle dolls as much more than toys! Before too long I determined that John, Paul, George and Ringo had lost their prominence in Toyland. They found a more appropriate stage on my bookshelf with my record collection.
My dad was sure glad his son did not play one of those electric guitars. Drums would never have stood a chance either
Like many young teenagers in the mid sixties, I was especially impressed with all the attention the Beatles received. I wanted that. So, like many contemporaries, I became a singer in a rock ‘n roll band. My dad was sure glad his son did not play one of those electric guitars. Drums would never have stood a chance either. But he didn’t mind my band, The Things (of all things), jamming in his finished off basement, bar and pool hall, every now and then. Bobby Batman played guitar. He was older, had a Batmobile and taught us about booze and out of town girls. Mouse played drums. His father gave him a Mustang when he was sixteen. Sal was our Puerto Rican bass player and dug the blues-rock based Animals the way I did. From the guts! My. Mother Mary (I told you there was another strange coincidence between my immediate family’s first names and Beatle’s songs) would be upstairs in the kitchen doing the dishes and singing along with the Animals. “You sound just like Eric Burdon”, she would glowingly praise us when the guys packed up their gear. The Beatles - and all the fresh young spirit that flowed in with them - had brought a new sense of togetherness into our house. It is a good guess to think many other homes were affected the same happy way. I, and armies of other U.S. lads - many ambitious to be rock ‘n roll stars, some ambivalent about the British Invasion and others downright anti-Beatles - had witnessed that young men now needed to be some kind of a Beatle to be recognized in this brand new, fainting and screaming, world of adoring Beatlemaniacs. Where did I stand among them? Here’s another clue for you all. I still wear Beatle boots! The Beatles have inspired many and are subjects to infinite accounts of reference books, enough to ring the globe. I see no need to be overly informative about historical facts and nuances of their career. I am looking back at my heroes in action, as they play in the light they have cast upon my life. They commanded me to go on and be forever young and free. It is a gift I treasure and will obey to the end.
The Beatles recorded seven infinite years after “Love Me Do” birthed Beatlemania in England. During that time the British band whose music will live forever recorded a neat dozen smash albums, consisting of one hundred and eighty two songs. To me they came and took the world - not to conquer it, but to fix it and generously give it back. The greatest thing the Beatles instilled in me was “All You Need Is Love”. It is the key to answer their most prophetic question “How does it feel to be one of the Beautiful People?” - Marlowe B. West ♫
“And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love ... you make.” - the Beatles Steel Notes Magazine | 73
Blondie Concert Review
by Mike Dorn, photos by Sheri Bayne From the small time New York City stages of Max’s Kansas City and CBGB’s, to arena and stadium stages all over the world, it’s been 40 years and one hell of a ride for Punk and New Wave icons, Blondie. And Debbie Harry is still the epitome of New York Cool. On the night of May 25th, Blondie came to the small town of Bethlehem Pennsylvania and, despite delays from the venue, delivered a top-notch set spanning their 40-year career. Leading off the night with Rave, off of their new release, Ghosts of Download, then hammering through One Way or Another, off of their 1979 release, Parallel Lines, and In the Sun, off their 1976 self-titled debut, Blondie proved they can still rock. Right from the get-go, Debbie Harry was pitch-perfect, while the rest of the band sounded tighter than ever in their near-flawless delivery of Punk and New Wave mastery. As Blondie so often does, they shook things up a bit by giving vocal duties to keyboardist Mat Katz-Bohen for their 1999 hit, Maria. Another surprise was Good Boys, from their 2003 release, The Curse of Blondie. But, without a doubt, the highlights of the night were Call Me, Rapture, Heart of Glass, Dreaming, and my personal favorite, Atomic. After 40 years of touring together, Debbie Harry, Chris Stein, and Clem Burke seemed tireless, delivering each song the energy of a band half their age.
74 | Steel Notes Magazine
Photos by Sheri Bayne steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
On a side note; On July 1st Debbie Harry celebrated her 69th birthday. I’d just like to wish Debbie a very Happy Birthday! Sands Event Center Set List
1. RAVE 2. ONE WAY 3. IN THE SUN 4. MOTHER 5. MARIA 6. GOOD BOYS 7. DRAG 8. EUPHORIA 9. TELEPHONE 10. CALL ME 11. ROSE 12. RAPTURE 13. SUGAR 14. HEART OF GLASS 15. MILE HIGH- ENCORE 16. DREAMING- ENCORE
Steel Notes Magazine | 75
76 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Steel Notes Magazine | 77
CD Review - Blondie - Ghosts of Download by Mike Dorn
In 1974, New York City was hardly the tourist trap it is today. It was dirty, corrupt, and on the verge of bankruptcy. It was so bad that President Ford told the city to “drop dead”, and vowed to veto any bailout. People were leaving the city by the thousands, but it was still good enough for local bands to perform their original music. At 315 Bowery stood a small club where ‘Angel and the Snake’ (among many other bands) would take the stage, and help turn the music world upside down. By 1975, Angel and the Snake changed its name and would forever be known as Blondie. Today Blondie is celebrating their 40th anniversary with a new release, Blondie 4(0) Ever. This 2-disc set has a little something for everyone. It includes Greatest Hits: Deluxe Redux, a re-recorded collection of Blondie’s greatest hits, and Ghosts of Download, a CD of brand new material. Anyone who’s ever seen Blondie live knows that they like to shake things up a bit by changing the arrangement of some of their songs. But on Greatest Hits: Deluxe Redux, they pretty much stayed true to the original recordings. Debbie Harry’s vocal ability has never been in question, and re-recording 11 of the band’s classics proves that it still isn’t. Thanks to modern technology, these songs have been given the treatment they deserve and sound much better than their original recordings.
Rave (featuring Miss Guy), makes this one perfect for radio play. Through her lyrics, Debbie Harry recalls the band’s club days and their rise to fame
Blondie has always been a band that likes to experiment with different musical styles, and their work on Ghosts of Download is no different. The first track, Sugar On The Side (feat. Systema Solar), has a heavy Latin pop influence, and helps set the tone for the rest of this dance-heavy CD. Debbie Harry’s lyrics, “I left a note on the mirror / Took the keys to the brand new car”, reminds men everywhere that if we piss a woman off, we’ll have hell to pay. The electronic pulse and catchy vocal melody of the second track, Rave (feat. Miss Guy), makes this one perfect for radio play. Through her lyrics, Debbie Harry recalls the band’s club days and their rise to fame.
A Rose By Any Name (feat. Beth Ditto) was released as a single in June 2013. This modern dance song can stand up to anything being played in dance clubs, and the lyrics, “If you’re a boy or if you’re a girl / I’ll love you just the same” , reminds the listener that love is love, no matter who or what you are. Winter, a heavily synthesized song about a relationship on the rocks, shows off Debbie Harry’s vocal range. Again, has there ever been a question about her ability?
I Want to Drag You Around, and I Screwed Up are a return to the reggae inspired songs that Blondie has done many times before. But if you’re thinking Die Young, Stay Pretty, or Island of Lost Souls, you might be disappointed. While I Want to Drag You Around, and I Screwed Up are danceable, they’re a bit slower than the aforementioned. Relax, originally recorded by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, is given full Blondie treatment and quickly grows
78 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
on the listener. Starting off unexpectedly as a ballad, this is a perfect song for Blondie to cover. After all, they helped put new wave on the map. Why not cover a song by a band who’s musical style they helped influence? Take me in the Night, Mile High, and Euphoria prove that Debbie Harry is dripping with chic and sexuality, while has that unmistakable Blondie sound. Take it Back uses cars and red lights as a metaphor for an abrupt breakup. Backroom, the final track, is cleverly written and solicits images of a vampiress feeding on her prey in a nightclub. All in all, Ghosts of Download is well written, well produced, and will keep fans satisfied. Original members; Debbie Harry (Vocals), Chris Stein (Guitar) and Clem Burke (Drums), along with newer members Leigh Fox (Bass), Tommy Kessler (Guitar), and Matt Katz-Bohen (Keyboards) all did a fantastic job making this CD. They stayed true to the Blondie sound, while still being able to make an up-to-date sounding CD. If you pick up the hard-copy of Ghosts of Download, you might be pleasantly surprised to find that it comes with a DVD of a 1977 Blondie gig at CBGB’s. Their high-energy cover of I Love Playing with Fire by the Runaways makes this a ‘must have’ CD/DVD box set. ♫
Repair / Replacement Complete system Setup, Backup & Restore. Software Installation Operating System Repair Remote Assistance, Individualized Instruction,
Screen / Keyboard Speaker / Camera Power Supply Hard Drive Replacement,
Macintosh Linux Android Windows
Logos Page Layout Prepress Photo Correction Signs and Banners http://lelanda.com
Steel Notes Magazine | 79
The Underground by Stormy Boz
1| beneath Earth’s surface 2| covert 3| contrary to prevailing culture
Myrtle Beach, SC has an underground music scene
that most tourists don’t even realize exists.
There are several small clubs all over the beach that cater to unsigned bands on a daily basis. On any given night you will hear 4 different genres of music and may even be lucky enough to catch a new band playing their first show ever. My first experience with The Not So Evil Dead was just that, a Monday night with several acoustic sets and then a band that was sweet music to my ears! A band that played true Punk music. I don’t mean the watered-down punk music we have all become accustomed to, I mean hardcore punk like the Ramones, Misfits, Rancid, Bad Religion and Guttermouth. They were loud, they could play their instruments and they were a three-piece band that didn’t have huge stacks of amps, but small amps for the bass and guitar. The Not So Evil Dead is a 3-piece punk band out of Myrtle Beach, SC. The current line up is Thomas Boswell- Bass and Vocals, Dillon Yancey- Guitar, and Ben Phoebus- Drums. When asked how they decided to play together, Thomas says, “We were just a bunch of friends who knew how to play instruments and figured we would put it to use.” Thomas and Dillon have enjoyed playing together for at least the past year regularly and have found that when they play live, they actually play even better. They describe themselves as nothing more than a bunch of kids who knew how to play their instruments and shared a love for REAL Punk and playing fast. Ben is actually doing double duty at this time. He has been the drummer for a band call Falkreath for a while, but when The Not So Evil Dead’s original drummer quit, Ben stepped in and has enjoyed himself every since. Coming from a band that plays kick ass metal, playing punk music was new for Ben. According to Thomas and Dillon, Ben has quickly fallen in love with punk music. The three boys write all of the music for the band. In fact, their live show consists mainly of original tunes. They only do a few covers during their shows now. However, when writing their own music, they jokingly say they use four chords instead of the usual three chords punk bands normally use. That is what sets their original music apart. In fact, their live show consists mainly of original tunes. Thomas jokes that “I tend to have a bad memory when it comes to lyrics, it comes to us randomly.” When writing, the band says they can just be sitting around playing and someone plays a cool riff and the other two will jump in. Since they were a generation that grew up with the Internet, The Not So Evil Dead have made sure their fans can find them on every possible medium.
80 | Steel Notes Magazine
Ben Phoebus on Drums steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
The Not So Evil Dead are not lacking in stage presence!
Thomas states, “I feel the Internet has really changed up the music game. Some are good changes and some are bad. Although it does make it easier for a band like us to get more recognition outside of South Carolina.” You can go to the band’s ReverbNation page and download their music for free. They feel like it is important to support bands in other ways, because bands need the support of fans in order to get their music released and even played on the radio. Since I had seen them at a small club, I began hearing stories about Bear. Bear, according to some of their fans, was the bands one-eyed manager. So I asked Thomas and Dillon about their “manager” Bear. This is the official story of Bear. “Bear is a stuffed bear that we have been claiming to be our manager. He is a drug-addicted bear that lost an eye in a knife fight with the former drummer after he caught him trying to sell our equipment.” Yes, folks, it is a shtick. Only people close to the band really know about Bear for the simple fact that the boys don’t want it to take away from the band and define them. Thomas makes a valid point with “I’d rather be known for our music and not a drug-addicted stuffed bear. Although, who wouldn’t want to listen to a band with a drug-addicted stuffed bear manager with one eye? It could go either way.” As we are having this interview, Bear is staring at me with the only eye he has. It’s creepy! Since they are just getting started, there is nothing really big planned yet for The Not So Evil Dead. The local clubs have been keeping them somewhat busy since their first show and they are forever grateful for the 'Sound Hole' who booked them for their first show and Adam Russell who books the band for shows. “Local venues are extremely important! As popular as a band can get online, you will get a completely different feel for the band seeing them live”, the boys say. I agree with them completely. “Without local venues, fans can’t get a real feel for the bands and neither can an AR person. With all of new equipment for recording studios, a band can sound perfect. You are not going to get perfect on the stage. Stage presence is a HUGE thing for us. No stage presence, then you are boring on the stage.” The Not So Evil Dead are not lacking in stage presence! They are fun to watch. They are always picking on each other and most importantly, they draw the audience in with their comedic styling’s as well as their musical abilities.
Steel Notes Magazine | 81
They quite possibly could be the next Green Day. When asked if there was anything else they would like to add to this interview, all three members were very quick to say, “We would like to thank our families and friends for all of their support. They ROCK!!!!” The Not So Evil Dead is a perfect example of the “diamonds in the rough” you will find at your local club or bar. Most fans forget that all of your National level bands started out in a small club like the 'Sound Hole' in Myrtle Beach, SC. Without local venues giving young and upcoming bands like The Not So Evil Dead an opportunity to play, you wouldn’t have acts like Five Finger Death Punch and Slipknot. Get out there to your local clubs and support your local music!!!!! Be sure to check back next month for another upand-coming band! If you have a new band that you would like to see featured in “The Underground”, please send me an email with the band’s information (Facebook, ReverbNation, SoundCloud, etc,
Dillon Yancy on Guitar etc.) Till next time! Remember to support your local music!!!! Next time you’re in Myrtle Beach, check out their local music scene! Till next month, keep your head up, feet on the ground and music in your ears! ♫
Here is how you can find The Not So Evil Dead on social media. www.facebook.com/thenotsoevildead www.myspace.com/thenotsoevildead https://twitter.com/notsoevildeadMB http://www.reverbnation.com/noname3423 http://www.youtube.com/channel/ UC8HiThhZI4qcwyp0DD7EaIw
82 | Steel Notes Magazine
Thomas Boswell - Bass & Vocals steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
As seen on the April cover of Steel Notes: Natasha NYC Custom Designer clothes Now a specialty for Music and Movie Stars
NatashaNYC.com
Steel Notes Magazine | 83
Derek Oels Knows Photos by Derek Oels
Lacuna Coil and Derek Oels at the Electric Factory in April of 2013.
Corey Taylor from Slipknot/Stone Sour and Derek Oels at the Sands Event Center in Bethlehem, Pa in Feb of 2013.
84 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Asking Alexandria and Derek Oels at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, Pa in July of 2013.
Hollywood Undead and Derek Oels at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, Pa in 2013.
Steel Notes Magazine | 85
Jason Hook from Five Finger Death Punch and Derek Oels at Freedom Hall in Lancaster, Pa in October of 2013.
Marilyn Manson and Derek Oels in Reading, Pa at the Santander Arena in 2013.
86 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Jeremy Spencer from Five Finger Death Punch and Derek Oels in October of 2013 at Freedom Hall in Lancaster, Pa.
Bullet For My Valentine and Derek Oels at the Electric Factory on May 5, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pa.
Steel Notes Magazine | 87
Three Doors Down with Daughtry and Derek Oels at the Sands Event Center in Bethlehem, Pa in 2013. Politick Radio
88 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Ozzy Osbourne and Derek Oels in Holmdel, Nj at the PNC Arena on August 4th, 2013.
Three Doors Down with Daughtry and Derek Oels at the Sands Event Center in Bethlehem, Pa in 2013.
Steel Notes Magazine | 89
Interview with Vinny Martell by Alexxis Steele
Lead Guitarist of Vanilla Fudge VINNY MARTELL INTERVIEW PART 3 OF 3 A: Vinny, I totally understand how tough it is, being a vocalist myself, wanting to have reverb, and some slap back delay , or I go crazy if the vocals are dry, so we are spoiled in that regard I guess.
out.
V: whenever we go to do gigs, and we we are doing a sound check and I was telling the sound guy if they have reverb to put it on my vocals. I like reverb the way it sounds, it’s a beautiful thing, I don’t like dry so I do know what you mean ,that’s how it was in the old days it was stiffer than it is now and you can sound really good now, so its much easier then when we started
A: Is there anything you would like to do or anyone you would like to perform with that you haven’t had the chance to yet ? V: I just like performing. When we were in Europe we had a couple of opening bands most the time, it was just us same as in Florida, we had 2 opening bands down there. It’s always good seeing new bands and trying to give them a helping hand I like when we do have an opening, but when we don’t what’s good is you can guess your amp settings and you can put your peddles on the floor and nobody moves anything, but what I notice sometimes when you do have an opening band sometimes the PA guy forgets the sound settings for you and when you come on the settings are changed so that’s something that is a benefit when you don’t have an opener.But anyway let me say I jammed with BB King the night that Woodstock opened up and we were offered to I also want to say be do Woodstock but management turned it down but we didn’t know it was good to all the animals, going to be a big wonderful thing but I got a chance to jam with the great BB keep the trees the King I would have liked to see Stevie Ray to play one time and I would have like to get to know him more and jammed with him because we both have birds, we need them. something in common in fact we have 2 things in common he liked Lonny Mac I love to see the trees very much and did an album with him and hes the guy I got turned on to when blowing in the wind im I was in the navy the top player who never got his recognition when he should have and #2 I had a guitar that I sold in Texas and it was a Strat and I read in a a big tree guy. magazine that a few people told me that Stevie Ray Vaughn said he bought a guitar that used to belong to a guitarist that belonged to Vanilla Fudge. I think he used it on Texas flood and he named it yellow he said it opened up to put pickups in the Strat and he had one pick up put in the treble position so i’m planning to do that song in my show for that reason that was cool and a great amp that I sold when I was going through Texas. A: What kind of amp do you like to play out of? V: I was just in Florida and I had 2 great amps to play the gig that we did near Tampa . They gave me a Marshall 100 watt with 4 plugs that I always liked the sound on. The power that thing can kick out let me tell you, those amps can kick and the other amp that we played in Boca Raton, they had 3 amps in the club that so I had my choice. and they had 1-12” 2-12” or 4-10”’s. I used a reissued Fender amp with 4 10’s that with my ESG really sounded good for one that didn’t have reverb that night, and I used the chorus, I used the distortion unit ,and tuner and that hit that thing was like it was just beautiful thats my favorite small amp the fender with 4 tens, the Hot Rod Deville with 4 tens all kinds of great amps. I prob have about 10 amps.
90 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
A: So what advice would you give to newcomers now that want to break into the industry ? V: Believe in yourself #1. You can’t take no for an answer. If somebody dosen’t like you, get guys that are like, let me put it this way ,you have to have a good attitude. You have to have a good product, you have to be professional ,you cant cop an attitude and blow up. We still get mad somedays but we keep it to a discussion level, try to understand the other person. You have to look good make yourself look good, and find your special niche that makes you shine and perfect. That sums that up whatever it is whether it is your looks, your technique, your sound. If you get something that you know you’re really good on, keep pushing that because you gotta be original. Don’t copy and try and be somebody else because you can be a great somebody else, and there are a lot of great cover bands out there. I’m not trying to put the cover bands down, that’s cool too we like doing cover songs too, everybody likes to. But it’s your originals, that’s where you’re going to get noticed. Are you in it for the artistic side of it if you’re an artist ?,and you want to be known for what you have to offer. So offer something good again good attitude ,girls be positive don’t be cocky all the chicks that are out there , with a good product going recording something, always put your best foot forward always make your best first impression, don’t be getting high and all that stuff, people get turned off with booze and all that so keep it professional , people really like that ! A: That’s a lot of great advice ! Where can listeners find your music? V: We’re in a lot of the stores check the web vanillafudge.com, vincemartell.com and amazon.com. Also the New Jersey Record Store , The Record Collector, they can order stuff I think and Barns and Noble . A: I would encourage everybody to get out and see Vinny play, whether its with his solo band or of you can catch him with the Fudge, check out his music ! V: Thank you again Alexxis! I also want to say be good to all the animals, keep the trees the birds, we need them. I love to see the trees blowing in the wind im a big tree guy. Don’t forget to thank the good Lord for all the gifts he has given you, talent and everything, and respect the vets who have kept us free! Peace! ♫
Steel Notes Magazine | 91
Concert Review - The Monkees by Alexxis Steele, photos by Sheri Bayne
The Monkees Sands Event Center
The three original surviving members of the 60s/70s pop group "The Monkees" performed to a near-capacity crowd of mostly Baby Boomers on May 27th, 2014, at The Sands Event Center in Bethlehem, PA. The night started out with an intro of videos from their popular TV show on the projector screen, with the band coming out to their Monkees' theme-song, while the screaming crowd of fans sang along to “Hey Hey We’re The Monkees”. The first song, performed by lead vocalist Mickey Dolenz, was one of my favorites - "Last Train to Clarksville". So many childhood memories started flooding back to me as I sat , listened and observed. Next up was guitarist Michael Nesmith, who in the past did not take part in any of the earlier Monkees' concert reunions, with one of his hits - "Papa Gene’s Blues".. Peter Tork broke out with one of his songs - "Auntie Grazelda"..Unfortunately, to me, it felt like there was a spark missing from Peter’s voice, which could possibly be due to several factors.. Besides the three members, the band also had additional players and two female backup vocalists. The majority of the time Mickey Dolenz was not behind the drum kit, but out front, sitting on top of and playing a single drum. I love the way they showed the video clips from their TV show in the background associated with each particular song they played.. One of my favorite Mickey songs, "She", had the crowd participating in the chorus while they cheered back "Hey" with their hands raised high. Next, Michael's “Sweet Young Thing” was pleasing to the ears, with banjo in the background and his smooth vocals. Mickey payed homage to the writers of their music, with psychedelic images and photos of artists and other notables of the era, like Jimi Hendrix, John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. displayed on the screen behind the band, before they started playing "Randy Scouse Git". Before breaking into "For Pete's Sake", and with Mickey now behind the drum kit playing in unison with the other drummer and Michael at the keyboards, Peter talked about how the four of them got together not originally by their own choosing - and how they were told to make a show and play music. Michael’s ever familiar voice was evident in his “Sunny Girlfriend” and “You Just May Be The One”. The one thing most certainly missing that evening was the presence of every young girl’s (including me) crush/heartthrob - Davy Jones.. I have to say that I was kind of disappointed that there was no mention of his name the entire evening, even though he was on the background videos…
92 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Towards the end of the concert, the band started playing the familiar signature piano of Davy’s “Daydream Believer”, with the whole band singing, as the crowd cheered and sang along, swaying to the music. At one point, the band stopped most of their playing and encouraged the audience to sing the chorus, while pictures of Davy played in the background on the screen. I guess, even though there was no mention of his name, it was the band’s way of paying homage to him. This was the last song they did before coming back for an encore, and they ended with another favorite of mine - "Pleasant Valley Sunday", that started with Mickey singing and playing guitar. At the very end of their performance, with cheers from the audience, the whole band went out front and held their hands high while they took a bow. Even though many years had passed and they were obviously now older than they were at that time, I would say that for the most part their vocals and music had the same quality heard on their records. Being the first time I had ever seen the band perform live in a concert setting, I was very pleased by their presentation.. The Monkees did not disappoint their fans, and they played all of their hits from albums like More of The Monkees, Headquarters, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones LTD, to name a few. It was a very nostalgic night, allowing us to reminisce about many fond childhood memories of the Monkees' music and TV show. ♫
Steel Notes Magazine | 93
94 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Steel Notes Magazine | 95
96 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Steel Notes Magazine | 97
Brodian’s Banter The old expression goes: “It isn’t what you say but, how you say it”. As a composing musician, I like to be able to have my songs played on the air. As a radio announcer, I have to be cautious about what I play on the air. Anything deemed inappropriate can result in fines and even jail time! Curse words, suggestive lyrics and things like violent references can be offensive to some people. I know there’s freedom of speech, artistic freedom and, just plain old relating to the way people speak but, you still have to use a little bit of tact and respectability. The simple rule I use is; ‘would you be embarrassed to listen to this in front of your mother?’. If you think this is something that would be annoying to someone you love then, it probably isn’t appropriate to be used as song lyrics. There’s plenty of ways to say things without actually saying it. People can be intelligent and if you try to get around some things in your words, people can be able to figure them out. The Billy Joel song, “Laura” (from the album, “The Nylon Curtain”) has the line: “Here I am, feeling like a f**kin fool”. If I had written that song, I would have replaced the F-word with a word like ‘worthless’ or, ‘stupid’. People judge you by the words you write and if you rely too heavily on words that aren’t used in polite company, it’s not only a bad reflection on your music but in your character as well.
! ! ! ! e c i n e b
98 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014
Spectacular Greetings from Dorney Park Allentown PA Photo by Mike Dorn
Steel Notes Magazine | 99
100 | Steel Notes Magazine
steelnotesmagazine.com | July 2014