Posts by Guest:
- play a shitload more shows all around Australia
- Get in the press (send out Press Releases, CDs, radio/magazine interviews nationally)
- and the most important thing – 100% back ourselves and our music
GUEST BLOG: Breaking open the 1991 time capsule of music
July 2nd, 2011A guest blog by Damian ‘Damo’ Rieck: a bit of rock, metal, hip-hop, and stuff in between.
. . . and finally after 7 hours of digging up dirt underneath some backyard gum tree with his hands (the shovel snapped in two just 6 hours before), our hero Damo, with Leticia supervising very closely (with hard-hat – supervisors can’t be too careful) carefully picks up the somewhat crude tin capsule, completely covered with movie stickers of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, Terminator 2 and . . . Hudson Hawk. With a mighty throw of just over a metre (Damo can throw really far. On a windy day. Today wasn’t the day), the capsule makes contact with the firmly ground and violently breaks in 8 pieces, sending 20-year music notes, albums and songs of many genres flying into the air at once.
Yes, 1991 was quite a year for most music lovers of most genres; bands were entering new territory – or leaving it. Yes, the word CHANGE comes into play on this year! Also, was equally important that it was around this time that the birth of grunge made popular by bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam to name a few was capturing many apathetic and angry young people minds . . . and losing them.
With that being said, I have enclosed some of my personal favourites, and ones culturally important. Feel free blogreaders to add some of your favourites or ones that I may have missed out (or insults). Because, despite the fact this website is mainly for metalheads, I may have to go slightly off-course on some other genres.
Oh, about me you say? Well Leticia happened to take behind-the-scenes footage during a music video shoot for BLACKNAIL that I was also involved in, cast-wise. (I’m an actor – but I also have a mini-passion for music, and drums is my specialty!) And the rest is history. Do please check out BLACKNAIL, a great band that deserves more recognition, at this location.
Let’s begin . . . (in no particular order!)
BUTTHOLE SURFERS – pioughd
Ahhhh . . . this band has done some crazy shit on stage, but it’s their albums that would leave you completely nuts. Their earlier albums relied heavily on sound modulation and psychedelic compositions. This one marked a shift to a more commercially accessible Butthole. Erm. That doesn’t quite sound right…
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – Blood Sugar Sex Magik
The album that put them on the map – with a few changes to the band’s lineup (like the death of their original guitarist Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons not coping with that – nothing major); a new record company to look for, and a much-polished funk sound. Greatness was around the corner.
NIRVANA – Nevermind, and PEARL JAM – Ten
The reason I’m bundling these two together is, well in my view, they are the albums that laid the foundation of grunge. That’s probably all I have to say about that. Oh, Ten = 10 million sold; Nevermind = 30 million sold… forgot about that.
CYPRESS HILL – (Self-titled)
Probably close to being the closest-copied album for hip-hop during the 90s – rated by many mags such as Rolling Stone as one of the greatest in that decade – it featured great sampling and great reinvention of hip-hop. The next five years is when they really owned the genre (with Black Sunday and III to come) – thanks to their self-titled foundation!
SEPULTURA – Arise
Oh yeah! This gem is their finest hour! Big difference between this and their last album Beneath The Remains. Arise saw a much toned-down sound combined with a mix of sub-metal genres all into one. This album pretty much ended their early death/thrash sound.
PRIMUS – Sailing The Seas Of Cheese
Les Claypool and his merry men bring this legendary piece of gold with hits such as Jerry Was A Race Car Driver and probably their most famous one throughout their careers with Tommy The Cat, which also made a small appearance in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey at the Battle Of The Bands scene.
METALLICA – (Self-titled)
String of music clips, commercial spotlight, three divorces, 30 million sold, $1 million to produce, three world tours (one with Guns & Roses). Full stop.
Aaand that’s where I’ll end it. Well, if any of you guys can come up with some bigger and better albums during that year, and can embarrass me to the fullest core – go ahead (because you would probably succeed).
Cheers! – Damo.
GUEST BLOG: [Festival Review] Download Festival 2011, Donington Park, England
June 20th, 2011Well ‘Hello’ friends and followers of Biodagar, I’m Claireodactyl and having just returned from this year’s Download Festival, I thought it would be good to share the experience with you all. We started the weekend wet and cold thanks to heavy rain while we were setting up the tent and trekking the 2.5 miles between the car and the campsite! But then, as someone said to me, us Brits don’t go to festivals for the weather… if we did we’d never go to one!
I could drone on about every band that played, but let’s be honest, that gets pretty boring… so let’s go for the highlights!
Friday
The evening sets were kicked off with ALTER BRIDGE, now while they aren’t strictly metal they are one of my favourite ‘easy listening’ bands, Mark Tremonti is a killer guitarist, and you can tell by the way he plays that he just wants to rip it up and go full on metal with each song. Someone once told me that Myles Kennedy is a pure musician, nothing gets in the way of his music, and this is evident in the way he plays and sings. He pours heart and soul into each and every word and note.
The newly reformed THE DARKNESS were on the main stage whilst KORN were on the second stage. There wasn’t even a question of which band I was going to see, The Darkness are a close second to MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE in my most hated bands list! Last time I saw Korn some stupid mare had decided she wanted to beat me up (which she failed miserably at)! Jonathan Davis walks up to his highly recognised mic stand and hollers out the famous words “Are You Ready” and the crowd went wild. I always find the mix of people who like Korn fascinating, you have the grungers, the stoners, the metalheads, the rockers, the bikers, the punks, the old and the young! I love that a band can bring together such a diverse mix of people. Their set was fun, and to make sure they got through all of their favourites, they did a 10 minute mash up of their most popular singles at the end of the set which sent the massive crowd jumping, rocking and hollering along.
Saturday
I believe that SKINDRED are by far one of the most undervalued bands around on the UK metal scene. Vocalist Benji Webb, is the perfect crowd pleaser, walking onstage with a Union Jack jacket on he proceeds to hype the crowd up and get them jumping and singing along to new and old songs. With added fun such as getting the entire crowd to robot dance at one point, and wave a piece of clothing above their head at another point, the originality and pure genius of this band make them one that everybody needs to see live at least once.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD have been a band I’ve followed for a long time, from their Nu Metal roots through to the more sold thrash style they’ve grown into. They are easily a band who will become legends of our time. Their songs are strong, emotional and epic in proportion. Their live show included blasts of fire, fireworks and emotional statements about their deceased band mate The Rev. It is clear that this band have been hit hard by his death, we’re now 18 months on from his death and they are still completely devastated by his loss. The emotion in their music hits home and even the older songs took on a new level of meaning.
The moment everybody was waiting for finally came, after a slight delay due to technical problems, the curtain dropped and there they were, the UK comeback of SYSTEM OF A DOWN. We had parked ourselves at the lighting and sound rig, but the crowd went as far as we could see in every direction. This was the first time I have ever heard the crowd drown out the sound of the band, every time they started a song the crowd joined in and the sound was epic. They got through almost every one of their songs, they were ripping through each song at epic speed, which is saying something given how fast their music is anyway! Their stage set was simple with moving lighting rigs, this is a band who totally believe in their music and don’t feel the need for any theatrics. The set was legendary and one people will talk about for a long time!
Sunday
Unfortunately we had to leave on the Sunday meaning we missed TURISAS, BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, and ROB ZOMBIE… which, believe me, devastated me!
Roll on Download 2012!
GUEST BLOG: Why aren’t bands smarter?
May 24th, 2011The Angry Fijian explores how ‘Facebook marketing’ can be harmful to your brand.
I have been reading some interesting articles from marketing companies and PR types about how promoting on Facebook is actually harmful to your ‘brand’. After my recent exodus, I figured as much, because visits to all our other marketing places (twitter/reverbnation etc) has actually increased, considerably.
Why would this happen? I mean bands’ entire markets are on Facebook, right?
You know what, they probably are. As annoying as it is. But you’re only spamming your shit because you assume it’s either the easiest way or there is no other option.
If you are in a band, look at your friend list right now. Who are the people you are marketing to? If you were me (when I had it) it would be 70% people in other bands, 20% friends, 5% family, and the other 5% are people who I am a fan of myself. Whether I have 100 friends or 1000, the percentages don’t really change. In the band world, the more shows you play, the more bands you play with, the more bands you become acquainted with and so on.
What you essentially get is a situation where bands are just promoting to other bands. It makes no sense whatsoever. Facebook makes it hard for bands to bring people to their pages without constant spamming from individual profiles; and while the 70% of band dudes and their girlfriends might appreciate the daily information barrage on their walls, the leftover 20-30% of your network will just get annoyed at you doing your best for your band – or whatever else it is you’re trying to get out to the world.
Thinking long and hard about this… There are entire scenes of music trapped in the walls of Facebook. Everyone is there, but as soon as you start flogging it, nothing really happens. Sure, scenes are popping up here there and everywhere, but it is becoming too internal: it’s the same people, other band dudes, over and over. You create small community that, as tight as it may be, becomes somewhat closed-off to the public. People might say I’m wrong, but trust me, we are still getting offered shows (actually more than ever), opportunities are still coming, and this is because of our music, not because of how many ‘likes’ we are getting on a status update.
I haven’t cursed yet, but I have to put this point across. How fucking unmetal, shit and fucked is it when bands are begging with their audiences to ‘like’ a status comment. It makes me sick. How about brainstorming ways, accepting the reality that it isn’t working and trying to bring more new people into the shows?
Facebook fans don’t mean fucking shit. It’s about people who go to shows and people who enjoy listening to your music. That is it. Not fucking ‘likes’ or ‘fans’. I mean… seriously – fans! haha. A number on a screen isn’t a fucking fan. A fan is someone like me, for example. I am a fan of Faith No More. I have their albums tattooed on me. I collect shit, listen to them daily. Travel to see them live. That is a fan. Not a fucking number on a shit website. Jesus christ, the newer generations must actually believe that a number is a fan. No, it isn’t.
Think about a good reason why you would harass your non-musician mates with your band shit? I’m glad I have seen the light before it became too late. I would love to see more Australian bands on Twitter, mingling with the press, interstate bands, wider communities, etc.
Twitter is a marketplace, built for advertising. THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE YOU SHOULD BE TALKING TO ON THE TWITTERVERSE. Labels, promoters, members from your favourite bands are going about their days, making shit happen; and the majority of you Aussie bands are just ignoring it. C’mon! Lift your fucking game! People don’t have to follow you because of peer pressure, and you can run a network of people who are 100% interested in whatever you are putting out there – without the begging. People will come and see play if you play good music, but people might not give you a chance if your promotional campaigns are limited to facebook and you come off looking desperate.
GUEST BLOG: The Angry Fijian talks about how Double Dragon score so many shows
February 10th, 2011
Hey readers of the Brutal Pixie. Your arch nemesis here, The Angry Fijian. Now, let me start things off by saying somewhere along the way, I probably pissed a lot of you off. I can feel the death stares every time I enter the Squatters, everytime I see you all at a death metal show, everytime I see any of you walking out of a Double Dragon show. But I get it. I get the hate. If I were you, in your position, I’d hate Double Dragon too. Not to rub it in, but since 2005 we have managed to rack up support spots like no tomorrow. I know a lot of you could site Segression as doing more, but that’s bullshit. In terms of supports we are way worse than them. But, we are not Segression – we dont rap and we dont wear goggles, and we dont rap. Did I mention we don’t rap? Anyway, what is weird to me, is outside of Adelaide, we don’t cop the same hatred as we do here. It’s really weird. But, I can tell, whenever I go out, or something, that a certain section of the Adelaide metal community absolutely despises my band.
Does it make me sad? Not really. Actually not at all. Maybe I get a little sad being compared to Segression, but really, any public bitterness about us getting “All the Adelaide supports” really I can’t spew at that. How can I really? It’s a cool comment to read when you come from a band that used to jam behind the Wingfield dump. But – I know how you feel. I know you think “whatever you cunt” but seriously, I know how you feel. I started in Double Dragon in 2004, and for a good two years, we applied for every support possible only to lose out to I Killed The Prom Queen. I remember us sitting around the dump in Wingfield thinking “Whatt the Fuck Prom Queen again.. they aren’t even metal! ( sound familiar??)” and instantly I hated them out of pure jealousy. Never in a million years think that we would one day become worse than them in terms of supports. Or Segression. How the fuck did this happen!??? How did my band become worse than Segression in terms of supports?!!! I do remember though years ago, us thinking we deserved a spot, so instead of publicly smashing Prom Queen, we thought… what are they doing that we are not? Obviously they were doing things that we werent, so we investigated IKTPQ. We figured out that they played a lot of shows around the country, got their name in a lot of press. So, being the hungry young Double Dragon’s with the goal to play just one international support, we did what Prom Queen did – which in eye ours was the following:
So, we did this, and we got our Holy Grail, an opening spot of the Dark Tranquillity Adelaide show. We were so pumped, especially getting the news in the tour van on the way to Melbourne for a show. We had a clear vision of getting this show, we worked fucking hard and got what we wanted. Seeing the results of working hard, we kept it up. Then came Arch Enemy, The Big Day Out, Slayer (the first time), Black Dahlia in Sydney, the ball kept rolling and rolling. Be pissed off if you will, but Double Dragon have actually played with all these bands and shows, due to our hard work: Dark Tranquillity, Carcass, Kataklysm, Mastodon, Megadeth, Slayer (5 x !!) Black Dahlia Murder, Cephalic Carnage, Unearth, Soilwork, The Haunted, Chimaira, Paul Dianno, The Big Day Out, Soundwave, Arch Enemy and Darkest Hour, with Nevermore around the corner. I think I’ve even forgot some, but it doesn’t matter. Oh yeah Obituary, sorry I was mushroomed out on that show, nearly forgot about it. The proof was in the pudding, hard work, self belief and more hard work. The old saying, dream, believe, create, succeed. Yeah it sounds really gay I know, but if you want the secret that is it. We really believe in what we do, and don’t let the naysayers get in the way of that. I think that’s a huge part of being in a band, just trudging through the criticism and believing in yourself. When people gave us shit about touring with Slayer and Megadeth, I really didn’t care. Tom picked us for that tour, and he let me sing a song with them. Who do I listen too? Some drunk dickhead in the crowd telling me my band sucks, or the legendary metal GOD that chooses us out of a million bands???
The only thing that fucks me off about some people’s comments about the toils of our hardwork, is I feel we dont get the respect we deserve in Adelaide. Sure, we don’t appeal to a lot of people, but at the same time, we do appeal to a lot of people, and sometimes we are a ‘gateway’ metal band that leads punters into more brutal metal styles. So many young Adelaide metal heads started their metal journeys at an All Ages Double Dragon show, only for them to hear something more brutal later on which leads them straight into your shows. Our style of music has changed over the years, yes we started as a metalcore band 5 years ago, but a shitload has changed since then. We now have a drummer that owns you all. We play heavy shit. We try and make our music as intricate as possible. But really, it wouldn’t matter what style of music we played, it would still be the same outcome as we really believe in what we do, and can brainstorm and be imaginative about getting what we want.
Do you know the first time we played with Slayer, it was 100% no bullshit because I had the balls to send the promoter an email saying:
“Dear **** ,
Please give Double Dragon a chance to be bottled by Slayer fans.
Yours Sincerely,
Liggy from Double Dragon”
Within 10 minutes, we scored the show of our lives: Slayer, Mastodon and Double Dragon at Thebarton Theatre. Holy fuckballs. And straight away I knew, we would be hated by the Adelaide metal crew forever (and rightfully so).
To make it really clear why we get what we do, I’ll spell it out. First of all, If you lined up Double Dragon’s shows compared to other Adelaide bands, we would play probably 5 shows to your 1. Maybe even more. We like to play, and promoters like selling beer while we are playing. It’s a no brainer. They say the Adelaide rule is you can’t play within 2 weeks of a show. Says who? Fuck that. Over Christmas we played 4 weeks in a row at home, to 4 different, healthy crowds, because we wanted to prove that statement wrong, and we wanted to spend Christmas rocking the fuck out. And we did. Play at venues constantly around the country like this for over 5 years – you get to know people, really closely. You also play to a shitload of people if you add them all up. Hell, if you’re a nice person you might even make friends with them.
Secondly, we bring a healthy crowd with us, wherever we go, all around the country. Sometimes it’s quiet, sometimes it’s packed, but either way, someone has a good time. We just play because we love to play, and our people know that coming to our show is a good time. We drink with our fans and consider them friends. Everyone of them. We are alcoholic morons who love making noise and drinking free beer.Third, we bring lots of bands to Adelaide. Lots and heaps more. . I have brought Fuck I’m Dead here, Shallow Grave, The Amenta, Psycroptic, The Berzerker, Cuntscrape, Pathogen… I brought all these bands to Adelaide on my own bank balance, at my own personal risk. Fuck – I put on a 15-band festival five years running – in Adelaide. Not bad for a bunch of homo’s that think they are Killswitch Engage!! (I fucking hate KSE, for the record.) You don’t see Segression doing that shit do you? When I look after these bands in Adelaide and they go home and tell their mates how much a good time they had down here and say good shit about Double Dragon when they see us play to our people to their friends – and when you consider the peers of some of these bands, it’s really not that hard to figure out why we are getting good shows – we are a living breathing part of this community that brings (and will continue to) over the most brutal fucking bands in Australia to Adelaide.
If I was in one of your shoes Brutal Pixie people, If you really think about the why, its not hard to figure out given the reasons above. We are the product of 5 years of really hard work. We practise every single week. We save our own money. We have our own crowd, contacts, we have our own festival, and really we just want to get the fuck outta here and go overseas.That is our dream. Sure, I’m very proud of all the great bands we have shared the stage with, but it also makes you really bloody hungry to be the headline band. To play to your people and have supports acts of your own would be the ultimate for me. It’s not as fun as it seems all the time, playing in front of people that hate you. But, it’s made us strong. We have to work harder than other bands, because here in our home you either love us or hate us. There doesnt seem to be an in-between. Every single time I walk on stage in Adelaide, I feel like the enemy. It’s kind of cool, but sometimes it’s a bit shit too.
What I wish bands would do instead of feeling like they are unfairly treated is taking us on in real life. How about playing some shows with us and making us look like fools. How about, following our lead (obviously it works) and get more active. How about something as simple as playing a show with us, hell all the promoters keep an eye on who we play with, how about swallow some pride and have a good time with us? Put some press releases out. Play lots and lots of interstate shows. Believe in your band and ram it down people’s fucking throats. If you want to do what Double Dragon do, youre going to have to believe in yourself and get more pro-active, and… get visible. It’s not gay to promote your own shit. If you don’t love it and want to spread the word about it like a crazy person, then it’s never going to work. These promoters don’t send out talent scouts to Fowlers/Enigma bar or Squatters looking for the support act. They look at Google. They look at MyFace/Twitter. There isn’t much action from other bands on these social networking sites, I mean there is to an extent but I don’t count Facebook as the Holy Grail of the internet. There’s a few bands who work the promo like we do, and they are in the same boats as us in their respective states. Lynchmada for QLD, Daysend for NSW, Five Star Prison Cell in VIC, Dyscord in WA… all of these bands have done nothing more than make that extra effort for themselves. And its no wonder that these bands, are our friends. We are similiar hard working dudes in the same predicament. Include Truth Corroded in that list, and given the pro-activeness of Universum and Se Bon Ki Ra, it’s not going to be long until they are despised as well.
I hate to say this, but what bands really deserve to play these supports? If I had the choice I would pick a band that is hungry. A band that is touring and giving it a real go. A band that without a shadow of a doubt wants to ruin their lives by trying to become a full time muso. A band constantly on the net, playing shows, doing things all the time. Not just local shit. Not just a once of show. You know – a band that is in every states street press about 5 times in a year. A band you can read about, hang with, see in all corners of the country. Serioulsy dudes, DD had played about three national tours before our first support. You think these promoters live in Adelaide? They have no fucking idea about the bands that play Adelaide on the weekends. None at all. The only reason they know us, is that every year, we play in their backyard. Sometimes it’s too easy. The few bands in Adelaide that in my opinion understand this work ethic are Double Dragon, Universum, Se Bon Ki Ra and Truth Corroded. I don’t even need to think about it, I just look at my bloody spam folder lol. Constant barrages of information from the same bands. And it’s the same bands getting all the cool shit. C’mon Adelaide, lift your game or at least be clever enough to understand how all this works. There are no talent scouts listening. It’s about who brings the crowds and thats it, and if you want a crowd you need some kind of battle plan to retain your supporters extremely short attention spans. Feed them information. Be nice to everyone. Accept all different styles and genres of music and understand EVERYONE is in it for themselves.
So, no Double Dragon are not Segression. No disrespect to them either, but as I said, we dont rap and we bring over fucking brutal bands to Adelaide. I personally think, above all, our music speaks for itself. We play tight every show, we get people’s heads banging and I dont feel that is a good enough reason for the home town hate. Its personal jealousy in my opinion because you know your band isnt working as hard as us. If you were, you would be on stage with us, simple as that. If you think we are causing you not to come to shows then you are an idiot. If I went too see a band I love, I dont give two fucks about the support act, probably wouldnt even rock up in time. Im there to see the one band and one band only. Why pay $50 to see a band you can see for $10 any other given weekend? Dont blame us for your laziness and bad energy contrived from pure jealousy over us working hard. We aren’t going away, and we will continue to take this shit as far as humanly possible. Please don’t expect us to ever give up these opportunites, as we created them for ourselves, and please dont blame anyone but Double Dragon for the cool things we get to do, because if me and my band didnt work like motherfuckers, none of this would ever happen. Blame yourself for you the opportunities you are not getting. It is not our fault.
Whilst Im here – Double Dragon have a new album coming out soon called Sons Of Asena. Sometime in the next few months, Double Dragon is going to rack up its 200th show in Australia. Two fucking hundredth show! If your band plays 200 shows, you might get tight and good. Anyway our new album is not thrash as we are not a thrash metal band. It’s not metalcore and i’ts not death. It’s just some stoner metal that is easy to jam too while drunk, with a psychadelic edge because fuck me Ive taken a lot of drugs since the last record!! For the record I think our last album sucked bar a couple of songs, and to think what we achieved with an album I thought sucked, to what we may achieve with our new CD (which i really love and am proud of) the sky’s the limit really. And we got Kate Miller Heidke on our album too, that’s right a POP artist with a number 1 song and album to help us annoy you forever!!!
For more information on what we are up too, visit us at Reverbnation or follow me on Twitter. And lets play some shows goddamit!!
Loads and loads of steamy man love from