All posts by Kev Brock

I'm a musician, singer/songwriter, blogger, writer, poet, bodybuilder, movie lover, music lover, video gamer, history/political buff, conservative/republican, etc. I like to do a lot of things.
Random/off topic posts

Do I deserve more respect and more recognition with my music??? I’d say yes…

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Just like most bands & artists, I hope to get recognized for my music too. Get more exposure. More listeners listening to my music and having people enjoy them. I try my very best to get there. I really do. It really is tough to get noticed with your music. I’m hoping these new songs will help get me some more recognition but if not, that’s okay. I’ll just enjoy them for myself and release them for the small following that I have out there.

I know respect doesn’t fall in your lap. You gotta earn the respect from the people. It’s hard to make really good music that everyone will like. It’s hard to predict whether or not people will enjoy your songs. I know, I feel ya. People are just honest, I guess. They only support stuff they like.

However, if your music is being ignored too much… you can’t keep your focus on that. It’s possible to grow your own following. Prove the doubters wrong. Prove people wrong that you have what it takes to make good music. Keep making the music and more people will come around to support your stuff. You shouldn’t feel offended or hurt that your music gets ignored a lot. It used to bother me but not anymore.

No matter what people think of you. They can hate your music and hate your online web presence all they want to… you WILL always have fans. You’ll have people who’ll stay loyal to you throughout the years and you will get a few new fans along the way.

I’m thankful for fans/supporters of my music. I’ll always welcome new listeners.

The question is, will I ever gig shows again? I know playing a lot of shows will help get you even more fans but gigging is tough for me ’cause I don’t drive. Someday I will get my license and car, then I will be able to gig a lot more often. On top of that, it’s getting tougher to gig these days ’cause most venues are all about politics when it comes booking. They only care about booking bands/artists who are already established/popular. If you’re not popular, they won’t book you — it doesn’t matter whether your music is good or bad. I know I’ve seen it since I’ve gigged out there myself. It’s crazy out there. In order to book a gig, you have to prove to them that you can pull in a lot of people. If you don’t have that, you’re done. That’s how it goes in Albany. There aren’t too many venues anymore that books bands on the talent. It is usually based on the number of fans they have. If a band/artist can make the venue a lot of money, they’ll love you for it. Sad but it is what it is.

The only time you’ll get lucky to get a gig is when a band or an artist asks you to open for them and that’s exactly how I got most of my gigs in the past. I was just openers for a lot of acts.

I’ll try to book a few shows for the upcoming internet-album but I won’t travel so far. I’ll probably just gig in Greenwich or Saratoga Springs. I’ll try to book a gig at Caffe Lena’s. Maybe the Putnam Den too. I don’t think I’ll gig in the city of Albany, too far.

I’ll just see what kind of response these new songs will get. That’s all I gotta say.

Kev

Random/off topic posts

I think I might have to record these songs all over again but I don’t mind though!!

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I have been doing a little research on “clipping” when doing audio recording and I think the best way to avoid it is that you need to stay out of the red completely. I think in garageband, I’m gonna have to re-record these songs over again and stay out of the red in the VU meter. I can make them louder later when mastering in “Final Touch” app that I just got.

“Final Touch” is a nice mastering app. I’ve been watching tutorial videos in youtube learning how to use it.

I don’t mind re-recording these 7 songs over again, though. At least I got ’em recorded as song ideas so I won’t forget ’em. I could find a way to improve these songs too! I want the sound production to these songs to sound really good that’s part of why I got the “Final Touch” mastering app.

I want these songs to sound great. Studio professional on an Ipad. If I can get these songs to sound clean and GOOD, I’ll no longer have to record in professional studios! I’ll spend all this week re-recording these songs. Staying out of the red is probably the best way to avoid clipping.

I’m real proud of these songs and I’m trying to get the best sound out of ’em the best I can.

Kev

music

Congrats to Joe Satriani on 30 years in the music business!!!

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Joe Satriani is one of my favorite guitarists. He is an inspiration and hero to me. He’s one of the reasons I play. He’s definitely high up in my top 10!!! Seriously, I love this guy’s music. He’s a genius. “Surfing With the Alien” is one of my favorite albums of all time. It’s one record I’ll never get tired of listening to. I like Joe’s other albums but nothing will top, “Surfing With The Alien” which is the most important album of his career. I have several of Joe’s albums in my collection and trying to collect his entire discography the best I can.

Sure, there are other instrumental shredders out there like Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen (SP?), Eric Johnson, and others but I’m more of a Joe Satriani fan than all the others. I recently got into Al Di Meola, he counts as a virtuoso shredder!

I’ve even got the opportunity to see Joe Satch live on stage years ago when he opened for Deep Purple in Saratoga Springs. That’s a show I’ll never forget. Can’t remember what year that show was but it was a long time ago. Maybe sometime in early 2000. I would love to see Satch live again if he’ll ever play here again ’cause he doesn’t play the Capital District area hardly at all. Once in a blue moon, he’ll play a show here.

Someday, I’m gonna play guitar just as good as him. How come Satch isn’t the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yet? He’s so worthy for sure!

I’m always reading Joe’s interviews through various guitar magazines and he always have interesting things to say. If you want proof of that read this interview here at Rollingstone.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/joe-satriani-reflects-on-30-years-of-mind-bending-guitar-daredevilry-20140623

Kev

Politics/war

Interesting new poll on positively rated living presidents…

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It’s official! Barack Obama is the worst president in history! Obama makes all past presidents look too good!

Check it out here:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/171794/clinton-elder-bush-positively-rated-living-presidents.aspx

As you can see the four former presidents George W.,  Bill, George H.W., and Jimmy are treated more positively than Barack Obama. Republicans and Independents hate Barack but as you can clearly see Democrats in America still have a hard-on for him.

Democrats/liberals will always have a hard-on for Obama no matter what bad things he does. Obama can drop a bomb on someone’s home and kill innocent Americans, yet democrats/liberals will still drool over him. Those liberal lunatics will never wake-up.

George W. and Bill may have not been the greatest presidents either but they were definitely better than Obama.

Kev

Politics/war

What will it take to get rid of the President???

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A lot of people will think that nothing will happen to President Obama on whether or not he’ll get removed from office or get arrested. Either one of those could be possible but people think none of that stuff will happen. There’s always a mixed response with this. Even if people hate Obama like I do, they still think nothing will happen to him ’cause they believe the government has too much power. There’s also a bunch of ignorant Obama supporters which is mostly liberals who believes he has done nothing criminal or impeachable.

Maybe people are right that an impeachment and removal from office will be unsuccessful but there’s a pretty good chance that Obama may step-down. Why? Here’s how that could happen. I think that when the truth of any of his crimes and scandals — if too much information gets out there that proves his guilt, I think that’s when he’ll step down. For example, if it’s proven that he did plan and orchestrate the Benghazi attack, he’ll probably step-down. If it turns out that he was the one who ordered the IRS to target conservatives, he’ll probably step-down. If he was the one who wanted the NSA to spy on people, he’ll probably step-down. If all that stuff gets out there, I don’t see how he’ll remain in office.

If a removal from office is successful all of a sudden, if impeachment is successful through the House and the Senate is successful of a two-thirds vote then that would make the history books for sure! It would be a huge media frenzy if Congress  is successful at removing the president.

It doesn’t matter how much time he has left. Something needs to be done about him.

I don’t see how it’s a bad thing for wanting to remove this guy ’cause that’s what America really needs. Can’t you see his lawlessness? He never cared about the law or the Constitution. He’s done many impeachable offenses over the years. An impeachable offense doesn’t always have to be something big. It can be something really small like making appointments while the Senate wasn’t in session and things like that.

Maybe people could be right that nothing will happen to him. When this administration is out of office, though, all the truths of his crimes and scandals will probably come out then. How? Simple put, the Obama administration will no longer be able to protect themselves since they won’t be in office. This is why Obama is desperately trying to get Hillary to run for president. When she runs and if she wins, she’ll protect him even more especially over Benghazi. I hope Hillary doesn’t run ’cause that’ll be bad for America. I wouldn’t be surprised if Michelle decides to run too.

This is why we are in need of a conservative president in the White House so Obama will no longer be protected. We need a conservative president even if his/her policies aren’t good.

As far as getting rid of this president goes, we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. You shouldn’t assume that nothing will happen to him. I think there’s a good chance that he might get removed from office whether he’s forced to be removed by Congress or he resigns himself.

Obama’s not the only problem, though that whole administration needs to go and that includes Biden. Get ’em all the hell out and start over again. They’re all a bunch of criminals and frauds.

Kev

Random/off topic posts

Well, I ended up buying the “Final Touch” app for mastering and it’s great!!!

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For the Ipad, I ended up buying the “Final Touch” music mastering app and it is really great. It’s well worth the money. It is easy to use. All it takes to master a song with good sound is just a few swipes of the finger and that’s it.

When you get an Ipad or an Iphone you have to choose your apps VERY wisely. Why? Because there’s a lot of garbage apps in the app store. A lot of ’em don’t even work. Some will want you to pay more money for the extras. You really have to be careful on the apps you buy. To know when the app is really good just read the customer reviews. They’ll tell ya. When they say it’s a good app then it probably is. When they say it’s bad, don’t waste your money. I haven’t bought a bad app yet. I’m usually am very careful.

I try not to get a lot of apps for the Ipad, I only get the ones I need and can be useful.

I already mastered a song with the “Final Touch” app this morning and it’s a lot of fun. Sounds great. I just wanted to test it out, learn how to use it and mess with it.

I won’t upload the songs yet… only when I’m ready to.

Kev

movies

Tom Cruise in talks to have a small role in “Star Wars Episode VII”???

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A rumor got out that Tom Cruise is in talks to have some kind of small role or cameo of some sorts for “Star Wars Episode VII”. It was reported that Tom met with JJ Abrams in London for a meeting. If this is true, then this would be no surprise that Tom maybe involved with the upcoming Star Wars. JJ and Tom are long time collaborators as they worked on the four Mission Impossible movies together.

Tom Cruise ‘in talks to make cameo appearance in Star Wars Episode 7’

I think Tom will be a nice addition to the cast! I’m all for it if it’s true! Will Tom’s role be a good guy or will he be part of the Empire? We’ll have to wait and see!

I haven’t seen Tom’s latest movie, “Edge of Tomorrow” yet. I’ll probably wait for DVD rental on that one, though.

Kev

 

Uncategorized

The way bands & artists select songs for albums…

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A lot of bands and artists out there have different ways of selecting songs for albums when they are done recording them. They all don’t do it the same way. Some bands & artists will write and record a bunch of songs in the studio and then they will select the best tracks to release. Some don’t even do that and do things differently. I don’t think I will write a bunch of songs for this internet album and select the best ones. Even though I may not be all that crazy about the song, I’ll release it anyway. What you’re gonna hear for my album is what you get. I won’t do throw aways or unreleased tracks like a lot of bands & artists seem to do these days. It’s just me. I do this as a way to see what kind of feedback the songs are gonna get. I can never really tell how great or how bad my music is so I let the people do the judging!

If you’re the type of music artist who loves your own music and expects everyone else to like it, then you’re doing it wrong, in my opinion. Every song that gets down I’ll put it out there.

Also, a lot of unsigned bands & artists seem to be choosing their own “singles” or “hit songs” and I’ve always found that kind of silly, in my opinion. As an unsigned artist, I never believed in “singles” or “hit songs”. I’ve always looked at music as art. I never cared to write radio-friendly songs. If some of them happen to be “radio-friendly” then sometimes I can never notice how “radio-friendly” my songs can be. I always let the people choose what songs they like and what songs they consider are “hits”. I won’t release “singles” or “official videos”. This is not the major label industry.

I just like putting the whole album out there. I love people listening to them and giving feedback on them whether it’s good or bad. While I don’t do throw away songs; however, there is one exception. I’ll do a throw away if I write a bunch of songs for a 90 minute CD and the songs go over the time limit then I’ll have to throw one away so the songs can fit on a CD, that’s pretty much it.

I just recorded guitar and vocals for song #7 today.

I got more writing to do ’cause I have a ton of ideas spinning in my head. I only write when inspiration hits. People like to plan ahead of how they write their songs. They’re like, I want this song to sound this way and that way. Not me. I just let the songs come out of me naturally. Hear something in my head and I’ll try to get it on the guitar as best as possible.

Can’t wait to get this album out!

Kev

movies, music

About the Jimmy Page and Lori thing…

About the Jimmy Page and Lori thing, maybe it is true after all ’cause here is a video of Lori herself explaining the whole kidnapping thing but like I said before it wasn’t a bad kidnapping.  It seems that Lori was willing to get kidnapped. She was crazy in love with him and she was willing to do anything with him. From the way Lori explained sounds like they were just playing around and having fun with the kidnapping incident. Sounds like it was all in good fun. That’s all it was pretty much.

Like I repeatedly said before, this was a pretty common thing for rock stars back in those days. They were ALL sleeping with underage groupies. The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Doors, Hendrix, Allman Brothers, etc. It may have been disgusting and creepy sure but that’s how it was back then. You guys know that, you’re just being delusional assholes like usual. All of your favorite rock bands and singers have slept with underage girls.

It’s very strange how 20 or 30 years later people learn about Jimmy and Lori dating, yet people have a different opinion on him and then they stop supporting him ’cause they accuse him of being a pedophile.

I find it wrong for you guys to compare the Jimmy Page and Bryan Singer incidents together ’cause they are both completely different. The Jimmy Page and Lori thing was willing, the Bryan Singer incident he was accused of drugging and raping a boy. Singer’s was more dangerous and creepy than Jimmy’s.

On top of that, back in the 70’s in rock n’ roll it was common for rock stars to sleep with underage women. The rock industry is no longer like that anymore. In Hollywood, the industry is full of pedophiles and predators. It always has been and still is a huge problem.

You guys know exactly what I’m talking about, you’re just trying to piss me off, that’s all you’re doing.

I don’t support pedophiles and loathe them yes but it doesn’t make me a hypocrite for being a fan of Jimmy Page. It was different in rock n’ roll. If you’re offended at Jimmy Page’s actions then you must be upset with all the other bands you love ’cause they all did the same thing.

Another thing, you guys seem to be complaining about my hate toward pedophiles and predators so it seems to me that you are the one who are actually defending them. That makes you the hypocrite. Not me.

This is my final words on the Jimmy Page and Lori thing ’cause I’m done debating this garbage. Next time I discuss Led Zeppelin or Jimmy Page and if you guys bring up the Lori thing again, I’ll just delete your comments. It amazes me that people don’t get over this when all of your favorite rock stars have done similar things to groupies. They’ve all done crazy things to groupies take a look at the band KISS, perfect example. Guns N’ Roses and Metallica are a few more.

I’m sure the groupie thing still goes on in rock & metal to this day but not as bad as it was in the old days.

Kev

Random/off topic posts

After I record all of these songs for the album, I think I’m gonna get it mastered…

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I think I’m gonna want my internet-only album to sound really good as possible so after I get ’em recorded in garageband… I’ll get the songs mastered. I think it’s best to get the songs mastered ’cause I want the volume of the tracks to sound similar. For example, I don’t want one track to sound louder than another track and don’t want one track to sound quieter than the other. You want the volume levels to be pretty much the same. Plus, I’m gonna wanna improve the sound even better. I want the guitar and voice to be loud and upfront so to do that, I gotta master it. Maybe mastering will help eliminate background hiss and other noises too.

I went looking around for mastering apps in the Ipad and found this. This app is getting good reviews from other musicians, they say it’s good and easy to use so I think I’m gonna get this app in a couple of weeks.

I’m gonna try to avoid clipping as much as possible ’cause I want this album to sound good for y’all. Plus, I want the songs to sound good for possible radio airplay and stuff.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audio-mastering/id640515541?mt=8

The internet-only album is coming along well. I’m currently working on song #7.

Kev