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.
music, Politics/war

Thought: Dave Mustaine maybe a little out of line about Obama, but he had the right to say it…

Leave a comment

I am anti-Obama myself, but I wouldn’t blame him for “Operation: Fast and Furious”, the Aurora and Sikh Temple shootings. While Dave Mustaine, front man of Megadeth maybe a little out of line, but he did have the right to say it if he wanted to.

While performing at a show in Singapore, a fan threw a shoe at Mustaine on stage, and Dave joked around with the crowd for a little after. Later on, he went on talking politics like usual and said a controversial comment that caused a firestorm on the internet today. Dave is no stranger to controversial political comments, as the guy had said much worse stuff than this in the past before.

I disagree with Dave for blaming Obama, but he is entitled to his own views.

I mean, if I remember correctly, most everyone blamed President W. Bush for the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Everyone thought blaming Bush was okay. Everyone came to an agreement that 9/11 was Bush’s fault. Where’s the backlash in that? Think about it, right? Yet, everyone thinks what Dave said was offensive, calling him a delusional whack job and all that stuff. All these shootings are politics related in some way. So someone out there will blame Obama for these shootings. If Dave didn’t said anything, then who would? Every time something tragic and awful happens like a terrorist attack or a shooting rampage somewhere, someone is going to come out and blame a politician, sooner or later. It happens.

So to those who think that what Dave said was offensive, stop being a hypocrite. Again, I’m not agreeing with Dave. I think he’s wrong, and not defending him, I’m only defending Freedom of Speech like I usually do.

Kev

TV

Report: The gorgeous and talented, Lucy Lawless, will make a return to acting for “Parks and Recreation”…

Leave a comment

I don’t watch the show “Spartacus”, but I used to watch “Xena: Warrior Princess” pretty obsessively. I love Lucy Lawless. Still do. I used to watch “Parks and Recreation” all the time, but I’ll start watching the show again just for her appearances. Lucy will be playing a single Mom, for season 5 of “Parks and Recreation”, which will start airing Sept 20th on NBC. She maybe in her 40’s now, but she’s still beautiful.

More on the story, here.

Kev

Local music

Are you losing fans and getting a lot of haters on facebook? Here is probably why…

Leave a comment

When I first started gigging out, I’ll admit that I lost some of my supporters and a small group of people stopped respecting me, which could explain why I have too many haters to this day, lol. Why? Because I’ll confess, that I promoted myself pretty irresponsibly back in the day. I’ll admit that I was dumb. I’m learning to do much better, as you can see. I may have done several of these things on this list in the past, and I could learn not to do them again in the future.

I would think other bands should learn this stuff, and how to run their social networking pages when doing your marketing.

Check out this excellent written article on, “10 Reasons Why You’re Losing Fans” in Facebook or wherever.

I agree with all of it. I may have been guilty on a few of those things myself.

In my facebook fan page @ Kev Brock, I would try to run it as best as possible.

These days, I would post something on there only if I feel that it’s worth posting. Like if I put out a new song I want everyone to hear, I’ll put it there. If I have a show booking, I’ll put it there. I would use that page for promotional material and I would entertain my little following I have on there. I may have a small following on my page for now, but I’m hoping to build even more when I get back out playing live again.

The last thing a band and musician wants to do is beg people for “likes”. If people like you, they will like your page on their own terms. Let your music do the talking. When I get my music back out there, I will be sure to be more professional as ever before.

I see plenty of bands run their pages irresponsibly too. Your professionalism matters people. If you want to keep your fan base, gotta do your marketing right.

Kev

TV

Report: Michael J. Fox, finally returning to acting again but for TV…

Leave a comment

Michael J. Fox, most famous for the “Back to the Future” movies is making a full time comeback to acting for a new TV sitcom show in 2013. Michael left Spin City in 2001 to fight, Parkinson’s Disease. After he left “Spin City”, he would occasionally return to acting by making guest appearances in shows like “Rescue Me”, “Boston Legal”, and, “The Good Wife”.

More on the story, here.

Michael J. Fox is an actor, I’ve always respected. He’s been in so many good movie roles, not just the BTF trilogy. Some of my other favorite movies he was in: “Teen Wolf”, “The Secret of My Success”, “Bright Lights, Big City”, “Doc Hollywood”, “The Frighteners”, “Casualties of War”, and “Mars Attacks”.

I give even more respect to Michael ’cause he continued acting even if he’s sick. Just shows that he loves acting and wouldn’t want to give it up, no matter what.

Kev

Books, movies

Report: Judge to decide Superman’s fate soon on whether or not, Joe Shuster, can get the rights back…

Leave a comment

So is this heated legal drama with Warner Bros/DC vs. the Shuster/Siegel heirs almost over with? Seems so. More news came up about the long Superman legal battle that the U.S. District judge, cancelled the upcoming hearing originally scheduled for Aug. 20th, and the judge will decide right away whether or not Shuster will get portion of the rights, from the very first Superman “Action Comics” ever printed. (photo above)

More on the story, here.

I’m still rooting for Warner Bros./DC team to win this legal battle, all the way. This Toberoff sounds like a pretty sleazy lawyer. This battle is kind of depressing for a Superman fan like myself. I’m hoping this war will be over this year. Sounds like Toberoff is going to lose this battle anyway, since the Judge cancelled the hearing on him. The first Superman comic is very valuable and that’s why people fight over the rights. It’s all about the money, of course. What else would it be?

Warner Bros. is trying to get the full rights back ’cause they want to use some of that material in the movies. I hope WB’s will be victorious.

Kev

movies

Thought: What’s going to happen with the “Snow White and the Huntsmen” sequel? Is there even going to be one???

4 Comments

With this stupid love triangle and drama going on between Kristen, Robert, and Rupert, this could affect the sequel for, “Snow White and the Huntsmen”. I haven’t seen the film, wasn’t interested so I’ll wait for DVD Netflix rental. The rumor is that Kristen has been dropped from the sequel and AICN claims, she hasn’t yet.

Read more on the story, here.

As I said before, while Kristen is evil for what she did, she’s not the only one to take the blame for this. Robert and Rupert are guilty as well. All three were unprofessional about this ’cause they should have known that this would affect the movie business and it has been. Hollywood films should be about entertaining people, yet we got into this drama, all of a sudden.

This is not the first time that Hollywood suffered love triangles in the movie business.

I remember Elizabeth Taylor had an affair with Richard Burton while being married to Eddie Fisher, during the making of “Cleopatra”. As soon as the affair was made public, sure enough, the media was all over it for days. Elizabeth Taylor was looked at as a trainwreck at the time and people hated her for it back then. Of course, the affair affected the film. She didn’t attend the film’s premiere because of the public backlash she got. Read the article about it, here.

Love triangles is nothing new in Hollywood. Happens all the time.

Kev

music

Do you have a band? G. Love says you should also play solo acoustic shows, not just full band shows…

Leave a comment

To you guitarists and frontmen out there who have your own band, G. Love, (who is a famous musician and has his own blog at Guitar World), gives advice to bands that your frontman should also do acoustic solo shows.

Read the blog, here.

I agree with him.

If you have a band, don’t be afraid to do something else, by going acoustic solo. There are quite a few bands around here that do play acoustic solo shows, to get away from your band a little bit, but I think more should do it.

I never had full band experience, but I’m looking to getting into full band stuff soon. However, I’m not ashamed of being a solo acoustic performer. I agree with him there’s nothing better than strapping on your acoustic guitar and hitting the stage with just you and your voice. When you’re an acoustic solo performer, you’re not just a performer, you’re also a storyteller. As an acoustic solo artist, you can talk as long as you want in between the songs, and tell an interesting story behind it ’cause that’s what acoustic music is all about. Acoustic solo performances is no different than sitting around a campfire performing Kumbaya or something, pretty much the same thing.

When I perform acoustic solo shows, I don’t talk a lot in between songs ’cause I’m not a very talkative guy, but when I’m up there performing songs, I’m very confident. Next time I go back out there, I’m going to try to talk more in between songs. Try to explain the story behind my songs and things like that. Joke around with the audience or whatever.

It’s an amazing feeling getting together in a small room with a group of people to perform your stuff. Better than full band gigs, in my opinion. This is why I mostly like to play non-alcoholic venues like cafes and diners ’cause the audience is so quiet and not rowdy. The audience will listen to you at those kind of venues that are not bar rooms.

I want to get back out there in the music scene in a big way. Start playing everywhere as much as possible again. I miss performing live.

Kev

music

Where is David Bowie hiding???

Leave a comment

So Bowie turning down the Olympics Closing Ceremony, got the internet talking on where this legendary singer is. He keeps people questioning if he is really retired or not. While I too am disappointed that he maybe done with music, I give him props for keeping quiet about it. When most rock stars and famous bands call it quits, they announce it publicly. Not David. I think publicly announcing retirement is a silly thing to do, so it’s a smart thing to do to be tight lipped about quitting. So why did David vanish from the music industry? He hasn’t released a new album since 2003 and hasn’t toured since 2006.

As I said plenty of times before, David is a helluva rich man. Probably a billionaire for doing all the music and acting in movies over the years, so he really doesn’t need to work anymore if he doesn’t want to. He does have a young daughter with his wife Iman, so he might be putting his family first. Plus, his health isn’t all that great, because he had a heart attack. Another reason he could be done with music is maybe he’s just sick of it? He’s been doing the music thing for way too long that he wants to take it easy for himself and enjoy life. The man deserves it.

I’m sure he is still writing songs all the time, though. He probably writes songs for himself and not release them publicly. Why? Because he’s a musician like most of us, that’s what he does. I’ve explained this stuff on my site before and don’t mind doing it again. Also, as I said before, Bowie was going to release a new album called “Toy” in 2001, but the album got leaked in 2011. Why did the album get leaked? It’s because Bowie hasn’t released a new record in a long time and this is what people want. Him to release a new album.

I’m sure he will release a new album sometime, when he feels the time is right. It is amazing to me how he is keeping quiet on everything and leaving people wondering. His last couple of albums, “Heathen” and “Reality” didn’t sell very well, maybe that’s another reason for being done. Because what if David releases a new album and it flops in record sales? Whatever he is doing though, I wish him well.

It’s understandable why he doesn’t want to do it anymore. Every time a rumor came out that he is either going to release a new album or collaborate with another artist, he denies it every time. I wish he would say something so he can end speculation and rumors.

Kev

Random/off topic posts

Why I need to learn music theory and how it would help…

Leave a comment

Yes, I’ve been studying music theory pretty heavily. Why do I need to know this stuff? Basically, it would help my songwriting to a new level, help me become a better guitarist. It would also help me become a better improviser at lead guitar which is what I am trying to work on. Yes, it is possible to play guitar on a professional level and not know any music theory at all, but in my opinion, all musicians should know it. I need to learn this stuff ’cause it would help my home recording skills too. Plus, if I want to be accepted as an actual and true musician, that’s another reason to know this stuff. Other musicians WILL treat your talent with respect, if they see that they know what you’re doing and know your stuff.

Music theory is a piece of cake to learn. Not hard as some mistakenly thought it was. I want to come up with better guitar parts for my original songs, so music theory would help. Learning scales, modes, intervals, understanding key signatures, how chords work, triads, arpeggios, caged system, etc. It’ll help you become a better musician.

How much do you want to bet that many guitarists around this area don’t even know music theory at all, even though they try to make themselves look like professionals? I’m sure they don’t even got the names of the 7 modes memorized by heart like I do. It’s pretty important stuff. Once you become an expert at music theory and know a lot about it, that’s when you know you’re an actual musician. That’s my goal. Taking my time with the music theory stuff and not rushing to memorize it all, that way I can become good at it down the road.

Theory will make a difference in your guitar playing for sure.

Kev