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.
True Crime

Thought: Will Drew Peterson’s, Kathleen Savio murder trial bring out the truth about Stacy Peterson???

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Well, the Drew Peterson, Kathleen Savio murder trial is starting today as I type this. I think I’m going to follow this trial to see how it will turn out. While this trial has nothing to do with the disappearance of Stacy Peterson, you know she will be brought up a little bit. Maybe they will try to get Drew to confess about Stacy’s disappearance, who knows. After the murder of Kathleen Savio, that just shows that he did something to Stacy too. Possibly murdered Stacy and hid her body somewhere. Of course, Drew will maintain his innocence and he will probably walk this trial, wouldn’t surprise me. The Kathleen Savio trial is just starting today, so not much out of it now. This trial should be interesting, I’ll keep an eye on it.

More on it, here.

Kev

Local music

About tracking your songs live in the studio with a full band…

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There was a commenter in this blog that said, not all drummers and musicians who play other instruments, will not want to play your songs live in the studio. You know, just go in the studio, plug in your instruments, and record the song in one take, all the way through without stopping. You see, this is where I disagree with this guy.

You can find plenty drummers and other musicians that are willing to play live in one take in the studio. Believe me, there’s plenty of talented musicians out there that can play everything and anything. Those are the kind of musicians that I would prefer to work with ’cause if you listen to my songs, I like to jam out and improvise. I like to wing stuff out as soon as the record button hits, that’s how I always wrote and recorded songs.

There will be musicians willing to play live in a studio instead of tracking separately at a time. You just need to find the right musicians and why you need to audition. There’s going to flubs (as another word for mistakes), yes, but that’s why it’s called, “live”. That acoustic demo I did in 2006, that ten song demo was recorded in one take, all in one day. Yes, there were a few little mistakes and flubs, but that’s okay. That’s the fun part of playing live.

There are plenty of bands that record their albums in the studio live. Just rehearse the songs good enough before recording them in the studio and it can be done very successfully. You don’t need to be a perfectionist in music. Just play and enjoy.

Kev

Local music

More on becoming a respected musician…

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So we’re talking about how to become a respected musician by the public. You see, begging for respect, if you’re getting a lot of haters & doubters, is not going to cut it. You’ve got to earn the respect yourself carefully and responsibly. Not only that you need to be positive at all times, leave your ego at the door and be professional. There are other ways to earn respect by the public, just by simply working hard on your music and concentrating on that only. If you concentrate on the music only, not getting into any kind of online discussions, rants or other bullshit, and not getting into any drama of any kind, that is one way to earn respect. Other ways to earn respect, is work on your music and improve your talent. The better you become musically, the more respect you will get. Just work hard on your music, and play the gigs, the respect will come to you on it’s own.

If you do get into online discussions with other people, be careful with those too. I know how musicians love to go on rants online but at the same time that can be dangerous for your career, professionally. Words do come across people, if you say wrong things. There’s nothing wrong with a musician being honest about things, but there are better ways of handling it. I still like to be real and honest about things to this day, but I learn to get better at it, by not being so aggressive as I used to be, and learn to leave names out of things.

Yes, there will always be those kind of critics who will always dislike you, no matter how good of a person you are, but you can’t please everyone, right? Pay no mind to those kind of people and just continue to be you. Those critics and haters will always be around, no matter what you do. So don’t reply to anything written about you, and continue to do your thing.

Who knows, maybe the critics will come around and respect you later, once they realize that you are talented and can be something special. Give it time, don’t worry about negative feedback and before you know it, you will become respected on it’s own. Keep working on the music and who knows what may happen. The internet gives people the freedom to be honest, just take all feedback with heart.

Kev

 

music

Why musicians responding to haters or critics is wrong, and unprofessional…

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See? Even the famous musicians can have a big problem lashing out at the haters publicly! Mike Portnoy, former drummer of Dream Theater, left D.T. last year. He is still getting a public backlash about leaving D.T. to this day. I believe that this is what he is responding to.

See Mike Portnoy’s official facebook, here…

I’m a longtime Dream Theater fan and I used to respect Mike Portnoy, but after seeing how I see him act on his facebook, I just lost my respect. I unliked his facebook page today.

When I first started out in music, I used to have a problem responding to negative backlashes and I used to lash out at the haters, all the time. Over the years, I learn to ignore everything as much as possible. Even to this day, I try my best to not respond to anything negative about me. Why is it wrong for a musician to lash out at people? Bad karma will come back at you for it later. If you continue to respond to critics in a negative way, you will continue to lose support from people who once supported you and you’ll lose your chances at moving forward in your music career. It’ll make you the badguy instead by responding to everything and defending yourself.

People online are usually pretty honest. If they see musicians misbehaving, make no mistake, people will let you know about it. If you act like an asshole, people will let you know about it. I’ve been there, knowing from my own experience. I’m not right on everything I do online. I’ll admit, I say dumb things sometimes and wish I treated people better in the past…but what’s done is done. Can’t change the past. I still get people disliking me because of my past. I still have people who want nothing to do with me because of my online web presence. Some people claim that my web presence is disturbing, but whatever, ya know? I am who I am, there’s nothing people can do about that.

When you’re a musician and put yourself out there publicly, not everyone is going to like you, period. Just be grateful for the mix opinions, good or bad. I learned to be grateful about mixed reactions and learned to handle things better as I go along.

What are ways for musicians to never get any haters or critics? Simply put, just have a positive & professional attitude, at all times. If you can do that, people will be positive to you in return. That’s good karma. Leave your ego out of things. Don’t explain yourself and don’t defend yourself about things. Don’t say one negative thing at all. I’m trying my best to do just that as you can see. Getting better.

With that being said, making photos or videos flipping the bird at the critics or lashing out at them publicly, that’s a childish thing to do in your part. It makes you look ridiculous. I’ll admit, I’ve been bad at times too. Musicians respond to haters, just to get their fans to show them their support as a way to prove the critics that the musician is respected. That is not a way to show the world that you are respected. You earn the respect by carefully putting yourself out there, professionally. The other guys in Dream Theater must be embarrassed by the way Portnoy is acting on his page.

I’ll have more to say on this topic another time.

Kev

movies

Happy 65th Arnold!!!

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While Sly Stallone is my no. 1 hero in the fitness/movie world, Arnold would have to be right behind him. Happy Birthday to the former, Governator. He will always be an inspiration to me. Arnold just turned 65 today.

Here are my top ten favorite Arnold movies in no particular order:

  • The first three Terminator films (yes, I loved the first three Terminator films, even “Rise of the Machines”. I hated “Terminator: Salvation” like most people though)
  • Conan the Barbarian/Destroyer
  • The Running Man
  • Total Recall
  • Predator
  • Last Action Hero
  • End of Days
  • Kindergarten Cop
  • Commando

Kev

 

movies

Thought: Is “The Shining” prequel a good idea? I would say so, yes!

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Reports are saying that Warner Bros. are quietly moving forward with an idea of doing a prequel to Stanley Kubrick’s movie, “The Shining”, that starred Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. It would focus on the events before the original story where Jack, Wendy and Danny Torrance stayed at the Overlook Hotel so Jack can write his novel, later Jack was turned into a madman.

Stephen King announced earlier this year, that he is writing a sequel to “The Shining”, where it would focus on the story of Danny Torrance, the son, as a full grown man. Could there be “The Shining” movie trilogy, on the way? Looks it. If Warner Bros. is serious on a prequel, first they need to get written permission from King obviously. They need to buy the rights off him. I’m sure King would want it to happen ’cause it seems that he wants all of his novels to get turned into movies these days.

Maybe King will write the script for the prequel? Who knows. Anything is possible. There is so much more you can tell with “The Shining” story. As long as they get King involved in the prequel film, somehow, I’ll be all for it.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Overlook Hotel turned out to be. How it became haunted and all that stuff. As long as they make it different and original story, and won’t be a rehash of the original, where a different family goes to the Overlook, I’m all for it. There shouldn’t be a Jack Nicholson cameo for the prequel ’cause he’ll be too old for the role, by now, I’m sure the Jack Torrance name could be brought up in the prequel a few times though.

WB’s could make it good if they make it scary, and keep it in the horror genre. I’m looking forward to hearing King’s thoughts on the prequel to, “The Shining”. He’ll probably respond sooner or later. It seems that King responds through Entertainment Weekly, every time a remake is in the works of his films. A Shining trilogy could be interesting.

Kev

movies

Cool Video: Liam Neeson’s “Taken 2” trailer is finally online!

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At first, I was a little skeptical of the “Taken 2” movie like most people, but now that the trailer here, the film surprisingly looks a lot better than the first. I love Liam Neeson action movies, the guy is definitely a big star in the action genre right now. Liam’s been one of my favorite actors for years. When will Liam ever get casted for the Expendables, maybe for “EXP 3”??

Kev

Local music

Why do singers sing with their eyes closed on stage???

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You see this all the time at local band gigs and acoustic acts. Singers, singing with their eyes closed throughout their entire sets. I could never understand why. When I ask this question, why singers sing with their eyes closed, I can think of a few reasons that could be possible.

1) They have stage fright.

2) Their way of concentrating, trying to remember lyrics and stuff.

3) They feel emotion.

I disagree with closing your eyes while performing. I always thought it was important to have eye contact at the crowd at all times. Watch my live videos in youtube, and you would notice immediately that I never closed my eyes once. It’s called confidence people. If you don’t have the confidence performing, then there’s no need for you to be up there performing to begin with.

Eye contact at the crowd is important. It’ll let your audience know that you’re right there with them and it shows that you’re not afraid of being on stage. It makes you feel more alive. You want to show the audience that you love performing, by keeping your eyes open.

Yes, there are a few exceptions when performing on stage with your eyes closed. Sometimes it’s good to perform with your eyes closed only when you’re performing a powerful song that gives everyone goosebumps. When you’re playing a ripping guitar solo or singing an intense vocal melody with passion, those are a few good reasons to perform with your eyes closed, when you’re performing a mind blowing song.

You don’t want to perform with your eyes closed randomly or for no reason. When you tell people this stuff, they’ll claim it’s for “concentration”, when you know it’s a lie. I think they do it ’cause they are scared performing in front of people still, period. Like I said, it’s okay to sing or perform an instrument with your eyes closed during a mind blowing performance.

Don’t be a coward on stage. Practice at home in front of a mirror with your eyes open, that will help build your confidence up.

Kev

music, sports, TV

Brock defends the London Olympics opening ceremony…

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I am noticing that the Olympics London Ceremony last night, is getting a lot of negative criticism. The negative criticism is mostly coming from people from the USA. So far, I haven’t seen much people from the UK, slamming the Opening Ceremony. If you think about it, you’re not going to see much people from the U.K., slamming the Ceremony, probably none at all. Why? Because it’s their home country. They would love the Ceremony, of course.

What us Americans don’t understand about the Brits, we don’t understand the U.K.’s way of thinking and we don’t understand their way of entertaining people. Last night’s Ceremony, was celebrating pop culture of the United Kingdom. It was celebrating everything from music, to movies, to books, etc. During the children’s hospital segment, that was when Mike Oldfield was on the stage, playing parts of “Tubular Bells” (which is the theme for the film, “The Exorcist”), then J.K. Rowling came on to do some reading. There were also appearances of Captain Hook and Mary Poppins.

If you watch the Ceremony again, I’m sure you can find plenty of songs that were played on there, that you didn’t even catch. Like I said before, the music being played last night, they were playing all the music from U.K. movement: The Who, Led Zep, the Jam, the Clash, Sex Pistols, Pink Floyd, Stones, Bowie, etc. It even went as far as playing newer British music like the Chemical Brothers and Adele. Anything in the entertainment business from the U.K., you would find in the Opening Ceremony.

Some Americans are wondering why Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) was used. Well, he is a big legend and an icon in the United Kingdom. He may not be very well known and not very liked in the U.S., but in the UK, Mr. Bean is a big megastar. The Brits, love Mr. Bean. I thought Mr. Bean, being a part of it was pretty appropriate.

I like the Brits way of entertaining people. They are unique and different than us. Watch the Ceremony again, if you have it on DVR. There’s plenty of mysterious hidden songs played throughout the Ceremony that are hard to catch. Mr. Boyle was certainly playing a “guess this song”, game with us for sure. Danny Boyle got the job ’cause he understands his country of the United Kingdom, better than anybody. The reason the Ceremony was theatrical and like a musical ’cause the United Kingdom has been widely known for theater. After the work, Danny Boyle did with “Slumdog Millionaire”, it was obvious he would be the only man to direct the Olympics Opening Ceremony.

I’m looking forward to see how Danny is going to close the Olympics. Will the Rolling Stones do their live reunion at the Closing Ceremony? Wouldn’t surprise me if that’s going to happen. Maybe Adele would perform the Closing too, who knows.

As far as the James Bond scene goes, that was alright, I guess, I just didn’t like how they used a stunt double for the Queen to jump out of the plane to arrive in Olympics stadium. They could have came up with a better idea than that, but I guess, it’s part of the UK’s humor. They have a different sense of humor than us. I think Danny Boyle is a genius, and he did a great job last night.

Kev

sports, TV

Brock thinks the London Olympics opening ceremony was great, except the James Bond/Queen segment was pretty stupid…

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Yes, I did watch the London Olympics opening ceremony from start to finish last night. The ceremony was directed by film maker, Danny Boyle. The director of movies such as “Trainspotting”, “The Beach”, “28 Days Later”, “Slumdog Millionaire”, and “127 Hours”. Last night was a pretty theatrical show. Almost felt like a musical throughout most of it. It was celebrating the United Kingdom and the history of it, over the years.

As for the title of this topic, I hope I’m not the only one who hated the James Bond and the Queen segment. Where the Queen goes on the plane with Daniel Craig and then she jumps off with a parachute. I thought it was the lamest thing I’ve ever seen, just my opinion. This was probably the only thing I didn’t like about the ceremony.

I thought the Mr. Bean appearance was pretty funny. I’ve always been a Mr. Bean fan, used to watch the show all the time. The Mr. Bean segment was pretty cool stuff.

What impressed me the most of the ceremony wasn’t the Queen Elizabeth arrival and wasn’t the Paul McCartney performance.

I was impressed with Mike Oldfield performing during the children’s bed segment, and then J.K. Rowling doing a little reading a little later. It was pretty cool seeing Mike Oldfield, an instrumental musician who is pretty underrated. Nice to see him get recognition, and I didn’t think he was still playing music. Remember, Mike Oldfield’s essential album, “Tubular Bells”? He was the one that composed the main theme for “The Exorcist” movie. I’m pretty sure most people don’t know that and I’m sure people don’t know who Mike Oldfield is anymore. The guy is a phenomenal guitar player, and he ripping some excellent guitar chops last night. I’m sure the U.K. would know who Mike Oldfield is pretty well, but the U.S. wouldn’t know who he is anymore.

I also loved the dance segment when they were celebrating 70’s rock n’ roll music. Danny Boyle certainly knows his shit with music ’cause they were playing a lot of 70’s British rock that I was surprised of. They were playing the Who, Led Zep, David Bowie, the Clash, Sex Pistols, the Stones, the Jam, etc. All the good stuff. As for them playing Led Zep, I was surprised they picked the song, “Trampled Underfoot”, which has always been a lesser known Zep song, you think they would play “Rock and Roll or “Black Dog” or something. As for David Bowie, he was played quite a lot last night. I was especially impressed they showed small scenes from David Bowie’s film, “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (which I watched on Netflix several weeks back, and it was a really good movie).

During the 70’s/80’s British music segments, all that reminded me of the movie, “Slumdog Millionaire”. They had a little storyline going, where the girl lost her Iphone or something and the guy found it for her, so they get together to kiss at the end, then they start dancing for the rest of it, just like the movie, “Slumdog”. It’s no surprise to me that Danny Boyle was going to make a lot of that theatrical stuff pretty similar to “Slumdog Millionaire”. Because that film is kind of like a musical, and I guess that’s why the Olympics gave him the job ’cause Danny is good with that stuff.

Last night was pretty entertaining. I was also impressed that at the end of the show, that fireworks were blowing up pretty much throughout the entire city of London. That was pretty crazy.

Glad the Summer Olympics is finally here. I’ll be watching it tonight for the swimming and gymnastics ’cause they are my favorite to sports to watch through the Olympics.

Kev