Why is it that some musicians almost always throw a tantrum at you when you criticize them about something? You always try to give musicians helpful advice or give a different opinion of them about something, but they always see it as you getting onto them. They always take things pretty personally even if what you say is good and there’s nothing wrong with it. Still though, many musicians tend to lose their tempers when you criticize them about something. Even if when the criticism is not that bad and something very small, they still get all pissed off.

I talk all this from experience too. I’ve had many musicians over the years lose their tempers and get all angry when I criticize them about something. Many of them don’t like to get criticized at all. It’s funny how musicians act toward feedback whether it’s positive or negative. When they get positive feedback by people, they always jerk themselves off most of the time and when they get negative feedback, they don’t like it.

Why? It’s simply because the only answer is that a lot of musicians out there expect “approval” to be handed at them. They always expect approval to fall in their lap. They expect everybody to like them, but they get pissed when someone else has a different thought about them. In other words, musicians obsess with validation more than anyone is what I’m trying to get at here. If you think approval is handed to you then stop right there… that’s not how it works you all. You have to earn the approval, you can’t just beg people for it.

I would like to get people to like me and stop criticizing me, but I can’t do anything about it and just let people think what they want about me as a musician. I know I can’t get everyone’s approval and can’t get everyone to like me. I know it doesn’t work that way. Quite frankly, I don’t care if I don’t get people’s approval or get people’s respect ’cause all I want to do is just make music and play.

If all these musicians do is get mad at people’s criticism and honesty then it’s a clear sign that they do have a huge ego problem. All they want to do is hear positive feedback just so they can show off that they are loved by people.

I try to stay humble as best as possible but musicians just don’t do that anymore. I like to let the music speak on it’s own and that’s how it should be done. When you want to be a part of the musicians community, one thing to keep in mind that people are really weird around here. The thing is most musicians around here only care about themselves and that’s the freakin’ truth, ya know? They don’t really care about you even though it may seem like it. A lot of ’em live in a rock star fantasy world. They would only care about you if you give them nothing but positive feedback to them. They will hate you if they see that you’re different. I guess that’s how it goes around here. To me, I don’t give a shit either way. I’ve always embraced the fact that I’m either loved or hated. Doesn’t matter to me.

If a musician can’t accept any kind of negativity or hate then there’s a problem. What are you doing being a musician if you can’t take criticism? It really bothers me when I see musicians who gets all defensive at all negative criticism and trust me, there are plenty of musicians like that out there. I don’t mind getting haters ’cause it’s actually good publicity sometimes and even if I get a negative review toward my songs, I would still be flattered.

Like I said musicians obsess with validation more than anyone and that’s what this topic is about pretty much. Enjoy!

Kev

So earlier today, I messed around with some of the exercises on the “Zen of Screaming” exercises CD that came with the DVD set. I’m liking this DVD set very much and the price was well worth it. This is absolutely more fun to work with than Metal Method’s “Vocal Power” and “The Art of Screaming” app. I’m trying to learn to how to scream when singing and trying to hit the high notes and I believe the “Zen of Screaming” is the best vocal instruction than the other two.

I know that there are musicians and other singers that read my blog, but if you are a singer and looking to improve your singing… I would strongly recommend “The Zen of Screaming” by Melissa Cross. It’s mostly aimed for hardcore singers and extreme metal (like death metal/black metal) but this DVD set can be for any rock n’ roll singer really.

Some of the vocal exercises on here may be pretty wacky and silly, but if you want to reach you goals in singing, going through these exercises will be well worth it. When I went through some of the exercises on this set, I came to a realization that I really am a Baritone singer. I went through the Baritone section  on the CD with no problem, but I am having trouble in the Tenor section, though. It looks like I have a lot of work to do in order to become a Tenor singer but that’s my goal. I do hope one day to become a Tenor. I’m a baritone singer ’cause I do have a deep speaking voice. If you have a deep speaking voice like I do then you will probably end up being a baritone singer. I was kind of struggling in the Tenor section so I still have work to do to get there.

I do pretty much wanna become a screamer for rock n’ roll and metal. Melissa Cross said on this DVD that you’ll never sing like your favorite singers, you have to sing in your own style which she is so right. I would like to sing like Robert Plant, David Bowie and Chris Cornell, but I will never sing like them. I gotta have a voice that fits me and “The Zen of Screaming” will help me.

Singing is fun. I love it so much. I’ll never give it up. I’ll never sing better than others but I want to improve my singing for my songwriting. There are gonna be songs that I write that could include screaming and hitting the high notes. I wanna be able to do that stuff right and make it sound good. Melissa Cross is the best vocal teacher, in my opinion. She’s the real deal. I’m glad I got the “Zen of Screaming” finally!

Who knows… maybe I should try singing death metal or black metal. I do like listening to that stuff. Burzum is an awesome band. Mayhem and Venom are also good bands that I like. Metal is awesome.

Kev

Melissa Cross’s “The Zen Of Screaming” DVD set came in the mail today and it’s a pretty cool set. I watched the DVD earlier this afternoon already and it’s a little over 2 hrs. long. The booklet inside the DVD set told me watch the movie in it’s entirety first, so I’m like “okay” and I did. There’s a lot of good info and advice on this DVD. I think the price is worth it.

DVD teaches you a lot about breathing and how to do vocal exercises and things like that. There is one little section on the DVD where she teaches you how to sing in “rasp” and “growl” like a metal singer. That’s what I want really. There is an audio CD that came with it so you can practice the vocal exercises which I’m gonna start doing tomorrow. Singing in “rasp” and “growling” doesn’t look that hard at all. Melissa Cross makes it look easy.

Yeah, I want to sing like a metal singer. I’m sure a lot of people think I can’t do it but watch me, I’ll prove them all wrong. In fact, I already can sing like a metal singer ’cause a lot of my original acoustic songs were meant to be metal especially songs like “Mr. Tough Guy” and “Time Bomb”. I also sung a few metal covers on video too. Everything I do musically is metal inspired ’cause why? Simply because I listened to metal throughout my life. It’s my favorite genre. I listened to all the metal bands over the years: Metallica, Megadeth, Twisted Sister, Guns N’ Roses, Slayer, Black Sabbath, Ac/Dc, Iron Maiden, etc. I’ve also listened to a lot of darker metal like death metal and black metal. Why do I listen to metal? It’s because it’s the type of music that I like. I may not look like a metal head, I just like the music.

I want to make original metal music myself, and I know I can do it. When I was young and starting out on guitar, I’ve already experimented on trying to make my own metal songs recording songs on a 4 track recorder that I used to own. I used to make metal music with heavy distortion and all that myself. Back then, I didn’t have a band… it was just my voice and an electric guitar, lmao.

I’ve been trying to figure out ways to make my voice different and take it to the next level. I want more range and be able to sing higher too. I think the “Zen of Screaming” will definitely help ’cause it helped other singers.

It’s nice to finally take singing seriously. I really want to get better and improve.

Kev

I’ve been interested in getting “The Zen of Screaming” DVD instruction for a long time so I just ordered a copy from amazon today. I want to sing like a hard rock & metal singer and this could help me.

I work with Metal Method’s “Vocal Power” by Jim Gillette, but I wanted something more. I want to learn how to growl and sing in grit… that kind of stuff. I want to learn how to sing higher too, and this could definitely help me get to those high notes that I want.

If I like “Zen of Screaming” more than “Vocal Power”, I’ll work with this instead.

I want to be a rock and metal singer. That’s my goal. I never liked the way I sung in the past, and I want to take my singing to the next level.

The “Zen of Screaming” DVD is mostly aimed at metal singers who sing hardcore, punk, death metal, black metal, etc. but this DVD teaches you how to sing regularly too.

I don’t ever want to be a death metal or black metal singer, but I do want to growl some without damaging my voice so I think this DVD will help. I should get this in the mail later this week hopefully.

Kev

Hope you all are enjoying your day today. I sure am.

I’m not gonna do much for Halloween tonight ’cause I think going “trick or treating” and going to “halloween costume parties” are pretty boring. I would much rather celebrate Halloween by staying home watching horror movies all evening and night. I know it’s not healthy to binge watch a bunch of movies, but once a year won’t hurt anything at all. Today is my rest day of fitness so it’s a good day to do that. I’m gonna start my horror film binge watching a little later. Probably after dinner.

If you do go out trick or treating with your kids or go out partying, have fun and be safe. Behave too ’cause I know people like to cause trouble on Halloween, lol. Rock on!

Kev

Whenever someone treats you in a negative direction then chances are that person probably treats everyone else they know the same way. This usually turns out correct most of the time. Ya know something, I’ve dealt with negative people all my life. We’ve all had. It’s just that a lot of you out there have a hard time avoiding negative people. A lot of you have a hard time spotting who they are. Through social networking, you see men and women in America complain about negative and toxic people in their lives everyday. You see it in FB and twitter.

I used to have a hard time about defending myself from negative people, but now negativity is so easy to ignore. As years went along and as I got older, I learned to avoid negative people like the plague.

I don’t deal with negativity. If someone is being negative to you in FB or twitter then block them. If someone is being negative to you through e-mail then don’t reply to them at all. If someone is being negative and rotten to your face and in person then just walk away. It’s easy to avoid negative people, yet people aren’t doing that these days. They just let negative people get all over them the more they respond.

Lately, I’ve gotten better at avoiding negative people. I just pretend that they don’t exist to me anymore is what I do. When people are being negative and toxic to you all of a sudden, it is funny how they never apologize… instead they always play the victim when they’re confronted. Happens to me all the time.

Yeah, there are a lot of assholes and douchebags in this world for sure. Some live under the delusion that everyone is so lovable and wonderful but not everyone.

I have no time for drama and negativity with anyone anymore. People still try to give me bullshit in social networking, but I don’t let it bother me anymore. I just ignore it and move forward. All I want to do in life is play my music and workout in the gym. I also do things that will get my mind off of negativity like Yoga and that really helps.

Yeah, people are getting negative and crazy nowadays but it’s easy to ignore it. You just gotta learn to stay strong and be tough. As Sly Stallone would say, keep punching. Keep living life and keep being happy. Don’t let negativity take you down.

Kev

I came across this little message… it’s another one that totally reminded me of myself so I decided to share it here. Ya know, whenever I’m blogging, tweeting and facebooking about my opinion and thoughts on certain stuff… someone replies to you in sudden bursts of anger thinking the posts was written about them. I’m sure this happens to you, and this absolutely happens to me all the time.

When I’m speaking my mind on stuff there are some people who always think I’m writing about someone without naming names. Why do they always believe that? Ya know, if I wanted to write about someone and call them out publicly, I won’t be afraid to use names. When I’m not using names then that means I’m not writing about anyone in particular. I’m actually writing about the majority of a certain group of people. It’s interesting how someone gets pissed off thinking I’m writing about him/her when that’s not what I do at all.

That’s okay, though. When that happens, don’t let that bother you. It usually means that when someone gets pissed at something you wrote (when it wasn’t about that person or persons at all) then you might of said something that bothered them. It pretty much means they’re guilty of something. They know you’re right and they just didn’t like hearing it. When I go on my rants, voicing out my opinions on things… it doesn’t mean I’m writing about someone. It’s just funny to me why some people think I am writing about someone when I’m not at all. They’re just guilty of what you’re saying is all. It’s like the trash taking itself out is what it is so don’t worry about it.

Kev

Yes. Knowing from my own experience about this meme, it’s so true!

I’ve had quite a bit of people treat me pretty badly over the years… online and offline. Some people enjoy giving me a hard time, criticizing me, judging me and bashing me. Yet, when you do the same to them, they don’t like it. They get all pissed off for sure.

It’s the same with online. Yeah, I get a lot of trolls and haters. Each time I find out who they are and when I call them out, pretty much all of them think they never do anything wrong. They almost always play innocent victim all the time. Later on, when you decide to treat the person the same way he/she treated you, they get all offended and pissed off. I believe they usually do that ’cause they always try to make it seem  like you started it when you’re in a feud with somebody. It happens every time someone has a negative grudge against me.

A lot of people like to insinuate that I go around the internet starting shit for no reason. Some believes I’m so horrible to people online. Wrong. I’m actually “very good” to most people, but when people treat me like crap first that’s when I go off. They expect me to be happy after some writing a bunch of  negative shit to me?

Interesting how people think they can get away with online harassment. I deal with it all the fucking time, hahahaha. It’s worse with local musicians, though. They can be the worst cyberbullies for sure. People can talk about me however they want to, but I can’t talk about others. I’ve always tried to figure that out.

Kev

This is what people in social networking are like nowadays. If you have differences of opinions and different views than everyone else then that makes you a bad person. Trust me, I’ve dealt with this shit many times over the years of my life when it comes to dealing with people on the internet. You see, I’m one of those who refuses to fit in with the crowd. I don’t have to be on the same  page as everyone else. I like to keep everything real ’cause I’m an honest man and that will never change. If something is on my mind, it’s gonna get said.

Whenever I disagree with someone on the internet and have differences of opinions, it appears to piss a lot of people off. Instead of discussing things with you like a mature adult or have a rational debate with you then they would lose their tempers and block you in social networking which is interesting. I’ve dealt with this many times with people… it doesn’t matter the topic. If people don’t like me being different then that’s fine. Fuck them for all I care. I think that’s what drives people crazy ’cause they know I’m real and they know I’m different, and they can’t take it.

Well, suck it up, buttercup. I don’t care if people get upset over my differences of opinions and thoughts. I’m a realist, that’s all there is to it. I just speak my truth no matter the consequences.

When people get pissed or unfriend/block me in social networking, that’s all fine and good. I don’t care. When people do that, usually they do it ’cause it’s a pretty good indication that you said something right and they didn’t like it. Getting blocked/unfriended by people is like the trash taking itself out. When people do that to you, that’s a pretty cowardly move.

I can have differences of opinions and different views all I want to. I don’t care the topic whether it’s politics, entertainment, music, local bands, etc. I’m real on everything. I’m just an honest guy and that’s all there is to it. If you can’t take a bit of honesty then that’s your loss, not mine.

If you want to know what life in social networking is all about then you’re reading about it right now. Just be yourself, you don’t need to fit in with the crowd. Never been my thing.

Just ranting a bit today. Just had to get this off my system.

Kev