A lot of people like to accuse me of being a troll and an internet bully or whatever but I’m not really. I’m usually a nice guy to everyone. However, when you see me being mean to someone, it’s usually for a pretty good reason. I don’t start fights with people unless they earn it.

I won’t be mean to someone unless I feel they earn it or have a pretty good reason to. I usually don’t start things with people unless they start things with me first, ya know?

When you get caught fighting and arguing with someone, they’ll accuse you of being the bully when your opponent pretty much earned it.

Isn’t it pretty strange that when other people think they have the right to be mean to you all they want to but when you do it, you’re the bad guy? That’s kind of what this meme is saying, I think. I always tried to figure that out and it’s just weird to me. People can sit there at their computers talking all kinds of negative stuff about me but when I do the same to them, I get in trouble. Ha! Happens to me all the time. It’s messed up, I know. Some people are just crazy and messed up, that’s all.

I usually don’t start things with people unless I have a good reason.

Kev

I was never a big karaoke fan ’cause I felt more comfortable singing with real instruments but I’ve started experimenting with karaoke backing tracks in youtube. Singing along with them. If you want a good way to master cover songs with your vocals sing the karaoke version. I would like to do karaoke more ’cause they can improve your singing too. I don’t own a karaoke machine of any kind. I just use the karaoke backing tracks in youtube.

Maybe I’ll pick some songs for me sing on video. Turn my speakers on for the computer, turn my microphone on and sing away.

Today I just started practicing singing along to Louis Prima’s “Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Go Nobody” which is one of my favorite tunes of all time. Maybe I’ll videotape myself singing that one with the backing track playing in the background. Karaoke singing is also great practice for singing in a band with too.

I won’t get a karaoke machine ’cause all they do is improve your voice in a fake kind of way, kind of like auto-tune which explains why I’m not a big fan of karaoke but I’ll sing along with the backing tracks though. Karaoke machine’s just make your voice sound too good. You wanna sing with a real microphone which is what I prefer more.

Kev

If you’re on facebook and local, there’s this facebook group going around called “Albany Singles & Social Meetup”. They just go around automatically adding people to their group without your permission hoping you would join. Well, I joined the group for a while. People there seemed to be pretty cool for a while but I quickly grown to hating that singles group. So I left that group for good.

There’s a few reasons why I’ve grown to hating that site:

1) The group seems to have attracted a lot of “players” and “cheaters”. The site may have seem to be designed for people who are single and want to meet new friends and possibly find yourself a romantic partner but that’s not the way I see it. I look at it as a place for people looking to get laid and they will never admit it.

2) I think the owner of the site created the group as a clever way to get women for himself.

3) People are pretty crazy in that site, no thanks. A lot of drama and negativity. Too many egotistical people who think they’re good looking and stuff. Too many weird people in there.

4) The group maybe a way to scam money off of you. That’s probably part of why they want you to donate a little something for them and stuff like that.

5) They have social events at bars & clubs which aren’t really good to be meeting people with ’cause of loud music and drunk people.

6) They have their own strict rules and seem to be babysitting people in there when there’s already a facebook TOS.

7) You don’t need a facebook dating group to make friends and get yourself a dating partner.

The people behind the group are not looking to help others, it’s looking like to me that they are in it to help themselves. Get more publicity for themselves and get themselves known. So I wouldn’t be quick in trusting the people running that group. The group may turn out to be cool for a while but soon you’ll realize that those people in that site will turn out to be a bunch of losers.

I mean, there are a bunch of women in there who are pretty “strict” on men wanting to contact them. Women in that group site refuse to add random men and then they complain about strange men trying to add them or trying to contact them privately. I’m like really? If women join a dating site, of course, they’re gonna get a lot of men wanting to contact them out of the blue. Welcome to the world of internet dating, ladies. I understand women don’t want creepers and strangers on their facebook profile but if women are good looking and join a dating site on facebook or wherever, of course they’re gonna get a lot of men contacting them privately. Then the site owner has this rule where that’s not allowed. I think this is one of the big reasons why I’ve been turned off by that group. Single women being strict on men trying to contact them. Ya know, she’s single and she joins a facebook dating group and then she refuses to have men contact her. Really? When women do things like that, I look at it as her saying, “Sorry guys, I’m too pretty and you’re not good enough to contact me”. It’s an ego thing, absolutely. The owner of that site thinks he’s gonna stop men from contacting women privately but even strict “rules” isn’t gonna stop it ’cause you can’t do anything about men contacting women privately ’cause that’s the name of the game in “internet dating”.

Like I said above, you don’t need a facebook group to find some new friends or even a dating partner. All you gotta do is go out and socialize with people in the real world. Go out there, have some balls and have some confidence and talk with people.

I refuse to post the link to that group ’cause all it’s gonna do is give it more attention that it don’t deserve. Just wanted you to be aware of that facebook group that’s been going around that’s aimed at the Capital District scene. Be careful and don’t trust everything you see.

Kev

When you’re a singer, you don’t necessarily have to have a professionally trained singing voice at all ’cause there are many famous singers out there that doesn’t have a professionally trained singing voice at all like for example singers like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Billy Corgan and Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips all do not have the greatest singing voices but they do it anyway ’cause that’s what they all loved to do. They just went whatever they had. I don’t want to be like those guys. That’s not the kind of voice I wanna have anymore.

I wanna become a real “singer”. Yes, a “singer” so I’m doing all I can to become good. I wanna sing more like Chris Cornell, Bruce Dickinson of Maiden and sing like a young Robert Plant. To sing like those guys you really gotta have the strong head voice and that’s what I’m working on. I really wanna belt out. Become the singer that people would enjoy hearing. Have more energy and passion in my singing.

I feel grateful that I’ve been getting positive feedback on my singing lately and I used to get a lot of negative feedback on my singing in the past. Trust me. I’ve had a lot of people say a lot of negative crap on my singing for years so I actually listened to them and thought to myself, “Gee, maybe they’re right. I should get better and prove them all wrong that I can sing”. A lot lately, I haven’t seen many people say negative things about my singing voice. Most all feedback has been pretty positive really which to me is pretty amazing.

I believe my singing is okay for now but I still have a lot work to do. I take singing very seriously now. I try not to drink cold liquids. Usually it’s mostly hot cup of tea or warm water ’cause that’s what you need to help keep the sound out of your throat and have more head voice. You need to have a healthy throat. No drinking. No smoking. No drugs. When you talk to people regularly, you need to talk softly and not loudly. Save the loud voice for your singing. I do singing exercises everyday and do plenty of warm ups.

I really wanna sing my best without entering any of those ridiculous competition shows on TV like “The Voice” or “America’s Got Talent”. I don’t need to go on those shows to show that I can sing good, I can do that through my songs and my covers.

I’m really trying to improve my voice in hopes of singing for a band someday in the future. I would like to get my first full band album in the works sometime too. Maybe I can do some special guest singing for EBJ if they’re willing to ’cause they’re always collaborating with other musicians all the time. I’m all up for doing something with them if they want it.

Singing is one of my favorite things to do, I’ll never give it up. I would like to put a full album out, maybe sometime in 2016.

Kev

When trying to learn how to sing, some instructors wouldn’t recommend raspy singing ’cause some believe that “raspy” singing isn’t good. “Raspy” singing, as in singing that is kind of like growl almost. I disagree. “Raspy” singing can be great for rock n’ roll and even acoustic music. As you’ve probably heard in my originals, I sometimes experiment with raspy singing. Whatever works for the song and whatever sounds good, ya know?

There are plenty of famous singers with a raspy voice like Brian Johnson of Ac/DC for starters. Lemmy of Motorhead. John Mellencamp. Tina Turner. Also Billy Idol can have a raspy voice in a lot of his songs too.

You don’t always have to sing “clear” all the time. “Raspy” voices work good for rock n’ roll and metal mostly, in my opinion.

As you can probably hear, I’ve been experimenting with all kinds of vocal techniques. I’ve been trying to do “raspy” singing, growling, screaming and I’m trying to do some “falsetto” as well.

“Raspy” singing can be cool as long as you stay in key while doing it and stuff. I did some “raspy” singing in a few of my covers on youtube if get around to listening to them.

Man, I would like to start a rock n’ roll band or maybe try to join someone else’s band as a lead singer. I believe I’ve gotten way better as a singer and vocalist nowadays. I still have plenty of work to do and plenty more to learn but I actually like how my voice turned out lately. If you’re a musician and don’t think you’re the greatest singer in the world, you can always improve. Honestly, I’m more focused on singing than guitar playing these days. I really want to become an actual “singer”. I want to be the frontman. I don’t want to be the backup singer at all. I want to be the entertainer.

I’m trying all I can to become a great singer. I sing because it’s fun and I love it. It’s addicting for sure. Feeling that buzz in your head when you sing with the head voice feels real good. I can understand why singers love what they do. I also want to sing the real high notes and learn how to scream as well. Just practice and stay dedicated, you’ll get a lot better for sure.

Kev

This little article is a good read to those who have a website or a blog of your own. If your web presence is pretty popular on the internet… chances are you’re gonna get a lot of haters & trolls. You’ll always get negative people bashing you no matter how positive or how good your online material are. You’ll always get people criticizing you in a negative direction.

This is a really good read.

http://www.inc.com/amy-morin/how-to-stay-strong-when-your-online-haters-are-fierce.html

Is getting a lot of haters & trolls a bad thing? No.

I have trolls attacking my online web presence everyday. I’ve dealt with this crap for years so I’ve gotten used to it by now. Haters & trolls are nothing to me. I just pretend that they’re all dead to me as I don’t respond to any negativity at all. If someone writes me a negative comment? Boom… it’s gone, you’ll be deleted and blocked. It’s easy. When people give you drama and bullshit, don’t give them any attention ’cause that’s what they want you to do. They intentionally try to drive you mad. They always treat you in a negative direction ’cause they find it funny and amusing to them. They’re probably a bunch of losers who just want what you have. They just mess with you for fun, that’s all they do it for.

Just don’t give negative people any attention, it’s a pretty easy thing to do. I don’t give a shit what people think of me. I’m just being myself and being who I want to be. Speaking my mind however I damn well please. If people don’t like it then fuck ’em all.

There are losers out there who just watch everything I do 24/7 and all some of them do is bash me in every reply. Sit there and wait for me to post something by hitting refresh all day waiting for something to bash me about. There will always be people who are obsessed with bashing me and making fun of me. There are too many of them out there, believe me. Even if they aren’t joking around and they are pretty serious and honest attacking you, just continue to ignore them. Just don’t care what people think about you ’cause I never did, ya know? I look at it like this if people are getting mad at the things that you say, it’s a pretty good indication that you were right.

I never understood why people obsess with their hatred against me ’cause I’m just a normal guy that’s all I am. I don’t know why people find me interesting but whatever. People are crazy. Just feel flattered that you have haters. Having haters don’t really bother me anymore ’cause I learned to enjoy it over the years of my life. I’ve gotten used to it for sure.

Kev

In the old days of the national music industry, it used to be pretty easy to get a record contract in a major label. The way the industry is going today, you can forget about try to become famous or trying to “make it”. I know tons of unsigned bands out there “want it”. To make the big time but it’s a tough industry to get into. I did so much reading on the music industry over the years. In the old days if your music is good enough and can grab an A&R guy’s attention, then you’ll probably get signed. These days the way it’s going now you’ll become a manufactured artist by the record label and you’ll get controlled by the labels. If you sign with a major label today, you’ll lose control of your music and the label will control it all. Do you really want that? Not me. I also wouldn’t want to get famous with the way the music media treats their bands & artists. Pop stars are always taking the spotlight of rock bands anyway so if you wanna make it in the industry, you can forget it, in my opinion.

It’s possible you can get big in the independent label, though but you’ll still get controlled by the indies as well.

That’s why I feel it’s best to stay unsigned either that or you can start your own record label and release your music that way. That’s what a lot of famous bands are doing ’cause a lot of them dropped from major labels and started releasing their music on their own labels ’cause they wanted their own control. The music industry today is a pretty evil and shady business. I don’t think I would want to be there. Fame is a tough world to live and I don’t think you’d enjoy it that much. Most musicians don’t “enjoy” fame anyway ’cause they’re in it for the music mostly.

The music industry “used” to be cool back in the old days but it changed over the years. I think our music industry is just as corrupt as our US government. The music industry used to be about “talent” but now they’re all about the money. They won’t make rock bands big anymore anyways ’cause pop & rap is still dominating the industry. I enjoy pop music and rap music some, yeah but I still wish the industry would give rock bands a chance too.

I don’t think I could handle that rock star lifestyle anyway as I kind of like where I am. I never understood why so many bands get so hung up on wanting to make it. Too many unsigned bands promote themselves like they’re about to “make it” big these days not naming names, ya know? I never promoted myself like that. I just want to play my music, get my songs out there and get feedback on it.

As far as my own music goes, I’m planning to get back into writing and recording again.

Kev

These days, I’m more focused on trying to become a better singer. Teaching myself to get better. Why have I been trying to get better at singing? It’s pretty much because I want my original songs to have better vocal chops. Admittedly, I wasn’t impressed with my own voice listening to my older songs. Back then I didn’t have much of a singing voice. I was more like “talking” instead of singing kind of like a Lou Reed & Bob Dylan kind of style. I no longer wanna sing like that, ya know? I wanna have more head voice. More range. More power. Sing with more passion and more heart.

You’ve probably noticed I have been getting better with my singing lately like with my recent cover songs lately. I’ve been practicing getting better doing vocal exercises. I practice those everyday. Singing is one of my favorite things to do and I always wanna get better and improve. My goal as a singer is to go to the high pitched screams which is what I’m working on. Have a singing voice kind of like a young Robert Plant or Steven Tyler.

Anybody at any age can improve their singing. You just gotta have the good “head voice” and you’re on your way. Get all of that sound out of your throat like a human amplifier. Like I always say there’s all kinds of vocal instructional courses out there that will only cost you like $20. Should you learn how to sing better with a vocal coach? You don’t have to if you want to but it’s recommended. I would work with a vocal teacher but I don’t know of any around my area so I just teach myself.

I just wanna get better and improve musically. Singing is fun and I love it. I’m pretty happy and flattered that I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback on my vocals. A lot of work and practice really pays off for sure!

Kev

Some of you may wonder why I’ve been listening to a lot of pop music… ya know… stuff by Iggy Azalea, Janet Jackson, Rihanna, Adele, Amy Winehouse and stuff like that.

Basically, I listen to a lot of pop music lately ’cause I’m looking for more inspiration for my own songwriting. Not only that I enjoy listening to pop music more… I’m just looking for songwriting inspiration.

I want to learn how to write better melodies and learn how to write catchy songs so to do that you listen to some of the mainstream pop music that you hear all over these days. Pop music isn’t really all that bad if you think about it. Pop music will help you write better songs, in my opinion. It’s because they write catchy melodies.

If you want your original songs to become potential hit songs where it would catch a lot of listeners, you should listen to pop music for inspiration.

Listen to pop, R&B and even rap/hip hop. I just wanna make music that will hopefully everyone will like. That’s what listening to pop music can be good for is helping you write better songs. It could help write melodies that will never leave people’s heads and that’s why I’ve been listening to this stuff. For inspiration.

Kev

I just started learning this song this weekend… “Cats in the Cradle” by Harry Chapin.

It’s one of my favorite tunes of all time and I always wanted to cover this one so I’m gonna give it a go. I just learned the opening intro… got the verses & chorus’s down pretty well… I just gotta learn the rest of the song and start rehearsing the vocals. Shouldn’t be a hard song to sing at all.

It really is one of my favorite tunes. Harry Chapin is one of my favorite songwriters. His album, “Verities & Balderdash” is an incredible album and a classic album for sure.

Everybody probably heard “Cats In the Cradle” by now so I’m sure you know the song pretty well. You hear it in commercials, movies, on the radio, etc. You still hear the song everywhere you go. It has even been covered by a band called, Ugly Kid Joe. Remember their version?

I’ll have my own version up soon. “Cats in the Cradle” is a beautifully written song though, I’ve loved the song for many years and it’s time I do my own version of it.

Kev