Ted Nugent Meets With Donald Trump

Last evening, Ted Nugent was invited to have dinner with Head of state Donald Trump in the White Home. He published the above picture of them in the Oval Office to his Facebook page afterward.
“Well well looky right here boogie chillin’, I have got your Shot that was Heard around the Globe right below in large ol-greazy-ass Washington DC where your 1 & just MotorCity Psycho WhackMaster StrapAssasin1 dined with Head of state Donald J Trump at the WhiteHouse to Make The U.S.A. Great Again! Glowing all American over the top WE THE PEOPLE gory information coming As Soon As Possible !! SUPPORT!”
Although he assured he would certainly tell much more later on, Nugent in the meantime has actually shared one detail of the night in the remarks. He stated the meal consisted of “extraordinary lobster salad & lampchops!” He likewise joked, “hmmmmmmmmmmm … … …” when a person asked if he carried a firearm right into the White Residence.
He stated he was moved not by the office of the president, however ‘by the real genuineness, down-to-earth, as well as most importantly, believable worry as well as visibility, uninhibitedness, household perspective and also spirit” of Trump. In addition to being invited to the Oval Office, the couple got an individual scenic tour of the structure from the president.

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Who Is the Next Big Player In The Tech Industry?

The wave of technology start ups has been growing strong for almost 20 years. The trend originated in the San Fransisco and has now spread across the United States. Sure, the majority of big startups like Facebook, Twitter, and Apple have come out of Silicon Valley, but now tech startups are popping up all over the world. Emerging economies like Vietnam and Singapore have had a string of successful companies emerge.

The internet has allowed the world to connect giving many people an opportunity that never existed previously. Internet marketers have found away to outsource the majority of their services through websites like Fiverr and People Per Hour. The strong American currency gives us the ability to hire people in foreign countries, especially Asian, for very low prices. In fact, you can easily get someone to work for $1 to $2 dollars per hour and they will thank you for it. Here in the United States the average person makes $10 dollars an hour and that’s barely enough money to live on. Currency strength plays a huge factor in this as well as the cost of living being dramatically lower in these countries. Many digital marketing companies have found out ways to outsource nearly all of their services to foreign workers and make a killing the process.

Politicians across the United States have rallied agains’t outsourcing claiming that we are loosing American jobs, but outsourcing is a natural process of the free market. Technology and manufacturing companies have been the primary benefactors of outsourcing for the last 20 years. In the near future another big wave of development will involve the “internet of things.” Essentially, all devises and objects will be fitted with an RFID chip and will communicate with a chip reader. Then, artificial technology will monitor everyone and all devices and be able to predict mass movements of people with 100% accuracy. Many privacy advocates say this will be a huge invasion of privacy because all of your movements will be tracked and recorded. Big technology companies are behind the push to RFID all items because they will benefit from the data and information they gain.

Unfortunately for the average person our future is beginning to look a lot more like the book 1984. Is there a way to implement all these technological advances and still keep our privacy and basic dignity? SmashFund founder and CEO Rob Towles has been working on a crowdfunding application that will bridge the gap between traditional platforms and the modern era. He says that SmashFund will disrupt the entire crowdfunding industry because it combines the best aspects of social media and revenue sharing. In fact, his new system is being hailed by internet marketers as a breakthrough because the fact they can make money by promoting the system. No other crowdfunding platform gives users the ability to make money and crowd fund at the same time. In the next 50 years we are going to see the face of technology change for better or worse. In my view, the trillion dollar question is will technology empower humanity for the better or leave us enslaved in a high tech kill grid in which we can never escape?

If you would like to learn more about Rob Towles and Smashfund, you can visit him at: http://robtowles.com or visit him on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/smashfunds/rob-towles/ to learn more.

The Power Of The Law Of Attraction

The law of attraction applies to almost every aspect of your life. In short, whatever you think about on a regular basis you will eventually manifest into your reality. This can be applied to business, relationships, and even just self-confidence. A lot of people out there mistakenly think the law of attraction is some type of magic trick that will instantly improve your life, but that just isn’t the case. In order to use the law properly, you must focus on repetition and consistency. Many people out there who trash talk about the movie “The Secret” have no real understanding or experience of these concepts. These same people will read a definition on Wikipedia or watch a YouTube video and think they have all the answers. The truth is the law of attraction works like anything else in life. It takes massive action, total commitment, and a lot of repetition.

In my life, I have used the law of attraction to improve many different aspects, but I have focused primarily on increasing my net worth. For over a year now I have been using money making affirmations daily and just in the last few months have I started to see the results of all my hard work. At first, it seems like these affirmations are a waste of time, but eventually your entire framework and the way you see reality starts to change. Bob Proctor is a legendary self-improvement coach and he talks often about how people with a scarcity mindset will never become wealthy. The challenging part that most people face is to keep an abundant mindset while being poor in real life. This can be difficult, but through repetition and affirmations, it’s possible. Bob teaches that in order to get money flowing towards you it’s important to break out of your scarcity thinking. In fact, if your scared to spend money and are very frugal with money, it will be very hard for you to make millions of dollars. In order to make vast amounts of money, you must first spend money. This doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of money, but you have to be willing to at least invest in your business. On the other hand, people who go “all in” and put all caution to the wind usually see the best results. In fact, most success stories come from people who were down to their last couple dollars and hard no choice but to succeed.

In speeches, Bob often talks about the law of vibration and it’s relation to attracting money. Everything in this universe vibrates at a certain rate of speed depending on a number of factors. If you’re in an abundant state of mind you will be vibrating at a rate that will attract money into you on a metaphysical level. If you’re in a scarcity state of mind you will vibrate at a frequency that repels money away from you. If you think of it this way, it’s nearly impossible to become extremely wealthy unless you truly believe in abundance. Now, many people out there are probably reading this and wondering “how could I be in an abundance state of mind when I’m basically broke?” The key is to actually convince yourself you have unlimited potential and wealth. This can be done several ways, but the way I did it was through affirmations. Affirmations are basically saying the same thing over and over either out loud or in your head. At first, affirmations will have no effect on your current situation, but if you stick with it day after day you will start to see changes. These changes will be small at first, but eventually, you will forget what it was like before you changed your brain. Over the last year, my mindset has changed to the point where I always expect abundance in life. I just assume that everything in life will work at for the better. Now, whether this is true or not is irrelevant, but what’s important is I believe it to be the truth. My body then resonates with this belief and attracts energy to me that will make it a reality. If your new to the Law of Attraction and just beginning to learn affirmations then it’s important to set a long-term goal and stick with it. Go into this self-improvement journey with the mindset that it’s going to take a lot of time and effort, but eventually, you will reach your goals. Remember, that the people who succeed in life are the people who have persistence. Everyone fails at some point in their life, but the people who get back up and push forward will be the next great innovators in our society. If you’re interested in learning more about The Law then I suggest watching videos by Bob Proctor like the one below or check out some of his programs like 6 minutes to success:

Who We Used And What We Do:

Google is constantly changing and updating its algorithm to keep up with the changes of the internet. This means that small websites must constantly adapt and adjust their strategy in order to keep up with the changing trends. As the owner of a small music company, and leading contributor for this site we searched out a way to increase our internet exposure. The reality of the situation is the internet has gotten bigger and it’s much harder to get yourself found. In the old days, you could get your site on the first page of Google with just a simple blog post about a popular subject. Nowadays basically every subject under the sun has been discussed at great lengths. It’s very difficult to find an area of modern life and history that hasn’t been discussed in great detail. If there is such a subject. then that probably means nobody really cares about it. Knowing this harsh reality of the world wide web I decided to seek out a company to help us with our online marketing efforts.

Finding the right search engine marketing company online can be a real challenge. There’s literally millions of companies out there claiming they can help improve your online presence, but how do you know who to trust? I spent literarily weeks researching different companies in my local area in Portland Oregon. After much research, I made a shortlist of approximately 5 different companies that appeared to know what they were doing. One of the best ways to pick a company to help improve your Google rankings is to look who has the top rankings themselves. This technique will not always lead to great results but I feel this is an important first step in the process. The next thing I did was I began to read a little bit about each company. For me, it’s important to put a name and a face to the person I’m doing business with. This type of service could potentially harm your company so it’s important to do your homework.

The up and coming band niche are always been something I was interested in. As a young kid, I use to play punk music with a few of my friends in my parent’s garage after school. During those years, bands like Green Day and Smashing Pumpkins were all the rage. I still remember watching Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins on MTV during the early 90’s and that become my inspiration. As I grew as a musician and a human I soon realized the chances of my making a living off a band was going to be difficult. I started investigating other areas of the music industry I could profit from. I knew I wanted to be involved in playing and the industry my entire life, I just didn’t know where my income would come from. That’s when I decided to start Daggerzine and help promote up and coming bands and artists. After a lot of hard work the site had plenty of content but lacked the massive traffic I would need to help get these artists out to the public. When I first stumbled upon the website of Oregon Web Solutions Portland SEM, I was confident they were the correct company for the job. In the music space exposure is critical, and the fact that they had a lot of #1 Google rankings made me confident they could help me leverage my position as an industry expert.

As the process evolved, they helped me add unique and creative content to my website that would engage my audience, and in the end, send a unique visitors to my site. The next step was to expand my social media presence so I’m reaching as many people as possible. It’s not enough to just be on Facebook anymore and instead, you must engage your audience on all fronts. That means setting up a Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Stumble Upon, and even live streaming on Periscope, At the end of the day, the most people you reach the more chances you site has to grow. After working with a Portland SEO consultant, a large portion of my traffic comes from searches, but I have been able to increase the amount of traffic that comes from social networks ten fold. As you can tell, over the last few years our site has exploded in popularity. We are now able to help new artists reach a potential audience they would have never dreamed possible in the past. The biggest trick to online marketing is figuring out a way to leverage your position. You could compare the process to a new restaurant setting up shop on a piece of property in a busy portion of town. If your customers or audience can not find you then you have now chance to give them value and in turn make money. Our decision to hire a high-quality search engine optimization company to grow our website was the best marketing decision we have made.

Find out more at:

Oregon Web Solutions | Portland SEO
1717 NE 42nd Ave #3800
Portland, OR 97213
(503) 563-3028

Magic In Your Mind

Bob Proctor is definitely the man when it comes to teaching the law of attraction. If you don’t know what the law is then you have been living under a rock for the past 15 years.

The movie “The Secret” opened all our minds to teachings that go back thousands of years to the bible. Successful businessmen have been using these skills for as far back as Babylonian times. There have been hundreds of books written on the subject, but a few stand out from the rest:

• Think and grow rich
• Richest man in Babylon
• The science of getting rich
• You were born rich
• The Secret
• As a man thinketh

These are just a few but typically must reads.

Bob has been teaching personal development for 54 years and still going strong! I can’t deny that after that long, someone is likely to be a master at his craft and that is Bob. Apparently he has come out with a new program called Magic in your mind. Now I personally know little about it but I have been finding many websites and reviews on it lately. I always prefer to head straight to youtube if I want to watch some Bob Proctors videos. Fantastic and free, what’s wrong with that?! I’ll add one of my favorites here:

What a great video! I still love watching it. Now if you do a little research online, you will see what a fan base Bob has and how much success he has helped create in other people’s lives. It is incredible. The man walks the walk and talks the talk. I can’t imagine being 80 something and still doing live 3-day seminars across the globe. Clearly he is living his purpose.

After a little searching online I can across this site http://www.magicinyourmind.net which talks about Bob’s new program. They guy seems legit but who knows right. I’d say make your own decision, but that aside, I have not heard of Bob putting out crap. I think I will be checking it out soon.

I wonder if we could get Bob on here to do an interview?! I will use my power of intention to manifest it maybe……

NJ/NY band the 65’s put out a terrific debut last year called STRIKE HARD (Dromedary Records). If you dig the crunchy sounds of bands like Superchunk or Husker Du then this band will be right up your alley. New bassist Cindi Merklee was nice enough to answer some questions I threw her way.

What was your introduction to music as a kid?

I have two brothers who are considerably older than I am and both played in bands. I had an old hand-me-down turntable and a budding record collection before I entered grade school. By the time I was in high school we had an 8 track studio in our attic. It was the 80s and hair metal reigned supreme in Jersey yet I was privy to some amazing local original bands who really shaped my perspective on music – Chris Moffa & The Competition, Sleeve Coat, The Ambivalent Brothers (featuring Ed Seifert who is now with Speed the Plough – Dromedary mates of ours). My siblings were also really into the Hoboken scene back then. I was exposed to a ton of great music growing up. Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, Game Theory, The dB’s, IRS era REM, Guadalcanal Diary, Husker Du, Throwing Muses, The Replacements….all stuff I probably would have missed otherwise.

What was the first song you remember hearing that floored you?
“It’s All Too Much” by The Beatles. I was maybe 4 or 5 years old. Yellow Submarine was one of the first records my brothers gave me. As outlandish as it may sound, I have a very vivid memory of obsessing over that song at that age. Call it a transcendental experience – I have no idea – all I know is I was struck by this notion that the world is way bigger than whatever I saw in front of me at that moment. That song still floors me, and still reminds me how small we are in the grand scheme of things.

Prior to the 65’s, what were your (and the other guys) previous bands?
Back in the 90s I played bass in Balloon Squad. I spent most of the past 10 years or so doing the singer/songwriter thing out of necessity more than anything else since I didn’t have time to commit to a band. John had played with the High School Sweethearts, Electric Frankenstein and The Dark Brothers. Joe was also in The Dark Brothers, C.I. Infidels & Puggle. Dan has been doing the singer/songwriter thing too in recent years but had been in Shirk Circus in the 90s with Josh Silverman who was also in The Dark Brothers.

How did the deal with Dromedary Records come about? Al is quite an intimidating indie figure, no?
I’m not sure how their paths initially crossed but the way I heard the story is that Joe would occasionally send Al demos of stuff he was recording with Dan. This may have been around the time Joe reached out to me asking if I’d be interested in providing some backing vocals on a track or two. A couple of days after popping that question he asked if I had any interest in playing bass in “the band”. Apparently it was evolving from just a couple of friends drinking, playing guitars & recording when they felt like it. I was working full time and going to school full time when this transpired but didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to play with Joe & Dan – I had been a fan of their respective bands for years. Two months later we had our first gig at Maxwell’s. A little less than a year after that Al approached us about signing with Dromedary. We love Al.
What do you remember most about the recording of STRIKE HARD?
Unfortunately for me, the album was just about done by the time I came on board but Joe was adamant that I have some part in it. One afternoon when we were up at Kevin Lacatena’s to master it I suggested recording one of my solo acoustic songs to go on the record. Joe already had a solo acoustic track on there so it wouldn’t have been entirely out of place. Everyone was in favor of the idea so Kevin handed me a guitar & planted two mics in front of me sitting on a couch in his basement. It’s not the most polished performance, but I’ve never been big on polish.

What is the photo on the cover of other record?
The front cover is my guitar after a solo acoustic show. Being a bass player by nature, I tend to be a bit of a basher on guitar and have a tendency to rip my cuticles open. Those are my bloody guitar strings. The back cover is my blood splattered all over my brother’s SG which I borrowed when I stood in with Stuyvesant last summer for the mid-west leg of their tour in support of Fret Sounds, which was also released on Dromedary.

What does the live show deliver that the record does not (if anything)?
I think Dan & Kevin did a great job of capturing the energy of the band on the record. We take it up a notch or three when you see us live though. It’s louder. It’s more aggressive, more dynamic, and occasionally we’ll bust out a Zeppelin or Dave Brubeck cover.

What is your 5-day band dream bill (with the 65’s on it, of course)?
Tom Waits
50 Foot Wave
The Night Marchers
The Joy Formidable
The 65’s

What is one song you wish you had written?
“He’s a Whore” – Cheap Trick

What next for the band? Touring? More recording?
Shows in/around the northeast, promoting the current record, writing & recording for the next one, keeping Al happy.

Any final thoughts? Words of wisdom? Closing comments?

I can only feign wisdom at this age. Thanks for checking us out though. Lots of good things happening at Dromedary HQ – we’re happy to be a part of it.

What was your introduction to music? Play any instruments while in school?
The two musical influences I remember most as a child are The Beatles and Sesame Street. I loved to put on records and had many of both The Beatles and Sesame Street. Although I didn’t really understand what it was about, I loved to sing along with John on “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill”, and with Oscar the Grouch on “I Love Trash”.

I started playing piano in the third grade and the clarinet in the fourth grade. In the seventh grade I picked up the saxophone and once I started high school all I wanted to do was learn how to play guitar, bass guitar and drums (which I did).

What was the first record that really changed your way of thinking?
You’d never hear it in my music, but the album that changed my way of thinking was Stevie Wonder’s Innervisions. When I found out that Stevie played every single instrument on songs like “Higher Ground” and “Living For The City” it blew my mind. How could one person create the same kind of sound that came from a band? Thus began my obsession with the one-man multi-tracked recording technique and I decided right then and there that I needed to do the same thing one day.

How did you enter (stumble?) into the indie rock scene?
When I was in high school I played in bands with embarrassing names like The Boojum Tree and Vitamin G. Then I went to Hampshire College in Amherst, MA and starting writing songs of my own with the hopes of playing out as a solo artist. I recorded a solo EP called Help Is On The Way, on which I played almost everything (with the exception of bass guitar on half the tracks), and then another EP called Big Happy Fun EP (on which I finally achieved playing every instrument). During my last year at Hampshire I recorded my full-length solo album Millions Of Miles Away (again playing every instrument on the recordings). I was fortunate enough to get a few opening slots for nationally touring artists like Ben Lee and Clem Snide at the Iron Horse in Northampton. That really helped give me some confidence playing in front of larger audiences and also helped me establish myself in the local scene.

I also formed a band called The Billy Ripken F*ck Face Card while at Hampshire, in which I was the drummer. We mostly played on campus but made an effort to gig out a bit. The year after I graduated from Hampshire we recorded our one and only full length album Hold Me Like You Did Before The Accident. There are maybe 100 lucky people out there who own a copy.

Prior to Golden Bloom what were you doing, musically speaking?
I continued to play solo under my own name for the first few years I lived in Northampton after college. In 2005 I was invited to be the bassist in The LeeVees, a band that was formed by Adam Gardner (Guster) and Dave Schneider (The Zambonis). We toured for 3 weeks in December ’05 opening for Barenaked Ladies. A year later Dave asked me to join his band The Zambonis as a 5th member to round things out on guitar, keys, vocals, etc. My friend Jeff Patlingrao from Hampshire also asked me to play drums in his project JP05 (now Orca Age).

That same year I began working on a new solo EP with Ryan Ball (whom I had recorded my first EP, Help Is On The Way, with). By the time it was finished and ready to be released in 2007 I was pretty burnt out on playing solo. It had been so fulfilling to play in bands like The LeeVees, The Zambonis and JP05 that I wanted to do the same with the music I had written. I put together a band simply for the purpose of playing the CD release show for the One Day in the Desert EP. The bands consisted of Michael and Dan from The LeeVees, Jeff from JP05 and Ryan (who had produced the EP). After that first show I knew I needed to take a break from playing solo shows and this band had to keep playing! We played semi-regularly in NYC in ’07 and ’08, and the more I played with a full band the less comfortable I felt being billed as Shawn Fogel. Over the summer of 2008 I decided to ditch my own name and begin playing under the name Golden Bloom.

How did FAN THE FLAMES come about? Do you see it as a song cycle or a collection of songs?
I spent about a year working on Fan the Flames. It started out with a song I wrote in my manager’s living room in Ferndale, MI (based on lyrics I pulled off the highway just a few days earlier). It was the first new song I’d written in a long while and it really helped to open the creative floodgates. Several more songs followed, written completely from scratch. Then I started taking some old song ideas that were floating around but never developed and fleshed them out into full songs. Finally, to round out the collection, I picked two older songs that’d I had already recorded and decided to rework them. The majority of the songs share a common thread, optimistic frustration and frustrated optimism. There are one or two songs on the record that are more about personal relationships but as a whole it’s much more of a big picture album than collections of songs I’d written previously.

Have you been surprised at the positive press that the record has gotten?
Absolutely! I’ve gotten little reviews and write-ups in the past, but nothing like the press that rolled in over the summer leading up to the release of Fan the Flames. It really means a lot to have trusted and respected media like SPIN, MAGNET, Under The Radar, The Big Takeover (and Dagger of course) pay attention and cover Golden Bloom. I put so much of myself into making the album, so much time, focus, money, and emotional energy. When it comes down to it, I’m making art, not a product so it’s much more validating for me to have people get excited and write nice things than it is for people to buy it. Maybe that’s why I’m not making money yet. It’s a good thing I have a manager!

How did the most recent tour go? Any pleasant or unusual surprises along the way?
I think the most exciting thing for me has been to go over well in a place that isn’t “home”, in that Golden Bloom has played to far more people in places like Boston and Northampton than in the NY/NJ area. Both towns have really accepted Golden Bloom as if we were a local band, and that’s a great feeling. In fact, there’s been a fair amount of press that says we’re a MA band, and far be it from me to correct them. I think people are way too focused on where bands are from. Does it really matter if they’re from Brooklyn, or Portland, or wherever? More often than not it leads people to make assumptions before they hear a single note. That’s silly.

Has the writing (or recording?) for the next record begun? Any added pressure to write these days?
I’m just getting around to working on new songs right now. I tend to write really slowly, coming up with little hooks and chord progressions here and there that I eventually try to build into something bigger. Lyrics usually take the longest. The easiest environment for me to write lyrics in is either on a train, bus or airplane, so I guess I need to do a little more traveling and a little less driving in the near future!

The pressure to write really only comes from within. Usually, it begins to bubble up when the songs I’ve been playing live start to feel “old”. I spent about a year working on Fan the Flames, so by the time the release date fell the songs had already lost their “newness”. At this point I’m motivated to write and record new demos just so that I can move away from playing the same old setlist in a different order.

Your 5 band dream bill (of current or deceased bands)?
Oh mercy! I’m terrible with lists. I’m sure I’ll want to change this by the time it gets published, but what the hell, let’s give it a shot. Normally I’d say a 5 band bill is just too many bands to experience in a row, so with your permission I’d ask that there is a decent intermission between each set in this imaginary show. In no particular order:

The Ramones (circa 1975)
Stevie Wonder (circa 1972)
Queen (circa 1974)
Elvis Costello & The Attractions (circa 1978)
Jimmy Cliff (circa 1972 / The Harder They Come)

Top 10 desert island discs?
Argh, that’s even harder than the 5 band dream bill! Again, I’ll probably want to change this when I wake up tomorrow, but here goes nothing. In no particular order:

Neutral Milk Hotel / In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Elvis Costello / This Year’s Model
Stevie Wonder / Innervisions
The Cars / The Cars
The Harder They Come (Original Movie Soundtrack)
The Beatles / Revolver
Pavement / Slanted & Enchanted
Frank Black / Teenager of the Year
Lemonheads / It’s a Shame About Ray
Talking Heads / More Songs About Buildings and Food

After hearing the Virginia/ Wash., DC band Death Valley Rally’s debut ep, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHTER AFTER MIDNIGHT, I was curious and wanted to ask them a few questions (plus it’ s on the Planting Seeds Record label, one always known for quality). They were more than generous with their answers. And away we go…..

When did the band form? What brought you guys together?
RALPH BAUTISTA: We started playing together back in April 2010. A year prior to forming Death Valley Rally, Tiffany and I played in a local alt-country band. That’s how we both met. Thankfully for us, the guy who started the band (and who recruited the both of us to play in it) decided to go a different direction, which essentially left Tiffany and I to make a decision to either stop playing music (and go our separate ways) or start a new project and create the style of music that we both would really enjoy playing. We obviously chose the latter. Soon afterwards, Robin joined in on bass, and a year later, Josh came on board to play drums (after our original drummer left).
TIFFANY RILEY: Ralph and I really enjoyed playing together, so when our project ended, we decided to continue on. Robin and I had previously been in a band called No Flowers for Him, I already knew she would fit well with the direction Ralph and I were trying to take the band. Josh later joined the band after our original drummer left.

Was anyone in any other bands?
RB: I played in a band called Her Sparkle Dims. One of the band’s highlights was going into the recording studio with Archie Moore (he played in Velocity Girl/Black Tambourines/Heartworms). Unfortunately, the band broke up before we could formally release any of those songs. Tiffany and Robin played in a band called No Flowers For Him for almost three years. They self-released a four song EP before calling it quits. Both of our former bands still have MySpace pages. That tells you how long ago those two bands existed.
TR: As previously mentioned, Ralph and I had played on a friend’s Alt Country project. Ralph played guitar and sang back up, and I played bass. Robin and I were indeed in an all girl band called No Flowers for him. I played guitar and sang, while Robin handled the drums. Most people described our sound as “Sleater Kinneyish”.
Is there much of a scene in Virginia Beach?
TR: There is a scene in Virginia Beach, but definitely the heart of the music scene in Hampton Roads has to be the Ghent section of Norfolk. All the hot spots are within walking distance.
RB: I would have to say there is more of a scene in the neighboring city of Norfolk. I’ve always got a good vibe, whenever we play out there. And the people who go out to the shows in Norfolk are supportive of bands that play all the local venues. They are really receptive to checking out new bands that play.
Tell me about the recording process on THE STARS SHINE BRIGHTER AFTER MIDNIGHT?
RB: When we were finally ready to go into the studio to record our EP, Neil from Planting Seeds Records suggested engineer Chris Kendrick who runs Whiskey Bear Studios in Virginia Beach. Then Jon Chaikin of NonStop Sounds in San Francisco mastered our EP. He’s worked with bands, such as, Pains Of Being Pure At Heart and Black Tambourines, so we were pretty excited to work with him. Depending on everyone’s schedule, I would drive down from DC on the weekends. The whole recording process took about four months. We would definitely work with Chris and Jon again.

How did the release on Planting Seeds come about?
TR: Planting Seeds have provided support and encouragement since the No Flowers For Him days. When Death Valley Rally formed I would keep sending Neil some stuff we recorded to get some feedback. Luckily, he liked it.
RB: Tiffany and Neil were friends for years. She would send Neil some very rough recordings of our rehearsals. Luckily, for us, he liked what he heard! We’re so grateful for all his help.
On your site I see a lot of fx pedals? What pedals do you guys use?
RB: My favorite pedals are the Rat Distortion pedal and the Boss RV-3 Digital Delay/Reverb pedal. Tiffany uses a Dan Electro Echo pedal and
Fulltone GT-500 Distortion/Overdrive pedal. And Robin uses a Big Muff Distortion pedal with her bass. We are all about the fuzz and reverb!

What would be your 5-band dream bill?
RB: Ride, Swervedriver, The Wedding Present, The Cure, The Jesus And Mary Chain.

What’s next for the band? More recording? Touring?
TR: Definitely both… We are working on new material currently, along with January dates we are also planning to tour in March.
RB: We already have some shows lined up in early January. As far as recording, definitely sometime next year. Oh, and we are planning on shooting a video for our song “Farewell” sometime in November.

Tell me a band or two from Virginia Beach that I should know about?
RB: You should check out this band called Suburban Living. Their sound reminds me of a band that you would find on the label Captured Tracks (Wild Nothing, Beach Fossils, DIIV, etc.).

Final thoughts? Words of wisdom? ANYTHING YOU WANTED TO MENTION THAT I DIDN’T ASK?
RB: Thanks for showing interest in our band! That’s about it!

BONUS QUESTION: Who in the band surfs? I saw a tri-fin in one of the photos?
PS- Wes Laine….former 80’a pro surfer from VA Beach!
TR: Ha ha, those are my dad’s boards. I know Ralph surfed more when he was younger and mostly paddleboards now. I used to dabble in surfing when I was younger, but not so much anymore.
RB: Wow! Either you did your research to find the most obscure trivial fact about Virginia Beach or you’re an old school surfer!
I’ve been an avid surfer since I was a young “grom” growing up in Virginia Beach. Those surfboards actually belong to Tiffany and her father. We practice in her parent’s garage. Ever since I moved to DC years ago, I haven’t been able to surf as much as I used to (living more than three hours away from the beach). Whenever I’m in town for band practice, and the waves are halfway decent, I’ll take my longboard out.

Growing up, I would see Wes Laine out in the line up at several of our local surf spots. It was alway so surreal to see him in person out in the water, after just reading about him in some surfing magazine.

Kendall Jane Meade, also known as MASCOTT, has been making music for a few decades now. First with the band Juicy and she then, in the 90’s, began making music herself under the name MASCOTT. The debut ep, ELECTRIC POEMS was released in 1998 on the Le Grand Magistery label. Since then she has released several records under that moniker, all worthy of your time (and don’t forget the Anders & Kendall record released earlier this year, WILD CHORUS, which she did with Anders Parker). I wanted to find out some history so here you go…..

Did you grow up in the Detroit area? What was that like?
Until I was seven we lived in Port Huron, MI. My parents bought a ranch house on the lake. I remember snowmobile rides in the winter and sailing in the summer. In my mind, all the guys looked like Burt Reynolds from Smokey and the Bandit and the ladies dressed like Carol King on the cover of Tapestry. We later moved to Grosse Pointe, which was a culture straight out of the Preppy Handbook. Lots of Van Morrison, gin and tonics and navy blue blazers. My sister Shelby was a rebel and had multicolored hair. She and her friends would go dancing or see bands in downtown Detroit. When I was old enough, I did it too. It was interesting to experience both worlds.

When did you first start playing/writing music?
When I was about 21, my friend Jen & I started a band as a summer fun project. I had some musician pals show me some chords and then we wrote some silly songs. That was Juicy. Even though it was a joke, I started to really love writing and expressing myself. Making melodies. After Juicy broke up, I started Mascott.

Why the name Mascott?
My mom always called me the “mascot” of the family. Jeff Baron suggested I add another “t” at the end, so I did.

First record you ever bought with your own money?
I think it was a Madness ’45. “Our House” with a B-side of “One Step Beyond” maybe?

When/why did you move to NYC?
I moved to NYC in 1994 because my Juicy bandmates, Jen and Meggean, both got jobs in the city. We wanted to keep playing, so I moved down from Boston. It’s kind of crazy to me that I’m still here. I always saw myself living in Seattle or somewhere smaller.

What would be your 5-band dream bill?
Laura Viers
Bob Dylan
Joni Mitchell
Wilco
Francoise Hardy

Tell us about your new record, COST/AMOUNT on Kiam Records. Did you change your approach to writing and/or recording for this one?
Well, it kind of happened naturally. I had written “Cost/Amount” for a songwriters’ night Jennifer hosted awhile ago. She wanted to release it as a single with a B-side of one of my favorite cover songs, so I got the band back together to record “Cost/Amount” and “They Don’t Know” by Kirsty MacColl. It was blissful to play with everyone again. We decided to record two more and make it an ep. It was really fun finishing the song “Our Life” with Jennifer. I had the melody and some lyrics kicking around, but she really helped it take shape in a way I wasn’t able to do.

In addition to Mascott and Anders and Kendall , what other musical projects are you involved in?
Those are my main projects! I’m hoping to write and record an acoustic record soon. I’ve always wanted to do that.

What’s next for the Mascott? Any touring?
I would love to tour if someone asked! Consider this an APB.

If push comes to shove, what is your favorite record of all time?
It would have to be Court and Spark or Blue by Joni Mitchell or Blood on the Tracks. Sorry, that’s three.

When not playing music, what are some other hobbies of yours?
I like walking around the city, watching music documentaries, hanging out with loved ones. I don’t really collect things. I’m most interested in feeling good and inspired whenever and wherever I can—increasing my positive vibrations by living an authentic life. Just keeping that in check is like a hobby!

Is Red Panda still an active label?
Well, it exists at this point as a place for my self-released Mascott records to live forever. I’m so proud of the records I released on it and my instinct in wanting to sign Jennifer O’Connor and The Naysayer. Both of those gals are powerhouses, still active in music and two of my dearest friends. It’s really cool that Jennifer has kind of returned the favor by releasing Mascott. It warms my heart.

Tell us one thing about you that might surprise us?
I went to finishing school in Atlanta, GA for one week when I was 16. I learned how to say “breakfast is served” in French, how to properly sip soup, how to descend into a chair like a lady, how to make small talk. If anyone needs to brush up, just ask me.

Final thoughts? Words of wisdom?
Let your freak flag fly. Be honest. Run far away from drama. Make art. Encourage goodness. Return favors. Surround yourself with positivity and love.
Let the bad-feeling stuff go so better stuff can come your way. I know I sound like a wanna-be Yoko Ono, but if we all focused on these simple things the world would be such a better place to exist.

Tinder is the band name for a musician from Toronto named Shawn. As you’ll read below, he was in other bands but this is his first solo record under the name Tinder. With help from producer Eric Matthews, Tinder released a terrific ep earlier this year that needs to be heard by all ears. Read below and find out what makes this guy tick an head on over to his bandcamp page while you’re at it.

Are you originally from Toronto? If not where did you grow up?
I’m from a smaller town SW of the T-dot (as we refer to ourselves). I lived in London England for a few years, and then settled in Toronto. It’s a great town.

What was the first record you bought with your own money?
I’m not certain, but I think it was a shared purchase between myself and my Mom, for the Musical Youth record. Pass the Dutchy was huge that year and I loved the cover shot of the band.

What was the first band/record that you became obsessed with?
One day, I, became interested in my Mother’s record collection. Loads of Elvis, Rolling Stones and of course the Beatles. My Mother was from England, and moved to Canada during the British invasion. So, not only was a complete Beatles record collection available to me, but in many cases UK and Canadian pressings…there were different track listings on the two versions. Needless to say, the Beatles became an obsession.

I used to drum along to the records too. I didn’t have a drum kit, but a practice pad and a pair of sticks. Oh, I did have a snare drum from my Grandfather. He played.

Is it your first record you have released under this band name or any other?
I am a drummer by trade. Played in a number of projects over the years. Had great experiences in the UK, and was in a band that released records/CD with indie record label – Fierce Panda.

This is the first record that I have put out – solo. Other than Eric, and he plays lots of stuff and sings some amazing harmonies, I wrote, played on and sang.

How did you come up with the band name, Tinder?
I liked the way it looked, thought it was easy to remember. I guess I like the meaning too.

I love the EP. How many other songs do you have ready for release?
Thank you very much. I don’t know any musician who doesn’t like to be liked.

I finished and recorded these songs a couple years ago and think I had enough for an album. I took some time off to focus on my daughter (she’s 2 now). Now that I’m focusing a little more on the music again, I feel like there is much more to come.

How did you meet Eric Matthews? Did he offer to produce?
I first reached out to Eric on Myspace. For me , that site really broke down boundaries. Pages were very similar, whether or not you were a indie act, or a pop star. Everyone had the same glitchy music player, etc.

Naturally you check out those who were inspirational to you. Eric’s records – solo and otherwise were really important to me when they came out. I was a bit of a music nerd in school, band, played percussion in a youth orchestra, liked and played jazz. Eric Matthews brought the elements of music that I loved; great recording, playing, arrangements, strong pop/rock songs, plus not only limited to the guitar…AND he was on Sub Pop!

I started my myspace page, and reached out to him and he kindly offered some feedback on my demos. Some of which ended up on the EP. Needless to say, I was chuffed. Following this Eric proposed we record some of these tunes. We did it completely via file sharing on ProTools. No pre-production. It was a lot of emailing.

How has the response been to the cd so far?
My friends and family like it. You and Dagger have been the first to review, which I thank you for. I continue to spread the word.

What has been the most interesting things someone has said about your music?
I like that most who listen have their own favorite song. Not one seems more popular than the other. I like that. I also like that people pick up on some elements that would be closely associated with my foundational influences (Beatles, Bowie, etc) but say it doesn’t sound like them. I think you said in your review Beatles to Badfinger, which was cool.

Will there be any shows/touring?
Currently, I am doing smaller shows, but plans are to have a larger band so to play the record more authentically…

If push comes to shove what is your all-time favorite record?
Gosh. Revolver is so important, London Calling, Television, Velvet Underground, Low/Heroes/Lodger? I think, I’ll do better on the top 10 discs.

Top 10 desert island discs?
London Calling – Clash
Elliot Smith – XO
Beatles – Revolver
Low – Bowie
Iggy Pop -The Idiot
Television – Marquee Moon
Big Star – #1 Record
Luna – Penthouse
The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground and Nico
Miles Davis – Kind of Blue

Special Mention:
Nick Drake – Five Leaves Left
John Grant – Queen of Denmark
Rolling Stones – Exile on Main Street
100% Dynamite – Soul Jazz Comp – I need some Dub/Reggae on an island, no?

There are so many more…

Name 5 bands from Toronto that I need to know about now.
Austra – does a cool This Mortal Coil meet electro-pop thing.
Diamond Rings – glammy with good tunes
Hooded Fang –
Timber Timbre
Great Lake Swimmers

You got a day job?
Yes. I work in HR.

Final words? Closing comments? Words of wisdom? Anything you want to talk about that I didn’t ask?
Thanks for the opportunity to speak to your readers and helping a guy out.