machinehead - Tumblr blog

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

CHARLOTTESVILLE

I’ve debated even writing this. You all know how I feel. I’ve said probably all I’ll ever need to say on the subject a year and half ago. I’m going to tell you the conversation my wife and I had Sunday morning. As she drank tea (me; Blue Bottle coffee) I told her about the white supremacist rally(s) held in Charlottesville, Virginia on Friday and Saturday, she had only heard bits… She was appalled. We discussed how people could feel that way, read our president’s pathetic “many sides” response to a domestic terrorist attack by white supremist's, watched the horrifying videos of a white supremacist's car barreling though counter-protesters killing one woman and injuring 34, and looked at the barreling car photo in the NY Times showing a pair of shoes on the ground (where a person used to be) while men hung upside-down in the air. It was seriously disturbing. She looked at me and said “ I hope you’re not planning on writing a General Journal about this…? I don’t want to have my life threatened again, I don’t want to have out kids lives threatened again… this kind of stuff scares me”. I sat in silence. I let her know I had begun dabbling with one a little before she woke up. She continued, “Berto, I was scared to go to your birthday bash, worried that some whack-o was going to bomb the place or do something crazy to you, or me, or someone else." "People know how you feel, do you need to add fuel to the fire?” And she’s right. I don’t need to add fuel to the fire. What happened to my family as a result of the “Racism In Metal” video was fucking scary. She’s not over it. I’m not over it. Hence, why I debated this. Even a year and half later, when I go out to most big metal shows, at least one group screams “white power” at me. I keep my head up, do my best to ignore them. And while a healthy fear of whack-o’s comes with the territory of being married to someone famous, no one “wants that”. Out of respect to her, I told her if I finished writing something, I would show it to her before posting asking for her blessing. She read this and said "go for it". So I’m not gonna offer my opinions on the events in Charlottesville. Instead, I’m gonna tell you a story about a journalist I used to know. His name was Onno Cro-Mag. He was a Dutch hardcore journalist / hardcore scene supporter /and co-owned a record company with Agnostic Front’s Roger Miret. He passed away a few years ago, but the mark he left on me was deep. And while the story is a little hazy to me 20 years later, I’ll do my best to honor the dead. I first met him on our 1994 tour across the Europe. He interviewed me a few times, we shared a mutual love of the hardcore band Cro-Mags, (that’s Onno who comes up and sings back ups on our Cro-Mags cover of “Hard Times” in the Dynamo ’95 YouTube clip). Ya see… Onno was an ex-skinhead. An ex-racist-skinhead. He was extremely open about that to me during our conversations / interviews and it always caught me a little off-gaurd. Not in a bad way… but let’s face it, how many ex-nazi’s do you know? It’s not the first thing you expect to hear out of someone’s mouth. He explained to me how he’d gotten caught up in some bullshit in the scene, at some point something serious happened, serious enough that it shook him out of it. He never looked back. At least in the handful of conversations we had, he looked back on those days with a brutal honesty and regret that was palpable. But he wasn’t apologetic about it, he was strong about it. He fucking owned it. It was a life-lesson that he never let himself forget. I gotta tell you, I’ve never met anyone quite like him. And it’s not like because he realized the error of his ways, that all was forgiven. No, no, no. He faced considerable danger from his ex-partners, he faced a considerable lack of trust from people who knew the “old Onno”. It bothered him deeply. We could all learn a lot from Onno Cro-Mag. We should all aspire to be so honest with our flaws. Because we all have them. We were/are all assholes at one (or many) points in our lives. I’m no exception to that. I look back on the person I was in my mid-twenties and think “who the fuck is that guy?” And if you change, someone will always be there to shove it in your face, the asshole you have been. Now more than ever, in today’s “gotcha” society someone is gonna try and say to you “LOOK, you were like THIS before!" I can assure you, as soon as I post this, some dickhead will post a 22 year old photo of Kerry King and I (from when MH and Slayer toured together in 1995), arms by our sides, walking alongside Jeff Hanneman and Gary Holt (both in nazi-salute), and go “why didn’t you write a song about these guys?!” Or say, “you’re a hypocrite for saying what you said about Anselmo!” That’s been the racist's rallying cry for decades, “how, if you’ve ever been racist, can you decry racism?”. Welp… Guess what..? That just ain’t gonna happen. And the fact is, most people are incapable of change. Once someones mind is made up, whether via political party, religion, whatever... it’s nigh impossible to change. It usually takes a considerable tragedy to shake ‘em out of it, and even then... But people can change. I don’t care if someone was in the nazi rally Saturday, if they were disgusted by the senseless death of Heather Heyer, and said “Fuck this shit, enough... I’m out”…. we need to be tolerant enough to respect that. A tad skeptical…? Sure. As I wrote this today, I read a story about an ex-white supremacist named Christian Picciolini who started an organization to help people get out of the WP movement called Life After Hate. In a nutshell: they are a non-profit created by former members (called “formers”) of the American violent far-right extremist movement. Their goal is to "work with individuals who wish to leave a life of hate and violence, and help organizations (community, educational, civic, government, etc.) in grappling with the causes of intolerance and racism.” In their own words, "Life After Hate works to counter the seeds of hate we once planted." Because on the flip side of this fiery topic, we need be non-judgemental of the defectors of that movement. The Onno Cro-Mags of that movement, who wish to change, who want out, but fear they won’t be accepted by anyone other than their own. I’ll leave you with this. Saturday my buddy Sean Doolittle (ex-Oakland A's pitcher and current National's pitcher) was on a tweet rampage (he along with comedian Patton Oswalt were seriously giving me hope for the entire world). Amazingly Sean has not been silenced and regularly post provocative, thoughtful opinions on political land mines for subjects. Kudos to him for being such a high profile sports figure, and still letting his voice be heard. He tweeted: "People say, 'if we don’t give them attention, they’ll go away'. Maybe. But if we don’t condemn this evil, it might continue to spread. This kind of hatred has never gone, but now it’s been normalized, they didn’t even wear hoods. It’s on us to condemn it and drive it out. There is only one side. Actual nazi’s just marched on Charlotesville, we have to come together and drive this hatred & domestic terrorism from our country. While it’s important to protect free speech, we have a patriotic obligation to condemn racism and domestic terrorism." - Sean Doolittle Links: https://www.lifeafterhate.org https://www.exitusa.org http://www.npr.org/2017/08/13/543259499/a-reformed-white-nationalist-speaks-out-on-charlottesville

#thegeneraljournals

29 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

HAPPY 23RD BIRTHDAY "BURN MY EYES”!

You read that right, 23 years ago today Machine Head's debut album was released on an unsuspecting world and launched their career in an unprecedented matter. While success would be slow in America, both overseas in Europe and Australia MH became an almost instant powerhouse in metal. Combining elements of thrash metal, hard-core, and hip hop along with a notable Industrial influence, the songs on “Burn My Eyes” resonated loudly with metal fans. Most controversially was the rap influence lyrically and visually in the “Davidian" video with Robb wearing his long hair in corn-rows and the boys walking around the city of Oakland with pit bulls, re-creating their favorite rap videos. Many metal fans did not approve, but most agreed it was a breath of fresh air. And while the boys definitely played up their street/tough guy image (occasionally to comical levels), the gritty lyrics featured on “Burn My Eyes” were reflection of a genuine tension the band was living through at the time, including gang fights, and several members dealing drugs to earn a living. Fun facts about Burn My Eyes: - The first song written for the album was “Death Church" inspired heavily by the album “Street Cleaner" by Godflesh - Started in Oct 1991, Machine Head it was originally a side project while Robb was still in Vio-Lence. But by Feb 1992 became his full-time project. - At one point Robb was asked to be a fill-in guitarist for industrial pioneers Ministry. Asked to provide some material, Robb asked future-drummer Chris Kontos to showcase 3 tunes he had written, “Blood For Blood", “Block” (then-called "Fuck It All”), and "Death Church” on a boombox. However, with Chris's hands full in both Sap, and Attitude Adjustment at the time, Robb asked Las Vegas resident Tony Costanza to join on drums. - The first 3 shows played by Machine Head were a house party in Oakland, Las Vegas, and the ’92 Los Angeles Metalfest at Gazarri’s all featuring Tony on drums. They would mark bassist and guitarist Adam and Logan’s debut live performances. - Chris Kontos joined in Oct. 1992 and his debut show with Machine Head was at Mayday Malone’s in Pleasant Hill, CA supporting Defiance. - The demo that would get Machine Head signed was recorded by John “Indo” at a friends home studio with amps in the bathroom, and all distorted vocals being recorded over the house intercom. - Then-Metal Maniacs journalist, (and current blabbermouth impresario) Borivoj Krgin, was pivotal in the band getting signed to Roadrunner records, convincing a not-so-sure Monte Conner that he should sign them. - BME was recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley in Nov 1993 at the same time as Rancid's - "Let’s Go”, Green Day’s - “Dookie" and Tesla’s - “Bust A Nut". The boys often hung out with Rancid and would periodically break into Tesla's recording studio and steal from the massive stash of candy Tesla had. - It was mixed by Colin Richardson once at Fantasy, and then re-mixed at scream Studios in Burbank California. In fact Machine Head, Rancid, and Green Day would all remix their albums at different locations. - The first tour the album was opening for label-mates Obituary who co-headlined with Napalm Death. MH and Napalm Death shared a bus together. - Burn My Eyes was original called “Davidian” and artwork was created featuring their logo on a TV screen. Thankfully saner minds prevailed. - The “Davidian" video was recorded throughout parts of Oakland, and San Francisco, culminating with a show at the Rock On Broadway featuring a then-unknown Deftones as main support. - The live photos of Deftones singer Chino Moreno for their debut album “Adrenaline, "are from the Davidian video shoot show. - BME charted at number #25 in the UK after the “Davidian" video received a substantial reaction on Headbanger Ball. - With Headbangers Ball cancelled in America, and no outlets to play the video, BME sold 1,100 copies its first week in the US. - Machine Head supported Slayer in both Europe and the US, returning to headline the same European venues just 6 month later. - Machine head and Stuck Mojo would headline in America in October-Dec 1995. The tour was dubbed "the disastour”, and while it had several highlights including Chicago at The Thirsty Whale and New Mexico, most of the tour would only have 100 people at most venues. In the south, they played to 35 people regularly. - A year and a half after release BME had sold a staggering 400,000 records worldwide, and a respectable 80,000 albums in the US. It would be the biggest debut album on Roadrunner. Do you have any recollections of this album? Did you catch MH on tour then? How does "Burn My Eyes" stand the test of time for you? Share your stories on our FB and Insta pages!!

#thegeneraljournals

7 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

HAPPY BIRTHDAY "THE BURNING RED"!

That's right 18 years ago today, our infamous third album was released. Inspiring some of our most beloved (and most loathed) songs, and in many ways drawing a dividing line between older metal fans and nu-er metal fans.

And while the boys choice of clothes and hair may have been, er uh, questionable... 18 years later the songs still stand up with live favorite such as "The Blood, The Sweat, The Tears”, and “From This Day” proving to be certifiable smashes in the MH Setlist.

The album undeniably changed the course of the band's history forever, some might argue for the worse, but most would agree it was absolutely for the better. The melodic influences and guitar tones of Robert Smith/ The Cure brought into the sonic spectrum with songs like “The Burning Red”, “Devil With The Kings Card” and ”Silver” would later inspire melodic masterpieces such as “Descend The Shades of Night”, “Darkness Within” and The Cure worshipping guitar intro to “Locust”.

Fun facts about TBR: - The first song written for the album was "I Defy” which contains a riff from then-guitarist Logan Mader. Logan quit right at the beginning of the writing sessions.

- The band held guitar tryouts for several months, with people traveling from all over the US and included Gary Holt of Exodus. - Ahrue Luster was brought in in the summer of 1998, based on his catchy song writing with Man Made God, but just as much from his riff-work in his previous death metal band The Horde Of Torment (of which Robb was a fan). - It was recorded by Ross Robinson at Indigo Ranch in Malibu, CA at the same time as the debut Slipknot album, with both bands occasionally living at Indigo Ranch with each other for periods of time. Joey Jordinson screams back ups during the build up/breakdown on the song “Nothing Left” (I’ve got nothing left for nobody / ahhhhhh) - It charted at #88 on the Billboard charts, and would go on to sell nearly 400,000 albums worldwide. It is the 2nd best selling album for Machine Head in terms of CD sales.

- The infamous video for “From This Day" was directed by rapper Master P's video director for “Make 'Em Say Ugh” Michael Martin at the behest of Roadrunner Records president Jonas Naschin. It shows Robb with blonde and black spikes in his hair, Dave with yellow leopard-print hair, Ahrue in a Kung Fu outfit ( a look later taken on by Zoltan of Five Finger Death Punch) and Robb in a much-debated / much-maligned bright orange nylon outfit (not a track suit!).

- The “From This Day” single was edited down to 3 minutes (with the breakdown in the middle deemed “too heavy for radio”), and featured a cover of the Bad Brains song “House Of Suffering” and the b-side “Alcholocaust” recorded during the TBR sessions. - Machine Head's “Year of the Dragon" tour in January 2000 would prove to be the biggest U.S. tour band had put together at the time. Featuring Reveille, and Primer 55, it turned Machine Head into a verifiable headliner in America. - Machine Head sold out the Brixton Academy in London (for the first time) on their headline tour of the U.K featuring One Minute Silence opening. Do you have any memories of this album?

Did you catch the band on tour during this period?

Share your stories on Facebook or Instagram!

#thegeneraljournals

12 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

Thrashed: K&K + Sacred Reich

What up everyone! Just shooting everyone a quick link to Journal that is now up at the K&K site. Again, this isn’t really a "General Journal" but there is so much story in these last 3 “Thrashed" collabs, that it feels like a TGJ, because it’s basically a General Journal with pictures! Of course feel free to disregard. But here is a sampling, and if you like what you see, read on. https://killersandkings.com/collections/thrashed ------------------------ What up! Robb here: I am super excited to announce the final installment of the Killers & Kings + Thrash collaboration called “Thrashed” with three of my favorite 80's thrash bands: Destruction, Forbidden, and Sacred Reich. In this Journal I’m going to talk to you about how this “limited edition” Sacred Reich collab happened, why I felt strongly about doing a collab with these bands, and walk you through the various stages the design went through to meld the Sacred logo with the Killers & Kings logo. *I talked about this in the previous Destruction and Forbidden Journals, so skip down a few paragraphs if you already read it.* One of the main reasons that I decided to do a Killers & Kings + Thrash collaboration was that I recently went to a streetwear convention in Las Vegas with my buddy Dom Deluca who owns an old school/legit skateboard/streetwear shop on Melrose called Brooklyn Projects. While walking through the convention we came a cross a streetwear company whose name I can't remember, (nor would I even want to promote), who had various flyers from 80s thrash and punk shows all over their booth. At first I was really stoked to see this, I was like "wow, a place that gets where Dom and I came from" But as I started talking to the people at the company, they clearly had no clue about any of it. In fact the guy straight up told me "yeah these are cool flyers right? We downloaded them off of The Google!”. Fuck that. And while I "get it"… I was kinda pissed that they were taking the culture that I grew up in, (and in some small way contributed to), and we're just using it to sell their brand. Dom called ‘em Culture Vultures. I walked away thinking, I want to do the collaboration with these bands and actually have it be from an authentic place. With the people that were there at the beginning of it, from people that contributed to it, and put it out to the world as a “limited edition”, premium shirt, with a rich, 14-color layout that stayed as true to the original art as is possible via modern screenprinting methods today. It was an epic undertaking, I reached out to several bands, (some of whom unfortunately declined after we created some really amazing artwork) but all 3 bands involved happily signed off on the collaboration. And all of the bands involved in this collab have been paid to use their artwork. The second K&K / Thrash “limited edition” collab shirt I’m releasing is Forbidden - Forbidden Evil. *** I met the Sacred guys back in 1988 when my previous band Vio-Lence stared touring. I believe Phil was friends with their singer Phil Rind and they would always come hang at the Phoenix shows. I can clearly remember driving in our van listening to the debut Sacred album and being way stoked on the song "Death Squad" which began with one of the heaviest riffs of it's time. So we're on our first U.S. tour, 5 band members, plus our manager Debbie Abono and co-manager/soundman/roadie/light guy/ bug-collector-extroidinaire (and future-MH-manager) Joseph Huston driving all across America in a cargo van. 7 people, all our gear and luggage packed in to the van (no trailer) drums tied to top of the van with cheap rope. Life was good, we got a solid break, we did our first tour of the U.S opening for Testament. Ya gotta remember...back in '88 there was no cell phones, no internet, no social media to keep us distracted, if you wanted to talk to your girlfriend you had to call her from a payphone pumping in an endless stream of quarters, but if you didn't have any money... What we did have was music... specifically, cassette tapes. We would play a show, load our gear in the van, maybe play some pool, try and talk a girl into a blowjob, and if that didn't work... a beer, if that didn't work... well, McDonalds would do. At first I wasn't old enough to be in some bars, so I had to wait in the van more than a few nights. Once the show was over it was just another long overnight drive to the next town, and whoever drove, controlled the stereo. Sometimes we'd drive halfway, crash out in a Motel 6 for a few, then drive the rest of the way in the morning. Deen, Phil and I drove the most, as well as Joseph (who we called Joey back then, and I still call Joe to this day), and on those tired nights driving it was always music that carried us through. In fact, when you're driving all that time, the band we were listening to had better have good "driving songs" or your cassette might get thrown out the window. Motorhead's - Best Of "No Remorse" got A LOT of play, and SR's - "Ignorance" and "Surf" did as well. I remember us catching them at The Channel in Boston later that year, and they were just killing it. KILLING IT! The Channel was PACKED, and people were loving this band, they played "Surf Nicaragua" and the place went NUTS... I mean NUTS! It was a straight up Thrash Smash! If I'm honest, a 20-year-old Robb Flynn was tad jealous. But ya know what... they had captured a moment, and when music works best, it channels the times. Not to mention, what a combination of words to make into a song!! "Surf Nicaragua"??!! Somehow it worked! It felt new, they from a new area (Phoenix), their singer Phil always had an interesting take on the world, he was a smart dude with cool political lyrics, and of course, a massive pro-weed stance which I thought was great. I caught 'em at the Omni in Oakland a few times, most memorably when they co-headlined with Sepultura on the wonderfully titled "New Titans On The Block Tour" (a not-so-subtle dig at the Clash Of The Titans tour featuring Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth) By the time "Independent" came around a few years later (now on a major label with major push), they seem poised to take over the world. Little did I know, what a strange and interesting thread Sacred Reich would weave into my life. As many of you know, Dave McClain was in Sacred, he joined them on their "Independent" album. I always loved the title track, goddamn what a hook! Machine Head even worked on this tune for a covers album that we had contemplated but never came out. Check him out in the video below and see what a svelte, long-haired, greyhound-like Dave McClain looked like back in 1993 in the Mark Pellington (Pearl Jam - Jeremy) directed video for the title track. 3 years later Dave would join Machine Head, and the rest is history. It's never lost on me, the journey this band has played, in my musical career. I reached out to singer Phil Rind, and he was way down for this collab. Sacred have just gotten active again, and are gearing up for a U.S. tour in the Fall which encourage all of you to check out. **Read the rest of the story here: https://killersandkings.com/collections/thrashed

#TheGeneralJournals

4 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

NO CELL SERVICE

Got back from a week-long camping trip in Burney Falls, which is about a 5 hours Northeast of us near the Oregon/Idaho/Nevada border.

Man, it was gorgeous up there, 85 to 90 degrees everyday, huge campgrounds surrounded by pine / douglas fur trees (which basically look like giant Xmas trees). The waterfalls (Burney Falls) is all snow run off, and about a mile down from the falls it runs into a lake where you can wakeboard/boat. You can hike around the falls which is beautiful, and swim at the base of the falls itself (if you dare) but remember, it’s snow run-off, so when I tell you it’s cold, lemme tell ya… IT’S FUCKING COLD! 42 degrees if you’re lucky, maybe 10 degrees above freezing.

Of course, the boys and I had to have a man-off and jump into the falls. Zander (at 13) and his buddy were a little more up for it, Wyatt (at 10) was not so brave. And I’m telling you the shock of that cold is insane. You have to put your feet in the ice water first and let them adjust to the frigid temperature maybe 10 times, because the pain you feel on just your feet is literally unbearable at first. It felt like your feet are being smashed. I could last about 5 seconds the first couple times. For some reason once your feet adjust, the rest of your body isn’t so bad. I talked a younger guy into doing it and he was afraid of having heart attack! And yeah, he is right… it’s a freakin SHOCK!

But once you climb out of the water it is such a damn rush.

You get a high I can’t even describe

I jumped in 3 times.

Zander and Wy-Guy twice.

The rest of the week was spent just boating and swimming, tubing and just chillin’. We fund an awesome section of bridge that crossed over the lake that you could climb and jump into the water from.

The most interesting part is that there is ZERO cell phone reception, and the only wi-fi is a mile away at the check-in area, and even then it’s small gazebo with what amounts to dial-up wi-fi speeds. I had to drive 15 miles back in to town to get gas and that was the only real service I got.

And ya know what… it was great.

Of course like everyone, I ALWAYS look at my phone/email/Insta feed when taking a shit.

Sit down on the toilet seat, pull out my phone.

And while I recently did a full-on social media detox, I would still check email, text, or talk on the phone. So this was straight up weird. I’d go take a shit in the morning and not be able to do ANYTHING. My phone was useless other than as a camera, and even then couldn’t post any pics.

And then, it wasn’t weird…

In fact, I just stopped taking my phone to the bathroom. There was nothing to look at, no reason to bring it.

At night, since none of our phones worked we would build a fire, play music from an iPod, drink, and do something strange… we’d talk…

And we wouldn’t talk about some funny thing in our feeds, or a photo, or YouTube clip… we would just talk... about life.

I know, I know, what a bunch of weirdos!!

We were all forced to unplug… and let me tell you… it was really, really nice.

It made us all realize how fucking addicted to our phone we are. And it is, a straight up addiction. I know for me it is.

This week of "phone detox", couldn’t have put it more in perspective.

We drove back on the friday and I just left my phone off, turned it on Sat morning, checked feeds, and nothing was different, I hadn’t missed anything, literally nothing. I was almost annoyed looking at my feeds.

I love social media, I love that we can connect, I love that people can express themselves, but it’s so important to draw a boundary. To step away from it all, to unplug, and not look at someone else life, but to just enjoy YOUR life, and your friends life.

Because really, when its all said and done, thats all were going to have to take with us when it ends.

#TheGeneralJournals

8 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

CYPRESS HILL

Anybody remember these lyrics…? "Say some punk try to get you for your auto, Would you call the one-time, play the role model? Nooooo, I think you play like a thug Next hear the shot of a magnum slug Hummin', comin' at cha yeah ya know I'm gonna gat ya” Or this one? "Time for some action, just a fraction of friction I got the clearance to run the interference into your sattelite, shinin a battle light, swing out the gat, and I know that will gat ya right? Here's an example, just a little sample. How I could just kill a man!” Or this one "Do my shit undercover Now it's time for for the blubber Blabber To watch dat belly get fatter Fat boy on a diet Don't try it I'll check your ass like a looter in a riot” And that ends with: "Happy face n***a never seen me smile”. Always loved that line! Been on a serious Cypress Hill kick lately. I forgot how good their debut S/T record is! Maybe that it’s just that it takes me back to that time (1991)? Regardless, I can’t get enough of it right now. I saw that Billy from Biohazard is jamming’ with Cypress Hill’s Sen-Dog in a new band called Powerflo, and that sent me back down the rabbit hole. I first heard about Cypress Hill from a local Bay Area magazine called BAM. It had a hip-hop column that was pretty small, but was often on the pulse of all the new stuff. I checked ‘em out solely on the advice of the columnist (whose name eludes me) but got hooked instantly. The music was so fresh for the sound at the time, which relied heavily on 60’s psychedelica (sampling Hendrix and a plethora of cool guitar licks for their hooks) and 60’s pop yet with an almost bluesy major key undertone throughout. It sounds crazy to say now, but back then there weren’t a whole lotta’ people singing about weed like these dudes were. That was the surface; party stuff, but there was a real dark feel to the lyrics. The album opener ”Pigs” (about crooked cops) sets the dark tone and then track #2 was, (which ended up being the hit single) “How I Could Just Kill A Man” (which sampled a guitar lick from Jimi Hendrix's “Are You Experienced”) and “Hand On The Pump” (of a shotgun…) taking it even darker, melding the post-Rodney-King-era of Los Angeles, with their South Central, blunted out state of mind. Something about the bluesy feel of the music mixed the B-Real’s nasally almost nursery-rhyme delivery made it all so goddamned catchy you could not get the songs out of your head. One thing I always loved that the main music-crafter DJ Muggs did was he almost always brought in a bridge/key change at the halfway point of each song. It doesn’t sound like much, but hip hop at the time (and even now) kept the same beat/melody almost entirely the same. They brought terms like “gat,” “blunted,” to the public consciousness. Soon enough every rapper and pop group from Ice Cube to TLC was taking a crack at the Cypress Hill sound with bluesy riffs, and major keys at a time when hip-hop was primarily atonal and noisy (think - Public Enemy). By the time I got into them, I had pretty much stopped smoking weed, but I just loved the vibe that they brought. Genevra and I went and caught them live on this album, they were headlining a small club in San Francisco with a fairly eclectic bill for the time. There was Money B of Digital Underground opening, and pro-African, uber-black-power, also-rans X-Clan (who were never really that good, but dressed so crazy and militant that they stuck out) as main support. Cypress Hill came on and played a short but inspired set that got the crowd going nuts. I actually met B-Real before the show, who was just chilling’ in the crowd. I said “what up B-Real?” He took one look at Genevra (who looked ridiculously hot), gave me a completely dead-fish handshake and started chatting her up. I was “all right, we're outta here!" It was a great fuckin’ show, the energy, and buzz in the audience was palpable. Not sure if I would do that now (go to a hip hop club), but I was 20-something and fearless back then. And while the hits from the debut album still resonate with me, it deep album cuts like “Pyschobetabuckdown" and "Latin Lingo" that truly set "the kids from the Hill" apart. The latter blending english and spanish to form the bi-ligual “Spanglish” that flowed so good when you heard rapper Sen-Dog’s baritone with lines like "Troop like a vacuo, who said I was baracho, had an attitude, tried to play me macho, Just relax, calmado mijo, Sen Dog with the funky bilingual.” I still don’t know what most of it means, but it somehow made sense. I followed them through the next couple records with 2nd album “Black Sunday containing the massive smash hit “Insane In The Membrane,” and the very metal-sounding “We Ain’t Going Out Like That” (which sampled Black Sabbath’s harmonica intro for “The Wizard”). Overall the album wasn’t as strong. It seemed rushed with a lot of the exact same lyrical content, though with that said, it still contained one of the most random / awesome lyrical gems with “like a chicken wing, pa-cock, so you can just suck my cock!” in the track “Lil’ Putos.” So fucking random, but every once in a while, I still hum it! Temples Of Boom was the last record I really delved into and it had a few gems like “Throw Your Set In The Air” (as in: your gang set), and the brutally dark Ice Cube diss track “No Rest For The Wicked,” but other than that it was a little all over the place. I didn’t even hear the next album “IV”, but then they came back stronger than ever with 2000’s “Skull & Bones” and the rap/rock cross-over double hit “So You Wanna Be A Rock/Rap Superstar” which they did 2 versions of (a Rap and Rock version) that worked equally strong. Great storytelling mixed with the realities of being in the music business. They have gone on to become a southern California staple with an semi-annual festival (I think) called The Cypress Hill “Smokeout” (Machine Head played it back in 2000, but we were way out of place). Last I saw them Cypress killed it, putting on a really good show that showed them evolve into a full live backing band playing along with them. Since I listen to all of my music solely on Spotify, I’ve been playing the latter day tracks and checking out what they’ve been up to (Spotify is GREAT for music discovery, I cannot tell you how many bands / songs I’ve found since going purely Spotify!) and they definitely continued to evolve a bring in some cool new tunes. But if you want to go back in time to 1991 and check out a record that changed shit, a record that hit so hard when it dropped, that was pissed off, a record that even inspired a few of my own lyrics on Burn My Eyes (“Blood For Blood" in particular) check out Cypress Hill’s self titled. Spotify: Cypress Hill – Cypress Hill YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ7DOkfbgpQ

youtube

Subscribe to The General Journals: http://thegeneraljournals.hosted.phplist.com/lists/?p=subscribe

#thegeneraljournals

3 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

RE: PINEAPPLE SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND MORE

I don’t know if any you have tried this ridiculous experiment with sunflower seeds and/or pineapple, but the comments and this music video by nut job/ Head Case Floyd MC BBQ have kept me in stitches!! @mcbbq - Big Loads (music video): https://youtu.be/s7wqVXBTRHI

And I couldn’t stop laughing at this photo: https://instagram.com/p/BU4jHD1FDj_/ Dyin’ ova' here! This just in; my A&R head honcho Monte Conner tells me that veteran music manager Scott Koenig claims that pure Pumpkin Seed Oil produces HUGE loads! One more thing to try I guess... I have yet to see any results, but it is supposed to take a couple weeks. Below are 3 of the most interesting replies I recieved regarding muslim/gay friends. From: Peter Southwood Sunflower seeds and pineapple - no fucking idea. Sounds like bullshit. Muslim Friends - Apart from having very few friends anyway, none at the moment. However, I have known plenty, and the one thing I know is that they are people first, Muslim second (unlike the majority of Christians I have met). The Muslim community in the UK don’t even recognise jihadists as being Muslim. They don’t want the three pricks who attacked London on Saturday to be buried with Muslims. Kathy Griffin - It’s all a matter of perspective. If there weren’t beheadings by extremists in the middle east, would we see the picture in a different light? If this were during the election campaign, would we see it as less disgusting? With what Trump has said about Muslims, trying to ban them from going to the US, people could see the image as a jihadist with the presidents head, and therefore an attack on America. Personally, I have no problems with the picture; not funny nor satirical, but controversial and too easy to be misinterpreted by those who want to. Gay friends - Can’t say much about having gay friends; as I mentioned before, I have very few friends as it is, let alone gay ones. However, being gay myself, I find it funny that it’s frowned upon in the metal community. Let’s face it, one of the most popular rock singers was gay (Freddie Mercury), and the main figure behind the leather look that a lot of metal bands and fans adhere to, Rob Halford, got his look from the Leather scene in the gay community! Personally, I’m not worried about being open at a metal gig. In fact, whilst queuing outside the Hammersmith Apollo to see you guys, I got speaking to a couple of others. When they asked if I was married, I told them that my boyfriend and I were waiting for a while. We then went on to have a fucking fantastic time inside. The fact that I’m in the UK and not the US may explain it somewhat; there’s no-where near the level of bigotry over here. There are still some fucktards, but I’ve been lucky enough not to have come across them (not that I would, even if they wanted it!) From: Waseem Ahmed Mr Flynn A 43 year old Londoner here who’s been listening to your music since 1994, well-kept digipaks of Burn My Eyes and TMTC proudly sat in my music collection, along with your other releases. And a muslim too. And I naturally know shedloads of muslims, both professionally and personally. Last Sunday, I was on the underground on my way to the theatre in the Covent Garden area with my kids. My sister sat opposite me, still heavily mourning the loss of her childhood favourite Chris Cornell. I received a text from a friend in Paris asking me to be careful as emotions would be running high following the London Bridge incidents. I responded that I’d be fine, "I’m wearing a Machine Head t-shirt so everyone will love me." Then it hit me. We’ve reached a point in London, one of the most awesome multicultural cities in the world, where we are now having to explain ourselves and how we differ to the maniacs that wreaked havoc in Manchester and London. Passing questions. All politely asked though. Are you ashamed about what they did? You’re not like those other muslims are you? At that moment, protecting me from any glare was my Bloodstone & Diamonds tour t-shirt. Damn, bad times. My 9-year-old boy is going to his first gigs this year, ticking off Linkin Park and Metallica of his wishlist. He’s scared after hearing about the Ariane Grande concert incident. I’ve told him he will be safe as security has increased everywhere. Fortunately he’s not cottoned onto the muslim label thing yet. That would be heartbreaking to see. I’ve been gigging in London since the age of 17. Classic venues such as The Marquee and Astoria have gone. One thing has remained. The camaraderie at metal gigs, irrespective of faith, skin tone or whatever. Everyone looks after everyone and we’re all there for the same thing. Together. Irrespective of the nonsense taking place in the world, I hope this bond remains throughout my lifetime and beyond. Well now you kinda know another muslim, although via email. If you’re ever in London and fancy a hearty home cooked curry, you’re most welcome to join me and my family. I’ll invite my gay work colleagues too. They are awesome too. And one’s a diehard metaller and one my favourite gig buddies ☺ All the best Waseem From: Svetlana Simanski Subject: Muslims and pineapples Hey Robb, I just read your TGJ email and laughed a lot - what a mix of topics and - since I'm already craving for new MH stuff - I thought the email would maybe an update. Anyway... as a straight girl I have been confronted with the pineapple-hypothesis several times in my life and - until today - in my opinion this is just a way to get girls into BJs a little more. :D Men can never get enough, so they invented this hoax to maybe achieve exactly this. And yes, I already tried to prove the hypothesis. Guess what, the pineapples had no effect at all. If you've ever tasted cum in your life you might know why pineapple-flavor sounds like a nice game-changer. So much on this topic. Now lets get to the muslims. I'm 28 years old right now and I am from Germany. After WW2 there came many guest-workers from Turkey to help us out here, to rebuild the country and most of them stayed, had families and their kids had families themselves, but I never was in touch with them. I met some in my time as a student at university, but never was closer friends with one so I didn't have a chance to get to know the culture or the religion. So, honestly, I had some prejudices. Not from my own experience, but from the word that spread. I live in a big city and we have to deal with some issues here. There are places you shouldn't visit after dark or even whole parts of the city which are not completely safe for white girls in black clothes and without a hijab. Well, of course I had kind of an inner fight with myself and these prejudices. I didn't want to have them at all and since we welcomed like two millions of refugees in Germany over the past two years I decided to work this out for me. Can you believe we still have Nazi-stuff going here in Germany? Didn't they learn anything from history or is it just a story, a bad fairy tale for some people? Honestly, I don't get it. Anyway I took a new job offer at a stationary youth welfare institution and had no idea what to expect. This was kind of an experiment for me and I started six months ago. I work there with 22 refugees. With kids. They came all the way without their parents or any other relatives. The youngest one is 15 years old and he arrived in Germany when he was 13. He did the whole fucking trip vom Afghanistan to Germany by himself. This age I played with barbie or tried out how to look good with make-up. Those were my problems. Wow... I thought I had to go through some things in my life, but I realized it was nothing compared to what they did to come here. What they had to do in their countries to basically survive. They killed for the Taliban to save their families. Can you imagine? No, neither can I. So now I know like 26 muslims (my boss and some coworkers are muslims as well) and I love them all. The kids are so kind and so cute, help- and respectful. You can't imagine. For me this changed everything in my life. Before this job I couldn't image to have a romantic relationship with a muslim, now I can. Besides... they're all a little too young, but in ten years from now... I'd see a bunch of handsome and polite young men from Afghanistan and I can tell you, there are some really, really special characters among them. Just awesome. I got to know their culture a little bit, their habits and routines in religious practice and I even started to learn a little Persian. My job is to look after them in any situation and explain the pitfalls of german bureaucracy. We are also friends somehow, they tell me stories about their lives in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Eritrea - sad and happy ones - and this is basically all I need. This job just gives me back so much. The love and the kindness you get back from these kids is amazing. It took some time to realize: I'm part of their lives now, I am somehow their sister, mother, aunt and friend at the same time. I can't write down all my experiences here, but I wanted to let you know at least a small part of my story and how this job changed my view, my behavior, my thinking and the way I speak to others about muslims or their culture, especially from Afghanistan. I'm hoping my English isn't too bad and you can somehow imagine what I tried to describe. Hope to see you in Germany in 2018. I'll be there, somewhere in the crowd. Cheers from Germany, Svetlana

Subscribe to The General Journals:

http://thegeneraljournals.hosted.phplist.com/lists/?p=subscribe

#thegeneraljournals

4 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

PINEAPPLE, SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND MORE

PINEAPPLE: A) Semen taste enhancer? Or B) Cheap attempt by dudes to get blowjobs? As per our conversation last Friday on Facebook Live, what started out as a fairly mundane conversation, we somehow devolved into whether sunflower seeds make big loads for dudes. Ya see... I had read a story about how Vitamin E (which sunflower seeds are high-in), has this uh, enhancing, effect on men. Many folks weighed in on the subject, saying that they would do a test (and I believe it was 2 weeks before results would be *ahem* “seen”). Many folks offered alternate opinions about what makes big loads with the theory that both “celery” and "cucumber", contribute to big loads. But THEN, someone chimed in that eating pineapple, or drinking pineapple juice can make your cum taste sweeter!! News to me. I had/have never heard this theory, so the Facebook Live-ers and I agreed we we're going to try and convince their girlfriends/wives to see if that was the case. I failed to, uh, convince my wife to test the theory, so I’m relying on you guys. But it also raised the question, do big loads matter? Is slightly sweeter cum going to make your chances of getting a blowjob higher? I ran it past my wife who seemed to not give two shits about the size of a dudes “load”. “Who cares?” was her answer, and slightly sweeter cum was not-in-any-way going to inspire her to slob-the-ol’-knob (much to my chagrin). Ladies (or gentlemen I guess?) weigh in and let me know! Email me the results of your tests (not literally of course!) and I’ll post the funniest, most interesting ones. MUSLIM FRIENDS: Does anybody know any Muslims? I follow the rapper Immortal Technique on Twitter and he asked that very question. It made me think... do I know any Muslims? And if you’ve never checked out IT, do yourself a favor and listen to “Revolutionary Vol. 2”, one of the greatest hip hop records of all time. But back to muslims, yes I do know a few, our old babysitter was muslim, my Uber driver Ozan (a.k.a. “Gay Muslim Pizza”) is also muslim. He recently immigrated from Turkey, he's a funny motherfucker, slightly annoying, a die-hard metal-head, and yes, he is Muslim. We’ve had many deep discussions about religion, terrorism, what Turkish people think about that bullshit (most aren’t even very religious) the other countries that surround and often threaten Turkey, as well as what is was like growing up in Turkey. He's been living here in the US (legally) for the last seven years and he loves it. After reading that question though, it made me wonder… I don't really know that many Muslim people... in fact, he may be the only one that I know at the moment (other than of course "Dirt Junior”). There was a kid on the old MH Message Board The Frontlines named Tharsh that was muslim… other than that… not sure… though being non-religious myself, I don’t really ever ask, cause I don’t really care. Isn’t religion what got us into this mess? Regardless, do you know any Muslim people? Are you friends with any muslims folks? If your white and christian would you ever date a muslim if she/he was smokin’ hot? GAY FRIENDS: Anybody here listen to Howard? There was a hilarious episode recently where they brought in a professional lie detector test, and did it on Richard and Sal to see if they were gay. Holy fuck, the results were so goddamn hilarious. I could not stop laughing listening at this episode. As it turns out, both Richard and Sal are gay according to this test, (and while nobody knows for sure), it made me wonder the same thing as the Immortal Technique question... do any of you guys know someone who is gay? I mean, everybody's got that gay cousin, right? We all have that gay relative, right? Hell, I have two gay cousins, my older cousin Ronnie who’s an attorney for San Francisco, and my cousin Stacy. I knew Ronnie was gay since he was a kid, he lived with us for a while as a teen. When he was 12 he used to "practice kissing" on me. When he finally came out of the closet (at around 20) it was like, “well shit... saw that one coming a mile away! " So, does anybody here know any gay people? Is anybody here gay? Pretty uncommon/frowned-upon in the metal community, so it’d be interesting to know. Though if you don’t want to answer I fully understand. Let me know I'll share the most interesting responses KATHY GRIFFIN: Man there's a whole bunch of people still going crazy over this Kathy Griffin thing. I’m surprised that folks are as up in arms as they are considering the level Trump has taken thing to. I saw the picture, and I don't even get what the fuck it means… I thought she was re-creating the Brujeria album cover! I don't know…? Thank satan for the comedians of the world right now. They are literally and figuratively our guiding light. WAY more than any 2-dimensional musician, and certainly more than ANY rock/metal musician who’s more afraid of losing their spot at Rock On The Range and turning off a potential-republican-CD-purchaser than pushing any fucking boundary what-so-ever. Jim Carrey said this of the photo, “I think it is the job of a comedian to cross the line at all times — because that line is not real,”. Adding, “If you step out into that spotlight and you’re doing the crazy things that [Trump] is doing, we’re the last line of defense. And, really, the comedians are the last voice of truth in this whole thing.” And it’s fucking true. True for comedians. True for musicians. Artists, musicians, comedians hold a mirror up to the world, to society, and show us the uncomfortable things back, show us beautiful things back, allow us to process the hardships, and wonder of life… Whether it was George Carlin making us laugh that “Religion Is Bullshit". Whether it was Chris Rock breaking down the difference between “Black People and N*****s" Or Whether it was Black Sabbath singing about brain-washed minds in "War Pigs". The Beatles singing about Civil Rights in “Blackbird”. Bob Marley singing about freedom. Rage Against The Machine singing about all kinds of revolution. The Mirror Which Flatters Not… George Carlin - Religion is Bullshit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r-e2NDSTuE Chris Rock - Black People vs. N*****s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3PJF0YE-x4

#thegeneraljournals

5 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

MORE CORNELL

Below is a collection of the most interesting replies to my General Journal inbox and our Facebook page. There are many, many, many more great/fantastic replies in the FB thread here: https://www.facebook.com/MachineHead/posts/10154745571783823 But these are the ones that hit me the hardest for whatever reason. Reading everyone's replies made me realize that it’s been a very difficult thing to process for many of us. I appreciate the well wishes from everyone. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Yes, it triggered something dark inside me, something closer to the surface than I realized. Writing/talking helped me process it. Talking about it on our group-text helped a lot, talking about it with my guys at practice helped a lot. Writing the journal helped a lot, reading you’re replies helped a lot. And so I’m sharing your replies to hopefully help anyone else struggling with this. It needs to be discussed. His suicide, depression, mental health, whatever we want to call needs to be addressed. We need to get over our uber-macho, alpha-male-society, and be able to talk about these things. For ourselves, for our kids, for our future. My oldest son had heard Genevra and I talking about Cornell. Driving him to school 2 days ago, he asked me how he died. I told him. He didn’t understand why someone would do that. It was tough conversation. And my first thought was to not tell him what it meant, but then my larger fear went to "what if he feels this way already?” And before you go, “oh kids don’t feel that way, kids are just happy all the time”, I have 2 friends who are going though it with their tween/teenagers. So we spoke about it, and I told him "I hoped that him and Wyatt never felt that way because THAT scared me even more." It was heavy… How any parent lives through that I’ll never know. Back when the news broke, the band/crew were talking over the group-text, Phil shared something amazing with us. It was a post from our long-time friend Steffan Chirazi. He had posted his eloquent thoughts regarding Cornell's suicide (written before suicide was confirmed). If you read only one of the replies below, scroll to the bottom and read his. It’s well worth your time. ——————————— From: Paul Miller Subject: Re: CHRIS CORNELL To: The General Journals Yeah man. I know that's not a formal way to start a reply, but that last line, "Listen, Honor, Remember Chris Cornell"... that's the truth. Did so today. Soundgarden was one of those bands that I listed to and enjoyed, but I didn't run it into the ground. It was great music, and I didn't want to burn myself out on it. It would rotate, but I'd save it for special occasions. When "Black Hole Sun" hit MTV, I'd find myself turning the tv so that I wouldn't get sick of it, but it became unavoidable for awhile (at least here in Indiana). I appreciate your words. They ring true here, too. Never got that low, but my thoughts have been dark enough. It scares me, too. But, I want to forge ahead for my 5 year old - she is what keeps me runnin'. All the best to you, and thank you for the music through the years. I'm sure you hear people say that your music helped them through rough times. I believe it. It kept me focused on doing something personally productive to develop my chops as I wore out the cassette of 'Burn My Eyes' while learning to play your riffs! So, thank you for that. Take care, Paul From: Rochelle Mangan Subject: Re: CHRIS CORNELL To: The General Journals Thank you for this, I loved reading it and am enjoying re listening to a lot of the songs and albums you mentioned with a different perspective on them (this is something I enjoy doing with music a lot, listening to things after people have told me their ideas and opinions on them etc). I just want to say though that I hate the "they had so much to live for" type comments. Even if it's done from an emotional, irrational state, I can't not say something about it. I will find it hard to express concisely and over email the many reasons why but one of the main things is this.... Mental health is hard to deal with because it's invisible, it's so easy to feel like you're a flawed person somehow rather than recognise you are actually unwell. This can mean that experiencing severe depression or whatever when everything in your life is "going great" can (in my experience) often make it so much more confusing and distressing. I'm definitely not saying it's harder to deal with if your life's great! But, if things aren't great - you've lost your job, you're struggling with a relationship etc it's easier to sort of say to yourself "well of course I'm struggling". I feel like it's also sometimes easier for others to empathise with you if they can see some logical reasons why. It's also easier to get help from public health services (in NZ anyway). When I'm in a bad patch and I have good things happening in my life I ALWAYS find it harder to not do damaging behaviours because my external things are so at odds with what's happening internally. It's like a big war going on and it is so confusing, so exhausting, just one massive dangerous mind fuck! Anyway I hope this doesn't make you feel worse than you may already be feeling, I don't mean it to. I just feel that it's important to say these things sometimes. I know suicide can be confusing to people but as you may know, when you're there, it's not. Thank you for your ramblings and your even more amazing music. It has definitely kept me alive in a big way numerous times. Rochelle xxx From: Anita Hoeve Subject: Re: CHRIS CORNELL To: The General Journals Even though I'm a Machine Head fan from the start, and I really enjoy your journals, I don't normally respond to them. Surely you have better things to do than read all the comments, but wow, this day really sucked, didn't it? I was utterly shocked to hear about Chris' passing. Even more to learn it was suicide. Feel so sad that he felt this was the only way out. I love his voice, his music, listened to Superunknown just last week. Between all the social outpourings I read today, yours really stood out. Thank you for your story, your memories. For really taking the time to share them with us. They got to me. Take care Robb, give your kids and Genevra an extra big hug tonight. Love, Anita From: "Kondalski, Joe" Subject: RE: CHRIS CORNELL To: 'The General Journals' I was at the Fox Theater last night to see Soundgarden, here are a couple of pics from the show. We were in the front row and Chris gave us fist bumps and was very engaged with the fans during the show. Ps- these are cell phone pics, I will send some pics from my camera later. Feel free to post this pics anywhere. From: Fábio Gil Subject: Re: CHRIS CORNELL To: The General Journals From a 34 year old fan boy trying to play it cool: if you need help, go and search for it and solve your shit, man. We all have demons and hard things we can't handle by ourselves, sometimes. So, for this fanboy, and millions around the world, for whom your TALENT and music inspires so fucking much, put yourself together and "headup". I have a band and we are looking for a proper singer for a time now, maybe a year... And you, dear Robb, your vocal approach, your melodies, ressonate in my head, pushing me to break my barriers and fears and step to the mic (I play of the guitars). This is how much you inspire me. And I'm... just one. Imagine what you do daily to your legion of fans. Is there anybody out there? Yea. There is. Always. From Portugal, with MUCH MUCH love, Fábio Gil. From: Jean-Baptiste Collinet Subject: Re: CHRIS CORNELL SPOTIFY PLAYLIST To: The General Journals Thanks for the playlist, Robb. Great choices, many almost-unknown songs. Great. Well, I tought about dropping a serious line about how Chris somehow "changed my life" (I know, that's so cliché, but I'm at loss for words, damnit). But I was too down last time you wrote about him. Not only did Chris, as a human being, kinda "redirected" me on a safer, healthier path… even if we never met (if there's heaven or hell, we may meet sometime. Let's be a hopeless optimistic-pessimist!) His music... Boy, it's just gut-tearing to think about the loss of the man who opened my mind and my ears enough to stop my technical frenzy and stage thirst for a huge while, and made me start listening instead of merely hearing. I even put aside performing for years, and I just started again maybe a few months ago. Not as a Swedish Melodeath drummer and guitarist, but as a viola da gamba soloist. Talk about a ride. It doesn't look like it, but both worlds share much more than one may think. Not sure I would have made it so far without Chris. Chris had this ability to quickly grok and understand the world and music in an unbelievably holistic way. If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is... I could go on and on, rambling. Enough. Chris has still much to "teach" us, even if he's not "there". He made me wonder if we're not the dead, wrongly thinking we're alive. How can we dare think we're right? What if the ones we think of as dead/fallen are the ones alive? Anyone has an answer to this? Jean-Baptiste Collinet @Rich Hoit I both love and hate this. I love the passion, the honesty, and the wish to not shy away from the raw and heartfelt feelings towards a fantastic front man, singer, musician, friend and man. So much respect for that. I hate the fact that it had to be written so soon 😢 Bravo, Machine Head, a great piece and a great sentiment. And thank you, Chris Cornell. @Ashley Merritt You're strong as fuck Robb because you actually wrote how you feel honestly like this, helping anyone struggling with mental illness.. it helps to know that you're not the only one and the way you feel frankly is exactly the way I do. What a trip. Being open and around good folk means everything, there's always an up after a down. Always. @Theresa Alaimo Very proud of you, Robb Flynn, Machine Head, for this tribute to Chris. A s a journalist for my magazine, Black Planet, in New Mexico, I ran for over 15 years, I too am grieving for Chris Cornell, that beautiful man with an amazing voice. During the Voivod Tour they played at a club a few blocks from my work space apartment and the promoter asked if I could steam the crab legs for Soundgarden at my place. Delivering a plate of steaming hot crab legs to the beautiful Chris and looking into his eyes, made my legs steam as well. I believe I said, "Your Majesty, I present you with steaming hot crab legs" and bowed. I was such a dork, but I was so overwhelmed by his aura. I was also at the Foundations Forum where I saw Soundgarden and met you and other great guys. I interviewed you and we all became friends and hung out with Pantera, Biohazard, Exodus, STP, Lemmy, Pearl Jam, Iron Maiden and up and coming new bands for a weekend. I still have my Scorpions beer mug they handed out from their helicopter flight, it was a great experience. Anytime you are feeling sad or depressed Robb, try to remember that you are a talented musician, a beautiful man and maybe not every woman in the world wants to fuck you, but be your friend and will listen if you need to talk. I might not ever know if you read this, Robb Flynn, but at least it's out there. We all love you and need you to stick around. We've lost too many, Dimebag, Peter Steele, Wayne Static, Scott Weiland, Layne Staley, Lemmy, just to name a few and when we barely catch our breath, then we lose another. We can't lose you too, our hearts are already broken. @Matt McDonald "And I think I'm strong, but I'm not. I'm not as strong as I project, and I'm not sure if I'm stronger than depression. Because I sink into it sometimes. And it's black. I hope I am. I need to be for my kids. For my wife... for myself." God damn that shit hit me. So personal, so profound, and so relatable. Counseling, medication, therapy... none of that is a guarantee. Whether it's a bout of sadness or full on throes of suicidal depression, sometimes the hardest part for overcoming it is simply reaching out. Be it pride, shame, guilt... find a way to overcome, find something that helps you out of the funk. Music can be so powerful, so thank you for still being here to share your deeply personal thoughts and feelings, and for continuing to make music. You never know how much it could help even just one person, I think that's reason enough to continue. Thank you! @Jennifer May It can be really hard to admit, you worry that you'll be labeled as an attention seeker or told that you just need to cowboy up and try harder to be happy. Medication is still really stigmatized and expensive, and talk therapy can seem intimidating. I'm very, very lucky and grateful that my mama works in mental health so I've had someone to help me navigate the system. RIP Chris, we lost one of the greatest today. @Phil Stein No matter how much one tries to capture the range of emotions evoked by Chris Cornell's vocals, the description falls short of what he could do and what he could convey. Let alone the beauty, poignancy and power that he could generate. It was like hearing a 5 course gourmet dinner from appetizer through dessert - it was varied and more than that delicious vocally. Thanks for the great description and memorial For Chris Robb. It's so on point and fitting. Perfectly stated!!! @Mark Garcia It's the asshole in me but I will never grieve for someone who takes their own life. I can appreciate all the words from fans and I may not have been a fan of sound garden some of the songs were worth listening to. This band as well as the grunge "sound" never resonated with me so maybe that's why as well. @Jimmy James Brute honesty again from mr Flynn. Bravo this is why we love you and machine head. Depression does fucking suck and you don't shy away from talking about it. RIP Chris Cornell! Man I was actually a big soundgarden fan back in the 90s before discovering metal. @Siri LH Thank you for your honesty and reflections! Highly interesting to read. I can relate to the sadness and the mind fuck. Soundgarden was the band that sparked my love for heavy music. I've been depressed myself and always felt comfort in listening to Chris Cornell's voice. It resonated with my mind. The darkness felt lighter when I put on a Soundgarden album. I was comforted, like someone got my mood. Whenever I've felt lost, I've put on some Soundgarden and found myself again. Soundgarden feels like the essence of my being and I will always be deeply grateful for their music, and for Cornell's voice, lyrics and mood. I've seen them live once and I smiled the whole show through. Eternal love for Chris Cornell and Soundgarden <3 My heart goes out to his loved ones. @Austin Kokel I saw them on Lollapalooza '96, and I'm glad to hear you say what I felt at that show. I was only 15, but I had Badmotorfinger and Superunknown and I absolutely loved both and was right up front. The band was definitely in a funk, and the bassist was an asshole, spitting on and insulting the crowd (and bot in the fun Ramones way I experienced an hour earlier). I try to explain their set to people now, and I can't. I'm glad to hear my 20+ year old sentiments echoed. That said, I always wondered about him after that day, but I never saw this coming either, not this far down the road. Thanks for your honesty and insight, Robb. We love you. We love Machine Fucking Head. Be strong. @J Ake Hess You've expressed so many feelings and thoughts rattling around in my head today that I just couldn't find words to put to. Cornell will always be uniquely amazing and in a class by himself. I was listening to his cover of Prince's Nothing Compares 2 You just last night and letting myself become entranced by his unique sound and incredible voice. Today I am sad, angry, and a bit enthralled with my own mortality. Nobody is immune and sometimes the struggle is too much for even the people with everything to live for. I can't imagine what his family is feeling today. Beyond tragic… @Steffan Chirazi No-one can be sure why he is dead, and when it is appropriate, we will know. But depression is a very, very real thing. It is a part of life, but for some, it carries deadly lows and utterly crushing weight along with a gravitational pull into darkness that many of us cannot fathom. I sometimes fight the rabbit hole. I see it, I feel it, I flirt with its edges, but then I bury my head in the dog or hug the cat or take deep breathes and get outside and find a piece of mental architecture to grab hard, fast and haul myself out. I am very lucky. I am slightly brushed with depression and anxiety, but fortunately I am always able to find the light. Fortunately I still retain enough of my natural mental antibodies to find the path out quickly and efficiently. There is no doubt that age makes that path harder to find sometimes, as a consequence of both the physical being and some of the inevitabilities which come with your 50s (such as more people in your circle dying). Others are not so lucky. It isn't because they 'don't want to' or 'aren't trying hard enough' or 'don't love their familes' or anything remotely like that. It isn't ever for the lack of trying. It is because depression (and anxiety) are a crushing, debilitating disease which this country, this planet, seems largely unable to recognize. We push people to the outer regions of anxiety and depression with no care that there are some who fall headfirst into a rabbit hole tornado and only through regular (and possibly unrecognized miracles) find themselves hurled into the escape bunker as opposed to the abyss. Yeah. Imagine that. A tornado that escalates within minutes from a slight, chilly breeze, a tornado that offers no pattern as to when it will appear. And imagine that the only help which can come your way is a bunker miraculously opening up beneath your feet and drawing you to a womb of safety until the tornado passes… ...Often, people with clinical depression will self-medicate. Not because they 'like to fucking party' but because there is no other way out. It's 'easier' to take a swig, take a pill, take a hit. It keeps the darkness in the distance and the tornado (when it pops up) is smashed into smithereens by the 'medicine’. Let me, by the way, be VERY clear. I am NOT saying he was doing ANY of that. He had his dances back in the old days, ones he has been very open about. But I thought he had left that behind. I honestly don't know but feel he had for some time. Whatever eh? Because we judge anyway. Yet we judge. We judge in all senses and all ways. Why do they do that? Why do they behave that way? Who do they think they are? Why can't they just cheer up...? Why are they being such an asshole? Yeah, cheer up will ya? You're handsome or pretty or rich or famous or successful or ALL of those things. Come on. All you gotta do is think about how much worse so many other people have it. Who do you think you are? There are people with 'real' problems out there… I heard the same shit about Cobain and Staley. Listen, does anyone really believe that they wanted to go? That they didn't with every sinew wish in their more lucid moments that they could find a way out? Of course not. Pain is one thing, emotional pain is a whole other ball of wax, but add that to a chemical equation in your DNA that can (without warning) turn your colours to black and white, your peripheral vision to a short, narrow tunnel and which leaves your light feeling cold-negative and it is clear to see that this disease is both monstrous and potentially crippling. The thing with tornados is that when you're in one, they don't afford you the 'luxury' of contemplation. Especially when it is your own chemicals, your own imbalances through no fault of your own, which rise from nowhere to envelope you in that tornado; I never heard of anyone caught in one who was able to see straight, let alone reason with themselves. Fortunately some find their way out. They discover a regular path out of the fog, and they can stick to it. That is not to judge people who cannot; every situation is different. But some simply can't. They try and try and try again. Maybe they achieve success in escaping dark moments, and maybe they eradicate self-medication and triggers from their lives with the help of great local support. However there are never guarantees. Again, I don't know why he died. I spent a little time with him here and there, enough to know that for years, there was a dark moodiness which expressed itself via his generally quiet way and rich lyrics. Later on he certainly spruced himself up, chucked in the deeper self-medications, and seemed a lot more comfortable with life than when he wrote the semi-self-ridiculing "Jesus Christ Pose" but what did I know? Apparently not much at all… ...If you see a friend struggling, if you sense or feel a friend or family member is drifting near a rabbit hole, please, check-in with them. However you have to, either directly or just create an excuse to see them, to talk to them. We are so emotionally guarded that we perhaps see it as 'intruding' or 'sticking our noses in'. Know your friends. Know your family. Be kind whenever you can with them, have a laugh or crack a shit joke. But touch base. Do it today. Much love to everyone who suffers and is either marginalized, trivialized or simply ignored. Much love to those getting assistance in their ongoing battle. Subscribe to The General Journals: http://thegeneraljournals.hosted.phplist.com/lists/?p=subscribe

#thegeneraljournals

15 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

CHRIS CORNELL

I am literally stunned. Bummed. Saddened by this most surprising of deaths. 52...!? Suicide…?! P-Bill, Drunkard and I had just seen him at the San Francisco Civic with Temple Of The Dog and he was unbelievable. I mean, UNBELIEVABLE! It was such an amazing show. The high we felt after that show was indescribable, watching this band we fucking LOVED, playing for the first time 25 years. Hanging with my friends, it was such a good time... such a good show. Nowadays, it seems like more and more people say things all the time like "so-and-so was the greatest", “The G.O.A.T.", and after VH1 started putting out Behind The Music’s suddenly everyone was a “legend”. And for the most part it’s unwarranted. The accolades bestowed on most bands/members the days is WAY out of proportion. The hard truth is that most of these guys are wannabe’s, who during the so-called golden-era of rock/metal, never would have been signed because they just weren’t/aren't good enough. Not Chris Cornell. He was THE BEST. Period. To me, that dude will always sit atop a place that very few singers will ever reach. First off; that voice. Holy fuck, that VOICE! One minute it could be the deepest, most soulful thing you’d ever heard come out of a white man. I swear there were times when he sounded like one of those amazing, old black gospel singers like Etta James or Aretha Franklin. Listen to “Say Hello To Heaven”... if that isn’t one of the most soulful things you’ve ever heard, you’re dead inside. But the next minute, he could sound like like the most vicious howling banshee alive. With so much fucking grit, it sounded like his vocal chords might rip apart. "Slaves & Bulldozers, Jesus Christ Pose, Gun, Reach Down, Power Trip, I Awake", FUCK… I could literally go on and on. His voice was one part Robert Plant/Ronnie James Did grit, mixed with some unholy shriek. And the dude was a rockstar. Or maybe an accidental rockstar! Every dude back then looked at this dude and went WHOA. Most guy wouldn’t admit it, call it male-envy, call it ego, call it gay or whatever you want, but this dude had the hair, he had the fucking HAIR! He had the BODY, the voice, the mystery. Every single girl I knew wanted to fuck this dude. And every single dude wanted to be this dude. But no one had the vocal chops, NO ONE!! Hell, upon telling Genevra the news this morning, she said “Oh my god, that’s horrible”. Then with perfect comic timing…."Damn, I guess I’ll never get to marry Chris Cornell”. 25 years later, she still wanted the dude. That’s sex-appeal right there. And the thing that was great about him, was that he wasn’t this overly-macho-type dude, he was androgynous! I remember when he first came on to the scene back in the early 90’s, one of the first live VHS videos that came out had him performing at I believe what is now The Avalon in LA. Somewhere near the end of the video he starts dry-humping the bassist at-the-time Jason Everman (who had a brief, microscopic stint in SG and Nirvana, and who replaced Hiro Yamamato) I wanna say during the song “Big Dumb Sex". Watching it for the first time I was like “what the fuck is this dude doing...?”, but there was something intriguing about it, weirdly bi-sexual, confusing-on-purpose. But let’s go back a bit: The first time I heard Soundgarden was on "Louder Than Love”. This new sound was coming into the lexicon of music, the-times-they-were-a-changin’. It was 1989 and while it’s bit hazy, (80’s and all), Thrash was dying, and I think I had picked up the album at a Foundation Forum or something. My girlfriend at-the-time Gina and I listened to this record non-stop. We would snort crank and crank Soundgarden in our apartment in Richmond, then when we came down, have sex. I first saw the "Hand All Over” video on Headbangers Ball, and wasn’t impressed. It was always my least favorite song on the album, though a cool video. There were so many song that were better, The first song that grabbed me was “Gun”. It was so fuckin’ heavy, channeling Sabbath, and some weird element of hardcore. “I got an idea, of something’ we could do with a guuuuun” It hit me like a ton of bricks. After that it was “Power Trip” with even more Sabbath worship, "Full On Kevin's Mom”, damn, pretty much the whole album was classic. We went down the rabbit hole after that, dug into all the old stuff, "Screaming Life/FOPP E.P.”, that song “Hunted Down” and “Nothing To Say” were always just insanely heavy, “Ultramega OK” with “Beyond The Wheel” and “Flower”, FUCK!! I probably saw Soundgarden 20 times, especially early on. The first time I saw them was at the I-Beam in San Francisco on the “Louder Than Love” tour ’89. I’d love to say they blew my mind, but they were "really good". Not mind-blowing, but cool, and heavy, and awesome. They played mostly "Louder Than Love” tunes, Ultra/Screaming tunes, and they covered “Big Bottoms” by Spinal Tap, and Cheech & Chongs “Earache My Eye” (I think in a medley), and especially at the time it was a total ironic-middle-finger to the hard rock scene of the day which had become bloated and stupid (kinda like now). Next I saw them in at Lost Horizon in Syracuse, New York. Vio-Lence were recording our 2nd album “Oppressing The Masses (or as we joke “Suppressing My Gasses”) in Ithaca, and SG were supporting Voivod, so we took the hour-long drive to catch our old-tour mates and the best new band around. I went in the pit and raged, hammered, they slayed it. After the show, I somehow drunkenly blagged my way onto their bus ready to rage. But they weren’t rally in rage mode, I ended up bro-ing down with Kim Thayil all night drinking beer. I attempted to talk with Cornell on a few different occasions, but he sat there speechless, drawing on some girls copy of Louder Than Love vinyl in complete silence for about 90 minutes. I was too shy/playing it cool to interrupt. It was when they released “Badmotorfinger” that everyone took notice and went HOLY SHIT! The grunge scene has unfairly been cast as this slow, plodding music style, and almost all of the music reviews of the time lumped SG in as some Zeppelin wannabe’s, the press never got it. But I’d argue that with hindsight being 20/20, it owed a lot more to punk and hardcore than people realize. And nothing captured that more that opening track “Rusty Cage”, a blistering opener if ever there was one. Odd time signature, crazy riff, howling vocals, an EPIC breakdown at the end! This record came out and flipped the metal community on it’s head, and it wasn’t a “metal” record! In fact it went WAY out of the way to distance itself from metal (which it needed to) but man, every metal dude, wanted to hear the new sound. The “Jesus Christ Pose" video came out, and everyone went Fuck Yeah!! This was wanted we wanted our heroes to do, flaunt religion, fuck everyone, in semi-mockery of his own rock stardom . This wasn’t glory to the band, it felt like more than that, it was about us, channeling something we all felt at the time. “Outshined” was a straight-up smash. With a hook so big it coulda caught Moby Dick. "I’m looking California, and feeling Minnesota”. Come on!! Can you get anymore visual? Pure genius. His lyrics were amazing too, often ironic, usually clever, humorous, and SO DARK. If there was a song though that will always hold a special place for me from this album, it’d be “Holy Water”. The first night I hung out with Genevra we bonded over this song. I have a habit of singing under my breath which I'm essentially oblivious too, but I’ve done it since I was a kid. We were walking up to a rave in East Oakland called Floppy House and we were talking and I began to sing that song, unaware. She asks me “are you singing Holy Water?”. Suddenly embarrassed I mumbled some excuse about always singing under my breathe. She said, "I love that song!”, and suddenly we were talking about Soundgarden, and bond was created that lasts 'til today. Then came The Warfield shows, these were the shows were they went from great new band, to Gods for me. 2 nights back to back, that were 2 of the most electrifying concerts I’ve seen. Fantastic setlist, electric energy, and I’ll always have the image of a shirtless Cornell at the end of night 2, standing on his guitar, Doc Martin's just grinding the pickups into the stage, with a glorious unholy feedback filling the entire building. It was fucking awesome! Watched them at Foudations Forum to a crowd who could give a shit, though Cornell climbed the light rig, and sang Slaves upside-down hanging from the top. And then came Temple Of The Dog. To say that this album ruled my world would be the understatement of the year. The subtle influence this album had on "Burn My Eyes" I’ll never be able to fully explain, but A LOT of that album is owed to TOTD. "Say Hello To Heaven” was and will always be one of the greatest songs ever written. A tribute to Andrew Wood, written with his ex-Mother Love Bone/future-Pearl Jam bandmates. Never got into Mother Love Bone, but TOTD is a Top-5-desert-album for me. “Now it seems like too much love, is never enough, hey you gotta, reach down another road, cause this one has ended abrupt, Say hello to heaven” Those forks in the road... they appear out of nowhere... and you don’t know where you’re going... but life makes you choose. “Wooden Jesus” “All Night Thing” “Call Me A Dog”, “Times Of Trouble” and of course maybe their most famous song “Hunger Strike”. It was a one-off that resonated for decades after with me. I saw them again in the Superunkown-era, at the SF Civic, Lollaplooza, they had become huge by this point. And while I loved them, there was something off about the band, there was a weird vibe between the new bassist Ben, and the band. They seemed very disconnected. Loved the album, but it seemed like the bigger they got, they more uncomfortable Cornell was in his own skin. And I was moving on from Soundgarden. Never really liked the first 2 songs from “Superunkown", but man, "Fell On Black Days” is and will always be a classic song. A timeless song that in some way gave us all a peak into the depressed psyche of Chris Cornell. “Black Hole Sun” is pure The Beatles worship and I love that. "Limo Wreck” “The Day I Tried To Live” all amazing, but the heaviness, the crushing song on the album “4th Of July”. Good Lord. Down On The Upside was good, “Day I Tried To Live” was a rocker, but not much else. And then they split and I moved on. I enjoyed the first solo album. I saw him solo a couple times on it, once in Norway and in Columbus Ohio. As always, he was incredible live. Machine Head played a few festivals with them on their reunion tours, and they were good, but there was a weird vibe onstage. Hanging backstage though was exciting for me, just walking past him a few times. Again we didn’t speak. Even after all these years, I often have a hard time striking up a cold conversation. I’m an introvert at heart, who’s successfully forced himself out of my introvertedness, but it’s always there. I walked past Cornell a few times, but all I could muster up “hey how ya doing?” To which I then cursed myself for saying something so stupid. Walking the line between not wanting be fanboy, and being cool, and somehow failing at both. I held him in such a high regard, I would literally clam up when I saw him. Have you seen him sing Whitney Houston’s - "I Will Always Love You”? You HAVE to see it… goosebumps. I was just talking with my friend P-Bill about the Temple Of The Dog show we got to catch… we both left that show, so over the moon. Witnessing something we had wanted to see so bad and feeling so elated. And how right now I’m feeling just the opposite I feel dark. Darker than I should. I was just talking with my band guys and crew on our group-text trying to process all of this. I wrote: "It's weird, it's like some people you can kind of see it coming, but that was the last dude that I expected to commit suicide. Depression can hit anyone I guess. In some ways it makes me mad. He had so much to live for... teenage kids, successful band(s), money, pretty much any chick on earth would fuck the dude, respect... A lot more than I got to live for, I just don't fucking get it And then I do… Because 30 fucking years ago when I was some depressed teenager I tried to do the same thing, and thankfully didn't succeed. Shit like this fucks with my head. And then makes me scared about myself. That if it happened to him, could it happen to me? I want to say it couldn't, but could it? Fuck” We had a conversation about it all. His suicide triggered something in my psyche, I’m not sure what… some long lost memory of something I’d rather forget. And I think I’m strong, but I’m not. I’m not as strong as I project, and I’m not sure if I’m stronger than depression. Because I sink into it sometimes. And it’s black. I hope I am. I need to be for my kids. For my wife. For my band. For myself. And theres no judging Cornell. Because if I do, it’s just me expressing my own fears, that I might be capable of the same... Man, this has affected me today… More than it should... Listen, remember, honor Chris Cornell. R.I.P.

Say Hello To Heaven (Alternate Mix): https://open.spotify.com/track/0ViVRRyz1i3YJqSvxXpQiB I Will Always Love You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOvH5LSH9Sw Billie Jean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2MgwAJrfXo "One (U2 Music with Metallica Lyrics)” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBjyl1LvBF4

Subscribe to The General Journals: http://thegeneraljournals.hosted.phplist.com/lists/?p=subscribe

#thegeneraljournals

30 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

MY 50TH FUCKING BIRTHDAY BASH!!

A star-studded cavalcade of debauchery, Geritol, and Adult Diapers! Tickets for my 50th Birthday BASH show are on sale now, and you're invited!! Share, share, share this fuckers!! I’m gonna be 50, which makes YOU really fucking old!! That's right fuckers, The Ol’ General here is turning 50 and I’m thrilled to let you know that when you get to this age, you too will know the joy of wiping your ass at least 10 times a day because you now have “leaky-butt-syndrome”. Whoever invented Cottonelle Butt Wipes deserves the goddamn Nobel Peace Prize!! - Hell, I’m still 49 and I’m gonna have to start doing Kegel Exercises for my anus just to slow down the leaking!! - Thank fuck I stopped that horrible Vegan Diet, or my butthole would be hanging down lower than a cow’s utters! - In fact, my taint now hangs lower than my balls!! - I need a fucking Selfie Stick to read my iPhone if I can’t find my reading glasses. - My tits are bigger than my wives. - And when you get to this age, you can buy your other 50-year-old-friends like Fuckin Joe Cabral gifts like Testosterone Cream! W00T W00T!! - In fact, you'll try ridiculous things like, jerking off with Testosterone Cream! Most of you will complain that you live way too fucking far away from Oakland to even show up, but hey, spend some money you cheap fucks!!! It’ll be the best time of your life!! There are folks flying out from Belgium, Greece and the U.K. so come on down, rage with us, and celebrate The Flynnanigan's!!

#flynnanigans

** Soundcheck VIP's "upgrades" available on MONDAY!!** Ticket in the link below: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?eventId=7431725&dispatch=loadSelectionData

#flynnanigans #TheGeneralJournals

19 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

THE BLACKENING TURNS 10 YEARS OLD!

The Album Of The Decade turns a decade today, and while it’s not quite ready to move out of the house like TMTC, at 10 years old, it’s ready to start doing chores! Released on an unsuspecting world back in 2007, it contains such live staples as “Aesthetics Of Hate”, “Beautiful Mourning”, Now I Lay Thee Down”, and the almighty “Halo” The Blackening Fun Facts: - Writing for the album began in August 2005. - The Blackening was recorded at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, CA, by Robb and engineer Mark Keaton. - The absolutely crushing mix was done by long-time MH producer Colin Richardson at Strongroom Studios and Metropolis Studios in London England. - The intro to “Clenching” was musically assembled at VIP studios with BME engineer Vincent Wojno and became it’s own song due to the fact that it had 90 tracks! Quad-guitars of 3 part harmonies, 20 tracks of snare, and many other things made it one of the most challenging pieces on the album. - The middle eastern-sounding vocal line that opens the album was recored during mixing with Colin in London while Robb was on a quick press tour of England. - While The Blackening is now-known for epic 10-minute-long metal anthems, bizarrely the first 4 songs written for the record were the 4 shortest songs on the album. In order: “Slanderous”, “Beautiful Mourning”, Aesthetic Of Hate”, and "Now I Lay Thee Down”. For the first half of the writing process there was no indication that there would be any songs over 5 minutes. - Fans from the bands “message board” (The Frontliner’s) were invited to sing the “fight’s” on Clenching The Fists Of Dissent. Machine Head through a party at Sharkbite and recorded many drunken folks losing their voice screaming “FIGHT”. The German metalcore band Caliban also sang some “fights” when they rolled through town. - The first 2 shows for The Blackening were warm-up/headline dates in Salt Lake City, Utah and Denver, Colorado on the way to a tour with Lamb Of God, Trivium tour where MH were 2nd of 4, and a then-unknown band called Gojira opening . - “Halo”, often viewed as the album masterpiece, took nearly 6 months to finish and went through so many lyrical, musical, and arrangement changes that by the time the band was done, they were essentially burnt-out on it. Upon finishing recording, Phil Demmel infamously exclaimed “we will never play this song live!!!" - “Halo” debuted live in both Utah and Denver, but amazingly, was retired for the next 5 months and 2 tours. A decision almost unimaginable now! - Reviews at the time were insanely positive with most music press unanimously giving it the highest marks possible. Only Revolver magazine (4 out of 5 stars) and the comical Rolling Stone magazine (who gave it 2 out of 5 stars) were the standouts. - The first video and single for The Blackening was supposed to be “Now I Lay Thee Down” but at the last minute, the boys decided to switch it to “Aesthetic Of Hate”. It was quickly assembled and filmed while on tour over 2 days in Norfolk and Richmond, Virginia. Tour mate John Campbell from Lamb Of God brought the boys to various dilapidated buildings in the Richmond, VA area and arranged a warehouse to shoot in. The outside crowd shots were filmed in the parking lot next door to The NorVa and featured Wille Adler’s then-13 year old son Tres. - On this day 10 years ago, the boys were playing at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC. - Nearly 3 1/2 years of touring included: Opening slot for Heaven & Hell (Black Sabbath w/ Dio) and Megadeth, a co-headline tour with Arch Enemy, Throwdown and Sanctity. The Black Crusade: a massive Europe /UK arena tour with Trivium, Dragonforce, Arch Enemy and Shadows Fall. Main support to Hell Yeah in the US, Mayhem Festival, various european headline slots atop Wacken, Hellfest, and Rock In Rio. . Another round the world jaunt with Hatebreed and Bleeding Through that led through Japan, Australia, and Europe and is where Phil met future wife Marta. - Interestingly, there was only 1 headline tour of the US: The Black Tyranny co-headline with Arch Enemy, MH would play no more than 1 hour a night. - The opening band of Machine Head’s U.S. headline tour for the album was Sanctity, fronted by Jared MacEachern. Due to an ankle injury that had side-lined there bassist-at-the-time, they hired local Hostility bassist Brandon Sigmund for the tour and Jared sang all of the harmony vocals. In a strange twist, 6 years later Jared would join Machine Head. - James Hetfield heard “Aesthetics Of Hate” on Sirius XM’s Liquid Metal, and, being so inspired by the album, Metallica invited MH to support them in eastern Europe and Wembley Arena in London. The friendship that ensued led to Machine Head becoming main support to Metallica through the U.S. and Europe for the next 6 months for the Death Magnetic tour cycle. - The cover art was an old woodcarving Robb found available in the public domain. The album design team of Paul Brown and Deanna Alcorn changed and altered various aspects of it to make it Machine Heads own creation. The words "The Mirror Which Flatters Not” were reversed at the last minute so not to confuse people about the album title. - The first 30,000 copies of the US edition contained a flaw in the album art and was later corrected. The "squiggle" on one side of the title was blown out by a piece of lint on the printing press - The album debuted at #16 in the UK, #14 in Australia, and #54 in the USA selling 16,000 copies it’s first week. It would go on to sell 350,000 worldwide. - While certainly the best selling album of latter-day Machine Head, The Blackening sits as Machine Head’s 4th best selling album, with 1999’s "The Burning Red", "The More Things Change", and "Burn My Eyes" still outselling it worldwide. Stranger still, in many Scandinavian countries “Supercharger" has still outsold The Blackening. - After finishing the Mayhem festival in the US with Slipknot, the boys embarked on a massive 9 week tour around the globe in support of Slipknot, with dates in Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Europe. - The tour cycle was not without it’s low points. Phil Demmel lost his father, and Dave McClain lost his mother within a 3 month period… both while on tour. - Following the passing of Phil’s dad, Machine Head’s Black Crusade tour-mates volunteered to play the shows while Phil went home from Switzerland. Matt and Corey from Trivium played, Fredrique from Dragonforce, and Christopher Amott from Arch Enemy all contributed guitar. - Following the passing of Dave’s mom, Machine Head’s tour mates volunteered to play the show while Dave went home from Green Bay, WI. Robb Rivera of Nonpoint, Mark Castillo of Bury Your Dead and Vinnie Paul all played songs. Vinnie played the slowest version of “Halo” ever performed to date! - The band received their first Grammy nomination for the track “Aesthetics Of Hate”, ultimately losing out to a b-side on the special edition re-release of Slayer's - Christ Illusion. A bizarre snub from the Grammy academy, as it was the same album Slayer had one a Grammy for the previous year. - The Blackening was certified Silver in the UK in 2010, their 4th album to achieve that status. - Upon hearing the lyrics to many of the album strong anti-war, anti-religion themes, The Disney Corp. appallingly banned Machine Head from performing at the House Of Blues (located on Disney property) 2 days before the tours opening night in Anaheim. After being threatened to "not to go public", the band went public, and Disney banned them from the 2nd HOB date on the tour in Orlando (also on Disney property). 10 years later the ban still remains... - 3 video were filmed for the album, “Aesthetics”, “Now I Lay Thee Down”, and “Halo”. The water scene at the end of “Halo” was filmed in Debbie Abono’s backyard pool in Concord, CA. and Dave’s then-wife Shelly was the lead heroine in the Romeo and Juliet-inspired video for “Now I Lay Thee Down”. - A 4th video was filmed for a Kerrang! magazine sponsored tribute to Iron Maiden, with the boys filming an absolutely insane crowd at the Rock In Rio in Portugal for their cover of “Hallowed Be Thy Name”. - When the tour cycle was over, Machine Head had toured for 3 years and 3 months, performing over 372 shows. - In 2010 Metal Hammer declared The Blackening “Album Of The Decade”. How does The Blackening hold up for you? Does it deserve the accolades it achieved? Many fans at the time complained of the overly-long songs and increased melody, how does it stand the test of time for you? Did you see Machine Head on this tour cycle? Share your stories with us!!

#TheGeneralJournals

22 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE TURNS 20 YEARS OLD!

It's downright shocking to see those words, but lo and behold, our 2nd album is ready to move out of the house, go to college and get married!

Filled with such live staples as "Ten Ton Hammer", "Take My Scars" and "Struck A Nerve", TMTC sounds as fresh and heavy today as it did back then.

TMTC fun facts:

- The album was recorded and mixed at The Plant in Sausalito, CA, Scream Studios in Burbank, CA, Parr St. studios in Liverpool, England, Hyde Street in San Francisco, CA and finally Larrabee Studios in West Hollywood.

- TMTC was remixed 3 times and guitars were re-recorded 3 times to achieve the ultimate heavy guitar tone! It STILL out-heavy's most modern metal guitar tone.

- Drummer Dave McClain's debut album with the band

- It debuted in the Top 20 in Europe/UK, and #138 on the US Billboard charts, and sold 10,000 copies in the U.S. it's first week.

- Headlined Dynamo open air festival 1997 Holland.

- European headline tour support came from Coal Chamber, Napalm Death and Skinlab. Plus Entombed and Misery Loves Company.

- Problems plagued the recording including: Entire guitar tracks and vocals getting erased (pre-pro tools), Robb stress constipation, didn't poop for a week.

- 6 tours criss-crossed the U.S. including 3 headline tours, Ozzfest MainStage slot (2nd band of day), main support to Corrosion Of Conformity, and main support Pantera. Support on headline tours from Snot, Drain STH, and Coal Chamber

- On this day 20 years ago the boys were at an HMV doing a record store meet-n-greet in London.

- Favorite song among band members at the time, the rarely played "Blood Of The Zodiac”.

- Dave McClain shattered his knee in a car crash on the freeway, was unable to play for months. Luckily the remixes allowed him the time to heal.

- Robb infamously banned MH A&R guru Monte Conner from ever attending an MH studio session again.

- While mixing in Liverpool, the boys spent a wild night getting hammered with Ian Gillian of Deep Purple fame. He listened to the entire TMTC album at near deafening volume, and drank with the boys til 7AM sharing the most insane rock-n-roll stories EVER!

- First 2 songs written for the album we're "The Frontlines" and Struck A Nerve". The Frontlines was debuted in Europe on the 1995 headline run for "Burn My Eyes" and inspired an uber-awesome fan site of the same name. "Struck A Nerve" was debuted later that year on 1995 BME U.S. headline run w/ Stuck Mojo and Wickerman.

- The boys would take a chance on their 3rd remix bringing in a young, unknown engineer named Andy Sneap to assist. His talents, and fresh perspective greatly helped the album. He would become one of the most sought-after metal producers of today.

- Bonus tracks included a re-recording on "My Misery" from the "Demon Night" soundtrack, and covers of Discharge's - "Possibility Of Life's Destruction", and Ice-T's gritty rap song "Colors".

- TMTC would go on to sell half a million albums worldwide.

What do YOU remember about The More Things Change? Many reviews at the time felt it was not as strong as BME, do you agree? Did you see us live on this album?

Share your stories!!

#TheGeneralJournals

17 notes · View notes

machinehead · 8 years ago

Text

THE MILLION WOMAN MARCH

The Million Woman March

Yesterday morning I got up at 5:30AM to take the 90 minute drive to California’s (aka: Dumbfuckistan’s) capitol city of Sacramento and join my dad, and two cousins Alice and Virginia, and their daughters in The Million Woman March. It was just one of the over-600 sister-marches to the main march in Washington DC, happening around America and the world to protest the incoming president, and he and his cabinet’s disturbing 1930’s-era ideology regarding women’s rights, women’s livelihood, women’s protection from rape and domestic abuse, and a womens’ choice to have birth control and safe, legal abortions.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-0 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5266.jpg?v=1485470370") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-0 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5266_800x.jpg?v=1485470370") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

Sister marches happened in Melbourne, London, Belgium, hell the even had a small march in Antartica! Spurred on by both Alice and Virginia, whom I credit with organizing our trip, my dad and I met up at a Target nearby to caravan to the march which started at a park. I brought my camera along primarily to document in both photographs and video this journey they were embarking on. It was my first-ever march against, well, anything, so I felt it would absurd to document something about me. But both my dad and cousins have been participating marches since the 70’s.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-1 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5255.jpg?v=1485470477") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-1 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5255_800x.jpg?v=1485470477") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

My dad, who is a military veteran that served 3 years in the army between Korea and Vietnam, got out of the army, took a long, hard look at what was going on, and, appalled by what he saw, decided to grow his hair, start smoking pot, and march against the Vietnam war. He marched for civil rights, he marched for women’s rights in the 80’s. He just turned 80 years old last week, and told me there was no way he was missing this march. My cousin’s all growing up in some of the roughest parts of 70’s-era Oakland, would join him on these sometimes-violent marches, and have continued to do so well into their 50’s, and now bring their daughters along. Their youngest brother (my cousin) Ronnie is gay and they’ve participated in gay rights marches as well. It made me wonder if my other gay cousins were marching as well? Cause really, doesn’t everyone have a gay cousin or three?

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-2 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5260.jpg?v=1485470608") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-2 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5260_800x.jpg?v=1485470608") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

5 years ago my cousin Virginia was stuck down with Guillian Barré Syndrome, and rare and horrible syndrome whereby within a 48 hour period, she went from being completely healthy, to having flu like symptoms, to not being able to get out of bed, to being completely paralyzed from the neck down. That paralyzation lasted for well over a year. And while she has recovered enough to walk and live a somewhat normal life, she still can’t really walk only 1,000 feet or so before needing a break. Not that she’d ever let that stop her.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-3 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5281.jpg?v=1485470649") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-3 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5281_800x.jpg?v=1485470649") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

She has to be one of the most positive people I’ve ever known, a teacher of disabled students who in a strange, ironic twist has become disabled herself… man, watching her load out her wheelchair to participate in a mile long march, was no small bit of inspiration. I sat there thinking what a wuss I was was for himmin’ and hawin’ the night before about getting up early, asking myself “should I just got to the march in Oakland that’s way closer?”. Here was a woman who couldn’t walk a thousand feet, who drove an hour from Stockton, determined to stand up (by sitting down) for what she believed.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-4 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5290.jpg?v=1485470924") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-4 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5290_800x.jpg?v=1485470924") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

"REFUSE, RESIST"

I wouldn’t say it was a party atmosphere, but the vibe was upbeat and peaceful, with a cross-section of people from most walks of life. 3 generations of women in the form of grandma’s, mothers, and daughters was the largest group, fathers and daughters, fathers and sons. Men were the 2nd largest group standing in solidarity with wives, and sisters, and girlfriends. Veterans For Peace, Millennials For Peace, a huge swath of the Sacto/Nor-Cal LGBT community there, and numerous “movements” empowering women with names like “Nasty Women” and “Pussy Power”. Some carried subtle signs like “this *kitty symbol* bites back” while other women just didn’t give a fuck, with “this pussy bites back”, and “don’t tread on my pussy”. I thought it was it was symbolic that much like black people before them, they had taken a word used to denigrate them, and turned it around to make it their rallying cry.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-5 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5312.jpg?v=1485470744") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-5 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5312_800x.jpg?v=1485470744") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

We gathered at the park where close to 5,000 had already arrived, and over the next hour the numbers continued to multiply. It seemed like every man there was carrying a sign as well, “I’m with her” (with 20 arrows pointing to the women around them), “Dissent is not un-American”, “Another straight man for gay rights”, and I even saw a nod to Sepultura with a “Refuse Resist” sign. With that said though, at least in Sacramento, there was a disappointing lack of 20 to 40 year old metal-heads of any sort. Other than that one sign I didn’t see a single metal t-shirt or metal back-patch. Maybe they were incognito, maybe they felt hopeless/ depressed and didn’t feel like marching would make a difference, or maybe (judging by the enormous amount of hate I received from previous journals/songs), most rock and metal fan’s support Trump and think this is bullshit. But it seemed like every other conceivable walk of life was in attendance, 20-something-millennial’s, business people, hippies, straight women, gay women, gay men, long-haired skater dudes, hip hop fans, and an incredible array of older folks in the 60 to 80 year old range. Black, White, Latino, Asian, Middle Eastern.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-6 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5258.jpg?v=1485470791") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-6 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5258_800x.jpg?v=1485470791") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

We marched alongside the thousands of people lining the streets, while a drum core played nearby. The women’s groups all yelled various chants like “What do we want? Women’s rights! When do we want it? NOW!”. My dad, cousins and I pushed Virginia’s wheelchair through the raucous crowd and we eventually arrived at the capitol building. Local Police, (used to many Free Speech events), were supportive to all in the march, and deserve a special shout out for directing everything in organized, timely, even welcoming manner. Funneling into the main square in front of the capitol building, it was much more obvious how huge the march actually was. At the end of it, a large LED screen showed video of the crowd, with a PA that was blasting out hip hip, dance music and dubstep, (rock music was noticeably absent, though frankly unsurprising since it no longer dominates popular culture like it once did).

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-7 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5300.jpg?v=1485470809") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-7 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5300_800x.jpg?v=1485470809") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

"pre-existing condition"

Speaking to the crowd, the mayor pointed out that there were 20,000 people, and after taking far too long thanking the various representatives for showing up (too which the crowd began to grumble) the mayor surprised everyone and gave a scathing indictment of our president over his “grab ‘em by the pussy” comments. At least in the limited capacity I’ve paid to politicians I’ve never heard an elected official speak so harshly. The audience “boo-ed” as expected, and there were times when it all felt like he was “playing-to-the-crowd” a bit, but as other less exciting, less well-spoken and downright boring speakers, came up, you kinda saw what it takes to get someone to put their phones down and have 20,000 folks pay attention. After a couple hours of good to bad speeches a lady came up, and began speaking. She represented the Women’s Janitor of California and as she slowly began talking about the uncomfortable subject matter in her speech, it became very clear she was a powerful speaker.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-8 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5342.jpg?v=1485470824") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-8 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5342_800x.jpg?v=1485470824") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

She spoke about women and rape. In unflinching terms she detailed the alarming amount of rapes that happens in the late-night, janitorial business which is primarily made up of immigrant women most of whom don’t speak english. She spoke in simple, graphic detail to the 1000’s of people there in attendance abut these victims, of her own horrifying rape in a bathroom at the hands of a superintendent, who upon seeing her arrive said, “finally, they sent a nice piece of ass to clean up around here”. As her voice raised, often trembling with emotion, you could hear a pin drop as the marchers went silent. She spoke of how she was able to report her rape to the police as she spoke some english, but that often times despite interpreters at stations, most of the women she represents, just get too scared and don’t file charges. She spoke of her frustration with getting the Union on board to help, telling her “it wasn’t a union issue, it was a workplace issue”. She fought the workplace, who told her “it was a union issue, not a workplace issue”. And she spoke of how eventually the union decided to back her, and make it a top priority to fight for the women they represent.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-9 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5314.jpg?v=1485470859") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-9 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5314_800x.jpg?v=1485470859") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

For a good 15 minutes I stood there in rapt attention. Many in the audience were crying listening to this brave and powerful woman, I myself could barely hold tears back. Soon emotions flooded me of my own experiences being molested. As anyone who has followed the band, I spoke/sang semi-openly about what happened me when I was 5 years old, as with the song “Five” off of 1999’s The Burning Red. Hearing her opened a wound deep inside me, and despite nearly 20 years of therapy that I’ve gone through (which has helped me greatly) the act of listening to this woman’s courage in front of some many hit me like a punch to the gut. It made me think about me own complicated relationship with women. Having joined a band when I was 17, mainly for the love of music, but like the late-great Lemmy always said, “you join a band to get laid, and anyone who tells you different is a liar”. And it’s true.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-10 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5337.jpg?v=1485470884") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-10 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5337_800x.jpg?v=1485470884") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

I couldn’t really get laid in much of any capacity til I was in a band. I had no game, no pick lines, I was too introverted and clumsy to approach girls. Hell, every girl I’ve ever been with has approached me! But after being in a band for a while I became a bit of a Lothario. I was single, or single-ish, but I always felt lucky when girls approached me. Fuck, I was just stoked to have girls talking to me, let alone wanting to have sex with me! And again, more of Lemmy’s words stuck with me all these years later. The Motorhead frontman and legendary ladies-man always said, “you never kiss-n-tell, you respect the women your with, it’s a privilege to be with them, even if it’s just for one night, it’s a privilege”. And he was right.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-11 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5358.jpg?v=1485470702") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-11 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5358_800x.jpg?v=1485470702") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

I remembered being a 20-year old punk trying to brag/exaggerate to my cousin’s how many girls I’d been with, at a get together at my Grandma’s house. To my shock, my Grandma overheard me, and just FLIPPED OUT on me! “You think your sooooo cool, don’t you Meho? Sleeping with all these women? Your grandfather over there used to cheat on me all the time, treat them like shit, treat me like shit, is that the kind of man you’re going to be!!??”

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-12 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5363.jpg?v=1485470998") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-12 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5363_800x.jpg?v=1485470998") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

My grandfather sat there speechless. I stood there speechless. Those words cut like a knife.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-13 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5344.jpg?v=1485471021") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-13 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5344_800x.jpg?v=1485471021") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

And while I was single for several years after that, I always remembered what she said.

You treat women with respect. “No” means “no”. And really, who wants to have sex with someone who isn’t into it anyway? It takes all the enjoyment out of it. For me, it’s a turn off. It brought up my previous relationships, when I was a dysfunctional 20-somthing year old, addicted to speed. My girlfriends at the time getting pregnant, we were both completely unfit to have kids or be parents, both strung-out on crank and pills as we were. I’m so glad we had the option to have a safe and legal abortion. Shit, we had 4 abortions.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-14 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5365.jpg?v=1485471038") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-14 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5365_800x.jpg?v=1485471038") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

picture All this was going through my head listening to this woman speak in front of thousands of people.

I thought of my wife, and her horrible experiences growing up, alcoholic/heroin junkie father, chaotic homelife) but I also it reminded me of how lucky I am to have her in my life. Genevra and I just celebrated 25 years together. Not married, but together.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-15 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5357.jpg?v=1485471079") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-15 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5357_800x.jpg?v=1485471079") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

I’d be lying if I said it was all roses, and I have no idea how it’s lasted this long. Most of it has been harder then anyone could imagine, there’s been more arguing then good times, and the days of wild sex on the hood of a car in the street at 2 AM while drunk are loooooong gone. It’s not uncommon to go for 2 months without it if were not getting along. Sometimes the only thing holding us together is the kids. Sometimes all that holds to together are our routines and the fact that we’re good team. Sometimes were not even friends. Love can turn to “like” real quick after all that time. But when it’s good, it’s so good. She is the strongest person I know. I wouldn’t be the man I am today without her in my life. I wouldn’t have the respect I have for women today without her. As I listened to this amazing woman finish up her incredibly emotional speech, I sat there with my mouth quivering holding back tears. A young lady walked by holding a sign that said, “rape survivor… and were not going back to the good ol’ days”. That was it. I broke. Tears poured.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-16 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5368.jpg?v=1485471134") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-16 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5368_800x.jpg?v=1485471134") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

My manager and Trump supporter asked me why I was going to march, “not sure what protesting is gonna do, what are you hoping to accomplish”. At the time I didn’t really even have an answer. At the beginning of the march, my cousin asked me the same thing, “why are you here Robert?”. I didn’t really know… And still don’t know if I know. But something about that moment, was what I didn’t know I needed.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-17 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5371.jpg?v=1485471161") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-17 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5371_800x.jpg?v=1485471161") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

Maybe it’s because I’ve felt completely numb and disengaged to whats going on lately. I haven’t been able to write a journal for months, and I’ve been on a 3 month social media detox. Like most folks, I found myself too addicted that little hit of dopamine we get every time seeing the number of likes or comments. Putting up yet another selfie to the world? WHY? Every time I went to post something I just thought, “what the fuck for!?” Who fucking cares. This is not important. I’ve gotten all your emails and comments about writing more Journals, thanks. Lots of “I need your journals, they help me make sense of the world,” and while I appreciate that… I can’t even make sense of the world right now, let alone help YOU make sense of it. None of what’s going on makes sense, none of it is normal, in my 49 years on earth I’ve never seen anything like it. What’s going on is insanity, and like the advice a good buddy gave me during the whole Anselmo/nazi/death threats fiasco, “You just gotta plant your truth and stand by it. Go ahead, let ‘em call you a hypocrite, let ‘em try and find some 20 year old quote or a picture to "catch you”… so they can say “gotcha!” and “prove” that your an asshole.” And he was right. You live long enough, and you’ll be an asshole. I’ve been one plenty of times. Had to apologize for it plenty of times. Just be grateful you haven’t lived your life in the public eye for the last 30 years, had most of your privacy stripped away for the last 30 years… because we ALL act like an asshole. Why was I there yesterday? To feel again.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-18 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5373.jpg?v=1485471182") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-18 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5373_800x.jpg?v=1485471182") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

Yesterday made me engage again, forced me out of my self-imposed exile. I’m re-engaging to The General Journals, reengaging to social media, but not in the same way. I’ll do Journals, I’ll post on Instagram/Twitter occasionally, but I need boundaries, and I need it mean something. The march felt good to know that there were a lot of people that felt the same way. To know that America isn’t full of “American carnage”, but American belief. That there are A LOT of pissed off people out there who disagree with (amongst many other things) those who use and abuse their fame to “grab ‘em by the pussy”. And while I can’t speak for the dead, I’m pretty damn sure Lemmy would have been appalled by that sentiment. Women are fucking pissed. This ain’t the 50’s anymore. As one sign read, "Bitches don’t fuck around nowadays”. Standing with those women and men, reminded me of how short I have left on this earth. I’ll be 50 this year. What have I got… maybe 20 years left? I’m in a mid-tier-level metal band, not one of the biggest, not one of the smallest, and while certainly one of the greatest, we will be forgotten just like so many of the bands of yore. In the end, history won’t remember Machine Head. History will remember The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, Springsteen, maybe AC/DC, probably Metallica. And then 3 or 4 rappers (Snoop, Jay, Wayne, Em). Some country, some pop (Taylor, Beyonce, Drake). And that’s it. How many Classical composers have been forgotten? Hell, recorded music only dates back 70 years, it’ll will end soon too. It already is. We’re all going to be forgotten, much sooner than anyone would like to think. And we should be. The past is an anchor. I spoke to an 80 year old woman who remembers what it was like when women couldn’t vote. She thanked the protests and marches of the women suffragettes in the 1930’s, that allowed her and other (white) women to finally able to vote. Black women came much later. Think about that…? A woman couldn’t vote, only men could. That’s why I marched. Because no change happens without action. And while I may be forgotten soon, I was a tiny part of the largest protest in American history. And that change will far outlast the music I’ve made. Like the sign read: “Power To The Pussy”.

.cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-19 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5379.jpg?v=1485471211") center center/cover no-repeat fixed; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { transition: all .6s ease; } @media only screen and (max-width: 760px) { .cd-fixed-bg { min-height: 100vw; height: 25vh; } .cd-fixed-bg.cd-bg-19 { background: url("//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1069/2210/files/IMG_5379_800x.jpg?v=1485471211") 50%/100% auto no-repeat; background-position: top; text-align: center; color: white; } }

body, html, main { /* important */ height: 100%; } .tumbly body { background-color: black; } .cd-fixed-bg { background-size: cover; background-attachment: fixed; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-position: center center; min-height: 100vh; display: table-cell; width: 100vw; height: 100vh; vertical-align: middle; font-weight: bold; color: black; } .cd-scrolling-bg { min-height: 100%; } .cd-container, .cd-fixed-bg { padding: 3em; } .narrow.post-156274998158 { max-width: 100vw; } .meta-data { padding: 0 10vw; } div#page { padding-left: 0; padding-right: 0; } br { margin-bottom: 1em; content: ""; display: block; } @media screen and (min-width: 1300px) { .tumbly .cd-fixed-bg p { width: 50%; text-align: left; line-height: 2.2; } .tumbly .cd-scrolling-bg p { width: 50%; margin: auto; line-height: 2.2; } } @media screen and (max-width: 700px){ .cd-fixed-bg { height: 60vw; padding: 1.5em; background-attachment: fixed; } }

#thegeneraljournals

29 notes · View notes

machinehead · 9 years ago

Text

BRAIN DUMP

What is going on people? Haven’t done a “brain dump" in a while, thought it was time. You know the drill, if you are so inclined, sit back, relax and welcome to The General Journals “brain dump” edition! FELLATIO CAFE http://www.maxim.com/news/fellatio-cafe-geneva-2016-6

Thanks to tour manager and über-Winger-super-fan Chris Green(aka: Kip Green, aka: Kiptopher, aka: Chris Winger, aka: “areyouseriouslyfuckingkiddingme”) I’ve found out about a new coffee shop in Switzerland that offers latte’s and blowjobs…

Best…

Idea…

EVER...

If you didn’t know, for a long time now prostitution has been de-criminalized in many mainland European countries. It’s controlled by the government, the girls (and guys) are tested every 3 months, they supply them with all contraceptives, lubrication, etc. It generates money for the country and more importantly taxes. Its a service, just like anything, and while here in America stuff like that is frowned upon, we seriously need to just get over it, and consider it. What’s the worse that could happen? Happy people walking the Earth?

Sex makes the world go around, and it’s not like there is anarchy in the streets because of the de-criminalazation of it, in fact, quite the opposite. Think how many marriages would be saved when a women stops wanting sex and a husband could go grab a quick venti-blowjob-cappuccino. Hubby comes home, family still intact, needs are met, and other than the fact that it might need to be budgeted, (I mean that could get quite pricey)… it’s a freakin’ GREAT idea.

Just sayin’…

Mind blown.

A MIGHTY GIRL

Genevra showed me an FB post the other day, about the first black girl allowed into an all-white school in the south.

It’s incredible to think that a little over 50 years ago, it was still like this in America. And in many ways, the racial prejudiced that was alive in that time, is still alive today.

Here’s a summary:

As a six-year-old, Ruby Bridges famously became the first African American child to desegregate an all-white elementary school in the South.

When the 1st grader walked to William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans on November 14, 1960 surrounded by a team of U.S. Marshals, she was met by a vicious mob shouting and throwing stuff at her.

Once Ruby entered the school, she discovered that due to her very presence, it was devoid of children because they had all been taken out of school by their white parents. The only teacher willing to have Ruby as a student was Barbara Henry, who had recently moved from Boston.

Ruby was taught "by herself" for her first year at the school due to the white parents' refusal to have their children share a classroom with a black child.

She endured daily threats towards her family for months, her father lost his job due to his family's role in school integration, but Ruby persisted in attending school.

The following year, when she returned for second grade, the mobs were gone and more African American students joined her at the school. The pioneering school integration effort was a success due to Ruby Bridges' inspiring courage, perseverance, and resilience.