Archive for November, 2007

Uh oh! Sorg’s drunk and blogging again!!

So this was an interesting night. Dr. E let me know earlier this week that he was doing the interview for this big deal dude called Pittsburgh Slim. Call me out of the loop. I guess his sound is kind of mainstream, and I’m really just learning about him this week.

So Doc and I get there, it’s a little slow, and dammit, we’re not club guys. We’re two married dudes out on the town. This isn’t for us. A few vodkas later. Yeah, we still don’t fit in. But fear not! It was still a good time. We got to bullshit and talk about our music versus the stuff they play that gets the girls moving. And a few good ideas came from the night.

We hang by the back bar, behind the main vip section, it turned out. One of the Steelers showed up. (still not sure which one, but I was convinced it was Santonio Holmes till I realized he’s 5’11″. This dude was like 3 inches taller than me, at 6’4″) And there were a few of them there. I wouldn’t know any of them unless it was Big Ben or Polamalama. The do the big tease thing all night and Pittsburgh Slim finally shows up like 12:30 or so. They introduce him and give him a mic. Dude gets up on the table in his VIP section and plays to the crowd, and sings his two singles. Doc got some video that should be up soon.

Yeh, clubs definitely not my thing. Unless I was single and “in the market” I would see no reason to go. Even if I was, most of the girls there and the music they play would make me want to stab someone in no time. But you know. We got on the guest list, thanks to the good Doctor. And I finally got to see what they did the the old Rosebud where I rocked out on stage to some AC DC at an AIP Halloween party one year.

And as I learned about this Pittsburgh Slim, I started thinking about career moves. I haven’t heard the interview yet, but from what I read in the City Paper(…of Pittsburgh) He worked his ass off here for years, and realized it wasn’t going to work. Pittsburgh doesn’t have an entertainment industry. So he moved to LA to “get the job done” and ended up in a bidding war with something like 11 labels. Maybe that’s the thing. Maybe we need to become some West Coast CRAP to get out there.

Or maybe not. The friggin’ ground moves out there. I’m not down for that.

And what does this do for the rest of this “left in the ‘burgh”. Theres so much conversation about people coming up in this town and helping everyone out. And people getting signed and not representing the area and pointing some eyeballs here. Slim seems to be doing that in name alone, as well as some lyrical content. I’ve caught some 412 and regional references in his lyrics so far. We’ll see how that develops over his supposed 5 record deal. And he did come back to Pittsburgh to do his big release party. So that’s saying something. Might actually be more than a gimmick. Who knows, maybe he’s the next Kid Rock or Eminem to do for the ‘burgh what they did for Detroit in pointing the hip hop line of sight to that town. Maybe this is to local artists as the writers strike is a golden opportunity for New Media creators (I listen to a lot of This Week in Media)

Time will tell…

I got back on the wagon this week on one of my many, many ventures, the WPAJ Interview, when I had a chance to talk to J.East from right around here in Beaver County.

So why did I go into this extra podcasts on my plate? Of course it started when I was litterally handed an opportunity to interview some Suburban Noize artists (with no help from Doc, no prodding by me. Let’s say it made me feel special) I really didn’t think I was interviewer material, but what the hell. If it bombed, I didn’t have to post it. After Potluck, Dogboy, and a couple Kottonmouth Kings, I was in the flow, on top of some interviews I’ve done in a group setting on the Mayhem Show with wrestlers. It sort of ended up weekly via the schedules. And it seemed like a good idea. Finding talent was going to be a problem. So why not tap the underground and local scenes? I’ve always had an interest in promoting the unsigned long before my own foray into getting on stage. It was the perfect setup. Bring the downloads in with the big names, and squeeze in as many of the smaller artists as I could to help give them a fan boost, get them in people’s ears, on itunes, and who knows how many directories.

And I genuinely enjoy talking with others in similar, or more advanced stages, of this music biz. I do have a sort of stock questions for the smaller artists, geared at getting to know them for the audience, or even still for myself. But many of my questions are genuine, as I’m still learning myself (and recognize I have a long way to go). I’ve sat in and listened to a few interviews Doc’s done, and being an artist and producer in his own right helps the interviews come off smoother it seems, and there’s a connection there. I’m still trying to get my groove, of sorts, but it’s coming.

So here I go, rebooting, of sorts, with hopefully a straight set of local artists. I’m still hearing the waves made by the DaButtonPusha interview a couple months back, and the Marz interview where he called Violent J a straight bitch. Who knows what is going to unfold over the next few months…

Ah, hell, I guess I did forget to post last night. Let’s see what’s going on.

I received an oppurtunity to do a promo music video for the Hollywood Balds tag team. I’ll let you guys know how well that goes in maybe a week. Right now, just looking for a reliable way to rip these DVDs for raw footage.

I’m looking into Adobe Flex and if it’s something I could be interested in, or maybe get into for real. I’ve heard a few things about it via Josh Sager and it’s peaked my curiosity.

I’ve returned to my Nintendo Wii Sports ways. Boxing is my bitch!

That’s all I got right now. I’ll have something more substantial later, I’m sure.

Doc Remedy and Sorg bring you the Mayhem!

Part 1: We discuss a lot of non wrestling, including the Steelers and Heroes, then get back in the habit with Jericho, Flair, and more!

Part 2: Lunchbox joins us on the phone, then we dive into a pile of fanmail. And is Doc Remedy creepy?

New Videos! We also have some new videos from the BlogTV off air!

And scope out my latest interview with local rapper, J. East on the WPAJ Interview.

Glenn Beck. Seriously. You don’t seem to be such a bad guy. You think illegal immigrants are bad. That our government doesn’t have our best interests at heart. That we need to get off of foreign oil and be smarter about energy and innovate in this country.

These billboards have been plastered throughout the Pittsburgh region. Everywhere I go, they’re there! I think there are three of these billboards within a mile from my own home! Very disconcerting to say the least.

But why do you want to cut me, sir? I am just your average, humble Hip Hop CRAP Star. I don’t want to change the world. I just want to get on stage, have some fun, and have toilet paper thrown at me. It’s the friggin’ American dream! (as in, I’m American, and I dreamt that)

So take that finger pointing smirk and put the knife away, sir. CRAP has feelings too…

Well, what better way to cap off a rather icky weekend then some fucking metal. Thanks to the Doc (Dr. Espling), I had the chance to go to the 5 Finger Death Punch show tonight at Mr. Smalls. I was able to sit in on his interview with singer Ivan Moody (formerly of Motograter) and drummer Jeremy Spencer ( formerly of W.A.S.P.). They were great guys, and I got to learn a bit about them. Yes, that name is from Kill Bill. And yes, this new moving “Bled” Ivan is involved in is going to kick ass.

The night kicked off, after a long wait, with AcidFace. Doc said he didn’t expect much from this group from the sound of their Myspace Page. I had spotted this guy with a Dr. Dre shirt, cheetah headband, and interestingly high hairstyle, and was surprised to see he was the lead singer of this group. Fantastic. And their sound was tight as hell, though leaning towards the more scream-heavy than I prefer. But damn, were the guitars excellent!

Following were The Autumn Offering and Oblige. Neither were very much my taste, but enough to get my head bobbing. Oblige didn’t have much of an energy from the crowd until they started covering some Pantera at the end of their set. Again, not my taste, but worth a look.

And finally, Finger Death Punch came out, and the crowd got moving. I don’t know if it was just in comparison with the rest of the show, but these guys proved to show the other groups how it is done. They had amazing energy and just the right set to get people moving the whole time. But..6 songs? They did four, maybe five songs, did the fake out walk off, then came back and played two more. Apparently, these guys are fans of the “leave them wanting more” philosophy Doc and I were talking about earlier in the night.

Fantastic night, either way. I was introduced to some really good groups, one local, one national, that I’ll be keeping an eye on.

Yeh, I’ve piled my plate pretty high with the things I choose to involve myself in. Just look at my links on the right. I’m the sole operator of many of those sites. And I’ve been hard pressed to pass responsibilities onto others to help maintain these things. It’s hard because often these projects may not be as important to others as they are to me, so getting some undivided, and continual commitment to keep these things rolling. This is what I spoke about when Dawn brought the concept of “Podfading” to my attention back at Podcamp Pittsburgh 2. I’ve had as many as 8 posters on WPAJ at a time, only to have most fade of after a while.

So I’ve finally come together with my latest move to help this. The WPAJ message board has been a plague to my online existance for a great while. Everytime it was back up and gaining steam, something would happen to it. Or we would be overrun by spammers and bots. And just generally ornary people. But no more! Now, I finally got hooked up with another local Juggalo site, GZNinjaz. You may remember the guy behind this site as the youngster who’s mom supported his interests in ICP and web design from the City Paper article on Juggalos that I also shared a few paragraphs in..

“The NEW WPAJ Board!! After fighting and never having enough time to manage and learn the phpbb system enough to fend off spammers, and generally annoying passers by, I’ve been brokering a deal with some ninjas here in the area to lend a hand in the board duties.

And we have something even better. Much like the good old days when we were affiliated with the seperate SnackzBoard, WPAJ is proud to announce with those crazy ninjas from GZ Ninjas have upgraded their forum to the new and improved Industrial Mayhem! This is your one stop shop for the WPAJ society.

So head over and sign up. This board isn’t going anywhere anytime soon! “

I am also glad to see they are broadening out this board, in name and content, to more musical genres than just “Juggalo”, much like I have on my own WPAJ. Hell, when was the last time I’ve interviewed someone from Psychopathic Records? When have I ever? I talk to the artists that are good enough to give me the time of day to help promote them. Suburban Noize, Suggardaddy Productions, local and national indy musicians. w

Meant to do this last night, but the triptophan kicked in and I hit the sack.

• The lovely Missfit – She’s my anchor. Keeps me grounded.
• My father - I am very thankful to still have him, and as much of him as possible, after a recent scare of infection that turned out to be mersa, taking a couple of his toes. As a side note, I am also thankful for the “High Impact Hand Safety” videos I had been subject to at work, which prepared me for seeing his foot unwrapped.
• Good friends – I’m glad that I’ve had Chachi, Will, and Jeff there through the rough times this year, when others have turned their back on me this year.
• The Chance to Live some Dreams – Whether it be on stage with CRAP, in the ring or backyard with my friends in the RWF, or speaking at Podcamps, it feels good to be in the position I’m in in these cases.
• The fans The people out there that actually respond and reciprocate with the things we’re doing. Not that I wouldn’t still do some of it, but it makes it easier to dedicate time to something you know people are interested in.
• To have a job that’s worth a shit – It’s hard at some times, and I almost lost my job because I sort of went off the deep end this year. But I still have it and I can still say I have a job that’s not bagging groceries. Not that I’m not looking forward to something new and different on the horizon sometime, but I’ve held a job for three years and grown from it. Regardless of how long I do end up sticking around, at least I can look back fondly at my years there, I believe.

It’s been a really hard year for me. I’ve lost some people in my life this year and have worked hard to try to keep it together. This year, more than everything, I need to sit back a minute and take stock in what I do have.

Here’s some visual flavor of Lunchbox’s reaction to the Full Throttle Bad Mother drink he attempted to drink on this week’s Wrestling Mayhem Show…

That drink gets…

The entire fearsome foursome of the Wrestling Mayhem Show return and bring meaning the the term “mayhem” in our name.

Part 1 We test out Hogan’s energy drink and it might have gotten us high. Wetalk Jericho, Survivor Series, and other random things, catching upwith Chad the Shad, and the such. Music by Basick Sickness.
Part 2 Lunchbox almost dies at the hands of a new energy drink, we get thereturn of VimMail, and I’m sure we piss somebody off along the way.

Props and plugs go to our new friends and listeners, including folks from EWF in Indiana, Keystone Championship Wrestling here in PA, and of course J. East from Beaver Falls, PA.

Check out all the action at www.WrestlingMayhemShow.com and download the shows right here.