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Notepads For My Brain - By: David Priest Welcome to my domain. After six
years as Editor for On Track I felt it was about time that I give all of our
readers the opportunity to learn more about myself, the staff and the inner
workings of this magazine. I figure the best way to do that is to begin by
writing in an online journal - thus the newest segment of On Track which I will
call Note Pads For My Brain. For those of you who don’t get where I’m
coming from with that title let me clue you in: my number one all-time favorite
artist in the world is none other than Mr. Ronnie James Dio and I snagged the
title from one of his songs. So for those who might be interested in hearing
all my ranting, insights, gripes and bitches about the struggles, triumphs and
various other pros and cons to running this magazine, here is where you’ll find
it all. In addition, I will use this area to voice my opinions, frustrations
and random thoughts on just about anything and everything under the sun. Cool?
Let us begin. Death Defying Adventure In My Garage
I have often considered myself to be an adventurous sort of person, and having faced more than my share of trials and tribulations in this life, there are not many obstacles that I cower away from; but the prospect of moving is definitely one area of human existence that has plagued me from the first time I ever had to suffer its chaotic madness. What’s so difficult about packing up your belongings and transferring them from one location to another you ask? Well let me tell you, if Indiana Jones were to visit me on moving day he would likely retire from all the stress that would inadvertently be thrust upon him. Recently, I had the severe displeasure of embarking on yet another chapter in the adventures of moving, and believe me this one was unlike any moving instance that have come before. Now, I thought I was doing pretty well having thoroughly cleared out the living room, bedrooms, kitchen and bathrooms but then there was the garage, which in and of itself was an entirely different challenge all together. With my trusty whip or in this case a furniture dolly, two semi-strong hands and my best archeological mindset I ventured into the garage in order to face what would ultimately prove to be my temple of doom experience.
Upon entering this dismal tomb of wretched peril my first rush of adrenaline came abruptly when I was forced to engage in battle with a giant beastly creature which loomed down from above, hoping to snare me in her strong as steel silk web. She nearly had her fill for days to come; if not for my quick reflexes and sharp wit. I immediately reached for the nearest object at my disposal to use in my defense, some sort of ancient tool, perhaps used to cultivate the ground in a long lost civilization; in any case far beyond the means of today’s agriculturally modern conveniences. At first swing she managed to dodge my initial blow and leaped away unscathed. Again I struck with much more enthusiasm this time; my fear now fueling my desire to triumph over this life threatening hurdle. Alas, I was able to separate the monster from her web and she fell helpless to the floor below. I jabbed at her with my weapon of choice and snuffed the life out with one solid strike. Die you foul beast die!
With my first dangerous encounter on this expedition now behind me I gathered myself together and ventured further into the labyrinth; my senses on full alert. It was dark, and the walls towered high around me. The smell that permeated the air was one of unimaginable explanation brought about by what must have been decades or more of dust that had built up and settled throughout every crevice of the tomb. As I proceeded toward an unknown destination I was alone with my thoughts and quietly reminded myself why I am here. The mission: to find and retrieve priceless heirlooms and historically significant artifacts from the genealogies of my family legacy, and to discard any unscrupulous remnants that might attempt to find favor in my eyes all the while luring me into a false sense of gratification for useless possessions. As with any undertaking of such predisposed problematic circumstance it is always best to form a strategy in order to correctly facilitate a prudent exodus of the target area. In the end every aspect of this grotesque monstrosity would be hauled away in one form or another, but to just blindly start tearing apart the mass that lie before me would be to invite certain unwanted disaster, and could in fact lead to the destruction of certain artifacts of great importance. However, as most can attest to, nothing ever goes as planned.
As I slowly made my way down the dimly lit path between storage boxes and dilapidated furniture, it wasn’t long before I found that I had reached a subsequent dead end. Knowing that the corridor did in fact proceed further on but was simply obstructed, I gathered that this, a seemingly impassable point, needed to be removed. I surveyed the layout around me to decide which if any box or bookcase could be moved to access what lie beyond. Having found what I thought would be the correct decision; I slid this incredibly heavy piece of ancestry back against the side of the wall with the help of my dolly. I was able to just barely squeeze past and make it to the other side. Unfortunately, I could not get the dolly through the narrow passage and was forced to leave it behind. Breathing a sigh of relief was indeed premature as right then and there a mountain of boxes the size of boulders of course came toppling down on top of me. I dove for cover, and after being briefly incapacitated for a minute or two by the falling debris I arose and dusted my self off only to find that the corridor from which I’d just come was no longer accessible. Since I was unable to go back at this point I had to press forward. If I could just make it to the other side, I was sure I would find an exit and then be able to return with the proper tools and reinforcements in order to accomplish the job I had originally set out to do.
Tripping over the toppled boxes which had torn open and their contents spilled out on the ground, I took notice of several objects that had been uncovered in the preceding avalanche. Stooping down to take a closer look I surmised that the first object was some sort of ancient cleaning device quite possibly dating back to the 1960’s, a prehistoric vacuum cleaner in fact, or what was left of it as there didn’t seem to be any attachments in the surrounding area. Nevertheless, this former household servant had definitely seen its day and was relatively useless to anyone in the modernized world, and I’m fairly certain that it was not worth its weight in gold either. The second item was a bundle of envelopes that contained a collection of photographs from some sort of festival of long ago where a number of families had gathered to celebrate for some special occasion. I wouldn’t know for sure what I was looking at until I had the chance to consult with my colleague and wife who happened to be in expert in identifying these sorts of historical documents. I was sure that these were definitely some of the treasured heirlooms that I was led to believe existed and quickly tucked them inside the waist line of my jeans for safe keeping. The last treasure was indeed just that. A pioneering instrument for age old journalists who came before; this I was positive would bring a handsome price if by the right collector. Sadly, it was too big and heavy to lug along this trip, so I would have to return for it later and hope that it was still intact and where I’d left it.
Onward I progressed, and coming around a corner was tremendously exhilarated to see an exit within reach. The light beaming in from the outside door was a huge relief and I felt as though my journey from one end of this hellish maze to the other was nearly at an end. Suddenly, I was stopped dead in my tracks as the fowl aroma of ammonia infused feline urine became so blatantly strong I nearly passed out from the nauseating stench. Where did this come from, and what the hell is it doing in my garage? Realizing that the side door was indeed left open, I surmised that a cat must have entered sometime during the night in order to mark his territory. Wretched beast, this was my domain not his! About the time I was able to ward off the fumes of the impeding urine, I heard an odd noise come from behind me, something like a cry or moan of agony. Then a shuffle and crash off to my left and another on my right, peering from atop some of the boxes that surrounded me I saw the shiny slits of large predatory fiends staring down at me with alarm of my presence. It then hit me, that my garage had become the breeding ground for these ghastly animals and the moan that I heard was the mating call of a female of the species hidden somewhere within the archival fortress. Frozen for a moment or so I contemplated my course of action, and then without any more hesitation took my staff which I had kept from the spider attack and charging forward began to swing wildly at the first tom’s direction and then at the other. To my surprise two more cats emerged from the darkness leaping across the tops of boxes in an attempt to escape into the freedom that resided just a few feet away. As I was distracted by the new additions to this party I glimpsed one of the vermin trying to head back in the way of the female, but snatching up an out of place tennis ball that lay on the ground before me, I hurdled the ball in the direction of the promiscuous villain and nearly missing his head was able to deter him from further transgression, allowing him and the others to make their timely escape.
At last I was able to withdraw myself from the dark dirty cavern that offered up so much resistance in the wake of my day’s journey. Blinded by the intense daylight, it took me a couple of minutes for my eyes to adjust. Hot, sweaty, down right dirty and thoroughly beat, I was not looking forward to a return visit anytime soon, and opted to wait until the following day before I began my second visitation into the depths of hell. At least I knew what I might expect upon my return the following day, and I believe had a much better approach in mind thanks to my scouring of the day’s more than eventful escapade. After this torturous period of exploration I came to the conclusion that my stance on moving had not changed in the least, and had I been given the choice, would just as soon jump off a cliff than ever do it again.
In the words of columnist Steve Hoffstetter “moving is like a vacuum: it sucks”, in my case a 1960’s vacuum. As I make light of my discomforts, I must stress that my agony was for all intents and purpose real in every way that I have described, but being that I really had no choice in the matter, my simplified philosophy is to suck it up and try and find some escape from the miserable conditions in which I am forced to work; even if it is a likening to one of my favorite movie characters. Life is full of ups and downs and moving is blended right there with the rest. If anything, I recommend looking forward to the end result when the move is complete and you can finally rest before taking on the next dreaded task. This advice can be applied to virtually any work environment and will hopefully help in your endeavor. Alone With My Thoughts Nobody was aware of how deep the depression that David was
experiencing ran. Everyone in the family had been put through the ringer and
voiced their feelings about life’s unacceptable circumstances but in spite of
continued financial, social and emotional struggles David seemed to remain
strong. It’s amazing how the smallest things such as songs from decades past
can affect one on a level that is so unseen but in David’s case reminiscing
through the past only intensified his dissatisfaction with the present. Life
had not gone anything like he imagined and I suppose it never does but after so
many failed attempts at attaining at least a small portion of the so called
American dream the world begins to weigh in and sometimes the burden is just
too much to bear. For Dave this was a reality he did not readily identify with
and although he felt that he was able to handle it the truth was that he was
much weaker than he or anyone he knew gave him credit for. Unfortunately this
was a problem recognized too late and quite possibly thee major point of
contention in his untimely demise. When a loved one has died, all the thoughts of what could
have been done different or where do we go from here comes on like a flood but
there are no answers not really. Speculation is just that, speculation and
nobody really knows the meaning of anything. For what its worth and I’m sure
not much if anything I don’t believe that David actually took his own life as
much as life was taken from him or rather denied him. Why some are able to rise
above and others are pulled down with every significant breath taken remains a
mystery. Some would say that it is predestination while others insist it is
merely indifference. I don’t understand and no matter how hard I try I always
arrive at the same conclusion which is I don’t understand. David was a man who
was starved for success and strove to do nothing more than live. In the
beginning all he desired were the simplest intricacies in life but when faced
with the fact that he was not granted even the smallest requests such as good
health, a job that would pay the bills and to be able to be a good father and
husband he began asking for anything and everything he could imagine with the
hopes that he might get lucky and actually attain something. Well, this did not
work either and as he continued down his path to disillusionment life began to
lose purpose and meaning eventually his emotional state overwhelmed him to the
point of death. When a death is ruled a suicide it usually involves some form
of self inflicted treatment; a gun, a knife, pills, jumping, a rope etc.
However, for David his death was only inflicted form his circumstances he never
intended to end his life but the lack thereof made it impossible to avoid.
Because one is deemed to ultimately be in control of their own actions and
David’s never found him reaching his goals the thought instilled is that he
brought it all on himself, hence his inability to overcome the obstacles set
before him became his self inflicted death sentence. Lost within my own mind I can only see from an outward
perspective now. I no longer am capable of looking within myself to carry on.
Existence seems futile and I therefore refuse to contribute anything more to
sustain my life for what will only prolong discouragement. If I am ever to rise
again it will not be by any merit of my own. Because it is always my place to
remain positive I will say only this in closing I am David, I am alone with my
thoughts. I am not dead yet but in limbo. The next move is not mine to make and
therefore may signal the true beginning of the end but I am still hopeful. -Priest Hey to all! Here I am again finally
getting around to making another entry. I always say I’m going to update more
often and then don’t and I really have no excuse other than a busy work
schedule. Well this time was a little different as I was severally ill for
about a month and spent most of my time in bed or getting tests done at the
doctor’s office. They really never did find out what was wrong but I did
discover that I am borderline diabetic. Anyway needles to say because of this
I’ve fallen even more behind in getting things posted on the site. Kudos to my
good friend Lorn who stepped up and helped us out
with some CD and DVD Reviews, expect more from him in the not to distant future
including a couple of interviews. I’ve had a bit of trouble getting interviews
and CD’s to review from my favorite label of all time lately but at least one
of their publicists has proven to be a great and much appreciated help; thanks
you Loana! Besides the mag
I am spending my time writing some pretty killer music with a friend of mine
which we plan to record and release at some point down the road. Mr. Dan Smith
is guitarist extraordinaire. If you are into Opeth, Dimmu
Borgir, Katatonia,
Dio, Moonspell, Thyrfing,
old Metallica and Iron Maiden this will be right up your alley.
I’m also working my ass off at my regular job, trying to buy a house and
dumping more money into my car which always seems to be in need of repair. I’m
also trying to lose some weight and grow my hair out which is actually getting
pretty long. Back on the magazine front I’ve scheduled a meeting with our new
web designer for this coming Wednesday to work out the logistics of the new and
improved On Track and if everything goes well we should have a new site up and
running within a few weeks. Helping to launch the new site will be new
interview features with Slayer and Lamb Of
God. I can’t wait for you all to see the changes we’ll be making. I promise
it’s going to be good. Stay tuned! So it has been sometime since I’ve
written here and I apologize but life always seems to get in the way somehow.
Speaking of life here’s the latest from my crazy little world. I’ve been
actively seeking out new work to try and make some extra money. I have no
intentions at this time of giving up on track but truth be told that is always
a possibility. I’ve always felt that if the mag didn’t take me to where I want
to be that I would at the very least use it as a stepping stone to make it to
the next level. I recently attempted to hire on with a fairly well known record
label for the second or maybe third time to work in their publicity department.
Once again it did not happen but I am still very optimistic for the future. In
the meantime I am still trying to get caught up with all of our past interviews
and reviews unfortunately it is very time consuming and I lack the support I
need to get it done any faster. Since November of last year I have had to deal
with a serious illness in my family which ultimately led to them passing away.
In addition my car threw a rod and I need to get a new engine. I am trying to
buy a house and having problems getting a loan. No I don’t have bad credit, I
have no credit. Regardless of all the problems I am still pushing on and remain
hopeful for the future. On a more positive note I have decided to once again
grow my hair out and be a real metalhead. This was put into action by my return
to writing music as I have found the most awesome guitar player I’ve ever come
across to write with. Our styles gel perfectly and I am very excited about
working with him. We are spending about six months writing and will then go
into the studio and record. There are a lot of cool things happening with that
as well and I’ll let you know more when everything is finalized. For now I’ll
give you a brief description of the sound we’re going for. The best way I can
describe it is through our influences which consist of Opeth, Dark
Tranquillity, Dio, Iron Maiden, Katatonia, Dimmu
Borgir, Nevermore and Moonspell. It is very dark and melodic,
slightly gothic with awesome riffs multiple time changes, moving
instrumentation and esoteric lyrics with predominately clean vocals. As far as
magazine related news I am still struggling with getting the help I need being
that most of what we cover is still underground material and everyone who wants
to write for us only wants to cover fucking Korn or H.I.M. or System
of A Down and Slipknot in other words the bullshit mainstream. This
brings to mind a change we will be making on the site in the not to distant
future. We are doing away with the O.T. Underground section being that all we
pretty much cover these days is the underground. Why post the same
material in two different places if it all falls under the same category right?
In the early days when we first started we would cover just about anything but
over the years we’ve been able to focus our attention where our heart and
strength lie and that is definitely with the underground metal scene. In many cases
the underground is now becoming the new mainstream. Anyways we are still
preparing to revamp our look and bring some new and expanded features in the
near future. 1/10/06 Happy New Year! I know that it’s
been quite sometime since I’ve written anything and this usually happens around
the So what many of you may or may not
know is that: not only am I working on this mag near
full- time but I am also currently interning for the best damn record label in
the world, Century Media Records. This opportunity came about when I applied for
a job and got called in for an interview. Needless to say I didn’t get the job
but convinced the label president Marco Barbieri to
let me do an internship. So far it’s been pretty cool, although slow. The funny
thing about Century is the way they handle press especially online media. In
order to receive promos you have to be on their preset press list. Now we’ve
been on and off this list over and over again during the last six years since
we first began the mag. Currently we are not on their
list, but get this: because of my internship they kick me down CD’s all the
time and grant me credentials and interviews to cover their artists, how cool
is that? I do think it’s funny that they won’t hook me up when I want to push
their bands and try and generate some sales, but when I stuff envelopes I’m
taken care of. Mind you, I’m not complaining as long as I’m being taken care
of. Century Media, which also represents the labels Nuclear Blast, Abacus,
Liquor and Poker, and Olympic, is the leader in bringing to light the best
underground metal acts from around the world. Well, following up on what finally
ended with our attempting to bring you some coverage on Opeth we were informed
that neither Mikael or Peter were doing interviews with online press (which is
total shit) and if that weren’t enough, they pulled our review tickets as well.
So at this point you won’t be seeing anything on Opeth accept maybe a
review of the new CD. I truly believe that this is a personal attack from one
particular person over at Roadrunner’s publicity dept. I seriously thought
about dropping her name but I’ll resist. I honestly don’t know what the fuck the problem
is or why she won't get over it, but I’ve run into her type before, you know "this is their job" and
they really don’t give a shit about the bands they represent or the fans who
support them, let alone the media who push them and give them exposure. This
ordeal has been a nightmare but I am now moving on. Hopefully the next event
won’t carry as much trouble as this has been. On the upside of things, it looks
like I’m finally going to speak with Scott Ian of Anthrax. I’ve been
waiting for this opportunity for about six years now so I hope it will be good. Being that I’ve been on a negative
kick with all this Opeth crap that’s going on I thought I’d try and
break the monotony a bit and share something more positive. First off, today is
my birthday and I’m very thankful to have made it through another year. This
past weekend I had a blast when I was given the opportunity to check out
Finnish power metaler’s Stratovarius on their first ever U.S. Tour. They
were absolutely amazing and real showman. I’ll be writing a proper review in
the coming days and posting it on the site with some pretty cool pics that we got. I was lucky enough to hang out for a bit
backstage after the show and meet all of the guys. I was hoping for an
interview but as it was the last couple of dates of the tour it didn’t end up
taking place. However, I talked with Tolkki and he
said that he wanted to talk in a couple of weeks. He usually doesn’t do many
interviews but he told me that he had a good feeling and would definitely call
me. He also said that he had a lot to say. I’m looking forward to speaking with
him and will keep you posted on further developments. Well, when it rains it pours and now
I am told that all of the online media have had their tickets cut and I’m am left without any way to get into the show sans buying a
ticket myself. This wouldn’t be totally out of the question if it were not for
the many concerts I already attend. It generally costs me anywhere between
30.00 and 40.00 dollars to go and cover a show once gas, parking and food are
factored in. On a semi-positive note I’m informed that we may manage to score a
phoner in the next couple of weeks with Mikael.
However at this point I’m not holding my breath. So one of the recent struggles that
I’ve been faced with is delivering all you metal maniacs a new interview with
the masters of prog Death metal, Opeth. In the
past, band leader Mikael Åkerfeldt has given us some
great interviews and I was really looking forward to speaking with him. Our
current standing with Roadrunner Records is not the greatest at the moment and,
to tell you the truth, I have no explanation as to why. We’ve had a great
relationship with them over the years but it seems that now there are some
individuals over there that have developed some animosity towards us for
unknown reasons. Anyway the story goes like this: we submitted a request to
speak with Mikael and were turned down. Instead they tried to give us Per, you
know the new guy… and the keyboard player! Who the f*ck cares what this guy has
to say, he has only been with the band for a year or so, so we turned them
down. Then we received a call from the outstanding folks at Adrenaline PR who
are also working the Opeth account and they managed to get us an in
person interview with Mikael. This was fantastic news but then the show in There’s been quite a lot going on
lately with more CDs arriving on my desk that I can keep up with, a shit load
of concerts on the way and an equal number of interviews. Thankfully we have a
couple of new writers that are helping to lighten the load. In the coming weeks
I’ll be giving you all the 411 on these people and may actually have individual
bio pages for each of them. So let’s get in to some of the bullshit we often
face in this business. It’s funny that there are some artists, management firms
and publicists who treat us with total respect and professional courtesy, but
there are also a number who blow us off at every turn. The
reasons? Who the f*ck knows, maybe they were abused as children, maybe it’s that we intimidate them, or maybe it’s
just because the stick up their ass is causing them an extended amount of pain.
I’m not really sure the reasons, all I know is I’ve been doing this long enough
to have built up a respectable reputation and have always tried to do the best
job I can. To put this into perspective let me offer this bit of information.
Over the last six years we have tried repeatedly to cover Alice Cooper.
When the mag first started we were granted an opportunity and did a decent job.
Since then we have never been able to get near the man. Through changes in his
PR rep. to changes in his record company, nothing has made a difference. We’ve
been shot down countless times. We’ve been given no reason most of the time or,
once in awhile, we are told that there are too many requests or |