It's finally happened... things feel like they did back in 2000. We've got something strong going on and it's comforting!
We practiced as a full band last Thursday, tightening some things up, then again Saturday. That one was a long session. We actually ran out of gas. Frank got here at two and we stopped at 8:30 so Dave, Frank and Jared could check out the Edge Magazine CD release at the Rabbit. We have been exhausting all our babysitting time lately for practice, so I stayed home with the kids. The sole babysitter is my sister.. and with finals coming up, I can tell she's getting worn down as well.. but she's here every practice ready to help us out. I'm sincerely grateful to have her.
SO then we took promo pictures on Sunday. We went out to this factory off of 35.. I'm sure most of you have seen it. I went out there in highschool to shoot photos and have had a fond feeling for it since. It's an old run down, crumbling warehouse that has a soul to it... hard to describe. We had to walk through the woods, jump a couple of railroad cars, but we got there with a good hour or so of sunlight to shoot. It was kind of spooky but serene... I made Jared run like a girl but that's another story in itself. Haha... A huge, big ol', fat "thank you" to Rick for lending us his photographic talent! We very much appreciate it.
The guys practiced yesterday and broke down some riffs piece by piece to get Jared over some hurdles. He got our toughest song down.. its all downhill from here. Today is full band, tomorrow is either Dave writing lyrics or guitar sectional (depends on how today goes...), we're off for Turkey, then Friday and Saturday we're practicing again. It's unexplainable.. it feels great!!! It's such a release right now to get in there and pound out these songs. The new one's are fast... so we walk out of there sweaty with sore forearms but with a clear mind.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Steve Di'giorgio is God!
Jen
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Frank: Sorry...
Sorry guys for the lack of the updates...it's been pretty hectic and i'm sure your guys understand....
So here it goes:
We finally got to here Jared sing backup vox last week and lemme tell ya...blew us out of the fucking water man! And that was just the first go 'round!
Keep working on it Jared...it can only get better!
But needless to say...all of the practices last week were awesome! things are getting tighter and we are feeling more and more conditioned as time goes by.
On a technical note. Dave is working real close with Jared to establish/achieve a better guitar tone. When Jared first brought his new stuff to practice, we noticed right away that it was real 'muddy' sounding. Dave said it was the gauge Jareds strings at the time. So since then, Jared has taken his guitar to Gene at Crazy Kat and has had it set up with 50 Gauge strings. But David still wants him to go up to a 54 g at least! It's just more of a tension issue, and plus it makes the staccato riffs sound better and tighter. (Damn...i had to do spell check on that bitch)
Moving on:
Promos pics were cancelled. Brobee got sick and Dave and Jen had to tend to that matter first. They have been rescheduled for this weekend.
Dave and i got together last night for about an hour.
We just went down the list:
Marvel
Ranting's
Switchblade
1 open song
And that was it. David pussed out. Just kidding....I was down to ZERO sticks...so we had to stop...
Full practice on thursday.
Frank
So here it goes:
We finally got to here Jared sing backup vox last week and lemme tell ya...blew us out of the fucking water man! And that was just the first go 'round!
Keep working on it Jared...it can only get better!
But needless to say...all of the practices last week were awesome! things are getting tighter and we are feeling more and more conditioned as time goes by.
On a technical note. Dave is working real close with Jared to establish/achieve a better guitar tone. When Jared first brought his new stuff to practice, we noticed right away that it was real 'muddy' sounding. Dave said it was the gauge Jareds strings at the time. So since then, Jared has taken his guitar to Gene at Crazy Kat and has had it set up with 50 Gauge strings. But David still wants him to go up to a 54 g at least! It's just more of a tension issue, and plus it makes the staccato riffs sound better and tighter. (Damn...i had to do spell check on that bitch)
Moving on:
Promos pics were cancelled. Brobee got sick and Dave and Jen had to tend to that matter first. They have been rescheduled for this weekend.
Dave and i got together last night for about an hour.
We just went down the list:
Marvel
Ranting's
Switchblade
1 open song
And that was it. David pussed out. Just kidding....I was down to ZERO sticks...so we had to stop...
Full practice on thursday.
Frank
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Jen: Ooooooops!! & Reflection
"Sorry Franko".. I blamed Frank for turning off the comments options and know what? My dumb ass made the all links the same color as the background!!! ooooOOOOPS! hehe.. bet he's not laughing...
OK so we jammed on Saturday. It was not as long as we usually go because Frank had to get sticks and run other errands.. BUT it was extremely productive. We're having flashes of brilliance where you feel the earth align with the stars.. blah blah. We went through New Sun Rising, Switchblade, and Ignore Everything over and over to tighten them up and work Dave's vocals, then we worked on one of the newest jams. We had been referring to it as "Fire in Your Mouth". We agreed on a permanent name now... *drumroll*..
"FIRST STRIKE". Perfect name.. it represents the music well.
After all that conditioning, we pieced together 3/4 of another new song! Jared's big contribution.. Frank and I were jammin on this one beat and he writes this arpeggiated part based on the downbeat of a riff Dave was playing. THEN Dave comes up with another part based off Jared's part. Frank and I were keepin things solid.. it's too damn catchy!! That was the verse and everything flew from there. And it's a refreshing taste after all the hard, fast Lamb of Slayer-esque music we've been cranking out. Anyways, you'll get to hear all this shit at our first show back.
So this is a bit off topic, but I was reflecting today. We got asked all the time about what the hell happened to ANGERKILL the past two years. Well, to put it in a simple, non shit-flinging way, we fuckin' ran outta gas. Things will happen to try to pull you down.. and a NUMBER of things were pulling us down. We ultimately gave up and let them win. Some negative influences were much stronger than others, but overall, it was a combination of negativity from all different. We couldn't write anything worth a shit. Hell, we couldn't even get together to practice! We went from five practices a week, eight to ten shows a month to two and a half months of cancelled practices for different excuses. We decided to call at that time. On a personal level, we didn't talk to Frank for 4 months! That's hard to do when you're brothers.. and a sister-in-law.
Dave gave himself a break to get his mentality back to the basics of what he loves about this, then started looking for a fresh project and knew he wanted to jam with Jared. They looked for like a year and a half (although not that feverishly). They wrote a couple of songs together, tried out drummers, but nothing ever came to be. They put the ad in the Edge and got calls ranging from "Hey Bro, i'm really good - compare myself to Bostaph.. but I don't have drums at the moment" and "some of my influences? Eagles.. ya know.. classic rock". He even got "Dude, you want to play what? that doesn't pay." Dave's picky, man.. if someone called with no job or no car, shitty drums, he wanted nothing to do with that. After you've tried for almost ten years to get a tight band going, you just don't want to deal with that crap anymore.
So then Frank calls in July. Again, we hadn't spoken to him in months. He comes over one night and the three of us talk things out. Not even about the band, but about our relationships with eachother. What we like, dislike, but most importantly, what we expect. Not ten minutes after the conversation, they rushed into the garage to play.
Jared leaves soon after to San Diego for some personal business. Inopportune timing, but that's life.. I mean, he waited around all this time, things get together, and he's gotta leave. He has his Dad come over to pick up his equipment and ship it to San Diego. He practices his ass off over there to stay limber. During this time, Dave and Frank are writing like madmen. Everytime they get together, music flows like a fat lady with the shits. Jared came back a couple of weeks ago with a brand new cab and rack equipment, and that's where we're at now. He bought this really nice Ibanez this last weekend.. I don't know the model. It's the Shadows Fall one.
SO now we're "jelling". Practices are spent getting transitions down, making sure we have the riffs precise, physical conditioning and most importantly, we're having fun. Every practice has been an emotional experience that I hadn't felt since 2000. It's been FUN and it feels great.
We booked our comeback show for January. We'll be fine tuned well before then if we keep the same momentum. We've booked our promo pictures for a couple of weeks from now, we're exploring studio options and we've hired an established artist who's already begun the artwork for it.
I suppose I'm explaining all this because the fact that we're coming back is such a major part of all of our lives right now. Each new piece of music is more than just a piece of a CD, but it's important healing and birth. I'm not trying to be sappy, but trying to explain to those of you that care where we've been and what direction we're now headed (not even we will know where we're going until we get there).
Notice I said "those of you that care." That's who we're playing for. For ourselves and "those of you that care" - those who motivated us during our trying times. You know you who are.. individuals and bands alike. Each of you that shows up to the show at Bonds in January will not see a band up there wanting to simply entertain you, but we're presenting you with *ALL* the emotions we've experienced in the past five years and the outcome of it all in an artform. I won't even tell you it's gonna be a good show, but I can promise it's going to be soulful, emotional and heartfelt from each of us. It's our trophy for getting past it all - it will be a show we'll hold dear always. There are plenty of opportunities after that Friday the 13th to simply entertain and win new fans.
For AK, the only thing more exciting than this evening will be our new CD.
OK so we jammed on Saturday. It was not as long as we usually go because Frank had to get sticks and run other errands.. BUT it was extremely productive. We're having flashes of brilliance where you feel the earth align with the stars.. blah blah. We went through New Sun Rising, Switchblade, and Ignore Everything over and over to tighten them up and work Dave's vocals, then we worked on one of the newest jams. We had been referring to it as "Fire in Your Mouth". We agreed on a permanent name now... *drumroll*..
"FIRST STRIKE". Perfect name.. it represents the music well.
After all that conditioning, we pieced together 3/4 of another new song! Jared's big contribution.. Frank and I were jammin on this one beat and he writes this arpeggiated part based on the downbeat of a riff Dave was playing. THEN Dave comes up with another part based off Jared's part. Frank and I were keepin things solid.. it's too damn catchy!! That was the verse and everything flew from there. And it's a refreshing taste after all the hard, fast Lamb of Slayer-esque music we've been cranking out. Anyways, you'll get to hear all this shit at our first show back.
So this is a bit off topic, but I was reflecting today. We got asked all the time about what the hell happened to ANGERKILL the past two years. Well, to put it in a simple, non shit-flinging way, we fuckin' ran outta gas. Things will happen to try to pull you down.. and a NUMBER of things were pulling us down. We ultimately gave up and let them win. Some negative influences were much stronger than others, but overall, it was a combination of negativity from all different. We couldn't write anything worth a shit. Hell, we couldn't even get together to practice! We went from five practices a week, eight to ten shows a month to two and a half months of cancelled practices for different excuses. We decided to call at that time. On a personal level, we didn't talk to Frank for 4 months! That's hard to do when you're brothers.. and a sister-in-law.
Dave gave himself a break to get his mentality back to the basics of what he loves about this, then started looking for a fresh project and knew he wanted to jam with Jared. They looked for like a year and a half (although not that feverishly). They wrote a couple of songs together, tried out drummers, but nothing ever came to be. They put the ad in the Edge and got calls ranging from "Hey Bro, i'm really good - compare myself to Bostaph.. but I don't have drums at the moment" and "some of my influences? Eagles.. ya know.. classic rock". He even got "Dude, you want to play what? that doesn't pay." Dave's picky, man.. if someone called with no job or no car, shitty drums, he wanted nothing to do with that. After you've tried for almost ten years to get a tight band going, you just don't want to deal with that crap anymore.
So then Frank calls in July. Again, we hadn't spoken to him in months. He comes over one night and the three of us talk things out. Not even about the band, but about our relationships with eachother. What we like, dislike, but most importantly, what we expect. Not ten minutes after the conversation, they rushed into the garage to play.
Jared leaves soon after to San Diego for some personal business. Inopportune timing, but that's life.. I mean, he waited around all this time, things get together, and he's gotta leave. He has his Dad come over to pick up his equipment and ship it to San Diego. He practices his ass off over there to stay limber. During this time, Dave and Frank are writing like madmen. Everytime they get together, music flows like a fat lady with the shits. Jared came back a couple of weeks ago with a brand new cab and rack equipment, and that's where we're at now. He bought this really nice Ibanez this last weekend.. I don't know the model. It's the Shadows Fall one.
SO now we're "jelling". Practices are spent getting transitions down, making sure we have the riffs precise, physical conditioning and most importantly, we're having fun. Every practice has been an emotional experience that I hadn't felt since 2000. It's been FUN and it feels great.
We booked our comeback show for January. We'll be fine tuned well before then if we keep the same momentum. We've booked our promo pictures for a couple of weeks from now, we're exploring studio options and we've hired an established artist who's already begun the artwork for it.
I suppose I'm explaining all this because the fact that we're coming back is such a major part of all of our lives right now. Each new piece of music is more than just a piece of a CD, but it's important healing and birth. I'm not trying to be sappy, but trying to explain to those of you that care where we've been and what direction we're now headed (not even we will know where we're going until we get there).
Notice I said "those of you that care." That's who we're playing for. For ourselves and "those of you that care" - those who motivated us during our trying times. You know you who are.. individuals and bands alike. Each of you that shows up to the show at Bonds in January will not see a band up there wanting to simply entertain you, but we're presenting you with *ALL* the emotions we've experienced in the past five years and the outcome of it all in an artform. I won't even tell you it's gonna be a good show, but I can promise it's going to be soulful, emotional and heartfelt from each of us. It's our trophy for getting past it all - it will be a show we'll hold dear always. There are plenty of opportunities after that Friday the 13th to simply entertain and win new fans.
For AK, the only thing more exciting than this evening will be our new CD.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Frank: Practice on 10/24/05
Sorry for the late update. It's been a bitchin' week. Did i just say bitchin'?
Damn....sorry.
I was alittle tired and the cooler weather outside sure wasn't helping.
Dave and i start off with just jamming. I was doing the double kick pattern in 4/4 with a triplet snare beat on that backround. it was cool. And dave was playing this good ol' fashion C.O.C. type riff that fit really well. it was the kinda jam where the double bass just keeps going, and going, and going. Like...even through the verses and bridges and choruses and shit.
Berry Berry cool. And then we recorded it. Hopefully we'll have some garage jams for you folks to listen to in the near future.
What would ya'll think of that?
Moving on...
We then started to refine H.S.S. There is this break down in the middle of the song that i always thought was way too short. The riff that is there is like 'ear candy'. It's very catchy, and i just thought that we should extend it just a little bit. So we kept it 4x thru in the half time feel, and then another 4x thru full time feel. (you know what the fuck i mean)
And just when we were getting into the the grove...my last pair of sticks fucking broke. FUCK!
we had to stop about and hour early.
Next practice is schedule for 10/27/05 with everyone.
Laterz!
Frank
Damn....sorry.
I was alittle tired and the cooler weather outside sure wasn't helping.
Dave and i start off with just jamming. I was doing the double kick pattern in 4/4 with a triplet snare beat on that backround. it was cool. And dave was playing this good ol' fashion C.O.C. type riff that fit really well. it was the kinda jam where the double bass just keeps going, and going, and going. Like...even through the verses and bridges and choruses and shit.
Berry Berry cool. And then we recorded it. Hopefully we'll have some garage jams for you folks to listen to in the near future.
What would ya'll think of that?
Moving on...
We then started to refine H.S.S. There is this break down in the middle of the song that i always thought was way too short. The riff that is there is like 'ear candy'. It's very catchy, and i just thought that we should extend it just a little bit. So we kept it 4x thru in the half time feel, and then another 4x thru full time feel. (you know what the fuck i mean)
And just when we were getting into the the grove...my last pair of sticks fucking broke. FUCK!
we had to stop about and hour early.
Next practice is schedule for 10/27/05 with everyone.
Laterz!
Frank
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Jen: Strong momentum - steady pace
It's finally happened... things feel like they did back in 2000. We've got something strong going on and it's comforting!
We practiced as a full band last Thursday, tightening some things up, then again Saturday. That one was a long session. We actually ran out of gas. Frank got here at two and we stopped at 8:30 so Dave, Frank and Jared could check out the Edge Magazine CD release at the Rabbit. We have been exhausting all our babysitting time lately for practice, so I stayed home with the kids. The sole babysitter is my sister.. and with finals coming up, I can tell she's getting worn down as well.. but she's here every practice ready to help us out. I'm sincerely grateful to have her.
SO then we took promo pictures on Sunday. We went out to this factory.. I'm sure most of you have seen it. I went out there in highschool to shoot photos and have had a fond feeling for it since. It's an old run down, crumbling warehouse that has a soul to it... hard to describe. We had to walk through the woods, jump a couple of railroad cars, but we got there with a good hour or so of sunlight to shoot. It was kind of spooky but serene... I made Jared run like a girl but that's another story in itself. Haha... A huge, big ol', fat "thank you" to Rick for lending us his photographic talent! We very much appreciate it.
The guys practiced yesterday and broke down some riffs piece by piece to get Jared over some hurdles. He got our toughest song down.. its all downhill from here. Today is full band, tomorrow is either Dave writing lyrics or guitar sectional (depends on how today goes...), we're off for Turkey, then Friday and Saturday we're practicing again. It's unexplainable.. it feels great!!! It's such a release right now to get in there and pound out these songs. The new one's are fast... so we walk out of there sweaty with sore forearms but with a clear mind.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Steve Di'giorgio is God!
Jen
We practiced as a full band last Thursday, tightening some things up, then again Saturday. That one was a long session. We actually ran out of gas. Frank got here at two and we stopped at 8:30 so Dave, Frank and Jared could check out the Edge Magazine CD release at the Rabbit. We have been exhausting all our babysitting time lately for practice, so I stayed home with the kids. The sole babysitter is my sister.. and with finals coming up, I can tell she's getting worn down as well.. but she's here every practice ready to help us out. I'm sincerely grateful to have her.
SO then we took promo pictures on Sunday. We went out to this factory.. I'm sure most of you have seen it. I went out there in highschool to shoot photos and have had a fond feeling for it since. It's an old run down, crumbling warehouse that has a soul to it... hard to describe. We had to walk through the woods, jump a couple of railroad cars, but we got there with a good hour or so of sunlight to shoot. It was kind of spooky but serene... I made Jared run like a girl but that's another story in itself. Haha... A huge, big ol', fat "thank you" to Rick for lending us his photographic talent! We very much appreciate it.
The guys practiced yesterday and broke down some riffs piece by piece to get Jared over some hurdles. He got our toughest song down.. its all downhill from here. Today is full band, tomorrow is either Dave writing lyrics or guitar sectional (depends on how today goes...), we're off for Turkey, then Friday and Saturday we're practicing again. It's unexplainable.. it feels great!!! It's such a release right now to get in there and pound out these songs. The new one's are fast... so we walk out of there sweaty with sore forearms but with a clear mind.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Steve Di'giorgio is God!
Jen
Friday, October 21, 2005
Frank: First AK practice with everyone
...and i was so tired. I have been so sick with allergies this whole week. So needless to say, i was just so worn out by the time practice started.
Monday, i started off with the stuffy nose. Tuesday, stuffy nose turned to a fucking runny nose and i couldn't catch it (ha ha! that was funny). Wednesday, sore throat, chills, and a low grade fever. Yesterday, my nose stopped running...but my ass caught whatever my nose had. It was horrible.
On the way to practice...i started feeling like i was having menstrual cramps and shit. At one point, i honestly didn't think that i was gonna make it. It hurt soooooo bad. As soon as i pulled up to the driveway, Dave was opening the garage door. I was like, "move bitch! I gotta take a shit!"
Eh...anyway...just a little insight for you guys there.
Now back to the practice.
Well, once i did get out of the shitter! Umm, okay...for real...
Regardless, i was feeling really shitty!!!!!!!!!!!! oh god...i was weak, my stomach was all achy and crampy from having the runs...okay okay okay....back to practice...
Went over New Sun Rising 2x. Made sure Jared had some of the key riffs down. He'll be okay...a little sloppy...but should improve over time.
Went over Switchblade 2x as well. More key riffs to be noted for Jared. Again...that song will improve over time.
Went over Fire In Your Mouth more than 2x! We really like this tune. It's your typical a-b-a-b-a-b kinda song. Pretty typical patterns...it's just that riffs are hard as hell. You should've seen Jen after the 10th time playing that song!!!!!!! She said her arms and hands felt real heavy!!!!!! I could imagine! That's probably what my stomach felt like too!
That was pretty much it.
Dave and Jared should be holding a Sectional here in the next few days. Dave, Jared, and i will be getting together on Monday. Next full band practice is scheduled for Thursday.
"Drink beer, okay? go ahead and drink beer this weekend"
damn...my fucking conscience is talking to me....i must obey...
Frank
Monday, i started off with the stuffy nose. Tuesday, stuffy nose turned to a fucking runny nose and i couldn't catch it (ha ha! that was funny). Wednesday, sore throat, chills, and a low grade fever. Yesterday, my nose stopped running...but my ass caught whatever my nose had. It was horrible.
On the way to practice...i started feeling like i was having menstrual cramps and shit. At one point, i honestly didn't think that i was gonna make it. It hurt soooooo bad. As soon as i pulled up to the driveway, Dave was opening the garage door. I was like, "move bitch! I gotta take a shit!"
Eh...anyway...just a little insight for you guys there.
Now back to the practice.
Well, once i did get out of the shitter! Umm, okay...for real...
Regardless, i was feeling really shitty!!!!!!!!!!!! oh god...i was weak, my stomach was all achy and crampy from having the runs...okay okay okay....back to practice...
Went over New Sun Rising 2x. Made sure Jared had some of the key riffs down. He'll be okay...a little sloppy...but should improve over time.
Went over Switchblade 2x as well. More key riffs to be noted for Jared. Again...that song will improve over time.
Went over Fire In Your Mouth more than 2x! We really like this tune. It's your typical a-b-a-b-a-b kinda song. Pretty typical patterns...it's just that riffs are hard as hell. You should've seen Jen after the 10th time playing that song!!!!!!! She said her arms and hands felt real heavy!!!!!! I could imagine! That's probably what my stomach felt like too!
That was pretty much it.
Dave and Jared should be holding a Sectional here in the next few days. Dave, Jared, and i will be getting together on Monday. Next full band practice is scheduled for Thursday.
"Drink beer, okay? go ahead and drink beer this weekend"
damn...my fucking conscience is talking to me....i must obey...
Frank
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Frank: Quick update
Promo pics are scheduled to be taken on November 13th. We'll have pictures of the new guy JARED up as soon as we are able to!
Full blown practice tonight. can't wait!!!
more details tomorrow!
Frank
Full blown practice tonight. can't wait!!!
more details tomorrow!
Frank
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