MACHINE HEAD NEWS!

January 22, 2013, posted by Crumbs.

The General Journals: Diary of a Frontman... and Other Ramblings - Part 3

Machine Head

MASTER CLEANSE AND THE WAGON

I'm on day 8 of my fifth Master Cleanse, and just like when I started doing these Master Cleanses back in Jan. of 2010, I'm "back on The Wagon... again"... (sung to the tune of "I'm baaaaack in the saddle aga-a-ain"). Meaning, I'm off booze, cigarettes, post-surgery pain pills and other bad habits... again. While I'm not sure how long my stint of sobriety will last, it will at least until I have my head back in check.

I did the full 10 day Master Cleanse back in May 2011 during the recording of Unto The Locust, I sang most of the vocal tracks and played a lot of the guitar tracks while on The Cleanse. It was great, put me in a good headspace. I only managed a disappointing 3 day last year, but I wasn't sober. As part of my rehab, I've booked some small acoustic shows at clubs and bars along the way down to LA for NAMM. Just me and my tech Scott driving all over California in my 4-Runner, trying to... I dunno... trying to get lost, I guess. Half cover songs, half MH tunes, all done acoustic, no setlist, making it up as I go. I played last night in Hollywood and it was really, really cool. Had a blast, told stories, laughed, it got pretty heavy at times, hung with some great people, it was therapeutic as fuck.

I need to do this. I need to challenge myself, I need to go out there and play some shows, get out of my comfort zone and shake myself up, be alone, on my own. I'm not happy right now, I need to figure this shit out, I need it find that fire again, inspiration, or, I don't know even what I'm searching for, something, and I feel like this might help me find a part of it. It's the most excited I've been about something in a long while.

HE IS LEGEND

Been geeking out on these guys, got a little more info. I guess they started out pretty hot with their first album, AP covers, karate-chopping hardcore kids at their shows, and then, they tried to change on their 2nd album, went with a name producer, apparently it didn't work for whatever reason, and there was a big backlash from the notoriously-un-loyal-Christian-hardcore/metal-scene (the irony), which they humorously chronicle in the video for Attack of the Dungeon Witch - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nhv8Wirevo Then, like so many bands before them, faced with the possibility of not having a fan base, they wrote an album that was only for themselves and nobody else, they went inward, they didn't give a fuck if the "scene" didn't like them. And they made "It Hates You", masterpiece.

Now, I'm probably romanticizing parts of their story, because well, I cant tell you how much I am loving this band. My sons Zander and Wyatt are loving this band, hell, even Genevra likes a few songs and she rarely likes anything rockin' these days. But even after all that, unfortunately, it didn't click, old fans abandoned them, new fans didn't get it, and in 2011, they went on hiatus. Maddeningly, there is so little documentation of the "It Hates You" tunes live on YouTube that it's a crime, A CRIME I SAY! I've heard that they recently got back together and are doing local shows on weekends and holidays, let's hope they can keep it going, I'd LOVE to see them.

To me though, their story, is every thing that's right with music, it is the power of music, it lives forever, through word of mouth, through people spreading the album around, through this modern day world online, (thank fuck they're on Spotify). Maybe the time wasn't right for them, maybe the moment wasn't right, but this bands music lived on to move, thrill, and blow away. It did for me.

I'd like to thank MetalSucks.net for filling me in on some backstory with these two great articles
"What's up with HiL" http://tinyurl.com/b9tbyh5
"HiL Tutorial" http://tinyurl.com/afe8nhs

PROTEST THE HERO

Congrats to one my favorite bands Protest The Hero for raising $227,000 in 6 days to fund their upcoming album
(over $100,000 dollars on the first day alone!) with a Kickstarter-style fundraiser platform called Indigogo. Amazing!! Anyone interested donating, go here http://www.indiegogo.com/protestthehero

NAMM

Speaking of NAMM Phil and I will be there this year. Phil is doing a signing at the Jackson booth Sat. at 2PM, Phil and I will be at the EMG booth Sat. at 11AM, and I will be doing a short acoustic set at the upstairs Epiphone booth on Fri. at 4PM

Hope to see some of you there!

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

Source: MachineHead1.com

TakeMyScars.com - A Place Dedicated to the Mighty Machine Head!