Rain

When the other guitar player left the band in the 90's, I had to make adjustments to my sound - I was playing through a 59 Bassman, those cleaner patterns, and that sound sat really well on top of his Mesa Boogie, which provided the foundation. But with him gone I needed something to fill all the empty space, and I had no budget, I was still paying the Fender, so I got myself a little Marshall Valvestate VS15R that I ran in parallel. It made playing as a trio much easier. Previous generations of Valvestate had left me unimpressed but I really liked this one. When I started recording, it's the only thing I used - recording the Bassman in an apartment was unthinkable. Using just my strat, between that little Marshall, a wah, a Boss Flanger, and the tape echo on the Sony open reel that I used to record, experimenting with mic placment, I learned to create all kinds of sounds. I eventually gave it to a friend after I got my first POD, but I often miss it. It wasn't as good as my old Master Lead Combo (my first decent amp) but I'd like to grab one even if just to see if it was as nice as I remember.

Who really plays live with Marshall stacks anymore? This guy. Although I believe that for the last song I played there I was hooked to a Axe-FX. Honestly, I'd probably prefer to use some DI solution at this point, though. Also, notice the wall of Marshalls in the back. I think there's 4 "stacks" on each side of the drums. They're not actually fake or empty cabinets - just pictures. Looks better than a bare wall when bands don't have a backdrop, IMHO.

Would that be Miss Heard next to you on the picture?

The Ramones - This Business Is Killing Me

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Taking Care Of No Business

The Misfits - Horror Business

Anthrax - A.D.I. / Horror Of It All

The Stooges - Head on Curve

Apparently, we're playing that one - a lot heavier/darker though. Lots of fun to learn.

Thank you! I sincerely appreciate. I know it can make some people uncomfortable too, and I usually try to be mindful, but that's just the way I grew up. I'm actually working on a book about it because people have been encouraging me to do so for years - apparently, it can help them process things and find perspective on thir own mortality. So if it can at least be useful for that - if I manage to finish it, anyway. But thank, really.

The Misftits - Hate the Living, Love the Dead.

The Misfits - Some Kinda Hate

The Misfits - Hate Breeders

The Clash - Hate and War

Well, technically, I did die for a bit in 2017, but they brought me back. So I never got my death certificate - a shame, if you ask me. Would look great on the studio wall.

Had to call Apple this morning, because of a problem with my new Apple Card. After issuing said card, they ran a check and found out that according to public records... I am deceased. Apparently, I died on October 8th 2020. I finally got to use the old quote and tell the Apple employee that the reports of my death had been greatly exagerated. And Eleonora (of all the possible names!) the Apple supervisor said I made her day. Apparently she’d never heard of someone being so amused to find out that they were dead. Then suddenly I had a hunch... When I was in college back home, I met this other guy with the same name, same date of birth, living on the same street - I lived at 390, he lived at 330. He was from a different little town but had come to my hometown to study black and white photography. The college administration gave me the middle initial A to differentiate us, and he was given J. We realized we shared the same birth date because we ran into issues when it came time to vote. Although we weren’t close friends, he became a regular at the bar where I worked, and we got along great. We shared many similar musical tastes, although his were rooted in punk, and he was little more extreme than I was at times. He always wore a leather jacket with “Alice Donut” painted in the back. We also shared a general interest in arts and literature. Just a few years ago, he contacted me via Facebook because my financial institution had called him by error while trying to reach me. And they kept making that same error. That was the last time we spoke. Turns out, he is the one who died on October 8th 2020, at the age of 48 in his little hometown after a brief struggle with a disease. It was quite a shock to read that. I'm not sure how we got mixed up again, considering that he was living in a different country and all, but I'm glad it's sorted out - although it's very sad to learn that my old pal is gone.

April Wine - Before the Dawn

Judas Priest - Before the Dawn

Joy Division - New Dawn Fades

Accept - Balls to the Wall (I could not NOT)

AC/DC - She's Got Balls

Roxy Music - The Thrill Of It All

Black Sabbath - Thrill Of It All.

I often feel the same, although I do go through phases when I'm in a somewhat more forgiving mood. As for the looks, indeed those guys all look the same. It's like they all shop at Wornstar (and actually, a lot of them do) or recycle the same basic ideas. https://wornstar.com/?ref=StoreYa&utm_source=stry&utm_medium=trafb&utm_campaign=storeya2b&utm_term=kwd-300184223256

I came this close to posting that one a few days ago (sing with th word "Roller")