Industrial Music Monday - SML8

Well, it's that day... and you know what that means... Industrial!! This week we have a band out of Daytona Beach, Florida. The music is in the vein of electronic/industrial metal. I can't quite seem to find any info regarding members of this project, but I'm assuming by their photos it's a 3 or 4 person unit, at least live. Anyway, they are called: SML8! Check them out!!!






SML8 Facebook

sml8 bandcamp

sml8 Reverbnation

sml8 Soundcloud

EDIT: I did find a list of band members currently in this project; Scott Van Horn (Mastermind, music, vocals), and Andrew Howington (Guitar, Bass, Production).

Collecting Physical CD's and Industrial Music History

(Ministry's "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste")

Well, I've decided to collect CD's again... I realize in this day and age they are pretty much valueless, but to be honest, I've never been into vinyl... and quite frankly I don't want to start... I come from an age where CD's were the predominant medium for music. The whole reason for me collecting these pieces again, is first of all, I like looking at my CD collection, and seeing all the music I have... second, when people come over to my place, they can look at that collection, and there are stories and conversations to be had about those pieces... thirdly, I love looking at the artwork and the liner notes and shit like that, sometimes there is stories in the liner notes, and I like reading them and such. That is one thing that I think that is missing from today's digital music collection... the artwork, the stories, all of that! Most of today's releases there really isn't a digital booklet connected with the album... sure you get the cover artwork, but you don't get the stuff inside, cause generally bands don't include it in the purchase of the music... and a lot of the music aggregators don't allow for a band to include the digital booklet.

(Ministry's "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" back cover)

Today's find was Ministry's "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste". I did have this album when I was in my late teens (18 or 19 or so), but I've realized I love this stuff and I still would like to have it in my collection, and not too sure why I got rid of it in the first place. Lately, I've been really digging Ministry's stuff, and have decided to pick this stuff up again! I've actually been on a whole Wax Trax! kick lately (I know Ministry was not a part of Wax Trax! at this point, but yeah, just been really trying to grab as much of Ministry's stuff, as well as Chris Connelly's stuff, and other select pieces)... I think it's because the whole Wax Trax documentary (Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records), and being that I was too young at the time to really appreciate the whole Wax Trax! "scene" at the time... and I also saw Lead Into Gold last summer... I've just wanted to really explore more of industrial music history and see the evolution of it all, from where we started to where we are now! I mean you look at the start of industrial with Throbbing Gristle and look at it through the years and then Ministry starts the industrial metal thing, and then you look at today's industrial and it has evolved even further! Yeah, just exciting!!

What are you folks listening to, and excited about in the industrial scene?

Industrial Music Monday - Vanguard

Well, it's that day... and you know what that means... Industrial!! This week we have a project out of Gothenburg, Sweden. The music is in the vein of electro/industrial/futurepop. The band consists of two members: Jonas Olofsson and Patrik Hansson. They are called: Vanguard! Check them out!!





vanguardofficial Facebook

vanguardofficial.com

vanguardofficial Soundcloud

The Online World: Lost in Translation

I think their needs to be something said about social media and the online world, and online communities... the problem with writing posts online, and texts, and emails... is we don't quite understand context... like when you are talking to someone in person, you see their body language, you hear their voice inflections... you basically get a sense of what a person is trying to articulate (you may be able to tell if they are agitated, or anxious, or even angry)... in the online world, it is completely different; you don't see someone's body language, you don't hear their vocal inflections, text on a screen does not accurately articulate what point someone is trying to get across. It is nice that we can communicate online, but in the end, we do not understand what a person is truly trying to articulate cause through text we can't articulate those things that we can only say and do in person. Sure, there's emojis and shit to give someone a general sense of "ok, this person might be angry..." or "ok, this guy is happy, or laughing", but in the end, even emoji's can't truly show an individual what is going on on the other end of the screen! Don't get me wrong, I like being connected online and in the digital world, social media and the various online forums and communities are a nice tool to use to connect with people across oceans, but I will say it can only do so much to get our points across, to truly know what a person is trying to articulate, you need to be in the room with them, you need to hear them, their voice, you need to see their body language. I'm not saying unplug from the net, what I'm saying is, take these things into consideration when conversing/communicating with people online... a lot can be lost in translation from person-to-text-to-person... and hey I mean, the irony here is I'm communicating this thought with you online via a blogging app... but if you want to have an in person conversation, feel free to call me or message me and we can arrange to meet!! Obviously, I'm not gonna meet with someone that isn't within my community... still gotta play safe folks... but if you are in my community (you know who you are 😉) feel free to message or call me!

What are your thought's on this subject? Do you feel we can articulate our points and opinions and all the other shit well online, or do you think something get's lost in the translation?

Mistakes and Learning from your Past

Well, I just want to say something here, especially about mistakes, and learning from your past. What I'm finding is, a lot of people (especially) in the online social media communities are quite reactionary and aren't really thinking about what they are saying and the example they are setting for others... This is true of everyone; we all make mistakes, no one is perfect (I have made plenty of mistakes, and paid for them too)... that includes politicians, police, military, everyone... every single person on this planet has made a mistake... some people are paying for their mistakes in the penitentiary system, some of them are paying for them by doing probation in society, or community service... some of them have learned them by being called out by their family or friends... No one, absolutely no one is pure... if we didn't make mistakes, how the fuck are we supposed to learn and make amends, and rehabilitate... I'm not gonna point any fingers here, but I'll give an example... remember the guy on the Greyhound bus that decapitated a kid... I'm sure most of you remember that story... that guy is now walking free in society... after the incident, he was given a psychological assessment, they found he had a mental illness, and that whole incident was the result of his mental illness... after serving a period of time in jail (or whatever correctional institution he was in), with being monitored, he was given the go to be released back into society, because he was doing well, and realized the error of his mistake, and is now on a serious dose of medication (that story is here)... There were a lot of people pissed off about that, because he served very little time (the family of the victim wanted him to remain in jail), but I think that's what people are forgetting... the idea of jail is in the end we want to rehabilitate these people, and get them to be a functioning member of society... that is the key, jail is not meant to be a revenge on the perpetrator of a crime (that is why they are called correctional facilities)... Granted there's people who get released into society that probably shouldn't be, but there are also people who have rehabilitated and should be given a chance to be integrated into normal society again (I'm sure some of you will block me, or even have some choice words, or this post gets blocked or flagged or whatever, but quite frankly I'm not afraid to say it, cause we have to be aware that we all make mistakes, and we should all be given a chance to correct them and learn from them), I think that's my point... everyone should be given the chance to correct their mistakes and learn from them, to be rehabilitated... Maybe this is an unpopular topic, but I think it needs to be said, cause if we are truly human, we need to give people this ability, we need to give them the ability to make amends.

Note: I'm not an apologist here either... I do realize sometimes people have to remain in jail for the rest of their lives cause they can't be rehabilitated currently (cause we don't know how to fix them), or being in jail the rest of their lives is how they rehabilitate. What I'm trying to point out here is that we do have to let people make amends and heal/rehabilitate (if they can)... I mean look at anyone's life... how many times have you or your friend fucked up, or made a mistake and your friends understand that and have given you a chance to make amends?? I'm also not saying that these mistakes or whatever are right, what I'm saying is that everybody makes them, and should be given a chance to make amends (as I stated earlier).

What do you folks think?

Industrial Music Monday - Odonis Odonis

Well, it's that day... and you know what that means... Industrial!! This weeks Industrial Music Monday comes courtesy of Facebook friend "Tommy Westphall". This week we have a project out of Toronto, Ontario. The music is in the vein of electronic/darkwave/industrial. The band consists of 3 members: Constantin Tzenos, Jarod Gibson, Denholm Whale. They are called: Odonis Odonis! Check them out!!






odonisodonis Facebook

odonisodonis.com

Mental Health and Music

There was an recent article released about how 73% of independent musicians are affected by mental health issues, or worry about their mental health, which you can read here! I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm not surprised with the study, and to me it's always been obvious that this has been the case... musicians and artists typically use their music as a means of therapy, to get out the issues and things that they've been struggling with... when you add the business side to things and trying to succeed within that business, and trying to make a living... the pressure can be great. I will be honest, I struggled with mental health issues for a number of years. There was actually a period of 4 or 5 years that I lost to mental health issues (not focusing on music, and not progressing musically), and sometimes it bothers me that I lost that period of time, as I could've been pushing my music career forward, rather than dealing with mental health. I would say that, I do realize that now, and I have figured out ways to cope... and even though I'm behind, and not where I want to be musically, I would say that if it wasn't for those 4 or 5 years, I would probably be in a much worse place... I wouldn't have the coping skills that I have now, and I might have been locked in some mental institution or something like that. I also realized that, yes, I do have to do music... it is a requirement for my mental health... I realized, when I'm not focused on it, or music related stuff, my mental health declines... course there are other aspects too... obviously that can't be the only focus, being healthy physically and spiritually is also, essential too! Without that whole picture I or anybody for that matter would be struggling mentally. Each of those pieces are important! I think the one thing that is worrisome and pisses me off, is that here in Canada... the province I live in (Alberta), there has been a conservative government elected in, and I will not be surprised if mental health initiatives and funding for people who are using mental health supports will see cuts! We'll see people having to move out of their homes because they can't afford to pay rent, or pay for food, or medications or whatever... We'll see a lot of them being dumped on the streets... and the government doesn't care... I know when Stephen Harper was in power... he thought mentally-ill people should be in jail or locked up in institutions. Unfortunately, this new Premier, Jason Kenny, worked with Stephen Harper, and has even more extreme views than his Prime Minister friend... I think that is why it's important to remain strong and don't give up, cause most of us know, having a mental illness or mental health issues, doesn't make you a criminal... and I would also say to any musician/artist that... use this situation or similar situations in your writing and art, as the world needs your voice, and we can only overcome this by raising awareness of these issues, and destroying any stigma attached to mental health issues!