« September 2004 | Main | November 2004 »
October 31, 2004
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Im taking a day off today. I need it. This week has been busy, and next week seems to be shaping up for more of the same with a Doheny show on Monday and a CF show in Vegas on Thursday. So its a brief post today - I will do more questions on monday. Suffice to say that last nights CFR was a blast with all those guests and Courtney rocked the house. Juliette was amazing too and Dave and I had a lot of fun.
BIG respect to Sweet Soul Sister who sent me this pic of her Doheny Pumpkin - I love it. Thank you.
Have a great Sunday - send a prayer up for the Raiders, who play the Chargers today (with the way its going this season, they need all the help they can get!) - and I'll see you all tomorrow.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 08:13 AM | Comments (7)
October 30, 2004
RECIPE FOR DISASTER
Imagine the scene - 2000 of the most beautiful, good looking, important, powerful people in Hollywood....NONE of whom would know an electric guitar if it ran over them. A huge movie studio sound stage, outfitted for a very high-profile fashion show. LOTS of people wearing shirts with words like 'Staff' and 'Crew' written on them, running around looking extremely busy (but who cant tell me where a restroom is!!). A dressing room for Doheny that is being shared with 'ultra cool, hip, slick' DJ's, The Crystal Method, who are absolutely bombed out of their minds on Red Bull and Red Wine (and little Red Pills as well by the looks of it!!).
NOT your normal Doheny show!! As we are walking to the stage, we have a huge stand-up, in-your-face argument with the drunk DJ's (something about the fact that we sat on their couch....I'm not sure) that very nearly comes to blows. We are all pulled apart......and then we are onstage!! You can imagine how weird the show felt! But we played well - actually about the tightest we have been - and our friend Josh Todd (from Buck Cherry) jumps up onstage near the end and does the Sex Pistols classic, God Save The Queen with us. And then its over - the van is packed up and driven away, and I jump into my car and drive home. Weird. Bizarre. But fun.....I suppose. Check out the pics I just added in the new gallery, Doheny Pictures 2.
I have to confess to being an idiot - I saved all the questions that I hadn't answered - (including the 50....yes 50.....questions from Karen and all you monkeys), and intended to answer them all this morning. And then I promptly threw the document away!! So I am officially an idiot. Anything you really want to know - just ask again, and I promise I will answer.
Its the weekend - which means Camp Freddy Radio is Live from The Wiltern again tonight. This time we are doing it from Courtney Love's Halloween show. I believe its just Dave and I doing the show, but I know we have a couple of guests coming on tonight. (Fans of the Two Billy's Tour should definately listen in). We are doing the full two hours, so turn on, tune in.....and listen to the consumate professional radio service that we provide.....NOT!!!
Have a great weekend people -
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 10:53 AM | Comments (19)
October 29, 2004
ANSWERS
Well, I asked for it......and I got it!! Over 100 questions!! I am going to attempt to answer them all over the next few days. Today is our gig at the Fashion show - cant wait to watch the 'Prancing Pony' walk again!! Anyway, here goes........
Q: Are we ever going to see a Billy Morrision autobiograpy or a Billy Morrision solo album?
A: Well, I think I need to sell a few records first!! I'm sure its something I would do eventually.
Q: Are your eyes blue with hint of green?
A: Yes!
Q: Do you have a stylist,or do you do your shopping yourself?
A: I do my own shopping but I am also lucky enough to get a lot of stuff free of charge.
Q: Whats your weirdest dream?
A: I dreamt that I had solid gold eyelids that opened and closed like a doll's. Very surreal.
Q: Have you ever been to a school reunion?
A: No. In fact I have never returned from the day I left - just the way I like it.
Q: Being married how difficult is it touring and being away from the wife?
A: That is by far the hardest part of touring. Constant communication is vital and my wife comes to as many shows as her schedule allows. Plus the thousands of Shopping Malls across America help keep my mind occupied. But yes - it is difficult.
Q: Why/when did you move to the U.S.? Are you a citizen?
A: I am a Permanent Resident and I intend to become a citizen in a couple of years. I moved here initially because I couldn't stand the cold, grey, miserable London vibe anymore.
Q: Being that you are so busy, when do you have time to sleep?
A: Thats a great question!! I actually crash and burn more than I sleep! I just keep going until I absolutely HAVE to sleep. And then I get 4 or 5 hours.
Q: Can you fix me up with either Billy Duffy or Robbie Williams?
A: Ha!! I love both of those guys. And no I cant hook you up!!
Q: Just what exactly holds top spot as the most 'dubious' record in your collection right now?"
A: Nice! - I think it would have to be Ashlee Simpsons record (I got it free from a label!!) I wanted to hear how good she was at lip-syncing!!
Q: What do you like about fashions shows?
A: Not a lot really. I go to support my friends.
Q: How and when did you meet Dave Navarro?
A: It was about 4 years ago, but Dave remembers meeting me somewhere and I don't!! I thought it was at the Coffee Shop on Sunset, but he calls it differently - and he is probably right. My memory is totally shot!!
Q: Do you have specific goals in life? Or go with the flow more?
A: I used to have a lot of goals, but I now realize that its all part of a bigger plan, so I tend to just roll with whatever comes my way. Easier on the stress levels.
Q: Did you do well at school?
A: I was awful at school. I left early (after years of not really bothering too much) and hated every minute when I was there. I only ever did well at the stuff that came naturally anyway.
Q: What guitar humbuckers do you recommend for that rock and roll kinda of crunch? Whats your guitar rig set-up like?
A: I am endorsed by Seymour Duncan, and I 100% recommend them. I use the Jeff Beck in the bridge position and the 59 in the neck position. Have a look at my equipment page on the main site - www.dohenymusic.com. Click on the 'band' button and then click on my image.
Q: What is your biggest phobia?
A: Wasps. Cant stand em and run a mile when they start ganging up on my and attacking in swarms!!
Q: What one thing would you say would be the best thing that has ever happened to you in your life?
A: Without a doubt, meeting my wife. Turned my life around.
Q: I think I recall reading somewhere that you quit doing substances quite a long time ago. What made you decide to quit and why?
A: I had a 14 year addiction, and ended up homeless, broke and about to die. I weighed 100lbs. I dont think I decided to quit - I think I had nowhere left to go and something bigger than me guided me into sobriety.
Q: Is there someone famous that you admire that you haven't met but would like to?
A: Absolutely. David Bowie. Madonna and William Burroughs (but he's dead so I dont have much hope with that one!!)
Q: If you had to pick one, would you consider yourself an optimist or a pessimist?
A: I think most of the time I am an optimist. But we all have the occasional day, right?
Q: Are those two little birds still trying to sneak a peek in your window?
A: How did you know??!! Yes - they are staring at me right now - very Hitchcock.
Q: What was your favorite Cult song to perform live?
A: Although I loved The Witch, I have to say that Nirvana was my favorite. Didn't play it very often, though.
Q: What did your first pair of nike dunks look like?
A: My first pair of Dunks were blue and grey hi-tops. Followed closely by the white and silver ones.
These days, its all about trying to find a pair of Raiders Dunks - black and silver hi-tops in size 9 - impossible to find.
Q: Do you get tired of people asking you Cult questions?
A: Not at all. My brief period in that band was a fantastic experience and I love all those guys. I just sometimes dont feel qualified to answer as it really is all about Ian and Billy.
OK guys - I have saved all the questions and I will answer more tomorrow (this took ages!!) Thank you all so much for caring enough to even ask these things. I have to get into my day. We'll do a diary with some pics on the main site from todays show (I'll see if I can get a 'Pony Walking' picture!) and I will be back tomorrow. Have a fantastic friday.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 09:07 AM | Comments (15)
October 28, 2004
DOES IT REALLY MATTER?
Wow! I leave the Blog for one day and look what happens - nearly 50 posts!! Thats so cool. Welcome to the new people and a big hi to the regulars. My question got you all confessing to a bunch of great albums!! And a huge discussion about Celine Dion of all people.....now THAT I didnt expect. Lets turn it around today - why dont you guys ask me questions. Whatever you want - (although I cant guarantee an honest answer in every case!!)
I heard Jon's demo of our new tune, Does It Really Matter yesterday, and it blew me away. Great melody, nice irony in the lyrics, loads of harmonies. The way we do it, is that I do a rough version of the music, and give him a CD to work with. He puts it into his computer, sketches out the vocals, then once we are happy, we re-do it all and voila.......a new Doheny song. His sketch that he played me yesterday was really exciting and we will finish the song early next week and take it in to rehearsal for us all to learn. We were playing around with it while Jon was in the UK, so we kind of know it anyway. We'll just get it cleaned up and nail it. Cant wait.
I went to another fashion show last night - this time it was designer Jenni Kayne (a close friend of mine) and it was a load of fun. The front row included Billy Duffy, Anthony Keidis, Michael Des Barres, Farrah Fawcett Majors (wow!!), Robert Downey Jr, Lara Flynn Boyle, Rose McGown and David Blaine. I was so pleased for Jenni that so many people turned out to see her new collection - her stuff is awesome. After the show, we grabbed some food and called it a night. Tomorrow, its Doheny's turn. We play at the Rock N Republic fashion show - I believe we play right after the models finish walking. Should be good fun. We will rehearse today for it, and I think we are learning God Save The Queen so that Josh Todd can get up with us and sing it. Not sure if that will happen, but I'll keep you posted.
Todays pic is the flyer for Monday's Doheny show at The Roxy, on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood. Just grab the flyer and pull it to the desktop, print it out, and you have entry to the show for $8 instead of the usual $12. Come down and experience the Metal Skool sensation. Its like NOTHING you've seen before!!
I'm going to go down to Starbucks to get me a large coffee with an extra shot of personality - I am a little shellshocked this morning as its been one thing after the next for about two weeks now and its catching up with me. Maybe its time for a Palm Springs weekend. So come on people - ask me those questions, and I'll be back tomorrow. A big thank you to everyone who is a part of the Doheny Crew - I love you all. Peace.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:25 AM | Comments (24)
October 26, 2004
FASHION WEEK
Its "Fashion Week" here in LA - and that means lots of events, parties, happenings......and weird walks!!
I went to the first show last night, and I have been attending these type of things for a while. And every time, I get completely confused by the way the models walk. Its kind of like a pony that has a strange affliction in one leg. They emerge from the top of the runway looking hot, sexy and attractive....and then they set off down the runway, doing the most UNATTRACTIVE walk I have ever seen!! I dont get it. Its meant to be a way to show the lines of the clothes better, but to me, it looks just plain stupid!! I mean, they are very beautiful women, and the clothes are usually stunning - why does the fashion industry insist on making them walk like they have something unusually large stuck up their ass??
It was a lot of fun last night, and I had a great time - just an observation on an area of that business that I dont understand.
Doheny will be playing at Friday's Rock N Republic fashion show. Its an invite-only thing, so unfortunately it will be closed to real people! But we will be playing at The Roxy on Monday at the infamous Metal Skool night. If you live in the LA area and havent seen Metal Skool, you need to get out of your house next week and GO!! Those guys are amazing - and of course you also get to see Doheny thrown into the bargain. So put yer spandex pants on and come down to the Roxy next Monday night (01st November) - we play at 11.30pm and Metal Skool play right after us.
A few questions and answers:-
B. Monster Magnet: It was a blast playing with those guys. Dave is the real deal, and they tore it up every single night. Long live the Magnet!!
Ylais. The Tints: Yes, it is Flea's daughter. If you dont know about this band, you soon will.
Kdee. The flyer (available to download from www.dohenymusic.com) will work on the door of the Key Club on monday. It saves you $4.00 and gets you in for $8. The Key Club show in Dec will be a first come, first served situation on the door, BUT there will be tickets given away on Indie nearer the time.
Finally, I want to say a few words about John Peel, RIP. The man was responsible for enlightening me musically. I heard most of the music that changed my life on his show. He knew what was important in the music business - art, emotion and creativity - and played what he wanted, when he wanted. He will be sorely missed.
Have a great day folks and I'll be back tomorrow. Here's a quick one for you. I was looking through my CD's this morning, and saw more than a few 'dubious' records in there!! So here is my question to you - what is the most embarrassing record that you own? I KNOW I'll get a kick out of these answers!!!
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 08:59 AM | Comments (46)
October 25, 2004
NORMAL SERVICE IS RESUMED
Monday morning and its back to Doheny business. For those of you interested in seeing some pics from last weeks Camp Freddy action, there will be a CF site upgrade later in the week with a bunch of cool pics from the shows. And I am trying to get a clip of the Lou Reed stuff edited so we can have an mpeg of that genius moment up here for you all to see. Right now, though, its Doheny rehearsals this week. We intend to work these new songs into the set - at least one should make it into the Roxy set next monday.
The main news is the announcement of our December 2nd show with The Panic Channel and The Tints. It will be at The Key Club in Hollywood, on Sunset Blvd, and thanks to the good people at Indie 103.1 it will be just $1.03 to get in. The catch? You need to bring a can of food with you to help feed those less fortunate, care of the LA Mission. So you get to come and see Doheny, AND Dave's brilliant new band, AND The Tints......AND you get to help another person in the process. What a genius night......we are all looking forward to it. Make your plans now, as the show will be VERY full.
More great art is up in Your Artwork 3 - keep it coming folks, I love to see what you are all capable of doing. And its great to see some of you using the chat room. Thats what its there for - get to know each other - hang out - waste time!!
I will be making some upgrades to my equipment this week. Los Angeles amplifier guru, Bob Bradshaw (who built my current rig for me) will be applying his magic touch to my system and making a few tweaks and changes. I am very excited as every time he does anything for me, it just all sounds so much better. Hopefully we will have it done for the Roxy show. If not - for sure by Dec 2nd.
Gotta run - I have a bunch of meetings this morning before rehearsal. Take care and have a great day.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 09:39 AM | Comments (17)
October 24, 2004
AMAZING!!
Wow - where do I begin? Its been a whirlwind week. Monday was travel day, and I flew out to New York to do the first of two Vanity Fair shows with Camp Freddy. (Note to self....NEVER choose the red eye flight again!!) Tuesday was a 'running around' day - went over to see the folks at Gibson Guitars, who are wonderful people, very helpful, and they gave me the tour and fixed up a couple of my Les Pauls. I also went over to J.Lindeberg (makers of the coolest suits) and they hooked me up with a fantastic suit and shirt for the red carpet. Black suit with a blue pinstripe, bootcut pants....very rock and roll. Thank you guys. Wednesday was rehearsal day, and a very long one at that. Fred Schneider (B52's) rocked out with us, as did Mr Duffy, Mr Cantrell, Ms Gershon and ......a certain Mr Reed!! Lou came into the rehearsal room, and everyone was extremely quiet and reverent. We ran through the two songs (Venus In Furs and The Blue Mask) and waited for his comments.....and he was very happy. He smiled and told the band how good we sounded. We were all stoked that he liked it so much, and went out to dinner at Nobu feeling good. Thursday was show day - a lot of soundcheck, a lot of press, a lot of hanging around.....and then Onstage. A packed Irving Plaza saw an amazing CF show - everyone played great, and the finale of Lou Reed just blew everyone away - including the band. An awesome experience. After the show, we hung around the dressing room for a while, and then made our way to the aftershow party at the hotel. Got to bed about 4.00am feeling VERY lucky, VERY happy and VERY tired!!!
After flying back on friday, we all went to The Wiltern yesterday to do it all over again. Different guests, different songs, but the same vibe - everyone having a ton of fun. Davy Havoc (AFI) rocked a couple of Bowie songs (Ziggy Stardust and Suffragette City), Terri Nunn (Berlin) floored everyone with her song Metro and a duet of Feel Like Making Love (with Stephen Jenkins from Third Eye Blind), Duffy and Cantrell just ROCKED the house as usual - we did the Alice In Chains song, Them Bones, with Jerry and it was just HEAVY!!! And we did The Cults Rain with Duffy and Leif Garret on vocals - sounded so cool. And the audience were just amazing. Everyone had a fantastic time, and I want to thank everyone who came down (a big thanks to Louise for the pictures - they are great)
And that has been my week - time for some R+R before next week begins. I made a mistake with that cartoon artwork. I thought that Jon had designed it, but he told me at the show last night that his designer, El Duce, did it and Jon had emailed it to me. My mistake....but I dont care who did it - it's still cool!! Next week is rehearsals with Doheny (we are playing at one of the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week shows....an invite only affair I'm afraid, but I'll let you know how it goes) and we have The Roxy with Metal Skool next Monday 1st. I also have some studio stuff going on next week and a bunch of events to attend as well. So as usual, its a busy one.
Thank you all for your posts, emails, comments and general participation on this blog. I am totally enjoying the community and hope we continue to build it. As announced on Camp Freddy Radio last night (which we did live from The Wiltern), The Panic Channel and Doheny will be playing together on December 2nd, and it will be $1.03 to get in. It will be an all-ages show, and you have to bring a can of food to help feed the homeless at Xmas. Listen in to CFR each week to win tickets and other goodies.
Oh yeah, by the way -
Lisa..I sing Should I Stay (The Clash) and I Wanna Be Your Dog (Iggy Pop) with Camp Freddy.
B and WP..Gas milage on the Hummer Les Paul? Seatbelt guitar strap? You guys crack me up!!!
And Ive started 'Your Artwork 3' with a couple of cool pieces. The logo is very cool - send me one at a higher res - I need a bigger version so we can play with it.
Thats it for today. Back to the questions next week - wanna get you all thinking of your usual whacked-out answers!! And hopefully we will be able to announce more Doheny shows this week. Just waiting to hear from our agent. Peace, love and respect to you all - I'm off to Starbucks.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 08:51 AM | Comments (26)
October 23, 2004
POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE
Wanted to put up the Roxy cartoon - Jon's designer, El Duce designed it....and I love it!! And check out the Your Artwork 2 link. Tina has designed a set of five postcards that I quite frankly think are amazing. Thank you so much Tina. On my way to soundcheck for tonights show. CFR will be live from 6-7pm and then a re-run from 7-8pm. Have fun and see ya soon.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:26 AM | Comments (13)
October 22, 2004
SHINY BOOTS OF LEATHER
A real quick one - packing bags and rushing to get out of here and back to LA to do it all over again!! Just had to put this picture up here as soon as I could. Words cannot describe the feeling of playing Venus In Furs with Lou Reed in front of a sold out venue. I have spent many years listening to the Velvet Underground and Lou's solo albums and to have done what we did last night feels surreal. It was an honor and a privilege to have shared the stage with the man, and for him to have been so happy with the way it sounded is just just icing on the cake.
Also, check out the Your Artwork 2 page and look carefully at the Hummer guitar pic in there.....VERY clever!!
I will give a full report of both Vanity Fair shows when the madness is over. For now, all I have to say is thank you all for your support, and ...... "OH MY GOD.......Lou Fucking Reed"!!!!!!!!!!!
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:41 AM | Comments (7)
October 21, 2004
AS REQUESTED
As requested, here's the Hummer Les Paul. I'll post tomorrow after the show, but just wanted to get that pic up here so you could all get your orders in to Gibson ASAP! Have fun - see you soon. Oh, and by the way.....Lou Reed is VERY COOL!!!
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 06:08 AM | Comments (19)
October 20, 2004
BLING BLING
Morning all. After the nastiness that is the RedEye flight from LA to New York, we are finally in the swing of it all here. Yesterday was a busy day - went to J.Lindeberg who dressed us for the Red Carpet - picked up a killer suit, and a shirt to go with it. And I paid the nice people at Gibson Guitars a visit, had a look around at all the amazing guitars they have there, and picked up my two guitars for this show. While I was there, I got to play the $400,000 Liberace Grand Piano!! The thing is the most ostentatious instrument I have ever seen!! Check out the pic! And I also played the dubious-looking Hummer Les Paul. Not sure exactly who would play that thing, but its ......"interesting!!" The set-up department have made my CF Custom and my 1960 Gold Top play beautifully, and I wanna give Shanon a big shout out for being such a gracious host.
Last night, we all went for dinner at Vela - a fantastic Sushi restaurant in the East Village, and then on to Snitch (the newest Rock and Roll club in Manhatten, owned by my friend Brett Scallions from Fuel, and Duff and Scott from Velvet Revolver). The club is great - cool music, chicks dancing on the bar, a stage with equipment (in case the visiting muso's wanna get up and play) - thank you Brett.....a good night out.
Today is rehearsal day - I'm gonna get a cab uptown and do a bit of retail therapy first (some amazing Nike Dunks here if you know where to look!) and then meet the rest of the guys at 2.00pm. Gotta dash - coffee to drink, cigs to smoke, and sneakers to buy. Thank you for all your kind words about the chat - it really was fun, huh? And the less said about the Raiders, the better. Cantrell told me last night that the Seattle Seahawks just bought Jerry Rice yesterday......thats all we needed. I'm bummed. And outta here......
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 06:09 AM | Comments (10)
October 18, 2004
THE BIG APPLE
Now THAT was a lot of fun. 22 people in one chat room….you guys blew me away. Thank you all so much for making the effort and chatting with us. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. And I hope we cleared up some of the questions, especially about labels, making a record etc. We just want to make the best record we can, and we want to ensure that we have a label that wants to have the band on tour, supporting that record, as much as possible. And all that takes time. Jon, Sean and myself had a blast, and you are a crazy lot…..we’ll do it again next month!!
The Orgy shows were a little weird – confusion with the running order, the onstage times, and the general logistics of the show. But all the bands were cool – Long Beach was hectic for Doheny as we had no soundcheck and no monitors, but Agoura Hills was a way better onstage sound, and I managed to get more than 4 hours sleep the night before, so I actually was able to remember how the songs went!! I played way better the second night, had a lot of fun on the stage with the rest of the band, and cant wait to get to the Roxy on Nov 1st. It’s a Metal Skool night which is always packed, and always a great laugh. We even played Five Miles High, which we stopped playing, for some reason, a while back. STILL no California though – I think we are just lazy with that tune!!
Today, I am off to New York for the Camp Freddy show – (Why do they call it The Big Apple? Why not The Big Peach, or The Big Banana......Someone explain!) - we have a few things going on while we are there, so we fly today, so that we have time to get everything done. I am really looking forward to doing songs with Lou Reed – I took all my drugs to The Velvet Underground’s first album!! I will do the techno-boy thing and post from my phone, in-between all the Starbucks, Nike Store’s and clothes shopping that I intend to do! (By the way NhMadness…..your pic was in a weird format. I couldn’t upload it – maybe send it as a jpg).
Lets just reflect on The Raiders yesterday - we were beaten into submission 31-3. Just painful to watch....What has happened to the team that we had two years ago? A change of head coach, unrest within the team, and a quarterback that a) is injured, and b) just seems to have lost the will to win. Gannon - get back on the field and sort everyone out please. And Rice - ignore what everyone thinks and get on with what you do best. Stop talking transfers and start whipping the rest of them into shape.
OK - football talk over!!
Thats all I got today. Have a great week - I'll check in when I can. If I think of a good question for you all, I'll nip online and post it, cos I love your crazy responses. But right now, I cant think - its too early and I have a lot to do today. Thank you all again for the chat. We will organize another one in November. See you .....
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:35 AM | Comments (17)
October 17, 2004
8.00pm CHAT TONIGHT
Hey everyone. Its a quick post to remind you all that Jon, Sean and myself will check into the new chat room tonight at 8.00pm to shoot the shit with anyone that feels like it. The two Orgy shows were chaotic and disorganized, but we are all just glad to have got out again and played together. Apologies again to anyone that missed us due to the bad onstage time information. We are looking forward to the Roxy show on Nov 01st and hope that all the LA posse will make it down.
I will be in Camp Freddy Land for a week with the two Vanity Fair shows (New York on Oct 21st and LA on Oct 23rd) and then I will be back in full Doheny effect. I will try to post from NYC - the laptop is going with me and I always have the trusty new cellphone to make a quick check-in with if I need to.
More Rogues Gallery pics people - those girls are getting lonely in there!! And as always - email me artwork, logos, Doheny related pics, and we'll continue building the Family here.
Have fun, be safe and see you all soon.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 09:28 AM | Comments (8)
October 16, 2004
WHAT A MESS!!
I feel really bad about last nights show. Due to no fault of our own, we went onstage at 9.00pm instead of 10.00pm. And after we played, I found out that a lot of people showed up about 9.30pm and saw us play the last song!! I am really pissed about it and apologize to everyone who came down. I give all of you my word that I will take care of you at future shows. (Stacy, - great to meet you and thank you for coming.)
It was just a big mess last night - all the onstage times were wrong, the running order was wrong, and we were thrown up onstage with absolutely no soundcheck, and expected to play!! Not one of us could hear anything at all. It was the longest 40 minutes of my life!! And to find out that most people who came down to see us, missed us, was just the icing on the cake. I shouted at the people I could shout at, complained, bitched, moaned to agents, managers, tour managers.....it just wasnt doing any good. It is what it is, and lets move on to tonights show.
I am ASSURED that our onstage time is 8.45pm - 9.30pm and that we are onstage directly before Orgy. Now, I was ASSURED that last nights time was 10.00pm, so who knows!! But as it stands right now, we will be onstage at 8.45pm. So if you are coming down, please come and say hi, and we will do our best to entertain.
CFR will be a re-run tonight as Dave is recording with TPC, Matt's back on the road, Dono is in New York, and I will be dealing with another Orgy show (and all that seems to entail). BUT we will be broadcasting the following two weeks radio shows live from The Wiltern. The 23rd will be live from Camp Freddy's show, and the week after will be live from Courtney Love's Halloween show. Should be fun.
Gotta dash - gotta go find someone else to yell at!!! Sean, Jon and myself will be in the chat room at 8.00pm tomorrow (Sunday) night, so if you wanna hang out in there with us for a while, feel free to stop by. Hope to see some of you tonight, or in the chat tomorrow.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 08:22 AM | Comments (8)
October 14, 2004
THE DAY AFTER YESTERDAY
Hi everyone. Hope all the Doheny Family is good out there. Thanks for your emails and posts. Zannebee has been the next entry into the Rogues Gallery - thank you Zann, we are building the family album slowly but surely. And NhMadness did that really cool bit of artwork that Ive used as todays pic.
Last night I went along to see Velvet Revolver play a show in a parking lot in Hollywood. It was a last minute thing - they only decided to do the show the day before - but it was a lot of fun. People were lined up on the rooftops, in the street, everywhere. The police had to close the street due to the thousands of people hanging out watching the show. The sound was a little weird, due to it being outdoors, but the band were in great form, and Scott sang his ass off. What an amazing frontman he is - climbing the PA stacks and hitting every note perfectly. That band is the real deal. I wish them all success on their US tour.
So as you know, we are playing a couple of shows with Orgy this weekend. Friday is at The Vault 350 in Long Beach, and Saturday is The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills. And I am going to give anyone that emails me directly from this blog a guest list place. All you have to do is click the Email Me link on the front page here, and tell me which show you want to go to, your full name, and make sure it comes from one of the email addresses that you have been using here. That way, I know its a Doheny Family member, and I will put you on our guest list for the show. I need to have the email by tomorrow morning - and I will reply to you, to let you know I have recieved it and that you are on the list. I hope some of you guys (in the LA area at least) decide to come.
Today, I am working on the T.Lee recordings during the day, and then I am down at Doheny rehearsal tonight. It'll be a long one, but I am so blessed that I get to play guitar all day. I'm going to need extra Starbucks today! But before I go, lets do another question - the scary movie thing was cool. Reminded me of a ton of great movies. 28 Days Later, Children Of The Corn, Stephen Kings stuff, The Others (that was just fantastic!). Anyway......let me think.......ok, If time travel was invented and they now had a booth (just like those photobooths) in the corner of Sav-On and Rexall, what event or period would you go back to and why? I know that an easy one for me would be to go back to St Martins College in London in 1976 to see the Sex Pistols first show!! But thinking a little more laterally, I think I would want to Ancient Rome, around the time of Caesar, and check out exactly how decadently those cats lived!!
Thats it from me - have a great day, and let me know if you wanna come to one of the Orgy shows. I'll do a diary over the weekend of the events. Until then, take care.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:18 AM | Comments (21)
October 13, 2004
SCARY MOVIE (S)
Wow - lots of comments to read when I checked the Blog today. The community is growing here, people. And the whole TV thing was great - you all watch so much of the same stuff that I do - and all the UK programs made me remember the great television in England. But the good stuff makes it over here in the end on BBC America. I kept thinking about a song that you should all check out, by The Disposable Heros Of Hiphoprisy. Its called Televison. Check out these lyrics:-".......Television. The drug of the nation. Breeding Ignorance and feeding radiation.....TV is the reason why less than 10% of our nation reads books daily, why most people think Central America means Kansas, Socialism means un-American, and Apartheid is a new headache remedy......." A VERY cool song.
Anyway - lots of stuff going on. Some really cool shows are getting arranged for Doheny. I cant say just yet, but we should be getting 100% confirmation soon. If it all works out, the end of the year should be fun.
Any of you like scary movies? Looks like two good ones come out this weekend - Saw, and The Grudge (although I'm interested to see Buffy the Vampire Slayer acting all scared in The Grudge!!) I love a good horror flick - it awakens that dark side of me for a couple of hours!! Did any of you see Rob Zombies House Of 1000 Corpses? I loved it - total Texas Chainsaw, but also very Zombie. What was your scariest movie ever? Did you see The Ring? That freaked me out!
OK - I dont have a lot for you today - I have a day of working at home, phonecalls etc, and I intend to make the most of it. Tomorrow, I am back up to the ChopShop with Scott Humphrey, working on T.Lee's stuff, and then I have an evening rehearsal with Doheny. Have a great day everyone, and see you tomorrow. Julia's pic is up in the gallery (nice one Julia - now Lisa doesnt feel so alone in there. More gallery pics guys!!) and todays pic is from the Stimulator days. One of my favourite shots, and from an amazing show we did in London.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 08:12 AM | Comments (12)
October 12, 2004
ITS ONLY ROCK N ROLL
As Jagger once said, "It's only Rock n Roll.....but i LIKE it!!" It was a really nice, quiet weekend, and then come Monday morning, all hell broke loose, the cellphone started ringing off the hook, and things just got really busy again. But I wouldnt have it any other way! I didnt get time to post yesterday (apologies to all) but from your emails and comments, it seems like the chat room is a winner. (Thank you again Karen....sterling effort, go to the top of the class!!!) The next step is to try and get an online chat going while we are doing the radio show. I will be meeting with Indie 103 today and will be talking about how to integrate all the different sites and have a huge online chat with 6767, Doheny etc while we are broadcasting. I'll let you know if we get anywhere.
Yesterdays Doheny rehearsal was great - Sean's new guitar stuff is sounding really good, and Colin is nailing everything and holding it all together nicely. Jon is back tomorrow and I know we are all looking forward to getting back to business proper. Long Beach on friday folks.
Last night, I went to the premier of Team America, World Police, the new movie from the creators of South Park. Oh my God - it is absolutely hilarious. They offend everybody, they get more graphic with puppets than most human actors ever get, and the songs in the movie are just pure genius. All I can say is GO SEE IT. Went to the after party and literally walked in, and straight out the other side and went home. Not my scene at all. Lots of suits discussing marketing strategies for Hollywood Blockbusters over dry martinis and bowls of Japanese rice crackers. I'd rather watch Will And Grace.....which is exactly what I did!!
Which leads me to a quick question for you all. What TV are you watching at the moment? Are you Reality TV friendly? Or is it all about the Discovery Channel? Do you get off with Monster Garage, or is VH-1 on 24 hours a day? Me.....I watch a lot of movies, a lot of sitcoms (old Will And Grace re-runs, Just Shoot Me etc) and I LOVE Cops. I watch open-mouthed, as yet another Mullet-Head tries to out run six Police Cruisers (each with a huge V8, fuel injected motor) in a 1988 Chevy Nova with one flat tyre ......while he's drunk!! That program is pure genius.
Well, its time to get on with my day - I'm really glad that the Chat Room is being used and you are having fun in there. I'll be seeing you in there on Sunday, along with Sean and Jon. We'll come chat with anyone who wants to for an hour or so. For now, have a great day, RIP Christopher Reeve, and see ya tomorrow. By the way - todays pic is of me getting arrested for wearing outrageous jeans in public (made by Keenan Duffty...he's the shit!!) with no shirt on!! Dunno why I picked that picture...must be running out of ideas. More artwork please!!
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 08:16 AM | Comments (34)
October 10, 2004
NEW CHAT ROOM OPEN
Hi there people. So Karen has done a great job on the new Doheny Chat Room and it seems to be fully operational. Click on the link to go and register (its really easy!!) - Just make sure that if you are using a Mac, you check the "Safe Mode" box. It wont work properly unless you do this. I'm going to keep an eye on the chat room and please let me know if any of you have any problems. And all the band have User Names and Logins so we will be seeing you in there. First scheduled chat is Sunday 17th October at 8.00pm Pacific Time. Looking forward to it.
CFR was a giggle yesterday - got to play a bunch of cool tunes, Tina called in (I LOVE that she gave the Dohenymusic Blog a shout out!!!) and Matt and Donovan were a lot of fun.
Its Sunday today and I am going to have a day of lazing around, doing nothing! Next week, it all starts to get busy again, with Doheny rehearsals, the Orgy shows, some more Tommy Lee studio stuff, and the build up to Camp Freddy in NYC. I'll be back tomorrow morning with the usual questions and observations - have fun with that chat room - if I am online and anyone is in there, I'll pop in and say hi.
Have a great day - thank you to everyone for participating in all this. Its a blast. And check out Jon with his micstand in todays picture.....what an angry young man!!
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:52 AM | Comments (15)
October 09, 2004
THINGS GOING ON...!
Seems like we have some things going on here. First of all, Lisa has been the first to get the Rogues Gallery started - I'm hoping it takes off, so that everyone gets to know everyone else. Nice one Lisa. And Karen has set a chat room up - I had a look this morning and it seems very cool. She is making a few changes and when she gives me the go-ahead, I'll make a link here, and on the main site, and you guys can test it out and see if we have any problems. If it all works, seems like we are on for the live chat with me, Jon and Sean on Oct 17th. I think I said 8.00pm. We'll set a time for sure soon.
My question yesterday was - "Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy?". And it really got the intellectual side of everybody buzzing. What I meant was that everybody seems to want to be right, to know it all, to be the one with the information. How many times do you talk to someone in a bar or a club, that says...."I'm telling you, THIS is what you should do..." My point was that sometimes, its better to let those people believe they are right, and you go home happy, rather than annoyed! But I have to say that Suzanne's answer of "I'd rather be left" made me smile
Today is CFR day, and I believe that Dave will be phoning in. The show will be myself, Matt and Donovan, and I am looking forward to seeing those guys. Its always fun to do the show - if you can, call in and give the Doheny family a shout out. I am going to dedicate the Chiefs Of Relief track to all of you on this board - have a listen and let me know what you think.
It was great to play the Doheny songs yesterday with Sean.....loud!! His new toy, a Vox Tonelab pedalboard, is really cool - lots of sounds and buttons and lights and things to mess with.......but we spent hours playing with the thing and only got 7 songs actually programmed!! So we will be back in on monday to finish the job. Get down to one of the Orgy shows we are doing next weekend and see what it sounds like.
Todays question is, though I say it myself, a good one. If Hell was a dinner party, who would be there, and what would you be eating?!!! I am going to continue my new policy of answering first, so here is my dinner party in Hell.......
Obviously, I am there at the head of the table. To my left sits Martha Stewart, telling me how to make a napkin ring out of a small pumpkin. Next to her sits Kenny G, playing Love Me Tender on a Saxophone. Opposite me at the other end is Tipper Gore, arguing with Vanilla Ice about the use of profanity in the workplace. And next to Mr Ice is every girl I ever dumped (this is a big table, people!!) trying to tell me that they are pregnant!!!! And what do they serve for dinner.........? Liver and Onions ......AAaargghh!!!
Have fun with it folks, and I'll see you tomorrow (or tonight if you phone in to the show). The pic for today was taken by my good friend Michael Muller, just after I plugged my right toe into a power socket.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 08:38 AM | Comments (15)
October 08, 2004
SEANS NEW TOY
Finally we have some work to do today. Sean has some new guitar equipment and he and I will be in rehearsals all afternoon, programming his new toy and making the guitars sound good together. We both have rigs that enable us to have multiple guitar sounds going on, and we regularly meet up and run through the songs with just our guitars, to make sure all the different parts and sounds that we use work together. So with any new piece of equipment, we need to re-program and re-balance everything we do. (Its a fun excuse to stand in a room and play guitar really loud for hours!!)
Thank you all for your kind comments on the Robert Knight pics. I was really happy with the results - he really put me at ease, and shot some amazing stuff. We talked about doing a shoot with Doheny, and I think we'll make that happen. He loves the site and how we look, so hopefully we can arrange that soon. I'd love to see what he does with us. If he can make me look good, he'll make Sean look like he's 7 years old!!! I think my picture will be going up outside the Chicago Guitar Center - once I know for sure, I'll let you know. Any of you lot live in Chicago?
Spacemonkey and Karen have been busy in Photoshop, creating new Doheny artwork. I love all that stuff. One of these days, I will write a book (because it seems like thats what you do around here!! Tommy, Dave, Anthony....they're all at it!!) and I will put all the art work in the book, under the chapter "Internet Families". Maybe I should actually make a Doheny record, sell a few copies, and get touring first though!!! Jon is back from the UK next week, and we do the Orgy dates. I am trying to sort out some more shows for Nov and Dec, so hopefully we can finish our first year with some cool live gigs.
Karen is setting a chat room up for us here. Once it is up and we have tested it, we will agree on a time and date, and we will see about doing our first live chat with the band. I know Jon and Sean will both take part. Check out her clever word play in today's picture.
I'm going to get outta here and make the daily trip to Mecca.....uh, sorry.....Starbucks! But let me leave you with this thought. In the world in which we live, do you wanna be right, or do you wanna be happy?
Dont know why, but I felt like getting all spiritual right there. Its a good message. Take it with you today and keep smiling.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 09:02 AM | Comments (16)
October 07, 2004
ROBERT KNIGHT
Had to post again today as I just recieved some digi shots from the Guitar Center photoshoot I did today. The guy is a genius behind the lens. Thought you might like to see some of the pics. Here's one, and theres two more in the Doheny Photo Album.
See you all tomorrow
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 05:29 PM | Comments (10)
CHATTERBOX
NOW we're talking!! I had so many emails yesterday with ideas for questions, suggestions for online chats, artwork, pics etc. Thats really encouraging - thank you all. The first thing is the Online Chat. How many of you use I-Chat or AOL Instant Messenger? I think I have a screen name for the AOL thing that works in I-Chat. What about Sunday 17th October at 7.00pm LA time (10pm Eastern)? I would give everyone my AOL screen name and we could do it that way. Or, Karen has offered to set up a dedicated chat room here - that might be the way to go. What do you all think about the best way to do this, and my suggested date? Once we set this up, I'll have Jon and Sean join in as well. You can ask us all as much as you want!!
I love that you are all so eclectic!! Suggestions for covers ranged from Led Zeppelin to Culture Club!! I printed all the suggestions out, and I'll take it to rehearsal tomorrow.....see what the others think.
Today I have a cool photoshoot with the guy who shoots all the pics for the Guitar Center chain of stores. You know....the huge photos inside the stores? I have no idea if mine will make it to a store (I cant really see me next to guys like Tom Morello and Slash!!!) But I will see if I can get some copies to post up here and I'll let you know what he says about why we are doing it......I have no idea! I will be taking my new Camp Freddy Les Paul Custom, that Gibson just made for me. Its a beautiful guitar with the CF logo on it. I should really take a digi pic of the guitar and post it up here somewhere. I'll get on it.
Regarding SpaceMonkey's question about new Doheny Logo's - the vibe is clean, crisp, simple, modern, Philip Stark, metal, brushed aluminium, chrome, New York loft, .......... or not!! Whatever you feel like. As well as different fonts and ways to write the name, I am also interested in finding a logo - a shape, or a symbol that will always be associated with the band. Something we can use on everything. Maybe a simple cartoon character, or a 3D shape, a dice (although that was 'Shifter)...... lets see what comes up.
My good friend Brett Scallions from Fuel is in town for a couple of days, so I will be hanging with him later. I think they are doing an acoustic show in LA tonight somewhere, so maybe I'll go along to that. This week has been fairly quiet ( a blessing for me, considering that as from next week, the rest of October looks hectic. Doheny rehearsals, then the Orgy dates, then Camp Freddy in NYC and LA, then another private birthday party show, then Doheny at The Roxy on Nov 1st) - I have been working in my studio on those two new Doheny songs, getting versions of each done, so that I can email them to Jon in the UK. He will have the MP3's on his I-Pod so that he can write lyrics while he is working with Pitchshifter. I also came up with a great riff idea for another song, so I'll mess about with that when Sean and I get together tomorrow.
And Karen has come up with a KILLER question for todays blog. If life was a monopoly board, what would you want your "Chance" card to say?!!! Way to go, Karen. Let me be the first to answer that one. I think I would want "Advance to Doheny World Tour - If you pass Go, release the first album"
I should really go and try to make myself look half decent for this shoot - have fun today, and hit me with your thoughts about this chat. More logo's and artwork please......and what about the Rogues Gallery? Email me some pics and we'll get it going. And finally, I figured I would post another pic for all of you that liked the "Two Billys Tour" idea!! From the look of my tee shirt, it was just a little bit hot up there!!
Peace Out
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 08:19 AM | Comments (16)
October 06, 2004
ROGUES GALLERY
Good morning everyone. I am up late today so its a quick one. I wanted to say that the idea of a Rogues Gallery - pics of all the family members - is a great one. I'll start a new gallery if I get enough pics. How about downloading the Doheny Dice from the site - www.dohenymusic.com - and sticking it somewhere and taking a snapshot of you by it? Email me your snaps (and wear your Doheny tee ...... whaddya mean, you dont have one yet??!! GO GET ONE NOW!!) and we'll start a family photo album.
Check out Tina's new artwork (todays pic) - very San Francisco circa 1968 - I love it!! And a huge thank you to Karen for sending me the Chiefs Of Relief CD. I will play a track from it on Saturdays CF Radio Show.
I have to get outta here and get going - I want to do a question and answer chat online at some point. Does anyone have any ideas how to do that? Also - If any of you fancy trying your hand at designing a logo for Doheny, feel free. Its hard, I know, but I would be interested to see what you came up with. And finally, a quick question - What song should Doheny cover? I'm not promising we will do it, but we have been toying with the idea of doing our own version of a cover song. Lets see what you think.
Sorry its so short today, but I will be back tomorrow with a full update of the week.
Have a great day
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 09:05 AM | Comments (23)
October 04, 2004
TRAGIC DEFENSE
The Texans stomped the Raiders yesterday 30-17, and if Oakland don't do something about their defense, they are going to suffer a lot more this season. We play the Colts next week, and we go into it 2 and 2.....COME ON Oakland.....Sort it out!!!
OK - thats my emotional outburst out of the way! The 'best gig' question brought back some great memories huh? I was remembering a bunch of shows while I was reading all the posts this morning, and that was the idea. I think a really great show leaves us with certain emotions and feelings that never leave us, and its fun to remember those once in a while. And some of you have seen some amazing ones. I was even suprised and humbled to see Holly put Camp Freddy in the mix, with last years Roseland show, and Flamingheart put Doheny in with the Cardboard Vampyres Roxy show.
Colleen - Thank you so much for the kind words about Evergreen. We have done three songs with Scott Humphrey that we love, and the idea now is to use those tracks to get a deal, so that we can afford to make the rest of the album! Lets hope the labels like it as much as you do.
Karen - I wish I had seen the original New York Dolls, back in 76 in NYC - (Louise - I am VERY jealous!!). And The Rolling Stones in around 72 would have been pretty cool as well!! And finally, The Velvet Underground, live at Max's in 1969 would have been THE show for me. I would have been a little young to get in though!!
Abby - You're welcome for the tix. Glad you got through. I didnt actually know we were speaking to you...did you say who you were? Anyway, enjoy the show.
Freak - You're welcome. I mean what I say - the 6767 community is changing the way things are done, and I am very impressed with everyone. That was my inspiration to see what kind of Doheny community I could build here. Keep it up guys.
Julia - Now THAT is some funny shit!! Level of fame = somewhat!!! I would actually have put "Negligible"! But what is funny to me is that there is a website that actually measures someones 'level of fame'!! I love the internet.
Ylais - I have less piercings now than I used to have. At one time I had over twenty five - cant quite remember. These days, its just the ones that I really like. And my fave hair color was that blue color from Saturdays picture - but it is a bitch to keep it really blue. One wash and you've got faded green!!
And my worst show would have to be Siouxie And The Banshees at the Futurama Festival in Leeds, around 1980. I never actually saw the Banshees, cos I was busy getting my head kicked in by a bunch of skinheads!!
Two weeks to go until Doheny get out and play again. I cannot WAIT!! I have missed playing shows. And immediately after the two Orgy dates on 15th and 16th, I go to NYC with Freddy, so its going to get busy and exciting real soon. I've had enough recording studios.....time to get out there.
Have a great week and see you here real soon. Thank you all for helping build the Doheny Family. What do we call ourselves? The 6767 crew are Panic Agents........we need a name.......I like The Family (very Godfather!!)
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:52 AM | Comments (18)
October 02, 2004
RADIO SHOW
The Dolls were very cool - Sam Yaffa from Hanoi Rocks on bass, and two original Dolls - David and Sylvain - on vocals and guitar. All the songs were played, and despite only two original members, they sounded great. Audience screaming "Trash!!", "Jet Boy", "Pills", "Personality Crisis".......the set list was perfect. I went with Billy Duffy and Jerry Cantrell, and we all said that we never thought we would see the words, "New York Dolls" on a ticket stub!! A good night out (except for the alien abduction on the way home......those probes get everywhere!)
Yeah, Linda - the band love the blog. I'll get 'em on here soon. Except Colin (who doesnt own a computer.....which is why you've never seen him on a board here!!). He just doesnt do the "Computer" thing! Hope your computer is feeling better.
Suzanne - you know what? I didnt ask, but I promise you I will find out who did those paintings for you next week.
I am sending the old Cult tour diaries and the Breathe Home Video to Karen. It'll take me a few days to get my act together, but she will put them up and you can all have a laugh reading them.
So lets see what you make of this. What was the coolest show you've ever seen? Its a hard one - I think of Janes Addiction SUPPORTED by Nine Inch Nails at Universal Amphitheatre. I think of The Rolling Stones at The 100 Club in London. I think of Guns N Roses at the Marquee in London. And what about The Sex Pistols at Shepards Bush Empire. I'll think about mine - you tell me yours.
Gonna go and put some music together for tonights show - have a great weekend.
Billy
By the way - todays pic is of me (with blue hair!) and Jon at the Kerrang awards a few years ago.
Posted by vivelerock at 08:14 AM | Comments (28)