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June 30, 2006
CAMP FREDDY V-BLOG
CF V-BLOG
Here it is. The V-Blog filmed on wednesday in Hollywood while we were shooting the David Spade show. Its a little rough around the edges as I have thrown it all together this morning before having to shoot off down to Matts studio to work with the guys on finishing these movie soundtrack songs. Bit of a Freddy intensive week really, what with the Spade show, todays studio time, and tomorrows Vegas gig. Not complaining though - I like it busy!! I gotta keep this short as I am VERY late - but I wanted to keep my promise and give you a 'behind the scenes' look at what happens on a television show. Hope you enjoyed the actual broadcast - they edited the hell out of Suffragette City (no second or third verse or solo!!!) and cut 20th Century very short. But it was a fun day, David Spade was hilarious, and it is what it is. Moving on - get dressed, grab coffee, go record some rock and roll. See ya in Vegas.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 11:48 AM | Comments (12)
June 29, 2006
TV TALES
Yesterdays taping of The Showbiz Show in Hollywood was a lot of fun. And pretty stress free as well, which was weird for TV. It was their season finale and everyone seemed relaxed, which made it a really easy day. A lot of hurry up and wait, which is quite usual, but no screaming Union guys, or jumped up assistants. Big thanks go out to David Spade and his whole crew for making it a really good experience for us all. And mad props to David himself, who actually sang a song with us!! Jessica Alba was the other guest on the show and she was very sweet and very funny. The show airs tonight on Comedy Central at 10.00pm - PLEASE discuss it amongst yourselves and SOMEBODY record it to DVD and send it to me and I'll put it up on the sites for everyone who doesnt get that channel. I really have to buy whatever machine I need to put Tivo'd stuff on to DVD. I have the DVR's but no way of getting it out onto a DVD. So we are relying on you guys to capture it onto DVD. If I get a copy, then I can make sure we get it up here to share with everyone.
We did Suffragette City and 20th Century Boy, and I have to say it was a little bittersweet for me - I love playing with those guys, but I missed Dave as well. Unfortunately, he was tied up with a previous engagement and was unable to do the show yesterday. So it'll be great to hit Vegas at the weekend and do a full on Freddy set. Poor Dave will be doing tons of extra stuff as The Panic Channel are playing as well - which means he has two sets to do, plus all the soundchecks, rehearsals, press etc for BOTh bands!!! Ah .... the life of a musician!!! Oh yeah, and Todd got a bunch of great video footage and I will be putting up a V-Blog from yesterdays events on both the Camp Freddy site and this one. I can't put it up until the show has aired, so tomorrow morning it is. Many thanks to Todd for hanging out with us all day and taking all the video and the stills.
Today is Diablo day, with some guitar rehearsals and some business stuff. And tomorrow, Camp Freddy are back in the recording studio, FINALLY finishing off three songs for a movie. No details can be given out just yet, but its safe to say that the first tracks from the band will be available before the end of the year. LOTS going on here people. I love it!! I'll be back with the V-Blog tomorrow and then again at the weekend with a report of our Vegas weekend. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas ...... except if you read www.billymorrison.net.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:32 AM | Comments (11)
June 28, 2006
THE DAVID SPADE SHOW
Today we are off to tape the David Spade show, which will air tomorrow (Thursday) night at 10.00pm on Comedy Central. I have Todd coming down and he will have a camera or two to get some stills and also hopefully a bit of a Freddy V-Blog as well. I believe we are doing two songs, and if you have nothing to do tonight, you can get tickets to be a part of the audience by CLICKING HERE.
As you will see, I have been tweaking away again on this site and becoming obsessed with YouTube in the process. There is SO much video up there that is crazy!!! So we now have our weekly favorite on the right hand side of this page (I figured I would start off with an obvious one - The Pistols at their finest) and we also now have a YouTube.Com on BillyMorrison.net page which is over on the left of this page. Why? No reason - because I can, and because I want to ..... I like having a bunch of different media available on this blog. Mostly its to do with me, the bands I play in, and the stuff I get involved with, but occasionally I like to share in the wacky world of the Internet. So there you have it. Some random vids for you all to peruse. I am also tweaking away on the Diablo site, making some subtle, but important changes which will become apparent as we go along. Little graphic things, changing the position of certain elements, adding a Splash page .... these are the things that keep me awake at night!! And while we are at it, check out the video below. It basically should explain to you just how much impact The Pistols had on the country in general, and me as an 10 year old!!!
OK - the car will be here soon to pick me up .... so I suppose I should run through the songs and make sure I know them ...... I am the only guitarist in the band today, as our very own Mr Navarro had a previous engagement and is unable to join us. That just leaves ..... little ol' me!! Along with Chris, Matt, Donovan and Scott or course! So I will do my best to fill the sonic void left by Dave's absence .... just don't expect me to bust out an eight-fingered Van Halen style tapping solo! I'll be sticking to what I do best, which is filling the rhythm guitar hole with a beautiful wall of Marshall/Les Paul. Outta here.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 12:26 PM | Comments (7)
June 26, 2006
NEW PODCAST FROM LA EROTICA
Saturdays Camp Freddy Radio was a special, one off broadcast live from the LA Erotica Convention in Downtown Los Angeles. Our very own Dave Navarro stepped up to the plate, and went to bat for the band by bravely mingling and chatting with a bunch of Porn Stars for hours!! Its a tough job, but Dave is the consumate professional and worked tirelessly to bring us all the wonderful podcast that is now live in the Podcast section! Paul also sent me this YouTube Video which is actually hilarious .... and might be a good regular feature for this site. I could select the best video from YouTube and put it up here to share with everyone. Send me your favorite YouTube links and lets see if we get enough to start a whole section. Anyway, check this out - short, but pure genius!! CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO.
Robin - The X's dates will not be affected by the Diablo rehearsals. That pretty much sums up why it takes a while to organize anything!! We have to fit everything in around The X's, The Cult, Camp Freddy and everything else!!
Jake - I actually heard that the premier of Tripping Forward is happening soon, but I cant remember when. I'll contact those guys and figure it out.
Simon - Someone else asked me about that over the weekend. I'll try and get around to getting the whole Pocast on I-Tunes subscription thing happening. I dont yet understand it all, but you know me - once I set my mind to it, I'll figure it out and make it happen.
The week starts nicely with a couple of meetings today, followed by some Diablo rehearsals and some Freddy action with the David Spade thing and the Palms show at the weekend. Sounds like a good week to me. Still working and tweaking with the Cicus Diablo site - a friend of mine has kindly agreed to see if he can come up with a nice Splash page - looking forward to seeing what he comes up with .... and we will be adjusting the dates page this week. I'll also hit the questions on the Community FOR SURE this week - I've been bad at keeping up with those, but I'll head over there later today. And thats pretty much it. Just wanted to wish everyone a great week and hope to see a bunch of you in Vegas on Saturday at The Palms.
Back with (hopefully) a bit of a V-Blog from The David Spade Show thing on Wednesday. Till then.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:49 AM | Comments (9)
June 24, 2006
MOVING AND SHAKING
Its a quick Saturday morning update from me - how is everyone doing this fine morning? Camp Freddy Radio will be live from the LA Erotica Convention tonight (and although I know that Dave will be doing it, I have no idea if Matt or Donovan will be joining him. My attempts to understand whats happening today have been fruitless, as no one seems to know!!!) So tune in and see what happens. I know that I will not be doing it, but I'm sure it'll be the usual fun and frolics with Mr Navarro at the helm!! I'm sure Paul will be recording for the Podcast Page. And just FYI - there is some movement with the August shows, and I am attempting to get the final details from management. I know that we are moving the LA show to be the last show, and I know that we are gonna drop a couple of shows, and move the others. Also, we might add another LA event, so basically the dates up on the site are SUBJECT TO CHANGE. I know its frustrating (as it is for us too) but we will get it all sorted out soon and you will be the first to know. I can tell you that we are booked in for some solid rehearsal time in July which we are all looking forward to - it will be great to get locked in a room with four other guys for a week, and get all hot and sweaty ...... hold on a minute ...... that sounds disgusting!!!! You get my drift - we'll be able to turn the cellphones off, and get down to the business of sounding like a rock band. Nice!! Oh yeah - and as you will see from www.circusdiablo.com, our new drummer is JEREMY COLSON. Please welcome him into the fold over at The Community (and be nice!!). Jeremy has just spent three years as Steve Vai's drummer, and was also in Apartment 26. He is a super nice guy, and a powerhouse behind the kit. Glad to have you in the fold, mate.
Dennis - The Ozzfest thing is just a nice hang for me. I am friends with the family, and try and go out with them to a few shows. Not as a performer!! But its still a good rock and roll vibe and I love those guys.
Junebug - Funnily enough, we have a couple of quick getaways planned!! Vacation is the name of the game, although Jen and I are both crazy busy, so we don't get a lot of opportunity to do that.
QQQ - GREAT tip. It shall be Tivo'd.
Right, on with the weekend. Guitars over the hill to my guru man, Brett Allan. Its been a while since I had them set up, and they are all playing like shit right now!! But Brett will weave his voodoo magic on them all and have them back to me next week like new!!! Oh yeah - and Camp Freddy will be taping The David Spade Show next wednesday. Not sure when it airs, and of course I will let you know details once they tell me - but it should be fun. I believe that David will be singing with us!! Ah YEAH!!! Now we is movin' UP!!! Thats it from me - hope to see some of you in Vegas next Saturday. Its shaping up to be a great show. Until next time - love y'all and see ya when I'm looking at you!!!
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 08:11 AM | Comments (11)
June 21, 2006
BACK FROM THE BRIDGE
Finally I make it back to the World Wide Web. I was literally going crazy in San Francisco!! Running around like Johnny Tourist looking at Sea Lions, trams and bridges with my folks, and NO DSL in the hotel!! Purgatory!!! So let me see - what can I tell you .... first of all, the Podcast from last weeks show is up. It was a crazy CFR with phoners, in-studio guests and acoustic performances. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Kevin, our engineer who won the jacket, emailed me and said that he wants to Ebay the jacket and donate the proceeds to charity, so it looks like I'll be figuring that out soon. I'll put links up on the sites when we get that sorted out. And I can also tell you that hopefully our V2 Diablo site will go up tonight. I have always liked the idea of a website that changes look and feel every few months, so we now have a new look V2.0 ready to go. Check it out this evening.
CHECK OUT THIS LINK!.You gotta check this site out - 80's Videos!! Thanks to Warren for sending me this link, its really funny!
Terri - I find that 40 Camel Filters a day helps with a smooth skin tone. JUST KIDDING!! I dont really do very much. I use whatever Jen has lying around occasionally.
Paul - Backstage passes are given out to people actually working at a show, and friends of the band that come to see the show. Fooling security is a tough business ..... but not impossible.
Jezzi - Great questions. I think that I would like to try my hand at designing clothes. I think I could come up with some great stuff. Pig Farming would rank high up on the list of professions I would NOT wanna do!! And BOLLOCKS!! is my favorite cuss word.
Lisa - My all time favorite Adam And The Ants song would be Whip In My Valise, the song that NIN covered. Adam Ant solo song?..... Vive Le Rock.
John - NO ONE could be as into the World Cup as Jonsey!! But I do like it, and I am supporting England and the USA.
The Camp Freddy Vegas preparations are in full swing - I forgot how much work is involved!! I have been torn between spending time with my folks, and answering the tons of emails that come in every day regarding the show. But we are getting there - organizing the logistics and putting together the guests and the set lists. Now I remember why we only do this occasionally!! It'll be great to play again. Freddy shows, Diablo shows, Ozzfest shows ..... its gonna be a cool summer. OK - I need to get outta here. Think I'll take my ol' man shooting today. Thanks to everyone for sticking around - I cannot wait for Circus Diablo to start taking shape, rehearsing, gigging, getting the record out there. I'll see you all very soon. Oh, and while I remember, next weeks CFR will feature Dave and Matt, live from the LA Erotica Convention in downtown Los Angeles. And the following week we will not be on air, as Jonsey is having our slot to do some special live broadcast. So I will be back in two weeks time.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:59 AM | Comments (23)
June 17, 2006
WIN A MARC VACHON CIRCUS DIABLO JACKET.
Tonight is an all new CFR and we will be joined in the studio by a couple of guests. First of all, we have Mr Brett Scallions joining us. Now the new Circus Diablo bass player, Brett will be in the studio with Matt and myself, so expect a little "Diablo Unplugged" if we can pull it off!! I am sure that Brett will call his beautiful wife, Abby, who is in town right now, making the new SLUNT album, so hopefully we can get her on the phone. And we will also be joined in the studio by fashion designer to the stars, Mr Marc Vachon. Marc designs some pretty dope Rock N Roll clothing and his low rise jeans are currently the faves of Scott Weiland, Duff McKagan, Billy Duffy, Gina Gershon .... and Yours Truly!! You can see more about his work by CLICKING HERE FOR WWW.MARCVACHON.COM. Marc has very kindly made a one-of-a-kind Circus Diablo denim jacket and we will be having a competition to win this jacket on tonight's radio show. So make sure you tune in on INDIE 103.1 FM between 6.00pm and 8.00pm or log on to www.indie1031.fm and listen online.
I'll do a full on SUNDAY QUESTION TIME from my hotel in San Francisco, as I fly up there early tomorrow morning. I am sure the hotel has a DSL connection so I'll try and get the Podcast up (courtesy of our very own Paul) as well. Watch out for the launch of the new look Circus Diablo site sometime next week. We will be announcing our drummer, listing the specifics of the Circus Diablo shows, and uploading some of the pics from our photoshoot this week. Gotta dash - see ya in Frisco.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:53 AM | Comments (24)
June 16, 2006
CAMP FREDDY - JULY 1st
STOP PRESS: Camp Freddy will be playing in Las Vegas on Saturday July 1st. The Panic Channel will also be appearing. The event is a weekend long celebration by 944 Magazine, and takes place at The Palms Hotel and Casino who will be opening their $40 million pool that day. Tickets will go on sale through Ticketmaster at 10.00am this coming Sunday morning. The show is outside and tickets will be limited.
Posted by vivelerock at 06:30 PM | Comments (6)
June 15, 2006
ASK, AND YE SHALL RECEIVE!!!
CF V-BLOG
So yesterday, I posted something about wondering where people had gone, and that there were no questions. I'll never do that again!!! You lot are fucking fantastic!! An immediate response, tons of questions and emails ..... I should have known!! Thank you to each and every one of you - and just because you are all wonderful people, I have got up early and thrown this little teaser V-Blog together from yesterdays rehearsal. As you will hear, we have actually found our drummer, and as we are close to going live with our Version 2.0 www.circusdiablo.com site, we will tell you his name and a little bit about him when the new site goes up. Hope you enjoy the first look of this new band - we worked REALLY hard yesterday .... a nine hour day in the rehearsal room, playing with a bunch of excellent drummers. Thanks to everyone who came down and jammed with us. And today we are all off Downtown for a photo shoot. Again, the results of the shoot will appear on the new site. So as we have an early start this morning, I am gonna type all the answers to your questions - normally I would do it V-Blog style, but that takes longer, and the editing of the rehearsal footage has already got me running late! Also, unfortunately, as we apparently blew up the power grid of the whole block, we lost ALL power, and never got Mr Duffy on camera!!! Never mind - next time. So here goes -
Jezzi - You are now hereby an official Diablette!! The street team is a great idea. Once we get the new site up and running and firm up a few more details, we'll have some tee's and stickers and badges and stuff done, and send you lot out into the big wide yonder to spread the word.
Leroy - I will get around to doing a piece on the bands gear, and I'll put it up in the Forum thread on equipment..... just for you!! And my whole E period was a little nasty (and a little hazy) - be careful of that shit. It'll mess you up.
MB - I am sad to say that the last book I read was half of the last Harry Potter book, The Half Blood Prince! Haven't even had time to finish it!! Before that it was the Sharon Osbourne book that is only available in the UK. I think the last thing I read from cover to cover was the last issue of MacWorld Magazine! I love reading but I just don't do enough of it. Thats what touring is for - plenty of time to get a few decent books out of the way.
Cori - My folks are still here. I dont see them very often, so when they visit, they stay for a couple of weeks. So the highlights are still to come - Malibu beach house this weekend, San Francisco next week .... and I'm gonna go shooting with my Dad!! The Harry Potter thing is described above ..... SHAME on me!! And I am doing Alias and The Shield right now. When I am caught up on those, West Wing will be next. And I actually moved on from the Flavia to a machine called a Braun Tassimo - same "Instant Fix" mentality - I liked the flavor of the esspresso better!! Try the green tea from the Flavia.
Jay - Good questions mate. The setlist is hammered out between us all. I put down all the Diablo songs that I thought were a good idea to do live - suggestions were made (including adding an acoustic song and taking out one that I had on the list) and then a couple of covers were suggested. We eventually agreed on the list, and thats what we rehearse. Momentum is taken down a notch when you do an acoustic song, yes. But first of all, what it brings to the table is a moment of pure emotion and vulnerabilty - and then when you pile back in to a full band song afterwards, its a nice jolt!!
Robin - Nope. Never visited my folks in Africa. It needs a fairly decent period of time, like two or three weeks, and I can never find a gap that long in the schedule! Bad Billy!! Maybe next year we can meet halfway - like Fiji or something.
D-Wez - You do know that there is a self-help group available in your area for like minded people? Its called Rock Stars And Their Ironing Anonymous....... "my name is Terry and I am an Ironing Rock Star. Its been three weeks since my last white wash, and I am having terrible nightmares about ironing my socks"!!!! I don't iron anything - I send it all out to the cleaners!! Prison Break? Not yet - but I hear its cool.
Jakob - Michael has been part of the Camp Freddy family for years, and thats a great idea. I will give him a call and get him down sometime. Regarding the Eve Of Destruction track we did - you would have to ask Michael. That was all his doing. Came out sounding really cool, though. We played it on CFR a couple of times.
Lisa - Get well soon, sweetie! Lots of honey and lemon and TV. So sayeth Doctor Morrison.
Simon - Hope you are feeling better mate. Take it easy and get lots of rest. Hotels? - Very much a personal choice - depends what you are looking for - but for me, it would be The Penninsula in Los Angeles (or maybe The Sunset Marquis for a less stuffy, more rock and roll vibe), The Wynn in Las Vegas (awesome!!) and if we are talking Maui, it HAS to be The Four Seasons in Hawaii (or if they are booked, do the Fairmont or the Grand Wailea).
SSS - You are correct. It takes place in London. Psst ..... and Hal Gardner is President. Ssshhhh!!!
Wendybird - Nice Camera. Just got one myself - looking forward to some nice Diablo pics from you.
Spencer - Ah yes!! The whole ...."I know. Lets do that Johnny Cash song. You know, its in E and goes da da da dee da dee ..... yeah, thats it. Just wing it. We'll be fine!!!" Thats Camp Freddy for ya!!
There you go. All questions answered, and a nice Diablo teaser V-Blog thrown in for good measure. I am off to pout and pose into a camera for five hours - could this job get any better??!!!! Planning on having Brett Scallions and his wonderful wife, Abby (who sings in the band, SLUNT) on the radio show this weekend. I'll post confirmation once I see Brett today. Gotta dash. See ya people - and thanks again.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 06:01 AM | Comments (17)
June 14, 2006
MIDWEEK IN THE CHURCH
Morning! I'm back again (although it seems that people have gotten a little bored around here and started to visit elsewhere!! Dont blame you lot - its been pretty quiet recently) and I figured I would check in briefly before todays all day rehearsal. Duffy and Ricky rehearsed with me yesterday which was a lot of fun and went really well. Just figuring out all the guitar parts, who's gonna do what bit and when etc. I'm looking forward to being a full band today and bashing out the songs with all the different drummers. Keep em crossed we find our guy. We decided on a basic set list, which includes a nice variety of stuff - a bunch of tracks from the album, a cover or two, and maybe even an acoustic song somewhere in there. We'll start to get it all together today. The actual routing for the August shows will be known this week, so my plan is to go live with the new version of the site next week, with the dates announced fully and some V-Blogs and some video and pics from the work we do this week. Sounds like a plan to me.
Also, seems like Freddy might be taking a trip to Vegas very soon. Got the word yesterday about a show and of course, I will let you know the details when I can. The new Camp Freddy site will have all the details - if there are any to be had!!
Todays pictures were shot by a team of guys in LA called The Social Trust. Very cool guys, they run a huge space downtown and were the ones that shot the Drifter pics a few weeks ago. They are the same guys that will be shooting the Circus Diablo line up later this week. From the looks of these shots, I think they'll do a great job.
No answers to any questions ..... cos there aren't any questions! I think I must have bored everyone stupid and created a mass exodus to parts unknown!!! Never mind. I have said before that I do this blog for cathartic reasons. I feel a little lighter and a little less burdened when I waffle on mindlessly in the mornings. I hope you guys have a great week, and I will be working hard behind the scenes to get all that Diablo stuff happening for Version 2.0. CFR will be live again this week, so no doubt I will post on Saturday before we go in. We REALLY need to get a chat room going here so that we can do band visits and CFR Saturday chats. Oh God .... yet another thing to cope with .... although thanks to Paul, Jay and Rik, we didn't do too badly with the Podcast situation and the Forum. Hmmm - think I'll pop over there and see whats occuring. Peace.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 06:35 AM | Comments (23)
June 11, 2006
NEW PODCAST UP
Last nights CFR is now up on the Podcasts page, or you can CLICK HERE TO ACCESS IT DIRECTLY. And thanks to the people who emailed me all the gossip links about the 'gay Superman' thing!! I had no idea when we started talking about it, that it has actually been A THING!!! Morrison puts his foot in it again! Matt and I had a lot of fun last night and we are planning to have a few 'special guests' join us over the next few weeks. We'll see if we can get anyone to actually return our calls and then we'll let you know.
So in the next two weeks, I will be spending a couple of days in Palm Springs, flying to San Francisco for three days, having a weekend at a beachfront house in Malibu, doing Circus Diablo rehearsals and photoshoot (and finishing the new V2 Diablo site), along with the usual blah blah blah business meetings, TV cues and studio work. Oh yeah - and my Parents are visiting at the moment. Better fit that in as well!! July is Ozzfest time again, and August is full of shows, both CF and Diablo. Nice.
Finally, I wanted to put up todays pic from one of the recent Style Lounge things that I attended. The guy with me is none other than Vice President (or is he now President?) Hal Gardener, from 24. Well, to be real, its actually actor Ray Wise, but let me assure you that while we were hanging out, my head was telling me .... "DUDE!! Thats the new President Of The United States!!!" No amount of cajolling and manipulating would persuade Ray to tell me how they get Jack Bauer off the slow boat to China ..... or if Chloe O Brian has a torrid S+M affair with Curtis in the next season of the show!! It was a fun day. Gotta go. Hope everyone has a great day. Back with V-blogs of my exploits soon.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 06:29 AM | Comments (8)
June 08, 2006
THE PANIC CHANNEL
Well now Boys and Girls. As I am sure we are all aware, Dave's new band, The Panic Channel played their LA show last night at The Roxy. And I feel compelled to give you a run down of the evening. Which couldn't have started off any better ....... as I was getting my passes from the box office, our very own Beth walks straight up to me and hands me a box of beautiful, hand rolled Cuban cigars. Not one, or even a handful ..... a WHOLE box!!! Complete with lighter and cutter!!! And then she says - "Some of these are for you, and some are for Dave for his birthday". What a way to begin a night of rock and roll. Thank you VERY much Beth. Dont know if you noticed (or even smelt it!) but I busted out one of those babies right there and then and drove everyone mad out on the Strip!! I divided them in half, and jumped on the bus to give Dave his cigars. He also got very excited at the thought of burning all those leaves and inhaling the smoke. There HAS to be something wrong with us!!!!
Anyway, Jen and I hung out on the bus for a while - I haven't seen Dave in ages, and he was on rare form .... skinny, shirtless and making everyone laugh!! I've missed him. Eventually, we gave Steve (Issacs) some space to warm up (and a break from the cigar smoke!) and left the bus, heading inside to our table. We met up with Carmen and all sat around talking ..... until someone came along and kicked us ALL out of the booth!! I am not sure how you kick Dave Navarro's wife out of a booth at a Panic Channel show, but they did! Just as the band were going onstage. We all moved to somewhere that we could see, and watched the band do their thing. They looked great, sounded awesome, and even though I dont have any recorded TPC stuff as yet, and have only heard the songs on the few occasions Dave has played them on CFR, I found myself singing along to Bloody Mary, Go On, Teahouse ..... these guys have great songs. Steve Issacs has an undeniably great voice and is one part Demented Devil Duy, one part Phantom Of The Opera and two parts Rock Star. A nice combination, and he sang the shit outta those tunes. The band looked like they were hot, sweaty and having a lot of fun. A great night out, and thanks to all who made it so - Beth for the cigars, TPC for taking care of Jen and myself, and all of you who came out to the Roxy to make it a good time.
So, first of all, regarding the sites, and any problems that people might be having. The Quicktime thing was solved for me, thanks to Christina's advice to look at the Quicktime preferences. There is a slider that allows you to tell the computer to begin playing straight away. Didnt know that!! And obviously folks, this whole movie/Quicktime thing is best for people with DSL or some kind of high-speed connection. I am not disrespecting people with dial-up (I had it for years) but until I have someone on staff who's job is actually to JUST make all the sites smooth (not likely anytime soon!!) then its just ME and anyone I can get to do a bit of work to help out. So PLEASE understand that I do my best with the Techie stuff, but sometimes there will be problems. Which brings me to another point....
....my friend Jason (from Vancouver) has been pointing out to me that some people might not be able to see the Flash 'email me' button, or indeed the Flash 'www.billymorrison.net' header at the top of the page. Or maybe some people are experiencing weirdness with the New Stuff graphics or finding buttons that dont work until they have been clicked. Jason tells me this is something to do with Internet Explorer (I dont use it so I dont know) and the need for 'service pack 2' ..... you see, I am already WAY outta my depth. Just do me a favor - tell me if you have any problems with the site. I cant try and fix shit if I dont know about it.
Ylais - The rehearsal next week is actually more drummer auditions. But we will make sure that pics and video are taken to provide a little 'inside look'. Rehearsals for the shows will be nearer the time. And we would ALWAYS be nice to you if you call CFR.
Robin - Biggest guilty pleasure? You mean other than every single cigarette that I smoke? I think it would be a toss up between eating pancakes and maple syrup at the Sunset Marquis and flooring the BMW down Fountain at 2.00am!!!
Mary - GREAT question. And the answer is, NEVER buy a bus!! Bands always rent, because you dont have to maintain it, don't have to look after it when you are not on the road and because if you rent, you can get the latest, most high-tec bus available. Plus there are all kinds of budget/tax/band accounts reasons why renting rules.
Thats it from me - I am beavering away, working on a Circus Diablo V2.0 site, so I wanna stay focused and get it up online soon. We are planning some V-Blogs from the rehearsals next week, so stay tuned and keep it here.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:52 AM | Comments (6)
June 05, 2006
TESTING THE HTML WATERS
CF V-BLOG
UPDATE: I am trying to figure out the sporadic problems with the videos. As it stands, click the pic above and wait..... a long time!! It will play eventually!!! In the meantime, be patient as I try and work it out. Some videos (like the Breathe video) play with no problems. Other videos (like the SpikeTV one) will play ..... eventually.. They are all encoded the same and roughly the same size, so right now I have NO IDEA why one plays immediately and the other takes a year to begin!! At least the "in the post" thing is working. I'll let you know, but for now, patience is the key!!
Good morning everyone. I did remember to take a camera into CFR this week, so I got around to doing a quick V-Blog for y'all. Questions answered, Blog posted. Nuff said. Getting ready to rehearse with Diablo next week (very excited to do that) and I believe we also have a new photoshoot happening, so chances are we'll get a few answers about the schedule next week. Not a lot else to report right now. I have a couple of meetings this week (seems like life is one big meeting!) and I have learnt that a meeting means nothing. Only when a contract is signed, or the job is done, does it actually bear talking about. So I just walk into these meetings, be nice, smile a lot, and then forget about it until someone calls. I'll also be going through song structures with Ricky this week, so maybe we'll work on the new tunes as well. Thats it for now. Back soon.
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 10:40 AM | Comments (26)
June 03, 2006
STYLE WEEK-UPDATED
The podcast from last nights show with Matt is now up on the PODCAST page, or you can access it by clicking HERE. Working on a new V-Blog as we speak.
Its been one of those weeks in LA - one of those 'Style House' weeks where all the PR companies put on gifting suites and let everyone run around and get free shit. I have been to quite a few over the years and it still blows my mind!! Its getting crazy too - some of the higher level 'platinum' gifting suites are now giving away 'a week in Bali' or ten grand diamond watches!!! Trust me, I am not invited to those ones!! But I have had a nice week running around the different houses and being lucky enough to get given a new phone system (my place now has six handsets and three cellphones dotted around the place!), and yet more denim and more sneakers. I am not even sure what the occasion is - I think its something to do with the MTV Awards, but who knows.
I also kept busy with some TV cues and I have had my head down, working on lyrics and melody for a couple of new Diablo tunes. We demoed the music and we all like the songs, so its now time for me to complete the package. And let me just clear a couple of things up - these new songs are not for any particular reason. Thats what bands do ...... write songs. They might end up on the record, they might not. We don't write like that - we just keep writing in general. The record will not be released until later in the year, so don't all get too excited!! I am seeing reports of secret gigs at Snitch, extra album tracks .... all this crazy stuff!! Just to clarify - we recorded ten songs, mixed and mastered. Thats the record. No confirmed gigs at this time, but two small periods of 2006 have been carved out in our schedules for us to fill with dates. Once the dates are booked, we will announce them. The search for the drummer continues with another jam day in the rehearsal room next week. And the extra tracks are being written because now we have Brett in the band, he brings yet more exciting ideas to the table and we want to continue the creative process ...... its fun!!!
CFR is on tonight with Matt and myself. No guests that I am aware of, but who knows if Matt has got anyone lined up. I will be going in armed with some good music and a bunch of coffee. Thats all I need for a good two hours of radio!!! I'll try and remember to take the camera and do a V-Blog with Matt.
Terri - I have met Billy a few times. He hails from Bromley in South London, like me. Wonderful guy, great voice. And the LOST finale blew me away!! Sucked me right back in, just in time for a three month break!! How annoying - gotta wait for Season Three now!!
Peebs - The Chiro thing is amazing, but I suggest you only go if you NEED to!! Its expensive and can be painful. I have acupuncture, ultrasound and an adjustment a couple of times a week right now, to fix a 'traumatized tendon' in my shoulder. It was so bad that I couldn't lift my head if I was lying down!! He says its years of hanging a Les Paul over one shoulder!!!
Leon - Actually, we have approached Gene and Paul a couple of times. We'll get em one of these days. Both are super nice guys and love to play, so I don't see why not.
Gotta go - see y'all on air later today. Podcast will be up (wake UP Paul!!!) tomorrow. "Summer lovin, had me a blaa..hast. Summer lovin'.... happened so faaa...hast!!" Why am I quoting lyrics from Grease? Gotta be somethin wrong with me.
Peace
Billy
Posted by vivelerock at 07:55 AM | Comments (14)