Billy Morrison: July 2007 Archives

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July 31, 2007

ASTBURY HAD IT RIGHT

Ian Astbury definitely had it right when he said "I Love The Rain". Adjectives to describe the last 48 hours. Long. Wet. Tiring. Wet. Painful. Wet. Oh, did I say that it was wet around these parts? Yesterdays show was the craziest thing – just as the band before us hit the stage, the skies opened up and a huge rain began….of monsoon proportions!! I mean it REALLY came down. So by the time it was all about Diablo, the stage was a lake, the equipment was soaking, and the audience….well, they were still as crazy as they always are!! So with visions of electrocution stuck firmly in our heads, we hit the stage and tore it up with Rollercoaster. And the show was fantastic. We were all as soaked as the audience within seconds, and we splashed around, rocking out and having a great time. Kansas, just like everywhere else, were so kind, and roared as loud as anywhere so far on the tour. Despite a damaged elbow that I did somehow while onstage yesterday, I had a fucking fantastic show, and wanna give out a shout to the people of Kansas. You ROCK!! Check out the pics from this waterlogged affair.

The night before, we played in Salina, KS and I found myself having massive Deja Vu as I strapped....a bass guitar on and attempted to play a whole Circus Diablo set both singing AND playing bass!! Brett was away for a night doing the ROTS thing and having his own crazy 48 hour 'fly out, fly in' thing, so I was left to hold down the fort and had to cram a quick rehearsal on the bus before it was time to play. As I actually played the bass parts on the album, I obviously knew how they went, but singing lead vocals at the same time is REALLY hard!! But we did it, I got through the show, and everyone at the show had a great time, just like we did. It was a Punk Rock version of Diablo, and as hard as it was to play and sing, I had a good time. I'm just glad that Brett is back with us now!!

Now we move on into Texas, and I will be grabbing some more video footage today (in Abilene, where I have already done a 7.30am phoner with the radio station, we do a 3.00pm acoustic on air performance somewhere else, and then a club show tonight…..why they don’t fill our days up I just don’t know!!) and also tomorrow in Houston and the following day in Dalls. I’ll do a “Terrorizing Texas” V-Blog!! Ha ha – starting to lose my shit out here! And the answer to the many questions about Friday’s Camp Freddy show is a resounding YES, I WILL be flying in for that show. I have a car waiting for Brett and I in Dallas, and as soon as we come off stage, we fly from Dallas to Los Angeles, do the Freddy show on Friday at The House Of Blues, and then catch a 7.00am flight BACK to San Antonio in time to hit the stage at 2.00pm on that Ozzfest show. INSANE!! But a lot of fun – AND I get to see my wife for a day. Can’t wait.

What else can I tell you? Thanks to Paul, the CFR Podcasts keep coming, and thanks to Dave, the show goes on. I miss doing that on Saturdays and although its only a couple of weeks that I’ve missed, it feels like months! I love that Camp Freddy continues onwards – we are a real team – I believe that Donovan is running his flag up the mast this coming Saturday. I’ll try and do a phone in once I get back to San Antonio and play that gig. I think that being in one place for a few weeks in September while I film my next movie will be a welcome change. It’s a movie called Basement Jack, and I play a detective….yep, you read that right. I do NOT play a junkie of any sort!! Weird I know…but I cant wait to stretch out and expand a little and actually act. Actually play someone that I am not.

So that’s happening immediately after I get back from the Ozzfest. So excited that I have another movie to do. And then who knows for the end of the year. I hear talk of more Diablo touring. I hear talk of some TV. I hear talk of some Freddy stuff. But maybe its just the voices in my head talking a little too loudly. Who knows. What I do know is that Circus Diablo are touring right now, the album is doing great, the single is still out there, and that I am one extremely greatful, happy, contented MF. Finally, check out the picture above from the Salina show where I was playing bass. I look like something outta that movie The Grudge, you know? Scary stuff!! See ya.

Peace

Billy

PS: Just uploaded these reviews to the www.circusdiablo.com website, and thought I should throw them up here as well. So here ya go - another selection from the reviews that we have been getting.

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Posted by vivelerock at 07:21 AM | Comments (8)

July 29, 2007

THERES NO PLACE LIKE HOME

So sayeth Judy Garland...and so sayeth Billy Morrison from Salina, Kansas!! This is a crazy town – I just got off the bus to go find a bathroom, and walked into a bar that is straight outta every horror movie! Full up at 11.00am with everyone getting drunk, the place literally stopped when I walked in, and all the heads turned and followed me as I walked through the building to the back bathroom. Not really wanting to outstay my welcome, I got out as quickly as I could, expecting any second to be confronted with a …..”and whaddya call that haircut, boi???” The whole town seems closed, except for this one bar, and the bikers that keep riding around every now and again.

We’ll see how the show goes tonight – usually these kind of gigs are fantastic, so I’m looking forward to it. And tonights show is a special, one-off event…cos I am playing bass guitar again!! Yep, Brett Scallions had to leave us for one night, and we have been looking forward to this gig, so I have stepped up and have been frantically learning how to play the bass parts AND sing the fucking songs at the same time!! It will probably end up being a little..er..punk rock but I intend to enjoy myself no matter what.

Yesterday, we did our set at the Denver Ozzfest (which was another victory and another great reception from the audience, despite some technical problems) and we headed straight out to drive up to Cheyenne in Wyoming, to catch the last night of the Def Leppard tour where Ricky was playing his second gig of the day! He had come off stage in Denver, jumped in a car, and driven up to Cheyenne, and we did our press and then followed him up in the bus.

It was a great night - Ricky was awesome - he steps out in front of about 25,000 people with just an acoustic guitar for company!! I mean, you gotta see him do that shit!! And then the Lepps blew everyone away - the band were on form, and the out front sound was just incredible. A huge shout out to Joe and the boys for having us as their guests and looking after us so well. The show was at a massive rodeo, so mud, cows, mud, horses, mud, cowboys, more mud.....and some mud was the order of the day. Check out the pics above. And also,
the joys of having a camera phone these days mean you can snap moments on tour without having to have a camera in your back pocket all the time. Here’s a few ‘snapshots’ from the past few weeks that were taken on the Curve.

And we’ll be working on a new V-Blog….the Texas Solution…..as we wind our way through Kansas and on to the ‘Big Sky’ of the great state of Texas. Always a good place to get plenty of candid footage, and home of many great shows (as well as my Wife’s birthplace!). We have a few club shows there as well as a couple of nice big Ozzfest shows, so we’ll film as much as we can. And with that, I gotta stand up and run through these songs again with a bass guitar strapped to me! No doubt some pics and/or video of tonights fun and games will end up on here by tomorrow!! For now, thanks as always to Paul, we have the CFR Podcast from last Saturday with Dave. See you all very soon.

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 04:16 PM | Comments (8)

July 26, 2007

READY FOR MY CLOSE UP!

THE ROXY/THE VIDEO SHOOT.
Please note that this is a large file size. A high speed connection is preferred.

So here you have it! I did an amazing five minute video ...... and lost the whole thing when the computer crashed!! So you get a two minute redo - not as full and as detailed as I had wanted, but there was no way I was going to spend another five or six hours editing. You get the idea. We did the Roxy show - it was great. We shot a video - it was great. Blah blah!! Thats all I got right now. Just played a killer show in New Mexico....I mean, the audience went fucking NUTS!! We loved it. A huge thanks to everyone who was up the front and kicking it when we were playing!

STOP PRESS: A quick update here. I have been tweaking recently at just how immediate the new technology is, and actually did an interview yesterday with KNAC.COM who were asking us about just where do you draw the line. How much and how immediate does an artist become. Well, the answer is this: The time is 1.45pm mountain time on July 27th 2007 and I am sitting in Maggiano's in Downtown Denver, CO. The WHOLE area is free highspeed wireless internet, so I am actually typing this while I eat my lunch on a day off. I just snapped this picture on my Blackberry Curve cellphone. It took me 3 minutes from start to finish, to type this update, take the pic, and upload it all onto the blog. MIND BLOWING!!!!

Oh, and I have been uploading the videos to YouTube as well, for those of you that have trouble with these Quicktimes. I just find these to be slightly higher quality than the YouTube versions. Either way - here or over at YouTube.com/morrisontv - they are up on the web for your amusement. Enjoy.

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 04:01 PM | Comments (8)

July 24, 2007

WASTED IN AMERICA

That was a whirlwind three day trip back to LA in the middle of a tour, and its always hard when that happens. Everyone scatters to be with their wives and girlfriends, and although its fantastic to see them, leaving again is always a little tough. As I write this, we just did the overnight drive from our videoshoot in East Los Angeles, to the Ozzfest show in Phoenix and I feel completely drained from the touring, and the emotional rollercoaster of hanging with Jen for three days (The Roxy, Devore and the Video) and then having to say goodbye again!

The Roxy show was great, but they (being the City and the ‘Powers That Be’) deemed our tattooist and our fire eater unsafe. A big resounding ‘NO’ was heard up and down Sunset when we tried to explain the concept of a Rock And Roll circus! But despite that the evening was a huge success. Dirty Harry and Owl were awesome, and we played a great show. The whole set got an airing, including Ziggy Stardust (the David Bowie cover that we’ve been playing on this tour) and Hello Goodbye (which we don’t get to play that much but is one of my favorites from the album). Everyone had a great time, and Wendybird was in full effect, as will be witnessed over the next week or so as I get a few of her pics up on the sites.

We came off stage and by the time I had dried off, I looked at my watch and realized I was back onstage in 11 hours at the Devore Ozzfest!! So a quick 5 hour powernap in my own bed and I was raring to go again! Down to the Los Angeles Ozzfest and it was our turn to open the whole thing. I like that timeslot because the first band get an extra soundcheck, and we got to dial our monitors in even further, and I got a decent stereo mix going on in my In Ears. The show was fantastic – we got told that our sound out front was rocking, and the audience were just amazing.

By the time we played the Sex Pistols cover, Pretty Vacant, there was a sea of Devil Horns thrusting back at us. I fucking love shows like that. After the show, I headed straight back into Los Angeles to do the Camp Freddy Radio show with my partner Dave Navarro. I gotta say that I love doing that show. We both slide into an effortless rhythm that feels so natural and so funny! I laugh for days after one of those shows!! Thanks to our Paul, last Saturdays show is now up on the Podcast page and also available on the I-Tunes Subscription.

Another quick powernap (it seems that sleep is extremely over rated right now!) and we found ourselves at the apocalyptic industrial wasteland that was the location for the first Circus Diablo video for our song LOADED that’s currently at radio. I have to say a HUGE shout out to Dale, Kevin and the whole entire crew for making the day work and run so smoothly and efficiently. Nothing like playback number 97 to ruin a song for you!! We jumped about, pulled the right shapes, generally did what we did for a full 14 hours, and ended up with some awesome footage.

I cant wait to see the first edit – those guys made us look really fucking good. It should end up being a REAL rock video – no shoegazing or emotional outpourings from this band. Girls, fast cars and loud rock and roll. Of COURSE there will be a couple of versions – so be on the look out for the one your Mom would hate!! Oh – and talking of video – I do have TONS of V-Blog footage, so just be patient and I will provide a few segments when I can get around to editing them. The wireless speed on the bus is ok for certain things, but uploading video takes FOREVER!! And THAT is why God invented Starbucks!!!

And that’s that for right now. We are pulling up at the Cricket Pavillion in Phoenix and I have to go do my thing again. It’s a pretty cool thing too. Sit on a rolling hotel and travel across America singing songs. And to think that Mr Worthington, my math teacher, told me I would never amount to anything and that I should really think about getting a job in McDonalds. Mr Worthington……I have one thing to say to you ……..

Peace

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 10:09 AM | Comments (18)

July 19, 2007

LET LOOSE IN A FACTORY!

DUNLOP FACTORY.
Please note that this is a large file size. A high speed connection is preferred.

Couldn't believe it! The lovely folks at Dunlop gave us the complete guided tour and let us loose on the machines to make strings etc. Bad idea .... but we didn't actually break anything (well, not too badly anyway) so I think we'll be invited back. Big up and massive respec' to Scott Uchida and all the boys at Dunlop for making us feel so at home. Picks a plenty and strings for days!! And I dont have a lot else to say. Wanted to get the V-Blog up cos I will have absolutely NO time tomorrow. Every minute of the day that I don't have to do an interview or sing, will be spent hugging my wife, who I haven't seen in two fucking weeks!! So my phone will be off - and here's a tip if you know me. The list is full, the tickets are only $15, and yes, if you come down, I'll get you a pass. It doesn't do anything or get you anywhere at the Roxy, but I will get you one anyway. Ha Ha - Tomorrow we hit LA. Can't wait.

See ya

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 09:20 PM | Comments (25)

July 18, 2007

MORE FROM THE ROAD

Hi everyone. So we have been having problems with the Hi-Speed connection on the bus, which is why I am unable to upload a V-Blog right now. But rather than wait on posting, I figured I would update with a post from the bus now, and then get the V-Blog up later, when I can find a connection that’s a little quicker. Things are going great and we are having a lot of fun out here. And the Ozzfest audiences are welcoming us everywhere. Yesterdays show in Sacramento was no exception. By the time we finished playing, everyone was punching the air, and moshing around in a massive pit. I gave our very own Uncle Creepy a shout out before we played Loaded, and we met up after the show to give him a signed poster and CD and generally hang out. We played really well, and can’t wait till Shoreline on Wednesday. Today is another club show, in San Francisco this time. As I write this, we are on our way to Dunlop (makers of fine pedals, strings, picks etc) to see our boy Scott Uchida, before rolling into Frisco for a day of sneaker shopping!! Market Street is really a cool spot to find some nice Dunks, so you know where I’ll be headed.

Circus Diablo has been very cathartic for me, and just seeing the band and crew rolling around the country in a bus, promoting the record that we are all so proud of, makes me feel content. The fact that we are winning audiences over, and sounding so good is a huge bonus, but seeing it received so well, and knowing that we accomplished what we set out to do is my pay day. I watch you lot post and form communites, organize CD parties, come out to see us play …… its just fucking incredible. And it makes me (and the band) feel like we able to connect, to touch, to relate. I hope you feel the same way. (And while I remember – please play nice together. I don’t wanna get emails saying people are getting shut out. I cant do anything about it, but it makes me upset. Just be nice guys.)

Our day off in Redding, CA was just what we all needed. Brett, Ricky and Charles went off to some Casino for a steak dinner and a chance to throw hundreds of dollars down the drain, while Rob and I went off to the Mall, for Starbucks and some retail therapy. I actually didn’t buy anything, but spent a good three hours wandering and thinking about ……anything that wasn’t Circus Diablo! Back at the River Inn, we did laundry (well needed), took naps, and relaxed for most of the day. We all took advantage of the hotel pool and felt rested and ready to go when we pulled out for the overnight drive.

The video shoot has been scheduled for Monday – its on our only day off, but who cares! Loaded is ripe for a good, hot, rock and roll vibey video, so that’s what we are gonna do. From what I can tell, it’s a ‘chicks, cars, guns, guitars’ type vibe. I’m sure they’ll explain more soon, but right now, all I know is we shoot on Monday. And there will be the ‘TV’ version and the ‘Web’ version. The web version will be the nice, juicy, hot one – so I’ll post it here when we have the final edit.

OK – so we are pulling the bus up to Dunlop right now – gotta go. I’ll see if there is a decent connection near the venue, and get a V-Blog up here later today. If not, it’ll be tomorrow. Have a great day, be nice, play together, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!

Peace

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 10:45 AM | Comments (9)

July 15, 2007

THE JET SET

I’m typing this as I sit in the back of a completely full flight from Las Vegas to Portland. I came offstage at The Gorge and jumped straight into a waiting car that whisked me off to Seattle Airport and down to Vegas in time to DJ at the opening of the Slash case at the Hard Rock. Slash was celebrating the opening with Robert Knight, the amazing Rock photographer who has shot pretty much everyone in the genre, and I was lucky enough not only to have been photographed by Robert many times, but to be invited to DJ at the party for him and Slash. So that’s exactly what I did! I timed everything to perfection, so that no shows would be cancelled, and I am now reflecting on the crazy journey I just made as I sit crammed into the tiny plane, flying me back to my bandmates, the good old tour bus, and a club show tonight in Portland, OR.

The Gorge was a fantastic show – totally punk rock, and the audience again were just amazing. To go up there in between the other heavy heavy bands is a challenge, and we love it. And so, it appears, do the Ozzfest crowd. As I have been saying in interviews, the Ozzfest is a very special festival. It embraces everything that is good about rock music, and the audience is not stupid. They welcome good, loud, honest rock…..and it doesn’t matter where it comes from. We have killed it at the first two Ozzfest shows, and its because we can feed off the audience. We see them screaming, shouting, smiling, punching the air, moshing and headbanging to our music. THAT shit right there is why I do it. So much fun!!

The Las Vegas trip was so quick, it almost seems like it didn’t happen. Except the dull pounding at the back of my head due to a lack of sleep tells me it did! No sooner did I get out of the car at The Hard Rock than I was hustled into SIMON, the ultra cool restaurant owned by Kerry Simon, which was where I was Djing. Straight to work, I spun for over two hours and ate some amazing food while I was doing it!! Slash, John 5, Scott Ian…..a veritable host of guitarists hung out, ate dinner and paid tribute. A good fun time was had by all.

And that’s it from me. We are landing now, and once I get back to the bus and the boys, I’ll throw this up with a couple of really cool pics from Seattle Ozzfest, taken by Mike Savoia. Thanks Mike – great shots. I’ll have a V-Blog ready for you all in a day or so. We have some nice footage – just gotta stop flying or driving long enough to edit the thing!! See you later.

Peace

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 04:30 PM | Comments (17)

July 13, 2007

DAY ONE-SEATTLE OZZFEST

SEATTLE.
Please note that this is a large file size. A high speed connection is preferred.

Yep. We are Ozzfest virgins no more. Cherry popped. Ice broken. We played our first punk rock set at the Ozzfest yesterday in Auburn, Seattle and not only did we kill it, the audience received us well, welcoming us to Ozzfest in true fashion. I walked onstage to a sea of cheers and devil hands in the air, and immediately watched a fight start in front of me!! We played a crazy five song set that seemed to fly by so quickly, and ended with the Pistols Pretty Vacant, which went down great. Everyone was shouting the chorus back to us and jumping up and down. We all feel really good to have done the first show and as I type this, I am sitting outside the venue for today - Club Platinum in Corvallis - at a STARBUCKS!! The venue is right next door, so I have literally set up my office in the street, outside the Starbucks, and Brett and Ricky are keeping a constant stream of Americanos coming my way. What a beautiful way to start the day!

As I said, todays club gig is in Corvallis and its with Nick Oliveri and Mondo Generator - they also tore it up yesterday, and I cant wait to get the two bands inside a club to do full on sets. Onstage at night, in a club is a totally different vibe to outside at 2.00pm for 20 mins!! Both are fun to do, but I like the small clubs best. Close to your audience, and very hot and sweaty.

So what other news do I have? Well, not a lot as my life is pretty much confined to the bus and the gig. Things get fairly simple once you get out here. Small towns, great scenery, miles of driving from place to place. And a microcosm of an existance - everything is magnified tenfold. Small things are a BIG deal. Not taking the bus trash out becomes a capitol offence. Leaving the lights on causes huge arguments!! Your whole day starts to become about how best to place the water bottles in the cooler, so as to fit a whole case in one go. Really, you start to lose perspective. Where's the laundry is a VERY important question! But its easy to get into the groove and roll with it all. I miss my wife so much it hurts, but other than that, touring is a great break from reality. No errands, no bills, no responsibility. If I was able to bring Jen with me, I would stay out here all year long.

So for now, I am gonna leave it at that. I want to thank the NYC posse SO VERY MUCH for the listening party at Snitch. Seems like you all had a lot of fun, and the girls organized a great night for you, and us. Thanks so much to everyone who took part, and the Diablettes for making it happen. The adds are still coming in nicely for Loaded - major markets, big players like KNAC, all adding Loaded into decent rotation. The tv commercial is running now (its very bizarre to see it for me! Weird that we have a 30 second spot advertizing the record!! But I'm not complaining!!) and everything is moving in the right direction. Whatever happens is fine by me. The record is something I am extremely proud of, and thats all I need. Have a great day everyone and I'll be back regularly from now on. Gonna try and keep the V-Blogs coming thick and fast. See you tomorrow.

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 08:59 AM | Comments (14)

July 10, 2007

THE BIG COUNTRY

So I’m looking out of the bus window at ….. this! Flat, endless nothing. HUGE expanses of undeveloped land, and it just freaks me out that we are all so crammed in to the confines of the big city and yet this country just sprawls its way endlessly for mile upon mile. Its incredible really – and every time I drive across America, I wonder what it must have been like to discover this place. The sheer size of the country is mind blowing, and it brings home to me just how much of a goldfish bowl I live in …. My insular, Los Angeles world. I suppose it’s the same wherever you go – the big city bustle and the small town peace and quiet. Just gets my mind moving when I get out here.

So we just did a small acoustic performance in Petaluma, CA and it was fine. Intimate little gathering of competition winners, a quick meet and greet and sign some stuff, and then four songs acoustically. Everyone made a lot of noise and welcomed us warmly and we did Shine, Loaded, So Fine and Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust. And that was todays work! We all just ate and now people are crashed out all over the bus. Rob and Charles are in their bunks (watching porn, no doubt!), Drew, our monitor guy, is in the back lounge playing X-Box. I am in the front lounge tweaking on the web (thank GOD for wireless on tour busses!!) and Ricky and John Lee (guitar tech) are hanging with me.

The three pics above show the Flash Tattoo work from Shamrock that we will have on offer at The Roxy show. You can pick anything out, including the CD logo and it will be $50 - a bargain price for some real quality work. Get your virgin (or not so virgin!) flesh out and mark it up at a rock show. And talking of rock shows, the Rockline thing was great – thanks so much to Bob and the gang for making it such a smooth experience for us. And thanks to Paul for taping it for us. I know that Bob is going to send us the mastered versions and he gave us permission to put the tracks up on the sites – so when I get the CD from the Rockline people, I will go ahead and get a couple of the tracks up on MySpace and www.circusdiablo.com. We also heard that Active Rock are still adding LOADED daily and its looking really good at radio for us. So keep requesting the track people – we can hit top 30 if we try hard. I love you all!

PEANUT BUTTER CUP.
Please note that this is a large file size. A high speed connection is preferred.

If my tech situation has gone well, you should have the first of many V-Blogs up today, just to test the connection, the process and the speed of the card in the bus. If its worked, then there’s a quick check in from the first night as we pulled out of LA. If it didn’t, then this paragraph will make NO sense at all!! I think I am losing my mind now, so I’ll sign off and post this blog for you all and check in from tomorrows pre-production day at the Seattle Ozzfest. Metal Up Yer Ass!!

Peace

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 08:02 PM | Comments (15)

July 09, 2007

LEAVING LOS ANGELES

CLICK THE BANNER ABOVE FOR THE ROCKLINE WEBSITE.

Circus Diablo will be the featured guests on the nationally syndicated radio show ROCKLINE with host Bob Coburn on Monday night July 9 at 8:30 PT /
11:30 ET. Fans are encouraged to call to speak with the band at 1-800-344-rock (7625). For a station near you and for information regarding how to log onto the Internet for the broadcast go to www.RocklineRadio.com.

Thats it folks. Tonight we leave. We become Pirates of the road. Warriors of the Wastelands. Pillaging and plundering all that come before us. Well .....actually, we get on a really nice bus, put the TV on, and make a nice cup of tea!!! But the imagery was great for a second, right?!! Thats it - we have our last day of rehearsals today, and then, after a brief japanese photosession for BURN magazine, and the ROCKLINE performance tonight, we have a midnight bus call which will plant us at our first acoustic radio thingy tomorrow somewhere near San Francisco. From there, we do a day of pre-production at The Ozzfest site, and then the first show. So we finally made it to release date for the record AND the tour. It was touch and go a few times, and as in all good rock bands, it could still fall apart at any second! But I am completely greatful to everyone thats put the man hours into this project. The label, Amanda (our publicist, who has worked me to the bone!!), Tom V, our manager, who tirelessly fights the good fight in our name, Charles and Rob who, quite frankly, have just been incredible team players and have steeped right up to make the band sound tight, hard and loud, Patrick (coffee???) who stood in for Brett while he was away, and my partners in crime Ricky, Billy D and Brett. I am a happy man, and intend to smile my way around the country singing these songs every day. What a fucking incredible job I have.

RELEASE DATES: I am getting a bunch of questions about the album being worldwide. This is how it works. Each 'Territory' gets its own release date, so that the promo for the album can be staggered. So far we have the following - UNITED STATES: JULY 3rd. AUSTRALIA: JULY 14th. JAPAN: AUGUST 22nd. We are waiting for our European/UK street date as we speak. I would imagine it will be September.

Finally, the Podcast from Saturdays CFR is up now in the Podcasts section, or available by subscribing to the Billy Morrison Podcast Page in I-Tunes. Jeordie White aka Twiggy Ramirez was our guest and Dave and I had a great time with him. I believe he confirmed to go back and Co-host with Dave on 21st while I am on tour. Nice one Jeordie!!.

Peace

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 08:01 AM | Comments (12)

July 07, 2007

ESPN SPEEDFREAKS WELCOMES DIABLO

A quickie for Saturday. I am not too sure of whats going on at the moment cos as well as doing ten hour days in the rehearsal studio, we are also banging out a ton of press every day. Charles is smiling cos he got his new drum kit delivered and is hitting them VERY loud!!. Rob is wailing on all the songs and sounding killer, Ricky is also a Cheshire cat cos Gibson gave him a beautiful black Les Paul Custom (which sounds incredible) and Brett ... well, Brett is still doing ROTS!! But he will be with us on Monday, and until then, Patrick Cornell has been rehearsing with us. Patrick is an amazing musician and has shown complete and utter team spirit. Mr Duffy is in touch and will be back in the fold real soon - Diablo record AND a new Cult record. He will also be a happy man at the moment I imagine! We have a real family taking shape in Diablo world and all these guys are playing their nuts off!!

Check out the video above from our appearance on Dave's web TV show, SPREAD Entertainment. Big thanks and huge respect to all on the show - it was great fun. Tomorrow, we are back in rehearsal again, but at night Ricky and I will be off to do some on-camera for ESPN2. Here's the blurb from the email I got - so you now know everything that I know - apparently you can listen in on Sirius if you have it. And the interview will be shown on ESPN at a later date....... SPEED FREAKS(weekly TV program that airs on ESPN2 Saturdays at 8:30am PT and Tuesdays at 2:30am PT; weekly nationally syndicated radio show heard on 90 stations nationwide; Sirius Satellite Radio live from 7pm-9pm PT on Sports Byline USA/Channel 122; the Armed Forces Radio Network live from 7-9pm PT/10pm-12am ET; (www.SpeedFreaks.tv): Kenny Sargent, “Lugg Nutz” and “Crash” Gladys will be doing a 20-30 minute in-person, on-camera interview for a segment about the album which will appear LIVE on the radio outlets and taped for TV to air at a later date...... so thats the info I have. We'll see how it turns out tomorrow.

Also, don't forget that the album is now OUT THERE!! Its available from Circuit City, Best Buy, FYE (with the two extra bonus tracks) and all good retail outlets. Also available online at Amazon and the ubiquitous I Tunes. All you gotta do is click on the picture above and you'll be whisked to a page on I-Tunes where you can purchase the digital version of the record for a very special low price. We are gonna be seeing you all out there any day now, so grab the album, slam it in the player and turn it UP!!!

Gotta get some sleep - see ya soon.

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 10:17 PM | Comments (9)

July 05, 2007

CIRCUS DIABLO ON ROCKLINE

CLICK THE BANNER ABOVE FOR THE ROCKLINE WEBSITE.

Also, check out this online interview I did for ExclusiveMagazine.Com. CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW.

And finally, here's a pretty amazing review of the new album. CLICK HERE TO READ THE STARPULSE REVIEW.

STOP PRESS: I wanna show the New York posse just how stoked I am that they have put on the listening party at Snitch. So here's the deal. I saw that you lot are giving away tickets to the Knitting Factory - well, how about if I add some incentive to all the East Coasters, and offer myself up as well!! OK - not exactly offer myself up, but if Peebs and Co wanna give away some hang time with me and the boys, come to soundcheck, eat our food, drink our drinks and generally 'be a part of the day', then they can. Two tickets to the show with All Access passes and all day access. Thats the prize. BUT - you gotta show up at Snitch for the party. Contact Peebs for details. Or read this wonderful flyer!!! Hope that helps Peebs.

Peace

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 10:17 PM | Comments (19)

July 04, 2007

WOW - WHAT A DAY!!

First and foremost, I want to wish everyone here a VERY HAPPY 4th JULY!!! Being english, I kinda get to keep my head down and enjoy a free day! Do nothing, join a few friends for a BBQ somewhere and generally loaf about all day. Sounds great to me. Especially after the day we had yesterday! Well, the record is finally out there for the world to listen to, and although we have had a few teething problems (it took all day to get the thing onto I-Tunes when it should have been live at midnight!!) it was a very special day for me. The I-Tunes thing ... well lets just say that it happens occasionally with that lot. Its now up there and ready for you all. Just click the pic above and buy the online version for a special price. No booklet, but an extra track - the mastered version of 1970 (Live). But although some of you are reporting trouble finding the disc, I know that most Best Buys, FYE's and Circuit City's have it. Amazon, Barnes And Noble. Its not a tough record to find. And the booklet has all the correct lyrics etc, so go for the hard copy if you can - especially the FYE version - that has two more extra tracks (Marys Shadow and A Thousand Times).

Also.... We are running a VIP Package competition with Indie 103.1FM for the Roxy show on 20th July in Los Angeles. The winner will get an afternoon with all the band, hang out on the bus, watch soundcheck, have dinner at the famous Rainbow Bar And Grill next door, VIP booth seats etc etc. Plus we'll have signed CD's and posters for you too. Listen to Camp Freddy Radio for details. I believe that the station will also be giving away a few pairs of tickets between now and the show as well. Don't forget the tattoo station we have arranged - world class Flash tattoos by one of the Shamrock tattooists for $50. You can't go wrong!! Oh - and yes I do know that the clickable thumbnail is a weird inverted blue color - its to do with it being a CMYK file. I left it cos I like the way it looks! Click on it and you should get the full color ad.

This week, we start our full-on rehearsals, along with a bunch more press. In fact, we are doing a little acoustic appearance on Dave Navarro's new SPREAD TV show tomorrow - see 6767.com for details. Looking forward to that one - I have a huge amount of respect for Dave, and love that he asked us to do the show. Its the way forward and, as usual, Navarro is at the forefront, leading the way with his inimitable brand of style and irreverant humor. Nice one Dave. See ya tomorrow. Above is a slice of an acoustic version of Loaded that we did last week for FPE - found it over on the Revver site.

I have to say that I waited a long time to write the Circus Diablo album, and had it all inside me for a lot of years. So to have seen the process through to completion - writing, recording and now release - is a huge deal for me. I can honestly say that from today onwards, its all bonus for me. The touring is fun, the interviews, reviews, sales, plans etc are all part of the journey. But I am content and happy today. I feel blessed to have been able to make the record, and even luckier to have it on the shelves. In the current climate, its not an easy thing for a band. All I had hoped for was a release date, and now we have made it to that day. So have at it, people. If you buy the album, I hope you enjoy it. I hope you relate to some of the messages, hope you get uplifted by some of the music. For me, its been very cathartic, and as I said ...... thank you to everyone who pulled a huge team effort to get the record on the racks. And that means you lot too.

Peace

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 07:02 AM | Comments (15)