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January 31, 2008

TO MULTITASK, OR NOT TO MULTITASK?

Another Multitasking extravaganza last night, as I DJ'd at the Venice Rocks club in Venice, CA and also performed with Charles and Patrick as Circus Diablo. I gotta think long and hard before doing too much of that - its pretty hectic doing a show AND DJ'ing and its the second time already this year I've done it!! But we had a great time all around, and as I have already posted on my MySpace page, the band played as a three piece. Performing like that has its own set of difficulties, but also holds unique possibilities too. Its just WAY different to a band like Camp Freddy, that has a ton of guitars most of the time, or even the standard four piece rock band, where I am either singing, or playing guitar, and there is always another guitar to help out and fill in the holes. The three piece is a hard beast to get right, cos singing and playing is its own problem. And then there is a LOT less room for mistakes, cos when you make one...... no one else is there to cover it up!! But the gig was a total punk rock affair, and by all accounts we actually pulled it off! We sounded good, and gave it tons of attitude, and most importantly, all three of us enjoyed it. I have been toying with the idea of doing a solo record for a while - not because I think it will go double platinum and change the face of music as we know it(!) ..... but because I can, because I love to create music, because Patrick and Charles make a GREAT rhythm section, and because I think I have some good songs hidden away in my head. So thats the plan for a little while. We have a great, tight, three piece unit and all three of us write good tunes. So I am gonna collaborate with Patrick and Charles and see what comes out. More news (and the usual 'fly on the wall' look at the process) as it happens.

SO - The CAMP FREDDY CHARITY show takes place at The Knitting Factory in Los Angeles on March 14th. The charity is TEEN PROJECT, which is the love child of Lauri Burns. A product of the system, she lived in 24 different homes in the first five years after leaving the system. Now a successful business woman and foster mom, Lauri is unwavering in her mission to ensure that foster teens have all the opportunities that normal teens have. This benefit will raise much needed funds to provide housing for these kids. The tickets are $35 and are available at www.knittingfactory.com or at The Knitting Factory box office. Come down and help a great cause - The Section Quartet are doing their fantastic string quartet versions of contemporary rock songs, and the legendary LINDA PERRY will also be playing. No doubt Linda will do a song or two with us, and we are also planning our usual cast of characters to get up and rock with us. See you there.

Let me answer a couple of questions before I get outta here. First of all, the first question asked on the last post is from LCKX, who asked me if the ever-changing line up of Circus Diablo drive me mad. Well, I suppose I have already answered this by posting that I am gonna do a solo record!! The thing is that everyone had projects and bands already. We were not four 18 year olds against the world. We all had many other things happening - and the changing line up was a way to actually get out there and promote the great record that Billy, Ricky and myself made. Was it frustrating that we couldn't go further? Sure. Am I totally happy with what Diablo has done so far? Yes. Might we do another album together at a later date? For sure. Do I now wanna eliminate the revolving door syndrome? YES!!!

And Spencer asks me about the Steve Jones Signature Les Paul that is being made by Gibson. I spoke to Steve about that very guitar only a couple of days ago ..... and I have to say ABOUT TIME!! His white custom is one of the most influential Les Pauls of our time, and its great that Gibson are honoring him with a run of his own signature guitar. And OF COURSE I am in line for one of those. But just remember something. You can put on a black Seditionaries parachute shirt, jump into your leather pants, and you can now buy his guitar. But that doesn't mean you can play like him!!

Thats it for today - February is upon us already, and I have a few trips out of town scheduled. A Vegas weekend (always fun) and a trip to Nashville .... and All New Camp Freddy Radio every week on Indie 103.1FM. Last night, we ran a show that Dave and I had taped a few days ago - a fabulous 80's Hair Metal Special - two hours of music that you would turn down at a red light!! Its now up on the Podcast page as usual. Our very own Paul will be in LA next week, so maybe someone else can record the show next Saturday and email me the MP3? Someone let me know. In the meantime - Tune in and rock out!! .

Billy

(CLOSED)

Posted by vivelerock at January 31, 2008 08:02 AM

Comments

Posted by: Jay at January 31, 2008 10:11 AM

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Posted by: Sue at February 4, 2008 12:17 PM