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October 27, 2008

CAMP FREDDY IN L'UOMO VOGUE

If you had told me 15 years ago, as I crawled into yet another rehab, with yet another court case pending, that one of my bands would have a six page feature in Italian Vogue magazine, that included a full page picture of myself...well, I would have laughed my bearded, skinny, drug-addled ass off. Then I would have looked around for something to steal and made off as quick as I could! But if you pick up the latest copy of the swanky men's magazine (written in Italian, so I got no idea what it says!!) you will see exactly that.

A fabulously shot feature called "Rock N Roll BBQ' - the result of a summer photosession that we did with Davis Factor at a wonderfully extravagant Hollywood mansion in the hills. Weird. Very weird. Rock n roll always used to be a dirty, sweaty, leather clad, beer covered experience ... these days its a diamond encrusted, pinstripe covered garden party. Interesting. I suppose it'll make Mum happy.

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 07:36 PM | Comments (8)

October 25, 2008

MORNING REFLECTIONS

Janes Addiction. Original line up. In a tiny Mexican restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. Full of hipsters, actors, musicians, fans and industry. Sounds impossible, right? Well, it happened and it was fucking great! In fact, yesterday I attended a screening of The Perfect Age Of Rock and Roll (the movie I am in.....more of that in a second) and when I told the director and producer casually that ..."oh, I went to see Janes Addiction play in a bar downtown last night.....yeah, kinda low key, $5 a ticket", they seemed like they didn't quite believe me! The gig was fantastic, Navarro was on fire (rocking an Ibanez at one point - total mid nineties shredder vibe), Perry was pimptastic in fire engine red, Eric is an absolute monster on bass and Perkins elevated it all to another level with some amazing drumming. Yep. I remember seeing JA in a mexican restaurant. Kinda like seeing the Pistols in the 100 Club. 200 people actually saw the show. 20,000 people will tell you they were there.

So the movie - Its really cool. Peter Fonda is awesome, as is Taryn Manning. I also was blown away by Jason Ritter (who is a really nice guy as well) - the whole thing was what is known as an Avid cut (meaning they are still tweaking) but I enjoyed it a lot. My scene is at the front of the movie and although its very short, I think it looks good, and I'm happy. It can be very uncomfortable watching yourself pretend to be someone else, and deliver lines naturally instead of frantically trying to recall what you're meant to be saying. So a big thanks again to Scott, Joe and the makers of the film - thanks for letting me be involved and congrats on a great film. I now move on to a movie called The Necropolitan (from the makers of Evilution and Basement Jack), as well as another movie that I am a lot more involved with - should be able to let more details of that one out by the end of the year.

The coming week is filled with meetings - lots of talk about how its all gonna be great, fabulous, fantastic. It's all part of the wonderful world of entertainment and I love a good pow wow - seems to generate good energy, positive vibes and currently, some actual movement. Camp Freddy has a good team right now, and I seem to be putting a good team behind my own endeavors as well. To put on a Camp Freddy show (or anything else that band does, for that matter) requires a lot of work and logistics and it really is a team effort. The same goes for the movie I do, the music I make, the writing I work on - all of it needs a team. And the trick is to have a team of people that are proactive, not reactive. Its a pleasure to work with so many proactive types right now. But thats enough of that...its the weekend and I just bought FAR CRY 2 for the X-Box. And you know what that means...it's all gonna grind to a screeching halt until I complete the game. So until.......

Peace

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 08:10 AM | Comments (5)

October 22, 2008

THE WILDHEARTS IN NEW YORK

Its starting to become a habit. Jumping on planes and flying all over the place to see my favorite bands! Last year, a week of the Sex Pistols in London. And now The Wildhearts. God help me if Wasted Youth reform!! (the UK version, not the US version) At least no one can accuse me of becoming jaded - I am a fan of great rock and roll. Which is why I'm heading over to the East Coast next week for a few days. Check out the flyer below. If you live in New York, and you don't have tickets, WHY NOT? Remember me going on and on a few months back on here about seeing a great show at the Key Club here in LA? Well now's yer chance. Responsible for some of the best songwriting in the last fifteen years, Ginger and co will be playing a special 15 year anniversary show at The Mercury Lounge in NYC. I'll be there. Nuff said.

Luckily I don't have to get on a plane tomorrow night to get to this show! The fabulous Janes Addiction will be performing tomorrow right here in LA with the original line up, and I for one am excited to see the show. The whole evening is being hosted by Shepard Fairey (I just got one of his pieces for my collection....a beautiful HPM - hand painted multiple - I'll stick a picture up when I take delivery later this week) and the Janes poster above was done by Shepard himself. A couple of absolutely seminal bands, playing small low key shows....perfect.

Billy

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 07:12 PM | Comments (7)

October 19, 2008

ALL ABOARD THE CRAZY TRAIN

Another week flies by...and now I find myself sitting with my coffee this morning, reflecting on last nights Camp Freddy show in Los Angeles. It's strange to me how one minute I am standing on one of the loudest stages I have ever experienced, playing PARANOID with Navarro, Slash and Steve Jones (all four of us playing that infamous riff), watching Ozzy play with the audience and sing the shit out of a song that he must have sung a million times.....and then its all finished. Over. I am back at home, sipping coffee and watching fucking squirrels and birds do their morning thing! Last nights show was just incredible - culminating with Ozzy doing four songs with us (Iron Man, I Don't Know, Crazy Train, and the huge guitar-fest that I described above on Paranoid) as well as Cypress Hill and Slash doing Rock Superstar and Paradise City, Mark McGrath and Steve Stevens rockin' Rebel Yell, Billy Duffy ripping on Wild Flower, Macy Gray storming through 7 Nation Army .... just too many great moments in one show!

OK - lets have a look at all your questions here. And the first thing would be - Camp Freddy Radio. It's fantastic that so many of you have expressed your love of the radio show and your sadness at it no longer being on Indie. The fact is that we did 5 years on the station and had a lot of fun, and now its time for new things. CFR is still part of the Camp Freddy brand, and I am sure that we will resurrect the show somewhere else in time, but for now, the show can take a rest. There is only so much time in the day and we wanna look at some other fun stuff thats on the table right now. Richard asks about the solo stuff I recorded earlier in the year - and yes, I will release it early in 2009. It will be an EP and I will try and time it so that I can do a few shows as well. Oh, and there is no more Stimulator stuff! That was it - the only album we recorded - so if you haven't bought it yet - get on I-Tunes, search for Billy Morrison...AND BUY IT!!

Beth - the end of year stuff could end up being in a few places - there are a few offers floating around, but in true Freddy style, we have no idea what will end up happening just yet! When we do, I promise you will be told! Danni - my most treasured possession would have to be my health. I know that sounds all hippy and stuff, but after my many years of needles and narcotics, to still be here and doing the stuff I do is something to treasure. Materially?.... I suppose it would be my artwork collection right now (although on a different day it could be my guitar collection, my sneaker collection or even my vintage Seditionaries clothing....fucking hell, I do 'collect a lot, don't I!!!!) Tigga - of course I have been to Scotland many times! Especially when I used to tour in the UK - I have been in many fights in Glasgow! And the tour under the city of Edinburgh is awesome. One day, I will do a book and tell you about the "Whiskey Incident" in Ayr on the Into A Circle UK Tour in the 80's!! And you also ask if I would do a reality show like Big Brother. Well it would be a big fat NO on Big Brother. But other types of reality could be cool - so I suppose it would depend on what the show actually was - never say never, people.

Jay - my Camp Freddy rig consists of a Marshall JCM 2000 100Watt Head through two vintage 35watt speaker filled 4x12 Marshall Cabs. My pedal board has Boss Bluesbreaker, Delay, Chorus, Acoustic Simulator and Vibrato pedals, a Dunlop Wah and a channel switcher. And the guitars are all Gibson Les Pauls loaded with Seymour Duncan pickups. Mary...how long is a piece of string? Haha!! She asks about the cost of an arena tour...and its almost impossible to answer. Hundreds of thousands of dollars per week with multiple busses etc but it all depends on so much. No Beth - Tommy Shaw has not done Freddy. And Bogart - my advice is start a band, write a record, get the fuck outta Dodge and never look back! Alternatively, rent a movie, put the fire on and shag the missus.

I'm outta here. See y'all.

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 08:14 AM | Comments (8)

October 12, 2008

THE WEEKEND WARRIORS

Morning all. Let me see....well, I gotta tell you that Killing Joke at the House Of Blues last week was absolutely amazing. I saw the band WAY back in the day more than once, and they still have the power, the volume and the songs to blow your mind! All the hits - "Love Like Blood", "Requiem", "Are You Receiving?", "Wardance" - a great night that brought a few faces out to witness the "Joke" in all their majesty. It was enough to get me onto I-Tunes the next morning, buying some more of their extensive catalogue.

What else? Well, Camp Freddy play again this coming Saturday (another private party I'm afraid - this time for Galpin Auto Sports - the home of MTV's Pimp My Ride) so the week will no doubt be a busy one as that all gets put together. It feels like we have been doing something or other every weekend recently. I can tell you that we are working on some nice end of year stuff to close out the band's busiest year to date - more details when we get them. And 2009 has a few exciting things being placed as well - no rest for the wicked, haha! It's been a lot of fun doing the Freddy shows this year, and I believe that everyone who jams has a great time. It's time we got out on the road I think - send an email to your local councilman!!

Q+A is welcome, and what about a few more tattoo pics for the gallery? Anything else you lot wanna see here on this site? It's all about content here, so if I can provide, I will. All ideas welcome - lets spread the good word. Have a wonderful Sunday - as our thespian Guv'ner says...."I'll be Bach"

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 09:31 AM | Comments (21)

October 08, 2008

SWEET JANE GOES BOWLING

The video above is from the Hilfiger sessions in New York. The song is one of my all time favorites from the Velvet Underground, "Sweet Jane". And the flyer below is pretty self-explanatory...we are going bowling for charity!! I have NO idea if any of us can actually bowl, but I know it'll be a laugh watching us try! All for a good cause, people.

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Posted by vivelerock at 10:18 PM | Comments (5)

October 05, 2008

THE LONGEST DAY

Oh my GOD! That was a crazy day yesterday. Two shows in one day and a whole lot of playing guitar. But then again, I can think of a ton of worse places to spend the day than Malibu, CA! It was a really good laugh hanging out with everyone all day. We even all hit the movies inbetween shows (Eagle Eye - not bad, but a touch far fetched!!) - a proper social gathering of rock n roll! First up was a noon arrival at an amazing estate in Malibu overlooking the ocean that was being set up for a crazy party that night. One of the huge tents was where they had set up a full stage, monitor and light rig, and this was gonna be the site of the evenings full band performance. We soundchecked for a couple of hours, dialing it all in, and then......

Off down the hill to the ubiquitous Cross Creek shops in Malibu. This is where all the beach community shop...but if you think I mean 'Kiss Me Quick' hats and fish and chips, think again! Some of the best sushi in the State, Chrome Hearts leather everything, sneakers that only exist in the Tokyo underground stores.....its all here. And rock and roll designer John Varvatos was opening a new fabulous store right in the center of it all. So he had invited Camp Freddy to play a few acoustic songs and as we love John, we agreed. When we arrived, there were TONS of people everywhere, a full stage and monitor rig set up right in the center of all the stores (outside!!) and cameras everywhere! After a few snaps and shaking a few hands, we played a great nine song set with our friends Steve Stevens (amazing acoustic solo on The Cult's Rain), Corey Taylor (from Slipknot who just NAILED Alice In Chains 'Got Me Wrong' , the wonderful Royston Langdon (who rocked a Bowie song) and Perry Farrell (who was pure genius on a version of 'Feel Like Makin Love'.

After all the fuss had died down, we all started to realize that we had 5 hours to kill before we had to be onstage up the street at the party. So we flew into Nobu and scarfed down a nice bit of the Black Cod and some baked crab rolls, and then went to see Eagle Eye afterwards. Having killed the time, we drove back up to the party and hit the stage for gig number two. Lots of fun was had by all concerned. Again, we got to do EMI with Steve and Paul, and Duff joined us for a bit of Chinese Rocks. Corey and Steve Stevens just ripped it up with a killer version of Rebel Yell...and then on strode Mr Paul Stanley (yep - THAT Paul Stanley, from KISS) and we rocked out with him singing and playing guitar on Whole Lotta Love, All Right Now and his own Strutter.

And here I sit, on a quiet Sunday night, looking ahead to the next Camp Freddy show and marvelling at just how much fun it all is for us all. I hope we get to bring this beast to a town near you at some point, cos quite frankly.....you GOTTA SEE THIS SHIT!!! Thanks to everyone on the crew and all our friends and guests for making CF a great hang and a super cool show. I also wanted an excuse to throw up another pic from last weeks Paramount show - cos the setting was so outrageous! Check it out - the stage surrounded by all the old looking movie sets. See ya during the week.

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 09:40 PM | Comments (4)

October 02, 2008

DOING DEALS DAILY

It's hard sometimes (fo' a pimp!) for me to keep up with my own life - and I wouldn't have it any other way. Camp Freddy's show last week at Paramount was a lot of fun. Definately one of the best settings we have ever played in....surrounded by 1935 New York on a movie studio lot! Rocking God Save The Queen with Steve, Paul and Lemmy was a VERY cool thing. And then first thing the following Sunday morning, I jumped on a plane to Las Vegas to take part in an event at the Palms Casino and DJ. The event was all about Punk Rock hairstyles and I was a judge!! The DJing part of it was weird - I was asked to play Pistols/Clash type stuff....proper punk rock. But the trouble is no one in Las Vegas wants to hear that stuff!! It was an interesting 20 minute set! But I love The Palms and those guys looked after me fantastically. A fun night all around. CLICK HERE FOR THE CFULL PARAMOUNT REVIEW AT ARTIST DIRECT.

Back in LA this week, and I am working on three Camp Freddy gigs simultaneously - the acoustic John Varvatos show in Malibu this coming weekend, the private party show that we play that night, and a huge party for GAS (Galpin Auto Sports...home of Pimp My Ride!!!) Motors later in the month. Keeping track of three completely different setlists and guests is tough! Not to mention a couple of really exciting Freddy happenings that we are getting set to announce in the next few weeks. Its a lot of emails, phone calls and Microsoft Word documents. While I remember, check this pic out from the last ever Camp Freddy Radio on Indie 103.1 - Me, Matt Sorum and Paul Cook....with Phil Collen on the phone. Not a bad way to say goodbye.

I'm doing a deal at the moment that should provide me (and you lot) with a LOT of interesting things to talk about in 2009. Actually, if I think about just how many 'deals' are 'doing', its frightening. The phrase "doing the deal" always sounds so glamorous, but the reality of that phrase is a lot of sleepless nights stressing about paperwork you don't understand, full of big, unnecessary words, in the hands of highly paid attorneys that enjoy the game WAY more than is natural. Hahaha - its all a huge game, and at the end of the day, I love getting up every day and seeing what it brings...and it doesn't matter to me if its a whole new career avenue, or a sunny day at the beach. I'm totally greatful to have either one. Check out the new Camp Freddy Facebook fan page - join up and be part of the Freddy family. CLICK HERE FOR THE CAMP FREDDY FACEBOOK FAN PAGE. I'll see you guys later - Malibu Cross Creek John Varvatos Store - Saturday @ 4.00pm. Come down and hang with us.

Peace

Billy

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Posted by vivelerock at 08:01 AM | Comments (2)