Category Archives: Music

Jul 26 0 comments
JBTV, Music

Foxy Shazam: Why Rock and Roll Is Still Alive

Foxy ShazamI don’t often rave about a band that I’ve seen perform, primarily since I see so many unremarkable bands these days. Let’s face it, we’re in a “good music” slump. Working in the music business, I am exposed to all types; good, bad, original, cliche. Most times when I go to a concert, I wish I’d stayed home. Honestly, I hate the state of current music. Not a good thing to have happen when you make your living within the confines of song. Sometimes it makes me feel dead inside knowing there is a bunch of pablum and redundant power chords hiding what decent music may be out there. And there IS good music out there, but MySpace and social networking has killed your chance of ever finding it through the muck of suck. The other day something magical happened to me that turned this all around.

Think what would happen if little clay voodoo dolls of Queen, James Brown, the Blood Brothers, Iggy Pop, The Temptations, The Sex Pistols, Jim Morrisson, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, and Elvis Presley were all melded into one. Pretty impossible to fathom such a thing existing in this age of pre-packaged pop crap and JoBros, but I gotta tell you that rock and roll is still alive. I have seen the glory.

Enter Cincinnati-based rock sextet and musical pioneers Foxy Shazam. We had these guys in for a private taping at JBTV and, although I had been a fan of theirs since stumbling upon them randomly in 2005 or 2006 at Beat Kitchen in Chicago (and seeing them a half dozen other times since), I was reminded how amazingly beautiful this band was all over again. Foxy Shazam have the swagger of Freddie Mercury, the madness of the Blood Brothers and Iggy, the defiance of Johnny and Sid, the Motown cool, the Jagger strut, and the regalness and the swing of our three Kings – Michael, Morrison, and Elvis.

Singer Eric Nally said it best when we sat and talked briefly about rock stars – he said they are a “dying breed.” There are few rock stars left. Most artists these days are afraid to take chances, to step out of the box, for fear of not belonging to the current clique of rising “stars.” What Nally may have failed to realize is that he IS a rock star. Maybe he knows it. maybe he’s even born for it. Most true rock stars are. But either way, he’s gambled and, in my opinion, won. Foxy Shazam have created nothing that has ever been seen on a rock stage – a spectacle of unrivaled performance art, musical talent,  unbridled energy, and rock hooks like Stallone had in Cliffhanger.

I didn’t start out trying to write a review of the band, although this may seem like just that. And I didn’t even really want to write anything. But I’m just floored by something that I think is outstanding and I just wanted to share my find with the world. I guess I’m just trying to say that for a week now I have not been able to get their performance or their music out of my head. I liked them before I saw them perform again last week, but they have managed to somehow change my life. Good music and exciting performers do exist. And rock stars may be a dying breed, but Foxy Shazam are not letting the dream die with their rock star predecessors. Yo, Foxy, you made me love music all over again. If I could buy stock in a band, I would buy all I could afford in Foxy Shazam.

They are the best band in the word. See for yourself.

And P.S., their new addition in Alex on trumpets and backing vocals was the missing piece of the puzzle for me. Great job, fellas. Keep up the good work.

Apr 30 0 comments
Business, JBTV, Music

JBTV v2.0

On January 1st, 2010 I joined the legendary JBTV as the new (and first) General Manager. For those of you that either didn’t grow up in Chicago or did, but have been living under a rock, JBTV is an iconic regional music television program that is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary this year. The show and it’s founder and equally iconic host, Jerry Bryant, have helped launch the careers of such legendary artists as No Doubt, Fall Out Boy, Dave Matthews Band, Green Day, Radiohead and hundreds more.

Ironically, I grew up on JBTV and it helped shape my musical tastes as a young child. The show featured a quirky, cartoon-like host, Jerry, interviewing obscure bands like The Replacements, Social Distortion, They Might Be Giants, and Mars Volta. At the time I had never heard of any of these bands, as they were first starting out, but the world would soon grow to love them and they themselves would in turn become iconic, like the program that created a spark that would inevitably ignite them into the musical stratosphere. I would go so far as to say that I owe my love for music to JBTV. Sitting as a child watching late night broadcast television (it was the 80s), observing strange arthouse music videos introduced by a strange looking older, white-haired hippie had struck a nerve. I had been bitten instantly by the music bug.

Fast forward 25 years and here I am, the first General Manager ever for the show. It feels serendipitous to be here. Above all else, though, it feels fateful. Not only do I think that almost every event in my musical curriculum vitae has led me here, I feel as though it is where I am destined to be.

I’ve made some changes to the show in the last four months. I’ve led the charge in updating the show’s look and feel and even added some new hosts (hopefully not to the purists’ chagrin). I am also blessed to be working with an amazing team of creators here who, consequently, all volunteer to work long 20 hour days. On January 1st there were five employees at JBTV. Four months later we have almost 30. Each one is a genius in his/her own right. I feel blessed to be working with all of them and they genuinely bring me happiness every day. Too many to name. They know who they are.

Anyway, I look forward to this new chapter in my career. Between leading the charge at JBTV and running my management company, Goldmill, I certainly have my hands full. But I’m having the time of my life. Stay tuned.

Dec 10 0 comments
Music

Hell Hath No Fury Like The Fury of a Righteous Rock & Roller

This band sucks.A happy, hearty “piss off and a Merry Christmas” to all you neon-colored, flippy-haired, sandal wearing, auto-tuned, AWFUL bands out there. No more hiding behind unnecessarily stupid band names or foil-stamped American Apparel hoodies. It is because of you that music scenes in almost every city are deteriorating into mass decay, due solely to your unbearably bad music. It’s also your fault that the economy sucks and that Osama Bin Laden is still alive. No more lies!

I hereby publicly vow to destroy you and your kind. Armed with missles filled with rock and roll artillery and the righteousness and wisdom of St. Joe (Strummer) and the pagan god Valient Thorr, your blasphemous disco revival must be stopped by any means necessary. You know who you are and you have nowhere left to hide. I will find you, silence you, and destroy your aural weapons of mass de-suck-tion. What you play is not music. It is sonic murder. You will fall, one by one, into oblivion. You must pay for the damage you’ve done and I am your death dealer. Say your prayers. Your time is up.

Yours truly,

Christian – xoxo

Dec 10 0 comments
Goldmill Group, Music

The Frantic, Treaty of Paris, Urbanites, Blacklist Royals, Flatfoot 56, State And Madison …AMAZING!

I Shot Concert PhotographyIt has been a very busy few months around the Goldmill Group camp. Any time a band plans to put out new music, many things must happen during the process. Songs must be written and rewritten…and rewritten again, studios and producers must be chosen, marketing plans developed, and release partners sought. While the music business sounds like a glamorous and glitzy business most of the time, the truth is that in reality it is sometimes a very administrative endeavor on many fronts. Nevertheless, the reward and satisfaction inherent in helping artists create their craft and unleash it on the world is incomparable.

I am proud to say that I work with some of the brightest and most talented artists that I have ever had the pleasure to know. They know their craft and they strive to be the best at everything they do. Amazing music has been created and so much heart and soul poured into these songs, that I can truly say that I feel blessed to know each and every artist that I work with. You make me passionate about what I do.

So, here we are. Almost a year in the making for more than one of these artists.

Flatfoot 56. What can I say? The new record by this amazing group of guys is going to knock down walls. Punk rockers won’t even know what hit them. Christians will be wishing that Armageddon could save them from the murderous barrage of world-infused-Celtic-punk rhythms on the forthcoming record from these monsters of the Midway. Trudging through briars of blackthorn, Flatfoot 56 have come to slay you, bagpipes in tow. Prepare for death in mid-March when the album comes out on Old Shoe Records in the United States, Stomp! in Canada, I Hate People Records in Europe, and Big Mouth Japan in Japan.

Chicago power-pop rockers Treaty of Paris have crafted six stellar songs that will awake you with a punch and then carry you off willingly into a sea of calm. I am so happy with how the songs came out on their new Currents EP, that I have no doubt that you will be hearing about great things happening to this band this year. The skill and craftsmanship on Currents is top notch and the boys know how to write a hit song. We’ve got some irons in the fire when it comes to negotiating these boys’ careers. This fire is spreading fast and furious. Come join me in celebrating the release of their long-awaited follow-up record at Metro on Chicago on January 9th, 2010.

When it comes to making epic music, our boys Urbanites know that nothing but the best will do. I don’t know how they do it, but every song these guys writes makes me fall in love more and more. The beauty in their music is hypnotizing and it won’t be long before these guys inherit the crown from standard torch bearers like The Fray, Coldplay, and U2. They recently completed recording some new tracks at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio studio and I can’t wait for the world to hear their enchanted melodies, so that they can fall in love with Urbanites like I have. Axl Rose move over. Indiana and the world belongs to Urbanites. Can you say #1 on the Billboard charts? I can. Bet on it and do yourself a favor and listen.

“This is a risk you don’t ever want to take,” screams Nick Blazina, on one of the newest tracks released by State And Madison. I’ll take the risk, because I think that these songs are that good. It’s time. No, it’s fucking time. Download some of their music here for free.

I recently decided to venture outside of Chicago and tripped again over a band that I had seen play before a couple of times. My journey brought me to Nashville, TN and there I found a band which I can say with absolute conviction is one of two bands (The other being The Frantic) that is going to help save rock and roll. Blacklist Royals remind me of a cross between Bruce Springsteen and Rancid. Their songs are hook-laden and raw. Their attitudes tough and even more raw. I love this band. If I were dreaming of becoming a rock star, I would want to front a band just like these guys. Since I’m not, I decided I wanted to manage their careers and live vicariously through them. My liver already hurts from the thought of it. They have a new album coming out in early 2010 with a label called Paper+Plastick. I can’t wait to help them take over the world.

So if you’ve wondered what I’ve been doing for the last few months, or what I will be doing for the next few, well, there it is. I’ll be passionately selling music that I strongly believe in. Hopefully I’ll be selling it to people that believe in it as much as I do. These bands deserve respect and the best careers that hard work can buy. Outside of my family, this is what I live my life for. It is by virtue of this amazing music that I arm myself in a personal crusade to rid the world of unbearably sub-par music and intolerable bands who whine, scream, and/or wrap themselves in neon couture death suits. Prepare to have your faces melted. It is the year of the Goldmill. You have been warned.

Nov 21 0 comments
Hate, Journal, Music, Racism, Skinheads, Writings

A Battle of Regret Against An Army of Ignorance

LifeAfterHate.orgThe last few weeks have been a whirlwind of unexpected happenings and, overall, pretty overwhelming for me. I finished my book, self-published a test run of said book, got some amazing feedback, scored a pretty rockin’ literary agent/manager who really believes in my writing, am in the process of finalizing several record, booking and publishing deals for a few of my bands, have bands finishing up tracks in the studio that will be shopped to other labels, and am wrapping up some initial tour plans for the year. I’m fully ready for the challenge. It’s time.

Ever feel like you’ve been treading through thick mud with your head barely above the muck? Sometimes it feels that way in my business. Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes it all happens at once. That’s just how it is. Luck of the fucking draw in a sea of empty promises. But somehow I feel like the time has come to march on. The pieces of the puzzle are starting to fill in where before there was no hope. This is exactly why I do what I do. It’s a thrill. It’s a gamble that often times doesn’t pay off. But when you start to make dreams come true, whether it is a much-wished for tour being landed, or a record deal with a great European label, that’s where my rewards lie. My reward rests in the fact that I am helping my friends’ dreams come true.

I’m writing this while I’m tired, so forgive the non-linear banality of this post. On a lighter note, I have been asked to participate in an online e-periodical called LifeAfterHate.org (launching January 2010). It is being administered by a very old friend of mine, Arno Michaels. I am really looking forward to contributing to this and opening the broad discussion that will no doubt ensue. I was telling Arno today how ironic it was that for most of my life I felt like I was fighting an uphill battle to save the world from evil, when in reality I was the evil in the world. Now, again, I feel like I am fighting a very similar battle.

My ultimate goal when I began writing my memoir was not to even publish a book. I fought hard to try and remember every detail purely as therapy for my soul. Let me tell you, it was a near fucking impossible task. Most things were difficult to bring back into memory and some things were so suppressed that I literally found myself gasping for breath and crying as I started to recall them. But the more I wrote, the more I felt like people needed to read it. Maybe some kid could be saved, or some parent educated. Who knows? But I’ve come to the conclusion that this book needs to be out there. The story needs to be told. And I am glad that LifeAfterHate.org is going to allow me to tell it and share my experiences. It’s an awesome idea and I’m humbled to be able to be a part of it. Thank you, Arno.

As a human race, we have a battle ahead of us, and it’s going to be harder and rougher than any one I faced while in the “movement.” This is going to be a battle of regret, against an army of ignorance. Our only weapon, truth.