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everybody’s favorite local music magazine turns 1! alex vincent ¤ johnny hell promotions ¤ erik neff Sacramento’s Local Music Review issue 12 ● free plan your next night out with the tcnm flyer gallery inside pushing the sun the grey area zeroclient

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Sacramento's Local Music Review. Amour, Zeroclient, Pushing The Sun, The Grey Area, Alex Vincent, Erik Neff, Johnny Hell Promotions, Show Flyer Gallery

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Page 1: TCNM Issue12

everybody’s favorite local music magazine turns 1!

alex vincent ¤ johnny hell promotions ¤ erik neff

S a c ra m e n t o ’s L o c a l M u s i c R e v i e w i ssue 12 ● free

plan your next night out with the tcnm flyer gallery inside

pushing the sun the grey area zeroclient

Page 2: TCNM Issue12

Threat Con Nation Magazine is an independently owned local music news and events publication available on a monthly basis for free. Content is property of Threat Con Nation and its affiliates. We encourage sharing but please ask for permission before using any excerpts or images in other pub-lished work via internet or print. Band/artist inter-views, submissions, and narrative sections may have opinions and suggestions that are not endorsed by Threat Con Nation and its affiliates.

Front Page: Amour Other Photo Credits: Stefan Adcock, samanthaphotos.com, Participating Bands and their media affiliates Marketing / Advertising Director: Shawn Ernst Editor/Graphic Design: M Montez Contributors: Johnna Dean, Shawn Ernst, M Montez, Stefan Adcock, Tonya Whitworth

Copyright © 2014 Threat Con Nation, All Rights Reserved

ASK FOR YOUR FREE

COPY OF THREAT CON

NATION MAGAZINE!

Now at exclusively at

Sacramento, Roseville, Elk Grove, Arden and Folsom

Bands can also find TCNM at: Sacramento Rehearsal Studios and

House Of Hits

CONTACT/SUBMISSIONS: Please feel free to contact us with any press releases, band news, event flyers, love letters, hate letters, original artwork, photos and anything else you would like to share. Threat Con Nation is currently seeking fiction, non-fiction, and poetry that is local music or arts related. If you would like to submit original written work for publication consideration, please include your name, images, and any links/info you would like to add. Advertising is available. Contact us for more information.

Follow Us On Facebook! [email protected]

threatconnation.Com

Page 3: TCNM Issue12

…………….AN INTERVIEW WITH AMOUR

INSIDE

Artist: ALEX VINCENT

THE GREY AREA

SACTOWN REVERB

PUSHING THE SUN

JOHNNY HELL PROMOTIONS

FEATURED PO ETRY

ASK HELLEN BACK

THAT METAL CHICK

OUT OF BOUNDS: ERIK NEFF

FLYER GALLERY

ONE YEAR OF LOCAL MUSIC

Q AND A WITH ZEROCLIENT

Page 4: TCNM Issue12

4 Threat Con Nation Magazine

Y ou can call it Indie, Alternative Rock or Acoustic Rock, yet all of those styles can’t fully describe a sound that is unlike anything you have heard before. Amour layers a dramatic vocal style over wistful melody with surprisingly

heavy guitar riffs and intense percussion. The whole of each song is molded from varying musical preferences, from light and soulful to edgy and frenetic; creating a unique shape and form that is tempered with lyrics that will take you back to every extreme love and madness you have ever felt. Amour is just one of those bands that can shake you and give you goose bumps when you least expect it.

Meet Amour CJ Pruett (vocals, guitar) left, Jeremy Curlee (bass) middle and Dylan Kirk (drums) right

Page 5: TCNM Issue12

Threat Con Nation Magazine 5

How was Amour formed?

CJ - Senior year in high school, Jeremy and I were

offered by a theater teacher to do a show perfor-

mance because she knew we were affiliated with

music. Jeremy and I have been friends for a long

time, we grew up together listening to the same

music and testing out different things so we ended

up blossoming into this band so we could play for

the school performance which was like a Saturday

Night live thing called PGNL (Pleasant Grove Night

Live). So after that, we ended up wanting to do

something with the music. We had a drummer pre-

viously that ended up bailing out and Dylan was

always with us because his girlfriend was in our

band at first, she ended up moving away but before

she did she was trying to teach Dylan to play guitar

for the songs. When she was to leave, the plan was

to replace her with Dylan but when the drummer

left, Dylan said he knew how to play drums and we

were like, “what, no way!” He said he knew our

songs and could play them on the drums. We

decided to try it out and everything just fit perfectly.

Jeremy - We didn’t even practice, we just went on

stage and played it.

CJ - So I was like sweet, lets keep playing and that

is how Amour blossomed.

What is the meaning behind the bands name,

Amour?

CJ - I knew this was coming

Jeremy - Well, CJ is a highly emotional person

when it comes to the ladies…..

CJ - No, that is not why. It means love in French.

It is to show people love, it’s what the world needs.

Of course our songs are about girlfriends and love

and any artist can do that but it’s also like love for

music, pure love, know what I mean? That’s how I

like to think of it, pure love, quote unquote. We

want to connect to our fans and this is why I wake

up in the morning and do this music, I want to grab

peoples emotions and ring it out. I want people to

know that they are not alone with what they have

been through, that’s why we are called, Amour.

Who has been a personal influence for you all

individually?

Dylan - My dad, I grew up with him banging on the

drums and banging on the steering wheel in the

car. I just watched him do all that and it just

became a part of me.

CJ - Yeah Chris, Dylan's dad is awesome, he has

been a big supporter, he lets us go in his house

and make noise because we had nowhere else to

go, he is a good supporter and I really appreciate

him.

Jeremy - My brother is definitely the reason why I

got into music. My dad also pushed me and there

was also Mr. Brown, my old English teacher. Mr.

Brown always told us, “do what you love and the

money will follow” it’s what you love you do and

don’t worry about the money. Also Mr. Segal, who’s

class I would sit in and play his guitar all day. Other

than that, Flea from Red Hot Chilli Peppers is the

reason why I play bass, Flea is funky as f*ck.

CJ - My grandfather, definitely influenced me. He

gave me my first guitar, he showed me a couple of

chords and after that, I sucked but I was hooked.

He lived in San Jose so every time he would come

to visit, I would be like, “grandpa check out what I

have learned” and I just got better every time so he

told me I should learn how to sing after I showed

him my band. He was also involved in music but

some life changing events halted his success. So

yeah, my grandpa was so influential to me. I want-

ed to do all this for me but I want him to be proud at

the same time. Grandpa Phil was definitely an

influence.

What is the message behind the song, She Is

The City?

CJ - What? That’s a throw back, we don’t even

have that song anymore. We made certain songs

for high school and after we graduated we wanted

to do our own thing so we evolved our genre of

music.

continued

Page 6: TCNM Issue12

6 Threat Con Nation Magazine

When I used to come into Elk Grove she would be

everywhere, she was literally everywhere, the girl I

liked. We grew up in Elk Grove, so it was like she

was everywhere I would go, hence, She Is The

City. Maybe one day if she hears our music she

will know that some of the songs were about her.

What projects are you guys currently working

on?

CJ - We were working on an EP with who we rec-

orded Dreaming with and at one of our other shows

we were offered a chance to record by another guy

who has better equipment. So, we are just working

on our EP to give our fans a taste and we are also

working on a 11 to 12 track album.

What was the feeling like during your first live

show?

CJ - I was used to performing for high school stu-

dents so I was already used to a crowd and I am a

silly person in general so getting attention does not

bother me. I wasn’t scared about being in front of

people but because it is our music we were per-

forming and we were new here locally, we just

didn’t know how people would take to us.

Jeremy - My first show was the Humble Wolf show,

I think, and it was great. I was pumped. That’s

where Humble Wolf challenged us to take our shirts

off on stage with them, it was awesome and they

were awesome, the whole show and night was

awesome.

Dylan - The acoustic show at Back 9 when it was

me and CJ, that was awesome.

Amour has a very distinctive vocalist style, was

that a conscience effort or did it just happen

naturally?

Jeremy - I think CJ’s vocal style just kind of evolved

throughout the years of trying different things.

CJ - Ryan Kirkland was my hero, I didn’t know how

to sing at all when me and Jeremy were kids, he

showed me this band called Between The Trees

and it was beautiful. Ryan Kirkland has such an

awesome voice, I wanted to sing just like him. I

would watch these update tour videos and he

would do all these practice things on Youtube and I

would do them, I thought it would make me better

and it did, that plus 5 years of my shower head

worked as well. I also support my parents for not

getting sick of me.

Jeremy - Believe it or not we are kind of unique, we

are the weird band from Sacramento.

CJ - But that’s tight though, different is good.

reverbnation.com/AmourMusic

facebook.com/pages/Amour/317631344914416

twitter.com/Amour_Music

Page 7: TCNM Issue12

Threat Con Nation Magazine 7

ALEX VINCENT

AND THE WORLD AROUND HIM

One of the events that went on this summer that I was the most excited about was CIP, also known as Concerts In The Park. This year, there was a handful of rock bands which is the way I like it and there were many talented local musicians that performed. One musician that caught my attention was Alex Vincent. That first time I saw Alex on stage was at CIP and I didn’t know what to think. Here stood this young man that played the guitar like I have never seen before; with his teeth. I’m sure there are other people out there that can do that but

(A) I have never seen it done before in person.

And (B) Don’t steal his thunder.

When I actually got to meet Alex for the first time, I was blown away again. Most musicians that are as talented as he is tend to have this certain swagger to them and they have every right. They have to display a certain level of confidence in what they do, of which most people that are not musicians don’t understand. Some musicians in this world tend to let that confidence swell, which is a no-no in my book. The one thing I love about the talented Alex Vincent is he is completely the opposite. I know he is confident because he lets his hands do all the talking when they are grasped around the guitar but I was so impressed with his whole humble demeanor and musicianship that I wanted to know more about this smooth talking badass guitar player. His personality, folks, is so damn vibrant, you can see it shining from miles away. I mean with a voice like his, how can this guy be ignored.

Aside from him knocking me over and making me laugh every time I see him, I had to pick his brain to find out how in the hell he has become so damn talented. So join me as I take you on a journey with Alex Vincent and the world around him:

Alex was born in Topeka Kansas in 1990 with a guitar in his hand. Alex started playing instruments at the young age of 7 (the violin to be exact) later he changed to playing guitar. He has also been singing

since he was young, which would explain why he is so diverse with his vocal style.

When Alex was 17, he flew to California to visit his father and ended up joining the California Air National Guard where he would become a Registered Network Infrastructure Maintenance Technician… say that 5 times real fast. He was stationed at Beale Air Force Base here in California, 8 miles east of Marysville to be precise. After the Air National Guard, he traveled from state to state before he settled in Cameron Park California, where he by chance got the opportunity much of us Tesla fans would kill for, to work alongside Frank Hannon and if you don’t know who that is, then you cannot call yourself a true Rock / Metal fan.

Within that time of Alex meeting Frank Hannon, he got another opportunity to join Frank and his band, Tesla while they went on tour. I guess now that I know this, I will be bowing down to Mr. Vincent.

After he became one lucky SOB and traveled through many states with the all time greats, he would begin to form a band upon Frank’s advice. Since then, Alex Vincent Band has played here in Sacramento countless times as well as Alex doing solo and joined projects with other bands and band members. He also had the opportunity to kick off SacTown Rocks, where he shredded like you wouldn’t believe. This young man has pretty much seen what a lot of us wish we could, so yes, he has been there and done that and at the same time he remains one of the most humble musicians I know in this town. He carries an outstanding attitude and appreciation for all that he has gotten to experience. Alex Vincent, folks, is an awesome guy who is nothing but gracious for the people he has come across here locally. I know because he has told me so and of course there are way too many names to mention. You all know who you are and he thanks you.

Now that you have all gotten a little taste of what it is like to be Alex, go out to one of his shows where you can do more than read about him. Go see for yourself and you will know exactly what is so amazing about this guy.

Here’s to you, Alex, and may all your journeys end with happiness. Thank you for sharing YOU with us, the fans. Keep on rocking and remember, we shake hands when saying hello, we don’t jump into each others arms like long lost brothers, knocking people over and almost getting our *ss kicked by the monstrous door men.

Page 8: TCNM Issue12

8 Threat Con Nation Magazine

S ince 1980, Skip’s Music has been hosting Stairway to

Stardom, which is a competition that lets young musi-

cians from all over the area come out and audition for

a chance to form bands with other fellow musicians, get

coached by other local musicians and instructors, write their

own songs, and even record one of their songs in a profes-

sional studio. The winning band gets the chance to record

their own 3 song CD, and get 500 copies of their CD printed

for distribution.

The entire 8-week experience culminates in a concert where

all the bands perform their 3-song set live in front of a panel

of judges and a live audience, where the winner gets chosen

by the panel. Skip’s bills the entire experience as a way to

teach students the technical and artistic skills

necessary to develop their careers.

This years winners are a four piece band

called The Grey Area. Made up of Robert An-

derson on bass, Ethan Bennett on guitar, Tan-

ner Miller, on drums, and Mackenzie Shorter

on vocals, and they are kicking their music

careers off on the best foot possible at the

moment. I caught up with them on a Friday

night after the final concert at the Back 9

Sports Bar and Grill, in Citrus Heights. They

had gotten together with fellow Stairway to

Stardom bands The Affiliation and Colour Zero

to perform again for all their friends and family.

As people were filing in I sat down with them

to chat.

First thing I wanted to figure out was how they

met, and it was a very interesting scenario

that they played out for me. Turns out Ander-

son and Miller knew each other from before.

Anderson breaks it down like, “Tanner [Miller]

and I were already in a band, and I've known

him since 6th grade in [Antelope high] Jazz

band”. In addition, Shorter knew Miller and

Anderson from when she was at Antelope

High as well. Bennett, however, put it straight,

“I didn’t know any of these people before

[Stairway] (laughs)”. As well, Shorter and An-

derson have had extra experience with Stair-

way, with Anderson being a 4-time participant

in the competition and Shorter attending the

concert 3 years in a row.

The crossing of all their paths has led to them

forging their own unique sound. Anderson re-

marks, “Each of us like different music, so I

can’t stick us in one genre…”. From there, I

went around the group and had them break

down their influences for me and I got a huge

variety of response. Anderson told me, “The

stuff I'm really influenced by is a lot of Tool,

Page 9: TCNM Issue12

1 walking tall

2 tesla

3 daly redline

4 zeroclient

5 some fear none

6 restrayned

7 arden park

roots

8 a mile till dawn

9 frank hannon

100anarchy lace

ROCK ALT

1 MICHAEL TIFFANY

2 sages

3 FATE UNDER FIRE

4 pilgrim

5 once an empire

6 riotmaker

7 march into paris

8 dog party

9 wolfgang vega

100syne faeth

1 in the silence

2 FallRise

3 re-existence

4 I wish we were

robots

5 kill the prece-

dent

6 jack ketch

7 plague widow

8 odessaphile

9 graveshadow

100awoken

shadows

1 S.W.I.M.

2 get shot!

3 boats!

4 mdso

5 dead weight

6 Teenage brain

7 the pikeys

8 rebel radio

9 the auxillary

100the junk

merchants

METAL PUNK

Data collected from www.reverbnation.com

*Standings as of 09/27/2014

Primus, and Jaco Pastorius. Miller also re-

marked, in regards to his influences, “Yeah,

Robert and I really like Tool, but I also really like

Rush and Dream Theater”. Bennett also re-

marks, “I’m very open minded musically...For

this band I take a lot from Brand New, Taking

Back Sunday, and Weezer”. Shorter mentions

her influences with a simple sentence, “I love

the 80’s! (laughs)...Bands like Devo and a lot of

ska. Also, The Killers, Weezer, and Panic! At

The Disco.

In addition to what they won from Stairway to

Stardom, The Grey Area has also earned an

opening spot at the V103 Rockfest at the Rio

Ramaza Marina in Sacramento on October 4th,

the likes of which they are all very excited about.

If anything, Shorter exemplifies their feelings by

saying, “Hopefully, that show will definitely lead

to more opportunities”. As our conversation

wraps up, the bands for the night finish setting

up. After very solid sets from The Affiliation and

Colour Zero, The Grey Area got up to play. From

the first note it was a wall of sound and energy

that I honestly never would have expected. An-

derson and Shorter were literally jumping and

thrashing around, with fans of hair flying all over

the place. Bennett had the headbanging/

powerstance combo down pat, and Miller was a

literal windmill of drum fills and machine grade

double bass. It was like a wicked blend of Rage

Against The Machine, Primus, Portishead, and

Paramore that left my ears pleasantly ringing.

If you want to check out their stuff, you are in

luck. They have their own Facebook and Insta-

gram, complete with new professional pictures

and the latest on their musical exploits. They

just wrapped up recording their 3 song EP at

Velvetone Studios, so be sure to stay tuned to

their Facebook for their music as it comes out.

You also would be able to check them out at the

V103 Rockfest. Tickets are available for that

show on v103.net at $20 a ticket, with Alien Ant

Farm headlining the entire show. Whatever you

choose to do, make sure to keep The Grey Area

on your radar, because the future for these guys

is looking mighty bright indeed.

- Stefan Adcock

Page 10: TCNM Issue12

10 Threat Con Nation Magazine

A few days ago, Gene Simmons of the legend-ary Rock and Roll band KISS made a state-ment about Rock and Roll that I think is way

off. Here is what he had to say, "I am so sad that the next 15-year-old kid in a garage someplace in St. Paul, that plugs into his Marshall and wants to turn it up to 10, will not have anywhere near the same op-portunity that I did," Simmons said. "He will most like-ly, no matter what he does, fail miserably. It's very sad for new bands. They just don't have a chance. You're better off not even learning how to play guitar or write songs. Today's songwriters and creators are more likely to work behind the scenes than practicing and testing their material out on stage.” He added. "The death of rock was not a natural death. Rock did not die of old age. It was murdered."

Gene blames the professional music industry for their lack of support and technology, piracy on the internet.

Well I have to beg to differ with Mr. Simmons to a cer-tain degree. Rock and roll is not dead and it’s very much alive. I would think that the Bay Area band Pushing The Sun would agree. From their brilliant shreds to their subtle but perfectly timed riffs, com-bined with the bitter love hate relationship from one song to the next, Pushing the Sun has a unique for-mula they use to create their music also known as Rock and Roll.

I actually had the pleasure to attend a show in August that Pushing The Sun performed at and I must say I was blown away. From their first song to their last I

did not move. I was yelling at them and for the ones that really know me, when I like your music I yell at you. Frontman, Andrew Saman was all tatted up and I was thinking I better get away from the floor because some crazy shit was about to pop off. It was com-pletely the opposite, I was about to pop off with some crazy shit. They totally rocked it. Andrew has a voice that will paralyze you and the only thing you can do is just stand there and listen, or in my case listen and yell.

Billy Connally created Pushing the Sun in 2012. After he released a successful instrumental album, he was ready to get back on stage and show off his talents and he does exactly that in their album House Of Lights. From his brilliantly placed guitar riffs, to his in your face shreds on tracks like their self titled song, Pushing The Sun, Billy Connally has a way of bringing this image he has in his mind to life to share with us all and you will walk away with some kind of cosmic connection, it’s called Rock and Roll.

Johaan Hill joined the band in March 2013, after filling in a few times and because everything meshed so well, he ended up joining the band permanently. Jo-haan is definitely no stranger to the stage, he has been in past bands such as, Static Thought, Forth-mourning and is currently in another project, Diego's Umbrella. Johaan is like a genius on the bass. I don’t even have to be in the band to know that. You can tell that when Johaan plays the bass, it’s like it talks to him and he delivers a force around the band that cre-ates this hard driven sound.

“We really enjoy bringing the tones down to super-clean and then back up to roaring walls of distortion and driving beats,” says guitarist/songwriter/founder Billy Connally. “We don't ever want to become too predictable or be a band that only has one sound. Finding that perfect balance of musicianship and songwriting has always been my passion. Just because I can ‘shred’ on guitar doesn't mean I need to do it all the time. Melody, groove and atmosphere are more important to me.”

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Andrew Saman, formerly of Painted, was brought into the band as the frontman. Not only does Andrew have a phenomenal voice he is also a talented songwriter. You can obviously see that he is reliving each word and each lyric holds a special meaning for him. He has a very energetic presence that will draw you in to feel it all with him.

Neil Hagge on keys provides an atmospheric element, keeping true to the roots of what they have always envisioned for their sound with a depth that is a signa-ture of Pushing The Sun.

Last but certainly not least, A.J Curtis, formerly of An-nex, Starch, and Stagnant. A.J. is a f@%&*@! lunatic on those drums. I was actually watching him at the show August 23rd and he is crazy as hell when beat-ing that kit. On tracks like Tragic Love, you can just feel the energy A.J. puts behind his talents. I have al-ways said you do not want to mess with drummers. Look at what they get to do for 45 minutes, they beat

the crap out of a kit. Why would anyone want to mess with someone who gets a kick out of beating the hell out of something?

So Gene Simmons obviously has never heard of Pushing the Sun. Rock and Roll, people, is not dead. It lives inside us all big or small and there will be times that it may seem dead, but Rock is like a caged up animal. Bands like Pushing The Sun hold the keys to unlocking that cage. They release the beasts and if you don’t believe me, let me hear you tell that to Pushing The Sun, who, in my opinion, are well on their way to proving Gene Simmons and all the naysayers wrong. Rock and Roll will never die and it sure as hell will never be noise pollution.

Keep kicking ass and moving forward fellas, you have gained a new fan. I thank you for the hard work and dedication you put in to provide us fans with pure en-ergy Rock and Roll from the soul.

We lost our singer and had a few different versions of bands, sometimes with vocals, sometimes without, but it was always Larry Smith on bass, Kevin Ellis on drums and me on guitar. We took a little break around 2006 and I joined another band called Concrete Ritual- that lasted a few years. Then, in 2010 I released an album on Steve Vai's Digital Nations label and needed a live band, so I got Larry and Kevin back and we started playing together again. Kevin is a family man and ended up leaving because of his responsibilities, but Larry stuck with me and when I contacted Andrew about jamming, Larry came along as well. The name of the band actually came about indirectly from Larry. He played floor keys/synth (think Geddy Lee of Rush who was his biggest influence, in fact RUSH was his absolute favorite band) to add to our sound, and while searching for what would eventually become our namesake song, Andrew turned to him and said, 'man that sounds like you are pushing the sun across the sky!' I heard that and while we were jamming, was thinking, that's a great name for the band! Larry's older brother is Eric McIntyre of Attitude Adjustment and I have to say, music flowed through his blood, Larry was the most talented musician I ever jammed with. Rarely did I have to actually show him what I was playing, we would just jam and instantly have a song. - Billy Connally

Losing A Piece Of The Sun

Pushing The Sun’s original bassist, Larry Smith, had a pivotal role in developing the band into what we hear today. Billy Connally describes Larry as a good soul who always thought of others before himself. Sadly, Larry passed last year, leaving his friends and band mates with an enormous void to fill. It is unfortunate that the brightest stars seem to burn away too soon but the light they leave behind remains. The legacy Larry left will be carried in the spark he created with Pushing The Sun.

Billy Connally. first started playing with Larry Smith (below), back in 94' in a band called, Perfect Circle.

Page 12: TCNM Issue12

12 Threat Con Nation Magazine

W ithin the past few years, local music has made a comeback and has risen out of the dark shadows. Now I’m not saying it was

dead, but it was definitely put on the back burner. There are hardly any major labels anymore and new independent ones being born all over the world.

Will music ever be the same? Some would say no, because of technology, internet piracy of music is just one to mention that has put a huge dark cloud over local music as well as mainstream. But there are few organizations that have come and gone in hopes to be the one to shed light on what us crazy kids from the early 80’s to mid 90’s remember as a vibrant city of music. Sacramento was once one of the top 5 tour-ing cities for nationals. I mean, look at what was going on here over the weekends. Who could ever forget the legendary Cattle Club. Some found their first love there while others lost their first tooth there. I would have to say, other than internet and technology ruin-ing what us music boomers miss, I believe politics has taken it’s toll on our city’s local music as well.

With all these obstacles in the way for local talent, there has been a huge support system that I am sad to say has gone unnoticed by the ones who could po-tentially play a huge factor in putting Sacramento back on the map as the top 5 touring cities for nation-als, but why do you think Sacramento back then was in the top 5? Probably because back then, if you were in a band, and excuse my rudeness, you sucked, you would never step foot on a stage here in Sacramento. The only stage you would be playing on would be the one in your garage you borrowed from your sister that she got on Christmas with her Barbie rock and roll play set. There are people that, because of their love for music, have created organizations to take a stand

against the bullshit politics and the shady way of ven-ues, so they can shed light on local talent. These peo-ple, folks, bust their ass trying to put back in place the missing pieces and I think these people deserve some damn acknowledgement from bands and from venues, who in my opinion should be promoting their own shows to build their own clientele instead of rely-ing on bands to do it for them, but that is another sub-ject for another article (ADHD sucks people).

Johnny Hell Promotions, located in Vacaville Califor-nia, is an organization created for you, the bands and to be enjoyed by you, the fans. Johnny Hughes, the founder of Johnny Hell Promotions, is a guy that loves music on top of loving what he does. He finds talent, not just from Vacaville, but from Sacramento as well and he does what any smart entrepreneur would do, he networks with people from all over the US and some other countries.

After I had time to get to know Johnny, I found out that his passion is the same as ours here at Threat Con Nation Magazine. He loves music and believes that local bands should have the opportunity to show off their talent. Since what used to be available as an outlet for bands is no longer available, he goes out of his way to help bands. One band in particular was played all over the US on internet and FM radio. I am sure you have all heard of, March Into Paris, unfortu-nately, they are no longer gigging but they were ex-tremely talented and this is what one of their mem-bers had to say about him:

“The first thing you need to know about Johnny is that he's the most honest person you'll ever meet. And for someone in his business, that's saying a lot. In fact,

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Threat Con Nation Magazine 13

█ Featured Poetry

the combination of these two things should be impossible.

When my Ex-band 'March into Paris' first start-ed working with his 'Johnny Hell Promotions' we had a six song EP, a few shows under our belts, and no internet presence. Within a few months, we were getting fan mail from 4 differ-ent continents, doing radio interviews every other week and as far as our internet presence went, lets just say I felt sorry for any seventh grader doing a web search on WWII for a his-tory report, because when you typed 'March into Paris' into any search engine the first five or six pages was us.

I don't know a harder working promoter. I don't know another person who loves music the way Johnny does. I've been doing this a long time, and I've never met another Johnny Hell. I've had managers, PR people, Bookers, other pro-moters and none of them had nearly as much fire in their bellies when it came to making a band into something more than what they are. I even know bands that aren't as dedicated to their own success as he is, for god's sake!

Weather it's a band he loves, his friends, or a band he wants to help out because he knows how hard being in a band is, Johnny is all in. His love of music and his dedication to the lo-cal scene on a global level (the local scene on a global level, how fucking cool is that!) is be-yond impressive. This guy knows his shit. His work ethic is as real as his love is. He's not in it for the money, or the chicks, or the action. He's in it because he loves music. It's that pure and simple. I'm honored to call him a brother and lucky to have him as a friend.” Eric Davis Guitarist in SpiritAnimal

He has also recently had Sacramentos Wolf-gang Vega on his radio show, All Around lo-cals of which you can listen to at s4nr.com where he plays all genres of rock. He owns Johnny Hell promotions but also extends his assistance to the online radio station, Station For The Nations Radio as a DJ to help pro-mote local bands from all over. Johnny has also put together a compilation CD with vari-ous local artists from all over California on one CD titled, All The Wrong Locals Vol. 1. You can find it at:

johnnyhellpromotions.bandcamp.com.

In an era of local music making a serious comeback and with all the politics creating ob-stacles and with local media like FM radio sta-

-FLY ME TO THE MOON-

As we gazed up at the stars that night

Feeling the light mist caressing our faces

I smiled at you and sang “Fly Me to the Moon.”

“No,” you countered as you clasped my hand in yours

And rocketed us into the darkened sky.

I marveled in wonder as we passed the Moon

Her pale face beaming at us in knowing.

Your lips brushed against mine as we drifted past Mars -

His blush deepening as we bid him farewell,

And Jupiter winked his crimson eye.

But at Saturn we halted and you bowed to me,

You twirled me and hummed a waltz

As we danced across her graceful rings.

With a strike of teal lightning

She cried happy tears of crystalline carbon

Glittering bright in their mother’s radiance.

We halted in wonder as the jewels fell around us

In slow, gentle showers of precious stone,

Tickling our faces and adorning our hair.

Then one fell to my finger and there it stayed,

You looked at me with a gleam in your eye and proclaimed,

“She says you should marry me.”

- Ashira Y Macy

tions and other media of that level not showing enough sup-port, groups like Johnny Hell Promotions are here to do what they can by showcasing their talents on his radio show and through networking with his organization. In my opinion this young man is a perfect example of what any local ambassa-dor of music should be. He is a networking machine and has no quit in him. He lets nothing stand in his way of what he loves the most, local music.

If you love music, then please join Johnny Hell Promotions and the rest of us to help take back what was created for us by the bands. Don’t be a part of the herd, be a part of the movement. Let’s take back music as it has always been ours.

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Why did you use the Latin word, Omnia as your al-bum title?

Brian- Omnia is a concept album essentially about uni-versal phenomena and how it relates to the human ex-perience. We wanted a title that reflected that scale of the universe and it’s phenomena within it. The Latin word, Omnia means everything and we figured that was a good summary of what we were trying to do with the theme of the album.

Other than the awesome art work, what else can we expect from Omnia?

Arnold - One of the things we really wanted to do was make this a true concept album and have gapless play all the way through. Some notables that have done that was Pink Floyd with Dark Side Of The Moon and Tool with Lateralus, where the songs flowed into each other and there was no silence. Each song fades into a sort of atmospheric dark sounding background that will go into the next song so it’s this seamless hour and 10 minutes of music. We really wanted it to be a full experience. The album is one coherent concept as opposed to going out single after single.

Cameron - It’s great because once you put that sound in between, it goes from being 13 tracks to one piece of audible composition that I thought was awesome.

What was the preparation process like for the new album?

Brian - I had to invest in a lot of gear. The guy who mixed our album recommended I get a certain kind of mic. We recorded the whole entire album on our own except for the drums. Just a lot of rehearsals and trying to work through all the individual pieces that were going to go on the album.

Cameron - It was great because we were able to really break it down and just finalize and fine tune it all.

Arnold - With our writing process, even all the songs we have played live, we are constantly evolving. We start throwing in new parts or rewriting things here and there or we would think to ourselves, ‘here there needs to be a breakdown’ so those dummy recordings were the final nail in the coffin and we would all take turns signing off on each other. It was a tedious process but we got through it pretty quickly. The toughest thing for us to track and get good quality from was the drums. It re-quired 8 simultaneous tracks, which we didn’t have. Luckily, we got some studio time with Pinnacle and they did a phenomenal job recording the drums and Cameron just killed it. The whole process was smooth, just so sol-id. Cameron was the anchor to the whole thing because

the process with him happened so quickly.

Cameron - Since they already had songs together, it was basically me coming in here for 2 months straight, going through the process and figuring out exactly what I felt was right; just writing it before I came into the studio, which really saves a lot of time. It was just coming in here and getting through it, getting it exactly how I want-ed to do it. I think it came out really awesome, I was re-ally proud of it.

James - I just showed up and played (the room erupts with laughter), it’s just a bass, what do you want me to say? it’s simple, I just plug it in and play my part.

Individually, what is your favorite track on the new album and why?

Brian - My favorite track is Beyond The Horizon which is the last song and there is a couple of reasons for that. First, I’m really big into Progressive Rock music lately. Extended compositions, off beats, and polyrhythms; any-thing that makes it a bit more complicated. We wanted a final piece to show that side of us. Not only did we really hit the nail on the head but it conceptually ties in with the first track on the album, which is called, Before the Hori-zon, it is actually a 2 part sort of thing. You will never hear a lot of themes from the first song in the second one which brings it full circle once it ends.

Cameron - Yeah, we have been able to play them to-gether and it has been awesome.

Arnold - I would have to agree, Beyond The Horizon is a great song. I like how it all came together and it’s a good testament to how well our current lineup of mem-bers really gel because that was the last song we put any effort towards and it just all came together and we just loved what was happening. I kind of see music as a dish, you throw together different ingredients and you hope it comes out right. Everything meshed and I just love how that song flows.

James - I just show up and play, but I do agree with the rest of the guys. That is my favorite song and not be-cause of what they said about it but because it shows off our true diverse nature and what we can do as musi-cians. It is a challenge to play and I like that because it gives me something to strive for.

Cameron - Man that is tough because we all agree on 1 and I think they are all f*cken awesome but if it wasn’t Beyond The Horizon I’d have to say Impulse.

James - Ok, I am going to go against the grain and say Afferent is my favorite.

Cameron - Yeah, because Afferent is a minute and a half bass solo (everyone in the room laughs)

What would Zeroclient like to receive from releas-ing Omnia?

Brian - Listeners. We hope that people can get out of the album what we put into it. There is so much in the album, not just the music but conceptually. We spent a very long time on every piece and a lot of effort to put everything we could into it to make it stand out.

Go To zeroclientmusic.com For A Listen.

█ Q and A with

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Threat Con Nation Magazine 15

Dear Hellen:

I have struggled with depression (Bipolar II) for as long as I can remember. It ebbs and flows but it’s always present. Until recently, I have just sol-diered on, mindful of my depression but taking care to not let it overpower me. Lately it has con-sumed me. I do not do well on medication – it only compresses the highs and lows and leaves me flat, dull and empty. My friends just don’t un-derstand and I am afraid they have given up on me.

B.R.

Dear B:

Schedule an appointment with your doctor. According to an article in the recent issue of Translational Psy-chiatry, new blood markers have been found which will enable doctors to identify major depressive disor-der (MDD) via a blood test, bringing “mental health diagnosis into the 21st century” and making diagnosis and effective treatment much faster than before. Dis-cuss your options for medications with your doctor. There are many new combinations of drugs that can be tailored to your individual needs.

The Greeks considered mental illness to be an organ-ic problem. However, during the Middle Ages and the destruction of the bubonic plague people’s view of mental illness was changed from natural causes to supernatural forces or evil spirits – conditions that physicians of the day were unable to deal with. Dur-ing the Renaissance, conditions such as epilepsy and hysteria were thought to be connected to witches, witchcraft and diabolical possession. Typically, the “cure” was death by being burned at the stake. Mov-ing forward to the 17th century and beyond, people suffering from mental illness were faced with institu-tions and even barbaric experiments including shock treatments and lobotomies performed in the name of “medicine”. Only in the last 50 years have we seen the introduction of pharmacology, e.g. psychotropics to stabilize and improve mood and anti-psychotics to treat disorders such as schizophrenia - resulting in an improved quality of life.

It finally seems “okay” to talk about depression and other mental health issues candidly and openly. To many struggling with depression and mental illness,

the ability to have an honest conversation about their needs provides surprising benefits.

Lastly, don’t underestimate your friends. A little dia-logue goes a long way. Make the effort to reach out if you need help and you will most likely be surprised at the support you receive.

Thanks for Asking.

Hellen

□ □ □ □

Readers:

It is undeniable that social media has become in-tertwined in most people’s lives. Facebook, for example, is a great tool to keep in touch with friends near and far. It’s also den of negative and even aggressive behavior ranging from simply sharing too much information to bullying and worse. What do you do when your casual friend posts a rant on a hot-button topic such as reli-gion, politics, gun control or abortion and you completely disagree with their opinion? Do you join the fray and try to explain your position or do you choose not to engage? Have you lost friend-ships, casual or close, because of the freedom of social media?

Tell me your stories at: [email protected] and I will share them in the next issue.

Random Advice of the Month: Let the bridges you burn light the way.

ASK HELLEN BACK [email protected] Hellen Back Facebook Hellen Back Twitter

Page 16: TCNM Issue12

Hi, Allen Dean. Skin of Saints, Sacramento. That Metal Chick is sick, so I’m lending a hand, or better yet, a couple of horns!

I have been rocking and moshing on all kinds of stag-es for 30 years… Holy crap, right? Let me preface this miniature rant by stating publicly, The Sacramento scene is one of the most rich, diverse, and communal music scenes I have ever had the honor of support-ing, and occasionally participating within. In the time I have been playing live and loud, I have been witness to the rise of rock legends, Tesla, and the birth of the Seattle Scene while living in the Great NorthWest. In every state, every county, every city, every storage unit, garage, basement, and back yard, there are local bands, working their collective asses off to make great music, or at the very least, create something unique in order to piss off those douchebag neighbors!!

And in every state, county, city, etc, there are ’those’ bands; the ones who have something special. A shredder for a guitarist. A singer who can wail. A drop dead sexy bass player. A drummer who should be just giving clinics all night long. People from all over come to see these kick ass players show the rest of us how its done. Every region of America has a different level, and different type of badass, all amazing in their own right. I have seen these dudes in so many places. And I watch. Listen. Enjoy.

Then, inevitably, it happens. Some Little Fishies turn into Big Fishies, and start filling up the Little Pond with their immense egos. In my opinion, this can be the greatest downfall to any local artist; becoming small town rock gods in their own minds. We have all seen them. Bands who believe the hype that is spread about them. Bands who refuse to play with ”certain” other bands. Bands that puff their chests out, look down on the new up and comers, or worse, sabotage them. The bands who demand ridiculous payouts, be-cause of ”who they are” and bands who generally be-lieve every inebriated patron who tells them their set rivaled that one time they saw Megadeth in 83….

Because I’m an old dog, I do get asked by people from time to time, what my opinion is. Even though I’m a nobody, it always flatters me, and one opinion I impart without fail, and often is: don’t be so badass

that you forget where and who you are. I have been blessed to have worked with some very level headed players. Yet, there have been a few, who have taken their hype to an insane level of arrogance. I have had some bandmates in the past that were cocky to a scary level…. You know who you are!

A local scene, in my humble and learned opinion, is only as good as the collective group of players which inhabit the entirety of the talent pool. All of us, with differing styles, tastes, clothing, sets and attitudes make up an entire snapshot of greatness. No one band defines a local scene. Perhaps, there are a few who rise to the top, but in truth, a big, egotistical fish makes the pond harder for everyone to swim. There will always be excited and thrilled folks who support your craft, and your brand. They will tell you how amazing you are. They will let you know how deeply you touched their souls with your abilities. And this, in my opinion, should humble a musician, not provide firewood to the burning ego. Sure, everyone can get carried up in the wave of back slapping and high fives after a particularly smoking set, but remember, that set could have been just as horrible, had circumstanc-es been different. A broken string. Bad tubes. A singer with a cold. So many ways for sh*t to go south. These are the times that should, hopefully, give us all a bit of clarity. An opportunity to tell ourselves, and our band-mates, ”No one is famous until they are truly famous.”

There is nothing wrong with Being confident. Self as-sured. A great promoter of your music and brand. But I feel, one falls off the rails when they take their confi-dence to a level where they feel they are better than any other hard working local, who bust their asses trying to carve out a niche in the market.

So remember, little fish, and take it from an old fish; being badass is something to be immensely proud of. Just don’t be a d*ck.

- That Metal Husband

**Wishing you well, Mrs. Metal Chick. TCNM loves you!**

Be Amazing. Don’t Be A D*ck!

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TCNM Electronic Editions are available at http://issuu.com/threatconradio