D.A.Sebasstian Recording Journal & Go-Kustom News "2002"

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12/29/02- Finished up three episodes of Go-Kustom TV this weekend. An editing marathon. Lindsay still has to come over and tag the segments, but other than that, January is almost done! Also finished the print outs and files for the DragStrip Riot CD. Gonna mail it off after the 1st.

12/26/02- Got called into work today- the hazards of working receiving in retail. I had requested the day off months ago and gotten it, but one of the sales gals called in sick, so they called me to cover. Still got some time in editing on the Go-Kustom TV Show. Also got some new videos by Add N to X and John Doe. BTW- Go-Kustom TV didn't air tonight. The video tape deck our show was in didn't get activated by the computer system at the SCAN (Seattle Cable Access Netork) Studios and so the show didn't run. Turned on the TV a little after 10 (show starts at 10PM Thursdays) and no show. I called them- but it was too late in our half hour slot to reboot the deck. First time thats happened to us. The show will air next week- might be a little wacky since the show has a "Merry Christmas" bit in it, but thats show biz...

12/25/02- Merry Christmas!

12/23/02- Wrappin' presents, wrappin'presents...lalalala.

12/22/02- Finished the Girlfiends & She-Devils: A Trbute To The Femme Fatale CD cover. 3rd time's a charm (though alot more friggin' work).

12/21/02- Almost done with the Girlfiends & She-Devil Compilation artwork. Also did some editing on the next episode of Go-Kustom TV. I've got one week grace until I have to come up with a show. Man these weekly deadlines are killing me. I have such great interviews waiting to be edited. I'm looking for interns to help with the work load through the Colleges around Seattle.

12/20/02- The Kinkos saga continues. Two trips tonight, but the print looks right! I get to pick up my copies Sunday-Monday. The counter guy also ran me a few extra proof copies, so I could ship my orders. Worked a little on the Girlfiends & She-Devils CD cover layout. Also did some last minute Christmas shopping. Everybodys purchase crazy in the stores. For being in the midst of a double dip recession (I think that's what they called it on the CNN's Money Grubbers "programme"- some King's English spell checking for ya. You know those dern Brits spell "tire" - "tyre," and "color" - "colour." How stupid is that?!? But I digress). By purchase crazy, I mean people were buying everything. I've never seen the stores around here so full of hectic last minute shoppers. I'll be interested to see how the U.S. economy fares after this Holiday Season.

12/19/02- Got several orders for the Go-Kustom Shop Calendar already! Went to Kinko's three times to try and get the Go-Kustom Shop Calendar run. It's the one in Northgate (about 20 minutes from my house). They have a killer Fiery (brandname?) copy machine that outputs like offset printing. because of X-Mas, Kinko's is backed up like a mofo. Usually you send the print from the self serve Kinkos computer to the Fiery copy machine, wait a few minutes and then go to the counter and check your worl. The guy at the counter said I'd have to come back in two hours to see the proof, as the Fiery was being used on a massive job. This happened twice, hence the third trip to Kinkos. After I finally got the output proof copy, I noticed a few typos. It's getting late- I'll try again tomarrow.

12/18/02- Finished the Go-Kustom Shop Calendar layout and posted an order button on this here website. Listening to the radio (NPR) and some Senator was talking about the new No-Call List (a list where by you can screen out telemarketers if you name is on it- supposedly). Anyway he refers to us Americans as consumers, over and over. Not citizens- but consumers. We are consumers...it all makes sense. You buy a new car, a new house and political influence. Like you could go to the bank and get a loan for that. "Yes, I'd like to borrow 2.5 mill. to buy a candidate." 2.5 million bucks would probably only buy you a City Council member these days, what with inflation and all. Plus most Senators & Congressman are rich to begin with- they have to be to get all their rich buddies to contribute to their campaign fund raisers. Then once they're in office, they can get the good stuff. The soft money (I love that term, reminds me of money stuffed under your pillow, soft and snuggley). Pretty soon we'll be refering to the President as "President & CEO."

12/18/02- Worked on the Shop Calendar layout. Nothing looks right. Will this thing get done before 2003?

12/16/02- Went over to photographer Vetala Hawkins to pick up the new Girlfiends & She-Devils CD cover pic and the Go-Kustom Shop Calendar pics. All look kickass! Well worth the wait...I'm happy- can't you tell.

12/15/02- Well the new puppy didn't work out. Sometimes impulses and urges are stronger than reality. The puppy cried all night and had a hard time dealing with our other dog, so my wife had to take her back to our neighbors house. My kids cried, my wife cried. On a higher note, I finished the Go-Kustom Shop Calendar layout and await the finalized pics from Vetala Hawkins. Thank gawd we got this thing done!

12/14/02- Babette La Fave (dancer/actress/model) came over to do her Winter photo shoot for our Go-Kustom Shop Calendar. It was cold, it wasdark, it was raining, but it was fun. Vetala Hawkins was the photographer and Daryl Honigbaum let us use his 1950 Ford for the shoot (the same one featured a few episodes back on Go-Kustom TV that JR. Nelson pinstriped) . Babette was a real trooper, spending an hour and a half in the down pour to get the perfect shot. The Go-Kustom Shop Calendar will be available next week! You can get one only through our website. And yes we will make the December 15th deadline- wheeew! Look for more of Paula on an upcoming episode of Go-Kustom TV. Ohh yea- as we were shooting one of our neighbors came by with a new puppy and asked my wife to watch it as they went to the store. My wife fell in love and asked them where they got it. Seems another neighbor of ours had a litter they were giving away. So my wife sneeks off with the kids and comes back with a new puppy. Now we have two dogs and four cats in our little house. All we need is a goat and some chickens and we could start a little petting zoo. Harhar! The puppy got dubbed Belle.

12/11/02- Did some more work on a remix for Vanessa Lowe. Added a little synth break and radio effect.

12/08/02- Started the day going over to the Home Depot and buying a cheap assed Christmas tree. Only $19.99 and looks so purty! Only took 12 minutes. I've spent more time in a Starbuccks Drivethru. Then later that day, went over to Lindsay Calkins house, so she could tag the next three Go-Kustom TV episodes. It didn't take long. We filmed in her front yard, with the neighbors a gawkin' at us. Started editing an interview with Eerie Macabre for a January episode in the late afternoon, then we decorated the X-Mas (how the hell does X-Mas stand for Christmas?) tree that night. We always listen to Ska music whilst decorating the X-Mas tree. Its a seven year old tradition at our house. Started the first Chsitmas after my son was born. We didn't have any Christmas CD's, and it had been a long day, and my wife and I were burnt out. So I put on some coffee and some Madness & Specials and we started trimmin' ye olde tree. Been doin' it that way ever since.

12/07/02- Put up a Go-Girls Pin-Up Newsgroup on yahoo groups. Only took a few minutes. You can join by going to JOIN THE GO-GIRLS NEWSGROUP . Also finished editing the next two Go-Kustom TV episodes. Did some tracking on a remix of the song "30 Feet Deep" for Vanessa Lowe.

12/05/02- Got a few hours in on the Vanessa Lowe remix I'm working on. Its-a-gettin'-close-to-done.

12/04/02- Lindsay Calkins and I went over to Michael Soldano's Custom Amplification shop, to interview him about how he makes his signiture sounding amps and music products. Michael is a very outgoing and personable guy with an amazing knowledge of amplification systems. He gave us a complete tour of his manufacturing facilities in Ballard. Look for his upcoming interview on Go-Kustom TV.

12/02/02- Damn, I was adding buttons to the previous years News sections of this here website, and realized- I still haven't finished the Flathand 5 CD yet! I was reading that at almost this same time last year I, "Finished up all but one of the guitar tracks for The Flathand 5 songs." That CD has been a work in progress since 1998! OK I need to make a New Year resolution to finish that disc by like March of next year. Strange how fast 2002 has disappeared into the history books. Maybe I'm just getting older, or just paying more attention to the time.

12/01/02- Did some DragStrip Riot promo printing and CDR burning. Changed the Navigation Bar on all this derned website. Finalized the artwork for two more batchs of Go-Kustom Pin-Up Cards as well as dumped Michael Dean's movie DIY OR DIE into the next two Go-Kustom TV Episodes. We're airing the entire 55 minute movie over two consecutive shows. Oh yea- I also put up the Christmas lights. 'Tis the season.

11/30/02- Melene Marie Brown came over to do some lead and backing vocal tracks for her new song "Lady Luck." I still have to mix it and adjust a few things in the acoustic guitar tracks. The song is for the Girlfiends & She-Devils Compilation, due out early next year on Go-Kustom Rekords. The DragStrip Riot guys also came over to drop the artwork for their new CD. We'll be sending it off to the pressing plant next week sometime.

11/29/02- Worked all day on the remix of the Vanessa Lowe song "30 Feet Deep." Still got a way to go to finish it, maybe 12-16 more hours.

11/28/02- People- Happy Thanksgiving!

11/24/02- Finishing up the promo art for the new DragStrip Riot CD. Getting pre-production promotional materials together is a job in itself. I took the guys CD artwork and added a basic track listing on the back. That way I can print decent quality promo CDR covers on my Epson inkjet printer. DragStrip should have their onesheets ready next week, and then we begin our promotion campaign for their CD.

11/23/02- We had a photo shoot with JR Nelson's Hot Rod in Tacoma. Vetala Hawkins was the photographer and Melene Marie Brown was the model. It was for the Go-Kustom Shop Calendar we are finishing up. Melene is the Summer gal, and trying to get some sunlight in the late fall in the Northwest can be difficult. We lucked out and just as we pulled into Tacoma, the sun came out long enough to give the pics the appearance of summer time. Big thanks go out to JR for loaning us his Rod.

11/22/02- DragStrip Riot and I went over to master their new kickass CD with Mel Dettmer. Mel has mastered almost all the Kill Switch...Klick and d.A. Sebasstian CD's I've put out. She has golden ears when it comes to finding trouble spots or frequencies, and getting the tracks to the next level. She really got the DragStrip Riot CD sounding "finished." I can't say enough about good mastering...I learned the hard way. When I finished recording the first Kill Switch...Klick CD, Beat It To Fit, Paint It To Match, I thought "mastering" was putting all the tracks together on one DAT or CDR. I didn't realize that it included "normalizing" the tracks, "e.q.ing" and sometimes "compressing" the dynamics of the music. When Beat It To Fit came out, many people complained that it was, "mid-rangy (alot of mid-range frequencies and not enough hi-end)." I then, after the fact, figured out that I had only, "assembled" that CD, not had it "mastered." Live and learn.

11/21/02- Billy Dwayne of Billy Dwayne and His Creepers came over to add some samples to their new song "DevilGirl" for the Girlfiends & She-Devils compilation.

11/20/02- Finished up the video editing for the Thanksgiving Episode of Go-Kustom TV.

11/19/02- Got a new High Hat and High Hat Stand for my little stand-up drum kit. Now it's starting to sound decent. Since I'm standing up though, I haven't figure which side I want to put the High Hats on. Left of the Snare is normal, but I kinda like 'em off to the right, since I'm right handed and play the High Hats with my right hand. Still if you put the High Hats on the left, you cross over your arm and have faster access to the Snare for rolls. Its just experimentation. I'm still a lamo drummer, but it's fun and I can finally record my own basic groove ideas with acoustic drums.

11/18/02- Melene Marie Brown came over yesterday to lay down some guitar and vocal tracks for her song "Lady Luck." Got a few tracks recorded, and have a few more to go to finish the song.

11/16/02- Took the kids to see Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets today. Cool flick. Better than the first one- in my opinion.

11/12/02- We got the gang over to do a Go-Kustom TV Thanksgiving Day promo spot. Because of our schedule, we will have a show on Thanksgiving night and I felt would be cool to do a little skit. Vetala Hawkins (Go-Kustom photographer), Melene Marie Brown (Go-Kustom recording artist) and her son Malcolm, Lindsay Calkins (Go-Kustom TV hostess), my wife Fanovitch and my kids all were in it.

11/11/02- Working on a remix of Vanessa Lowe's song "30 Feet Deep", for the last few days. I erased most of what I had done and started the basic tracks from scratch. Sounds much better.

11/06/02- The rain finally came back to Seattle. The sky is solid gray, i love the fall. Finished up another episode of Go-Kustom TV.

11/05/02- Election day. I voted. Watching the TV, it looks like the Republicans are taking over the House & Senate. God help us...worked on some video editing for the TV Show.

11/04/02- Worked on my wife's mixes for her band, OmBili. She needs a rough mixed demo to send into the Seattle festival Folk Life. They played there last year and have a good chance of playing next year as well.

11/03/02- Dennis Hicklin let us use his sweet 40's Dodge for Lindsay Calkins "autumn" section of the 2003 Go-Kustom Shop Calendar. It got pretty damn chilly in the Ballard park, even with the sun out for part of the shoot. Lindsay was a real trooper being out in the cold without jacket or warm clothes for hours, while Vetala Hawkins took numerous pictures. Afterwards Lindsay did some location video tags for Go-Kustom TV. A busy afternoon.

...and later that evening we went to Chop Suey's to film The Donettes, Dusty 45's and Redneck Girlfriend for Go-Kustom TV. It was Redneck Girlfriends CD release party and the place was packed. The bands put on a great show. These stills were from Melene Marie Browns - second camera by the front of the stage.

11/02/02- Michael Soldano graciously allowed us to photograph his Hot Rod for the new Girlfiends & She-Devils CD cover and Sheri Johnson's "Spring" section of our upcoming 2003 Go-Kustom Shop Calendar. Vetala Hawkins was the photographer.

10/31/02- HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

10/30/02- My wife's clarinetist and percussionist Lisa McNeill came in to edit her clarinet parts for one of the songs on my wife's bands new CD. The project is called OmBili and will also be featured on the percussion concept compilation The Flathand 5, available on Go-Kustom sometime next year.

10/29/02- Finished up the Sabrina RockArena interview for Go-Kustom TV. It's been sittin' on the ole 'puter for several months. I also uploaded the Go-Kustom TV show intro as a Quicktime file. The link is at go-kustom.com/clips.html

10/27/02- Billy Dwayne & His Creepers came over to check mixes on their track "DevilGirl." We still need to add a few sound effects and that ones done.

10/26/02- Melene Marie Brown and her band, featuring Jesse & Austin (guitar & upright bass) from The Spectres and Jody (drums) from Billy Dwaye & His Creepers came in to work on her song "Lady Luck." We got the basic drum, bass and guitar tracks recorded.

10/21/02- Billy Dwayne & His Creepers came by the studio yesterday to do a quick recording of their track "DevilGirl" for the Girlfiends & She-Devils Compilation. Good track in a only few hours. We still have to mix and add a guitar track.

10/19/02- Worked on Venessa Lowe's remix and a new tune for the Armageddon Top Fuel interview on Go-Kustom TV. It's kickass in the old Kill Switch...Klick kinda way.

mors syphilitica

10/18/02- Went over to The Vogue (Seattle club) to interview New York based band, Mors Syphilitica. I heard through their label, Projekt Records, that they were coming to town. We currently have the video for their song, "My Virgin Widow" in rotation on Go-Kustom TV so I figured it'd be nice to get an interview. It went well. I also saw Michael Wimer from ADSR Musicwerks at the sound check. He also books live music Thursdays at The Vogue. His music store, Musicwerks, recently caught fire and had to relocate. If your in Seattle, Mike's store is still one of the coolest places to find electronic, gothic and industrial music.

10/14/02- The Mrs. (i.e. wife) came into my (or should I say our) studio to do some guitar parts for a few of her bands tunes. She performs in a dance and drum ensemble called OmBili Troupe. A few of her bands tracks will be on the upcoming Flathand 5 CD, due out sometime in the next decade...

10/13/02- DragStrip Riot came by the studio to do some detail work on their CD. A few little volume corrections and effects changes. It's the little things that make an album ROCK!

10/12/02- Went out to Armageddon Top Fuel's shop with Vetala Hawkins (photographer) to shoot a a new cover for the Girlfiends & She-Devils CD with Melene Marie Brown, Sheri Johnson& Lindsay Calkins. We had limited time, but I think we got some usable shots.

10/09/02- Working on the Sabrina RockArena/ Cookie interview for Go-Kustom TV. It got put on the back burner for awhile. It will be in the November/December shows.

10/07/02- Bought a snare (Ludwig Rocker) and floor tom (16 inch Gretch) last week, so I could work up little drums parts and loops. To get the floor tom to sound more like a kick drum, I took off the bottom head and detuned and muffled the top head. It puts out a real "thud" sound now. I also taped on some old triggers I had lying around so I can run them into my Alesis D4 drum module. I'm going to invest in better triggers next month. I'm not much of a drummer, but at least now I can record little parts I hear in my head, and not have to always program them on a drum machine. Don't get me wrong, I love drum machines, and have quite a vintage collection of 'em, but sometimes "live" is better.

10/06/02- DragStrip Riot came by and finished mixing their new CD- yaahoo!. Now it's ready for the mastering house. The album should be out, end of this month or early next.

10/05/02- Go-Kustom TV hostess Lindsay Calkins came over to do some video tags for new videos we got from the labels, Kill Rock Stars and Dual Tone Records.

10/04/02- DragStrip Riot came by to work on their mixes for their new album. We're almost done. One more session should do it.

10/03/02- Kent Sparling (producer) sent me some basic tracks to aid in my remix of Vanessa Lowe's song "30 Feet Deep." It always is easier to remix a song from the original separate tracks, than to try and do it from a finished song. It can be done, but doesn't give the flexibility- and your stuck with everything permanently "layered" together. You can't, for instance, remove a string part from under a vocal, or raise a guitar track over a bassline. Your stuck adding parts to "blocks" of sound.

09/29/02- Photographer Vetala Hawkins did a three-way photo shoot for the Go-Kustom Go-Girls Pin-Up Trading Cards. Sheri Johnson, Lindsay Calkins & Melene Marie Brown were the models. A kickass photo shoot- indeed!

09/28/02- Go-Kustom TV went to the Rooks Car Club's Rockabilly Ball in Ballard (area of Seattle) and got some great interviews with the gearheads and attendees. Look for the footage in an upcoming episode of Go-Kustom TV (probably late November or early December).

09/22/02- Last day of summer. Went to the beach with the family. Sunny day. Seattle beaches are not like coastal beaches, even though it is the Pacific Ocean. The Puget Sound calms down the waves and makes it feel more like big lake beaches, than an ocean beach. Still it's nice living 8 minute drive from the water. I can't complain.

09/21/02- Got some new videos for Go-Kustom TV from Kill Rock Stars and Dual Tone Records. Cool stuff.

09/20/02- DragStrip Riot came over to check their final mixes. We did some cutting and pasting of various sections to get the recordings ready to master. We have one more session next week and it should be ready for the mastering engineer. After that- off to the pressing plant. Looks like we're on schedule for their release date of mid-October.

09/15/02- Film Maker Michael Dean asked me about using my song Monster Monster, in the DVD release of his feature length film D.I.Y. Or Die: How To Survive As An Independent Artist. The film features interviews with Ian MacKaye, Lydia Lunch, Jim Rose and many others about surviving as a Do It Yourself Artist/Musician/Film Maker. Monster Monster was played in the background during an interview with Dean himself and will be part of the "Special Features" of the DVD.

09/15/02- Go-Girl & Pin-Up Model Sheri Johnson came by to do some promo pics for DragStrip Riots new CD. Look for the ad in the next issue of Barracuda Magazine.

09/14/02- Go-Kustom TV went out to Tim Conders shop the home of Armageddon Top Fuel. Lindsay interviewed Tim about his front engine dragsters, customizing endeavors and life in general. She also talked to some of the shop guys about their own rides. Shite loads of fun!

09/13/02- Friday the 13th - DragStrip Riot mixing day. Had the day off my day job and nearly finished the basic mixes for their new album. One more song to go.

09/12/02- Melene Marie Brown came by the studio to do a new vocal version of a Flathand 5 song "Followed To Crash." Melene Marie has a unique and powerful voice that really fits the ominous roadhouse style of the song.

Lindsay Calkins

09/10/02- Lindsay Calkins came by to do some Go-Kustom TV video tags. I worked on the DragStrip Riot mixes as well.

09/08/02- Put up a quick page for Pin-Up Model Sheri Johnson. Sheri is helping with the Go-Kustom Go-Girls Pin-Up Cards as coordinator and screener. I also worked on the DragStrip Riot mixes. We also had the first decent rain in Seattle in months. It's been a real dry Summer.

09/05/02- Had a Go-Kustom TV meeting with Armageddon Top Fuel about interviewing them in a few weeks. Look for the interview in an upcoming episode of Go-Kustom TV.

09/03/02- Finished two more episodes of Go-Kustom TV. Also worked on the DragStrip Riot mixes.

Mom n' Kids n' Diggers

08/31/02- We went by Tim Conder's shop today to check out the locale for some future Go-Kustom TV video & photo shoots. Tim runs a customizing shop specializing in custom paint and car and bike rebuilds and modifications. He let my kids and wife sit in his two awesome hand built one-of-a-kind front engine diggers. He is putting together an unbelievable Hot Rod Performance Art Road Show called Armageddon Top Fuel. Were talking part WWF, part Ringling Bros., part NHRA event, part Performance Art - all at the same time. Amazing!

08/30/02- Worked on the DragStrip Riot mixes and a did a bit of sequencing on the remix for Vanessa Lowe.

08/28/02- DragStrip Riot came by last night to do a few more guitar solos and some more backing vocals. Their album is almost done.

08/25/02- Finalized the mix for the Betty X song She-Devil. It's still not mastered but everything is nice and even, with a punchy bass and drums and some crunchy guitars at the last section of the song. Just need their final approval and it's good to go.

08/24/02- DragStrip Riot came by the studio to do some guitar solo and vocal tracks. Getting closer to having all the basic tracks recorded for their new CD. It's a scorcher.

08/22/02- Go-Kustom V.J. Lindsay Calkins came over to do some video tags for the Go-Kustom TV. The tags are to introduce the artists work and give some artistic insight. Lindsay is a natural in front of the camera. I also worked on some new acoustic guitar music. I'm thinking about writing an all acoustic guitar record. Not neccesarily folk music, more bluesy.

08/21/02- Mike Ririe & Frosty from DragStrip Riot came over last night to record. Mike laid down some solid upright bass tracks for their new record.

Lindsay Calkins interviewing famed pinstriper JR. Nelson, DragStrip Riot onstage, Melene Marie & Sheri.

08/17/02- Go-Kustom TV went to the 1st Annual Hotrod-A-Rama @ The Swiss Pub in Tacoma, WA. Alot of kustom cars great music. Yea - I know I said I was done filming for the first season of Go-Kustom, but when DragStrip Riot invited me, it was just too tempting. The turnout was excellent, with bands playing an outside stage (huge flatbed truck) and large inside stage as well. The streets were closed off, so the rods & kustoms could line-up to be easily viewed. There was even free parking. Many of the car owners were close to their cars to talk, and various vendors were selling everything from pin-up pics & t-shirts to car parts. Very cool.

08/12/02- Go-Kustom TV's newest V.J. - Lindsay Calkins came over to the studio last night to do some promo spots for upcoming videos. Look for her this season on Go-Kustom TV. Also our new time has been set at 10PM on Seattle Cable Access Channel 77. Show listings and contents are posted at www.go-kustom.com/gktvlinks.html

08/04/02- Took the last week off from my day job. A stay at home vacation. Didn't do anything musical, except practice some slide guitar- but I did paint the house. It's a "paint the house" vacation. For some reason house painting (or intense yard work) relaxes me. Check out the colors, Fiesta Orange and Marigold Yellow. The old man across the street came over when it was almost finished and said, "Boy when you started painting that house orange, I thought you were crazy. Now- with the yellow it looks good."

07/29/02- First official day of my week long vacation, and where am I? Why I'm sitting at the Seattle I.N.S. offices from 7AM to 1:30PM. Seems they never sent my wife her permanent green card from 1996, so we're finally taking care of business. Every time the "number served" bell goes off and the number changes, my kids cheer- "Only blank more numbers and it's our turn!" This goes on for hours. My kids are actually very patient for a 5 & 7 year olds. They only had one small verbal brawl and for the most part sat in their seats, read and played Pokemon Cards vs. The Stuffed Animals all morning. I used the time to finally read Orwell's - Animal Farm. Like 1984 the complacent "oh well- that's the way it is" ending got me down. I would have much rathered the farm animals storm the farm house, light it afire and kill Nepolean, the pigs, the dogs and the neighboring farmers as they played cards. Now that would be a kickass ending. Four legs good, two legs bad...Ohh and did I mention I did some more taxes in the afternoon.

07/28/02- More taxes more number crunchng.

07/27/02- Doin' our 2001 taxes. Because we got audited for our 1999 tax return, we had to file an extension for our 2001 return, as we were to busy dealing with the I.R.S. for 6 months, to file our 2001. Number crunching... all day long.

07/24/02- DragStrip Riot came over last night to do some additional vocal tracks. Most of the basic CD tracks are now finished. only a few backing vocals and bass parts remain to be recorded.

07/21/02- DragStrip Riot swung by to do some bass and vocal tracking for their new CD.

07/18/02- Finally finished up the Betty X song"She-Devil." Got the last few cymbal crashes and details completed last night. I still have to review the mix and then burn it to CDR, but otherwise it is complete.

07/14/02- DragStrip Riot came over to do a little bit'o basic tracking (drums & 2 guitar tracks) . They had already recorded a 6 song EP at another studio, so we're adding new songs to push it into the Full-Length category. We finished basics for seven songs. Look for the debut DragStrip Riot CD later this year on Go-Kustom Rekords.

07/13/02- Imported footage of the Betty X interview with Sabrina RockArena for Go-Kustom TV into the ole 'puter. This will be for the next episode (pre-season Episode 9). Also organized all the vocal tracks for the Betty X song She-Devil. Betty had done quite a few tasty vocal overdubs, so now it's just a matter of picking the best ones and mixing them in.

07/09/02- Started laying out a remix for female singer-songwriter Vanessa Lowe. I really dug the copy of her new record, Barnacles Of Joy that she sent me, and so I asked her if she wouldn't mind me doing a quick remix of her song "30 Feet Deep." She said OK, so I got started sketching out the basic tracks in Reason. Got the intro and verse set in only two hours. Since I'm just adding things to a finished song, it won't take long at all. Also dropped off Episode 7 of Go-Kustom TV at the TV Station this afternoon.

07/08/02- Bought a DeArmond Ashbory bass from Musicians Friend. and it arrived today. Cool little buggers. Sound a bit like an Upright mixed with an electric bass. I'm gonna use it- alot.

07/07/02- Busy day. Woke up early (strange for my wife and I on a Sunday), went for a long walk with the kids. Came home and dug right into it. Betty X and Courtney Rusk (guitarist for Betty X band) came over to track some guitar tracks for "Twist It," and "She-Devil." After that DragStrip Riot came over to mix their song "Fast Cars, Fast Women."

07/06/02- Finished Go-Kustom TV pre-season episodes 7 & 8. These are music video episodes, without interviews. I need to have a few of these for the regular season. I also worked on Betty X's tuned "She-Devil." She's coming over tomorrow to proof the mix. I've been a little anxious the last few days. Mostly my day gig and money issues. Feels good to be busy with music and video projects. Kinda takes my mind off my problems.

07/04/02- Happy 4th o' July! Didn't get much music done. Revamped the website. It needed a little work.

07/01/02- Worked on the Betty X tune "She-Devil." Recorded some new heavily reverbed ambient guitar tracks . Sounds spooky.

Winky Putt-Putt 1987-2002

06/30/02- Dropped our old '87 Toyota off at the Auto Recyclers yesterday. My kids were kinda sad. We nick named her Winky Putt-Putt because she had a smashed right fender and looked like she was winkin' all the time. The putt-putt was because she burned oil. We had her for 5 years and drove the hell out of her. Toyota's can last along time if you service them regularly. Spent the rest of yesterday and most of today sorting out the ole 'puter. I was getting constant error messages and the dern thing wouldn't let me defrag the hard drive. So I set up new partitions, erased the whole hard disc and started anew. Pain - in - the -arse!

06/28/02- Justin DuPre' (the photographer), Betty X (the model) and I (stupervisor) did a photo shoot for the 2003 Go-Kustom Shop Calendar last night at Rich's Car Corner in Seattle. Rich was nice enough to let us use his tricked out 1972 Barracuda and allowed us to shoot after closing on his showroom floor.

John Entwistle

On a truly sad note- John Entwistle, the legendary Who bassist passed away yesterday. They think it was a heart attack. He was one of my all-time favorite bassists. His solo in "My Generation" helped inspired me to pick up the bass in the first place.

06/26/02- More work on "She-Devil," last night. Detail work. Fixing little snare rolls, an ending vocal and a middle synth sound. Tedious but necessary.

06/26/02- Worked on the Betty X song "She-Devil," last night. Got the ending drums laid out and the final length of the song set.

Betty and The DeadCats, Graveyard Shift, The Spectres.

06/23/02- Last night Go-Kustom TV went to Graceland in Seattle to check out the big rockabilly show with DragStrip Riot, The Dead Cats (from Vancouver), Graveyard Shift and The Spectres. Big night. We interviewed 3 of the bands (we had previously interviewed DragStrip Riot), and taped much of the show. We had alot of damn fun! Today DragStrip Riot came by the studio to lay a few tracks. The song was one of my favorites by them, "Fast Cars, Fast Women. "

06/21/02- Spent last night getting the website ready for the Summer Sale. All CD's $7.00 or less (including shipping. Alot of typing and price changing. The sale will last all Summer, maybe longer if alota folks buy CD's.

06/19/02- Been working diligently all week on the Betty X song "She-Devil". I just finished writing a more progressive ending, so the song currently goes from a David Lynch style jazz intro and mid section to an industrial punk style ending. Works really well. I'll have to see how it sounds with the final vocal tracks pasted in.

06/12/02- Talked to James Whiton (awesome upright bassist) about playing on the Betty X song "She-Devil" I'm producing. he said he's down. This guy is one of the best bassists I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Intuitive and completely pro.

06/11/02- OK...I thought I finished up Episode 6 of Go-Kustom TV. Had to adjust the audio and re-output it to Digital 8 tape. Nothing like doing something twice.

06/10/02- Finished up Episode 6 of Go-Kustom TV, featuring an interview with Texylvania and the broadcast premier of the Betty X video, Mons Venus by Nathan Kaylor.

06/07/02- Finished the first episode of Stupid Robot Show (a 3 minute lo-fi animated show within a show on Go-Kustom TV). This one features the ever talented voice of Ms. Betty X. It's short and kinda funny.

06/04/02- Worked on what is now the fifth episode of Go-Kustom TV. It features an interview with DragStrip Riot as well as live footage from their recent show at Stella's, the new video by Faith & Disease and a short film by Ben Ireland.

06/02/02- Betty X came by the studio yesterday to do some vocals for her new song "Twist It." Because I didn't have the music tracked all the way, we did the different vocal parts over the same section of verse and chorus, muting the various parts as we went. I've got to bounce the basic guitar tracks out of Cubase and into Reason to add more synth and drum machine parts. Then after I arrange it in Reason, I'll bounce it back into Cubase and cut and paste her vocals into their appropriate sections. A complicated but flexible way to do things. Also worked on the DragStrip Riot interview for Go-Kustom TV.

05/31/02- Bought a new to us (1991) Dodge Caravan today. Good for hauling kids and equipment. Man do I feel like the family guy (which is very cool- just a bit sobering).

05/29/02- My e-mail went down because Earthlink is switching over my domain services for Go-Kustom. I am in the void...kinda feels good.

05/28/02- I thought Eventually (Again), a song I wrote with Faith & Disease, was gonna be on MTV's The Real World tonight. I misread MTV's website, and it was actually Episode 16, which was on last week (I think- man...I can't make heads or tales outa their website show listings). Oh well maybe I can catch it as a re-run. Go-Kustom TV did air tonight. I think I like Tuesday nights.

05/27/02- Got a little music done this three day weekend (a few additional Betty X tracks), but spent most of it stuffing envelopes for the Teen Feeding Frenzy! CD. It's one of those boring things you have to do (or pay someone else to do) to get the music out there. I had the TV on while I was stuffing envelopes (200 of 'em) and running press packs on the computer. They were having an old school Star Trek marathon on the Sci-Fi Channel. Captain Kirk was a wingnut! My son asked me who would win in a fight, Batman or Captain Kirk. I said, "Captain Kirk, he always wins, Batman sometimes gets his ass kicked and tied up." In one of the episodes I saw (the one where they go into the neutral zone to spy on the Romulans and Spock has a one night stand with a Romulan Commander gal in thigh high boots- Go Spock!), the opening scene is Kirk getting a back rub from one of his Yeoman babes. He was like, "Lower...ahhh that's the spot." You couldn't show that on the new "Enterprise" Star Trek show. Everbody's too PC nowadays. Sexual harassment all the way. That's what's missing in the new Treks- sexual harassment and good old fashioned fist fights. Kirk was always brawlin' with some alien. That's what makes space travel fun. Kirk didn't mess with fazors, just a good old smack down. He was like a wrestling Elvis or something. Even Spock with his Vulcan neck pinch thing. That's like passive aggressive brawl behavior. I love that show.

05/26/02- Go-Kustom TV went over to Stella's in Seattle's Georgetown area to check out the rockin' ruckus made by DragStrip Riot & Big John Bates. We interviewed both bands and got some great live footage. The Dirty Birds also played (we hope to hook with them in future for an interview). Even with a mediocre turnout - all the bands really put out!

05/21/02- Back to the Go-Kustom TV show editing. Working on Episode 5 which features an interview that Betty X did with Seattle band Texylvania. This one will air next month along with Episode 6 which features another Betty X interview with Cookie's Sabrina RockArena. June is Betty X month on Go-Kustom TV!

05/20/02- Worked on the Girlfiends & She-Devils compilation cover art. I'm pretty happy with this basic but strong design. We are supposed to master the audio for it at the end of next month. Hopefully all the bands tracks will be sent in on time.

05/19/02- Betty X came by my studio today to work on some of her new tracks. We recorded her vocals for "She-Devil" & "Tiki" both for upcoming Go-Kustom compilations. Later I worked on my own tunes "Black Out" & "Can't Connect" for either Kill Switch...Klick or d.A. Sebasstian releases, I haven't decided which songs will go on which albums. Sometimes I just write songs with a rough idea of which project they are intended for and then they will end up on something entirely different. The self titled d.A. Sebasstian CD I put out last year had some tracks I had initially intended for Kill Switch...Klick records. The Kill Switch...Klick - Almost Ambient CD that came out this year on Invisible had a track from a d.A. Sebasstian album One Minute Endless. Gets kinda confusing sometimes.

05/18/02- Go-Kustom TV headed over to the Roq La Rue in Seattle last night to check out the "Draw" opening. The theme of the show was drawings and featured exemplary work by Mark Ryden, Charles Burns, Jim Woodring, Glenn Barr, Rick Klu, Yumiko Kayukawa, Blair Wilson and many others. Lots o' people- lots o' fun. Look for the Roq La Rue piece in an upcoming episode of Go-Kustom TV.

05/13/02- Go-Kustom TV went to the Sit & Spin in Seattle to check out the Super 8 Lounge show. It's a night of independent Super-8 film makers, sponsored by Emerald Reels. The highlight of the evening was the multi-media presentation of Eerie Macabre. Their sexy female vampire film with live music was excellent. After the show we did a quick interview with them. Look for the interview with Eerie Macabre in an upcoming episode of Go-Kustom TV.

05/06/02- Worked on Sidewinders Kiss (from the forthcoming Betty X album) this morning and afternoon. Added a groovy bass and heavy chugga chugga guitar line. Also dropped two VHS episodes of Go-Kustom TV (#3 & #4) off at Public Access Seattle. Klick for air dates. Tonight I'm mixing the Sciflyer rough tracks we did last month. Busy as a friggin' bee. Ohh yea- got another good review for the Kill Switch...Klick Almost Ambient CD.

05/05/02- Worked all day on a new song I'm writing the music for called Sidewinders Kiss. Its for Betty X's new record. Her words and my music. So far it's got a dark twangy ambience and Mike Ditmore's drums (see below) definitely beef up the bottom end. I really like this tune - just hope I don't burn out on it before it's finished. That happens sometimes, you work on a song so much, that by the time the song is released, you can't stand it anymore. I don't see how the Rolling Stones did it, playing Paint It Black for almost 30 years.

05/04/02- Mike Ditmore came over to do some drumming for Betty X's new record. A very good session. We got alot done in 4 hours.

05/02/02- Relaxed. I needed a night off. Man I love our living room. Big picture window with bad weather outside and a big fire in the fireplace...now that's cozy.

05/01/02- May Day. Not much to say. Worked on some Betty X guitar tracks.

04/29/02- Hooked up with Justin DuPre (Photographer) and Betty X to do some cover shots for the compilation we're putting out on Go-Kustom called - Girlfiends & She-Devils: A Tribute To The Feme Fatale later this year. Betty is a natural in front of the camera.

04/28/02- Still working on the interviews. Also laid down a few quick drum parts on my son's mini-drum kit. These parts are to be used as basic drum loops for the Betty X album. I'm just banging on the kick and snare drum with sticks- no cymbals, to get a more realistic drum performance under the drum machine sections. I did a similar thing with Irish & Indian frame drums on my song Monster Monster. If it's done right it can be very effective. KsK drummer Mike Ditmore, is supposed to come over next week to do a similar drum loop recording, but more rhythmically involved. If you record the drums in sections, and then loop them in a sampler or computer program, you get a very structured, modern sound, that enables new arrangements of the song to be made very easily.

04/27/02- Working on editing the Texylvania and Sabrina RockArena interviews for Go-Kustom TV. My wife and kids are in Port Townsend, WA. for the weekend. My wife's band, OmBili, is playing a show there. I wanted to go but opted to stay home and get some TV Show work done.

Betty X and Texylvania.

04/26/02- We did an interview with the band Texylvania last night. Was alot of fun. If you get a chance go and see these guys live, do it. They put on a wild show. Look for the interview in an upcoming episode of Go-Kustom TV.

04/24/02- Added some Vibraphones and Upright Bass samples to the Betty X track She-Devil. The song is taking on a David Lynchesque quality.

04/23/02- Started laying out a few tunes for the upcoming Betty X album. I'm helping with song writing, recording as well as being co-producer. One of the songs, She-Devil will be featured on the Go-Kustom Rekords compilation CD called Girlfiends & She-Devils: A Tribute To The Femme Fatale. This one should be out Fall of 2002.

Betty X and Sabrina RockArena.

04/19/02- Went over to the effervescent Sabrina RockArena's pad yesterday to film Betty X's interview with her. Sabrina is best know for her bass and vocal stylings for Seattle's own COOKiE, a hard hitting 3 piece rock outfit with a reputed killer pyrotechnic show. Look for the interview on an upcoming Go-Kustom TV Episode.

Oh yea- I had a real vivid dream last night. Mildly disturbing. I was a 40ish black man traveling the deep south. It was during the mid to late sixties, although some peoples clothes and cars were more current- time composited like dreams can be. I had just gotten a job at a diner and was working as a bus boy to make enough money to buy a bus ticket out of what ever town it was I was staying in. It was obviously not my home. The dream was very real and I remember as I was busing the tables, I could feel the white diners patrons staring at me, watching me suspiciously, as though I was a stray dog that had wandered into the diner unwelcomed. I worked hard and tried not to look up or around, not out of fear, but to avoid any problems with the white folks and their meals. I was almost done for the day and went over to dump some plates by the kitchen when I looked up and saw this burly redneck guy starring at me. He had on a flannel shirt and smelled like cheap bear and sweat. He grinned a sinister grin, and I could feel the hatred in him, directed squarely at me because I was black. I looked away so as not start a fight. Then he went over to the door where two of his buddies were waiting and they began talking overtly loud about there hadn't been a lynching around here for quite along time. One of them laughed and said, "That's 'cause we hung the last few niggers left around here." I could see all three of them starring at me out of the corner of my eye. A few of the other patrons chuckled. I moved back into the kitchen, pretending to get the broom, and then the three men walked out. I woke up thinking how fucked up it must have been to be black in the south back then or even in certain towns now. I really wonder why people have so much hatred for people that are different from themselves. In real life- when I was 12 years old I went with my Mom's boyfriend to a BBQ rib joint on the west side of San Bernardino, California to pickup some dinner. The west side was the older run down part of town, San Bernardino's Barrios. My Mom's boyfriend was handicapped and in a wheelchair so he stayed out in his specially equipped van while I went in to buy the ribs. Everyone in the rib joint was black, and as a 12 year old middle class white kid, I felt a little out of place, but not uncomfortable. The old man behind the counter was nice and chatty, swatting at the flies as he bagged up our dinner of hot ribs and cornbread. Remembering this, the feeling was exactly the opposite of the feeling I had in my dream last night. White kid in a black mans rib joint vs. middle aged blackman in a white owned diner...I know the dream was only a dream, but it left a serious impression on me.

04/15/02- "Well I'm the Taxman...yea the Taxmaaaan" (my favorite Beatle tune by my favorite Beatle). I heard it on a Tax Preparation TV commercial last week. Sadly- I must say. So today it's Taxday. On a more positive note, Becky Thatcher came by yesterday and did some extremely jazzy vocals for the Flathand 5 song "Middle Man." All the basic tracking is finished for the original recordings. She also did vocals with my wife for their band OmBili Troupe three new songs- "Freedom", "Cocumba" & "Can't Stop It." Two of these recordings will make their way onto the Flathand 5 disc as well. I'm happy that this disc is almost done. It's quite a bit different from what I'm know for (gothikindustrialpunktronika), which is a good thing. I get tired of people pigeon holing me. How the fuck could anybody, except me, know all the various musical interests I have. It's like you get known for one thing, the whole damn time your visualizing doing some other kinda thing. It's like when people I just meet that know I'm a musician ask, "What instrument do you play?" It's like, "What color is the Ocean?" Which one? Are you on a boat or on the shore? High in a plane looking over the ocean? I sometimes say, "What ever is necessary." They always go, "What? - No what in-stru-ment do you play?" I repeat, "What ever is necessary." AT this point they figure I'm an evasive asshole (which is sometimes true of all of us). Then I will explain, " I started on the Trombone in grade school, later I played Electric and Upright Bass in High School & Jr. College. After that I picked up the Guitar, Keyboards and learned how to program early Music Computers and Synthesisers. Recently I learned a bit of Percussion and Slide Guitar. Now I play whatever is necessary."

04/08/02- I took the day off from my day job today (Mental Heath Day). Also finished up Episode Two of Go-Kustom TV. This show features videos by Red Team Go and Things Outside The Skin, some live footage of Betty Rage at The Junkyard in Las Vegas and short films by Brent Watanabe and Robert Judd. I'm gonna schedule Episode Two for 2-3 weeks from now. Eventually I want Go-Kustom TV to air every 2 weeks, but the lottery for a season time slot isn't until September. As it is I have to take what time slots are available and run the shows as OTO (One Time Only). This is a minor difficulty. I think Public Access is a great thing. It enables any Joe-Shmoe to put out a show (hey that rhymes). Yesterday afternoon Betty X came over to the studio to record her vocals for "Can You Hear Me" for the upcoming Flathand 5 percussion concept compilation. We actually wrote the lyrics together in a half hour before she did her vocal takes. She is easy to work with. We also began tracking a few basic songs for her new album that will be coming out on Go-Kustom early next year. It's gonna be a twangy, industrial, bluesy soundtrack inspired extravaganza. We also discussed Go-Kustom strategy for upcoming compilations and promotions. She has some great ideas and is a welcomed addition to the Go-Kustom label.

04/06/02- Last night we recorded three new basic tracks for my wife's band OmBili Troupe. They breezed right through the session nailing all the basics in just a few hours. They have progressed immensely from the last time I recorded them and their new line-up is very professional. Two of these tracks will end up on the Flathand 5 compilation. They also just got word last week that they have a slot in Northwest Folklife, one of the biggest showcases for folk and world music bands in the western United State. I'm more than a little proud of how far they've come so quickly.

04/02/02- Sciflyer came over last night to record some tracks for their new album. They are on a mini-tour that started in their home port of San Francisco. We went 'til around midnight. I also interviewed them for Go-Kustom TV. We got the basics done for seven songs. Today I also dropped the program tape off for Go-Kustom TV at the Seattle Public Access studios. Its air date is Tuesday, April 9th at 9:30 PM, Channel 77 (in Seattle).

04/01/02- Finished Episode One of Go-Kustom TV. It looks pretty damn good for a first editing effort. It includes a documentary about the Clang Quartet, a short film by Brent Watanabe called Example that I star in and did music for. Also videos by Red To Violet, Swedish Whistler and The Inspectors. I also talked to Stephanie Hodovance of The Penningtones about helping with Go-Kustom expansion. She says she's in. I really want this label to grow and I can't do it on my own.

03/31/02- Happy Easter ya knuckle-heads!

03/28/02- Betty X came over to the studio to do her vocals for the Flathand 5 track "Followed To Crash. " She did some sweet spoken word beat poet verses with more bluesy styled choruses. Only two more tracks to do vocals for and this bad boy (Flathand 5 CD) is in the pocket. Betty also said she'd help with Go-Kustom A&R and Promotions making her the first official Go-Kustom Promo person (other than myself).

03/26/02- The old G4 computer crashed tonight. I spent the last 3 hours fixing it. Apple Disk Aid finally did the trick, along with reinstalling the OS. Working on some lyrics for a song called "Middle Man" that Becky Thatcher is singing for the upcoming Flathand 5 CD.

03/25/02- All you can eat buffet...ALL YOU CAN EAT BUFFET! There is something special about the All You Can Eat Buffet for us Middle Class Americans. I saw Tom Cruise on Barbara Walters last night after the Oscars. You would never see Tom in the All You Can Eat Buffet. Unless of course it was the Cannes Film Festival All You Can Eat Buffet. That would be like $200 (or 1,000,000 francs) a person. All the stars would be in line, "Hey Quinton -don't hog all the escargot..." We ate at the All You Can Eat Buffet tonight. Not the one at the Cannes Film Festival of course. I think my gut is busted. That and my eyes itch from allergies. I'm in bad shape. Pretty good food at the All You Can Eat Buffet though. All the old folks and big families were there. If you had a family with like 5 kids in it, you would frequent the All You Can Eat Buffet. It would become a way of life, like Zen Buddhism or something. "Yes my son, you may partake of the fried chicken but do not try the day old mashed potatoes." I gotta lay down.

03/20/02- First day of spring...and guess what? It's snowing! Again! In Seattle! In March! This doesn't seem like...global warming.

ella & deedee Ella & Deedee - studio cats.

03/17/02- St. Patrick's Day. The kinda day that makes me wish I could still drink a brew or two. Ohh well being sober has it's advantages...like not wrecking my car every couple o'months and not quitting my day job just to spend an extra hour at lunchtime in the pub. Finished up the Go-Kustom TV Show intro. A little tweaking left but the bulk is done. Several weeks for a minute and a half intro. Brother...also my cats turn 4 years old today. They are true studio cats...they like to hang out in my recording studio, since it's off limits to the dog. We used to have three almost identical Maine Coon kitties, named after famous female jazz singers. Only Ella Fitzgerald and Deedee Bridgewater remain. Nina Simone ran off. Figures.

Orange Room Studio March 2002.

03/16/02- More snow. This has to be the most individual snow storms for any one winter, since I first moved to Seattle back in 1989. Good weather to work on the computer. Still editing the Go-Kustom TV Show intro. I also started writing a cool little Old Skool Hip Hop (i.e. Sir Mix-A-Lot) drum & bassline with a working title of Muck. Might use it for Kompressor.

03/14/02- The Kill Switch...Klick - Almost Ambient got a great review in the Sacramento News & Review. The Teen Feeding Frenzy! CD is # 3 on Amazon.com's Alternative Compilation Best Sellers list and it hasn't even come out yet! Got a letter from the I.R.S. yesterday. Seems they want us to pay another $4,000 for our 1999 taxes. Man - we just can't win! Called our accountant and he says he'll help us fight it. Talk about hit from all sides...how is a poor boy supposed to get anything creative done when all he does is file paperwork. Boohoo - poor me - blah blah blah.

the bassist

03/09/02- This is a painting that I finished a few weeks ago. It's called The Bassist. A little too much light reflection from the lighting and bronze metallic paints in this picture though. When I first finished it I didn't like it so much, but now it's grown on me. I really am looking forward to summer, so I can get my sculptures out of the attic and rebuild the ones that got damaged when we moved to this house. Oh yea- I've finally got the licenses ready for the Teen Feeding Frenzy! compilation. The official release isn't until March 27th. We're gonna set up a CD release party in May, when Bill Wolford gets back from white water rafting...some guys have all the fun.

Betty X.

03/09/02- Did Betty X's intro shots for the Go-Kustom TV Show. Now I just have to finish editing and - viola! the first episode of Go-Kustom TV will be ready to air.

03/09/02- Have you ever thought, "Man, I was born in the wrong time period. I should have been born in ..." Well guess what- your a dumb ass. You are supposed to be born when and where you were born. Sound like over-simplified logic? Well guess what- I'm a dumb ass too.

03/08/02- Snow, snow and more snow. I write letters to lawyers, Senator Maria Cantwell and the Consumers Union about the Sears incident. Man I need to make some music and stop thinking about the Sears induced crap. I was supposed to film Betty X's head shots for the Go-Kustom TV Show opening credits, but canceled because of the snow. KOMO News posted the story about my wife on their website. You know I'm thinking about all this and realize that were all just a bunch of fucking ants. This side and that side this anthill and that anthill. I guess it all depends on which fucking anthill you live in and work for that determines your outlook. It's like the Sears ants. They are just doing their little Sears ant job, managing their little Sears anthill. Me and my wife are in another little anthill. It's all territorial. Even the Sears corporate mouthpieces. In the Seattle Times piece, Ms. Drummond, just says what-ever her little ant bosses tell her to. Damage control...gotta save the anthill. Dumb analogy? Well I'm tired- it's be a long surrealistic week.

03/07/02- Wayne Havrelly from KIRO News (Seattle CBS affiliate) calls and read the piece in the Seattle Times. He wants to interview my wife that day. My wife calls me at work and says they wanna come over in a half an hour. I take an early lunch. By the time I get home they have already interviewed her, they ask me to sit down and answer a few questions. They finish in about 20 minutes. I thank them and they head out to Sears to get some shots of the store where this all happened (read 02/27/02 below). The KIRO and KOMO news stories are airing tonight at 5PM. The Seattle Times article came out this morning. This truly is a media blitz!

03/05/02- Connie comes over in the afternoon with her camera crew. She is a very sweet lady. they interview my wife and film the whole segment in about an hour. I'm home from my day job for lunch. Strange to see a famous nightly newscaster sitting in your living room. Later that afternoon the Seattle times calls. they want to send out a photographer that evening. Yeaa baby...it's a media blitz.

03/04/02- KOMO News (Seattle ABC television affiliate) anchor woman, Connie Thompson, calls my wife and asks for an interview. that's what I'm talkin' about - I love this country! We set up an interview for Tuesday the 5th. I'm on a roll so I e-mail the Seattle Times again, with a shorter email instead of the original 4 page letter I sent everyone on Sunday night. I need to get some print media to back up the TV coverage.

03/03/02- Still no response from Sears or Sears Corporate. I guess it's time to get the media involved. I send of e-mail to all the major Seattle media. Hope i get a bite.

03/01/02- It looks like Sears is gonna try sweeping this under the fucking rug. I guess they figure they can just ignore us and we'll go away. Well guess what- I'm not going any-fucking-place! They're gonna have to find out the hard way. I'm getting letters ready for all the Sears stores and Sears Corporate. If the Shoreline Sears store won't deal with their own dirty laundry- then I'll spread it all over town so the world can see their funky skid marked undies!

02/28/02- Not surprisingly no one from Sears calls us back. I'm putting all my spare time into this Sears shite, so of coarse I can't work on any music or the Go-Kustom TV show.

02/27/02- Man, what a night! Last night my wife went to Sears at 8PM, to buy me a last minute Birthday gift. I wanted some new jeans and work shirt. She went to pay the cashier and during the transaction the cashier started giving out my wife's personal information to someone the cashier said was "security" over the phone. My wife asked her what was going on, but the cashier said not to worry. Then the cashier asked for a second piece of ID. My wife complied and the cashier read her credit card numbers over the phone as well. My wife started getting worried, this didn't seem right. She asked to talk to a manager, but the cashier agitatedly said, there's no manager on duty, and she should just, "go home." My wife came home and told me what happened. I got worried and called Sears Security Department and the security gal gets all panicky and tells me, "this isn't normal at all, call your credit card company - call the police." So I do and it turns out someone tried to charge $147.00 to our card from some remote location! We've been scammed. I first think it's the cashier whose scammed us, call back security after calling the police. Security says they talked to the cashier, and they don't feel the cashier is in on it. The security lady says it's a scam where a person with a cell phone calls a cashier, posing as security and requests all the customers information to make sure they aren't gonna pass a bad check or whatever. The cashier reads the info to the scam artist and then the scam artist boogies to a computer and begins charging the card or whatever. This sucks. Today we call Sears management to complain about the cashier and ask if they're gonna do some kind of internal investigation about my wife's identity theft from the night before. Management tells us too bad so sad, it's not their problem. We ask for the Sears Corporate number and they refuse to give it to us. Unsatisfied with the result of lower Sears store management, my wife calls Sears Corporate and finally gets connected to the head manager of the Sears store where the cashier gave out her personal information (Shoreline). The manager says she'll look into it and call us tomorrow.

02/26/02- Got another root canal started today. This is number 4. Let that be a lesson to you kiddies...always remember to brush your teeth at least once in a while and lay off the sweets! Besides fun with dentistry, I've been blazing away at the Go-Kustom intro sequence for the Go-Kustom TV Show. Very hip, very retro, very time consuming. I really dig using Final Cut Pro 2 and doing video work in general. The program is similar in some ways to Cubase and other dedicated music programs I've used over the years, except instead of moving bits of sound around...your moving video. I plan on doing a whole season of Go-Kustom shows for public access, then I'm starting on the Kill Switch...Klick - Almost Ambient Video Collection Volume One, a companion to the CD of the same name. I'm also planning doing some videos for older KsK songs as well for which I have random footage and clips.

02/19/02- Dumping...always dumping...video footage...into...the computer...must...stop....must...rest...too much footage...burning retinas...

02/18/02- Still working on the television show intro. It's very tedious & time consuming. Also started laying out the footage of Jennifer Hope for the new Kill Switch...Klick video for Lost Like Innocence, off of the Almost Ambient Collection Volume One CD. Klick the pic of Jennifer to see more stills.

02/17/02- Mike and Wes came by and we had our first Kill Switch...Klick rehearsal in 5 years! Man that's a long time. It sounded a bit loose but we'll get it tightened up before too long. Also sent off a CDR with Flathand 5 tracks on it for singer Ricardo Acevedo. He wants to use them on his new Anthology CD.

02/15/02- Been working on the television show. Dumping video and editing. I'm using Final Cut Pro 2 on my G4. I'm hoping to have the intro wrapped up by next week, and the first show ready to air next month. Go-Kustom TV baby!

02/09/02- We did an interview with Michael Wimer for Go-Kustom TV last night in his record store called Musicwerks. Michael also plays in an electronic band called Noxious Emotion and owns a label called ADSR Musicwerks. The footage turned out nice and clean. Good interview. Today I'm finishing writing lyrics for two Flathand 5 songs that I'm not going to sing. One is called Followed To Crash and will be sung by Betty X. The other is called Middle Man and will be sung by Becky Thatcher who also performs in my wife's percussion group, OmBili. With those two song finished I'll only have one more to do lyrics for and sing and then the Flathand 5 album will finally be finished. After almost three years of recording!

01/31/02- Finished most of my taxes. I'm gonna be late on my State tax but got all my Federal taxes done. Been kinda anxious the last couple of days. Reminds me of how I was feeling right before 9-11. Might be nothing, but we are living in a different world. It feels mostly the same, but there is one little difference- YOU COULD BE KILLED BY A FUCKIN' TERRORIST WITH A BOMB IN HIS SHOE! Paranoid. We've all become a little bit more paranoid. Shoe bombs...what the fuck is that. I didn't see what kinda shoe bomb that wingnut on the plane was wearing on the news. Were they a loafer style shoe bomb, or were they sneakers- WITH FUSES HANGING OUT OF THE FRONT! "Excuse me sir, you must have stepped on some string because...OH MY GAWD YOU HAVE ON SHOE BOMBS!!!" Where do you buy shoe bombs? The shoe bomb store? "What size can I get for you today sir? With timed detonator or extra long fuse?" What if you stepped down too hard and accidentally blew off your foot. In the hospital you'd be saying, "Well you see doctor, I was walking to the plane, and I tripped on the escalator, and the next thing I knew I was lying on my back with my foot parts all over this young lady's suitcase." Man...

01/30/02- The Art Dept. of the TV show Dawson's Creek asked me for some Go-Kustom Rekords promo to use for their college radio station set for next season. I sent a box o' CD's, posters and T-Shirts. If they use any of it, that would be most excellent publicity for my burgeoning label.

01/29/02- Snow and taxes, snow and taxes, blah blah blah, blah blah blah (sung to Frere Jacques).

01/27/02- More taxes, taxes, taxes.

01/26/02- First real snow of the year here in Seattle. Not to heavy but kinda nice to get a little bit of the white stuff once in awhile. Doing my year end taxes so I didn't get a chance to finish the organ solo for the Go-Kustom TV Show theme song. Seems like all I do is taxes, taxes, taxes.

01/23/02- Finished writing the Go-Kustom TV Show theme song. It's a rockin' bit o' drums, guitar, B3 style organ and my kids yelling "Go-Kustom!" It's all done except for a solo or two. I have to get the first show ready by next month to make the lottery for a regular spot on Seattle Public Access station. I've also been writing new song sketches for the Kill Switch...Klick - Kompressor project. I pulled my accounts with Redeye Distribution, so now Go-Kustom CD's are only available through this website and Amazon.com. I'm working on getting some European and Asian distribution. It's a tough break, but it wasn't working out with Redeye. I can't get into it as there may be some legal wrangling a goin' on.

01/17/02- Got the Teen Feeding Frenzy! CD's back from the pressing plant today. They look good and sound like they are supposed to. Life is good.

01/11/02- Rearranged the studio from top to bottom the last two days. Now I have alot more room for drums or musicians. Mike Ditmore and Wes Griswold came over for a production meeting about the Kill Switch...Klick - Kompressor project. Busy as a bee I am.

01/08/02- OK, so it's 10 O'clock in the PM and I'm driving a family members stool sample to the E.R. Lab at the Northwest Hospital. The "specimen" had to be delivered to the hospital, no more than 2 hours out of the over (if you know what I mean). I'm talking to myself in the car saying, "The things ya gotta do for your family." I get to the E.R. desk and tell the gal, "I've gotta hot tamale here, where's the Lab." She smiles and points to the elevator. Upstairs at the Lab I answer some questions about the "specimen" and proceed to leave. The Lab Technician goes," Uh-uh-uhhh. There's no name on this fecal specimen." I come back and give him some more info and he puts a sticker on the container. He says, "Yep- it happens all the time." I say," So then your all sittin' around the lab going,'Well who's shit is this?'"We all laughed. Then I went home. Strange night. Oh yea- and my son lost his first baby tooth at school today. He was all proud. "Hey, look what's different with me," and all that. After he said it, of course he closes his mouth, so I was like, "You have dirt on your lip?" "No." "You have a bug in your eye?" "No- look at my teeth, I lost my tooth." Yesiree, a very eventful family type of day.

01/05/02- Little planes falling out of the sky. I took the Christmas tree and decorations down today. It's all remotely sad.

01/04/02- Still fighting the flu-bug. Been loading sounds into my G4 from my old sound libraries. We're talking thousands and thousands of sounds. Tedious but necessary. Rented Moulin Rouge. Actually a great film. I was surprised. Sudden vertigo effects and clear winner of "best use of a Nirvana song in a freaky musical" award.

01/01/02- First day of 2002...let's see how this year goes. A damn sight better than last year...I hope.

			
				

				
			
				
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