Thrash Metal Hardcore Project - 2023

I'm guessing you're here because you clicked the link on my YouTube video for song 10, or maybe you stumbled across my site. Either way.... welcome! Thank you for checking out my blog about my Thrash Metal Hardcore music project (I need to come up with a proper name for it!)

This project started this past winter when I showed song three to my friend and writing partner when I was in All Out War, Jim Antonelli. He liked the song, and we even thought about writing some music together. My talk with Jim got me motivated to record the song and some other ones I'd written. 

The other source was Rick Rubin's new book, The Creative Act. Reading his book really inspired me to go forth with this project. Great book.

The music is informed by a lot of bands I love.

Song 1

This was a recent one I wrote. It has a quick Quicksand style, fused with Black Sabbath!

 

Song 2

One of my favorites. I channeled a lot of Slayer into this one. I also love the band Forced Entry from Seattle. If you like old school Thrash, definitely check them out.

 

Song 3

This one seemed to have resonated the most with listeners, and the one I got the most response. I wrote it a couple of years ago during lock down. It's a straight up hardcore song, with a little bit of Helmet at the end.

Song 4

The first section and the fast riff were written about 10 or 12 years ago but never came together. I couldn't come up with a transition into the fast section. One day I was listening to Power Trip's "Soul Sacrifice" from Nightmare Logic. That's when I came up with the bridge for the second half of the song. I added a few new riffs and the song was complete.

Song 5

Just a straight up double bass, metal song. The last section was informed by Dissolve. They are incredible hardcore band from the Hudson Valley. 

 

Song 6

This is a recent one. It has a little bit of Nuclear Assault fused with Cro-Mags.

 

Song 7

The "slow one" as I call it. It just all came together with this tune. I wanted to write something in the style of Typo-O-Negative and Black Sabbath. I was very happy with it. I was glad to see this one had a good response.

Song 8

The first two riffs were written about three years ago. Again, I didn't have a bridge for the next section. Then I was listening to "Piece by Piece" by Slayer - that gave me the idea. This one got a nice response as well.

 

Song 9

I wrote this a long time ago. It's definitely old school hardcore in the vein of Sick of it All and Rest in Pieces. 

 

Song 10

The hardest one for me to play and to record. It has elements of Tool, Slayer, Alice in Chains, and Faith No More. This is probably one of my favorites as well. 

Recording and Video process

I recorded all the song using Garageband. I interfaced the bass and guitar through a Scarlet Focusrite.

The drums were recorded on AKAI. Then I had to play along with the drum track when I recorded the videos. Personally, if I had the ability to mic my drums, I would have played the drums a little different for each songs. But I am happy with what I could do with the AKAI. 

I plan to release the songs for streaming. But I have to come up with a band name - and also a name for each song. Thanks for checking out my blog and my music. 

 

Realist Film Theory and Bicycle Thieves

A central claim of Andre Bazin is that the power of cinema can render the mysteriousness of reality on film--to capture and embalm the structures of reality. 

 

Hilary Neroni's excellent new book builds upon Bazin’s theory, arguing that those structures (or mysteriousness of reality) is mediation—language, unwritten rules of communication, systems of signification. Her other point is that what is "new" about neorealism is the combination of realism and melodrama. The two work together to bring forth (mediation) to draw attention to the workings of the social order. In this case, it is early post WWII, Italy. Those two key points (mediation and melodrama) make this a very interesting and engaging analysis of De Sica’s landmark film, Bicycle Thieves.

 

Movies often try to avoid showing us mediation (the forms that create the story world). But neorealism wants to draw our attention to them. But it also wants us involved in the story, to feel the emotions of the characters, to experience the melodrama, to make us aware of the systems that are working against these characters. 

 

 

I am so happy this is book is available. I teach this movie and agree with Neroni that Bazin should not be left in the dustbin of film theory. 

 

 

Realist film theory has a lot to offer for current cinema. Just think how much digital effects have developed over the past thirty years, how they have gotten more and more realistic. This is just one example that demonstrates the importance of Bazin and realist film theory. This book is definitely worth checking out.

Zworsky's Children

My new novel, Zworsky's Children, will be available on July 11. 

It was an idea I had since 2017. It started with a 60 Minutes segment on antibiotic resistance. Then I watched a PBS Nova episode (I won't say what it's about because that would spoil the novel). But I didn't have a story, just some ideas. It wasn't until I read Stephen King's On Writing when I started writing the book. I had written two novels before this and a bunch of screenplays. But King's book gave me the courage to write without an outline.

In On Writing, King says to write 1000 words a day until the novel is finished. (I think he might have said at least 6 days a week). But I wrote everyday.

The first few days of writing were fun. But when I got to the third day, I started to panic because I didn't know if I could write 1000 words each day.  What do I say? What am I writing? Then I remembered what King said: Write with the door shut. Even if these 1000 words suck, no one will read it. I always think that when I write. It is okay to be messy and to experiment. Ernest Hemingway famously said the first draft of anything is shit. So I just plowed ahead until I finished the first draft, which I completed in the summer of 2019 and was over 100,000 words.

Writing without an outline might not be everyone's method. I read James Patterson outlines his novels, which is amazing given how many books he's written. But for me, once I have a spark of an idea, I dive into the unknown and see where I end up. I keep the door shut until I am ready to share it.

I have written the Zworsky's Children series (three books total). The second book will be available next year, and I just wrote the first draft of the third book. For those of you who decide to read it, I do hope you enjoy the story. I wrote it with a lot of heart. See the review from Kirkus Reviews.