Toblins.com

Andrew Morris asked:


If you are familiar with people who work in human resources and hiring services, they will be sure to tell you of many experiences where they encountered applications that really looked great on paper but when the actual people behind these applications turned up to be interviewed, they turned out to be disasters. You don’t have to suffer the same fate; you can take note of the mistakes these individuals have made and prepare yourself for career success. You have to learn to make a good first impression by avoiding these four major mistakes which job seekers tend to make regularly and convince the interviewers that you are even much better in person than on paper. Avoid these blunders:

Failure to Prepare for Questions

Most people plan for interviews by setting a few interview questions for themselves and then preparing to respond to these specific questions, this is a very wrong move to make. Preparation is best for all possible eventualities or you rather not prepare at all. Think of it, what if you make up your mind to answer a set of specific questions and you end up being caught unawares and unprepared, how will that make you look? If you need preparation, you best think of as many possible questions as you can and anticipate as many possible eventualities as possible. In the end you will also have to learn not to rely too much on the questions you anticipate (you can’t possibly get them all, can you?) but your readiness to answer any that come your way.

Lack of Effective Communication

Impressing your interviewers and satisfying them with your responses is called effective communication, failure to effectively communicate leads to failure to be understood and failure to get the message across of how beneficial an employee you can be to the organization or establishment in question. Match the style of the interviewer asking questions when you answer them. If the interviewer is brisk and business-like, don’t attempt any jokes but respond in an equally business-like manner instead. Any questions that are directly asked should be directly answered as well.

Excessive Talking

Excessive talkers are a problem in any interviewing situation, interviewers will tell you this as well. Sometimes the excessive talk is due to over exuberance and sometimes it is due to the desire of the interviewee to over-compensate for what they perceive to be their own weaknesses. Whatever the precise case, being over-talkative is seen as a sign of weakness. Avoid taking an excessive amount of time to answer direct questions, get to the point. Never talk nervously as it indicates you’re either covering up for certain unclear deficiencies or that you are lying when you may not be.

Badmouthing Previous Bosses

Not all employers are Santa Claus and his band of merry elves but even if your previous employer was the Grinch Who Stole Christmas keep the sad stories out of your interview. Never express ill-feelings held about your previous employer or work situation. When it comes to challenges you experienced with your previous employer which were subject to negativity, learn to spin your experiences in a positive light.

Sheena Metal asked:


Hey, nobody said the music business was going to be easy. It truly is a jungle out there filled with: snakes, rats, rabid carnivores, sharks…well, you get the picture. In the course of your musical journey, there will be confrontations, arguments, misunderstandings, and miscommunications. You’ll get jerked around, screwed over, ripped off and disrespected. So, you want to be a rockstar? Welcome to your nightmare.

But this is also a business of good people, who’ll give you opportunities and chances and help you out when you least expect it. That’s why it’s so important that you, as musicians and as a band, act professionally and respectfully regardless of the behavior of those you encounter. You don’t have to be a pushover and of course, you have a right to defend yourself against the questionable actions of others, but the music community can be a very small town and the behavior you exhibit will follow you throughout your musical career.

On the flipside of that, there are musicians out there who, either knowingly or unknowingly bring negativity on themselves through their own actions. Short temperedness, egocentricism, brazen entitlement, compulsive lying and just plain old psychotic behavior can brand your band as troublemakers and deprive you of important opportunities that you need to move forward in this business.

So, how can you make sure that you’re doing onto others as you wish they would do onto you? What can you, as musicians do, to eliminate aspects of your personality that may be causing bad blood between you and the people you run across on your way to superstardom?

The following are a few tips that may help you to make sure you’re exhibiting professional behavior at all times:

1.) Be Timely And Courteous—Whether you’re playing out live or emailing booking inquiries from home, there is never a substitute for courteously or timeliness. At gigs, show up when you’re supposed to, be friendly, treat others with respect, set up quickly, end your set on time, break down quickly, be mindful of other bands on stage, compliment those around you and don’t forget simple things like, “please” and “thank you.” When you leave a positive impression in people’s minds, you’ll be high on their list when it comes time to fill an open booking slot, recommend a band for a review, etc.

2.) Make Sure Your Actions Match Your Words—It’s such a simple thing but you’d be surprised how many musicians seem incapable to doing what they say they’re going to. If you book a gig, show up and play. If you say you’re going to bring twenty friends and fans to your gig, do it. If you reserve an ad in a local music magazine, pay for it. If you write a check, make sure that it doesn’t bounce. If you say you’re going to send out a press package or a CD, mail it. It is true that many people in the music business are distrustful of bands that they don’t know, and with good reason in many instances. Build your good reputation in the industry by proving that you will do what you’ve promised. Start small. Once you’ve gain people’s trust, you’ll see more and more doors opening up for your band.

3.) Take The High Road—It may be tough but there’s nothing to be gained from returning someone’s improper behavior with a heap-load of your own. That doesn’t mean that you need to let every industry slime-bag from New York to LA ride roughshod all over your music project but there are ways to deal with the negative behavior in this business without branding yourself with a label equally as negative. Sending firm yet professional letters, making intelligent and informed phone inquiries and, if need be, taking legal action against those who have acted inappropriately are ways to handle unpleasant situations without drawing negative attention to yourself. Public scenes, yelling and screaming, long-winded and ranting emails, threats and accusations and spiteful actions may make you feel vindicated but it may chase away the good people as well as the bad and that just sets your band back.

4.) You Can’t Undo What You’ve Already Done—It’s much harder to undo past bad behaviors, or reverse negative reputations than it is to foster positive ones. It’s best when starting out to avoid acting rash as a rule. If you have a band member that is incapable of keeping his or her cool, perhaps it’s time to rethink his or her place in your group. The entertainment industry has a long memory and a spiteful tongue. Make sure when people speak of you, they’re speaking well.

This may all seem like such common sense that it isn’t even worth mentioning but you’d be surprised how many shows, interviews, tours, and record deals have never materialized because of burned bridges. You may have talent and great tunes, but if your attitude sucks you’ll get passed over time and again. No one wants to work with rage-aholics, egomaniacs or crazies. Don’t let anyone think that’s what your band is about. Sure it’s important to be creative geniuses but if no one likes you, you’ll be performing your masterpieces in the garage for grandma and her Pomeranian. Get smart and treat people right and you may find yourself rockin’ all the way to the bank.

Thom Kingsley asked:


Lower back pain is a major problem for hundreds of thousands of Americans. In fact, it’s reported by the National Institutes of Health that lower back back pain cost us around $50 billion annually in lost wages, lost work and general reduction in productivity that lower back pain imposes. This article, an interview with Dr Steven Gelbard, a Neurosurgeon from Coral Springs Florida, sheds light on some steps you can take to reduce – and even stop – your lower back pain forever.

Question 1: What are some non-surgical alternatives to back surgery?

Answer 1: Non-surgical alternatives, also called “conservative” therapy, are typically suggested by my patients’ primary physician prior to their referral to me. My patients have tried everything – and none of it worked for them, though conservative therapy does work for a large number of people.

Here are some non-surgical ideas for reducing lower back pain, but I must say that my first and foremost recommendation is that if you’re suffering from lower back pain that you visit your primary physician before attempting anything on this list.

1) Rest

One of the most common back injuries is the slipped disk – rest at the early stages of injury is one of the best recovery tools available. Lie on your back on the floor and place pillows under your knees and head. Also try placing your feet and calves on a chair.

2) Heat

Heat can help with ongoing muscle spasms. Heat the spasm for periods of 20-30 minutes at a time.

3) Stretching

Only conduct stretches with the approval of your family physician. The muscles of your back are deeply interwoven down into the muscles of your butt and legs so often a stretching regimen can reduce certain types of back pain. If your pain is chronic you may find that several months of stretching can help reduce pain.

4) Exercise

Strengthening your body core – abdomen, lower back and gluteus – can help to reduce back pain and prevent future pain from occurring. Pilates and yoga are two types of exercise that can help you achieve a stronger core, and both systems of exercise have practitioners who develop exercises specifically for stronger backs.

5) Injections

There are a number of injections that can serve to both diagnose the cause of your back pain as well as potentially treat it. The types of injections include soft tissue injections that decrease inflammation and reduce joint pain, epidural steroid injections often used for degenerative disk disease, nerve block injections which can both diagnose and treat the pain, and trigger point injections for areas that are especially sensitive.

Question 2: How effective are epidural injections for chronic pain?

Answer 2: Some people who have epidurals get better and never have problems

again. Or, they may require a set of epidural blocks once a year, or once every two or three years for flare-up. They can get away with-out surgery. We have a lot of people we are following that way. But, if all else fails, and you are hurting every day since an accident that happened over a year ago, then it is appropriate to do something more aggressive.

Question 3: What is the least invasive lower back pain surgical procedure?

Answer 3: Many people, when faced with surgery, want the least invasive procedure possible. This is often in line with what will give them the best relief for the longest period of time, and we’ve found especially good long term results using a procedure called percutaneous laser diskectomy which involves only a minor incision that a band aid can cover.

I find this percutaneous diskectomy particularly amazing because of how little we have to do to heal our patients… Especially considering the level to which they return.

With percutaneous diskectomy the patient can get completely better. He will be able to return to work and live everyday without pain or maybe occasional pain. But he still will have had an injury to his back; he will always have to be careful. He will always have to be aware of heavy lifting. I wouldn’t recommend that he play tackle football or lift weights. But the normal activities that people do like day-to-day sports, swimming and walking…all of these are OK. In a sense, the restrictions, while there, are limited.

Before resorting to any surgery, though, be sure to thoroughly discuss the procedure’s benefits and potential downsides with your surgeon. And remember the power of the second opinion – many people see this as a sign of disrespect towards their doctors, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Mark Kirby asked:


The rock and roll super group – a group made of musicians who are well-known for being in other groups, or, solo stars who band together into one entity, like the comic book heroes X-men or The Avengers – has a long history in rock music. The super group Blind Faith was comprised of guitar giant Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker from Cream, joined with Steve Winwood of Traffic. Clapton also joined with legendary Allman Brother Duane Allman and super drummer Jim Gordon to form Derek and the Dominoes, who recorded the classic rock album ‘Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.’

Oftentimes in jazz, musicians from different groups (who are great solo artists in their own right) will come together and create great music. However, this is not always the case. Groups made up of great performers – those used to working alone or being the “star” – can sometimes be less than the sum of their parts, as egos clash and the group becomes like a bad basketball team, where everyone wants to score and nobody wants to pass or play defense. Koko Dozo, however, is a dream team. Each member of the group, which includes Polarity/1, Rubio and Amy Douglas, is an equal contributor, with the entire group utilizing each member’s skills and talents. Once more, there are no egos clashing. Quite the opposite occurs, as the members provide support and encouragement for one another. On the group’s debut ‘Illegal Space Aliens,’ Koko Dozo shows that individual and group expression can meld into one, and – just like a good jazz band, baseball team or this year’s Boston Celtics – can result in something even greater than the sum of its parts.

[Mark Kirby] What kind of music was played in your homes when you were growing up?

[Polarity/1] I started off with my dad’s records. My earliest faves were Cab Calloway, Tito Rodriguez and other salsa music, Elvis, James Brown, Chuck Berry, Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Then there was the radio and television shows like American Bandstand, Soul Train and the Ed Sullivan Show.

[Rubio] My parents were fundamentalists and went through this period of being afraid of having any secular music in the house, so for a while we had nothing but this old 8-track with Pat Boone and Bob Dylan’s one Christian album. No, I’m not making this up. I used to stay up nights just surfing the dial on this crappy transistor radio I had and absorbing everything I could get my ears on.

[Amy Douglas] I come from a family that played instruments. Growing up, I was fortunate to have parents that liked music quite a bit. My dad was all about jazz – Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Brubeck, Duke, Bird and Diz, etc. – so I get my love of jazz from him and my grandparents. My mom was a huge fan of artists like Carol King, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Jim Croce and Elton John (still one of my personal heroes to this day). She was also a huge fan of Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Temptations, Philly soul, and anything Gamble and Huff touched, from Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes to the Spinners and all in-between. She liked Black music in general. Also heavily on rotation in the house growing up was Aretha Franklin, who served as my initial influence into opening up my head and wailing away, and Stevie Wonder, who was one of my greatest influences of all.

[Mark Kirby] What incident or moment ignited your passion to perform or otherwise get into music?

[Polarity/1] When I was in high school I discovered Brazilian music, Appalachian folk, Eric Dolphy, 16th century Japanese court music, Bob Dylan and Mahavishnu Orchestra. My thing with Dylan got me to buy a guitar so I could express my rage over the inconveniences of life on earth. Within weeks I was writing clueless protest songs about important political issues I never bothered to read about.

[Rubio] I’ve had a passion for music as long as I can remember. I used to go nuts over it even as an infant apparently. I started taking lessons at age four. When I was 11, I formally made a decision to dedicate myself to music. I was classically trained on piano and organ as a kid. As a teenager, I started getting heavily into metal and prog rock and things like that.

[Amy Douglas] I think growing up as a child in the 1970s served as a constant source of inspiration and was a catalyst. From just listening constantly to my parents’ music, and then turning on the TV or radio, it seems like virtually EVERYTHING influenced me. But if I had to narrow it down to a few choice moments, I’d say playing Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life,” seeing Chaka Khan on Soul Train, seeing Bowie everywhere on TV, hearing all the Beatles’ albums, and most important, hearing Led Zeppelin, my favorite band of all time. Between the TV shows Soul Train, Midnight Special and Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, there was no shortage of good stuff to draw on. I think the combination of hearing all this stuff as a child was like a bomb going off. Certainly, I take almost all my visual cues from Donna Summer, P-Funk and Chaka.

[Mark Kirby] Describe your musical backgrounds. Did you study formally in school? Or take lessons?

[Polarity/1] When I was 14 I bought a plywood guitar with a book of tunes that had chord diagrams, and then I starting writing my own songs. A couple of years later I took a few lessons and learned how to play major and minor seventh chords so I could add some jazz and bossa nova flavor to my songs.

I spent a semester at Berklee School of Music in Boston, which was a weird move, being that I couldn’t functionally read music and my brain isn’t wired for formal learning. But I could write notation a little bit and tried to prove that I was Berklee-worthy by hot-dogging the homework projects – like scoring an arrangement of Monk’s “Epistrophy in 7/4,” which nobody could play. I was redeemed a few years ago when I notated a 7/4 thing for Pete McCann and Gregg Bendian to play on “Munton’s Revenge” on the Polarity/1 ‘Speechless’ album. They nailed it pretty quickly. What was good about the year at Berklee was that even though I couldn’t learn in a normal way, [with] what they were throwing at me, I was able to sort of “visualize” all these concepts like chord functions and voicings. It all came in handy much later on in unexpected ways when I would create quite complex things without “knowing how” and be taken seriously. In that sense I’ve had a very real musical training.

[Rubio] I had lessons up until I was 16, mostly classical music. When I was younger, we had a deal where I got free lessons in return for performing for Kawai, showcasing their instruments in malls and conventions. Because of that, I had some performance training as well. By my 17th birthday I was playing full-time with bands and earning my keep.

[Amy Douglas] I started doing music from age six onward. I first discovered I could sing when my elementary school teacher wrote my mom a letter saying, “Ask Amy to sing for you sometime.” My grandmother taught me piano initially, and from there I took lessons. From 6th grade on, I was one of those disgusting “Music Big Concert School” kids. I started learning music theory in junior high and I got a lot of credit from the state of New York, won the Louis Armstrong and Eubie Blake music scholarships and then went to study Jazz Theory and Composition at New York University. UUUUUUGH.

[Mark Kirby] What were some of your earliest musical experiences?

[Polarity/1] My earliest gigging experiences in high school were great antidotes for bad looks and bad conversation-starting skills. Music-making has been all good except for one rough period where I got a real-world lesson about where my strengths and weaknesses were. My songs started off in folk and rock. Then they got jazzy and funky. Then I wanted to bring elements of the late John Coltrane, Mingus and Mahavishnu. So I created a band with all jazz guys instead of folk-rockers which was most[ly] cool – except that I wasn’t that kind of player with that kind of training. Since my only interest in the guitar was for songwriting, I had no chops and couldn’t contribute much on the instrumentals the other guys were writing. And they needed a serious jazz/metal guitar player. So I got fired from my own band. It triggered a move into a radically different direction, where I had to start from scratch and discover what my own creative process was, make a commitment to it and then succeed on my own terms. And with that kind of focus, I found that there were a whole lot of different things that I did really well with my own vision and method and developed big chops with it.

[Rubio] It was rough from age 11 to 16 because I basically had to disappear into a hole and hibernate in order to switch from organ to piano, and didn’t perform live at all during that time. It was a definite case of withdrawal. My first few rock bands were rough, too. I was nicknamed “Wendel” because that was Gomer Pyle’s actual first name in the TV show. I’m sorry to say that at the time the name fit perfectly. I was more than a bit naive. I’m very grateful for those times, though, because I learned a lot very quickly.

[Amy Douglas] I played my first pro gig at age 12 and did my first pro session at 13. I told my parents I didn’t want to go to school anymore. From then onwards, it got darker. My first pro gig was at a supper club on Long Island. Between dishes of steak and shrimp, I sang a combination of jazz standards and disco classics. It was a blast.

[Mark Kirby] Describe your individual musical journeys from the first bands to Koko Dozo.

[Polarity/1] I started off writing songs until I hooked up with the SIM (Studio For Interrelated Media) department at Mass Art (Massachusetts College of Art) when I was discovering Cage, Xenakis, George Crumb, Joan LaBarbera, Steve Reich and others. I made a decision to not use melody, harmony or rhythm in any way that resembled songs or jazz. And since I was also a visual artist at that time, the art scene provided venues for this new direction. So my visual stuff, music and lyric-writing got re-channeled into performance art and composing for choreographers and experimental theater. I also formed a group called Vocal Repercussions that did totally improvised vocals-only performances, where abstract vocal sounds morphed into words, free-associated texts, rhythms and harmonies. Then I moved to NYC and got obsessed with groove. I studied African drumming, played in samba bands and had a hip-hop thing with rapper D.A.V. called Medicine Crew. Hip-hop was an easy transition because I was already into looping and collaging, but in an abstract mode, and my performance poetry worked in a rap format. I was always into groove since I was little – funk, salsa, African drumming, calypso, samba and reggae. A couple years later I got back into songwriting and all that stuff merged into songs and electronica when I became Polarity/1. And that led to film scoring and collaborating with Rubio on Audioplasm, which led to Koko Dozo. And recently I circled back to the art scene, scoring for Battery Dance Company and Quorum Ballet from Lisbon.

[Rubio] My very first band I was in was ruled with an iron fist by this absolute tyrant and it was a real wakeup call. Those were also very fun times, of course. After a couple years in my hometown of Winnipeg, Canada, I moved to Toronto for six years before coming to NYC in 1997. I’ve done just about every kind of gig you can think of in that time, both live and in the studio.

[Amy Douglas] I had been gigging steadily in my own bands, ranging from funk to rock. I was part of a group of downtown artists known as the “Homocorp” scene. I was [also] a part-time member of the Squeezebox Band – the same Squeezebox they recently released a film about at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival – and basically spent my 20s either gigging, doing sessions or hanging with drag queens and getting into trouble.

[Mark Kirby] How did the three of you meet and get together?

[Rubio] I had met Polar in 2003 through a mutual friend, a drummer called Curtis Watts, with whom we had a mutual interest in samba. We hit it off and started working together sporadically. In the fall of 2005 we decided to completely redesign Polar’s studio with my help and work on each other’s projects. That blossomed into us working together on some production stuff, mainly soundtracks for documentaries, and an instrumental collaboration called Audioplasm.

[Polarity/1] Rubio and I were working on the Heavy Meadow album at the same time he was working with Amy in her “Red Hot Mama” show. He suggested the three [of us] get together to see if we could come up with something interesting.

[Amy Douglas] I had a show called “Red Hot Mama,” which was a rock vaudeville show, and I had hired Rubio as the keyboardist, and we really hit it off. When the show folded, he introduced me to Polar, the two of them having done a project called Audioplasm. I am way happier in Koko Dozo than I’ve been in just about anything I’ve ever done. We got together on a super hot summer day in 2007 and realized we had a great capacity to make incredible music based on our collective musical passions and influences, which also include a group devotion to Brazilian music, Afrobeat, and Latin music, so we really had quite a stewpot brewin’ by the time we started to write songs.

[Mark Kirby] How did you arrive at the name Koko Dozo?

[Amy Douglas] At the risk of hurting myself by patting myself on the back, I have to take the credit for it. My ex-boyfriend had mentioned wanting to do an avant-garde project and he threw out Koko Dozo as a trial name. When we were thinking about names, I threw it out there, and the guys liked it. I think it’s fab. [My ex-boyfriend] did so little for me while we were together, [so] at least he gave the band a great name.

[Mark Kirby] What is the musical concept of the band?

[Amy Douglas] It’s a really huge one. First and foremost it’s to virtually force people to have to really listen to what we do, and to help audiences that have been pandered to and been reduced to some sort of lowest common denominator grow some brain cells back. The music is obviously a ton of fun, it puts you in the mood to do some serious dancing and there’s more than a healthy dose of silly swirling around in the mix. But really listen to the words and you’ll hear that we have some deep issues we’re struggling with and we do address them in our songs, ranging from our distrust of our government, to the polarization of culture in our home of New York City and a whole bunch of other things. Our musical concept is to shrink the globe as well; the internet has made the world a smaller place and we wanted to find a way to fuse cultures, languages, styles and influences together in a way that reeks of New York City life, but will appeal to an audience that is truly global.

[Rubio] Generally, Polar handles the arrangements and the drum and percussion elements. I come up with harmonic ideas, play most of the keyboard/bass-type things and mix the tracks. Amy is the voice of the project and handles melodies. Obviously, there is a lot of overlap. There is one song I arranged and produced (“Boomchi”). Polar and I each do one lead vocal (“Kokodozonomics” and “The Heart,” respectively). There are songs where Amy did the chord structure and played keyboards. Polar is very avant-garde and always pushing the envelope. Amy is very melodic and tends to create things that are catchy and mass-appealing. I’m kind of in the middle.

[Polarity/1] We have an open source attitude about music. Between us, we’ve worked just about every genre category there is and we don’t feel any compulsion to restrict where we go. Each song has a strong identity of its own but they all sound like Koko Dozo. Conventional wisdom dictates that our way of working will guarantee that we’ll never find an audience. But we know that’s bullshit. The post-corporate online music business has made it okay for people to trust their intuitions about the music they discover. An amazing variety of people are responding. We’re reaching young electro heads, world-beaters, dance-clubbers, boomers, electronica geeks, and po-po-pomo gonzoid hairy-backed noiz gimps living in the basement of the basement on diets of sticky buns and penis butter and toe jam sandwiches. The parents and the kiddies like us too. And we write in different languages (English, Spanish and Portuguese) which reaches out even further. Also we have this whole bargain-basement-space vibe that makes things really fun.

[Mark Kirby] What is the story behind the Sun Ra-esque (a new word!) dress and alien mythology?

[Polarity/1] Here’s the story: we came from outer space and landed on Earth to exploit its resources – and for other reasons that we’d rather not discuss. We’re from the low-rent part of the universe where you wear whatever is lying around in the alley on garbage pickup day. That, coincidentally, is the same galaxy where Sun Ra came from.

[Amy Douglas] {Laughter} Well…the word “alien” permeates much of what we do and we like to riff on the term. Alien, as we mean it internally, is the feeling of not being comfortable in one’s skin, feeling out of synch with the world around you, feeling like the constant outsider. And we decided to really play with the word, and we decided that a space age “alien” theme would suit us wackos pretty well! Besides, it gives me an excuse to wear wigs and glitter, which I feel I was born to do.

[Rubio] We really wanted to put the fun and craziness back in music. Too many projects take themselves too seriously these days, which is BEYOND ironic.

[Mark Kirby] Describe the writing, recording and producing process for this CD. Were you all in the same studio at the same time?

[Polarity/1] Since we work in my studio, I’m there for the whole process. Generally, I show Amy and Rubio a track that I think would work for Koko Dozo. It might be just a sketch, almost complete, or anything in between. I might have complete lyrics as well (“Face On The Dancefloor,” “Kokodozonomics”) or just a rough idea for lyrics that Amy and I will collaborate on (“Shine”). Or Amy and/or Rubio will take one of my tracks and turn it into a song (“Second Time,” “The Heart”). Sometimes Amy has a song and I build a track around her chord changes, melody and vibe and help with the lyrics (“Down”). Rubio and Amy wrote “Boomchi” together and Rubio produced that track.

Rubio is the guy with the engine-ear. He comes in when a track is pretty much laid out and starts tweaking things. Then he’ll add his keyboard solos, sometimes bass and the more harmonically dense keyboard stuff. I do keyboard parts that don’t require big chops. Then Amy comes in and we track vocals. Rubio and I finish the mixes with Rubio in the big chair. Joe Lambert masters everything at Trutone Studios. He’s done all the Polarity/1 stuff and Heavy Meadow too. Lately Amy has been playing some keyboard parts.

[Rubio] As far as recording, we were generally all there. I personally NEVER record final voices without someone else in the room to give me a sense of perspective. Polar did a lot of editing on his own but often that job fell to me as well. The mixes were generally done with Polar and me, and we would send roughs to Amy for her input.

[Mark Kirby] What is your live show like? Is there a full band?

[Amy Douglas] It’s a full-on brigade of madness! We operate as a trio, currently using our tracks and the addition of live keys and guitar, bass and percussion.

[Rubio] I would love to have a live band, but right now circumstances and logistics just don’t allow it. The three of us do perform live, though. Polar plays electronic drums, guitar and hand percussion, I play keyboards live and we all sing. We use versions of the tracks that are customized for live shows, so what you hear on stage is not necessarily exactly what you’d hear on the studio version.

[Polarity/1] Our shows are fun for us, and I suppose audiences love to watch grown people making funny noises up there and bouncing around like homeless space mutants. Amy’s wigs and Rubio’s Viking helmet are worth the price of admission. And gazing at my psychedelic death-ray yarmulke is a life-affirming way to blow off shabbos.

http://www.kokodozo.com

http://www.myspace.com/kokodozo

James Brown asked:


You have an upcoming job interview, for you may have just recently graduated or is thinking about making a career change. The interview is your one shot at creating a good and lasting impression in order to get the job or position.

It is important for any interviewee to dress to impress and so a job interview calls for a serious business suit. Interviewers can create a first impression about you in a matter of seconds based on how you are dressed. You need to dress the part to show them that you are dead serious.

While they would consider your educational background, degree, relevant experience, personality and motivation for the job, it doesn’t mean that appearance is not important to them. After all, they would want their future employees to exude and display a certain corporate image and they will look for that in you.

Also, while job interviewers would understand that those who are just starting with their careers like the fresh graduates will have a limited budget for a work wardrobe, they still expect them to wear clean and appropriate clothing befitting of their company image.

You should as much as possible wear a suit. It definitely creates an impression that you are indeed serious as compared to a sports coat. The ideal colors would be navy or charcoal gray in a single breasted suit. A black suit would be more for business social functions and funerals so navy would be a more tasteful choice.

Your suit should be buttoned when you enter the office but you could unbutton it when you sit down. The bottom button should not be buttoned. Before you stand up to leave the office, your suit should be buttoned once again if you had unbuttoned it upon sitting down.

Never ever wear a short sleeve with a tie. White long sleeve shirt only with a straight point collar. It is recommended to wear a suit in solid color and a tie with patterned design. Avoid wearing pink or yellow colored ties and instead opt for serious colors like burgundy and others. An excellent design for a tie would be one that is in a solid color, small patterns or stripes. Make sure that the tie is long enough to reach your waist band or belt buckle. As long as you change the tie you will be wearing, you can still wear the same suit for subsequent interviews.

Your sock’s color should match your shoes and it should allow coverage so as not to expose your leg’s skin when you cross your legs. Your trousers’ length should cover your socks and choose a belt with a small buckle.

Lastly for the shoes, choose classic lace-ups in brown, black or cordovan. It should be well-shined and in good condition.

Jeffery Bradley asked:


Do dreadlocks hinder your search for your dream job? They may or may not. It all depends on your mind-set and approach to the job search. You need strong desire, a commitment to succeed, and determination to do what it takes to get the job or career you want.

Never judge yourself negatively because of your dreadlocks. More than anything else, they should empower you to excel and succeed in all of your endeavors including finding the job of your dreams.

Take a moment and think about the job you want. Get a job description and imagine you with your dreadlocks in that position. Write down three compelling reasons you want this job or career. With living expenses, list heartfelt dreams and goals this job will help you achieve. Make it a habit of reading your reasons often. This helps to keep you motivated.

Approach the search for your dream job as a full-time job. Do something every day such as scanning online job sites, reading the classifieds in local papers, and working on your resumes. Create a job searching to-do list every night or early morning.

Be relentless in searching for the job you’ll enjoy and bring you satisfaction. There are many people with dreadlocks happily employed in jobs they love having and doing. Get advice from them on how they got their jobs.

Before you embark on the search of your dream job, do a present reality check. Do you have the needed experience, skills, certification, or college degree for the job? If not, figure out a way to get them. Take courses online, enroll at a local college, or take a job close to the one you want to gain experience.

Here are 5 steps to help guarantee success in finding the job of your dreams with dreadlocks.

1. Create a Personal Work Profile

- Get a notepad or open the word processor on your computer and make a list of every job and place of employment. Make sure the name, addresses, and phone numbers are accurate. Keep detailed list of employment dates and salaries.

- List your professional skills and learning experiences. Include degrees, certifications, completed training courses, seminars, and self- taught skills.

- Add accomplishments, goals achieved, and responsibilities of previous positions. Computer skills are important. Note the type of computer and software you are experienced in.

- Get references from previous employers and co-workers. Give each one a call to verify use of names, addresses, phone numbers, and availability.

2. Write a Winning Resume

- Use the information from your Personal Work Profile to create a professional resume. Get samples from the Internet, bookstores, and libraries to create effective resumes, cover letters, references, and salary history. Ask a friend or relative with the job you want to review or compare resumes.

- Create electronic copies of your resumes for sending by e-mail and posting on Internet jobsites. The two most popular forms are Microsoft Word documents and Adobe PDF.

- Keep copies of your resume with you at all times. Store them in a folder, flash drive, briefcase, car, and secretly on a computer at work. You should always be ready to hand-deliver, mail, or e-mail your resume immediately.

3. Post or Send Resumes Weekly

- Post your resumes to employment websites such as Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, local newspaper websites, and company websites.

- Send out five to ten resumes a week every week. Make sure you follow up to ensure the targeted company received your resume. If you’ve haven’t heard back from the company, call or e-mail to verify they did receive your resume. Also, you can let them know you’re still interested in the job or position.

- Keep a log with the company name, address, date, contact person, and follow-up dates.

4. Network Online and Offline

- Practice TTP (Talk To People). Broadcast the job you’re seeking to anyone and everyone you know. Strike up conversations at grocery stores, school, church, parks, or anywhere people gather. Attend job fairs, business functions, seminars, and happy hours (try not to get too happy, your purpose is to network).

- Take part in online chat rooms and discussion forums. Many are hosted by professional associations in the field or industry of the job you’re seeking. You can also find job postings and other career opportunities.

5. Keep a Positive Professional Image

- Set aside one good suit for interviews. Find a place to keep starched shirts, pressed suits, and shined shoes. If possible, keep interviewing clothes in a travel bag in the car.

- Groom your dreadlocks. For men, make sure your beard, mustaches, sideburns, and edges are neat. Most importantly, make sure your dreadlocks are clean and fresh. Tie your dreadlocks behind your head with a black hair band.

Women can be more flexible since most companies consider long dreadlocks a female hairstyle. In either case, always try to present a professional image with your dreadlocks. Before interviews, visit a loctician or image consultant to get ideas on how to create a business hairstyle with dreadlocks.

- Record an informative message on the answering machine and cell phone. Write a script, rehearse it, and record it several times until it’s perfect. Make sure you state your name slowly and clear. Call potential employers back as soon as you hear the message.

- Practice interview sessions. Think of potential questions the employer may ask and rehearse your answers. Spend time in front of a mirror critiquing how you sit, your tone of voice, and eye to eye contact.

Send a thank you note immediately after every interview preferably the next morning by mail or e-mail.

Most important in looking for your dream job with dreadlocks is preparation. As inventor George Washington Carver says, “It is better to be prepared and not have an opportunity than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.”

Last, but not least, be bold, positive, confident, and daring. Letting your confidence show wins many points with the interviewer. If you have the right skills, groom your dreadlocks, and keep a positive professional appearance, you should be well on the way to your dream job.

dresscloth asked:


The clothing associated with heavy metal has its roots in the biker,[1] rocker, and leather subcultures. Heavy metal fashion includes elements such as leather jackets; hi-top basketball shoes (more common with old school thrash metallers); blue or black jeans, camouflage pants or shorts, and denim jackets or kutte vests, often adorned with badges, pins and patches. As with the bikers, there is a peculiar fascination with Germanic imagery, such as the Iron Cross

http://www.himfr.com/buy-Home_Socks/”>Home SocksDistinct aspects of heavy metal fashion can be credited to various bands, but the band that takes the most credit for revolutionizing the look was Judas Priest, primarily with its singer, Rob Halford.[4] Halford wore a leather costume on stage as early as 1978 to coincide with the promotion for the Hell Bent for Leather album. In a 1998 interview, Halford described the gay biker and leather subculture as the inspiration for this look.[5] Shortly after appropriating the leather look, Halford started appearing onstage on a roaring motor bike. Soon, the rest of the band followed.

It was not long before other bands appropriated the leather look; Iron Maiden’s original singer Paul Di’Anno began wearing leather jackets and studded bracelets,[6][7] Mot?rhead innovated with bullet belts, and Saxon introduced spandex.[8] This fashion was particularly popular with followers of the NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal) movement in the early 1980s, and sparked a revival for metal in this era.

The original hippie look with satin shirts and bell-bottom pants was out; some believed Halford’s style of dress more appropriate to the music. The studded leather look was extended in subsequent variations, to the wearing of combat boots, studded belts and bracelets, bullet belts, spiked gauntlets, etc. The codpiece, however, appears to have been less popular among the general public.

The style and clothing of metal has absorbed elements from influences as diverse as the musical influences from which the genre has borrowed. It is from this linking of different sub-styles of clothing and music influences that one can sometimes determine a person’s specific taste in music simply from overall appearance. However, such signs are not hard and fast rulings in the majority of cases. This uncertainty is what makes the first key aspect of the metalheads’ identity below so important.

Some of the influences of modern military clothing and the Vietnam War can be seen by the fans and bands of thrash metal, with the members of thrash metal bands of the 1980s like Metallica, Destruction, and Megadeth wearing bullet belts around their waists on stage[9][10] (it is likely that the thrash metal bands got the idea of wearing bullet belts from NWOBHM bands such as Mot?rhead, who have incorporated the bullet belt as part of their aesthetic since their inception, since many thrash metal bands in the 1980s were influenced by Mot?rhead).

The imagery and values of historic Celtic, Saxon, Viking and Chivalric culture is reflected heavily in metal music, by bands such as Blind Guardian, and has its impact upon the everyday fashion and especially the stagegear of metal artists. The independence, masculinity and honor of the warrior ethos is extremely popular amongst metalheads, as is the rejection of modern day consumerist and metrosexual culture. Folk metal, viking metal and to a lesser extent black metal and power metal fans often grow long thick hair and beards reminiscent of a stereotypical Viking, Saxon and Celt, wear Thor’s Hammer pendants and other neopagan symbols and carry mead horns. On stage, in photoshoots and in music videos it is very common for bands of these genres such as Turisas and Moonsorrow to wear chain mail, animals skins, warpaint (such as woad) and other Dark Ages themed battle gear. Power metal fans and musicians such as Rhapsody of Fire often wear attire reminiscent of the Renaissance and the Middle Ages including tight black or brown leather trousers and wide sleeved, buttonless shirts of various colors. The imagery of bards and minstrels as well as knights is a popular part of power metal fashion.

Kenny Love asked:


So, let’s say that you have successfully managed to get a few radio stations playing your music. What’s your next step?

Are you simply waiting on the charts to come in each week in order to learn if your single is moving up (or down)?

If you would like to get a bit more yardage out of your airplay, here are two ways to, not only capitalize on your current airplay, but to also (possibly) move up radio charts even faster.

1. Station IDs

I venture to say that most musicians who are promoting themselves probably never consider asking the stations that are playing their music in regular rotation for an opportunity to do a station ID.

Now, if you are unfamiliar with what station IDs are, a station ID sounds something like…

“Hi, I’m Kenny Love, and you’re listening to WBLS 107.5.”

OR…

“Hi, this is Kenny Love, from the band “Burned Out Baby.” Whenever I’m in Houston, I tune my dial to KBXX 97.9 FM.”

Now, chances are listeners have already heard your music, since you are in rotation, and the station ID will serve to make you a bit more familiar to them while the station also benefits from having a familiar artist’s voice identify it.

And, you get the obvious benefit of, potentially, enjoying more station music requests, which translates into more spins and airplay, increased sales, more performances, etc.

And, most stations are glad to coordinate station IDs with artists whose music they are playing. And, if you become really popular with their listeners, stations may even bring you to town on a bill.

2. On-Air Interviews

Here is, yet, another area where most independent artists don’t spend enough time pursuing. Yet, on-air interviews can also dramatically increase your exposure, notoriety and sales.

On-air interviews broadcast on stations that are already playing your music allow your listeners to become even more enamored with you and embrace your music while they learn a bit more info such as:

* The background story as it relates to your music overall * Your personal background * Your professional background * The meaning behind certain songs * Where you are performing * More, more, more…

And, one of your primary goals during on-air interviews should be to turn the average listener who merely likes your song into a lifelong dedicated buyer of your music who, not only picks up this particular release, but who also eagerly awaits your next release.

To me, the best interviews are the ones that are live and have call-in listeners.

The great thing about on-air radio interviews (whether live or taped) is that, in most cases, you are not required to travel to stations in order to do them, regardless of where stations are located. You can simply do them from the comfort of your home or office.

I have, personally, been interviewed on over one hundred occasions by television, radio and print media, and most of them have been wonderful experiences.

So, by all means, don’t allow this opportunity to increase exposure, sales and income exponentially, to slip through the proverbial cracks.

Rajinder Kumar asked:


As you or your band performs, be it from club to club around town or nationally, there is usually one thing lingering in the back of your mind…

How do you go about getting that one big break that will push you ahead toward greater recognition and success artistically?

You know it happens to artist and bands all the time. That time could come soon for your group to break out of the local scene and land that recording contract or national tour that will get you on your way to greater success.

You know there are tried and true methods. Having a great demo or being interviewed on the local radio shows at once seemed like a good idea. But times have changed in the music industry. In this article, we will discuss some up-to-date information and inside tips on how to get noticed in this tough business, in short I�ll give you some info that will literally place on the music industry radar screen. The knowledge that I�m about to share with you will work for any and everyone: Songwriters, Singers, Musicians, Rappers and for all genres of music: Pop, Rock, Rap, Gospel, R&B, Jazz, Grunge, Country and everything in between!

Where are the Scouts?

You have had the thought run through your mind as you perform for an enthusiastic crowd in a club or bar. Are there music industry scouts in this crowd? Maybe you just laugh it off but you have heard that they are out there watching bands like yours and signing the talented ones to develop into stars.

What you have heard is true. Industry insiders tell us that now more than ever, scouts are everywhere. You may worry that you are not living in one of the big �music industry towns� like New York, Chicago, L.A. and Nashville but that isn�t important. Remember, Seattle wasn�t on the map before grunge hit and they found Sir Mix A-Lot and for you Rock Heads, Kurt and Eddie.

But what if you don�t always have the biggest audience in town. Well, some of the biggest acts in the music business were �discovered� playing to a small and intimate crowd. If your performance is strong and you are getting good word of mouth, the music industry scouts will find you and check you out. So perform every night like they are out there because there is no reason to believe that they are not.

Go Get Them

But you don�t have to sit around and wait for them to come to you. The new �hunting grounds� for bands and talent are well known to the insiders. Once you know who it is that is feeding the information to music industry scouts and agents, you can learn the tricks of the trade to feed information about you or your band into that system. Here are a few of the newest methods and venues you can use to get yourself noticed:

* Perform, Perform, Perform. These days the local club scene is the most important way to get noticed. Don�t wear yourself out chasing agents or scouts. If your performances are strong, that will create a buzz and the word of mouth will get you noticed. Then the scouts will come to see you rather than you having to go and chase them.

* Build your relationship with your audience. Insiders tell us that scouts will come to a show for a musical venue they don�t even understand. If you are doing something bold and new that they are not able to evaluate musically, they will go by the crowd. If your audience responds with excitement and enthusiasm, that is what gets the eyes and ears of music executives. So pour yourself into the people for whom you are performing. That�s what you love to do anyway so it�s an easy way to get noticed and the right way too.

* Build your local network. Industry agents know club owners and booking agents for local events very well. If you have a strong reputation with them, they will pass that information along to the scouts who are looking for new talent.

* Indie (independent) labels are also a rich source of information for the larger recording houses to find out about up and coming bands. You may have indie labels near by so get to know them and get them to your shows so when they have a chance to connect you to a scout, your band is on their list of hot new acts.

* Never miss a chance to network but look for innovative ways to advertise yourself as well. The internet has lots of new and interesting sites that scouts are starting to watch for new talent. If you have the resources, get a web page up and get some MP3 samples of your performances out there. You can easily set up a website using a service like http://www.MyWebSiteMyMusic.com and you can also easily put your music on your site or anywhere else online, even in emails in MP3 format using a service like the one offered at http://www.ListenToMyMusicOnline.com .

The services offered by these two websites are extremely inexpensive and so simple to use, a 5 year old could do it, yet they will have you looking like a music industry professional in no time at all.

Is the Demo Dead?

From what we have learned so far, you would think the demo is ready to go into the hall of fame as an out-of-date tool. But the demo tape still has some real value to you. The best demo is one that showcases not only your musical skill but the personality and the performance skill of you or your band. If you can have someone put a demo together from one of your performances, that gives an agent or scout a bit of a feel for what to expect from you when he comes to see you.

So treat the demo as part of your bag of tricks but it isn�t the thing that is going to seal the deal. If a scout likes what he hears or at least his curiosity is peaked, he will then seek out ways to see you live. Then we are back to the club atmosphere, your relationship with your crowd and your performance. Those are the things that will get you noticed in a way that will lead to bigger breaks. Look at the demo as just the hook with a little bit of bait on it. You can also use your demo on your web page along with some video footage of your live performance to showcase the excitement of your shows. Remember both http://www.ListenToMyMusicOnline.com and http://www.MyWebSiteMyMusic.com offer some of the best services in the industry for doing this.

Video Didn�t Kill the Radio Star

Radio used to be the primary medium for distributing information about new acts and for getting your music played and noticed. But changes in ownership of radio stations and in how they are programmed have changed that too. The radio station is no longer a significant communication channel for you to use to get on the music industry radar screen.

A lot of factors have dropped radio off the radar screen for getting noticed. Airplay is not as much of a factor as it used to be when there was a lot of diversity in radio. Radio is nearly a monopoly with all of the play list decisions made by one central national firm. So if you think that any one individual at your area radio stations makes airplay decisions, you should revise that opinion because they do not. This little insider tip alone can save you huge amounts of wasted energy and frustration when trying to get noticed.

But don�t worry, scouts and music industry agents know they will not find the new, the innovative and the creative music on radio. They have turned from it to use local networking and club performances as their radar screen for new talent.

You do the same. Do not concern yourself a great deal with local radio coverage. Even college radio is virtually a dead venue for getting noticed in this new market. Focus on where the real contacts are being made today, through local contacts, word of mouth and above all club and local festival performances. Other good habits include using music industry contact directories like the one found at http://www.MusicBizPhoneBook.com which list contact information to over 20,000 important people in the music industry.

It�s all in your network and what is happening on the street that will make the difference between you getting noticed or not. In a way, that�s the way it always should have been, having the focus placed on your band talent, performance skill and live shows. That is where your strength is anyway. Be a savvy marketer and use this knowledge to raise the awareness of your band, your talent, your songs and your performances.

Colin asked:


For starters I am not a writer. I am a guitar player and you probably are too. So if you moonlight as an English professor please don’t contact me with corrections. That being said let’s talk about finger exercises. For this article when I refer to finger exercises I am talking about the 2,3, or 4-finger chromatic type exercise.

It seems like there are two schools of thought when it comes to finger exercises. One is that they are totally necessary when learning. In 10 years of teaching guitar I find this to be about 95% true. The students who work hard on this area of their playing always do better than those who don’t.

The other school of thought is that they are totally useless. For some players who absolutely tear it up on guitar, this is true. They became amazing players without doing any finger exercises but for the most part, players need them. I have read interviews with Yngwie Malmsteen where he mentioned that he didn’t practice this kind of stuff. (Like his playing or not the guy can throw down with anybody.) There are always exceptions.

Steve Vai has reported to have practiced finger exercises as much as 3 hours a day. They were that important to him. Robin Trower is said to have practiced them “religiously” for a year. I have read articles with B.B.King, Zakk Wylde, Tom Morello and a boatload of other players who all worked on their technique using exercises. I personally know jazz players, classical players, country players and metal players all who completely tear it up and still work on exercises everyday.

Think about this. How much have you improved as a player over the last week, month or year? If it’s been a lot, great! Keep doing what you are doing. If you are not where you want to be as a player, grab a metronome, finger exercise book and your guitar and spend some time trying these out. You will see results. Go slow and keep track of your metronome settings. Only increase the metronome by one or two clicks each day. It may not sound like a lot but after few months you will have sped up quite a bit. Also by tracking your progress will keep yourself motivated because you will be able see your results. This in turn will make you want to work harder. One of the reasons some people give up on guitar is because they can’t see the results of their practicing. So make sure to do this.

It’s very important to remember that this is only one part of playing guitar. There are so many other areas to address but if you aren’t with your fingers better start here.

Anyway, Thank you for listening.

Colin