Mike's Magic

Mike and I were longing to perform with our rap group 3 n' Pass, as was our third member Mike Myer, the only problem was we had no idea how to pull it off. Finally Mike came up with a magical idea to mix our instrumental set onto a hi fi stereo VHS casette. From there we could hook up a hi if stereo VCR to a clubs soundboard and play our music off of the VHS tape. 

The three of us gathered at Mike's place, hooked the four track up to his mixer and turntables, and proceeded to get the ball rolling. Mike picked out some choice vinyls to beat mix our songs into one another. This way our set would be one continuous flow, never giving the audience a chance to respond until the set was compete. We figured it would be a good way to captivate people attention for the entirety of our live performances.

We booked our first gig at Tremors in Brampton late 1992, while we were still apart of Grasshopper. I don't remember who set it up, but amazingly we managed to secure Mal Havoc as our headliner. I eagerly got a flyer together and started spamming my hometown. When the night of the gig arrived, the place was packed and the show went great. Myers managed to hook up a video camera at the top of the club to film the show. Our set worked out as planned. We had everyone's undivided attention, and by the end of it all we got a great ovation. It was truly a magical night, and a huge honour to share the bill with Mal Havoc. 

Original flyer artwork for our first show

After the whole Grasshoper fiasco, we were itching to do more 3 n' Pass shows. Thankfully we still had contacts in the city, so we ended up getting a few shows downtown as to expose ourselves to the Toronto scene. The couple of shows we did land went pretty well, but they didn't have the same vibe as the Brampton gig. We decided it was time once again to perform at Tremors. 

We managed to get Yet Another Posse to make the commute from Pickering, and we got local metal brothers Demon Barf on the bill as well. It was a great mix of styles, and once again the house was packed. My work was cut out for me this evening, as I ended up doing a song with Y.AP. which was an added bonus, then during Demon Barf's performance I got into my "Satan" costume to face Jesus in a BWF title match. It was totally wild partaking in a wrestling match for the second time while the band belted out tunes behind us. Once again another magical evening had unfolded, and I couldn't of been happier.

I was extremely satisfied to be back on stages again doing what I truly loved, and the reception we were getting made it all worthwhile. Not very many rap groups were performing live during this time period, so I think most people just enjoyed seeing something different than the usual live bands they were accustomed to. 

3 n' Pass was like my baby, and it was amazing to finally see it all grown up and out in the real world. I wouldn't of changed a thing about it, but I soon learned my band mates had some changes in mind...

Sunday Night Experience

Not long after the disbanding of Grasshopper, Mike Chapman got a call he and myself had been waiting for. After our experience on "The Seminal Load" at 105.5 CHRY, Mike decided to apply for his own radio show, and now it was going to become a reality. The station must of appreciated the fact he worked at CIAO Radio, so they offered him his own time slot at CHRY. They offered him Sunday nights from 10pm to 6am if I remember correctly....or perhaps it was 11pm-7am... Or 11pm-6am... I can't quite remember.

Nevertheless Mike was totally stoked, as were myself and Mike Myre. It was a pretty big time slot to fill, so Mike enlisted us as co-disc jockeys to take part in this new venture. Our show would go on to be known as "The Sunday Night Experience" and we vowed to make it a listening experience for our audience, offering them a wide range and variety of music.

As we headed there for our first broadcast, we tuned into "The Seminal Load" as they held the time slot before us. Low and behold, Derek was their guest, trying to push his new brand of "Grasshopper" unbeknownst to myself, Mike had created a loop of Derek singing the line "I'm so alone" from the Grasshopper song "Born Loser" The recording he chose however was a terribly unusable acapella take. Derek was totally out of key and his voice was screeching and cracking.

Mike assumed Derek would tune into our show on his commute home, so he ran that loop in continuation for about 10 minutes. Once the cheap shot was out of his system, we proceeded to unleash our first episode on the college radio underground circuit. The hosts of Seminal, once friendly people, were clearing out as we took over the airwaves, but they  now seemed almost snobby towards us or uncomfortable, due to the whole a grasshopper issue I imagine. "Fuck em', I thought to myself.

Mike kicked things off with some old funk & jazz such as Miles Davis, James Brown, and Parliament, just to name a few. After an hour or so he transitioned into some break beats and instrumental hip hop and electronica, which eventually led to rap and hip hop songs. 

This took us right to 3:33 am, where myself and Myers stepped in with "The Power 333" our salute to thrash metal and hardcore. We selected this time slot to do such as it was half of 666, the number of the devil. We went by the aliases "Cronos Jr." & "The Aggressive Perfecter" both of us speaking in terrible broken English reminiscent to Max Cavalera from Sepultura. We spun heavy tunes for 60 minutes, then Mike C stepped back in at 4:33am to continue the action with a variety of strange and wacky music. 

We also had a call in segment where friends would phone us and we'd have on air discussions about randomness, we'd also get into busting live freestyle cyphers as well. This was definitely the highlight for me. For the last hour of the show Mike C. slowed things down a bit with some mellow reggae jams, in ode to all the early birds getting ready to start the day. We figured it would be a nice way for folks to go about their morning rituals with some chilled easy listening. 

Our first show went pretty well, and we were even able to record it live in the studio. It was a total trip for me, having access to a radio station with absolutely no supervision. We could smoke in there and pretty well do exactly whatever we pleased, even if it involved stealing a few choice records from time to time. 

CHRY had what was known as a cart machine. "Carts" were similar to the old 8 track tapes, and most of them contained commercials or plugs for the station provided by well known musicians such as Cypress Hill. We chose our favourite carts as to actually have some cool commercials from time to time. As the weeks went on, we started making our own carts in the station, as they had all the means to do so. Now we could actually advertise our own show, as well as our "mini-shows" within the show. 

It was truly a highly fun experience and Sunday had now become my favourite day of the week. I looked forward to heading into the station every sabbath. Of course by morning time we were all exhausted, burned out, and ready for bed, but it was totally worth it despite being a volunteer gig. It also gave us a platform to expose our rap group "3 n' Pass" as we could play our music and promote any live gigs we had coming up.

It felt great to be apart of something with meaning and substance, which I was longing for after Grasshopper dismantled. Our listening base wasn't huge, but we had listeners and that's all that mattered to us, and we were gaining more of an audience every week. Those Sunday nights were creating some of the best memories one could ever hope for, and I never wanted it to end...

Quick Update 01/21/2015

Just a quick update today for my readers. I am currently in the process of figuring out timeline lineage before I proceed with the story. It can be quite difficult trying to remember occurrences from over 20 years ago, but thankfully I've got scrapbooks, art, flyers etc. to help me do so. The story will continue very soon, you have my word.

In non related musical news, myself and my cohort Jon will be returning this week with our podcast. It has been just over a year now since our last one, and I'm happy to say we will be reuniting to continue the fun. Feel free to catch up on our previous episodes at:

www.coinop.podomatic.com

In musical news, my newest collaborative project "Tribes of the Moon" is coming together nicely. I now have about 30 minutes worth of material and I am still receiving tracks from various producers. If you'd like to be a part of this project feel free to submit your songs to me at:

theofour20@hotmail.com

I've also decided to start a new venture into the world of art with my new brain child "Pernicious Prints" I won't go into detail on this at the moment, but you can be sure I'll keep you up to speed on this as things start to unfold in the weeks to come.

This Friday I will be getting together with my friends from Wrestling Abaddon to partake in some activities that are still a mystery to even myself at the moment. I'm quite excited for this get together as I haven't seen my pals in ages. Whatever the end result is, I will bring it to your attention via my blog in the very near future...

 Love, peace, and chicken grease

-K

Carry on wayward son

So what was I to do now? I had been betrayed by someone I considered my best friend, but I guess the feeling wasn't mutual. So I decided to seek solace in the people who truly were my best friends. I started spending a lot more time with my Brampton boys, who I had clearly been neglecting the past two years, and it was truly a pleasure to reconnect with them and get back to my roots.

Musically I still had 3 n' Pass, so I began focusing all of my energy and creativity towards the project. We continued working on new songs, making new homegrown videos, and we started contemplating the idea of actually performing live. We just had to figure out how we would do that considering we had no instruments. 

Being stationed in Brampton again, I also started spending a lot more time with the Demon Barf crew up in the J section. Their guitarist Paul's house had now become my new home away from home. We'd mostly watch wrestling videos or play wrestling video games when the band was at rest. I kept playing the role of "Jimmy the sheepwanker" for them whenever they had gigs, and I embraced my role as an honourary member of the DB Army.

One day while hanging with them, they realized at the last minute that they had a show to play in Brantford. They scrambled to get a convoy together and pack the gear, but as fate would have it they weren't able to get a second vehicle. This meant they only had a four seater car to try and transport all of the gear plus 7 band members. There was no way possible for everything and everyone to fit.

Then came the debate on which members would actually attend the festivities. Clearly they needed the drummer and guitarists, which left only one spot in the car for a singer. The big dilemma however was the band had two singers, Matt & Kev. I don't remember exactly who made the call, but somehow it was decided that I would be the singer for this particular gig.

I was pretty stoked, yet somewhat nervous, as I didn't even know all of the lyrics to their songs. For the entire commute there we listened to their demo tape repeatedly so I could try and get my shit together. I had most of it figured out by the time we got there, but I knew I was going to have to improv a few parts and make up my own ad-libs.

When we arrived at the venue, we were eagerly greeted by the promoter and other bands. Much to our surprise, the club we would be playing in was attached to a strip joint. There was literally a door in the club that brought you into the adjoined club where the exotic dancers performed. Whenever the chance presented itself, we'd pop in for a quick drink and check out some of the lovely ladies.

The show was an all ages afternoon event, so we played around 3:00 pm or so. Despite me having to improv half of the show, we surprisingly pulled off a pretty killer set. After we were finished, we packed the gear back up and headed into the strip club for awhile. The main feature was just about to hit the stage, so we decided to stick around and check her out before heading home. 

She was a very bubbly, busty blonde with a pearly white smile that never left her face. Her act was highly entertaining, as she encouraged crowd participation throughout her set. At one point she pulled me and one of the other guys on stage and handed us each a squeeze bottle full of fluorescent paint, then instructed us to cover her with it. We held the bottles by our crotches and simulated masturbation motions while spraying the bright paint all over her body. From there she took out some glossy white poster sized pieces of paper and began to make prints of her tits and ass on them. Genius idea I thought to myself. She then preceded to make more prints and handed them out to people in the audience. I was fortunate enough to get one.

After all the fun and games were over, we piled back in the car to begin the trek back to Brampton. It was an awesomely fun day. I was thrilled to be back on stage to a warm accepting audience, and I couldn't thank the DB boys enough. I also had a great souvenir compliments of the stripper, and I would cherish and admire her work of art with great pride and fond memories. I was very anxious and curious to see where the musical path would lead me to next...

New Years Update 12/31/2014

Happy holidays readers! The most wonderful time of the year is upon us once again, which means a lack of posts from yours truly. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and got to enjoy some relaxing fun times with their families, I know I sure did. 

Well, it's been quite a year I must say. Things started off a bit slow and stagnant for me, but I definitely got back in my groove. My latest full length "What's Below Remains Below" was released earlier this month after two years of writing and recording. I'm quite happy with the finished product as it fulfilled the vision I had in mind for it. If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, then perhaps you should bump it at whatever New Years Eve function you'll be attending today. You can stream the album for free or purchase the digital download via the link below:

http://kabal.bandcamp.com/album/whats-below-remains-below

2014 has definitely been kind to me. I've been using social media a bit more to my advantage, which has led to me making some new connections, gaining new blog readers, new twitter followers, and more supporters of my music. I was also fortunate enough to meet the woman of my dreams, and I've gotten to spend more time with my son Gabriel than the previous year. I truly have no complaints and feel very blessed.

It was a pleasure to do some collaborative work with some friends this past year, which in turn spawned the idea for my newest project I'm working on "Tribes of the Moon" which showcases the production talents of various musicians and producers, with myself supplying the lyrical content for each song. As it stands I hope to have this wrapped up by June, but you never know it could end up being earlier...or later. I'm going against the grain this time too, and keeping all of the songs secretly under wrap until it is complete. I think this could very well end up one of my most interesting releases, as working with others tends to bring out the best in me.

I've also started working on another new project, my next full length album entitled "If you want C.H.U.D... You got it" but this time there will be a slight twist on my regular formulas. I'm delving back into the heavy end of things so it will be more of a rap/metal/hardcore hybrid with production from myself as well as a few guest producers. I'll be keeping this a bit hush hush as well, but you can hear the song "Dethrone the Emperor" to get a taste and idea of what's to come:

http://kabal.bandcamp.com/track/dethrone-the-emperor

As you may recall I've also been working with my good friend Mach Spitz over the last 12-24 months on "Street Trash" and it's slowly but surely coming together. We hope to have that release out sometime over the next few months, so be sure to keep your eyes open for that as well. It's been great working with him again, but it's also been tough, as life and schedules have been obstacles for us. We are literally a song or two away from completion. You can almost taste the sweet trash of the streets...

Another new endeavor to look forward to in 2015 will be a six song collaboration EP I'll be doing with my friend Tank Diggs, a man I almost consider a protege of mine. Tank is a multi-talented musician who can sing AND rap, and he is also dabbling into producing now, so it should be quite interesting to see what we come up with. I shall keep you posted...

On top of all that I will still be working on remixes as well as cover songs for "Heavy Ghetto" two other babies of mine that have been slowly simmering on the back burner. These two projects are more so things I do for fun in my spare time, the only catch being my spare time is somewhat limited. You can also be sure my blog and the ongoing story of Heavy Ghetto will continue in the new year.

All in all I feel 2015 is going to be monumental for not only myself but many others. I hope it will be kind to you. On that note, I'd like to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year's Eve tonight and I shall see you all next year! 

- Kabal

The Death of Grasshopper

When I answered the ringing phone the following day, I was surprised to hear Derek's voice on the other end. He rarely called my place unless it was to tell me he was on his way to pick me up, but on this particular day we weren't going anywhere. D asked if I was home, to which I replied yes, and he said he was going to pop by to talk to me. I was very curious to say the least.

Shortly after, he arrived at my place and I greeted him at the door. His face was full of concern and he seemed very uneasy. The words that came out of his mouth next floored me... "So I think it's time to end Grasshopper" I stared at him with a dumbfounded look on my face for a few seconds and then exclaimed "WHAT??? WHY???"

Derek went onto explain that the band was not going in the direction he wanted it to and that he felt it was time to pull the plug. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why. I explained to him that we had just played our biggest show to date and that our momentum was on a major upswing, yet he didn't seem to agree with any of my statements. All he could do was continue to plead his case and say things weren't going as he had planned. I brought up a lot of valid points as to why we shouldn't quit now but he didn't seem to agree with any of them.

Needless to say I was in shock, I was upset, and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. After our discussion concluded Derek asked for some records of his I had borrowed to make mixtapes. I realized then he wasn't just ending the band, he was ending our friendship. It was similar to an ex girlfriend coming to retrieve her belongings after a break up. D had been my best friend for the last few years so I was very upset and devastated by these events. He seemed reluctant during the conversation which had me wondering what his true reasons or motives were behind his actions.

I immediately called Mike C. after Derek left to tell him the news. Mike was just as surprised but he didn't seem too upset about it, after all he was originally supposed to be a temporary hired gun, so I think to him it was just "something to do dude" as he would always say. We both felt like Derek was not fully responsible for this, and we assumed his girlfriend and her mother had a hand in the destruction of our band. It made sense to us, they seems to have some form of control over him and we were both under the impression that they didn't like either one of us.

What was I to do now? Where would I go from here? I still had my rap side project 3 n' Pass on the go, so clearly I could now focus all of my energy and creativity towards that, yet I was still reeling from the news and I couldn't seem to get over the fact he would kill a band at the height of it's glory. It just made absolutely no sense to me. Not to mention he was just chucking our friendship in the garbage too. I was hurting in a bad way.

Everyone else was just as surprised by the news as much as I was. The Demon Barf boys could not believe it. They could see my pain, and being the great friends they are, they invited me to come to Hamilton with them to for their performance at the Corktown Tavern. I graciously accepted their offer as I needed to get out of the house and tie one on.

Just to sweeten the deal, Wrestlemania IX was happening that day, and the bar was actually able to get it on satellite, so we were all stoked. It was taking place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and it was a spectacle to behold to say the least. The Demon Barf boys were all straight edge, so lucky me inherited their free beer that the club gave them for performing. I grabbed a pitcher and a glass and made my way to a table front row centre. It was still early in the day so the guys were setting up the gear and getting ready for soundcheck. 

As I poured my first drink, I noticed there was a flyer on the table advertising upcoming shows, and low and behold it stated that none other than Grasshopper would be performing here next week. I thought to myself "is this some type of mistake or a sick joke?" I figured it was a gig we had lined up previously that would now not happen, but I usually knew about all of our shows in advance and I didn't remember anything about playing in Hamilton. I needed answers.

I approached the club promoter and asked him if this was some sort of mistake. He informed me that it was not and they had just booked the gig a week or two ago. I told him we were no longer a band yet he confirmed that he had personally spoken to Derek to set the show up. One thing was for sure, I had some serious investigating to do.

Once I was back in Brampton after the gig, I started networking with my friends from other bands to see if I could get some answers. Eventually my curiosity and questions led me to an answer. Derek had NOT ended the band. He had been secretly jamming with another rhythm section behind our backs while we were still an active band. Mike had been replaced by the bass player from Mudfish, and I had been replaced by the drummer from Goat Dance. Two bands that we considered to be brothers to us, and two guys I considered friends that I had respect for... and they'd stabbed us right in the back while smiling in our faces the whole time.

I was absolutely furious. Derek had blatantly lied to us, betrayed us, and destroyed our bonds. I felt like it was the lowest thing he could have done. Clearly he didn't have the balls to tell us what was really going on, so he chose the chump way out and fabricated some bullshit story.

I literally wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp. All I knew was that it would be in his best interest to steer clear of myself, as I really had no idea what I might do if I saw him. I also refused to acknowledge the fact that his new band was Grasshopper, as they were not. When two thirds of a three piece band are replaced, it is no longer that same band. Would you still consider Rush to be Rush or Primus to be Primus if their frontmen replaced the rhythm section? I think not...

A few things were for certain, I would make Derek's life hell at any given chance, I would run the name of him and his band through the mud, and I was not going to give up my passion and love for making music...

Sonic Spring

The spring of 1993 was in full bloom. Flowers were budding, the leaves were back on the trees, and Grasshopper were gearing up for our biggest show to date. We had been invited to play The Edge 102.1 (CFNY) Sonic Spring Explosion at the Concert Hall AKA the Masonic Temple. This festival was a pretty big deal, as it was heavily advertised in the papers and on the radio. Granted we had been in local papers before and our music was getting heavy rotation on the college radio stations, but this was our first time being mentioned by major newspaper publications and radio stations. We would be performing with Acid Test, Teknicolor Raincoats, and The Morganfields. These were somewhat "bigger" bands that were getting commercial exposure. This was a serious opportunity for us which was very exciting, but to me it wasn't as exciting as the fact that I'd get to perform on the stage of my all time personal favourite venue. It was also put together very professionally, we even received legit backstage passes for the first time in our "career"

We got to the gig fairly early that day, met up with the required contacts, and we even did a sound check for a change, something we were not accustomed to doing unless you pretty much forced us. I guess being a "noise band" we assumed sound-checks would make us too polished sounding come performance time. On this particular day though I was very happy we did sound check. While I was setting up my gear something caught my eye...a pair of drumsticks sitting on the floor. I was always trying to build my stick collection, so naturally I went and snatched them up. I was surprised to see that they were custom sticks engraved and inked with the signature of a drummer and the logo of his band...Sacred Reich. As it turned out the almighty Reich had played the Concert Hall the previous night, and their drummer left behind a memento for me. I decided I would definitely use his sticks for the gig that night.

We still had a few hours to kill before the festivities for the evening commenced, so we tracked down one of the promoters to inquire where we could go to "smoke" He told us we could go down to the basement and do as we please. I was totally shocked to see just how large the basement of the Temple actually was. There were all sorts of hallways and rooms, even a banquet style hall lurked beneath the street. It had a nice wooden floor and I just so happened to have my skateboard with me, so I commenced thrashing about while Derek and Mike continued exploring the basement. 

I had only been skating for a few minutes when the guys called out "Kev! Come here you gotta see this!" I hopped off my board and ran in the direction of their voices, which led me to another smaller room that somewhat resembled a diner, minus an actual counter and kitchen. There were a bunch of "booths", tables with nice plush couch type seating. I realized in the blink of an eye that this was were MuchMusic had interviewed the Beastie Boys exactly one year prior. I was in total awe. We sat down at that very table and preceded to have a session. We were all stoked at the fact that we were sitting where the boys had once sat, cooking B.T.s off the exact table that MCA skateboarded off of during that interview. There was definitely magic in the air.

Eventually it was our time to shine, so we hit the stage and belted out what I considered to be one of our greatest sets to date. I couldn't believe I was playing the Concert Hall, and it was packed with people just like most of the shows I had attended here. This was definitely our biggest shining moment and it was a dream come true to be rocking a stage that had been graced by so many different musical legends. Pretty much every show that ever mattered to me had taken place here and this was another one to add to the list, only this time I wasn't in the audience as a spectator.

After our set we headed out to mingle in the audience however, and we were overwhelmed by the amount of people waiting by the backstage door to greet us as we exited. I couldn't believe I was actually singing autographs for people... it was a total trip. I was also getting eyes from a few pretty ladies so I decided to try and score, but that didn't pan out so well as I had two starstruck fanboys following me around asking questions about the band for the remainder of the night.

Eventually the show ended, we packed up our gear, and headed home. I was so blown away by everything that had unfolded that night as I lay in my bed totally wired. This was indeed our biggest show to date, and the big break we had worked so hard for. I imagined things would just get huge for us now as we were at the pinnacle of our journey. The last thing I expected was the disturbing phone call that came the following day...