The Black Belt Demo

Happy New Years! I'd like to quickly wish each and everyone of you a happy 2016, and I hope it's a great year for you all like I am anticipating it to be. For my resolution I am going to try and post at least once a week. Let's hope I can stay true to that. Now let us continue on with the story of "Heavy Ghetto"...

So we had been in our new place a few months now. Waller had moved back to Vancouver so there was a bit of an emptiness in me, but thankfully the birth of Black Belt Jones had reinstalled me with a passion that burned brighter than ever. We had been writing songs and jamming frequently, and we were now ready to hit some clubs for live performances. Before we could do that, it was essential that we recorded a demo tape so we could give club owners and promoters a preview and taste of what we were all about.

I had long returned Derek's four track recorder to him after his sneaky disbanding of Grasshopper. Luckily for us Mike Myers had picked up a four track of his own somewhere along the line. We could now easily record a demo tape in the comfort of our new home. Mike didn't live very far from us, so he was over quite frequently. Material wise, we had about 8 songs or so, which was more than enough for a demo tape.

I honestly have no recollection of the recording process surprisingly enough considering my track record with memories, except the day Paul & I hooked the Sega Genesis up to the four track. We recorded music and sound effects from the video game "Mortal Kombat" which we then layered with beats and rhymes... a song that came to be known as "MORTALITY". Other than that it is all blank, but I do distinctly remember being in Mike C's room with him and Mike Myre. We were recording all the vinyl scratches we needed from Mike C. We also did our final mix down that day, and our demo was now ready to rock.

During the recording period I had been working on a cover concept as well as liner notes and inserts. My two best pals from middle school Sanjai & Jay Poole were still hanging out at Slayer House on a regular basis, and they were a great inspiration. Sanjai even ended up drawing the cover of the demo. It portrayed myself dressed as Black Belt Jones, delivering a decapitating kick to a falling Derek from Grasshopper. This spawned the idea of having his severed head inside the liner notes. I drew the head in pencil then used an actual type writer to layer the text over top of the image. Yes kids this was looooong before the days of fancy computers and photoshop. It was all DIY, and I wouldn't of had it any other way.

Our demo was officially completed. We printed off multiple copies of the covers and inserts, which we had to cut by hand with scissors. We bought an abundance of blank tapes from dollar stores and bargain stores all over Brampton. We had to dub every single side of every single tape from our master copy, and let me just say doing your own duplication is a very time consuming process.

While we were busy dubbing tape after tape, some other musical happenings were unfolding within our circle of friends. Wiggaz AD had also been recording at Greg's place, and they too now had a completed demo tape ready to shop around. This was great in my eyes, as we could now tackle this as a team, and even offer two bands at once, which also enabled us to double our promotion efforts. 

It wasn't very long before our first opportunity came. Mike and I decided it would be best if we went back to the man who had started it all for Grasshopper, club promoter William New. Willie was genuinely thrilled to see us, and he was very excited to hear our new project. Within the blink of an eye he booked us for one of his infamous "Elvis Monday" shows that he was well known for. We ended up playing with an unknown band that night called "Rusty" who would go on to achieve mediocre success. William was a great man, and he would give anyone a chance, which was a highly admirable quality in my books. 

BBJ got over really well with the crowd that night, I believe mainly because we were something new, fresh, and different. Elvis Monday's were usually booked with Indy bands generally, who played punk, rock, grunge, etc. Now that people were presented with a live funky rap band, they actually embraced the change, and the reception we received was overwhelming. 

We knew we had created something special, and it was time for us to show the world...

Or the greater Toronto area at least...

LISTEN TO THE DEMO NOW!!!

UPDATE 12-16-2015

Seasons greetings! Regretfully, I have to start this post off with an apology, which seems to be trending with this blog as of late. In my last update I was apologizing for the lack of posts over the past few months, and I vowed to rectify the matter. Unfortunately life has been a bit hectic to say the least. Between Christmas approaching, my business life, and my personal life, I simply haven't had the time to write. 

On top of all that I have been cramming in attempt to have my future full length release "Theokoles" completed and ready for release in January 2016. As things stand at the moment it could end up being pushed ahead a few months, but I will be sure to keep you updated on an actual release date. In the meantime you can enjoy my entire discography at discounted prices for the holidays.

www.kabal.bandcamp.com

I've also decided to venture into the world of film making with a close personal friend of mine who is a cinematographer. I kept having a reoccurring dream which led to this revelation. After having the same dream three nights in a row, I took it as a sign and decided to run with the ball. This is going to be an extreme undertaking, and I expect it to be at least a year or two of hard work, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The film will be a documentary on the history of the hardcore music scene in Brampton, the town I grew up in. B-Town has always been a breeding ground of undiscovered talent, and a lot of creative and skilled players have emerged from my old stomping grounds over the decades. I'm very much looking forward to getting production started in the new year, which is obviously going to consume more of my time, which is already limited to begin with. You can follow the progress of the film by liking the Facebook page, that way you can be in the loop for every update regarding "Suburban Wasteland"

https://www.facebook.com/suburbanwasteland

In the meantime I shall try my best to juggle it all and manage my time properly so I can continue the big story that fuels this blog. That's all I've got for now, if by some chance you don't hear back from me in the next 10 days, I'd like to wish you all a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays! Be safe, enjoy your time with your families, and have a rum & eggnog for me. Cheers!

-K

Black Belt Jams 101

We were officially moved into the Slayer House and party time had commenced. Steve Waller was heading back to BC soon, so he was spending most of his time at our place. Our backyard backed onto a field that was part of an elementary school, and it's big blank walls stared into our kitchen windows. Waller declared he would tag (graffiti) the school before he departed to Vancouver. Sure enough, on his last night in Ontario, he snuck over to the school during the wee hours of the night and emblazoned one of its walls with a big graffiti burner. It was beautiful. Steve wanted to get a picture of it in the morning before he left, but we were all shocked and disappointed when we awoke and discovered the schools janitor had already removed it. I was going to miss Steve big time, and I didn't know it then, but it would be another 4 years until I saw him again. 

Meanwhile in our new, not so humble abode, we finally had an official jam space for our newest musical endeavor Black Belt Jones. We had a table in the corner of the space where Mike had set up his turntables and mixer. We also had a P.A. system set up on said table, as well as space for our drum machines. In the adjacent corner, Mike's small jazz drum kit was set up for rocking beats, as well as his guitar amp and guitar. Myers and Pauly brought their amps and guitars and the special ingredients, their drum machines.

Pauly had gotten his drum machine awhile back, and Myers now had one too. I had previously programmed a few songs into Paul's as had he, and Myers had programmed a couple of songs into his. I liked the fact we had two different drum machines, as it meant we would have varying sounds for our songs. I don't vividly recall our first jam here, but I do know that since we already had beats programmed it was time to start building songs.

From this point forward we would have a weekly jam, generally Friday evenings after everyone was done work. There was never a shortage of beer and the pipe was always packed. It was in these first weeks of jamming that we put together the songs that would eventually be our first demo tape. Our first batch of creations included "Oldschool Enuff" a song loosely based on The Message by Grandmaster Flash, "It's Like Dope" which is pretty self explanatory although it was inspired by the Schoolly D song of the same title, and the coup de gras: a self titled bomb track that always hyped us up. 

Myers had also had come up with a little ditty he called "Slut love in B minor" which was one of the first songs we completed. It later came to be known as "The P-Stro Beat" which spawned from Myers old 3 n' Pass MC alias "Mr.P." I'm not sure how the whole "stro" thing came into play, but I gather it was on account of the Beastie Boys song "The Maestro" in the later days to follow we would even start to refer to Mike C as "The C-Stro". We now had the P-Stro, the C-Stro, Prince Pauly, and myself "Black Belt Jones" the final four of what started as a 10 man band.

Lyrically I had an abundance of material to choose from, so when we were building these songs I was merely reading random pages from my rhyme books. When I found something that went well with the music, I stuck with it. Over the next few weeks we continued jamming and refining our songs, each week they'd become tighter and better. Musically this was the most fun I'd had in any band yet. Everyone's input and ideas were welcomed with open arms, we collectively created our songs together, there were no egos, no control freaks, we were simply four guys who were open to suggestions and down for whatever. 

What we were down for now though, was getting some shows booked so we could spread our sound to open and willing ears...

The rhyme book that started it all...

Slayer House pt.2

So why was our new abode to be nicknamed "The Slayer House"? The answer is quite simple. On either side of the driveway were beautiful stone statues of falcons, which were very similar and reminiscent of the falcon logo the band Slayer had been using on their merchandise. There you have it....no big mystery.

The day we moved in was a gorgeous day luckily for us. We had rented a large moving truck and managed to get all of our stuff into it. Shayne had wrangled up an old salesmen buddy of his from Majestic to help, which was a blessing as he seemed to be an expert packer and mover, which just kept everything running smoothly.

When we arrived to move in our new digs a bit of drama occurred. There were now two couples and a debate arose about which couple should get the master bedroom. I really couldn't of cared less either way, but my girlfriend Tara, who was very loud and outspoken, got into it with Shayne. When you have two loud, stubborn people butting heads it is always a fiasco to say the least. Shayne brought up a valid point, that he was very instrumental in getting this place for us, which was absolutely true. I really didn't give a shit either way I just wanted to move into a room already. 

So it was settled. Shayne & his new girlfriend Pauline got the master bedroom. Tara and I got the next largest bedroom. Noel called dibs on the only room that faced out the front side of the house, and Mike C got the smallest bedroom which was located between our room and Shayne's room. The room Noel took had a small den area off to the side of it, so we set up a little makeshift library there. Later on I'd find a lot of solace in said den. It was a very relaxing place to read and/or write.

There was oddly enough a spare bedroom on the main floor of the house, which nobody wanted, so it became exactly what it already was... a spare bedroom, which would come in handy for friends who needed a place to crash. There were also two living rooms, one by the front door which Noel pimped out with his new furniture he'd bought. This came to be what I called "the plastic room" as it was the embodiment of a living room you'd see at your grandparents, covered in plastic and never used.

The second living room ended up being where my snake Regius lived, and I set up a computer desk with my old Commodore 64 to relive the retro gaming era. Strange part about living rooms, we never really used them at all, so they definitely weren't living up to their names. There was also a dining room but we only had one table, which obviously found its home in the kitchen. The dining room stayed completely empty with the exception of a few plants.

Speaking of the kitchen, it ended up being the most communal part of the house. We always seemed to be gathered at the kitchen table when we hung out, and the radio in the kitchen was constantly blaring the soundtrack to our lives. We all worked different hours, yet seemed to cross paths in the kitchen before or after work. Little did we know the kitchen would be the place where we did most of our partying... and the basement as well.

The basement was my true sanctuary of the house. The tv was down there as well as the video game system, which at the time was Sega Genesis. We collectively had so many couches now that we set up two around the television, then had numerous more couches formed in rows behind the couch closest to the tv. The result was like our own little comfy cozy movie theater. Behind the couches there was still a large area of empty basement, where Mike set up his drums and turntables. This would now be the official jam space of our band Black Belt Jones.

We were all moved in and we had everything arranged to our liking...now it was time to see what kind of shenanigans we could get into...

Slayer House

The time had come for us to find a new place to live, which was going to be a struggle considering we were four young men with two cats and a snake, not to mention two of our girlfriends wanted to move in with us, one of whom had a cat as well. So that's six people, three cats, and one snake. Who in their right mind was going to rent to us?

Luckily, Shane our neighbour and good friend, had a sister named Tracey who was a real estate agent. We put her on the case and crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. Tracey was amazing at her job so we all had faith in her. Sure enough she delivered promptly and properly within no time. 

She had found a place for us in Flowertown, which is in the west end of downtown Brampton. I'd always been a bit anti-Brampton, as I grew up in the east end of the town which was known as Bramalea. Nowadays it's all considered "Brampton" but back in the 80s there was legit heat between Bramalea and Brampton people. Regardless of the silly geographical politics we needed a place to live, so we went with Tracey one day to check the place out.

We arrived at 28 Phelps drive in Flowertown and we were overwhelmed by the size of this house, it was huge! The owner was an old Italian gentleman named Joe, and the front lawn was adorned with a big fountain and cherub statues. There were also matching falcon statues on each side of the driveway. There was a double car garage and the driveway could easily fit six vehicles. We hadn't even stepped in the door yet and I was already sold!

Once we entered the premises we were greeted by nice polished marble floors and a giant sparkling chandelier. The main floor had a bathroom, laundry room, guest bedroom, dining room, two living rooms, and a large gorgeous kitchen. From the kitchen you could step out to the backyard, which boasted a nice deck and a barbecue gazebo. 

The basement was unfinished, but it was absolutely massive. It even had a big room that would remain locked, as it was full of Joe's possessions. The cool part about the basement was it also had a bathroom, as well as two staircases, one to the main hallway and one to the laundry room, which also had a door into the garage and a side door to the backyard. 

We made our way to the top floor, which had a full bathroom, three bedrooms, and an enormous master bedroom with a big walk in closet, and the swankiest bathroom I'd ever seen. The can was adorned with crystal, mirrors, and marble. There was a glass walk in shower, a bidet, and a large step up tub with jets. This place was unreal, and we definitely wanted it.

Tracey put our lease application in and we hoped for the best. The rent was about $1400 a month or so, which was almost $500 more than we were already paying, but between 6 people it would work out to about $230 each a month, which was more than affordable. I figured we weren't going to get the place, as Tracey had been very honest with Joe, explaining in the lease that there was indeed six people, three cats, and a snake looking to move into his house. Perhaps the old saying "Honesty is the best policy" is indeed true, as we received the call from Tracey shortly after to inform us we'd gotten the place! 

Come the end of the summer we would be moving into our new abode, that would come to be known as "The Slayer House"...

SLAYER HOUSE as it stands today

UPDATE: Devils Night

Greetings everyone and happy Devils night! My favorite time of the year has approached us once again, and I'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween. I wanted to apologize once again for my lack of posts over the past few months. I have had a lot of things on the go which in turn has affected my time to write. Moving forward from here I shall try my best to post at least once a week.

Asides from spending time with my lady, friends and my son, the majority of my free time has been spent working on music. I've actually had quite a few projects on the go as of late. First and foremost I recently released the "Lockdowns" LP, which is essentially a self proclaimed collection of greatest hits, or greatest misses, depending on how you look at it. I chose 15 tracks from the last 15 years that have garnished the most positive feedback and downloads. You can stream or download the album for free via the link below.

https://kabal.bandcamp.com/album/lockdowns

I've also been working on my latest full length "Theokoles" which will hopefully drop in January of the new year. I've completed a handful of tracks thus far and it is coming together nicely. The new album will feature a few guest spots as well as a couple of guest producers. Stay tuned for the announcement of who will be joining me in my quest. I am keeping it all under wraps until it's completion, but you can access the song "Two Crows" in the meantime, a dedication to my fallen brothers Mike Chapman, Jay Poole, and Rich Polyzotis.

https://kabal.bandcamp.com/track/two-crows

Last but not least, I spent the majority of August and September working on my second Halloween EP entitled "Horrorcore Bouillabaisse II" Some of you may recall I did the first bouillabaisse back in 2009. I figured it's been six years so why not do another one right? This time around it's a bit different, as majority of the songs are actually cover versions of rap songs that have appeared in horror movies. It was a super fun project and once again my man Greg Dawson from BWC studios was kind enough to supply the mastering. The EP drops tonight at midnight in celebration for All Hallows' Eve. Be sure to get your copy and have it bumping while you hand out candy to the kids tomorrow! 

https://kabal.bandcamp.com/album/horrorcore-bouillabaisse-ii

That's all for now folks, I'm signing off here but I shall be back tomorrow with another post in the ongoing story of Heavy Ghetto...

Heat Bringerz

Just a quick footnote before I commence with today's post. In the previous blog entry entitled "94' News" I covered a few world events that had taken place at the time. These events actually occurred between 1991 and 1994 but everything seemed to culminate close to the same time period. I also hadn't made mention of much happenings outside of my own life, so I figured it best to tie them all together in one post. I just wanted to clear this up so people weren't under the impression that I was off as far as the time frame goes, or confused as to the actual chronological order of my story. Now let us move forward...

Summer was here, and we had embraced it. My three roommates and I were taking full advantage of having our own place, as were the majority of our friends, as they all now had a flop house to hang out at. It wasn't uncommon for all of us to got o a bar in the city on a Friday or Saturday night, and then have all the crew over to our place afterwards to keep the party going, usually until the sun started to peek up over the horizon. 

When I wasn't partying, most of my free time was spent watching movies with my girl Tara, or my homies, jamming in the basement, making mix tapes, and skateboarding with Steve Waller. I was still working midnight shifts at the gas station in Woodbridge, and I used that time mainly to write lyrics. Sometimes I'd work on my comic strips or read a book, but I always made a point of writing at least two full pages of lyrics every night. I had purchased a hard cover notebook from the dollar store, and that would go on to be the first of many "rhyme books". Each night at work when it was time to write, I'd go back a page to see what I left off on. From there I'd use the same rhyme scheme as the last line on the previous page to start my new page. My philosophy in doing so, was that once completed, the entire book would read as one giant rhyme. Some of the stuff I wrote was mediocre, some of it was garbage, and some of it was straight up gold. All that mattered to me was that I was expressing my inner thoughts and elevating my writing and rapping skills.

Pauly had gotten a drum machine for our Black Belt Jones project, and he let me bring it to work a few times to start crafting beats, which was a godsend in itself. Working midnights can be very boring so I was always looking for things to occupy my time, more so in a productive and creative way. I'd start work at 11pm but things would generally come to a screeching halt by 1am. I'd do two solid hours of work including inventory and dealing with customers, then it would be like a ghost town until about 530-6am. So I would basically have 4-5 hours to kill every night, and I needed things to occupy my time so I could avoid falling asleep from utter boredom. 

By the morning I'd be dead on my feet, yet I still had to do a 30 minute bus ride to get home. I'd usually read on the bus, but after working a graveyard shift the reading would make me very tired. It wasn't uncommon for me to fall asleep reading and miss my bus stop all together. This was a pain in my ass, as all I would want was my bed, and now I'd have to travel further and wait longer to get to it. I didn't even have a real bed, just a mattress on the floor in the basement. It was situated under the stairs from our living room to the front door. It was impossible to get any sleep with my roomies and friends constantly opening and closing the front door, tromping up and down the stairs, and having conversations all within an earshot of my resting place. After chewing the guys out a few times, Mike suggested that I sleep in his room upstairs, as he was already gone to work when I arrived home in the mornings. Mike was a great friend indeed, not many people would offer you their bed, but in him doing so I was able to get some decent sleep finally.

We were also now getting heat from the owner of the house as well as the neighbors, due to our lack of upkeep. Everyone around us had nicely groomed lawns, yet our grass was well over a foot long and riddled with weeds. I don't even think any of us owned a lawnmower to be quite honest. To make matters worse, we lived at the inner end of a dead end street, meaning our house was basically a spectacle for everyone else who lived on the street. I'd constantly see people spying out their curtains trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on inside our abode. I'd also see neighbors out on the street "talking" which was really just their ruse to be nosy and keep eyes on us. With all the friends we had constantly dropping by I could only imagine what was going through our neighbors minds. It was just a matter of time before someone dropped a dime on us and the boys in blue came knocking on the door. 

As the old say goes... "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" 

Well the heat was up full, and it was definitely time for us to find a new kitchen...