Stage Fright 101

The duo of Black Belt Jones and Wiggaz seemed to be getting over quite well with audiences, so we continued to play shows together. That of course meant I had to perform double duty as I was now the lead vocalist in both outfits. I had been plagued with anxiety over replacing Mike in Wiggaz, but that was short lived. 

Mike came to us all as a group and as friends, to inform us that he would be stepping away from the band scene to focus on life and his new bride Myra. We all accepted that and gave him our best. I hated to see him go from BBJ as I felt he was a very important and instrumental part of the band. Michael was literally one of, if not the most talented player I had met yet in my journeys. As sad as it was to see him go, it was also a relief that there were no issues with Wiggaz replacing him with me before even communicating with him. That never sat right with me. I felt it was somewhat disrespectful towards him, and a bit of a dick move on Greg's part. But then again, sometimes things just happen in the heat of the moment and we have no control over them.

When music is in your blood, it is in there for life, and such was true in Mike's case as well. Shortly after disbanding us, the music bug bit him again. He began creating songs with his wife Myra, and they ended up recruiting former EBS drummer John McCuish. The trio would come to be known as "ETHER" an experimental project in the vain of the band "Ween". I don't think they took things too seriously, and they sure as hell weren't out trying to book gigs or get a record deal, but they were creating something, which is really all that is important at the end of the day. Even if it is just for ones own piece, or peace, of mind.

I was still working midnights at the gas station, and I was still writing lyrics like a mad man. I was frequently tuning into college radio stations during my shifts, and since work was slow, I made an effort to promote our bands as much as I could when the opportunity presented itself. There were a few times that radio stations invited us in for interviews but I had to decline because of work. On some occasions the guys would go without me, and they'd even call me at work and put me on air to join in. It was truly a magical time in my life.

When performing with Wiggaz, I was still wearing my Dad's old suit and the devil mask. I decided I wanted to spice things up with BBJ and bring some level of character to the band, so I started wearing an Afro wig and sunglasses. I'd been performing in front of crowds for close to 8 years now, yet I still suffered some form of "stage fright". It wasn't uncommon for me to stand sideways on stage, or even almost turn my back completely to the crowd. With my Wiggaz disguise I discovered it opened me up more, gave me more confidence, and in turn a greater stage presence. I figured if it worked for Wiggaz it should work for BBJ.

My assumptions were correct. The simple disguise gave me a new level of confidence, and the sunglasses helped me look straight into the crowd without having to make eye contact with anyone. This loosened me up tremendously, which again in turn gave me a better stage presence. I was no longer an immobile object. I was grooving and shaking my shit, much to my own surprise.

With Mike gone we also had to make some changes to the band. Pauly & Mike C. would now have to share stringed duties. We never could decide who should play what, so the guys opted to play both bass and guitar. Once we ironed everything out we had a new formula. Some songs Paul would play bass, on other songs he would play guitar. The same applied for Mike C. We had reached an agreement that worked for all of us collectively, which meant the "Kung Funk" would live on...

http://youtu.be/yX6pXVbuI1E

Black Belt Jones Interview

UPDATE 02/22/2016

Greetings & salutation readers! I hope the new year has been kind towards you all thus far. I'd like to take a quick moment to bring you up to speed with everything. I know I made a New Years resolution to post weekly, and I've been trying to believe me. Life just seems to keep getting in the way, but I will continue to tell my story whenever I get the chance.

Musically I have had a lot going on. I've been grinding away on my latest full length "THEOKOLES" and I'm getting close to the finish line. The album will hopefully be released in the very early spring. It's quite different from my other work, yet consistent with my style. I stepped out of the box a bit musically but it seems to be all for the better. The new LP will feature 14 tracks or so with a running time of 40-45 minutes roughly. 

There are a couple of tracks produced by special mystery guests, and I will also be joined by a couple of mystery guests on a few tracks as well. I'm very much looking forward to dropping this for your ear holes to enjoy! 

I'm also working on my hardcore rap metal project "If you want C.H.U.D... YOU GOT IT" and that too is shaping up nicely. I've payed homage to some classic bands by sampling their music and writing lyrics inspired by them. I've also got a handful of original tracks produced by numerous friends, as well as a few cover songs to boot. I will most likely include a few unreleased songs as bonus tracks as well. Be prepared for the thunder this summer...

That's all from me for now, until next time...

- K

The Birth of Satin

Shortly after the success of our first Brampton show, we decided to hold another Wiggaz/Black Belt Jones double header at the famous, or infamous, El Macambo club in Toronto. I'd played there a few times over the past few years, and even though it was somewhat of a rundown, sketchy place, it was always a pleasure to do my thing there. The walls were adorned with photos of bands that had blessed audiences over the decades, including the Rolling Stones. It always felt magical to step on that stage which had been shared by countless legendary performers. 

The "Elmo" had a downstairs and an upstairs, and in these days most shows were taking place on the ground floor. The was no actual backstage area per-say, so the bands would congregate in the kitchen, which was located behind the stage. The kitchen contained a stairwell at the back of the room that led to the upstairs, and that was generally where the herbal olympics would take place. I have many fond memories of sharing drinks and conversations back there with a lot of great people who were class acts.

A mere week or two before the show, we were all somewhat shook by some news that Mike Myers dropped on us. Mike informed us that he would be getting married to his girlfriend Myra, and he would not be able to join us at the upcoming show. Not only did this mean we were out of a bass player, it also meant that Wiggaz now had no vocalist. Since we had two guitarist it was a pretty easy fix for Black Belt. Either Mike or Paul would play bass, and the other would play guitar...or perhaps each of them would play a bit of both. Regardless, it was a simple bandaid to apply.

Wiggaz on the other hand were in a bit of a pickle. I sat with them at the kitchen table of the Slayer House one night and we all brainstormed, trying to come up with some ideas for a temporary replacement. We eventually came to the conclusion that I was really the only person who knew their lyrics inside out, my only dilemma was I didn't want to be seen as the same vocalist in two different bands performing on the same night. I proposed the idea of possibly wearing some sort of disguise and the boys were on board. 

Greg later mentioned to me that his sister had acquired some devil mask from a haunted house job she temporarily held that past Halloween. I told him to bring it on by, and in the meantime I took a trip to my parents place, as they had boxes of old clothes in the basement. After some rummaging through boxes and closets, I dug out one of my father's old suits that had to be from the 70s. It was beige and plaid, and what I would refer to as a "Herb Tarlic suit" similar to those worn by a character on the old television show "WKRP In Cincinnati" I also found an interesting silk dress shirt that was printed with ghetto like buildings...It screamed disco. The coup de gras was a pair of brown leather platform dress shoes, also straight off of Soul Train. My ensemble was complete, and I was ready for the show. 

I never did see the devil mask until the day of the gig, and it was more incredible than I had anticipated. It was very form fitting, the lips hooked into my lips, the jaw was slit under the cheeks enabling mouth movement, the brow even sat snug in my brow. Nose and ears fit into place perfectly. It was as if this mask was made for my head. I put it aside with my get up, and got ready to hit the stage with BBJ.

Despite being handicapped one player, we managed to pull off a decent set that night, and got the usual warm reception that we were rapidly growing accustomed to. There was a bit of a break between bands, so I cooled down, caught my breath, and had a drink and a smoke. From there I started suiting up, and everyone "backstage" was dying with laughter at "the suit" Wiggaz had a song called "Satin" and with my slick threads and devil mask, Satin was now here and real... In the flesh. The time had come for Wiggaz to hit the stage. I was nervous yet focused, as I didn't want to screw up.

I honestly don't remember much of the performance that night, but I do remember that having that mask on seemed to transform me. I was generally a bit shy on stage, but in full costume it seemed to open me up more and I was a complete mad man. We gave the on lookers quite a show that night, and after our final song we shuffled off stage to a roaring applause. As soon as we got back stage Greg approached me with a wild look of euphoria in his eyes and proclaimed "DUDE YOU GOTTA BE OUR NEW FULL TIME SINGER AND I WON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!!!!" 

That was it. The Wiggaz were now OFFICIALLY born. I was overwhelmed and taken back by the whole thing, and I really couldn't stop wondering how Mike was going to take the news that he was no longer in the band...

(Artist conception of Satin in Saints Row videogame)

 

Hometown Heroes

1995 had arrived and it was the dawn of a new era. Black Belt Jones had released our demo tape, and we had played a couple of "Elvis Monday's" at The El Macambo. The audiences were generally very responsive to the new sounds we were bringing to the table. As much as we appreciated the support of the Toronto people, we were itching to play a show in our home town of Brampton. 

Unfortunately the club Tremors had recently been shut down due to underage patrons being served alcohol, so we now had nowhere to play. I can't even remember who or how this happened, but one of my friends discovered we could have a show in the basement of a pub called "The Ivy Bridge" which was located in the Brampton Mall. We set the wheels in motion to book a gig, and we decided that we would play with Wiggaz, as they now had a demo tape as well, and enough material to perform a short set.

As per usual I drafted up a hand made flyer for the show. Once it was complete I went to the local print shop and fired some copies off. It was now time to spam the town. There weren't many places to advertise per say, but thankfully a few record shops distributed flyers for us, as did our good pal Munish at T-Shirt Palace. Our music was ready to present, the date had been set, our guerrilla marketing was in effect, and we were more than ready to rock this show. Our fate now rested in the hands of the Brampton scene.

When the night of the show was finally upon us, we were overwhelmed by the amount of people who showed up. The basement of The Ivy wasn't a big room by any means, and we were pushing the fire code limit. The place was ram packed to the gills and filled with the smell of smoke and alcohol. Old friends, new friends, and people I'd never even seen before, all filled the room from wall to wall and front to back. The Ivy Bridge didn't have a stage so we set up on the floor. A fellow named Martin worked there, and he helped set the whole thing up. I believe Rob from Wiggaz knew him, and he may have been the key that made this night happen.

Our bass player Mike had been recruited to sing for the Wiggaz, so he was actually pulling double duty on this evening. Both bands put on killer performances and we had the crowd in the palm of our hands. The mosh pit was thrashing and I'm sure a few bottles of beer fell casualty to the hard concrete floor. I honestly think people were just happy to have live music back in Brampton. 

At the end of our set we decided to have a freestyle contest, meaning anyone from the audience could come up and bust a rhyme while BBJ supplied the music. Not many were brave enough to come up, but one girl named Jen had the guts to. She was the girlfriend of Frank, the Wiggaz drummer. Although her rhyme was simple, and possibly not her original lyrics, it was still an amazing sight to see. Pauly had made a one of a kind BBJ shirt to award the winner, and Jen took said shirt home with her on that night. 

We didn't know it at the time, but the open mic freestyle session would become a staple of our sets in the days ahead. It would end up being the way we closed out every gig we played. On this particular night however, once we had finished performing, I decided it was a good idea to throw a proper party at the Slayer House. I literally made an open invitation on the microphone to every single person in the bar to come back and party with us, and the majority of them did.

We ended up with a house full of people and we partied hearty until the sun began to peek over the horizon. The night was a success, the after party was a success, and we were all itching to do it again as soon as possible...

Bar Brawls 101

So we had lived in the Slayer House a few months now and a new year was approaching us, but before we enter 1995 I would like to recall the events that transpired one Saturday night in October of 94'. 

Shayne's girlfriend, and our roommate, Pauline, was from Orangeville Ontario. I had been there a few times in my early teens with Jerry, and let's just say the male species in town didn't welcome our kind warmly. Pauline said there was a punk show going on up there, and as leery as I was, I ended up packed in a vehicle and we were on our way. There was myself, James, Noel, Shayne, Pauline, and my girlfriend Tara. 

When we arrived at the show I was a bit taken back to see it wasn't even a bar, we had arrived at some type of legion or community center. My levels of leery-ness were already on the rise but we made our way in and paid some ridiculous cover charge in relation to the time period. We walked into what was literally a gymnasium. There was no alcohol being served, and the majority of the audience were underage teenagers. 

Just when I was about to reach my boiling point I realized I knew the fellows on stage performing, it was The Almighty Trigger Happy! Somehow I caught singer Al Nolan's attention, and the next thing I knew he was pulling me up on stage. The band began to play some heavy improv groove shit while yours truly laced the microphone with a deadly freestyle off the top of my head. The kids in the crowd totally ate it up and it was a magical moment. We watched the rest of Trigger Happy's set then made a group decision to goto an actual bar so we could drink.

Pauline brought us to a place that I later knew as "Main Street Station" but I'm not sure if the name was different at the time. Regardless, we put two tables together, got a round of drinks, and ordered a shitload of chicken wings. The bar wasn't too busy, maybe 30 people or so including a table of 4-5 guys behind us, local farm boy jocks with very big mouths. We tried our best to pay them no attention and continued on with our drinking and mass consumption of wings. 

At some point Noel decided we were going to have a round of shots, specifically flaming zanbuchhas. He offered to pay but the catch was we had to drink them on fire. We clanked our  shot glasses for a "Cheers" which caused a bit of our shots to spill and set the table on fire. From there I tried to sip my drink and burned my lip, I tried again and got burnt again. Finally I threw my head back, opened the hatch, and dumped it in from a few inches above my mouth. At the same time everyone else was trying to figure out a way to take their shot while also dealing with our flaming table. 

Shortly after one of the large jocks walked by and stroked my goatee, then he stopped and said "Is that ok? You're looking at me funny" to which I replied "Ya it's cool, I'm just used to chicks doing that, you're the first guy who's ever done that". Anyone within an ears shot was snickering and laughing while he looked at me angrily stunned, then returned to his table.

The jocks had been getting rowdier as the evening progressed, and they were being quite disrespectful to the waitress. My girlfriend Tara was outspoken to say the least, and she voiced her displeasure to the waitress, telling her she should stand up for herself. I guess the jocks overheard and the next thing I knew Tara was bickering with them. She was witty and mouthy enough to take care of herself, so I payed little attention to the squabble and continued to drink... Until one of the jocks at the table stated loudly to Tara "Ahhhhjust shut up and show us your tits!"

I'm a very patient man. When I was younger I had serious anger issues, but I learned to deal with them by the time I graduated high school. It now took a lot for someone to push my buttons, but when you hit the right button I literally change in the flick of a switch. I snap. Faster than Banner turns into The Hulk. 

The room turned red, I felt my blood boil inside of me, and I stood up furiously flipping over our table and drinks. Before the bottles and glasses hit the ground I was already facing the jocks table and strongly asked... or demanded "WHO THE FUCK SAID THAT?" The looks on their faces were priceless. All wide eyed, jaws on the floor, and faces paled as if they'd seen a ghost. They sat their silently, not one of them having the balls to answer. 

Finally the biggest of the bunch, who'd stroked my goatee earlier, stood up and said it was him. I knew it wasn't him, he was just finally nutting up because it was obvious none of his spineless accomplices were going to. He looked at Tara and said "I'm gonna kill your boyfriend" then we started approaching each other. Before we even had a chance to lock horns I saw Tara come out of nowhere and smash an empty beer bottle over his forehead and eyebrow. The next thing I knew the entire bar was in a frenzy and everyone cleared out. As I was following suit someone had grabbed the back of my shirt and was punching at the back of my head. I calmly looked at the bouncer and said "You going to do anything about this?" and he just turned a blind eye. 

By the time we got outside whoever was punching me had run off like a coward into the night, and absolute madness had broken out. Somehow Shayne was now fighting the jock that Tara bottled. He was holding his own quite well until the big guy got on top of him. All of the locals were taking cheap shots at Shayne, so I walked up and stomped on the back of his head, which resulted in his head smashing into the concrete. Shayne immediately rolled him over and started filling his face with punches, Pauline even jumped on him too, and the two lovebirds pummeled his face in perfect harmony. 

Some local yokels started talking shit after I did that and I was now challenging multi people to fight me at the same time. Nobody wanted a piece of me whatsoever. I guess appearing like such a mad man had instilled some serious fear into them.  I was even trying to goad a police officer into fighting me and he too wanted no part of my madness. The streets were absolute chaos, and by the time the smoke cleared we had held our own quite impressive considering it was 4 men and 2 women versus a bar full of people. 

The best part about it all was one of my friends offered to pay the tab on his credit card as long as we gave him the cash. Well he happened to be in the bathroom when the brawl broke out. When he returned from relieving himself he was surprised to find the bar empty and his credit card and the bill sitting on our table. He never did sign that credit card receipt, and in turn we had consumed almost two hundred dollars or so worth of alcohol and food for free. Talk about justice.

Speaking of justice, after everything was said and done we realized Pauline was gone. The police had picked her up and brought her to the drunk tank. Still adrenalized from what has just went down, we all decided to crash the police station, which seemed like a good idea at the time. After a few minutes of yelling and threatening the police they amazingly released Pauline and let us return home with her.

I'm still baffled today by how we managed to pull that one off. We all made it out virtually injury free and got home safely with no charges being laid against anyone... For the time being...

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