The Band

Playing in the grade seven band definitely gave me a sense of belonging and made me feel like I fit in somehow, despite being clearly different than most of the kids in my band class, which in general were mostly nerds, geeks and scholars. Apparently the "beautiful people" were too cool or high on themselves to be caught dead in the school band with the exception of a few.

I grew up wanting to be a Rockstar so naturally joining the band seemed like my first step to stardom.  This wasn't really the type of band I had in mind but I needed to start somewhere, and in my mind's eye it seemed like a wise, practical decision. Plus I would learn musical history as well as theory, which I was certain would be useful down the road. I learned all the notes, I learned to read music and in turn learned to write music. Sadly all this knowledge would go to waste in the future as I was always drumming or singing and felt the knowledge wasn't required to do said things. 

Over the years I lost that knowledge but never once did it hinder or hurt my musical endeavors. I truly believe that when music is in your blood you will produce positive results wether you have the practical book smarts of it or you don't. True creative genius can't be held back by rules and theories. This always made me think of AC/DC's guitarist Angus Young. I remember hearing somewhere he only knew how to play 3 notes or chords on his guitar, yet he was in one of the biggest, successful rock bands of the seventies and eighties. That story always filled me with pride, hope, and the perseverance to pursue my childhood dream.

Now here I was in my first real band with real instruments, even though the band was more of a 20-30 piece as opposed to a 3-5 piece band. I also made some great friends in that class and in a sense started to develop my persona as a "hero for the nerds" Why did I feel this persona necessary? To be quite frank I was a nerd to, I was into all the same stuff these guys were, drawing, comics, video games, computers, movies, wrestling, etc. I guess the only difference was metal, which in turn gave me a different outer exterior in comparison to my friends as well as a tough guy rebel edge. There was no question who the "John bender" of this "breakfast club" was.

I am and have always been what I consider a "cool nerd" Some of the wannabe bullies at school learned quick not to mess with these "nerdy" kids, because when they did yours truly would unexpectedly show up to save my friends and in turn save the day....like a superhero for the geeks and nerds. The bullies would be shocked that someone like myself was defending a nerd, but it was pretty clear and explanatory.... You don't fuck with my band!

King Of The Snow Bank

So far in the journey of unravelling my past I have had more memories from grade school then I have middle school, which I find strange as they are older memories. I've been trying to delve into my brain to find stories from middle school but it's almost as if I've hit a writers block. 

Middle school to me is a blur of things, not so many of which are music related, which is the kind of stuff I've been digging in my mind for the contents of this blog. All that comes to mind from these 3 years are meeting and making new friends that I didn't know in my old grade school, school trips, wrestling, videogames on the commodore 64, fighting, going to Mackay plaza, getting into mischief such as vandalism and arson, having insult wars, picking on kids, playing handball, watching porn at friends houses on lunch, going to co ed  parties, and chasing down girls.

We were actually quite terrible when it came to the last one on the list. Perhaps it was the discovery of pornography that controlled us like wild animals. On lunch we would generally target girls that were developed, we'd chase them down, restrain them on the ground, and them take turns feeling them up. Looking back on this makes me feel terrible, mainly because this would be considered a form of rape by today's standards. Strangely enough none of the girls ever reported these events to the school faculty. I often wonder if they enjoyed the attention and were experiencing the same sexual angst as we were.

Another favorite pass time of ours on lunches was playing "King of the snow bank" or what i used to call "Battle Royal" being the die hard wrestling fan that I was. This was my favorite game to play but sadly I could only enjoy it in the winter months. There was a giant snow bank at the back of the school due to the snow plowing of the school parking lot.

The rules of the game were simple, try and stay on the snow bank while every other kid is trying to push you off, the last person standing atop the snowbank is the winner or the "king" Being one who enjoyed victory, I was ruthless during this game and notorious for blindsiding kids from behind which would send them flying to the cold concrete below. My greatest strategy was to target older and stronger kids in the early stages of the game to eliminate threats, needless to say I found myself on quite a few occasions as "King of the snowbank"

Current Events

I apologize for my lack of posts and late updates the past few days. Due to circumstances beyond my control I was unable to write anything. Sometimes life gets a bit hectic and I just don't have the time to write. I guess this post will be current events to bring everyone up to speed. 

For starters I dropped my cell phone in the toilet at work the other day. I put it in a bowl of rice for 5 hours or so and it was working again. I plugged it in to charge as my battery was low, but it was not responding to the charge. I assumed the input for the charger still contained moisture so I put the phone back in the bowl of rice overnight. When I got up this morning the phone wouldn't even load up when I turned it on. I fear I am going to lose all my contacts.

I was also working on a new song this week which in turn led to me working on another new song unexpectedly. The first track was going very smooth until I hit a road block. I spent two hours on said roadblock and got absolutely nowhere. The future outcome of this song is now questionable. The second song unveiled itself quite naturally and easily in the span of a few short hours. It needs a good mixing but otherwise it's pretty much complete minus lyrics and vocals. I'd like to thank my best friend Jerry for giving me some input and help on the track as he was present the entire time I worked on it and his help was greatly appreciated.

I got my son Gabriel after work yesterday(Sunday) as I'm off Monday/Tuesday, so naturally I spent all my quality time with him and opted not to write a blog on Sunday night for Monday's post as I was very beat after a long seven day work week. My boy had a fall and I feared he had fractured something but it ended up him being ok. On Monday I took Gabe down to the city for the day, mainly to hit up the silver snail for some new evil dead action figures. Amazingly we bumped into one of my childhood friends John McCuish at the corner of queen and spadina. John informed me that his band the epileptic brain surgeons may be playing another reunion show in September. 

I also learned that one of my favorite movies nightbreed (see blog post "Occupy Midian") is coming back to the big screen after its debut back in 1990, this time with an extra hour of footage that ended up on the cutting room floor. I am super excited about this and it's only a month away! For more info be sure to visit:

http://www.rue-morgue.com/events/cinemacabre

Grad Gift

For today's post I've decided to jump back in time to grade 5 for yet another suppressed memory that has been unlocked from my mind. It was the end of the year and I was "graduating" grade school so naturally my parents asked me what I wanted as a graduation gift. I had been introduced to punk rock that year and one aspect of it that truly intrigued me was piercing. I decided to tell my folks that for my graduation gift I wanted my ear pierced. The left lobe of course as the saying at the time was "left ear buccaneer, right ear queer" Just like when I wanted to grow my hair long, just like when I wanted to dye my hair, my parents flat out refused my request with absolutely no room for debate.

Refusing to accept this, the next day I was in the boys washroom at school with one of my mother's dull, stud earrings trying to cram it through my lobe. I think I got about half way through but just couldn't bring myself to puncture the skin. After about 10 minutes of reluctantly trying I gave up and returned back to class. When I started grade six I was shocked and appalled by my parents decision, because quite a few boys had their ears pierced. By grade seven I'd estimate about half the boys in school had a pierced ear, and by the time I got to grade eight it seemed like every boy in the school had a pierced ear....except me.

When grade eight graduation rolled around my parents excitedly announced that for graduation they were going to bring me to get my ear pierced. Their smiles quickly turned to frowns of disbelief when I responded "No I don't want an earring anymore" Their faces were shocked and puzzled to say the least. They just couldn't grasp or understand why I no longer wanted something I was so gung ho about getting a few years prior. To satisfy their curiosity I explained it as simply as I could.

"When I wanted it nobody had one and I wanted to be different and unique. Now that everybody has one I don't want to follow the trendy crowd and be like everyone else. Not having an earring now makes me different and unique from all the other boys" I stood by my beliefs and was granted a choice of what I wanted for graduating. Once again I requested to grow my hair long and surprisingly they agreed with no argument. To this day I have still never pierced my ear and I highly doubt I ever will...

Ryan

I didn't know this kid but from the first time I saw him something about him rubbed me the wrong way. He was short in stature, baby faced, and always dressed to the nines in the freshest break dance gear. From what I remember he always seemed to have a lot of girls around him and he hung out with the "popular crowd" Despite being vertically challenged he definitely made up for it by having very large amounts of confidence radiating from him. I was convinced he had "small man syndrome" and was trying to make up for it by being so cocky.

I already didn't like this kid for those reasons but then more of them were laid upon me. Back at the breakdancing event he was actually the kid who pulled off the head spin. I guess he had a right to be cocky but inside i believe I was jealous that he could break dance better than me. Another reason to dislike him. When I went to the drum tryouts that fateful day he was the first kid in line and he even had his own drum sticks, which he was using to create beats off of the wall and lockers. Another reason to dislike him. The first day of grade 7 there he was again, in my class...as the drummer of the band....here to steal my thunder again...another reason to dislike him.

Now here I was at a crossroads, continue being a hater and not learn to play the drums, or swallow my pride and learn how to play the drums. I decided to be a bigger man and choose option B. The next day I went and sat at a table in class where him and some other kids were sitting. They were checking out a book on horror movie special fx so naturally I jumped right into the conversation. This kid was also a fan of gore flicks so the convo just naturally unfolded, and low and behold this kid was actually pretty cool. We hit it off quite well then I unveiled my master plan by telling him what the teacher said about needing a back up drummer. He eagerly agreed without hesitation and the seed was planted. I thanked him graciously and even added his name to my gratitudes, it was the first time i had ever spoken it...."Ryan"

Ryan circa 88/89

Before I knew we were on the kit and he taught me to play a simple beat. Kick snair kick snair and the 1,2,3,4 on the hi hat. I got the hang of it pretty quickly and quicker then you could say "james brown" I was playing the beat from "funky drummer" I was amazed how rapidly I learned the basics of drumming and commenced on learning the songs we were playing in class. I can't remember them all but one of them was definitely "Let's go band" I also couldn't thank my new found friend Ryan enough for teaching me how to play, which would be another fundamental factor in shaping my life for the years to come.

The teacher decided for my test I was to play all 3 songs with the entire class! I was nervous as hell but managed to pull it off with only one minor slip up. The teach was impressed with me and she was grinning ear to ear. The spot as back up drummer was mine even though I'd still be playing the alto sax on a daily basis. Whenever we had free time in class however I was always on the kit with Ryan furthering my skills. We went on to be friends for quite a few years and he even ended up the drummer in my first highschool band, but that's another story for another blog somewhere down the road...

Little Drummer Boy

Near the end of grade 6 I was sitting in class one day bored out of my mind when an announcement came over the p.a. system that caught my attention and peaked my interest. The school was starting to hold tryouts for grade 7 band class and this was my chance to finally learn to play an instrument, but not just any old instrument....the tryout on this particular day was for the drums!

I had gotten a muppet show drum kit for my fifth or sixth birthday and I think i managed to salvage it until I was seven or eight. I used to listen to my favorite records and eight tracks while I played along as best I could. The drum set was cheaply fabricated as it was made for children so needless to say the heads and cymbals didn't hold up very well over time. Other than those sessions I had never played drums again nor had any formal lessons or training but that wasn't going to stop me....or was it?

Just like the breakdancing exhibition earlier in the year, you had to go after school for the tryouts. Once again I was crushed when the bell rang and I ran to the music room to see 20-30 kids already lined up for the drum auditions. I figured all these kids already played drums or at least properly knew how to, and I had absolutely no clue what I was even doing. Defeated once again by my own insecurities, I dashed outside just to catch the bus in time and avoid a long, depressing walk home. 

When grade 7 finally did roll around I ended up reluctantly selecting the trombone as my weapon of choice, which ended up being a terrible decision as it was difficult to play and was somewhat heavy to carry. Displeased with the situation I approached the teacher and expressed my feelings. When she asked what instrument i wanted to play i told her "the drums", she frowned and told me we already had a drummer which I obviously knew as the band class had been "jamming" for weeks. 

We talked for a bit and pondered some alternatives and she convinced me to go with the alto sax. The teacher also was kind enough to take into consideration that it wouldn't hurt to have a backup drummer in case the regular guy missed school due to illness. The only thing I had to do was ask him to teach me how to play and report back to her in a week to perform some type of musical test. This was easier said than done as I didn't know the drummer and secretly loathed him...

Occupy Midian

My blog post for today is a current event that I'd like to bring to everyones attention, mainly fans of horror movies. As you may know my alias "Kabal" was inspired from the book Cabal and the film Nightbreed. I'd like to share some information with you in regards to the film.

(from Wikipedia)
-----------------
Nightbreed is a 1990 American fantasy horror film written and directed by Clive Barker, based on his 1988 novella Cabal. The film features Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby and David Cronenberg. The story centers in a community of mutant outcasts that hides from humanity, known as the "Nightbreed".
Nightbreed was a commercial and critical failure. In several interviews, Barker protested that the film company tried to sell it as a standard slasher film, and that the powers-that-be had no real working knowledge of Nightbreed's story. Since its initial theatrical release, Nightbreed has achieved cult status.
Barker has expressed disappointment with the final cut and longs for the recovery of the reels so it might be re-edited. Behind the scenes footage of some of the lost scenes has been uncovered and can be seen at Barker's Revelations website

Extended cut
-------------
In 2009, Mark Miller, co-head of Barker's production company, Seraphim Films, helped track down the missing footage that was cut out of the director's cut of Nightbreed. Miller discovered, after talking to a production executive at the studio, that the footage was never actually lost but readily accessible. When asked, a studio executive said that there was not a big enough audience to warrant the studio spending money on a new, extended cut of the film. A VHS copy of Barker's 145 minute version of the film's mid-1989 workprint was recently discovered. It does not feature any of the re-shoots of Decker's murders. An extended 159-minute cut version, from another VHS found in July 2009, was premiered on March 27, 2010 as part of the HorrorHound Weekend in Indianapolis. This new version adds almost a whole hour that was cut from the theatrical release, including a musical score and more animation. In an interview, Barker said that he hopes to bring back Danny Elfman "and give us just a little bit of extra music for it."
In early 2012, Russell Cherrington, a senior lecturer in film and video production at the University of Derby, created a composite cut of the film using the footage found on both VHS tapes as well as the Warner Bros DVD. This version is the most complete version of Barker's film available and has been dubbed The Cabal Cut. The cut runs 155 minutes long and was shown at this year's "Mad Monster Party" in North Carolina with actors Craig Sheffer and Anne Bobby attending.

Occupy Midian
----------------
The "Mad Monster Party" projection of the Cabal Cut led to a renewal of interest among fans, especially on the Internet. A new petition was created and social networks were used to raise awareness for the extended cut and to encourage producers to release it. This would be colloquially known as "Occupy Midian", a term coined by actress Anne Bobby.

I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed:
"For a restored, extended cut of Clive Barker's "Nightbreed""
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/nightbreed/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=system&utm_campaign=Send%2Bto%2BFriend
 I really think this is an important cause, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes just a few seconds of your time, thanks.
- Kabal

For more info check out the following links:

http://www.clivebarker.info/morenightbreed.html

http://www.facebook.com/groups/350654938304766/?ref=ts

http://www.occupymidian.com/