Crush Magazine July 2014

From a young age it was evident singing was going to be a huge part of Brittany Tara’s life. She would start singing during her early years at elementary school and continues to grow as a vocalist as she nears the end of high school. Like a lot of other teenagers Brittany is influenced by bands like “May Day Parade, Bruno Mars, and Katy Perry”. She tends to lean a little into the darker side of music, but for her fans the emotion that comes from her cover songs is exactly what they love about her.

Brittany has been a first place winner at one of her area’s most prestegious vocal competitions, and loves to perform in clubs whenever her schedule allows.

For the past year and a half she has been working with New Kids on the Block arranger and producer Sunny Lake in the studio. She continues to learn and grow in the music business as she moves forward. Recently Brittany has made huge strides mastering the acoustic guitar and even begun to pick up on the Ukelele as well.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrWPQ74GmXJ2lSCvt_HA5xg https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brittany-Tara-Music/126375060878116 http://www.reverbnation.com/brittanytara

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www.veroconcepts.com

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Hello readers, and welcome to Crush Magazines new gaming section! I’m David Lucier, and I’ll be the one filling this page for you guys every month.

For our premier we’re keeping it simple, and I’ll just be going over my background, and what you can expect in this space going forward.

I’ve been gaming since kindergarten and worked my way up from the Atari 2600 through the 360 and PS3. (No next gen for me... yet.) Over the past few years I’ve shifted a lot more of my gaming to PC, mostly due to things like price, not having to fight with the wife over the tv, modability, and selection of games. Don’t worry though, I’m no PC elitist. I also don’t discriminate old vs new. I have a pretty sizable collection of old consoles, and I’m about as likely to be found playing something from 20+ years ago as something from 20+ days ago.

I love RPG’s and any other story driven games. Top 3 games/series for me are Chrono Trigger, Deus Ex, and Mass Effect, in no particular order. On the flip side, I do also play a fair amount of games like Titanfall, Call of Duty, and Left 4 Dead. I also play League of Legends pretty regularly as well, along with following the pro scene. In fact as I write this up I’m watching the LCS matches, and hoping my fantasy team does well...

I like to think I take a balanced approach to any reviews I do for games.

I know where my weaknesses are, and judge accordingly. For example, I’m incredibly bad at strategy games like StarCraft, or Civ, and I couldn’t play an FPS with a controller if my life depended on it. I always do my best to make sure that this type of thing is clear when it comes into play. I won’t rate a game poorly just because I’m bad at it.

David Lucier is an avid gamer and all around geek. He’s been gaming and enjoying sci-fi and anime for years (ok, ok, decades). He’s previously worked with Goodtobeageek. com and currently works with Iamthink.com providing game and hardware reviews, event coverage, and interviews.

So what’s going to be in this spot going forward? A little bit of everything. Some months you’ll see a pretty standard review of whatever game I think you should be playing. Other times you’ll be getting a preview of something to make sure it stays on your radar. Other times you’ll get more of an opinion piece, be it current events related, or just something that popped into my head that month. I’m looking forward to providing you guys with some great gaming content going forward, be it showing you a new game you never heard of, confirming that game you keep hearing about is great, (or terrible) or showing you a different viewpoint on any number of subjects. See you next month! -Dave Lucier

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It takes a special type of personality to pack up thousands of dollars worth of professional photo gear and drive for miles into foriegn lands searching for a place no one else wants, or for that matter needs to be. There is a certain mystery that only comes from stepping inside a building that society has left for dead. Scattered around eastern Europe are the remains of everthing from private homes that no longer function due to their size or family apthathy to public buildings that have gone silent for good. Society continues to march on and as humans often do we leave things behind that are no longer useful to us. Over the past decade the art of urban exploring at these locations has exploded. Thousands of amatuer photographers are wandering around the globe digging into the underbrush in search of places that are abandoned. For that matter there are way to many. There are some who are not only rouges, at times they can be a danger to others. In the backgound, however there is a different level of explorer. One that is quiet and prefers to keep their groups small and private. This breed of explorer is stealthy and respectful not leaving a trail in their wake. From these select few comes some of the most amazing images of this hidden world.

In reality anyone can be an urban photographer. Working at a higher level however comes with experience and understanding of how a place that is dark and covered in dust will translate to the final image. These are not easy place to just take a few snaps and run.

Composition, understanding how to use long exposures, and processes like HDR imagery are all part of capturing pictures the seem to have a type of magical quality about them. Not every trip even yeilds the right image. Some places just do not lend themselves to the art. More so the tactic is knowing how to find a place that no one else (or very few) have knowledge of. There are many discrete locations that are like time machines inside. It does not seem possible that a family could leave behind all the possessions of an elderly loved one for fourty years, but it happens. Finding one of these locations is like opening a tresure chest for the professional urban photographer. Of course there is a certain protocol when it comes to these mystery locations. Nothing is disturbed and under no circumstances is anything removed or taken away as a souvenir. No one will ever know they were there, but these ghostly images speak volumes about those who once called these places work or home.

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Most weekends you’ll find Paul “Nikon” Morris traveling about the countryside. From the villages of England to the narrow highways of Belgium where he will certainly be in search of another adventure that leads him to some hidden place time has forgotten. The art of urban exploring or Urbex as it is commonly called has become mainstream entertainment for many online. From huge archives of images to artful video we can now get a look inside these time machines right from the comfort of our desktop. One can find places scattered across the globe that boggle the mind. Empty hotels, homesteads, and industrial locations that society has left behind to rot generate some of the most amazing images we have seen since the dawn of high quality digital photography. This is where you will find our featured photographer. Deep in the ruins of history where the clock has stopped and the lights turned off long ago.

As a teen Morris did a lot of graffiti art. Having a camera around to capture his work was just part of the process. It may have helped that most street art takes place in abandoned locations. To this end he was doing urban photography before he even knew what it was. With his camera on auto he was also capturing old mills and unused bridges around the Manchester City center. I wasn’t until later on that he discovered what Urbex really was from surfing the internet.

Time has passed and as Urban exploring has exploded on the internet so have Paul’s skills in photography. The days of “auto” setting are long gone as he delves into the more serious side of professional imagery. Now it’s all about have a great time with friends and capturing high quality images to share with the world. Now we marvel at the amazing and rather surreal places Morris captures.

“A little history (yawn)….. born, became a teenage real quick. I started doing graffiti late 1970s, which got me into looking and mooching around in old buildings just looking for walls to paint. From there I moved on to break dancing and DJing in the early 1980s, had a small career in DJing, production and some commissioned artwork/graffiti. I had a residency dancing in a club in Leeds for around a year or so and danced for Adidas. Jump past the 90s, which was spent DJing and partying for around 10 years whilst producing 63 studio cd mixes .”

“I discovered urban exploration/urbex whatever you want to call it by accident. I had already started to shoot abandoned buildings and bridges when I saw a link on Myspace by Phil Davidson aka Phil D. on the Manchester Cathedral Arches and I was hooked -P. M.

Like many other photographers, including me, there is something about urban exploring that is impossible to explain to the average person.

There is the thrill of the adventure, making new friends, getting great shots, and at times a little adrenaline rush when security or and angry farmer with a shotgun comes out of nowhere to chase everyone off. Morris has traveled to many spots on the globe including Thailand & Vietnam. More recently he has been lurking about in Belgium, Italy, and other part of Western Europe.

“I like all types of locations but I’ll never go underground or climb high without experienced people with me, I’m not to comfortable in these environments.”

“Industrial is one of my favorites, but I’m happy to explore any location, even old buildings in the country side. I don’t care if it’s ‘epic’ or not, makes no difference to me! I’m not in the game to impress anyone or to boost my ego, all I want to do is meet like minded people and to enjoy myself, spend time with people I get on with and want to share my experiences with…… and hopefully pick up a few tips along the way.” -Paul Morris

There is little payback for the thousands of dollars spent on equipment and travel when it comes to the “hobby” known as urban exploring. The best one can ask for is spending time with good friends and finding that one great images upon your return. These rewards are much richer than one can imagine. The memories of the experience can never be erased and sometimes lead to unexpected comical situations. “ …..as for advice for new explorers: always try the floor before you walk on it, if your doing culverts use a walking stick or branch to check water levels in front of you, always carry a torch in any situation and above all best way to keep safe is let someone else go first…..”

-Paul Morris

One thing is for sure. Right now as you read this Paul “Nikon” Morris is probably wading through the hedges with his kit on his way to some place we have never seen before. Covered in plaster dust and waiting for the sun to stream into a broken window until the light is just right he waits for that moment to click the shutter.

Check of more amazing photography from Paul “Nikon” Morris by visiting the following links:

FLICKER: https://www.flickr.com/photos/62438406@N00/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/paulurbanmorris

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There goes June. 22 Jump Street killed it for the majority of the month and a GREAT movie tanked unfortunately.

Tom Cruise’s critically acclaimed Edge of Tomorrow brought in less than half of its production budget domestically.

Meanwhile the animated sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2 that should have CRUSHED the box office on the principal of being a sequel to a mega popular animated film released conveniently when most schools let out for the summer… is barely getting by. It’s been an unusual season for studios here in the U.S. for major releases, which are not making their budgets domestically and have really banked on overseas success to turn profit. They are just not getting the Billion Dollar box office numbers that Avengers, Harry Potter or Iron Man Three did in the years prior. Last year’s Box Office totaled $10.9 billion, 2014 won’t even come close to touching that number. The three biggest releases of the summer ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ at $219mil, ‘Amazing Spider-Man 2’ at $199 mil (which didn’t even scratch the surface of its domestic expectations and may never hit that sweet 200mil spot to legitimize it) and ‘Godzilla’ at $195 mil have topped the season, although not even touching the two biggest releases of the year so far, The Lego Movie and Captain America: The Winter Soldier which are both tied at $256mil. Paramount is banking on the Transformers sequel, as usually the Robots in Disguise CRUSH the Box Office, but a low-balled opening weekend (stacked against its previous sequel’s opening weekends) and two hour and forty five minute runtime may severely hurt its numbers in the long run. No one wants to sit in a theater that long in the middle of the summer, or do they?

So now we’re at July and this should be the height of the blockbuster season, but they all seemed to have come out already. Usually the 1st week of July marks the biggest summer film release. For example just look at half of Will Smith’s filmography, but this July’s biggest bet ‘Jupiter Ascending ‘ got bumped to February, (which is rumored to have made the jump as a reaction to Edge of Tomorrow’s stupid numbers, see how an unjustly tanking at the box office can change the landscape?) and with Giant Robot Dinosaurs aside what’s left? The answer is, we’re not done yet! There are a few more major releases right around the corner.

July 2nd we have Earth to Echo, a family friendly E.T. Meets Batteries Not Included found footage style adventure where three kids make contact with an Alien sought after by the Government.

Also out that week is Tammy, starring Melissa McCarthy and directed by her Husband Ben Falcone. They co-wrote the comedy, about the title character on a downward spiral after being let go from her job and cheated on by her husband.

Turning to her only option her crazed Grandmother, they take it on the road and find redemption in the wake of chaos.

The last option that week is Deliver Us from Evil, a horror thriller pairing a Cop and a Priest as they track down and clean up a city filled with possessions from a demonic source.

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July 18th there’s Planes: Fire and Rescue the sequel to last year’s Planes.

A rather unusual quick turnaround for a CGI animated film, usually CGI Animated Sequels spend years in development (Where the hell is The Incredibles 2 already?!). Also out is Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel comedy Sex Tape. Filmed in rural Massachusetts, the comedy is Rated R for the title alone. Lastly The Purge: Anarchy, another rapid turnaround sequel to last year’s Horror Thriller, this time starring Frank Grillo in an Anti-Hero role.

We close out July’s movies on the 25th with Dwayne Johnson’s Hercules (not only based on the Greek Mythology legend, but also a comic book produced

by Radical Comics, the same company behind the source material for Tom Cruise’s ‘Oblivion’). The SECOND Hercules film this year, after Kellan Lutz’s mediocre turn in the role. It’s directed by Brett Ratner, so we don’t know whether to expect something fun like jis previous work ‘Tower Heist’, something EXCELLENT like ‘Red Dragon’ or total garbage like ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’. The better bet that weekend is ScarJo’s LUCY, directed

by Luc Besson who is best known for movies like ‘The Transporter’ or ‘The Professional’. This Sci-Fi action tale has ScarJo’s Lucy who is kidnapped at a dance club and surgically implanted with an unknown drug. The bag in her guts beings to leak and the drug takes effect, giving her superpowers and crazy bitch eyes.

So that’s July. Don’t forget to Like our Page on Facebook, Comment & Debate! I will be reporting live from San Diego Comic-Con for the Movie (P)Reviews Page, with up to the minute details from HALL H on Saturday, the 26th as the Major Studios roll out their big announcements. Stay Glued for all the info.

See you back here in August for Galactic Guardians or Marvelstar Galactica, Getting Down with James Brown, Tortoises of the Ninja Variety, Fraudulent Cops, Sinful Cities and Expendable Action Stars.

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I can trace the beginnings of my obsession with zombies with little difficulty. It all got started back in 2004 with the release of Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake. The film had piqued my interest George A. Romero’s original version and the iconic directors other films, as well just about any book, movie, video game featuring the walking dead. When Walker Stalker Con came to the Westin Waterfront in Boston, I naturally jumped at the chance to go.

Walker Stalker Con gets its name from The Walker Stalkers podcast (www.thewalkerstalkers. com), a podcast focused on AMC’s The Walking Dead. The convention certainly lived up to its name, featuring many current and former members of the Walking Dead TV cast, spread out across not one, but two exhibition halls. The two halls almost ended up separating the guests into a group of current cast members like Steven Yeun, Lauren Cohan, Josh McDermitt, and Christian Serratos just to name a few; while the other hall featured former cast members such as Jeff Kober and Jon Bernthal. Also featured from other Walking Dead-related media were Melissa Hutchison, the voice of Clementine from the Walking Dead video games from Telltale; and Jay Bonansinga, author of several of the Walking Dead novels such as The Rise of the Governor and The Road to Woodbury.

Thankfully Walker Stalker Con didn’t throw all of its eggs into the Walking Dead basket, and added some variety to the list of notable guests. Among the guests were Russ Streiner and Judith O’Dea, famous for their roles as Johnny and Barbara in George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, the grand-daddy of the zombie genre as it’s currently known. Also appearing were Sean Patrick Flannery and David Della Rocco from The Boondock Saints for a planned reunion with Norman Reedus, who unfortunately had to back out of the show.

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Of course there was more to do beyond meeting the guests. Both of the exhibition halls featured numerous artists and vendors, many with zombie themed merchandise in one form or another. Two separate booths offered the chance to have one’s face done up with zombie-style make-up and one of the larger attractions was a zombie shooting range, allowing visitors to shoot at paper targets with air-soft guns.

Walker Stalker Con Boston started off with a bang. The only part that left me disappointed was that I was only able to attend for one day. Even though I don’t have any previous years to compare this show to, it was undoubtedly a huge success. I’ll definitely be returning next year.

If you missed Walker Stalker Con in Boston this year, it will be back in August of 2015, and according to the website (walkerstalkercon.com), 2014 will see shows in Atlanta, GA and the New York/New Jersey area.

Origins of the Living Dead George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead was certainly one of the pioneering films of zombies as shambling corpses with an insatiable appetite for the flesh of the living. However the roots of zombie mythos come from the Hatian folklore. The creation of a zombie would involve bokor (a witch or sorcerer like figure within the Vodou religion) inducing a death-like state using neurotoxins found in puffer fish and drugs that are naturally found in datura plants. When the opportunity arose, the victim would be exhumed from their grave and left in a psychologically damaged state, and under control of the bokor. Hollywood explored this in the 30’s and 40’s with films like I Walked With a Zombie and White Zombie.

More recently, this form of zombification was the subject of the 1988 film The Serpent and the Rainbow, directed

by Wes Craven. The film is certainly worth a watch and currently appears in Netflix’s Instant Streaming library as of this writing.

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http://www.alleventsound.com

http://www.crushmedia.com

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We all know the entertainment business is changing. This fact is common knowledge.

After all everything evolves. Darwin would be proud of how things are morphing right in front of our eyes with his theory being proved.

We are human and as we move into the future things are going to be different. There is no doubt about that. The big question is; where is everything and everyone going and what will it look like once we all get there? Maybe we can shed a little light on the subject.

Over the past 10 years we have seen major changes in entertainment delivery systems. The internet has changed our lives and the function of the world, but what has happened to the way we get out daily dose of music, fun, and games? Everything is now at our fingertips. 25 years ago we had to wait for the album to come to a record store and only then could we get a look/listen to what new music artists were up to. Television ran on a schedule and we watched what was made available by the major networks. You had to be there and catch it as it happened or maybe try one of those new fangled VHS machines hoping that you had the glowing digital clock set properly and that the thing had enough tape to run for the entire program. Then when you got home you could watch is back and fast forward through all the commercials to get to the meat of the show. Speaking of fast forward we arrive at 2014 where we can literally watch anything we want at any point day or night. No longer do people sit together as a family and watch a show. Stop by the average household nowadays and you will find everyone in separate rooms using a myriad of devices that serve everything from top 40 recording artists to short films, web series, feature films and everything in between. Individuals watching or listening to their own selections at what ever point they choose. Here’s where the dividing line begins to form however.

During the last decade independent content producers have created a huge amount of the media that people, especially the younger generation, is consuming. Some web video series have more viewers each day than comparable shows on the major network can garner.

Talented musicians now have the tools to make a living spreading their songs and music videos to millions while at the same time maintaining complete control of their finances and career. While this independent artist explosion kept growing the music and TV industry just kept slugging along as it had without changing their models of operation. For a time I’m sure they paid little attention to these rouges. Let them have some fun they were of no consequence to the big networks and record labels. There was no way any of these pests would affect the foundations of media history that the empire had built. After all the record industry was a cash cow for the stockholders. Decisions were made in board rooms by men in suits that relied on market researchers to show them what artists were going to be big. These were the same elite people who decided what shows the masses wanted to watch. The public had no choice. Take what we give you and buy it! Then along comes the software that allowed listeners to upload and share music tracks with each other online. For free! Uh Oh. February 14th 2005 would see the launch of a little video sharing platform by a small group of engineers in San Francisco, California.

The idea was to have a place where everyone who signed up (for free no less) could upload videos they had created. With the advent of low cost consumer video cameras and basic free editing software anyone could make a little 5 minute production and share it with the meager member base. This was hardly even something the major labels or networks would notice let alone be concerned with. After all these people were amateurs and would never have the capabilities to touch the production values of the broadcast music video industry. The TV networks would also see this as nothing more that a fad, but they would be very wrong indeed. 2005 would see YouTube users grow steadily as the service began to evolve. This was to become the people platform and they were more than ready to break the mold. (Continued)

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As things evolved online thousands of independent musicians and media producers popped up. I was there when it first began and although the quality of content was certainly not anything special you could see that something was brewing. People were trying to figure out what to do with these new mediums. There was a long period of gestation as creators figured out what would work. Many things did not, but out of the millions that began to sign up over the next couple of years one thing was for sure; there would be those who climbed to the top. As the years went by the production values increased and low and behold the world stood up to take notice of this new way to watch content. From music, to travels, short films, and everything in between a massive barrage of media was begging to flow from YouTube. Some of it was pretty darn good!

During this growing period the major companies still bucked the idea that this new sharing system could affect the ingrained old school system that had been built by them over more than 50 years. Being signed to a major label however was not a treasure chest for the artist themselves. After all of the fees, service charges, loans, management, promotional expenses, and what ever else the corporate offices could dream up were deducted, the one person who should have been paid the most got the least. When it was all said and done the music artist had nothing but meager royalties to show for all their hard work. Sure they was money to be made from appearances and live shows, but even a huge portion those monies had to fill the deep pockets of the executives. When I was touring as a concert sound engineer during the eighties for major acts there were many times when the production side of the crew made more money than the talent. In fact touring was really a losing prospect. It was just a tool for promotion and most times we were lucky to break even once the expenses were paid out. Many people have the misconception that artists live the high life and money flowed like water into their pockets. This was true for a handful of top acts, but for everyone else you were just part of the label machine as it forged along during the seventies and eighties. The board of directors however had no problem collecting huge salaries along with a myriad of assistants, agents, and superfluous positions that sounded good, but did very little. This was the old money system and nothing was going to unseat the fat cats at the top of the tower. This was about to change in ways the short sighted suits could never even have imagined.

Over at YouTube things were beginning to blossom. People were uploading every hour of the day.

There was no end to the crap that was being made. Everything from stupid jokes and pranks, to videos of people at parties, and then the dreaded cat video phenomenon began. In the middle of all of this a hand full of musicians, most just solo artists began to make videos in their bedrooms at home and dorms at college. Sally, Suzie, Billy, whoever, created a channel, began strumming acoustic guitars and playing cheap keyboards while singing their favorite songs. At the onset these videos were made with whatever they could get their hands on for equipment. The sound quality was not the best and no one had figured out that lighting was something they needed or we could not see them very well. So we had a lot of bad sounding, poorly light wanna be musicians just screwing around. This was a great way to share songs with your friends. To be honest, many of them kinda sucked, but out of that there were a few that stood out. Then it happened.

After some sorting out and a few years of teething users got it. Things got divided between those who were watching, and those who were creating content. Hence the new term “content creator” was born. This new breed of self producers was rapidly settling in and learning all the little secrets that Hollywood had guarded for a century. New lights, cheaper high quality cameras, and a decent microphone became staple equipment for the dorm room producer. Combine this with relatively cheap editing software and you had a content explosion. Now with a decent set of gear and a reasonably fast computer anyone with know how could make themselves look like a millions bucks. Fancy graphics were no longer the domain of the major TV studios. Granted you had to have some talent and a personality that people liked to watch. Not everyone was a success. There were some miserable failures along the way of course, but as 2009 evolved there was no end to the amount of programming that hooked the expanding base of “subscribers” every week.

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YouTube was not blind to the fact that this was the wave of the future. Millions would spend endless hours watching everything the creators could throw at them. These were viewing hours that would be deducted from the networks products and diverted to a new platform. With this in mind the next major development would seal the deal for the independents. Advertising dollars! Now it would be possible for creators to earn money by uploading videos. This would be the breakthrough that would really get the attention of the major record labels and the broadcast industry. The problem for them was there was nothing they could do to change what was happening. So like they had always done, record companies just went on doing business with a model that had been out of date for years thinking they were the rock and all this home creator stuff would pass or at least level out. They could not have been more wrong on that one. 2010 would see the numbers of YouTube viewers reach into the billions daily.

For the independent creators this was a boom of amazing proportions. The smart ones had figured out the social media aspect by making use of all the tools provide to them. The production quality had also increased ten fold. High quality audio was now possible for even beginners. Combine that with some experience and these people were producing content that rivaled the big guys. This was more that a problem for the record companies and networks. This was a downright threat to their old school way of bilking people out of money! Uh Oh. The wealth was now being delivered directly to the little guy skipping the board room along with all the rest of the chiselers and pie carvers who were getting more than their fair share in the first place. Something would have to be done about this. There was no way these executive were going to let some bunch of kids break up the card game.

No matter what they tried the new wave of creators was unstoppable. From music to talk shows, news, reviews and daily shows everything was fair game and there were eyes to watch. Some amazing success stories come out of this new medium and the pro industry was baffled. Record labels since this all started have seen a major drop in the number of artists on their rosters. Money has been tight and no longer are deals being offered. Desperate attempts are still being made by changing legislation, filing law suits, and making back room deals, but not much is going to stop these changes. Now YouTube is owned by Google a company that is rapidly becoming to big for its britches.

They have made sweeping changes in an effort to control the massive influx and outflow of media coming through their serves. The new method of media is a giant. In itself is has become bigger than all the major industries combined and yet is it the little guy who is responsible for the majority of the content. Sure YouTube and the studios have tried to garner some of the viewers. The launch of a pay-per-view movie service was one of the ways they thought would bring people over to the other side however the service failed and now limps along with little or no change. It is plainly evident that the viewers don’t care if everything is perfect. In fact one of the reasons for such resounding success of thousands of music artists is the fact that people can see them grow as time goes on. This is what the record industry hates. These solo artists and bands have built lifelong friendships with their fan base. The cool part is they have done it for free in most cases. Think about how many millions of dollars record labels have spent trying to promote the people they feel are going to be the next big thing. Then along comes the average Joe. Talented, smart, and savvy, he can circumvent the entire machine. Some of these people have more dedicated fans that major label artists. Uh Oh. This can’t be good. The evil record company machine must be secretly building a war machine to fight this battle. Right? I mean you can’t mess with the big daddy of music production can you? Well it turns out you can and if you are consistent you can even triumph. What planet are we on?

For 2014 the genius crew from Google are caving in to the pressure of the record industry and hoping to make some more cash in the process. YouTube is launching a paid streaming music service that will feature all the major and independent labels. They have threatened to remove music videos from all of the labels artists who do not sign up for their watered down deals choosing to give the majors the good end of the stick. This is a really bad idea from the onset.

First of all YouTube has a terrible track record when it comes to working with the industry. After all their original model was built upon the fact that their user base would be made up of independent creators. This base still exists and is the major portion of the daily flow through the site. As a matter of fact it is still growing. People all of over the world are still sharing music and that will never stop. Now the brains of the operations think the users are going to pay for a streaming service and everyone except for the unsigned creators MUST be part of the program or get bent. They say that 95% of the record industry has signed up for this new deal with only a few stubborn independent labels holding out. Well sure they have. They are all going broke. It’s no wonder everyone came to the party. They may be forgetting one thing though. The majority if the viewers and creators are they for each other. There is nothing they hate more that what they have all deemed “The Evil Record Industry”. This may serve to make unsigned artists work even harder. After all being “signed” really does not mean the same as it did several years ago. Small collective groups have been collaborating in an effort to help promote each other for years.

No label, no contract, just real people working together for a common good. We are not likely to see this going away. We have given the tools to people to make something of them selves without the entire corporate hoodoo. The record companies are not going to go away and the fight will continue, but whether this paid subscription service will be a success is yet to be seen. If past experience is any teacher they may be headed for another disaster. This will only strengthen the little guy’s ability to chip away at the old stone edifice. Once the winds of change blow the greedy few do everything they can to hold on to the empires they have built using other people sweat and money. This has been happening for thousands of years. Looking back at history we all know that Empires fall. Just ask the British. In the end it’s the little guy who fights the hardest with the least. Time will tell who will win the war, but for now let them wave their flags. While they are doing so the solo creators march on in vast numbers. `

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So, you are a creative person that wants to get your project out there for everyone to see, but you need money to make it happen. Maybe you and your freinds are filming a movie? Have an awesome invention that is going to change the world or you are an independent musician that needs to pay for the production costs of a new music video?

You are not alone on the planet. There are multitudes of creative people trying to do the same thing everyday of the week. In this high paced day and age there are many opportunities for the independent artist/creator to put their projects up to the jury of the people. If you could only get your projects moving a little faster people might take notice.

The biggest problem in most cases is where to find the money to make it all happen. Many great ideas fall through the cracks because creators don’t have the money or support needed to bring them to completion. In recent years getting your fans to help support your project has become one of the best ways to come up the funds to pay for all the expenses associated with these types of productions. The first thing you need then is a fan base! As a creator you must also promote your work and ideas to the masses on a daily basis. Building your fan base is the number one key to raising money online.

Post production, recording studio costs, and equipment rentals are not cheap for the little guys without big hollywood budgets. These things can seem impossible to get your hand on unless you have a pile of cash just sitting around.

Not very likely when everyone keeps calling you a starving artists. Some cases it’s literal. Yes we are all hungry for sure!

Never fear there is a way, but it is also loaded with pitfalls and disappointment if you don’t play your cards right from the very start.

Let’s go over some step by step methods to help ensure better chances of succes. Some things may be different for your project. This is meant to be a guide to get you on the right track when it comes to crowd funding. Good Luck!

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Welcome to the world of Crowd Funding. What is this amazing platform?

Simply put; people from all walks of life who believe in your project give you money to make your dreams come true. You decide how much money you need. Set a goal and if you reach that goal then the money is yours minus the percentage taken up front by the funding website. Sounds great right? Well it is and in many cases can be the one and only way individuals or small teams of dedicated people can bring their project to fruition.

So all you have to do is go to one of the many online crowd funding sites, make a page, tell people what you are doing and presto! Nothing could be farther from the truth. Crowd Funding is not magic and certainly does not just happen because everyone loves you and will give you lots of money. Sadly this is not the case. Crowd Funding requires a sold plan. If you think you are going to raise $20,000 dollars in 30 days just because your production is fantastic in your eyes then you are dead wrong. It may be a great project indeed, but if no one knows about it then your ship is sunk in the water from the get go. Like anything in the business world, in order to have success you must make a plan of attack and stick to it. Crowd Funding is hard work plan and simple. Let’s take a look at some of the things you need before you even consider signing up.

First off you have to have something people are going to want. Be it a short or feature film, music production, a book, or maybe some kind of gadget that makes everyone’s life a little easier. Whatever it is the end product better be a cut above the rest. You need to prove yourself to the world and that is not easy. Remember you will be up in front of a jury of people who have to decide weather or not to give you their hard earned money. Shine like a diamond!

Secondly don’t assume that everyone is going to support your idea. Social media is a monster that eats these things alive. Only a small percentage of fans are really going to contribute. You have to be well prepared before you even think about launching a campaign. Trying to get funding at the last minute because you have run out of your own money is not going to work. It never does. These things only work if you start from day one with the concept that you will need funding from the masses. Thousands of campaigns fail daily because of poor planning. Don’t be one of those!

Third and most important it is important to be realistic about your goals. Figure out exactly how much you will need to accomplish your project up front. Don’t throw a number like $20,000 dollars on your funding site unless you have the reasoning to back up every penny. Even if your project is the best thing to come along since sliced bread there has to be an accounting for everything you are doing. Crowd funding is not a free ride. Take a look at your social media standing. If you have a small following then base your amount on the idea that only 5 % of you people will give you a hand up. You will be sorely disappointed when it fails if you are not prepared from the very beginning

Preparing your campaign

So you are sitting around with your buddies and all of a sudden you have a brilliant idea. You put it down on paper and the project is a go! Great. This is when you should be thinking about crowd funding. Don’t wait. Now is the time. No matter what your project is, if you need funding then get your self established online. The next step is to find someone or better yet several people to assign to a social media campaign. These campaigns are a lot of work and require constant updating. There is no end to the amount of content that social media will chew up and spit out. Be prepared to generate video, still images, and behind the scenes relevant content that can be shared throughout the campaign. The next and probably the most important thing is to build an online fan base.

There are tons of great social media tools out there to help you with this task. Create a Facebook page with lots of great information about what you are doing. Show the world you are making progress. Make sure someone on your team understands social media and know how to make great imagery that people will take notice of. If you only have 100 people on you page, then you are not ready to launch. Start with friends and family. Get them on board. Ask them to share your project with as many people as possible. It may just be the friend of a friend that becomes your biggest supporter.

As your project gets under way continue to build your fans base. When it comes to fans is goes unsaid; the bigger the better is the end goal. Social media is a full time job. At first it is like a baby. It needs to learn to crawl before it can walk. In some cases this might mean putting the bulk of your project on hold in order to take the time to build up the online numbers. Use your team of people to help promote the project. If you want your funding to reach its goal then you have to work for it. Nothing comes for free! OK let’s make this happen!

Here are some hard facts. Only a few of the people who see what you are up to are going to help. If you have 1000 fans on your Facebook page then in most cases you can count on as little as 10% or even less giving to your cause. How does this add up? Let’s say your goal is one thousand dollars. If 100 people from your page gave you 10 dollars then your have met your goal. Project funded. The sad part is that rarely happens. It is more likely that only 5% are going to contribute. Many will spend less that the 10 dollar bill. This will leave you in the position of bringing in 500 dollars or less putting you well below your expected goal. There is nothing worse that the fateful “Goal Not Reached” posting on your funding page. Thousands of projects end up this way everyday due to lack of planning. Times are tough out there and people really want to help, but most just “like” your post on Facebook and move on to the next thing in the stream. To really engage fans you have to give them a great story and a solid reason to give.

So how do you run a successful funding campaign?

1.Start your planning early. A good campaign can take from six months to a year to complete. If your funding level is on the higher side then it could take even longer to reach your goal. Most campaign are only 30 days, but you have to be prepared long in advance before you launch to be successful.

2.Start by building your social media fan base. Work as hard and as much as you can to get the numbers to grow. This fan base will be the determining factor in your campaign. Priority should be given over everything you are doing including filming, recording, or design work to this one most important item.

3.Build a social media team! Using the power of multiple will increase your chances. People get sick of hearing the same things from you and only you. They want other people perspective on this project. The need to see involvement of others is a key factor.

4.Be consistent in your postings. Determination should show through. It is very important that people see your need for success. Being positive is also a top priority. If you are having a bad day or things did not go well on the shoot then keep it to yourself. You have to be nice to everyone.

Even those who are naysayer. Bite your tongue at all costs.

5.Be patient. It takes time to get these things moving. Slow growth is better than none at all.

6.Seed Money! Here’s a little secret no one talks about. When you first get your project moving solicit your family and friends for some seed money. This will be money that they will pledge to your campaign once it launches. Gather as much as you can in advance. Don’t be tempted to spend one nickel of it either. Make a record of their “pledges” in a note book. Then just before launch day remind them of this commitment.

Then when you launch you funding campaign get them all to log in and pledge these amounts all at once. This will show activity that you can use to help market your campaign. People are more inclined to donate if they see that other have also pledged support to the project. Even if the amounts are smaller, but there are many of them then that sets a precedence for others to support the project.

7.Don’t wait until the last minuet! Scrambling at the end of a campaign because you have realized you are nowhere near your goal does not work!

Ever! Unless your rich uncle is going to make up the difference it’s not going to happen and you will go down the dreaded “Unfunded” drain.

You have to be prepared from the very beginning of the 30 days to garner constant donations. Nothing happens for those who wait hoping for a miracle. It just does not work that way.

8.Rewards. Plan your rewards carefully. Be realistic about what is possible and what people might really like to get in return for their support.

Unless you are Spielberg “Dinner with the Director” is really not very appealing to most. A free DVD or music track download is OK but keep the dollar value low. Those might seem valuable to you, but to many they are not really worth a whole lot. Talk to everyone you know to see if you can find some tangible merchandise instead. You might be able to fins someone who will let you have some products as an “In Kind” donation instead of cash. Work on this early in your project so you have them ready when your campaign launches. Things like printed or embroidered jackets printed t-shirts, tickets to a great restaurant for the locals. If you know anyone who works for a national chain then try getting some discount passes to movies or popular food establishments. Remember the rewards don’t always have top be related to your project as long as they have value then you are giving people something for their money.

9.Crowd Funding campaigns are not magic. This is hard work and requires talent for marketing. If you don’t have the skill set for this type of thing then find some one. If you are trying to raise a significant amount of fund then it might be wise to spend some money in advance on social media advertising if you can. There is also the option to allow a percentage of the money raised to go towards paying people to help market your product as an incentive. Supporters don’t actually troll funding sights to find ways to give away their money to strangers. It is up to you and your team to bring the project to their attention. You MUST market your campaign for it to be successful. One helpful method is to use public figures to help gain awareness to your project. It you have friends in high places then by all means solicit their support by using images and video of them talking about why people should help you out! (Continued)

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10.When if first began crowd funding was pretty easy. There were only a hand full of projects and lots of people will to support new ideas. Fast forward a couple of years and everything has changed. Not there are ten of thousands of projects all competing for funding. You are not alone in this battle to raise money. Everyone else is doing it as well. You must find a way to make your project stand out. Your social media presence has to be exceptional! You have to work constantly to keep people interested. Teamwork is super important in reaching your goal. If you think it’s going to just happen automatically then crowd funding is not for you. No one is going to just hand you $25,000 dollars on a whim. Having a solid project that people can get behind is a key factor. Take a close look at what you are working on. It is exciting? Does it have something people want? Will it change lives? It is moving? If not then you might want to go back to the drawing board. If it is then start planning right now! You have a long way to go and a short time to get there.

Here is some info on the major crown funding sites:

1. Kickstarter Kickstarter is a site where creative projects raise donation-based funding. These projects can range from new creative products, like an art installation, to a cool watch, to pre-selling a music album. It’s not for businesses, causes, charities, or personal financing needs. Kickstarter is one of the earlier platforms, and has experienced strong growth and many break-out large campaigns in the last few years.

2. Indiegogo While Kickstarter maintains a tighter focus and curates the creative projects approved on its site, Indiegogo approves donation-based fundraising campaigns for most anything — music, hobbyists, personal finance needs, charities and whatever else you could think of (except investment). They have had international growth because of their flexibility, broad approach and their early start in the industry.

3. Crowdfunder Crowdfunder.com is the platform for raising investment (not rewards), and has a one of the largest and fastest growing network of investors. It was recently featured on Fox News as the new breed of crowdfunding due to the story about a $2 Billion exit of a crowdfunded company. After getting rewards-based funding on Kickstarter or Indiegogo, companies are often giving the crowd the opportunity to invest at Crowdfunder to raise more formal Seed & Series A rounds.

Crowdfunder offers equity crowdfunding currently only from individuals + angels + VCs, and was a leading participant in the JOBS Act legislation.

4. RocketHub Rockethub powers donation-based funding for a wide variety of creative projects.

What’s unique about RocketHub is their FuelPad and LaunchPad programs that help campaign owners and potential promotion and marketing partners connect and collaborate for the success of a campaign.

5. Crowdrise Crowdrise is a place for donation-based funding for Causes and Charity. They’ve attracted a community of do-gooders and and fund all kinds of inspiring causes and needs.

A unique Points System on Crowdrise helps track and reveal how much charitable impact members and organizations are making.

6. Somolend Somolend is a site for lending for small businesses in the US, providing debt-based investment funding to qualified businesses with existing operations and revenue. Somolend has partnered with banks to provide loans, as well as helping small business owners bring their friends and family into the effort.

With their Midwest roots, a strong founder who was a leading participant in the JOBS Act legislation, and their focus and lead in the local small business market, Somolend has begun expanding into multiple cities and markets in the US. 7. appbackr If you want to build the next new mobile app and are seeking donation-based funding to get things off the ground or growing, then check out appbackr and their niche community for mobile app development.

8. AngelList If you’re a tech startup with a shiny lead investor already signed on, or looking for for Silicon Valley momentum, then there are angels and institutions finding investments through AngelList. For a long while AngelList didn’t say that they did crowdfunding, which makes sense as they have catered to the investment establishment of VCs in tech startups, but now they’re getting into the game. The accredited investors and institutions on AngelList have been funding a growing number of top tech startup deals.

9. Invested.in You might want to create your own crowdfunding community to support donation-based fundraising for a specific group or niche in the market. Invested.in is a Venice, CA based company that is a top name “white label” software provider, giving you the tools to get started and grow your own.

10. Quirky If you’re an inventor, maker, or tinkerer of some kind then Quirky is a place to collaborate and crowdfund for donation-based funding with a community of other like-minded folks. Their site digs deeper into helping the process of bringing an invention or product to life, allowing community participation in the process.

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Perfection is something we might consider to be the end of the road. The final outcome of endless hours or even years of fussing about with an idea or process that reaches a point one can consider complete. The word “perfection” derives from the Latin “perfectio”, and “perfect” — from “perfectus.” These expressions in turn come from “perficio” — “to finish”, “to bring to an end. These definitions are only relative if the beholder feels they have seen or possibly heard such completeness.

Otherwise maybe reaching perfection is the beginning of a brand new road. If one thing is complete does it leads to an open door that lets us see into a new world of creation of design?

The story behind the Norton Guitar is a trip through one of these magic doors.

Born in post war England Hugh Norton was raised with traditional British values.

He would eventually end up in Edmonton Alberta, Canada during the early sixties.

Picking up the guitar while still a young man, his family would move to Cape Cod Massachusetts. Hugh would continue to play guitar while attending Boston University Studying Pre-Med, eventually forming a new band that would be the ticket to a much bigger career in music than he could have ever imagined.

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Like many adventures begin the map to Norton Guitars was being written as it happened in realtime. He didn’t know it yet, but Hugh Norton was in for the trip of a lifetime. Life takes you on many journeys it is just a matter of making choices. These were his.

“We had advertised in the newspaper looking for someone to help promote and manage our group. Several days later the manager for music icon T-Bone Walker showed up. At that point we thought we had hit the big time. He managed us for about six months and then the gigs stopped coming. I ended up at his house one night and they were talking about playing at Carnegie Hall.

T-Bone had really stopped playing guitar by that time and I was to be his new guitar player. I had a few weeks and the next thing you know we were in New York on stage.” -Hugh Norton

Playing at the side of the famous blues master would be a heady time of mingling with some of the true great in the music world. Big Mama Thornton, Earth Wind and Fire and many others would be part of the scene back in those days. Norton would get a chance to be part of a scene that only a select few would be allowed inside. This was truly a time of the greats. These were the people who would be shaping the look and sound of music to come. The seventies were a time when old school hardened blues legends overlapped with a new generation of musicians.

On March, 16th 1975 everything would change. T-Bone Walker would die from pneumonia and other complications from sustained past injuries. This would be an end to one of the most innovative musical careers ever. Prior to the death of Walker they were in the process of planning a session in Jamaica with the legendary Rolling Stones. This opportunity of a lifetime would now not be possible.

After Walker’s death the band would continue to perform with Norton playing the guitar.

Opening up for major acts the band struggled on. It was during this time like many fellow musicians of the day Norton would wander about from gig to gig. T-Bones back up band “Airline” even had a recording deal with Atlantic Records. In the end they just didn’t have the front person to take it to the next level. The music business is a tough one and sometimes you just have to move on.

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Living in Cambridge near Boston life would go into a spiral over the next several years until one day it would all change. Unexpected events would cause a change in lifestyle. This change however would be the driving force that eventually would lead to the creation of the Norton Guitar.

Hugh would end up at the Berklee College of music where he would receive a degree in film scoring.

Looking for a new avenue this was a new place to start, but in the background the designs for his new guitars never stopped flowing. Working with a patent lawyer he would eventually gain a master patent for his truly unique internal design concept of the Norton guitar.

cated to Porter that with some changes in the legaleze there was a good chance at success. Porter would rewrite the entire thing and with in six months a master application patent would be sitting on his desk! This would be the official beginning of the Norton Guitar for real.

Six months later Norton would confer with friends in the music busi-

With plenty of time on his hands Hugh would sequester himself down in the basement. Using basic wood and metal working machine and hand tool he would craft one of the very first custom designed guitars. It would be a bit crude, but none the less it played.

From this one guitar would spawn hundred of new ideas and concepts. Hugh Norton knew he had something unique. His aluminum tube arrangement allowed for parts to slide giving infinite adjustment. This was a design that did not exist in the guitar world. He needed a lawyer.

Boston attorney Ed Porter would be a bit reticent when first approached by the Norton with the idea of patenting this amazing new concept. For a time Norton would wonder if it was even possible. Porter however would see a spark in the process and take on the project with a considerable furor. Working hard to build his case Porter would come up with a 135 page patent application for the idea behind the Norton Guitar. Hugh would be summoned by his attorney one late afternoon to get the details of Porters efforts. Sitting in the office Ed Porter would reveal to Norton that the US Patent office has denied 35 of 36 claims contained in the application.

ness. It would be decided that Montana was the place to go to establish the new company. Needing a change of scenery Norton would pack up everything he owned and head west to the land of beauty and big sky. It was time to break the chain and move on.

He would land in the town of Bozeman Montana. Rugged mountain country and lots of fresh air would be just the environment needed to sort out all the

Confused and a bit disappointed Norton was won- ideas for a revolutionary new electric dering if this was the end of his idea. Porter would go on guitar design. This would be the place to explain that the 36th claim was the most important to focus on what was important. of all. The lawyers in the US patent office had communi-

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Little did he know the area around Bozeman Montana was the home to some of the best guitar manufactures in the country. This was near the home of Gibson guitars and the celebrated luthier Bruce Webber whose mandolins were world famous. Ren Ferguson was there working for Gibson and many others. This was guitar Mecca for many. It didn’t hurt that the landscape was beautiful in every direction. This was the type of peace that would lend itself to designing and building the finished product Hugh had in mind. The area around Belgrade and Bozeman Montana is the perfect environment to make instruments.

Renting a commercial space in downtown Belgrade design and manufacturing would get underway at the newly formed Norton Guitar Corporation. Things would progress at a steady pace. There was no shortage of qualified and very talented people when it came to word and metal working in the area. People like machinist Ton Jungst also famous for staring the Warren Miller ski movies would play a part in the development of the Norton Guitar. It seemed like everything was right on track for this revolutionary instrument to take on the world.

Like many new business start ups it only takes a little push to topple the fragile structure they are built on. Under funded from the very start Norton Guitars would struggle to meet the demand for this amazing instrument. This biggest problem however would be the price point. This was not your average off the shelf type of guitar.

They were special in many was and the quality was much higher than anything on the market that was being mass produced. With money running out, demand increasing, and marketing troubles on the rise problems started to emerge for the crew at the Norton Guitar Corporation.

Coupled with a crash in the market worldwide this was a disaster waiting to happen. In 2004 production in Belgrade would come to a grinding halt.

This seemed like it would be the end of the Norton Guitar. It was only the beginning.

Norton would leave the company taking with him his ideas and designs and head for a fresh start. He believed in the concept and the performance of the instrument was nothing short of spectacular. Development was something that had to continue at all cost.

Forming HMN customs he would move into an even larger space taking on the entire process alone. Hugh would set up an even larger shop on his own. Dedication over 18,000 hours of refinements he would take the Norton Guitar to a whole new level. This would be a tree pronged attack; Function, Appearance, and Production Ready. Working alone in his shop he would make every part of the guitars, and basses himself. This would include the necks, inlays, metal work and the lot. Having had experience in wood and finishing Norton would teach himself every aspect of metal working and master the entire process. Drawing from the talent pool in the area he would learn the tricks of the metal working trade from experienced professionals. Other instrument craftsman would also stop in from time to time and share their experiences. Hugh would spend countless hours designing and redesigning until he had perfected the Norton Guitar.

Norton would spend from 2004-2006 in the building most time seven days a week. This self imposed solitude would be the method to reach the ultimate achievement.

The period of time spent here would result in over 80 custom made instruments that were nothing short of perfection. He would reach a pinnacle when everything fell into place. This was the Norton Guitar he had dreamed of way back on the lawyers’ office in Boston. Now thousands of mile away from where it had al begun Hugh Norton had accomplished what he had set out to do. The Norton Guitar was flawless. There were no dead spots.

The bodies flowed with a unique beauty and function was at its highest.

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This was the ultimate instrument designed around a tubular frame. A completely new concept. The best part was IT WORKED! Mission accomplished. I have heard these amazing instuments and can testifly to the power and beauty they exude. There is simply nothing that can compare.

In 2006 the building would be sold. Norton Customs would have to move. During the same period his best friend and close confidant would pass away. The rug would be pulled out once again.

This would be the turning point for a new time in his life. Not being able to find a new shop. Considering all his options is would be time to come back to New England a place he had called home for many years prior. His best friend Armond McCoy would help him in the process to take back the Norton brand name and bring the business back to the East where they could get it back on track.

Over the years he has had several close calls with major funding, but continued economic troubles on a national scale have kept the company small. This is probably a good thing. Today Hugh Norton maintains his designs and control over the company. Back in Massachusetts he has a strong desire to continue developing and manufacturing this amazing instrument. Even after years of struggles the legacy of a new concept continues. Now a new generation of musicians is discovering the Norton Guitar. Maybe this is what was supposed to happen all along. There are many plans on the horizon for Norton Guitars. One thing is for sure this is a story of determination and strength out of which came both beauty and a sound that nothing out there can rival. The Norton Guitar is here to stay.

You can find out more by visiting www.nortonguitars.com CRUSH MAGAZINE

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If you are looking for a man’s man then Michael Rooker is your guy. This versatile actor has done everything from hanging on cliffs to guarding our little congregation of spinning planets out in space. Taking a look back Michael has been one of the most consistent actors in a sea of Hollywood faces for many years. You might remember him from “Tombstone” where he first learned to fire a gun on set. Now he own part of a shooting range in L.A. and shoots a couple of time a week to keep his edge.

Michael was born in Jasper Alabama. When he was 13 he moved with his mother to Chicago. He caught the acting bug while attending college, and began appearing in local stage productions. On first breaking into film, his intensity and “don’t-messwith-me” good looks were highlighted to chilling effect. His raspy voice would become one of is trademarks when working on the villain side of the camera.

He would work along side some of Hollywood’s great action hero’s including Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. There is also a softer side to this chiseled actor that brings out his heart and soul. We like seeing this side of Michael for sure.

More recently you might recognize Michael from the hit show on the AMC network “The Walking Dead”. The crazy, eccentric, one armed character “Merle” seems to be a perfect match for a guy like Michael on the blockbuster TV series.

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TJ: Have you been doing a lot of interviews today?

MR: You’re my first interview today.

TJ: Nice! Right on.

MR: Right on man. Let’s do it.

TJ: Maybe you won’t be tired of answering a ton of questions already.

MR: Yeah, you’re my first on today, but I bet you’re first question will be one that I’ve already heard Ha Ha. TJ: 100 percent it will be.

MR: Let’s see what you got.

TJ: We were initially going to try and catch up with you at Rock and Shock this year, but you were wiped out from your trip back from Europe. You literally came to Rock and Shock from Europe, That day.

MR: I know man it was Crazy.

TJ: So my question is… what are you doing over in Europe all of the time?

MR: Ha, Ha, I was doing a movie called Guardians of the Galaxy. We’re filming over there right now.

TJ: You play Yondu.

MR: That’s right I’m playing a character called Yondu.

TJ: I saw a few pictures online; I don’t know if they’re official releases, but there are a few floating around you as Yondu.

MR: Yeah, the Paparazzi caught us on one of our locations, and I just happed to be working that day. They were looking to get some good candid photos, I guess.

TJ: If the rest of the movie has the same tone as what you have as that character, they’re going to hit a home run. That character looks BADASS MR: Yondu is a very cool character. I am very fortunate to be involved with the piece. James Gunn directed it and wrote it and stuff and it’s going to very cool.

TJ: I’m a big fan of James Gunn. Is that how you got attached to the project? Was he like “ I already know a guy who’s perfect for Yondu”. Is that how it happens?

MR: I was actually still on The Walking Dead when he was hired on as the writer and director of Guardians of the Galaxy; we were both thinking it wasn’t going to happen. I was pretty busy down there in Atlanta.

It’s just one of those things. If you’re busy, you can’t just leave and go do something else. You have to finish your work on the job you’re working on. Sometime you get films because you just finished something up and you’re open and free, and sometimes you loose them for that. I told James “I don’t think I’m going to be able to do it, I think it’s just going to be impossible to make it happen.” We were lucky. I was very fortunate the scripts on The Walking Dead turned out the way they did and my character was ending my work there on The Walking Dead. It was a great arch for me. Merle Dixon was an awesome role. It was great, and good timing. They hadn’t started filming yet, and my schedule opened up. As soon as that happened it was a green light and everyone ok’d me for doing Yondu. It was awesome.

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TJ: You were able to swoop in and tie up that role.

MR: Yeah, exactly.

TJ: That’s one of the better sides of Merle Dixon meeting his end on The Walking Dead. We now have Michael Rooker as Yondu.

MR: Very much so, yeah. Very Much so.

TJ: While we were at Rock and Shock, I would say that you spoke to close to 70% of people there, and it’s a huge con. I spoke to Juliette and Amy quite often through out the con, and one thing they said, and I would have to agree with them was that you are absolutely 100% dedicated to you’re fans. You were extremely tired and jetlagged…

MR: Oh my god I was.

TJ: …but you would not leave your table as long as there was someone in line to meet you. That’s pretty hardcore man.

MR: You know, people come from all over the world, I have to say world because they do, to attend these conventions so, and it’s very cool. I find it to be very exhilarating. I usually don’t get too tired when I’m at the table; it’s usually after the fact. After the day is over I just crash, right down to bed. I’m usually totally, totally exhausted at the end of the day. You give it all you got, use it up, and replenish at night and relax and eat some good food, and get ready for the next day to continue on.

TJ: I was able to kind of hang back and watch you interact with all of your fans, and you met everyone with tremendous positive energy. For someone to look at it, they would never know that you were exhausted, jetlagged, and coming in from Europe with no sleep. Someone would have thought you came in fully refreshed, rested and loving everyone. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it.

MR: Ha ha, well you get a little sleep on the plane, but you’re still kind of opposite once you get here. You’re still on European time, so you’re still awake and energetic, but you know you’re going to crash real soon. I had a great time. The people who come to these things are really major enthusiastic, and big fans. It’s always a given that you’re going to get there and be busy and have a good time. Meeting everybody is really the most fun part of doing these things.

TJ: It shows. It really does. It doesn’t seem like it’s a grind to you at all. I appreciate that, and I’m sure everyone who meets you appreciates it too.

MR: I never think of it as a grind, you know. I’ve always enjoyed meeting new people so I’m always up for it, and it ends up being a very positive thing.

TJ: You just had a really big announcement that you made.

MR: Oh yeah, my first daughter just became a new mother. My first gave me my first Ha Ha. I’m a new grandfather and it’s very exciting. Of course, the clique that’s part of being a grandparent is that you get to give them back. You know what? There is a reason it’s a clique. Because, it’s soooo true. It’s like “Ok, time for baby to go back to Mommy!”

TJ: I know exactly what you mean; we always have to take ours back after we’ve talked the grandparents into taking them for a little while.

MR: That’s right man. It’s awesome though; it’s a joy and amazing to have a little one like that in the house.

Beautiful stuff.

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TJ: I asked some people on Facebook if they had any questions for you, and I’ve picked out a few of them.

One might be easy, and one might evoke a little bit of thought.

MR: Right on. Let me have’em.

TJ: The first one is from Andrea, and she asked what your favorite role has been.

MR: I don’t have a favorite role. I’ve been asked that one a lot, and almost every single one ends up being my favorite. I have three or four roles that end up being pretty iconic. When you look at Days of Thunder with Rowdy Burns, and you look at Merle Dixon, the most recent; those two jumped out at you. The one I just did, Yondu, is going to be a beautifully epic role that I’m going to remember for a long time. When the film comes out, the fans will know why. It was an awesome film to be involved with, and all of the other actors were great to work with and I had a wonderful time. Of course my first movie Henry…these are some of the roles that just pop into my mind.

TJ: Right.

MR: Of course, Cliffhanger, where I played Hal Tucker is another one. I’ve gotten to do a lot of really cool things. I’ve been very, very fortunate and very blessed and lucky to be involved in this business, I get roles that end up suiting me quite well.

TJ: We can piggyback off of that into the question that Rhonda asks. She wants to know if any of the bad guy roles that you’ve played, give you a sense that you are able to get away with something that you couldn’t get away with in real life. Kind of, walk away with a residual badassness.

MR: Ha ha, residual badassness?

TJ: Yeah.

MR: I don’t need no residual badassness, ha ha ha, I’m already there.

TJ: Ha ha, Yes sir you are.

MR: No, I think all of these roles that I play, whether they’re some sort of dark despicable kind of guy, I just enjoy, really, really truly enjoy getting in and doing what I do best. A lot of times I don’t even think of these roles as “bad guy” or “good guy”, that’s such a generalized description that it doesn’t suit any of the stuff that I do. People are going to categorize and stuff like that, but that’s not what comes across on screen when you look and watch the film. If you watch it maybe one or two or three times, you’ll see different things each time and different nuances, and things that missed, perhaps the first time through, which will perhaps change how you view the character.

Merle Dixon is a prime example of that. One week you’re looking at this guy and going “oh my god, ugh” and the next week you’re saying “well, wait a minute… he was…yeah…okay”. You know, the roof top scene with Merle and T-Dog, the character of T-Dog through the first punch. When you go back and look at things, you can see a little different perspective on stuff. That’s very cool. As The Walking Dead moved on, you discovered a lot more about Merle Dixon than you ever expected.

TJ: He’s much more of a layered character.

MR: Much more. Much more layered. Characters like that, I find it wrong to really say “bad guy” or “good guy”, you can’t do that. You can’t do that in real life either. You definitely can’t do that in the zombie apocalypse.

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MR: Bad guy, good guy, bad stuff, good stuff, my goodness, look at the stuff Rick has done. Is Rick a good guy or bad guy? In The Walking Dead you cannot characterize people that way, it’s a different world, than the world we live in, in real life.

TJ: I’ve always felt that Merle is probably the closest capture of what a person may become in that kind of survivalist atmosphere. He wasn’t necessarily malicious most of the time, but was willing to do what he needed to do to survive. Of course that comes across as being malicious some of the time, but I always thought you would probably run into more Merles than you would, say…Glens or Ricks if something like that went down.

MR: You know when the shoe falls baby, people act and behave much differently than they would when everything is all hunky dory and fine.

TJ: It’s pretty renowned that the Trivia section on IMDB is pretty inaccurate most of the time..

MR: It’s always inaccurate. Always.

TJ: I thought I would pull something from your IMDB trivia and verify it with you, and in return if you could give me a piece of trivia that I would enter into the trivia section myself.

MR: Go ahead, lets try this.

TJ: It say’s that you studied Aikido with Fumio Toyoda Shihan.

MR: Yes, he was my sensei. That was back in Chicago, and was the first martial art that I had studied. I did that for quite a long time.

TJ: Awesome. That just adds another layer to Michael Rooker’s badassness, then.

MR: Ha, ha, yeah I guess so. It was a lot of fun. I’m very physical and very athletic. After school and everything, I just had to find something that I really loved to do. I really enjoyed Judo and Aikido, and now I do Kyokushin style. It’s a karate style here in L.A., so I have a good time doing that as well.

TJ: So, if I were to go and enter a piece of trivia about Michael Rooker on IMDB, what would it be? This is a chance to give me something specific that would be a great piece of trivia.

MR: I’ve always wanted to own a Volvo.

TJ: Ha ha, That’s fantastic.

MR: I finally got me one. I have an S-60. A beautiful little sedan Volvo that I just purchased. I’ve always, always, even from a small child, seeing the Volvo commercials, I’ve always wanted to own a Volvo, and I’ll tell you why. They did these commercials where they took a Volvo and hung it upside down with a crane and let it drop, and they compared it with other cars dropping. Other car’s rooftops would just collapse, ever car they did, they would just collapse. When they did the Volvo with the same distance, and the same crane, and theirs did not collapse. Ever since seeing that, when I was like, thirteen, I’ve always wanted one.

TJ: And now you’ve got one!

MR: Ha ha now I have one!

TJ: That is absolutely awesome. Michael thank you so much brother, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk with me, and I hope you have a good day man.

MR: Thank you, and I love my new Volvo, ha ha.

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