May issue Paranoid Magazine

Wizards Of Odd And The Alien Mask Of Evil

by Sean Casteel

Wizards Of Odd And The Alien Mask Of Evil

By Sean Casteel In the modern UFO era, dating back to around 1947, when both Kenneth Arnold’s famous sighting of flying saucers and the even more famous Roswell incident took place, many UFO researchers have looked past the veil of more recent times to place the phenomenon firmly in the context of history, dating it back to man’s most ancient beginnings. UFOs and their alien occupants are nothing new, say these researchers and authors, and may represent simply a more technological guise for entities long regarded as evil spirits or demons.

JOHN LEAR

John Lear is the son of the inventor of the Lear Jet, William P. Lear. John Lear is also an experienced pilot with many thousands of hours of flight time as well as having an alleged background of CIA contacts gathered from flying missions he carried out for the agency.

According to Lear, the first contact between aliens and our government took place in 1964, and a formal treaty was negotiated around 1969-71.

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The treaty involved an exchange of superior alien technology in return for our government’s cooperation in covering up alien “research” on this planet, which included the famous cattle mutilations and human abductions. Lear also says that the aliens and our government operate a joint research facility at the notorious Area 51 in Nevada. Lear helped to pioneer the Dark Side faction of the UFO community and, while he has his share of detractors, he has never been proven wrong for believing something evil is afoot that has long ago snared our government into helpless cooperation.

CONTAINERS OF THE SOUL Lear is quite forthrightly outspoken on the negative aspects of the UFO phenomenon. For instance, his take on the gray aliens is certainly on the sinister side of the table.

“The purpose of the grays,” Lear said in an online UFO forum, “is to take care of the containers – us. We are containers of souls. When a soul is made, it lasts forever and ever. It never dies until it is beyond salvation. This is very rare. The future is already written and the date of your death is already determined. If you are in an accident or life-threatening situation, the grays secretly step in and save you.”

Presumably to keep things on schedule so that one is there to meet one’s moment of death at the correct predetermined time. Their interest in our souls, however, is a predatory one, driven by hunger. The grays suck the souls out whole, in order to feed on the energy of the misery the grays themselves cause, like a vampire’s thirst for blood. Most likely the grays are doomed to suffer their hunger in eternity and can never get their fill of human torture.

THE GOVERNMENT IS THEIR ALLY As if the nature of the grays wasn’t bad enough, they’re also working alongside our own government! This is one of Lear’s major themes, that

our government entered into an agreement with various alien life forms and was played for a sucker big time.

In his role as a researcher, Lear maintains a lively correspondence with many other researchers. The following case histories were reported to Lear by an investigator named Bill English, who claimed he got the information in 1977 when he was allowed to read a Top Secret document called PROJECT GRUDGE/BLUE BOOK REPORT NUMBER 13.

One of the reports was called “Darlington Farm Case,” out of Ohio, and the incident took place in October 1953.

“A man, wife and 13-year-old son were sitting down at the dinner table. As they sat there, the lights in the farmhouse began to dim. Dogs and animals raised a ruckus outside. The 13-year-old boy got up from the dinner table to see what was going on. He called his mother and father to come look at the funny lights in the sky.”

They saw a round ball of fire in the sky, and the boy began chasing it out into an open field.

As the parents watched, the light came down from the sky and the boy began to scream for help. The father fetched his shotgun and returned to see that his son was being carried away by what looked like little men. The father fired several rounds at the light, but to no avail. They found one of their dogs with its head crushed, but no sign of the boy and no footprints left behind by the little men.

The police were called but the official report read that the boy had run off and become lost in the forest. Within 48 hours, the Air Force determined that the family had experienced a true close encounter and forced the parents to relocate to a secret installation somewhere in the northwest part of the U.S. which had medical treatment facilities to deal with radiation poisoning and similar ailments.

Both the parents were in shock and required intensive psychotherapy.

RUN LIKE HELL

Another similar report indicates that the government is aware of incidents of human mutilation within their own ranks. An Air Force Sgt. named Jonathan P. Lovette was observed being taken captive aboard what appeared to be a UFO at the White Sands Missile Test Range in New Mexico. The incident took place in March of 1956 and was witnessed by Major William Cunningham. The two were out in a field downrange from the launch sites looking for debris from a missile test when Lovette went over the ridge of a small sand dune and was out of sight for a time.

Cunningham heard Sgt. Lovette scream in what he described as “terror or agony.” The major ran over the crest of the dune and saw the sergeant being dragged into what appeared to him to be a silvery disc-like object that hovered in the air at a height of 15 to 20 feet. A long, snake-like object was wrapped around the sergeant’s legs, dragging him into the disc, after which the disc rose quickly into the sky.

Search parties were sent out into the field. After telling his story, Major Cunningham was admitted to the White Sands Medical Dispensary for observation. After three days of searching, Sgt. Lovette’s nude body was found approximately 10 miles downrange. His body had been mutilated; the tongue had been removed from the lower portion of his jaw. An incision had been made just under the tip of the chin that extended all the way back to his esophagus and larynx. He had been emasculated and his eyes had been removed. Also, his anus had been removed and there were comments in the report about the apparent surgical skill used in removing the various organs and tissues. When the body was found, there were a number of dead predatory birds in the area, apparently killed when they tried to feed on Lovette’s body.

Lear groups cases like the disappearing 13-year-old farm boy and the mutilated Air Force Sergeant under the heading “The Horrible Truth.”

“The best advice I can give you is,” Lear said, “the next time you see a flying saucer and are

awed by its obvious display of technology and gorgeous lights of pure color: RUN LIKE HELL!”

JACQUES VALLEE

Jacques Vallee is a world famous researcher who is respected not only by UFO believers but also by those outside the field for his high quality scholarship and rigorous scientific dedication.

Vallee was the model for the character of “Lacombe,” from the Steven Spielberg movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” He received training as an astrophysicist and holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Northwestern University in Chicago. He is the author of some of the best books ever written on the subject of UFOs, including “Anatomy of a Phenomenon” (1966), “Challenge to Science” (1967) and “Passport to Magonia,” (1970), the latter universally considered to be a classic. The book dealt with the relationship between UFO contact and the folktales of fairy lore and the Little People.

Vallee’s research led him to concentrate on the sinister aspects of unexplained phenomena, which he expounded on in his 1979 book “Messengers of Deception.” He would go on to write “Dimensions” (1988), “Confrontations” (1990) and “Revelations” (1991). His most recent book is called “Wonders In The Sky” (2009) and deals with ancient UFO sightings.

DARING TO FACE THE PARANORMAL - In an inter-

view conducted by Daniel Blair Stewart, and published online as “Strange Encounters: An Interview With Jacques Vallee,” Vallee says that too many UFO researchers try to sweep the paranormal aspects of the phenomenon under the proverbial rug.

“That is due in part,” Vallee said, “to the fact that witnesses tell you such things only after you have gained their trust. But very often they are a challenge to the beliefs or the worldview of the investigators. They may not be ready to hear it or they may not publish it because they think it would damage their credibility. And since they are in the business of giving credibility to the subject, they don’t

want to reveal the paranormal aspects of it. Every UFO sighting has some elements that are shocking to the ‘rational’ view, the nuts-and-bolts picture that these are simply spacecraft from outer space.”

In the last few decades, Vallee continued, “We’ve learned a lot of new things about this phenomenon that contradicts the idea that it is extraterrestrial. It is not a recent phenomenon. It is a phenomenon that has existed, as far as we can tell, throughout history in one form or another.

So this certainly invalidates the idea that we’re dealing with a civilization that has just discovered us and is coming here now.

UFOs seem to have been a part of our environment for a very long time, perhaps as long as man has existed.”

UFO HOSTILITY

Vallee went on to recount a journey he had made to Brazil in which there seemed to be evidence of UFO hostility.

“Objects would literally zap people,” he said, “with beams.

In several cases, it seemed that it killed them. It certainly injured them. We couldn’t really prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship in the cases of death, but there was a cause-andeffect relationship in the cases of the injuries. People were, in fact, injured by those beams.

“The phenomenon doesn’t

seem to care at all,” Vallee continued, “whether it’s perceived as good or bad. In fact, it may be beyond the level at which humans would define good and evil.”

Whatever the phenomenon is, however, Vallee believes it extends to every culture, every race, every religion on Earth.

“I really have not found a single place that doesn’t have a tradition about this phenomenon,” he said.

IS THERE EVIDENCE FOR MALEVOLENCE? But the phenomenon does tally up more points on the sinister side in Vallee’s view, in spite of those who believe we’re dealing with something positive and benevolent.

“I can understand,” Vallee said, “why the expectation has grown that this could be helpful and benevolent. It’s a very complex, unexplained phenomenon and we always tend to project our own human fantasies into every such thing that comes along.

It would be nice if somebody came down from the sky and told us how to stop wars and how to cure cancer. Unfortunately, the phenomenon itself, when you look at it objectively, doesn’t seem to care about us at all. It seems to be benevolent in some cases and hostile or at

least harmful in other cases.

“Notice that we could say the same about electricity. We couldn’t live without electricity, but if you put your fingers in a socket it could kill you.

That doesn’t mean the utility company is hostile to you, it just means that there’s a very powerful force out there and it doesn’t care if it kills you or not.

Electricity doesn’t give a damn one way or the other, and I think that, to some extent, the UFO phenomenon is the same way.

It does whatever it has to do according to a pattern we haven’t detected. When people get in the way, they get zapped.”

Vallee did concede that sometimes there is a long-term psychological change that manifests in witnesses to Close Encounters, a change that can be for the better or the worse.

“You occasionally meet people,” he said, “who seem very enlightened, who have a very positive attitude toward life, who think they have psychic abilities, and when you ask them when they first became aware of this, they will trace it to a time when they saw a UFO. Some witnesses have actually described being healed as they were caught in the beam from a UFO.

“There are also numerous cases in which the reverse happens. People are confronted with a UFO and their whole life changes for the worse. When they tell their

story, the local people don’t believe them. They are ostracized, they get fired from their jobs, their wives leave them, they go through a tailspin, they sometimes end up as bums.”

Vallee explained that the tailspin outcome happened to several American law enforcement people in the 1960s and 70s.

“The phenomenon tends to happen,” he said, “away from towns, between say, one and four in the morning. Who is going to be away from a town between one and four in the morning but the highway patrol! So very often, in places like Nebraska, North Dakota, Minnesota, there are cases of Close Encounters at night involving highway patrolmen.

In numerous cases, their lives were destroyed or broken; they had to leave the force because people wouldn’t respect them anymore. They were suspected of seeing things, maybe of drinking.”

Elsewhere on the Internet, Vallee is quoted as saying in more blatant terms, “I believe there is a machinery of mass manipulation behind the UFO phenomenon. They are helping create a new belief system. They are designed to help change belief systems, and the technology we observe is only the incidental support for a worldwide enterprise of subliminal seduction. What we see here is not an alien invasion. It is a control system which acts on humans and uses humans. Human beings are under the control of a strange force that bends them in absurd ways, forcing them to play a role in a bizarre game of deception.”

observer has been replaced by another reality. If we could measure that, if we could instrument the witness, we might be able to learn about what we call physical reality. But that also raises the question: how do we know that this reality is the real one? How would we prove that it’s the real one? This reality is merely a human consensus.”

The Oz factor has alternately been explained as the sudden heightening of the senses that happens to a UFO witness during the encounter experience.

It is comparable to Dorothy, in the movie “The Wizard of Oz,” moving from the black and white landscape of her native Kansas to the full color world of Oz. But again, as Vallee asks, how do we know which reality is real?

“One of the opportunities that the UFO phenomenon is giving us is to look at reality in a much larger context,” Vallee said.

“Whatever UFOs turn out to be, the opportunity is here. Simply by stretching our minds and forcing us to look at the universe in other ways.”

[If you enjoyed this excerpt from “Round Trip To Hell In A Flying Saucer,” the book is available at Amazon.com. Also, visit Sean Casteel’s “UFO Journalist” website at www.seancasteel.com]

THE “OZ” FACTOR

“I think UFOs are a special case,” Vallee added, “that forces us to question what we call reality. In Close Encounter cases, there is a point at which the witness seems to enter a different reality. There is an English researcher named Jenny Randles who calls this ‘the Oz factor.’ There is a point where all of a sudden reality has split and the reality of the

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What about your rights?

by Megan Roper

What About My Rights?

By Megan Roper

to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you… Though most of us have heard it, few actually understand what it means and how it can help them if they are

doesn’t really matter.

If you are pulled over and accused of a DWI, an officer will probably ask you several questions and have you perform physical agility tests on the side of the road all without being given Miranda warnings and without an attorney present.

Like it or not, courts have said this type of behavior is ok.

But, why doesn’t an officer tell you that you have the right to refuse to answer questions, the right to refuse to perform field sobriety tests, and the right to have an attorney? When an officer is accusing you of a crime, they are trying to gain evidence to support their decision to arrest you; they are not looking for information that shows your innocence. This makes officers biased, and this will taint everything. It will impact the way they write their report and the way they testify in court.

Despite the fact that it is 2013 and most of us have cameraequipped cell phones in our pockets, there may not be any video recording to show the difference between the truth and the officer’s tainted memory. In fact, about half of my DWI cases in San Antonio do NOT have any video evidence. This is why it is so important to stand up and assert your constitutional rights.

Most of us have probably heard a version of Miranda rights: You have the right to remain silent.

Anything you say can and will be used against in a court of law.

You have the right

accused of a crime.

I am a trial lawyer who defends citizens when they are accused of crimes, and I specialize in defending citizens who are accused of driving while intoxicated. Recently, a gentleman who I will call John came into my office after he had been arrested and charged with a DWI. John, like many who come to me, has never been arrested before.

He has little understanding of how the criminal justice system works. Like many others, John told me, “They never even read me my rights.” John was shocked when I told him, it

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In John’s case, he was legally parked in a neighborhood near his favorite watering hole enjoying a sandwich he had picked up from a nearby convenience store. While there, police approached John for “being suspicious” and they later arrested him. While John was being questioned by the police, his friend saw what was going on and began to video record.

This friend, who I will call Jane, is also a friend of mine through San Antonio NORML. Having heard me speak at various NORML events, Jane had the intelligence, confidence and composure to do the right thing.

Once John was in handcuffs, Jane tried to give him a business card of mine.

Before she could give

John my card, one of the police officers grabbed her and pushed her with such force that she nearly fell to the ground.

Jane was neither intimidated nor discouraged. She wrote a note on a piece of paper and again insisted that the officers allow John to have it. Finally, the officers allowed John access to an attorney’s number. Jane had the courage to do what many people don’t. Not only was she brave enough to approach the officers once, but she was not deterred even after physical assault. She was more concerned about the well being of her friend than an officer’s threatening actions.

I share this story with the hope that it will inspire more people to stand up for our constitutional rights. I encourage everyone to do the following if they are someone they care about is being accused of a crime:

1. Record your interaction with the officer If there is anyone else around, it’s probably easiest to ask them to record (audio, video, or ideally both). If you are alone, it may be impossi-

ble to video record, but you may be able to capture any audio simply by leaving the phone in your pocket and allowing it to record. There is nothing illegal about recording an officer’s actions.

2. Assert your rights Don’t wait for an officer to tell your rights because it may never happen.

Or, if it does, it will probably be too late to help your case.

Respectfully refuse to answer any questions, refuse any tests (including the physical agility tests the officer will ask you to do on the side of the road), and ask for an attorney. Of course, you can always call The Dude.

We answer our phones 24/7 at 210-DWIDUDE (210-3943833).

Too often, people are afraid to do these things. This can be especially true when these people are like Jane who was not being accused of a crime but merely a witness. Don’t be afraid to assert your rights, and don’t be afraid to help your fellow citizen to assert their rights.

Remember, just like many of my clients who are “never read their rights,” officers who are accusing you of a crime are not interested in protecting your constitutional right to remain silent or your constitutional right to an attorney. If we don’t stand up for ourselves and for our fellow citizens, who will?

Jamie Balagia is the DWI DUDE and handles criminal cases from Austin to San Antonio and all surrounding areas.

WWW.DWIDUDE.COM

EL JEFE & THE RIFFS

by Robert Cruz, Jr.

everything in its way?

Franken Riffs—guitar Dedo Muerto—bass Kidd Riff—guitar Pacifico—drums

Paranoid Magazine: Hey, EL JEFE & THE RIFFS! Whassup, dudes?! Can you guys introduce yourselves and tell the PARANOID MAGAZINE readers what you do in the band?

EL JEFE & TR: Frank- I play the guitar. I play most of the leads in the songs. But E.T. and I do switch of on harmonies and stuff. I’ll switch to bass on a few songs and Deadfinger shows what he can do.

Kidd Riff- I play guitar. That’s as far as it goes, man!

Deadfinger- Gladly, I’m just the bassist, and get to jam the hell out while performing.

Pacifico - I put the “umm” in drummer.

Paranoid Magazine: How did the band originate? Can you tell us a little about your history as a band? What’s the story behind the band name? Great name!

rummer Lucas Lumbreras.

We had a band called Incursion which was metal. However we like all sorts of music including surf so we played that on the side.The band thing was put aside for a long while and the guys asked me to come back whenever they started playing again. We needed a bassist and the guys knew Aaron and we all hooked up and it worked out. Then tragedy struck and all of our drummers equipment was stolen and that was basically all that we played out of. We later met up with Pacifico through Aaron once we felt we needed to get back out there.

The name basically is “We” as in the band are the riffs and El Jefe is like, well “El Jefe”. So we are telling his story through the names of the songs and the themes we have decided to take. El Jefe is like a badass bandito Clint Eastwood Zombie outlaw.

Pacifico- I think they’ve opened their ears to a different kind of music that the valley isn’t used to, and I’m digging that.

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Kidd - I’m pretty much influenced by anything and everything, but mostly THRASH! Deadfinger- Well, shit man, I listen to Extreme Metal and Reggae to Classic Rock and Punk! A few of my most listened to bands are Tool, Opeth, SRV, Misfits, Slayer, and Dissection!

Strangely enough, I only listen to a few Surf Rock bands, which include Man or Astroman? and Daikaiju.

Pacifico- Damn, influences. Deftones, Dredg, KoRn, The Mars Volta and Rush, to name a few.

soundtrack. You guys ever think of doing something like that?

Frank- Since it is instrumental it ends up that way cus the strings are pretty much also the singers.

I am also influenced by The spaghetti western theme songs as well. I would love to be able to get a soundtrack going. Our songs are kinda coming together like a big instrumental story.

Paranoid Magazine: Do you all have a demo CD out? Have Paranoid Magazine: How have the shows been you all recorded anything? going? You guys have played El JEFE & TR: Kidd Riff - Frank- We currently working on one. We are with my band, miniMachos, are pretty stoked and hope to be able to Deadfinger- Hell yeah, man! Hey, and have KILLED every time get that out there and get a wider Quentin Tarantino...give us a shot, audience. dude!!

I’ve seen you guys.

How are the South Texas Aaron- Yea, we’ve passed out some “demos” which pretty Paranoid Magazine: I heard audiences receiving you unofficial much consisted of live we record- you guys did a gig on South guys? Have you all played ings I’ve done at our practices.

We’re working on a DIY demo which Padre Island, on the beach. out of town? we’re hoping to have out before What a perfect setting for Summer, so keep a look out!

El JEFE & TR: Kidd Riff - They’ve your surf rock, man! Tell us been going awesome, and we’ve about that. been well received!

Paranoid Magazine: Who writes most of the El JEFE & TR: Kidd Riff Deadfinger - Our valley crowds kick It was cool, sandy and I ass and support us very enthusisongs? Do all of you con- Franklost my phone haha. Pacifico- It astically...especially when we play good to jam surf tunes on tribute to the writing? How felt in Harlingen! We’re lucky to have the beach! That’s where the mua good following of great fans who do you go about composing sic belongs. are usually highly intoxicated by the a song? time we play, and to make new fans Kidd Riff- Felt right at home. pretty much wherever we play!

El JEFE & TR: Frank- The Kidd and I have been jamming since a little after school with our ex

El JEFE & TR: Kidd Riff -Frank- I love Megadeth, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Dick Dale, Samhain, black metal, I mean we are all over the place as far genre’s goes with what each of us likes or brings to the table. Right now the writing and wanting to show that to someone is fueling it for me.

Paranoid Magazine: Who are your musical influences/ inspirations? What inspires the EL JEFE & THE RIFFS juggernaut to steam on, fullspeed ahead, pulverizing

El JEFE & TR: Kidd Riff -We already had a few established songs. I think we all contribute. Someone will show up with a riff and then I may add something to the riff or another riff on top of that and boom next thing you know we’re jamming a new song. Aaron brings killer bass lines and Pacifico just takes off on the drums, We all have input and I think thats what really contributes a lot to the writing process.

Most, if not all, of your songs have a big, anthemic vibe to them. I could easily hear them on a movie

Aaron- It was a bday bash for 3 of our friends. Our buddy, Art, built a stage for us and we set it up out at Beach Access Point 6. Took some generators, our equipment and a couple other bands and invited a shitload of people! The beach, booze, good friends and groovy tunes...what more could anyone want?

Paranoid Magazine: What does the future hold in store for EL JEFE & THE RIFFS?

El JEFE & TR: Frank- I hope alot.

I want to travel and take this music all over the place. Our music is just getting better as we get these riffs together. Its fast thrashy with spanish influences.

Man its cool just to be able to play this type of music.

Kidd Riff- Hopefully more gig s and more good times!

Deadfinger- Honestly, I feel rather lucky to be a part of this band.

El Jefe & The Riffs have a lot of groovy tunes that appeal to listeners of all sorts and ages, and I just hope to spread our music to as many ears as possible!

Paranoid Magazine: Well, guys, it was a friggin’ pleasure getting to know the band better. Best of luck to you, man! Anything else you want to say to the PARANOID MAGAZINE readers and all your fans out there?

El JEFE & TR: Kidd Riff - FrankKeep an eye out for us. Hit us up and as soon as this demo is out we will come full steam man.

Like I said, I want to go places and take this music to ears out there.

Kidd Riff- I just want to say thanks and that we appreciate all the support that we have had so far!

Aaron- “Think for yourself, question authority.”

BARTENDER OF THE MONTH Molly: 9

Paranoid Magazine: Favorite Night to work?

Molly: Monday

Paranoid Magazine: Most Memorable Show in recent weeks?

Molly: Mr. Lewis & Funeral 5, Hogbitch, Lethal Smut, & Black Water Revival.

Triple Crown San Marcos TX 78666 MOLLY

Paranoid Magazine: years bartending?

Paranoid Magazine: Best Selling Drink at Triple Crown?

Molly: Monday Lonestar Bottles

Paranoid Magazine: Days of consecutive Live Music here at TC? Molly: Monday 5,930 days roughly.

Paranoid Magazine: Who is that behind you?

Molly: The ghost of the Triple Crown. I hear her giggle in the mornings. She is a maseusse.

Molly: The UFO I saw on North Johnson Street. It was a Flying Saucer!

Paranoid Magazine: Favorite Superhero?

Molly: Wonder Woman!

Paranoid Magazine: Favorite song on the jukebox?

Paranoid Magazine: Specialty Shot or Drink?

Molly: Squatthrust!

Work. Eat.Sleep.Shit.Die.

Molly: Rootbeer Shot!

Jager, Ameretto, Splash of coke.

Paranoid Magazine: How many beers have been sold roughly in the history of Triple Crown?

Molly: 100,250,000 One Million Two Hundred Fifty Thousand cold beers!

Paranoid Magazine: Favorite local artist?

Molly: Furly, Robin Orta, Rene Perez, Niles Williamson.

“Remember whenGinobli had Hair?”

“QUOTES OF THE NIGHT” “Bigfoot came in earlier her “Triple Crown is a great name was Beatrice she orderd a place to be a human being” Filthy Bastard”

Paranoid Magazine: Strangest thing you’ve ever seen in “TC You never know what or who San Marcos?

“Bud Light bottle please . . . . your gonna hear” Page 12 • www.paranoidmagazine.com

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Underwater Abductions? by Sean Casteel BIZARRE EXPERIMENTATIONS ARE THE OCCUPANTS OF USO’S ABDUCTING HUMANS AND TRANSPORTING THEM TO UNDERSEA UFO BASES?

By Sean Casteel Are aliens taking abductees to their underwater lairs to administer frightening physical examinations out of the way of prying eyes?

Is a “secret invasion” about to take place that is being kept veiled for the time being because the ETs – or whoever they are – have hidden themselves in our vast bodies of water?

There is now ample evidence that existing alongside the UFO phenomenon is an equally complex but less well known phenomenon with the acronym USO, which stands for Unidentified Submerged Object, or alternately, Unidentified Submarine Object. While they are seen much less frequently than the aboveground UFOs, they are nevertheless observed often enough to warrant extensive study as a related phenomenon.

In the book “UFO Abduction From Undersea,” published by Timothy Green Beckley through his publishing company Global Communications, I contributed some opening chapters on USOs to set the stage for a book coauthored by Miami UFO researcher Virgilio SanchezOcejo and the late Colonel (Ret) Wendelle Stevens about a

fascinating USO case that took place in 1979.

“UFO Abduction From Undersea” begins, fittingly enough, with the attempt to define just what an USO is. In an interview I conducted for the book with world-renowned UFO researcher Stanton Friedman, he told me, “There have been a number of reports over the years of objects that do several things. Navy submarines have apparently seen things moving along much faster than they can underwater, without going in or coming out. Others have seen UFOs come down in the water and move around and then take off from the water. And there have been reports of things that just come bursting forth out of the water.”

Another story was told to me by Don Ledger, the coauthor of a book on the famous Shag Harbor incident. Ledger received training in the fields of marine navigational aids and radar.

In the course of that training, he spoke to a man at a sonar shop at a naval base in Halifax, Canada.

“He was working as a repairman for the navy on sonar,” Ledger recalled. “I asked him, ‘Did you ever see anything unusual down there, like whales or something besides submarines?’ And he said, ‘Oh, yeah, every once in a while we’ll run across something that seems to be moving way too fast for a submarine.’ I said, ‘What do you mean by fast?’ And he said, ‘Well, one time we recorded one going about 150 miles an hour underwater. That’s impossible.’ So I said, was there something wrong with the equipment? And he said, no, the equipment all checked out.”

The sonar repairman also said it hadn’t been the first time such an object had been sighted and it would not be the last time, either. The repairman also said the USO had reached an incredible depth of two miles, which is also well in excess of the abilities of manmade submarines. It is amazing that they can handle the pressure without killing the occupants, especially when

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that fact is coupled with the extremes of speed these objects can reportedly attain. Perhaps, Ledger speculates, the objects are surrounded by an energy field that operates equally well both in the air and underwater.

“They’re probably in an envelope all their own,” Ledger said. “It doesn’t really matter how deep these things go. It probably doesn’t affect them whatsoever.”

I also spoke to Chris Styles, Don Ledger’s research partner and his coauthor for the book “Dark Object: The World’s Only Government-Documented UFO Crash,” published in 2001.

The book deals with a sighting that took place in Shag Harbor, on the southern coast of Nova Scotia in Canada.

“On October 4, 1967,” Styles told me, “around 11:20 PM, several people called the nearby RCMP detachment and reported seeing simply lights.

Some reported that an airplane had crashed into the ‘Sound,’ as they called it, Shag Harbor.”

When the police arrived, they found a pale yellow light floating on the water. The light began moving under its own power and left a heavy, dense trail of yellow foam on the water. When they saw the light sink beneath the surface, they commandeered a local boat and went out in the harbor to look for it, but found no physical evidence.

The search resumed at first light the next day, and ships were sent by the Canadian navy as well as seven divers. After five days, the search was called off, with nil results. No aircraft were ever reported missing, and it was generally believed that the object was the crash of a UFO. The government documents that declare the object to be a downed extraterrestrial craft are freely available in Canada, according to Styles.

Before it disappeared, the object was reported by several witnesses to be at least 60 feet across and to display flashing colored lights that repeated in the same sequence over and over. But Styles emphasized that it was not the public who called the object a UFO. The neighboring residents had only initially reported strange lights.

It was the Canadian authorities themselves who referred to the incident as a “UFO search,” contrary to normal expectations surrounding such things.

When asked why the extraterrestrial occupants would operate underwater, Styles said, “I think water provides a perfect medium for hiding; it’s great for stealth. You’re out of sight and out of mind. I mean, off the coast of Nova Scotia, so many feet down, there’s not a whole lot of traffic there, right? I know some people have wondered, is there a base down there?

These things are always fun to speculate about, but I’m more into getting the data. We’ll find something and then we’ll worry about the interpretation.”

For Stanton Friedman, it’s a matter of the USOs exploiting what’s down there of value.

“Besides just hiding from the guys above,” Friedman said, “there are a lot of resources at the bottom of the ocean.

There are nodules of all kinds of metals, almost pure metals.

There are loads of diamonds, for instance, off the coast of Africa, that are underwater. There are nodules of manganese and cobalt and other things at the bottom of the ocean, besides all kinds of strange sea creatures from which they may extract some very interesting biological or chemical things.”

Having established a little background on USOs, let us now examine a case of abduction from undersea.

Betty Andreasson Luca is a housewife, mother and grandmother, and is also one of the most important alien abductees ever to be investigated and documented. Researcher and author Raymond Fowler has written a series of books about

Betty, which tell the continuing story of Betty’s mind-bending encounters with diminutive gray aliens she believes to be angelic servants of Jesus Christ.

In April 1980, Betty underwent yet another session of regressive hypnosis to retrieve the buried memories of some of what happened to her at the hands of the aliens. As the session began, she reported being abducted into an alien spacecraft, which may seem fairly routine at this point. But this time, she recalled the ship started hurtling toward a body of water. Under hypnosis, with the tape recorder rolling, she becomes terrified that the ship was about to “crash” into some water. Betty was so frightened that the hypnotist interrupted the session to allow her to calm down.

When the examination of this memory resumed a few days later, Betty recalls the craft entering the water and being wholly submerged beneath it.

The ship proceeds to enter a cave or tunnel with walls of solid ice and icicles throughout. The underwater place is brightly-lit.

Betty sees people, “people like me,” she says.

What Betty next reports is astounding. She is seeing what Fowler later called “The Museum of Time” – living people encased in the ice in what we call “tableaux” in earthly terms.

Each museum person on display has his or her own scenery appropriate to their time, wearing the correct clothes, etc. The figures look neither dead nor stuffed, and include babies and children as well as many different races. Betty repeatedly calls the clothing “funny and old-fashioned.” There are too many cubicles for Betty to count.

UNDERSEA UFO BASES?

by Sean Casteel

When Fowler listened to a cassette of this particular regression session several days later, he found his mind “rebelling,” unable to believe what Betty had said. Yet how, he wondered, could Betty spontaneously and emotionally relive such detailed and intricate experiences unless they were true?

Fowler would later write, “A cold chill coursed through my body when Betty was describing people and animals enclosed in glassy cubicles in an icy cavern.

Perhaps Betty was privy to the aliens’ Museum of Time!”

Does all this offer a clue as to what the USO occupants are really up to down there? In any case, they appear to be the same entities as the more familiar airborne UFOs, with the same proclivity for abducting their Chosen Ones and subjecting them to frightening confrontations with as yet unknown and perhaps ultimately incomprehensible alien truths.

Do the aliens maintain a kind of museum of human history?

Are they proudly and affectionately displaying specimens of their creation, humankind? Or is there a darker mockery at work here, a kind of contemptuous collecting of samples of a shamefully lower form of life?

THE MOST SPECTACULAR USO ABDUCTION CASE OF ALL TIME!

The primary focus of the Global Communications book “UFO Abduction From Undersea” is the story of Filiberto Cardenas. Like Betty Andreasson Luca, he was abducted by a USO. Cardenas was also given many strange prophecies by his captors, prophecies which came electrifyingly true shortly thereafter.

It all began on the evening of January 3, 1979, when Cardenas was in his gift shop in Hialeah, Florida, and received a

phone call from his friend, Fernando Marti. Marti asked Cardenas to accompany him to buy a pig from the local merchants to roast the next Sunday. Marti and his wife and daughter arrived at Cardenas’ place of business and they set out on their errand.

After stopping at two different farms, they were still unable to find an acceptable “puerco” for their feast. As they continued their drive, they turned off onto a rural road that was in poor condition. At that point, the car began to lose power.

The two men examined the engine but were unable to see what the problem was. Then the engine began to reflect red and violet lights in sequence. At the same moment, they heard a strange noise, like a swarm of bees. Next the car began to shake, and Marti’s wife began to scream in panic, believing it was an earthquake. When Cardenas tried to approach her to calm her down, he became paralyzed, frozen under the hood of the car. Then the same force that had paralyzed him began to lift him and suspend him in the air. Cardenas began to shout, “Don’t take me!

Don’t take me!” The noise and lights ceased and everything seemed to return to normal.

Then Marti looked up and saw a UFO ascending into the sky.

He shouted, “They have taken Filiberto!”

After several attempts, he was able to start the car. He felt compelled to tell the police, but feared he would not be believed, or worse, that he would be accused of having himself harmed Cardenas. He decided to inform the police anyway and also called Cardenas’ wife, saying, “A light took Filiberto away.”

Meanwhile, Cardenas awoke onboard the UFO, in a seat that seemed to hold him in place by some kind of suction and restrained all his movements.

He saw three strange figures, one of whom placed a strange helmet on his head and spoke to him in a language he thought sounded like German.

He was shown projected images, as on a television, of scenes from the past, present and future of humankind.

He was then taken to a smaller ship that discharged from the mother-ship. He saw a beach approaching, and then the UFO plunged into the sea. Everything was obscured by the incredible velocity at which the ship moved.

The ship veered to the right and began to lose speed. Cardenas could now see a tunnel with walls that seemed illuminated as if they were phosphorescent.

The ship entered the tunnel and then emerged in a place that was completely dry. The area was huge. He noticed two symbols, one of them being a serpent as large as “an electric light pole,” Cardenas later said.

The other image was similar but smaller. His captors took him from the ship and told him to sit down on a large rock.

At this point, one must note the similarity to what happened to Betty Andreasson Luca. As with Luca, the UFO that transported Cardenas quickly plunged into the sea and emerged in a dry alien environment. While in Luca’s case the surroundings were icy, it is still remarkably similar to the large cave to which Cardenas was taken.

the popes to the 1980 election of President Ronald Reagan, the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City and the demonstration by Chinese students in Tiananmen Square in 1989. Cardenas, armed with the prophecies from the aliens, was also able to accurately predict the assassination in 1981 of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and the Gulf War against Saddam Hussein in 1990.

All of these prophecies are included in this expanded edition of “UFO Abduction From Undersea,” written by Virgilio Sanchez-Ocejo. Sanchez-Ocejo provides an impressive amount of data and documentation that tells the story of Filiberto Cardenas in exquisite detail, providing transcripts of the regressive hypnosis sessions in which Cardenas relived his bizarre experience and even medical documentation on the typical marks and scars left on Cardenas’ body in the aftermath of his excursion into the unknown.

The late Lieutenant Colonel Wendelle C. Stevens, the UFO researcher who published the original book, also contributes a preface that takes up the defense of the worthiness of the case in spite of the fact that local media at the time scoffed at the story and quickly ceased

to cover it. In spite of that media scorn, there is still a wealth of supporting evidence, Stevens writes, that was completely overlooked at the time.

Serious UFO researchers may want to watch the witnesses tell their story and see the subsequent hypnosis session. This will give the reader a feel for the obvious sincerity of those involved. It is available in Spanish on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=jUghBO3dloU One must once again applaud the continued effort by Timothy Green Beckley to republish classic UFO/flying saucer books, in newly expanded form, that have not only earned a place in history but should also be read by a new audience who will undoubtedly learn that, while there may be nothing new under the sun, there is still a great deal to learn from Ufology’s past. “UFO Abduction From Undersea” will enthrall the reader even as it terrifies, and who could ask for more than that?

by Sean Casteel

IN THE UNDERWATER CAVES In the cavern area, Cardenas was welcomed by a humanlooking figure who said he was from the Earth and had long worked with the UFO entities.

He seemed to be saying that Cardenas was most fortunate to be receiving instructions from “beings like us.” After some further conversation, and a quick trip to what was apparently an undersea alien city, Cardenas was returned to a pasture near where he had been originally abducted.

The aforementioned predictions Cardenas received from the aliens included everything from the future succession of

www.paranoidmagazine.com Page 15 •

the PRIDE OF SAN MARCOS

by Russell Dowden

you for the years you were here? BTW- (how many years did you live in SMTX?) Carlton Pride: I was in San Marcos for 17 years. It is the longest I have lived in one place. San Marcos has made a lasting impression on me. Again, I will never forget my friends that I made there. It was a very spiritual place for me and I was able to write music and develop my sound and band in San Marcos, which I am very thankful for.

Paranoid Magazine: Well do you feel you made an impact on the San Marcos area while you were here?

You was/are loved by many.

LIVING THE HIGH LIFE CARLTON PRIDE Paranoid Magazine: Welcome Carlton to Paranoid Magazine.

How are things in Colorado?

Carlton Pride: Everything is beautiful up here. It’s a great time of year in Colorado.

Paranoid Magazine:San Marcos misses you bro!

Carlton Pride: San Marcos has been a very special place to me for years. It was very hard for me to leave all of my friends there and of course the San Marcos River. I will never forget the cool times I had there and how San Marcos and the people have affected my life.

Paranoid Magazine: Well I understand you are living peacefully in Ft. Collins Colorado.

How are things going up there for you and the family.

Carlton Pride:So far it has been a really good move and a good time. We are all settled in and

Page 16 • www.paranoidmagazine.com

are about to have a new addition to our family. My baby girl is due any day now. My son, Syler, has been having a good time crawling up and down the stairs at our new place and my wife, Lindsey, is loving it up here. I am blessed to have such a beautiful family.

Paranoid Magazine: I heard that you went to the 420 Rally in Denver and was there when gun shots rang out.I’m really shocked this happened. Are you ok?

Carlton Pride: I’m good. It definitely shook me up a bit and didn’t feel right for this type of celebration. About 80,000 people shared a really cool moment as we all smoked legally together at the largest 420 celebration in the world, then pow pow pow. Everyone took off running, not knowing what was happening or if the shots were going to continue. Thankfully they stopped, but It is unfortu nate that something negative like this could happen at an event that should have been so positive.

Paranoid Magazine: Well .....back to Texas. How had San Marcos made an affect on

Carlton Pride: I would hope so. The response at my farewell show in San Marcos was beautiful. I feel that I brought some positively to the San Marcos area and spread some really good vibes.

Paranoid Magazine: So what is next for Carlton Pride and Mighty Zion?

Carlton Pride: I am going to continue spreading the positively that stemmed from San Marcos, TX throughout the US and hopefully the world. I am writing more music and am looking to get into film and television as well.

Paranoid Magazine: Will San Marcos or central Texas see or hear from you any time soon? ;) Carlton Pride: I will definitely come back for a visit sometime during Christmas and should make it back on Tour Spring 2014.

Paranoid Magazine: When I come up to visit Boulder I with come and say hi to you and the family brother! Peace. Love. Music.

Carlton Pride: I truly appreciate the people of San Marcos and San Marcos itself. My stay there was a beautiful time and has made an impression on my heart which I will never forget.

I want to say Thank You to San Marcos and to all of my friends and fans there! Thank you Russell for giving me the opportunity to say this to San Marcos.

P.S. I am going to miss Unicycle Football so much.

__________________________

Russell Dowden is the former Publisher of Weird Magazine and host of The Paranoid Show. visit theparanoidshow.com for more details. He can be reached at paranoidpublisher@gmail.com

CHASCA THE WICKED

by Russell Dowden

hard earned American stink to work and came up with one mean motor scooter of a song. Voila, The Barbarian.

Paranoid Magazine: Has Chasca recorded anything new in the last year or so?

Paranoid Magazine: Hey guys welcome to PARANOID!!

Chasca: Thanks for having us!

Paranoid Magazine: What’s going on with the guys of primordial gloop of mischief ?

Chasca: Oh, with us it’s the routine as usual: Push-ups, earwigs, lady death, sodomy…

Paranoid Magazine: I hear you guys had a show a while back at Red Eyed Fly. How was that?

Chasca: It was too much fun. So too much fun. We played with some great bands such as Holy Kakow and Hey Gurl. The crowd was great, the sex was great, the drugs were great, the catering was great, the bees were

Page 18 • www.paranoidmagazine.com

great, the cops were great, the samurai was great. Yeah, it was ok…I think Austin is starting to wink and bum cigarettes from us. Green grape cakes…THEY’ GREAT!!!!!!

Paranoid Magazine: I’m jamming out Barbarian on your homepage at ChascaMusic.com!!How did this track come about?

Chasca: Our guitarist, Sean, showed up to practice with the main “lick” I believe he called it. We jammed on that and then went to the track to fondle lady luck. She had hammers for hands and a taste for balls that night. We got racked and wrecked and pantsed and lost the whole band fund on a horse named Felix. So it was all hair pulling and eye gouging and kissing on the bus ride home.

The next day we put our entire

Chasca:We just got done recording a nice clump of songs in March. We worked with the one and only Chris “Frenchie” Smith at The Bubble in Austin. We should have something very wry out early this summer.

Paranoid Magazine: We look forward to you guys appearing at the Triple Crown for a Paranoid event on May 24th!!

Lochness Mobsters, Ghost of Dixie, Chasca and Kaboomba!! Should be a blast!!

Chasca:We can’t wait!

Paranoid Magazine: JT Rocks!! Will there be a dress rehearsal for the May 24th show?

Chasca: We dress up at every rehearsal. Occasionally we text nude pictures of ourselves to each other…Let me tell you, Sean Palmer is ALL man. Thanks for

saying J.T. rocks. He’s a droll little squirt of insouciance and indolence. I’m not sure that he rocks. He definitely lurks.

He’s covered with mites. And he’s something of a dilettante as well. Maybe if he weren’t so thick-waisted he could find a lover to gratify his peculiar lusts.

Paranoid Magazine: Tell us some upcoming gigs that you have for May. Chasca: May 24th at The Triple Crown for Paranoid Magazines rock and roll extravaganza!!!

May 25th at The War Horse in Austin for the Austin Music Marketing event: Rock Without Regrets! That will be a great sexy libido driven scream with all the proceeds going to a worthy cause. Our great friends Scorpio Rising will also be

performing.

Paranoid Magazine: What can San Martians expect from your PARANOID Show May 24th?

Chasca:They can expect a miracle of flesh and stardust.

Paranoid Magazine: Thank you guys for once again hanging out with us paranoid weirdo’s!!Any final thoughts to our readers?

Chasca:Indeed we do. Here’s a cunning Polish proverb and it has served us well in the music industry, “The Lithuanian is cunning like the fox, but stupid like the pig.” For more gloop and mischief please find us online at www.chascamusic. com or LIKE us on Facebook. It’s a star-spangled hustle folks…

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Searching for the Truth

by Dennis G. Balthaser

it’s opening statement, “We the People”, and for me that’s been lost by those we elect to represent us in Washington.

Searching for the Truth (Always Telling the Truth Means Never Having to Remember Anything) 05-01-13 Politicians Priorities I really do not enjoy writing or talking about political concerns I have, but am becoming more concerned that the only objective our leaders in Washington have are interests that benefit themselves. I won’t lay blame on any individual party either, as I feel they all fall into the same trap once they get to Washington.

Over the past 65 years much has been written and reported in reference to the UFO situation world wide, while our leaders have for the most part ignored it, or have shown no interest in looking in to it, so the public might at least know truthfully what all these reports are about.

Nearly every President since Truman has indicated they would investigate the reports and have not succeeded in doing so. I think I do understand that since the President is a “temporary employee”, serving a maximum of 8 years as President, he most likely doesn’t have the security clearance, or “need to know” to follow through on his desire to

Page 20 • www.paranoidmagazine.com

obtain the information. In my opinion the President can’t be trusted with such information.

Nearly all have tried while in office to no avail, which I’ll explain later.

Many of those that are in Congress are active on various committees that could easily look into the UFO situation, but have not done so to any satisfactory degree. Excuses for not doing so are evident in some of the reports I have read.

This is not a matter of serving only their constituents they represent from each state, but a national concern that should be looked at by many or all of those that are elected to serve the people they represent. The Constitution states plainly in

When legislation needs to be passed prior to being read by those voting on it, as Nancy Pelosi recently alluded to regarding passage of the “Obama Care bill,” we have a major problem with those we elected to represent us. I suppose I shouldn’t expect them to take UFO reports under consideration, based on their current records, of not being able to agree on any legislation that currently affects all of us.

Two Presidents, Reagan and Carter reported sightings of UFOs prior to becoming presidents, while governors of their states in California and Georgia.

Reagan even addressed the UFO topic at the United Nations in a speech given there in 1987 while President. President Clinton had an interest in UFOs and asked an aide to look into the topic, who reported back to the President that he could not find any information. I’ve heard rumors about Eisenhower having some involvement with extraterrestrials, but have never seen any confirmation on that.

George Bush, Senior was head

of the CIA prior to becoming president, and may well have been the only president with any prior knowledge of UFOs, although he has never publicly mentioned anything, that I’m aware of.

Barry Goldwater was a United States Senator from Arizona who ran for President in the 1960’s and lost to Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 Presidential election. He was also a member of the Senate Intelligence committee, and promoted to Brigadier General in the Air Force Reserve. His interest in the possibility of extraterrestrial beings visiting earth has been recorded several times in interviews he did, particularly during an interview with Larry King on CNN in 1988. He had asked General Curtis LeMay about going in to the Blue Room at Hangar 18 at Wright Field in Dayton Ohio, and was told by General LeMay “to go to Hell”, and “don’t ever ask me that question again.”

In 1995, New Mexico Congressman Steven Schiff requested an investigation into the Roswell Incident through the General Accounting Office. The report he received back after the GAO had interviewed several

agencies in Washington stated that the documents related to Roswell were “missing” and destroyed without proper authority. Those were permanent records that should have never been destroyed. The GAO further stated they could not identify who destroyed the messages, or why. Those messages would have involved the 509th Bomb Group, (the only atomic bomb group in the world in 1947), who ended the war with Japan 2 years earlier. This, of course, raises the question of accountability among our leaders in Washington then and now.

Many times when I submit a Freedom of Information Request Form for military records to the National Personnel Records Center in St Louis, Missouri, I will get a response in a form letter stating those records may have been destroyed in a fire at the center July 12, 1973.UFOs existing, again, with no follow up by any legislators or people in the know.

continues next page . . .

Searching for the Truth

by Dennis G. Balthaser Since the Roswell Incident occurred in 1947 there have been a few congressional hearings on the subject of UFOs, with no substantial information coming forward from those hearings to resolve the question. Meetings have been held at the United Nations, again, with no results.

Astronauts, law enforcement officers, airline pilots and such have brought up the subject of UFOs existing, again, with no follow up by any legislators or people in the know.

The Phoenix lights, Stephenville Texas near President Bush’s ranch, the O’Hara airport incident and many others have all been reported by credible individuals,

but no one follows through on these well documented occurrences. Lame, unsatisfactory excuses are sometimes given by those in authority to pacify the public, and then the incident is filed away, never to be mentioned again, such as was the case with the Condon Report, Blue Book, the Roswell Reports and several other reports made public over the years.

Many of us believe the 4 excuses given for Roswell during the past 60 some years do not satisfactorily explain what happened on the ranch near Roswell. For me that raises the question of who in our government is willing to admit that they have been lying to us for all those years? I don’t see that

happening, and would open the question to a lot of other things our Government and certain military leaders have been covering up, and still do today, if you watch the national news almost on a daily basis. Cover up has become a way of life and doing business by our leaders in Washington and at some local levels, and it appears that “we the people” are accepting that.

At my age, the concern I have for our younger generation is that although there is information we probably don’t need to know for our nation’s security, lying to us about many of these cases is not what our elected officials are elected to do in representing us.

Dennis G. Balthaser’s Website is www.truthseekeratroswell.com his Email is truthseeker@dfn.com “Dennis is the researcher in Roswell all the other researchers go to for the answers” Page 21 • www.paranoidmagazine.com

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Art Guerrilla Shepard Fairey interview by russell dowden

Art Guerrilla Shepard Fairey Paranoid: Tell us briefly about how you started off in Art. SF: Well I aways liked to draw when I was a kid, but the thing that got me really excited was when I got into skateboarding and punk rock when I was like 14 in 1984. Cultures were really about doing your own stuff, make your own t-shirts, make your own stickers, build your own ramp, do your own stencil on the bottom of your skateboard.

And that was the first time that my interest in drawing went beyond something that I usually just did in my room when it was raining out or I was on restriction for throwing water baloons at cars. It turned into something that I associated with somthing that was visceral and rebellious. So it was definitely a good marriage. I continued to make big drawings,and homemade t-shirts, stencils. Sort of seperately,you know for art class, I did what was considered traditional art and then I made all this stuff on my own.

But then when I got to art school, the Rhode Island School of Design, things just started to come together and there were several influences along the way. There was what Jamie Reid did to the Sex Pistols, this one of Barbara Kruger that uses text and images, a guy named

Robbie Conal who does political posters with Russian Contructivists poster design.

A lot of it different things, you know. I discovered Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg.

Those things started to influence me: art, politics, music, and skateboarding all started to influence me once I was in college.

Paranoid:: How did the Andre the Giant piece get started in

1989?Because I saw this in Austin around 1991 or sooner.

SF: You know the funny things is there was a Zine called StoreScene that was a music mag out of Texas, and I used to send them a sticker for every single issue so they printed like 4,000 and they would put a sticker in with every issue. IK didn’t actually come to Austin untill 1999, but i had this distribution system that was kind of like a punk rock chain letter. For me, giving stickers away, I would do ads in Slap, Skateboard Magazine, Flipside, Punk Magazine, and send a self-addressed stamped envelope for stickers and the low down, and I’d put one of my images in the ad.

So then I’d send back a letter with stickers and my manefesto and it became this viral pheneomenon.

It was really a blast! There were things that were models for me. You remember the Church of the Sub Genius, Bob Dobbs with the pipe and Mark Mothersbaugh from DEVO was really into it. So I tuned into what they were do-

Page 26 • www.paranoidmagazine.com

ing and I saw that image around, and realized what kind of an affect it had on me to see it in weird places. So I thought well, if this random is working this way on me, then I think my image can work on other people in the same way if I proliferate it enough so, you know I made the effort to drive wherever I could drive. I started in the Northeast in Providence, Rhode Island,but I also, through skateboarding and punkrock, created an underground distribution network.

Paranoid: Why OBEY? SF: You know, I saw the movie, THEY LIVE and I was already a fan of Orwells 1984, Animal Farm. The thing about They Live, I felt like , all the different thingsRowdy Rody Piper could see when he had the glasses on, the command to Obey as a overt thing that we’re all asked to submit to on a regular basis really stood out to me, and so I decided that because there was a lot of paranoid reaction to the Andre image people were saying

“Ohh, is that a Cult?”

“Is it a gang?” “Is it NAZI?” And that’s so weird because I wasn’t even using red in my imagry at all yet at that point. So you see it when people can project on an image like a Rorschach test that people come up with the most paranoid interpretations.

So then I thought, well, using the word OBEY forces people to confront the concept of obedience and also heightens their anxiety about this image.

And I decided to take my work in a more propaganda direction, because I looked at my work as sinister as it is in it’s packaging but benevolent in it’s content where a lot of propaganda in the US, which is advertising, is: benevelent in it’s packaging, and sinister in it’s content.

Paranoid: The Obey sticker provoked thought and interest in it for myself as a teen growing up in Austin, but it only made me curious. Was it your intention to create an artistic enigma?

OBEY GIANT STUDIOS interview by russell dowden

Art Guerrilla Shepard Fairey cont . . .

SF: Yeah, I mean the mystery of it I thought was really important because the more people wondered what it was, the more they talked about it to friends and it has a ripple effect. “Do you know what this is?” “Do you know what that is?” And you know that hunger to get to the bottom of it I felt made it more powerful than if

it was just really obvious. But I miss the days of being able to have that mystery with it. Today with the internet you can take a picture of an image and it doesn’t even have to have words on it, submit it to google and the next thing you know there’s a page on wikipedia explaining what the image is.

But the Obey sticker was definitly something that drove me, the mystery and mischief of it. It was really rewarding for me to be a fly on the wall and hear people talking about the project without having the baggage of knowing who I was or what my intentions

were and just hearing the interpretations of it. I always like the lattitude for interpretation.

I think that’s one of the great things about art.

And so even if you know what OBEY is now, you know there are still many of the images I make, some of them have direct messages, but there are all sorts of different aspects that are still open to interpretation.

Paranoid: We are nearly the same age; how has genereation X affected popular culture in your opinion?

SF: Well, I think that one of the things that growing up in the 80’s is that there seem to be with alot of sub-cultures; graffitti, hip-hop, punk rock, skateboarding, there was this idea that you could be creative without having to just fawn at the feet of the art-masters of the art world. You know in the 80’s you could just do your own thing on your own termswithout being pretentious about it.

So a lot of people trickled up through that mentality rather than having to go to the top of the pyramid and brown nose. Some just slowly made their way up through the ranks. You know, I love that!

The idea that creativity can permeate all different sorts of facets of different culture.

Raymond Pettibon was doing for Black Flag what I considered great art that was also in service of a band that I really liked. He made paintings and flyers and t-shirts and those were people that were a role model for me, because he had done graffiti and graphic design, album packaging, and toys. I mentioned Mark Mothersbaugh before from DEVO, great visualartist, recognized that video was an important medium.

He was super into the Church of Sub-Genius stuff. And then DEVO has both a pop sensibility and a punk sensibility and their lyrics are really subversive.

You know, all those ideas are things that now you see are pretty pervasive in the art world. There was a real segregation between counter-culture

and the art world then, where now, those walls have crumbled a bit.

Paranoid: I’ve interviewed Ron English AKA the billboard Liberator , he says you are OUR generation’s Andy Warhol.

What do you think of his comment?

SF: I think Ron is really a nice guy. You know I like Warhol for a lot of different reason, I don’t like every piece he made. But I think the idea of taking the mystery out of art alchemy by taking mundane things by showing how the most subtle yet sophisticated decisions in color and surface and technique and in choices can make those pop objects transcend their perceived limitation and become beautiful art. You know, I think that took a lot of courage and an incredible coup is that, he got the art world to embrace it! Also Warhol worked with the Velvet Underground and did album packaging, he did Illustrations, he did movies, he did Interview Magazine. I think in a lot of ways he was important conceptually in broadening the audience that appeal to art.

And you know that’s something that I’ve tried to do, and I’ve tried to take it a step further by doing street art and taking it literally to the people. To the streets!

So you know that is very nice of Ron to say. I think there are a lot of things I’m able to do, because of the paths that Warhol paved, but, I also try to be even more accessible and even more political than he was. So there are similarities and there are differences.

Paranoid: A local street artist friend of mine in Austin, “Mouf”, says that you don’t really love the artwork of street art until you go to jail a few times. Is this true?

SF: (Laughs).... That’s actually really funny. You know I’ve always liked street art and then graffiti but I will tell you it does

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Art Guerrilla Shepard Fairey interview by russell dowden continued from page 27 . . . who have the tenacity to endure or continue making art after they’ve been arrested and had to deal with that adversity. I’m diabetic, I have the cops take my insulin away, I’ve been arrested 16 times. There have been a couple times where I thought I might actually die from not getting any medical attention and having high sugar from no insulin. So I appreciate commitment and when I see art, I appreciate the courage and the risk. So that’s one of the things that I think the public takes for granted, and you know the debate about whether street art is Art or Vandalism and so on and so forth is something that is always gonna be there.

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the courage and dediBut one of the things that ought to be con- cation it takes to be a street artist. sidered is that, if you like the idea of more Russell, there are all sorts of than just cooperathings that have pros and cons. tion’s having a voice Free speech has pros and cons.

Not everything that comes in public space, if out of somebodies mouth is you like the idea of protected under free speech is human beings emsomething I want to hear. But I that they have the powering themselves, appreciate right to say it. Not every piece if you admire when of graffiti do I like. people have the courNot every weed that grows up age to do something of the sidewalk do I like. But even when it might be out do I think that all plants should unpopular, all of those be destroyed because there’s occasionally weeds I don’t like? things I think weigh No. in favor of street art and should create a bit It gets into even deeper issues as property as a concept, and of respect for at least

the existential question of: I’m a human being, I don’t have any power by normal material standards, but do I still have the right to say I exist through some form of creative expression! All that stuff is why I dig street art.

Paranoid: What would you regard as the holy grail of street art in today’s culture?and what city is your favorite CANVAS? SF: New York’s always been my favorite city because it’s the greatest risk, greatest rewards. The cops there are brutal, there’s a lot of under covers, the competition from

other street artists and graffiti artists who are very competitive and very antagonistic. But if you can get some good pieces up in New York, endure the heat from the cops and the other artist, the rewards are amazing!

A lot of people see the work.

And, you know, in a way you could say it’s all just the trials and triumphs of life just . . . INTENSIFIED! (Laughs) . . .

So to me New York’s amazing.

And at one point I did a piece on the corner of Haliston and Broadway above what used to be the DKNY mural, which was a major landmark and that piece stayed up there for a while.

And that was quite a triumph for me , but I’ve gotten to do some nice spots. I did a huge mural on the corner of Halston and Bellary, which is a major major

OBEY GIANT STUDIOS interview by russell dowden

Art Guerrilla Shepard Fairey cont . . .

Paranoid: Your art offers many things ranging from POLITICAL overtones to protest against war.

DO YOU HAVE any topics that are even too TABOO for Shepard Fairey?

SF: You know, I just did an Anti-Assault weapons poster and that’s been getting a lot of blow back. I guess there is sort of a rational compulsion to feel uninhibited on how you want to project yourself.

Even though I don’t agree that emotional response to the idea I guess of at least some gun control. I get that it pushes some peoples buttons. But to me if you feel strongly about an issue but you don’t have the courage to take a stand on it, then you don’t really have the right to have an opinion about it.

Sometimes if I am scared about what I want to say, that’s a good sign, that makes me feel even

more like I should be saying it, because it’s probably something that other people need encouragement to sort of come out for or against.

Paranoid: Are you a fan of the band “Rage Against the Machine?”

SF: Yeah I am! I am good friends with Tom Morrello, and Zach. I used to live next door to Zach.

Tom and I both work on some different charities together.

But, yeah. I am a fan.

I like their music, but I am especially a fan of their politics.

But to me if you feel strongly about an issuebut you dont have the courage to take a stand on it, then you dont really have the right to have an opinion about it.

Paranoid: BTW, What kind of music inspires you today?

SF: Ah man... What ...

What have I been listening to lately? There is always stuff that inspires me....but um....some of it politically....some of it just musically....

It’s ideal when it’s both.I mean the bands from the past, like The Dead Kennedy’s, The Clash, Public Enemy have done

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it both for me.

Ummm..there’s a newer band called the Vaccines, from the UK. I think they are pretty cool. I like No Age. Do you know them?

Sort of a punk band from LA. OFF. Which is Keith Morris from the Circle Jerks, that’s his new band. I just saw some of the original members of Black Flag are performing under the name FLAG.I saw them the other night, that was mindbogglingly good! I Like that MIA incorporates a little bit of politics in her music.

Paranoid: Do you think people have a reason to be paranoid in the 21st century?

Is there a difference in your mind between public paranoia and a legitimate FEAR of the INTRUSIONS of Government into the lives of artists and the public at large?

SF: Well there are two things I’m worried about always. One is that the government is going to be over-stepping its bounds.

And then the other is that the corporation’s are going to be overstepping their bounds and influencing government policy.

Sometimes it’s like choosing the lesser of two evils in terms of which side to take. I definitely think that the government should be regulating the banks better and campaign finance much better. Because at least the government, hypothetically is accountable to the voters even though there’s not enough direct accountability.

But the one thing that I am a little bit concerned about is lack of privacy, how everyone that uses the internet can be put under surveillance very easily.

Their activities can be under surveillance. All their digital correspondences. Because you know I think that the gathering of information on people who are perceived as enemies is something that has always been done by governments gathering Intel.

So I am worried about that. But I’m not sure there is anything that can be done about it without sacrificing the inconveniences of all that technology as tools.

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OBEY GIANT STUDIOS interview by russell dowden

Art Guerrilla Shepard Fairey conclusion .....

So when I am sending emails, I am always thinking I don’t want to write something you wouldn’t want the government to read.

It’s unfortunate to have to think that way. But I put plenty of information up on my website for public consumption that one could say , that certain powers that be, not be too psyched about me. But you know I think that I’m not all that radical.

Paranoid: Have you seen Jon Foy’s film Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles?

Are these Tiles an early form of Street Art, Shepard? And Have you seen them?

SF: No I have not.Oh wait is this the guys that put the tiles on the street? Yeah, it’s embedded right into the asphalt. Yeah, I’ve never seen one of those in person, but I’ve seen them online.

Paranoid: What Events do you have coming up this summer?

SF: I’m always working on outdoor mural projects. The longer I’ve been able to keep my street art going the more opportunity I’ve gotten to do bigger walls and big legals spots.

Doing illegal stuff is always going to be part of who I am, but

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Ive been arrested 16 times, and I am on probation right now. So you know the real point of public art was about putting art in front of people not just about; “i am a rebel and you cant stop me”even though I always get a lot of pleasure from that side of it.

Paranoid: Thanks Shepard for talking with Paranoid Magazine.

SF: Thanks, Russell, anytime man! Keep Austin Weird.......

Shepard.

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DAWN OF THE NEW MILLENNIA

ALIENS, Pandemonium, &no J-Rod SWAMP GAS .

Alien here . . .

who said he had the scoop on the origin of the image. I recall the phone conversation was like; “Dude these images are from one of our effects projects, a TV show for ABC!”

by russell dowden

The XFX team, Steve Johnson and Trey Stokes. It was featured on a reproduction of the Alien Autopsy on a 20/20 show, aired on April 4, 1997.

He then directed me to a site called FXMasters.com and indeed the image of recent speculation of J-Rod was laying there in a line of a dozen or more photos that thumbnail larger image files. Not a hoax!

Today there aren’t many of us fleeing our Homes to escape the `Gas Raid’s From Mars’ but, 21st Century Life offers its own invasion of anthrax rumors, duck tape on windows, misinformed zealots and Tour de Force-Fed Media.

What are we to think about all that circles around the UFO community, and how do we discern fact from fraud? Truth from Hoax?

the Worlds radio broadcast

by Orson Wells caused mass hysteria across the country in 1938. Why were people so willing to believe that men from Mars were actually attacking the world? The Power of Suggestion, Hysteria, and Conspiracies caused people to flee from the city to be safer from the “gas raids”! In fact why are we so many of us willing to believe everything we hear on the news?

If you had been one of the original listeners of the Orson Wells’ broadcast, might even you have believed the Martians had landed? To grasp an idea of the powerful effects FX Masters were just guys the media plays on people, contracted to do the Alien FX As a result the Setlab site one need only flip the remote Art work for the production through the cable news Stick to the government’s line was inundated with traffic and company shooting the film. e-mails about the mention. In (I’ve not seen that ABC epichannels to get a fair and of deceit is my advice; they fact, C2C’s then webmaster balanced report. But is it fair? sode incidentally). But there are infectiously predictable Keith warned me that the were pictures of the Alien with It picks no bones about Shock on their own. A few years traffic would be heavy, and the design team hanging out in and Awe. The importance of ago Sonny Salas and I were evaluating your information running a website /UFO group our site may be down. . Ironi- the office playing cards. cally, his site had crashed that resources before you believe called SETLAB; (Studies of night after 250 hits a minute is everything. Sharp intuition, We both laughed and talked Extra-Terrestrial Life and bombarded the SETLAB photo about ufology and shared our a willingness to believe, a Answers from Beyond). gallery page. thoughts. There is a whimsical great deal of faith, and a lot way and how easily things can of rocking the boat, the UFO In January of 2000 we community marches onward received an anonymous e-mail After a week of going through lead to Pandemonium. Steve 1,000 e-mails, I received one ever-seeking the truth! mentioned how the War of from a woman who claimed from a California man Steve her Nephew took pictures of the image in question aboard a US Naval vessel.

Uncertain of the validity of the image, we sought out the help of the Coast to Coast AM listeners. Bewildered at the image himself, Art Bell featured the SETLAB fax at the top of the 1st hour on the na-

tionwide talk show on January 26, 2000. You can see these pictures yourself by doing an image search engine (J-ROD ALIEN).

The Power of Suggestion,

Hysteria, and Conspiracies caused people to flee from the city to be safer from the “gas raids”!

So, when you’re up late at night and you hear a roaring crash out behind the Barn, grab your shotgun and your can of RAID and prepare for the worst. Although, you’re probably not being invaded by rectal probing aliens for an off world trip to Zeta-Reticuli to have you Chakras aligned, you might want to consider the alternative: Uncle Barney may still be up working on Aunt Margaret’s 68’ Ford Fairlane.

Kabomba The Flower of San Marcos

by Melody Dowden

Kabomba! is a 7 member US Funk/ Rock/Indie band from Austin, TX. In 2009, members formed in San Marcos, TX while attending Texas State University. Kabomba! has influences from broad ranging genres including Funk, Rock, Ska, Indie-rock, Reggae, Eastern European sounds.

They’re known for highly energetic shows, richly driven horn section, unique songwriting, and party aesthetics.

Kabomba!, under their own record label “Kabomba! Records,” has currently produced one studio Kabomba! (2012), one live album Kabomba!: Not Dead, Live album (2012). In February 2013, Kabomba! recorded their 13 track sophomore album in Austin, TX with a title and release date yet to be announced.

Paranoid Magazine: Hey

guys . . . How are things in the world of Kabomba?

Kabomba:Everything is going better than ever! We recently added a new trumpet player to the band, Anne Linders. She just moved here from St. Louis, and we’re so glad she found us!

She can tear it up on that horn, and she’s picking up our songs so quickly. So we’re finally back to a full horn section after many years of being without trumpet, and it feels so good! We just finished tracking our sophomore album, Spring Loaded, at the Womb in Austin. It should be out this fall. It’s almost 80 minutes worth of music. The recording engineer couldn’t believe we recorded it all in two days (well, most of it). Our friends at KTSW just gave us all sorts of love for Mr. Fest with two radio shows, an article, and a gig, of course, right after they hooked us up with a great Third Thursday gig at Triple Crown. We’re loving

that. We recently played at Plaza Park for the Keep San Marcos Beautiful organization, and we have a show coming up at the big HEB. All the love from the community in San Marcos keeps us going.

Paranoid Magazine: What up Nick? Neal? Bryce . . . . Dirty Bird Matt!! Steve . . .Anne & Tally!! How do I get this new CD? Kabomba:Thanks for having us Russell! We’re loving this interview. We are planning the CD release in the Fall when school kicks back up again.

Currently, we are offering our live album as a free download to all of our fans through CD Baby.

You can find the link to the free download on www.facebook. com/KabombaMusic.

Paranoid Magazine: I’m jamming Funkistrated on http://www. reverbnation.com/kabombamusic Heard you on the radio the other day getting ready for MR FEST! What gigs do you have coming up?

Kabomba: Well, we are excited about the May 24th gig coming up with our good friends from Chasca and Ghost of Dixie at Triple Crown. We have a free music festival called the Warm Fuzzy Feeling Fest (#WFF4Life!) at the Hitch Trailer Park Eatery on May 18th that we are really excited about. Neal, Nick, and Bob Moore from the Mary and Bob Show have been putting this all together. We’ve got nine bands including but not limited to Loose Leaf, the Hair Farmers, and Ghost of Dixie all on the bill. We are playing at Lucy’s Retired Surfer Bar on June 27th, Hole in the Wall July 9th and we are planning a trip back to Corpus Christi later in the summer.

Paranoid Magazine: I still have my poster from a 2011 show at Triple Crown. All you guys signed it, and left some obligatory remarks as well. What is the new album called? Tell us about it.

Kabomba: We are titling the album Spring Loaded. We think the title really captures the feeling of what’s going on in our lives and with us as musicians. It captures the feeling of a lot of the music as well, with this building tension about to go off. The imagery from the title encapsulates the experience of the record.

The songs focus on our more gyspy funk/punk style and a lot of elongated groves with some tracks going over ten minutes. We really were uncompromising in our recording of the music, trying to be true to the original verse of the material instead of

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Kabomba The Flower of San Marcos

by Melody Dowden

focusing on commercializing the product. Sure there are singles that will come out of it, but we are really excited about Spring Loaded being an album that when you listen to it in its entirety you get more from the experience then just jamming the single. We have really taken our time at every stage to be authentic to who Kabomba! is as a band.

Paranoid Magazine: OK not everybody is from San Marcos, so tell readers how the name came about.

Kabomba:Well, it really doesn’t have anything to do with this.

We mostly just thought it sounded cool and fit our sound, but Cobamba is a plant that grows in the San Marcos River, and in Spring Like where the water is crystal clear yearround, it flowers underneath the water because it gets enough sunlight to think it’s out of the water. We changed up the spelling and were originally planning on calling our album Kabomba! when we were called Helix. It turned out this Canadian metal band, Helix, is kind of a big deal, so we had to change our name, and Kabomba! is pretty much what we immediately gravitated towards. We like its connection to the river where all of us have spent many, many days playing in the sun, but we didn’t choose it because we’re like a flower blossoming under the water or anything like that.

I’d say we’re more like river rapids than a Cobamba plant.

Our new album title “Spring Loaded” refers to the San Marcos Springs as well. The San Marcos area has always been the lifeblood of our band.

Paranoid Magazine: What is itchy, fuzzy, smells awful, and goes well with beer?

Chasca:Puffy tacos. Steve’s beard.

Paranoid Magazine: What can San Martians expect from the Paranoid Show May 24th at Triple Crown?

Kabomba: Free beer, live nudes, and false advertising. But seriously, we always like to push the envelope every time we play. Both ourselves as musicians and the audience.

Paranoid Magazine: Your sound offers some polka, ska, reggae, funk, rock, and yet something Slovakian. It’s like riding in the back of a farm truck full of hay in some foreign Soviet republic drinking beer while the truck hits every pothole in the street!!

I mean that in a good way . . . really . . . .

Kabomba: (Russain jabber . . . and a bottle breaks) . .. . all laugh . . .

Paranoid Magazine: Where can readers hear the infamous sounds of this drunken hayride?

What venues do you frequently perform?

Kabomba:They can expect a miracle of flesh and stardust.

Paranoid Magazine: Thank you guys for once again hanging out with us paranoid weirdo’s!!Any final thoughts to our readers?

Kabomba: Indeed we do. Here’s a cunning Polish proverb and it has served us well in the music industry,

“The Lithuanian is cunning like the fox, but stupid like the pig.” For more gloop and mischief please find us online at www.chascamusic.com or LIKE us on Facebook. It’s a star-spangled hustle folks…

Paranoid Magazine: Where can readers hear the infamous sounds of this drunken hayride?

What venues do you frequently perform?

Kabomba:We play in Austin and San Marcos monthly. Our website, www.kabombamusic. com always has an up to date list of where we are playing. We play frequently at Triple Crown, Hole in the Wall, Frontier Bar, Texas Music Theater, Stubbs, 21st co-op, Dr Rockets, and lots of other places. Like us facebook to get the most up to date information about where the band is playing next.

Paranoid Magazine: Look forward to the May 24th Set! Will I be able to get another poster signed by the band including all the vulgarity and profanity again?

Kabomba: You good damn right you sexy mother fucker! ...Just five dollars!

Paranoid Magazine: Thanks Guys!! See you under that farm truck full of hay and empty beer cans!!

Kabomba: SPASIBIO!

The Ghost of Dixie interview by chris kingsley

than copying the songs (tho we do play Basin Street Blues).

The concept has grown beyond that. In old English ghost means a spirit, an essence, not necessarily of a departed person. We try to make incarnate the good spirits of our Southern/Texas heritage, taking into account the paradoxes, “sex and death and havin’ a good ol’ time.” I think that’s where Baron Lacroix and the voodoo connection come in. I don’t think anybody’s into cutting the throats of chickens, but you never know.

Paranoid Magazine: Welcome to Paranoid . . . whats going on guys?

Ghost of Dixie: Well, we just finished a great weekend here in San Marcos, with Mrfest and MIZfest going on at the same time. We played Triple Crown on Saturday to a good crowd with lots of new faces. We’re doing the last touches on the album cover for our debut CD Baron La Croix, and being interviewed by Paranoid Magazine ;-)

Paranoid Magazine: Introduce yourselves. Band members/instruments.

Ghost of Dixie: Michael Fisher – Lead Vocals and Guitar, Shaman to the audience Brian Carlisle – the ‘Beast of Bang’ on Drums, Vocals Robert McCartney - aka ‘Bosto’ – Lead Guitar Sean Sanchez – The Bassist keeping us on base Josh Schaefer – Our distinctive Sax player and Sound Guru Brandy Kilpatrick – Back up Vocalist on leave Roberto Ogden – 1920s Piano player in a delightful time warp

Paranoid Magazine: I’ve been hearing about you guys around town.

Thought I’d better hurry and grab an interview. How long has the band been together now?

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Paranoid Magazine:The Slavic Gypsy is fun!

Ghost of Dixie: We somewhat started playing in fall 2009; we have a MySpace presence from those days. We were playing for parties, benefits like Hallowsgiving and club dates by 2010. We had personnel changes. Michael came in and brought a lot of energy. He got us on Facebook, so we really exist ; search for Ghosts of Dixie.

Paranoid Magazine: What venues have you performed at recently?

Ghost of Dixie: OK, Triple Crown is a reliable base, but one of our best recent shows was at Riley’s off Hunter Road. We’ve played Wake the Dead Coffee Shop, Taxi’s and the Vault in SM, Black & Tan pub in New Braunfels, Headhuner’s and Varsity Club in Austin. Some Festivals we’ve recently played include; The Goat Roast at Camp Ben Mccullough, Mudd-BuggaPalooza in Wimberly, of coarse Mr. Fest (KTSW) and our yearly traditional benefit show YappoPalooza(June 18, 2013) San Marcos city park.

Paranoid Magazine: Why the name Ghosts of Dixie?

I like it. But then again I’m pretty weird.

Ghost of Dixie: Brandon Wright, one of the founders(no longer with us), named the band with Cofounder Brian Carlisle. In those days we were sharing a love for New Orleans and its music, but more the creative spirit rather

I vont to dance in de street and drink vodka with the girls from Yugoslavia!

Have you ever performed with Mr. Lewis and the Funeral 5?

Ghost of Dixie: Well were glad the song gets you feeling that way. It was kind of our intentions.

The song is about a man that falls in love with a Gypsy Woman, when she leaves he goes in search for her across the word only to find that he himself becomes the gypsy he seeks.

When he makes it to “Zee New Land” he arrives to bar full of people singing his song that had out traveled himself. He is humbled and grateful towards the experience, although he never found his Gypsy....He did find his calling.

We haven’t played with Mr. Lewis and the Funeral 5 but would love to. We know who they are and really dig their stuff.

Paranoid Magazine: Describe the sound for readers.

Ghost of Dixie: Hmmm, why is this such a hard question? We’re often classified as Southern rock, but this may come from the band’s name and appearance more than the music. Sheepskin Wolf does start kinda Rockabilly, but what about Slavic Gypsy? It’s a travel romance song. Vishudda is a five-minute symphony. My Baby Left Me is blues; Stumble Funky is funk/jazz fusion; Sandman is a ballad; Shades of Pinetop is

a boogie; Disambiguation and Market Game might be protest songs; and I can’t classify Malicious. We choose our songs to please ourselves, betting that others will like them too and get release from our music like we do.

Paranoid Magazine: Love the Sax and Keys.Tell us about some upcoming shows for May. Readers must hear you!

Ghost of Dixie:

We are playing a benefit show with The Organics for the Texas Wounded Warriors at Quail Creek Country Club in San Marcos on May 11th. Details can be found at www.twwgolf.com.

We also have the show with Chasca and Kabomba on May 24th at 10pm at the Triple Crown in San Marcos.

Paranoid Magazine: How can people get in touch with G.O.D.

and book you for a show or party?

Ghost of Dixie: You can contact us on FB https://www.facebook.com/ Ghosts.of.Dixie or email us at ghosts.of.dixie.band@gmail. com

Paranoid Magazine: Thanks guys see you on the 24th at Triple Crown!

Any parting thoughts to readers?

Ghost of Dixie: We are a fun band whose members are serious about making the music they love. We encourage others to have fun, enjoy life in its ambiguities, grow and broaden yourself as we try to.

Follow us so you’ll know when we play and when our CD comes out! www.facebook.com/Ghosts. of.Dixie www.twitter.com/GhostsofDixie http://www.reverbnation. com/ghostsofdixie Also most of our amazing photography is provided by the super sexy man Scott Talley himself and people should check out his stuff at www. facebook.com/talleyphotog

$3.50 each or 0.99¢ wholesale. Call for custom stickers 877-873-9626

The Sounds of Jose“Sweet Tone” Ruiz interview by russell dowden

Jose Ruiz: Yea, that is a crazy idea I came up with. I figured that the top tier musicians, movie stars and athletes were getting endorsements for millions of dollars. As a local artist, with no Grammys, no hit singles, or a major record label knocking at my door, my idea was if I could find the sponsors that believed in me and in what I was doing, that they would provide me with merchandise or monetary value. It’s all about helping out each other—me promoting their business’ and them providing me their product. I believe you have to build at home before you can be known outside of your backyard. So as you stated I have several sponsors, a beer, hat, a queso, and photography sponsors as well as my managment who is AD Management.

Paranoid Magazine: We met about 11 years ago.What are some of the bigger shows you have done in recent years?

Paranoid Magazine: Welcome to Paranoid my good friend.

How is life treating you?

Jose Ruiz: Well Russell life is treating really well. I couldn’t be happier at this point in my life.

Paranoid Magazine: : I’ve had a chance or two recently to hear you perform on stage with some local guys.

Who do you play with frequently?

Jose Ruiz: Wow, let’s see. Ted Hall Blues Machine is one of the guys that I play frequently on Sundays (for the past 8 years). Mr. Woody Russell and of course, the East Side Blues Syndicate Band (if I don’t mention them they’ll put out a contract on me)

Editor note- Laughs but he looks over his shoulder.

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Paranoid Magazine You get around quite a bit. What venues do you perform?

Jose Ruiz:There are so many, but to start the Firehouse downtown on Brazos Street.

The Victory Grill, every Monday on 11th Street, the oldest blues historical building here in Austin, established I believe in 1945. BB King, Ike & Tina Turner, and The Chitlin Circuit were some artists that went through there. Another venue is El Leon’s Bar on Cesar Chavez where I perform my harmonica jam every first Thursday of the month and Sam’s Town Point is also one of my hangout places.

I like to go there and sit in and listen to some of the blues bands and have fun. Some of the other out of town places that I perform is in Houston, Dallas, Midland and San Antonio. There are others, but too many to mention.

Paranoid Magazine: W I see you have several sponsors who support your Sweet Tone sound.

Jose Ruiz: About 4 years ago I was provided a great opportunity to perform in a Broadway Musical, Big River in Georgetown at the Palace Theatre.

That was a great experience for me. After that about a year and half ago, I had another opportunity to do the television series Troubadou Texas which was on CW Networks, that came about when Woody Russell was selected as one of the top tier artists. The show ran for a full year, which gave us an abundance of exposure. I was able to lock in 2yrs at the Tall City Bluesfest in Midland and was another great opportunity for me. I hosted the past couple of Harmonica Clinics, which was really fun.

Paranoid Magazine:Who are some of your musical influences on Harmonica?

Jose Ruiz: Well of course my number one would be Lee Oskar. He’s always had that “unique” sound that has always intrigued me. You know Toots Thieleman, the world’s number one harmonica player, and Stevie Wonder, of course, Some of

the cats that I have come across these past few years would be Bill Barrett, he’s like Toots but on crack--this guy is a phenomenal player. Carlos Del Junco, another monster harmonica player. The list goes on---there are just so many influences out there for me. Oh and by the way, I don’t know if you noticed or not, but not all of these players are “blues” players, which sort of makes me a ‘non-traditional’ harmonica player.

Paranoid Magazine: Woody Russell, Ted Hall, about how many artists do you work with a week?

Jose Ruiz: Well you know, Russell, it varies from week to week, but anywhere from 3 – 6 artists a week like Ted Hall there is Harold McMillan, Pauline Reese, Mack Abernathy and Javier Soliz.

Paranoid Magazine: I see your collection of Harmonicas has gotten bigger.

You still got that old case though.

“The list goes on-there are just so many influences out there for me.

Oh, and by the way, I don’t know if you noticed or not, but not all of these players are “blues” players, which sort of makes me a ‘non-traditional’ harmonica player.”

The Sounds of Jose“Sweet Tone” Ruiz interview by russell dowden May 25, private party in Corpus Christi on the beach with Javier Soliz Band May 28, El Mercado with DiAnne Olson from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

May 30, El Leon’s Bar with Woody Russell and Band from 8:00 – 10:30 p.m.

May 31, The Iguana Grill with Woody Russell from 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.

Paranoid Magazine: Now THAT’S WHAT I”M TALKING BOUT!!

I see you staying busy as a sweet Bee ! Must be all that honey you been eathing homie! That’s what gives you that Sweet Tone!!

Honey!

Jose Ruiz: Oh yeah, I’ve had that case for 13 years—I need a bigger case. I seriously doubt that I will ever get rid of it. As far as my collection of harmonicas, yes that has definitely gotten bigger. What I carry now are custom made Seydel harmonicas. I have a gentleman in Spring Branch, Texas that does the work for me. They are not your standard harps, they are called a hybrid. It kind of takes 3-4 different harmonica parts to make my harmonicas along with my own special tuning. I pretty much carry every key imaginable, from major keys to minor keys to harmonic minor keys and that’s just scratching the surface.

Paranoid Magazine: Well tell my readers where they can hear the “Sweet Tones” of Jose Ruiz this May. Page 43 • www.paranoidmagazine.com

Jose Ruiz: Let’s see Russell, every Sunday you can find me at the Firehouse on Brazos Street, from 8:00 p.m. to 1 a.m.

May 5th at Pecan Street festival with Ted Hall from 12 - 2 pm Neches stage on 6th street Every Monday at the Victory Grill on East 11th from 9:00 p.m. – 12: 00 a.m.

May 2 at El Leon’s for the monthly Harmonica Jam from 8:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m.

The first and third Friday’s of the month I’m at Sam’s Town Point with the East Side Blues Syndicate Band from 9:00 p.m.

– 12:00 a.m.

May 24, The Sweet Tone’s at the Evil Olive in San Antonio from 10:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.

Paranoid Magazine: How can promoters, bands, or people book you or get a hold of you for gigs, weddings or parties?

Jose Ruiz: People can find me on Facebook, Jose Ruiz.

They can go to my website at Josesweettone.com or they can reach me by email at harpman78748@hotmail.com or you can also go to AD Management or visit www.GoldMan Records.com or stop by one of my shows and I’ll be happy to talk to any of your readers!

Paranoid Magazine: Jose, thank for sitting sound with us weirdos and talking to us about you music and what is new with “sweet tone”.

See you at the upcoming gig

brother!

Jose Ruiz: Oh no, thank you Russell, it was my pleasure.

Like I told you, funny thing I was just thinking about you—I hadn’t seen you a long while and out of thin air there you were. It’s amazing how life goes around full circle. I am very happy and excited that we are back in contact again. Yes, brother we need to get together and drink a few cold ones and do some catching up. Hope to see you soon.

Jose “Sweet Tone” Ruiz

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