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Front Page: FALLRISE / Photo Credit: Breatheasy Media Other Photo Credits: Andrew Ouellette, Steveshoots.com Marketing / Advertising Director: Shawn Ernst Editor: M Montez Contributing Writers: Johnna Dean, Shawn Ernst, M Montez, Stefan Adcock, Tonya Whitworth, Nathan Giguiere, Greg Halldorson
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n 2010, a little known Sacramento band named, FallRise debuted their first appropriately titled seven track EP, Beginning.
music heroes have a promising future reaching well beyond local boundaries.
We sat down with members of FallRise just days before the release of the anWith popular songs like, Self Inflicted ticipated Territories, to get a behind and Descention, FallRise propelled the scenes look at what it takes to themselves to the top of Sacramento’s create and produce one of the most bandom with the applause of local celebrated and acclaimed albums of music enthusiasts along the way and the year. now they have released what many are calling their breakthrough album, Territories. From Sammy’s soulful, yet aggressive vocals, to the expert musicianship of Dave, Hazmatt, Anthony and Isaiahone only needs to listen to the orchestration of depth and maturity in Territories to know that Sacramento’s local 4 Threat Con Nation Magazine
Tell us about the new album, Territories. Dave: To me, it’s a mature step in the right direction for us. We got a lot of guidance from Matt Hyde, who was the guy that opened our eyes to a lot of things in the way we were writing music. Matt Hyde is a Grammy winning producer who we got to work with on a couple of our songs and he helped us out big time in the writing process. Stuff that we thought were choruses ended up being parts of verses. That’s how off the mark we were and thank God we ran into him. Whether the songs we did with him end up going anywhere, the knowledge we gained from him is priceless. So, a big thanks to him. Sammy: To me, the album is not nearly as heavy as our older stuff, but it’s darker and has more depth. A lot of the aggressive in your face style riffs and vocals have definitely been stripped down and away and we were looking for more hooks, more emotion and better sounding music. We might lose a couple metal head fans, but we might gain a wider audience. The music flows better and is more mature. The subject matter lyrically has more going on. Matt: The first two CDs, Beginnings and Back From The Dead no longer exist in my mind. Yes, we have songs we will still play live, but honestly, sooner or later, those songs won’t be around anymore because the way I see it, Territories is the first FallRise album into the professional world. Take Disturbed for instance, everyone knows Disturbed’s first CD as The Sickness. Everybody thinks this is their first album, but the fact is, it’s not. They have had other CDs before that one. Another example is Pantera’s, Cowboys From Hell. Any person our age that listens to that kind of music doesn’t know any better, but there were four other CDs and even a different singer. Dave: If you listen to the different early Pantera CDs, you can hear the difference in the way the songs are written and the way it actually sounds that Cowboys From Hell was obviously a step up for them and it’s almost what we are experiencing now. Matt: So to summarize, to me, Territories is the first FallRise album or record. You guys have progressed immensely and have upped the ante by outdoing your previous work. At what point did you realize that this is the direction you needed to go to further your music career? Sammy: I think it was when we started working with Matt Hyde. He was the catalyst that opened our eyes to what we were lacking as songwriters. Not as musicians. I think we’re all pretty talented in that respect, but as songwriters. Dave: We were actually aiming for radio play before
Matt Hyde came around. We were already thinking of how to write music to get on the radio, so our mind was going that way. We just didn’t have the tools to do it. We thought we were doing it right and when we brought in Matt Hyde, all of the tools were available to us. When he was telling us this information, I was almost hesitant even though I knew he was telling us this stuff for a reason. I was thinking, there’s no way this stuff he was telling us was going to sound right, but he told us to just try it. We did and after we played it, we just looked at each other and thought, this is good! All of the sudden, this song was a professional sounding quality song. It was one small tweak and the door was open. I think it was the end of our last album that didn’t hit the mark, but it got Hurt on the radio, so we knew we had something. We just had to make some changes. Sammy: Back From The Dead turned into a in your face thrash metal album. I don’t know how that happened because from the beginning, we had wanted to be something more than a local metal band by writing songs that appeal to a wider audience and shooting for radio play even from the beginning. When we started writing for Back From The Dead, we kind of had some commercial sounding stuff. When you listen to it now, it’s a in your face kind of thrash metal album and we didn’t plan for it to happen, it kind of just took on a life of it’s own. Dave: There were commercial elements, but we didn’t have a commercial mind frame for writing it. There were pieces that were thrown in, but we didn’t go through it with that mind frame. We didn’t even go into this album with that mind frame. We switched gears halfway through and you can almost tell where the gears got switched on the album a little bit. Matt: I think the main turning point was when we started recording Territories on our own. We didn’t think about taking a different approach until Hurt started getting radio play and we started getting input from Pat Martin and Andy Hawk of 98 Rock. They basically told us that they were interested in FallRise, but we had nothing to give them that they could work with. That’s when we thought about making changes. Dave: They both liked Hurt, there’s no question about that, but Andy likes Cries Of The Broken. It’s the only other song they play on the radio every once in awhile. Cries Of The Broken was potentially a commercialized song if you will. It was definitely on the right track. Matt: The idea was there and the song was theoretically there, but all execution could have been better. Over the years, I’ve watched you guys go from being a promising new band that opened local shows to being a local household name, headlining your own shows. Do you ever look back to when it all started and think, wow, we are really doing this? continued
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Matt: Our first two shows out of the gate were a battle of the bands and we took second place. It had a lot to do with the fact of Sammy and Dave’s new conceptualizing of the band. Their large circle of friends were excited to come and it was easy to get a lot of people out. Our third show was at The Knitting Factory in Reno, Nevada. We opened for a decently drawing local band over there and we were stoked to be on that stage even so early because it’s a fantastic stage to play on. The sound and treatment is awesome. I can’t wait to go back. We played second to last, so we played for the largest crowd of the night too. We played for 700 or so people. It was just a fluke. We barely knew each other, so everything was still pretty green for all of us. We played our songs that we barely knew, our entire EP basically. There were buckets of beer and there was food backstage, so alcohol was in play. I had a friend of mine video tape the whole show from the balcony and I have one of the two videos still. I sometimes look back at that video. I refrain from showing this video to Sammy anymore because we were horrible. If I saw that live, as a spectator, I would not have been impressed. It wasn’t just the vocals, but I refrain from showing Sammy because I just don’t want to bring that negativity. I just don’t want to show him anymore because what we are doing now is fantastic and I want to keep that momentum in our heads. Dave: That video reminded me of gerbils in a cage. The way we were moving around on stage. It didn’t even look like we were in a group. It didn’t even look like we were together. It was like these four things on stage just moving around in a cage not even contributing to anything but a pile of sh*t. Then we sold 56 CDs that night. We sold 6 Threat Con Nation Magazine
more CDs that night than we’ve sold at any show except for our CD release for Back From The Dead. I think part of it was my friend came and he was walking around selling them. It was unbelievable. Sammy: It was funny. I remember walking around selling CDs and people were telling me how badass we were. I was thinking, really? Dave: I felt great. I was still buzzed up from the beer backstage. Sammy: While we were playing, I was thinking, wow, this is the worst show I’ve ever performed in my life. Even my dad said we sounded like sh*t, but everyone loved us. Matt: I agree with Dave though, it felt great at the time because we had the lights going and the crowd was feeling it. To summarize, afterwards, we see the video and think, what the f*ck is this? Sammy, Dave and Anthony were smashed. Isaiah was pissed off because his friend got kicked out of the club and I’m there trying to fit into a medium sized shirt. Anthony: That’s funny, I don’t remember being smashed. Matt: Before this Anthony, there was another Anthony in the band. So the video looked like a Richard Simmons workout on stage is what you’re saying? Sammy: I remember when he showed me that video, it literally made me start sweating. Matt: He told me to never show him the video again. I like
Dave: Never Forget, which is the last song on the new album. It’s just Sammy on guitar and vocals and there’s just something about that song that totally brings me back to when I was a kid listening to music like Alice In Chains and the grunge era. As soon as I hear the notes, it puts Dave: Everybody starts somewhere and no matter where me right there and those are some of the best times of my you start from, even if it’s the sh*ttiest place or better life. Every time I hear it, it’s like boom, it nails me. It’s just place, as long as you stick with it and kick ass, dude, you perfect and it came on the album as just something that can make sh*t happen. got thrown in. Sammy: In four years, there’s some good history. I reSammy: We wrote that chorus and we basically knew we member the party that Dave and I met at. He told me if I had to write the rest of the song around that chorus bejoin this band, I can guarantee you something good is cause it was a really f*cking b*tchin’ sounding chorus. gonna happen. Dave: I f*cking knew it, man, I knew you just had to be in Dave: We almost didn’t make that song. to go back and watch it every now and then. When I look at it now and compare it to what we sound like now and what we’re doing now, everything is so happening at the moment that we don’t realize how far we’ve come.
this band. I just thought, I have a strong feeling about this Sammy: Yeah, someone was like, “Whatever happened dude. I used the same pitch on the other guys and it to that ‘Remember When’ song?” worked. Dave: I think it was Anthony. Sammy: To get them in the band? Anthony: I don’t know, I just kept hanging onto that song. Dave: To get them to agree to let you join the band. Sammy: It almost didn't become anything. I went home Sammy: You guys wanted to go in a different direction. I was kind of stuck going in the direction that maybe you guys originally wanted to go in. I don’t know.
and started writing the song the way I thought it should be and Matt started writing the song the way he thought it should be. He had like a rocked out version.
Dave: I think you still had some aggression to get out. I think you still had some demons to let go and you did it through Back From The Dead even though you were on the recovery side.
Matt: It started off as a super slow hard rock ballad. We started some other verses. Sammy wrote a verse on his guitar at home and I hated it. I didn’t like how they fit, so we took another song we weren’t using at the time and put it with that song. That didn’t work, but it sparked my idea for a different energy on Remember When. It’s got a little more of a driving feeling even though it came out
On the new CD, what is the one track you would say is your favorite?
continued
Photo Right: Dave Sammy Matt Photo Left: Anthony Sammy Next Page: Sammy with fans Photos taken at Ace of Spades in Sacramento, CA during the FallRise: ‘Back From The Dead’ CD Release show. continued
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mellow in the end result, but it still has a much more upbeat feel and Sammy liked it, but he wanted to use what he wrote. So, we sat down and wrote two songs. Now we have both Remember When and Never Forget on the new album.
heavy. It’s got an epic chorus and the soft bridge. I think it’s everything we had learned over the years of writing and working with Matt Hyde in one song, so I think that’s why it appealed to me the most. It has the most behind it in terms of our songwriting and overall view of what we’re doing.
Dave: But Never Forget is my favorite, man. It has the least amount of production involved in it and it’s just Sam- Sammy: I can’t really say which one is my favorite. my and a guitar. Matt: I can speak for Isaiah real quick. His favorite is ExMatt: My favorite was going to be Death Of A Friend be- hale My Life because he always picks the weird ones. cause of how Sevendust it is to me. It’s got that same kind of groove, but I think my favorite would have to be The lyrics on the new album seem to come from a The Guilt Of Shame because lately, me personally, I’ve more personal perspective. Did you use more of your been getting more kicks off of driving music, high energy, own life experiences in writing this album than in the not thrash, but faster pace. I like the feel of the guitar and past? I like the fact you can drag vocals slowly over it and it sounds cool when you do that. That’s what that song Sammy: Absolutely. I figure that if you don’t have somedoes. What’s also killer is we got this mellow bridge. thing that you feel really passionate about, then you’re We’ve never done a mellow heavy part like that before. While it’s a high energy drifting song and mellow bridge, not going to write real sh*t. I can try to write a song about the pre-courses, the outro and intro all have those super the economy and write a half ass bullsh*t song, or I can heavy slow groove chunky parts, especially with the bass talk about a friend of mine who hanged himself that I still that comes in and out. It really makes you slow down for feel f*cked up over and still dream about. Which do you it and then all of a sudden, here comes the speed chorus. think I’m going to write better? I’m going to write the one I have more feeling behind. With the deadline we had, I It reminds me a lot of modern Stone Sour or Sevendust had to dig deep and I had to dig fast. I had to write fast and it’s just the kind of mood I’m in lately. and I had to write real. It was some of the best writing I’ve Anthony: My favorite song used to be Remember When done. A lot of it came form a personal place. It’s all perbecause it’s just an overall good rock song and I thought sonal, but more so on this album that our others. really highly of it, but when the album was all done, all produced and mastered and I listened to every song on Leading up to the completion of the album, what were the album, The Guilt Of Shame, that’s my favorite. I think your emotions like? that’s the song that best represents FallRise. It’s everything we are trying to do in one song. It’s driving. It’s Dave: My wife was pregnant and due any day which is always stressful and we had the album getting ready to drop. I also had the flu, it hit me right at the same time and I was sick as a dog for three or four days. They were sending me mixes to listen to and critique while I’m what felt like my deathbed and I’m trying to pull it together and listen to this sh*t, but it was rough. Matt: I got a serious wheel of fortune of emotions daily. Not only am I a guitarist/ songwriter. although Sammy writes the lyrics, I’m also the band engineer. I’m wearing two hats and we’re going through all the changes in production that we were doing. It was stressful for me because I tend to fall in as the middleman of the group. I’m the communication hub a lot of the time. The most emotional part of the emotional rollercoaster I was on was probably between Sammy and myself because we tracked vocals and collectively wrote all the melodies, deliveries, and executions. We put our heads together and made magic happen in the studio. For 8 Threat Con Nation Magazine
two weeks, we wrote and recorded vocals for 5 songs that still had no parts, just concepts. Anthony: Towards the end, things started escalating very quickly. We scheduled sessions with Matt Hyde and we scheduled our recording dates in LA for our singles. In order to meet those deadlines, we had set a short timeline for the rest of the album. All of a sudden, we were going a million miles an hour. Just the stresses it takes on the whole band as a group, I mean, we are putting this product out together and we all have our stressors . It all kind of boiled into one melting pot of f*cking stress, but at the end we’re all really happy with it. I wouldn’t have this album any other way. Having the music we have now makes it all worth the stress. It produced the best music we’ve written. If that’s what it takes to write a great album and make good music, then that’s what we need to do. Sammy: I don’t have anything profound to say that the guys haven’t already said. It was the most stressful time of my life. I didn’t think we would be able to do it in the time we had. In fact, I was resentful and pissed off at these guys because they agreed to this insane deadline. I thought we were shooting ourselves in the foot. I did not think we had what it took to get it done. I saw it as a negative and I thought the whole entire idea was f*cked. It felt like the world was completely closing in on me and none of these guys seemed to understand how I was feeling so I was like f*ck every one of you. Then I put my head to the ground and got with Matt. We basically lived in the studio here for two weeks. I did what I had to do to get it done and I have never felt more focused. I felt like it
would take a miracle to pull it off, but the miracle happened. I honestly believe it was a miracle. I’ve never done anything like that before. Now, I can honestly say it’s the best work I’ve ever done. Dave: We’re honest about how a lot of this album got put together and I can be happy and honest about that because on our next album, with this mind frame set and ready to go and we won’t have such a short deadline next time. With all the time we have, it makes me wonder what our next album will be like. I’m way over the top happy with this one, but I already got my mind on the next one. I don’t want to be there yet because I want to enjoy this one. Matt: It’s nice that we can take that experience and now that we’ve forced ourselves with a bulldozer to be at this level, now we can just keep charging forward.
FallRise Links https://www.facebook.com/ fallriserock http://www.reverbnation.com/ fallriserock Threat Con Nation Magazine 9
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he loneliness that exists as a musician loads into an empty venue was once a time for reflection on the time spent in rehearsal. It was a time to focus on dialing in your gear and on the show ahead of you. It was always an almost happy loneliness felt by this author. A loneliness that was short lived every gig night until 8pm when the masses flocked to venues for a night of entertainment. Lately this loneliness has seemed to extend through the entire evening. Trends of fewer and fewer people going out to enjoy live music. There are exceptions, but for the most part, the loneliness exists through the evening. The fans that do make it a priority to be at the shows are most definitely welcome and much appreciated. There are the hardcore that do all they can to make every show. These fans seem to be dying breed. I reflect on a time in the late 80s through the mid-90s, when going out to see live music was "the thing to do." Every show seemed full of excited fans and even the curious friend coaxed out of the office for an evening of fun with coworkers. It was easy to run into random people and be able to have a dialogue about several local bands playing around town. People knew who we were.
With the rise in insurance costs and law suits, it seems that most places take extra measures to ensure a friendly and safe environment. Has the talent pool dropped to an all-time low? I definitely do not believe this to be true. It seems that more and more musicians a perfecting their craft and putting out amazing music in all genres. There are many questions that I hear from musicians and fans. They are all trying to figure out ways to increase their show attendance numbers. I do wonder if it is a sign of the times. Access to media is available 24/7 at the click of a mouse or a button push on your TV remote. It has become very easy to come home from a busy day, kick off your shoes, pour a glass of your favorite beverage and sink into the couch. The constantly updated media center that stares back at you, almost daring you to not be able to find anything to watch. Complacency overcomes you and a bottle wine and a carton of Ben and Jerry's, later it's midnight and you're still not through the last season of Dexter on Netflix. The need for socializing is absent because you're already tired of your friends’ continuing drama posted on Facebook through the day. News feeds have bombarded you all day long with the daily fodder. Your favorite bands are loaded in your iPod or streaming from ReverbNation or Pandora anytime you want them. You don't even have to move. Just lift a finger and it’s there. So why leave the comfort of your sanctuary?
What happened? Did ticket prices escalate to a price that made the inflated housing bubble of the mid 2000s seem cheap? No. Many shows ask for a $5-$10 cover. A total less than a movie ticket these days. Have the venues be- We can blame the fans all day long. It’s always easier to come shady destinations of ill repute? I don't believe so. point the finger elsewhere. So, I ask you, “What are you, 10 Threat Con Nation Magazine
the band member doing to put yourself out there?” “Oh, you created a Facebook event? Good for you.” I’m sure with the constant news stream and the bombardment of events pilling up in their mailbox they’ll show up. This seems to be the new wave and I am guilty of it myself. Make the event page and invite all your friends and then you’re done. At 8pm when the doors open and the only person coming through the door is the late shift bartender, you wonder, “Where is everybody”?
in fact in Hell. So, what is the fun in betting on a sure thing? How about putting those shoes back on? Open the front door and experience the excitement of the rest of the world in the flesh. Get the fat off your ass. Get out there. You may just find a new favorite band and make some very happy memories. Most important, you will help to comfort a lonely musician.
Greg Halldorson – Owner V103Rock / Adonis Live Entertain-
I remember the days before the Googles, Facebooks, ment – Lead Vocalist: Roswell / Adonis DNA and before the internet, when we made fliers. We hung them on every phone pole in a 20 mile area. We made handbills and passed them out to people up until moments before taking the stage. We called our friends and TALKED to them personally. We worked our asses off to get people through those doors. Remember the clipboard you’d pass around to get everyone’s name, address and phone number so you could send them your newsletter and call them when you had tickets to sell? What are you doing on stage to ensure people will come back to see you? The music should be enough and in these days with the options people have for entertainment, maybe you need to step your game up. Are you the sullen singer that takes center stage and holds that ground like a statue? A guitar player that only connects with the neck of his guitar and pedal board for the whole set? Connect with your audience. What are you afraid of? Is your stage show nonexistent? Some of the most popular bands I’ve seen through the years, are the bands that go the extra mile. They do more than show up 10 minutes before a gig in their favorite t-shirt to play for 30 minutes and then leave. Try using some lights and props, even if it’s just a box to stand on or a relevant change of clothes. Anything you can do to set yourself apart from the people watching you will help. I don’t know what the answer is truthfully. I can only call it like I see it. I see a trend on laziness on both sides of the fence. Fans and bands alike are guilty. One thing I know for sure is, the bands will be there at every show whether you show up or not, unless all the venues close. There is more to life. There is art waiting to be appreciated live and in the flesh. Like anything, it needs to feed or it will wilt away. Are you in need of a sure thing? I am reminded of a Twilight Zone episode where a man dies and lives the life of plenty in the afterlife. Everything goes his way until he can't take it anymore. He then realizes he is
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reverbnation.com/ alexvincentband Threat Con Nation Magazine 11
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t’s kinda funny. Every time I run into Andrew Ouellette, coffee is usually very close by. This time, we wound up at a Starbucks in West Sacramento, where Ouellette currently resides. For those of you who may not know, Andrew Ouellette is a Sacramento based stand up comedian who has acquired quite the list of accomplishments. Originally from Syracuse, Ouellette has cut his chops on the surrounding comedy spots for the past 8 years, eventually making his way from there, to Spokane, Washington, then to Seattle, and finally down here to Sacramento. Drawing on comics like Jim Carrey, George Carlin, and John Candy, he has crafted a perfect blend of snark, goofiness, and cynicism that will leave you laughing your ass off. “I was more goofy before the world tainted me”, he remarked in a February interview with the Press Tribune. In 2012, Ouellette and a troupe of fellow comedians embarked on an ambitious 50 state, 50 shows, 50 days tour, which took them through many parts of the East Coast that were still being ravaged by Hurricane Sandy. Undaunted, they finished the tour like champs, but due to an error somewhere in the workings of the tour, the Guinness Book of World Records didn’t give them the record that they were working so hard for. Undaunted, Ouellette and his group did it again in 2013, and this time they did 12 Threat Con Nation Magazine
50 states, 50 shows, in 48 days. No comedy troupe had ever done that before, and it proves what dedication can really achieve. Fast forward to our caffeine-addled interview, Ouellette has actually come off of winning Last Sacramento Comic Standing, which took place in March at the Center for Spiritual Awareness, which was hosted by Good Morning Sacramento. I know what you are thinking, stand up comedians in a church? How did that go over? Ouellette remarks, “I was way dirty...I didn’t clean it up at all and they were cool with it.” He went on to mention, “They [Center] had an altar, and one of the comedians, she put her beer on the altar. They were like ‘What are you doing?!’ And she just went, ‘What am I not supposed to do this? It’s a counter, right?’ She just left it there. And I’m dying and the other comics are dying, it was awesome”. Blaspheming hilarity aside, Ouellette is planning another epic excursion around August of this year, this time he is setting his sights on Canada. He is planning to hit all ten Canadian provinces in one tour. The three northern territories though, which are Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut respectively are proving to be, as he put it, “Impossible”. He adds, “It would add about 4,000 extra
miles, but we can at least try and get to Northwest Territories and the Yukon. I don’t even know how you would get to Nunavut...I may just go back and do a separate territories tour (laughs).”
together a Southern U.S. tour with local comedians Dianna Hong and Sam Bruno, where they will hit New Mexico and Texas, and possibly San Diego, details to come. And finally, also in August, Ouellette will be headlining in Perth, Australia on his own primarily because, “...It’s too If you are thinking, why doesn’t he just do it? Think again. expensive (laughs)...It’s gonna be a complete reality flip, I These three territories are some of the most cold and unhave never experienced anything like it...It’s gonna be my inhabited places in the world, and are the reason that first time in Australia...just the idea of going there and exCanada has the nickname “The Great White North”. The periencing that...I mean I’m gonna be on the other side of average temperature in the winter up there is about -10F the planet! So that’s cool. You can’t get that experience in and the biggest territory, Nunavut, is about 3 times the Kentucky...kinda.” size of Texas, and only has about 30,000 people in it. It would be like playing a show in Siberia, except less vod- All in all, this upcoming summer is going to be one of ka and more trees. growth for Ouellette, and it should be quite a sight to behold. For more information on any of his upcoming shows Ouellette goes on to say, “For this one we are just doing be sure to visit andrewouellette.com and for videos of his all 10 Canadian provinces because, it kind of goes with stand up sketches he has done with fellow comedians, the 50 state tour...like one big tour that hits everyvisit his self-titled YouTube channel. thing...we are kinda in the planning stage right now.” For such an ambitious tour, it takes some serious dedication and desire to get out and tackle this idea. He shows this a -Stefan Adcock, Threat Con Nation Contributor little more in regards to seeking out shows in Canada, “[We] will be aggressively seeking out places that might not have done comedy, but doing it just to get out there and explore, and see what’s out there, you know? Its kinda the idea, just really guerilla style, to just get out there and make it happen for yourself”. Ouellette is also planning on bringing fellow comedian, writer, and friend Jonas Barnes and a regular at a few of the comedy clubs Andrew frequents. “I wanted to go with someone who was very funny, very capable, and very smart. Also someone I would actually like.” They met through a comedy blog, Whiskey and Skittles, when Ouellette was out in Spokane about 5 years ago, then they started doing shows together in Seattle a little bit later and, luckily, both have wound up in Sacramento. All in all, with two well traveled individuals at the helm of this Northern excursion, the possibilities seem endless. As well, on May 8th, Ouellette is opening for Brent Morin, who most recently did a spot on Conan, at Sac State at 7:30pm. Then, on May 9th he is also performing at The Sporty in Elk Grove. In the near future, Ouellette is putting Threat Con Nation Magazine 13
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DOWNFALL 2012 From: Houston, TX Alternative Metal "Best Band of the Year", "Best Live Performance" and "Best Bass Player" 2013 Music Buzz Awards in Houston, Texas.
is the most inventive and unique fusion of electronic/alt/thrash/metal- melting pot of the good business that I have heard in a very long time. The cherry on top? Oh yes, production of each track is a top notch work of art.
I’ve also heard some rave reviews of their Our album reviews don't usually reach out as live performance, this is an excerpt from a review on their press release: far as Texas, but in the case of Downfall 2012 we had to make an exception. We were just so damned impressed with the 2nd issue of their 3 part EP, “Every Man For Himself” slated to drop in 2014, we had to share our enthusiasm for this creative powder keg of an epic project with all of you. Yes, I did say 3 part EP, interested yet? You should be.
“a three-piece band based out of Houston, Texas, that is especially known for their high energy live performances and wild drum-off style breakdowns involving multiple original and unconventional percussion instruments, a performance that left me stunned when I first saw them LIVE”
Their extremely fast paced high energy Man, can I get a ride to Texas? sound is unique in that they seamlessly alternate from thrash to Alt Metal with some DOWNFALL 2012 groove/ambient thrown in for good measure Links and really clever pauses and hooks that will titillate you with anticipation (Why yes, I did http://www.reverbnation.com/downfall2012 use the word titillate).. I personally can’t wait for the 2nd part of their EP to drop because it https://www.facebook.com/DF2012 Threat Con Nation Magazine 15
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Hellen:
give thanks for what you have. Recognize your own worth and contributions, and I find myself in a rut and unable to break acknowledge the wisdom of others. Refocus out of it. I think I am dwelling too much on the past, especially my mistakes, bad rela- your energy on traits that have no measuretionships, disappointment – all the nega- ment: love, generosity, empathy, humility, selflessness, and by doing so you can nullify tive stuff. I am always comparing myself and my current situation and my friends society’s definition of success. and this just makes my rut worse. How do Thanks for Asking. Hellen I shake this off and move forward? -Don’t Wanna be That Guy Dear Guy: “Comparison is the thief of joy” – Theodore Roosevelt. Comparisons deprive us of joy and are a distraction. There is no value or meaning in comparing yourself with others. There are infinite ways to compare yourself to another, and by doing so you are putting focus on the wrong person. It’s not as simple as comparing apples and oranges when the many subtle shades of the red, the green, the yellow, and the orange which are available to be compared are contemplated. No matter your accomplishments or successes, there will alAsk me your questions about life, sex, ways be someone or something else to focus love, relationships, loss, work, recipe tips.. whatever. on. Comparisons can lead to resentment toGot something scandalous, embarrassing wards others and even oneself which tends and/or illegal? to reinforce the negative cycle. If you must Send it to Hellen Back and remain anonymous. compare, use your own success and accomplishments as a baseline for a solo compariaskhellenback@yahoo.com Hellen Back Facebook son. Take an inventory of your positives and Hellen Back Twitter Threat Con Nation Magazine 17
football jock. He used to be built like a brick wall, now his belly hung over the waistband of his pants. Even with the extra pounds, there was an unmistakable glow about him. A touch of sun and a fresh from honeymooning in Mexico look. He was stupid happy and it was sickening. “How’s it feel getting back into the swing at the dealership?” I ask. “It sucks bro. One week in and I’m ready for another vacation. I hear you’re doing pretty well though. You got an album out and you got that promotion at work. Congratulations, man.” I wanted to tell him that I quit the band because there was no life in music or art and that the biggest fraud anything labeled ‘original’ was a clever disguise. A regurgitation of everything ever done before.
Meet Jacob, an introverted musician who stumbles onto a path few of us have had the opportunity to walk. By strange luck, he embarks into the unknown. The destination– A secret place inside us all, where the truth can either enlighten or destroy. Is the cost of such a trip too great?
▪▪▪▪▪▪▪ The Hook
I wanted to tell him about the fifty thousand dollar a year gig playing guitar for a televised evangelist in Los Angeles that I turned down because I couldn’t stand looking at the pastor’s angry face. I didn’t believe in God anyway. I wanted to tell him that I put a suit and tie on every morning and battled rush hour traffic everyday so I can sit there with my thumb up my ass. That I started watching internet porn on company time to make the day go faster because my position was an outdated and unnecessary joke. I wanted to tell him that I started making a habit of hooking up with woman I met online.
“Being in love must be the closest thing to insanity a sane I wanted to tell him everything, but I didn’t person can get without drugs.” “Yeah. Thanks.” Jeff leans back in his chair. His belly shakes with laughter. He takes a breath and says, “You act like it’s some disease. I’m sure you got a little something going on. Girls dig you for some reason.” I tell him, “Yeah, her name is scotch and she’s a bitch.” More belly shaking laughter. “What about Amy? You ever talk to her? You guys were good for each other.” “No.” He tips his pilsner up and I watch the light reflect off the beer as it slides into his mouth. He gulps and tell me, “You make yourself miserable, you know. You always have. Remember all that moping around you did in high school? All senior year. And the dumbest part was girls dug that dark mystery bullsh*t. You were like some cult leader to them. Man, I used to be jealous of you. In a way, I still am.” Jeff stood up and slapped my shoulder a little too hard. Four beers in and he was turning back into high school 18 Threat Con Nation Magazine
We both looked around the bar with nothing else to say. It had been a long time since I had seen Jeff and I thought I would have been excited to catch up with him, but I found myself watching the clock more than I should have. The café had started to empty out and the lunch hour was winding down. I tipped the last of my beer back. “Hey, before I forget. I got a surprise for you.” He raised his eyebrows a couple times when he said the word ‘surprise’. I was expecting to have to pretend to like some gag gift from Mexico, but instead, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out an old wrinkled business card. “This old guy came in and bought a sedan from me. I totally raped him on the price because he kinda gave me the creeps. He just looked off, you know.” Jeff passes the card over to me. The card read, ‘Love Massage’ in small black embossed print. Below it was a phone number and address. “The son of a b*tch gave it to me as a tip. Can you believe that? If I go home with that, Melody will kill me. You
know those places.” He chuckled and said, “Turn the card over.” I flipped the card over. Behind The Temple was handwritten in the upper left hand corner. I looked up at him. “I know, weird right? He told me it’s some kind of code word for a special massage. Anyways, it reminded me of you. Maybe you’ll get a happy ending or something. You never know.” ***** “This is your fault m*ther f*cker!” I screamed into the dark. I could see his face hovering in front of mine. I squirmed. My head was pulsing in time with the white hot flashes just behind my eyes. My fingertips were numb and every muscle in my body ached from struggling inside the cocoon of rope hugging my legs. I was upside down, my body knew it, but being in the dark for so long, it was hard to know and I was seeing things. I tried to buck hard against the hook again, but it was pointless. I had lost all feeling but the aching numbness that traveled around on it’s own. I was a side of beef at a slaughter house. I tried to remember how it happened. A woman. A smiling woman. Her hands were small and warm on my back. Nothing else. Did I drink something? Was I drugged? I couldn’t hold onto the memory long enough to trace it back. The smiling woman seemed so nice. So pretty. Did she put me here? I see her stupid smiling face and I scream at her. It’s all black. I’m in the belly of a giant whale, swallowed up by shadows. Why am I here? They will sell my organs. They will cut me open like a pig and I will swing on this chain forever. Empty and gutted like a dead fish. My eyes will fill with blood. My head will bloat with it. That smiling b*tch tricked me. Time crawled. I screamed. I writhed. I cried and somewhere in the midst of all that business, I passed out and I dreamed.
ALT
ROCK 1 Papa Roach
1 Once An Empire
2 Tesla
2 I Am Strikes
3 Walking Spanish
3 March Into Paris
4 restrayned
4 Fair Struggle
5 vanishing affair
5 Dog party
6 some fear none
6 far from home
7 Frank Hannon
7 Syne faeth
8 Long In The Tooth
8 lonely avenue
9 Little Piece of dixie
9 fate under fire
100zeroclient
PUNK
100ffg
METAL
1 Get Shot!
1 plague widow
2 S.w.i.m
2lIfeforms
3 Boats!
3 havenside
4 Yankee Brutal
4 lifeforms
5 Twitch angry
5 fallrise
6 rebel radio
6 in the silence
7 the auxilliary
7 kill the precedent
8 the bar fly effect
8 mind furnace
9 twitch angry
9 black
100bad ending
100entities
**** There was a boy. He loved me and I loved him. He was bigger and better at everything. I wanted to be better. He was nice to me. He gave me piggy back rides and I held on tight to continued
Data collected from www.reverbnation.com *Standings as of 05/15/14
his soft brown hair. He yelled at me when I grabbed fistfuls of his hair, but he sometimes let me run my little fingers through it. His hair reminded me of the grass behind the temple, or maybe it was the other way around. He played guitar before I did and he would have been better than me if he were here. He let me watch him sometimes He called me a baby because I had a baby bike. He told me I couldn’t ride bikes with him because I was too little to hang out with him and his friends. I sat on the front porch with my face in my hands because I didn’t want him to see me cry. He would call me a big baby if he saw me cry. I waited on the porch and I watched the sun turn orange until mom made me come in.
me, moving from my legs, swirling faster and faster until it reaches my head and crashes right between my eyes. It passes through my skull. I feel the weight and the heat of it there like a small living animal and I feel clean, cleaner than I’ve ever felt. I feel pure. After some time, I see light again. A red glow through the veil that is my eyelids and my eyes flutter open. The smiling woman is leaning over me. She wipes my forehead with a damp cloth before offering a glass of water. She asks me, “You have seen?”
I try to say yes, but I croak instead. I want to tell her what I’ve learned but my eyes won’t stay open. She tips more She says you can’t come back if you go to heaven. I think water into my mouth. of what it would be like if I went to heaven instead of him. Mom and Dad would be happy again because he is better “Do you feel it?” She asks. than me at everything. I nod yes and I sleep. We stop talking about him. We pretend to be happy, but I IN NATHAN’S WORDS know they wish I went to heaven instead. I tell him how mean he is for not letting me come with him when I’m in The One my bed in the dark until I can’t remember what he looks For whoever will accept me like or sounds like anymore. I will be the one,
Now I can see his face in the dark. I remember again. I’m bigger than him now. He’s still a boy, but I’ve grown.
**** I swallow hard and my throat clicks. The darkness spins me around and I stretch my arms out to touch the ground, to touch anything in the dark. To feel anything but this suffocating dryness in my throat. I can’t touch the ground. I’m a paratrooper tangled up in my parachute. Forgotten in an ocean of black ink. Sweat runs down me. Every drop makes an escape, jumping off my nose and my scalp. Each one takes a plunge into the blackness below me like a mass exodus and I wish to go too. I wait to hear the patters of sweat hitting the ground, but the void of noise screams at me. My eyes burn with seeping sweat. I blink hard and see a tiny light in the distance. It grows bigger and brighter until I am blinded and bathing in it’s warmth. The weight of my body gives away. I lift. I transcend the murk of shadows. The light becomes an intense beam that pulls me higher. The hairs on my arms arc sparks of electrical current. I taste the electricity running through me. A low hum starts in the center of my brain and moves through my body until it roars in my ears. I’m finally detached. My cells vibrate, the ropes vibrate away and a sigh escapes me. It’s a foreign sound that I don’t recognize. The light that holds me compresses itself back into a tiny spark until it is no bigger than a firefly. It dances around 20 Threat Con Nation Magazine
I’ll provide direction Insight to a better way Change the dark to light Replace the night with day No distance too great Worlds combine in my mind Clarity of visions grand Bridging space and time I’ll open up a door To new life and reason Closing out a cluttered past Start you with a brand new season If you are burdened down Let me in your life I’ll rid you of your wounds And help you drop the knife But I do not offer this Without an offer in exchange You must extend your hand To all who are in pain Provide for them the same Which I supply to you Lifting eyes, minds and hearts This will keep you always true. Copyright © 2003 Nathan S. Giguiere Submissions Send your letters, pictures, Poems, or drawings to: Info@threatconnation.com
Mosh-Pits Might Save Your Life!
tragedies. And, I guess it is sorta unethical to provoke a panicked crowd just for studying and obtaining some research. Even in practiced stadium evacuations involving large crowds, it sadly compares to a "panicked crowd" during real disaster.
An audience full of overly-excited and frenzied Heavy Metal concert-goers behave the same as molecules while However, the behavior collectively shown and documentin gas form. ed by "Us", the gifted and appropriately-insane, is very I know. I know. What kind of outrageous and strange cool thing! Now, scientists have access to further inforstatement is that? And, who really cares anyway? No mation and details collected from watching "Us" while inworries, though. This won't be transforming into a side the Metal community, and our 'naturally-created and "Nightmare of a Chemistry Lecture", as I am, of course, uniformed-formations' whenever we attend live Metal highly allergic to those! Just Sit back & Read On – My concerts; therefore, creating a 'dense gathering' for utiligifted and appropriately-insane Metal-heads. I wanna zation by watching and studying – allowing Scientists a share a few details with ya; You'll be easily entertained, if possibility to create a new scientific model without any not intrigued, just as I was with this concept. need for complex strategies. First of all, Human collective behavior is quite variable, It's not for sure yet, if this is definitely possible. However, we're all aware of this. It can range from calm to panit is no longer impossible now that Mosh-pits have been icked, depending upon the environment, social context critically examined. What's still not clear is whether Moshand other factors. Video cameras and footage were used pit Studies can provide accurate information regarding to study that "highly-energized" emotion we all feel while how crowds behave in situations of "genuine panic", bebeing a part of a crowd at a live show. An actual study cause concert-goers put themselves into the fray volunwas done on this and what they found was pretty freaking tarily. (That means: "Us", the gifted and appropriately inawesome, in my opinion. sane!) .... While attending a live concert, a couple of guys who hapI think a study like this could be very helpful when used pen to be Physicists at Cornell University, began to take as a learning tool, to reduce the risk of injury, and even notice of something familiar in the movement created the more importantly, the risk of death during massmembers of the audience. This ultimately became the evacuations, riot break-outs, or any other situation with beginnings of a "first-ever" study completed on Crowd extreme social-gatherings. It will also gives "Us", in the Motion activity. Metal community, a far better perspective in the motions They decided to use what's referred to as "Particle-image velocimetry techniques" to track the flow of bodies while watching various You Tube videos of the crowds at Metal concerts. They found that the speed of the Moshers were the same as molecules bouncing around as a gas. The Moshers also moved collectively in the same directions as the molecules in a gas form.
of Mosh-pits in front of the Stage. In my opinion, this could lead to safer designed music venues, and perhaps improving crowd-control tactics for the security companies as well..
Understanding the dynamics of crowds in panicked situa- ~Johnna Dean, 2014 tions is crucial when trying to find ways to avoid future Threat Con Nation Magazine 21
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