JuicyJoel.com

Just got the new Apple iPad yesterday. I figured this thing would be pretty damn cool, but I didn’t expect to dig it as much as I already do. The first thing I did was buy an application called Sketchbook Pro ($7.99 on iTunes) and attempted to draw. Below is my first attempt at painting on the iPad using this program.

It’s not as precise as using my Wacom Intuos tablet and Photoshop or Illustrator but man it’s fucking great being able to take this thing with my anywhere and have the ability to draw and make sketches. I don’t have to sit at my desk all day in order to draw. I can go out on the deck, sit on the couch, whatever. Pretty awesome.

Doing A LOT of artwork lately.  I just finished the European tour poster for Madball, Terror, Death Before Dishonor, Cruel Hand, & the Setup.  Right now I’m working on shirt for Down To Nothing and another shirt for Terror.  Up next are designs for Trapped Under Ice, Reaper Records, and more.  I’ve also been developing characters for a cartoon that was written by a friend of mine.  Hopefully I can share some details about that soon. 

If you need artwork for your band, label, show, festival, or business get in touch with me juicyjoel(at)gmail(dot)com

Oh and download my band Clenched Fist’s new record at www.JustLikeRoaches.com.  Name your own price, something or nothing.  Just check it out.

Forever hustle.

Back home from the 10 For 10 Tour. Was a good good time. Not a lot of sleep, long drives. Shows were great 95% of the time.

Also spent a week in Philly hanging out and working at This Is Hardcore Fest. The whole weekend sold out which was huge for everyone involved.

At the 2nd L.A. show of the 10 For 10 Tour my brother played a song with Madball which was a major thing for him and an extremely proud moment for me. I’ve always been super proud of everything my brother has done, especially what Death Before Dishonor is doing. But this jamming with Madball thing was unbelievable for both of us. Back when we were kids, if someone could have shown us that he’d not only be touring with Madball but also playing “Face To Face” with them, our heads would have shot off our bodies and landed across the street. Madball was a major influence on us and the music we have both created. Those guys were our heroes when we were young. So for my brother to be jamming with Madball (with original Madball guitar player Matt Henderson watching) was fuckin crazy to us. I video taped it from next to the drums and had a hard time not throwing my camera down and attempting a front flip into the crowd. Check out the video below. It sounds like shit but look at my brother rockin that shit like a fuckin champion! GDMB PIRE.

Walp…it’s about that time for my annual trek across America with Death Before Dishonor. This time they’re on the 10 For 10 Tour with Madball, Terror, Trapped Under Ice, and a bunch of other bands. As soon as that’s done, I’ll be heading out to the East Coast for some good shows…namely This Is Hardcore Fest 2009. I can’t fuckin wait to get out of here and have some goddamn fun.

I’ll be posting updates of my travels and pictures as much as I can while I’m out. Follow me on Twitter for more immediate updates. Stay tuned!

New song from Death Before Dishonor! Whip yourself into a mosh fury.

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR “Better Ways to Die”
the NEW album. Out July 28th!

If you know me at all in real life you are probably aware of my psychic powers. And no I’m not kidding. I decided to demonstrate my psychic abilities here on my blog today by sharing with you my predictions of the best hardcore records of 2009. All of these records (except one) are ones I currently have, have heard in whole, or in part; mixed, unmixed, unmastered, demo form, and everywhere in between. So relax and take notes…

1- Death Before Dishonor – “Better Ways to Die”, Bridge 9 Records, release date July 27, 2009.

You’re probably going to say that I’m biased because my brother is in DBD, and maybe I am, maybe I’m not. Either way, this record is a straight up classic chock full of bangers. This is not the same old Death Before Dishonor you’re used to. They have taken it to another level. These songs are super catchy, sometimes melodic, but still harder than a prison riot.

There is punk style stuff featuring Mark from The Unseen on guest vocals. But there is also super hard style stuff through out that people expect from DBD. Overall it’s a really well balanced album. No other band pulls off this mix this well. I think this record will solidify Death Before Dishonor as one of the legendary bands of the current generation of hardcore.

2- Maximum Penalty – “TBA”, Reaper Records, release some time in 2009

One of the most under rated hardcore bands ever in the history of the universe here. If you’re not familiar with MP, then hit up their myspace and learn something. Maximum Penalty’s sound isn’t an easy one to explain because they don’t sound like anyone. If you’re into classic NYHC and can get down with melodic singing then you will dig MP. Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not referring to the pathetic bitch style of melodic singing that’s so ubiquitous in all modern rock music. The singer from Maximum Penalty can sing like a sumbitch and sound like a full grown man while doing it.

I can’t stress the greatness of these songs enough. Incredible songs and really great recording. Maximum Penalty dates back 20 years and has a back catalog that’s not too hard to find online. Everything they’ve ever done is awesome (except “Unlce Sham” which was never released in the US). But if you want to start somewhere the new record is a perfect place. There are 3 of the 4 new songs from the pre-album demo on their myspace page here.

3- Clenched Fist – “Just Like Roaches”, Double Or Nothing Records, release approx July 2009.

**guest writer, my brother Memphis Wayne Mayne is going to handle this one..

Simply the hardest album on the planet. Now maybe I am partial to this because MY brother is in the band. The truth is, I am. But who cares? 7 years after they released “Welcome To Memphis”, they drop “Just Like Roaches”. I cannot express how relieving it is to hear a band playing hard hardcore the right way and making it their own. The traditional Clenched Fist style; OLC meets Merauder and Madball, also with some newer touches added in to make a fuckin awesome hc record. CF formed when I was 11 years old and are the most influential hardcore band to me. Aside from being the hardest songs in history, the lyrics touch on topics that are rarely seen in hardcore. No round about poetic bullshit, no cheesy excessive cursing, just well written to-the-point lyrics. In my opinion, CF is one of the most underrated bands in hardcore and always has been. But they wouldn’t have it any other way. This will be coming out in July as a digital only release on Double Or Nothing Records. If you’re interested in the most honestly hard band in hardcore, buy this record.

Just like Roaches, never dying, always living. CF forever and a day.

4- Steel Nation – “TBA”, Double Or Nothing Records, release appox Summer 2009

Imagine if Bobby Hambel from Biohazard wrote a record with Ringworm. That’s what this record sounds like. It’s really a well written throwback to the 1994 style of hardcore. Think OLC, Biohazard, Spudmonsters, Strife, etc. There is a heavy Cleveland influence all over the whole thing. If you’re a fan of that 90’s Clevo sound then this is the record you’ve been waiting to hear for a long time. I have jammed the unmixed version of this tons of times now and will testify in a court of law that this album is a ripper 100%.

One thing that makes me happy about the current Steel Nation sound is that the spooky Integrity kind of vibe is gone. What you’re left with is a real man’s band that all the union workers and general grown ups of the hardcore scene can enjoy.

5- Trapped Under Ice – “Secrets of the World”, Reaper Records, release appox Summer 2009.

This is the record I’ve heard the least of but I have confidence in these young guys to impress the scene. I heard a couple demo tracks on tour and the style is right up my alley. Everyone says TUI sounds like Crown Of Thornz but they really don’t. Sure that vibe is there but Trapped Under Ice is musically harder than anything Crown Of Thornz ever did.

Don’t let the internet hype dorks fool you into thinking Trapped Under Ice is some kiddie posi bitchcore. TUI delivered with “Stay Cold” and they will deliver again on their new record. Expect guest vocals from Tad from Stout. If you don’t know the legend of Baltimore’s Stout then you are too soft for my world.

Honorable mentions…

Shattered Realm / Toe Tag split, Eulogy Records, out now
I can’t speak for Toe Tag because I haven’t heard their half of this split but Shattered Realm delivers their best songs ever here. SR isn’t a super active band anymore (though they still do shows) but they demonstrate that they’re still easily the hardest band going since the days of Cold As Life & Fury of Five. Speaking of Fury, Shattered Realm does a great cover of Fury’s “Every Man for Himself” which rivals the original I think.

Dead City – “Goddamn the 21st Century”, Thrashed Records, release approx Summer 2009.
Memphis’s modern answer to Bloodlet and Entombed. Constant heaviness all the way through. There isn’t any other current band that can be this heavy without fucking it up with some shitty riff or melodic singing or some other shit I hate. Check out their myspace here.

Folsom – “Hammer Lane”, FWH Records, release approx Summer 2009.
I have a friend who will probably give me a bunch of shit for this one but whatever. I have this record and it’s good stuff. Good hard songs about pills and beer and depression. Some people might not dig the constant mosh riffs but for this style Folsom is on the top shelf without a doubt.

Also looking forward to new 2009 releases from…

Wisdom In Chains, Madball

For a few years now the recording industry and movie industry have been collectively trying to fight piracy of their copyrighted material. They’ll never completely irradicate illegal downloading and peer-to-peer file trading butI have a suggestion for the movie studios of America that may help…

RELEASE NEW MOVIES ON PAY-PER-VIEW OR ON DEMAND THE SAME FUCKING DAY AS THE THEATER!!

Why? Here’s why…

Last week I went to see the new Star Trek movie. The movie ended up being great but the experience sucked. We got to the theater and bought tickets for the 2:00pm showing. We walked into the theater to find out that there was literally nowhere to sit except the front row. So I said “fuck it, let’s wait 45 minutes until the next showing.” This is where the “fun” really started. We go into the next theater and sit down in the perfect set of seats. About 20 minutes later the theater really started to fill out. I’m hoping and praying that no one will sit to the right of me because the shitty chairs in this place are not built for a person of my height. I have to lean pretty far to the right to get barely comfortable. Well despite my wishes, here comes a couple, probably in their late 50’s, to come sit right fuckin next to me.

As these two senior citizens situate themselves, the wife bends over to whisper something to her husband and thus sticks her fat black-denim-wrapped ass right in my motherfucking face. At this point I’ve paid $9 to wait 45 minutes to smell an old cunt’s ass. Fast forward to the previews…this old woman sitting next to me has to “ooohhhhhh” and “oh noooooo!!!!” at every scene of every preview and then discuss whether or not she wanted to see every single one. And I’m not talking about whispers. This woman could be the siren for a goddamn fire truck. Continue to the feature attraction, this wretched animal of a woman laughs so loudly and hysterically at every little quip of comic relief in the movie that I’m on the edge of striking her in the face. Each spaceship explosion, another “ooooooohhhhhh!!!!”

Here’s my point in telling this story. The next time I even think about going to the movies I’m going to reconsider leaving the house. I could check any number of torrent sites for a bootleg copy of the movie, download it and watch in my living room. However, if new blockbuster movies were available as a pay-per-view the same day as I could go be annoyed in the theater, I would GLADLY pay $9 for the luxury of watching Terminator Salvation in my house, in peace.

Save your “oh but nothing can compare to watching a movie on the big screen” speech. Bullshit. Watching a movie on a 53″ HDTV flanked by my 3 foot Sony speakers that rattle the floor is pretty goddamn awesome. Pop corn and overpriced candy? Fuck that noise. I can eat whatever the fuck I want at Juiceco Movie Theater.

So get on the ball, American movie industry. Your uncomfortable seating, awful patrons, and lame snack selections are hardly keeping me away from the ocean of stolen movies on the internet. Get it together.

American hero James Joseph Cialella who shot another man for talking during a movie.

Picked up this record by an unsigned LA band called The Binges. Fuckin awesome stuff. Bon Scott era AC/DC, Guns N Roses, & a little White Stripes all rolled into one band.

Unlike most bands that try this style, this band can actually write some really great songs that I could easily see being played on the radio alonside any of the great rock bands from the past 40 years.

Check out The Binges myspace here.

And since the record isn’t yet available on iTunes, order the CD here.

*UPDATE: Now available on iTunes!

The Binges self-titled CD

My brother has a new blog up called TheyCallMeTheBreeze.com.

Good thoughts, photos, and writings of tour shenanigans from a young man who was literally raised in the hardcore scene.

Check it out and follow him while he and his band, Death Before Dishonor, conquer the earth.

Death Before Dishonor in Europe

Moving my blog over to Wordpress from the stupid GoDaddy bullshit I was paying for before. Lost a bunch of my posts.

In case you’re wondering, the cheap glasses website I wrote about is www.zennioptical.com

New stuff to expect…my predictions on the 5 best hardcore records of 2009, new artwork, new interviews, more giveaways, more frequent posts and entertainment from yours truly. Stay tuned.