Mom

To Mom.

You've been out of town for the past few Mothers Days and I don't quite feel like I've been able to make it up to you, so I'll try do so here...

I've done some silly things in life, some pretty great things too - All of them would not have been possible without you and your support.

You stuck up for me even when you knew I was wrong. 

You believed in me even though you knew what I may be doing was silly or fruitless.
You helped me get the things I needed for my hundreds of "brilliant" life ideas, even though you knew most of them would end up collecting dust in a corner somewhere.

You've always been proud.

You've always forgiven me.

You put me in my place when I needed a reality check, had you not, I don't know where I would be now.

Although I'm all grown up (I think) you still make me feel like the little boy who always looked to you for answers and understanding. I will always.

As I sit here a "grown man" sobbing while I write this, I can't thank you enough for the person you have made me. 

There are so many aspect of my personality that I am so proud to be able to say come from you. I will do my best to always share the great knowledge you have shared with me. 

You are the only person in the world who can bring me back down to size and make me see just how small I really am in the grand scheme of things. When I think my world is the only thing that matters you are sure to let me know that it is not. 

I know I don't show you the appreciation I always should. You may think these things don't cross my mind, but they do. Every day. Every day I think of how I could have done things better and how I can do things better in future, I just want to make you proud. Every day I hurt from the things I could have done for you but never did.

You are beautiful. You are special. You are my guardian angel. You are my mother.

I love you.

Cool Covers

Do you know what's cooler than looking for your favourite artists' new songs on the internet? Looking for people who do those songs better.

Different people bring out different vibes in the covers their do. A voice can change so much in a song, just as much as changing the music up.
I really love the sound of one instrument and one good voice in a song. In a way you're detached from the production and cool hooks and you're left with the raw basics of the song. The melody and the lyrics.

Here are some covers I think are rad. 

This first one is a song I've wanted to cover on my own for like, ever. Firstly, I don't have the balls to, and secondly I have to train my voice back to its former glory to even attempt it again. What's rad about this is what a surprise his voice is... well at least I think so.
Brendan Walsh covers The Early November - Ever So Sweet.

Sometimes you don't even need lyrics.
I present to you guitar prodigy, Sungha Jung. Lie on the floor/on your bed and pay this loud and just listen.
Sungha Jung covers Adele - Someone Like You

This band is just too rad. They've been at it since they were teenagers and have grown into dapper young men. The band is tight, their musical style is awesome and damn they can sing!
Our Last Night covers Katy Perry - Dark Horse

This one hits the heart strings. I found this a lovely treat from the lil' Kelly Buckerfield. When she tweeted the link I had no idea what to expect. Yoh, I was surprised.
I'm sure I speak for every man by saying that there's just something about a girl singing at a piano that does things to a guy.
Kelly Buckerfield covers Rihanna - Stay

This song gets me amped. I've been on a big swing, Motown vibe recently. When I heard The Coasters' version of this I must have listened to it about 20 times over. It's too groovy.

Anyway, I stumbled upon this video looking for covers of it. 

Couch Covers by The Student Loan covers The Coasters - Yakety Yak

Here's one just for shits and giggles, it's cute. It will make your heart explode with joy.
Gail Sophicha covers Bruno Mars - Lazy Song

I'd love to see what awesome covers you've heard. 

Bye.

Satanic Dagga Orgy

SHOCK! HORROR! How can you call your band that? Well, because we can.

What's in a band name? Yes, some have relevance to their music, others are gimmicky word plays or alliterations, but ultimately it's just a thing to call your thing that you make music with.

Before I go on, please, take a few minutes to hear us out.

So that's us, well, not all of us. We have since commandeered the skills of Clint, aka Grandpa, and Gianluca, aka Zam, on the bass and sex/percussion/jazz hands respectively. However, we are by no means satanists, we may partake in recreational herbal treatments, and we're slowly gathering enough numbers for an orgy...

We've played 10 shows (I think) to date, each one completely different, yet each one the same. The same in that we eventually got people dancing and laughing. Yes, we may have offended some, but the majority of people who watch us end up dancing or singing along. 

The Orj

At the risk of sounding like a musical ponce, I must inform you that people dancing is not a result of theoretically structured chord patterns and complimenting leads. I't's purely because people like to jol, and we are merely the facilitators of the jol, wherever it may be.



So please, let us facilitate a jol near you and we could end up having the best night ever.

Get down with The Orj.


Hit us up on Twitter for updates on shows, orgies and more.


We'll be playing the D-Day 4/20 Street Party in Maboneng on 40 April. It's what Jesus would have wanted: https://www.facebook.com/events/476947755740725/

I Don't Feel Sorry For Humans

People often complain about how shit life can be, myself included. We all hate having jobs, hate traffic, hate spending money. But we do it because we have to. No one told us to, we just have to or we'll basically die. There are a few people who have figured out "the old life". We all can, I guess, but why is it so difficult? Well, because we made it so.

You may or may not be familiar with a film called The Gods Must Be Crazy. If not, I'll explain:
It's basically about a group of bushmen who live a happy life in the Kalahari desert. They have no rules, no laws, don't need to time, and as a result live a life of mutual respect and freedom. No one fights or argues, no one owns anything better than anyone else. Until one day, when a "noisy bird that flew without flapping its wings" (a plane) flew over and the pilot threw an empty bottle out of the window. One of the bushmen found this new thing and it all went downhill form there.
Everyone wanted to use the new thing that the gods had sent them. There was only one, so it had to be shared. Some people thought their tasks were more important that others', others got jealous and eventually the tribe started fighting with each other. You get the vibe...

The beginning of the film compares the life of the bushmen to the lives of modern man, and the narrator sums it up pretty damn well:

"Civilised man refused to adapt himself to his environment. Instead, he adapted his environment to suit him. So he built cities, roads, vehicles, machinery, and he put up power lines to run his labour slaving devices. But somehow he didn't know when to stop. The more he improved his surroundings to make his life easier, the more complicated he made it.
So now his children are sentenced to 10-15 years of school just to learn how to survive in this complex and hazardous habitat they were born into. And civilised man, who refused to adapt himself to his natural surroundings, now finally has to adapt and readapt himself every day, and every hour of the day, to his self-created environment.
For instance; if the day is called "Monday" and and the number seven-three-zero comes up, you have to disadapt yourself from your domestic surroundings and readapt yourself to an entirely different environment...
... But in the Kalahari it's always Tuesday, or Thursday if you like, or Sunday. No clocks or calendars tell you to do this or that." 

What I want to know is, at what point did we lose touch? 

People get upset at the millions of animals that die to feed us, at the millions of tons of garbage that we create. In some way I feel like we have no right to be angry about it. As humans, we are responsible. We may not be directly responsible, but we are human, we have the ability to change that.

So how do we?

The Day I Met Affiance

I've been pretty damn lucky in that I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing bands, most of which I look up to as influences in my life and music. 

Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend an hour in studio with Affiance who had been in SA for a day ahead of their South African Tour. 
Seldom do bands have the time to sit and chat to people, but the organisers of this tour did well in giving the band some hang time.
They were at Audio Militia's studios recording a special something. Let's just say it sounds fat, and you'll love it. At the risk of sounding massively cliche, the guys were really grounded. They were more excited that they were in Africa and that people were amped to see them than anything else. This made me happy. They also seemed surprised that we have avo on our pizza here... You'd think that being from America they would have seen it all.

Tracking Bass

What also made me happy was how much they loved the biltong I brought around. Although people think Sloane Meat Market makes the best biltong on Joburg (which was the biltong I had), I have to disagree. Impala Butchery makes the best biltong, and I will fight you on that.

Lekker Ous
Pic: Chris Preyser

Needless to say I'm fucking excited t be paying a show with them. I'm also excited that we'l be playing just before Van Coke Kartel. I just am. 
I hope to see some familiar faces there!

Obligatory "Proof It Happened" Selfie.
Dennis Tvrdik (vox) - Left
Patrick Galante (drums) - Right
Me (winning) - Middle

New Blog, Same Old Shit... But Not Really

Once again I find myself here. This thing we do on the internet where we hope people will come and read and maybe learn something about us.

I've been thinking about doing this whole blog thing again for quite some time. Since then I've moved into a new apartment, started another band, broke up with a member of my old band, got a new job, got a new voice and done some other things.
This week was the tipping point for me. As much as I love talking sometimes you just need a good ol' vent, be it good or bad. So sitting in front of my laptop frantically ticking away seemed like a good idea... also, it's helping me forget about the dishes I need to wash.


Why am I doing this? Well, I guess I'm feeling a bit confused with the world. It started last week when Bryan (the now ex-vocalist of my band Facing The Gallows) decided to quit. Fair enough. He was a big part of the band, the voice, the face and he has a personality to match. He also contributed a lot musically. Replacing a guitarist or any other instrumentalist is different because it's not as obvious as a vocalist. The voice is the first thing people hear.
I thought I was fine with his decision, but as the days go by I get a little more bummed, but at the same time I get fucking excited for new things. That is where my focus will lie. On the new. I'm over the bummedness now.

It may sound lame, but my band is a big thing in my life. It doesn't pay the bills, it doesn't entirely pay for my travels for tours, but the people I've met and the friends I've made have paid for that in my heart. I've worked with amazing people, I've seen my favourite bands, fuck, I even get to tour with one of them in May! I should be SO happy. But I have to work a 9-5. And as much as I'd like to be my own boss, I'm just not in that space. So I'll keep on the good fight. It's totally worth it. If there's one thing I could urge anyone to do it would be to learn to play an instrument, no matter how simple.

So let's be awesome, let's enjoy the shit out of everything we do.
I will write more. I don't know what about, but I shall do it. 

Get your butt out.

Life is too short to...

Life is too short to wake up early and sit in traffic before work.
It's too short to go to sleep late and have to wake u early.
Life is too short to not be hung over.
It's too short to not do what you want.
Life is too short to not work from 10-3.
Life's too short to not be able to make pizza for people every day.
and it's definitely too short to sit in an office all day while the sun beats down outside.

Ten Questions With A Cool Person - Balz (Motionless in White)

Yes. I'm back with more useless questions to cool people!

Every so often I'll find a band that I fucken love, and I'll listen to that band until I know every word, drum fill or riff on the album until I kill it or until I find another cool band. But that's not to say that once killed I never listen to the band again. I do. A lot. My most recent band kill is Motionless In White. When I first heard the band I imagined a 5 piece, all dressed kinda jocky, but still metal band-like. I was pleasantly surprised when I Googled images of the band and found them all painted up. I thought it was the raddest thing ever. And I still do. I love any band that does things a little different. I wish more bands would!

I thought it would only be fitting to contact the band and see if I could get a few questions in. I sent an interview mid their recently completed European tour, so it was a lucky draw to see who I would get answers from. The bands keyboardist Josh Balz got back to me with his answers about not giving a fuck and food. And a champ he is!

Cadillac (C): So I've caught you mid tour. How is/was Europe this time around?

Balz (B): Europe was great! We got to experience and see things people don't even do in an entire lifetime. Only thing I hated was that they didn't put meatballs on my spaghetti in Italy!

C: What is your favourite place in the world?

B: Home (Pennsylvania), because it's where all my family is, and most of my friends.

C: What is the tastiest thing you've ever eaten?

B: Human Flesh! No I wish. A food chain called Chipotle.

C: What is the best venue to play? Ever.

B: Ever? Impossible question to answer. I have a lot of favourite venues, but as long as they trick us good it's immediately one of my favorite places to play.

C: For anyone who has only heard Motionless In White, they'd expect you to look like any other metal band. What made you guys decide to go for the dark, gothic look?

B: It really was a sit down at a table decision. Believe it or not most of us have looked like this forever and have always been the outcasts in school or around town. I was the only kid in my school who wore tight black jeans and shirt.

C: Do you think people take image too seriously rather than just listening to and loving the music?

B: ...Yes.

C: Did you guys ever try get where you are or did it just happen by series of cool events?

B: Everyone tries to get somewhere, but to get this far is unbelievable! We didn't expect to get anywhere near where we are now, but I guess the good part is we're all still the same people from the beginning. We're very humble and appreciate everything we have.

C: South Africa is slowly building a name for its self on the international scene. 

Slowly... Do you think it is a place that could be visited more often?

B: We've had some sick tours! I'd love to tour there, our friends toured there and said it was one of the best trips of their lives!

C: Tequila or bong?

B: Chicken wings.

C: What's next for Motionless In White

B: Lots to come but where it goes nobody knows!

And there you have it. My newest favourite band. Check out the video for the track Abigail and get their latest album, Creatures. Stay cool!

I want to be here. Now.

You know how there's always something better you'd rather be doing? Well, this is it for me today...

Another Drumming Post

I love drums! I wish I could play them as amazingly as these guys. I could watch drummers play their songs all day long without getting bored.
Here are Morgan Wright and Robert Platz of I, The Breather and formerly Elitist respectively. These are two bands I found this year and I think they are the shit! Their all round musicality is phenomenal and the years of studying between the guys shows.


There isn't much I can say about these drummers other than, watch! 


Morgan Wright playing along to I, The Breather's High Rise

Robert Platz smashing Principles by Elitist.

Check out this link for my first Ten Questions With A Cool Person featuring Mike Danese of Elitist.


Follow the dudes on Twitter: @morganITB @ITheBreather @ElitistBand