Be a 'Roadie-for-a-Day'

As you know, starting July 1st, I'm joining the 2012 VANS Warped Tour for a grueling 40 city, 30 state trek across the U.S. What you don't know is that my team is looking for fans in each city to be roadies for the day! If you and a friend would like free passes to Warped Tour in exchange for lending us a hand when I stop by your city, comment with the name of your city. I'll contact you with more details. 

7/01 Reliant Center Parking Lot Houston, TX 

7/03 Gexa Energy Pavilion Dallas, TX 

7/05 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Maryland Heights, MO 

7/06 The Palace of Auburn Hills Auburn Hills, MI 

7/07 First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Tinley Park, IL 

7/08 Canterbury Park Shakopee, MN 

7/09 Sandstone Amphitheatre Bonner Springs, KS 

7/10 Klipsch Music Center Noblesville, IN 

7/11 Blossom Music Center Cuyahoga Falls, OH 

7/12 First Niagara Pavilion Burgettstown, PA 

7/13 PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel, NJ 

7/14 Parterre Île Notre Dame Montreal, QC 

7/15 Flats At Molson Canadian Toronto, ON 

7/17 Darien Lake PAC Darien Center, NY 

7/18 Toyota Pavilion Scranton, PA 

7/19 Comcast Center Mansfield, MA 

7/20 Susquehanna Bank Center Camden, NJ 

7/21 Nassau Veterans Mem. Coliseum Uniondale, NY 

7/22 The Comcast Theatre Hartford, CT 

7/24 Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD 

7/25 Farm Bureau Live At Virginia Beach Virginia Beach, VA 

7/26 Aaron's Amphitheater at Lakewood Atlanta, GA 

7/27 Central Florida Fairgrounds Orlando, FL 

7/28 Cruzan Amphitheatre West Palm Beach, FL 

7/29 Vinoy Park St. Petersburg, FL 

7/30 Charlotte Verizon Amphitheatre Charlotte, NC 

7/31 Riverbend Music Center Cincinnati, OH 

8/01 Marcus Amphitheatre Milwaukee, WI 

8/04 King County's Marymoor Park Redmond, WA 

8/05 Rose Quarter Riverfront Portland, OR

My cousin's end of summer

You remember my cousin? The hapless, love-poisoned teenager partially glued to his Smartphone? Well, for those of you looking for an update -- he's forgotten all about 'what's-her-face,' as he so eloquently puts it. Or so he claims...

I can tell by the way he's slouching, the way his  bony shoulders hunch forward -- something's wrong.
Still, he insists, "Nothing's wrong."
"You sure?"
"Well..." And we're walking out of SIR rehearsal studios on Sunset Blvd. The traffic's sparse and the weather just right for a two-block walk to the car. "You know that song you guys were just playing back there? 'End of Summer'?
"Doesn't ring a bell," I joke.
But my cousin still doesn't find me funny. He digs his hands into his pocket. Sighs.
"Kind of got me thinking. I met my ex-girlfriend at the beginning of summer. And -- I don't know." Someone honks at a car refusing to turn left at the intersection up ahead. "What's that song supposed to be about?"
"What did it make you think about?"
"Well..." And we're crossing the street when my cousin takes a deep breathe. "How you have to accept that all things -- even the very best things  -- come to an end. Your High School sweetheart. My three-month relationship. The one night stand. A random conversation with a girl at a bar. They 'failed', maybe, but they weren't a waste of time. They're a part of  who you are now. You say, 'I was in love with what's-her-face. We were meant to be.' You cry and cry. When really, you were just in love with the way they made you feel. And that's something you can get back. Well..."And now we're at the car. My cousin  reaches for his keys. "Maybe not get back, but --"
"Get again," I chime in.
"Exactly," he says.
"Hold onto the memory of summer, and never forget -- there's always the next one."

Another Cage Match...

Vote for me!

Other Me

The Radio DJ asks, "If you weren't a musician, what would you be doing?"
And even though I've practiced the answers time and time again, for whatever reason, this one eludes me. I fall silent. My neurons are firing. My thoughts are tangled. Would I still be living in Russia? Would I have seen the things I've seen? Met the people I've met? Would I be the man I am?
Assuredly, those answers are 'no', but still I can't think of an alternative. I consider myself lucky to be sitting across from this DJ, talking music and Warped Tour and things that, in the grand scheme of things, aren't really important. I've worked so hard for so long to get to this point and all I can think about is the luck that's played into my life. The subtle moments of seeming insignificance that, like dominoes, lead to something, then something else, until you're face-down on the floor. Six-feet underground. In a better place. Or not.
"What would I be doing..." I trail, trying to bide by time. "Well, I'm not quite sure. But what I can tell you is this --" And I go on to talk about luck. About how successful people are quick to praise their own efforts but even quicker to dismiss the role that luck has played in their lives. And I don't mean luck as in fate. I believe luck comes to those who open themselves up to it. Who earn it. "So what would I be doing if I weren't here with you right now?"
The DJ shoots me a glare as if to say, 'finally'.
"Looking for a little luck."

Heatwave continues across the U.S. Supposed to be over 100 degrees in Houston when we arrive. Looks like I'm going shirtless...

Having a Voice

My voice. Feelin' a bit raspy. Fighting an infection. But I make it through another recording session, then another round of preparation for radio interviews. The typical questions -- when and why did I start playing. What are my fondest musical memories. Do I get nervous before a big show.

I have the answers down pat now.

The only way I get through it all is a warm lemon tea. Finally, someone plays back one of the tracks from rehearsal over the loudspeakers. It's the thousandth time I've heard "End of Summer," but still, somehow, it's not my voice. Not the voice talking to my tour manager a moment ago, anyway. The raspy me.

My voice takes over the room, resting occasionally to make way for one of Mike's bombardment on drums. And just when I think it's gone forever -- there it is again. Is that really me?

Can't shake the thought. But I'm comforted knowing I've found my voice. I hope you find yours. And once you do, never let it go. Through colds and setbacks and moments of self doubt, let your voice be your guidance. I have, and I'm happy.

Can't wait to unveil some of the new cover songs we've been working on for Warped Tour. What's a song you've always wanted to hear fused with rock?

You know rehearsal's rockin' when the floor ends up littered with splintered drumsticks.

Rehearsal

Only ten more days 'till we leave for Warped Tour!

Vote for me!

XFactor1 Vs. Troy Harley – Cockfight

The Setup

Like the calm before a hurricane, or lovers learning the contours of one another's body for the first time. The band sets up. Amps out. Lights down. Instruments at the ready. There's the bass. An inkling of some spontaneous rythm that's just popped into the bassist's head. Nowhere to go, it wafts aimlessly into the empty recording studio until it's picked up by the guitar. Buttressed by the drums. And suddenly the place is thumpin'. Toes are tappin'. Heads are bobbin'. And no one knows why - this isn't even a song, just an eruption of creativity. Unbridled energy. Talent trusted to roam free. Or, what most people call "just the set up."

Rehearsal at SIR today on Sunset Blvd. Gearing up for one hell-of-a Warped Tour. Let's hope this soar throat goes away soon...

There is no central Forex building. No HQ. No army of paper-pushes squawking about like headless-hens in house. That means any quote you find on the Internet comes from an independent source, and although quotes may appear strikingly similar, they tend to vary slightly.     


You'll find a million and one trading "gurus" out there trying to sell you on their experience. In reality, what they're really doing is selling you on a broker. (Keep an eye out for the link on their page to the Dealing Center, where you'll be asked to open an account.) These gurus teach for money. "Buy my DVD on this selling system and you'll be buying yachts in no time!" Sound familiar? When in actuality, these gurus make their money from brokers who pay them to attract new customers. Take a closer next time you visit one of these supposed Forex sure-thing sites. (On some, you can call and ask a live person questions. Imagine how much that cost the broker.)  


It's not a business. It's a game. And you should only trust those who have something to lose. Like you.

Slumps

The word itself carries a heaviness. "Slump." Your tongue slips from the roof of your mouth down the back of your teeth only to hang mid-air on the "um." Jaw-dropped, your lips labor to pop the "p." A slump drags us down like an anchor attached to the ankle, and yes, some drown. They accept their self-imposed "ill-fate" and stop fighting. Exhale. But others -- nay, they break the chain by...

Well that's the thing, isn't it? There is no thing. No concrete way to break the slump. Only time and tribulation. It could be days or weeks or months or Hemingway-put-a-gun-to-your-head years. You can't hit a baseball. Can't write a song. Can't get laid. You can't, you can't, you can't, you can't...

Until you do. There's the thundering yet hollow crack of the bat. Lyrical epiphany. The moment he or she smiles back at you at the bar and you know, for the evening -- they're yours. All of a sudden, memory of the slump disappears. It's as if it had never been real -- only a figment of our insecurities, like a nightmare, on loop, played for the entire world to see. And we're back in the game.

That's all it is. Life, Forex and the pursuit of happiness are games of ups and downs, risks and rewards. Slumps you'll forget all about.

Me and Mickey

Accepting loss: or, how I failed to explain Forex to a teenager

“Loss is a part of life. Is that too cliché? Yeah, it is.
“Let me start over.
“Loss… is inevitable. Even when things are going good. No way to escape it. Figure that one out and you’ll make millions off the self-help suckers.”
My teenage cousin stares blankly back at me. Doesn’t blink. Doesn’t like my joke. Beneath the table, he’s texting on his Smartphone. Never breaks eye contact. “What’s that got to do with Fortex?” he asks. Though there’s an inflection in his voice, I can tell his question is defensive, rather than curious. Indifferent, at the very least.
“ForEX,” I correct. “It’s like this – no one ever JUST profits in the market. Think of the most successful person you know. Even they’ve failed before. Lost everything. Started over. But – and this is a big BUT – the second time around, they took what they learned from that first failure and applied it. Refused to make the same mistakes.”
My cousin snickers: “Wish you had told me that last week.”
“Why, what happened last week?” I can tell he hadn’t intended the thought to escape his mouth.
He hangs his heads. “Girlfriend broke up with me. Second one in… six months?” This question he poses to his memory.
“And were things going good?”
“For a while, yeah. But then at three months it’s like something happens. They flick a switch. Or I do. I don’t know. One or the other."
"It’s called the ‘honeymoon’ stage. Every couple goes through it.”
“And it lasts three months?”
“Depends.”
He sarcastically snorts: “Depends” as if he were expecting me to give him a definitive answer.
“No one ever knows,” I say. “Just all of a sudden – the little quirks you once found cute drive you crazy. The grating sound her teeth make against her fork when she eats. How she demands that toothpaste be squeezed from the bottom. Things change. Good to bad. Just like that. Sometimes it’s inexplicable. Other times not. You have to fight to keep the things you want in life. For the most part – the world is out to take them away from you.”
My cousin pockets his Smartphone. For the first time, I have his undivided attention. No texts. No tweets. Not even a beep. His eyes bear into mine. “She said the same things my last girlfriend did. I’m too distant. Not a good listener. 'We never do what I wanna do...'” He sighs. “What can you do?”  
“Appreciate good things while they’re going. Eventually, you dance with the devil, and you’re gonna get burned.”
OK – one last  cliché. 

What's it like to be in a band?

I was asked that this morning. "What's it like to be in a band?" And as if set on auto-text I regurgitated:
"It's great! We do what we love. Blah blah blah." Which is true, of course -- we play the music we love for the fans we adore. But being part of a band is in fact much, much more.

A band is your first-and-a-half family. Not even your second. They know you on a level your parents and siblings probably never will. They know you as your talent. They know you as a perspective. And even though you don't share blood -- you bleed together. Through the open-mic nights in Nowheresville, the rejection slips, the shit songs, all the way to that first big break, fresh ink, your name across a dotted line designated:"band member."

"Member." Key word there. Whether you're the guitarist, drummer, backup vocal, hell, even the guy with the cow bell -- you're a well oiled part of something greater than yourself. Greater than you could ever be alone. So great, in fact, that you're never alone again.

So what's it like to be in a band? Sit in your favorite chair. With your favorite drink. In nothing but your underwear. Kick up your feet. Put on your favorite movie. Look around -- you're finally at home.

In music, like life, there is always a "better." A better take in the recording studio. A better performance on stage. A better tomorrow, and all that.

It's this belief in the better that motivates me as an artist and musician. William Faulkner said artists are creatures driven by demons, and that may be. But for  me, not knowing the limit of my own potential is what keeps me thinking. Working. Striving to achieve better.

So I pick up the guitar and muse whilst my fingertips scrutinize the strings. I'm a bind man searching for braille, for inspiration. And suddenly -- I find it. Or it finds me. My fingers deftly dance up and down the neck of the guitar. I close my eyes and take a back seat to the music. I have faith it gets better.

A shrill courses through the crowd as the first guitar chord screeches to life. In back, the pitch black arena boasts a pair of neon spotlights turning their gazes toward me, center stage, microphone in hand. Then the drums. A boisterous thumping, like a Tyranasauraus heartbeat. BUM BUM BUM. The lights zero in on me just as the bass erupts. My lips savor a final moment together before the inevitable separation anxiety of an hour long performance. And from somewhere in my gut - a voice rises. My voice. It's on.

Keep up with my blog and our video diary for daily updates on rock and Warped Tour depravity.

Check out my promotional magazine

I'm in Miami, B --

Forex Training

I decided to check out some of the Forex training programs out there, and boy, do they try to sell you on an illusion. On the Forexmentor.com website, Peter Bain claims that the average trader is successful 7 out of 10 times. 7 out of 10 times? I talked to a friend who is new to Forex and he said in his first two months, he's only accumulated 5 successful trades. He has no idea what went wrong. He says he took all the precautions described in some educational material from the Forex site.  But because of the risk by reward ratio, if you can still manage to get 5 out of 10 trades successful then you average 50 to 60 pips every week. If you trade only one pair then it becomes difficult to gain above 50 pips because you can't see positive movement everyday in that particular pair.

So I showed my friend the Forex course I had been looking at, and we reviewed more of their tips. According to them, the best time to trade is just after 2 am (eastern). This is true for the Euro and the American Dollar, but not so for pairs like the Dollar and the Japanese Yen. You should have seen the confused look on my friend's face...

The major disadvantage of the Forex course is that you can't get the chart set up daily. It took us 25 days to see the chart set up exactly as the course had explained. Needless to say, it was difficult to determine the pivot point lines for some of our currency pairs...

After studying this Forex course, we've concluded that you must set your own rules because you can't solely depend on Forex,or Peter Bain's, strategy to identify entry and exit points.  Target 35 or 40 pips because below 35 pips and your risk becomes too high.

Still sound overly complicated? Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it. I have. I think...

Warped Tour!

The band is taking the show on the road this summer! We've landed a spot on the high-octane Vans Warped Tour -- a 100 band, 40 city, 30 state, two-month trek across the United States and Canada. Since 1995, the Warped Tour has held the crown as one of the most popular outlets for new artists to promote their music, and has maintained a steady fan following over the years. Being added to the bill is a tremendous honor.

So follow my blog and our outrageous adventures as we bring the house down each and every stop along the way.

A few tips to consider...

Recently I’ve unveiled a number of dangers lurking in the shadowy Forex Market, but today I’d like to focus on solutions. For what are problems but solutions waiting to be discovered?

 #1 Do you have a plan? If not – GET ONE!
Over trading tends to bog down users new to the Forex market. So make sure you have a plan, with incremental goals, to help keep track of how many trades you’re making, where your trades are concentrated, and where your money is going. Your trading tendencies might also depend on the information you’re receiving. Are you normally dependent on the sixty-minute chart or customer support? How often are you logging in? Try slowing things down with longer time frames. Using a longer time frame automatically reduces the number of trades you’ll consider. You won’t be tempted to take a “valid signal” 10 times a day trading via a daily chart.

 #2 Stick to your plan’s goals. Have those goals spaced out, too. 
I set a weekly goal of 100 points. This is a realistic goal for me to achieve and having the number posted on the door to my office reminds me that once I’ve made my weekly goal there’s no reason to take on extra risk. Now, you can focus on other things. Go for a hike! Fix the house up! Take care of those taxes ahead of time! Just don’t allow temptation to get the best of you. And there will be temptation. After hitting 100 your homepage will flash some fantastic opportunity you can hardly believe. You’ll want to drag the mouse over to the button and CLICK. But you can’t. Not this week, at least. Next week – now that’s a different story.  Some “experts” may think a 400 point a month cap is low, but who knows you better than you. If you think you can handle the responsibility of a few extra trades each week, then by all means, trade away. If not – stick to your goals.

#3 When in doubt, ask yourself, “Do I need this?” 
There is a HUGE different between want and need. Desire and necessity. (Just ask the Buddhists.) “Do I need this” almost seems too trivial, doesn’t it? But how many times have you suffered from buyer’s remorse after making a purchase out of anger, spite, or blinding bliss? I know I have. So before you click accept on that trade and take on more risk, ask yourself, “Do I need this? Or do I just want it?”

Ever hear the old saying: if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is? Well, perhaps no adage could better exemplify the Forex market than this. Small firms lure unsuspecting ‘customers’ with elaborate stories of 1000:1 returns and the glory of making a quick buck. And they’ve been doing it since the 70s!
Now, with the Internet, these schemers have a web to trap you with their ‘too-good-to-be-true’ tactics. All it takes is a window and about a million lines of the smallest font you’ve ever seen, followed by the question: do you accept the terms and conditions? We’ve all been there. Don’t pretend you read through every single article of fine print --  you don’t.
But this is how they (the manipulative, greedy Forex firms) get you! Once you hit accept, you’ve cleared them of all legal responsibility. Only – you also just trusted them a ton of money, didn’t you? What happens if something happens to that capital? Are they legally or fiscally responsible?
And the judges' answer – EEERR. Sorry, you’re out of luck. The firm’s lawyers will cite one little word: risk. It all comes down to risk. High reward equals high risk equals greater chance of you losing your hard earned pension, your rainy day fund, emptying out your entire bank account. Of course, you only remember the Trader telling you about the glories of the reward. (They tend to leave out the risk part. It’s just plain unsexy and doesn’t sell well.) So beware when choosing a trading platform! There’s no such thing as easy money or a quick buck. In life, fortune is earned – never bought.

Time Travel

It's amazing how the simplest of sounds, the most estranged of songs, can jettison us back in time to a memory we'd nearly forgotten all about. That happened to me yesterday when I came across Deep Purple's album "Machine Head." Instantaneously, I was nine years-old again, sprawled out on my parents' living room floor in Russia with a record player and a pair of five-pound head phones.

That was the day I first realized my true love, and passion, for music. 

Of course, not all songs recall fond memories. I think a few ex-girlfriends out there can attest to that...