Arlan Feiles has a new album out. Actually it is his first, which is ridiculous and ironic, because he has been making music for years and years. I have heard the best that a man can do and it is in the music of Arlan Feiles.  http://cdbaby.com/cd/arlanfeiles 

Bas and I watching MTV subterranean. So boring we were screaming. Some indie band is being interviewed and they are very slow and stupid and not flashy and he points and says “this is why rock is dead man! Because guys like this talking about nothing cannot compete with the blacks and how flashy and exciting they are. how do you expect to make a name for yourself if you're giving interviews like this?! Fishy promise me that your interviews for sleep with you won't be like this! Please man! This shit is so boring.” 

He is right. These rocker bands are so fucking slow and boring trying to be all cool. They don't say anything. I'm flipping through the bmg catalogue. Hundreds of where are they now bands in there. vertical horizon, 3 doors down, even matchbox who or Live can’t even get a break anymore. What's up? What’s going on? And what's the answer? 

Well I was very busy jamming in heaven because I found the greatest tone ever last night on this new Ernie ball music man axis sport guitar I just got on eBay for a ridiculously low price and I am running it through my marshal combo 2X12. so I'm jamming and I'm thinking about all this. is rock dead? I remembered the words I wrote to the song the journey a few years back when it first seemed like rock was dying, “rock and roll will never die as long as you and I keep buying. It’ll always fit in somewhere in between...” is rock and roll fitting somewhere in between now? Black music has taken over MTV now. [can you say that? is it somehow racist? Are we supposed to pretend we haven't noticed it? or just talk about in the privacy of our own homes? Are we supposed to act like we don't care? Like its all good? are we supposed to act like we don't miss seeing rock on MTV? Are we supposed to act like we don't notice that white music is just thrown in here and there every few hours in between basically black programming now, or worse yet, rock bands have to advertise now on MTV. That's the only way they actually get airplay, is in advertising. In between the new Jay Z video and the snoop dog show. I don't think its racist to notice it. I think its racist if you think there's something wrong with it maybe. But hey it’s the truth. There's nothing wrong with it. And its no ones fault. Its just our culture now. People are just obsessed with black music. The younger gens. Rosie tells me its even more extreme in the UK now. Its taken over. They should at least give us mtv2 though. If they're going to take over MTV, throw us a bone. Give us our rock and pop music people. fuck. Me and Bas and the boys in the band don't mind talking about it. and we don't think its racist. The fact is that we just want to see and hear more fucking rock music. So if MTV wants to be a black music channel, fine, but just give us our own channel where we can check out rock music. That's all. or at least a healthy balance. Is there any room for it? are the kids still going to dig on rock? Yea there's room. Rock is always going to fit in somewhere in between. Man we thought it was going to be a revolution last year. With the vines and hives and the strokes and the white stripes. Maybe it was. A tiny one. but it barely shook the rafters compared to rap and hip hop’s impact. They just bulldozed over everyone. Crazy. but the thing is that rock is making a huge comeback now. its amazing how its just coming out everywhere. maybe just not as popular anymore.

Talking on the phone with the Toad for the first in a long time. He's getting really popular with his whole Americana thing. He told me how he's doing with the whole baby thing. This girl from the local scene he was with only once ended up getting pregnant and decided to have the baby and keep it. a lot of this went down while I was in Europe. So of course he was freaking. And still is. Because now the baby is born. It’s a boy. Its not like they are going to be together or anything. She is a very pretty girl but just really over the top; a really out there kind of person. so he's pretty much stuck knowing and talking with her for the rest of his life. he’ll deal with it though. So I tell him about Elliot smith which he didn't know about yet. ‘God that was really dramatic. He really went for it. stabbing himself in the chest? Wow.” ‘yeah I know. crazy huh? You think he had a big enough following to become a legend now? I don't know if he had a big following lately.” “Oh yeah he’ll do fine. With that. yeah. Hey if he would have shot himself hey who knows? But stabbing his own heart, he won't become a Jim Morrison or anything, but yeah he’ll be up there with Jeff or Kurt pretty soon.” “Man I hope so. Cause he really deserves it doing that...”  

Current Spin: Arlan feiles new one. 

Last screening: Mystic River by Clint eastwood. Great movie. It was a ride. And an adventure. it was more like those old seventies movies where the plot itself is not that good and the writing is just o.k., so its not a story you remember, but the acting and the direction is just stellar so you walk away really happy and moved. Sean Penn was so amazing that I felt inspired as an artist. you appreciate him as an actor. And you appreciate the art of acting.