Cowboys From Hell: 20 years strong!

Greetings to each of you, who know what this entry’s title stand for. Greetings to all of you, who don’t know this, because you are about to discover a metal masterpiece.

Twenty years ago, in July 1990 the Godzillas of metal – Pantera have released their 5th studio album, which turned out to be a landmark record in the history of modern metal. You have already heard about our collaboration with the US based webzine called Horns Up Rocks and here’s what they had to say to commemorate this anniversary.

When Pantera released their legendary album Cowboys From Hell on July 3, 1990, everyone was caught by surprise to the fury the Pantera boys displayed. As we all know, Pantera started as a glam band and with Cowboys From Hell they left that part of their career behind, and single-handedly reinvented the steel! 20 years later, it is very hard to imagine the Heavy Metal scene being what it is today, without Pantera’s Cowboys From Hell.

Cowboys From Hell contains Heavy Metal classics such as their anthem “Cowboys From Hell”, “Domination”, “Primal Concrete Sledge” and “Cemetery Gates”. This album also gave Pantera the exposure they needed, and took them from playing small clubs to playing the “Monsters of Rock” festival in Russia in front of 1 million people. That night they outplayed Metallica, AC/DC and Aerosmith. It was evident that Pantera were ready for World Domination!

The legacy that Phil Anselmo, Dimebag Darrell (RIP), Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown created, is to this day untouched, unmatched, unscarred by trials! A New Level of confidence and power, that has influenced millions of musicians worldwide! We salute Pantera for their amazing album “Cowboys From Hell” and lets all have a couple of black tooth’s this weekend, in memory of our brother in Metal Dimebag Darrell!

I want to dedicate this video segment to the Pantera boys (Phil Anselmo, Dimebag Darrell, Rex Brown & Vinnie Paul)! And to all the Horns Up Rocks familia! ENJOY

By Jo Schüftan (Horns Up Rocks)

“Name your god and bleed the freak”

It might be a little too early for a new blog update, but as I was listening to Alice in Chains’ first album “Facelift” today, I realized I should pay honour to the two legendary musicians deceased on the 5th of April within 8 years difference. I am speaking about Kurt Cobain (1994) and Layne Staley (2002), may they rest in peace. Even though the cause of their deaths is said to be different, it is known to everyone that both of them were quite serious drug addicts.

The list of truly gifted musicians who died of drug abuse is so long, that I am not even going to start writing it. I’m sure you know at least a few. It is such a senseless and unthinkable way to waste your life when you were blessed with a huge talent, when you can influence people all over the world with your music. Naturally, each one of us is the owner of his life and it is our decision what to do with it. But when you’ve got something so great in your hands, how can you simply burn it down on a heroin spoon?

I’m not a genius musician… hell, I’m not a genius in anything. I can only imagine what it must be like for all these people whose minds are simply out of this world. The common historical pattern shows that apparently drugs made it easier for them to deal with reality, but did they really want to end up losing it? It makes me feel really weird watching old video interviews with Layne Staley where he was so proud and boasted how he managed to kick his drug addiction and how he conquered death. And then reading his last interviews, where he said that he knows he is about to die soon and he never wanted to end his life that way. I hope Mr. James Hetfield felt really bad for all the stupid shit jokes he made on stage during Metallica’s gigs about Layne’s addiction.

A lot of words have been said and written concerning drug abuse in music history. The lifetime motto “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” didn’t come out of nowhere and there is nothing new I could possibly say here. It’s just sad and really hard to understand. So I’ll simply finish this entry with my most favourite Alice in Chains song.

Don’t do drugs, people.

Proud to be loud.
- Tanja.

Starfuckers Inc.

“My god sits in the back of the limousine,
my god comes in a wrapper of cellophane,
my god pouts on the cover of the magazine,
my god’s a shallow little bitch trying to make the scene…”

Yes, exactly the infamous song by Nine Inch Nails. Now why would this be the topic of the following post, you might wonder. You’ll see in a moment.

In my previous entry next time I promised to write about boobs and beer. A promise is a promise. But after writing a paper for my university about a Finnish brewery, I would say that beer is not to be written about. It should be drunk and you know it. As for the boobs, they should be squeezed, licked and whatnot. And you definitely know it better than I do. However, the following post still has something to do with boobs and beer, even if indirectly. It is about a phenomenon that goes back in time to the very beginning of rock music, when Beatles were just about to become popular and The Rolling Stones were still Rollin’. The following post is about… groupies.

Everything written below is based on my own experience, the things I see around me every day and the little research I’ve done on the topic prior to writing this post. So who actually is a groupie? Urban Dictionary tells me the following:

“A young woman, often under age, who seeks to achieve status by having sex with rock musicians, roadies, security, and other band-related guys.”

I’m sure you’ve heard of them, haven’t you? I’m also quite sure you’ve seen them. Most of the people would label someone ‘a groupie’ simply for the fact that this girl knows musicians and spends time with them, regardless of what her intentions are, even if they don’t have any sexual implications. If you are with the band – you’re bound to be a groupie, no other options. Girls would call you a groupie, because they are jealous and would give a lot to be at your place OR because you happen to have interest in the same musician. Guys would call you a groupie, because –oh my god – you happen to actually LIKE the looks of someone you see on stage – this, my friends, makes you shallow and not caring about the actual music. This is how the whole situation looks like through the eyes of the narrow-minded people, whose view of the world is based on how deep they shoved the finger up their ass on this particular day.

For real, it is a two-sided game. Musicians satisfy their needs by having sex with groupies; groupies satisfy their needs by having sex with musicians. Everyone is happy and each of them thinks it makes them special that way and that they “won”. Some women end up incorporating this as a lifestyle and actually make a career out of it. Like Pamela Des Barres, who definitely deserves respect at least for her openness. In her book “Confessions Of A Groupie” she wrote: “We inspired the guys as much as we were inspired by them. It was very equal. They loved us because we dared to have a blast.” Somewhere deep down the core of the whole thing still remains the same. The equality is still there, but nobody can see it. Back then, at the dawn of the history, it might have been all that romantic and inspiring in the 60’s, but not anymore. Nowadays everyone plays the definition of a groupie to their own benefit.

Except for being the cheapest and most devoted promotional tool a band can get, the groupie-theme seems to be a popular trend in the fashion industry as well. For example, there is a whole collection by the Guy Baxter brand, where quite mediocre clothes somehow try to deliver the “I’m with the band” message. It seems to be cool to have “groupie” written all over you. Well, let me tell you – it is NOT, unless you understand what you are doing, unless you really know what it is about. Otherwise it is like wearing a t-shirt that says “I’m a moron” in a language everyone understands but you.

Labeling yourself as a groupie and shoving this into the faces of all the people, who would love to accuse you of that, requires balls bigger than those of all the musicians you might ever want to fuck. You show them that you have an absolute freedom of choice, you go for what you want and you get it. They can say whatever they want, but they can only swallow it, because they don’t have the luxury of that freedom.

A lot of people ask “Why musicians? What’s so special about them? They are just people.” Of course they are just people when it comes to the vices of the human nature. Yet, I am fairly certain that your next door neighbor doesn’t write music that makes hundreds or thousands of people lose their minds, does he? Musicians are always on high demand and once you taste the bitter pill – you will know that it is quite far from what you and the rest of the girls dreamed about. Being in a relationship with a musician you constantly find yourself in a threesome with him and his ego. And quite often the ego will devour your place as well.

The problem is that the rules of this game allow no exceptions. If you are in any way related to the ‘scene’ and you happen to be young and somewhat attractive – you will hardly ever be taken more seriously by most than a piece of meat with a few holes. The music community fully incorporates the motto “women are only good for three things: cleaning and cooking and vagina”. On the other hand, if you’re a guy (with no status in the industry) wanting to meet your heroes – nobody will be interested in you. Because you’re a guy – a loser with no vagina – the status given to you by the likes of you. Thus, you will have to put quite some effort and jump around your favourite musicians to get a little of their time. Yet, for this kind of behavior a man will never be called a groupie, because he can’t be potentially fucked.

As Bob Dylan sang “times, they are a-changing”. With Gaahl coming out of the closet (and someone else possibly following his example), some day the male species might find their way into the role of a groupie. After all, they learned to do the house chores and wear make up!

Yet, the question remains: if it all comes down to sex, does it really make you a groupie, if your interest is purely intellectual and you actually enjoy talking to musicians without going down on them? Apparently the thin line goes through the fact that you might not always show it. Sincere excitement about meeting people whose music you like can get you easily labeled as a groupie. As sad as it is, there seems to be no way of escaping this fate in a man’s world. So if you wear the groupie label, at least wear it with pride.

The rest we’ll leave to Sir Paul McCartney. He is a Sir, he should know better.
“Nobody knows what the famous groupies know
And nobody goes where the famous groupies go.”

Proud to be loud.
- Tanja

We aren’t pussyin’ out, we just like our music heavy.

DEATH TO ALL BUT METAL!!!… khm, sorry, I just had to

In other words hello, nice to see you again. I figured it was time to take this blog one step further and write another post. Or something like that.

There is always a bunch of ideas running in my head for all kinds of rants that I could post here. But one of them keeps slapping me on my face over and over again and I thought I should let it all out. However, this rant is going to be more female-oriented, sorry guys. Next time I’ll write about boobs and beer, I promise.

Every time I decide to show my devotion to a certain band by buying their merchandise, I go to their official webstore in search of a suitable t-shirt and you know what I see there? Nothing. Not a fucking thing. Either there are no girlies at all or, if the band’s merchandisers actually bothered to acknowledge the existence of the band’s female audience and threw out a few female-fitted t-shirts, they usually have the lamest designs. I can’t help asking – what the fuck?! The best t-shirt designs are always just for men and quite often are the size of a sleeping bag. Of course, with some luck you can always buy a small sized male t-shirt and then modify it to fit you. But first of all, I am not a tailor and I don’t want to spoil something I have paid for without ever wearing it, and, secondly, merchandise is not cheap in general, so why should I pay money for something and then fuck my brain to figure out a way to use the thing I bought.

I doubt anyone will hear my cry; this is more just to let the steam out. I am sure I am not the only one with a problem like that. Those ‘high-rankers’ of this industry should realize that there are not just men listening to heavy music anymore, and the amount of female fans keeps on growing constantly. Why not let us join the celebration as well? Seriously, who would mind seeing their band name/logo stretched over a pair of nice boobs?

I think once this frustration becomes too much for me, I’ll make it my mission to bring this message out to every band I’m going to interview and thus maybe make this world a better place for the girls who’ve got the balls!

Now I’ll play modest and stop here. It’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow and I am not going to greet you with it. Because I hope that you don’t need one special cheesy and clichéd day in a year to show your love to your important ones. You’ve got to do this every day. So screw the slobbery shit you see in the stores, just go and tell them you love them!

Proud to be loud.
- Tanja.

F.A.Q.

Here´s a collection of questions, we got. If you have more questions, that haven´t been answered here so far, feel free to comment/e-mail etc. and we´ll answer and add them here!

________________________________________________________________________________

What equipment do you use?

Jana: I started out with a Canon 30D and a 50 2,8 but now I use Canon 5D MK II with a Canon 24-70 2,8 and a Sigma 70-200 2,8 lenses.

Cornelia: My first cam was a Nikon D70, now I have a D300, together with Tamron 28-75/2,8 (old), Tokina 28-70/2,8, Tokina 80-200/2,8 and Nikon 10,5/2,8 (Fisheye). Well, and an external flash, that I hardly use at all.

How do you get your photopasses?

Jana: We get passes for some gigs through www.music-photocalypse.net, but I am also involved with a serious number of online and print publications, so I get some passes through them as well.

Cornelia: Online mags, bands directly, venues etc.

What is your favourite band to shoot?

Jana: Amorphis J They’re EVERYONE’s favorite band to shoot, aren’t they? Lately I came to like shooting metalcore, though it’s quite a challenge.

Cornelia: Amorphis, yes! Though I´d add Behemoth there as well. Probably quite a lot of other bands, too. Always depends a bit on shooting conditions etc.

How long have you been photographing?

Jana: 3 years and counting.

Cornelia: Roughly the same time, if I don´t count my photography attempts with bridgecam in the photopits before.

Do you live from photography?

Jana: I earn enough from photography to qualify as a pro (over 10 per cent of my income) but it’s sure a long way before I can live off it – and I am not sure I’d want to.

Cornelia: No, not at all. For me it´s rather combining two hobbies. Making a living of that? Rather not, I
don´t want to be “forced” to shoot, to be honest. But how´s this saying…never say never.

Can I have pics in high resolution?

Yes you can. It’s gonna be different if you’re a band, label or magazine – so send us a message and we can discuss it further.

Can I buy prints somewhere?

Send us an email regarding this and we´re sure we can arrange something. We don’t sell through any stores and not all photos are for sale as prints due to restriction from the band or their management. So it’s a case-by-case basis here.

May I draw your photo?

Sure thing, and we´re very flattered if you want to. But please send us a link to what turns out (check the contact section for e-mail adresses) – we´re really excited to see how it worked. Seriously. (and already got some really great stuff!)

Can you take pics of my band?

Sure! Please send us an email regarding this and we’ll discuss things further. (check contact page for adresses)

Why don´t you have pics of band XY?

Cos we have never been to their gig with a camera?
We surely have been to countless gigs so far, but unfortunately we can´t be everywhere. However…sooner or later we´re going to catch them all!

Can I use the pics on my Myspace/homepage/forum/streeteam/etc.?

Yes you can, but please link back to www.music-photocalypse.net if you do and it would still be nice if you sent us an email and told us you’d want to use the pics. So that we know where they go – we’re curious.

May I use pictures as wallpaper, collage/postcard?

Jana: It depends.I love collages and wallpapers myself, I have seen both good and bad ones. If I like your previous work I will let you use my photos, but please ask me first.

I want to start concert photography, can you tell me which cam/lenses to use?

Jana: I am not one of those people who tell you you can take good photos with any camera. Sports and concert photography are the areas where this doesn’t apply, sorry. You’ll need a good camera which can handle very high ISOs gracefully and you’ll need a good zoom with large aperture, like 2,8. So it’s going to cost you at least 3000 Euros if you’re serious about what you’re planning to do.

Cornelia: Agreed…depends on what exactly you´re planning to do. If it´s more less just for the fun of it, you´ll surely get away with cheaper equipment. However, if you can´t afford the expensive lenses right away, start with a 50/1,8 – cheap, but sharp and great for bad light conditions and then decide which lenses you need apart from that. However…2,8 is a must if you ask me. As for the camera… depends on your budget of course. Canon 450D or Nikon D80/90 something like this. And in the end…the best equipment is worth nothing, if you don´t know how to use it, so shoot, shoot, shoot and learn!

How do I get this whole thing started?

Get a good camera, and start taking photos at gigs where cameras are allowed. Then you can try to get a freelance relationship with some local or international music website – or start your own. Shoot, shoot, shoot…practice as much as you can and get to know your camera!
Basically, there´s not real “recipe” on how to do it.

How are many shots wrongly processed and what do you look for to fix it up?

Jana: I don’t think there is such a thing as wrong postprocessing. I myself often end up with halos, overexposing, underexposing or an HDR-ish look, and it’s a pretty much conscious decision even though I know it’s not technically good.
There are two things that I MIGHT consider as wrong though – airbrushing the skin waaay to much ( in this case solution’s simple – try to know when to say no) And second, the postrocessing should suit the subject. Cross-processing is good as it is, but not applied to a picture of a funeral.

I’d like to know some things about the post processing of the photos.

Jana: Hmmm, nothing unusual here. I use only Lightroom these days and do color correction, levels, curves and tints. I don’t manipulate any parts of the photos separately. I also add vignetting in most shots. I take it way further with my studio shots though, but I’d need to write a whole article about what I do – it takes up to 20 hours of postpro work per picture for non-concert shots.

I would like to know everything about your philosophy. How do you define a great concert picture? How your ideas about “the good concert photography” was transformed with the years? What ethical rules do you think must have any concert photographer? If I didn’t ask a question about something in this direction, but you would like to tell about it – please feel free to describe it all, it has a great interest for me. And thank you in advance.

Jana: I don’t think I have philosophy whatsoever – it applies more to studio and conceptual shooting. When I go to a gig I have no idea what I will encounter and what will be possible to do… I guess what I do try to achieve is to glorify the artist. Transformation occurs whenever I learn something new and want to try it.

Scream Bloody Gore!

Greetings to you, my little lovers of all things metal!

As if there weren’t enough writings on this website, we decided to start a blog. It was very necessary, because I never shut up and have to squeeze my 2 cents here and there. In general, I hope this will be a place where I and the rest of Music Photocalypse crew will elaborate on various music-related matters that happen to cross our peaceful (and sometimes not) minds. Plus, for me it is also a place, where I can slip an occasional juicy ‘fuck’ or two, since, face it, we’re not Metal Hammer (yet) and we have to play nice with censorship and shit like that (see!). But what’s heavy music without an appropriate obscenity?

I wanted to be less pathetic and start the blog at the end of 2009, because, you know, normal people really like starting things at the beginning of the year. But I couldn’t escape the fate of being so usual and predictable (read: I had better things to do), so we’re going to start it not at the beginning of just some pfft year, but at the dawn of a goddamn decade!! Now that sounds more brutal!

It was a matter of great importance to choose a right name for such a blog, because the name will define its whole life! As I still couldn’t escape the pathetic fate, I dived into my metal encyclopedia in search for something really influential. While nobody shared my excitement about taking the name of Death’s debut album “Scream Bloody Gore”, after a long debate and a few dead bodies, we finally came to a compromise. The savior was Megadeth’s debut release in 1985 “Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good!” But as killing is not really our business (it has always been just a hobby), we adjusted it to fit us more and changed “killing” to “music”. I still couldn’t resist putting Death at least in the name of this entry! My post – I can name it whatever I want.

Going on with mine and this blog’s pathetic fate, I will stick to the pathetic scenario of all posts usually written at the beginning of the year: what are your expectations for the upcoming 365 days? And since this is a music-related blog and not my personal one (luckily for you!), I will not tell you about my own tour of Europe in summer or how I want to sign Alexi Laiho’s boobs, or any other stuff you never wanted to know about me. Instead, I will tell you that there are quite a few releases I am looking forward to, such as: Down, Dimmu Borgir, Ov Hell, Finntroll, Poisonblack, Enemy Of The Sun and most definitely Stone Sour and of course Iron Maiden! I am most eagerly looking forward to attending Helsinki Metal Meeting, Machine Head, Rammstein and Ulver concerts in February, because all of those are going to be a fucking blast. I am shitless excited about Ruisrock festial in July, which is having its 40^th anniversary this year, and last, but the most important one – Sonisphere festival in August, because its un-fucking-believable greatness is beyond words (and because Anthrax will play there).

I do not share this common excitement about the news of Soundgarden reunion. Nothing against Soundgarden though, I just can’t be bothered, but as long as this makes someone happy, then why not? Compared to this, the rumours about System Of A Down reuniting is a lot more tasty piece of news for me. Although there is this specific thing about reunions – you can never know for sure whether they’re going to suck or rule.

As my personal hope and pray to whoever is responsible for things like that: this year I really really REALLY wish and hope to see Alice In Chains and Steel Panther.

So what is it about 2010 one thought of which makes YOUR pants soaking wet? Share your thoughts with us and win a cookie. Or not.

Proud to be loud.

-Tanja.