Not many people who don’t design buildings call themselves architects. But if you are Detroit native ZO!, you have every reason to carry the title. As a member of the Guerilla Funk Mob and resident musical genius, ZO! is one of the few artists whose creativity and musicianship are innovative, challenging, and outside that dreaded box. ZO!, who is as humble and gracious as he is talented, sat down and shared his appreciation for musical history and his many upcoming projects.

Nu-Soul: How has Detroit played a role in developing your sound?
ZO!: My mother isn’t originally from Detroit but she listened to a lot of Motown, which influenced me. I think the D also has a heavy funk influence that people don’t give it credit for. My father brought that to the table. It’s weird because we have house, funk, and Motown fused into one entity. I grab elements from each one of these and bring hip-hop to it and make my own music. I guess you really are influenced early on by what’s being played on the radio or around the house.

Nu-Soul: Do you feel any pressure to live up to the musical legacy in Detroit?
ZO!: No, not at all because the most pressure I have is self inflicted. And I don’t really put that much on myself. Music is about having fun and creating what you want to create. And when you feel good about what you are doing and have a secured sense of what you like to hear in your music, you finally get that sound. So, it doesn’t matter what anyone is saying or if I am carrying a torch for someone. As long as I am carrying the torch for me, my family, and God, I am just fine.

Nu-Soul: What are some of the instruments you play?
ZO!: My primary is piano or keyboard and my secondary is bass guitar. I just went to Guitar Center one day, picked up a bass, and started from scratch. I did the same thing with the drums. I would never pull out a guitar and start playing at a show. I am a studio musician on the guitar so I don’t need anybody calling me out. (Laughing)

Nu-Soul: What inspires you?
ZO!: Everything. Music and beats come around the sounds. It’s not anything I want to break down and think about too much because that’s when you start forcing stuff and having creative musician’s block. I actually did a song last week and the entire bass line was centered on someone doing a vocal riff that suck in my head. I kept humming it and I changed it into a bass line and built a song around it.

Nu-Soul: What does your music sound like?
ZO!: One day I may want to do some eighties music with a lot of synthesizers and cords but the next day I may want to something that is straight hip hop. It’s a free for all then it just comes out. Either I can use it or someone else may want to use it. I don’t want to be an artist that forces things to happen. I really feel like it hinders the creative process and I don’t want to do that. When people ask me what genre I am, I just tell them to listen. I want people to pick the genre themselves. When you hear something, you like it because you like the song, not because its hip hop or rock. I don’t want to be boxed up before people get to hear who I am. If I put barriers up that is what box people will put me in. I want them to choose.

Nu-Soul: Tell me about the eighties album you have with Phonte.
ZO!: I did a couple of Little Brother remixes off my Redefinition album and from what I understand, Phonte heard the remixes So, I introduced myself to him around September 05. And we just kept in touch from that. I was working on my Just Visiting album that had the song “Stepping Out” by Joe Jackson. I hit up Phonte and asked him to sing the hook on it. And so, a week or two after, he sent it back. Everyone knows Phonte as being a dope emcee but I have some stuff where he is singing and it sounds good. So, we ended up putting it out. He is a big music fanatic like me so it pretty much blossomed from there.

Nu-Soul: What are some of your upcoming projects?
ZO!: I am finishing my man from Detroit, Asylum 7’s album which is an EP. We have Asheru on one of the joints. I feel proud of connecting the D to DC. We are trying to have that out by the end of the year. I did an album with Tiffany Paige called Dreamwalk that’s supposed to be out first quarter 09 and after that, my solo album will be coming out. It has a few guests on it. I’ve been having a ball with it and being able to call someone to be on the tracks and have them send it back is cool. They breathe life into the joints and I’m happy about how this album is coming along.

Nu-Soul: Name the five artists dead or alive, that you would pick to write a movie score with.
ZO!: Prince and Stevie because they could be anywhere in the studio. I know for sure Quincy because that is what he did. That’s almost too obvious. Curtis Mayfield because every song on the Superfly album had a purpose. Isaac Hayes and Willie Hutch as well. I know that’s six but I have to include those too. I wouldn’t touch anything or say anything. I would just watch.

Nu-Soul: If I wrote a movie about your life, what would the theme song be?
ZO!: I thought about this since the last time we spoke and it would have to be “Sir Duke.” That is Stevie paying homage to his predecessors. I think what differentiates our hip-hop from the younger generation is that a lot of them don’t acknowledge their history. It’s a song that is timeless but gives a message about my history and what I am learning from. These younger cats should utilize the internet and read up about those infamous stories and legends. Fill your head up with stuff that is useful because you can build from it.

Check Zo! out at www.myspace.com/zo and www.musicalarchitect.com

Download ZO! at Itunes

French-Canadian DJ/Producer Matt Cerf is a familiar face in the Los Angeles dance scene.  From his beginnings in 2001 as one-fourth of the group Second Sun, to his teaming up in Los Angeles with Producer/DJ partner Shawn Mitiska in 2004, and the addition of Singer/Songwriter Jaren in 2005, Matt’s enabled himself to carve out a comfortable niche.

As a producer, Matt’s original tracks and remixes have come to the forefront in recent times with notable releases on leading labels such as Baroque, Armada, Somatic Sense, DeepBlue and Sirup.  He has remixed tracks for several other notable producers, including Serge Devant “Surround U”, Eelke Kleijn “Life Passing By”, and Lange “Songless”.  The diverse support for his tracks, including A-list DJ names such as Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten and Above & Beyond, has helped his productions find their way onto best selling compilations such as Armada’s A State of Trance 2007, Armada at Ibiza - Summer 2007, Armada Best of House 2007, Armada Best of Trance 2007, and over a dozen others.  The electronic music trio of Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren began in 2006, and have since released over ten original tracks, including “Light The Skies”, “Saved Again”, “Me & You”, “Down To You”, and “Let Me Breathe”.  In 2008, “Light The Skies” was nominated for an IDMA for “Best Progressive Trance/House Track”.

Listen to a June Promo Mix by Matt Cerf:
Go get Adobe Flash Player!
 
It’s hard to say what the future will bring, but one thing is certain: the sound of Matt Cerf is destined to be an instrumental force in helping to bring electronic dance music to a new level. This month, the brand new single from ‘You Never Said’ with Dash Berlin, Randy Boyer & Eric Tadla, and Rowald Steyn mixes is out worldwide on major digital download sites including Beatport and Audiojelly. Be sure to take a listen and read on for an interview with the man himself…

What made you want to become a DJ/Producer?
In 1996, I discovered dance music and started to listen to it on a regular basis.  Right after that, I started using the program “Rebirth”, but at this point it was only for fun.  One day I came up with a chord progression and showed it to a friend of mine, which prompted us to team up with the other members of Second Sun.  Together, we created Empire, which got signed to Vandit Records in 2001 (Paul Van Dyk’s label).  At this point, I really thought something big was happening..

When and why did you make the decision to move from Quebec to Los Angeles? 
With a record deal like this, we all decided to move to Los Angeles and try our luck there.  We didn’t have the easiest life when we got here and soon after our arrival, Second Sun and I split up.  Then, I had to kind of start over.

Do you think it’s a lot easier to produce nowadays?
I would say it is a lot easier to make music nowadays, but it is also easier to make bad music.  I still have a lot to learn in music production.  Since I am using Logic, it is still very hard at times to come up with a final product.

Is that a good or a bad thing?
I think it has its pro and cons.  As I mentioned earlier, incredible talent can be discovered this way as well!

Which one of your productions is the most special for you? 
Well I have phases: I get stuck on songs for a while, and then I get tired of them.  Every time I produce something new, that is the one that becomes the most special for me. 

Do you prefer DJ’ing or Producing?
Each field has its plus.  Coming up with a song is a great feeling, but playing it in front of thousands of people is also great.  So, I think the combination of the two must be better.

You have been in the industry for a number of years now.  Do you think your style has changed through this time and how would you describe your current style?
Electronic Dance Music has changed a lot since I started, but I really like a wide range of style: House, Electro, Progressive, Trance.  I think my style reflects a bit of everything.

Some people are critical of trance at and refer back to the glory days of the 90’s and complain that today’s music just isn’t as good, what are your opinions on the music out currently?
As I said before, a lot of bad music is coming out these days.  But, if one has the patience to go through it all, he will be able to find some really good stuff, if not better than before!

Would you like to share a usable tip for the up and coming DJ? 
There is always a better DJ than you!

What three things could you not live without?
Jaren, my computer, and French cuisine!!!

Links:
Matt Cerf’s Website
Matt Cerf on MySpace

Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain: 25 years apart and from the same part of the world. Different deaths, but related nonetheless. There must be something about the North East of the USA, but at least it gave us two brilliant performers, although there is no doubt in most people's mind who was the true genius of the two.

However, this is about the greater of the two, and Cobain's name was mentioned only to express wonder about how this part of the USA should produce two great personalities that died before their time, and perhaps while their horizons were, in their own eyes only, on the wane.

Johnny Allen Hendrix, was born in Seattle on 27th November, 1942, and had his name changed by his father on returning from the war to James Marshall Hendrix after James's uncle Leon Marshall Hendrix. His childhood was an unstable and deprived one, and he both suffered neglect and lived in welfare care for a while. Jimi practiced guitar on an unstringed broomstick and a one stringed ukulele, and although he paid $5 for his first acoustic guitar his first real guitar was a white Supro Ozark that his father bought him when he realized his son was serious about learning guitar.

He had no amp, but that did not deter him. He learned by watching others and listening to records, and was initially influenced by his father's Muddy Waters and BB King records so unsurprisingly stared his guitar playing life with the blues. He was a totally extrovert player, and his showing off with electrifying guitar playing actually upset a lot of people, and got him fired from his first band.

From there on he went from band to band, and after serving as a paratrooper in the army, he worked as a session guitarist backing such rock legends as Little Richard, the Isley Brothers and Sam Cooke. It was after he allowed Chas Chandler, formerly of the Animals, to be his manager that his career kicked off big style. Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) girl friend, Linda Keith, had told Chas about Jimi's electrifying playing, and he was persuaded to go to London UK. That was when Chas Chandler changed s name to Jimi, and formed the band the Jimi Hendrix Experience with Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding.

London was the ideal place at time for an up and coming pop star of Jimi's type, and the band blasted the charts with its first single 'Hey Joe'. After following The Who at that fabulous pop festival at Monterey (were you there?) in 1967 and sent the crowd wild by trashing his guitar with fire on stage the band released their first album "Are You Experienced" and Jimi was a star.

The Experience's most successful album. 'Electric Ladyland' was released in 1968 after Chas Chandler left as manager, and his leaving was the beginning of the end. Drugs and hangers-on crowding the studios led eventually to the end of the band and Jimi formed another band he Gypsies, Sun and Rainbows for a short time: their only gig was Woodstock, 1969, where his version of 'The Star Spangled Banner' was electrifying, but also his last great public performance.

Drugs were catching up, and his last album was "Cry of Love" also featured Billy Cox of gypsies, and Mitch Mitchell who had been with Jimi since the Experience days. On 17th September 1970, he took some sleeping pills belonging to his girlfriend, Monica Denneman. He had an apparent allergic reaction to them, and threw up sometime during the night and drowned on his vomit. He was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead. An inauspicious end to a great musician at the age of 27.

Jimi Hendrix was known for his electrifying solos work, and his use of his teeth and playing behind his back. These have been described as gimmicks, and perhaps they were, but they were gimmicks that nobody else had thought of using live and on TV. He has yet to be emulated and everybody knows of Jimi Hendrix.

His use of designed feedback was pioneering and his branded trademark. Nobody sounded like him, and nobody has done since. You know it's Jimi playing from the that first unique note.

Those of us fortunate enough to see him play live will never forget his dynamic personality and superb guitar skills, and his name and work will live forever. On that day in September 1970 a true genius was lost and the music world was the worse for it.

Jimi Hendrix may not have been the best pure guitarist, even in his own time, but no one has yet approached him in his personality, dynamism and on-stage presence and it is doubtful now if anybody ever will.

If reading his story has inspired you to learn to play the guitar, I highly recommend you try http://www.jamplaynow.com, their online video lessons are excellent.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andre_Sanchez
http://EzineArticles.com/?A-Short-Biography-of-Jimi-Hendrix&id=1409368

The story of Keith Moon is one of the more tragic and cautionary tales of the classic rock era. Moon was an extremely influential and talented drummer who hailed from the northern part of London. From an early age he displayed the wild streak that would dominate his entire life.

Bounced out of school, he was far more interested in two of his life's greatest loves: partying and playing the drums. He found early musical release playing in London cover bands, but the encounter that would ultimately change the course of rock and roll history and sadly seal his fate came in 1964, when at the tender age of 17 Moon joined The Who. After convincing them after a show that he would be a far better drummer than their current one, they gave him an audition in which he beat the drums so hard they were easily persuaded that he was the perfect backbone for their raucous sound.

Moon was an innovative drummer who was never afraid to try new things behind the kit. Early on in The Who he began assembling a drum kit that would better compliment his habit of using the kick drum to pace his rhythms, and he eventually ended up combining several different kits in order to give him the breadth of sound he needed. He played with abandon, but also great skill, a very difficult trick for a professional musician to pull off. Every performance was barn burner, and Moon left it all on the stage at the end of each show. His influence on the drummers who came after him has been profound, and he is often cited with John Bonham as being one of the key originators in rock and roll.

Keith Moon was a prankster who loved to punctuate his performances by blowing up his equipment or ransacking the stage. He also carried this behavior over into post-concert shenanigans, destroying hotel rooms and causing chaos whenever possible. Sadly, this excess also applied to his alcohol consumption, and he became notorious in the music scene for his prodigious appetites.

Being a member of The Who since the age of 17 meant that Keith Moon had always been exposed to life at 100 miles per hour, 24 hours a day. He was unable to develop any mechanism that would let him downshift to a pace that was survivable, and he died of an overdose of a treatment that had been designed to help him deal with his alcoholism. His death shattered The Who and shocked the rock world at the end of the 70's, forcing many to reflect on their role in this young man's out of control spin.

Classic-Rock-Music.com is the mystical rehearsal studio for rockers DEMON TWEAK. Listen as they prepare for battle with the evil trickster Loki by playing home brewed classic rock direct from Ragnarok. Also read articles on your favorite classic rock band written by resident historian VIRGIL THE STORYTELLER

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Virgil_Vince
http://EzineArticles.com/?Keith-Moon-and-His-Tragic-Fall&id=1406537

Blessings (Canyon Records, 2008) features three Native singers, Jeff McClellan (Sac/Fox), Kyle Robedeaux (Otoe/Seminole) and Brian Stoner (Ponca/Cherokee). On Blessings, the three musicians perform trance-like healing Peyote songs from the Southern Plains of Oklahoma. The singers are accompanied by water drums and gourd shakers.

Gerald Primeaux, Sr. (Yankton Dakota) is one of the most reputable singers in the Native American Church. On his latest recording, Into the Future (2008), he also uses gourds and water drum on his mesmerizing music. Gerald's previous CD, Voice of a Dakota, CD received the 2007 NAMMY (Native American Music Award) for Best Native American Church Recording.

On Songs of the Sacred Circle, Navajo songwriter Louie Gonnie returns to his musical roots, with a collection of ceremonial peyote songs. He is accompanied by Branson German on drums and vocals.  Gonnie's previous recordings include Sacred Mountains (winner at the 2005 Indian Summer Music Awards for Best Traditional Vocal Album) and Elements.

Another Dine (Navajo) artist, Kevin Yazzie, is regarded as one of the finest young perfumers of peyote songs. His new CD is titled
Faith. Yazzie uses multi-layered vocal harmonies in his songs, which focus on faith, healing and prayer.

According to Canyon Records (which specializes in Native American music), the Native American Church, or Peyote Church, has its origins in pre-Columbian Mexico. The peyote cactus (Aztec "peyoti") grows in north central Mexico and Texas Since the mid-19 century an intertribal religion, philosophy and ritual has developed around "Father Peyote" among many Native Americans in the U.S.

The peyote ceremony includes long prayers, exhortations on right living by Church leaders and quiet meditative songs in sets of four. accompanied by a special gourd rattle and water drum. Peyote meetings resemble other Native American ceremonies in their nature, imagery and cosmic symbolism of fire, water, earth and sky (the body of the drum is the earth and the diaphragm, the sky).

Buy the CDs:

• In North America: Blessings,  Into the Future,  Songs of the Sacred Circle, and Faith
• In Europe: Blessings - Peyote Songs, Into the Future, Songs of the Sacred Circle, and Faith

Collection Includes 32 Foreigner Hits, New Live Recordings And Studio Tracks

The past 30 years has seen Foreigner fill arenas with big crowds and even bigger riffs. A constant fixture on the radio and the charts throughout the ’70s and ’80s, Foreigner has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.

On September 8th 2008, Rhino will release No End In Sight: The Very Best Of Foreigner, a comprehensive hits collection that includes both live and previously unreleased tracks.

The anthology is a fist-pumping romp through the band’s music (1977-present), from hard rocking early hits (”Cold As Ice,” “Double Vision,” “Hot Blooded”, “Feels Like The First Time”) and classic cuts (”I Want To Know What Love Is”, “Dirty White Boy,” “Head Games,” “Urgent”) to later gems.

In addition to the parade of hits, the collection is bolstered with a new recording, “Too Late,” and a new acoustic version of “Say You Will,” as well as recent in-concert recordings of “Starrider” and the medley “Juke Box Hero/Whole Lotta Love.”

Disc 1 represents albums that combined, have sold 23 million in four years; self-titled (1977); Double Vision (1978); Head Games (1979) and 4 (1981). The disc includes hits like the band’s first single, “Feels Like The First Time,” and “Juke Box Hero.”

The second disc opens with the band’s brand new track “Too Late,” and includes “I Want To Know What Love Is,” Foreigner’s #1 smash from the group’s 1985 3X platinum album Agent Provocateur. The selections on the second disc also draws from Inside Information (1987), Unusual Heat (1991) and Mr. Moonlight (1995) and includes favorites such as “I Don’t Want To Live Without You” and “That Was Yesterday.”

Featured as well on Disc 2 are the new version of “Say You Will” and the live recordings of “Starrider” and “Juke Box Hero/Whole Lotta Love.”

No End In Sight: The Very Best Of Foreigner

(Information subject to change.)

Disc 1

1. Feels Like The First Time
2. Long, Long Way From Home
3. Cold As Ice
4. Headknocker
5. Starrider
6. Double Vision
7. Blue Morning, Blue Day
8. Hot Blooded
9. Dirty White Boy
10. Head Games
11. Women
12. Night Life
13. Break It Up
14. Juke Box Hero
15. Urgent
16. Waiting For A Girl Like You

Disc 2

1. Too Late (New Recording) *
2. Say You Will (Acoustic) *
3. Starrider (Live) *
4. Juke Box Hero/Whole Lotta Love (Live) *
5. I Want To Know What Love Is
6. Down On Love
7. Reaction To Action
8. That Was Yesterday
9. Say You Will
10. I Don’t Want To Live Without You
11. Can’t Wait
12. Tooth And Nail
13. Heart Turns To Stone
14. Lowdown and Dirty
15. I’ll Fight For You
16. Until The End Of Time

* New Recording

For music and more information, go to:

Foreigner Official Website

One example of the former: "Telephone Piano," owing a debt of gratitude to Mozart.

And of the latter (if you can stomach the melodic line), the "Nokia Fugue."

Brings new shades of meaning to the notion of "phoning it in," don't you think?