A New Guitar, a Record, & Pizza.
Hello, folks. I hope you're all doing well. It's been awhile. Sorry for that. Anyway, let's get right to it. Here is MY SECOND 'BROOKLYN ORIGINAL' COLUMN!
About a month ago, I played my final show at The Baggot Inn. It's closed for good. Now, the Baggot Inn is the place that got me performing live again after many many years. My friend Kierstin Gray... a great songwriter and performer... started to do the open mic there on Monday nights. Inspired by her, I soon started doing it, too. That summer, we did the open mic almost every Monday night... from May till September... coercing our friends to do it, as well! (I think eventually everyone I knew at the time who played an instrument or sang got up on that stage at the open mic! Good shit. Hi, Ken!)
I tell ya, they were some of the best Monday nights of my life! Music, friends, booze, bitches, FUN! The Baggot's also the place that pretty much birthed the Motherjumpers; my former band. Little by little the fellas that would soon be known collectively as "The MJs" started sharing that open mic stage, eventually leading to me splitting my solo acoustic shows into half me alone, half me and them. Lotsa history in that place for me over the past 5 years... lotsa memories. I'm saddened to see it go. Such is life.
That night, after my gig (featuring a last-minute on-stage "reunion" of 4/5s of The MJs, and a special vocal appearance by Kierstin- if ya missed it, you should be sorry!) my guitar case fell over, snapping the neck of my acoustic guitar. Yikes! I closed the case and tried to deny it happened, choosing to focus on the nice night I was having with my friends saying farewell to the joint... and stealing beer mirrors for souvenirs. Anyway, this was the third neck-break for that guitar. All three breaks in the same spot. Balls. Last time, after the second snap, my guitar-guy who fixed it said it may not be fixable again. Not having another thousand bucks for a new guitar, which would also take who knows how long to find, I started to make a list in my head of people whose acoustic guitar I could borrow for my upcoming shows and recording. The list was short. What was I gonna do?!
Well, my brother Michael, aka Manzo, offered to put a new guitar on his credit card for me, and I could pay him back. Nice! Thanks, Manzo! (Let's not get into why I couldn't use my own credit card. Oof! Do the words "over the limit" mean anything to you guys? I'm sure lots of you... well, all two that are reading this... could relate.) So, we set out a week later in search of a new guitar. Landing at Guitar Center in Brooklyn, I found a really nice sounding Epiphone jumbo-body acoustic. It was a real steal at three hundred and fifty bucks, too! Sure, it's no substitute for my Gibson, but it sounds surprisingly great for a guitar in that price range, and it will do for now as I search and save up money for my dream gee-tar. So that's that.
As far as my record goes...
...we are still rehearsing for it. I hate rehearsing. I'm inpatient!
Me, Rich, and Manzo will be the basic band for five of the songs. Me, Rich, and Mr. Mike Rodainsky (formerly of Dead Air and Left Of Jupiter, as well as being the bassist at my birthday gig at Bar 4 back in February... if you were there you know he rocks!) will be the basic band for four songs, and the others will have me on bass... and even some drums. Jon Carrai is gonna supply some horns and keyboards.
Rich (who is going to engineer the record) and I have discussed different sounds for different songs. The mood and sound of each song will change according to the song. How fun! Rich's been boning up his studio with new equipment and we're gonna do some experimenting. I'm really looking forward to it! We seem to be on the same page as far as how to get things done, being up to trying stuff out, exploring... and that's a plus. New techniques will be utilized, and I'm sure this stuff's gonna sound great! I'm pretty excited to get it going (we start the second week of June). This will be the first time since nugget's second demo tape (circa 1995) where I'll be recording on analog tape (not counting two songs I did in late 1997 at Electric Plant Studios). I like analog tape.
It's also gonna be the first time I'll be playing any kind of lead guitar on stuff I'll be releasing for mass consumption! It's either gonna be really cool... or really shitty! Haha. But I'm looking forward to giving it a shot and seeing what happens. I think I'll do okay. We got 16 tracks to work with, and any limitations we face I'm sure will yield a crop of problem-solving ideas that may enhance the recording as a whole; "the Mother of invention" and all that, y'know? It's those little things, those mistakes and limitations and explorations, that give any record it's charm. It's rock'n'roll. Not sure when it'll all be done, how I'll release it, etc., etc., but when I know, you'll know.
And lastly, I have a new job.
Whereas I'd love to be able to play music professionally... or devote 100% of my time to it... not being in a band has kind of taken the wind out of my sails as far as being in the mindframe I was in the last few years with The MJs. Then, I was in a situation that I thought (and hoped) could go somewhere. It didn't. It's harder to get into that mode again being a solo act and all. It's limiting, and therefore I feel limited as far as what I can achieve right now. Maybe when my CD's done I'll feel differently, but right now my focus is on getting the recording under way, making the best album I could, playing some shows, and then taking things as they come once the record's done. My goals seem to be short-term right now, with opportunity to grow. Maybe that's how I should have been thinking the last few years. Who knows?
I will always be rockin' and I will always be making music one way or another. That's for fuckin' sure. That hasn't become a second priority at all, making music. Instead it has become a solace... a passion, even. Maybe before, when I felt it was "work". Because I was in the band and spent a lot of my time and efforts trying to secure some level of "success" with/for the group, I fear I may have missed out on some of the fun. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun (when it was fun), but I think I was more focused on "making it"... good or bad. I don't regret anything I've done before... I did my best, and I think I did pretty damned good... but it drained me. Now I'm playing alone, I don't have any CD to push or show I need tons of people to come to, so I'm just gonna make music and enjoy it. We'll see what happens after that.
Oh yeah, my new job. Sorry.
I am going to work for my cousins, who've just bought a pizzeria/restaurant in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Managing a pizza joint on Jersey! Can you get any more guinea than that?!? Ha! So I've left my gig at the Blue Note (it was a cool year working in the Village at that world-renown spot; meeting interesting people, meeting and getting to talk to great jazz musicians like Ron Carter! or Larry Carlton, getting to know all the folks on West 3rd and it's surrounding blocks). It was a no-place job, though. I felt like a true waste being there; wasting my time and energy doing something a monkey could do. Hey, I did it, it was good for a year, but I've been looking for an excuse (ie; some good money!) to make myself leave.
Next thing I know, a few months ago I get a call from my cousin Audrey. Her husband and her brother-in-law are buying this pizza place and while discussing someone to come be a manager for them, my name comes up. "Why?", was the first thing that came out of my mouth when she told me this. I mean, I have no experience managing a restaurant! But she explained to me that they want someone they can trust, they want someone who gets along with people and is friendly (really, I am... don't believe those rumors stating otherwise, you dick!), and someone smart. Throw in handsome and ya got me! Well, they got me anyway, handsome or not.
After a few days to think about it, I said yes.
It's not ideally what I wanna be doing, but I think it may be a good opportunity for me... mostly because I'm in alotta credit card debt and they're gonna pay me well! Ha! But seriously, as well as the good pay, the hours are good, I'll be working for and with family, Woodbridge is like 25 minutes from my house, and I'll get all the pizza I want! Fat bastard! Plus, I'll be a boss! Not a bad deal. (I always thought it'd be cool to have my own pizzeria! I've thought and talked about it here and there over the years, and now I'll get to learn about it from the inside! This one wont be mine, but I'll get to see if it's something that'd interest me. Think about it: "TL's Rock'N'Roll Pizzeria"! Has a nice ring to it, no?) I'm even looking forward to the responsibility. It'll be a nice change of pace after the semi-retarded position I've had for the last year. AND, I can still freelance because I'll have weekends and nights off. Niiiice.
New guitar, new job, soon a new record. Not bad, not bad.
***
And well, yes folks, that's what they call "a wrap". I hope you've enjoyed my sometimes-informative, sometimes-boring ramblings. I thank both of you for reading, and I encourage you to share your thoughts on the B.O. bulletin board as well as check out the other great Brooklyn folk featured on the B.O. page. Feel free to drop me a line at TPLombardozziJr@aol.com. Topless pictures are welcomed.
This is me promising you it wont be another 4 months till the next column.
Smile up.
~TL
Friday, June 20, 2008
TOMMY'S COLUMN #2
Sunday, March 30, 2008
ROB MASTRIANNI'S YOU TUBE CHANNEL
Wanna hear and see Brooklyn's best guiatrist, possibly ever?! Well then, do yourself a favor and check out Rob Mastianni's You Tube channel, and catch him live solo or with Next Tribe whenever you can! http://www.youtube.com/user/robnexttribe
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3 NEW MARCO D. PIECES!
At his blog, run! Plus give a read to the poetry Marco attaches to each piece. Quite fascinating reads.
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BROOKLYNITES ON BLOOMBERG
From Seth Kushner:
Months after The Brooklynites media blitz, we've been mentioned on Bloomberg's list of Brooklyn books.
Check it out-
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aIz3Kxr2UXnw&refer=muse
Also, I was interviewed by Charlie Pellett, host of "Bloomberg New York". Listen to me weighing in on Brooklyn's cache, the Atlantic Yards and Marty Markowitz's possible run for mayor on Monday between 7-8PM ET.
Bloomberg Radio can be heard on XM channel 129 or SIRIUS channel 130, on plain, old radio In New York City, tune to 1130 on the AM dial, or on Bloomberg.com.
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AWESOME BWR T-SHIRTS NOW AVAILABLE!
Black Water Rising has an extremely cool new T-Shirt out. Check their My Space to order yours! Also available BWR ringtones! Rock n' Roll!
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Thursday, March 27, 2008
BWR CHARITY SHOW TONIGHT @ DON HILL'S
BLACK WATER RISING WILL BE PLAYING A 20 MINUTE SET TONIGHT 3/27 9:00 PM @ DON HILLS
511 Greenwich Street @ Spring St.
NY, New York 10013
Cost:$10 suggested donation/$5 minimum
Description:“TAKE BACK NEW YORK” – Queen V presents a special charity event to give something back to those in our city who are in need. Proceeds will be donated to Axis of Justice – the non-profit organization formed by Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Serj Tankian of System of a Down – and Picture the Homeless to benefit the homeless in NYC. There will be a suggested $5 minimum donation at the door.
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Friday, March 21, 2008
OUR BROOKLYNITES INTERVIEW IN POSTMORTEM REMAINS ISSUE 7!
Postmortem Remains Magazine has released its 7th issue, and Brooklyn Original's interview with "The Brooklynites" Anthony Lasala and Seth Kushner has been included in it! Check it out for free as a PDF download or buy the print version at their Lulu shop!
I want to thank the folks at PMR for the pickup and also for the great layout! Thanks!
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
TOMMY'S COLUMN #1: AN INTRODUCTION
Ladies and Gentlemen, Brooklyn Original Proudly Presents a new column by Brooklyn musician/artist Tommy Lombardozzi... END
"Harmony guitars can come in at that part, right over the bass break down. Then the percussion, with a strong tambourine, can lead the drums in... right before a three-part harmony vocal bit joins in for the last verse. Ooo, ooo! ...then maybe I can get a violin player to do a call-and-response with the vocal melody... or a trumpet! Yeah! Good idea! But hmmmm... which bass player should I use for this? Michael? Mike? Joe? Maybe I'll just do it myself. Fun! Now, how can we get the drums to sound "dirty"? Hmmm... ?"
These are the kindsa things that run through my head at night as I lie in bed waiting for sleep. These are the things that keep me awake, excitedly anticipating all the possible possibilities, all the musical avenues I can explore! It annoys me sometimes, the fact that I can't sleep because I'm thinking about music. I lie there in bed, wondering and planning, and my leg shakes like a lunatic. Sometimes I am forced to get up and strum a few chords on a guitar just to get it out... so I can try and fall asleep like a normal human being. This is what I do.
Hi everyone. If ya don't know me, my name is Tommy. Mr. Lombardozzi if ya nasty! I've been invited by Marilyn and Sal, the foremother and forefather of Brooklyn Original, to do a column for this budding blog-site. What a treat! Initially I wasn't sure it'd be a good idea. I mean, what do I have to say about being a musician and artist that no other musician and artist can say?! Plus, I feel sorta douchey talking about my stuff! But after some thought, I figured I could talk about this stuff more easily if I was to intersperse it with some asinine anecdotes, bawdy language, tawdry tales, maniacal musings, random rants, and just a touch of nonsensical noodling. In short, this column will be very "TL"! It may not always be informative and it may not always be introspective, but I will try my Belushi best* to make it entertaining!
So, here's what I've been up to of late:
I have started rehearsal for my upcoming album. I've been playing once a week with misters Michael Lombardozzi (bass) and Richard Martin (drums) as the core band (this will be augmented on the actual record by other musician friends of mine who I am looking forward to playing with and having play on my CD, including Jon Carrai). For the very few rehearsals we've had so far (three!), things sound great! Still messy, but great. The seeds are planted and this tree of rock will be strong!
Rich and Michael are really taking things to the next level. We are working together to make the songs exceptional, I feel, putting our heads together to take my songs and ideas to places I may not have taken them, but still making sure to keep the spirit and the mood or "feel" of my material in tact. It's pretty exciting for me. Another great bass player, Mike Rodainsky, will be the featured player on four tracks as well (if you were at my 31st birthday party/show, you'd have seen Mike rock it the fuck up on my tunes. Good stuff! You can find his My Space page on my top Friends' under the name LONG HOPE KNIFE. Check it out.)
Though it's in its earliest phases, we (Rich and I) are already discussing the production of the album; what approach to take for specific songs... HOW to record them, or how to achieve desired moods and sounds with the technology at hand. Rich will be the engineer, and we will be recording on tape. Analog, baby! It's been years since I've recorded on tape, and I am excited to explore it's possibilities... AND its limitations! (Necessity is the mother of invention and all that shit, y'know?) Its gonna be a pretty raw, homemade affair... and I'm sure it's gonna rock fuckin’ socks!
I had a long list of songs to choose from. Plus, during the planning, I started writing new ones that I wanted to feature... stuff that got me excited and didn't sound like anything I'd written in the last 5 years or so (recently I started playing electric guitar again for the first time in YEARS, so new things came out of that, new ideas). It was a tough time narrowing down a list of 10-12 songs I would definitely be recording for this project. Even now I'm still not 100% about what I've chosen. But, what helped me whittle the list down was the idea that I wanted the songs to best represent ME and my "style" of music. They're a bit more personal, and I've omitted the ones that may fall into any specific musical "genre". The ones that were left were the ones I felt best represented me and my current state of mind. I put aside many songs that I felt were strong in order to do this The ones I've picked I think are ALSO strong, don't get me wrong... but the "chosen few" are more scary in a way; more risky for me, more personal, and more straight-forward/less poetic. I'm looking forward to getting to the end result. I'll keep ya’s posted...
In other TL news, I have been asked by an old friend to contribute a piece of artwork for a March of Dimes silent auction. I'm gonna be doing an original painting for the auction. Pretty cool. Not sure if you're familiar with the MOD, but it's a great organization that helps kids. Not sure when the silent auction will be, details are just coming in, but when I know, YOU'LL know! I promise. I was pretty flattered that she asked me to do this.... shit, I'm pretty flattered when anyone shows ANY interest in my artwork! ...so I jumped at the chance, even if just to show my appreciation to her for her enjoyment and respect for my work. Hopefully it'll pull in some bucks for the charity, too! That'd make me happy. I like that I can lend my talents for good causes... be it something like this, or, to play for a charity show or at money-raising event. I can honestly and sincerely say that when I can do something like that, it REALLY makes me appreciate any talents I do have. It makes it all worthwhile, like I'm actually DOING something good and not so self-fulfilling.
And that's the thing with creative endeavors; you do them because you HAVE to, and because (for the most part) they make you feel good. Or, they help you to express yourself or say something that you may not be able to say normally. So really, they're self-fulfilling. I SHOULD be happy just playing to myself in my house, or just doing drawings that no one will ever see. Right? But no. When I do something like write a new song or paint a new painting, I want to share it! Though I have (hopefully) satisfied myself with my work, at that point I wanna share it with others. I want others to enjoy it, too! If they don't, it wont tarnish MY enjoyment of it, or my satisfaction with a job well done, but, it feels nice to know that I've created something that someone else can enjoy so much that they even make it their own. When someone feels that way say about a song I wrote, at that point it goes beyond selfish self-satisfaction and becomes something that I share with that individual. A bond, maybe? Who knows! But, it's a nice feeling.
That's why I am always stressing the fact that we should be supporting each other! More than we do! I know I don't go out to as many friends’ shows as I'd like, or as I used to. Either I'm broke, or lazy, or just don't wanna go alone... but I really feel that this whole internet thing can be a great tool to SHARE. It's so easy to post a bulletin touting a friend's band or site or art, or, send an e-mail to a friend saying "Hey, check out my friend's page, I think you'd like them!" Chances are, if a friend is going that lil' bit out of their way to recommend someone for your enjoyment, you WILL like 'em! Get others involved who may not be "in the know"... or at least TRY to. What harm can it do? And, ya just might turn people on to something new! We all win!!!
And that's the main reason why I love this Brooklyn Original page. I really respect and appreciate what Sal and Marilyn are trying to do, and I support the fuck out of it! I like this idea of a "creative community", and I'm really glad they asked me to be a part of it. Thanks, guys! I hope I do ya's proud!
Now, if Sal would only put my art and music page up on the B.O. My Space page's top friends!!! Get to it, Sal! Haha.
Well folks, I'm done for now, but I shall return. Consider this first post an introduction to my future columns. Write and lemme know your thoughts, or drop the B.O. kids a line and let 'em know what you'd like to see/hear/have answered, etc. I'm taking requests...
Smile up.
~TL
*"Belushi best": a term I made up to describe when you go above and beyond, in a maniacal manner, to ensure top fun!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
MARILYN'S FINE ART SHOP!
Marilyn has reset up a shop for her paintings. These are magnificent oil portrait paintings at totally affordable prices, you should check them out for great pieces like this:
Here's the shop address: Patrizio.etsy.com
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NEW MARCO PIECE!
This is so awesome, I had to post it here:
For more fantastic work check his blog: http://marcodileonardo.blogspot.com/
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NEW TOMMY LOMBARDOZZI ART
Anticipating the new TL column here at BO? Well, it's coming up very soon, but till then please get to his my space to check out some new art from Mr. Lombardozzi himself! Check his pics, in the March 2008 folder! http://www.myspace.com/tommylombardozzi
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Thursday, February 28, 2008
FRANK-OH! @ THE BROKERAGE!
From Frank-Oh!:
Hello children.
Your Pal Frank-Oh will be doing a stand up set at the Brokerage Comedy Club on Bellmore NY next Wednesday March 5th at 8pm.
Its 10 dollars to get in with a 2 drink minimum.
You need to call and make reservations and tell them that you are coming to see me Frank Petitto, cause if you say Frank Oh or Kareem Uvweet they wont know what the hell you are talking about. The number is 516-785-8655.
The address is 2797 Merrick Rd.
Hope to see you there.
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008
BALD FREAK IN THE HOUSE!
Ron Scalzo is one busy man... He's a DJ, a sound engineer, a teacher, a musician, and the head of his own record label, Bald Freak Music! Pretty industrious in our book! Brooklyn Original had the opportunity to interview this enterprising native to find out how he came up in the music industry, what motivates him, how he sees his label progressing, and a whole lot more.
Ladies and Gents, welcome Ron Scalzo into the Brooklyn Original house! 
Let’s start with your background, tell us about your own personal musical history. What are some your musical influences and experiences prior to Q*Ball?
I grew up in a household where classic rock was constantly blaring. My parents are baby boomers & were very young when I was born, so I grew up on The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Chicago, Led Zeppelin, & Pink Floyd, among many others. My Dad would put on some Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass or Billy Joel's "Zanzibar", and I would run around like a lunatic as a kid during the horn solos & the jams. I was also fascinated by my Dad's album covers - Deep Purple's "Burn," Edgar Winter Group's "They Only Come Out At Night," etc.
I started taking piano lessons at 7, drum lessons at 13 - got into electronic & industrial music (Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode, Ministry) towards the end of high school, and started a band called Secret Army that became fairly popular about a decade ago. That band was kind of a primitive ancestor of Q*Ball and a lot of the music I make today.
How did these influences, coupled with your musical history and experience come to create the sound and mission of Q*Ball?
When I was in my early 20s, I bought into the whole collaborative effort of a "band" - Secret Army and another band I joined right out of college (Jersey rock act The Substance) were flourishing, but didn't sail for the typical reasons - unreliable band mates, bad business decisions, bad luck. I chose to go it alone, and as an electronic musician, my writing was based on vintage synth sounds, sampling, loops, and a somewhat tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. At this point, I was into a whole hodgepodge of stuff - everything from Mr. Bungle to U2 to Soul Coughing to The Prodigy. Q*Ball arose from that - and with the welcome help of Bumblefoot as both a producer and a guitarist, I was ready to rock.
How has the sound of Q*Ball changed since 2002’s Q*Ball in Space till now?
I've gotten older & wiser as a human being, and I'd like to think that it's been reflected in my music - the two albums that followed my debut were a bit more serious, a bit more complex, and relied more on guitars & live instrumentation than the usual 'keys-and-loops' formula. "Fortune Favors The Bald" was heavily influenced by a severe shift in my romantic life, and "This Is Serious Business" is reflective of my more recent commitment to my business, my music, and to love and to the future.
The music of your other band, Return to Earth, is quite different than Q*Ball’s. Compare your experience in both bands as well as the influences, if any, of one on the other.
Return To Earth is my somewhat-cautious re-entry into the "band" dynamic. The opportunity to work with Chris Pennie, who I met from my days in The Substance, was too good to pass up - and it turns out he's as prolific a songwriter as he is behind his drum kit. The challenge, of course, is that he's currently providing the backbeat for Coheed and Cambria, but we were lucky to put together an amazing collection of hard rock tunes before their recent tour. RTE is strictly hard rock - what I'd like to think as an under-the-radar refreshing alternative to the mainstream schlock you've been hearing on the radio nowadays - Nickelback, Finger Eleven, Linkin Park, etc. We were even luckier to have Bumblefoot mix & master the album, and I'm proud to say it's as good, if not better, than anything I've contributed to musically, to date.
Besides being an accomplished musician, you head up the Indie label Bald Freak Music. What made you want to start your own label? And what are some of the biggest challenges facing an Indie label today?
I started the label in late '05 in response to all the screwballs who had let me down or made me empty promises when it came to helping promote Q*Ball to the masses. I've found that the industry is built largely on smoke & mirrors, and sometimes I wonder why I want to be part of such a shallow, misguided industry to begin with. But I love music and I believe in my music & all the music made by the bands on my little label, and I want to help them in any way I can. The challenge, of course, is that we don't have the manpower or the budgets to compete with the majors, or even the big indies, so keep our expectations low, our heads down, and we live in our own little bubble, doing the best we can to promote our acts. Everyone's eating up this American Idol bullshit nowadays - I just want to put out good music & make some new fans.
Tell us about the business of side of things of BFM. What is the process of starting a business like this, what does it take to stay afloat in the market, and where do you see the label a few years down the line?
Business is business. Phone calls, e-mails, updating web pages, printing up one-sheets, stickers, t-shirts. The way you start up is you sit down & do it. And you keep working hard at it for as long as you can - that doesn't mean it will succeed or fail based on this hard work, but we're doing the best we can. I prefer to keep goals small - put out quality recordings, secure licensing deals for my acts, book a few shows here & there. I haven't put all my eggs in the proverbial basket with Bald Freak - I do engineering work in the industry, I DJ, I teach a class at Brooklyn College. The label is a labor of love, but it's not my only labor nor my only love. If things stay the way they are a few years down the road, then we'll keep plugging along. And if things get better, then that's just gravy. 
The bands on your Bald Freak Music label constantly draw rave reviews. Tell us about these bands, how do you go about your selection process, what drew you to these particular bands, and what tips would you have for an up and coming band who is looking to get their product out there?
Outside of my two projects, Q*Ball & Return To Earth, there's Bumblefoot, better known these days for his participation in Guns N Roses. What a lot of people don't realize is that Bumblefoot has a rabid following of his own, with 7 albums under his belt, and hordes of guitar geeks & metal fans at his feet. I was lucky enough to have Bumblefoot volunteer his catalog, past & present, to the label - it's another in a long line of unique, non-contractual, trust-based ventures that we've forged upon since he started helping me out with the Q*Ball albums years ago.
Swashbuckle & Black Pig are bands I've discovered thru friends. The Pigs are part of the same Brooklyn music scene that I grew up in high school - all those bands that we played with at L'Amour, The Crazy Country Club, Live at 315, etc. Joe from Black Pig & I went to elementary school together - he played trumpet in the band, I played trombone. Nerds. Swashbuckle are metal pirates from Jersey that don't take themselves too seriously, but still manage to make some blistering thrash in spite of that. The appeal is not for everyone, but those who dig it, dig it with fervor. And that's all we can ask for.
It's hard for me to pick up new acts unless they're local, committed, and willing to play anywhere. Most artists expect you to make them rock stars within a year - I'm here to tell all y'all that in today's ass-backwards day-and-age, instant success is non-existent. You've got to be willing to put in the time & the energy for a number of years if you want to make music your life, and even then it's no guarantee.
You are a born and bred Brooklynite, and were featured in the recently released book The Brooklynites. How did feel to be part of that project?
The authors of the book are old friends of mine, so it felt good to share in the success of having their book published, and in being one of the many subjects, along with the likes of Steve Buscemi, Paul Auster, & Sufjan Stevens. If you're from Brooklyn, you can't deny the nostalgia that a book like "The Brooklynites" stirs inside you. At the time of my photo shoot/interview for the book, I was living in Jersey City. Now I'm back in Brooklyn. I try not to blame the book.
You recently came back to Brooklyn to set up shop. How did growing up a Brooklyn native affect you and your music? And how do you think the return to the borough affects you and products now?
The good news about being back in Brooklyn is that I'm in a place that finally allows me to function more effectively as a musician & a business. I have a big room to spin records, fiddle around on my keyboards, produce, do mailings. It's a sanctuary I've never had before, having lived in one-bedroom apartments most of my adult life. It's tough to be prolific when your keyboards are in your living room. I'm not much of a studio guy - studios typically mean broken equipment, stolen gear, and wasted money. So having my own space to do what I need to do is a blessing. And it'll force me to do what I need to be doing - making & promoting music.
Growing up here gave me that competitive edge that a lot of the same clowns I grew up with had - I've seen a lot of good bands that were comprised of guys from that same Brooklyn scene come and go - Burlap To Cashmere, Naked Mary, Dead Air. I went to school with guys in Candiria, I served pizza to the guys in Type O Negative. You didn't take that for granted when you were trying to achieve the same goals that those bands were - getting a big following, playing bigger venues, getting noticed.
What’s next for Ron Scalzo?
Probably an English Muffin. Then a nap. After that, who knows. I've been DJing a lot lately - I enjoy putting on headphones & zoning out to other people's tunes for 4-5 hours. I'm a tremendous music geek, so I'm always looking to discover new acts in my (rare) spare time. I'll be working on some new musical projects of my own, and promoting new albums from Bumblefoot & Swashbuckle. I'm back in Brooklyn, the dust has cleared from the relocation, and I'm getting married later this year. Look for me in Hawaii in early October.
Finally, I see that Lobot is part of your street team. Where does he find the time, and are you afraid of repercussions from his boss, should he find out about his employee’s use of company time to promote BFM?
Lobot's been fairly committal to the cause, especially after Lando dumped him for the Rebel cause & moonlighting with Nien Numb at the Cantina. If Lobot bails, we can always recruit Porkins or Biggs Darklighter. Oh wait, they're dead. Maybe Wedge, then. 
We thank Ron Scalzo for the interview. For more on Bald Freak Music please click this sentence!
All pictures from the Bald Freak website. From the top: Q*Ball, Return to Earth, Bumblefoot, Black Pig, and Swashbuckle.
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POST 100!
Heya!
Just wanted to make an exclusive Post #100 here at Brooklyn Original, and once again thank all of you who have supported our little project here so far. We hope you've enjoyed reading about some of your fellow Brooklyn Originals in our first 100 posts, and we hope you enjoy the next 100 as well, and so on. We're definitely gonna offer some interesting new content to go along with the interviews, news, and info you've been coming back for. We're working on adding at least 3 new columns, one of which I can tell you about right now...
Brooklyn Original will be shortly bringing you a new column by musician/artist/BO pal Tommy Lombardozzi! This will be a continuous chronicle of a Brooklyn solo artist and his journeys. If you know Tommy, you know you're in for quite a fun read, and if you don't you're in for a treat! So a big welcome to Tommy to the project; look for his first column soon!
Thanks again folks!
-Sal
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Sunday, February 24, 2008
MARILYN INTERVIEWED BY FLASHFILM.COM!
Marilyn has been interviewed by the ultra hip international fashion and lifestyle online magazine Flash Film! This one hell of a spread, with tons of pics of her work and a great interview to boot! Please check it out, and a huge congrats to her for it!
Click the Flash Film banner to get to the interview!
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SPACEBEARD @ THE HARD ROCK!
Spacebeard will be part of a charity talent show at the world famous Hard Rock Cafe! It's 5 bucks for a good cause, Musicians On Call, so you should be there!
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TOMMY LOMBARDOZZI ON YOU TUBE!
Performances, requests, and more! Check him out! http://youtube.com/tplskell
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EXCEPTION TO THE RULE...
This something I've thought about since the inception of Brooklyn Original, and have had numerous conversations about, but haven't posted about till now. And that is the exception to the rule about who we consider a Brooklyn Original, other than those born and raised here of course.
If you came here when you were a young pup and were raised here, then I think we can make an exception. If you've put in basically your whole life here then you're a BO in my book.
Since we've promoted people like Marco DiLeonardo, born in Brooklyn but raised in Queens, then I think we can go the other way too. You have to meet one of those two criteria though for us to post about you.
*However, each case will be unique and we'll have to judge each one individually.
Moving forward I just wanted to have a clarification of this. Cool?
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Saturday, February 23, 2008
SAL AND ROBIN SITTING IN A TREE...
L.E.T.T.E.R.I.N.G.
I just want to give a big CONGRATS to Sal for lettering his first Robin book (#171)! I know this means a lot to him because he has been a fan of Robin since he was a wee child. I guess it is time to bust out the green briefs for Halloween this year, Sal.
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POSTMORTEM REMAINS ISSUE 6IX NOW AVAILABLE
Issue 6 of this awesome Brooklyn magazine is now available at Lulu.com. PM R issue 6ix has a ton of great reviews, interviews, commentaries, poems, and other original writings. And the cover has this gorgeous piece on it:
To purchase a printed copy or to download a free one please check out their Lulu shop here: stores.lulu.com/postmortemremains
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Tuesday, February 19, 2008
PICS FROM THE MCSORLEY'S BASH!
I'm on a roll! Good to get up these pics finally, lots of fun was had that night. 
Photography by Sal Cipriano, Marilyn Patrizio, and Lou Mazzella.
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PICS FROM BROOKLYN TAKES MANHATTAN!
From December's show:.jpg)
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Photography by Lora Tusa.
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Monday, February 18, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN...THE BROOKLYNITES!
After more than a month of talking about it, I have finally fully transcribed and edited Brooklyn Original’s interview with Anthony LaSala and Seth Kushner, the authors of The Brooklynites. I want to thank the guys for giving us a fantastically in depth interview, and more importantly their patience while I got this together. I’d also like to thank Anthony Patrizio for his recording of the interview.
For those that don’t know by now, The Brooklynites is a gorgeous photo essay book wonderfully written by Anthony LaSala, writer and Senior Editor for Photo District News, and photographed by acclaimed freelance photographer and self professed pop culture addict, Seth Kushner, about the various people of Brooklyn, more specifically the true Brooklynites. In this interview, Seth and Anthony talk about their experiences working on the project, their favorite moments, and try to get to the bottom of what it truly is to be a Brooklynite.
So let’s get to it, from Bay Ridge’s Café Café…
Brooklyn Original proudly presents The Brooklynites!
Let’s start at the beginning, guys, how did you two get together on this project?
Anthony- I’ve known Seth since high school, that’s about 12-13 years or so now. We both went to Abraham Lincoln High School on Ocean Pkwy. There was an amazing photography program there, probably the best in the country as far as high school goes, maybe even college. We met there and stayed friends through the years. We always talked about doing a project together, with myself doing the writing and Seth doing the photography, but we could never settle on a subject. Finally one day I approached Seth and said "Why don’t we try and do something on Brooklyn, we grew up here, we’re both from here, we still live here, and it holds a special place in our hearts." So we decided to run with that. We first thought we’d just focus on neighborhoods we grew up in, with some of the local characters that we always wanted to talk to, but never had a reason to. We started with that, and then people started to introduce us to other folks, and we started going to different neighborhoods. The first shoot was the 18th Ave feast; you want to talk about that?
Seth- Yeah. We had this notion we’d go to this feast that we had been going to as kids separately, and it’s a very visual thing. The streets are lined with lights and decorations, there are booths, and trucks, and zeppoles, and scantily clad girls, and big muscle guys who are looking at the scantily clad girls, and guys with their noses pushed to one side. It’s a visual feast really. So we thought we’d just go take some pictures, and talk to some people. We didn’t think it would be hard. We thought it would be this really easy thing, and it would just come natural, but I think talking to strangers isn’t something that comes natural to either one of us. That first night out we had a lot of problems. No one trusted us. I think the older people thought we were two young idiots causing trouble who didn’t know what we were doing, and the young people thought we were two old pervs who were taking pictures of them to talk to them. We got a few pictures of the night, but mostly it was definitely an overwhelming failure. We left dejected. The analogy I keep making was we were at the school dance, and no girls would dance with us; we just stood up against the walls with our hands in our pockets all night. We did try though, but we didn’t have the formula down. We realized we had to get this recipe down on how to approach people. We realized later how to do that. Part of it is you have to be completely sincere. For people have to trust you, you have to be that. And part of it is having pictures to show people, having an example of what we’re talking about. People have trouble previsualizng the concept, so we needed to have some examples. So after doing some shoots, we put together a little scrap book. So we’d go out, and have this little book, and say “Hey, we’re doing this thing, here’s what it looks like, we’re going to publish it, can you be in it?” That really made all the difference. We went back to the feast the following year and did a lot better. A lot of the pictures are in the book actually.
A- We also decided about ten shoots in, or so, that we were going to start setting up shoots. Calling people before hand instead of randomly roaming the streets of Brooklyn looking for people to photograph and interview, and that made a big difference as well.
A big drawing point to the book for me is that you're both from Brooklyn. Did being from Brooklyn help draw your subjects into the project?
A- Yeah, definitely. I think if were just two guys from Idaho who were taking advantage of Brooklyn being popular, then people would’ve definitely turned us away a lot more. But being from Brooklyn, and knowing the neighborhoods, the stories, and the places helped immensely. We knew so many places we wanted to go and explore. There was so many great places that we grew up going to, like L&B Spumoni Gardens, Totonno’s, and the Brooklyn Museum; places where we wanted to get in there, and meet the people behind them. It really helped knowing these places instead of having to do the research and find out about them.
S- I think also because we’re from here, and lived here our whole lives we have this network of friends and family who are also from here. So we’re really entrenched into everything Brooklyn. Literally there’s this chain of people, it’s all this six degrees of Kevin Bacon kind of deal. So again coming from somewhere else we wouldn’t have had all these connections.
I sometimes feel that I could infinitely explore Brooklyn. What did you find about Brooklyn that you didn’t know?
A- It was endless. There was so many times that Seth and I were driving down a block in the middle of God-knows-where, and we'd say “Have you ever been down?” “No.” “Have you ever even heard of this place?” “No.” It was great. And that happened over and over and over again.
S- Like the Broken Angel building which got some notoriety from the Dave Chappelle film Block Party. We were just going to interview Danny Simmons, the art gallery owner, and walking down his block we could see a few blocks away, over the brownstones, was this bizarre structure peaking out into the sky. You have to sort of be in just the right spot to see it. So we wandered over, and it ended up being this fascinating place. It’s actually gone now; the city took it apart after all these years. Do you know about this?
No, please tell us…
S- There’s this guy, Arthur Woods, who bought this old building about 25 years ago, and he’s kind of this mad inventor type. He once had this dream about what the building should look like. It was going to have all these spires, and a fountain, and a statue of a whale. He spent all these years trying to create the vision he saw in his dream. I don’t even know how to describe it.
A- I always describe as looking like a Tim Burton creation, just diagonal, and crooked, with so many different types of angles to it, towering into the sky. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. That was one of those days that we couldn’t believe what we were seeing. It was just an incredible experience to be able to talk to him about that.
Speaking of experiences, but getting more personal, how did the collaborative process work between you two?
S- Well, I mean, we did almost everything together. The book is a real 50/50 endeavor. Even if you look at it now it’s really not a photo book. It’s literally half writing, half photos. And the actual process, picking a subject, even that was a discussion… We had a two man committee to see if someone was legitimate, we had to really consider someone a real Brooklynite. There were certain people even if they moved here a year ago there was something about their aesthetic that said to us if they were a Brooklynite or not. Some people didn’t pass the mustard for us; we just thought that it was some guy from Ohio that moved here just because they thought Brooklyn was cool. We didn’t want those people. That was the first part. The actual sessions would start with an interview, which loosened them up for the photo shoot. During the interview I would just listen, occasionally interject, and set up the equipment. During the actual shoot, Anthony, who works at the Photo magazine, and I, would collaborate to conceptualize the shoot. During the shoot he was like my assistant, he would hold the lights, kind of like my Human Sicilian Light Stand, I called him.
Everyone laughs.
S- And then I’d get the film back, and while I was looking through the film, he would transcribe the interview, and we’d go through the pictures together, and decide which ones we wanted use. It was collaborative every step of the way. We worked well together.
What were the expectations for this project?
A- In the beginning, we really didn’t even start out with expectations we just wanted to work on something meaningful to the both of us. As it progressed we sort of assumed it might end up being a book. I work in the photo business, so I’ve seen a lot of photography books, and I felt like we could definitely do something creative and accomplished, and we had never seen anything about the people of Brooklyn. There are plenty of books about the old Brooklyn landscape and the buildings and things like that, but never really about the people of Brooklyn talking about growing up here. I think as it went along we saw it as a book.
S- We did not start ambitiously at all. We didn’t dream big in the beginning. We weren’t going after celebrities. It was just the barber down the street, the hardware guy; it was going to be what the authentic Brooklynite was. It wasn’t till maybe eight or nine months in that we realized that we could get could get some people of note, like authors and actors, and mix them in and not make it about them, but in the grand quilt of Brooklyn they were some of the stitches. And also at first we weren’t going to cover the whole place. It was too tough a road to hoe. It’s oft putting in a way; it’s a big place, but somewhere a long the way we said, “If we’re going to do this right we have to try to cover every neighborhood.” It took us 3 years. We thought it would take us a year. It was long term project, and there is nothing else that I can think of that I could ever work on that could hold my interest like this.
When did Powerhouse Books get involved?
A- They were basically the first publisher we took the project to. Because of where I work I know all of these publishers, and we know that Powerhouse does a lot New York centric publications. We went over there and showed them the project, they immediately loved it, and they said they’d be interested in doing it. We took it to two other places after that to kind of just get a sense of what other offers we would get. We just felt after seeing those other two places that Powerhouse would do the best job of putting it together and promoting it. We were very lucky because so many photographers and writers go around, and it takes years to get interest in a project. They did a great job, we had a good relationship with them, and we’re really happy with the way things turned out.
Did they offer any editorial advice?
S- They were pretty good, they really didn’t interfere much. We went in about a year and a half in, and they said, “We love this, but come back when you’re done.” They didn’t want to tell us when to finish, or when they want to put it out, just come back when we feel we’re done. They never said we want more of this or more of that, more celebrities, they just let us do the project the way we wanted to do, to their credit. They could’ve pushed us in all different directions honestly, but I guess they trusted in our vision.
Did the end result meet what you expected from it?
S- We kept pushing for more pages, so we eventually got more pages than I think they wanted to give us. We worked with over 300 subjects, and about 200 made it into the book. The process of omitting was just painful, because every person we had to pull out we had a good experience with. It was hard to find things to pull. That was the only regret that we didn’t get all 300 in.
A- Other than that we loved it. Yeah. Everything was up to what we expected. It ended up being a beautiful book.
Getting a little general, what was the most fun part of the project?
A- There were so many fun parts of the project. I think it was meeting some of the people that we always wanted to meet. Like, I grew up going to Totonno’s Pizzeria in Coney Island, which was always my favorite place besides L&B’s, and getting to meet the woman that always served me, always made my pizza, who always had a frown on her face, and I was always scared of; actually talking to her about her family, and the whole process of them owning that building since the turn of the century was unbelievable. Going to the Brooklyn Museum on the day it was closed, and them taking us around the entire place through the halls and empty rooms was incredible. Meeting some of the celebrities was thrilling, we can’t lie about that. Meeting Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Spike Lee, and Rosie Perez, and all those people was really, really cool. Getting to sit down and talk to them was fascinating. Meeting some of the authors, for me as a writer, like Jonathan Lethem and Paul Auster was wonderful.
S- Don’t forget about the free porterhouse at Peter Luger’s!
A- Yes! And eating all the free food was on top of everything! We always went in thinking that we might get something good out of some of the restaurant shoots, and we were never disappointed.
Did you approach interviewing the celebrities any differently than the average person?
A- I think we approached it in basically the same way. I don’t think we wanted to differentiate between the two, because the average person was just as important if not more important than the celebrities to us in the book. There were a couple of different things, but basically it was the same 10-15 questions because we wanted to get to the heart of what it was to be a Brooklynite. We didn’t want to differentiate or hold people in higher esteem in any way.
S- From my perspective, the celebrities do so many interviews where it’s just promoting their latest films, that I think they were just really happy talking about something that was real. Talking about something about growing in this place, and why it’s special. Even like John Turturro, who seemingly didn’t have a lot of time, spent a lot of time with us talking in his backyard. He seemed to really enjoy talking about his childhood.
What was one of your favorite interviews?
S- Terence Winter was one of the best interviews. He’s one of the producers and writers of The Sopranos. What was fascinating about this guy, and he gave us his whole life story, was that he went from going to Grady Vocational School, where kids go to be a mechanic, to winning multiple Emmys now. The path he took to do that was fascinating. The story is a total Brooklyn story. He’s a real Brooklyn kid who scammed his way into Hollywood. The short version is that he went to Hollywood and acted as his own agent. He’d call the studios on behalf of himself, deliver the scripts as his own messenger, and literally made this thing happen with what I call Brooklyn Chutzpah. Even now that he’s in the upper echelon, he’s still just a Brooklyn guy.
Ok, so the book is all about the Brooklynites and their stories, but what’s your Brooklyn story?
S- I think an interesting thing is that we both ended up with women who are not from here, and we both had to get our significant others to move here from somewhere else. We had to sell this place, and you know what? It really wasn’t that hard. And their both happy Brooklynites now, and they’re both in the book! That’s kind of a cool thing, but it’s not much of a story though, sorry! Part of it is, and it’s not a Brooklyn story really either, is that I’ve sort of become a tour guide. My wife is from Minnesota, and every once in a while a family member comes to visit, and I gotta think of the selling points of this place, so I always buy pizza for whoever’s here. I try to give them a different pizza experience every time, but um, I’m not doing well, I’m spinning my wheels! What do you got?
A- I don’t know, I’m trying to think. I travel a lot, and I love the fact that no matter where I am, I could be in the middle of nowhere, and I know I’m going to run into someone from Brooklyn. I was in St. Thomas about 5 years ago, taking pictures out by myself, basically lost, I didn’t know where I was, somewhere in the middle of the island, it felt like it was a shady area, I was kind of getting a little nervous, and I went into this place to buy film. The guy that owned the place was from Brooklyn, and he immediately knew I was from Brooklyn. I didn’t even say anything! He could smell the Brooklyn on me!
Everyone laughes.
A- Which was great, he was from Bensonhurst, he grew up like 15 blocks away from me. The guy basically opened a film deli in the middle of St. Thomas, and we talked for like an hour about Brooklyn and what was going on there, and how much he missed it. It’s incredible.
S- I think Brooklyn has a lot of small town neighborhoods, so for me growing up here I didn’t really know the world much outside my own area. I lived in Sheepshead Bay, and I knew a few other places. Through my teens years I got to know other parts a little bit, and you sort of realize it’s a bigger place than you think. But now that I’ve seen more of the world it’s gone back to being smaller in a way. I kind of discovered a lot of it with Anthony through the project. It was like sight seeing in a way. It was interesting sociologically. I guess the point is that you grow up in a place you think you know, and then you realize that you don’t, but it’s never too late to get there. Now I feel like I could be a cab driver! It’s like a small town, but there’s always something new to discover.
Being from Brooklyn myself, and meeting as many people from here as I have, I’ve always felt like we’ve shared a common bond other than geography. Do you think there is a universal mind to being from Brooklyn?
S- I think there is, there’s a couple of things. Everyone we talked to, minus maybe one or two, has a love for the place. And the people that were somewhat negative still had a love for it, even their complaints weren’t real. People just want to be cranky. Everyone had this unyielding love and pride to where they’re from. I don’t think you get that everywhere, at least not in the same way. And there’s a certain kind of toughness, it’s like a strength. No one’s wussy here, even the people who are can beat up wussies from other towns!
Everyone laughs.
A- I think everyone that’s from here thinks that they’re one step ahead of anyone else from anywhere else. I think it was the artist, Kenan Juska, that told us in the book how he was going away to California for awhile, and he was really nervous, he was a kid, but his uncle came over and told him, “You have nothing to worry about, you’re from Brooklyn, you’re already three steps ahead of everyone else.” I think that’s the truth. I think everyone from here feels that way. Wherever you go, you feel like you have an edge, like you have an ace up your sleeve when you’re from Brooklyn. From growing up on the streets, and knowing all the people here, you feel like you have somewhat of an advantage and you take it with you wherever you go. I think everyone would agree with that.
S- There’s no other place that has the mystique of Brooklyn. All over the world people know about Brooklyn. Kids in Japan wear Brooklyn T-Shirts. There’s definitely some kind of reason for that. I don’t think we discovered the answer really, other than the fact there’s something going on here that’s just different. If you look at the people of note that come from here, there’s more of them from here than probably anywhere in the world. There’s definitely something going on here, and I think that’s interesting to people all over the world. 
What has been the reaction to the book?
S- I think everyone has been really kind. We really haven’t had any negative press. We were really conscious when we were working on and editing the book not to neglect any particular neighborhoods, and to make sure we had a good cross section of people in terms of race, religions, and careers. We felt there was a certain level of snarkiness we had to prepare for among the blogosphere that were going to pick at anything we do, which we got from an article on the Gothamist about a year before the book came out that had talkbacks that had people complaining about which neighborhoods we did and didn’t have. But honestly, aside from that, since the actual book came out it’s been overwhelmingly positive I’m happy to say.
A- And we were mentioned in the NY Times as one of the top NY books to buy for the holidays. We were really pleasantly surprised.
So what is next for you guys?
A- We don’t know yet. Honestly, we’ve been talking about it a lot. We have a few ideas that hopefully we’ll be working on together, and few that we’ll work on separately. There are ideas we got from the book that we might try out. We’re not quite sure yet is basically the short answer. There will be something else though, we really enjoyed working together, and felt like it was a big success. I think we’re going to try it again, and see where it goes from there. Or we may just talk about it for ten years and never do anything.
Then you could do a book based on that!
S- And no one’s gonna care!
Everyone laughs.
Well, thank you, guys! You’ve done Brooklyn proud!
To purchase The Brooklynites go to one of these places: Amazon Barnes and Noble Deep Discount
Photo of Anthony and Seth by Sal Cipriano, all photography thereafter by Seth Kushner from The Brooklynites.
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NEW SETH KUSHNER BLOG
As a precursor to the Brooklynites interview that I'm posting sometime in the next few hours, here's a link to photographer Seth Kushner's new blog. Go give it a check: http://sethkushner.blogspot.com/
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MARILYN'S HORTON HEARS A WHO!
Marilyn's website for Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! has gone live! Congrats to her on another wonderful project completed for Random House. Please give it a check and show all the children in your lives! http://www.hortonhears.com
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Tuesday, February 12, 2008
MARCO LIKES SANDWICHES
New art at Marco DiLeonardo's blog. Go, feast: http://marcodileonardo.blogspot.com/
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FRANK OH! VS. THE MONK: ROUND 2!
It's a Friday Night Main Event and your'e invited! Yes, this Friday night comedian Frank Oh! makes a return engagement @ the Wicked Monk. If you missed the hysterics of last month's show, you need to be at this one! Guarenteed good times!
Frank Oh! @ the Wicked Monk in Bay Ridge Brooklyn, this FRIDAY night at 8pm.
ALL NEW MATERIAL.
8415 5th Avenue, Bay Ridge
Five dollars to get in.
Be there, Brutha.
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Monday, February 11, 2008
NEW SETH KUSHNER WEBSITE
Photographer and coauthor of The Brooklynites, Seth Kushner, has put up a new website which features scores of his fantastic work. Please go check it out! And finally, look for The Brooklynites interview with Seth and Anthony LaSala in the next week! www.sethkushner.com
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Saturday, February 9, 2008
CHRISTIAN FATTORUSSO'S ART SHOW @ BROOKLYN COLLEGE!
Starting this Monday you will be able to view 8 of Christian's Jazz paintings at Brooklyn College's art gallery. These are very lively works that I've admired for awhile and look forward to seeing in person. Here are the details from Christian:
The opening is this Monday the 11th from 4-6pm. But it will on display for the rest of the month. I am the featured artist and will be showing 8 of my Jazz Series paintings. The Art Gallery is at Brooklyn College. You can take the 2 or 5 train to Flatbush Ave, which is the last stop towards Brooklyn. Go to the Jefferson-Williams Lounge on the 4th floor of the Brooklyn College Student Center, which is located on East 27th Street and Campus Road Brooklyn, NY 11210.
For more on Christian Fattorusso's artwork check out his My Space.
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Click Here to Read More..Monday, February 4, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
TONIGHT: TOMMY LOMBARDOZZI'S ROCK N' ROLL BIRTHDAY BASH!!!!
Come celebrate the birthday of a rocking rolling Brooklyn Original, Tommy Lombardozzi, tonight at Bar 4 on 444 7th Ave, Park Slope, Brooklyn! Show starts at 8:30pm!
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Sunday, January 27, 2008
OUR PLUGS
Here's a couple of things to do while you wait for more Brooklyn Original original content, check out your host's other sites!
First off, my cohort and inspiration, Marilyn Patrizio. Here's her blog and her website and her shop. In these spots be prepared for a cuteness onslaught as well as some paintings that are so rich and beautiful you will cry.
And here's my website/blog, which I've reworked to start the new year. On it you'll find info on all my comic book journeys and my take on all sorts of things.
Enjoy them both!
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FRANK-OH!'S NEXT SHOW
While I continue to get the latest batch of interviews together, which has taken a little longer than expected, here's some info on Frank-Oh! Petitto's next stand up gig.
From Frank:
Friday......yes FRIDAY February 15th, 8pm at the Wicked Monk in Brooklyn.You have NO excuse not to be there. Come spend the day after Valentines Day with me, Your Pal Frank-Oh and friends. I promise you ALL NEW material and a good time. BE THERE!!!!!
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Sunday, January 20, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
CONGRATS TO FRANK-OH!
If you missed Frank-Oh!'s stand up show on Thursday shame on you, but congrats to Frank on a hilarious performance! Even bigger congrats because Frank has been asked to make a return! We'll bring you all of that info when the time comes.
Also, if anyone took pics of the show, please send them to us at brooklynoriginal@gmail.com. We will post them here and give you credit of course!
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Thursday, January 17, 2008
FRANK OH!'S STAND UP SHOW TONIGHT!
Frank Oh! Petitto's stand up show is tonight at Bay Ridge's Wicked Monk. The evening is slated full of great acts so please come down, and help the comedians tear it up! Here's the info one more time!
The Wicked Monk,
5 bucks!
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Sunday, January 13, 2008
UPCOMING INTERVIEWS
Hey all!
I just wanted to give you a little preview of the upcoming interviews we have coming up here on Brooklyn Original.
This past week, we interviewed Seth Kushner and Anthony LaSala, authors of The Brooklynites. A very fun interview with a couple of super nice guys and Brooklyn Originals. Look for that to be posted soon.
Also, not sure if it'll be up before or after The Brooklynites yet, is an interview with muscian and Bald Freak label founder Ron Scalzo.
After that, we have scheduled interviews with members of the bands Next Tribe and Black Water Rising. Should be a fun month for Brooklyn Original fans! :)
-Sal
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Thursday, January 10, 2008
NEW CHRISTIAN FATTORUSSO ART!
There's a wonderful new array of work on Christian Fattorusso's art space. Please check it out for more pieces like the one below. (hint: click the pic!)
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Sunday, January 6, 2008
2 UPCOMING TOMMY LOMBARDOZZI SHOWS
From Tommy:
The first is something I've been wanting to do for a while. It's a TOTALLY UNPLUGGED, acoustic show. No mics, no PA, no amps... just my wood and my voice (the wood being my guitar, you perverts!) I finally found a place that does shows like this (via my friend Bryan Dunn). The show series is called "Naked in the Mud", and it's taking place at 8pm on MONDAY, JANUARY 14th at Mudspot- aka the Mud Cafe. 307 East 9th (off 2nd Ave.), NY, New York 10003. The show is free, but there's a $5 food or drink minimum... which shouldn't be a problem if ya pop in after work. Yes, this is perfect for an after-work night of fun! They have a huge beer & wine menu, as well as an extensive fancy-ass coffee list. Come see/hear what I sound like when I'm playing alone in my house (except then, I usually AM naked!)
The second show will double as my 31st birthday party! I'm calling it TL's Rock 'N' Roll 31st Birthday Bonanza!... and I'm real excited about it. I have secured a night at BAR 4, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and asked some really great people to play: Kierstin Gray, Bryan Dunn, and Black Pig. I'll slo be doing a set. The music starts at 8pm sharp!!! This is taking place on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd, and is also free. After the bands play, we drink the night away! This place is a small, cozy lounge-type deal. So designate a driver... or take cabs so they can booze it up, too... and be there! (I may put a small band together for this show, too.) This one I REALLY wanna see everyone at! BE THERE, BUCKO!
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DETAILS ON FRANK OH!'S STAND UP GIG @ THE MONK
From Frank himself:
Ok.....
Thursday Jan 17th at 9:30. (I know its a little late.....but its me we're talking about here)
The Wicked Monk, 8415 5th ave Brooklyn.
Its only 5 bucks to get in, and its gonna be all new shit!!
I guess for those who didnt see me the first time it would be all new no matter what I did.
Truthfully, what would you rather do? Spend 5 measly bucks to see me up on stage or spend 10 bucks to go see the new Rambo movie???
I think the choice is obvious, but come on....you seen one Rambo movie, you've seen them all.
END
Saturday, January 5, 2008
FIRST POST OF THE YEAR!
Ok, welcome to 2008, folks! Here's a smattering of things to look at and look forward to so far:
-Frank Oh! Petitto is having a stand up show here in Brooklyn! It'll be at the Wicked Monk on January 17th. More info is coming, but mark your calendars because it's soon! Refresh yourself on Frank with his Thanksgiving interview with us.
-Tommy Lombardozzi has updated his My Space site with new art, go give it a check! http://www.myspace.com/tommylombardozzi
-Marco DiLeonardo put up some great new pieces on his blog right before the new year, go give them a looksee! http://marcodileonardo.blogspot.com/
END
Monday, December 31, 2007
FINAL POST OF THE YEAR
Well, folks, 2007 is almost over, with 2008 looming just over the midnight hour. We'd like to take this moment to say thank you to all that supported us in our first few months of existence. It's been quite heartening to know that there are so many of you with like minds for our cause. While we slowed down here in the last month due to the holidays and new jobs we hope to bring 2008 back up to normal speed with more interviews, promos, gigs, galleries, pics, and even more diversity. We hope this Brooklyn Original animal keeps evolving and you with us. Have a happy new year!
Best,
Sal/Marilyn
END
Sunday, December 16, 2007
THANKS TO ALL!
Heya,
Just want to thank all the bands who played and especially all of the fans who came down to BROOKLYN TAKES MANHATTAN on Friday night. It was quite a fun night with the special Los Fuckin' Puerkos performance as an exclusive standout. I hope we can get another BO show going again sometime in the future. Thanks again, and look out for pics and sketches from the event here at the blog soon!
Best,
Sal
END
Friday, December 14, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
BROOKLYNITES IN THE NEWS
The Brooklynites book has been featured in the NY Times as a holiday gift book that they liked. Check out the article! They are also in Time Out NY and The Daily News on similar lists.
Also, from Seth:
We are having one last Brooklynites event this year, and it will be next Thursday, December 13th at Brooklyn Borough Hall from 6:00 - 7:30PM. Twenty five images from the book will be on display in the Community Room Gallery. Please come by and have some wine and if you've never been to Borough Hall, it's a beautiful, landmark building and completely worth checking out.
Brooklyn Borough Hall
209 Joralemon Street (between Court and Adams)
END
Sunday, December 9, 2007
BROOKLYN ORIGINAL TAKES MANHATTAN!!!
This Friday night Brooklyn Original, in collaboration with Black Pig Music, Proudly Presents a year end super show at Desmond's Tavern in NYC! Featuring Black Pig, Tommy Lombardozzi, The Mnemonic Devices, Next Tribe, and a jamming all star super group called Los Fuckin' Puercos! I will be MCing the show, and let me tell, I am super excited to have BO taking part in this event as promoting shows has been part of the plan since day 1! I hope you can all come down to enjoy some great music to ring out the year! Music starts at 9PM! Desmond's is located at 433 Park Avenue South and 29th St, NYC!
Pass design by Joe Milazzo
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Friday, December 7, 2007
REMINDER: LENNON TRIBUTE/BENEFIT SHOW THIS WEEKEND!
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8th 2007
come celebrate the life and music of
JOHN LENNON
with
THE WINSTON O'BOOGIES
live at THE BAGGOT INN
82 W 3rd between Thompson & Sullivan Sts.
11pm. $10
all proceeds to benefit The American Cancer Society!
http://www.cancer.org/
SUPPORT!
END
Thursday, December 6, 2007
SO SOFTIES IN BOSTON! AKA THE BROOKLYN ORIGINALS INVADE BEANTOWN!
Marilyn and I are heading up to Boston this weekend for this year's Bazaar Bizarre. It's a huge craft fair, and Marilyn's So Softies will be front and center with a table(actually abit to the side I think). I will be using my old retail/management skills to move the merch! Should be fun! Here's the info:
So Softies @ Bazaar Bizarre, table #83
Sunday December 9, 2007
The Cyclorama (Boston Center for the Arts)
539 Tremont St in the South End of Boston
12:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Admission fee $1.00
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PANTHER PRODUCTIONS MERCHANDISE!
Get them while their hot! http://www.cafepress.com/pantherproducts
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MARCO WEBSITE UPDATE
Marco DiLeonardo's website has been completely updated. The way his work hangs on the site is truly beautiful. Definitely do yourself the favor and check it out! MARCODILEONARDO.COM
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Wednesday, December 5, 2007
KONG SIGNING TONIGHT!
Sal is taking part in a Kong/Markosia signing tonight at Jim Hanley's Universe.
Here's the info from Chuck Satterlee:
"On December 5th, 2007, KING KONG comes back to Manhattan. In celebration of the 75th Anniversary of KONG, the creative team behind AAM/Markosia’s KONG:KING OF SKULL ISLAND will be signing at Jim Hanley’s Universe from 6-8PM on the 5th. Jim Hanley’s Universe is located at 4 W. 33rd Street in Manhattan, across the street from the site of the end of the novel that M.C. Cooper wrote...the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. Featured at the signing will be writer Chuck Satterlee (OF BITTER SOULS, SMOKE & MIRROR), interior artist Dan O’Connor(BIG BANG COMICS), cover artist Tommy Castillo (BATMAN, DETECTIVE), colorist Kris Johnson, letterer Sal Cipriano (BIO BOY, THE HILL) and Joe DeVito, creator and writer for the book of the same name, from which the comic is adapted."
END
HUMAN DECLINE RETURNS!
This perenial Brooklyn Hardcore band makes it's return at Peggy O'Neil's. This is a special show though as it's with their former vocalist. The band is searching for a new singer. Any serious takers should check out their My Space by clicking the pass.
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Thursday, November 29, 2007
DIRECT LINK TO ORDER THE HILL
For those that want to order a copy of my graphic novel, THE HILL, please follow this direct link to Midtown Comics' online shop. They will ship it to you, and give you 15% off. Thank you for your support!
Nothing like a little shameless self promotion, eh? ;)
END.
MARCO ART UPDATE
Marco DiLeonardo has two fantastic new pieces up at his blog that you need to check out. Lobster Boy has to be one of my new favorites! http://marcodileonardo.blogspot.com/
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FRANK-OH! DEC. 5TH COMEDY SHOW CANCELLED
From Frank-Oh!:
Due to circumstances beyond my control, I unfortunately had to cancel my show on December 5th. I will let you all know when I reschedule it.
END.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
THE HILL HITS THE SHELVES!
Brooklyn Original co-founder Sal Cipriano's new graphic novel The Hill hits the comic book store shelves today!! I want to congratulate him and the artist Jok on another great looking book!
Here is the description:
Jack and Jill went up the hill... Jill is a failed assassin; Jack is a failed experiment. Both were created by the same evil company; both want out. A beaten and shattered Jill has lost everything she has ever cared for and hasn't the will to live, but her employers won't let her die until she completes one last mission... kill the monster Jack! When a mutual connection comes into Jill's crosshairs everything that they've ever known becomes a question mark, sending them into a bloody downward spiral to the end! Jack fell down and broke his crown, but will Jill came tumbling after?
You can find it online at Midtown Comics (search for Hill TP)
photography by Marilyn Patrizio
END
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
JIVE TURKEY! AN INTERVIEW WITH COMEDIAN FRANK-OH! PETITTO!
Happy Thanksgiving from Brooklyn Original! As a special holiday treat we present to you this wonderful interview with up and coming comedian extraordinaire, Frank-Oh! Petitto. Enjoy and eat well!
Frank, you're a naturally funny guy, so when did you get the idea of turning that into a stand up comedy routine?
Well Jim.....that is your name right?? I had been throwing around the idea of doing stand up for a long time. Days in fact. Anyhoo, Ive heard over and over again that I should take it to the stage, and when you hear it from enough people, when you hear it from the RIGHT people, you start thinking. And like Wilford Brimley once said aboot Quaker Oats: "It's the right thing to do and the right way to do it". Plus if I'm successful, there's a lot of money to be made.
How do you come up with your material?
Well what I like to do is sit in front of my computer and write, and write, and write whatever is on my mind. Usually what I come up with sucks ass, so up until game time, (which technically has only been once), I don't have a final act until I hit the stage and sometimes that's when its the funniest. I find that my nitch is either telling stories or just spewing out one liners, which I think may be the way I'm gonna go on December 5th.
What are some of the challenges an up and coming comedian faces?
Being funny AND original. You don't wanna go up there not confident that what you're gonna say isn't going to get a reaction from the people. And you also don't want to go up there using someone else's material, because no matter how obscure the comedian who's material you are using is, there is gonna be someone out there who knows that you are borrowing, and that's not good. Also, being one of the last to go up on stage could be a disadvantage when you have people buying you all drinks all night until you get up there.
What is it like performing in front of a live audience, and does the crowd's reaction drive your act?
Well like I said before I've only done it once before, but I was lucky enough to have a good 60% of the audience there to see me. Hearing my name being chanted throughout the night, even before I got up there, was an adrenaline rush that you couldn't imagine.
Are there any stand-up comedians or performances, past or present, which have influenced your act in any way? And how do you think you stack up to those comedians or performances?
Honestly, I'm really not even into watching stand up comedy, but I'm a big fan of Norm MacDonald. His dry sense of humor and delivery always cracked me up. Plus he's Canadian so if you listen closely, you may here the word "aboot" thrown in there once in a while.
How do I stack up? I am the dominant force in comedy of course.....hey.....that rhymed.
What else inspires your comedy?
The children...I do it for the children...and Ang Lee.
How would you describe your act to people that haven't seen you?
Well, once again, like I said before, I've only done it once. The first time I told a story. A dirty, DIRTY about filthy pornography and evil masturbation. I was lucky enough to have my mother practically sitting on stage with me. She must have been so proud. I think this time I may change it around a little with some one liners and Jerry Seinfeld-like observations. I'm also working on something that compares the difference between men and women. Honestly I probably wont know what I'm doing until right before the show.
You grew up in Brooklyn, and in the last few years have moved out to Long Island. How did that transition affect you and your comedy?
Well I don't know if it affected my comedy, but it sure as hell affected my ability to parallel park!!!
Ok, since the move to LI didn't affect you, how did growing up in Brooklyn affect your sense of humor?
That's a good question and if you give me a half hour I'll give you a good answer...Ok, growing up in Brooklyn you meet alot of characters and those characters become your friends. You tend to grow up with people who have the same kind of humor as you do, and the longer you are with those people, the longer you have to perfect that sense of humor because we tend to feed off of each other. I do indeed credit growing up in Brooklyn, being somewhat responsible for the type of humor I present, which I have been told is quite odd and somewhat different. Make sense?
Yes completely! So, what are your predictions for 2008?
Hillary Clinton becomes the first ever female president, A-Rod leads the Pittsburgh Pirates to the World Series, and I finally change the address on my drivers license. *Frank's answer was prior to A-Rod coming back to the Yanks.
Finally, Thanksgiving Turkey vs. Jive Turkey, who wins and why?
Jive Turkey, cause you gotta talk Jive to get out of being cooked. Gobble Gobble!
Frank-Oh! will be performing @ Brokerage Comedy Club on December 5th @ 8pm. Please call 516-785-8655 and make reservations now!
Jive Turkey art by Anthony Picone
BLACK WATER RISING @ DINGBATZ!
LENNON TRIBUTE/CANCER BENEFIT SHOW
On Saturday, December 8th, the 27th anniversary of John Lennon's death, a band made up of Brooklyn Originals called The Winston O'Boogies are performing a Lennon tribute show. The show is also an American Cancer Society benefit show.
The band consists of Black Pig guitarist Barry Dobrin, former MotherJumpers Michael Lombardozzi (bass, acoustic guitar), Tommy Lombardozzi (guitar, vocals), and Chuck Howell (drums, vocals), and also musician Jon Carrai (keyboards, sax, vocals).
"It is a way for us to remember a man who was/is a great musical influence on us (and many others, obviously) with 100% of our take being donated to the ACS, so we really wanna get as many people as possible out to the show; Lennon fans and beyond!" said Tommy.
Mr. Lombardozzi went on to explain to us the band's unique name, "Winston O'Boogie is one of John's many silly pseudonyms which he used to use on album sleeve credits in the 70s. There were a bunch, and this one is the one I always remembered, so I suggested it for the band's name. (By the way, Winston is also John's middle name, after British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, so that's where this moniker and others like it derived.)"
Saturday December 8th, 11PM, $10
The Baggot Inn, 82 West 3rd, NYC
END
Saturday, November 17, 2007
IN ONE WEEK...
WE BASH! L-R: The Four Fathers...Sal Cipriano, James G. Barry, Cousin Sean Dundon, and Joe Milazzo from last year's Bashtacular.
Saturday, November 24th, 7PM
McSorley's Old Ale House
15 East 7th Street, NYC
photography by Jeff Kaplan
END
Friday, November 16, 2007
EX-MOTHERJUMPERS SPEAK
We put forth a question for The Motherjumpers post break up. Here are their answers. *Drummer Chuck Howell could not be reached for comment; should that change we will add that to this.
Now that the dust has settled and the last show is in the books, what is your feeling regarding the band, the show, and the finality of it all?
Michael Lobardozzi, Bass:
It hasn't really set in, it's too soon. Like when there's a death, you don't really get it until you look for that person to do the things with you that they used to, and they are not there. It will kick, but when it does I have to understand that it was exactly what it was supposed to be. We did our best and made all the sacrifices we were able to make. In the end we are still friends and still Motherjumpers.
I wasn't completely happy with the last show, It wasn't our playing or songs or fans, it was fuckin' Don Hills and that douche who runs the door!! We played with our hearts though, and some played with picks. Ha Ha.
Tommy Lombardozzi, Lead Vocals/Acoustic Guitar:
The band was really good, better than most, and it could have and should have done more. I think we had all the elements to be successful (on whatever level) if we had really given it a shot. Given everyone's life outside the band, I think everyone gave what they could, but it wasn't enough to go anywhere. It's disappointing to me, it's upsetting. This band's been my top priority for almost 4 years now, but what can ya do? Honestly, it's less upsetting than being in a band this good for much longer and it not growing and/or moving forward.
I think the show was fun. I had fun. Wasn't our tightest, but the energy was there and I enjoyed it. I'll really miss playing with these guys. Even when things weren't great, I enjoyed sharing this experience with these individuals. It was fun.
And now it's time to move along. I'm back at square one in a way, playing my solo acoustic shows, but I got some things planned. Recording and stuff. I wish we had finished our 2nd CD, because people STILL always ask me when it'll be coming out... I hope you'll all be able to hear it one day, in some way. But I can't dwell on what was. It's time to make some new music. And that's that.
Paul Weiss, Lead Guitar:
I'll start with the last show. I have to admit that I was sad in the days leading up to the show. Even though we had broken up about 2 months before, it didn't really set in until the last show. I wish our last show would've went smoother but we really got fucked by Don Hills. As you know (because you were there) we didn't go on until almost 12 and a lot of people had already left so that was a bummer. Besides that, I think we played well and I had a lot of fun playing those songs for the last time. I felt like there was a weird energy between us in the band but that was to be expected I guess. But it was fun and I think we rocked!
OK, my feelings regarding the band....deep breath....there were times in this band that were great and a whole lot of fun, and there were also lots of miserable times. When we were getting along it was great but the biggest problem we had were the personality clashes. That is ultimately why the band broke up. We couldn't get through a practice without someone getting really pissed off, or there was just no feeling whatsoever. We were also missing a lot of practices. In the end many of us, (maybe all?), didn't even want to be at practice and that is what made me quit. After I quit the dominoes started to fall, and it was obvious that breaking up was something that most of us were fine with, which made me feel great about my decision.
Sometimes relationships run their course, and once the fun is over it's time to move on. So now we've moved on and it will be cool to see what new projects will come from the ashes. I know Tommy is still doing his thing which is cool, I'm looking forward to hearing what he is recording now. I have a metal project that I want to start and I've also been playing with Kierstin Gray so that should be fun. That's it I guess!
Christian Rugilio, Rhythm Guitar/Backup Vocals:
The dust really hasn't settled so much as there is a kind of unspoken acceptance of the situation. Nothing is being debated, the reasons for the split aren't being spoken of, and nobody's pointing fingers. We are all close friends and we realize that those friendships have to come first. My feelings regarding the band are mixed.
Being in a band with your friends can be an amazing thing. You can speak more freely, you tend to laugh at the same things, and you genuinely want the best for everyone. You want to make it work because it's so much more fun being stuck in a room with your friends than it is with a group of people that you're playing with just because you both like The Beatles. I think that musically we didn't break any new ground. I do think that our songs were as good as any that I would hear from any given band on any given night in any given club. Things really began to roll after the first CD. That was when we all began to write and bring in ideas. The combinations of people who collaborated to write those songs began to vary from song to song. That's what made it so much fun for me. It was exciting seeing what other people could bring to the table. that's when we began to do our best stuff. That's when our crowd started to grow as well. I don't think that it was a coincidence. That was definitely my favorite time in the band.
However, there were a lot of things that were issues within this band that started early on and never really got resolved. It cast a pall over everything we did. I wish that we were able to get to the root of the root and fix those problems back then. I think that ,by the end, some of those things became the elephant in the room. Fucking elephant.
The last show wasn't as sad as I thought it would be. It kind of felt like any other show. That was strange. Maybe in my mind the band was already over. We had fun but now we move on. I'm excited to see what I can do without others to lean on. I have to keep myself motivated to make sure that the guitar doesn't wind up in the closet. I'm also excited to see what the others come up with. Of course, I'll always be their biggest supporters.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
YOU FILTHY FILTHY PIG
Brooklyn Original Joe Pally has started a blog based on NY, politics, and his life. It's a fascinating read from a great political mind. Please make it a daily destination. http://www.youfilthyfilthypig.com/
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007
JOE PANTHER: INTERVIEW OF THE DAMNED!
Brooklyn Original recently interviewed Panther Productions' Joe "Panther" Attanasio about his short films, the horror genre, and how the two fit together like two peas in a bloody pod!
How did you get into short film making?
About 2 years ago, I decided that I needed to get some of my old ideas out of my head and bring them to life. It just felt right that I go into film making. I could combine everything I do artistically into one medium. I felt doing one particular thing like playing guitar or drawing just wasn't cutting it. My patience for writing music just isn't there like it used to be. Same with drawing or even writing. But if I combine everything with an inevitable goal in mind, it all comes together and I'm able to become excited about the project. It works out really well this way for me.
You're also a graphic designer and have been know to doodle. How do you apply these other art skills into your films?
It depends. I don't have rules with how I do things. If I feel I need to draw something or create some graphic images then I do it. It's all about getting the point across. Whatever way possible. Animation is real fun to me as well. I've done some of that recently.
Your work ranges from introspective and trippy meditations to horror. What goes into the thought process of doing one or the other?
It's usually whatever is in my head or what my interest is at that specific moment. I'm always thinking about scary stuff. It's like an obsession with me. The meditation ideas came about because it's something I like to do when I want to unwind. I made one video and got a lot of positive feedback so I continued to make more based on that. But my real love is for horror. It's pretty scary living in my head.
How has the advent of You Tube helped to get your vision to the masses?
If it wasn't for that site, I wouldn't even be doing this. How else would I get exposure? Before You Tube, I don't think there were sites that let you upload your own work unless it was some bloopers short or something. I'm not sure but just being on You Tube has gotten me way more attention without the burden of dealing with talent agencies that never call back.
You recently uploaded a fake trailer for a fake full length movie entitled "INSANED IN RUIN" and it seemed like the reaction was very good. Does this inspire you to break out of short films and go for a full length feature? How would your approach differ?
Right now, I'm taking it slow. Full length is risky this early in the game. Especially when you work with practically no budget, no actors, nothing. At least for now, anyway. I only have myself to rely on so I put forth my best effort.
I'm more into getting my point across so short films and stories are where it's at for me. Insaned in Ruin has potential but that will be way in the future unless the ideas start rolling in that direction next. I never really know the direction where my head will go. Insaned in Ruin may never happen, or it will. I don't push anything.
Horror has seen quite the resurgence in the last few years. Does that in any way drive you?
Well.. Yes and no. I had ideas for horror films many years before I even thought to pick up a camera. It all started with The Blair Witch Project. I saw how they took a simple way of film making and still made it pretty damn creepy. That movie definitely inspired me because it was so different then everything else that was out at the time. Not 100% original though because there were a couple of other films based around similar premises that came out prior to Blair Witch. Just clearing that up. Ha..
How do you rate the current crop and trends of horror movies compared to the movies of the 70's-80's?
As far as the remake trend, it has to stop! Ha ha.
Seriously, it's getting rather ridiculous now. Originality is taking a back seat to rip offs and hack directors just looking to make a quick buck. It's sad, really. The 70's and 80's were amazing years for horror movies. Especially the 70's. I really wish I was old enough to watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or The Exorcist back then.
As far as other horror films go besides the remakes.. I've seen some good quality stuff come out. Mostly overseas though. The Asian film industry seems to have the upper hand these days. Good for them, I say. Someone's got to produce, damn it! Ha ha. The original Juon (Not the Grudge) is very scary in my opinion.
What must horror film makers do to evolve their product away from these trends? Or should they?
They should definitely evolve, without a doubt! I would say just be creative and don't be afraid of your ideas no matter how out there they may be. You can't break any ground unless you're willing to go all the way with an idea. That's how I see it.
Which horror movies have inspired you over the years, and why?
Blair Witch and Texas Chainsaw Massacre like I mentioned are definitely big inspirations. I like the old 70's grit and dirt movies. The look mostly. And the feel they had. Just raw and real! Like you're there as you're watching. No slick nonsense, just ballsy good horror. I guess you can say that's where the inspiration comes from. Plus, horror video games like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Manhunt.. Silent Hill has influenced me a lot. I loved the movie version. Atmosphere is important too sometimes. I'm learning that more and more every day.
Conversely, which horror movies have turned you off, and do these movies charge you to make better movies than them?
Just the rip off remakes and trendy bubblegum horror that was started around the time Wes Craven's Scream came out.
I can't say that I allow these movies to fuel my desire to bury them, but my mind knows better then to tread along the trendy path.
Brooklyn has always been seen as a tough place, and if some places down right scary! Has growing up in Brooklyn affected your films in any way?
No. Can't say it has.
Some of my own personal issues have influenced some of my work though. I did a film on OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I've suffered from it all my life on and off. It was kind of hard to do that film because I had to show the symptoms I had. But it was worth it.
What are your plans for Panther Productions, and where do you see yourself fit into the growing horror community?
Hopefully I'll carve myself a nice notch so I can trap everyone with no escape in sight! Ha ha.
I would like to see more people become interested in what I do. I hope to scare and creep out as many humans as possible. That's a real challenge these days 'cause most people just don't scare that easily. I'm up for the challenge though.
We'll see what happens.
Thanks, Joe! For more on Joe's movies check out the Panther Productions channel on You Tube.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
BROOKLYNITES IN BROOKLYN HEIGHTS
From Seth Kushner:
For those who haven't seen us do our schtick live yet, you have one more chance next week.
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
Seth Kushner and Anthony LaSala
November 14, 2007
07:00 PM
106 Court Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-246-4996
We'll be projecting images from 'The Brooklynites' while discussing how the project came about, and some of the interesting experiences we had along the way. Please come on by. We hope to see you.
All the best,
Seth + Anthony
The Brooklynites
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SPOTLIGHT: VIKKIE FIORE'S SEASHELL ART
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, artist Vikkie Fiore has transplanted down to Deerfield Beach, Fl. where her artistic eye has flourished. Inspired by the beauty around her, Vikkie began collecting seashells from the various beaches around her. She then combines the shells with beautiful sand and carefully chosen acrylics and other paints to craft beautiful pieces of seashell art. She has already been featured in a few galleries and shows in the area and currently has 4 pieces at the Ansu Gallery in Hollywood, FL. You can check out more of her work at http://www.seashellartwork.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/seashellartworks.
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MARCO ART UPDATE
Nice new piece up at Marco DiLeonardo's blog. Run don't walk! http://marcodileonardo.blogspot.com/2007/11/key-to-their-locks.html
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Monday, November 12, 2007
PICS FROM DON HILL'S 11/1/07
Here's the long awaited Brooklyn Original photos from the Don Hill's show of Black Pig and The Motherjumpers. We originally tried to post these the day after the show to our Flickr group, but that didn't seem to work out well. So enjoy! 
photography by Sal Cipriano
BLOG NEWS: POST TRUNCATION!
Hey Guys,
In an effort to streamline the blog I've implemented a post truncation code. Therefore super long posts like interviews, etc. will start out with the opening paragraph, or photo, or whatever, and then you'll have to click the Click Here to Read More.. at the bottom of the post to get the rest of it. Unfortunately, this code adds the Click Here to Read More.. to every post, so what I'm now doing is adding a bold END to any post that is completely displayed on the main page.
So remember if you see END you don't have to click the Click Here to Read More.., but if you don't see it, please Click Here to Read More.. because there is plenty more to read or see!
Thanks guys!
Sal
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Friday, November 9, 2007
ANTHONY PICONE: HIPPER!
A street smart shot of Brooklyn Original Anthony Picone is in the latest issue of Taiwan's Hipper magazine! Anthony is the cabbie! If you're in Taiwan, pick one up! If not, then make sure to head over to Anthony's blog and check out his art, then buy him a beer and a pizza and take him home. ANTSTUFF
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THE 8TH ANNUAL MCSORLEY'S BASH!
Eight years ago, myself and Joe Milazzo (Black Pig), along with James G. Barry and Cousin Sean Dundon, Brooklyn sons one and all, started an annual celebration of friendship and camaraderie called The McSorley's Bash. The setting is the fabled McSorley's Old Ale House in Manhattan, the oldest bar in NYC. There is a sense of tradition there that is second to none and we've been dedicated to serving up our own tradition there since the Bash's inception. So please join us on Saturday night November 24th and get bashed!
This year's Bash art and design by Joe Milazzo.
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Thursday, November 8, 2007
THE BATH BEACH BEAT
Reporter Denise Romano has a great blog at the Daily News website dedicated to the Bath Beach area of Brooklyn and more! Please check it out, it's very good!
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/bathbeach/
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MARILYN AD IN TIMES SQUARE!
An ad Marilyn did for The Grinch's 50th anniversary is now up in Times Square! How awesome is that?! Congrats to her!
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Tuesday, November 6, 2007
TIMMIE IN SAN FRAN!
Our very own Marilyn Patrizio's work will be seen at the Double Punch gallery in San Francisco! On display will be her premier crocheted creation, Timmie, in various incarnations. So if you are in the area please go down and check it out! And, of course, congratulations to Marilyn!
Here is more info on the show:
tinyshop celebrates the preciousness of "mini" -- the shortest distance between 2 points, the space of minutiae, and creative endeavors on a small scale. Curated by Antoinette Celes, tinyshop is a pop-up shop & art show event to be held at double punch gallery in San Francisco's North Beach district. Fun-spirited folks and magnifying glasses most welcome.
Nov 21, 2007 - Jan 11, 2008
opening night: Nov 24, 2007
Double Punch gallery
1821 Powell Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
415.399.9785
www.doublepunch.com
For more on Marilyn check out her blog.
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Sunday, November 4, 2007
BROOKLYNITES @ WORD BOOKS TUES!
From Brooklynite Seth Kushner:
Dear friends,
Anthony and I will signing and discussing our book 'The Brooklynites' at Word Books in Greenpoint this Tuesday evening, November 6, 2007, at 7:30 PM. We'll be showing slides of some of the work and talking about our three years working on the project.
The location is - 126 Franklin St. Brooklyn, NY 11222.Please come on by if you can, after you vote, of course.
We hope to see you.
--Seth
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FRANK-OH! LIVE!
Brooklyn Original Frank Petitto sends word of his upcoming stand up comedy gig! Here's Frank's message:
I'm going back to the Brokerage Comedy Club.
Date: December 5th
Time: 8pm
Ya gotta call 516-785-8655 and make reservations!!! When you call tell them that you're going there to see me, your pal Frank.We did it once before, and we'll do it again. Lets tear the mutha f'n joint down!!! Oh yeah, if you forgot, the address is 2797 Merrick Rd in Bellmore. What better way to kick off the holiday season?
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Thursday, November 1, 2007
TONIGHT: THE MOTHERJUMPERS' FINAL SHOW
Tonight there's a celebration at Don Hill's, it's The MotherJumper's final show and it's going to be a fun, fond, goodbye to a great band. Also on the bill, Black Pig and Next Tribe! Please come down and join us in this hearty farewell!
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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
CHRISTIAN FATTORUSSO ART SHOW CANCELLED
Boo to building management!
From Christian:
Hey yall,
I would just like to say sorry to everyone who I invited. But the show is cancelled to anyone that I invited. I just found out today that I wasn't suppose to invite anyone because the building that the art show is being held at is a private building, and they don't want any outsiders. They just want people who live there to see the art show.
Once again I am sorry, but I will let you know when my next art show is.
-Christian
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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
A UNIVERSE BE DAMNED, IT'S BLACK PIG: THE INTERVIEW! LIVE!
Once we get on stage I picture this invisible film, and suddenly you cross this barrier, not to sound too metaphysical, in time and space, now you are in the Black Pig zone, and it's our job to capture you. -Joe Milazzo, Black Pig WS: Our expectations are to continue to write quality songs, to record a real album some day, perhaps to do a series of mini tours, and to garner new fans. What is your approach to song writing?
Brooklyn Original stepped into the confines of the Black Pig studio this past Sunday night to get deep within their psyche, and pull out all of THE DARK SECRETS! So here and now, bear witness to Wayne Daren Schneiderman (aka The Principal), Joseph Milazzo (aka Joe Business), Anthony Navarro (aka Tony Torch), and Barry Dobrin (aka Barry G.), BLACK PIG!!!
How and why did Black Pig come together?
JM: The short and sweet version... In about late 2004 I was looking to start a new project with Wayne; who I’ve collaborated with since 1995. I suggested we do something just for fun, just for ourselves. The idea was to get together once a week to write and record a song in one session. At the end of the project we were going to collect the songs into an album. We decided to call the project Black Pig, and we gave the CD out at a small release party. Shortly thereafter there was some interest by a small record label called Bald Freak Music, who had heard it on My Space. They suggested a good way to promote this album was to form a live band, that’s when we decided to call Tony and Barry to play guitar, and we used to have Johnny Clemente as a drummer in our band. We started playing shows and the band became a cohesive unit.
WS: The band sort of morphed into a more acoustic act by default after Johnny went out on his own and did his own thing.
JM: We couldn’t find a drummer, and we wanted to keep our profile out there so we were like, "lets play acoustic shows to keep our face out there." And then after a while it started to feel so natural, just us four. The songs just breathed more and sounded as they should sound, and we just kept it like that since.
So did the change to acoustic change the live approach and presence of the band?
TT: The music has gone through three different phases, from the album, to what we created as a full live rock band, into what we do as an acoustic band, because if you listen to most of the versions they are different in some way.
WS: I think the common thread between all three versions is the eclectic nature of the band, and the diversity of the songs. The band also has a tongue in cheek element, but the music is quite serious. A cornucopia of emotions is one way I would describe the Black Pig animal.
JM: And just in time for Thanksgiving!
Where does the comedy aspect of the band come from?
WS: I’m a freaking clown, I have to tell you. It’s an aspect of my personality, and Black Pig is a wonderful conduit to express that part of my personality. I believe it’s done in such a way that there’s room for it, but at the same time there is a serious element to the music as well.
JM: You can say we take what we do seriously, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. In previous bands I’ve been in, I’ve tried to suppress the humorous side of our nature because the music was ultra serious, and we wanted to try and present a cohesive image of a serious band. That’s why we called the album It Is What It Is, because I broke down all those pretensions and said let's be ourselves, and if there’s stupid or serious stuff going on let it be what it is.
Live you guys have this great banter, is this something you rehearse or is it mostly improv?
WS: A lot of it's rehearsed, but it’s kinda tricky because you want to rehearse it, but you want to keep it loose at the same time. Like that Ray Charles thing we do, I kinda know what I’m doing, but I don’t exactly know what I’m doing because you don’t want it to sound too rehearsed.
TT: It’s timing. We know roundabout what’s going to happen, when and where.
JM: It’s like improv, but we know the beats we’re going to hit.
What do the live crowds make of you guys?
BG: I very rarely look at the audience when we play, I guess it’s still a little bit of stage fright, but once in a while I peer out and sometimes, to me, they look like they don’t know what the hell to make of us! By the middle of the show, because there’s so many different styles, blue grass, rockabilly, metal, you put that all together and there’s people that get into us. That’s what I’ve seen.
WS: In addition to music, I like to call it performance art. It’s more than just playing songs; there's definitely a visual that goes along with it also. It’s the kind of thing if you walk into a club whether you like it or dislike it to say, "what the hell is that", and also to say, "they do what they do well." I don’t think there’s any refuting that.
TT: We don’t just come out there and play our 8 songs, and get off stage. Joe very much tries to draw the crowd into us. And we show them. Usually by the end of the show we captivate whatever audience is there, friends or not. They enjoy what we do, and we enjoy doing it for them.
This one’s for Tony and Barry, what did you initially think of the CD, and how did that affect your decision to join the band when Joe and Wayne approached you to be in it?
TT: I actually had the pleasure of sitting in on a couple of sessions; everything was recorded, but they were mixing, and stuff like that, and actually they had asked me to do the Strange Ways solo, but it didn’t work out…
JM: LETTING OUT THE DARK SECRETS!
everyone laughs
TT: But it’s a true secret! I didn’t mind, I really wasn’t very rehearsed to do it, and it didn’t work; shit happens! Joe had been talking to me about someone being interested in the band and I told him, “listen, I want to play in the band.” Then maybe a couple of months later he called me, from Costa Rica by the way, and told me they were putting together the band, and if I was still interested in playing and I was like, “Fuck Yeah! I love the music, I listen to it, I have it in my car, shit, I want to do this!” And it was the best decision I made.
BG: For me, I remember a few months before I was asked to join the band, Wayne came by my house to hang out, and I already knew about Black Pig, but I hadn’t really heard the songs yet so he gave me a CD and he tells me, “I played the plunger on this CD, and you’ll hear it during the song” and I was like, “alright that’s the first thing I’ll listen to.” But I really liked what I heard. I thought it was pretty different, and I even asked Wayne, “hey if you ever need help with anything let me know.” I didn’t think he would take it seriously. Fast forward about 4 months later, I get a message from Joe asking if I could fill in on a couple of sessions, but I didn’t think I was going to be part of the band. I just thought I’d go in and see how it goes. Joe told me to learn 5 of the songs, and I did, and the chemistry was there from the first rehearsal. We took a break and we walked into the backroom of the studio and they said, "you’re in the band", and I was like, "I didn’t know this was an audition!"
JM: And we offered you a million dollar signing contract!
BG: And I still haven’t gotten my million yet!
everyone laughs
So now that the lineup is set, what is the band dynamic?
JM: At first it was more like Wayne and I, as the originators of the project, it was centered around our ideas and how they can flesh them out, but as we progressed as a band Tony and Barry have brought in their personalities; their ideas complementing our original structure. I see it continuing to progress in that way. The launching board for anything we ever do will be that first CD that Wayne and I did. It was like a mission statement, and it will forever remain a very special part of the band, but we’ve accepted that Tony and Barry have their own voices and opinions, and because they’re working hard on the project you have to be open to that. It’s been a learning process. It was like allowing somebody else to hold your kid, but I trust them both.
WS: I think another aspect of the dynamic of the band is that we are all good friends, and that’s often an under rated thing. It doesn’t make a difference how talented a person is if you don’t have a certain chemistry. If you don’t have a certain gel with people and personalities then that project is doomed to fail. I think the fusion of that we are friends, and that we bring a lot to the table musically and otherwise is a big plus to the dynamic of the band.
Let’s talk about the first album, which was sort of an underground hit. Do you see that from your perspective, and does that success affect any future recordings?
WS: Correct me if I’m wrong if you guys don’t echo this, but I think most of what we do we do it for us. It has to ultimately pass the test of the 4 of us, because otherwise we’ll be chasing our tail thinking what is A-B and C going to think. We appreciate the fact that people like the work we are doing, but I think one of the reasons why people appreciate it is because of its honesty, and once you start trying to please the highest common denominator then you lose in that battle. So it’s really all about if it passes our test, and if we like what it is that what we do then we believe other people will like it as well.
JM: To answer one of your questions, I don’t see that it was an underground hit. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think it was within a very small sphere of our friends. If 50 people getting into our album constitutes an underground hit, I don’t know. It’s tough to gage if there was a big buzz about it. If it happened, personally, I don’t feel it, but maybe I’m wrong, I hope I’m wrong! 
Continuing the thread of a new album... since your stage show is now such an integral part of the band, how do you translate that to your next album?
JM: I think we all, in our heads, have ideas about that. When we play a set of songs we don’t just play the songs willy-nilly. We try to find thematic links. We try to create an arch, and take the audience on a little bit of a journey. I think we take that same approach into the album. Maybe we make the songs bleed into on another like the live show. That’s certainly a possibility.
We did do a recording live at the Wicked Monk, which is kinda our home base, where we feel comfortable. It was a good forum for us to present ourselves as we are with our crowd, in our neighborhood. Personally, I want it to be a record of a night hanging out with Black Pig in Bay Ridge. I think it would be interesting for someone on the west coast to hear it. I don’t know how audible it is that you’re in a Brooklyn bar from that audio, but maybe there is something there underneath it all, some kind of buzz that translates to the listener.
You touched upon this at the beginning of your last answer, but to clarify, how do you come up with your set lists?
WS: Funny you should say that, because we were juggling some stuff around just now!
TT: It’s tooth and nail; it’s tooth and nail sometimes!
JM: Sometimes we get lucky and we stumble upon a combination of songs where back to back there’s such a flow that’s just perfect, and it’s undeniable. What happens is you can get stuck in that comfort zone where for the next year we’ll just play these same 8 songs in a row just because it sounds good. You have to keep yourself interested. We write new songs, and you can’t drop in a new song in a set your comfortable with because that could totally set off the whole mood. It’s not done easily. There’s a lot of fighting. There’s a lot of arguing back and forth; just trying to get the best flow. You want to keep it dramatic.
How have the expectations of the band changed from the beginning till now?
JM: When Wayne and I got together there were no expectations whatsoever. If you would have told me 3 years later we would be doing interviews, doing live albums, and trying to get signed by major labels, I would’ve said, “what are you talking about, we’re just doing this for fun.” That’s what makes this all the more surprising and gratifying, and ironic. Considering how many bands we were all in where all we did was try.
BG: This band has evolved from then till now, and the only expectation I have is that we keep evolving. We've gotten better as a group, who knows what the future holds.
WS: The song writing is now more of natural process; it’s kind of more organic, whereas in the beginning it was a little more preconceived. It was sort like let’s write a blah blah song, you know what I mean? That’s how I remember it.
JM: Right. We would come in with a song, like today we’re gonna write a swing song and we’d write a swing song. Now, it’s more like whatever riff pops out we’ll try to work it in.
TT: It’s kind of whatever fits into what we are doing too. We try not to go too far out from where we are, and just try not to make anything the same.
How does being born and bred in Brooklyn affect the makeup of the band?
WS: Personally, I don’t think it affects the band. I don’t think it affects the songs. I think it's more about mood, it’s more about vibe, rather than where we came from. I mean you can have a crappy day whether you live in the suburbs or in a more urban environment. I don’t really think it goes too deeply into how the songs are created.
BG: I would say the stage presence, the banter and all that, would show more of the Brooklyn side of us.
JM: There is a certain amount of aggression. There have been certain time that I’ve been outspokenly aggressive towards the audience because at times they haven’t been responding or sitting on their hands. That Brooklyn comes out of you. So I would say Barry is right, it’s more in our approach to talking to the audience. I think people have a lot of preconceptions and misconceptions of what it’s like to be a Brooklynite. Of course there’s the stereotypical kind of Brooklyn person.
WS: On a parallel with ignorance.
JM: Right. And I think we kind of parody that. We try and do high brow and low brow at the same time. The low brow aspects of Black Pig in the banter, but if you look at our lyrics I like to think they are deep and thought out. It's fun to play both sides in the same confines of Black Pig, and see what the audience makes of it.
Finally, guys, why Black Pig? Why not White Goat? Or even Brown Beaver?
WS: We were thinking about changing the name of the band to Brown Beaver! The original name of the project was The Grievers because a lot of the band’s lyrical themes are based on pessimism.
JM: To be true, a lot of the lyrics on the album are based on Wayne, who was going through a rough time with an ex-girlfriend. So those lyrics are about the misery and sadness of life, and he was going through this grieving process so we were like, "let's call is The Grievers."
WS: Black Pig though, the way I justify it in my head is if you think about how a black sheep is sort of an oddity, and a pig is smarter animal than a sheep is. It's like an intellectual oddity.
JM: Write that down.
WS: And the words, Black Big, just works so well, and is such a strong image, but at the same time there’s a repulsive aspect of it too, like a car wreck, and it draws you to it.
JM: Yeah, there’s an element of repulsion in the name, but if you look up a lot of mythological or ancient writings about the pig, the animal itself, in some religions, it’s this scorned thing, but in other religions its bolstered up and appreciated.
WS: They’re also very tasty creatures!
JM: You have to take into account, who doesn't like Bacon?!
everyone laughs
JM: Like we said, there’s something for everyone.
OK, thank you, guys!
WS: Thanks, Sal, Pig out!
For more on Black Pig check out their website: http://www.blackpigmusic.com/
photography and live technical help by Anthony Patrizio
Monday, October 29, 2007
ART UPDATE: ANTHONY PICONE
Pinup artist and Brooklyn Original Anthony Picone has updated his blog with new art. Please check out his work (click the pic!), and send him an email if you want to hire him as he's available for gig posters, t-shirt designs, and bar mitzvahs! 
*please note, Anthony may not really be available for bar mitzvahs, but hey you never know!
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IN THE STUDIO: BLACK PIG
Last night fellow B.O. Anthony Patrizio and I went down to check out Black Pig practice at their studio space and also to conduct an interview for the blog. The interview, which was very intense, will be posted soon, but for now check out some pics of the band in action.
photography by Sal Cipriano and Anthony Patrizio
Sunday, October 28, 2007
THE FULL (SPACE)BEARD
On a rainy Friday night, this past one actually, I went down to NYC's Ace of Clubs, formerly the rock club Under Acme, to check out Brooklyn's Spacebeard. It was a CD release party for their new album, Specimen, and the guys were ready to rock out. This was my first time checking out the band live so I didn't know what to expect. What I got was four guys who rocked out and had a good time doing so! The show got stronger as it went along and from about the song Swords (the band's 1st song ever) on it was balls to the wall metal. I hadn't seen a pure old school type of metal band like SB in awhile and it just felt good. The high point of the performance was their instrumental Bratta, in which the band seemed the most tight. Afterwards I spoke to bass player Andrea Verderame for his reactions...
Was it nerve wracking to play a CD release party?
There were a bunch of people there that haven’t seen us before, so that was a little nerve wracking, but otherwise I wasn’t that nervous. I think I was more concerned about getting through “Synthetic” - our opening song. It’s a relatively new song and not on the record. We didn’t have the opportunity to rehearse it as much as we would have liked, but we were given extra time to play, so we decided to throw it into the set at the last minute. I think we did a good job with it!!
How do you feel the band came through the experience?
Overall I think we did well and everyone in the band agreed that it was one of our strongest performances to date. However, there is always room for improvement. It can and will get better!
How do you feel you guys translated the material from the CD?
We did great on that front. Mirroring the album isn’t too difficult because it was recorded using the same equipment we use on stage, in a live environment at Terminal One Studios. However, each of us has already added new elements to the songs that were not captured on the record, so there are aspects that are exclusive to the Live Beard experience.
The band really sounded tight during the instrumental piece, Bratta, my favorite song of the night, is there a more sense of unity when doing a song like this?
Absolutely! For the first year or so the band played instrumental versions of these songs exclusively - it’s the foundation of the band. I think we all look forward to the time in the set where we can just interact musically with each other and not focus on the vocals. Personally, I would love to put Brett (our drummer) in the middle of the stage and have the rest of us stand around him and just jam.
You guys covered Tom Petty's You're So bad. Petty is very far from what I think of when I think of your band's sound, why choose that song to cover?
We probably choose it because it’s quite different from what we normally do. However, I think it works well with our sound because we get to arrange it our way and still retain the feel of the original. It’s definitely fun to play live and I’m happy because I get to throw in a quick bass solo into a Petty song.
What do you personally come away with from this experience?
The fact that our drummer came through with getting a great banner made for us!!! Seriously, though, I’m just happy we are getting some really good feedback and people seem to genuinely enjoy what we are doing. Can’t really ask for much more!!
For more Spacebeard check out their website: http://www.spacebeard.com/
photography by Sal Cipriano
Saturday, October 27, 2007
BROOKLYNITES LAUNCH PARTY REPORT
Me and Marilyn went to The Brooklynites launch party Thursday night @ Brooklyn Industries to have some Brooklyn Brewery beer, meet the guys, and celebrate Brooklyn. The scene was very well put together, with pics from the book adorning the store, and a video documentary of author Anthony Lasala and photographer Seth Kushner's noble quest to put together this book.
The book itself, purchased by your's truly, is a must have for any Brooklyn loving folk. It paints a rich tapestry of what Brooklyn is all about with lush photos, great quotes, and masterful memoirs.
The music for the evening was provided for by another Brooklyn Original, musician/producer Ron Scalzo aka Q*Ball, who spun a great mix of hip rock'n'roll!
Meeting Seth and Anthony was very cool. They were both extremely nice, and from the book I can clearly see that they are extremely talented as well. You can tell they are very proud of their work and that the reaction to it is very humbling. 
For more on the book check out: http://www.sethkushner.com/brooklynites/
And look here for an interview with the guys very soon!
photography by Marilyn Patrizio and Sal Cipriano
Thursday, October 25, 2007
INTERNAL BLEEDING: ART SHOW REVIEW AND INTERVIEW W/ MARCO DILEONARDO
Last Friday, myself, Marilyn, and fellow Brooklyn Originals Anthony Picone and Joe Milazzo took a trek down to Glascott Funeral Home in Queens. Thankfully it was for an art show and not a funeral! Marco DiLeonardo lives above the home, and acts as it's caretaker. This afforded him the opportunity to use the space on an off night for a fantastic gallery featuring his work, affectionately called Internal Bleedings.
Well the night from our POV was successful. The place, from the chapel that held his work to his apartment upstairs, was streaming with folks all night long; we left around 1:30am! It seemed that most of Marco's vast amount of friends were in attendance throwing their support for their artistically inclined pal. His family, coworkers, and strangers who heard about the show filled out the crowd. It looked like everyone brought alcohol as well as there was enough for 3 time the crowd as well! And Marco made sure we were all well fed with 2 giant sandwiches, one with chicken cutlets, fresh mozzarella, and roasted peppers that was outrageously good! One of his friends made a pretty tasty baked ziti as well! Everyone was well entertained.
Onto the show itself. Marco really excels at presentation as his framing received numerous praise. To number his works he stuck jigsaw puzzle pieces next to each one and numbered those, very fitting as pieces like that creep into his work every so often. Everything was affordably priced as well, but not so much to be insulting to the artist, which is always nice to see. And if you didn't have the money for one you got to take home a free Moo card with Marco's art on it.
The pieces themselves were a collection of works spanning his entire illustrative career. There is great emotion and language to his work and a vast understanding of what makes the mind work. You can tell Marco looks deeply within himself every time he begins a new piece. You can see right now that Marco is in top form and gaining steam. Every new work looks better than the last and folks are starting to take notice. I firmly believe the best is yet to come from this artist and everyone needs to start paying attention.
After the weekend we spoke to Marco himself about the show, his perceptions, and the future...
After having the weekend to recover from your big art show how do you feel the show went?
The show was fantastic. More people turned out than I had anticipated. Honestly, things could not have gone any smoother. Important contacts were made and old friends resurfaced. We ate, we drank, we basked in the art. All in all the response was great and the show was a total success.
How many pieces did you sell and how did it make you feel when you sold each piece?
Eight pieces were sold in total. I’m thrilled just knowing my art is hanging on someone’s wall. Usually I have issues parting with my original art. This time around I made peace with the pieces that went, with the exception of “Weakback”. Letting go of that piece was tough. Fortunately, my good friend Katie Wood owns “Weakback” now. I see her all the time and I know it’s in a good home. Ultimately each painting has its own sentimentality to me. The ones I hold dear are always the hardest to let go of.
Your pieces are very unique. They tend to grab the viewer and get a real emotional reaction out of them. Do you ever think about the viewer's reaction when working on a piece?
I try not to think of the viewer’s reaction when I’m working because it affects the outcome of the piece. This form of art is half organic, half free-association. In other words it just works itself out. The action is hardly premeditated. It’s brain to hand with a conscious effort on very little outside interference. Trying kills the process. It’s all execution with finishing touch-ups that I add later. If I worry about what people will think I’m going to befuddle the concept and integrity of the piece.
You were a comic book artist first for many years and did these illustrative internal bleedings on side, but have switched that up in the last year and a half. How do you compare the two mediums and what made you switch your focus?
I find comic book art to be extremely demanding and difficult. I give those guys and gals who draw comics professionally all the credit in the world. The traditional comic art I once did and my current paintings are two totally different things. I only get one panel to get my message across, which suits me fine. I prefer this now that I have a nine to five. It comes down to survival.
Where do you want to go with your Internal Bleeding work? What does the future hold?
Well, I’m certainly going to continue cranking out more work. There are also going to be more art shows on the horizon. Eventually I aspire to put out books featuring my artwork with descriptions about each piece. Also, I hope to lend my images to creating more t-shirt and tattoo designs. At this point the sky’s the limit.
Thanks, Marco. Check out Brooklyn Original's pics from Marco's Show.
And to check out Marco's work get to clicking these links: http://www.marcodileonardo.blogspot.com/ http://www.marcodileonardo.com/
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
BROOKLYNITES IN CHELSEA!
The Brooklynites is a new photo essay book about native Brooklynites in their enivronment and it looks awesome! I cannot wait to pick up my copy! They are having a launch party this Thursday night! Here's the info from their My Space bulletin:
Please join us this Thursday evening for our next event celebrating the launch of 'The Brooklynites!'
Brooklyn Industries
161 8th Ave (@ 18th St) NYC 10011
Thursday 10/25, from 6 to 9pm
Music by Q*Ball
Drinks courtesy of Brooklyn Brew
If you weren't able to attend the launch event last month, or just want to celebrate with us again, then please come by and have a drink and check out the exhibition of work for the book. It should be a cool event, so please feel free to invite your friends.
We look forward to seeing you.
All the best,
Seth & Anthony
The Brooklynites
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BLOG UPDATE
Hi Folks,
I streamlined the side panel of the blog abit this evening. I hope this makes for an easier, cleaner way to find the posts you are looking for. What I did was eliminate the clunky Blog Archives section for now, and installed a TABLE OF CONTENTS. Each individual post will be filed into one of these sections, so if you are quickly looking to find a particular music show then have a peek inside the GIG INFO section and you will get to it faster. We may revisit the Archives at a later time, but for now I think this works better. Feel free to let us know what you think!
Best,
Sal Cipriano
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UPCOMING ROB MASTRIANNI GIG INFO
Maestro guitarist/sitarist and Next Tribe front man, Rob Mastrianni, has sent B.O. word of his upcoming gigs. Besides playing with the Tribe at the Don Hill's show, here's where you can catch his solo act:
Park Lunchonette in Williamsburg on Friday 8-10pm.
334 Driggs Ave. (@Lorimer st) Brooklyn, N.Y. 11222
Caravan on Saturday 7-10pm
405 East 6th St., NYC
Music Under New York on Oct.28th 6pm-9pm
14th Street Union Square Station
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BLACK WATER RISING ROCKS HALLOWEEN!
Do you like good hard rocking, pulse riffing metal?! Well then Black Water Rising is the band for you! Check them out at this Halloween show! Sunday October 28th @ The Delancey, 168 Delancey Street, NYC! To rock out to some of their tracks check out their My Space! (click to enlarge the pass!)
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Monday, October 22, 2007
SMILING UP, AN INTERVIEW W/ TOMMY LOMBARDOZZI
With his band's last show coming in a week's time, we sat down (at our own separate computers!) with artist/musician and all around funny guy, Tommy Lombardozzi, to get his thoughts on living life as a freelance artist, a struggling musician, and a Brooklyn Original.
You have an upcoming show with your band The Motherjumpers that has been deemed the band's final show. Why is the band breaking up? Or are you guys just going on hiatus?
No, it's not a hiatus. We're breaking up. "Why" is a little hard to answer. I can't talk for anyone else. But I feel it's not off-base for me to chalk up this break-up to the fact that this band, given all the members' personal situations, has gone as far as it's gonna go. It's disappointing, but, what can ya do? I feel we should have and could have done more, gotten farther along in our musical "careers", but it is what it is. It was fun, now let's move on!
How did the band come together in the first place? What made this band different from other bands?
What made us different, I think, is a high standard when it comes to songwriting. I feel, and I think the other guys do too, that we have/had the best material around. Good, quality songs. That's hard to find. I couldn't say we were overly original, or reinventing the rock'n'roll wheel, but we definitely had a sound that was distinctly US.
As far as how The Motherjumpers formed; all of us guys have been playing together for years, just jamming or whatever. Obviously my brother Michael and I have been playing together since we both picked up guitars (remember Nugget?). But the condensed history of THIS particular band is: I was recording a CD with Paul (Weiss) as my engineer. He'd learn my stuff and we'd occasionally play together at each other's houses. This was in 2001-2003. I started doing an open mic every week at the Baggot Inn during the Spring/Summer of 2003. Eventually I convinced all the other members to come and play, too. Then we'd share the stage, covering songs, or Paul would get up and play my songs with me (or songs we'd written together). It was fun. It was a cool weekly community of friends playin' music. By the end of the year, I started booking shows, and asked the (soon-to-be) MJs to help me out here and there; "Christian, would you sing on this?", "Michael, wanna play bass on this song?", etc. By the beginning of 2004, we were doing half-and-half shows: half me, solo, and then half as "The Motherjumpers". It sounded good and we enjoyed it, so, when we had enough material, we became a proper band. I think our first show just as The Motherjumpers was in March 2004.
(Whew! That was alot! Did I say "condensed"?!)
Yep! It's OK, we'll let it slide. For those that don't know, or didn't realize it yet, you are quite the personality. Do you prefer playing in a band or being a solo artist? And does playing in a band change that personality on stage?
Playing in a band, it's easier to blend in and feel part of a "gang". You don't have to be the one to always engage the crowd or carry the show. It's a nice feeling to be a part of that ensemble, when you all have the same goals and agenda. I'll miss it.
But being a solo artist allows me to make my own mistakes, and make my own rules. I can play any show I want, any venue I want, and no one can disagree or say "I don't want to do that.". It's freeing. But, there are cons: like, it's limiting as far as the sound I'm putting forth (there's just so much one can do with a voice and guitar. Don't get me wrong, that combination can make for a great show, but, sometimes as an artist you want to branch out... and when you're alone, it's a bit more difficult).
Another con is that I'm not really disciplined when it comes to rehearsal. When you're in a band, you at LEAST have a once-a-week rehearsal session. Alone, I tend to be lazy. Heh. And it sometimes shows in my performances. But that's going to change this time out.
Oh, and as far as the personality... I think mine changes with my mood... or the amount of booze I've consumed before I hit the stage (which is really rare. I barely ever drink BEFORE a show, just after. But last Sunday at the Monk was a different story.) Sometimes I'm loud and jokey, sometimes I'm quiet and serious. It depends on my mood, the crowd, how comfortable I am. Come to a show, folks, and see which Tommy will be there that night! Wooooha!
How do you prepare yourself for a solo show vs. a show with the band?
Again, it's alot less pressure with a band. It's not all on you. Also, the volume of the band behind me allows me to let loose a little more, get my voice out there better, AND do my little dance moves on the stage. Haha. A solo acoustic show has a different energy. The Motherjumpers were VERY loose. We didn't rehearse everything to death, and usually this made for better shows. Our last few shows had very little rehearsals, and they were among our best. I think that's just because we'd been playing together so long. It just becomes natural. It's fun. Playing live, for me, was the best fun I'd have in The MJs. We'd kick ass and rock socks off! I really couldn't describe how I prepare for a solo show. Because I don't. Haha.
The music landscape has changed quite a bit in the last few years with the advent of My Space, Ipods, Music Downloads, etc. Have you felt that all of these advances have helped you as a musician to get out there?
Not really. The only real change, I feel, is that it's at people's fingertips whenever they want it. Wanna hear a Motherjumpers' song, just go to our page. But, I don't think it's helped us get people to shows, or get our music past our friends. People in California don't know who the Motherjumpers are. Maybe I'm just doing it wrong, or, I don't have the word of mouth or the people talking about us enough to build a buzz. I really don't know. But I feel the best way to be heard is to play shows, meet people, give out CDs, etc. Get involved! For as much as the Internet is said to be a great tool to spread your music around, it's also a detriment... because there's just SO MUCH out there, that eventually people stop paying attention to it all. Bands' Friend Requests don't even get listened to half the time, much less accepted. It's a flooding. And when it comes down to it, the buzz starts with live shows, not digital downloads.
Switching gears now, you are also a freelance artist. Can you tell us what you do professionally?
I draw pictures. Haha.
Really, I do. I never wanted to be an artist professionally... I thought I'd lose my love for it if I did... but a few years ago, I took a job that my friend passed on due to his schedule. And as I'm sitting there drawing for a large amount of money, I thought "Wow, this is great! I'm getting PAID to do this?!?" So from then on in I've pursued freelance illustration jobs. I like it alot. It's usually good money, it's fun, and I get to set my own hours. Fantastic! F gettin' up early! But, it's not always steady. There's the rub. Right now I'm working on some things. The money's OK, but I'm looking to get something steadier in the creative field. It's tough. Fun jobs are the hardest to get! But I'm not gonna stop trying.
One job that sounds like it was fun was working on MTV's Fantastic Four promotion! What was that like? Were you ever a fan of the comic book? If so did that change the experience for you?
The thing with that was that I worked really hard on that job, did many drawings, and eventually they wound up deciding to just use photos from the movie instead of drawings! Haha. I still got paid though, and it was fun.
I was a big fan of the comics, and that helped me capture the characters. I wanted really badly to "get it right", and I felt I did. (Though the MTV people didn't really know shit about the FF.) I was supposed to go to the filming of the show, but didn't last minute. I just wanted to meet Michael Chiklis... and that sweet piece, Jessica Alba! Yum! But alas, I wound up having something else to do that day.
What kind of works do you like to do personally? And how do you view the professional work vs. the personal?
I've been lucky enough to get jobs where I still work in "my" style while delivering to the client what he or she wants. I wouldn't take a job I couldn't pull off, skill-wise.
Personally, I like to be really loose, really free form. Childlike, you could say. I feel that stuff turns out to be the favorite work of mine; the stuff that I haven't thought about or stressed over too much. The natural stuff. I also like drawing the comic booky stuff because it's what I did as a kid... but now I do it better.
Where do you see your artistic work going? Would you like the professional and personal work to intertwine in the future?
I just want to do MORE work. Challenging stuff, varied stuff. I'd like to build up a bigger portfolio and a bigger resume. I'd also like to make some dough doin' it!
Eventually I'd like to be known for a certain style, which I would also be sought out for. Once you've gotten a bit of a name, it's easier to pick and choose and go for a specific style. But at this point, I feel I have to present my work in as many styles and moods as possible, so a possible client can see what I'm capable of, to know if I can pull off what they need me to pull off.
Is their any conflict between your art and music? Or do they complement each other?
No conflict at all. I draw, I paint, I take pictures... I write and play music, I write, I'm into film making... I have many different creative outlets, and they all support each other. It makes me who I am, I guess. The worst thing is, all these things that interest me and I love to do, are hard things to make a living doing! Haha! I'm confident in my skills, in quite a few of these endeavors, so I know I'd be great at 'em given the chance.
Which of the two talents manifested themselves first and how do you think your life would be different had the other come first?
I was drawing since I was a kid. In the early 90s, I was heavily into comic books and comic art. It's what I wanted to do, for sure. (That and be a film director/writer.) At 15 I even met with Paul Levitz, the publisher at DC Comics, about my art. He looked at my stuff and told me what needed work, what was good, etc. But then at 16, I started playing guitar and never looked back. This was for two reasons: 1- in the mid-90s, the comic book industry became a fuckin' disgrace, creatively. (You comic guys will know what I mean!) I just lost interest, and, I knew my skills weren't up to it. And 2- drawing comics seemed lonely and solitary, while playing music was interactive and fun! It goes back to that "gang" feeling I mentioned in question three. I had met some people, my brother included, who wanted to ALSO play music... and it was a cool thing to share with others, that feeling. I also felt that songwriting was a more immediate, more satisfying way for me to be expressive. I couldn't really express myself drawing Spider-Man. So, I don't think it would have mattered which came first. The music is my true true love. If I was offered a choice to get paid making music or get paid drawing, I'd choose music. It's dearer to me, and, I feel it's something I do alot better than others... whereas with art I feel I am competent and talented, but not exceptional.
What is the perception of your talents from the people (friends, family) you grew up with and how have those perceptions helped shape you? Or have they at all?
They haven't done much, really. I don't really let what others say effect what I do or what I want to do, for better or worse. I know my mom was disappointed when I kinda stopped drawing to pursue music, because she felt I was a better artist. Alot of older people thought that, I guess just because they didn't really "get" the music we were making as kids and even now. It's a generational thing, I guess. But, everyone's always been supportive or both pursuits. And I appreciate that. Even though I still get the "it's not realistic to try and be a successful musician" crap. Maybe not, but, it's what I love and what I'll continue to pursue. I'd rather fail trying than not try at all, or give up. Fuck that. Even with the art. I'm sure it'd be easier for me to become an electrician or a carpenter or garbageman, true, but I feel I have a bankable talent, one that can't be taught or bought, and I love it... so, I'm gonna keep at it until it pays off for me. I'd REALLY feel like a failure and a loser if I didn't. Everyone else's judgments don't really mean shit to me.
How about your environment? How did growing up in Brooklyn affect both your art and music? How does living in Brooklyn affect your work now?
Lemme preface my answer by saying I really love Brooklyn, specifically the Bensonhurst/Gravesend/Coney Island/Dyker Heights/Bay Ridge area. It's a world unto itself and has so much to offer as far as diversity, a sense of community, a sense of history, and great food! Haha.
The biggest way I feel growing up here as influenced my work is that it has allowed me to not take myself too seriously. Also gives you a sense of humor. I guess, and this may sound douchey, I kind of have this middle-class background, a blue-collar background, that makes you look at the world in a more lighthearted way. A more "common" way. So I don't over think things and I try and find humor in all situations, and, I look at myself as just some Brooklyn guy who is lucky enough to have these talents. It grounds me and doesn't make me feel I'm better than anyone or set apart from anyone. And that attitude definitely has an effect on what I produce artistically. It may look or sound tongue-in-cheek, or aggressive, or even just plain funny, but underneath there's usually something more. Not always, but usually. Haha.
To elaborate further, I think it's a matter of attitude and composure. Being from Bensonhurst, you can kind of spot phonies and posers and the like, I feel. Like, this big Williamsburg movement going on now; I don't consider these people Brooklynites... because 90% of 'em aren't from Brooklyn!!! Same with the "New Yorkers" in Manhattan. So I think (that I personally, anyway) come from a more grounded, pure place. A no nonsense, no bullshit place. And I think... I HOPE... that comes through in my work.
Well said! Lastly, what does the next year hold for Tommy Lombardozzi?
Good things, I hope. I'll be doing some recording soon, and I want to play more shows in 2008; maybe get on some college circuits, college radio, etc. Just wanna get out there and have people enjoy what I'm doin'. I just made a new MySpace page to showcase my art and (solo) music (join up, folks! And spread the word!), and I'll be updating my art site soon. There are a few other projects in the works, some film stuff and what not, but it will all be revealed when the time is right... so I'll keep ya posted. I just wanna keep creatively busy and fulfilled, and hopefully take as many people along for the ride as possible. Stick around, folks!
And hey everyone, spread the word of BROOKLYN ORIGINAL! Do the right thing.
Thanks, Tommy!
Check out Tommy's new My Space featuring a combo of his art and solo music: http://www.myspace.com/tommylombardozzi
The MotherJumpers play their final show November 1st @ Don Hill's in NYC.
NEW VIDEO BY PANTHER PRODUCTIONS
A new, creepy introspective from Joe Attanasio. Great cinematography!
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BROOKLYN ORIGINAL ON FLICKR!
Come and join our Flickr page! Add your Brooklyn Original photos to ours and they may end up here on the blog! http://www.flickr.com/groups/brooklynoriginal/
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Saturday, October 20, 2007
PICS FROM MARCO'S ART SHOW
Internal Bleedings on the walls!
Marco w/ B.O.s Anthony Picone, Marilyn Patrizio, and Joe Milazzo.
photography by Sal Cipriano Click Here to Read More..
Friday, October 19, 2007
MARCO'S ART SHOW TONIGHT!
Here's the info again and a couple new pieces to further entice you to attend! We hope to see you tonight! The original invite is here: http://brooklynoriginal.blogspot.com/2007/10/marco-dileonardos-art-show.html
Marco's DiLeonardo's Art Show/B-day Party!
Glascott Funeral Home
102-03 Metropolitan Avenue, Forest Hills, NY
Friday, October 19, 9:00pm
Additionally, here's more places to check out Marco's work:
http://www.marcodileonardo.com/
http://www.marcodileonardo.blogspot.com/
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SPOTLIGHT: JOE ATTANASIO'S PANTHER PRODUCTIONS
For our first Spotlight we'd like to focus on Joe Attanasio's Panther Productions. For over the last year Joe has been making short films and posting them to You Tube. The films range from horror to trippy meditation and in between hard looks at the mind and life. They are very well done works that get under your skin right from the get go, transcending the horror genre and becoming something much more deep.
Joe grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and has been interested in art all his life. From simply doodling cartoons to the graphic design day job he's worked at for the past 6 years the passion has always been there. He's also a musician, as evidenced by the really creepy, well timed music in his films. Film making though segued from his love of horror films, media, and culture, and the need, as most of us artists get, to try his hand at making his own. Being the creative person he is he quickly began channeling his talents through this horror funnel with outstanding results.
Thus was born Panther Productions, a You Tube channel with a growing number of subscribers! As well it should be, because what Joe is doing is evolving into a voice and talent that is worth noting and watching.
Here now is one of his videos. The rest can be seen here: JOE ATTANASIO'S PANTHER PRODUCTIONS.
Be prepared to be creeped out! Enjoy!
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Thursday, October 18, 2007
THE MOTHERJUMPERS FINAL SHOW
We covered Tommy Lombardozzi's solo show last weekend at The Wicked Monk, but for the last few years Tommy has also been fronting a great band of friends called The MotherJumpers. These guys have been playing with each other on and off since they were wee pups and it shows in the seamless harmony of their music. Their self titled album was one of the better to come out of 2006 and is available on their website. Well that said, all good things come to an end and The MotherJumpers are hanging it up after their next show. So if you want to check out a truly awesome band with alot of heart and soul then do yourself a favor and come down to check them out this final time. You won't get a second chance! (Black Pig and Next Tribe are also on the bill!)
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COMMENTARY: JOE TORRE
Let me preface this entry by stating that this blog is going to be constantly evolving and doing a commentary like this is the first time we break the pure promotional content which is exciting.
Onto the commentary:
Today a Brooklyn Original who has had quite a popular public career and is a true star of NY sports left his legacy behind. Joe Torre, after 12 successful storybook years, is no longer the manager of the NY Yankees. His contract was up, he was offered a new one, but he did not accept it.
Let me clarify that though. Torre was under heat from the Yankee "BOSS" George Steinbrenner. The Boss had threatened to fire him if he did not pass the American League Divisional Series against the Cleveland Indians. The Yankees did not, and so began a week plus wait for Torre while the Yankee brass decided what to do about him.
Ultimately what was decided was to give Torre a 1 year contract for 5 million dollars, a 2 million pay cut from his last 7mil per year contract. However if Torre took the Yanks into the Division Series then he would get an additional mil, and subsequently an additional mil for the American League Championship Series, and then a mil for the World Series. If he indeed gets the team to the WS then a team option for a 2nd year would kick in automatically for 8mil. Torre flew down to the Yankee corporate offices in Tampa and turned down the offer.
With those facts now stated, let me say that I am truly proud of Joe Torre as a fellow Brooklyn Original and just as a human being! Torre did not need to prove that he could get to the playoffs since he made it in each of his 12 seasons with the team, and he definitely did not need the incentive of cash to make it through the playoffs! He just wanted to be respected as a person and he did not receive that respect. Expecting him to take a pay cut of any kind after all he has done for the franchise is a ridiculous slap in the face.
So I salute Joe Torre, one of the greatest managers of all time, a great human being, and a great Brooklyn Original, for keeping his pride intact and making the right decision. We can all learn a thing or 2 about resolve and pride from him.
Thanks for 12 great years, Joe!
-Sal Cipriano
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SPACEBEARD CD RELEASE PARTY
Brooklyn's Spacebeard offers up a nice clean yet crunchy rock sound ala Helmet or Failure. You can hear samples of their music on their My Space and download songs on their website so by October 26th you should be ready for the full release of their album Specimen! Here's the info from the band:
"SPACEBEARD will be celebrating with a record release party for our debut CD "Specimen". CD’s will be available at this show. We will be going on at 9pm so please show up a little early just in case."
October, 26 2007 Spacebeard - Record Release Party @ The Ace Of Clubs 9 Great Jones Street, N.Y., New York 10012
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Wednesday, October 17, 2007
CHRISTIAN FATTORUSSO'S ART SHOW!
A Brooklyn Original now living in Manhattan, Christian Fattorusso has always exemplified heart and passion. Now you can be witness to the fruits of that heart and passion as his paintings will be on display in an upcoming art show. Here is the info:
Christian Fattorusso's ART SHOW
Sat. November, 3rd
From 2:00pm-5:00pm
410 1st ave
Between 80th & 81st Street
36th Floor
NY, NY
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Tuesday, October 16, 2007
MARCO DILEONARDO'S ART SHOW!
Born on the on Brooklyn/Queens border, artist Marco DiLeonardo celebrates the 30th anniversary of his birth with a unique art show! The show is this Friday night and anyone interested in crazy surreal art should come down and take a look!
Here now is the info from Marco himself:
"I'm turning 30! Join me for the celebration. Instead of pulling a disappearing act this year, I've decided to show off my artwork and have a good time doing it. This will be a dual themed event: Art Show/Birthday Party. As you all know I live at Glascott Funeral Home. The Art Show will be inside Chapel B...not too morbid. It will feature all framed original artwork. That's right, all pieces are originals. Every piece will be labeled and a price list will be floating around. The prices are there if anyone has a burning desire to own an original piece of my art. No one will be encouraged to buy anything. The Birthday part of this party will be upstairs in my apartment. There will be finger food, beer, and wine. Anything else will be B.Y.O.Booze/Food. Please do not bring gifts. Feel free to invite any art lovers and/or any decent human beings. Remember this party will be in my apartment and I don't want strangers touching my shit or jumping on my couch. Come as you are."
Glascott Funeral Home
102-03 Metropolitan Avenue, Forest Hills, NY
Friday, October 19, 9:00pm
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Monday, October 15, 2007
GREAT NIGHT @ THE WICKED MONK!
Last night's show at The Wicked Monk seemed to be a smashing success. Fans came out despite having work this morning and had a great time! For those that didn't know B.O. bands Black Pig and Next Tribe along with solo artist Tommy Lombardozzi recorded a live show last night at a staple of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, The Wicked Monk.
Tommy Lombardozzi started the night off with style, crooning and rocking some solid notes and giving the ladies something to think about when they went to bed last night. The man gets points for fashion!
Black Pig followed with a fun and exciting show filled with yelling, violence, and good ol' fashioned rock and roll! These guys really know how to get the crowd into the show and they had everyone singing along with some of their well known tracks. There was some great back and forth banter between band members Joe Milazzo and Wayne Daren Schneiderman and Tommy Lombardozzi which could be a fun part of the live recording.
While the crowd unfortunately dwindled abit because of the time and pesty morning work, the fans who stayed were really treated with something special. Next Tribe, one of the more well known and respected bands in Brooklyn came on to perform their usual array of fantastic, blow your mind, sounds, but before long BP's Milazzo came on stage for some percussion and soon was joined by Schneiderman. By the end BP's BarryG and Tommy Lombardozzi had joined in as well. The result was quite a meaty and pleasant sound. Quite the tasty treat to end the evening!
As a side note to the evening I am quite happy to report that Brooklyn Original was all the buzz. Many people had come up to me expressing their interest in the project, and showing/offering their support/help. It was quite heartening to hear this so quickly after our launch. It just fuels this idea even further and we look forward to seeing where it'll take us.
Thanks,
Sal Cipriano
photography by Sal Cipriano
Sunday, October 14, 2007
LINK US UP!
Are you born and bred? Have a website? Have a blog? Well send it to us silly! Drop us your info here: brooklynoriginal@gmail.com
(Please no myspaces unless it is being used as a website to promote your work, music, etc.; Also B.O. reserves the right to turn down a link due to extreme/immoral/racist/pornographic/or other "evil" content)
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B.O. ON MY SPACE
No that doesn't mean we stink and need some Right Guard! It just means we've set up a My Space account for all you Brooklyn Originals to come together and be front and center. Remember all the action happens here, but you'll get any major updates there.
So make us your friend and support! http://www.myspace.com/brooklynoriginalblog
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Saturday, October 13, 2007
BLACK PIG/TOMMY LOMBARDOZZI/NEXT TRIBE SUNDAY NIGHT!
Brooklyn Originals: Black Pig, Tommy Lombardozzi, and Next Tribe will be playing an important show Sunday night. The show will be recorded live for upcoming CDs and all should come down to support! Here are Black Pig and Tommy's respective flyers for the event. For more info on them please click their respective links on the side panel.
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ARE YOU AN ORIGINAL?
Hiya!
Welcome to Brooklyn Original, the blog with the sole focus on shining a bright light on those who were born in Brooklyn, NY and are doing great things either creatively, in business, or other. We will have updates, news, interviews, events, reviews, and more as we hopefully grow into something we can all be proud of.
Why have a blog like this? Simply because there is a need for it. For too long the focus of the creative and successful in Brooklyn has mostly fallen on those that originally have come from elsewhere in the US or abroad. While that is fine since NYC has long been the destination spot of anyone who has wanted to "make it", we just don't want people to forget about those of us who have been trying to make it since day 1.
More so, we want to create more unity and community strength with this blog as a starting point. We hope you like what you read about, and if you are an Original with a good story or things that are happening feel free to email us at brooklynoriginal@gmail.com.
Best,
Sal Cipriano
Marilyn Patrizio
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