Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spain. Show all posts

Friday, March 29, 2019

Remembering Johnny Thunders -


Room 37: The Mysterious Death Of Johnny Thunders
on Blu-ray and DVD on May 24th

Madrid Memory on DVD / CD on April 5th

Room 37: The Mysterious Death Of Johnny Thunders is inspired by true life events surrounding the mysterious death of the legendary guitarist Johnny Thunders. 

Johnny Thunders arrives to New Orleans to begin a new chapter of his life by following a new musical sound, and staying clean from drugs in order to see his kids again. After he settles into the St. Peter's Guest House Hotel, things go awry. 

His room is robbed which contained the last of his money and his only methadone supply. Johnny's journey to recovery quickly turns dark when he takes desperate measures to get better, all which propel Johnny deeper in chaos that ultimately leads to his unexplained mysterious final hours.




Madrid Memory features a long lost live concert performance from The Heartbreakers explosive 1984 reunion world tour that included fellow Dolls Sylvain Sylvain and Jerry Nolan plus Billy Rath.

Filmed for TV broadcast at La Edad De Oro in Madrid, Spain, this concert captures powerful performances of songs from throughout Thunders's amazing career including "Personality Crisis," "Too Much Junkie Business," and "Born Too Lose."


Friday, June 10, 2016

Colton Ford, This Time It's Personal


Once upon a time in Southern California there was a boy name Glenn Soukesian. That boy grew up loving theater and most of all, music.

After a few deals with major labels that did not quite materialize what he had hoped for,  He decided to try a different approach to springboard his singing career. Glenn went into porn under the name of Colton Ford.

Well it worked. After many hit singles and albums, Colton has hit his fans with his most personal CD to date, titled, what else? Glenn Soukesian. We met at Desano Bakery in Silverlake CA, to catch up and talk shop. Take note world at large and listen closely....

MS: You recently got back from Pride in Spain.

CF: Yes, it was really a good time, where everybody gay and straight were there to enjoy themselves and celebrate.It was a free spirited, accepting non-judgemental party with great energy, and everyone was carrying their alcohol and mixers in a bag and making their drinks on the sidewalk. A PARTY!! I performed three songs off of the new record for the first time which was awesome! People were there from allover Europe, it's really a great mix of people.

MS: I listened to your new music just before I got here.

CF: Right before you come and do your thing. (laughs)
In Spain, No Rain
Colton Ford
Photo: Romi Simmons
MS: Yeah that way it's fresh in my mind. I love your current single "Free Yourself," it's pretty bluesy.

CF: Well I'm going back to my R&B/Soul roots. My roots  have always been in R&B/soul, something that's been present in all of my dance releases. But now, at fifty-three, I wanna do what I wanna do. I'm more of a bluesy crooner, ballad singer anyway. I took the opportunity to do what I felt. I worked with some amazing producers who get me. This is the first record where I didn't have to consider anyone or anything else.

MS: Did you self produce your current album?

CF: Yeah, the five people that I worked with, they wrote the tracks, I get the track and I write the melody and the lyrics. They produce the track and and I arrange and produce the vocals. Larry Peace did five of the tracks on the record, and he co-executive produced it with me. He was the DJ for Prince. 

MS: Funny you should say that when I saw your song "R U Gonna" I thought of Prince because of the spelling. 

CF: Yeah, yeah. (laughs) Now that guy is Eddie J Free who is another mixer/producer I did that and "True Love" with. 

MS: I still can't believe Prince is gone. Fifty-eight is not old, especially since I'm fifty and your fifty-three, it really caught me off guard.

CF:  What a trip. It was so sudden.

MS: Honestly I like this CD best out of everything you've done. I can hear how much more you are connected to the songs on this.

CF: Well Thank You. My EP "Next Chapter" was a nice segue into "Glenn Soukesian." This is more about the songs and the vocals and less about production. "The Way I Am" was a great dance album, but it was high in production. In terms of this album when you compare it to that one, it's much more personal.
It's All Good
Colton Ford

MS: It feels that way. 

CF: Totally more personal. It was a very liberating project. 

MS: Something about it pops more to me.

CF: Cool, I love it! That is also the feedback I have been getting from people. Before I did the record I would see people posting: "We love your stuff, but we feel there's something else, and we look forward to what that is" and here it is. (laughs) 

MS: And that's why the CD is named after you. 

CF: Yes, my actual name. (both laugh) I really thought this through, a lot of people use my real name anyway because of the documentary about me "Naked Fame." It's about continuing that connection between Colton Ford and Glenn Soukesian. I'm in a place right now where I want to be as organic and true to myself as I can. 

MS: The connection between music and sexuality is a strong one...sometimes people forget you have a great voice to go along with it. Miley Cyrus for example.

CF: She's amazing! She's got an amazing fucking voice! No Joke! If she wants to swing around naked on a wrecking ball, go for it! 

MS: You lose sight of how good an artist is sometimes when that is the way they choose to express themselves.

CF: Well, I know I've experienced it, they judge you as if your doing that because your music is not strong enough. That's a bunch of bullshit. Some people actually do, but you can tell based upon the music who's doing it and who's not. Put the visuals aside and listen to the music and respond accordingly. 

MS: One last personal thing, Glenn Soukesian. What is your favorite track off of your current CD?

CF: Well that's a hard one. Each song has a special meaning to me for a variety of reasons, both personally and artistically. I really love "Love's Around." Love the track, love the spirit of the song, the "you're not alone" message. And it's a universal love song. Could be to a friend, family member or a lover. It represents the personal relationships that I have. Loving, kind and supportive.

Keeping Up With Colton at:
https://twitter.com/coltonfordmusic
https://www.facebook.com/ColtonFordMusic/

Get Him On iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/colton-ford/id256309957 

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Hey, Do You Need A Dodge?

Where's The Dodge?

I Need A Dodge: Joe Strummer On The Run

Coming to the US on October 16th

"Poignant doc... A snapshot of a man - not a rock star - 
looking for catharsis in the most unlikely of places."NME

Here is the tale of the "Little Strummer  Boy" come they told me I need a Dodge!

Produced and Directed by Nick Hall, this is the story of Joe Strummer's self-imposed exile in Granada in 1985/6. It will be released on DVD by MVD on October 16th and comes packaged with a cassette of a Spanish radio interview with Strummer, a postcard, sticker, and pin. 


"This is Joe Strummer at a crossroads in his professional and personal life. Initially his trips to Spain seemed to be little more than an anecdote but this story says so much about Joe coming to terms with life after The Clash," said Hall.

Johnny Green, The Clash's legendary road manager said of the film, "I glowed - I felt uplifted. Once again, it was as if I had spent a little time with my dear lost friend, Joe Strummer. I was hooked all through - the story is compulsive. More to the point, you have perfectly captured the brooding melancholia, that shy underside, which was a compelling component of Ol' Joe. I Need A Dodge is fabulous." The film also received a special mention at the In-Edit Festival in Barcelona.

Heading to Spain in 1985 to flee the disaster that was the implosion of The Clash version two, the band formed in the wake of Strummer firing Mick Jones and after Topper Headon left the band. The new line-up's Cut The Crap album had largely been shunned by both critics and the public alike and Strummer needed space. Telling a Diario De Granada interviewer that he had come "to feel the pain of the wound," upon arrival in Granada,Strummer found himself firmly subsumed into the city's musical and cultural fabric. He was welcomed with open arms by local acts 091 and bigger-fish Radio Fortuna, who all met up at the Silbar.

"When we met Joe it was like a miraculous apparition," said Jose Ignacio Lapido, 091's guitarist. It was Radio Fortuna who facilitated the purchase of a set of wheels for Strummer. Tracking down a Barreiros, essentially a European edition of the Dodge-Dart, became a mission. As Santiago Auseron, the Radio Fortuna singer said, "It looked cool, it just looked a bit mad. Which at that time suited Joe very well."

Strummer was delighted with the huge car which he thrashed around the streets of Granada and Madrid. However, having parked the car in the capital when he flew back to the UK for the birth of his daughter Lola, he forgot where it was and never saw it again. I Need A Dodge! Joe Strummer On The Run is partly the story of the search for the car, and partly the story of Strummer's own search for meaning and redemption in those wilderness years. 


Strummer  launched an unsuccessful attempt to find the car, making an appeal for information on Spain's Radio 3 in 1997. With witnesses disagreeing on the colour and style of the car - agreeing only that it was registered in Oviendo - and some claiming never to have seen it, filmmaker Nick Hall's quest seems unlikely to succeed, yet his investigation does unearth the truth about this period of Strummer's life that has largely been ignored.

Installing himself in the producer's chair for the recording of 091's album, Strummer's micro-management led, rather than to the boost these star-struck musicians were hoping for, to a growing sense of disquiet and wasted studio time. The album eventually surfaced, having finished off to the record label's specification rather than the band's, and was disappointing.

The Dodge is an emblem for Strummer's time in Spain, his ambition, personal style and, in a way, the nature of those troubled days in general. When he is pulled over by the police, it is revealed that he doesn't even have a license to drive. Drawing on the recollections of his friends in London and in Spain, his partner Gaby Holford, and the members of 091 and Radio Fortuna, this a revealing story of a search for much more than just a car.

"It was an escape. He was a man on the run. He was getting away from the tension in London," says Santiago Auseron.

Joe Strummer did, indeed, need a Dodge. 


The DVD package can be pre-ordered directly through MVD here, or on Amazon here.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Where In The World Is Naama Kates?

Naama Kates: On The Move and Ready for Adventure!
Singer/Songwriter/Actress Naama Kates has been living out of a suitcase for the last six months. 

Globetrotting to places like Finland, Los Angeles, New York and coming soon Spain so I asked her what are her ten must haves when she travels.

So what's in your bag Naama?

1. My Xanax.  Because at some point during a 22 hour flight, you might start to go stir crazy and freak out and decide, during your 6-hour layover in Dublin, that you can't handle one more second in a plane and just run out into the street and then, after a couple of days frolicking and hanging out in pubs with Irish novelists, you realize you have to get to Madrid ASAP, and you've already spent all this money and, it's a good story but so's the one where you just get to Cadiz, and see flamenco music, and finish your movie and meet all these amazing people.... Yeah.  No panic attacks.  If it involves the TSA I'm taking my Xanax.


2. My laptop (and LaCie hard drives with my projects and iRig... I'll call this all work technogear.)


3. My iPhone, for internet (cuz there's free wifi everywhere in Europe) and music. Even though it
    won't work overseas and I'll have to buy a Slovenian burner phone. ;-)


4. My skin cream w/ SPF 50+!


5. My suede-bound notebook.  Right now I put everything in that.  Song chords and lyrics.  Shot
    lists.  To-do lists.  Phone numbers.  And I can always open it when meeting people to look
    more organized/professional.  Or just busy.  And I'd keep info in it like my flight confirmation 
    code and time and addresses I might need and even my passport and visa number in case I
    lose everything, and my electronic routing number, in case I lose EVERYTHING.  And
    because consequently, by losing this book, I am theoretically handing my identity to a thief  
    wrapped with ribbons and foil and a Christmas card-- I would NOT put my name anywhere in it! 

6. My make-up bag.  That's ONE item.  But if I were to lose it at the gas station in Hartola, I'd
    get mascara, lip gloss and BB cream first.

7.  A novel I know I can consume me, for the flight and more.

8.  Wallet. 
     
9.  Cigarettes and lighter.  Yeah yeah.

10.  Some jolly-ranchers..... wait... is this list about leaving home like before I travel or like to go to the gas station??? 

Keep tabs on Naama at: 
https://www.facebook.com/NaamaKates
https://twitter.com/naamakates
Listen to her at: 
https://www.reverbnation.com/naamakates
https://www.youtube.com/user/delilah11