Currently Listening The Fall of Ideals By All That Remains see related

Conform No More

this is our latest song we have recorded, the lyrics have meant quite a bit to me lately, especially. i didn't write these lyrics, i only helped write the music that inspired the words. either way, i'm proud of the final product. stay tuned as we may shoot a video for this song in the near future. i'm sure i'll let everyone know about the details whether they want to know or not. anyway, this is:

"Conform No More"

Enslaved to the pits of society
Depraved for the way that we live
Denied every source of serenity
Bending, Breaking

Distortion of the human brain
It’s the way that we have all been trained
Taught to mask all of our differences
We’re all serving life, no matter what the sentence is
I live my life
Within these chains I can’t break
Within these days, full of hate
We won’t be silenced anymore

Can you see all the walls built up around you?
They force you to follow the line
Conform, serving time for being who I am
They bend me to break me
I will not bow and pledge my allegiance
With liberty and justice for some

Enslaved to the pits of society
Depraved for the way that we live
Denied every source of serenity
Bending, Breaking

Taking on this new form
The only choice we have is to transform
Searching for a way to break the mold
Bred like machines to keep us under control
I live my life
Within these chains I can’t break
Within these days, full of hate
We won’t be silenced anymore

Can you see all the walls built up around you?
They force you to follow the line
Conform, serving time for being who I am
They bend me to break me
I will not bow and pledge my allegiance
With liberty and justice for some
Who follow the line

We had it all (What once stood solid)
But we threw it all away (Has eroded all away)
Change to survive (We’re bending to break free)
Conform no more (Conform no more)
We had it all (What once stood solid)
But we threw it all away (Has eroded all away)
Change to survive (We’re bending to break free)
Conform no more (Conform no more)

No more will I bow at their feet
Our wounds are all healed
And we will suffer no more, defend ourselves
Take control
From you
Control
We will take control

Conform no more
No more
Suffer no more

Breaking free from the cage they built for me
Never again will I fall
Never again will I fall
We will tear down the walls
We won’t be silenced anymore
Never fall
Never fall
NEVER

There’s hope for us still
We’re miles from the gates of hell
Pariahs stand together
We will not fail

I’ve broken my homes and buried my bones
I’ll live my life until its cut short
I’ve broken my homes and buried my bones
I’ll live my life until its cut short by you
By you
I’ve broken my homes and buried my bones
I’ll live my life until its cut short by you

Currently Listening 10,000 Days see related

Ink

Being in a band is so cool....Our good friend Tattoo Tony at A Different Image Tattoo Studio has agreed to put ink on all members of RP.  My latest additions came earlier this week bringing my grand total up to 6 tattoos.  I got a new one and added on to an old one.  Around my "pariah" tattoo down my left forearm, Tony added a treble clef and a bass clef on either side in negative space.  I also had a clever design of the word "GOOD" where the open space in each letter spells out "evil" put on the bottom of my left forearm.

To backtrack a little, I guess I can go back and describe all my other tattoos.  My first tattoo was Kanji (Chinese)characters down the outside of my left calf that roughly translates into "Live to play music, live to drum."  My second tattoo was supposed to be the beginning of my giant back piece that hasn't been added to recently.  This beginning is an outline of a phoenix w/ its wings upstretched above its head.  My next two tattoos came as little tributes to my Granny and Grandma who both passed away last year.  In between the wing of the phoenix, I got a voodoo symbol for freedom that used to be a pendant around my neck.  I chose this to honor my Granny (mom's mom) because she was very free-spirited and, although she was a devout Catholic, she also uphelf a few alternative spirituality beliefs.  For my Grandma (dad's mom) I got the Eye of Horus (a.k.a.: the Eye of Ra, the Egyptian God) right above my left elbow facing behind me.  This meant a lot to my dad and my sister once I explained the reason.  I chose this for my Grandma because as my sister and I were growing up, every time we would see my Grandma, she always told us "much ojo" or basically be careful, be aware of your surroundings at all time, which is why I had the eye face behind me. 

My next painful undertakings include:  the continuation of the phoenix and my entire backpiece, the word "MUSIC" down the left side of my rib cage (this one's gonna hurt a lot, so I'm gonna get a little more ink done before I get this one going), a dragon wrapping itself around my right leg just below my knee, flames wrapping around my left ankle shooting up and around my Kanji characters, a devil in angel's clothes/angel in devil's clothes (haven't decided where this is going yet), and some more misc designs that i'm sure i'll come across before too long. 

i like ink, its addictive.

Currently Listening Sacrament (with Bonus DVD) By Lamb of God Walk With Me In Hell see related

Life just went from fast to faster...

At the beginning of this week, D, the drummer for my band was about ready to call it quits because no one was really helping her on the business side of the band.  I sat down and talked with everyone else individually and discussed what needed to be done.  Let's just say at the beginning of the week we had 2 shows booked, now we have 15 shows booked in OK, TX, CO, LA, NV, and MA with things working in TN, VA, IN, IL, OH, MO, AR, AZ, NM, and CA.  As of right now, we are mainly just waiting on going into the studio and recording our newest tracks and sending them out to every Management Co., Booking Agency, Indie Label, radio station, Promotional Service we can find. 

Come June 1st, RP will be out on the road for 7 weeks to complete our first tour and hopefully land a sponsorship by Jagemeister.  Wish us luck and we'll see you on the other side if we survive.

Currently Listening Alive Or Just Breathing By Killswitch Engage Element of One see related

Comedication

Wow.  I haven't even logged in this account for some time....weird.  Anyway, I've been doing a lot of reminiscing about certain things in my life.  One of the recurring thoughts has been my late Granny.  She passed away back in March, but I still think about her a lot.  I'm always trying to remember the good times and the laughs we had together.  One thing I'll never forget about her was that she loved to watch Walker, Texas Ranger.  As I spent the weekend w/ my parents in Dallas, they wanted to do some shopping (convincing me that I need new clothes) so when we went to a mall I found some shirts listing the things that make Chuck Norris so bad ass he's allegedly roundhouse kicked God in the face.  Anyway, I know these have been around for a while and I've read and heard a lot of them, I just thought it was special that day b/c it really reminded me of when my sister and I would go see our Granny and watch Chuck Norris fight crime.  So, without further delay, Chuck Norris's list of bad-assnessicity:

1.  Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse.  Horses are hung like Chuck Norris.
2.  When the Boogeyman goes to sleep at night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
3.  Chuck Norris sleeps w/ a night light not b/c he's afraid of the dark, but b/c the dark is afraid of Chuck Norris.
4.  If Chuck Norris is late, time better slow the fuck down.
5.  Chuck Norris can unscramble an egg.
6.  Chuck Norris has counted to infinity...twice!
7.  Chuck Norris was once in a knife fight and the knife lost.
8.  Chuck Norris doesn't go hunting, he goes killing.
9.  There is no theory of evolution, just a list of animals Chuck Norris allows to live.
10.  Chuck Norris doesn't tea-bag the ladies, he potato-sacks them.
11.  Chuck Norris's tears cure cancer.  Too bad he's never cried.
12.  The quickest way to a man's heart is w/ Chuck Norris's fist.
13.  There is no chin behind Chuck Norris's beard, only another fist.
14.  A recent study has shown that the leading causes of death in the US are:  1. heart disease, 2. Chuck Norris, 3. cancer
15.  The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.
16.  Mr. T once punched Chuck Norris in the face at the exact instant Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked Mr. T.  The result was the 80s.
17.  Chuck Norris visited the Virgin Islands.  They are now the Islands.

yes, I realize the whole Chuck Norris thing got played out months ago, but who cares, don't read this then.

Currently Listening Come Clarity By In Flames see related

"The Life and Times..."

This is something I wrote when going through some rather difficult times trying to decide what exactly I wanted to do with the rest of my life.  Upon racking my brain for weeks about how sure I was about giving my 6-year college education to spend years of my life in a van with 4 other people playing podunk bars and empty venues, I realized how much music means to me.....

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The life I love is a life with hate
Judgement passed with silence in between
Obstacles increasing as time continues
My soul infected with absolute negativity

I look to her in confidence
Divulging my every passionate thought
No money needed to satisfy her love
Only myself and the strings I pluck

Through every movement, my blood runs free
Defeating demons with her protection
I shield my eyes from judging faces
Without hesitation dismissing everything else

Never ceasing, always pushing
Simply striving to share the heat
Emitted from the eternal fire
I call music

Abandoned by most things I've trusted
Rejected and attacked for being myself
Mindless thoughts among these thoughtless minds
Embracing their luxurious denial

My love, she never dies
Unlike all the fucking lies
We face from day to day
Dismissing our lives of gray

With a blade to my wrist
I turned to her for solace
I realized then, that this fucking mistake
Wasn't worth the music I wouldn't make
With tears flying from my eyes
And scars I could no longer disguise
I shed my skin to look within
And found the strength to live again

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

blah blah blah.........