Impentris Record Release Concert – July 13th, 2012

Impentris was live in concert, it was an awesome show!!! With the release of our debut album, “Approaching the Darkness”, we reclaimed our place in the San Diego Music Scene.  G.F.Y., Medius and ThEleventHour also appeared.  Here is a photo recap of the night at the Ramona Mainstage on July (Friday) 13th 2012.

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Where outer space meets the Middle East, a whole new world on a magic carpet ride, or in a Ferrari. 

Tokyo, Japan

Domo Origami Mr. Rubato.

Sydney, Australia

Let’s put another Barbie on the shrimp, she’s delicious.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light…” But it really highlights your features, and green kinda makes you look like a pregnant alien.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Welcome to paradise, playmates, and stubborn goats that won’t share the road.

Athens, Greece

“When in Rome…” Destroy all the sculptural remains of the past…But leave the bosom please.

Stonehenge, England

“I said eighteen feet, not eighteen inches.”

Impentris Record Release Concert

Impentris was live in concert, it was an awesome show!!!

Dubai, United Arab Emirates – Where outer space meets the Middle East, a whole new world on a magic carpet ride, or in a Ferrari.

When I was a child I never thought I’d grow up to be a time traveler. Being able to get into an air vessel and arrive in a different part of the world on a different day seemed impossible. Little did I know, I do it all the time now when crossing the international date line. I think when I landed in Dubai though, I must have landed in the distant future. The U.A.E. is the most space aged, futuristic place I have ever seen. The buildings, architecture, and man made islands were incredible. Everything looked straight out of a Star Wars movie.

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When we arrived to Dubai I was so jet lagged I could barely stand up in the customs line. They pulled me aside for what they called a random search. They went through all my bags and eventually found my medicine kit. The official called over his supervisor to interrogate me on how, why, and where I got the medicine. Why I had it and how I got it. All over a small bottle of Ibuprofen. I expressed that it was for minor headaches but they didn’t believe me. Then when they found the Sudafed severe cold and allergy antihistamines they just about threw me in a cell. I expressed it was simple over the counter medicine for mild symptoms. They eventually let me go when my boss came over to harass them on what they were doing and why they were holding me up. Thank goodness for him, because they let me go shortly after. I’m not sure if it was a random search, or if I just looked like a walking zombie after a 27-hour journey to get there.

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Our hotel was beautiful and had a very unique and different feel. Here’s a picture of the hotel the artist was staying at, taken just after the sun went down. The nightclub at the top reminded me of the starship enterpriselookout deck. It’s in the distance, behind the Porsche.

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There were so many amazing cars like this. I saw a brand new Bentley on my way from the airport. There were Ferraris, BMWs, and Lexuses all over the place. Lots of money everywhere. Some residences were more like a palace, with their own gates and guards. The journey to the venue was like Disney World, on the Autobahn, in the future. In this picture here, you can see where the freeway meets the desert, and where to get a Harley too, for when you’re not using the dirt bikes.

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During load-in there was a carpenter on the dock who was cutting metal pipes to size for the stage. He had no safety equipment on at all. As he was cutting into the metal, sparks were flying right into his face, and he had no safety protection of any kind. Occasionally he would look away but I couldn’t believe how confident he was to stare directly into the blade as the sparks and metal shards flew in every direction. I thought to myself, this guy is either brave or stupid, I’m leaning more towards stupid. He did a good job though. Here’s the stage just before the show, presented by Dudu Face.

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We had some time after finishing our load-in, so we headed over to the souk, just across the water. This market had a total Persian feel. It reminded me a lot of Disney’s Aladdin. All the dresses looked like something Jasmine would be wearing, and the buildings looked ideal for a quick getaway for an Aladdin style dine-and-ditch. I didn’t see any flying carpets, so instead I bought a mini hookah and a teapot that I rubbed a lot. No genie appeared, but I did get a blister. I walked around for hours, never really finding anything I liked. Got a few knickknacks and souvenirs though, and some cool pictures.

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I was able to barter with one guy, offering him only 20% of his offering price and he actually accepted. It’s not like that in a lot of places. In some countries you can bargain down to around half usually, in a market like this. This was definitely the lowest I’d ever negotiated anybody down though. The guy across the path wouldn’t bargain at all. I guess it depends on the person, the item, and the shop. And of course how much he likes the item and if he thinks he can sell it to someone else for more. Or maybe the guy just needed rent money, or a refill on his hookah.

The gig went smooth, even without the guitar tech, or any stagehands all day. Luckily there were 16 eager men after the show to load the gear though. Plus it only took about 30 minutes to tear down & 2 hours of waiting to get the gear into a truck, but it was a nice food break for all 17 of us. Later that night I was oil spotted for the first time, that’s when the only thing left from the ride is the oil on the pavement. Not because I was late, but because my supervisor was so tired and ready to go after a very long day. He actually left two of us behind, causing us loads of grief, and much wasted time to figure out a way to get back to the hotel, even though we were carrying our own luggage, the bosses wardrobe, and other staging equipment that night. What a drag, actually 3 drags, to get all the gear to the curb.  I’ll never forget that night, there are definitely pros and cons to every gig.

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Pictures of The Burj Khalifa skyscraper, a world-class destination and a magnificent centerpiece of Downtown Dubai. Dubai’s new urban masterpiece was featured in the recent release, Mission Impossible 3. At over 2,716.5 feet and more than 160 stories, Burj Khalifa holds the record for the tallest building in the world, tallest free-standing structure in the world, highest number of stories in the world, highest occupied floor in the world, highest outdoor observation deck in the world, and tallest service elevator in the world.  The building was so tall I had a hard time getting it in one picture frame. We actually went inside and had drinks where we watched the largest fountain in the world and enjoyed the beautiful nightlife and weather. There were beautiful women in every direction, some of which I was informed were “working”. I must have missed that OSHA meeting that approved high heels and short skirts.

Here’s a video of the fountain show that would play every 15 minutes or so. It was very much like the Bellagio’s fountain show in Vegas. As the world’s largest performing fountain, the Dubai Fountain in Downtown Dubai has attracted over 47 million visitors since its launch in May 2009. The music accompanying the spectacle changes with each performance, from classical to contemporary styles. Set on the 30-acre Burj Khalifa Lake, the fountain shoots water jets as high as 500 ft, & is 900 ft long. I did however change the music to one of my songs. It is the featured track for the Tricknology Video Series, written, performed, & engineered entirely by me.

CLICK HERE TO SEE A VIDEO OF THE DUBAI FOUNTAIN

If any real city on our planet can claim an active stake in creating the urban landscape of the future, it’s probably Dubai. There’s artificial islands arranged in the shape of the world The new arch bridge is one mile long and 670 feet tall, with 12 lanes for traffic, it carries more than 2,000 vehicles per hour in each direction. The people were very nice, and the sites were out of this world. This would definitely be an amazing place to revisit, but next time I’ll leave the Advil Cold & Sinus at home.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Where outer space meets the Middle East, a whole new world on a magic carpet ride, or in a Ferrari. 

Tokyo, Japan

Domo Origami Mr. Rubato.

Sydney, Australia

Let’s put another Barbie on the shrimp, she’s delicious.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light…” But it really highlights your features, and green kinda makes you look like a pregnant alien.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Welcome to paradise, playmates, and stubborn goats that won’t share the road.

Athens, Greece

“When in Rome…” Destroy all the sculptural remains of the past…But leave the bosom please.

Stonehenge, England

“I said eighteen feet, not eighteen inches.”

Impentris Record Release Concert

Impentris was live in concert, it was an awesome show!!!

Tokyo, Japan – Domo Origami Mr. Rubato.

Four days off in Tokyo, Japan. All for a short radio show of only about 5 songs. I can’t explain how fun it was to get paid to party four days in a row, in such an awesome city. We would nap after dinner and start the night at about midnight. Heading toward Roppongi, we would bar hop until the sun came up. Check out this sweet Chevy bicycle I found, even though there were no Chevy automobiles.

Amidst the epic partying, I had to make time at least one day, to wake up at a decent hour and head over to the ESP custom shop. This was the coolest factory I have ever been to, even cooler than the Smith & Wesson gun factory. The people at ESP were amazing, and totally treated me like a rock star.

Norikazu Ishii totally hooked me up and gave me the grand tour. He showed me the entire process of building custom guitars at the ESP factory, and let me noodle on the display floor for hours. Check out these guitars, how amazing. The detail is incredible, like nothing I had ever seen before, and of course every single one of them played perfectly, like a custom ESP should.

This bass however, didn’t play so perfect for me. I didn’t even know what to do with all those strings. An 8 stringed bass, geez! You’d need three arms to play this thing!

Here’s the main man who works on fully custom pieces with tools and parts galore to fabricate anything imaginable from scratch. This guy does it all depending on the custom order.

Here is the custom paint and artwork department. This guy is working on a flame piece.  You can also see the dragon picture in front of him for the other order he’s working on.

The painting booth, where they spray base coats and layers of custom work, like the flame detail seen before. The smell in here is exactly what you’d expect, I kind of had a buzz just walking thorough this room.

Here are the custom necks in progress for the through-bodies and bolt-ons, as well as all the tools and sanding blocks for these beautiful maple and ebony necks. You can see the beautiful pearloide inlays on some necks hanging in the back, and the piles of blank wood blocks waiting to be sculpted into the next most amazing guitar you’ve ever played. One of the coolest days in my career. I learned so much that day, met so many cool people, and played so many beautiful axes.

The whole day reminded me of the first custom guitar I ever built with my dad at age 14. It was a Washburn Randy Rhodes style Flying V, and it was extra large compared to a standard Jackson. My dad and I convinced his friend to sell us an old body and neck for $40 and then with parts my dad had laying around we threw the guitar together in about 2 weeks. The final stage in the design was a formica laminate on the face of the guitar. It looked like real marble rock, detailed & epic. It was amazingly beautiful but it sounded a bit like cardboard. One day I threw it down in disgust and anger while rehearsing for a recording session. Later that night, after a recording session for some of the guitar solos for the Approaching the Darkness album, the guitar was stolen in a matter of seconds out of the back of the truck. While parked at a convenience store I lost it, and it changed my life forever. On that day I learned two very valuable lessons.

I realized you can’t stop crime but you can definitely help prevent it. Crime is opportunity and motivation. Seeing as I cannot change the motivation for those I haven’t met, the best thing to do is decrease opportunities. This has repeatedly proven to help me in life, all around the world. Secondly, this was my first real experience with what some might call “karma”. On that day I really began to appreciate the things I did have and tried to focus my efforts more towards a positive energy to myself, to others, and to the universe. I found myself happier. I grew more appreciation for my life and life’s opportunities. I began recycling more to help the planet, and being more kind to others. I still never found an old lady to help across the street though, but I’m young.

This is another guitar I built a few years after my Rhodes V got stolen. This one took a lot more work. It was a small cube of mahogany that I cut in fours, book matched, planed, and then shaped. To get the body shape I just free handed a drawing on a large brown grocery bag, cut it out and then used it as a template against the wood, and the basis for my free hand sculpture. This guitar came out amazing. Notice the rounded curves on everything making it very easy to hold and handle. The sharp head stock also looks totally wicked. This guitar is the lightest guitar I have ever played because its all mahogany with a small neck and headstock. The strap buttons were placed perfectly and make it very ergonomic to play. Plus the sound of the mahogany body and the EMG custom pickup set (SA, SA, 60) I installed, make this guitar sound perfect for so many uses. I even custom wired this guitar with push-pull volume pots that function as kill switches for the single coil pick ups. Allowing me to have a totally unique variety of tones. Including all three pickups, the neck and bridge pickup only, plus all the usual 3-way and 5-way toggle switch settings.

This guitar has a little tribute to the Flying V that was stolen. The back panel for the electronics cavity has the same marble formica finish as the Flying V. Check out the output jack placement, sort of a unique idea that worked out pretty well. It forces the cable to go through the strap, preventing any damage to the jack as well as not poking your leg while playing sitting down. You can also see in the last picture the push-pull pots and even the scalloped fretboard at the upper frets. I stole this idea from Yngwie Malmsteen. Its kind of cool but I only did it for a small section of the fretboard. It’s a lot harder than you might think to do a fretboard scalloping. Look how far the cut away is, it goes well beyond the fretboard. This allows super easy access, in conjunction with the scalloped frets, to shred in the upper register at ease.

Just before leaving ESP I stopped to shred for a bit on one axe that really caught my eye. A Randy Rhodes style V, custom 24 fret ebony wizard neck with a Floyd Rose bridge. This is the Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom) custom model. This guitar played like butter, kinda oily and yellow. This picture of me was also used on the cover of the Miracosta College catalogue, published a few years ago. How funny and cool, that they used me as a symbol of success to attract new students. The irony was that there was a hole in my pants right in the crotch, that we had to Photoshop for the catalog cover picture. That actually showed a more true representation of the grueling road life, but we found it inappropriate for a college campus catalog. Even to this day when I go back to Miracosta, where I received 6 technical vocational degrees and certificates, people still recognize me from that picture. I guess I was one of the most aspiring students in the school, and it felt great to lead by example. Even with my holy pants.

Seeing as this was my first time having multiple days off in Tokyo, by the last day, I could barely find any food I could tolerate. Although there was some awesome sushi just down the street from where we stayed, there was also some horrible sushi. The markets were lined with fish heads and plastic food all through the window displays. I eventually caved in and went to McDonalds for something simple and familiar, little did I know that even their hamburgers had fish and wasabi in them. Pretty much everything on the menu had wasabi in it, but honey badger didn’t give a shit, he’s pretty badass. Got three breakfast sandwiches with only one napkin, slammed ‘em down, and went for one last journey.

This was a sight I saw as I came out of the subway after breakfast. Can you believe this is one road way intersection?! The cars came from about 6 directions and the people came from even more. It’s like the lights just went walk, and everybody did a square dance in whichever direction they chose, and then the cars had their turn. I guess it’s more effective and efficient for the people, but very few other cultures have that much patience. In NYC, they just pile drive right through the pedestrians, with very little regard.

The people of Japan were very respectful to their history and culture. Here is a beautiful temple I found at the top of a hill, near our hotel. Out of fear of being sliced & diced by a Samurai, I elected to not take pictures of any children. Although seeing the kids all dressed up for the special Holiday was amazing. All the three, five and seven year olds were all decked out as little Samurais & Geishas. That’s an awesome tradition; I would’ve loved to dress up like a ninja when I was that age. In fact, I just did it last Tuesday.

Growing up I spent a lot of time in Oregon with my father; I used to go up there for summer and winter while school was on break. One summer I decided to take courses at Oregon State University, even though I was only ten. The only University classes I’ve ever taken are drawing and origami. Origami is the Japanese art of paper folding. “Ori” is the Japanese word for folding and “kami” is the Japanese word for paper. Origami began in China and spread to Japan during the sixth century. There was very little paper available so only the rich could afford to do paper folding. The Japanese found useful purposes for their origami, like gifts, decoration and food storage. For centuries the directions were taught to each generation and then handed down to the next. This form of art became part of the cultural heritage of the Japanese people. Check out this crane I did recently for fun, just to see if I still had the skills.  Got a little carried away though with the balloon, boat, and plane, it’s very therapeutic.

Japan is like nowhere else on earth, and if you can tolerate the food, it is an incredible experience. Even at 5’10”, which is considered the average height for an American male, I felt like a giant in Tokyo, towering over everyone in the streets. It seemed that myself and the other people in my group were the only non-Japanese people to be found in public. It made it very easy to find each other. Except there were often two of everyone, must have been the sake bombs.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Where outer space meets the Middle East, a whole new world on a magic carpet ride, or in a Ferrari. 

Tokyo, Japan

Domo Origami Mr. Rubato.

Sydney, Australia

Let’s put another Barbie on the shrimp, she’s delicious.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light…” But it really highlights your features, and green kinda makes you look like a pregnant alien.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Welcome to paradise, playmates, and stubborn goats that won’t share the road.

Athens, Greece

“When in Rome…” Destroy all the sculptural remains of the past…But leave the bosom please.

Stonehenge, England

“I said eighteen feet, not eighteen inches.”

Impentris Record Release Concert

Impentris was live in concert, it was an awesome show!!!

Sydney, Australia – Let’s put another Barbie on the shrimp, she’s delicious.

The first sight I saw in the daytime in Sydney, a poor view of downtown from high up in the elevator window at the hotel. For some reason I expected it to look different, even though it was still amazing. We didn’t have much time in Sydney, so we immediately jumped in the van and headed to a $60 million mansion. This was easily the most epic home I’ve ever been in. As we pulled up I captured this picture of the bay, seen from his driveway. It’s a slightly better view than from the hotel.

Behind the house, six floors down at water level, is the marina and his private dock. I found a few moments to sit out and enjoy being so close to the water. Even the sky looked like never before. It was amazing that the weather was so similar to San Diego. I realized it is almost exactly as far from the equator, but on the other side of the poles. The sky and clouds looked so different to what you would see above America though. Europe also showcases amazingly beautiful skies that are far different than the Americas, somehow captured in many paintings from European artists, but this was certainly a unique sky as well.

Here is the private dock from his poolside view, overlooking the downtown area of Sydney. The Sydney Opera House can be seen just to the left of the arc on the bridge, in the center of the picture. This gig was for a charity event put on for the most successful realtors in Sydney, and the event was incredible. What was most amazing to me, was the six floors of the mansion, which could be reached by elevator. Each floor was an inspiring private residence, each uniquely themed. The floor designated for our group had its own gym, multiple bedrooms, bathrooms, offices, and some of the most impressive sculptures and pieces of artwork I’ve ever seen. What I found especially cool was the “backstage” of the house, where the eight live-in workers had their personal residences, offices, security booths, storage areas, the kitchen, and so much more.

Even though we were not allowed to take pictures inside the house, I took the liberty of taking a picture of this couple chilling out in the backyard out by the marina. This metal work captures the beautiful, modern style that matched the inside of the house as well.

Here’s a picture of where the small event was held in his personal concert venue. There was an awesome sound system built right into the ceiling above the stage proscenium. It sounded great for the audience in the back of the room, but whoever designed the system didn’t realize that speakers vibrate when they run at high decibels. It made the whole lighting system rattle to an unacceptable noise level. Kinda like if you tried to measure the 0-60 mph acceleration of a grocery shopping cart. Center stage, it felt like an aircraft was about to land in this small hangar. Even with the technical oversights, this room was incredible. To the left was a full bar, behind the stage was his and her bathrooms that would make the Ritz Carlton look like a highway rest stop, and my favorite, the many incredible metal sculptures of various musicians all around the room.

I really wanted to go surfing while I was in Australia, but I never found the time. We were too far from any good waves on the days I was actually free. At one of our duller moments we actually tried to test the theory that water flows down a drain the opposite direction. We soon realized with the invention of most flushing systems, the water just does what the jets make it do. You have to actually use a body of water at rest, to see this experiment work correctly, and it was not nearly as exciting as we thought it might be. I did however learn that an Australian kiss is very similar to a French kiss, except one goes down under.

Even though we traveled Australia for about 10 days, I only took my camera out in Sydney, which is rare for me. We hit a lot of the big cities; Brisbane, Perth, and Melbourne as well. Somebody mentioned the main city planner & architect for a lot of Australia’s bigger cities spent much of his time studying San Diego and Los Angeles, and modeled these cities after Southern California. I could totally  see the resemblance after growing up in Southern California my whole life. The weather was almost identical too, much like the coastal desert regions of so-cal.

I had an awesome Australian experience, even without kangaroos or koalas. Even though I always wanted to go to Australia and surf, I just couldn’t find the time. Nonetheless, Australia was amazing and I would love to go back again. The stereotypes about males being rude and females that love Americans, didn’t exactly prove to be true. There were a few rude waiters along the way, but generally they were all great people. I found it fascinating that the history of Australia was that of English criminals taken to the island rather than putting them through the prison system. Either way they sure know how to live off the land and manage all those crocodiles. Plus, have you seen Rugby, Ouch!

When I got home from that trip I went straight to the beach at home in Oceanside to catch some waves. Here’s a picture of one of my favorite surf spots, south of the pier. I’ve seen six-foot sharks caught off the pier here, and a jellyfish at a beach close by stung me.

That’s still like the kiddie pool compared to the great down under. I hope next time I get the full Crocodile Dundee experience, away from the major cities where I can catch some wild life and experience one of the largest uninhabited territories on the planet. I’m just a little worried about the deadly spiders, snakes, lizards, and kangaroos that can shoot a rifle in the dark.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Where outer space meets the Middle East, a whole new world on a magic carpet ride, or in a Ferrari. 

Tokyo, Japan

Domo Origami Mr. Rubato.

Sydney, Australia

Let’s put another Barbie on the shrimp, she’s delicious.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

“Roxanne, you don’t have to put on the red light…” But it really highlights your features, and green kinda makes you look like a pregnant alien.

St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Welcome to paradise, playmates, and stubborn goats that won’t share the road.

Athens, Greece

“When in Rome…” Destroy all the sculptural remains of the past…But leave the bosom please.

Stonehenge, England

“I said eighteen feet, not eighteen inches.”

Impentris Record Release Concert

Impentris was live in concert, it was an awesome show!!!