#the rebellion wins back new york a few years before the kids turn 18

[turrondeluxe]

I'm curious... Granny April will always be Granny April, but how do the turtle tots see Casey Marie? Since you said they know most of their family history, does this mean they know Casey wanted to train them for war? How do they feel about this? Are some of them still a little resentful or are they already at peace with what happened and are ready to have a relationship with her?

The tots actually know April has a daughter! Even if Mikey makes a sour face whenever she does, April talks about her kid to the babies and tells them that they have a cousin. Even if the kids are aware of her existence growing up they don't really question why they've never met Casey because they know that New York is still somewhat of a war zone and that their cousin is basically the leader of the rebellion so she's definitely busy (she's somewhat of a very stranged family member since the start lol). The kids never truly talk to Casey until they are adults though. Mikey felt very strongly about them being old enough to decide if wanting to meet her after knowing she created them for war and all.

Since Michelangelo was actually able to save the babies from a child soldier life, the kids are rather forgiving of what Casey did because in the end that didn't happen and by this time Casey actually is remorseful of her way of thinking when creating them and just wants to get to know them as a family member. It takes a bit of time though (the kids, even if willing to forgive her and move on, are still very much on high alert around her (cough Uno and Moja cough). After all, they know of Mikey's life story and feel a sort of kinship of anger directed towards her (It fades away in the end though).

Definitely not resentful but still not the most buddy buddies straight from the start.

[mouthtrashworld]

HEAR ME OUT: PARIS HILTON INSPIRED ME TO GO TO ART SCHOOL

HEAR ME OUT: PARIS HILTON INSPIRED ME TO GO TO ART SCHOOL AND BECOME A FILMMAKER.

My sister and I played it cool until my parents dark purple grand caravan left the driveway. We knew we had to conceal our excitement of being home alone for a few hours in order to not seem suspicious. It was our chance to watch whatever trash was on television that day without the normal censorship our parents had set on us. My mother strived to win the gold medal for being a helicopter parent and my dad just agreed with whatever she said. Somehow we were always a step ahead of them. There was a vast lack of communication within my household which lead me to crave answers and sneak around to get them.

We really made a day of it. We pulled our big fluffy comforters off our beds and brought them to the couch, gathered every unhealthy snack from our cabinet (which was difficult as my mother kept a strict, low carb, low sodium, no sugar menu to chose from in our house) and hung heavy blankets over the windows to block out the glare on the 30 inch Panasonic VHS combo unit. My older sister, Cate, had control over the remote, she knew which channel number MTV played on and she memorized the Parental Control Password that was set on various channels that aired the exact rubbish it was to protect us from, but quickly became our favorite shows. At the time I didn’t even really know how Cate found out these shows existed. Our amount of media consumption was little to none. Living in a tiny town in Pennsylvania, attending private Christian school and hardly having a social life; our only connection to whats out there

would be the local blockbuster that my mother skirted us in and then quickly out of after renting wholesome family movies. I remember slipping away from my moms watch just long enough to find the “1 Night in Paris” sex tape DVD that was made in 2004 with Rick Salomon (who by the way has been married to Pamela Anderson TWICE!) and Paris Hilton as the star. A few years later, The Simple Life, featuring Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie became a huge success for Fox and was later taken over by E! network. The glimpse of the DVD cover was so scandalous I felt guilty just for looking at it. We were a few years late, really just catching the reruns of the show that E!, MTV or VH1 would play during the middle of the day, but we ate it up nonetheless.

The first episode I ever watched was on Season 5. The two girls become camp counselors and every week a different theme and set of campers come in to encounter their shenanigans. This episode was “Fat Camp” and the first order of business was for Paris and Nicole to give the campers enema’s before they start their week of dieting and exercise. It was absolutely ridiculous. I felt bad that these campers who fell victim to their bratty comments, yet my sister and I couldn’t take our eyes off it. Reality TV works in that way you know, where you feel bad, but not bad enough because its not your life.

Soon Cate and I started adding other reality shows to our pallet of rebellion. The Girls Next Door, a reality show about Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends living in the Playboy Mansion. Real World Cancun, AKA Jersey Shore before there was Jersey Shore. And of course The Hills where Lauren Conrad and Heidi Montag live it up in Orange County, a place I

thought was made up until I visited there in 2014. But the Simple Life remained my favorite of them all. But Paris Hilton was my first glimpse of glamour, so she always remained my favorite. Granted, Kim Kardashian has seemed to surpass her on many levels after starting out as her intern. And sure maybe Paris is an heiress who will never run out of money or resources and people behind her, producing her, but Miss Hilton found a savvy way to brand herself right at the pinnicale of the internet and she still had to work for it. As a filmmaker I am hyper aware of the way we consume media, which is why I’ve taken such an interest to Paris and this manipulation she had turned into an art form.

Before we go on, in case you don’t know how Paris got famous, I’m here to give you a brief backstory. Paris Hilton, heiress to the Hilton Hotels empire, was actually raised a lot like me. Her parents were strict. She wasn’t allowed to wear makeup or have much of a social life. I believe her parents knew what kind of name she bared and the harsh reality that could come with it, so they kept her on a tight leash. Despite their efforts to keep her tame she slipped away, out into the world long enough to meet famous photographer David LaChapelle, who became enamored with Paris and her sister Nicky, and insisting he take their photo. She knew it was highly against her parents rules to engage in that kind of activity but she went for it. He designed an elaborate set and costumes for them and they went ahead naively thinking the photos would be just for them to admire in private but were later were published in a 2001 Vanity Fair issue, getting her in a whole lot of trouble. She later had to turn down and offer to do Playboy because her parents would disinherit her. By the time she was 18 her career as a model

and professional partier could really take off. Paris became absolutely obsessed with fame. She came up with a formulated routine on how to grab the paparazzi’s attention. She would find all the places photographers would be hanging out that day and go to every single location just to be seen and her plan really seemed to work. She was the bright and shining star of every tabloid in America. She describes in the documentary film, “American Meme” how desperate she was, spending hours searching for a place with someone, anyone to take her picture no matter what it took. Her paparazzi access seemed responsible for Paris to become a household name. — add on?

We have to remember that this time, 2007-2009, was a turning point, as smart phones and blackberries were now in almost every American’s pocket and we were craving the tea more than ever. Tabloids started working around the clock to deliver us the latest scoop at the now possible all hours of the day; i.e. the tragedies of Amy Whinehouse, LiLo and her drug escapades, Britney Spears and her hairless melt down, the list goes on. We asked for it, we got it and kept asking for more. After Paris sought out these outlets, the offers poured in. Her own show, movie roles, modeling for brand name designers, she became a DJ, became an author, a business woman, a fashion designer she owns hotels in Dubai and is currently carrying a hefty 10.5 million instagram follower count.

I know what you’re thinking, like okay so who cares about this rich “bimbo” (dubbed courtesy of a New York Post article circa 2007) but just hear me out. Most of us can relate to her story and if not, at least to some of her tactics. What I grew to realize after becoming social media obsessed (possibly because I was deprived as a child) is that

no matter how information changes or what new technology comes to pass it along to us, we will always be doing it in the same way. I watched Myspace come and pass, seeing thousands of singers, bands and actresses get discovered through that site, even some playmates in Playboy magazine. I saw Facebook allow us to put every single thing about our lives on blast at any minute of the day. Twitter allows us to barf our thoughts up in once 180, now 280 characters, Vine stars made 6 seconds videos and now make 6 figures from their fame and last but not least Instagram, and trust me when I say I cringe having to say this, “influencers” sell to us with every photo or video they post. Whether that be a lifestyle, a product or just themselves as a person. A vast majority of us have to admit that we are drinking the juice. We ourselves are partaking in marketing our “best life” being lived via Instagram. So ask yourself, what is the difference between what we are doing on the Gram versus what Paris was doing in 2006, showcasing her persona to the media in the only way it was accessible at the time? Why not manipulate it the same way it manipulates us? Find out where the quote on quote Paparazzi are and market yourself the same way reality stars did.

Not that I have the intention to come up in the same way some of these heiresses who’s names are already famous or these vine stars or twitter comedians did but I have the power to show a portion of the world who I am and what I can do to earn my career as a filmmaker and communicator via social media.

I realized that what I was doing as a little kid, waiting for my parents to leave to seek a world outside my own is exactly what Paris did. She took the risk and got the answers.

Her obsession with fame coincided with my obsession with social media, to communicate and or get my work out there. I’m just trying to work system to brand myself. My research shows that the reality show we down load from an app store and place in our pockets has led me to some big wins. Upon getting hired for shoots or my work recognized in some way, I see there is a formula to the entire thing. When to post, how to post, who to follow, etc. I have no producers behind me to curate my Instagram, I have no connection to someone with a big name. All I have is myself to show for what I can do and if I keep going back to the place with the most access to the loudest voices , like Paris did I may have a shot at getting my own voice out there and I will say more important things than “thats hot” I promise you.

In the end I think that the reason I clung to Paris and her story so deeply was because it was virtually first and foremost example I had and to as impressionable young woman, that kind of thing sticks. The definition of success and how to obtain it was taught to me was by sneaking her show on a Saturday afternoon while my parents when to Shop Rite without me. I’ve just stayed observing all the ways fame has developed via internet and can lead to success. But the beauty of the defying gravity factor is that this blond “bimbo” and many other “bimbos” like her have done the same thing, most without the Hilton name. All I did was think twice before I believed that reality television was just a trashy phase. Instead I realized that I, like many others, am still consuming similar content in 2009 now in 2019, the difference is its in the palm of my hand and I’m deciding to take advantage of it.

[idolizerp]

LOADING INFORMATION ON POIZN’S LEAD RAP, LEAD DANCE KANG CHANYEOL…

IDOL DETAILS

STAGENAME: N/A CURRENT AGE: 26 DEBUT AGE: 18 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: 15 COMPANY: 99 ETC: This member is a rap soloist

IDOL IMAGE

Most idols are forced to wear masks, completely fabricated personalities or at least heavily distorted versions of reality, to fit the image desired by their companies. Pushed into boxes without so much as the chance to protest and thrown onto the stage with their new colours displayed proudly. Some take to it well, some can’t acclimatise and fall flat on their faces. On some rare occasions there’s no need to adapt, the person already ticking every box on the checklist, personality perfectly synchronised with the concept. This is the case with Kang Chanyeol.

Poizn have always been defined by their bad boy image, and even before considering his future prospects as an idol this was how he decided to display himself to the world. A carefully curated exhibition of attitude and cock-sureness, delinquency and unpredictability, bluntness and raucousness. And so the transition from trainee is near seamless, and rather than toning him down, burying his cockiness and smoothing the rough edges, they instead focus a magnifying glass on them. Amplifying and exaggerating those aspects of his personality instead, the faint fog of arrogance that surrounds him doesn’t always win fans and he’s grown to be a somewhat divisive figure, but it keeps the group on everyone’s lips.

Time has gone some way to tempering this. These days he is no longer the cheeky upstart with delusions of grandeur and no qualms about stepping out of line or speaking out of turn. The fiery passion that had previously defined him has frozen over. Every year that passes, every scandal that plagues them, and every poorly judged choice from company higher ups serves only to sour him, chilling his demeanour further. He still knows to play along with the group, to do as he’s told and paint the picture they’ve commissioned, and when to shut his mouth but there are times when he can’t hide the disdain.

A rebellion against 99 as much as anything else, he is often deliberately contrarian. A few years back they attempted to re-brand him, to somewhat rehabilitate his image and present Chanyeol 2/0 to the world; an idol that retains the same tsundere charms and devil may care attitude, but with softer edges than before. A savage beast with a heart rather than a up and up punk intent on provoking for the sake of provoking. It’s been met with open arms by some, a healthy dose of scepticism by others, but behind it all he remains the same man as before, barely pulling his punches anymore and most days barely managing to veil his contempt.

IDOL HISTORY

Chanyeol never wanted to play the bad guy, but when most of your life is spent in the company of the amoral and outright dishonourable it is perhaps an inevitability.

To most children money holds little value, just scraps of paper and lumps of metal, but to his parents it is the single most important thing in their lives. To say that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth would be a vast understatement. The spoon is at the very least golden, the handle encrusted with rubies and diamonds. He never wants for anything. Every need and desire, the finest foods, clothes, education, is catered for with just a click of his fingers, always someone to wait on him. It’s a lifestyle that so many crave, and in his early years it’s one he adores.

As the years roll by however, the novelty begins to wear thin. He’s lucky if he sees his parents more than once a week, and even then, only for a few hours, instead raised by a vastly underpaid minder. Even when they’re home, they’re rarely resent, instead preoccupied with conference calls or meetings. They are more interested in their business than in their son, building the empire that he is one day expected to inherit. A kingdom for an unwilling emperor. They ply him with gifts, buy his affection and attempt to plug the gap with material possessions. It fails miserably.

He struggles connecting with people his own age, having next to nothing in common with his peers. Those in the echelons of the upper class do not share his feelings of disdain, and the rest deem him too snobbish, too elitist to bother with him despite all of his efforts to prove the contrary. A few try to draw close, but as the years pass it becomes clear that they are less interested in him, and more interested in the family coffers. He grows to be distrustful, assuming an ulterior motive in everyone and burning up any would-be Icarus without care when they stray too close to the sun.

He feels ostracised, like a piece from the wrong puzzle; he just wants to be normal. To be noticed by his family, and seen as something other than a walking cheque book. Friends, even. But most of all to be appreciated as a human being.

A lone wolf in almost every sense of the word, on a diet of haywire hormones and teenage angst Chanyeol’s attitude only sours. Attempts to purchase his affection become more and more extravagant in turn. He starts acting out to get some sort of reaction, to pull some response from the ivory tower, but one never comes. Instead it just drives him further into the wilderness, those around him becoming even more reluctant to interact. By age ten he’s buried under a mountain of toys, age eleven drowning in a sea of electronics, and age twelve suffocating under a mass of musical instruments. A guitar, a piano, a violin; he doesn’t even know why. He’s never expressed any interest in the arts. Perhaps they’ve simply run out of things to buy him, or perhaps they truly knew so little about their own son. Either way, most are discarded or forgotten about.

Landing himself in (yet another) schoolyard fight aged fourteen is a turning point. Looking back he can’t even remember what caused the conflict, only that blows were traded and bruises exchanged; split lips and black eyes were near semi-permanent features of his face. The school punishes them, and it forges a strange bond. They clash, but they would go to the ends of the earth for one another. Two kids mad at the world, feeling forsaken by everyone around them. It’s the first time that a real connection is made, and over the months they draw close. The new companion is entrenched in western music, and introduces him to the sounds of 1970s London and 1980s New York and early 2000s Seoul. The sounds draws him in and the attitude makes him stay. Fiery rebellion. No one person better than any other. Anarchy. Punk rock.

When the bassist leaves his friend’s band, he steps up despite not having played a note in his life. “The Sex Pistols couldn’t play when they were recording albums, four chords and the truth is all you need, it’ll be fine.” He reasoned, digging out one of the guitars that had been buried in storage for years. It was here that he learned how quickly he could pick up instruments, and first fell in love with performance. The band ends rather suddenly a little over a year later, tensions within the group rising to unbearable and irreconcilable levels, and his outlook sours once more.

Age fifteen he’s asked by his parents, or rather an employee of theirs, to model for a few lines scheduled for release later in the year by subsidiaries of their main brand. Modelling is not something that he’s particularly comfortable, or even familiar with, at this stage but he agrees regardless. It’s likely just another money saving measure, he realises, but if he shows willing enough he might finally earn their approval. Despite his hesitance he takes to it like a duck to water, and returns to shoot promos twice more over the following months. None of the photos from the second or third shoot ever see the light of day.

After the third shoot he’s caught off guard, a stranger thrusting a business card in his direction babbling about an audition and then scurrying into the crowds outside the studio. Chanyeol simply scoffs. What’s prompted it he isn’t sure (That revelation would come later), nor is he certain how genuine it was. Though his initial reaction is to toss the slip over his shoulder he instead tucks it into his wallet, eyeing it cautiously over the course of a few days before curiosity gets the better of him.

It’s not a path he’s ever paid much mind; in fact it’s one he’s been actively against. The Korean entertainment industry is the antithesis of punk values in his mind, a hive money hungry businessmen watching over a factory floor where teenagers are stripped of personality. Now that the offer’s been made though, he’s rethinking. It would give him direction that he was sorely lacking, free him from the shadow of the family name, fans to feed his ego, and he’d be able to perform for a living… worst case scenario, he can buy out the contract. Best case it’s a platform that he currently lacks.

As it turns out the stranger had been serious, and what’s more when the time comes for his audition he sails through. Contracts are signed, and he’s in. Clean. Simple. Nowhere nearly as traumatic and stressful as he’d heard others make out.

Training is manageable. Gruelling, but manageable. He has less experience than most, weaknesses obvious from the outset but over time he learns to hold his own. The early months are rough, Chanyeol growing frustrated at his shortcomings and barely scraping through the first few evaluations, and he’s often tempted to quit but still he soldiers on. During this time he falls in love with hip-hop, noticing the similarities with the subculture that he knows and loves. The same rebellion, the same danger, the same edge. When it becomes clear that his vocals are weaker than so many of his peers, he instead focuses on rap and only then finds his feet.

There’s always a feeling that he’s treated differently though. The instructors are firm, but they seem to be less harsh towards him. His attitude persists and for whatever reason it isn’t crushed underfoot. This is not a world that he knows well, but even he knows better than to test the boundaries, and so never steps too far out of line, but little things seem to slip through the net. It’s never said aloud, but Chanyeol feels it, and so do his fellow trainees. Nobody dares outright call it out for what it is, but they treat him differently. Some shun him, seeing the treatment as unfair, and some scramble closer hoping that mere proximity will make their ride easier. It’s an all too familiar vision of the past that begins to push him back towards bitterness.

Three years pass before he debuts. Time sees him hone his rap skills and become a skilled dancer, and though his singing still sometimes borders on woeful his stage presence (and more than a little studio trickery) overshadow the flaws. Poizn are an ideal fit, the concept a near perfect match for Chanyeol.

It isn’t long before the scandals begin. Smaller at first, but escalating quickly. Other members take the fall first, tell all articles and exposes by netizens suggesting that perhaps their bad boy image is less of an illusion and more of a reality. When dealing with the backlash it seems as though are intent on making the worst decision possible at every turn; brushing off rumours rather than addressing them, outright ignoring others and letting them fester. Perhaps he should be mad at the members, but in his mind the damage that each scandal has is a failure of management, and the company are entirely to blame for not dealing with them.

For his part, Chanyeol’s scandals have only ever centered on one thing. Not relationships, not sex, not drink, all of that is carefully hidden, but there is no containing his fiery attitude. He is caught on camera in the midst of heated exchanges with several members of staff and other idols on more than one occasion. It all pales in comparison to his reaction to a gaggle of Saesang fans tailing their car one night, when he is filmed exploding at them and using language less than befitting of an idol before storming away.

For this, they pull him from group promotions, effectively throwing him into the cellar and losing the key. The response seems disproportionate considering past actions by 99, and Chanyeol feels personally slighted. That Christmas he returns home, and as is typical of the festive season things end in arguments. He confides in his parents, who have decided to make a rare appearance, about his frustrations with the company, about their mismanagement of Poizn. About how torn up he is over it, how it’s almost destroyed him before he’s even begun. They simply shrug. “Don’t worry about it. Money is the best motivator.” His father says, barely looking up from his plate. It’s as though he genuinely doesn’t understand why people are up in arms. “We’ll write them another cheque, encourage them to let you do what you like. Or we just get lawyers involved.”

It’s said so flippantly that you’d miss it if you blinked. Slowly the cogs click into place. Another cheque. Through gritted teeth he asks the question, gets the answer he expects, and thus begins the shouting match. They didn’t outright buy his place in Poizn, but they paid enough to encourage a scout to wait outside the photoshoot and grant him an audition.  He passed on his own merits, but the fact remains that the only reason they saw him was because their palms had been greased. On top of that, a few extra Won had ensured that the entire process was a painless as possible and though he’d had to train just as hard as everyone else for his spot in the lineup rumours of special treatment were not entirely unfounded.

He doesn’t bother to ask why they’d done it, or why they hadn’t thought it worth mentioning. He assumes it’s another misguided attempt to buy his loyalty, or to keep their brand relevant. Nothing would be better publicity than the prodigal son of the fashion moguls becoming a star, after all. Whatever the reason, whatever the intention, it doesn’t lessen the sting or the sour taste in his mouth. Needless to say they now speak even less than before.

Everything that he has, he only has because it was paid for. Every opportunity he’s been granted, the result of a dirty deal. How much was down to him? And how much was down to his bank account? Everyone he chooses to trust believes in him so little that they see the only path to success as corruption and bribery.

The stigma lingers like a bad smell, melding with the countless other controversies of the members that emerge shortly after their debut. The whispers persist weighing heavy on Chanyeol, anytime it’s mentioned he physically stiffens up and looks as though he’s about to launch across the room and punch you. The public see him as a joke. Other idols see him as a punk, and not the kind he’d hoped for. Both simply sneer.

And he sneers back. If they want a villain, he’ll give them a villain.

His attitude only spirals. On camera he becomes gradually frostier, but manages to maintain the image that they’ve built their career on. Off camera he stops caring about how he’s viewed. Stops even trying to be personable, teeth bared and ready to lash out at any given moment. Blunt as a rock, his words drip with venom and tongue cuts like a razor. If you do good by him, he’ll do good by you, but otherwise he has no problem cutting you down as so may others have done to him.

A few years later, of begrudgingly playing the game, avoiding scandal and rising through the ranks, the company are convinced that his image can be rehabilitated. They wish to maintain his hardened, devil may care image, but soften the edges. In return for playing along, they say they’ll give him a solo with creative control. It feels no less dirty being on the receiving end of the bribe, and it’s tempting to refuse but… creative control has always been his endgame. And so he begrudgingly agrees.

Poizn have been around longer than most, at this point a legacy group in all but title. And yet now they are arguably more relevant than ever, the runaway Love Scenario shifting the goal posts. Where at times in the past it had felt as though they’d been coasting, a conduit for scandal and little else, this is a shot at group redemption. It’s enough to wake something up inside of him.

Long term, he’s under no illusions about his future. The chances of his contract being renewed are negligible at best, and frankly he’s jumping for joy at the prospect of ditching 99. The only reason he hasn’t jumped overboard yet is fear of dragging his members down with him. Despite it all, they’re the closest thing to a functional family he has ever known. Besides, it would be foolish to depart when they were riding such a high, so for now he’ll just do as he’s told. With any luck his solo career continues to be a success; consider it an audition tape for any other companies interested in taking him on after he’s unceremoniously dumped.

[rockrevoltmagazine]

MASON HILL Release Official Music Video for "D.N.A."

First Rock Act to Debut Album in UK Top 20 since GRETA VAN FLEET in 2018 & and the first British rock act debut album Top 20 and #1 UK rock chart since Royal Blood in 2014!!

Glasgow, UK based Rock band MASON HILL has released the official music video for their blistering metal single, “D.N.A.” Directed and produced by David Barras and Scott McKay for Strangeboat Productions, “D.N.A.” is the third single off the band’s chart dominating debut album, Against The Wall.

“D.N.A.” is also dominating German and French charts, sitting comfortably on Rock Antenne FM’s‘ top 20 and hitting top 10 in the Heavy 1 French radio chart.

“A blistering and hook filled bit of gleaming modern metal, it manages to perfectly mesh heaviness with melody that shows a maturity way beyond most of their peers.

With a superb production, this just doesn’t pop out of the speakers, it practically roars, the Highland passion in full flow and Celtic fire blazing.” – Metal Planet Magazine

Released on March 5th, Against The Wall achieved the UK national album chart at number 19, taking a coveted top 20 album position, and reached over 750,000 streams on Spotify. The long awaited album, which received critical acclaim from both media and fans alike, also hit number 1 in the UK rock album chart. It is the first time a rock band has debuted with their album in the UK Top 20 since Greta Van Fleet in 2018 and also the first time a British rock act as debuted with their album in the UK Top 20 and # 1 in the UK rock album chart since Royal Blood and Lonely The Brave back in 2014!

It is an incredible achievement for new British rock band, starting from an almost zero sales base and during a pandemic when there has been no traditional retail, no live shows or touring opportunities. The innovative marketing campaign run by both 7Hz Productions (ADA) and the band involved a six month fan building initiative utilizing the band’s social platforms, streaming performances, virtual ‘in store’ launch events, dark ad audience building and strategic media take over promotions. Coupled with very positive press reviews, online reviews, regional radio support, and four Planet Rock playlist additions, the band’s new album has connected musically with rock fans resulting in a surge of sales.

The band is set to release their next digital single, a cover of the 2005 Foo Fighters hit “The Best Of You,” all platforms on April 23, 2021.

Against the Wall Track Last: 1. Reborn 2. No Regret 3. Against the Wall 4. Broken Son 5. D.N.A. 6. Who We Are 7. Find My Way 8. Hold On 9. Out Of Reach 10. We Pray 11. Where I Belong 12. Reborn (Reprise)

Purchase / Stream Against the Wall Online: iTunes | Spotify | Amazon | YouTube

  Click HERE to Order ‘Against the Wall’ Vinyl (Red & Blue Vinyl Sold Out)!

MASON HILL has also announced UK tour dates. The 17 date UK & Irish tour will head out in early September with support from Hollowstar and Empyre. Despite never having headlined a club tour before, the band has sold 1,800 tour tickets in just 2 weeks!

“Our fans have been so supportive and to have a top 20 national album on our first release is mind blowing. We are extremely humbled at the reception Against The Wall has received and needless to say, it has been an extremely bright light for us during this long Covid tunnel. It has made us even more hungry to get back out and play live again. Everyone is itching to crank up the volume and blast out the new material” – (Scott Taylor – Vocals)

Tour Dates: 09/02 @ Tunnels – Aberdeen, Scotland 09/03 @ Garage – Glasgow, Scotland 09/04 @ Macarts – Galashiels, Scotland 09/09 @ Grand Social – Dublin, Ireland 09/10 @ Voodoo – Belfast, Ireland 09/14 @ Junction 2 – Cambridge, England 09/15 @ Corporation – Sheffield, England 09/16 @ Fleece – Bristol, England 09/17 @ Patterns – Brighton, England 09/18 @ Leos – Gravesend, England (Sold Out) 09/20 @ Globe – Cardiff, Wales 09/21 @ Joiners – Southampton, England 09/22 @ Nightrain – Bradford, England 09/23 @ Waterloo Music Bar – Blackpool 09/24 @ Underworld – London, England 09/25 @ Rebellion – Manchester, England 09/26 @ KK’s Steel Mill – Wolverhampton, England

Click HERE for Additional Dates & Ticketing Information.

To trace the Mason Hill story to its origin, Scott Taylor and James Bird met at school in Glasgow. At the age of 14, Bird was already an accomplished, award-winning, gifted guitar prodigy, who’d shared a stage with Ozzy Osbourne/Black Label Society man Zakk Wylde, a personal hero, toured across the UK, and secured endorsements from leading music brands. The teenage Taylor already harboured dreams of fronting a rock ’n’ roll band, and the pair’s friendship and shared aspirations led them to form a band. In 2013 the pair formed Mason Hill, adding drummer Craig McFetridge, bassist Matthew Ward, and guitarist Marc Montgomery in due course. Five diverse, colourful characters, the members of the group were instantly bonded by a shared, singular vision for their band: Taylor relinquished long-held plans to become an Olympic swimmer in order to focus on music, while Ward withdrew from a degree course at the University of Glasgow, where he’d been studying microbiology/virology. For these ambitious young men, Mason Hill was and is priority number one.

Mason Hill are Scott Taylor (Lead Vocals), James Bird (Lead Guitar), Marc Montgomery (Guitar), Matthew Ward (Bass) and Craig McFetridge (Drums)

THE STORY SO FAR Mason Hill has spent their formative years “learning their craft” on stages up and down the UK. This included high profile shows supporting the likes of Graham Bonnet (Rainbow), Snakecharmer (feat. ex-Whitesnake, Thunder & Wishbone Ash members), Toseland, Marco Mendoza (Whitesnake, Thin Lizzy, Ted Nugent, The Dead Daisies) and Stone Broken.

“this is the best new heavy rock act currently performing in the UK.” (Fabrications HQ)

“a prodigious talent that belies their fledgling years.” (Planet Rock)

In December 2015 the band released their debut E.P, the self titled Mason Hill, featuring four tracks which highlighted exactly why this band are turning heads – outstanding songs that demonstrated a maturity far beyond their years. Recorded at The Foundry Music Lab with Sandy Jones (Wet Wet Wet) in the producer’s chair, the EP has been critically acclaimed amongst the music press and fans alike.

2016 brought several breakthroughs in the band’s career, firstly the invitation to perform on The Rising Stage at Ramblin’ Man Fair, headlined by Whitesnake and Black Stone Cherry, winning the UK wide Highway To Hell battle of the bands competition that earned them opening the main stage slot at Hard Rock Hell, alongside the likes of Ugly Kid Joe, Ratt, and Glenn Hughes, appearing at Winterstorm Festival, alongside the likes of Ricky Warwick, Last in Line (ex-Dio) and Inglorious to selling out their first ever headline show at the famous Cathouse Rock Club in Glasgow with one month left to spare – a feat only achieved in recent times by Anthrax and Black Stone Cherry.

The career progression continued into early 2017 when the band was special guest to Inglorious in London at their sold out second album launch show, appeared triumphantly at Download on The Boardie Takeover Stage, opened for Airbourne at their sold out show in Edinburgh. and returned to their hometown for their second headline show at G2; again this sold out with demand so great that it was upgraded to the 750 capacity The Garage where the likes of Magnum, Tesla, and Symphony X have performed – packing the place to the rafters

The first promo video “’Now You See Me” was released in 2017, which to date has more than a quarter of a million views.

The year ended with support for GUN at Glasgow Barrowlands in December plus an appearance at Planet Rockstock:

“Fresh-faced Glasgow boys Mason Hill were nothing short of a triumph. Completely packing out the room, they served up a rock and roll storm from the offset with anthems like ‘Now You See Me’ before showing off another side of their art with powerful closer ‘Where I Belong’ that delved into rock ballad territory. In fact, the Planet Rockstock faithful were so won over we’ve been inundated with requests for Mason Hill to be bumped up the bill in 2018” (Planet Rock)

The band spent a lot of time developing material for their album and the first show of 2018 was at Glasgow’s King Tuts which sold out in three days, ten weeks in advance of show!

Ladies and gentlemen – Mason Hill are back with fire in their belly. This group of high achievers carry the pressure of early success but as they take to the stage to the intro tape, it is obvious they have class and confidence…” (Down The Front Media)

“There are few up and coming acts in Scotland that have made a notable impression as swiftly as Glasgow rockers Mason Hill. They have grown in popularity and garnered an insane following like nothing else” (SMS, Scotland)

“Mason Hill never disappoint, in fact they always take it to the next level every time you see them” (Jace Media)

This was followed by an appearance at TRNSMT on the same day as Queen, and Steelhouse Festival in Wales alongside such as Black Star Riders, Glenn Hughes and, Myles Kennedy.

The latter part of 2018 saw Mason Hill going out on tour supporting The Dan Reed Network at shows across the UK and a return to Planet Rockstock, by popular demand after their performance in 2017, this time on the main stage.

In a further development Mason Hill agreed to part ways with Frontiers Records.

A further sold out King Tuts show followed in 2019 and a sub headline slot at Planet Rock’s Winters End in February 2020. Since then live activity has been curtailed by the covid 19 pandemic, in common with every other band. However the band has not been idle and the focus has been on the debut album, recorded at Riverside Studios near Glasgow and vocals in New York, and mixed by Chris Sheldon (Foo Fighters, Biffy Clyro).

In 2020 the band signed a management contract with Jaba Music and a record deal with 7Hz Productions, and the album release date is planned for 5 March 2021. Three singles have so far been released to date from the album to critical acclaim.

2021 promises to be a big year for Mason Hill, despite on going restrictions.

Mason Hill are just getting started!

Connect with MASON HILL: Official Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

MASON HILL Release Official Music Video for “D.N.A.” was originally published on RockRevolt Mag

[gossipnetwork-blog]

How Scooters Are Becoming Millennials' Extreme Sport of Choice

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How Scooters Are Becoming Millennials' Extreme Sport of Choice

Pedestrians on the sidewalks of downtown Chicago hold up cellphone cameras, drivers honk in frustration and the police don’t quite know what to do. It’s not every day that 300 young scooter riders flood the streets, ignoring red lights and turning a loading dock into a temporary stadium – to the dismay of at least one exasperated business owner.

It’s called a street jam, where riders flock from all over the world to shred a city, performing tricks and causing the same type of mayhem more usually associated with skateboarders. For those who grew up during the Razor-scooter boom in the early aughts, it’s hard to see a scooter as much more than a fad, let alone a symbol of rebellion, but that stereotype doesn’t exist for the younger generation. Eighteen years after the release of the first Razor, scooters have come of age, spawning a uniquely millennial subculture with the same disruptive spirit as skateboarding – minus the steep learning curve. And according to many scooter riders, it’s actually overtaking skateboarding in popularity.

“I’ve seen less and less skateboarders over the years,” says Devin Szydlowski, a 17-year-old semi-pro rider who traveled from San Luis Obispo, California, to take part in the Chicago Jam in August, one of the largest in the U.S. “It depends on the [skate] park, but we have the majority. There’s more scooter riders than skateboarders. We’re targeting younger kids, whereas skateboarding is targeting older kids.” A study on Statista.com by the Outdoor Foundation backs up his observation: The number of skateboarders in the U.S. decreased from 10.1 million to 6.4 million between 2006 and 2016, with an even more dramatic drop among skaters age six to 17.

“It’s huge in other countries,” says Logan Fuller, a 25-year-old whose baggy, torn jeans and mischievous eyes look straight out of a Nineties issue of Thrasher magazine. He’s one of the best known scooter riders at the jam and is capable of grinding down a 22-stair handrail. Fuller is based in Maryland but basically lives on the road, traveling from jam to jam, supported by sponsorships and contest winnings. “I just went to Russia and France for street jams, they’re crazy. There’s, like, a thousand people,” he says.

Starting at Grant Park Skate Park, the riders at the Chicago Jam – most of whom look under 18 – critical-mass through downtown, stopping along the way to grind down rails and spin scooters around their heads like helicopters. As with skateboarding, the chance of landing a trick is relatively low and the probability of racking yourself on a rail dangerously high.

The event is totally rogue, with no permits and no Internet trail outside social media. Historically, it was organized by a prominent scooter manufacturer, but this year it grew too large for a business to carry the legal liability should (or when) the cops arrive. It’s so loosely planned that there’s not even a route map; organizers simply direct the mob using a megaphone.

The best tricks win prize money, crucial since many of the top street scooter riders backpack across the country for months at a time. But what’s more important than money is the opportunity to put faces to Instagram names. After the jam, kids gather in a warehouse to watch the premiere of a scooter film, buy scooter art prints and mosh to a performance by Atlanta rapper KZ, whose Instagram features as many photos of him on a scooter as in the studio. There’s a rebellious spirit to the gathering, and half the young riders seem like the type to sneak cigarettes between classes – but good luck asking any of them for a lighter. After all, this is the vaping generation.

Skateboarding’s roots lie in 1960s surf culture, but push scooters originated as much more of a kids’ toy. The image started to change when Razor launched its insanely popular “Pro” model in 2000. The founder owned a toy company and saw that scooters had become trendy as transportation for Japanese businessmen in Tokyo, thus the brand’s initial retail partner: The Sharper Image (sticker price: $149). They sold at a pace of one million units per month for the first six months.

Razor soon realized that scooters could become a new action sport and began to invest in building a community. In 2001, they offered a $1,000 prize for the first person to land a backflip and created the first touring team of riders.

“We started putting on competitions locally and then a national tour,” says Ali Kermani, a skateboarder who helped Razor cultivate its extreme-sports program. “We’d go all over the place to skate parks that had strong scooter scenes, like the Incline Club in New Jersey and Skate Barn West in Washington [State]. Then the first street jams started happening in New York.”

Even though the sport isn’t recognized by the X-Games and no Tony Hawk figure has propelled it to the mainstream, athletes are innovating at an unprecedented pace. The most groundbreaking trick in skateboarding history is likely Hawk’s 900 at the 1999 X-Games, the result of nearly 50 years of skating progression. Scooter rider KC Corning landed one in 2004, showing how quickly the sport is evolving.

“Scootering is the first sport that developed through the Internet, so we were able to build a whole industry in just a few years,” says Andrew Broussard, considered by many to be the godfather of scootering. He landed his first tailwhip on July 4th, 2001, and became hooked. While still in high school, he launched Scooter Resource, a message board that for the next decade would be the website of record for the community. Broussard also began hacking together custom scooters capable of taking more abuse, a business originally branded Scooter Resource in 2006, before being renamed Proto Scooters in 2008. The company doubled its revenue for six years straight, its growth only slowing once a rush of other companies entered the market.

A rift exists between “park” and “street” brands, with street riders preferring upstart, rider-owned companies like Proto and TSI to corporate operations like Fuzion (available at Walmart). Scooters are modular, which has created a marketplace for component-specific companies like River Wheel Co. and Tilt, which produces nearly indestructible wheels, decks, forks and even the clamps that connect the parts. Scooter riders (or often their parents) drop up to $700 on pro-level rides, a sharp contrast to the costs of earlier models.

One scooter rider grinds down a rail in Grant Park, Chicago.

The lexicon of tricks grew and was cataloged on Scooter Resource with specific credits for the pioneers behind each move. Because a scooter has handlebars like a BMX bike and a deck like a skateboard, it’s a hybrid capable of incorporating tricks from each with a much quicker learning curve, which is undoubtedly part of why it appeals to a younger crowd.

“When you first start out skating, you can’t just ollie right away, you have to practice for six months,” says Szydlowski. “On a scooter, a bunny hop takes, like, a day to learn. Or an hour.”

Today’s riders mainly find inspiration on YouTube. It’s resulted in underground scooter celebrities like the Funk Bros – Corey and Capron Funk – who are far from household names but boast 3.5 million subscribers. Scooters still play a part in their videos, but they’re now known mainly as Jackass-style pranksters (who can land triple front flips). Ryan Williams, a well-known rider of both scooters and BMX bikes, has 950,000 Instagram followers. But despite these riders’ huge followings, their popularity leaves little trace outside social media.

The rest of the community is the same; nearly everything happens on Instagram or Facebook. According to Tommy Daddono, one of the organizers of the Chicago Jam and a founder of scooter manufacturer Outset Select, his event is one of the most popular street jams in the world, but it was un-Googleable until a week after the dust had cleared.

Since pro-level scooters are so costly, many of the kids come from affluent backgrounds. Despite this, the scene feels decidedly DIY. Riders dress with a mix of grungy skater gear and a touch of Internet irony. One middle-school rider in Chicago wore a black cap with small text reading “Link in Bio.” Just like skateboarders, shredded jeans and dirty Vans are the style, but unfortunately for the burgeoning scene, it takes more than just streetwear to convince skateboarders who came of age during Razor’s initial boom that scooters are cool. Landing a backflip at a skatepark definitely turns heads, but a combination of entitlement and inexperience has made most scooter riders a bane to skateboarders, inline skaters and BMX riders.

“There’s a stigma because of all the little kids,” says Daddono. “Every skateboarder will tell you that [scooterers] don’t look where they’re going, they’ll ride in front of you. They don’t have the etiquette yet.” Many simply never learn, which Broussard credits to a lack of guidance from older kids. “Skaters will complain about it, but they’ll never go up to scooter riders and explain why what they’re doing is dangerous or bad park etiquette,” says Broussard. “But if it’s a young skateboarder, they’ll give them pointers and help them out. It’s a hypocritical attitude.”

Pioneering riders like Daddono, 24, and Broussard, 31, turned to scooting because they felt skateboarding’s street credibility died with its commercial boom. Buying a board at the mall wasn’t rebellious. Instead, early scooter riders dug through garage sales for dollar scooters, took them to skate parks and rode them until they were literally destroyed – typically about an hour.

“Skateboarding used to be anti-establishment, but now if you wear skate clothing, you’re trendy,” says Broussard. “Scooters started [out] punk-rock. The older generation couldn’t afford skateboards or BMX bikes, but we could dumpster-dive for scooters.”

“Every skatepark I’ve been in, there’s always a skateboarder with a chip on their shoulder and are super mad,” says Szydlowski. “Skateboarders are trying to make themselves feel better, because they know that their sport is dying in a sense.”

Although events like the Chicago Jam appeal to a younger audience, it’s the relatively older kids who play the starring roles. Mike Hohmann, a 22-year-old with frayed Kurt Vile hair, is a good bet to win prize money at any jam. He’s based in Florida but has spent the past six months couchsurfing between events across the country. In May, he won several hundred dollars for grinding a 30-foot rail called the Green Monster in Austin and had a similar payday in Chicago for landing a backside 360 bar twist down a dozen steps at Grant Park. Once Hohmann’s cash runs dry, he’ll return to Florida to work a pair of minimum-wage jobs to save for his next trip.

“It’s the community I love. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you are, everyone’s a brother here,” says Hohmann.

Scant documentation of the community has emerged outside social media, but the scene does have historians. One is Dylan Kasson, a professional rider for Proto who has photographed scooting for a decade and hosts a popular podcast, Tandem. He’s produced several photo books and is compiling a larger survey of the sport that he hopes to publish under the title The Scene.

“Scootering is so new that it’s still in that stage where there’s a lot of untapped potential,” says Kasson. “Videos are the most important thing. That’s how people realize new tricks are possible.” 

As documentation of the sport grows, so does the industry around it. As with skateboarding, apparel companies like Sky High have formed to serve the subculture. The 11th annual Scooter Con in San Diego boasted 1,500 attendees, and in October, Vault Scooters hosted the first-ever invitational competition, called Sovereign of Street, which had a prize pool of $11,000. Scooters are also a big part of Nitro Circus, an internationally touring stadium event with an emphasis on daredevil mega-ramps (it’s where Capron Funk landed that triple front flip).

Even though it’s still a fresh industry, it might already be getting too mainstream for Broussard, who fears the popularity could ruin the rebellious character, just like with skateboarding.”The founding generation of scooter riders is drastically different than the current generation,” he says. “We rode because after the Razor boom, it was not trendy. We were experimental. Now, some kids spend more time accessorizing their scooters than riding them.”

Rebelliousness was certainly on display in Chicago, however. It’s hard to call a mob of 300 kids riding into oncoming one-way traffic anything but daring. They were not only endangering their own bodies by running red lights and hurling themselves down stairs, but also destroying public and private property. The Most Disorderly Conduct Award went to a teenager who climbed to the top of a 20-foot wall overlooking a loading dock, then launched himself off it with a sinister grin, landing on the roof of a parked van and nearly causing the roof to cave in.

“Just like with every sport, there’s the rebellious scootering, where it’s just haywire, no one gives a crap and they just do illegal things,” says Szydlowski.

Even so, not even the police seemed convinced this was a group to be concerned about. The only real legal altercation happened at a 10-foot ledge overlooking a busy street. Riders filed into the road to block off cars and, surprisingly, the first officer on the scene graciously looked the other way. He just seemed shocked that these kids would attempt something so stupid and asked that no one hurt themselves, a luxury that would’ve never been afforded to skateboarders. After about 10 minutes and a few very dangerous tricks, another cop arrived and quickly broke up the scene. The organizers thanked the officers over the megaphone and the scooter riders erupted in applause, but not before a mumbled chorus of younger voices could be overheard saying, “Fuck the police!”

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