Posts Tagged ‘Life’

On a HEAVY Personal Note….

Zulli_salome-2
RED (A study of Salome) by Michael Zulli

I’ve been in the delicious comfort of my own home since the Belgium – Comic Con – Heavy MTL explosion overload week. In this time at home, we’ve worked on the next music video for OOOM… involving smoke machines, haunted tunnels and veils, more soon on that… but i’ve also had a chance to reflect and review the last many busy weeks, months. traveling with with and for music, feeds me with the need to connect with other humans. there’s the performance part, which is the Number One HOLY part, then there’s the one on one, which is the HUMAN part. on that last journey out to sea, these people stood out to me, and are sources of profound inspiration that will affect my future work. now that’s HEAVY serious ! x

it’s very exciting to meet people who’s unique inside vision is manifested on the outside in such a clear way. the extra-ordinary, bonus feeling comes when you feel that person is pulling from the same eclectic puzzle pieces (an odd rhythm or painting movement) as you, but laid out in a completely different pattern, so much that hardly anyone else could see the connection, but you. maybe it’s that you feel the connection in the intention of how the person and their works is put together, or it involves similar themes but in a different melody, or maybe it’s familiar emotional or intellectual message at work…. very hard to peg, but you feel the connection instantly. that is the feeling when you find a new band or film or artists to love. it’s as if you found something you were looking for. it’s a great feeling, and i know we all experience it –

So i was lucky to experience that a few times in my big zig zag europe / california / canada week….. Starting with meeting some Jazzy Vikings from Norway in Belgium, at the Dour Festival….. may i introduce to you SHINING
shining
you should dig into their new album BLACK JAZZ immediately. it’s amazing and way out there on their very unique and heavy sonic journey. my dutch friend BOB, who’s never wrong about quality and originality, had told me about them, and luckily got me to the tent where they were playing. it was INTENSE! then i had the pleasure to meet the humans that make SHINING. their intelligence, work ethic and genuineness – struck deep. now they are in my cd player and radar for eternity x
bel_canto
Bel Canto by Michael Zulli

from music festival to comic convention……
the beautiful Century Guild booth that hosted me at comic con, was also the place where a man that legends are made of, held court too – they call him Zulli, Michael Zulli. he is a phenomenal painter, illustrator, with a striking blue suit and matching boots. we had an instant connect, as if he’d known me entirely, in a distant life, or maybe we met in a world in his paintings…. he gave me words of hope and encouragement. a total stranger knowing exactly just how unique this intense year of my creative mission has been. the challenges and the freedom…. i was deeply touched. he gave me a gift of one of his prints, and i gave him OOOM…… this week in his blog i found one of the more thoughtful reviews of this year. thank you zulli x

“I was given a package by Madam Auf Der Maur at Sdcc, that contained the video of “Out Of Our Minds”. It was one of the the single most disturbing, beautiful and fierce artistic statements I have seen in years. I still can’t quite digest it’s implications. THAT’S art my friends. That is just what art does.” – Michael Zulli

Full Entry HERE
Dive into HIS WORLD

in between these phenomenal forces, i united with my southern soul brothers MASTODON when sharing the stage at HEAVY MTL, but you’ve all about my love of those wormhole travelers before AND SOON SOOON SOON WILL HEAR MORE ON MAdMTV reporting from HEAVY MTL – stay tuned!

mind boggling drummer Brann & I (two fish in ray bans) MAdMBrann1
merci pour la photo kristof @ BANGBANGBLOG

it’s meetings like these, with the other creatures who crawl and screech the creative landscapes and gather the fire and strength (and organization!) to share it with others, that gives me hope and inspiration……. and of course, then there is YOU > the ones who receive and show support by listening, watching and feeling.
i am YOU to some, and you are ME to others!

we need each other…… although i know there are some who think NEEDing is weak … i think it’s strong.
I NEED I WANT I WILL, PASS IT ON!

call me new age, sappy or uber fan….
i hope to see you soon

xMAdMx

If it’s not a Volcano, it’s an Emergency Door light…

Schermafbeelding 2010-07-02 om 06.09.24-1 (dragged)

I sit on my couch, with my sad tail between my legs.
I should be in Montreux Switzerland right now, enjoying one of the most prestigious music festivals in the world, on what would be the day after playing one of my most anticipated shows of 2010. when the invitation came up a few months back to play the Montreux Jazz Festival w/ Roxy Music, i was honored and thrilled. “YES” i said right away. from my family’s swiss roots, to french being my second language, to a feeling of being acknowledged as an established artist in my own right by an important music festival

Due to an Emergency Door Light malfunction, my Air Canada flight from Montreal to Geneva, was delayed hours, then when it was too late to find an alternative route, CANCELLED. heartbroken, i stayed up all night, waiting for morning to come to see if the festival promoters could find another stage or bill to fill the next day… they tried, but as they are such an organized festival with months of preparation, they could not find a way……

DEVASTATED….. in the last 24 hours, i have gone from numb to tears and back again.
my emotion fueled imagination brain kept orbiting around these three major LIFE issues:

DYSFUNCTIONAL COPORATIONS
ENERGY CRISIS
MOTHER NATURE

i know it’s just a missed show, but the emotional side of me sends me reeling into the big picture symbolic stuff when these disappointments occur…. first of all, last time i was in europe, just a couple of months ago all was stopped due to VIKING VOLCANO. in my 15 years plus of touring around the world, i’ve never missed a show. never run into a volcano or had a flight cancelled. for both things to happen in such a short period of time, is shocking to me. so being held back from playing my swiss show, i got instant flashbacks of watching my oslo and london show pass me by…. that time was due to act of god AKA MOTHER NATURE, IN FORM OF ICELANDIC VOCANO.

so naturally it was again, that feeling of things being out of my hands… but this time was because of a DYSFUNCTIONAL CORPORATION: the failing airline industry that do not have back up planes, parts OR pilots. while my artistic fate sat in a holding pattern in an airport for 6 hours, i learned that there is a PILOT shortage and crisis, with airline pilots making as low as $19,000 a year. the unions in that industry have been destroyed, so there is little protection for pilots. this then leads the mind back to 9/11, when the industry took a huge hit (not to mention the other devastations), then a few years later, the price of fuel went soaring up: ENERGY CRISIS, we find ourselves in a non sustainable way of life, that is not only polluting our planet, but is in dire need for alternative energies systems. scientists have beein warning about both sides of the issue for decades, but corporate greed was only thinking about TODAY> well TODAY, we have a leaking oil rig environmental disaster looming over us. so the least of our worries, but no surprise, is that the airline industry has been tanking …. so flights are overbooked, no back up plans in place etc… that brings up the issue of FAILING CORPORATIONS of the world. not only did these beasts take the power away from individuals and independent companies, but now their greed has caught up with them and has shot them in the foot.. limping along, screwing the people who work for them and the people who depend on them for their work… this is a basic corporate frustration rant…. BUT the volcano flashbacks also lead me to….
THE MOTHER NATURE. when a volcano tells you what to do, you have no choice but to be humble and listen. she does have the final say, and our jet setting modern day ways are weak and ridiculous in the wake of her. which brings us back to the unsustainable way of life that’s been created around us, and the slaves to corporations and the economy we’ve become. then we think there’s no time to think of such small things, but all these issues do bring on a lot of pain to the hearts of ART- not that the ART suffers, because that energy is eternal no matter what the external reality is, but the act of SHARING THE ART INSIDE, with the outside real world, is affected by the rise and fall of technology and the economy.
we may have forgotten by this point of my long rant, but i began talking about my cancelled show at the montreux jazz festival and how an emergency door light on a plane broke my heart. 2010 saw the release of my first independent music and art undertaking. i’ve never worked so hard, and i’ve embraced all the changes and challenges in the landscape, from dying record companies, to volcanos, but truth is, it’s tough out there. most nations and people are struggling in their own ways. however, i do believe the struggle inspires harder work and opportunity for the heart to take over (why must i find that falling down, brings my hopes so high?) – this is when the intangible CREATIVE SURVIVALISM kicks in… the golden web of love, imagination and hope begins to spread. wrapping every struggle and cancelled flight into a poetic song of life. luckily, that source of magic is endless, and in all of us. even still, on my way home from having done all i could to get my self to switzerland, i cried in defeat. it wasn’t a beautiful volcano that stopped me from sharing my heart, it was an emergency light in an aircraft, then a long delay while the humans tried to fix it, then by the time it was fixed, it was too late for the scheduled pilots to fly, and they did not have any pilots on hand to FLY MY HEART TO MONTREUX. my heart aches because of it, and my little brain tries to make sense of it…………………… my brain relies on the magic stuff from the heart to get by. if i did not have that golden web to spin, i guess i’d be depressed and would probably not write songs… or long winded blog entries.
golden web
SENDING LOVE AND ENDLESS SOURCE OF GOLDEN WEBS YOUR WAY,
to get you through your day and your disappointments.
HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON (in particular, the people of french switzerland, i owe you x)
have a great weekend, wherever you are sweet person x

xMAdMx

2010 I LOVE LIFE COMMUNAL CHANT

I LOVE LIFE
EU AMO A VIDA
AMAMOS LA VIDA
ICH LIEBE LEBEN
J’AIME LA VIE

SUCCESS! WE LOVE LIFE and SHARED THE PROOF WITH EACH OTHER via PRIMITIVE LO-FI ON LINE COMMUNICATION! I had a fantastic long night of friends, music and celebration. it makes me so happy to compile the effort to spread the word, to spread the LOVE and communal determination to walk into this new and ominous decade together in LOVE. global makes me happy and this is the impressive list of countries that participated with us in our LOVE CHANT:
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ARGENTINA UK ITALY MEXICO SWEDEN HOLLAND CANADA EL SALVADOR TRINIDAD SPAIN USA FRANCE BRAZIL GERMANY PORTUGAL & SOUTH AFRICA

PLEASE VISIT NEWS SECTION FOR FULL PARTICIPATION OF CHANT PLAN!

i feel that’s an impressive testimony to good LIFE LOVERS all around the world.
i am on the hunt for you via song, show, blog, twit, thought, dream and hope. we are in this together, and a collective good attitude will only improve our future x
we are not alone x

xMAdMx

OBAMA : DON’T FEAR IT, SHAPE IT!

i knew 9/9/9 would be a big day, and an opportunity to use the upside down 666 for good… so here i sit watching a live stream of Obamas Health Care reform speech. it has been dicey as of late, he seems to be taking the wimpy route as opposed to the roaring lion route that teddy K would’ve liked…. but we must give him tonight, to turn around. on my road trip last month, while bathing in the glory of this country’s landscapes, history and people, i listened to chapters of Obama’s “Audacity of Hope”. his positivity, idealism and intelligence shines through in his book. it filled me with hope AND information. so here we stand, still unsure if this backwards system will turn around in the name of the people and their needs. As a dual citizen of Canada and the USA, i have a clear perspective about the disadvantage american citizens have when it comes to health care. The statistics prove it, and individual witnesses stand by it: USA has the one of the most inefficient and corrupt health care systems in the world. I choose to live in the USA for the love of it’s spirit, it’s history and it’s people, but i have always been floored by how blinded the people are to the lack of basic opportunities they have, like MEDICATION and GOOD EDUCATION. i don’t understand the fear of spending tax dollars on health but how “they” are willing to go into debt for war and banks, but not our health? truly backwards.
when Obama was elected it was the first time I had genuine hope for change in this country – and EXTREME pride. he sets the bar that leaders around the world should rise up to (you hear me Canada!?) …. but this health care issue is a make or break for this country’s health and prosperity. i want to believe these massive changes can happen here in this country, and that hope the skeptics will be properly informed….

INTERMISSION

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(“Rue des Moulins: The Medical Inspection” by Toulouse- Laudrec! now that’s some wild victorian party times!)

NOW BACK TO 9/9/9
i am listening carefully to this leader speak. PUBLIC OPTION ! he just said it!!!!
YES THAT IS CHANGE that teddy k and teddy R would be proud of!
now he is addressing a letter that ted kennedy wrote to him upon learning his cancer was terminal and requested to be delivered to Obama upon his death. words of SOCIAL JUSTICE and CHARACTER OF COUNTRY! that resonated with O, during this crucial time. loosing Ted K during this crucial time was heart breaking, but hopefully invigorating to this county and it’s destiny…
“THAT IS NOT WHAT WE CAME HERE TO DO- WE DID NOT COME HERE TO FEAR THE FUTURE,
WE CAME HERE TO SHAPE IT!” YES YES YES XOXOX that was an amazing speech! THANK YOU!
may we stand together for that fellow humans.
Wherever you live! DONT FEAR IT, SHAPE IT!
xMAdMx

Clues to OOOM- Part 1

Life After Death from MAdM OOOM on Vimeo.

the question of life after death x