Official Planet Gemini Blog

Cauldron of Fuzz: Se7eN

2011-09-24T04:29:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone, let me start by saying that I know it's been a while. But, with the birth of fall comes the talk of another Cauldron of Fuzz album. I skipped last year because I really wasn't feeling it and I hate to force material out there just for the sake of releasing it.

So, I guess this is me saying "I am pretty certain there will be a Cauldron of Fuzz this year". I have about 3 tracks that I am comfortable with releasing. I have to bring my bass in to get repaired (which may take a little bit) but, all in all I can finish the bass in the last week as long as the songs are written.

Right now I have

Se7eN
The Serpent in the Garden
30 Pieces of Silver (to Buy My Time)

I went through a fairly tough August and there is a lot of shit going on with me health wise that I am trying to deal with... so.. hopefully none of this "extra shit" will get in the way of me making a decent release for everyone. I'm looking for a 30 minute album (more or less) and I'm looking for something that will have a little bit of everything.

I might even return to doing a cover this year (SiX was the first COF that didn't have a cover on it) I was testing out different songs and did a jam of "Hole in the Sky" from Black Sabbath (Can be heard here) I don't know if I'll finish it because it is really predictable to do a Sabbath track. Even though it is one of my favorites and I think the demo/jam came out pretty decent.

Other than all of that I hope you ALL had a wonderful summer. I thank everyone who's written me about the 2 demo releases I did this year. I really enjoy them and I'm thrilled that you do as well.

I did get a question asking what happened to the "Red Earth" tracks that I stated would be on the release. For a quick (non-dramatic) answer the truth is that I just wasn't comfortable releasing something that had Josh on it in anyway. We haven't spoken in a while again and I personally think that our ups and downs have finally reached the bottom... and I'm not sure they'll be bouncing back up this time. He is a great guy, and a good friend and I wish him all the best in the world. I have nothing but love for the guy and hope he finds what he needs to be happy in life.

Back to what matters... the music.
I'll be going into "COF" mode which means tons of studio time and lots of buttons being pressed... lots of screaming being done... maybe some blood, sweat and definitely tears. But, hopefully at the end.. Se7eN will be up to SiX's standards. I really really enjoyed SiX for what it was... just this fun... short.. album that had a little bit of all different styles I play... If you enjoyed SiX you'll be in for a treat... if you didn't... might wanna wait for Lucifera.

Above all else.. enjoy the fall my friends.. and we'll all speak soon!

New Music This Month

2011-04-21T12:33:00.001-04:00

"See How the Hands Do Murder" will be up in a couple of days. It's not my next album per say but instead its a collection of demos and what-not I've had lying around for the past couple of years.

What's on the release?

Digital Devil

In 2008 I was in talks with Christian Linderson (Lord Chritus of Saint Vitus, Lord Vicar and Terra Firma) about doing a project which I codenamed "Digital Devil" I re-recorded AfterGlow (From COF2) and a Black Sabbath song called "Keep It Warm" from the Born Again album. The project never came to light due to the fact that I just had so many computer problems and lost all of the material I was writing. Chritus and I still talk back and fourth and really I hope it's something that I can get done sometime before we are both in retirement homes. But, until then I am putting these two scratch tracks (with me singing) on this release.

Red Earth

in 2009 I got together with my brother and old bandmate Josh to try recording some songs. I didn't want it to be Planet Gemini and really I wanted to give him a little more free reign to record his material. We probably jammed about 10 times and screwed around a little bit with polish but I really don't see it getting finished as Josh is very much a "free spirit" and is off on sabbatical yet again. We did about 7 songs (4 of which were pretty damn good) the production was all over the place but I managed to salvage a couple of tracks from these sessions. It's the closest I think we'd ever get to coming together and making music again. I love the guy but it really is a chapter in my life that I must put behind me because it's just not worth the head/heartache...

Demos

Doing "The Devil's Cauldron" I actually had a whole album I was calling "WarCry" it just didn't flow with what I was looking to release at the time so I figured I would take some demos from those recording sessions and throw it on there.

Vocal Tryout

I did a vocal tryout for a band that was looking for a singer. It just didn't work because I have my own style and vocals and they just didn't like it. I believe the band was called "Wrath of Ragnarok" and they just couldn't find a singer. I hope they found someone because even despite the obvious fake drums and tinny production I think they could do something pretty good if they release a little control and let a singer come in and make their stuff a little more... professional sounding. Songs about Freddy Kruger are not evil nor scary... in fact... songs about Freddy Kruger with bad lyrics just come off young, amateurish and comical. Guitar players.... please... stick to what you do best... guitar.

AND MORE!

Who knows what will go on this thing. It's going to be a quick throw together and it is very much in the light of my old "BluePrint" albums. It should be fun for anyone who has been following the band for a while.

The next album... Fall 2010 (hopefully)

2010-08-16T08:43:00.002-04:00

It's been a while. You know I've been busy as hell when I go 8 months without posting a blog on here. But, I'll try to beef this one up to make up for lost time.

Last we spoke I believe I was reminiscing on 2009/Cauldron of Fuzz:SiX and probably spouting out about how the next album isn't very far away. Well, fact of the matter is... I wasn't lying. The album was almost done. But, running a studio is kind of a pain in the ass because when I get a band in here for a long period of time I find that going back to a project is very difficult. I'll find my whole direction has changed. My sound is different and the songs just aren't fitting together as an album.

Fact is this new album has changed names, styles, production.. about 4 times already. Here is where I am at now...

The album has been called "WarCry" for a while now. I have a batch of songs that I wrote for the WarCry project. Here is a quick tracklist of what has been recorded.

WarCry
A Bargin with the Shadows
The War Machine
Gemini Killer

now, from there I took a "break" to record another band. When I came back I wrote a whole new batch of songs.

The Myth/End of Daze
Angel of Light
Devil's Cauldron
Idle Hands

Now, THESE songs aren't really fitting well with the other songs. I like the direction of the new tracks a lot. I'm not going to call this WarCry though I don't think because they are very different. I wouldn't mind redoing a couple of tracks and just calling this an album.

Fallen Angel
Man Who Burnt the Sun
Hole in Heaven

and maybe 1 or 2 more new tracks and I think that could be a fantastic new album.
The album would probably be around the 45 minute mark at that point and I really like that idea. One thing that I have been noticing lately is that long albums have been boring me. Doing something that would fall in under the 50 minute mark would be nice...

This leaves us with the question: Will there be a Cauldron of Fuzz this year? I don't really know. See Cauldron of Fuzz is strange because it really is a sudden urge that comes over me around September right now I am so busy recording and doing drum stuff for other bands that I am just not sure if that urge is going to hit me. We'll see as I have been in talks with a friend of mine about coming down and maybe trying a collaboration for this years COF. Details are still unclear but we'll see. If the Gemini album isn't done by mid Sept I might have to put COF on hold this year and start doing alternate years for COF albums.

I am also working with my friend (and old bass player for Planet Gemini) on his project which is called "Red Earth". In this project I am playing drums and singing and the other duties are really up for grabs. Most songs he plays guitar on. But, sometimes I'll play guitar... sometimes he'll play bass.. sometimes he'll play both..etc. All of songs, music, lyrics and melodies are Joshs and not mine. It is a very fun way to make music with my best friend again. So, I will definitely keep you all posted on Red Earth's status and let you check out a song or two when we mix and master (We are about 3 songs away from finishing that album). fans of older Planet Gemini should enjoy it and you'll definitely hear the influence Josh had in PG once you hear this stuff. Josh and I are very similar when it comes to writing. As musicians we are completely on the opposite side of the spectrum. Josh just likes to feel it out... while I really like to study music and theory and whatnot. Two worlds colliding so to speak. It really is the reason why Josh and I had a hard time toward the end of PG. but, hopefully this is better for everyone involved. I let Josh do his thing and in turn I get to make music with my best friend again... and in turn.. I get to keep making Planet Gemini music the way I see it. Everyone wins!

That's really about it right now. I hope that you are all well and that you enjoy the new material that will be coming your way this year.

Sincerely
H

T.Y.I.G. 2009 and BEYOND!

2009-12-28T13:42:00.001-05:00

It's been a somewhat slow but interesting year in the Gemini camp this year. I did a lot of work in my studio but, didn't really have a TON of time to move Planet Gemini as far forward as I would have liked to. I figured I would take the time to tell you all what happened in 2009 and what hopefully is going to happen in 2010.

*The great CRASH of 2009*
My computer at the studio died a horrible death in 2009. Losing pretty much all of the files I was working on for a project with a great doom icon. I have since not been able to recover or re-create these tracks to my liking so I don't want to go into much more detail. I lost a LOT though. Pretty much 6+ months of work spanning from Planet Gemini stuff to other projects I was working on. I even lost some data from other bands that were recording in my studio at the time. I was running a RAID configuration and even that couldn't save my beloved files. I'm chalking up those tracks to being "gone" into the ether and hopefully their presence will return to be at some random point and time.

The crash destroyed almost a whole CD that I was calling "The End of Everything" it was dark and meloncoly and I very much believe that… it was a sign that the material was not to be released. It also destroyed a lot of demo files I had for the previous years Cauldron of Fuzz (which was to be called 666).

Regardless it's done and overwith and I can't get the stuff back. All three of my HDD's were fried and completely screwed beyond all recognition.

*Cauldron of Fuzz: SiX released on Halloween*
2009 saw the release of COF:SiX. An album that was basically written and recorded within a week or so and done with a BROKEN WRIST none the less. I really love this album as it is very much a fun listen. I love "My Nightmare" and "To Conjur the Silver Sunset" (which is spelled wrong on purpose by the way… think about it). The standout track from the feedback I've gotten is the final track "No Rest for the Wicked" which is basically a track that kind of talks about the "Curse" that I felt was on the album "Wicked". Reviews on the album have been kind of mixed. But, one thing I've always been appreciative about is my audience's open mindedness. I don't really get a lot of the people saying "PG aren't TrU D00M" type bullshit.

There were some fun instrumentation on COFSiX. Including my first use of Piano on a PG album. I used some synth in places. I used Congas and shakers and a bunch of percussion instruments. All kind of buried in a poor mix that was done in one day. But, hopefully I will re-visit COFSiX and give it a better mix.

*Wicked [Collector's Edition] (((The Curse Has Been Lifted)))*
FINALLY Wicked was released to what I would consider HUGE fanfare. Mark from PsycheDOOMelic got in touch with me and asked if I would like to release Wicked on his label. He basically told me to do anything that I like with it. I was blown away at the great offer that really had no strings attached to it (for the first time in my music career). I had a mix left over from a 2008 deal I had to release Wicked (That fell through) and so I was ready to send it off. I sent it to a friend of mine (Hoss/Dave from DeathMask) and he basically said "It feels like it's missing something" so I took it into my studio and completely opened up the old files and remixed and remastered everything. I even reworked and cleaned up some bothersome parts that were bugging me. After about 3 weeks of 12 hour days working on Wicked I finally left with something I was truly happy with. I added two bonus songs onto the end and basically called it [the collector's edition] because I am never going to put that out on the webpage. That is only going to be for those who have been bugging me for something substantial to own from PG.

After a bunch of nightmares with the pressings and dealing with a ton of unexplainable shit (including 6 fucking masters getting rejected by the pressing company). Finally Wicked is done.. it sounds great.. and I am so pleased at all of the amazing reviews it is getting. Most of them being 9 out of 10's or 19 out of 20's. I've got one 4 and a half stars and.. just.. tons of praise that really makes my black heart feel good. So for everyone out there who takes the time to write something up… thank you so much. (Even if you said I sound like the dude from sHEAVY… hehe). I truly appreciate everything you guys do for Planet Gemini and this style of music in general.

*2010*
13^th year of Planet Gemini's existence. My eyes get all teary and wishy washy at the mere thought that it's been so long. 2010 will yield another PG album. But, probably no Cauldron of Fuzz this year….

*NEW ALBUM INFO*
I've been working on some new material for a couple of weeks but, I'm waiting for some new mics and some new studio equipment to come in. Expect this to be a little more "symphony-like" than previous Planet Gemini albums. The tentative name of the album is "The Devil's Workshop". I'm hoping for the album to be done in the spring and to be pressed by summer (hopefully by PyshceDOOMelic's label again as Mark and I have already talked about it). The album will be very dark and sinister but it might tread into some different territories. With all of this new equipment I've been buying it will no doubt be the best sounding PG project to date. I don't really have much more information for you guys at the moment but, it should be interesting.

*Comp songs!*
I've got two comps that I'll be doing songs for. My friends in the Doom Metal Alliance asked me to do a track for them a while back and I still haven't gotten off my ass to do that. But I will. I also have another magazine that asked me to do something for them so I'll be busting those out early 2010 hopefully. I love doing comps it really is a great way for new people to find my band.

*COFSeVeN*
I'm not thinking that the album will be done this year. I'd like to work on this with a close friend of mine and he is not in my general vicinity at the moment. But, I have faith that we can make something work and release something fun. If it's not this year it will be in 2011. We've been talking about working something out for a while. He has an album to do of his own and I'm going to be focusing on the Workshop so…. This year looks unlikely.

I mean, that's really about it. Another year down and more steps forward for PG. Thank you all so much for this year. Thank you all for all of the kind words you've said on forums or posting youtube videos… or.. whatever. For all of you who have sent me e-mails I cherish them all I really do. I've had people call me everything from a "Musical Genius" to a "Pompous Asshole" this year and frankly I think they both had some facets of the truth involved in them. I can't even begin to tell you all how much your support means to me. I know it seems like I disappear for a while but, it's just because I work so hard at getting better. Getting better on my drumming for these albums. Getting better at production for these albums.. Planet Gemini is really my life-force. There is very little I do that is NOT involved in learning and getting better for this. My music may not always be the most technical but… my music is soaked in passion. I bleed this stuff and will continue to do so until my dying day.

The fact that you all listen to it… gives my life validity and never forget that. You are just as much a part of this as I am. I've had so many e-mails this year from people telling me their stories. Maybe they were going through a hard time or had a bad situation. Some told me about how my music got them out of a "funk" that they were in. Or how sometimes my aggressive lyrics hit a nerve because of a situation that they were struggling through… E-mails like this ring in my head daily. Whenever I feel like I'm working too hard or some people don't understand me. You guys are always there… and as much as you say my music helps you.. Your e-mails help me. So… enough mushy stuff for now.

Onto 2010… onto more power, more strength and more HOPE… hope for a better future, a better world.. filled with better people.. onto a whole new world of shine.

I thank you all, I love you all
You'll hear from me again SOON!
Till I see you again
H

Wicked [Collector's Edition] release

2009-12-08T11:47:00.001-05:00

Kay, so here's the deal. I just got my final pressings of Wicked [Collector's Edition] and I'm in the process of ordering some envelopes and updating the webpage.

Here is the thing... PLEASE READ!!!

I will only be signing and selling 50 COPIES of Wicked... that's it. That's all you will be able to get from the Planet Gemini Store as I have limited copies of the Digipack.

Everyone who's seen the artwork has loved it. It's got a 8 page booklet, lyrics, pictures and the usual crazy ramblings and rantings from me.

The CD includes all of Wicked completely remixed, remashed and remastered. It sounds LIGHT YEARS better than the offering on the webpage.

There are two bonus tracks included "Rise of the RedGod" which can be heard on the Myspace page and "Fal From the Sky" which I have completely remastered and reworked to sound more like the rest of the album.

This is NOT some quick release. In fact it's taken about a year to get all of my shit together to put this out.

The Packages include:
Wicked [Collector's Edition] Digipack
$13.00 USD with shipping included for the continental US
$16.00 USD with shipping included for International orders

Wicked [Collector's Edition] Digipack, Wizards Blood CD
$19.00 USD with shipping included for the continental US
$23.00 USD with shipping included for International orders

Wicked [Collector's Edition] Digipack, SuperGod[t]DevilMan CD
$19.00 USD with shipping included for the continental US
$23.00 USD with shipping included for International orders

Wicked [Collector's Edition] Digipack, SuperGod[t]DevilMan CD, Wizard's Blood CD
$23.00 USD with shipping included for the continental US
$27.00 USD with shipping included for International orders

and as I said there are only 50 that are coming from me. The rest will be up to the label.

I can however tell you this... 50 of these are NOT going to last long!!!

I will be updating the webpage over the next 2 days and the album should be available for purchase on Thursday. But, I will keep you notified via my blogs. Keep checking in.

Cauldron of Fuzz: SiX to be released tonight 8pmEST

2009-10-31T12:06:00.003-04:00

So for anyone paying attention to the myspace page will know. There WILL in fact be a Cauldron of Fuzz album out tonight. I will consist of 7 songs.. and run about 40 minutes (give or take).

It will be available on the webpage tonight FREE of charge. In mp3 and uncompressed WAV format. Be aware that this is album that I basically wrote/recorded/mixed and mastered in about 4 days time. This mix is NOT going to be perfect at all. But COF is a Halloween tradition to some of my listeners and I got a lot of e-mails from people saying how dissapointed they were last year... so... COFSiX... TONIGHT...

*Technical Issues*
Please keep in mind that COF has been known to crash my webpage due to large amounts of traffic. If you should log on at 8PM and the site is slow or down.. give it about 10 minutes and try refreshing your browser. Halloween and the day after are usually the highest traffic days for PG.net.

hope you all enjoy!
H

A Quick Drum Exercise

2009-09-15T08:22:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone, I actually got a decent amount of e-mails off of my "How to Practice" Blog that I wrote a little while back so I figured that I would take a little time a share with you a drum exercise that I've been working on recently. I've found that it's quite helpful in building independence and just filling in your playing.

I actually stumbled upon this while learning Led Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain". When I had a hard time doing the "tradition shuffle" I decided to go into the studio and just spend a day working at it. So I started with this..

Basically I just played that for about 30 minutes to an album (even if the song was in 4/4 just make it fit and use the song as a time piece).
(playing this as 16th note triplets)

1	2	3		1	2	3		1	2	3		1	2	3
R	R	L		R	R	L		R	R	L		R	R	L

Kay, so after about 30 minutes I was feeling that this pattern had become 2nd nature so I started adding in kick.

1	2	3	1	2	3	1	2	3	1	2	3
R	R	L	R	R	L	R	R	L	R	R	L
K			K			K			K

Var2

1	2	3	1	2	3	1	2	3	1	2	3
R	R	L	R	R	L	R	R	L	R	R	L
K					K	K					K

and lastly I changed the hand pattern slightly to involve a flam tap

Finally on the kit after learning different patterns well. (Keeping time on the hi-hat in quarter notes or eighth notes)

1	2	3	1	2	3	1	2	3	1	2	3
H	H		H	H		H	H		H	H
		s			s		s	S			s
K					K				K

The drumbeat should ALMOST feel like the "Purdie Shuffle" if you are unfamiliar

Bernard "Pretty" Purdie is a great great man.. extremely entertaining to watch.

Hope this helps some of you

Talk soon and keep practicing!
Sincerely
H

Planet Gemini Update (More Bad News)

2009-08-28T19:30:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone, It seems that everytime I write one of these updates it's to report something bad. Seriously, it's not my intention. In fact I have some really great news that I'm probably going to announce within a week or two that I'm sure a lot of you are going to be quite happy about. But, onto the bad news at hand.

My studio machine fell victim to a virus that was unlike anything I have ever seen or experienced before. This virus took hold of my computer and flashed my Bios so my PC essentially thought that it was the wrong make for the motherboards bios. The result? My computer no longer could find or identify hard drives and it would freeze up on the "Verifying DMI Pool Status" screen. It was something I've never seen before (and btw… I am A+ Certified through Microsoft and have been working on computers for a long long time. The only real solution I saw to the problem was to try to re-flash the bios and set the computer back to it's original settings. Unfortunatley that requires me to remove jumpers and do a ton of jumping through hoops and… well if any of you have ever tried to get information from PC manufacturers like that.. you know it's a hassle that I just don't want to deal with.

So I've ordered a new computer.. it is a HP system that it pretty much top of the line in terms of speed and power. So that means once I clean out all of the crap that is installed in the machine when I get it the thing should last me quite a long time.

So H (you ask) why are you telling us all this? Well, because I am going to be incapacitated for the next couple of weeks in my studio and after losing a ton of my work (from a tragic External HDD crash) I'm just feeling quite beaten down by technology at the moment. I have three projects I'm currently working on and none of which are even close to be started. So what does the future hold for Cauldron of Fuzz VI? Is it the COF that just ISN'T supposed to be released??? I hope not.. I'm going to try my damndest to release a COF this year even if it means that I have to do another EP like release.

My next album? Was well on schedule to be released in December of 2009 but now, I'm sorry to say I'm not 100% sure if it's going to make it. I have so much re-recording to do and I basically lost the last YEAR of work when that USB harddrive died.

I'm going to go now and throw my old computer out the window of a moving vehicle and prepare myself for the new machine and all of the JOYS I will have getting that thing up and ready to go.

Practice Makes Perfec…er… PERMANENT

2009-08-22T09:53:00.001-04:00

One of the most common things that I have ran into over my years of recording musicians is that so few people actually know how to practice. This little tidbit qualifies for any instrument, and is so simple and rudimentary that you would think that it seems foolish to write about it. However, you would be surprised how many people have no idea how to practice their instrument.

Let me say this first before we go any further: All of your practicing MUST be done to a source that keeps true time. I highly recommend a metronome. There are tons of free software based metronomes for your computer (which you clearly own if you are reading this).

There is a difference between practicing and playing. If you have 1 hour of guitar time each day to play you need to sit aside 15-30 minutes of that time for actual practice. Now, what does practice mean? Well… the definition of the word is "repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency" however, when I observe guitar players or drummers practicing they are often "noodling" on their instruments. There definitely can be a point made that this will enhance your playing over time. But, if you are looking for actual improvement that you can see, then you need to focus on your goals and work at them. Practice (to me at least) is playing what we can't play until we eventually can. I know that it's not as glamorous to sit down and play a C Major scale to a metronome for 15 minutes as it is to be shredding as fast as you possibly can. But, the challenge is here, and patience is truly a virtue in terms of instrumentation.

So here is my proposal to you; let's try doing 1 month of real practicing and see what it does for your playing…

What do I require?
1. Your instrument
2. 15-30 minutes of your time a day
3. Patience
4. Discipline

Seriously, that's it! Everything you need to be a better musician YOU ALREADY HAVE!

Let's do this!

For guitar & bass let's take the C Major Scale: C D E F G A B C
For drums let's do a simple rudiment: RRLLRRLL RLLRRLLR LLRRLLRR LRRLLRRL

Now, get your metronome and start off at a slower speed. Let's say for the sake of argument 80bpm.
If you can breeze through 80 with no problem raise it to 90. If 90 is too easy then move to 100.. and so on until you find a moment where you are uncomfortable. Once you find that point… you are well on your way to owning your instrument. That is your practice tempo.

Now that you've established what tempo you are struggling at spend 15-30 minutes (The longer you spend the easier it is going to get) mastering that tempo. I don't care if 15 minutes in you feel like it's gotten easier.. FINISH OUT THE WHOLE PRACTICE TIME AT THAT SPEED. Make every note sing, concentrate on your technique. Watch your hands as you are playing. Throw in variables [see below for variables]. Just remember the way you practice is the way you are going to perform. So make it count even if you are just playing to a song on the radio. It's completely natural to shun away from doing this, because we have not trained ourselves to think this way. We are so used to being sporadic in our playing that once we try to introduce structure to it our minds are going to try to default back to our old ways. Finish out that practice session.

The next time you practice take the metronome speed up 10bpm. So if I'm at 180 on Tuesday and I get comfortable with it, Wednesday I will try 190bpm. If I can't keep up with 190 then I will go back to 180 and practice that speed again for that day. Your goal is to always push yourself to get faster, but speed is NOT our number 1 concern here. The major thing that we are trying to achieve is comfort of our instrument and timing. I have seen some guitar players who are very fast but, inaccurate… and inversely I have seen some players who can play the simplest things and make them sound like gold. It's all about technique.

*Variables*
I say that variables are somewhat important in practice. For example, as a drummer you should try leading with your weak hand instead of your strong hand all the time. We are only as good as our weakest link and it's important that we recognize what they are and try to strengthen them. As a guitar player try playing your scale ascending, decending, with all upstrokes, all downstrokes, alternate picking…etc. But, the key here is make sure that you are consistent. Do NOT perform one thing, fail and then go back to the thing you do well. If I can't play a scale using all upstrokes fast I have two choices 1) JUST practice upstrokes until it gets up to speed with my downstrokes or 2) set up a completely separate practice time for upstrokes. So Tuesday I could be playing downstrokes, and Wednesday will be my upstrokes day, and on that day I would go through the same exact procedures that I went through for my downstroke. Find the tempo where your breaking point is and push it as far as you can.

For drummers your variables will be different. Because the fact of the matter remains that you probably want to get your bass drum speed up to par as well (and don't forget the HI HAT PEDAL!!!!!!!!) Let's face facts having a nice double stroke roll is a nice tool to have in the toolbox but, you're going to need to focus on independence and velocity as well. You should be keeping time with your hi-hat pedal while doing these exercises.

I will often set a metronome and do:
RLK RLK RLKK RR LL RR LL
But, your variables should also be with things like ghost notes.
So maybe you'll accent more like this
RlK RlK RlKK Rr Ll Rr Ll

You may find that keeping a steady beat with the hi hat is challenging for you. If that's the case… find a speed where you can accomplish it and work up from there. I would rather have proper practice than sloppy practice. Remember… as I said earlier.. HOW YOU PRACTICE IS HOW YOU'LL PERFORM! Practice doesn't make perfect, Practice makes permanent…

The goal of this blog is (above everything else) to encourage you to try something new. We live in an age where all of this information is at your fingertips. You have resources available with just a few clicks of a mouse. Take some time and REALLY practice your instrument if you want results.

I hope this helps some people even if it's just to open your mind to what practicing should be.
Sincerely
H

Statement on UK Classic Rock Compilation (Please Read)

2009-08-02T15:45:00.001-04:00

First of all I would sincerely like to take the time to thank everyone involved who offered me a spot on the Classic Rock Compilation CD#69 and I would jump at the chance to do it again in a heartbeat. For those of you who have found the band because of this "WELCOME!" and this is not a post I'm making to complain in the least bit. However, there are a few things I would like to address. When submitting the song I had asked the gentlemen involved if I should send them the track mastered or unmastered. I was told to send it unmastered and here –in is where the problems stand with the track.

#1. The song was supposed to have a 30 second fade on it. So you could barely hear the blatant thievery of Trouble's song "The Eye". I didn't intend for that to be so prominent in the mix. It was used without permission from the band and it was used basically because I thought the "feel" of the song sounded very much like the Trouble song. So during improvisation I just started singing the verse to "The Eye" and decided to keep it in there and change up the ending riff a little bit to sound like it. It was very much meant to be an Easter Egg of sorts and completely done out of homage and respect and I hope that the folks in Trouble understand that. I very much wanted Trouble fans to BARELY hear that at the end and be like …WOAH! A shout-out to Trouble!!!! Everyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of the Chicago based doom metal band and I consider myself good friends with certain members of the band (past members).

#2. The volume on the mix didn't really match the others on the CD. Again, this is a small thing that mastering could have easily fixed.

All of this really doesn't matter and/or take away from the fact that I think the song is great and I really appreciate the opportunity for it to be heard to all of the Classic Rock subscribers. I would JUMP at the chance to do another and would like to take this time to thank Ken McIntyre for being so helpful and in contacting me. He is a great man who is very professional (especially dealing with someone who likes to keep an heir of "mystery" behind himself) It's really hard to use the name H or HELLION in writing credits and whatnot.. hehe

Thanks again to Classic Rock Magazine and I hope to do it again someday!
Sincerely
H

Some Guitar PLAYING Tips for the Studio

2009-07-09T22:16:00.003-04:00

One thing you find out when recording guitar players on a frequent basis is that most guitar players have the idea of playing all wrong. Please don't think that this is me saying that I'm "Yngwie Malmsteen" or anything but, it really does seem to me that when it comes to guitar playing most players tend to think faster is better. Completely overlooking tone and accuracy.

*Guitar Tone*
It baffles the HELL out of me when I see someone come into my studio who spends hundreds and hundreds of dollars on his guitar setup. He's got a Gibson Les Paul studio.. and an Orange half stack just to get that "Vintage" sound that he wants and then when it comes to playing with his drummer and bass player he just has no dynamics at all. Guitarists need to learn that there are many ways to enhance their tone that does NOT center around hundreds of dollars worth of equipment. If you try out my quick little suggestion you might find that it will change the way you approach guitar.

Tip#1 - HOW TO PRACTICE..
To understand how to improve your playing you must understand how to practice. Most people will just pick up their guitar and try to play as fast as they can and get tired and stop. The fact of the matter is that… when you push yourself to an uncomfortable level while trying to achieve speed it's never going to help. Remember the saying Practice Makes Perfect?.. it's untrue.. in actuality Practice Makes PERMINANT. Which means.. if you practice a scale fast and messed up… that's all it will ever be. Practicing scales doesn't have to be boring. He are a few tips to mixing stuff up while practicing your "HOT LICKS!"

Try alternate picking in reverse. Instead of starting on the "down" try starting on the "up" at first it will completely throw off your game but when it comes to descending scales doesn't it make sense to start them with an up stroke instead of down? One thing I like to practice is doing a regular Harmonic Minor (SLOWLY) using Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down.

E|--10-8-7-----------------------------------------
B|-----------10-9----------------------------------
G|-------------------10-9-7-----------------------
D|-----------------------------10-9-7-------------
A|---------------------------------------8-7--------
E|----------------------------------------------10-

In fact, try to become extremely familiar with this pattern. Practice it slow and steady with variations. Example: Try picking every note the first run all the way down and back up the scale. Then, on the 2^nd pass try picking the first note of each string and using pull-offs to get the rest of the notes. Then, on the 3^rd pass try picking the 1^st and 3^rd note in each phrase of 4. So pick 1 x 3 x. Try "echoing" the scale in groups of 4 so it looks like this…

E|--10-8-7-----8-7--------7----------------------
B|---------10------10-9-----10 9-----10-9-------
G|--------------------------------10--------10 9-
D|-----------------------------------------------
A|------------------------------------------------
E|------------------------------------------------

Repeat the scale all the way down and back up again reversing the pattern. Again, one scale and be a HELL of a finger workout if you actually take the time to vary it up. Make your own patters like "First time straight through, 2^nd time doubling every note, third time through groups of 4, fourth time through skipping a string (aka going from high E to G then from B to D and so fourth). Familiarity will make you a much better player.. and different patterns will greatly change the boring mundane (ascending scale) that so many guitar players rely on.

Tip #2 – PICKS MAKE SOUNDS!!!!!!!

It is surprising how many guitar players don't stop and think that the pick you are using will dramatically change your sounds in the studio. How you hold your pick is just as important as the picking technique you're using. For example, If I'm playing something acoustic I want a medium plastic pick. But, where do I go from here.. Well if I'm strumming I want a loose grip on the pick it's going to make things much more open and airy sounding… if I'm looking to do arpeggios I'm going to hold the pick slightly on a 45 degree angle to hit the strings to get that almost "Choppy" sound. It's going to make the notes sing and cut through the rest of the music. Again, viewing this from a producer's standpoint it's important that a guitar player realizes how their picks and picking effect their playing. Nylon picks with a heavy guitar tone just sound better… and if you have a player that can attack the strings at almost a sideways angle it makes all the difference in the world. When you get a chance… buy the thinnest pick and the thickest pick available at your local guitar store. Take them home and try them out for different styles of music. You will find that it makes a world of difference in sound. I'm not saying play with picks that are uncomfortable to you.. but become familiar with the sounds your instrument can make.

Tip#3 – STRINGS!

Thin strings have no bottom end! Which is fine if you are recording a black metal type project where you want no bottom end at all, but if you are putting 8's on your guitar and are expecting to play some low tuned metal it's just not going to happen. You should be sticking with 10's (regular gauge) for standard rock music. I've been known to buy two packs of strings.. heavy gauge for the E,A,D, and light gauge for the G,B,A,. Again, that's a little extreme and it's just my tastes but, I find that it gives me the light touch for solos as well as the "Stomping a mudhole in yer ass" heavy sound.

***Remember the more bottom end your guitar takes up.. the more bass frequencies you are taking away from your bass player and by law that gives him the right to kick you in the sensitive private parts.

Tip#4 – NOTES!
We're making music here people. Please understand that there are times to lay back and times to rip solos. There are times where a singer should sing. Where a drummer should drum.. where a bass player should… sit back and get some coffee for the band! (I kid, I kid) but, I've heard so many bands fighting with each other for "space" that it's really sad. Sit back.. listen to your band.. if your bass player is doing a sweet groove.. let it shine for a moment. Same thing with the drums. It's not just about one part of the band.. it's about the band…

I hope these little tips help and I hope that it gives you something new to think about when you're ready to go into the studio.
Goodluck and happy playing.
Sincerely
H

The Next Gemini Release

2009-07-06T11:35:00.000-04:00

The next Planet Gemini release slated for December 2009 release is titled...
"This Could Be the End of Everything"

The album is written and just needs to be polished and fixed up production-wise.
I will probably do a little more work on this album for the rest of July and then stop in August to start working on Cauldron of Fuzz 6.

This Could Be the End of Everything is very heavy, dark. Very much classic Gemini. Probably not as "Heavy" as Wicked was but much more deep I think. Primal is the word I would use to describe the music. Very ritualistic... I mean this is the first new Gemini album in some time (Since 2007 if you can believe that) and I think you will all be satisfied with my choice in direction. Tons of new instrumentation. Lots of percussion... you'll probably be surprised at all of the strange percussive stuff on this album.

I'm really hoping to make this a 2 Gemini year so please bare with me if I seem to be distant... I have a lot of work to do... I am still hard at work on another project that I've been throwing a TON of my time to. I'm very... cautious about the presentation of this project. In my mind it has to be perfect and .. well you saw how that worked out with Wicked. hehe

Luckily for me Cauldron of Fuzz 6 is going to be much more... play, record, mix, release... I think that this is going to be a year where you REALLY notice the differences between Planet Gemini and Cauldron of Fuzz.. From a production standpoint I want COF6 to sound almost like a basement recording. It'll be much more polished than say... some of the old Electric Wizard stuff.. but, think along those lines production-wise.

Musically it's anyone's guess what it's going to sound like. I've got a while to get out some of my creative juices until I start working on it so... It's all fair game.

Planet Gemini Q2 Update

2009-05-11T08:52:00.001-04:00

I know it's been a while since I've done an update on here (2 months). But, my last one was quite huge so hopefully all is forgiven. I figured since I have a couple of minutes here that I would give you all a quick status report on what's going on with Planet Gemini so far in the year 2009.

Right now I am working on two projects. A new Planet Gemini album which I hope will be finished and released in November, and another project that I've been working on for a while that I can't really speak of just yet. I'm not even sure that one is going to see the 2009 calendar as it is really a huge deal and a lot of work.

Some quick Planet Gemini _notes that might (or might not) interest you all.

_ I got a new drumkit for the next recording. Sounds pretty good and I'm happy with it.

_ New album is being recorded through Orange Amps… first time I've used something other than my Marshall

_ New Planet Gemini songs are available for streaming on my myspace page. One track is called "Rise of the RedGod" it's the complete version of a song that I recorded for a compilation album. I'll have more on that once I get more info.

_ I'm thinking about buying a new guitar. It's been a couple of years since I broke down and bought something new. I had a nice Gibson V in my hands a couple of weeks ago and almost bought it but it's hard to justify spending the cash when you own so many guitars already.

_I'm looking to also buy a new vehicle so… if you like to donate to the "Hellion buys a Charger fund" please do so now ;)

Hope you are all doing well. Check the myspace page for anymore updates.
Planetgemini.net will be getting a new look very soon. Maybe some streaming sounds and whatnot.
Take care and if you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me. I'll try to do another q&a soon.
Hellion@planetgemini.net

Hope to talk to you all soon
Sincerely
H

How to Record Drums (Getting a GOOD Drum sound)

2009-03-27T10:52:00.001-04:00

This is actually quite the ambitious post I am about to make on this webpage but, if there is one question that I have found myself getting over the time I have been producing other bands it is "How do you get your drums to sound like that?". On the Wicked album my micing technique was actually quite basic. I used about 5-7 mics and just "let her rip" so to speak. I do like the sound of the drums on Wicked but, I will say that as I have worked with a lot more drummers (drumsets, mics…etc) I have grown leaps and bounds as to what I can accomplish in the drum field. So let me take a little time and maybe dispel some vicious rumors that may be floating through the heads of some people that are trying to record themselves. Maybe in the future I'll post different drumset configuration audio files so you can hear the results. My major goal with these articles is to help out the DIY bands so they can actually achieve a good sound themselves without paying through the nose for a professional studio or producer.

First of all there is no "WRONG" way to mic a drumkit. There are however, wrong ways to mix drums. I'm proud to say (and somewhat embarrassed I suppose) that I've learned the wrong ways to mix on many occasions. As with anything in life you learn from working with people who are better than you and I feel that I've had the opportunity to work with some amazing players in my day. Combine that with a little bit of trial and error and you've got yourself what some would call "Experience".

So let's get to it shall we.

Microphones
"Say "ello" to my little friends" I know, I know.. lame right? But, still Mic's are important. The normal person would probably go out and buy the most expensive mics that they could afford and I will be the first to contest that… buying a mic for the name or price might not be the best bet. Let's start with the standard.

The SM57 by Shure is "Surely" (oh jesus did I just do that) the most "goto" mic you'll have in your collection. It just sounds good, on pretty much everything. Guitar Cabs, Drums, Bass Cabs (with a little tweaking) Vocals… etc. It is not the best sounding mic you'll ever hear but, dammit if it isn't the most diverse. I personally have about 10 of these in my collection. Just mic's that I've accumulated over time. They cost anywhere from $80-100 and are pretty much worth every penny. This is your first line of defense, and personally I don't think that there is a microphone out there more suited to mic a snare drum with.

The Beta 52A by Shure would be my next big suggestion. 57's are great an all but you are going to need something with a little more bottom end to get the frequencies you'll need from the bass drum. Luckily the Beta 52A has dropped significantly in price since I bought it years ago and now you should be able to pick this mic up for around $150 (Maybe less if you shop around). This mic brings tons of "PUNCH" to the table in terms of sound. It is designed to be an "Inside" mic but, I've got some amazing sounds out of it on the outside of the bass drum as well.

Shure has a whole "drum micing kit" available that you can purchase and save yourself about $50 (and get some decent tom mounting clamps and a nice box carrying case thingie). The going price for the kit is about $399 and it is probably cheaper somewhere if you shop around online. I highly suggest going for this package first as it is a nice entry level to drum recording and basically is going to get you a semi-decent sound for a hell of a price.

We now run into the "touchy" subject of overheads. I tend to use them a lot. I like to get a nice "Room" sound so I tend to use about 4 or 5 overheads at any given time. These can basically be any type of mic that pics up a signal. Christ, I've used a reverse engineered speaker as a mic before to pick up the bass drum subs. But, that's besides the point. Overheads are basically the icing on the cake. The cherry on top of the sundae. While you can achieve an okay sound without them, you are going to find that once you get in the habit of using them you'll begin to rely on them more and more for sound.

I can't even really pinpoint "must have" overhead mics because they really do range anywhere from $200-$10,000. I will however say this, do not go out and buy the most expensive mics you find just because some dude at a music store tells you it's going to get you a "superior" sound. Fact of the matter remains that there are tons of cheaper overheads (or condenser) microphones that are going to give you a great sound if you know how to blend them in your mix. There are so many subjects to touch on with EQ and Panning and I'll try to get into everything here for those of you who haven't had a chance to fiddle around with cheaper mics yet. Fact of the matter is that the room is more important than the overheads. You could have $10,000+ overheads in a shitty, tinny room and that is what they are going to capture.

You Need a Drumkit
Chapter 1: The Kit
Okay, I'm going to let you in on a secret that very few people know. This is going to change your thinking when it comes to drums and probably is going to stop you from ever listening to drums on an album the same way ever again. 90%+ of drums that are recorded today are not real drums. So, if you look on the inside of your favorite artist CD… chances are he is not using a "Pearl Masterworks" kit to get that amazing Drum sound. Chances are he is using what they call "Triggers". It's a fact of life and I would go so far as to say that 90% of the music that is produced today (if not more) "Trigger" their Kick Drum. I would say that there are a good %70 that trigger their Toms and probably about %40 that trigger their snare. It's just common practice in today's music. I was shocked to go back and listen to a lot of albums to find how many of the bands I liked in the 90's and early 00's (why does that sound weird?) that just canned their drum sounds. There are still some drummers that forge on and get a really good drum sound out of their kit but, the fact remains that triggers make a cheap kit sound better. So, keep that in mind as we go on.

I guess the major thing that I'm trying to get across here is that you don't have to go out and spend $2,000+ on a DW drumkit to get a great sound in the studio. In fact when I was talking to Vinnie Appice he told me that he recorded the Black Sabbath album "Dehumanizer" on a pawnshop Tama Rockstar beat up kit that they bought the day of recording. Again, it's all how you skin your kit, tune your kit, mic your kit, record your kit and most importantly MIX your kit.

But, let's say for the sake of argument that you are starting from scratch and need to buy a kit today. There are a few kits in the entry/intermediate range that will pay off huge for little coin.

Pacific by DW X7 – 7 Piece Drum Kit – Priced around $699.99.
I know we're starting off with a kit that's a little more pricey but, really I would say that this kit would be the best bargain for your money. A 7 piece kit (which you do NOT need all of those toms but it's nice to have a choice) made of 100% birch and made by a sister company of one of the finest drum makers in the world "DW". I personally have owned this kit. It sounds nice, holds tune well. It really is the best kit out there for the price.

Ludwig Accent with Zildjan ZBT Cymbals + Stands – Priced around $599.99
I own this kit and while it is not the kit that the Pacific is, it is still a damn fine drumkit for the price. I haven't ran into any tuning problems and I outfitted the kit with Evans G2 heads and it sounds great. Both live and on tape. The ZBT Cymbals are decent for what they are. They will record well as long as you take the time to learn how to mix in a cymbal sound. This kit comes with pretty much everything cymbal stands, drum throne (as crappy as it is). Bass drum pedal…etc. Everything you'll need to start the rockin'. I would like to push you a little more to the Pacific kit above. But, again if you need to get started on the cheap this one should do you just fine.

Mapex Meridian 6 Piece Studio Drumkit – Priced around $1,249.99
I own a Mapex Saturn kit and personally can't believe how great it is. I've played a lot of drumkits and the Mapex Saturn is by far my favorite. It's got 7 plys of Maple with 1 ply of oak around the outside. The thing just sings (HIT ME!) and paired with a nice set of Remo's Coated Ambassadors the Saturn will make you feel like you are in the middle of an earthquake. A 22inch bassdrum that is just as thunderous as any 24 I've played and a snare crack like you wouldn't believe. I love my Mapex kit… and would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend Mapex to anyone. Their hardware is nice and durable. Their drums hold tune extremely well and their maple snares are some of the most amazing snare drums on the market in my opinion. I've played their entry level kits. (Cheaper than this) and I was astounded at how well it sounded. Again, if you're looking for a cheaper kit the Ludwig might tickle your fancy more, but if you want to bring the thunda. This kit is sure to please. This kit comes with cymbal stands and a solid bass drum pedal (for those curious).

*CLOSING*
The most important thing is do some research on the company you're buying your kit from. You always want to TRY to get a kit that has real wood whether it be mahogany, maple, birch..etc. You want to try to avoid the polyboard shit that is put out there. But, again.. if you find something used for say "150-200" and you need to make an album on the cheap. Go for it!

Chapter 2: The Heads
Okay, regardless if you buy a $3,000 drumkit or a $300 used kit in a store. Drumheads are going to be the thing that either makes or breaks your drums. A well tuned drum with fresh drum heads on it can sound like a million bucks. Don't get me wrong they are pricey, but in the longrun they are worth it.

Chapter 2 - Verse 1: On a bass drum I only go with one drumhead. It's the Evans EMAD2 drumhead. It runs around $50 and is very much well worth every penny. I've used the powerstroke in the past and really just never felt "blown away" by the sound of it. Just trust me on this one and try the EMAD and I think you'll agree your bass drum will sound huge.
Chapter 2 - Verse 2: be sure to do your research when buying heads for your toms. Ask yourself "What do I want my drums to sound like?" and then find out what head will give you the tone you're looking for. Most "Rock" drums today use Remo's Pinstriped heads. They are very nice and will produce a nice punchy sound. As for me I've moved from the Remo Pinstriped to the Evans G2 heads. I find them to produce a much nicer punch (for my tastes) and they seem to be a little more durable. On my Mapex kit I used coated heads. I've used Remo's Fiberskyn heads in the past and those produced a nice sound (They replicate the old calf-skin heads) I found that they kind of deadened a little more than I would have liked but, again it's all in your personal taste. I tend to go with Coated Ambassadors now. They sound great and are durable like you wouldn't believe. I've had them on my kit for like 6 months now and they still look as good as new and sound fantastic. Needless to say I'll probably stick with them for this kit as they do sound enormous.

Chapter 2 – Verse 3: The Snare drum is another issue altogether. I personally use the Coated Ambassador on my snare as well but I have used the Emperors as well and sometimes you get a free snare head when you buy a drum head pack. I believe I've used a coated Aquarian in the past with decent results.

Chapter 2 – Verse 4: Resonate heads (The bottom drumhead) are very important. Be sure that your resonate heads are not beat up, nice and smooth. They don't look like they've been hit much (if at all). They are going to decide a good portion of your tone. (unless you remove them)

Chapter 3: Drum Sounds

"Bang, Boom or Thud ?" is the question I ask most drummers who come into my studio.
BANG: There are a couple ways to get a really "BANG'n" sound out of drums, but the way that I find to be most effective is to remove the resonant head (the head at the bottom of the drums) on your Bass drum and toms. Leave everything open and when the drums are hit it really produces this "Pop" almost instead of a full-on note. A great resource for drums that are more "hip-hoppy". I've even mic'd the toms by clamping the mics on the inside instead of on the batter (top) head of the toms. Almost like what you do with the bass drum. Granted you have to let the overheads be the mics to capture the "attack" of the actual drum hit but it is very effective in getting an interesting tone. Again, it's all in technique and learning how to mix things down to sound right. I've gotten great results with doing that and, actually produced some really "Black Metal-esque" sounding drums using the "bang" method. Again, thing of the "Bang" sound as almost a drum machine sound. Lots of Power Metal bands like their drums to be more "processed" and this is really a way to generate this sound without triggers (Which we will get to later on)

BOOM: (said in a incredibly cheesy James Hetfield – Enter Sandman sort of way) is the way that I like my drums to sound. In fact, if I had a choice I would re-record all of my material with a nice "boomy" sound as I just feel that it is more ambient and lets the instrument breathe. When I say "BOOM" thing John Bonham, or a really solid Jazz Drummer. Think

THUD: While it is true that a nice drumkit is going to produce a nice drum sound (in theory) it is also widely known that most drummers deaden (or dampen) their kit to a point where you basically can't hear any notes out of the drums at all. Thus creating a "THUD" sound out of every drum. I don't knock this sound per-say but it is not my personal cup of tea. Thud'ing (as I've affectionately termed it) is basically done by stuffing your bass drum with a pillow (which is very commonplace), Duck taping the shit out of your toms and snare. Think of the "Pantera" type drum sound here. Toms don't really sound huge they are very attacky it almost sounds like there is some EQ placed on them with the mids pressed up. It's an acquired taste and works for some styles of music. I like my drums to ring more but, again that's my personal preference.

Chapter 4:
Stick Around!

You know what makes me laugh? When I see a drummer take all of this time to get their drums to sound amazing and they don't pay attention to what size sticks they use. Seriously, THIS HAPPENS! "Oh, I don't care I can use anything" I mean, sure you COULD use anything but, why would you want to? Different sticks produce different sounds. One of my friends who was a Berklee Graduate and a drum teacher used to use M2 Marching sticks. They shouldn't even be called "Sticks" by law. They are freakin' lumber for all intensive purposes. But, man did his snare work shine like no one I've ever recorded. That guy could sit down with a 3 piece drumkit and make it sing. Now, I'm not saying go out and buy some M2 drumsticks and demolish your cymbals. The fact of the matter is, for those sticks to work correctly you need to have a level of finesse that very few drummers I've met acquire. Most people use the standard 5a stick and I have no issues with that. I'm just saying, play around. Try different sticks to evoke different emotions and moods out of your drums. A thinner stick will produce a thinner sound. A plastic tip gives a thinner sound than a wood tip. A heavier stick will produce more punch and power yet make playing cymbal swells more difficult. Just, take the time to try out different things. Brushes, Rods..etc

So now, we have our mics, our drumkit, drum heads and I'm going to go ahead and assume you already have a recording interface and a mixing board of your choice. I have a Mackie 32x8 mixer going into two Delta 10/10 audio cards. I basically use one whole card just for drums. (sometimes more) I like to mic quite extensively and decide what I want to keep and discard later.

Recording Methods
First of all remember less is more in terms of a drumkit. Add all of the cymbals that your heart desires (I generally use about 9 cymbals on my kit when recording) but, when it comes to drums try to be as basic as you can. Remember more drums constitutes in more mics which constitutes as more bleed, which means MORE WORK to get the kit sounding nice. When I first started recording drums I mic'd my whole kit (which was 7 pieces at the time). So here I am with 5 toms (8,10,12,14,16) and a Kick and Snare. Which means 7 mics and 2 overheads. FOOLISH! I am not (nor will I probably ever be) Neil Peart and having that many drums mic'd (for me personally) just ended up being stupid. There's just too much bleed to deal with and yes, you can totally go and individually chop up every track and just keep the sounds of when the tom is being hit. But, personally I think that takes away from the "open" feel of the kit. I've done it for many customers and it works but again it's not for me (personal preference).

I would suggest recording a 5 piece drum kit. 2 Rack Toms, 1 Floor a Bass and a Snare. If you can get away with 4 you will sound even better in the long run. Especially if you are a novice at recording drums, you do not need to have to worry about phasing issues and all of that junk.

The most common drum micing technique is when you mic every drum (with the mic facing the middle of the drum that it is clamped to) and have the overheads in what is referred to in the industry as the X/Y position. Basically have the drummer in question sit on the drumthrone and have him raise his arms with the sticks in his hands as high as he will go and place the mics a couple of inches above his reach. (to insure no disasters will happen) Place 2 overheads (one on each side of the drummer) and slant both mics down at the same angle. This is the most basic of overhead placement. It is quite simple and kind of "ho-hum" to some people but, it works and it will get you a sound that is going to work for you for starters.

When micing always be certain to take the drummers strengths into account, if your drummer is very articulate on the snare then you probably should double mic the snare. Use the "Over/Under" technique. Clamp one mic to the top of the snare and one mic on the bottom (preferably one right on top of the other) Double micing the snare will really bring out the "buzz" of the snare work and add a lot of color to his playing. Again, if I'm dealing with someone who is doing a lot of fancy Hi-Hat work I will put a SM57 on his hi hat (just over it off axis so the air from the pedal doesn't make a loud "swish" in the mic). I know that earlier I said less is more in terms of micing a drumkit. However, just because you mic something doesn't necessarily mean that you have to use the tracks you recorded. I have had sessions where I've had 14 channels of drum mics and I only ended up using 6 or 7 of those tracks. As with everything else I would rather have more and take away the unneeded mics then find myself short and need to do a full re-recording.

Common sense should really guide you through your drum micing adventures. The thing with most things recording based is experimentation. Find what is right for you. Once you realize the sounds your mic's receive you'll find that there are certain applications for each mic. Just try everything and make a list (whether it be on the computer or in a notebook) about your techniques and what the results were.

Mixing with a Digital Signal
One of the most common misconceptions out there is that "digital recording" lacks the "warmth" of the old analog tape machines. To that I cry bullshit. We have amazing plugins that can pretty much emulate everything in this day and age. Tube warmth is no exception. The problem with Digital is that you're just getting a lot more frequencies than the old tape machines got. We grew dependant on the noise that the old tape machines made, how they handled sound. We mistook a less treble filled sound for warmth. Just remember when mixing a digital signal you are best served rolling down some of the high end. It gets rid of that "Digital Harshness". I could do a whole HUGE writeup about how to mix drums and what to do to get your drums to sound a certain way. But, in the end it can all be summed up in a few sentences. Experiment, play around with everything and don't be afraid to think outside the box.

To give a brief example; one of the things that I tend to do to try to achieve a nice bass drum sound is to clone the bass drum channel 2 times so that I have 3 mono bass drum tracks. I name them "Bass Inside" "Bass Outside" and "Bass Sub" on the bass inside track I want to get a nice thwack. I want to basically roll off the low end and just pull up some of the midrange. It will sound terrible on it's own but trust me we'll compensate with the others. From there I'll go to the "Bass Sub" track and roll off all of the high end and pull up the low end a bit. I want to get the "Sub" channel to almost have no note to it I just want that "rumble' to come out. We can also port that to a subwoofer channel later on in the mixing process but that's a whole other tutorial. With the outside mic (depending on the project) I will put a bit of reverb on the bass drum. A nice "Drum Plate" or a "Studio Room" we want this to be a smoother signal than the "Inside" signal. I want to to sound wet. Generally I'll create a drum bus with a nice reverb (I like the Waves Rverb Plugin).

I do not use any Compressors or Noisegate on my mics. I like to do that in the post mixing (which is NOT a common way to do things when it comes to recording) but, I just like having the bleed in case I need it for something…. (and I often do).

So, depending on the project I will create a new Drum Bus with a nice tight compression and maybe even a little reverb on it and send my Bass Drum channels and my Snare Drum channels to it. I almost want to get a bit of a distorted feel to the drums on the bus. When I feel it sounds a little TOO harsh I pull it back just a touch and then I try it in with my mix. Again, a lot of engineers eq every track of the drums. I personally just like to maybe raise the treble a bit on the toms to make the notes sing more and to make the attack of the toms a little more potent. Experimentation is the key and after recording a couple of artists you'll probably be getting a better drum sound than I do.

To Trigger or Not to Trigger
In the world of Heavy Metal we have so many intense frequencies going on that sometimes just having a straight up mic'd drumkit isn't enough. Sometimes a drummer might ask more of you than you can produce (especially the black metal guys. They really want their drums sounding tinny as hell). Over the last 10+ years of Drum recording Triggers have kind of become a staple. I personally have triggers set up on my kit but very very rarely use them in a final mix for my own projects. Again, I go with the "I would rather have the notes there" theory. Before I get to carried away on this subject I'm going to take the time and explain what Triggers are and what they do.

This is the DDRUM Acoustic Trigger Kit – Priced Around $200

To make these work, you need one of these.

The Alesis Trigger I/O – Priced Around $200

Now, for these Triggers to work you must attach those red bastids (he says in his best Boston accent) to the drum of your choice and then via a XLR to TRS cable you connect them to the Alesis Trigger I/O which then connects to your computer via USB. When a drum is struck the Trigger sends the information to the Trigger I/O and the Trigger I/O converts your hit into a MIDI note. There are other ways to go about this process but to be honest this is the easiest and most effective I have found. The Trigger I/O really simplifies the whole thing by making everything kind of idiot proof. Basically you plug your triggers in. Set the threshold, Make sure the crosstalk is eliminated (Crosstalk is when you strike one drum and another registers) You can even customize how you want the midi note to be processed. Linear signal, more on the flattened side, again it's all there to play around with. Different drummers are going to have different settings but the Trigger I/O has 20 presets so you should be able to save a setting for every style of drummer.

Once you get that you'll need something that will play your MIDI notes. There are tons of sample software out there and I'm not going to go into drastic detail about this because chances are something came with your DAW Recording Software. Whether it be ProTools, Sonar, Logic, Cubase or what have you.

Now, When I HAVE to Trigger I like to do a mix. I never want my drums to sound fake so I blend the sample behind the mic'd drum.

Which brings me to my next approach on this subject…

DRUMAGOG Software – Priced around $250
This software is actually quite useful. What it does is it reads the waveforms that your mic picks up and whenever a "hit" is registered it plays a Drum Sample. Cool thing is that it comes with some decent samples and I hear that they just signed a deal with Modern Drummer to use some really nice samples of some amazing individual instruments. Thing about DRUMAGOG is that it is extremely versatile and to my astonishment it actually WORKS. Sometimes there is some major tweaking that needs to be done but, to be 100% honest if you have a system that can handle running DRUMGOG without any latency issues I highly recommend this software. There are youtube videos of people making drumkits out of cardboard boxes. It really is something special and in a couple of years I see this rendering triggers somewhat obsolete. With that being said, it is not without it's issues. There are latency problems sometimes and there are some notes that it just WON'T pick up. The snare articulation isn't as good as a real trigger (yet) and obviously any "Bleed" you might have could actually trigger a drum sample if it's loud enough. With that being said for those meticulous types (and you know who you are) you could always copy the track you're looking to trigger and just cut it up into the portions you want to use.

I really hope this tutorial helps some of you out there. One of the most frequently asked questions I get is "I just started recording and I'm having a hard time with the drums. What should I do?" and while this article isn't the "end all be all" it is probably a start for what you'll need. What you should expect, and most importantly I hope this article gives you enough information to make you want to experiment.

All of the brand names I have mentioned in this are done with no endorsements, no sponsorship. I genuinely use the products I say I use. I have been toying with the idea of doing a Podcast about recording techniques as I am quite crazy with my different ideas. But, we'll have to see how that goes. I think that we can't forget that recording is a community, and if we all share ideas we'll all benefit from the information shared. Remember, there is no right or wrong way. There are just right ways for you and wrong ways for you. Every idea has potential it's the execution of that idea that will make it truly great.

Thanks for reading
H

Guns n' Roses - Chinese Democracy (Review)

2008-12-04T06:52:00.001-05:00

So, I've been listening to the new Guns n' Roses album for the last week (about 4 or 5 spins) and I must say that my thoughts on it are generally positive. I find it somewhat shocking because I have not really been a fan of a Guns n Roses... well.. ever.

Okay, that's sort of a lie right there. I actually liked Appetite for Destruction for what it was (a solid "rock" album) and don't get me wrong they have had their moments. I really enjoyed the track "The Garden" from one of the "Use Your Illusions" albums. I guess what I'm saying here folks is... The new Guns n' Roses is different than normal Guns n' Roses and I think that is a good thing.

First of all I have to be honest 2008 has not been a stellar year for music in terms of releases. If you held a gun to my head (and please don't) I'm not entirely sure that I could come up with 10 great releases from this year. Metallica released a great album and I really enjoyed the new Alice Cooper disc. That Planet Gemini album released this year was something special and I really do enjoy the Lord Vicar stuff I've been listening to...but, other than that I can't really say that there is anything that has blown me away.

Enter Chinese Democracy: with 14 years against him and millions and millions of dollars spent on studio time Axl has finally pruned and proded this album to it's conceptual release and in my opinion the final product is good. Over-produced but, good.

*The Music*
First of all forget what you know about GnR as this album sounds very little like the older GnR stuff which for me was a nice change. I really enjoyed the techno industrial drums that Axl used on a lot of these songs they added a nice bit of variety so a lot of these tracks. Songs like "If the World" just groove so much more due to the "Reznor-ish" sampled drum licks with a nice thumping bassline behind them. Also noted is the rooting of the guitar solos on this album. Some of the stuff that Bumblefoot or Buckethead or whoever-the-fuck is playing for Axl on each track (which differs I believe) is nothing short of amazing. The harmonies are nice and they add that "off the wall" element that roots this music into the hard rock catagory. There is definitely an heir of "Slash can't do this" thrown in there when you hear those A harmonic minor rakes coming through on the first song. Well done and I love the little backhanded slap that is put out there.

*The Voice*
I think that Axl's voice is going to be a big topic of discussion. Now, I know that he is... well.. Axl and that he's always kind of sounded like that but, I find that there are tracks where his voice just sounds outright obtrucive. The above mentioned track "If the World" is a great example of that. The music is more groovin' and layed back and he is screaming in this whiney falsetto and it almost floats over the music instead of blending in with it. But, on the other hand. I don't know if I could imagine it any other way.

There are some standout tracks. I really enjoy the first 2 tracks and Axl really puts an emphasis on his low voice in these tracks. In "Chinese Democracy" (the song) he even has this tone on the chorus vocals that sounds completely different. But, mostly this album is not going to blow you away vocally.

*The Lyrics*
I think that lyrically is where this album shines. Axl has a lot of pent up aggression and a bit of the broken hearted, jilted lover type lyrics that he is putting out there. Along with some very pretty piano playing on certain songs and some very well place moments of rebellion this album is vocally a tour de force. As with every ebb there is a flow I must admit that there are some tracks (like "Sorry") where there could be a bit more wordsmithing involved. I think whenever you use the term "I'll kick your ass" in a song that is a good sign that you're either A) in a punk band, or B) strapped for lyrics.

Out of the 14 songs on this album I would say that 7-9 of them are very solid and they are getting better with each listen. My stand out tracks are...

Chinese Democracy, Shackler's Revenge, Better, If the World, Riad n The Bedouins, Sorry and This I Love. (with Sorry probably being my favorite of the bunch).

This is Axl's album. I'm quite surprised that it got released and I definitely didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I have. I must admit that I didn't enjoy Slash's offerings very much so I guess that means that I'm taking Axl's side in the big GnR split. I hope the album does well. It needs it to actually recoup from the INSANE production costs of this thing. With all that being said there is something to be said about this guy toiling over this album for 10+ years and finally thinking it is good enough to release. I think some of the songs suffered for it don't get me wrong. There is a lot of tracks that just don't end when they should. They linger on (Like this review) but all in all this album is solid in my book.

7.5 out of 10 (Very listenable)
Thanks for reading
H

Cauldron of Fuzz VI "PostPOWNED"

2008-10-23T17:28:00.003-04:00

So, if you haven't been paying attention to my blog on my myspace page you might not be entirely aware the Cauldron of Fuzz VI has been canceled for this year. Due to a bunch of computer problems and a little bit of personal issues things have kind of gotten to a point where I can't see finishing the album.

I will say though that a Planet Gemini release IS indeed in the works and should be done around late 2008/early 2009. Until then please stay tuned here (any my myspace page) to hear the latest on Planet Gemini's releases.

I will probably be putting "The Man Who Burnt the Sun" and "Locked in a Paper Cage" up for download for the visitors of this webpage soon enough.

If I don't update have a very happy and safe Halloween/Samhain and keep checking in for updates

Thanks
H

Recent Interview (Talk about Wicked, The state of Heavy Metal, Influences, Scary Devil Music and more…)

2008-08-28T05:15:00.002-04:00

(Interview curousy of Earthdog's blog. To be posted on stonerrock.com, hellridemusic.com..etc)

Having formed in 1997 the work of H and Planet Gemini has produced some of the most interesting Metal around. Planet Gemini has managed to walk the same path as Sabbath, Cathedral and Trouble while remaining totally unique in the world of Doom. The latest recording "Wicked" is one of the freshest sounding releases of the last year so i contacted H and he agreed to a interview. Here is the interview, unedited.

ED: First of all i must say your recordings are all very impressive with the lastest "Wicked" being my favorite so far. How has the recordings progressed over the years? What has been the most rewarding progression for you?

H: Well, I would have to say the biggest change is doing everything myself. Before when my friend Josh (former bass player) was in the band it was much easier to just jam on a riff and make it into a song. Now it takes a little more planning. I still do try to keep it as free flowing as possible but I find that the music is a lot more focused, and I'd like to think that it is quite noticeable. Another big change is my skill level. I learned to play drums for Planet Gemini because we couldn't find a full time drummer, and now I find myself becoming a full time drummer. I practice a lot more than the average musician. I actually practice all of my instruments like a maniac. It's my unhealthy obsession really, but I think that it pays off in the music. Wicked is a great example of that. I completely went into a different state of mind while recording that album. Very dark and very angry, and while I don't consider all of the album to be a lashing out of rage. I do feel that the album has a fair amount of vitriol to it.

ED: It's hard to pinpoint a specific term to describe your style of metal but Doom Metal seems to describe it the best to me. Is this accurate to you?

H: I always tend to call my music "Doom" because that's really the feeling and emotion I like to go for when I write music. I know a lot of the "tr00 Doom" zealots tend to disagree but I think that they take themselves a little too seriously sometimes. One of the things that I think sets Planet Gemini apart from a lot of other bands is that I can tap into any genre I want and it would still be Planet Gemini. Whether that be Planet Gemini playing a more "Swing" based up tempo track like "Burning Laughter" or even a quieter more acoustic piece like "Eden" off of my last album Wicked. When you start becoming a slave to your genre it pretty much guarantees that you will never do anything new and creative. So I guess in the end you can call me Doom or Heavy Metal… I've even been called NWOBH. To be honest it's just a label. But to get back to your question: I say if you think the band's "Trouble" or "Candlemass" are Doom bands then I can't see how you couldn't view Planet Gemini as Doom as well.

ED: What is your honest opinion on the current Metal scene as a whole?

H: That's a pretty broad question there. I view a lot of the current metal scene to be the equivalent of someone yelling down a dark empty cave. The echo seems to go on forever but the sound quality degrades with every instance of the echo. There are a lot of genres out there where I can't for the life of me tell the difference between some of these bands. No guitar riffs, drumming as fast as they can with very little control and vocals where I can't hear a thing they are trying to say. Then, by some act of morbid curiosity I check out their lyrics and I see why they are so incoherent. They have nothing to say in their music it only makes sense because if they did why would they make their message so muddled and unintelligible? Sadly that about covers 80-90% of the modern acts out there today. It's so paint-by-numbers and uninspiring that I just can't really get into a lot of metal acts anymore. I mean on a more positive note there are still some great bands that are putting out some good albums, but for the most part they are all bands that are quite a few albums in.

ED: I like the fact you offer recordings for free over the internet, what is your reasons for doing this?

H: I started off in a conventional band. We played for about 5 years doing shows at bars and clubs and sadly at the time my "local scene" was dying due to the influx of DJ's in nightclubs and bars were turning towards Karaoke. Live acts were really dwindling and it got to a point where my band was doing more cover songs than originals because that's all people wanted to hear. I think it got to a point where I was playing a motorcycle rally and I'm performing this half-hearted version of "born to be wild" and I looked over at my angry band-mates and thought to myself "This is absolute bullshit". We kind of became known as a "Sabbath" cover band. We did a ton of Sabbath stuff live and it was really the only thing that was getting people somewhat interested in our originals. To me it was quite clear that playing bars and clubs was not the way for me to get my music out there.

I've always been a tech savvy person and I knew how powerful the internet was/is. Josh and I ended up buying some cheap PC recording equipment to see how easy it would be to record ourselves a demo. We did about 5 songs and I sent a couple to some people I had been chatting with at the time and they were all quite positive about it. So I built a small webpage on one of those banner laden free webhosting sites and it just took off really well. From there I had a dream of building us a recording studio one night. I woke up at 5am and called Josh and he was like "Let's fucking do it". So we did. We spent a ridiculous amount of money getting a professional studio together. We were completely clueless as to what we were doing. I knew a little bit about recording with an 8 track Tascam but had no idea how confusing recording digitally could be. I ended up buying a program called Cakewalk 7 and the rest just escaladed from there.

So now we have this professional studio and a lot of people e-mailing us about our music… Hell, at this point I didn't even want to press any CDs. I Just wanted to give my stuff away. I loved the fact that it really felt like people were not just interested in the music but the project behind making the music. So I tried to give people an inside look at what the band was doing. I would put up early demos, lyrics, song ideas, song titles. I just wanted to make people feel like they were part of the project as much as possible. In my opinion that's where it really paid off. People started taking a special interest in the band and started spreading the word and copying our music for their friends. We ended pressing CD's later on because Dan (The owner of Stonerrock. com) really made a compelling argument to me that I was alienating a big portion of my audience by making my music download only. So we went down that route but in the long run I really liked the idea that someone could just get the music and enjoy it. Not worry about money. Just give me your time and attention, that's pretty much all I could ask for. It got to a point where people were sending me e-mails saying they listen to Planet Gemini everyday and to me… that's worth more than money. I've always said "I'd rather have people singing my songs than buying my cds" and I can honestly say without hesitation that statement rings just as true today as it did back then. Today I see people getting Planet Gemini tattoos and I hear from people who are quoting my lyrics as words that they use to inspire them. I have people write me telling me how influential I have been in being an artist who does everything themselves, and, well, I've been blessed with this magic I call Planet Gemini. I've worked with Jeff "Oly" Olson (Founding member of Trouble) I've collaborated ideas with Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath/Dio drummer) I've worked with some of my heroes and I'm just a normal fan who loves music. So for me to be respected among some of these musicians I grew up idolizing is just amazing.

The music industry is now learning that the internet is really the way to distribute music. You're seeing more acts now leave their labels and just make their album on Pro-Tools and put it on i-tunes themselves. The age of being a slave to a record label is really starting to fall behind us. Leave that bullshit to the pop music acts. In metal we shouldn't have a flavor of the month. Our music is made to be indelibly etched into our listeners psyche. I'm 32 years old and I've been listening to metal for like 75% of my life. You don't see that in pop music. They tend to deny even liking the garbage that they listen to. You won't find a guy out there admitting to buying a New Kids on the Block tape back in the day. But they sold a millions and millions of albums and that couldn't be all from teeny bopper girls. All of those top40 sheep out there are so embarrassed at the fashions they follow that they won't even admit to it most of the time. While I personally can put on any album I bought when I was 12 years old whether it be Black Sabbath, Manowar, Deep Purple, Riot, Helloween or Judas Priest and still hear the greatness that I heard in that music. That is why I feel metal is stronger than other genres. It's eternal in my opinion and I'm proud to be a part no matter how small of a part I am.

ED: I know from reading your blogs you are a fan of the older heavy bands like Purple and Priest. Are these bands a inspiration for you?

H: Without a doubt. They made me who I am. If it wasn't for Black Sabbath I wouldn't be half of the person I am today. I actually can't imagine where my life would be without them. They gave me a passion for music that I can't even begin to explain. I learned to play guitar by watching the 1978 concert Never Say Die on videotape. I would play that show over and over and over again. I never took a guitar lesson. I would pause the tape to see where Iommi's fingers were to play the songs perfectly. My parents had to have wanted to strangle me, or destroy that tape. Because I would come home and play to that tape four or five times through a day. I had no idea what distortion was.. I was like "how the hell does his guitar sound like that?".

Even now as I'm older and I'm playing drums more often I can look to these bands as blueprints of what I want to be as a musician. The great Ian Paice from Deep Purple could drum circles around pretty much anyone in the music industry and yet… he sits back in 4/4 time and serves the song. Here is a guy who can do a snare roll with one hand faster than most drummers can do with two and yet.. he sits back and serves the song. Ian Paice to the untrained ear is just another drummer. He's a guy who plays on two and four. But, you ask a trained drummer about Ian Paice and you'll get a totally different reaction. Drummers like Bill Ward, John Bonham, Ian Paice, Vinny Appice and Cozy Powell are all inspirations for this style of music, and then being the avid music freak that I am I also dip back into the older Jazz drummers Art Blakey, Max Roach, Gene Krupa, Joe Morello and of course the greatest of all time Buddy Rich. Because you need to think of it like this, these are the drummers that Ward, Paice, Bonham and Powell learned from. So why not learn from them as well.

As far as vocalists people like Rob Halford, Dio, and Ian Gillan basically sculpted what I wanted to sing like growing up. Their range and power was unparalleled. Again you take your major influences and try to do your own thing with the groundwork they have laid down for you. It's funny because a lot of people site Ozzy as my major vocal influence but in all reality the only thing that Ozzy ever did that blew me away vocally is "Sabotage". He sang that album with some real power and I really enjoyed that era of Ozzy. Personally though I feel he whines too much for my tastes. I am a big fan of his music and you can't deny what he's done for metal however, I do not know if I would consider him a major influence.

Also if you really think about the bands that you mentioned "Deep Purple" and "Judas Priest" they are both bands that have evolved as musicians over the years. Listen to Judas Priest's "Stained Class" and then put on "Painkiller" it doesn't even sound like it could possibly be the same band and that's something that bands today could learn a little something from. Deep Purple is making better albums today than they were in the 80's and it's because they have adapted their style. They've added a bit more funk into their music and it suits them perfectly. It's still heavy and it's just great Rock & Roll but they have put some swing and blues in there and this overall groove that few bands can achieve. I hate when I hear a band that releases the same album over and over again and sadly there are a lot of bands who do that.

ED: What Metal act pisses you off the most. Name one band at least you wish that would just go away.

H: Jesus, ummm anyone who I think is faking it. I could probably fill a small island with bands that I could care less about. But, in all honesty there is a need for bands like that. Just because it's not my cup of tea doesn't mean it shouldn't exist. I'm not a fan of Avenged Sevenfold and that new wave of glam metal bullshit that is out there but, I'm sure there is someone who is… and to be honest at least they are people who can play their instruments well. Bands that tend to worry about their image more than their musicianship tend to really annoy me. Or bands with potential that are just so worried about making a "Radio song' that they can't write a song over 3 and a half minutes. While I don't consider them metal I just got done listening to the new Black Stone Cherry album and that is a band that is the epitome of what I don't like in music. I put the album on and I'm really loving their drummers groove and their guitar tone and then every song on that album is riddled with a bubblegum chorus. It's almost like they were told by someone "okay guys you have to make sure every song has a chorus and it's repeated at least 4 times…. Oh and.. be sure to sing three harmony tracks over every chorus" that shit drives me nuts. I just can't sit back as a musician and think that's what they wanted to do.

I can't stand the Rap/Metal hybrids or the Hardcore/Metal combo either to be honest. I'm very much not a fan of the over-the-top satanic bands out there either. I tried to listen to that band Deicide when I was younger. I remember buying the CD because the cover looked awesome and really evil… and it's like the Disney of evil. It's so over-the-top that it becomes Evil Dead-like funny. Some of that nonsense is so cliché it's like; who listens to that and says wow that guy is evil? My music touches on evil from a primal place. A place we all have within. Evil exists it's not by "scary" man in a black wizard's robe who's sacrificing a goat. "what did that goat ever do to you?" I find the nightmares in my head ten times more evil than the rubbish that dude sings about.

ED: What inspires you to write songs,i get a feeling that anger is one of them.

H: I love to write music about things that we really don't understand. I enjoy the paranormal and the occult if it's done in a tasteful way. I don't want to listen to some death metal band just singing the Ghostbusters theme song at four hundred beats per minute. I like the unknown of the human psyche and tapping into power that we don't know is there. I like the power of suggestion and what can manifest from it. While I will say that most of my music is written from a much darker place I will say that more times than not it's done in a very positive light. If you really think about it… how could it not be? I'm lucky enough to live my dream every day.

I do tend to write about human emotions a lot obsession, love, hate, betrayal we all feel this on a very personal level. I try to keep things as metaphorical as possible. I'm very lucky that people actually read and analyze my lyrics it's nice when someone takes the time to understand what you're saying and the places that you are trying to either take them or take them away from. Music is an escape and when someone writes me and says they can relate with something I've written it's very rewarding.

ED: How important is internet promotion to you?

H: I think that the most important thing in the world in anything is word of mouth advertising. If my friend tells me to check out a new restaurant I'm going to be much more likely to check it out from his recommendation as opposed to seeing some ad about it. The thing that helps me a lot is that the people who like my music really do go out of their way to post on online forums about my work and just spread the word about Planet Gemini. Believe me I do understand that there is no shortage of bands to check out with the advent of Myspace and the digital recording era. So for me it is really cool when someone is putting their stamp of approval on what I do.

ED: What do you want to achieve with Planet Gemini in the future.Any tours?

H: I think I've achieved everything I could hope for really. I never wanted to become a millionaire because of my music. If that were the case I'd be playing a completely different style of music. It would be watered down and incredibly fake but I could do it. If it wasn't for my damn conscious that would never let me release anything that wasn't 100% real. I get to write and record music and be somewhat successful at it. To me that is probably the biggest accomplishment I could hope for. I wouldn't fool myself and think that my style of music is for everyone because I know that it isn't. But, in the end I know I have people who will probably carry my music with them for a long long time and I have 8 year olds learning my songs on guitar who write me and send me sound samples of them playing my stuff. There is a pretty damn good chance that my music will outlive me. That's where the "Doom Eternal" concept really came from. When you create someone and people listen to it a lot it becomes part of their lives. It's quite humbling to know that right now, someone is probably listening to a Planet Gemini record. I'm just a fan of this style of music so it is extremely moving to have people putting me on the same level as some of the greats. I remember when Vinny Appice first heard Planet Gemini he was like "You are like the next generation of Black Sabbath" and I was completely floored by that comment coming from him.

As far as touring goes I have little to no interest in doing shows anymore. I do have some friends who know the material and would be happy to come and do some shows with me. Oly Olson (founding member of Trouble) even offered a while back to be the drummer for Planet Gemini but I must admit that my life right now is perfect as is. I don't want a road schedule screwing with my family life, friends and whatnot. Plus when a band like "Trouble' is only pulling in 30-50 people a night in the clubs they are playing I personally don't know how lucrative a PG tour would be. Sure I would be winning over a bigger fan-base but, as I said I am very happy with things as they are for now.

ED: What's your favorite bands at the moment?

H: My favorite bands haven't changed much since I was a child. Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Mercyful Fate, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Dio and the list goes on and on. If you mean more "newer" bands I really love the new Grand Magus album and bands like Gates of Slumber and Clutch are some bands that I constantly keep in rotation of my MP3 player. Also Terra Firma who are now defunked.

Man I would kill to work with Christian Linderson (Lord Chritus) of Terra Firma on a couple of tracks. He recently did a doom project with Peter Vicar of Reverend Bizarre fame and it sounds good, but I really feel that I could bring out a really really heavy Terra Firma type feel for him. If I could choose to work with two musicians it would be either Ronnie James Dio and Lord Chritus. Both of which I feel that I could bring something new yet old and create something very fun. Also I wouldn't mind working with Eric Wagner (former singer of Trouble) on a couple of tracks. Just to bring a blindingly heavy approach to his beatles-esque style. But, if it didn't prove to be fun for all parties involved I would axe it. Even if it was with someone I grew up idolizing like Dio, music should be stress-free and enjoyable once it becomes work is when you bow out gracefully.

ED: Doom Metal has always been underground and will more than likely always will be.I kind of like this fact about Doom Metal, I would hate for it to be thrown into the mainstream because shit goes downhill usually when that happens. Do you agree?

H: I think we kind of had a mainstream scare in the Doom metal community. Doom was becoming the "in" thing for a little while and with "The Sword" and their popularity it was quite odd to see people listening to music that was so down-trodden. I don't hate the Sword at all mind you. I just didn't think their album sounding incredibly authentic to me. It kind of sounded like a poor man's Sleep to me in some parts and their 2nd album sounds more like High on Fire so… maybe they are Matt Pike fans. Personally I think that every time the light gets shined down on Doom Metal it'll find a way to crawl back into the shadows. This style of music was born in the underground and personally I feel that's where it belongs. Again if someone is out there doing it for all the right reasons and gets mainstream attention then I can't fault them for it. But, I just can't see turning on the radio and hearing Gates of Slumber anytime soon, and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

ED: Why should people listen to Planet Gemini?

H: Well, if you've got a little bit of spare time and want to hear someone who lives, eats and bleeds their music then I would suggest checking out a song or two. If you even remotely like it check out the album. I understand the music might be a little more "artsy" than most Doom Metal fans are used to but they are free to download and 100% real. Packed with emotion and power and I think if you take the time to let the music sink in you'll get it right away. If it's not your thing then delete the files and thank you for taking the time to check it out. But, if you are a fan of bands like Candlemass, Trouble, Black Sabbath…etc what do you really have to lose? Every review I get usually uses the terms "Soul" and "Passion" and that is no coincidence. I've always said Planet Gemini is my soul in music form. It's what I am and what I always wanted to be. I inhale life and exhale Planet Gemini. I love both and I think that it shows in my art.

So Wicked is finally released… What’s next?

2008-08-08T13:29:00.001-04:00

I just want to get a few things out of the way before I go on a long rant about the future of Planet Gemini in 2008/2009.

As most of you know (hopefully all of you by now) Wicked was released on this webpage on August 4^th of this year and the traffic basically slowed my webpage down to a crawl. If you had a hard time downloading the album on the first couple of days that would be why. Everything should be fine now as it only lasted for the first two days so please.. download away!.

I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am to have Wicked released and out there for everyone to hear. It's quite dark and is heavy as an album can be.. so if you haven't had a chance to listen to this album yet please take the time and check out the first couple of tracks. It might be your cup of tea…. Or it might not.

It is funny usually when I release an album I get tons of immediate feedback. Pretty much within the first day of release… This one took about 2 or 3 days for the feedback to start flooding in. It was well worth the wait as I really do feel that a lot of people have taken time to digest this album quite well. It is unrelenting… extremely heavy and actually quite progressive in some ways.

To make a long story short (or.. as short as I can ever make something) Wicked has broken all of my download records to date. Which tells me that the Planet Gemini name is getting out there more and more and that's all due to you who visit the webpage, the myspace page.. and just all of the people who support the band in general.

So for all of that.. I thank you all.

Now, I have gotten a couple of e-mails asking if this album will be available for purchase… One thing that I really wanted to do years ago with Planet Gemini was to create a project where I could give away music to people and I realize that I am alienating those of you who want an official pressed release of this album. But, the reality of the situation is that the cost of pressing these albums are quite expensive so it really is something that I have to weigh out doing. I really want to support this album with a pressing and have been considering maybe shopping it around to a couple smaller labels but, I have a hard time agreeing to someone owning my music. So, time will tell on that question. I will be putting up a lossless version of the CD soon so you all have that to look forward to.

Now onto the meat of this update

*The future of Planet Gemini*

Well, Wicked is released. The unicorn of my existence has been bound, caught and put on display for the world to see. So now… where do I go from here?

Well, I have 2 albums in the can ready to be recorded and filled out. (about 20 song ideas and demos lying around in the studio). I'm going to take about a month off and record a couple of bands that have been waiting to get in my studio… So, after I get done recording and producing a couple of albums for some other bands I will start working on…

Cauldron of Fuzz 666: the E.N.D.

Cauldron of Fuzz: "Evil Never Dies" will be another full length Planet Gemini album (Right now it is consisting of 8 tracks that are a little more lengthy and more jam oriented than the other PG stuff) I am looking to experiment with some organ and synth sounds a bit on this album but never fear… it will be bone crushingly heavy and more evil than one can imagine. The song titles I have so far are…

01. Secret Agent 666
02. The Nightmare Room
03. All of My Colors Turned Grey
04. Evil Never Dies

Again these are all subject to change at will… Once the album is finished I will piece all of the songs together. I probably won't be starting this album until mid-September because I really enjoyed last year's spontaneous Cauldron of Fuzz album and I want to keep that "Fresh" feel alive.

After that album I still plan on releasing another full lengthed Planet Gemini album in early-mid 2009 that I am currently calling "The Book of Red". I don't know if that name is going to stick once more material gets written for it but we'll see I suppose.

As always the most important thing to me is to make sure that everyone feels like they are a part of the project. I will be releasing a "Blueprint" version of Wicked. With some alternate takes of songs and maybe even a few of the original Wicked demos (that were written with Josh) as well.

All in all there is going to be a TON of Planet Gemini material out there for everyone this year and it's only going to increase more and more. I'm looking to experiment with different instruments and styles. I'm always evolving but above everything else one thing will always remain true. I love this.. I love what I do.. and I appreciate you all so much for listening to my stuff.. because above all else.. this is THE dream… and to be lucky enough to create and have people enjoy it so much means more to me than I can ever express. I don't care about selling CDs, labels, money.. all that shit means nothing.. The music is the only thing that matters. It is pure, untouched and completely unfiltered.. From my mind to your ears… and the fact that you all respect goes to show that we're all on a higher level than most.

Thank you all
Sincerely
H (The RIGHT Hand of God)

Updates Galore

2008-06-17T05:34:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone,

I know it's kind of been a long time since I've given a band status update... but things have kind of been in limbo for a while. My number 1 issue that I've been running into lately is that I've had a little TOO much time on my hands and when you have too much time on your hands you don't make the most of the time being wasted (does that even make sense?...). Anyway... I have come to a few conclusions within the last couple of days and I figured that I would share them with you guys know.

Okay, First of all. I've gotten a couple e-mails inquiring about old material. (How they can get it, is it still in print..etc) First of all let me say that 13 & COF are out of print for good. I have about 10 copies left of both and don't want to part with all of them. I won't be doing reissues of these albums for many reasons. The most of all is that the mastering is horrendus and I do not have the original master recordings anymore (due to a harddrive failure and an idiot (me) who neglected to back them up.

But, upon redesigning the webpage I will be putting up 2 old albums for download. "Cauldron of Fuzz III: Legion" [2004] and "Cauldron of Fuzz II: The Ritual Continues" [2003].

and I guess the biggest news of this update will be that I have decided to release my long delayed album "Wicked" as is. While it's not 100% perfect it is better for me to release it to the public than to let the songs dwell on my harddrive unheard. The version of the album will be the version I sent out to the press a long while back... it really is polished quite well. I fell into a trap of "overpolishing" and I really do feel that I was really holding the album back from it's release. Wicked features 11 tracks all written and recorded in 2006. The tracklisting is....

01. Incantation
02. Grim (My God of Red)
03. Silver Strings
04. Lightmare
05. Minus
06. Moondancer
07. The Beast on Your Back
08. Author of Pain
09. Preachin' to the Choir
10. The Deadly Sleep
11. Eden

This album will be released for FREE on www.planetgemini.net on August 4th, 2008 (a year after it's last announced release date).

Wicked is a very special album to me.. filled with tons of venom and passion.. and my biggest issue with the album was that I felt I could re-create it better under more "sane" circumstances... However, when recorded in a more "sober" state took away from a lot of the power. Hence forth the delays...

What you will hear is not typical "in control" Hellion from Planet Gemini. It really is my decent into madness and depression... and the subsiquent resurrection and power that sometimes vitriol can bring.

I hope you all enjoy the album... while it is not perfect.. upon listening it again this last weekend I've kind of realized that it is perfectly imperfect... and can't really be improved upon without lossing all of that build and aggression.

I always said "Wicked will be ready when it's ready".. and I guess the real fact of the matter was that... "Wicked will be ready when I am ready".. I wasn't ready yet... Now I am.

Thank you all
Sincerely
H

A Quick “Thank You” to EVERYONE!

2008-05-20T20:43:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to take a quick moment and extend a big "Thank you" to everyone out there that keeps things like the Planet Gemini Wikipedia page and the Planet Gemini Encyclopedia Metallium page up to date. Personally I have no CLUE how to update that shit and I just had to send a request to the Metallium page to update some minor stuff. (all I could update is lyrical theme which I stupidly put "Satanic" instead of "Mysticism" which might have been a better theme. Either way..)

So I just wanted to take the time and say "Thanks" because really some of the shit that is on the Wikipedia page is pretty cool. I didn't put the stuff up about the side project and I'm wondering who did. Even getting the names of the performers is quite… um… impressive.

Thanks again
Sincerely
H

The Fallen Angel (Demo) Lyrics & Download Link

2008-04-23T21:57:00.001-04:00

Well, since originally posting the demo of "The Fallen Angel" I've gotten quite a few e-mails and request.
The first request I've gotten was to post the lyrics because no one has a clue about what I'm saying. The other was a direct link to the song so they can download it and put it on their MP3 player or whathaveyou…

So… ask and you shall receive.

http://www.planetgemini.net/fallendemo.mp3

Above is the link where the song can be downloaded… (keep in mind it is a very rough demo if you are hearing it for the first time).

and here are the lyrics… short and sweet.

The Fallen Angel
The Devil rides by moonlight
Forging what would be his throne
His legion sits behind him
and yet he feels alone

The angel rides in starlight
and whispers on the wind
his chanting so hypnotic
as he slips beneath your skin

Now no one rides the starlight
Cause you can never run when death calls
and they say that the devil, he spies on the angel that falls
The angel that falls.

Thanks to everyone who has written me to give me some feedback on the track.
It's quite… popular to people who have heard it.
Hope you all enjoy
Sincerely
H

The Fallen Angel (DEMO)

2008-04-09T14:36:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone,

I figured I would give the "heads up" to those of you who do not frequent the Myspace page (which can be found at www.myspace.com/planetgeminidoom) that I put up a new Demo of a song entitled "The Fallen Angel". It is a very "spacey" sounding song and is a VERY rough mix demo. I spent a lot of time in the studio this last week and literally just wrote that song and recorded it yesterday.

The production is so/so. It needs a little work. To me it sounds like a cross between Zeppelin and Pentagram maybe with a little Floyd thrown in there.

I'm liking it a lot so… check it out
Sincerely
H

Pearls of Wisdom

2008-03-29T14:58:00.001-04:00

Hello everyone

I've been getting a couple of e-mails lately asking "how do you go about doing this or that?" and I have one universal response for everything. It's not only about music but I believe it's the key to life and happiness in general.. are you ready?

Find what works for you... and exploit the hell out of it.

There it is.. there is no other way to say it really. I practice like a maniac when I can't do something... it's just the way I'm wired. With that being said someone else might need a more strict time setting. Like "okay I'm going to practice this everyday when I get home from 6PM-6:30PM..etc". There really is no "key" to anything. I might have to practice 12 hours to get something that someone else will get in 1 hour. It's just the way it works.

When I wear the producer hat during recording I will always give someone a "pearl of wisdom" that makes them say "whoa I never thought of doing it like that" and don't get me wrong that's always great… but if you only practice what someone else suggests to you. You will never elevate yourself to a level above that person teach.

Try everything!
If it's recording make sure you read up on what the masters have to say. There are webpages like www.recordbetteraudio.com or there are TONS of Podcasts out there that will help you find the sound or technique that you are looking for… my only suggestion I can give is.. once you find it… open it up.. see how/why it works. Try deconstructing the idea and find out WHY it did what it does.

I truly believe the same thing for life in general. (not to sound to motivational here or anything) but I get so many people saying "Man your job is awesome, your life is so stress-free…etc" there is a reason behind that.. I saw a way to improve things in my life and I did it. There is no "can't" and once you start understanding that you'll understand that life is only what you put into it.

(God I am sounding preachy).

Anyway.. as for my guitar sound. I use a lot of different techniques. I mic a Marshal Half Stack with an SM57 off axis (about 45 degrees or so) I keep the mic about 1 inch away from the cone. Sometimes I also set a "Room mic" which is in the back of the room for natural reverb… I will ALWAYS record a direct track. Using a direct box right into the board. I truly believe that gives off frequencies that you just can't get from a mic. You definitely can OVER do it but.. it always helps to have more tracks than less.

I have had songs where I have done 4 guitar tracks (all playing the same thing at different eq frequencies) but… personally I tend to just stick with the solid 2 guitar tracks and a Solo track (or 2 if there are harmonies)

For vocals I double track a lot. Or sometimes I'll single track and copy the track and move one a couple milliseconds ahead to give that "slapback" delay. It adds a doubling effect without it sounding to "chorus". Doubling is really a skill a singer needs to develop. If I am recording a singer who is unsure of himself I'll often record him once.. and mute the track and tell him to re-do it.. and see how it sync's up without him knowing.

Drums are a completely different matter and to be honest I can't give much advice for those besides… Less is more when it comes to a drum kit. I have a HUGE kit… it's not needed. Whenever I have someone record I basically strip the kit down to a 3 piece. Just because most drummers don't need all the bells and whistles and you're basically wasting time getting all of the mics sounding good when all you need is..

1 bass drum mic (don't cheap out on this)
2 for the snare (over and under)
1 for each tom (Rack & Floor)
and 2 overheads (remember to be careful for phasing out on the mix)

now… my kit (as it stands right now is mic'd)
1 bass drum mic (I don't remember the model number but it's a Shure.. it cost me about $300 it nice..)
2 SM57's for the Snare Drum (over and under.. I actually duck tape the sides of the 57's to stop as much "rattling" as possible)
4 SM57's for each tom (10,12,14,16)
2 Overheads (Cheapies… Shure PG something er others..)
and 2 more 57's for Over the Hi Hats and Under the Ride.

I mix my drums this way… (as far as faders go.. I'm going to use %)
Bass Drum 80%
Snare Over 35%
Snare Under 45%
Overheads (Panned to the Left and Right 90%) 20% (each)
Toms 65% (I do tend to take the lower toms down sometimes)
Hats 10%
Ride 10%

Advice for DRUMMERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (please read)
> I'm not saying that a metronome is the end all be all.. but.. if you can't play to a solid rhythem… LEARN!... Or you're going to find yourself paying a lot more money in the studio. I love the sound of a live band recording but some drummers just need to be grounded.. and some people need to punch and it's almost impossible to punch drums that are not to a metronome.. so LEARN!.. that goes for guitarists and bass players as well… if you can't play to a click track… sit down and work on your rhythm it's badly needed.

> Bring an extra snare head into the studio (or an extra snare would be even better if you have one) It's sad to say but some snares just don't sound right when put to tape. Some are pingy and annoying (see Lars' snare on St Anger).

> Learn how to tune your drums! I have had some drummers come in.. sit down and there drums have sounded like absoleute dog shit… This includes a couple of people who were playing for over 20 years. Your drums should SING in the studio… fucking throw out those O rings.. in the studio you're better duck taping any unwanted noise away.. but you should always have a little over-hum that continues after you hit that drum.. (no rattling… that is bad).

GUITARISTS (and bassists for that matter)
> when you know you are going into the studio be sure to restring your guitar the night before. Use that "String Ease" shit.. Put the strings on and tune the guitar about a half a step higher than you normally tune.. spray the strings and let it sit over night.. wake up in the morning and tune the guitar properly.. fact is.. your strings have just been stretched and will produce a much better tone and a much more solid sustain. IF YOUR STRINGS ARE MORE THAN 2 WEEKS OLD… RESTRING!!!!!!

> bring a spare set of guitar strings.. (and maybe even 2 extra high E strings just in case.) you never know.

VOCALISTS
>Bring (or make sure the studio has) sprite or some light carbonated beverage. Sounds crazy but I've seen sprite save a lot of vocalists when their voice was dying.
>Drink hot tea and do vocal exercises 30 minutes to an hour before going into the studio. Even if you're a screamer.

DEFUNKED MYTHS

Myth: "I don't know why I can't sing this… I sound much better while playing guitar/bass"
Fact: No, you've always sounded like that you just didn't hear yourself because you were too busy playing guitar. Your voice doesn't change.. your comfort level does.

Myth: "We can just punch that… right?"
Fact: No! a lot of times you can't punch something without it screwing with the timing of the song. It is just a fact of life… sometimes you'll save more time re-recording something than working with something that starts off broken.

Myth: "I want my friend to come in the studio.."
Fact: NO you don't.. too many cooks spoil the soup… Fuck when I have a band in here.. if I notice that they are harping on the singer.. I will kick the band out and work with the singer one on one.. if the band doesn't like it… then find another singer.

Myth: "I just want to play around and experiment"
Fact: NO…. that is a job for you at home.. not in a studio where you are paying by the hour. You should KNOW what you're going to do when you go in.. or.. invest in a studio because with recording gear prices as low as they are you really can do this stuff yourself.

Myth: "I don't want to record direct.. I like my guitar sound"
Fact: You sir are an idiot! I understand you love your sound.. I understand it's a part of you… and you don't want to abort your baby right… right!?... well.. you don't have to.. but.. understand that technology has progressed and there is a lot to be said for getting those "direct channel" frequencies… Sometimes a blasting guitar is not going to mesh well with a microphone.. and .. well.. you don't want to record your guitar at low levels.

Myth: "Compression and Gate should be on EVERY TRACK!"
Fact: this is a HUGE misconception when it comes to recording. Compressing tracks tends to destroy important frequencies. (especially low end) Compressing bass guitar is VERY tricky.. and should only be done by a professional. Keep in mind. Your master will be compressed… and tweaked to high heaven.. so you're not hearing a final product at all.

That is all for now.. I hope this post helps someone..
Just please remember what I'm saying here… Explore every option. When I began playing drums I was taking advice from every side.. even moving my drums in uncomfortable setups because "that's the way Oly Olson played it" or.. "that's the way Vinny Appice suggested"… here's the thing.. Oly and Vinny are both light years ahead of me… but… the fact remains that… we are different people.. and we all learn different ways.. and have different positions we like to sit.. watch people bowl. When you first learn to bowl you copy what you are taught.. within' 2 or 3 times going back you start to find what works for you… so in turn.. life… is like bowling..

Don't be a gutterball!
(that wasn't even planned.. HA!)
Hope you are all well
H

Planet Gemini March Update

2008-03-05T13:55:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone,

I know I haven't had all that much to say in the last couple of months and it really is for good reason. I haven't been working on Planet Gemini material all that much. I've been wearing the producer's hat much more than the artist. Both are fun and don't get me wrong I'm not complaining at all but, I feel it is time to start heavily working on the next Planet Gemini album.

I have some great ideas that I've been throwing around but haven't really taken the time to polish much. Songs that I have floating around at the moment are "Hole in Heaven", "The Book of Red", and "The Cellar". I'm sure you can tell by the album titles that this is going to be a bit more of an "occult" driven album. I've been watching a lot of old movies about "the devil" and "possession" and I must admit it is really affecting the way that my music is coming out. Demos I have floating around are much more… experimental but I'm sure they'll heavy up nicely once I take the time to layer and play with things.

I don't like naming an album before it is released but right now I am referring to the album as "The Book of Red". Again, that is nothing set in stone but I have a feeling that it will all work itself out in due time.

*Release date*
Okay, as of right now I'd like to say that I should have the album done by early summer. However, as you all know sometimes I get a little sidetracked with other bands coming in and whatnot so I'm not 100% sure about anything. I will say this however, the 4 or 5 songs I am contemplating putting on the album are all 8-10 minutes long. So it's not going to be a short album by any stretch of the imagination. There will be no cover song on this album as I do plan on pressing it fully.

*Cauldron of Fuzz VI*
I can say this.. if the new album lasts beyond summer I will be putting it on hold to work on the next Cauldron of Fuzz installment. I REALLY enjoyed the last Cauldron of Fuzz (which can be downloaded for free here on the webpage). For those of you who have written me about "A Time Before Time" you'll be happy to know that there is going to be a lot more songs like that. I've been rehearsing the Cauldron V stuff a lot. I really wouldn't mind doing a "Live" recording of a Planet Gemini set for everyone who is clamoring to hear the stuff live. I have some friends that I jam with that would be happy to be on a PG recording. My only issue is playing the old songs without Josh feels kind of weird.. especially because the bass player I've been jamming with plays much more technical than Josh did and it sounds a little different.

*New Demos*
I'm going to take the time to upload some new demos sometime in the next couple of weeks. Due to the popularity of "A Time Before Time" I figured that I would put up the original demo. It's not too different but it really gives you an idea of how I write vocals. The demo track has the original improvisation. I have a couple more gems I would like to release and maybe for the heck of it I'll release a new track in demo form or something.

So hopefully you can see that everything is back on track. Expect a re-launch of PlanetGemini.net in the coming months with some new content. Also… let me know if anyone would be interested in a podcast of sorts. I'm not looking to talk 100% about Planet Gemini, but about recording techniques that I use and how I go about getting certain sounds and certain ways to record different singers. As always your best way to reach me is by e-mail hellion@planetgemini.net

Never fear I'm not looking to do the next "Ask a Ninja" or anything.. (which is fantastic by the way)
But I know there are some great audio podcasts that really help people that are just getting started.. and while I don't consider myself a professional or anything, I have worked with many seasoned pro's who have taught me many studio tricks… Music to me should be shared and as musicians we should ALL be about sharing techniques and making all of our material better.

Thank you all so much and I look forwarding to hearing for you soon~!
Sincerely
H

Still Alive!

2008-02-19T14:10:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone,

Well it's my first update in quite a while. After a terrible bout with influenza I haven't found myself in the studio all that much and I haven't really been very creative at all. When I am going into the studio it is to record some other bands projects and whatnot. So in the longrun there really isn't much to report on the Planet Gemini front.

I have a couple tracks written and demo'd for my next release but I'm not 100% sure if it is going to be the material that I want to be released next. I am more of a "free spirit" when it comes to music.. just taking it as it comes.. I'm recording anything and everything that is in my head. Not all of it is coming out "metal" so I'm polishing those songs and I'm going to keep them for my own benefit. The Next PG album must be heavier and more brutal than the last… that's always the goal.

I hope all is well with all of you
and I will talk to you soon
Sincerely
H

COFV – Reviewed (Stonerrock.com)

2008-01-21T11:22:00.001-05:00

One of the MAJOR disadvantages to doing and online release of an album is that the media (whether it be print or online) tend to not review your album. I can't really explain why… I would probably break it down to reviewers don't really get paid to do what they do so they like to have a retail copy of the CD to keep as "payment" for their hard work. Personally, I can understand that theory however, I frown slightly on it due to the fact that sometimes I would just rather put out material online than spend the money printing it. So… if you are a reviewer or know someone who reviews material.. please take this stuff into consideration. Not just for me but for other bands.

One webpage that did actually take notice of Cauldron of Fuzz V is my good friends at STONERROCK.COM. These guys have taken an interest in Planet Gemini since it's inception and I'm quite lucky that Dan and crew are all open minded to my "underground" type philosophy.

The following is a review for "Cauldron of Fuzz V: Sometimes it Comes Back"

Planet Gemini - Cauldron of Fuzz V: Sometimes It Comes Back
Reviewer: Joel Geraghty (StonerRock.com)
Label: WoeconstrictoR Records
Release date: October 31, 2007

The very definition of a solo band, Planet Gemini is a one-man show owned and operated by the capable and talented Hellion. He sings and plays all the instruments in addition to recording, mixing, producing, and releasing everything himself from his home studio. After putting the next planned LP, Wicked, on hold for the time being, H's urge to create was so powerful that he wrote and recorded the newest installment in Planet Gemini's annual Cauldron of Fuzz Halloween series in less than three weeks and was still tweaking the record the night before its free release via download on the band's website.

Cauldron of Fuzz V: Sometimes It Comes Back is a guitar-heavy album with riffs, solos, leads, and layers galore as it retains the heavy traditional doom slant of Gemini's previous recordings on tracks like the pummeling "Ritual Evolved" and the sludgy "Demonic Wall," while "The Start of My Demise" is an upbeat rocker with a groovy stoner vibe. The record also admittedly marks a more experimental direction to explore the limits of what a studio-only band can do, without any limitations or concern for whether or not the songs can be replicated live in concert. Trippy vocal effects and ethereal psychedelic elements are woven throughout the two back-to-back epics of the album, "A Time Before Time" and "Temples of Infinity," which combined clock in at approximately 18 minutes, but the journey is satisfying with the brilliant use of light and shade. H approaches his music as art and it shows. These are my two favorite songs from the lot and I am intrigued by the hint of H following this path on his next project.

Evident from the perfectly-titled lead off track, "Ritual Evolved", Cauldron of Fuzz V represents the evolution of the player behind Planet Gemini as H's primal, authoritative drumming has vastly improved and his bass lines are so meaty you could eat them for dinner. The guitars soar and H's distinct vocal s t y l e sounds better than ever. A blazing cover of Pentagram's "Day of Reckoning" caps off the album, paying tribute to one of Planet Gemini's primary influences. Don't let the "free" price tag fool you, this isn't something that sounds like it was thrown together and recorded in somebody's half-assed basement studio. Planet Gemini is serious business and Cauldron of Fuzz V: Sometimes It Comes Back is the pinnacle of one man's vision.

I would like to take the time to thank Joel (AKA Chrononaut) for reviewing the album. It's very much appreciated.

Sincerely
H

Less Crazy Post… Holiday Wishes…

2007-12-22T10:34:00.001-05:00

I figure after that completely insane rambling post I would follow up with…

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Hehe..

In all seriousness though… I have a friend who went under the knife last week and I just want to wish him the best. Justin here's to a quick recovery! *Raises glass* With so much metal in your veins you are basically indestructible and never forget that!...

To everyone else… Have a WONDERFUL holiday.. Take time to appreciate all of your loved ones and just enjoy the season for what it should be. A time where everyone is a little nicer to everyone else. I don't like the commercialization of Christmas but, the theory behind it and the true meaning is there… if you peel through the 20,000,000 layers of wrapping paper it's hidden under. I have so much in my life to be thankful for… and it's times like this that remind me of that.

So to all of you who visit the webpage, listen to the music… read my psychotic ramblings…
… Happy holidays!
Sincerely
H

Q&A: Questions, answered in an ungodly insane detail~!!!111

2007-12-22T09:34:00.001-05:00

I've been getting a fair amount of e-mails lately asking me some PG related questions so I figured I would take the time and answer them here for all of you who visit the webpage…

Kay, this turned out to be a VERY LONG drawn out diatribe.
Reader warning.. my rambling gets rather insane at the end!

But, it's all my story and as always I try to be as much of an open book for you as possible.

Question: I was wondering if you've changed your mind about releasing Wicked and can I have a copy of the demos?

Answer: This question came to me in multiple forms to be honest, I'm kind of paraphrasing here for the sake of multiple responses. No, I haven't changed my mind about Wicked just yet. I do listen to the demos often. I love them and really think that it's going to make a great album but, the time isn't right. When Josh left the band it kind of left a bad stigma on that album for me and while it was all written by me… it was written in a very dark place. It's not that the material isn't good or I'm "insecure" of people hearing my emotions.. It's just that.. for this material to be put out there… it needs to be put together perfectly. The major problem with the release was that the first 6 or 7 songs are the best shit I've ever written. But, the last 3 felt a little like filler to me, and I just can't allow that to drag down the rest of the album. As far as letting people have demos. I've put up 3 or 4 tracks on my Virb page www.virb.com/planetgemini you can feel free to check them out there, however I am not ready to post anything quite yet. It's just not ready. Trust me you'll know if/when I'm ready to put it out.

Question: Why did Josh leave the band?

Answer: I've gotten this question a couple of times over the last year or so and always kind of steered clear of it, but I suppose that in the interest of "full disclosure" I can talk about it I do warn you… be prepared for a book.

Josh is…well.. Josh and to understand what I mean you have to know the guy. He bottles a lot of stuff inside and one of the things he was bottling up was the fact that Planet Gemini wasn't as much his dream as it was mine. We all get to a point in our lives where we evaluate what we've done and I feel that Josh decided that Planet Gemini was becoming more of a hassle and wanted to concentrate more on other facets of his life.

Now, to understand the ill-will of the situation is to know that… we started on many new endeavors and he never said anything BEFORE making prior commitments. Example: we started recruiting bands for a record label we were starting. All the while he never said ANYTHING about his discontent with me and music and things in his life that he needed to change. As a result of this I ended up screwing over some good people who made plans to travel to my studio to record. (which I actually still feel guilty about to this day) and well… lost my best friend… which was kind of .. unrecoverable.

On my birthday this year Josh came to my house (the first time I saw him in almost a year) we sat on my front porch and talked/cried/talked for a while. I don't know what the conclusion was to be honest but, Josh and I talk every now and again now. We've actually jammed together once but to be honest I just don't have that connection with him anymore. I love the guy, He was like my family for 10+ years… and like family if he ever needs me I'll be here. With that being said "you can never go home again" and in his defense… he doesn't want to. He's moved on and started his own life that is on a completely different path than mine. He is a very good guy and I will always cherish the times we spent together and the things he did for me. I think it summed it up when we spoke a couple months ago and he was like "There was one point where I would have taken a bullet for you… isn't that kind of screwed up?" and I felt (Shit, I think I still would for you…) but, alas time moves on. Life is different stages, different places that we all leave behind… (I'm sure I can quote a dozen lyrics of mine to summarize my emotions on the matter). All that matters in the end is that Josh is happy.

I think that in the end this was the best for all parties. I always go back to one of the last phone conversations we had when I basically said he should leave the band. He claimed "You were always Planet Gemini" and… he was right. I always kind of thought Planet Gemini was about 2 guys who just loved the music and creating… but the more I thought about it. Josh never really LIKED creating. It was almost a chore for him to learn bass parts. I recently have been working with a friend of mine Greg who plays bass and we sat down and wrote some stuff and he's like "Yeah! Let me try my fretless bass on this… *records it*… okay let me try it again cleaned up a little..etc" and like.. that NEVER happened with Josh. Josh wanted to record and be done. He would never lay down a "temp" bass track and then go back and clean it up… he just wanted the song done and put out. (which is why a lot of my old PG demos have no bass on them). So I guess the old Planet Gemini was one guy pouring his soul and passion into his music… and his best friend hanging out, throwing out ideas, coming up with a few melody lines and whatnot. I'm not understating Josh's purpose in Planet Gemini because.. when he left the band I must admit that I had a very hard time writing in a new totally different way. He did Planet Gemini for me… as a friend… and for that I thank him. Out of that my vision was born.. and he'll always be a part of what this band is. I'll never be able to listen to songs that Josh wrote (Taste the Smoke, My Black Cloud, Holy Father..etc) and not think of how much I enjoyed the time we spent in the studio just being complete goofs. It is a little tainted knowing that he was miserable for the last couple years of PG… but… I have all of these amazing memories of me and my best friend hanging out… almost like a journal… it's all there on 13, CoF, Supergod and COFII. Fact is.. after those albums I started to want the band to sound better/be more professional. I started wanting to tinker with different sounds. Josh was NOT a fan of playing around with things. He said many times "if I had my way we'd have like 10 albums out a year. Everything we wrote we get put out" but, I was very much the buffer. If there was something I wasn't feeling or I thought could be done better. I would axe a song and Josh was be very agitated with that. Josh was miserable during Wizards Blood. I didn't see it at the time but, looking back at it now I understand it. We recorded Wizards Blood twice for the most part. There was a lot of shit going on with Micing the drums. I was basically learning how to play a real kit (because the older stuff was done on an electric drumkit.. and well.. it is much easier to play when you can edit the midi if something goes wrong) and it was driving him nuts that I'd have to play a song 100 times to get the drums right.. hehe

Again, I'm sure Josh could tell you a million more reasons and maybe someday he will… but for right now I will just say this. The Josh era Planet Gemini is and always will be very special to me. It's when I had my brother by my side. It was much easier standing as two than standing as one. I was much easier having someone telling you "That riff is fucking awesome dude!" as opposed to writing by yourself.

Question: What is holding Wicked back?

Answer: It's really the setting.. The circumstances where a lot of Wicked was written was very insane.. and it's something I need to.. recapture..

For a while my studio became a very dark, lonely place. So dark in fact that I started going in there with no lights on. I was writing music in complete darkness. For those of you who don't know me you must understand the situations in which I write music. I basically close my eyes and just let whatever comes out.. come out.. I started going into the studio for very long stretches of time. (12-14 hours a day) I would hear sounds of things moving upstairs and just pretend it was someone around me. I called him "Grim" it was my "Josh-replacement" he was my devil on my shoulder. While he never really spoke to me I would imagine him in the corner of my studio (behind a curtain that I have up). I never wanted to look behind the curtain because… if he wasn't there I'd be alone again. My only friend… Grim.. My God of Red. Let me start this story at the beginning so you all have a full understanding of where I'm coming from (so no one comes along and puts me in a padded cell hehehe).

I was recording a song which would be entitled "Minus". This song was basically the first track where I started envisioning "Grim" when I closed my eyes. For those of you who know the story of Cauldron of Fuzz III will understand how I came to envision him (for those who don't.. read the Cauldron 3 discography page.) Minus's lyrics were completely improvised and they were written for me… to me.. by me.. as strange as that sounds. Believe me… this song was one of the most supernatural feeling songs I've ever written. It haunts me to listen to it. Chills me to the bone to hear the devil inside me speaking…

The Lyrics to the song are…
Your mind is fading away, I spin around and I can't control
This world of horror we made, another sinister, afterglow
Toy warrior crumble in fear, You're screaming out no one cares at all
Your bravery drown in your tears, denial of heaven's so beautiful
So let it sweep you away, the movement seems so peaceful but…
It's human nature to betray, We'll come together.. now move along.

This was my acceptance into Josh leaving the band. The last line was "We'll come together now move along…" and it was my mind giving me someone. Someone to lead me down this twisted path.. and I followed. The next song I wrote was "The Beast on Your Back" I wrote this immediately after I "found" Grim. But, it was not what I was expecting. The beast was about every fucking good thing that music has given me. Every empowering thing that Planet Gemini has given me. "This circlet of silver that I behold may be all that's keeping the devil inside me at bay" (Basically saying screaming into this mic and creating this music is what drive me.. keeps me sane.. makes me happy.. and makes me who I am). "My children of fire, unhealthy desire… may the beast on your back never die".. it was me… telling me not to lose this, not to forget what passion I had for this. I needed that "mental" cheerleader.. someone to… encourage me. "Grim" although he just lived in my mind (and I realize this.. I'm not crazy..heheh).. was making me feel like I had someone to share my music with.

Me, personally I don't write music with the thought that hundreds/thousands of people are going to hear it. If I did that I'd probably go crazy and never release anything. I write for me. At the moment.. and when you hear a Planet Gemini song you are hearing moments of my life. When my lyrics and music delve into insanity.. you can believe I am putting myself there as well… But, isn't that what an artist always does? We drive ourselves crazy for our craft, and above everything else. I consider myself an artist. (I won't be cutting off my ear anytime soon but… you get my point). One of my proudest moments was when I got back reviews from Supergod and Wizards blood… and people said "You can feel the soul and passion in this music"… Because.. I mean this 1 million percent. I pour myself into my music. I alter my state of mind to fit the music. I change who I am to sound the way the song is telling me to sound. Am I crazy? I don't think that there is a question about that. But, I have moments of craziness.. controlled insanity. So… okay.. if you're still reading this.. you are officially a true Planet Gemini super fan.. hehe or.. like to see someone deconstructing themselves, either or.

So yeah… Wicked was written under a very crazy veil. One that I must recapture and.. personally Grim isn't talking with me at the moment hehe. I want to become a better musician before finishing this album. There are drum parts on Cauldron of Fuzz V (Which can be downloaded for FREE in my downloads section) that I could have never done on previous albums (especially drum-wise). I really want to incorporate more.. power into Wicked. In the end I feel confident it will be released. It's just a matter of time.. and my state of mind.

Just a quick THANK YOU to everyone.

2007-11-19T10:57:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to take this time to extend my deepest THANKS to everyone who donated to the Planet Gemini project. It's such an honor that you all appreciate the work I do and it means that much to you all.

So… to everyone who donated… from five dollars to fifty.. thank you all so much.

I hope all of the visitors to this webpage have a fantastic Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it).

I may appear to be going "underground" for the next month or so but I assure you that I'm still around and I'll be working on a new project (that's not Planet Gemini) with some friends of mine. We're going to be keeping the same vibe as PG as far as just playing what we feel… no genres to hold us back... but.. I'd like to start fresh and come together as a new "group". Don't worry there WILL be much more Planet Gemini material in 2008 as I am really just getting started to explore different avenues of songwriting. The great thing about this new project is that it's just a bunch of friends getting together who happen to play instruments. I've known some of these people for years and years and we've never even jammed.. so.. It will be fun.

I'll probably post an update and maybe some demos of our new project as it comes together.
Thanks so much and have a wonderful holiday season
Sincerely
H

How you can help Planet Gemini.

2007-11-06T17:22:00.001-05:00

Something I neglected to mention in my last post is that I've been getting e-mails from a lot of people asking me if I would be pressing Cauldron of Fuzz V. A lot of people want to "Support" the project by buying the album and most of you already have the other albums I've released and or everything you don't have is out of print.

I have started a "donate" portion of the webpage. For those of you who enjoy the free albums and want to give a couple bucks… I would greatly appreciate it and it would really keep the project running and make it so I can press a lot more material. If enough money is raised to do a small run of Cauldron of Fuzz I will work out sending a copy of the album to you for just the cost of shipping. I'm not 100% sure how this will all work out and if anyone has any good ideas please feel free to write me about it.

The fact of the matter is that I'm not looking to "Charge' people for anything. The albums will still be free, and if you don't have the money to spare then by all means.. don't donate. But every little bit helps and my studio (while it does generate some money for rent) costs a hefty fee to upkeep.

So… in short if you enjoy the latest release "Cauldron of Fuzz V" and would like to help the project out please feel free to donate at our STORE's main page.

Again, to reinterate here. There is NOTHING changing about Planet Gemini. Whatever you donate is going DIRECTLY to the project. No middle man.. and will be used to press future albums and make it possible for me to offer more merch, bandwidth and other features that the page could use.

Thanks so much
H

Where it goes from here…

2007-11-06T16:23:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone,

I just figured that I would give a quick little update about where things are going to go from here as far as Planet Gemini goes. Before I really get into anything major I seriously want to thank everyone that downloaded and enjoyed Cauldron of Fuzz V. I had reports from people that the server actually died on me on November 1^st (4 or 5 e-mails saying the page was down). It's quite awesome that you all enjoyed it and it was actually a huge undertaking on my part (basically writing an album in 4 days and putting it out a week and a half later…

I wanted to comment on a post I made the day after releasing the album if you would indulge me for a moment. I posted a quick little "Thank you" post and posted the numbers that I got from my hosting company about how many people downloaded the album… and whatnot. Well, needless to say about 15 minutes after I posted it I got an e-mail that was basically saying that I was coming off pompous… and like.. that was never, ever my intention. I don't throw numbers out there to impress anyone. It may seem kind of hard to understand but, to be honest sometimes it even shocks me how many people download this stuff. So please understand that my intentions on posting anything like that is more in the lines of trying to give you all an inside look at the project and not me trying to "awe" you with numbers. To me all that matters is that you enjoy the music. Could be one person, could be hundreds. The person that wrote me with this wasn't rude about it and I truly do believe that they were calling it as they seen it. Due to that e-mail I definitely will be more weary down the line but I hope if anyone else had a chance to read the blog they didn't take it that way. Believe me the fact that someone is probably listening to one of my songs as I type this still blows my mind. Now, with all that being said.. back to news.

Where does Planet Gemini go from here?

Well I can tell you this. As of right now Wicked is being put on hold. It's not off completely but I really do have some stuff I'd rather work on. It's not that I don't love Wicked because I do. I'm just not ready yet to release it. It does need work. It's a fine release as is but it's not everything I want it to be just yet. So the album will go on hold and I will continue to work on other things until the time where I feel that I'm ready to tackle Wicked again.

I've already started writing new tunes for my next project (which is untitled) I must admit that the new stuff is a little more different. I'm broadening my horizons a bit and to me it really is a nice change for Planet Gemini. It's still Sabbathy and heavy in it's own way but I want to explore with more. More acoustic sounds.. more instrumentation. Things like strings, mandolin, and even (gasp) keys sometimes. Different percussive instruments are definitely in the future as well. I want to compose and I want Planet Gemini to be an explosion of different sounds. PG will always be a guitar heavy band and there is nothing to worry about as far as me ever selling that short. However, there is much more power that can be generated with other forms of music. I recently have been listening to the new High on Fire album and it's quite inspirational to hear how their songs took shape with different instruments. I am not a live performer.. and so.. I should be layering these pieces as if they are more geared towards a studio recording. The problem is that I've always played like a live player. I wrote like a live band member would write. Every song I released it was always kind of "well… if I ever need to pull that off live this is how I would do it". I want to do away with that. I want to be more ethereal, more powerful, more haunting.. and I think that in the long-run it's not too far off from where I was heading with Cauldron of Fuzz V.

While writing some of the material on Cauldron of Fuzz V I found myself saying (ya know I've never thought about approaching this song from this angle). With songs like "Ritual Evolved", "Temples of Infinity" or even "A Time Before Time" it wasn't as much a structured song as much as it was a fun jam session. I loved that Ritual and Temples were about 7+ minutes and Time Before Time was about 10… and I can listen to those tracks and they don't feel boring to me at all. Ritual Evolved basically got it's name because it was the same idea building throughout the 7 + minutes of the song. It started off with a tribal beat then the punching of the cymbals started growing. The vocals floated over but by the time you got to the end of the song you were still listening to the same tribal beat… it was just presented in a heavier way. The riff morphed and moved to make a heavier experience and in a nutshell that's what I loved about the track. By the end of the song with the three punches basically was basically the final breath of the song. It was born.. grew.. and died all in 7 minutes and 2 seconds.

I don't know when the next Planet Gemini release will be. I'm hoping for something in the spring/summer of 2008. I can't say that it's going to be Wicked because at this moment I have to look at what I have and look at what I'm stopping myself from creating in overworking on Wicked. In my experience when you hit a wall like this sometimes you need to take 10 steps back and find another route around the wall… if Wicked is meant to be released it will be. There is no question about that. However, I think that right now I'm creating music that is extremely deep and emotional and I feel that Wicked is holding me back from creating more.

For example, Cauldron of Fuzz V would have never seen the light of day if I didn't put Wicked on hold and decide to release something new, and Cauldron of Fuzz V is probably my favorite Cauldron of Fuzz project to date (it's definitely the most personal to me). So I don't want anyone to think that because Wicked is being put aside that I am going to stop writing and creating music. If anything I am doing this BECAUSE I want to write and create more deep, meaningful music.. and not limit myself to things that sound like they should fit in with the previous Wicked material.

Thanks so much for all of the response and to everyone who posted about Cauldron of Fuzz V on various message boards.
I know sometimes it feels like a thankless job but really every little bit helps. New people find out about Planet Gemini everyday and it's in a large part thanks to the people who go out of their way to spread the word. I can't thank you all enough.

Sincerely
Rev. H (The Hand of God)

PS: I wouldn't doubt if an extended edition of Cauldron of Fuzz V came out somewhere down the line with the full 13 minute Demonic Wall and maybe 1 or two more tracks. But, we'll see about that. One thing about Demonic Wall that worried me was making an album that started off with 22 minutes of drone. I can't stand too much drone starting an album. So Demonic Wall was stripped (not to mention the time restraints were quite huge).

PSS. And to the bible thumpers out there who tend to read my messages and then send me e-mails advising me to stop "Dealing with the devil"… I'm going to leave you all with… I don't judge you.. nor do I ask you to conform to my way of thinking. Hell, You don't even know what my way of thinking is.. so.. please… stop carpet bombing me with your church spam. I realize this is just acknowledging you and now you're just going to continue… if not get worse.. but I assure you.. I am saved.. you are much closer to satan than I will ever be… J

Final Progress Report (The Day Before)

2007-10-30T16:46:00.001-04:00

So it's the day before Cauldron of Fuzz V's release and I'm still quite hard at work finishing everything up. Rest assured it will be ready to go by tomorrow night (barring any bizarre computer incident that might happen). The album sounds good. It's a little more ethereal. Kind of "experimental" in some points.

I really made a cognoscente effort to avoid the "Verse, chorus.. repeat" thing on this album. It's there sometimes but… rarely.

I can tell you all that the album should be 40 minutes + of new material.. and I'm thinking of throwing 2 b-sides out there as well. Right now there is a guaranteed 6 that will be on the album tomorrow and I have about 5 tracks that I didn't get to use. So, somewhere down the line there might be a COFV "The Bonus Material" but rest assured these 6 (or 7) tracks will be worth the wait.

This is going to be a very doomy yet very spacey release. I'm very happy with everything. Just got some vocals to throw on tonight and I'm finished. Very minimal in the way of mixing but that's always been the COF way. I hope you all enjoy it.

BTW, Thanks so much for the e-mails and myspace messages to everyone who has written me proclaiming their excitement for the album. I'm pretty psyched too. It'll be nice to actually sit back and listen to it when it's finished.. (which will probably be around the same time you all get to hear it.. oddly enough).

Due to time constraints I am only going to be putting the album up in MP3 form for tomorrow night. The WMA (Lossless) stuff will be available the next day. (This is obviously depending on how much time I have to do this stuff. But, as of right now it's looking like the mp3's will be the way to go for tomorrow. But fear not. The WMA stuff WILL be put up. Just.. when I have more time. It is Halloween tomorrow and I have children and small animals to throw in the meat grinder.

So, seeing as this will probably be my last blog before Halloween (That won't be a press announcement) let me just say "I hope you all have a fantastic Halloween… and I truly hope you enjoy the album"… and to those of you who wrote me saying that COFV will be the center of your Halloween gathering… that's just fucking awesome.

You all rule!
Sincerely
H

The King of Lies

2007-10-26T21:19:00.001-04:00

Scratch that, I went to the studio. Lots of progress too. Temples of Infinity and "The Start of Your Demise" are done..

Man, Temples is freaking me out at the moment. It's so.. weird.. and ethereal.. but yet.. It's hard to describe really. It starts off in a major key and then switches to minor almost immediately.. the result is kind of disorienting.. and then once you get used to it the song changes again. This will totally be a "Love it, or hate it track" I almost wanted to put piano at the end.. it's just so messed up.

Goodday today.. Maybe I'll take off tomorrow.. and then.. come in and finish everything ;)
Just figured I'd update
H

The Inevitable Burnout Has Occurred!

2007-10-26T14:36:00.001-04:00

Well, It is day 5 of the studio mixing/mastering week and yesterday I finally hit a snag. I'm working on a couple of other tracks that I wrote that didn't finish up so easily. I'm really trying to include a wider variety of stuff. As of right now.. I have 9 tracks for the album. 4 are completely finished and ready to go. 2 are a little ways away but that will be no big deal. The others are "iffy". I'm trying to tell myself that this is a Cauldron of Fuzz album and that perfection isn't as important as the emotion behind the music. Some of these tracks are very powerful and just crazy sounding. Here is the names of the tracks I have so far.

Ritual Evolved
Demonic Wall
The Start of Your Demise
A Time Before Time
Temples of Infinity
We All Fall Down
SINsation
The Gallery
Day of Reckoning

Again, this is not a guarantee of anything here but I feel confident that I can get out these songs for the final release. (Keeping in mind that I have roughly 5 days to finish this.. hehe) I just had to take today off or I couldn't see myself making it through the whole weekend in the studio. Sometimes the walls.. they.. speak to me.. and they were telling me to get out yesterday…

I would pretty much say that yesterday was the first "wasted" day in the studio. Trying to clean up "The Start of Your Demise" was ironically enough the start of my musical demise. The good news is that this weekend is completely devoted to the Cauldron of Fuzz album (Sat, Sun and Monday).. I'll take most of Tuesday as well and at that point hopefully Wed morning I'll be done with the album. "We'll see about that".. COFV WILL be up on Halloween. I'm just hoping it's all 9 songs. If It's not.. for some reason.. (this isn't making an excuse or anything) but I am going to try my damnedest to get it finished by the end of the week and I will put the songs that ARE finished up for download. If I had to put a % rating on the progress of each track it would go…

Ritual Evolved 75%
Demonic Wall 75%
The Start of Your Demise 40%
A Time Before Time 95%
Temples of Infinity 50%
We All Fall Down 95%
SINsation 95%
The Gallery 80%
Day of Reckoning 100%

As you can see there is still some work to be done but it's nothing insane. Nothing that I haven't done in years past for the COF albums. I'll probably design the webpage for this project today…. Who knows.. I might as well get something done.

BTW, I got the new Electric Wizard today…. I don't know what to think of it. It's different that's for sure.
Hope all is well… and thanks for the continued support
Sincerely
H

More about the New Fuzz Album

2007-10-24T14:53:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone,

Trying to make sure to keep everyone up to speed on the progress of the new Cauldron of Fuzz album (Which will be available on this webpage www.planetgemini.net at 8pm EST on October 31^st 2007) now with that blatant self promotional plug out of the way I am going to take a little time to talk about some of the songs that I've got coming on here and where they are as of right now in the production process.

Ritual Evolved:
Right now Ritual Evolved is done musically I just need to work out some vocals and maybe a few guitar harmonies for the track. It's about 7 minutes long and it's very "tribal" sounding. While I would call it "Riffy" per say it is very "invoking". This was the first track that I ended up writing for the album. It just came out and I thought (well that was fun) from there it just grew heavier and heavier. 7 minutes in and the song is crushing until it finally builds to a big finish. I really enjoy this track and I think you will as well. A little different from the past Fuzz Ritual songs that started off the COF albums. This is not as guitar driven.. but very guitar heavy. You'll understand what I mean when you hear it I'm sure.
Demonic Wall:
Demonic Wall's drums are done and bass are finished I need to layer guitars over it. Vocals are done but not perfect so I'll probably sing them over again. Another slow tempo'd song. Very doom laden (as is most of the tracks on this album). It features my high pitched screetchy voice (which I'm sure will THRILL those of you who can't stand it…) hehe but what can I say.. it serves the song well. Demonic Wall is all about the main Riff.. it's got this riff that you would imagine being in Sabbath's Volume IV album just much much heavier. (think Under the Sun and I think you'll have an idea what this track sounds like)
Temples of Infinity:
This one is finished with the exception of the ending which contains a spacey clean solo track that I haven't recorded yet. It's once again mid tempo to slow.. and actually contains some tribal drumming in the middle that sound very strange. Followed by this "rolling" bassline and it just strikes me as odd for a Doom band to experiment with these different sounds. The song is fairly straight forward with a nice mid tempo groove double timed in the middle and end. No chorus on this track but like I said there is a look of weird musical things going on here. This will be the track that people either love or hate. However, one thing that surprises me is the people that listen to my music are usually very open minded to new styles and music. So.. I hope you all enjoy it.
A Time Before Time
This song can be heard at my Myspace Page www.myspace.com/planetgeminidoom for those of you who haven't heard it yet. It's finished but might get a guitar harmony at the end. Not 100% sure yet I guess it depends if time permits.
The Gallery
A song just basically thrown together off of an A Minor progression. Sounds very dark and evil. The songs meaning was discussed in the last blog post I did. All in all it's a good track. Finished with the exception of vocals
We All Fall Down
This song also can be found at my myspace page www.myspace.com/planetgeminidoom it is a little bluesy in a way. Just straight up riffage… vocals were secondary here but it was a fun track to record. The middle part needs fixing on the demo and maybe a little harmony on the guitar but that's always the last thing to go on for me
Day of Reckoning
this track to can be found on my myspace page. So what are you waiting for.. go.. now.

So there are 7 days left to the release of the album and I still have a fair amount of things to do. But nothing that will hold me back from the release. I should have at least 7 songs and I'd like to add one more (a fast original)… I also wouldn't mind ONE more song that I've been kicking around for a while called "Iron Voices"… I think it would fit well. All in all this is going to be a very very doomy release. Heavy.. lots of riffs.. (in the key of A for some reason… guess I got tired of B and E… )

Not long now. I may end up doing a whole new webpage design for this release but I'm not sure if I'll have the time. I'd rather spend more time on music than webpage art at the moment.

Thanks again guys
and keep in touch
H

Cauldron of Fuzz V: Information

2007-10-23T07:40:00.001-04:00

Well, I am very happy to say that Cauldron of Fuzz V is written and just being polished now for the October 31^st release (at 8pm EST) on www.planetgemini.net . I know, I know.. I'm already plugging away but you'd be surprised I've actually gotten a few e-mails from my myspace friends that have never downloaded a Cauldron of Fuzz album before so they are unaware of the process. So.. yeah… just for clarification the album is downloaded on the official webpage NOT a myspace, virb or any other page like that.

The album's tracklisting is as follows (so far)

01. Ritual Evolved
02. Demonic Wall
03. Temples of Infinity
04. A Time Before Time
05. The Gallery
06. Day of Reckoning

As of right now the album is about 40+ minutes. I have a couple extra songs that I've recorded but I just want to be sure that I am giving myself a big enough window to get the album done for Halloween. If I finish mixing and mastering early (which there is a very good chance of this) I may add another track or two. This album is very downtrodden, slower.. more loud than "The Path" ep. I wanted to clearly make a disctinct difference between the two. This is a Cauldron of Fuzz album and should be just blaring guitars and lots of loud Heavy Metal.

Some of the song lyrics have really surprised me. The track that I've just recently named "The Gallery" is a great little story about an art gallery that the devil presides over. He enlists a painter to the paint the picture of people he's never met. He goes into this trance and closes his eyes.. envisioning the person he is to paint the person painted then loses their soul to the devil. The thing is that after he paints 5,000 people the 5,000^th person takes over the gallery and becomes the new painter… and the first picture he paints is the previous artist.

I love when music comes together like this. This album was written and recorded so quickly that it really does feel fresh. It's what I enjoy most about having my own studio. I love recording other bands and working on my own projects.. but, I really excel in improvisational playing. I always have.

The album will be released on time. Feel free to check out 3 tracks on the Myspace page http://www.myspace.com/planetgeminidoom and any comments or questions can be sent to me via my e-mail address hellion@planetgemini.net.

I hope you are all doing well and thanks so much for the support
Sincerely
H

Planet Gemini - Cauldron of Fuzz V: Sometimes it Comes Back

2007-10-11T16:20:00.000-04:00

Well THAT didn't last long... I know I said last years Cauldron of Fuzz was the final installment... but... I've changed my mind. With WICKED giving me such greif I figured I would just have some fun and write some music.

Here are the details
I started the project on monday.
I'm giving myself till the middle of next week to write the album
I have 4 songs recorded

01. The Wretched (8 Minutes)
02. Temples of Infinity (9 Minutes)
03. A Time Before Time (10 Minutes)
and a cover of Pentagram's "Day of Reckoning".

Basically I'll be in the studio everyday this week and whatever gets recorded is going to get released. Even if it's just what I have already.

For those of you new to Planet Gemini
The album will be free to download via my webpage
http://www.planetgemini.net

Cauldron of Fuzz V: Sometimes it Comes Back will be available at 8pm on October 31st (as the COF series always is). Here is a little more info about the Cauldon of Fuzz project for those curious.

Cauldron of Fuzz projects consist of material that is mostly improvised. It's basically glorified jam sessions the vocals are not really written out. I just turn the music on and sing whatever comes to mind.

This is the 5th installment of the series and will be the 2nd Cauldron of Fuzz that I've written myself (I also wrote 3 pretty much by myself all the time). It is about a "Jammy" as one guy can get. I record the drums and basically hone a riff around it. Then I re-record the drums to punch with the riff.

I'm done this for one reason really. I know a lot of people out there are looking forward to some new Gemini and I really have to buy more time for Wicked. So I hope this album will appease you all.

You're all the best and thanks so much for the continued support.
I'll post more on the album as it progresses
Thanks
H

sigh.... The fact of the matter...

2007-09-24T20:36:00.000-04:00

*LATE SEPTEMBER WICKED UPDATE*

Hello everyone, I hope that your summer was as productive and non-stop as mine was and I am truly sorry for lack of updates to the site. However, as everyone around me is noticing I've been burying myself in the studio a lot lately. I wrote about 4 or 5 new songs all of which came out very refreshing and clean sounding. But we'll get to that in a little bit.... first of all onto Wicked.

A lot of people have written me asking why I haven't taken pre-orders yet. Hell, I've even had a couple people just send me money already for Wicked (which I have returned).. the fact of the matter is until Wicked is 100% ready I can't release it and I don't want to release an album that is under 1 hour long.

So here is the whole situation as it stands.
I have 8 tracks on Wicked that I am completely satisfied with.
The album is clocking around 48-52 minutes (I'm unsure because I still have a little trimming to do on the tracks). I would like the album to be 65-70 minutes. The way I see it is like this. A lot of you spend your money on PG music and I want you all to have the most value as possible.

So I have a few choices that I have been toying around with.
1) releasing Wicked as download only for now and then working on it and revising it for pressing with the bonus songs. It would basically get all of the bullshit out of the way, get the album out there for everyone to hear.. and because it is more of a "temp" release I wouldn't be so anal about the production values..

2) just hold off Wicked until the album is truly done.

I have to be honest. In the time that i've spent harping on Wicked's "perfection" I've accumulated enough material to release another album. A word of advice to bands out there NEVER NAME YOUR PROJECT UNTIL IT IS FINISHED!. I have done this two times.. and both times it has bitten me in the ass.. (Diabolic and now Wicked). The issue with Wicked.. is.. I've already got the coverart made up.. I've already got the ads ready to be placed.. I've got everything out there already. I wish that I could just flush everything I have and start over... however, I know that I would be flushing the best material I have ever written.

So my dilemma is quite huge actually. I'm not entirely sure where to go from here... Wicked NEEDS to be released but I am afraid that there is no way it is going to be released in September. Which means.. I will NOT be giving another release date for Wicked until the album is 100% finished.. All 70 minutes of the album are recorded, mixed and mastered... Because I do not like letting down anyone who looks forward to these things being released.

I'm still quite unsure about what to do. I can tell you that my new material is quite aggressive. Not as doomy persay.. but tons of groove and dark, evil lyrics... (Think Mercyful Fate meets Black Sabbath meets Deep Purple... which is kind of what I think Supergod was like)... I've been a big fan of chanting lately (ala Ian Gillan, Dio) in songs.. I don't know.. some shit I'm coming up with sounds quite creepy. I have one track entitled (Summoning My Demon) and it's just tribal drumming with a high guitar line.. and bass thumping with the drums... and this tormented chanting and lyrics "I know where he goes... The devil watching over...etc" even I get quite spooked at the places these tracks are going. Once again I keep writing tracks to finish Wicked but they end up being their own thing. Older listeners of the band probably remember this happening in 2004's Diabolic and 2005's Oblivion... I'm just too a point where everything new is so good I'm not sure where to go from here.

As always I value your opinions so please feel free to e-mail me.
and thanks so much for your patience.
Every time someone writes me about Wicked and I tell them I'm not sure about it.. I get a reply like "dude take however long you need to get the album perfect. I'll be getting it whenever it comes out" to me that is so humbling.. people are ready to buy this album basically without hearing much of it.. just based on my prior work.. Fucking amazing I tell ya!.. and mostly that's my major concern.. while I must admit I write music for myself (and would do it if only one person listened to this stuff) I never want to let down the people who have followed me for years and years...

I thank you all so much for your support
and understand on this matter.
Look for new demos soon in the next coming weeks.
I've got a lot of new stuff I'm really looking forward to throwing out there.
Maybe even another free EP in the near future (cough cough Halloween perhaps)...

Again you are all the best
Sincerely
H

Planet Gemini September Update

2007-09-01T14:48:00.000-04:00

*September Band Update*

Hello everyone, I figured I would stop in and give a quick update of how the album is going and give some more info for everyone who's wondering when the presales will start.

As of right now the album is still set for September. However, I must be honest and say that it is not 100% where I want it to be at the moment (I've only got about 40-something minutes of music and I really want more than that). So.. there may be a chance of another pushback when it comes to the release date.

It's funny because I have about 2 other albums worth of material however it's very important for me to make sure this album flows perfectly. So throwing any "cool" song won't do without being 100% sure it's going to benefit the album.

I am not going to give another release date if indeed I push this up again (as this is my 2nd now and I don't enjoy pushing albums up). But, I will say this.. I'm going to continue as if this album needs to be done by September.. and if it's not.. then it's not.. and really I can't do much in the way of speeding things up. Creativity just happens.

Until then I'll be posting a couple new DEMOS in the DEMOS section on the page. and I've even been contimplating another EP release before the end of the year (because I really enjoyed the last release and I got a lot of feedback from listeners who really enjoyed it.) I don't want you all to think that I'm putting anything on the backburner here. I have been very busy but still allocating a lot of time to the Planet Gemini album. My attention span as of late has been crazy. I've been learning many new things about production.. things that I want to impliment on this album the problem is.. the more I learn the better I want this release to sound.

Thanks to everyone who's written me about pre-ordering the album. (and the 2 people that just sent me money for it.. hehe) however, I can't accept money for an album that isn't finished just yet. It's on it's way. Trust me on this one. But... I need it to be perfect. I look to spend the next weekend writing new material and trying to throw some new ideas on the album. So far the track listing is.

Incantation
Grim (My God of Red)
Silver Strings
Lightmare
Minus
Moondancer
The Beast on Your Back
Author of Pain
Preachin to the Choir
The Man Who Killed the Sun
Eden

I just need to finish up "The Man Who Killed the Sun" and maybe write another track or two (more interludes really than songs).

I want to thank everyone for their patience. I've gotten a lot of e-mails saying "Take as long as you need for it to be perfect I just can't wait!"
and seriously... the fact that you are all so understanding about my obsession with this album being perfect is fantastic. This album is going to be very heavily promoted. It is going to be featured on many webpages and some magazines. I just need to be sure it's the perfect album. Technically I've only spent about 6 months on this album because I haven't been in writing mode all that long. But, 6 months is a long time. The next PG album will be out quickly and like I said earlier do not discount a free EP being thrown up on the webpage before the end of the year.

Thanks again everyone
Sincerely
H

PS.. anyone who needs to get in contact me can do so via e-mail at
hellion@planetgemini.net
I try my best to reply quickly but if it takes a couple of days please understand that I've been spending a lot of my time in the studio.

Dexter: The Return of Everyone’s Favorite Serial Killer!

2007-09-01T14:45:00.000-04:00

Okay, so let’s put the Halloween rant behind us shall we? Perhaps try to focus on something a little more positive; Something more along the lines of a series instead of a movie.

I am a huge fan of Showtime’s original series “Dexter” and recently I have been blessed with the first two episodes of the season to check out before the series returns in late September.

First of all: I suppose I should address you who haven’t jumped aboard the “Dexter” train just yet. The series is about a serial killer who was raised by his stepfather (Harry) to channel his inner monster on people who deserve it. On people who prey on weaker people. As evident by the first scene in the first season where we find Dexter stalking a priest who was sexually assaulting children and then murdering them. Dexter is trained well. Harry is a police officer and has taught Dexter everything about covering his tracks and waiting for the right moments to strike. Dexter is a diamond in the rough and really is one of the best shows on television (Premium channel or not).

In the beginning of the 2^nd season of Dexter we pick up about 35 days after the end of the first series. Dexter has a new “admirer” who is over his shoulder with every move he makes. Which isn’t much of a shock if you’ve read the 2^nd book in the series “Dearly Devoted Dexter”. But from what I’ve read that’s about where the similarities to the book are going to end. As they are not following the same storyline from Jeff Lindsay. Which I think is somewhat of a good idea because the writers of this show seem to understand the character and world that Dexter inhabits rather well.

I have to say these episodes show more of what I love about the show. We are seeing the character of Rita evolve and even little nods to certain personality traits Dexter was picking up on in the 2^nd book.

This show is extremely well acted and if Michael C. Hall doesn’t get some major recognition for his transition from an incredibly flamboyant (yet very self loathing) gay man in the HBO Series “Six Feet Under” to the cold, calculated, often humorous character he is playing now I would have wonder what is going on in these peoples heads.

All in all I can’t say enough good things about this show.
Go out and buy the first season on DVD if you haven’t seen it yet.
If you have… Buy it and watch it again.
The Moondancer within you commands it.

BTW: The new book “Dexter in the Dark” by Jeff Lindsay should be getting released this month… You might want to consider getting that as well. Since you’re out and spending the money.

Thanks for reason
H

Rob Zombie: Halloween (Thoughts)

2007-08-28T14:44:00.001-04:00

Rob Zombie's: Halloween (Thoughts)
...SPOILERS AHEAD...

I managed to score a copy of the workprint of Halloween from a friend (Thanks.. btw). My friend is kind of close to the movie so he was really anxious to hear my thoughts on it. He gave me the workprint (that was cut in May of 2007) and I sat down and gave the movie 2 good viewings before giving him my general thoughts on everything.

Let me start of by saying that I've been skeptical since hearing Rob Zombie was the new writer/director chose to rework this movie. Also let me declare that I am not your average Halloween fan. I have loved this story for as long as I can remember. When my friend handed me the workprint he said "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised"… After viewing the movie twice my reply to him was "Think again"…

Now before I go ripping into this movie let me start by saying.. "This is not the worst Halloween movie created" it's actually pretty far from it. I would say that it had potential to be better than 3,4,5,6 and 8…. However… this movie had something that the others didn't really have… Rob Zombie had to go and rework the history of the Michael Myers character.

So here is the gest of my discontent with the movie. Here are some things that made me shout INCONSISTANCY!
********************************SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!!****************************************

>Michael Myers starts off as a little pudgy long haired blonde boy who is considerably small for his age. When you see him in school the other kids are dwarfing over him and then he turns into this 7ft 300lbs guy with brown hair in a matter of 15 years. Now.. I can buy that he worked out (even though he was supposed to be in a somewhat catatonic state) but… somewhere along the way.. this maniacal, cold… calculated demon.. decided he'd look better as a brunette… Maybe I'm reading too much into this one but… consistency is everything right? I also love how when he breaks out of the asylum he JUST SO HAPPENS to find a trucker who is 7ft tall and 300lbs to steal the uniform of.. convenient… I would also like to point out that.. 15 years.. and he is clean shaven.. (I know that's being wicked nitpicky… but.. I can't help it)… I always think it's funny when a movie has a maniacal character who has incredibly neat facial hair… it's like… good to know that he won't talk to anyone.. or do anything for that matter except ya know.. shave… Again.. I realize I'm overanalyzing this..

>The Myers family lives in the suburbs in the original movie.. they were an obvious middle/high class family with a nice home and a mother and father that appear to be coming home from a social event well dressed.. well the movie is still set in the suburbs.. but now the family is consisting of white trash members (Remember… Rob Zombie… The Devils Rejects, House of 1,000 corpses… ya know.. apparently Mr. Zombie has a thing for the white trash, inbred characters. The mother is a stripper/whore the step father is an abusive drunk/alcoholic who is verbally abusive to Michael. His sister follows suit in making fun of him.. and.. well the kids in school are beating on him and making fun of him because his mom is a slut. (okay.. remember this now)

>Michael meets with Loomis for the first time and basically doesn't remember anything.. so he's a polite kid who is kind of joking around and what not.. Yet… Later on.. Dr. Loomis gives a speech about how he didn't speak for 15 years and how he could never get him to open up. I realize that they didn't want to change the "Devils Eyes" speech and all.. but.. yeah.. Not so enjoyable…

I guess my major gripe with this movie is that.. he rewrote his childhood.
The movie itself wasn't terrible but it was like taking everything that was enigmatic about Michael Myers and making him just like anyone else.
No longer is he just this shape that exudes evil. No longer is he this cold calculated killer.
Rob Zombie has made Michael Myers into a battered and abused stepchild who is lashing out at the world that shunned him.
It's a fine story.. just not the story of Michael Myers.

My biggest problem.. is that this will now be the Myers legacy.
When the sequel is made.. it is not going to follow Carpenters vision.. it is going to follow the new Zombified Myers… who is masturbating to dead rats and whatnot.
In the end I will say this. This is Rob Zombie's best movie to date.
It was a fine film. If he would have used any other character.
If you want to see Halloween with a touch of Texas Chainsaw Massacre…. This movie might be for you
the death scenes were brutal.. awesome to watch.. just.. fantastic work there.
The sound design was good. Even bringing back some old sound effects from the movie.
and there was a scene in an empty pool that was extremely tense and just fun..

If he would have left the white trash out of this movie.. I would have had no problem with his vision.
But the fact of the matter is.. He ruined the thing that made Michael great..
He gave a reason.. and evil never needs a reason.

With all this being said.. I won't bash the movie horribly because it wasn't a difficult movie to watch.. and I think most people won't care as much as I do about the character developments.

Just my opinions and thoughts… you can all feel free to post yours if you'd like once it comes out.
Hope you are all well
Sincerely
H

David Lynch's "Inland Empire"

2007-08-21T20:33:00.001-04:00

***Not Band Related****

I know, 3 posts.. one day.. 2 not band related... Crazy huh.

I just wanted to post that I watched David Lynch's "Inland Empire" the other day. 3 hours of complete insanity. I don't know what to think about the movie. It's so bitter sweet to me that all of the major Lynch moments are there. All of the characters are quite off kilter... yet... 3 hours of this is very hard to digest.

Once again Lynch thrusts you into this world where time means nothing. I can't even imagine how he plugs this stuff to people and gets funding for it. It's so.. off the wall that it really is genius in it's insanity.

I really do enjoy movies like this. Sometimes I feel that watching a David Lynch movie is like unlocking this amazing puzzle that exists in the mans mind. Only difference is... you never know if you've got it right. I know that a lot of people find most of his movies to be unwatchable. However, some of Lynch's work has been the blueprint for many directors before him. His concept of dream & reality are so fused together that it is almost awe inspiring to watch the way he weaves between the two. I am always looking for "The Devil" in the David Lynch film... and in my theory I am very rarely let down. In this it was the elderly lady. The Rabbits that subside in this pseudo comedy realm representing the afterlife. The story of a woman (or 4 women for that matter) who breaks down and loses control of their life.

I honestly only got a small taste of what this film holds.. but I can say this. I can almost guaruntee that after this film was done Lynch felt he had made his best masterpiece to date. This film had more "Lynch" in it than any film before it.

One thing I would like to say about David Lynch is... How can ANYONE deny this mans creative vision? He has this way of portraying so much emotion with a simple camera angle. He always makes something just a little off. Just enough for you to feel uncomfortable. The moments of "I've been hypnotized" and EXTREME closeups of the faces of the characters. Frightening almost how he paints with such a demented brush.. and yet calming how he can return to a scene that is a little more comforting.

Lynch makes us feel solace in the worst places. A woman dying in the street... and a story being told by a homeless woman that is completely ridicoulus. Only to be revealed to be true in the end.. and the last story that our heroine will hear.

I don't know if this is my favorite Lynch movie. I won't know that until another 20 viewings. I can also say that 3 hours of lynch is very hard to digest. But, with all of that being said. David Lynch is a man that can make some very magical things happen on my tv screen. His moments of "horror" are done with such uneasy, disorienting camera angles that it just makes every scene build into this amazing fatal ball of confusion.

How is it that when I'm watching a Lynch movie I can't be shocked?. It's perfectly normal to see someones face just become distorted... to see Rabbits talking and answering phones to a laugh track. Saying things like "Who am I" and "Have you seen me before". This movie was not without it's comedy as well but I must say that you would have to be dialed in to Lynch's humor for it to sink in.

I don't know if I would recommend this movie to anyone.
I don't know if anyone else will enjoy this movie but me.
To be honest I'm not even sure if I've truly enjoyed this movie.
But I can say that I am looking forward to the next time I try to digest it.
because above everything else. David Lynch is a fantastic artist and his vision (no matter how demented) can not be denied.

Thanks for reading
I'm not even sure if I understood this post

Rob Zombie's "Halloween"

2007-08-21T19:22:00.001-04:00

***NOT BAND RELATED***

Okay, as I'm sure most of you know already I am a HUGE fan of the Halloween series. I have been for a long long time. (Probably longer than some of the people who listen to my music have been alive... which makes me feel old). I remember very well as a child watching Halloween 1 and 2 almost every year when it would come on television. I grew to appreciate the series and just enjoy the subtle trademarks of "evil" that the movie embarked upon.

On August 30th of this year Rob Zombie will be remaking Halloween.. I fear for it. I got a very early copy of the script from a friend of mine (who got it from a friend and so on and so fourth)... and if this script is followed I see very little hope of this being a good movie.

However, I must admit. The last couple of trailers/video clips I've seen have definitely peaked my interest as to what this movie is going to be like. I can't judge until I see the movie myself. But... there are some thoughts I'll post from what I've seen.

Michael Myers is TOO large!... one of the great things about the Michael Myers character is that he was just like anyone else. He wasn't some freak you'd point out walking down the street. Anyone wearing a mask could be mistaken for myers. Zombie's casting of an ex-Pro Wrestler caught my attention right away. When I read the script (again.. very early copy)... I remember the first thing I thought was... "This sounds very leatherface like in a sense". It makes sense if you saw house of 1,000 corpses.. as it struck me as just a cheap Texas Chainsaw Massacre ripoff. It sure will be interesting to see if Rob is going to go through with the "different paper masks for each emotion.." thing.. annd.. judging from the trailer that I saw on Yahoo.com... it looks like he hasn't changed that.

Loomis: Probably my favorite character in any movie is the Dr. Loomis character. I love the concept. He sees evil that no one else sees and so it consumes him. He obsesses with an evil that no one else believes is there. However, he knows the truth. He sees what no one else wants to see and would stop at NOTHING to stop the evil from escaping.

There is a movie I watched recently called "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon" and in this movie they refer to the advisory of evil as the "boon". Every stereotypical "Boon" in every horror movie since the first Halloween has been filmed is cut from the Donald Pleasance mold. That's how iconic this character is. I think that Rob Zombie actually did a great job in casting Malcom McDowell. He seems like he is going to play the role quite well from the little bit I have seen of him. The shoes this man must fill are enormous... As I am a HUGE fan of Donald Pleasance's work on the Halloween movies.

((((Sidenote, In my side project with Oly Olson I pitched to use the name "Loomis" as the band name, and before that when Josh was talking about leaving the band last year I was going to start a solo project called "Loomis".. I love the connotation that it brings fourth. The antithesis of evil. Oly didn't understand the concept and thought naming the band after a movie character wasn't a good idea, and Josh ended up leaving Planet Gemini and saying "You are PG anyway" so I continued using the band name)))

One thing is for certain, It's going to be interesting to see if this movie pans out. I'm hoping to get an early copy and check it out next week sometime. If I do I will be sure to give you all a quick little write up of my thoughts on the first viewing.. and then my thoughts from the 20 viewings after... To clarify; if Zombie hits a homerun with this movie I will be extremely happy. However, even if he hits a single I will buy a ticket for it. I'd be impressed with a step up from Resurrection.. and quite honestly that shouldn't be hard to do.

Studio Hell...

2007-08-21T16:35:00.001-04:00

For those of you following the "Wicked" project it's been a bumpy road. Tons of distractions and setbacks. The latest of which is the new addition of a very expansive mixing board... now I'm actually considering doing some construction in my studio to expand on the sound proof features. I've got so much shit on my plate and it really seems like I keep adding more and more. (which isn't always a bad thing mind you). The studio is becoming very lucrative and I must say I'm finding a huge passion for being a producer/sound engineer. Along the way (whilst recording Wicked) I must say that a lot of the tracks sound a little different. Almost like they aren't part of the same project. I've been looking for various ways to correct that. I've found that maybe doing some drums over again might be beneficial to the recording. But then with that I may have to re-record a lot more songs than just 1 or 2 to make them even.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet. As it really does seem like I'm posting whatever is popping into my head here.. hehe.. But I can tell you this. The songs on the album are so damn good I would hate a little thing like production to hinder the final product.

So I'm left with the dilemma and the question at hand... should I A.) Release this album and focus on the next for a better production value or B.) do more to make this album feel more .. polished and perfect.

I know it's me. I know people that have heard the album and have been extremely happy with the music that's been recorded. I strive for perfection. I really will accept no less than perfection with this album... and I really feel that it is almost there. I keep trying to buy myself another month. Instead of just saying "It's on hold indefinitely until it is finished". If you all saw how "complete" this album is you'd probably scoff at me. (A month to finish this should be easy)... The fact remains whenever I go into the studio I'm playing around with different sounds and different approaches. I'm moving songs around.. adding sound clips to transition to songs. I just watched "Inland Empire" from David Lynch and needless to say even while watching that I'm like "What a great idea... I should incorporate something like that into Wicked"...

All in all I am still sticking to my guns.. and saying September will be the release date.
Sometimes I just need someone to vent to.. hehe

I was thinking on the 25th (as it would be the release of the High on Fire and Down album... so.. might as well throw it all out there at once).

I'll be getting 2 new snakes that I ordered in the mail on thursday.. once I do.. it's time to become a studio monk again. Pulling this off in less than a month might be a little crazy.

***sorry for all these random thoughts to the blog God***

I'll be in touch.
Thanks again for all the support and the great e-mails I've gotten in the last couple weeks.
Good to see that no ones forgotten about Wicked.
Trust me... after everything is said and done.. it WILL be worth the wait. I'm not looking to make a so/so album. I'm looking to make the best album I can possibly make.
Your patience shall be rewarded... I promise

Sincerely
H (The Phantom of the Recording Studio)

*PS*
I'd like to really take the time and thank everyone for their e-mails and such lately. I know it sounds stupid to some people but those e-mails asking me questions about the band (even if it's a question I'm asked over and over) shows me that you are all interested in the new album and my music in general. I try REALLY hard to respond quickly but sometimes I am just not around and can't get back for a little while. It doesn't mean your e-mail isn't important. On the contrary.. there was a time when Josh left the band that I was really wondering if I could pull this shit off alone... and everytime I thought I couldn't I would open up your e-mails and read them for inspiration. I know it's not the "cool" thing to do in this style of music to talk about how much your fan-base means to you. But seriously.. I consider you all my friends and when I look around and see people posting links on message boards about my band. Telling people to check my music out. It's like... unbelievable to me.

This is probably the most nonsensical message I've ever written. Maybe it's the Mike's Hard Lemonade talking (am I becoming a lightweight?) hehe..

New Mixing Board...

2007-08-14T14:18:00.000-04:00

***Studio Related Post****

As you all know by now (or maybe not) I've opened up my studio and have been recording bands for the last 3-5 months. It's been very successful and I can't even begin to say how thrilling it is for me to be working (and mostly producing) with other local bands. Things have been updated significantly since the days of Wizards Blood. I got a kickass studio drumkit. A ton of effects units and I just recently went out and bought a Mackie 32/8 Mixing board for my studio. I've been doing a lot more "Studio work" so I decided that the studio needed a bit of an upgrade. I've even done a couple DVD Voice Overs. and I'm looking into recording a charity album for a "Music in Schools" program... My issue... is simple. This board is MUCH more complicated than my old board. I don't know if this is going to affect my mixing of the album but I wouldn't assume so.

I get the board in my studio I try fiddling around with it.. and don't get me wrong it sounds great. But, I just don't have a full grasp on it yet. (it's a huge step up from my 16 track mixer that I've been using for the last 3 years). There are features I just can't figure out and it's going to take some reading up in the manual (and I'm sure some playing around).

Here is a pic. (PS: Don't mind the mess that is my studio.. I haven't been able to place this mammouth thing anywhere just yet)

The board is quite pretty and sounds fantasticly clean compared to my last board. Again.. it's a $5,000 compared to my old $700 mixer.. so.. I would hope there would be a slight difference.

I've pretty much cleared my time this week and will be working on figuring out all of the "bells and whistles" of this thing before continuing on. Wicked is still on track to be released in September (No worries there).. Maybe I'll pull out a little more hair in the process but... you take the good with the bad. :)

NEWS: Status of the new Planet Gemini release, Free EP download and PRE-ORDER information for "Wicked"

2007-07-26T17:43:00.001-04:00

Wicked’s Release Date Change/Pre-sale information
By: Planet Gemini Official Homepage

Wicked Release Date Changed

As reported in the last blog post written a couple of weeks back the August release date for the upcoming album “WICKED” must be pushed into September. I hate to do it because I know a lot of you are looking forward to hearing the final product however it is very important to me to make sure the album is perfect and a complete experience. The artwork is finished and I have mixed and mastered over half of the album. My major issue is that I think the album could use another track or a little re-working to add some more weight to the release. I’ve said in the past the first 5 or 6 songs are astounding the last couple of songs are fantastic however there is something it needs to tie everything together. This is something that I have always traditionally done with Planet Gemini. (even towards the end of Wizards Blood I wrote and recorded a song 4 hours before sending it out to press). Anyone who has followed my writings and work on this album knows how important this release is to me, and while I know this delay might upset some people please understand that it will make for a better album in the long-run.

FREE EP Available for Download (For anyone that’s missed it)

On June 13th I put up “The Path of the Wicked [ep]” up on PlanetGemini.net for everyone to download.
It is 6 new Planet Gemini songs that were made in the last year but did not fit on the “Wicked” release.
I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from people who say they enjoy it so if you haven’t heard it yet please take some time and check it out.
The Path of the Wicked can be downloaded HERE. In both mp3 and wma (lossless) format.

PRE-ORDERING information
Pre-Orders for the Wicked album will begin on August 20^th 2007

I will be offering 100 numbered/signed pre-orders (just like on the last CD which was very successful).
The price of the pre-order will be $9.99 and that will include shipping & handling to anywhere in the USA.
The international cost will be $13.99 and will include shipping & handling via “USPS Media Mail”.
As of right now orders are scheduled to ship on September 11^th 2007.

People who pre-order from the official Planet Gemini homepage (www.planetgemini.net)
Will get the album about a month before other retail outlets.

Please check back to PlanetGemini.net for more pre-order information as I will definitely be packaging all 3 of my major retail releases together for a special price..
and I might include a t-shirt package as a pre-order special as well.

As always thank you for your support and I look forward to getting all of your thoughts on WICKED.
Sincerely
Planet Gemini

July Update: Wicked, Path of. Next Projects and More.

2007-07-10T03:09:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

There have been some slight developments to the "Wicked" release date so I figured I would come on here and give you the full details.

First of all "Wicked's" finalizing is coming along nicely. However, I do feel that finishing up the polish on this album and having it pressed by August 4th might be a bit of a stretch. So I'm going to give myself another month and say "early September" I will however be taking pre-orders for Wicked in August and I will be doing the "signed" copies again for this release (seeing as it went over really well last time). I need to be certain that this album is perfect in every way. To be honest part of me just wants to throw this thing out there for everyone to hear. But, I have to be smart about everything and make sure the album sounds perfect.

Speaking of "Sounding perfect". I was recently listening to "The Path of the Wicked [ep]" that is available for download right here and I must admit I was considering adding a song or two to the release to kind of ... make it more varied. I've kind of always done this. If anyone remembers the Blueprint: DIABOLIC ep that I put out years ago... it also mysteriously had 2 new songs tacked onto it a couple of weeks later. Some people say "It's only an ep.. don't worry about it" but I really do enjoy this release. So much in fact that I'm considering doing a small run pressing of it later on this year. I wouldn't mind another 10 minutes or so put onto the release. A couple more DOOM laden songs to even out the album.. and maybe even another fast number to add some dynamics to the whole thing.

We'll see... as of right now my goal is Wicked. I'll worry about "The Path" at another time.

Imperial Media... (Not Band Related) Please read...

2007-06-22T16:23:00.000-04:00

Since 2002 I have been close friends with the people that work at Imperial Media Services (http://www.imperialmedia.com) I had some headaches with a company a long time ago when pressing "13" and Imperial Media really bailed me out. I got a call from a friend of mine today who informed me that their building caught fire and they sustained major loss to their corperate headquarters. While they have re-ordered everything and they are in the process of rebuilding their main building they do still have a secondary plant open.

I just want to first of all wish my best to everyone in that company. One thing about that place that I always loved is that while they are pressing these huge runs for major labels and while they are dealing with much much larger companies than mine. Imperial Media always treated Planet Gemini like it was a valued customer. Like a friend really.

When she called me and told me there was a fire I naturally thought they were inoperable and in that scenereo I would have pushed Wicked up until they had the time they needed to press my material. I am loyal to them and will not waiver on that.

Anyway, to make a long story short. I know I have a lot of bands and labels that visit my site and I just want to point you all in the direction of this fantastic company. To all of you who have ordered my CD's you KNOW what quality they produce. One of the compliments that I always got was how professional my CD's looked... and while yes it is my amazing artistic ability (heheh) it is also incredible materials made by incredible people who actually CARE about my product.

Whether I've pressed 100,500,1,000 or 10,000 these people have done their best to make sure it is treated like a number 1 priority.

If you have a project that you'd like pressed (even in short run) give them a call.
800.736.8273 and talk with their customer service staff. You'd not only be helping out my friends... but you'd be doing your band/project a favor in aquiring such high quality services.

I would like to take a personal note and wish the best to everyone at Imperial Media Services . To THANK them for working with me over the years (and for the many, many years to come) and most importantly a hope for a quick recovery so they can be more successful than ever.

Sincerely
H

Wicked Progress and Drumkit Photos

2007-06-20T17:09:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, I figured that I would take some time to write up a blog about some things that have been going on with Planet Gemini and give you all some insight to the release of the new album.

As of right now the album is on target to hit it's release date. I have the album completely written and recorded and right now it's just mastering the material that is going to take a while (seeing as the company I use to press this stuff with usually takes about a week to do my pressings).

I have been recording a couple very cool bands and I must admit that it's been a little more time consuming than I anticipated. However, there is plenty of time for me to still do the Planet Gemini stuff (as it is my number 1 priority). I was pondering even adding one more track to the album at the last minute but we'll see how that goes.

The other day I was bored in the studio and took some pics of my drumkit on my phone's camera.. For those interested it is a Mapex Studio kit. It's maple with a single layer of Oak. Most people that hear this kit can't believe that the bass drum is only a 22 because it is so heavy sounding. I just outfitted it with new aquarian heads (which sounds very nice but I still think I like my Remo Pinstripes better) As you can see I use all Zildjan Cymbals accept my Hats which are 13inch Sabian Paragons. I also have a Wuhan 20inch China.. they are cheap cheap cheap but sound amazing to tape, and that thing has lasted me about 2 years now so it owes me nothing.

I know before you say anything I do tend to play my kit more in a "Jazz" position but it's really just as much done for sound as much as comfort. Having the rack toms lower tends to give them more low end in the mix. Also the 16 inch floor tom on the left was originally done for Oly Olson (of Trouble fame). Oly plays Righty/Lefty and liked a floor tom on that side so I decided to put one over there.. I got so used to it being there that I use it often myself now. It's great for accents... and if you are an open player (which I do try to be)... it is rather convenient. The sticks on the snare are the M2 Marching sticks which I do use on the heavier "Appice-ish" tracks but... I have been a big fan of the Buddy Rich stick from Vic Firth and also the Neil Peart Sticks from Pro Mark (I swear those things can't be broken).

Next time I'll do some photos of guitars and basses.
Thanks for stopping and in
Sincerely
H

Path of Thoughts....

2007-06-16T15:29:00.000-04:00

One thing that I'm really loving about the ep is the fact that most people seem to like different tracks on the album. Everyone loves "Take Me Home" (that I've talked to) and who wouldn't? I mean it's the quentisential album opener. It's heavy, it's fast.. it's aggressive. It's just a great song.

Conspiracy seems to be the sweeper hit from the album as everyone who has e-mailed me has said that was their favorite "new" track from the album.

Funny story about that song. I actually mic'd the drums the same way John Bonham did on the track "When the Levee breaks". I actually stole a lot of mic'ing technique from the great John Bonham (as their drum recording methods are quite well documented). Now keep in mind. I am no John Bonham on drums (Though I do feel my drumming has gotten much better... but that's what lots of practice will do for you).

I've seen the comment "Planet Gemini is a better one piece than a two piece" in places and I really think I agree with that. Before it was always me telling Josh what to play, what notes worked or didn't. Josh had some awesome moments don't get me wrong and I really do still think very highly of the guy... and inversly I wouldn't trade the 9+ years that we made music together for anything because... he was my best friend. But... I think that with Planet Gemini just being me you get my full vision. No intermediaries.. nothing.. Just me..

for my "first" release I think "The Path of the Wicked" came out very well and it feels really great to listen to now. Now, with that being said it's on to the main stage. WICKED!

I can tell you this. Wicked is amazing. It's so twisted and evil.. The track "Grim (My God of Red)" is probably the best song I've ever laid down. My major issue is that the track "Demonic Wall" which I wrote back in November (or so)... sounds very similar to Grim.. and Grim is much much better... So I'll be axe'ng Demonic Wall for now.

I would also like to comment on someone who said "He's taming down on his vocals finally!"... I assure you that it was done unconsciously. If there is a song that sounds better with a bit of a scream in it. I will use it. I know that some people dislike the screaming vocals.. But... I do feel that there is a place for them in the PG songs. I equate it to Deep Purple or Judas Priest... it's really what makes me stand out from other bands. So don't be pissy if you hear some screaming return very soon.

"Never Satisfied" (the judas priest cover) on the Path... I've actually gotten a few people saying that it doesn't fit as well as the other songs on the EP. Listening to it with that point of view I can see where you are coming from. The drums are not being played as hard or as well.. it definitely leaves it with a "less aggressive" feel than some of the other tracks. With that being said... I don't think the drums are bad... and.. the song was done RIGHT when Josh left the band. The lyrics "Where do we go from here, there must be something near, change in you.. change in me.. forever. Places change, faces change, life is so very strange... " I don't know.. this song was very emotional for me. So it went on the ep. I hope you all understand my position. Planet Gemini has always been about emotions. My passion for music.. and in this case.. I not only lost my bandmate of 10 years but I lost someone who I considered a brother of about 13 years. So... this song said everything I wanted to say.. and it basically said everything I felt at the moment. So please listen to it with that in mind and I think you'll find that the song is done fairly well and at the end of this CD I think it works perfectly.

That is all for now... If you have any questions or comments please feel free to send them to hellion@planetgemini.net and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks so much for checking out my music and supporting the band
H

PS: a HUGE thanks to those spamming message boards for me. I'm going to make some "Planet Gemini" banners this well you guys can put up on places... again... words can't express how awesome you guys are...

Not Band Related: Woke up this morning.... got myself a gun...

2007-06-14T13:05:00.000-04:00

My Thoughts on the Sopranos Finale
By: H

Those close to me know what a huge fan of the show "The Sopranos" I have been for years. I mean if you walk into my studio (DoomRoom) you are going to see a huge poster of Tony Soprano right next to the drumkit. Make no mistake about it I am a "Die hard" fan of the show and the series and while I kind of had an idea of where some of the storyline plots were going. I must admit that Mr. David Chase shocked me one last time with that ending.

What ending? Oh come on. You've had to have turned on a radio or tv in the last 3 days and heard someone bitching about it right? I've heard everything from "David Chase just pissed on all of his fans" to "David Chase stuck to his guns and is a genius. Well while I honestly will say that David Chase shocked me with the ending I will say this. David Chase has always marched to the beat of his own drummer and for that I applaud the man for the ending he left us with.

Did I like it? At first I kind of chuckled at it. It was clever enough to enrage people. My girl was looking at the screen and saying "what the fuck?!" and I almost expected the screen to come back on showing a dead Soprano being worked on my the E.M.Ts but it didn't. The show ended it's "Journey" with the message of "Don't Stop Believing" and for me that was fine.

I pretty much immediately subscribed to the theory that David Chase killed the audience. The Sopranos lived on but we as viewers couldn't see it because we were dead. I watched the ending 4 times and the full episode 3. If the show would have ended with the screen on Meadow (which is what I thought I initially saw) I believe that would have signified the death of Tony. I mean look at the show history. When Tony went into a coma or had a dream we were right along for the ride. So if Tony would theoretically get "whacked" and "never saw it coming" why should we? The fact of the matter is that I do not think that Tony got whacked. I think that Tony went on being a selfish prick. Along with his selfish son and selfish wife. Why was Meadow late? I feel it was because she was the only one in the family who is really going to make something of herself.

So that leaves me with the question; Do I think the show ended well? I think that the show ended exactly the way David Chase wanted it to and he was the main storyteller. His "Lynch-like" ending was controversial but it also insured that the Sopranos will be talked about for a long long time. Did I like it??? The more I watched the ending the more I enjoyed the brilliance of the episode. The more I thought about the finale the more I got out of it. To those complaining about the show I offer you this piece of advice. "You only get as much as you put into something" if you just wanted the hand holding ending this wasn't it. But, you have to admire what Chase did. Other directors/writers are praising Chase up and down for this ballsy ending. The viewers (that expected a bloodbath) were let down but... is there anyway to please everyone in life? No, there is no middle ground. Please yourself and hope that everyone following along for the ride respects your choices. If you try to please too many people you'll be bastardizing your ideas.

With that being said was a sad moment. Watching my favorite show of all time go away. I will miss the Sopranos. More than any other show I've watched.

I guess there is always Dexter (Showtime) which is a fantastic series.
Thanks to David Chase and crew for an amazing show!
Sincerely
H

Press Release: The Path of the Wicked [ep] Available for Download

2007-06-13T17:37:00.001-04:00

The underground traditional doom metal band called Planet Gemini has been making music for 10 years and now In anticipation of the bands “Wicked” release on August 4^th 2007. Planet Gemini has released a 28 minute [ep] for the visitors of the webpage to download for free. “The Path of the Wicked” artwork can be seen here and the album can be downloaded in either “mp3” or “wma lossless” format at this location.

This is the first “official” Planet Gemini release since the bands 2005 album “Wizard’s Blood”. Which was heralded by critics as an “instant classic”.

Planet Gemini will be taking pre-orders for “Wicked” next month. Which should include their normal “T-shirt+CD” package deal.

visit www.planetgemini.net for the latest news of the band
You can also hear Planet Gemini’s music on their myspace page

The Path of the Wicked [ep] Latest Update

2007-05-23T16:55:00.000-04:00

So as reported yesterday "The Path of the Wicked" EP is pretty much in the final polishing stages. I just have to clean up a couple of vocal harmonies. I'm experimenting with different mixing and mastering techniques but all in all it should be done within a week or so. I'm going to shoot for the 2nd week in June for the release date.
The tracklisting thusfar is...

01. Take Me Home (07)
02. Two Worlds
03. Oblivion
04. Tonights Sunrise (tentative title)
05. Here in My Mind
06. Never Satisfied (Judas Priest Cover)

It will be available for free download in multiple quality rips.
I'm going to offer a "Lossless" form of WMV and a 192k of MP3.
I'll also be providing all of the album artwork (in full 300dpi quality).
So everyone can choose to do what they will with this release.
I am also considering going with one of those "press by the piece" companies for this album.
Now keep in mind.. this will be in CDr format. But it is just for the people who like the artwork and do not want to go through the hassle of burning the CD themselves.

I hope that you all like this EP it is about 30+ minutes long and it really is a mini-album.
I have to say there is a little more "experimental" moments going on with these songs. But as you are all aware of the days of a straight forward 2 riff Planet Gemini song are (for the most part) over. I like to add peaks and valleys to my music.

I think you'll all enjoy the new tracks.
BTW, For those unaware "Two Worlds" a track from the upcoming EP is available for download off of the main page (via the banner at the top) please feel free to give it a listen and drop me an e-mail to let me know what you think.

Take it easy guys
DOOM!
H

My Shure Beta 87A died... sigh

2007-05-22T20:37:00.000-04:00

I suppose it was bound to happen. My beautiful Shure Beta 87A condenser Vocal mic died. Now, I am not a sentimental person. I don't really care when things go I just run out and buy something better. However, This really bothered me. It bugs me when something works amazing and then all of a sudden just dies.

I know I can just drop another $250/$300 for a microphone but... There's so much history between me and this Mic. I screamed every Planet Gemini song ever made into it. Fuck it lasted longer than my bandmate. hehe.

Well I suppose time moves on. I'm going to take it apart and see if there is anything that can be done. But I highly doubt it. The mic has never given me an issue before. It has endured me screaming at extremely high volumes into it for years. So I guess it deserves the rest.

The Path of the Wicked EP
Is done and is in mixing stages now. I just need to throw vocals on one more song (DOH!). I should either have a new mic or have this one fixed by the end of the week. I've got two bands to record in the next two weeks so replacements are a must!

So... a moment of silence for my friend the Microphone.
May he Rest in Peace.
Doom on MIKE!
H

Information for the DIY'rs

2007-05-18T21:39:00.000-04:00

I know there is a large part of my visitors to this webpage that are kind of semi producers yourself. Actually I must say that one of the coolest things about the webpage since posting up the "Wicked" demos is the feedback I've gotten asking how I get certain guitar sounds.

I must admit that my guitar sound is somewhat of an anomaly. I can pretty much get it on any guitar/amp combo I've used. But the drum thing is so trial and error it isn't funny.

For the Wicked setup I'm actually using a method that Vinny Appice recommended to me. (Drums about 5 feet away from a padded wall and very low overhead mics). I've also used some advice from my friend Dale (who is a phenomenal drummer) and dropped my snares very low and loosened my snare head quite a bit. (doesn't sound that great to the naked ear but on tape it cracks very nicely).

But this is all besides the point. I wanted to come on here and pass along a great webpage for all of you do it yourself musicians.

www.recordbetteraudio.com

These guys go into very great detail when it comes to mic'ing amps and drums. Using things like compression and how to avoid phase on your mixes. These guys are great and I freakin' wish they were around when I started this project. (The other PG stuff would sound much better).

I've even learned some techniques from this webpage on how to get rid of some unwanted ringing from a drum (I have a 16 inch floor tom and is just deep and rings like a fucker).

So.. check out this page and enjoy the amazing learning tools they provide you with.
Make some music and send me an e-mail with your myspace page or something so I can hear it.
We're all friends here and I just want everyone to be able to do what I do.

Take it easy
H

(Not band related) Ozzy Osbourne's - Black Rain

2007-05-17T22:22:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, I know it's not band related but I just got an advanced copy of Ozzy's "Black Rain" album and... well... I figured I'd post my thoughts on it.

First of all let me start by saying I've been an Ozzy fan for as long as I can remember. With that being said I can't say that I was particularly thrilled with "Down to Earth" (Ozzy's previous album). But as I look back through my Ozzy solo catalog there are really few shining moments in Ozzy's solo career. Of course the first two solo albums with the late (great) Randy Rhoads. The album "Bark at the Moon" wasn't terrible (though poorly produced) and "No Rest for the Wicked" was very fresh sounding in it's time. (especially when following up The Ultimate Sin which is probably one of the worst sounding Ozzy albums ever.) I liked "No More Tears" but it was obvious to me that the bloom was off Ozzy's rose at that point. Then Osmosis came out and I really enjoyed that album. I mean Geezer had a hand in writing some of the tracks and some of the lyrics were very dark and not just about Ozzy wanting to "Rock & Roll" or... him informing us that he is not indeed as "Crazy" as everyone thinks. So that brings us to Ozzy's latest release "Black Rain" here are my thoughts.

Okay, the album starts out with some industrial sounding drums and it's got a plodding beat and decent generic Zakky Rocker riff. Ozzy's actually putting a little effort into the chorus which is nice to hear. But opening the album with this track is something I question. Ozzy needs some help with songwriting to (and this goes for the whole album really) someone needs to inform Ozzy that some of his greatest tracks of all time didn't have a chorus. So basically you can read a songtitle on this album and know that that title is going to be sung about 40 times during the song. Every track on this album is Chorus driven. It's like Ozzy just wants people to "sing along" during shows. Hell, there are even tracks where he includes hand clapping/stomping and the usual Ozzy "Hey" that he does live. These songs sound like they were written with live performance in mind (which isn't always bad but... not particularly intriguing to me).

The rock songs are watered down for the most part and the ballads are Ozzy's attempt to be John Lennon/Elton John and it comes off rather poorly. The album isn't without it's moments though. As I sad the first song was decent (if you throw away the "Not Going Away" that took place every 8 bars into the song.). Black Rain had a little flare to it and was slightly more ambient for Ozzy. I thought Zakk dropped the ball on the chorus on this song. It sounded like they wanted a Middle Eastern feel and Zakk just went with his normal "Rock" solo. Ya know playing the major scales really fast... Zakk is great but it'd be nice to see him think outside the box for the Ozzy stuff sometimes. (Though I'm sure it's not all his choice).

I will say this Mike Borden has improved greatly since starting to play with Ozzy. If you listen to Borden back in the Faith No More days he sounded sluggish and sloppy a lot of the time. This guy was right on point on this album... very good performance for both him and Blasko (Bass Player).

My favorite tracks on the album were... Black Rain, Not Going Away & The Almighty Dollar. Everything else on this album is a "take it or leave it" track and while nothing truly "Sucks" on this album... I don't feel that this is music that we will be talking about in 20 years. (much like very few people talk about "The Ultimate Sin" now.)

I'd love to see Ozzy get together with a young heavy songwriter. Someone who grew up listening to his Sabbath stuff and understands what Ozzy should sound like and I'm not talking about making him sound like Black Sabbath again... I mean.. it'd be great but that's not Ozzy today... Ozzy needs someone who understands what metal music should sound like. It's obvious that everyone around him is very far removed or not giving their true opinions because of his legacy.

Again, this is all my opinion... and I really do not HATE this album. But, I highly doubt I'll be listening to it frequently... and I couldn't fathom talking about it's "greatness" years from now.

4 out of 10 in my book
Listenable but not that enjoyable.
Let me know your thoughts when you hear the album.

Sincerely
H

Questions answered...

2007-05-12T20:23:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone,

It's been a little bit since I have had the time to post anything on here so I figured I would get to some questions that people have sent me in the last couple of months. (BTW if you've sent me an e-mail in the last 3 weeks and I haven't answered it chances are my server dumped the e-mail... so please try resending. I had a little trouble with my e-mail account recently).

Okay Q&A time

Q: Will you be re-releasing the out of print material from Planet Gemini?
A: No, even though I wrote most of the material I wouldn't want to release anything with Josh on it again. It's nothing against the guy but I just need to look forward in my life and can't make that step backwards. Wizards Blood and SuperGod are still very much in print... and to be honest I would really suggest picking up these albums if you are looking to collect something because once they are out of print they are done. They won't be released again (unless for some reason I decide to re-record the album... but I can't see that happening).

Q: Please give me a list of the equipment that you use for Planet Gemini.
A: Okay this is kind of a long answer so let me start at the top.

I have about 4 guitars that have gotten lots of use.
I use an Ibanez Universe more than anything else. I also use the Ibanez Jem (Steve Vai model) for solos. I use a B.C. Rich Beast for more of the Wah Wah stuff and I've been playing around with an old Les Paul I found used for a very low price.

I use Marshal Amps (JCM800) but for the last 2 albums I've bypassed the head and used a tube poweramp. From there I use a Digitech effects unit running a Wah pedal through the unit (because the stock pedal isn't that good).

I record the guitars digitally and through micing the cabs but I tend to use more of the "digital" sound for the high end and the "mic'd" sound for the ambient noises.. (feedback and whatnot).

I do use a 7 string guitar most of the time (the Universe) because even when I use thick strings my 6 stringed guitars just get too loose and flappy (technical term) for me.

I tune in standard E,A,D,G,B,A and B,E,A,D,G,B,A (7 string). I do NOT use any drop tuning currently and I only have for maybe 2 or 3 songs in Planet Gemini's history. (Karate Fighter on COF1 and Empire on COFIV... and maybe Hand of God not sure) I'm not a fan of the drop tuning because I actually play scales and it fucks up my runs quite badly. I suppose if I took the time I could adapt but... I'm not really interested in that at the moment (maybe another time).

As for Bass guitars I use a Ibanez Prestige which is a 5 string bass. It is quite beautiful and was actually left to me by Josh to finish up the Planet Gemini project (which was an amazing gesture on his part). I love the 5 string I've been recording a lot of other bands lately and when I see them struggle with the loose strings tuning down to a C it just boggles my mind why someone wouldn't just make the plunge to a 5 or 6.

Drums I explain on the "Wicked" write up (in the discography page)
and as far as my recording methods they are pretty much 90% analog now. (with the exception of the digital channel for the guitar to add the high end).

I hope that all helps.

Q: Who are your favorite bands?
A: I listen to lots of music to be honest. You'd actually be very surprised if I told you that I really try hard not to listen to other Doom Metal bands. I find that it infects my songwriting to listen to similar artists. It's kind of a sacrifice I have to make. My favorite bands include Black Sabbath (of course), Deep Purple, Dio, Rainbow, Halford, Iron Savior, Helloween..etc. I like to listen to Power Metal (because I dont' play it so it makes things kind of easy for me not to steal it). I'm also a big fan of jazz music. Old Buddy Rich Band music. I love some "swing" in my music. I love the blues. I love pretty much anything that is played with heart and soul. I must admit I'm kind of a music Nazi. I can't deal with people who listen to "Pop" music or "Rap" music. I can't stand people who think "Mainstream" garbage they play on the radio is "good music". I try to be as cool to everyone as possible but when you come to me saying "insert cookie cutter nu-metal/hardcore/pantera ripoff band here" is great. I'll basically go on a 12 hour rant about how the music industry demolishes everything pure in music. (that's not that much of an exaggeration. hehe

Well that's it for today. I hope that I answered most of your questions as well as possible. I've got a couple more to answer. So I'll be doing another blog soon to finish them up. I just wanted to make sure to say "hi" to everyone and let everyone know that I am still at work on the album and I am still producing like a mutha..

Hope you are all well
H

Update, Funny Stories and Whatnot...

2007-04-27T07:21:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, Sorry that it's been a while since my last update but a lot of nothing has happened.

--=Non PG Related=--
You see... I was sidelined for a couple weeks with a really insane back pain... It was my own fault really... here.. let me explain.

My girl likes that TV show "American Idol" perhaps you've heard of it? You know it's that show where 12 talentless fucks get together, dress up like sailors (or some silly shit like that) and try to sing old Stevie Wonder songs... Regardless my girl likes to watch the show (and I must admit I do enjoy the look in Simon's face as he is about to crush some poor little metrosexual boy's heart...) but I digress... So she is watching American Idol and some Aretha Franklyn wanna be (yeah right in her fucking dreams) is on stage screaming her ass off and I'm sitting on the couch and I fell asleep (yes, I feel asleep while this loud black woman is butchering some nameless pop song.. can you believe that?). I guess I was sitting in a REALLY bad position because when I woke up (about 30 minutes later) I was in a lot of pain. I went straight to bed and woke up the next morning in such pain I could barely walk. I don't know if it was the karma of watching these talentless fucks trying to sing songs that I hate.. or what.. but.. yeah.. it sucked.. I was home bound for about a week and it finally is back to normal (yet I'm still afraid to make it act up again). So.. regardless.. I was down for a good 2 weeks from this shit.

I got together with Jeff "Oly" Olson last week and we wrote a new song for The HOLY Project. It's a cool little jam although I'm not sure what to do with the vocals of it. Oly is one of the funniest people you'll ever meet. He's a lunatic (in the coolest way possible). If his career in music wasn't so successful I would recommend standup comedy. Anyways, No song name as of yet. No lyrics or anything.. Just music and a few ideas. We'll see how it goes this week when I get together with him.

--=PG Related=--
I'm still cleaning up Wicked as I'm noticing there is a lot of little things that make me cringe when I hear it.. and I really want this to be as perfect as I can make it. Promo packs STILL haven't been sent out yet (to everyone) and I'm really trying to get everything finished up so I can send em' out to the media.

To clarify for everyone (as I have gotten a couple of e-mails)
The Path of the Wicked EP will be released in June. It will contain 5 or 6 songs and as of right now it will be download only (not pressed).

Wicked will be released on August 4th, 2007. They will be two seperate entities. (I realize their names are very close and it has caused a little confusion and for that I'm sorry) So keep a lookout on the webpage in June for the EP and I'll make sure to throw out tons of press releases for people about a week before it's release.

Again, thanks to everyone who writes me and keeps in contact.
Thanks for the support and be sure to check out the new stuff once it's released.
Doom Eternal
H

The Path of the Wicked [ep] details

2007-04-07T18:01:00.000-04:00

Planet Gemini
The Path of the Wicked [ep]

01. Return of the Ritual
02. Can't Escape Your Eyes
03. Here in My Mind
04. Where your Future Lies
05. Hourglass
06. Sidetracked

So here it is.. the tracklisting and coverart for "The Path of the Wicked [ep]". I only have very rough demos of two of these tracks lying around so I'm going to re-record them for the release but all in all I think that it will be a nice little "Thank you" to everyone who has stuck with me through the tough times and even tougher transitions of Planet Gemini being a solo project for a whole year.

I still do not have an "official" release date for this but I would like to have it out one month before the actual retail release of "Wicked" (The full length album that I have been working).

For those unaware let me clarify that "Wicked" and "The Path of the Wicked" are two completely separate albums. Wicked is a full length Planet Gemini release while The Path of the Wicked is almost reminiscent to the "Blueprint" projects we always used to do in the past (However it is much more polished and can basically stand as it's own album).

For those who have followed the band the tracks "Return of the Ritual" and "Can't Escape Your Eyes" were supposed to be part of the Cauldron of Fuzz IV: Oblivion project that got scrapped. They are re-recorded and are sounding very good. "Hourglass", "Where your Future Lies", "Sidetracked" and "Here in my Mind" are all new songs that I wrote for the Wicked release but they just didn't fit.

The album cover (Seen above) is a direct hommage to Trouble's Psalm 9. I've been listening to that album so much lately it's truly been an inspiration.

In other news "The HOLY Project" (which is a side project consisting of me and Oly Olson from Trouble fame) is looking like it is going to get a big injection of metal coming soon. Oly and I are planning on getting together and recording some new tracks. This should be very fun and very interesting. Personally I am thinking about changing the name of "The Holy Project" because I would really like a name that people are going to be able to find on search engines.. and.. well.. something that says "Doom" and "Gloom" a little more than that.

Again thanks so much to everyone.
Wicked is almost 100% complete (finally) and it is by far my best work to date.
and.. everything is just falling into place quite well now.

Stay Heavy and please keep in touch
Till I see you again
H (The Hand of God)

Press Kits N Webpage Releases

2007-03-29T13:11:00.000-04:00

***Press Kits Go out for Wicked this Week***

I'm sending press kits for Wicked out this week (maybe early next week) the along with a 85% finished copy of Wicked. I haven't added an accoustic track that I'm looking to finish the album off with and I haven't added a lot of the guitar solos and harmonies in. But other than that the album is finished. (Besides mixing and mastering). I am thinking about re-recording "The Deadly Sleep" all together because the original is lacking something to me. It's happened before to me and if it continues I'll scrap the song and end up writing something new for the finale of the album.

It's extreme but it's always how I've worked.

I would like to take the time to address a couple of things in this update.

*Signing with a record label*
I think that me saying this in the last blog frightened people a little bit. So let me clarify and say that I am going to be shopping Wicked around for the RIGHT deal. If I run into someone who can share in my thoughts for Planet Gemini then I will have no problem signing with them. If I run into someone who is too controlling with my project I will respectfully decline. The only thing that I think might have to change about Planet Gemini is the free downloads. But I'm not even 100% sure about that. For the record it was something that Josh and I were talking about doing away with back in may/june of 2006 . Again everything is up in the air and there is no real definite answer to this stuff.

If I do keep the free downloads I may put up a small "Donations" tab near the album download. So people can donate a dollar or two for the project. The ads and pressing is going to cost me a lot of money.. I get about 30,000+ a month coming here so... If even contributed 50cents in one month it would pretty much pay for the album and promotion. I just don't feel right asking people for money. I never have and don't really like the idea of it.... So.. Record Label is my next venture.. someone who has good distribution would be nice. Overseas and in the US would be beautiful but I'm not going to get my hopes too high for anything.

One thing I would like everyone to know is that I love doing this... and... I'll never sell that short.. ever... you can be assured of that. I love Planet Gemini too much to bastardize it and I would whole heartedly call it quits if someone tried to make my music anything other than what it is. I couldn't accept that.

***Webpage Releases***
I figured that now would be as good a time as any to announce that I will be releasing a free EP (probably before Wicked is released) called "The Path of The Wicked" it will contain 5-6 songs and maybe even an outake of one of the album tracks. I will be offering this for FREE in most major formats (Including Lossless WMA) It's basically my new "BLUEPRINT" idea... just with a catchy name. I don't have a set tracklisting yet but there will be more info on that soon.

***Interviews***
I have a couple of interviews lined up over the next couple of weeks so if you run a webpage and would like to have me to an interview please drop me an e-mail

All in all I'm pretty psyched to see the reaction for Wicked. I hope you are all enjoying the demos on the myspace page
and I hope you all continue visiting and keeping in contact with me.
Above everything else the coolest thing in the world to me is hearing from all of you.

DOOM ETERNAL
H (The Hand of God)

A release date????

2007-03-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

Good golly gee jiminy christmas!!!

After a whole year of when the original Wicked was supposed to be released. Finally I feel that the album is ready to be polished and mastered and filled out to completion. I will be sending out press packs to those in the media who would like to get a review up of an early unmixed demo. It is very raw still but I think you will all get the idea. Get in touch with me via E-Mail to send you a demo copy of the album.

Okay now onto the release date...
*drumroll please*

The release date for Wicked... will be...
August 4th 2007
My birthday... How fitting.

I am listening to the RC1 [Release Candidate 1] CD now and I have to say it's flowing nicely. My only gripes... it's only 58 minutes. You know that one or two tracks will be thrown on at the 11th hour (I always do that).

Here is all the techincal jergin
Wicked Discography Page

Very happy at the moment. (As UNDoom as that sounds).
This was a huge accomplishment for me and... well.. the next CD won't be a year away. That's for certain.

Thanks so much to everyone who believed in me.
I must say that everytime I thought about quitting (and it was there sometimes)
I would get an e-mail from one of you guys saying how much Planet Gemini meant to you or even just saying that you admired my work ethic. To me.. that meant everything.

Thanks again
I hope you'll all enjoy this as much as I do
Always
H

Virb and Other notes..

2007-03-22T11:45:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to post a quick "Heads up" to everyone that I have opened up a Planet Gemini Virb page. For those of you unfamiliar with Virb it's basically a less broken version of Myspace. You can add more songs and it just has a much sleeker interface. for those of you interested...

http://www.virb.com/planetgemini

The interface is a lot more friendly than Myspace's and artists can upload a lot more tracks.
Plus it categorizes albums and such.. good stuff.

Artists should check it out.
L8r
H

New songs.... Some Wallpaper... and.. stuff...

2007-03-17T08:39:00.000-04:00

New Material is up on my Myspace page now!

I have posted two new songs up on the Planet Gemini Myspace page this week.
One is the opening track for the album called "Incantation" a friend of mine told me that it almost had a Black Sabbath meets The Beatles vibe to it. Which I thought was kind of neat. I really enjoy exploring new sounds and you'll probably notice that this is rather "solo" heavy compared to my old material.

The second song is "Silver Strings" which is a more uptempo track for the album. The vocals are way too loud and the guitar is way too low (in my opinion) but the track is there and you'll get an idea of what I'm going for.

Label Me Please

There has been a little bit of a debate inside my head to decide if I should find a label to release Wicked with or not. My problem is that I am a very creative person and I really don't want someone telling me what/how to write or what/how to present my music to someone. I have friends that are on labels and they tend to get excited about being signed at first and then once the honeymoon is over (so to speak) They find their creativity being stiffled by a label that wants them to re-create their last album.

I fear this.. However.. I look at the positives about having a label.. (I'm sure I would get a lot more coverage from magazines and whatnot) and that would result in more people enjoying my music (which is the goal in the first place).

I'm going to shop it around and see if there are any "decent" offers... if there are not I will just continue pressing things myself under the WoeconstrictoR name.

This is album is sounding fantastic.
Thanks to everyone for the kind e-mails and awesome support
Stay REAL!
Sincerely
H

Here is a new wallpaper I made I figured that I would share it with you all

You should be able to set this as your desktop wallpaper by

Right Clicking and choosing "Set as Background"

Welcome to the new webpage design

2007-03-10T17:31:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've updated the webpage. To be honest I grew very complacent with the webpage and started updating the blog on Myspace. It was just much easier. So.... a simple solution... I got a blog for PlanetGemini.net. I want to make sure you all have the up to date news on my next release "Wicked".

As of right now everything is going fantastic with the album. I already have more than enough track and I keep writing and writing. If I have enough don't be too surprised to see me throw out a 2nd album (download only) very soon after Wicked's release.

Didn't do much studio work last week (due to car troubles) but I'll be back in full force next week and ready to get things moving on polishing up Wicked. One thing I will say (on a more personal note) I am playing guitar and drums 10x's better than I ever have. My practicing has been almost insane but it's paying off like crazy in the techniques that I've adopted.

I've also been taking Bass Guitar incredibally serious. To a point where it has become an instrument that I really want to focus on. One thing I never knew about Bass is that there is a certain tuning between the bass guitar and the bass drum (drumset) that really makes the bass punch out more. I've been playing a lot of Geddy Lee stuff (Rush) as I feel he is a bass player that really works with his drummer well. I don't play with a pick.... for many reasons really but for me I just am finding that the texture of sound with your fingers is much more dynamic and I'm really about having depth to my style. Pick playing is very lifeless and too attacky. Too much string flopping and really not enough control. So as far as Bass goes I really feel this is going to be the most "Defined" bass album Planet Gemini's ever released. Josh had a very good ear for music but I think that even he would admit that he lacked discipline to actually learn technique. (I hope no one takes that as a slight against Josh because he really was phenomenal and a very good friend).

One thing I will say about moving forward with the band on my own. It's kind of liberating to have the freedom of creating everything from the ground up. I really must admit that I missed (and still do miss) Josh's presence, his encouragement and most importantly his friendship.. however.. I think that Josh leaving the band will result in the best Planet Gemini album to date. I did a song called "Soul Assassin" in the studio and it literally took me 1 hour to finish the whole track. No waiting around for bass to get finished or having to convey my ideas to someone else. It went from concept to demo to finale in 1 hours time... and that's something that was rarely done before.

I have gotten a couple of e-mails from people asking if the new material is going to be different than the old stuff because I am doing it alone. The answer to that question is.. YES... and no.. hehe Songs like "Grim (My God of Red)" and "Moondancer" are definitely more "Me"... however.. Songs like Minus and Author of Pain bring it right back to Planet Gemini level. Crushing, heavy.. noisy.. just.. DOOM..

I want to thank everyone who has continued to check the webpage and I promise I'm going to update the blog more often now.
Thanks so much for all of the support and kind words.
You are all amazing
Sincerely
H (God of Red)

The Narrowing Process

2007-02-04T11:58:00.001-05:00

So I'm pretty much finished with WICKED (Thank GOD!). It's just down to the narrowing process now. I have about 18 tracks that I could probably make work on the album but I want the album to be more of a 10 track experience. (maybe 11 or 12).

One thing I will say about WICKED is that the direction of the album has changed dramatically from it's original concept. I have played the album for a couple of close friends and both of them agreed that this is the doomiest Planet Gemini release to date. It's heavier than everything else I've ever done and actually has a more methodical pace.

Anyone who has spoken to me in the past knows that I am not particulary fond of a slow and boring album. Don't get me wrong some people do it well but for me… not so much.

I like my music a little more aggressive and mid tempo. With that being said this album has a lot of slower tracks. Songs like "Minus" and "Author of Pain" are more plodding than what I normally do. But, I think that it is a fair representation of where my head was at while recording and writing these tracks. Also you'll notice the vocals have changed slightly with the new material (a lot of people should be happy about that). In all honesty it wasn't a deliberate effort to change my range of singing on this album. It just kind of happened. I found that when I screamed and used the more "high raspy" vocals on some of these tracks it didn't work so well.

Now, please don't get me wrong. There are still some "classic" sounding Gemini tracks on here. More than enough to satisfy the fans of the more uptempo Gemini fans. But, the overall tone of the album is very "minor". Songs like "Preachin' to the Choir" and "Silver Strings" definitely cover the more upbeat stuff. There is a track called "Jigsaw" that is kind of "off_the_wall" (more like the "Buried Alive/Twist the Knife/Trippin'" Out! Syle track) and there is tracks like "Lightmare" and "Nightmare Overture in E Minor" that are made just for the vibe-factor.

This album is going to be extremely complete and will really cover a lot of ground as far as the spectrium of Planet Gemini's sound. There is even a track called "Whisper" that has a Rolling Stones feel to it. I was kind of in awe as that track was being written but when I went back and listened to it the next day I have to say that it almost reminded me of Black Sabbath's "Wheels of Confusion" mixed with a classic Stones track. (Go figure).

I know it sounds kind of lame but I really have redirected my life to create this album. I had to… Things were just not getting done and I was very "lost" creatively for a little while. I would write a song here and there that I ended up loving but then it sounded nothing like the last track that I recorded. For me the album needs to mesh together.. to be a complete experience. I really try hard not to put two tracks on the album that sound similar… however, while doing that I also try to keep in mind that this album needs to be on the same journey as the other tracks. So I'll probably be opening up with a little musical intro (Probably "Nightmare Overture in E Minor" then from there I will do something I have never done and open up the album with "Minus" which is a very pondering track. (You can listen to Minus on my myspace page). Silver Stings will follow, which basically is the traditional opener for me. Silver Stings is more heavy and aggressive from there I drop the album back down to Lightmare which is more trippy.. that's kind of the way I've always done things. I do NOT like when I hear an album that has two or three tracks all the same tempo all starting the same way.. just.. it shows lack of creativity to me.

Well, I guess that is it for now. I'm going to be spending 4 days or so in the studio this week and I think that I might be able to finish up the tracklisting and probably have the album completed in about 2-3 weeks. (if that)

From there it's mastering (which can take a while) and just making sure everything is as perfect as I need it to be. This album is very important to me.

I remember when I first held SuperGod[t]DevilMan in my hands. The final.. finished product. I was moved to tears. It was so perfect and all of my soul and passion for that album paid off. Wizards Blood was the same thing for me. I was a completely miserable person towards the end of Mixing and Mastering Wizards Blood. I was snapping at everyone. I was so pissed because… in the end I had to do everything. EVERYTHING.. from the webpage to the mixing to the mastering to overseeing Josh's bass parts and making sure everything was in the right key and where it was supposed to be. But man at the end of everything when I finally got to sit down and listen to the final version of Wizards Blood I was just overwhelmed at how great everything came out (Especially because of my lack of ability as a drummer).

On this album my drumming is much better. My guitar playing is LIGHTYEARS ahead of where it was during the Wizards Blood recording sessions and I think that the Bass fits the music a lot better. (Not a knock on Josh as much.. it's just that… I know what I want and I can pull off what I need to without a middle man to explain myself too)

Wicked is dark and ominous… I hope you all enjoy the demos that are up on myspace.. and I hope you all are looking forward to the album. This is going to be my best work to date… It's classic Planet Gemini but do NOT expect an experimental album from me. Not this one at least. The next album will have more daring moments on it. It's just important that I establish the Planet Gemini sound again as a one man project.

Thanks for reading this
H

"I must admit the pain's so blinding that you will not see. I will pretend your safe and smile at your disbelief" – Silver Strings

Wicked/Webpage Update

2007-01-29T08:10:00.000-05:00

I know... It's been a long time. I haven't done a news update for Planet Gemini in a while. (on here at least) To be honest I found myself caught up in the myspace blogging trend. It's just so much easier than html. Literally it takes one minute for me to put up a blogg post.. and about 15 minutes to put up a regular news post. So.... I'm trying Blogging services for the news now. We'll see how that works. It's always a work in progress with me anyway. But enough technical babble... Onto the news!

*NEW WEBPAGE DESIGN*
It's about time I get off my ass and do a new webpage design and as usual with a new album comes a new design. I've been hanging on the old one for far too long. So here it is. I hope that it is convenient and user friendly for you. I'm adding some streaming audio and I'm thinking about bringing back the "Album of the Month" download feature. We'll see how this one goes. I really did like the last 3 or 4 designs I had for the webpage. This one is my favorite (and not just because my mugg is on the front page..)

*WICKED DETAILS*
Well as of right now WICKED is written and being polished up. To say the album is heavy would be an understatement. I would go so far as to say that this is the DOOMIEST Planet Gemini album to date. Please feel free to go to my myspace page and check out a couple of tracks from the album. It's actually quite a bit slower than I am used to with my music which is weird because I have never been fan of the slow stuff... but this album was written from a very very dark place. I feel that upon listening to the full album you'll totally understand where I am coming from.

Tracklisting (thus far)

Nightmare Overture in B_Minor
Minus
Silver Strinigs
Lightmare
Author of Pain
The Beast on Your Back
Whisper
(Untitled)
The Deadly Sleep

The albums legth is at 55 minutes. I don't really know if I feel like adding another instrumental piece to this album as I do enjoy the flow of it right now as is.. We'll see I suppose.

I just want to take the time to thank everyone who visits the webpage and a HUGE thanks goes out to all of you who write me and give me all of your fantastic words of encouragement. You are all amazing!

Thank you!
Sincerely
H