Fantazzmo 1: Enter the Fantazz: A musical journey.

Fantazzmo 1:  Enter the Fantazz- is a musical journey.

This album was created with pure heart for the listener and  live audience to have fun, move and groove just like the music does.  I believe my passion for music is clearly poured out on every tune.  There are dynamics and a variety of musical styles on this album, and they have one common thread:  It's the same band.  Yeah, there are some moments of tranquility, retrospect, sadness, but just as in real life, all of these moods must be felt in order to really appreciate the happy, energetic, "highs."

The album rocks and has an undeniably great live feel all throughout, thanx to Tone's amazing production!  Everyone may not like every song on the album, but they'll like at least one!

There are some good "radio quality" songs on the album.  "I Know You're Mine," "Drown Your Lies," "What You Doin To Me," "Always Something," should be "hits," and would be if I could get them on the radio or MTV 20 times a day! lol. These are heartfelt, touching songs and people should be able to relate to them very easily.

"Superman" and "Reciprocity" should be on the radio as well.  "Souls On Ice" and "She Really Likes It" could be with an edit here and there.
Fantazzmo 1:  Enter the Fantazz is a modern work of thankful appreciation to my influences:  Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Van Halen, Pantera, Sublime, 311, Beastie Boys, Hip Hop, Motown and many, many more.

Track List:

1.  Superman - A non stop energy filled, groovy, catchy, singable, danceable, shoot from the hip rocker that should be a party anthem!  You cannot walk away from this song without remembering the hooks, we got hooks for days on this bad boy!  Super, super, catchy!

Lyrics are more on the Hip Hop side- Too Short, Tu-Pac, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris type stuff.  Musically, it's a big Pantera style riff with some upbeat funky drumming backed by a latin style bass line.  Gotta get the Dimebag influence in there! 

Superman is the first "single" and the video should be up any moment. 

"Baby I'm your Superman!"


2.  I Know You're Mine- This song is the album favorite so far. This one is straight from the heart.  A heartfelt, touching, rocker with a memorable vocal.  The chorus groove and melody are beautiful & super catchy and I owe much of that to Randy & Rodax. Rodax gave it a Police type feel in the chorus and I just love it! 

Music is upbeat rock in the pop/punk vein ala Green Day, Blink 182.  The video should be released on Valentine's Day 2011.

3.   Drown Your Lies-  This seems to be the second favorite so far.  A heartfelt tune, this time with a reggae/rock feel ala Sublime/311.  This is one of the strongest songs on the cd and could really do some damage on the radio if it had a chance.  A memorable and catchy vocal, really great production and bam!  Great song.


4.  She Really Likes It- Yes!!!  This song is dedicated to the ladies working the pole for a living!  It was inspired by one particular female, but that was then, now we have this song!  It's got a White Stripes type feel, but was originally inspired by AC/DC's "Squealer."  I'm a huge Bon Scott & AC/DC fan and this one tips that hat to him/them.  It's got Bon type lyrics all over it, (there are only 4 lines in the whole song! lol!)  I love this song for so many reasons!  The main hook/groove is really infectious!  The lyrics are sexy and playful, then when the band kicks in, KAPLOW!!!!  Time to rock the fuck out!  That's when the ladies on the pole should be in full throttle with the hair whipping in a circular motion, while shaking this and that!  The song then jumps into a kick ass "Hells Bells" type groove while I bust my best Eddie Van Halen impersonation!  Hell yeah!  Good times!

We drop back down to the main riff and get one last verse in.  One more naughty & playful tease before we do it all again!  Ooh yeah, don't ever stop!!!

I wanted the music to do all the talking so there aren't a whole lotta screams and hype type bells and whistles, like "Squealer" or something Diamond Dave would do, just a band rocking out.  (I love Diamond Dave and all the bells and whistles, just didn't wanna do it)


5.  We Are Waiting For You- A touch of evil to give the album some variety.  I'm a big horror movie buff and this turned out to be a really cinematic song!  I'm really happy with the dynamics in this song from the haunting melody to the huge chorus, the quiet stripped down solo section, the outro cadence, great stuff!  Randy's playing on this is dead on and I think this song has some of his best drum orchestration. . 

The screams at the end get me every time, I'm all over it, I'm there!  End it off with a little Robert Plant "Song Remains the Same" type chorus vocal and there you have it, a four piece orchestra!


6.  Eternal Abyss -  I'm pretty domesticated.  I've had a couple of really long relationships.  I finally learned to tire them out & put them to sleep kinda like babies, so that I can play guitar in peace.  Over the years I would play a routine of songs that would put her at peace so she would fall asleep easily.   Eternal Abyss is one of those pieces and probably the best one as well.  I added an extra progression and improvised a melody and am really happy with the result.

I recorded it on my home studio and Tone added some delays and of course his "magic reverb" and there it is, a gorgeous piece of music.


7.  Souls On Ice-   Ha ha, where do I start with Souls.  I've been dreaming of the day I would be able to play this riff again!  Waiting, contemplating, meditating, imaginating(?), procreating, masterb.. wait a minute! lol! 

This was one of the last songs we tracked on vocals. I was thinking back on the album and felt something was missing, then I had an "Oh yeah" moment!  The album needs some Serg!  So I started the song with my trademark laugh!  I used to walk in to parties with that laugh, when you heard that laugh, you knew "The Serg" was there! 

That riff!  That groove!  Damn! 


This one goes back to the Anima days with Kinski & Rodax (now Monte Negro).  We wrote this song way back in the day around 1994-1996.  The melodies are all Kinski and the second verse, bridge and chorus are almost verbatim to what it was back then.  I changed the first verse a bit to give it some "Serg!"

Souls is the only song of mine I've ever heard on the radio.  It was on KPFK back in the day.  I didn't know it was on either!  I was flipping through the stations and then I heard "ME!"  I was just rippin!   I caught it at the solo section.  The song was longer back then, so I still got to hear a bridge and chorus after.  One of the biggest thrills of my life!

Musically this song has Pantera style riffs with some funky drums and some Dave Lombardo type fills here and there to inject some "kick ass!"    It's in the "Superman" vein, just with a slower groove. Rodax put down some solid funky bass lines, when it comes time to solo, I don't know what I like more, the bass line or the guitar solo!


8.  Reciprocity- This song is another blast from the past, the Anima days with Kinski & Rodax.  The melodies and chorus are the same, I didn't recall the lyrics for the verse, so I put my own in.  The outro section is as close as my memory can recall.  Some of my fondest Anima memories were with this song and Souls On Ice.  We'd be jamming at backyard parties sometimes while the sun was still up and I really loved that outro verse and melody.

This song always had a long intro.  After I heard Randy's drums without music, I was like, screw the intro, crank up those drums.  Tone did something with the mikes to give it that big Bonham "When the Levee Breaks" sound and BAMMMM!!!!!  Magic baby. 

The song's got such a great groove.  Zep, Sublime, Rage, with a little Rick James "Mary Jane" on the end.

Lyrically well, after going through a bs relationship, you realize you've got nothing to show, and you want something, some thing to show for all the madness & more often than not, have nothing.


9.  What You Doin To Me- Another one from the heart.  Written in Feb 2010.  This song is a personal one of course & describes going through a turbulent relationship knowing everyone can see how negatively it is affecting you and your life. 

On one side I'm addressing her and stating the obvious goings on and on the other side I'm letting her know I'll always lover her and be there.  I'm questioning why she is putting us through this.  Deep stuff.

10.  Always Something- I have many favorites on this album  and love every song for different reasons.  This one stands out among the heartfelt teardropppers for me. I love the melody, I love the production, I love the words, I love this song!

I'm the type of person that doesn't like to argue and am not good at it.  So, there's always something that she said ringing in my head afterwards.  There's also always something I wish I had said.

This was the easiest song to sing for me vocally, (Besides "She Really Likes It"). I was most comfortable and confident with it and I believe it shows.  Tone's "magic reverb" worked wonders for the song & really helped the emotion cut right through. 

Musically this was supposed to be my tribute to the Beatles "Don't Let Me Down," but my rythym playing plus Rodax's super groovy motown bass line on the chorus and bridge & reggae style bass line in the verse changed all that!  Not to mention Randy's drum tracks, which left me speechless when he first played on it.  This song grooves like back in the day baby!  I feel like I'm in Detroit, jammin', trying to get Berry Gordy to sign me to Motown! 

11.  Fear In Me- Here we are at last, the big bad motherfucker!  Fear In Me is Fantazzmo, this is the essence and core of Fantazzmo just as much as Superman is.  Fear In Me has a unique, killer vibe to it and is the perfect finale.

In my mind Fear In Me sounds like a confrontation between Clint Eastwood in his "High Plains Drifter,""The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly" days & Michael Myers from "Halloween,"  my favorite actor mixed with my favorite horror movie and character.  Hell yeah: the showdown!

This song has such great dynamics, music and lyrics, I love, love, love this song!  The haunting guitar line just sets my soul on fire.  The alter ego lyrics, melody, and wow especially the bridge are just amazing:

Well I come back ready and I'm trip on me
I got a bad fuckin attitude and something to see
I got Molotov cocktails and a switchblade knife
I got a gun in my pocket gonna take your life

Fear In Me

Poetry baby, pure poetry!


This song was created in 2000 after parting ways with Anima.  I rejoined my childhood friends and former bandmates Rob & Fern Ochoa and we jammed for a little over a year. 

This was another song I've been dying to hear and play for a while.  Now that it has materialized, I'm thrilled. 


12.  Cancion De La Gitana- ("Song of the Gypsy Woman") This instrumental came out exactly as it was meant to.  I wanted it to sound like two old dudes just jamming on a street corner in Cuba.  We left it a little loose and a little dirty for ambience.  There were takes where my playing was more in time, cleaner & more articulate, but those takes just did not have the right "feel."  We decided that these looser, dirtier takes were keepers and here you go!
 
I'm not expecting everyone to like every song.  But I can guarantee everyone will like at least one! 

There's a time and a place for every song.  I doubt Too Short, Snoop Dogg and Ludacris want their kids listening to some of their sexually explicit material, but there is a place and an audience for it.


Because of bands like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen, and numerous others, I bring you Fantazzmo 1:  Enter the Fantazz.

My heroes did what they wanted, played what they wanted, and said what they wanted & Fantazzmo will do exactly the same.  So, sit back and enjoy the ride.  You may like the whole cd, or just one song!  I can only guarantee one thing, if you like any of the artists I like, if you share any of the same heroes I do, then you will like AT LEAST ONE SONG ON THIS ALBUM.   I guarantee it! 

Do you remember the first time you had sex?  Wasn't that an experience!  Moments of  fear followed by moments of  arousal & wonderful delight.  Moments of ecstasy followed by tranquility.  The passion is all here!



Fantazzmo 1:  Enter the Fantazz is a musical journey.


It's a wild ride, so is life! 

Enter the Fantazz!