Pirate bay to be blocked in Ireland

  On Wednesday the 12^th of June 2013 SIX IRISH INTERNET service providers have been ordered by the High Court to block access to The Pirate Bay website. Justice Brian McGovern issued an order which had been drafted by music publishers EMI, Sony, Universal Music and Warner Music in collaboration with the six internet providers. The order will apply not only to any current incarnation of The Pirate Bay, but any other address at which the service becomes available in future according to Journal.ie

  The Irish independent reported that UP to 20 internet sites are to be targeted by an organisation representing record companies in a move to stamp out the illegal pirating of music and other copyright material.

  EMI, Sony, Warner Music and Universal had alleged the Pirate Bay activities were causing them €20m in losses annually and sought the orders against UPC, Imagine, Vodafone, Digiweb, Hutchison 3G Ltd and Telefonica O2 Ireland Ltd.

  €20 million? So basically they are saying that if Pirate bay is blocked, there will be 2 million more albums sold in Ireland? How on earth do they get away with these figures?

   Here is my two cents worth on the subject. First of all this imaginary €20 million, lets just say that it would be true, that in Ireland last year Pirate bay took away €20 million worth of album sales. I will use some U.S. Statistics here to compare as I do not have the exact Irish figures. In USA 2012 the independent labels had a record braking year by getting a whopping 32.6% of the market share, according to The Nielsen Company & Billboard's 2012 Music Industry Report. There are some quite large Independent Labels in USA, so I would hazard a guess that In Ireland the major label share is bigger, but that's just my guess. So anyway, according to this information next year the Irish independent record labels would make extra 6.5 million thanks to this court ruling? Now does any one seriously believe this? If so, we're all on for a great year ;-) Personally I have my doubts... 

   Second thing here is much more important to me. So now the Irish government and the high court decides what websites we can access? Now don't take me for a fool, I'm sure there has been certain level of censorship happening all along (just my suspicion , not a proven fact), but now it is official that Irish government will openly do this. And especially when big corporate companies Like the above mentioned major labels pushes them... What happened to freedom of information? I for one am furious!!!

Dublin Soul Picnic mistake

  Last weekend I rambled in to the Dublin soul picnic at the Merrion Square. The Event has been growing nicely and the weather was perfect for this years festival. We got there around 2pm and it would be safe to say the festival site was getting full. The festival is a fundraiser for the Musical Youth Foundation www.myf.ie
The Musical Youth Foundation does some great work, by providing access to musical education to children and most of all for free! This is something that is close to my heart. I always found music at young age teaches you not only to play, but to focus on something and see the benefits of  "keeping at it". I think in a society and  times we live in our attention span has hugely reduced. And if we are bad at it, how can we expect the next generation to do any better? Through music and learning an instrument I found something in my confused teenage years to concentrate on. It thought me that if I would go after something with determination, I could do it. Some people find the same thing in Sports. So never underestimate the power of music!

  But back to the Soul picnic. We did not stay too long due to two things, lack of beer tent :-D, which I can fully understand... The second was lack of program. And I mean here a lack of printed program to see if there was something we'd like to check out. I asked some of the organizers in the Musical Youth Foundation  tent why there was none. I was told that they wanted to keep it as a surprise... I was speechless. A festival that has no program... This is a serious set back for the up and coming artists on the "secret" bill. Sure they got to play in front of a full park, but after a long day of bands who will remember the name of the band that they kind of liked early on the afternoon... So dear festival organizers, take a note that the artist is there not only to play music, but to promote them selves as well. You know what I call concerts where you can't promote your self? Corporate shows! And believe you me I would expect to get paid a hansom fee for them. Rant over ;-)
 
  J.P.

May update

  It has been a while, I know... But me not posting here is not a sign of me taking it easy, instead its a sign of me being buys, and I mean crazy busy. 2013 has been very busy year for Sliotar and Boneyard Bastards are really getting things in to gear. Here are two videos and two new tracks we have been working on. Credit where credit is due, Qra has been working hard on these videos, so we would appreciate any shares and likes you can spare:-) There is more on the way as well, so keep an eye on the links below:
www.boneyardbastards.com
www.facebook.com/sliotar
www.youtube.com/boneyardbastards
www.twitter.com/boneyardbastards

Boneyard Bastards

  It has been a while... But we haven't disappeared anywhere. Actually we've been busy setting up our new rehearsal space, rehearsing and planning ;-) So here is a little bit of news for all of you. We have decided that with the new lineup and new start we will also leave behind our old name the JPKALLIO.COM and start fresh... well... freshish ;-) So the new band name is... (drum roll, dim the lights)

  Boneyard Bastards

  With this name change we decided to move our Facebook page and website as well. So go and make friends with us on Facebook by clicking HERE,  Action!

  Our web site will be online shortly and we'll keep you posted on that.

Also we will be playing in the Fibbers on  the Quays this Thursday the 21st of February, which we just can't wait! The night kicks off at 8pm and on the bill there are: Penrose, The Midget Monkeys and Boneyard Bastards. Plus before and after the bands there is singer songwriter night. Should be good. So start your weekend early and come along.

  J.P.

Is there such a thing as bad music?

  New year, new tricks! I hope anyway... Well the holidays came and went and to be honest with you, I'm glad. I like the festivities, but these days it just seems to last too long, with Christmas adds out in October. I always liked January, I know... I 'm odd that way. It's just that it feels like new chapter and everything is possible. With the new year I think most of us do some soul searching and plans for the new year, or new years resolutions. Anyway that's not what I want to get in to know.

  Over the holidays I was exposed to a lot off what in my mind is bad music. And It got me thinking a bit, always a dangerous thing... For most musicians I have talked to over the years, it seems the music charts in most countries is mostly crap. I lost interest in the charts long time ago. Partly because lot of the music really is not to my taste, partly because the more I learned about music business the more I realized how they work. But I think the biggest reason is just a practical one, I don't listen to mainstream radio, or any music TV channel. I don't drive a car, I work from home and my commute to gigs is either 5 mins. When I am on tour, we don't really listen to much music in car. If I listen to music on the road it's from my iPhone and I am in charge of the play list. And when at home, I listen to Cd's on my Hifi, (yeah, call me old fashioned). I also do listen to lot of music on YouTube while I work, in fact this is where I find most of new music. I listen to songs, or even whole albums several times before I actually purchase a CD (that's just for any one in major label office who thinks that sharing music online is bad for sales :-D). If I go out to pubs, I usually choose them either based on the kind of music they play. Still when I do get exposed to the chart music, usually in shops funny enough, often I find my self wondering how the hell did that load of crap got there and again I am sure I am not on my own thinking this.

  But lets just stop for a second here and think. Even though to days charts are very much a manipulated system that works on the advantage of the major labels, which then gets fed on to the radio, or very often the other way around, there still need to be substantial numbers of records or downloads shifted by the public. So are we musicians and dedicated music lovers so arrogant as to think most of the music consuming audience is wrong? That what they listen to is shit and we and only we can see the true gems? Obviously if you dedicate your time to learn an instrument, play years in a band, you do get certain understanding of structures, rhythms, chord progressions etc. And I might even dare to say you would have more educated ears. But does this still mean most of people are wrong and we right? Well, in my opinion yes and no. But to really understand this, lets look at some major label tactics.

  When a major label, puts out an album, single and video they pump what would seem like a crazy amount of money on the promotion. The idea is that if you invest enough on getting the music to the public audience, eventually the scale tips over and people start buying the downloads and Cds and the record labels investment is payed and they are in profit. If the artist does well, the record company gets to multiply their investment several times. The thinking behind a major label is always to please as many people as possible with the music they invest in. This is why very often for us this seems like very middle of the road music. Also it is very accessible, in sense that it is every where! I mean, if you walk around the town, you will hear it in the stores, you will hear it in the main stream clubs on every weekend, you can buy it at the major record shops right at the door, you can even buy it at Tesco and get club card points! And I think this is a big thing for lot of people. They go for it as it is there, they like it as it is catchy and they have heard it already about fifty times over as back ground music. And guess what, they like it.

  Should this be changed? Well I can promise you that major labels will fight to the last living bone to hold on to their market. If they were to loose, I'm sure some one else would take their place and continue pretty much the same way. They are major corporations on the top of their industry, that's just the way it is. But what I do think is needed is some alternative to the old chart system to recognize the immense amount of talent out there. I am not talking about a free ticket to fame, but an opportunity for the independents to expose their music to the greater public. Especially in Ireland where we have such a great underground music scene. But until then, we just need to get out and go to a live shows, or surf on the YouTube for something bit more “interesting music”

  Happy new year to you all. May this be a year full of music:-)

    J.P.

Fender Excelsior tone pod mod

  I've been on a bit of a tone search trip lately. I always had almost as big interest on the tone of guitar as I did in the playing of it. Also in the nature of this blog and just plain simple restrictions of finances, I am always aware of how much I spend on my equipment. But even more so I am always looking for something new in tone, something you just can't buy from your local music store. You see, there are these musicians who have the best of the best equipment and all I say is good on you. But I find if our goal is to buy the Gibson Les Paul Custom and Mesa boogie triple rectifier (you can replace the guitar and the amp for any top end make here), more and more things will start to sound the same.
 I know I am not alone in this search and for those of us not too impressed by the perfection of a €2000 off the shelf amp are left with few options. You can go the vintage rout, look for that magical 30 year old amp or guitar, which in many cases is over priced. I personally like the idea of actually customizing my tone.

  So earlier this year I came across a new amp from Fender that got me bit exited (we've all been there). The amp in question is Fender Excelsior. Amp made in style of 1950s catalogue amps. It is a simple amp, with three inputs. Volume and tremolo controls and single dark to bright tone switch. It is full valve (tube for our american friends) design 13 watts and projects the sound from a single 15 inch speaker. The thing about this amp is that it is not trying to sound like any other amp, it has a tone of its own. But also it is designed to be a great platform for modifications.
  After doing my usual research that I do before purchasing any new equipment, I got a great deal and decided to purchase the amp. On my purchase I was very impressed with the amp, but still I knew I was going to alter the amp to get a tone that is more what I had in mind. The first short fall of the amp is the dark to bright tone switch. The bright is pretty shrilly and piercing tone and the dark is lacking in clarity. It was clear from the beginning that the ideal tone from the amp would be some where between the two. So I decided change the switch in to a tone pot. I do need to say here that any one doing this will straight away cancel
out their warranty on the amp. But I had run the amp through it paces and knew it was working fine. If something was to go, it would be something that could be fixed by any good amp tech (also another beauty of the simple design of this amp). I used to have a Fender blues junior, a great little amp. But I was never impressed with this amps internal design. I had a problem with the input jack and one of the valve sockets, which were bot attached to the circuit board that was very tightly designed. To be honest with you, I actually had one look inside and decided the blues junior. But the Fender Excelsior's insides are much more modification friendly. There is loads room inside and the power and pre amp sections are housed separately. If you are more interested in the inner workings of this amp, I recommend you take a look at Billm's website and especially his page on Excelsior

  Anyway, so I had a spare 500k pot in my spare parts, and decided to open the amp up. As I mentioned earlier the pre amp part is separate from the power amp part, so opening the amp was very easy. Two screws on top of the amp and I had the pre amp chassis in my hands. Few more screws and I had it opened up. Inside I could find the dark bright tone switch that has three cables attached to it. I carefully desoldered them and attached them to the pot exactly the same order as they were in the switch. It took little bit of filing to fit the pot in to the hole of the old switch. I also had an old control knob, that nicely covered the screw holes that held the switch. It's not exactly the style of the other two knobs, so I might look for some new knobs, kind of like the idea of cream colored chickenheads. When I started opening the amp, stuck the Black presidents CD on, and by the time I had it done, the album just finished, so just over half an hour it took me and the difference with the tone control is amazing! It really makes this amp very flexible for its three control design.
  Just a small warning here. I would not call my self an expert in electronics, but I knew what I was doing before I opened the amp up. There can be potentially lethal charge in a valve amp. So make sure you know what you are doing! Once again Billm's website has been a wealth of information for me, so check it out at www.billmaudio.com and especially his page on discharging capacitors. This is an easy modification, but you can potentially do permanent damage to your amp, so don't tell me I didn't warn you. As mentioned above, if you do this the manufacturers warranty is gone! So if you are worried about this, either don't do it, or wait until the warranty is out. Personally for me I bought this amp as much for playing and gigging as to learn the insides of an simple valve amp, so I wasn't worried about this.

    So there it is. The first mod on a journey to my own tone. I am also tinkering with the oldest and cheapest Boss distortion pedal DS-1. The results so far are great! So I'll be sharing some of these with you in the future as well. Great tone on a shoestring ;-) and best of all, my own tone.
  J.P.

In the Pint 10th of November

  Right, this Saturday we are playing upstairs in the Pint bar on Eden quay. There is pretty impressive line up on the night! Part from us it's
Rafters,
Smash Your Baggage
Crafty Fuzz,
The Velourias,
My Mind Races,
Shallow stream,
Skyward Rifles

 Hope to see you there!
    J.P.