I adore the despair in your eyes

Song of the Moment:  HIM's "Gone With The Sin"

Here we are officially into Spring but with the weather you wouldn't know it.  Michigan weather is always all over the place but it seems like this year it has been taking it to a whole new level!  I am definitely more than ready to see the cold and snow go away and my sinuses agree!

It's been a mixed bag kind of a day as I finally scored the interview I've been trying for for over four years but kicked off the day with the news of a old friend of mine losing her baby.  It's hard when all you can offer are some cliched words of sympathy but she has a lot of family and friends around her so hopefully it is helping.

When I finally started using my Communications/English degree five years ago I set a number of goals for myself and I've been lucky enough to cross off most of my list and today was one of those times.  HIM's Ville Valo has been one of my favorite singers for years and I had been trying to secure a interview since they were last in the U.S. four years ago.  It took awhile but it finally happened and it's one more step on my road to making my writing passion a full-time thing rather than something I do on the side of my full time job.  It was the first time I've really been nervous for a interview but Ville is one of those people who can immediately put you at ease and it wasn't long before my reporter instincts kicked in and I think it ended up turning out rather well.


http://www.examiner.com/article/him-s-ville-valo-eager-to-tour-and-ready-for-release-of-tears-on-tape

Straight into the bone

Song of the Moment:  Crashdiet's "California"

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom."-Thomas Carlyle

There are some days when no matter how much I want to put my all into everything I have going on I am just too burnt out to function.  Between my day job, my car getting stolen and everything I have been taking on in my writing there have been a lot of those days lately.  A long three day nap sounds amazing!  This drawn out Michigan Winter isn't helping either.  Haven't seen much quantity but it feels like it has snowed for three solid months.

There are a lot of perks to being a writer, particularly in the music journalism world, but there is also a lot of hard work involved that I don't think a lot of people realize.  However, when I am in a funk my friends and family always come through with a laugh, a helping hand or whatever I need to keep me going.  Having said that, I just want to thank Angie for our chat today and Crashdiet's, Martin Sweet, who helped me capture that energy that was sorely lacking at the beginning of my interview with him.  Crashdiet is going to be bringing their sleaze/glam rock to the Pike Room in Pontiac on April 5.  They are definitely worth checking out! 

A moment of comfort before the storm

Song of the Moment:  HIM's "All Lips Go Blue"

Photo by Paul Harries

First taste of Finnish rock band HIM's new album Tears On Tape today as they released "All Lips Go Blue" as their first single in the U.S. and the U.K..  The track is definitely a throwback to the Love Metal  days with a killer guitar solo and a short acoustic breakdown.  Got an early listen of the album as I prepare to do some coverage on the album and their upcoming tour and I really think that the band has managed to put together a nice mix of what fans consider old HIM and new HIM.  It's a sign of a great album when you find yourself having a new favorite song after every listen.  Can't wait to see them May 8 in Chicago!