Well, we’ve arrived at my last post I’ll be making here during my 24 hour take over of Metalsucks.net and this one’s gonna be a doozy.

Before I get started I’d like to extend a sincere thanks to Vince and Axl for allowing me to come into their home and ruin it A.C. Slater style. I really appreciate the opportunity and I hope I didn’t do too shitty of a job.

The contest rules said I could post any-fucking-thing I want but I’m really wondering if this last post will be the “exception” to that rule?!  I will say this, if this is posted in full I will have the utmost respect for Ben Umanov (a.k.a. Vince Neilstein) because he’s gonna have to swallow some pride by allowing it to happen.

Just to be clear I mean no disrespect by anything that follows, it’s just something I personally feel needs to be addressed.

On July 25th, Ash Avildsen-the owner of Sumerian Records-posted a blog expressing his opinion on the whole Spotify/Metalsucks situation that’s been brewing on this site as of late while also taking some pretty strong shots at Metalsucks.net’s owner, Vince Neilstein.  Readers of this site have continually asked for a response from Vince, yet he’s remained silent; something that’s completely unlike him to do.  I strongly feel that Ash’s opinion should be made available to as many people as possible though.  Why?  Because we’re in a time where label after label is failing along with hundreds of thousands of bands and management companies.  Not Sumerian though.  They continue to grow at a pretty alarming rate and I think there is something to be said for that; they must be doing something right.

As an avid reader/loyal fan of Metalsucks I used to dig how Vince would post on a certain topic and give his well thought-out opinion in a calm and collected manor.  A great example of this was when Ash created a video sharing his opinion on music piracy.  Metalsucks featured it in a story along with a very fair analysis of it by Vince where he shared his opinion on what he agreed with along with what he didn’t-all while maintaining a certain level of respect.  That’s what get’s my respect and is a HUGE reason why I love Bob Lefsetz.  He’ll voice his opinion on a topic then when he does his follow up “Mailbag” newsletter he is pretty 50/50 in including ones from readers fully on his side all the way to ones totally tearing him apart; even ones where they say he’s an asshole that doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.

With that said I think the whole Spotify debate that’s been raging on this site as of late has gotten really out of hand.  Vince almost seems to become enraged if someone doesn’t agree with his opinion on Spotify.  As the whole has progressed it’s seemed to be getting worse and I’ve started to think that he’s only posting interviews/opinions of others that are inline with his.  Yes, he’s posted responses from parties that disagree with him on the matter but they always seem to be ones that are really weak and easy for him to pick apart which of course makes it easy for him to come out looking completely right in the matter. With that said I think Ash’s blog was VERY well written and really provided some great insights into why it is important for labels to get revenue off of their bands music sales.  It was strong, concise, to the point, and was presented in a very easy to understand manor and I have a feeling that’s why Vince didn’t respond-it really called him out. Keep in mind they had no problem posting Ash’s response when it was attacking The Gauntlet.  Personally, I was anxiously awaiting what he’d have to say and was pretty bummed out when a response never came.

I do realize this is Vince’s site and he can do whatever the fuck he pleases but I also feel like there’s a certain responsibility that should be carried so you don’t come out looking like Fox News.  For many readers this is the ONLY site where they’re getting information on this whole Spotify thing and I strongly feel that they should be able to hear both sides perspectives so they can fairly form their own opinion on the matter.  After all, when a jury’s deciding which side to take in a trial wouldn’t it be a little unfair to the defense if the prosecution were the only ones allowed to make their case?

So first check out Ash’s entire blog which I’ve reposted below and after that you’ll find an interview I conducted with the man himself this week.  I had so many things I wanted to get his in-depth opinion on and he was kind enough to answer everything in full!

As for me, as I said in the beginning it’s my last post-I hope you enjoy it as well as everything else I posted today!  As for this post you may be asking yourself: is this the ultimate troll, a statement on unbiasedness, or a loving attempt at putting out the fire on those bridges?  I’ll let you decide…

Love your favorite guest writer in Metalsucks history,

Justin Gosnell

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Chris Adler is a man that needs no introduction.  He’s revered worldwide for his skills behind the drum kit and his band-Lamb of God-is absolutely one of the biggest metal bands in America today.  You’d think after becoming so renowned as a drummer and having his band take part in such huge events (world tour as direct support for Metallica anyone?!) he’d take it easy and just rest on his laurels.  That’s completely the opposite of the truth.

Chris continues to work harder than ever to this day to not only refine his craft but to also keep up with what’s going on in the metal world today.  Chris was gracious enough to spend some time with me where we discussed everything from his decision to switch from bass to drums, all the way to the details on his drum clinics, as well as his thoughts on Bandhappy.com.  

Check it out and troll away in the comments section.  For more info on Chris Adler and all his current actives be sure to check out his website by clicking here.  

-Justin Gosnell

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John Wesley has had quite a career in his life.  I could tell you about it myself but I think he does a better job of it in this interview than I ever could do on my own.

I’ve been very fortunate to get to know Wes pretty well over the last couple of years and was even blessed with the opportunity to record some Vestascension material with him down at his studio in Florida.  One thing I’ve found out about the guy is that he is real.  He’s just an all around great person that has a great heart.

Seeing as how he’s been touring since I was a baby-and he’s slowly worked his way up through the industry while facing MANY hardships and overcoming many obstacles-I jumped at the chance to discuss all of this with him at length.

Check out the interview below and make sure you go check out his latest EP calling The Lilypad Suite by clicking here.  

-Justin Gosnell

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(Photo Credit:  The INCREDIBLE Sahisnu “Nunu” Sadarpo.)

It’s been awesome reading everything you guys have been saying so far.  Obviously some people don’t get the humor/sarcasm…but I love it!

So, as you may have guessed, I’m dedicating one post to my own band, Vestascension.

I’m not gonna say much, I prefer to let the music speak for itself.  It’s definitely not going to be for everyone seeing as how it’s not Djent and all these trolls today have just been BEGGING for more Djent posts-so sorry girls!  If you’re a fan of A Perfect Circle, Dredg, Tool, Porcupine Tree, Karnivool, etc. then you may enjoy some of our stuff, or not.  We were very fortunate to be able to record some of the new stuff with Justin Meldal-Johnsen and John Wesley-which was an honor to say the least.

We cover A LOT of different sounds/styles.  I’m posting just 4 songs here with a short description of each one.  All of our music is FREE and you can download it now in very high quality by CLICKING HERE.

Make sure you “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Enjoy!

-Justin Gosnell

Oh and come on trolls, you’re disappointing me so far-show me what you’ve got!

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Ok.  Where do I begin…

Chances are there’s quite a few of you out there in the metal world that don’t know the name Bob Lefsetz.  For those that do however-actually for anyone that does-you’re fully aware of what a goldmine this guy is in terms of the knowledge and insight into the music business he posses.

Some people don’t like to hear what he has to say, some people claim he’s mean and/or cruel.  Well you know what?  99.99% of those people are the ones in bands that fucking suck, the ones that complain the industry isn’t fair, the ones that think it’s supposed to be easy to be a rockstar, and really just any band that’s still in disbelief that Warner Brothers hasn’t come and scoop them up out of their mommies basements and put them on tour with Metallica opening for them.

PAY ATTENTION-there’s not one damn thing I’m going to say today that’s of more importance than this:  IF YOU DON’T SUBSCRIBE TO HIS MAILING LIST DROP EVERYTHING YOU’RE DOING AND SIGN UP NOW BY CLICK HERE!  I promise you, if you’re a musician that’s trying to navigate the treacherous waters that are the current music industry this guy will seriously help you.  There’s a reason why Bob is so widely respected by so many of the top people in the industry both on the business side of things as well as the musicians themselves.

Since I’ve been focusing today on trying to help out up-and-coming musicians I was going to write a post basically stating exactly what I said above-and that was it.  On a whim however, I decided fuck it, I’m gonna ask Bob if I can interview him.  So, I shoot off an email.  Now, I’ve emailed him before about marketing and whatnot and tried to share a few ideas and believe me I pray every night that he’ll maybe one day notice my own band or those marketing ideas I’ve tried to develop (of which I’m opting not to link here out of sheer respect).  Why?  Not because I think he’s some magic genie that’s going to write about my band or “make it happen”-far from it.  It’s because-and I don’t know if this is even how to describe it-once you have followed him for awhile and understand his mind you just want approval from him.  He’s like that dad you have that is always stern, like a military dad, and you kind of go through life always just thinking “FUCK, if he’d just pat me on the back once or just say good job!!”.  In a nutshell, that’s my relationship with Bob. lol

So with that said, when I was sitting on my laptop and I saw an email pop up from him that wasn’t one of his newsletters I almost sharted-no fucking joke.  I’ll admit something too (and if Bob is reading this he’s going to be like “that asshole-I knew he was a fucking unprepared noob!”).  I didn’t have a single question written.  I seriously never in a million years expected for him to accept my request.  I would have expected to get an email from Zeus before ever getting one from Bob.  Maybe it’s because of what his email said too – “Ok, can you do it right now?”.  So, I did what any self respecting man would do and I lied and told him I needed 15 minutes because I was stuck in traffic (sorry Bob!).  Then, of course I faced writers block.  After all these years I’ve spent reading his shit and all the millions of things I’ve wanted to ask him how the fuck could I not think of one fucking question to ask him once he finally says that he’s ready to answer them?!

Well, as it turns out Bob is a pretty cool guy.  Yeah-he has a strong opinion and he’s not afraid to let you know it and certainly not afraid to fight for his causes.  To be totally honest I was nervous as fuck.  I’ve been very lucky to meet almost all of my heros in music.  I won’t name drop, but really, pretty much all of them.  However, never have I ever  been more nervous than I was when I was interviewing Bob.  And I’m sure it showed as I stumbled through questions.  Then my phone got disconnected not once, but twice.  The first time I thought I was sucking so bad at interviewing him that he just hung up.  He is a very busy guy so I wouldn’t have had any hard feelings.  But, he actually let me try 3 fucking times to get it right-and it ended up working out-and well, that’s that.

Thanks for listening to my long ass story….now it’s time to open your ears and listen to what Mr. Lefsetz has to say…

-Justin Gosnell

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When I first began making my list of all the people I wanted to interview Mike Mowery was one of the first names I added.  His management company-Outerloop Management-is rapidly growing and becoming more and more successful at a time when so many others are failing.  Outerloop’s current roster boasts some of the hottest names in the industry right now including Periphery, Darkest Hour, Veil of Maya, Dying Fetus, Misery Signals, Oceano-and the list just goes on and on.  (For the complete roster click here).

You fucking trolls will of course say alllll those bands suck and they’re allllll gay.  Well you know what, fuck you.  You can act like a bunch of little assholes and pick apart each little band and cry like babies about why you don’t like them but you CAN NOT deny that those bands are becoming more and more successful.  In fact, that’s what makes your pussies hurt so much-they’re out in the world playing todays biggest and best metal tours and you’re at home playing a tour on Guitar Hero.

For you bands/musicians out there that are looking for some great advice-this is for YOU!  Mike Mowery is a fucking management WIZARD.  So, listen up because the man himself is getting ready to drop some very useful knowledge on you…..

<3 Justin Gosnell 

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Well hello again!

I hope you’ve been enjoying everything I’ve been posting here today on Metalsucks.net.  This next interview is really something I was beyond thrilled to be able to do!

A Perfect Circle is without a doubt one of my all-time favorite bands and are also a huge inspiration on myself as well as my own band, Vestascension. So, when Matt McJunkins agreed to do an interview with lil’ ol me, well, I basically soiled myself.  Matt is a really awesome dude and everyone out there should give this a good read even if you’re not into any of the bands he’s involved with.  He provides some very interesting insight into what it takes to land an audition and what to do and what not to do if you actually land one.  Of course he also talks about his work in A Perfect Circle, Ashes Divide, Puscifer, 30 Seconds To Mars, and even gives a few details about his new project with Jeff Friedl.

Check it out below and if you’d like to know more about Matt click here to visit his official website.

-Justin Gosnell

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If you’re into what’s happening in the modern music world and especially the modern metal scene then you’re no doubt already familiar with the band Periphery.  To say they are carrying one of the biggest buzzes in the industry right now is an understatement.  While you may have heard of them, and even be a huge fan of their music, what you may not know is that they are continually focused on giving music lessons and teaching any and all up-and-coming musicians who want to learn.  Giving lessons has become a standard part of just about every tour they do and in a time where other bands find they are struggling to stay afloat on the road, Periphery uses this approach to not only bring in some invaluable extra money while on tour but also to enrich the next generation of musicians and create a stronger bond with their fans.

Periphery’s drummer Matt Halpern has gone way above and beyond with Bandhappy.com, a forthcoming website that has been many years in the making.  Once a musician creates an account on Bandhappy they are then able to pay for and take LIVE, online or on tour music lessons from a plethora of musicians and teachers from all over the world. If one would like to teach, anyone can apply, and once approved, all teachers gain access to an online profile where they can set their schedules, rates, and teach either online or on tour, anytime from anywhere – it’s easy to use and gives complete control to the teacher, enabling them to provide a truly personal learning experience. Perhaps the most awesome feature of Bandhappy is that it provides a great opportunity for students to take LIVE and personal lessons from some of the top names in the industry.  Something like that can be a complete dream come true and is something that’s never be made available before.  I certainly couldn’t imagine myself when I was 16 being able to take a guitar lesson from Adam Jones-my mind would have exploded!

Matt was kind enough to give me all the details on Bandhappy and more in the following interview.

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Today I’m blessed with the opportunity to have my voice heard by a lot of music fans-which is amazing-and I wanted to spread the love around a little bit.  Once I was announced the winner of the contest a lot of friends/associates/bands hit me up asking me to please write about their own band or a band that they managed, some even offered money.  I feel bad having to say no because if I could I’d help ALL of my friends but I can’t post about all 500 bands that I’m friends with.  For those of you I didn’t post anything about that are pissed off-give me a fucking break!  Besides, these bands agreed to give me a fresh bung-toungue and you didn’t, that’s not it works in the industry.

With that said I decided I’d pick just 5 bands.  I came up with a few guidelines I wanted to follow.  They had to be a band that had never been mentioned on Metalsucks.net before, they had to be great people, and they had to have a professional product.  Lastly, they had to be a band who’s music I personally really like and believe in.

Without further ado:

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I’m goin’ troll huntin’ mah!

Photo Credit:  The INCREDIBLE Sahisnu “Nunu” Sadarpo.

Well well well….hold on a sec here…AHHHHHHH…yeah.  Sorry, just had to get comfortable on my throne here and get my crown on straight-all better!

Today’s the day I get to troll..er..uh…I mean…run Metalsucks.net!  Truth be told I am really fucking happy to be here!  I’m going to take this opportunity and actually put it to good use and hopefully it’ll help out some bands out there today.  There’s not gonna be much time for humor here-sorry-it’s alllll business today ladies.  I sent out a few messenger pigeons who’s sole purpose was to wrangle me up some good interviews and, well, they delivered!  I made it my mission to ask these lovely people all kinds of questions that 1) I don’t think most interviewers ask them and 2) that I think will help out any musicians/bands out there that may be looking for some answers or advice.

Hopefully you’ll come away today being a little more well-versed on how things really run in the industry and perhaps even a better understanding of just how hard it is to “make it” in this industry.

Lastly, it wouldn’t be a proper Gosnell outing unless I created some controversy so you’ll get some of that too!  So, all you trolls out there man your keyboards and get ready to spill your pussy juice all over them because I think you’ll have A LOT to get butt-hurt about today!!

I’m gonna kick the day off here with my debut rap single “Albert Clifford”.  It’s a tribute to my childhood hero A.C. Slater.  I don’t think there’s a person out there who’s life hasn’t been touched/enriched by this man.  My single wasn’t very successful in the U.S. but it did go Aluminum in Yugoslavia so, ya know, there’s that.

Stay tuned-there’s much more to come!

Love your favorite guest writer in Metalsucks history,

Justin Gosnell