Money or Fame

"Matt, why do you do this, is it for the Money or the Fame??"

I get that question a lot. First off, if you're anywhere close to being in tune with the unsigned artist aka the DIY musician/band, there really isn't a lot of money. You see a lot of money, but you see it go right back out the door for other things. I am currently reading Anthony Kiedis' biography, "Scar Tissue" and in one section he talks about how they decided to give 5% of their income from touring to charity...5% might not sound like a lot, however per Kiedis...it broke down like this:

50% - goes to pay for the tour itself
20% - Management
5% - Booking Agent(s)
5% - Legal fees (aka Attorney's that get you out of jail when you kill people drinking and driving...cue Vince Neil).

So that leaves 20% to be divided by the band...Red Hot Chilli Peppers had 4 members...so that's 5% each...

Obviously if you're talking about 100 million dollars revenue that's not bad (5% of that is 5 Million)...but it's all relative. 5 million to Anthony Kiedis is probably like 500 to me and you...a good chunk of change, but you're not going to write home about it.

So...for Money or for Fame?? That's a good question...you could probably find a broke down rockstar with no money and nothing to their name and ask them...they probably still get recognized, get things for free, sign autographs, make cameo appearances...etc. I know there are probably a gaggle of people with plenty of money and no friends...and vice versa.

So that is a good question. If you were to ask me, I would probably say both!! :)

But honestly, I personally have been blessed as a musician and Snake Skin Prison has been blessed far beyond anything I could've ever imagined. I want my/our music to live forever. Money can't touch that...nothing lives forever (ask Bin Laden), regardless of what you have to protect you. This body is just a vehicle to carry you from birth to death. Music however lives forever. Money and Fame are good, they make life easier and harder at the same time, but nothing last forever. I will always play music. I will always have my guitars and be it for a crowd of 1000 or myself on my back porch, I love to play and sing...always have since I found out I could. That's why I do it, and if it ever starts to be for another reason...I might just pack it up and go back to WV where there ain't much money and sure as hell ain't no fame :) ... well on second thought, there is the Alcohol of Fame....

Come see us @ Stubbs!!


(click the image for ticket info)

Smoking Whiskey

Music in my Jeep right now:

"Stampede" Hell Yeah
"Beast" Devil Driver
"Rock the Rebel|Metal the Devil" Volbeat
"Far Beyond Driven" Pantera
"Pronounced Leh-nerd Skin-nerd" DUH!!

This weekend The Rolling Circus travels to San Angelo to pummel the Deadhorse. I remember the first time we traveled to San Angelo. Miles and Miles of nothing and then out of nowhere San Angelo pops up. I walked into the Deadhorse and immediately thought..."now this is what I'm talking about!" The Deadhorse is my idea of a bar that is top of the food chain. Rex and Lanie (owners) rock...they know how to treat bands because they are in a band!! Check em out here: SHOTGUN REBELS. The staff is totally cool and the atmosphere is completely RAWK!!! I look forward to every trip to San Angelo, we always have fun and normally come back in one piece...I invite you to make the sojourn with us Friday night if you're feeling up for a rock and rolling metal show.



As always the Pain Train is in full swing, knocking down doors and making steps to further our quest of world domination. Some really cool things that have recently taken place:

-Our new Jam, "Farther" has been getting tightened with live performances...a recent one can be seen HERE
-Snake Skin Prison was added to RIDE FOR DIME. This is a Rally in honor of Dimebag and his charities. You need to go...you need to get your TICKETS NOW!!
-I have recently been confirmed a Gibson Preferred Artist...pics to come ;)
-The new logo is effin PIMP...thanks to Billy Perkins again for an awesome job.
-We have some BIG shows in the works...soon to be released...

And I could probably come up with more and more things but we'll leave it at that for now.

Snake Skin Prison had a great week for SXSW, I'm glad it's over, but it is a lot of fun and comes once a year, so you have to embrace it and make the most of it...it is what it is.

Writing new music as we speak...plan on leaking them here and there, to see what kind of response we get. The thing about music that makes it different from a painting or a literary work...music is it's own canvas. Meaning I have written songs, and played them live and through evolution it changes and morphs into the body of work it was meant to be. Once a painting it painted..you can't change it, as with something that's been printed. However with a song...you can alter, shape, twist and bend until it's perfect.

Rock Me Roll Me Outta Control Me!

CHEERZ!
MB

SSPxSW

Well, the week is here...the week every unsigned band/musician that is worth their salt will travel to Austin TX...in hopes of getting discovered. I was curious to find out how many bands actually got "discovered" during SXSW...so I did a little research, and here's what I found out:

Now when I say research, I go to Google and type in: "Signed Bands from SXSW" and out of the returns I found this article: HERE .... and you can see it entitled "25 bands that broke at the Austin Festival..."

So you can see there, some of the people that were fortunate enough to get "discovered" ....

So that got me thinking, what if I typed in, "Bands that DID NOT get discovered at SXSW" and my machine had to reboot.

LOL

So with that being said, the week is upon us, Snake Skin Prison has 3 shows this week:

Thurs 3/17-Armadillo Hall, Taylor TX, 9p
Fri 3/18-Chupacabre, 6th street, 1130p
Sat 3/19-Roial, Texas Rockfest, 120 w 5th St, 9p

So that should keep us busy for this weekend :). I urge you to come out to the shows, be sure and tell everyone you see...

We played House of Blues on Friday, and that show went off like a roman candle in a WV Trailer Park on the 4th of July. From start to end it was 100mph!!

You know SSP...pure Rockstars:



Onward to The Dirty Dog on Saturday Night where SSP started the night with CrackerPaloosa! Indeed a blast it was, where we debuted a new jam:




It's exciting to see the same faces out to the shows...keep spreading the word...keep spreading the disease...the difference between winners and losers is the fact that winners do and losers don't. Never give up and never give in. I remember playing football in High School, we were the visiting team, and in their visitor's locker room (which was their JV locker room) on the wall a quote was painted:

"The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go." -- Winston Churchill

That's my take on life, as hard as you can as long as you, never give up, never let go, you will eventually succeed, just as water wears down a rock.

After this week comes and goes, millions of gallons of booze later...when everyone goes back home to resume their normal life...you can always count on SSP...we'll still be here...why?...cause we ain't got nowhere else to go...

After all...


we're just Rockstars :)

\m/
Live it Like Ya Mean It!
mb

Life is a Highway

Alright...seriously...I have never had that much jager in my entire life.

We traveled to Houston this past weekend as VIP guests with Jager @ the Houston Rodeo. We get there, and there's a line out the a$$...I grab the first person that looks like they know what they're doing, only to find out he's drunker than Cooter Brown!

Finally I get someone that knows what they are doing, they take us down the side, and into the Tent and what do I see...but all the beer, brisket, and Jager a man can imagine. I had jager with root beer, Jager with Orange Pop, Jager with Sausage, Jager with cigarettes, Jager with Jager...and Jager with oxygen.

Needless to say it was a great trip, met some interesting people, and spread the SSP Charm.

There's a lot going in the SSP camp, somethings I can tell and some I have to wait until further developed...but I assure you this. You may not hear from me...you might think...that SSP band is just drinking jager at the rodeo...well yes we are :) but things are brewing.

I think the name Snake Skin Prison is very fitting for this band. Just as a snake sits...and patiently awaits it's unsuspecting prey...so does SSP. When the time is right...BAM!...the snake strikes and it's lights out! Unless of course the snake is drunk, then he will probably miss and chip a tooth or something, but you get my point!

I've scheduled us a lot of good shows, SSPxSW, Houston House of Blues, Tulsa OK, ... and many more to come :) .... Check out the Dates...:









I've also been writing new material, ready to unleash some new and improved tunage on your skulls!

This Friday SSP travels to D-Town...home of the High 5...home of the Dallas Cowgirls...Home of a cool place to eat called The Angry Dog...we play Reno's Chop Shop...if you're from Dallas, come check it out, if you're not...tell anyone you know from Dallas to come check out SSP.



Alright, well I'm busting outta this motel...keep your ears to the ground...it's coming...

MB

If I were King

Well, I noticed I haven't written a blog in bit, and it's definitely not from lack of things to write about. In the world of SSP there's always something to say!!

We had a killer show Saturday Night @ Dirty Dog, thanks to everyone that came out!! This weekend will prove to be one helluva weekend with back to back shows:



Then on Saturday Night SSP opens for Drowning Pool:





SSP loves both San Angelo and San Antonio...hell, we love everywhere we play. ALSO...I'm super pumped to announce our NON-SXSW show:




When I moved here, I had no idea about SXSW, and it took a while to wrap my head around it. I thought, "Man, this is a great idea!! A huge festival where ALL unsigned bands and gather and play in hopes of gaining the type of exposure one could only get from something of this magnitude..."

Then I actually learned about it LOL.

As with everything else in the world...SXSW has been polluted by $$...so I don't concern myself with SXSW, I'm concerned with SSPxSW :). We'll get all the spoils of SXSW with out the hindering of being an actual SXSW Showcase. I set the line-up, it's a free show and the goodies just keep coming in...it's only going to get better. So I do wanna thank SXSW for building the biggest festival in the world...right in my backyard :). And I won't even have to promote...

SSP played in San Antonio once, and the headlining band bailed at the last minute...the show was packed out, and SSP was moved into the headlining slot. I turned to Keith and said, "We're the last band you want to hand deliver your fans on a silver platter to..." Every show since then in San Antonio just keeps getting better. I view SXSW the same way...in the words of Bruce himself, "Bring your Daughter to the Slaughter..." SSP isn't racist...we'll take them all!!

So! That's the haps for now...currently I'm writing new material to throw into the SSP blender and see what comes out...I've been taking guitar lessons for over 5 months now...so let's see how the songs sound \m/

As always thank you all very much for your support and belief in Snake Skin Prison...

"Welcome to the Jungle said the Spider to the fly, 4 years and you're lucky you're alive; Oh no what are you gonna do, you're slitting your wrists in an alligator cess pool..."

MB

V is for Victory

Well if it isn't my favorite faithful reader! I hope your week is going as good as mine and your weekend was as rocking as well. Friday night the SSP posse gathered for some dirt, liquor, and cigarettes, a slap in the face, a shoulder shiver...and mass amounts of fun for Keith's Bday. Saturday was an excellent turn out for The Scoot Inn. I don't know about you guys (those that got to attend) but I dig that spot, I can definitely see an SSP show on that nice outdoor stage when the weather breaks!

So in thinking about what I wanted to write about today, I was slapped in the face with something that truly gets under my skin...but yet is a necessary evil here in the good ol' music entertainment business.

So...let me quiz you...

-What was the name of the band that won the contest to open for Motley Crue on their tour??...don't Google it...remember Guitar Center was helping promote??...remember?? well...neither do I. So I'm wondering what good it was to relentless push and promote that contest...and in the words of my dad, "If a frog had wings he wouldn't bust his ass!"

So why do I bring that up you ask? Well this is a huge pisser to me, when companies, bands, whoever pitch these "contests" to the ever starving for anything musician/band. Tour with Motley, Open for Kiss, Record with Slash...by dangling these golden carrots in front of a determined individual/band, in return they promote the EF out of the company/band/contest...something like this, :

"Hey...help Joe and the Jack Offs open for Ozzy on the Moon...just vote everyday all day at CorporateAmericaSucks.com and make sure your friends do as well!"

Now, I myself also did the same thing, hounded, pounded and pestered the most cherished and important treasure we have as a band...YOU...and for what? To shove someone else's product down your throat in hopes of you voting for my band. After about 5 of these ridiculous outings I woke up and smelt the vasoline...no Longer will I be a Slave to the Grind and explode your inbox with requests to visit guitarcenter.com and vote!...

So if I or Snake Skin Prison ask you to vote for us, it's for something important, meaningful, and legit. Every year the Austin Chronicle holds it's Music Poll, and every year I'm amazed at the results. Regardless, I would feel like I'm doing SSP a disservice if I didn't try...so take a quick second, hit the link and vote for SSP :)

CLICK HERE




CLICK HERE



As always, thank you for your time...SSP is off this weekend, but getting geared up for next weekend @ The Dirty Dog!!

It's been real, and it's been fun...but it ain't been real fun!

Love Yas!

PS: that band was called The Last Vegas...I googled it :) \m/

Hillbilly Batteries

"Moonshine!! Now that shit'll make ya piss the bed!" -I will leave this person Nameless

I realized I haven't put up a blog since Dec 22!! That's way too long, for you see faithful reader, I just have gallons of information to dump on you ;).

Christmas was awesome, I spent it in Austin as I did New Years. I mean, where else would you want to go for New Years?? The moon maybe, that might be cool, if you could get enough friends to go...either way...I just recently got back from a trip to the Motherland.

Monroe County, West Virginia...God's Country. I remember when I was little, I asked my mom if Tornado's would come to Peterstown and she pointed out the window to the mountains and said, "Those mountains will protect you, they won't let anything bad in..."

I still get that feeling, when I drive down Main Street...home.

HOME!

It feels good, if you've never left your home, then you might not understand, but if you have left home...you know exactly what I'm talking about. I love going home, cause it reminds me who I am, where I'm from, and what I'm doing all this for.

See...you might come to a show and see the 100...200...and think...man SSP has a strong following they are doing really good. Well, I have an entire town backing me, and that my friend makes you feel good. Every time I go home it's like charging the batteries...my Hillbilly Batteries!!

Watching people smile as you tell them stories, hearing people play your music, seeing people wear your shirt...but not because they have to...but because they want to.

People ask me if I ever think I'll move back to Peterstown, West Virginia...and I respond: "As soon as they get a Red Eyed Fly!!" :)

I just did an interview with Lonestar Metal Magazine, and he asked me what my favorite experience with SSP was...and I could've told about Keef pee'ing in the ice machine...or Marc getting us back from a 4 hour destination in 2...or about me sticking a Viking Horn in my crotch and pokin girls in the rear...much to the disagreement of several suitors on hand :) ...

That's all fun...trust me...but it's about the music and about the people...the People in Monroe County...the People in Austin TX...the People EVERYWHERE...when we play a song and I see people in the crowd singing along...it truly warms my heart...as cliché as that sounds...it really does. No Matter how far I am from home...be it my Austin home or WV home.

I'm huge on Family and not just blood...but our SSP Family...and that's deeper than me and Keith and Marc. With out the people that support SSP we'd be playing our music to empty ears.

There's strength in numbers. Period. We stick together and everything will work out fine, it's when you are all alone you are the most vulnerable.

So...I thank you for your support...without you, I don't even want to know where I would be...

So...with my Hillbilly Batteries charged, come out and help me Celebrate Keef's 23rd Bday!! We have some tricks up our sleeve for this show...I doubt any of you have seen before. SSP takes the stage @ 11p-1145p then it's drinky poo time!!



If you're not in ATX this weekend...then don't you fret...




SSP is getting geared up to rip through Texas like a Twister through a Trailer Park.