Episode 30 – Month to Month with Milton Mendonça…

 

Part 2 of Month to Month with Milton is now up! Lot’s of chatter around the Avantasia tour that Milton is involved with. We touch on our soon to be regular crazy people and band recommendation segments, reflect on some brief thoughts on the 70,000 tons festival and also paying our respects to Piotr Grundzinski of Riverside who shockingly passed away several days earlier.

Show Notes

The unfortunate passing of Piotr Grudzinski of Riverside. Watch the tribute video from the band here.
Milton’s recommendation’s of Riverside – Found (The Unexpected Flaw of Searching) and Discard Your Fear.
70,000 tons metal cruise. Check it all out here.
Milton’s favourites from the cruise – Katatonia, Rhapsody of Fire, Firewind, Children of Bodom, Tsjuder, Fallujah, Squealer, and Dragonforce.
Avantasia – Heard of them? Check out Dying for an Angel, and Scarecrow.
You like? Well, Avantasia are playing Friday April 15th at the Playstation Theatre in New York City. Tickets available HERE. You know you want to!
Milton’s band recommendations are both Riverside and Avantasia (he broke the rules, but for good reason!).
My band recommendation is Ragdoll from Perth! Great melodic rock. Hear their song Break You.

Episode 29 – February Alone

 

Thirty days hath September,
April, June and November.
All the rest have 31,
except for February,
which has 28 days clear
and 29 in each leap year.

It only happens every four years, so to celebrate February 29th, I’ve put together a bunch of ramblings about this special date and some background behind the leap year. Oh, and it’s episode 29! It was just meant to be.

Show Notes

30 variations of the ’30 days has September’ rhyme.
Why do we have a leap day?
Article: Leap Year Proposal: What’s the Story Behind it?
Heaps of fun facts about February 29th via Wikipedia.
The February 26 incident (that ended February 29). Read all about it here.
Did you know that Rare Disease Day exists?
Turner Syndrome – Not nice!

I suck at drawing…

 

Episode 28 – John Maher (Carmen’s Road Safety)

 

It would be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t either been directly or at least known of someone who has been impacted by a road tragedy. On a daily basis, a large majority of us put our lives in ours and others hands as we step into cars and venture onto the road. We trust ourselves and those around us, however time after time we see instances where things simply go wrong. In many cases, these tragic events could have been simply avoided, which further adds to the anguish felt by those who are left behind.

John Maher’s experiences with road tragedy are not unique, however his story is. In fact, it’s Carmen’s story, his daughter who was killed in a car accident, November 1995. John travels across the state of Victoria and various parts of the country speaking to high school students and businesses to tell Carmen’s story and spread the important message of road safety.

Many of us here in Australia during the 90s were exposed to shock and scare tactics via graphic content featured on television campaigns and police visits at school. Whilst it didn’t beat around the bush, it left many feeling disconnected and thinking that it couldn’t possibly happen to them. Carmen’s story is all about perspective. It’s about finding responsibility in yourself and those around you, as a road tragedy doesn’t only affect the person in the accident, but everybody who is left behind.

I hope you take something from this chat with John. Whether it be some more awareness of your own driving, or simply showing more appreciation for those close to you. I would also ask for you to reach out to John and let him know your thoughts, and even more so if you’re able to help spread his important message to others.

Show Notes

John Maher’s website here.
Carmen’s Road Safety Facebook page. Please support John’s message by liking it.
Listen to John on ABC radio here.
Victoria Road Death Annual Tolls here.
Article – Crash victim shares road safety message with students.
Article – Father shares tragic car crash story to save lives.

 

 

 

Episode 27 – Anwar Rizk (Metal Obsession, Metal Journalist…

 

Anwar Rizk has been a notable part of the Australian metal scene and in particular in Melbourne for quite a number of years. Running the Metal Obsession website, Anwar has a big focus on highlighting and pushing amazing Australian artists, playing heavy music. In addition to that, Anwar also has built up a reputation as a great photographer and dabbling in tour promoting and band management.

A lot of hands on experience over the years with a lot of stories to tell.

Now, I must admit that I had a number of things planned out to talk to Anwar about, however once we got talking about the lock out laws in Sydney and local band promotion, we went off on a long and deep tangent that we had a hard time getting out of! Highly recommended for those in bands or regular live music punters. A lot of great insights and perspective which I hope will result in many takeaways and more discussion in future.

Warning: This episode is LONG, however it is well worth listening to. I also have not had a chance to go back and pull out all of the information for the show notes, so i’ll add to the page over the coming weeks as I find another 3 hours to go back and listen to it!

Hot tip: Take a few breaks along the way to give your bladder some relief. I didn’t!

Show Notes

Check out Metal Obsession via – Website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Contact Anwar via email here.
Article: Sydney lock out laws: Would the last person in Sydney please turn the lights out?
J. Krishnamurti Online – Access his teachings here.
Wacken Open Air Festival.
Want something promoted? Maric Media is your answer!
Article: Heavy metal music combats emotions like depression, anger, study finds.
Hear Anwar on ABC Breakfast radio ranting about heavy metal!
In a band?

Episode 26 – Dr Craig Hassed (Mindfulness Professor)

 

Mindfulness. I recently discovered the wonders of this practice through a book entitled ‘Mindfulness for Life’. From this book I’ve discovered that many of my day to day habits were carried out in auto-pilot without any thought. Many of these habits were in fact of the bad variety which caused a large amount of stress in my life. Luckily with a small amount of practice in mindfulness, I’ve been able to dramatically reduce a lot of the daily anxiety that I face on a day to day basis. The exciting part of this discovery is that I wouldn’t even say that I’m good at being mindful, but the small attempts that I do make have already had such a positive impact on my life, that I feel encouraged to share this hidden secret (at least it was to me), with you all.

My guest this week is Associate Professor Dr Craig Hassed. Dr Hassed co-wrote the book I referenced above along with Dr Stephen McKenzie. I reached out to Craig to ask him about the book, his work and also to help me introduce mindfulness to you all. I hope this episode opens a new door for you and begins a journey of more awareness in your life.

Show Notes

Reach out to Dr Craig Hassed here.

Free online course through Future Learn – Mindfulness for Wellbeing and Peak Performance
Meditation Australia
Smiling Mind
Mindful in May
The Connection

Books with Exisle Publishing
Mindfulness for Life (Purchase via Amazon and support not only Dr Hassed but this podcast!)
Mindful Learning
The Mindful Home

ABC Radio Report – Mindfulness Meditation
Sydney Morning Herald Article – My School Report: Craig Hassed

Episode 25 – Get Your Lingo On

 

In this episode I discuss the challenges surrounding learning another language and my desire to become multilingual (as you will learn, the desire isn’t terribly great at the moment, but here’s to that improving!). I’ve set myself a challenge for a full month of using the Duolingo app on my iphone and learning a little bit of German. I encourage you all to join in, find me on the app, and see if we can learn together!

Show Notes

Tim Ferriss Podcast
Luis von Ahn – A quick little video here
Duolingo – Get the app for iphone or Android or Windows phone.
Article: 12 Rules for Learning Foreign Languages in Record Time.

Episode 24 – Month to Month with Milton Mendonça…

 

On the back of the success from our previous podcast episode (listen here), I have decided to do a monthly check in episode with Milton Mendonca to talk about all things music industry and whatever else we feel like chatting about!

In this particular episode, Milton runs through his do’s and don’t’s of being in a band from a promoter/booking agent perspective. Lots of great insight and takeaways for all musicians out there who are trying to get recognised and seize opportunities.

In addition, we will have a regular ‘crazy people’ segment, plug some hard working independent bands and also touch on any ProgPower USA updates, when applicable!

Hope you enjoy this and please reach out to both Milton and I as we will be looking for topics to discuss in the months to come!

Show Notes

Infinity Concerts Official Website and Facebook.
ProgPower USA Official Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube , Vimeo, Pinterest, Flickr and forums.
Bands mentioned: Next to None, Ghost Ship Octavius.
Independent band plugs: Dissona and Taberah.
Buy tickets for Day 1 and 2 of ProgPower USA HERE.

 

Episode 23 – Ben Simpson (Australian Strongman)

 

2014 Australian Strongman champion, Ben Simpson spends some time talking about Strongman competition, weight training, pushing his personal brand and his motivators which include – metal! A must listen for anyone into personal fitness and especially weight training!

Show Notes

Check out Ben Simpson – Official Website, Facebook and YouTube.
Ben’s sponsors – PTC Sydney, Harris Stability Systems, CNP Protein, Chiro & Sport Med.
What is Strongman?
One of the biggest opponents that Ben has ever faced – Brain Shaw.
Magnus Samuelsson – EPIC and with bonus Metal Church in the background!
Hafþór Björnsson from Iceland who stars in Game of Thrones.
News article – Ben Simpson, of Ermington, is Australia’s Strongest Man.
Metal motivation. Ben’s top bands – Bolt Thrower, Destroyer 666, Inquisition, Astriaal, Primordial,
Heard the new D666 song? Check it out here!
Australian strength athlete – Derrick Boyer.
Developing your own brand. If you’re interested, listen to episode 18 with Rigel Walshe who is also going through this as we speak!
Ranger (Speed Metal from Finland) recommendations from Ben – Shock Skull, Steel Dawn, and Storm of Power.

 

Episode 22 – Andrew Hudson (Harlott)

 

Like Thrash? Say hello to Andrew Hudson, front man of Melbourne thrash metal band Harlott. In my opinion one of the best Australian bands representing the genre. The guys have just recently signed with Metal Blade Records with their latest album ‘Proliferation’. Our chat focuses mostly around their recent European tour with metal legends Annihilator, as well as some of the ins and outs of how they managed to jump on a well reputable metal label. Lots of cool stuff, especially for those who are musicians or fans of the band!

Show Notes

Check out Harlott! – Official website, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Metal Blade
Buy Harlott’s album Proliferation and other titles from Amazon here (which also supports the podcast!)
Who are Annihilator? Check them out here and here!
Been to Switzerland?
Airbourne are massive in Europe.
LORD – Steelheart (LIVE) from 2006.
Harlott’s first album ‘Origin’ was one of my favourite albums of 2013!
Aussie bands – Ne Obliviscaris, Mortal Sin, Troldhaugen, Be’lakor, Desecrator and In Malice’s Wake.

 

 

Episode 21 – The Immobilizer of Lagerstein

It’s time to meet The Immobilizer. A merry buccaneer who sails the seven seas, searching for bounty and chests full of rum. If you’re a fan of drinking, prepare to meet your hero. If you’re not a fan of drinking, prepare to be entertained and still enjoy a great conversation with a real Australian metal pirate!

 

 

Show Notes

Check out Lagerstein – Official website, webstore, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter.
Pre-order the new album ‘All for Rum and One for All‘.
Video clip for ‘Land of Bundy‘ – Shot on the Alestorm tour in November 2015.
Phil’s previous band ‘Aeternitas‘.

Want tips on how to promote a tour? Check out the Gloryhammer 2014 Australian tour video.
Facebook event pages for Lagerfest in Brisbane and the February Lagerstein Australian tour with Rainbowdragoneyes from the U.S.A. here.
Want to hear a different side of The Immobilizer? Check out some sweet piano playing from Phil here.

Grab the new Lagerstein album HERE.