Just when your getting sick of clear channel force feeding American idol wannabe crap down your throat, kind of like the bland new kids on the block scene of the late 80′s that Guns and Roses kicked the shit out of, there is a rock and roll tornado ripping through our countryside with an unrelenting middle finger extended high and proud in the sky. This band is San Francisco’s infamous Flexx Bronco.

Their new release called Vol.2: is a refreshing breath of smoke filled rock and roll sleaze, making you want to slam that extra shot, strip to your undies, do a David Lee Roth high kick, get laid and not give a fuck about work in the morning.

Look who’s Talkin’

They were recently featured by Rebel Music TV as their February band of the month, here’s a link to RMT’s blog regarding the upcoming episode featuring xB.

Also, there’s an article published by the San Francisco Chronicle a few weeks ago regarding this new classic album.

On Tour

You’re bleeding ears, blind eyes and hazy memory definitely will recall the permanent mark tattooed on your forehead from any of Flexx Bronco’s 100′s of shows over the past several years along side bands such as the Bronx, Valient Thorr, Throw Rag, Supersuckers, Scott Biram, Blowfly and even old schoolr’s like The Vibrators, Skynyrd, Tesla, Sammy Hagar, and many others. They are the rock and roll underground’s Jesus, demanding redemption on the current “sell out” crap that has consumed our airwaves.

You can experience it this March (4th-24th) all over the Western US including Reno, Boise, Salt Lake, Denver, Austin (for SXSW), Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and a few other stops.

If you haven’t already, it is time to tie up and get hooked. Real American Rock and Roll is back in a big way. Go get some!

videos and tour dates are at: http://www.flexxbronco.com/

This post was submitted by Andy S..

C.G.’s Tips of the Week – Advice From The Certified Genius

Get Live. As in you use live instruments in your music/beats. Link up with some musicians in your area or even over the internet and find a way to set up a deal with them and do some work together. You can even learn to play an instrument yourself and record it at home. Nothing sounds better than having real live instruments in your production, especially when most of the digital versions of the instruments sound really cheesy. I personally I find this to be the case with electric guitars. For an example, check out this cover song I did with Clay B (my guitarist) for Marilyn Manson’s “Sweet Dreams” and 50 Cent’s “If I Can’t”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNMzpvDcqNQ

Still not convinced? Check out my reasoning below.

Pros Of Using Live Instruments In Your Music:

1.) You will have a more professional and authentic sound to your records/remixes/beats/etc. (unless you want the record to sound more digital which can also be cool).

2.) Your music will “breathe” more since most digital sounds don’t have the dynamic range of real live instruments (especially guitars).

3.) Two heads are better than one. Maybe your guitarist or pianist will come up with a really cool solo or melody that you never thought of but fits perfectly in your music (this was the case with the above track of mine that I posted, my guitarist came up with the solos himself, I just did the main melodies and breakdown melodies).

4.) I told you to do it so of course it’s a good idea!

Of course there are plenty of good reasons to use live instruments in your tracks but these are my main one reasons. Agree or disagree, live instruments are a great supplement to music. I’d recommend that you hit up Facebook, Twitter, Craigslist, etc. and look for someone to team up with who can play and record (with good quality) an instrument(s). I was fortunate enough to meet the guitarist I work with at a recording studio so always be on the look out for other talented people.

Well that’s about it for now, I’ll be back with more knowledge soon enough!

Thanks for reading,

Posted by Christopher “C.G.” Gallucci of C.G. Productionz

P.S.: Look out for my new mixtape “Payback: Certified Genius Volume 2″ on Datpiff.com, it will be available for free this Monday!

C.G.’s Tips of the Week – Advice From The Certified Genius

Let it breathe.

When I say this, I mean the song. This statement is in reference to compression and especially limiting when mastering. It’s cool to compress bass real heavily but generally speaking you don’t want to over compress or over limit anything, it basically just sucks the life out of the music and takes out all of the dynamics by making everything at the same level. The only time you should have a mix with extreme limiting (in my opinion) is when you’re making a mix for radio. Here’s a few pointers that I like to keep in mind

1.) Listening to an over compressed mix can become exhausting (basically you just get tired of the song because there’s no dynamic range or room for it to breathe).

2.) Compress your bass and kick drum, even your snare drum. You can compress other things too (guitars, vocals, etc.), please just go light with it and don’t suck the life out of the music. Unless you’re going for a specific sound or effect I wouldn’t recommend this

3.) When a song is being mastered, I think it’s cool when there’s some breathing room there too. Sure you want to have the song limited and for it to be loud but maybe some parts of the song should be a little more soft or quiet than the rest. Maybe you want the chorus should be real loud and build up and then the verses to be a little more quiet or soft and build back up to the chorus.

I’m not saying your music needs the dynamics of a movie’s film score but it can’t hurt to have them to make the music more interesting. Think of it this way, when there’s silence or a soft point in the music, the loud parts really stand out and don’t even have to be all that loud.

Of course all of what I’m suggesting is my personal opinion and preference but I’d advise you to take my words into consideration when putting your music together (after all, I am a certified genius… kidding haha). Leave some feedback though, especially if you have suggestions for my next entry.

Thanks,

Posted by Christopher “C.G.” Gallucci of C.G. Productionz

PS Look out for my new mixtape Payback: Certified Genius Volume 2 coming out on Monday February 28th!

Also, have a happy and safe Valentine’s Day!