I won’t put up a review on Metal Heads Forever unless the given artist talks to me personally. It’s got to be real or else I’m just another cheater. Anyone can comb the Web and deep-dive. It almost seems as if some feel this has become a legitimate alternative to a college education, next putting up embarrassing “participation” comparisons as if kindergarten teachers, suddenly qualified to prompt a classroom discussion. An example of this would be: “Anthrax or Slayer, GO!”
Since anyone can get that on Facebook (and join in this hideous and condescending practice) I figured long ago that I would leave that to the people who actually felt that there was meaningful self-measurement from “likes” to begin with. I long figured it was better to write reviews celebrating genius when I saw it, next getting the real story from the actual trend-setter so I could start some real discourse about process. And trust me, in my reviews, I’d never ask for a concrete response to a subjective – remedial question, and patronize my readers with – “GO!”
I contacted Robyn Cage about a week and a half ago, because I was looking for the meaningful shit in my feed, the music performance clips, some live, some not, that every so often came off solid enough to share on my timeline. Suddenly, I saw this stunning red head in a shiny dress fronting a cool band doing “Moonage Daydream” by Bowie. I want to avoid the more specific analysis here, as I say it better in the review I took a few hours to “make syntactically and stylistically bold and beautiful,” but to say the least, I was hooked.
I have attached said review below in a link. Please read. The video is on the actual piece three quarters of the way through, and even though the MHF guys somehow did this weird overlap of her logo onto her pic in the beginning (and I forgot to include my “By-Line…fuck…) the review looks really super.
The part I didn’t mention in the review is the email conversation I had with Robyn and the way she handled it. Robyn Cage, my friends, is a charming professional. I know she is busy. I know she has multiple projects going on and a plethora of obligations and responsibilities, but gosh darn-it, she took the time not only to respond, but respond in depth. I learned more about the business of being a star from her than all the conventions I’ve gone to featuring my horror books (and other “star” writers) and all the other rock reviews I’ve read and interviews I have seen. She made me feel that my questions were important and she treated me like a friend from the get-go. I have had similar positive experiences with Bill Leverty of Firehouse, Frank Bello from Anthrax, Halestorm’s management, Ralph Buso from Ravenscroft, the boys from Sifting (Eclipse Records), and Ben Bruce of Asking Alexandria, who talked to me on the phone in his limo, actually reading a short story I had written about Trivium as sort of my “audition” for his band. (It was the gig I had with Pure Grain Audio for a year, writing original horror stories starring actual band members). But hey…all that is awesome, but keeping it real…will my little article in the little rock mag I write for make Robyn Cage a super-star overnight? Probably not. But this front-goddess is doing it right, and as small a force as I am in the entertainment world, I would drop everything in a heartbeat to help Robyn Cage. Maybe the secret formula for success isn’t just talent and swag. Maybe you have to build an army. One person at a time.
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