Keaton Jones - The Story of a Ruthless Internet

I haven’t written a single thing since January 1^st of this year.  Certainly a mistake on my part, as I have had so much that I’ve wanted to say.  So what event causes me to break the silence?  The Keaton Jones story.  I know!  I know…  You don’t want to hear about it anymore.  The American media has literally turned this relevant story into a bonafide shit show.

I am going to try to make this short.  A Union County (Tennessee) middle-school student, Keaton Jones, was bullied at school.  His mother filmed a video, which ended up going viral.  Keaton started to receive tons of support from around the globe, including celebrities.  A GoFundMe account was started for Keaton.  Then, pictures of Keaton’s mother emerged posing next to a confederate flag.  A snapshot of a Facebook post (made by Keaton’s mother) challenging black Americans who protest police brutality emerged.  This PROVES she's racist!  

When celebrities champion a cause, the media jumps right up on that bandwagon.  TMZ immediately labels the mother as a racist.  Internet backlash starts.  Fake Instagram accounts post misinformation and lead people/celebs to “give money.”  The family is accused of running a scam in order to make money off Keaton’s pain.  Instagram accounts are proven to be fake, and the GoFundMe account is shown to be set up by a stranger.  A report comes out that Keaton used the “N” word which led to the bullying.  Later disproven.  AGAIN.  Keaton and his mother allow a couple of interviews during which time she tells the interviewer that she is not racist, and answers questions regarding the confederate flag.

But it doesn’t matter.  It can't be true.  They HAVE to be lying.  They HAVE to be racists.  The rumor mill is in full effect.  The family is racist.  Keaton is racist.  The family deserves to be bullied.  Keaton deserves to be bullied.  The internet turns on the entire family.  Celebrities are thinking about withdrawing their support.  Race becomes an issue.  Why does this “white boy” get attention when a little black girl killed herself due to bullying.  Would this amount of attention be given if the child was black?  He’s receiving all this support because he’s white.  So it begins.  The entire family is bullied, mocked, demonized, and sentenced.  GUILTY, without a chance to prove innocence.

Then it is discovered that Keaton’s dad is a confirmed racist.  He is seen with white pride tattoos, and wearing white pride clothing.  All of the rumors are confirmed!  Because, if Keaton’s DAD is racist, that MUST mean that Keaton and his mother are racist to, right?  All disproven today.  Come to find out, Keaton’s father was arrested in 2007 for punching his mother in the face, and in 2008 for threatening to kill his entire family, including Keaton.  Keaton’s father was also arrested for stalking and harassing his mother in 2011.  Yeah, I am sure the family just adores that guy.

I hate the Internet.  I can’t stand it.  The American media, and every idiot with a keyboard has turned a legitimate bullying story into a scandal.  A world of true bullies, compounding and worsening what has already happened to this poor kid.  You’d figure that everyone would wait for the facts to come out.  HELL NO!  Speculation and flawed minds run rampant at the expense of the affected family.  Because everyone loves a chance to advance their own agenda. 

I couldn’t be more happy with the people who have chosen to follow through with Keaton and the invitations they have extended to him.  The videos and photos of him that have emerged since this incident have been heartwarming.  I hope that others follow through, and that change comes about in school districts around the country as a result.

Don’t listen to the haters, Keaton.  They are unable to think for themselves.

FILE UNDER RANT

Musicians: Shaming Your Fan Base Is So 2008-2016

Years ago, I always fielded questions about what it takes to break into the music industry.  The answer was always the same.  Write good music, play live as much as you can, and be in the right place at the right time.  A million things have changed since the early days, as has my advice for up and coming musicians.

I feel that I have discovered the secret of making it in the biz as 2017 rumbles to life.  Here it is, you ready?  BE PRO-AMERICA!  No, seriously.  BE PRO-AMERICA!  Use an American flag as a backdrop during your live show.  Write lyrics that express appreciation for your freedom, pro-God, pro-Life, pro-Law Enforcement, and on and on and on.  Watch how fast your band takes off. 

Why?  Because Americans are fed up with bands crying over how much our great country “sucks.”  Nothing is good enough.  Ever.  And if you disagree with them, as a fan, you will be berated incessantly.  Bands have literally become so annoying, that they are currently facing one of the largest backlashes since 2008.

Fans are talking back.  They aren’t putting up with the crying.  They aren’t putting up with the insults.  They aren’t falling for the propaganda.  They’re telling anti-America bands that their vote and opinions count.  Unfriending, unfollowing, standing up for themselves.  It’s a beautiful thing to see.  The proof is in the pudding.  Swing by your average America hater social media site (Fat Wreck – Anti-Flag – Death Cab for Cutie) and check out the comment sections.  

If 2017 should have taught anybody anything, it is that Americans are tired of your baseless labels: racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic.  This isn’t even about Trump winning the POTUS office.  This is about the Average Joe who voted for the opposite of your party.  A difference of opinion does not warrant your baseless labels.  And while the left accuses you of all these things, MTV releases a “self-help” video for white men so that they can better themselves in the year 2017.  You heard me right:  MTV TARGETED AN ENTIRE GROUP OF PEOPLE, BASED ON THEIR GENDER AND SKIN COLOR, TO GIVE THEM ADVICE ON HOW TO BE BETTER HUMANS IN 2017.  Fans reacted so negatively to this video, that MTV took it down.  It received a 100/1 dislike to like ratio.  It was like poetry!

Liberal satirist Tom Walker (Trump opposer) had this to say, “The left is responsible for this result. Because the left has decided that any other opinion, any other way of looking at the world is unacceptable. We don’t debate anymore because the left won the cultural war. So, if you’re on the right, you’re a freak. You’re evil. You’re racist. You’re stupid. You are a basket of deplorables.  How do you think people are going to vote if you talk to them like that??? When has anyone ever been persuaded by being insulted or labeled?”

You’re damn right.  The result is due to your inability to create a reasonable argument.

You lost the presidency.  You’ve lost over 900 state legislature seats, 12 governors, 69 House seats, and 13 Senate seats (as of November 2015).  Because, as Tom Walker observed, when you suppress the Conservative argument, or ANY opposing argument that differs from your world view, retribution comes in the form of a simple vote.  And that is a POWERFUL thing.

So let me encourage you today, Conservative friends.  Find strength and submit your arguments again!  Put some thought behind it.  Don’t fall for the name calling game.  Win people over for your issue through amicable discussion.  Don’t let artists and the media shame you for your opinion, the color of your skin, or your gender.  Present a good argument.  Stop supporting artists who shame your view.  You can make your voice heard in so many ways.

Finally, to all of my friends on the left:  Learn how to argue amicably again.  Being offended doesn’t work anymore.  Also, don’t believe everything the media tells you.  All that fake news?  “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,” or polls showing a massive Trump loss on the horizon?  That was all you.   Or, don't do anything!  Keep berating people.  Call them names.  Make fun of their opinions. In the end, the right will continue to enjoy one political victory after another.

FILE UNDER RANT

The Cassette: Why I'll Be Letting This Fad Pass Right On By

Everything old is new again.  I suppose that could be a good thing, in one way or another.  For the modern music connoisseur, we are, once again, faced with a returning fad.  Not even a fad, really.  More like a moment in time when technology wasn't able to produce anything better.  

I am speaking of the return of the cassette tape.  Yes.  I'd wear those things out, month after month.  I used to spend entire days waiting for my favorite songs to come across the radio airwaves, and I'd hit that record button with some fury.  My early mix tapes were really something.  But hey, I captured it all.  On cassette.  Cassettes served their purpose.  Then, they died.  Thank God!  

Because compact discs were introduced.  No more fast-forwarding and rewinding to find the song I wanted to hear.  I couldn't afford the tape deck that auto-found songs.  No more fixing the tape-gone-bad with a pencil.

I suppose the only thing that the reintroduction of the tape will accomplish, is that it will force the listener to hear the entire record.  That's really about it.  

It's a funny fad.  I suppose the Millennials, or Generation Z, will have to learn the hard way.  Hopefully, when the listener spends  $70 on a Death Cab tape, they'll learn pretty quickly.

I loved my cassettes, but I am glad they're gone now.

Be Kind - Rewind: The Story of Twelve Songs

I was driving to work the other day and found myself skipping over tracks in order to listen to  standout songs from the Everclear record, "Sparkle and Fade."  I don't know about you, but most of my revelations come to me when I am driving somewhere.  

So as I reached toward the skip button, I caught myself, and stopped.  Why in the world am I skipping through the record to merely listen to the radio hits?  Some of you, myself included, have come to know these non-radio songs as "album filler."  But why?  Is the rest of the record garbage?  Certainly, as a former artist, my band didn't write hits and say, "eh, lets just throw this other shit in as filler."  No.  Every song, on every one of our records contained 115% of the best we could do as a collective unit.  Every song was as relevant as the next.

I felt a little disgusted in myself.  And for the first time in over fifteen years, I reached toward my disc player, started the CD from the beginning, and listened to the album all the way through.

SOMA - San Diego

 

When I was a kid, I'd go to shows throughout San Diego and Los Angeles.  I'd be at SOMA, the Roxy, the Epicentre, the Troubadour, the Whiskey, the Che Cafe, soaking it all in.  The bands would be up there on stage pouring their souls out for everyone to see and hear.  If I liked what I saw, I bought the vinyl or the tape, and I'd go home and listen to the entire record a hundred times.  There weren't any "hit" songs within the underground scene.  There were just punk rock/rock n' roll bands and a thriving community of music lovers who found their identity within those San Diego/Los Angeles back street music venues.  The energy and effort is what mattered.

I can't pinpoint the exact time when I fell into the habit of skipping through records to find the "best" songs.  Were the bands writing music that wasn't as good?  Or was I merely becoming selfish and ultra picky?  I don't know.  Maybe a bit of both?  Maybe I'm getting old?
  

You know who helped kick me back into my old mind set?  Dave Grohl.  I've never met Dave, but whenever someone asks, "If you could meet anyone, who would it be," my first answer is always Dave Grohl.  Not only because I was a massive Nirvana fan, and certainly a fan of his work in the Foo Fighters, but he comes across as being very approachable.  A dude who makes music for the working class.  Middle finger to the industry kinda guy.  You know what I mean?

Anyhow, those guys put out the "Wasting Light" record a little while back.  Then, they toured regular American garages, for folks like you and me, to kick off support for the record.  That floored me.  I'd say that it got those old rock n' roll wheels turning in my head all over again.  I've been watching interviews with Dave and the rest of the band lately.  As I watched the excitement, clearly evident in the bands' eyes as they spoke of recording in a natural setting, on reel-to-reel tape, I found my own motivation to pull out records with the sole intent of listening to every song on every album.  Not just the hits.  Guess what?  The records are really good.  I mean, really good!

I think that in the age of digital music media, we have become lost in a sea of singles.  Don't get me wrong.  There's nothing wrong with enjoying a single song.  And God bless you for purchasing the song in order to support the artist.  I simply think that we have forgotten that there is an album attached to those singles.  There are ten to however many more songs on the record from which that song was born.  And the artists poured out their soul in order to put that record into the hands of the public.  

I suppose I have written here today to encourage you to revisit your records and give every song an equal shot.  If you're like me, you own records that you haven't even heard.  Show those records some love.  Fall in love with music all over again.


Post Script:  This entry is dedicated to any musician/band that have enough talent to write their own music, and play their own instruments.  And to every band who truly pay their dues.  Cheers!

Looking to the Sky To Save Me: The Story of an Open Road

Morning Stroll

I was on a morning stroll with my son when I was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude for having been blessed with the opportunity to have traveled as much as I have.  I have been noticing this for years, but wanted to take the time to write about it briefly here today. 

London

As we walk, there are certain areas within my city that take me back to places I have been throughout my life.  As most of you have noticed, I am certainly a nostalgic creature at heart.  I love recalling memories that I have made.  I’d like to think that it keeps my mind in peak physical shape.  Let me explain. 

Sierra Nevada Mountains - California

I might be walking through an area of Denver and will see certain things that take me right back to Athens, GA.  On my stroll this morning, I was reminded of a brief walk I took through Lexington, KY.  We’ve had some lightning storms through the last couple weeks that reminded me of being cooped up in a hotel in Glasgow (Scotland).  And a few colder days with snow that reminded me of being bundled up in Saskatchewan (Canada).

Philly

 

Warmer days in the city remind me of Adelaide (Australia), and if I drive toward the Rockies, it feels as though I am driving toward the Pacific.

I just wanted to encourage everyone to travel if you have the ability to do so.  Even if you just jump in your car for a road trip to your neighbor state.  Do it sporadically.  Throw some great CDs in the car, budget out some money for local food, and take some pictures at the known landmarks. 

Middle of Nowhere - Australia

Finally, encourage your children to travel!  Get them out of the state.  Encourage them to go on long distance trips.  There is so much more to this world then the neighborhood and city where you live.  So much more to see than what we are accustomed to in our own little personalized bubble.  And far more rewarding experiences to live out in person rather than reading about it on Facebook or in a silly blog. 

Dover Peaks

You’ll never regret the times you left it all behind for a quick affair with the open road.

Steven

Say Hello to Your Local Hero

I want to address the issue of law enforcement neglect.  I’ll try to make it short, and sweet.

I do not have any desire to draw attention to the anti-police crowd rioting in the streets.  My blood boils whenever I’m forced to see it within the media, and through social media.  And I know you are tired of seeing them as well.  The nation is over it.

No.  Today, I want to target the majority of Americans who still feel that law enforcement officers continue to be the heroes of our time.  I am asking that you let your voice be heard.  I am asking you to show our officers that you are thankful for their service.

Because right now, they are losing faith in you.  

Courtesy of Colorado FOP

You’ll see patrol cars driving through your neighborhoods, pro-actively looking for those who seek to do the general public harm.  You’ll see a lone officer at the Chipotle, back against the wall at the rear of the restaurant (so he can analyze any potential threat that walks through the door).  That officer might stop to assist you when you’ve broken down on the side of the road.  She might even respond to your call for assistance during far more critical times.

Leave a note on their patrol cars.  Thank them for their service.  It only takes a matter of moments to make this simple gesture.  And the morale you will single-handedly supply will have a long-lasting affect. 

Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office

Walk up to a patrol officer, shake his hand, look him right in the eye, and say Thank You!  If your walking with your kids and you see a patrol car, point the officer out and wave to him.  You say, “that man is a hero.  Whenever something bad happens, that man will respond and he will help you.”

I guarantee you that most officers, not en route to a service call, will give your kids a show if you are kind.  Whenever I take my girls to the 16^th Street Mall, I always make it a point to stop and wave to the DPD officers we see.  And they always invite both of them to sit on the bikes or in the cars.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is equally classy.  A friendly wave has brought several deputies to our daughters while strolling along on our evening walks.  They flip on the lights, chirp the sirens, and hand out Douglas County badge stickers.  The looks on both of my girls’ faces are always priceless.  They are absolutely mesmerized by these officers and deputies.

Your local officers and deputies are fatigued.  They have been left out to rot by the media and your local politician.  And quite frankly, they feel abandoned by you.  They are discouraged that the ignorant voices of the anti-police movement are being heard and acted upon (in favor of the common criminal).  Only small pockets of people are standing up for what is right.  The officers hang on to the hope that one day, common sense Americans will stand up for law enforcement officers and send the anti-police movement back into the shadows.  

JCSO 

Lets show our law enforcement officers that we care.  Lets restore their faith in humanity.  Say something encouraging when you see one of ‘em!  I think that this is the very least of what you could do.  Take it from me, your kind words will go a long way.

  

Thanks for listening.

Steven S. Press

Why Aren't You In A Band? The Story of Letting It All Go.

I field two questions quite frequently these days:

1)  Why did you move away from San Diego?

2)  Do you miss being in a band?

I’m not even going to start on the San Diego thing this evening.  Instead, lets go ahead and address the band.  

Jingle Ball - Arco Arena - Darin Brookner and I

I try not to think about my music industry days.  No, no, no!  Not because it was a bad experience!  It’s not that!  For me, there is a fair amount trauma (in the weakest sense of the word) surrounding our demise.  Not in a sense that we all hate each other.  More like what it was that I chose to walk away from.

Does that make any sense?   This is what I mean.

Being in a popular band and playing in front of as many people as we were created the most natural high, or biggest adrenaline rush I have ever felt.  We did it night after night.  Signing autographs, playing with bands we grew up listening to, touring the world, it was all insane.  It was beyond surreal.  Something that 99% of the world will never know. 

Australia -  The fans and I

 

Walking away from all of it was traumatic.  Getting a job and re-establishing myself as an average Joe was weird.  Watching it all fade away was hard.

I coped by blocking it all out.  I was never really good at it.  When I wasn’t able to block it out, I found myself picking up the guitar while trying to convince myself that I could do it all over again.  I know I could have, but where would I be today?  I think about that sometimes.

As I grew older, and started a family, I had to force myself to bury the past.  Having kids and being married sure helped me layer the concrete and dirt over that grave.  Funny how fast your priorities change when your love shifts from one entity to the other.  

My Family - 2015

I think I prevailed because I convinced myself that I would NOT be that 40 year old guy working at Guitar Center for the rest of my life.  I have a lot of friends who are still scraping by in the pop-punk genre.  They’re doing everything they can to remain relevant.  Even as the shows and venues get smaller and smaller, they keep plugging away.  I don’t know how I feel about it.  I suppose I feel bad for some, but I understand the rest. 

There are a lot of guys who have no idea what else they would do.  Google your favorite musician along with the phrase “I don’t know how to do anything else.” 

Walking away from music was hard, but not as hard as it would be to still be involved in it all.

I’ll tell you why.  I have a wife and three children.  In order for me to make it, this is what I would have to do.

I would have to write amazing songs that are different than everything you’ve ever heard.  Then, I would have to find a band with guys who all share common musical interest.  And we would have to play very well together.  There would have to be that “magic.”  Then we’d have to use our own money to demo all the songs.  We’d have to self-fund tours and play terrible shows until someone notices us.  We’d have to spend at least five days a week in the rehearsal studio for hours at a time ironing out and perfecting all the songs.  To make a decent living, we’d have to tour for 75% of the year. 

At the end of the day, my entire life would be spent with my band.  Not my family.  And my wife would murder me.

My rationalization, these days, is easy.  I already did the band thing, and I was successful.  It was a massive high point in my life.  I don’t have to do it again.  The desire is gone.  The memories remain. 

These days, I suppose I don’t mind talking about it as much as I used to.  I love telling the stories and showing the photos to people who are genuinely interested.  I think I don’t mind because the memories are getting a little fuzzier day by day.  I’ve been telling myself to start a journal with the stories that I am able to recall.  Something I can pass along to my kids. 

That’s all I’ve got.  I hope that answers your question.

Thanks for listening, again.

Steven

File under: Disheveled Journal Entry