Becket is perhaps best known for his work as Anne Rice’s assistant and for his own tales in The Blood Vivicanti and the Children’s book Key the Steampunk Vampire Girl. Long before all of that he was a Benedictine monk with a master’s degree in theology. His love for music began around the age of 11 when he formed a band with Sam Rivers who is now the bassist for Limp Bizkit. With his first self-titled album now available, it is an honor to sit down with him and learn more about what led to its creation.

What was your very first favorite song?

Michael Jackson’s Beat It. My dad gave me a 45 record player, and his dad owned a jukebox. They were always giving me records. But that one I played over and over and over again. That and Phil Collins’ Sussudio.

Do you remember what it was like to meet Sam when you were 11?

I remember he transferred to my school. He and I started playing musical instruments together, he on guitar and I on bass. But then we switched one day, and now he’s a brilliant bass player.

Who are some of your earliest musical influences?

My biggest musical influence, which has remained with me ever since, was the first time I learned Metallica’s One. I was playing Hetfield’s opening bars. A friend, John Otto, had another guitar and he began playing Hammett’s solo. It was the first time I had ever heard real music harmony. The sound of our two instruments making music gave me chills. Still does.

Did being a monk change your taste in music a little?

It refined my taste. Before I was a monk my music was very intellectual and difficult for performers and the listeners. Being a monk helped me be more practical, which in many ways meant finding the beauty of writing a simple music. Now that is all I write.

Are people often surprised to learn that you used to be a dedicated monk given your current line of work?

Sometimes that happens. But I am an introvert and I do not share those details in conversations unless asked. I just write about them and put the monastic experience in the world.

Do you love all genres of music equally or are there some you prefer over others?

I like music that feels good and music that makes me think. The Dave Matthews Band is a perfect example. Under the Table and Dreaming is one of the best albums of the 90’s because it combines folk and funk peerlessly. Try singing and playing Satellite at the same time. It’s brilliant work. Some songs by a new band called Gungor does this too. But I also like instrumental composers like Arvo Part.

How do you balance your time as an assistant, an author, and a musician?

I am fortunate enough to have one of those jobs that provides a flexible schedule. But I also have the discipline of waking up at 4am and beginning my morning routine, which starts with prayer and then journaling, and then into a few hours of writing either books or music. The rest of the day is spent with Anne.

What was the most challenging thing you faced when creating this album?

The most challenging aspect of creating an album is that I am doing it on my own. I have friends like Raven Quinn, who has two albums out, and she has shared with me her experience with digital sales, CD manufacturing, and marketing. I prefer writing, and I would rather leave the cleverness of marketing etc. to other clever people.

What are you hoping your fans take away from this album?

Similar to my poetry, I hope that people can relate to the expression of thought and emotions in the songs. Each one is a reflection of how I like to listen to music while I think about other things. It’s background music for my brain.

What can we expect with this album?

Expect it to be mostly an instrumental album, utilizing cello, piano, and violin. But there are some rather large orchestral pieces too, and a soprano singing in elvish.

Is Anne a fan of your music? What do you think is the most important thing you have learned from working with her?

The most important thing that she has taught me is to create the art I want to experience. I wanted to hear every note I composed. So I composed an album that made me happy, but at the same time I considered how other people would react to it. I think it reflects my life so far. It is an album to evoke contemplation.

If you could work with anyone in the music industry who would it be and why?

Bryan Tyler. He composes brilliant movie scores.

Do you have a dream project you would most like to complete?

The fact that I am being productive in ways that make me happy fulfills my dreams.

What projects are you working on at the moment? Do you plan on releasing more albums in the future?

I have a symphony I’m working on. And I am also writing small tunes for larger works that I hope to put out in 2015.

For more information on the album please click the photo below:

All images copyright of Marina Cano and used with permission. For more information on her work please see Marina Cano Wild Photography.

Worms Were Coming and Going

worms were coming and going
in and out of the heated ground
glowing white slimy worms
jetting in and out of pre-made holes
readymade holes just for them
there were hundreds of them too
and rather ghostly worms indeed
but silently lying low among
the burnt stumps of trees and bushes
was a copperhead waiting to leap
and strike his viperous tongue
into the next wandering victim
coming along his charred path
everyone takes the path daily
but not today not today no
because the hill is burnt black
with white ashes gathered like snow
blanketing the bare rattled land
even still the snake stayed coiled
and ready with tongue to pounce
but i take note and gingerly mosey
on along as though i do not see
his camouflage against the wasted land
so without any sign of fear or alarm
beneath my feet i quickly move on
and maybe he will consume himself
then evaporate into the smoke
that wafts about his dying
worms were coming and going
and i move on to live once again

Tracii Guns is best known as the guitarist for the metal group L.A Guns. He was also involved in the formation of the first lineup for Guns N’ Roses and was in the supergroups Brides of Destruction and Contraband. He can currently be found touring with the supergroup Devil City Angels alongside Rikki Rockett(Poison), Eric Brittingham(Cinderella), and Brandon Gibbs(Cheap Thrill).

What were you like as a child? What would you say are some of your most fond memories from that time?

I was a typical late 60’s kid. My parents were way too young but, they were hip. I spent a lot of time with my cousin Lannie who was 5 years older than me. We were adventure seekers and music lovers. He passed away when I was 17 and it was awful. My mom loved to travel so we went on lots of mini vacations and camping trips. By the time I was 7 I had been to France and Mexico and had been to sleep over camp. I was ready for the commune, traveling circus kind of lifestyle at that point.

When did you first discover music? Do you happen to remember what your first favorite song was?

Mostly my mom and AM radio. I liked The Rapper by the Jaggerz and Bang A Gong by T Rex.As far back as I can remember I’ve loved rock n roll.

Who were some of your first musical influences?

The only real musical influence when I started playing was Led Zeppelin. They were mysterious and spooky and I was very attracted to the textures.

When did you know you wanted to be a guitarist?

The first time I heard Whole Lotta Love. I heard the Theramin in the psychedelic section of the song and my mom told me it was electric guitar and that the guy playing it was Jimmy Page. A little while later she showed me a photo of him on the cover of Creem magazine wearing the Black Dragon suit and I was hypnotized by that sound and image ever since. I was 5 years old at that point.

What was running through your mind when you got your very first one?

I was thinking I could turn cocoons into butterflies and make magic happen. It had nothing to do with becoming a guitar player or a common musician. I just wanted to make big scary sound.

Do you have a dream model you’d most love to own?

I would love a fully functional 1952 Les Paul but, that’s a tall order

What do you love most about being a guitarist?

The ability to communicate my emotions to people.

What equipment do you use when touring? Is there any one thing you couldn’t do without besides the obvious?

I use an assortment of Budda Amplifiers. I also use Peavey Blues Classics sometimes with the single 15” speaker in them. They are very good sounding amplifiers. I prefer the sound of Combo amps and 2×12 cabinets. My sound has a lot more body to it these days than it did when I was younger. I also use a Blankenship Variplex 50 through a Budda 2×12 cab. I have my own Signature guitar with Dean guitars simply called the NASHVEGAS. Basically the sound and shape of a 51 no caster with an extra fret and a Floyd Rose tremolo. I also use a custom made Dean avalanche with two hot humbuckers and a Floyd along with Two Dean Thouroughbreds which are an amazing classic guitar. And last is my 73 Ibanez Doubleneck (nearly identical to the Gibson EDS1275) it’s the best playing and sounding double I have ever owned and was acquired from Ricky Mahler from the band Circus Of Power. Pedals come and go in my live setup. Generally A Wah,Delay,Treble Boost,Distortion and something that makes the sound wobble a bit every now and then.

What do you love most about touring? What do you hate most?

Touring is honestly an escape from reality where every day is a new adventure and I get to experiment every night I play. It’s clearly an addiction. I miss my boy Jagger who is about to turn 6 years old. He is the joy and love of my life.

Having worked with such a wide variety of musicians over the course of your career have you encountered a lot of over inflated egos in the business? Why do you think some people develop that along the way? Do you think it is best to just shrug that sort of thing off and go about your work?

Uhm, no one has an ego as large as mine(laughs). Ego is the fuel that makes the flame burn bright. I think you mean have I encountered a lot of Narcissistic people in the business and the answer is absolutely yes! Some on the music/performance side and some on the business side. It usually just means they think they are entitled to something they don’t actually deserve and didn’t work hard enough for so they let ya know how great they think they are without realizing they are just another bump on the earth and that none of this matters in the end any way(smiles).

What advice would you offer others just starting out who wish to learn guitar?

Do it because you love it and practice a lot. Practice!

Why do you think music has always been so well loved throughout time?

Music is what the emotions sound like.

What is it like to work with the guys in Devil City Angels? What projects do you have in the works next?

They are very humble nice people that just want to create and be recognized for the immense talents they own. It’s very easy to be this band. Ya never know what’s next and that’s what makes my lifestyle exciting to me.

Are there any particular moments throughout your career that stand out most in your mind?

All of the moments good or bad are deeply embedded in me and my memory of it all is incredible.

Any stories you are at liberty to share with our readers?

Without a specific area of storytelling nothing jumps out, basically Sex and Rock n Roll happen but, every human has their own story which is interesting to mostly themselves(smiles).

How do you think you as an individual have changed most since you first started your career?

I am much more enlightened in general as a human then I was even a year ago. The quest for truth and knowledge is very important to me and I am a father now which is a beautiful change.

Are there any little known things about you that your fans might be surprised to learn?

I am a huge Enya fan.

What was the best advice anyone has ever gave you?

Alan Kovac told me that the music audience isn’t as cool as I think I am so, shut up and write a song that people will like!

What are your thoughts on death and what happens after? How would you like to be remembered when your time does come?

As far as what I have been able to put together using my own brain without someone else’s influence is that when you die whatever electrical energy you have been borrowing your whole life gets expelled and joins the rest of the electrical energy within the earth’s atmosphere. Your body decays and becomes soil. My afterlife I hope is that my creations touched people in a positive way and that I was maybe able to add something to the vocabulary of Rock N Roll music and that maybe someone picked up a guitar and wanted to play because something I played inspired them to do so. But most importantly I want my son to always remember until he dies how much I love him(smiles).

Anything you’d like to say in closing?

Stop reading this interview and go do something that makes you happy!

http://www.thedevilcityangels.com/

https://www.facebook.com/DevilCityAngels

Together in Love and Wonder

Joined Under A Fantastic Hope

Lake of the Fallen Moon

Forest Fellowship

A Placid Pause

Mother of the Lone Wolf

Together at the Threshold

http://www.andykehoe.net

The artist Mister Copyright (Christian Pierini ) hails from Rio de Janeiro where he creates art out of every day objects. For more information on his impressive works please see MisterCopyright1 on YouTube and on Facebook.

For 2000 years Apelles of Cos was known as the greatest of painters. Praised for his grace and sensuality – he was not only Alexander the Great’s exclusive portrait painter, but was the single greatest influence on what we know as the Renaissance and Baroque.

Albrecht Durer was known as the “German Apelles”. Botticelli bragged he was Apelles reincarnated and repeated his compositions. Rembrandt, late in life, adopted the four color “Apelles palette” striving for his graceful harmony. And Titian unabashedly recreated Apelles’ “Armor-bearer” which now hangs at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The Old Masters were proud to be “behind the times”, unoriginal, and earnest pupils of Apelles.

Hillestad, Knodell, and Molesky have each apprenticed with the living master Odd Nerdrum – a man who, for fifty years, has boldly painted pathos. Together these four painters have sought out the lessons of Apelles – the tradition of the Old Masters. A tradition not isolated to the 16th century, but one that for more than 2400 years continues to return.

Copro Gallery is proud to present Odd Nerdrum, Luke Hillestad, Caleb Knodell, and David Molesky – the living Pupils of Apelles.

Opening Saturday, November 15th @ Copro Gallery – Santa Monica, CA.

http://www.lukehillestad.com

More examples of Luke’s work can also be found at: The Paintings of Luke Hillstead on Van Gogh’s Ear

What If

What if any one singular thing in the past would have been different, how would it have affected everything else that happened thereafter? It is obvious when you think of it in terms of what if I got that job, or what if I married Bob, but it even goes down to the slightest things you have no control over. like, what if your parents didn’t ever meet…or what if a different sperm cell got attached to the egg..instead of yours? You’d never even been here at all.

So you see, it’s all part of a greater thing. a bigger plan, or, maybe not plan, but a picture created by destiny. Every second, that destiny changes. It moves, becomes something else, makes you wiser, dumber, more instinctual, less trusting, more trusting, better skilled, or…any other zillionth of a way different than you are at this very second.

Everything happens for a reason.

That reason is to not only affect you and make you a better person, but it also affects every person, animal, insect, plant, everything, everything around you…if a fly buzzes around you, annoying your otherwise wonderful picnic, you swat it, it dies…maybe that was the lord of the flies, and so, all its constituents lives will change, maybe that bee that you killed with the bug zapper was supposed to pollinate a certain plant that now, will maybe never blossom the flower it was originally intended to create which was going to be the most beautifully perfect flower of its kind, ever…

Ya never know…

A Thousand Miles Sublime

Let there be light

so we can howl at the sun!

Let there be warm tendrilesque days

upon which to kiss the flowerpetals

strewn across the street and yards

like softpink snow! Let there

be bloodflowing and rejuvenation

and a rush of euphoria through the veins!

Let there be moons so bright

they cast shadows on midnight’s grass!

Let there be wine-soaked life blooming

and yelling belligerence into the fully-alive last bit of pure Earthly air!