Braingell wants to reach out to all it’s listeners and readers regarding a crisis involving a woman by the name of Nancy Crawford.  Nancy and her family are currently living in Culver, CA.  Here’s the crisis…Nancy is currently undergoing chemotherapy for Ovarian Cancer and a friend of hers has made a page on Facebook for Nancy asking for financial help.  We here at Braingell don’t normally do something like this but we feel that it’s important to help friends out when they need it.  Please be assured that if you are able to contribute anything that your money will go where it’s supposed to go and that’s to Nancy and her family.  Here’s the blurb that was written by Nancy’s friend over on Facebook letting people know of the situation:

<This bio> Was made in order to try to help a close friend of mine who’s battling ovarian cancer (papillary serous ovarian cancer, stage 3c) gather a little bit of money so she and her family can survive until her chemotherapy is over and she can get a job.

Nancy, 40, found out she had cancer when she went into the doctor for another reason, and they stumbled upon it. She had surgery almost immediately and it’s been said all the cancer had been removed as far as the doctors can see. She started her treatment a month later and since has only had 2 treatments. Nancy and her family ran into financial hardship when her and her family went on a small vacation to Las Vegas and had over $1,000 stolen from their banking account. Her oldest daughter recently got a job and has tried to contribute as much of her checks as possible, but seeing as she’s still in school, she cannot work as many hours, which means she does not make very much. Nancy receives a small amount of help from the state, but it is not enough to pay rent, feed themselves, and pay bills.

I am designing and running this blog in order to help a friend out. If you can donate something, anything, it would be greatly appreciated. If you have any doubts as to where your money is going or if this is real or not, please do not hesitate to shoot me email:
nancysfight@gmail.com

Also, if you do not feel comfortable with online donations or you do not have a Paypal, you may send donations to Nancy Crawford: C/O Nancy’s Fight P.O. Box 3575 Culver City, CA 90231”

So there you have it, guys.  Please click the link to check it out.  Sometimes good things are done just because right?  If anything, think of it as karma.  We all need some of that good stuff at some point in our lives.  Now is as good time as any to think of someone else other than ourselves and pay it forward.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001545012015

The news that VAN HALEN is recording its first studio album in twelve years with original lead singer David Lee Roth has officially hit the newswire…however, there will be no Michael Anthony. Little Wolfgang Van Halen will be on bass instead.

That much-anticipated new album has now been confirmed: Guitarist Eddie Van Halen and his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, released a statement saying, “[Van Halen] is currently in the studio recording an album with Roth that is due for release in 2011.”

Expect a money spinning world tour to follow.

Go to SMNnews

EARLY GRAVES has made a statement with regards to the passing of Makh Daniels, vocalist of EARLY GRAVES, who tragically passed away on Monday in a van accident.

LA fans, don’t forget, a benefit and memorial show has also been planned for Makh Daniels.

EARLY GRAVES statement regarding Makh Daniels:

There are no words that can properly say all the things that I want to say about our friend Makh Daniels. He is one of the most amazing writers I have ever known. He is incredibly funny. He is wise beyond his years. He is the most honest person you could ask for as a friend or a band mate. I had the pleasure to be in 2 bands with Makh and they were some of the best years of my life thus far. Sadly, Makh Daniels was taken from all of us. He wrote a lyric in an Early Graves song “To everyone that I’ve ever loved, I’ve Failed” but if there is anything that I could tell him is how proud I was of him and how much I loved him and how much his friendship meant to me. We were all like brothers.

I know that there was a lot of people out there who were also deeply affected by this wonderful man, Makh Daniels and I cannot tell you how much he loved music and performing and how much he wanted to affect and help people get through their demons in life.

To all of you guys, and to all of the amazing amount of love you guys have sent our way, Thank you. You guys are helping all of us get through this horrible time. We are nothing without each other right now and you guys are helping so much. But we’ve seen the whole community of metal and punk and hardcore musicians and fans join together in this trying time and I want to say how much it means to us and his family.

There is a donation paypal account that is now set up that if you would like to donate some money for services, ect, please do. The paypal account email is ripMakhDaniels@gmail.com and honestly anything you can donate would be greatly appreciated.

The funeral will be on Monday, August 9th at the Good Shepards Church in Pacfica on 901 Oceana Blvd. There will be a reception afterwards and we are asking everyone to please bring in a potluck item as we are expecting a lot of people to be there and we would love to have everyone who loved Makh or his music there.

There will also be a memorial show for him on August 29th at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco. The address is 155 Fell st. This was where Makh worked and he would want us all there drinking Jameson shots and Sierra Nevada pale ale for him, with him. We will be selling memorial shirts for Makh with all proceeds going to his family to get him through this tough time.

Also, please support the show in Los Angeles on friday, August 6th. It was to be one of the last shows of our tour. The last of the Early Graves merch will be there and all proceeds will also go to the family of Makh. The show info can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103265066393941

Makh, I love you. Thank you for everything you were.

Chris, Tyler, Dan, Matt. Early Graves.

From Trevor Phipps of Ironclad Recordings:

“The tragic death of Makh Daniels has shaken us at Ironclad completely to the core. Within the label we pride ourselves in our personal relationships and family like atmosphere and the loss of Makh is the untimely and devastating loss of a friend. I personally knew Makh as a man of incredible passion. You could read it in his ferocious yet challenging lyrics and see it in his undying heartfelt stage performance. Whether he was playing in front of seven or 700 people he would always perform with the same intensity and genuine emotion. He continuously showed his love for his words, music, friends and anyone who was lucky enough to be in the room with him while he performed. His life was cut far too short and he will be sorely missed by his family, brothers in Early Graves, friends around the country, and all those that he touched with his lyrical and performance command. R.I.P. Makh.”

Go to SMNnews

Similar to what Live Nation did last year with their No Service Fees on Wednesday idea, the monopoly is back with a deal that will hopefully put money back into the pockets of those who deserve it – us.

Live Nation today announced “No Service Fee June” with the elimination of service fees on nearly 8 million tickets, more than 700 shows and 110 artists at all 50 Live Nation owned and operated amphitheaters for the entire month of June.

Example shows include:

• Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival 2010
• Ozzfest 2010
  
• Summer Slaughter Tour 2010

Tickets for “No Service Fee June,” available only at LiveNation.com kicks-off Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 12:01am ET and will remain in effect until 11:59 pm ET, Wednesday, June 30.

• Live Nation Launches ‘All In and No Fees’ Club Passport
• Live Nation Offering No Service Fees on Wednesday
• Tell Live Nation to Suck It

Go to SMNnews

It is well known fact that Gene Simmons loves money. E1 Entermainment are looking to tap into the worldwide enthusiasm for the KISS brand, collaborating with founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley to create a comedic half-hour kids television series that galvanizes the band’s iconic personas for its young fans.
The as- yet untitled series [...]

Last week, it was announced that KILLSWITCH ENGAGE vocalist Howard Jones had to unexpectedly leave the band’s current headlining tour, leading to a flurry of rumors and questions about the status of the tour and the band. The band has further issued the following statement addressing the matter, saying, “It became overwhelmingly obvious to all of us around Howard that he is in no condition to be on tour right now and that he needed to get off the road and get himself better. It’s a personal matter and while we understand everyone’s curiosity and concern for Howard and the band, we appreciate everyone respecting Howard‘s privacy at this time.”

Longtime friend Phil Labonte of ALL THAT REMAINS was able to fill in and help out the band for a few shows and it appears as though he will be filling in for the remainder of the tour, which runs through March.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE endured and survived a similar situation in the past, where guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz was forced to sit out a tour due to a back injury. The band said, “We seriously considered cancelling the tour since we don’t want to give fans that paid good money anything less than KILLSWITCH ENGAGE at full strength. But after trying a few shows with Phil, and after feeling the love and support that we were getting from the crowd, it became increasingly apparent to us that the shows came across as fun and unique, and the fans seemed to be enjoying it. We quickly realized that we had to keep going and that we couldn’t possibly stop.”

Refunds are available for any fans that have already purchased tickets, but as the band said, this tour will offer a chance to experience KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in a unique way that you won’t be able to witness again.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE would like to thank all fans who came out to support them during this difficult stretch, exclaiming, “We really do feel that our fans are the best fans in the world.” The band also thanked Labonte for pitching in, saying, “We can’t thank Phil enough for helping us out when we needed it the most.”

Metallica are helping develop musical talent in Greenwich London UK, to the tune of £75,000.

The metal icons have donated the proceeds of their show at The O2 in September 2008, to create Sound Stage, a scheme to give 50 local youngsters the chance to improve their musical skills, using the facilities at The O2′s British Music Experience.

Harvey Goldsmith, BME chairman, said: “The Sound Stage project is a fantastic creation for young people. Metallica have donated their money and their time and invested in the future of British music.”

For more info, go to www.youthmusic.org.uk

From the band THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES:

“It’s with a heavy heart we tell you that These Arms Are Snakes is no more. It’s been a great run and we’d like to send out a very hearty “Thank You” to everyone that we’ve worked with or anyone that we’ve toured with; anyone that lent us a floor, towed our van and/or trailer, lent a van, given us a listen, downloaded our records prior to their coming out, bought our shit, or asked us where our band name came from; everyone who cooked us food, made habanero-infused tequila, had a safety meeting with us, let Steve gyrate all over you, had to live with any of us, made us pay shitloads of money to get off your punk label, got us into LOST, found Steve drunkenly wandering the streets of Tokyo alone, played Madlibs in the van (plural nouns), lost money promoting one of our shows, took Chris to the hospital, put up with our drunken sorry asses, got into a fight with us, etc. etc.”

This band could not have been possible without all of you. We sincerely thank you.

Much love,

TAAS 2002 – 2009

CREMATORIUM frontman, and long time supporter of the LA metal scene, Daniel Dismal has spoken up about the recent closing of the Knitting Factory:

Why did the Knitting Factory close?

Money just wasn’t being made and the property management company never made it easy for the club to stay open. A lot of the battles that the Knit had with the city were made public as the club was always trying to get people involved in keeping the club open but things just got to the point of being ridiculous sometimes. Whether it was the fire department showing up out of nowhere to check the occupancy load or the health department rolling through trying to shut the club down and fine it for the smallest of reasons, things just became too tough to keep going. If the club was actually accepted at the location it might have not shut down because losing money might have felt a little better. I know it sounds weird but when you’re made to feel valued, losing money doesn’t seem like such a bad thing but when you’re made to feel unwanted, it makes you just want to pack up and move away. I am sure there are more official reasons as to why the club shut down but that’s honestly the way I saw it. The club was built around an entertainment compound and as the “climate” or the “orientation” of the businesses changed so did the overall treatment to the club from the property management. The ironic thing is that the Knitting Factory was the only constant business for almost 6 years there which kept things going for the property owners so in all honesty, without the Knit that whole property would have been emptied out and making no money for anyone. Even when the new businesses rolled in, they pretty much owed a lot of their walk up business to the club patrons and now, it’s just another empty shell of a building in Los Angeles. Like more of those are needed?!

The economy has hit the mainstream touring acts hard.  How has the metal underground weathered the storm?

I wouldn’t really say that the Metal underground has weathered the storm to be honest. The touring bands of course charge us guarantees and when show attendances are down the losses come out of our pockets and though we appear to be a full-on company, when the chips are cashed in those losses come out of my pocket as well as my partners pocket. Metal in itself though has a pretty loyal fan base, always has and always will. We book all styles of music though and will continue to do so, so our losses come from all over the place besides just Metal. I can say that working with other styles of music while putting on Metal shows has shown me that Metal is still bringing out the people even though there’s less of them overall so I guess it does appear that Metal has some sort of immunity to economic climates. I guess the thing is that when things get tough in the world more extreme forms of music flourish. I think that’s because people just want an escape from it all and it’s easier to vent frustrations while listening to some Death Metal band over listening to some sort of easy listening band. That old saying of “take it out in the pit” becomes something a little more personal when you’re unemployed and eating all sorts of crap just to survive.