Tech consultant for Olympia, Lacey, And Tumwater

So I was listening to the latest episode of one of my favorite Tech News podcast Social Blend and they were doing their latest music focused special they call Craniumelody. The theme was “Soundtrack of your life“. Well, I work on Thursday nights when they record so I couldn’t force them into letting me on. So instead I will post the songs that would make up the soundtrack of my life here instead.

To start it all out there should be a song about birth. Since it’s me it should be at least a little fucked up.

1. Acid Bath – Venus Blue:

In third grade I already knew I hated school. So when this band called Pink Floyd came out with their new hit single I was made into a hard rock fan the second I heard the words “We don’t need no education” and “Hey, teacher! Leave them kids alone”. I blame Pink Floyd for my life long obsession with music. This song truly changed my life.

2. Pink Floyd-Another Brick In The Wall Part 2:

My teenage years were full of insanity. As in I was pretty much clinically depressed the entire time. I felt like the outcast amongst misfits. It was bands like Scaterbrain that helped me get over my teenage years and find out that life could include happy moments too. Music in general is the only reason I survived. Yes, I know this is not the original. Since I’ve never smoked pot I didn’t get into Cheech And Chong until much later.

3. Scatterbrain-Earache My Eye:

A few years ago I lost my little brother to drug addiction. When he was five I turned him onto this band. He walked around the house for days saying “The brain, the brain.” When my step-mom asked why he was saying that I of course told her I had no idea. When he started stage diving of the couch cushions my dad figured it out. I was no longer allowed to watch Headbangers Ball in front of him. So whenever I hear this song it reminds me of the good times me and my little brother spent together.

4. Suicidal Tendencies:Trip At The Brain:

Currently I am always looking for anything that makes me laugh. There is nothing I take more seriously than comedy. The reason is that there is nothing better to get you through a tough day than a good laugh. So bands like White Wizard are played often. This soundtrack only has 7 songs on it, but the full soundtrack would be songs in this more traditional Metal style.

5. White Wizzard-Over The Top:

As I am dying I will do everything I can to hold on to my last breath. If there was a movie made this is the song that would play as I am fighting for the last few seconds of life.

6. Overkill – Elimination:

When I die I will be cremated. As I am placed into the fire this is the song that should play. The lyrics are just too fitting.

7. Sentenced-Luxury Of A Grave:

So there it is. In the extremely unlikely event that a movie is ever made of my life, this should be the framework of the musical score as well as the soundtrack. Please feel free to post an article like this on your personal blog and link it here. If you use a real blog system like Word Press or Squarespace it should automatically link back to you here in the comments if you link to this post. If it doesn’t feel free to just post a link in the comments.

If you do not have a blog, just post the links to the videos in the comments. I don’t mind. In fact it would make my day. Oh yeah, and please go listen to Social Blend. They are lonely over there and nothing is more sad than an ex-marine and an Aussie pouting like two little girls after getting their dollies stolen.

So there are several podcasts I listen to religiously. I think I should start blogging about the best ones and tell you people why I care about these shows. Many of the readers of this blog will have no clue who @jason is or why he is so damn important. Well, he has kicked off tons of tech companies and made more money than most of us will ever see. He is addicted to starting new companies and kicking maximum ass. He is also just as addicted to helping others gain the level of success that he has. He is never one to hold back information, tips, and tricks to us dreamers. Unlike 99% of the people who like to spew advice, he actually knows what he is talking about! I have learned a ton from listening to his 2 hour weekly (sometimes twice a week) podcast This Week In Start Ups. If you see me use the hashtag #twist on Twitter, that is what I am talking about.

Grain Of Salt
He is more about tech companies that have tech product, so not everything will apply to you bands and music industry types that read this blog. However, a ton of it does! It is about doing business on the internet. His advice centers around helping people create the next Google, YouTube, or Facebook type company. So doing the Hard Rock and Metal websites I end up releasing don’t fit everything he says. But because it is about doing business on the internet a ton of it can be used. In fact most of it should be heard by anyone trying to run any business on the internet. He tells people they have to move to Silicon Valley. Well, that is one of the rare things I don’t think fit me. My “start up” is more of a music site than a tech site. Silicon Valley can’t give two shits about Hard Rock and Metal. Honestly there is probably only a few other things that he says (on a regular basis) that I dismiss.

Cut The B.S.
There are several that prefer to dismiss him as an arrogant ass, but I think they do this out of insecurity. Jason is a man who will make you feel a little insecure if you do not have your shit together. If you have not done your research he will call you on it! He pulls no punches and some misconstrue that as arrogance. But think about this. If there is someone who knows a ton about business and is willing to guide you, how would you want them to act? Would you want them to spare your feelings? Would you really want kid gloves? Not if you want to succeed! He is brash, harsh, and sometimes over confident about things. In the end though, you know where he stands. People talk all the time about how they want to cut through the bullshit, but when someone does they call them an asshole. Jason cuts through the bullshit and you know where he stands. I respect that.

So why should you all start listening?
I don’t care if you are a band, webzine, record label, music press agent, or whatever else. You run a business! He talks about business. He knows what he is talking about. If more people in the music industry listened to guys like Jason the music industry would not be having the problems they are. So please just listen to a few episodes and see what you think. His podcast feed seems to be the slowest download on the net, but it is worth it. It also seems to kind of mess up when using some podcatchers. My podcatcher keeps trying to download episodes I listened to weeks ago. But it doesn’t download a single byte. It just lists it as trying to download it. Small price to pay for such great content though. Highly recommended to anyone doing business online. As with all the podcasts I listen to, it is free. There is also a great video version that is even better if you have the time.

Important Links:

• This Week In Start Ups – The point of this entire post
• The Jason Calacanis Weblog – His personal site
• Mahalo – His current web start up company
• TechCrunch50 – Great Start Up conferance he co-hosts
• Open Angel Forum – Another tool for Start Ups he founded
• @jason – His Twitter account