Infidel was a name (finally) agreed on by the band because it reflected the lack of religious beliefs of the majority of the members, but also means "One who doubts or rejects a particular doctrine, system, or principle." - an unbeliever. None of us took any value or belief system to heart without tearing it into little pieces and seeing what it was made of, then throwing away the pieces we didn't like!

We used to play live at clubs in the Seattle area, but at the moment I'm not playin' out...I'd LOVE to hook up a new gig! If you're in the area and want to jam, let me know!

People aren't willing to pay much for what they can get (albeit illegally) for free. The music industry needs to change the pricing model for music. They need to drastically lower their profit expectations per unit and move more units. If CDs cost $1 would you buy more? I would. If I could order a CD from any band, online, for a buck...I'd buy way more. Everyone would. And people that cringe at the idea of spending $10-15 on a CD would gladly spend $5 on 5 CDs, get a great value for their money, and the industry wouldn't lose anywhere near the amount of sales they do to the filesharing networks. They need to change the way they market material, making use of the internet in focused campaigns, lower their promotion costs per band, target the audience for those bands better and make room for more artists to achieve less pie-in-the-sky deals. I see a world where mega-stars are a thing of the past but more musicians can make a living doing what they love.

This site is EXCELLENT for providing a free outlet to musicians of all types and exposing people to music they've never heard before. Thanks!

I'd sign a deal with a label in which I retained creative control or at least had some voice in which producer(s) were involved in my recording project. No one wants to see their music become something they didn't envision it being. People need to be careful what kind of contracts they sign, the fine print can GETCHA. A lot of labels will sign a band and not promote them. They back-burner some artists in favor of others on their roster that are "a better financial risk". No one can blame a label for wanting to make money- this IS a business, and a big one- but sitting on a band to prevent their being promoted by another company is bad business. Lots of good bands go unsigned, and many more these days are taking their music from idea to finished package independently. More power to them! Still, a record deal with a major label is every musician's dream, and I'd love to get the right deal with the right project and be able to concentrate solely on writing excellent material!

I admire different bands for different reasons...Rush is a perfect example of excellent musicianship and exploring different time signatures, and pushing the bounds of what a rock song is. Early Aerosmith was great for their grindy blues feel. ACDC's Back In Black is probably in the top 5 of AOR albums of all time- anthemic rock at its finest. Bands like The Eagles and Bad Company wrote great music which wasn't drowned in effects to achieve its sonic voice. I admire most players who have an original vision and work toward achieving a unique sound...people that can play their instruments and aren't afraid to play from the heart. I love old Pink Floyd records- that whole acidspacerock thing they had was unique and powerful. I listened to alot of the Beatles' songs when I was young, a lot of bands from the 60s and early 70s. Page & Hendrix were both virtuoso improvisers, which everyone can learn something from. Bands like Def Leppard and Journey pretty much perfected the art of melodic pop-rock, their stuff influenced me alot. Having said all of this...I'm not sure my music really sounds like any of these artists! Lots of music has something to say and you can learn things from it without re-doing it.

My jam room is khoul ;) And any place with a stage and lights and a full room is alright with me.

I play a Jackson Soloist and a hollow-body Tele, that I inherited from my grandfather who was also a musician- and a great guy. I have a Dean Markley 2x12 combo amp, a Randall head, a GK head, a Randall 4x12 cab which I love, another 4x12 cab I inherited from Chris Hao (thanks Chris), a Digitech GSP2101 for processing and a Lexicon Core20 among other gear. I use Cool Edit and Cubase for recording, looping, & mixing. I can record anytime, either at my own place with my stuff or through a buddy with a damn fine mobile 24X digital recording studio. He's a great guy and loves music he'll get on board a demo project for local Seattle bands for the cost of (digital) tape and a percentage of the recording's eventual profits- hard to beat THAT! anyone interested in getting a professional sounding demo through him (in the Seattle area) should get ahold of me- I'll hook you guys up.

Listen to my stuff!

Gimme some feedback- good or bad, thumbs up or down, I don't care! Just take a listen and let me know what you think.

Anyone wanna jam/record/start a new project?

this is my homepage:
http://home.comcast.net/~lrpelkey