To be an intern for Fall 2010 you must meet the following requirements:  These apply to new interns only.

1.  Be enrolled in tv production and be able to access equipment at school or have your own.

2.  Be 16 and up and be able to drive.

3.  Be able to shoot and edit your own stories.

We have no one to edit interviews these season so you must able to do it yourself.    Please do not apply unless you meet these qualifications.  If this sounds like you, send an email to info@therockstarstories.com.    We can use writers who want to write reviews but they will not be the ones doing interviews.  Interviews must be done by experienced students who are taking video production classes in school.

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Piebald Review
by Diana Ciuca

To say this isn’t my style of music would be a lie. To say it is would be a stretch. Somehow, my feelings on Piebald span from uninterested to quite moved. Now, the band is looking back at former hits and releasing a 3 Volume compilation seriesWhile listening to the two discs of their newest CD, Volume I, their earlier years, I occasionally paused and appreciated the blaring sounds as more than just background music. Undoubtedly, they have a genuinely unique style that does not necessarily fall under the preferences of an indie rocker nor an alternative lover. .
Formed in 1994, Piebald flourished in the underground scene releasing song after song. They depicted the indie/hardcore crossover, which is why, possibly, their sound is so fresh. At the first few plucks of the guitar in Protagonist, I fell in love with the contrast of the harshness of the lead singer’s voice, yet the guitars sound grew and disappointingly, the singer’s voice was lost. Nevertheless, the song takes a soothing intermission, as many of their songs do, and allows the guitar to finally breathe without having to compete wit any singer for air. Discordant voices are scattered in every song, sometimes creating a dual harmony with two singers. While this might work for the better (such as in Two Rocking Chairs on a Porch), quite often the result is a distraction from the smooth dance between the guitar and the drums (such as in Pretty Face). The seemingly sporadic guitar mingles on occasion with a progressively faster drum throughout most songs, generating a wave of music which culminates in the lead singer’s lyrics.
Once in a while, a song will sound absolutely unrelated with the rest of the album, like Piano Song in a Minor, but these oddities achieve the desired effect of keeping the listener on his/her feet. Nevertheless, the songs seem to display a similar pattern, of a simple, eloquent beginning, such as in Intro and Small Town Outside of Boston, where it almost sounds as if notes are gently falling onto the ground. But, the songs completely change to a more grating, almost blaring noise. This cacophony eventually give way to the retreating guitar, giving most songs, most not all, am idyllic ending.
Both discs of Volume I represent the roots of hardcore indie music, as Piebald has slightly emo tendencies (yet they are almost as frequent as their propensity to play surf rock). With few exceptions, these songs entertain the senses since they amass a harmony of sounds that most would not expect. Even if a obscurely pleasant harmony is not what the band members were going for, the album is still packed with energy that is sure to amplify at a live show.
Be sure to check out Piebald at Bamboozle in May as they embark upon a reunion tour and release two more volumes of their CDs, featuring ancient, lost versions of their songs that will make you beyond nostalgic for the 90s.

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The Futureheads “Heartbeat Song” Review By Samantha Ponoroff
Finally, something I can listen to without cringing. Although their lyrics may not be of the highest quality, The Futureheads have a very unique sound—a sound that intrigues their listeners. The video accompanying “Heartbeat Song,” again not stellar, definitely has its moments: their retro-inspired game show is very cute-sey. All in all, The Futureheads have potential, but definitely need work: their lyrics need major retouching and their videos need to have more of a story life. But, needless to say, The Futureheads are much closer to fame than many of the other struggling bands and artists out there.

Blowing Trees “Goblins” Review By Samantha Ponoroff
After watching this video a few times, I have come to the conclusion that the star is not the lead singer, Chris Madden; the star of this video is its director, Ryan Scheer. While the band delivers music reminiscent of a bad high school sponsored concert, Scheer makes use of stunning visuals through his manipulation of light, televisions and angles. Because of his artful manipulation of the camera and light, Ryan Scheer is who should be remembered when one watches this video: he is the strongest artist in association with this lackluster band and their lackluster song, “Goblins,”
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by Alexandra Rivera        Boca Raton Community High School

Recently, the United States Department of Justice confirmed the merger between two of the largest ticket retailers in the country, TicketMaster and Live Nation. For avid concert-goers like me, this is probably the worst decision ever made in the world of music. Is any good going to come out of it?

The world of government anti-trust issues dates all the way back to the mid-1800s, post-Civil War era, when corporate giants such as John D. Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan broke onto the scene with trusts and mega-corporations in the oil and banking industries. Fast-forward to 2010, and the predecessors for our anti-trust laws and governmental control over some companies sparked the beginning of this awful merger that victimizes fans across the country.

The merger clearly brings the two companies together and is now being called “Live Nation Entertainment, Inc.” to incorporate the titles of the two as well as to “reflect the combination of Live Nation’s concert promotion expertise with Ticketmaster’s world-class ticketing solutions and artist relationships,” according to the DOJ (whatever THAT means). The DOJ also states that “Through this merger, the parties believe that the combined company will have the tools to develop new products, expand access, improve transparency and deliver artists and fans more choice.  This will drive greater attendance at live events and bringing more value to all major constituents in the industry. The combined company also expects to pursue significant growth opportunities in markets around the world.” I rolled my eyes at the end of that statement.

As previously stated, I am an avid concert-goer. I attend at least three shows per year and sometimes the numbers increase, and ticket prices are already expensive to begin with, especially in the economic state that our nation is in. Throw all of the extra “service fees” and “processing charges” on top of a General Admission price and your $15.00 ticket shoots up to about twice of what it’s worth. I usually buy my tickets from Live Nation, and they charge the same fees, but the prices are usually not that bad compared to TicketMaster’s. Thus, TicketMaster merging with Live Nation is going to make the prices of tickets completely skyrocket into the clouds while simultaneously downsizing the amount of people that are going to spend their hard-earned money on tickets. TicketMaster’s so-called “ticketing solutions” are just ways to make people spend more money than they have to.

Also, how is this merger going to increase the attendance at shows? When I go to shows, they’re usually at smaller venues, such as Culture Room (Ft. Lauderdale) or Revolution Live (Ft. Lauderdale), and even then the venues don’t reach their maximum capacities. As a matter of fact, Culture Room receives more shows because they sell their tickets so cheap that it costs Revolution too much money to hold a show there. But, this merger won’t increase attendance, it’ll just decrease it, because no one has the money to go see their favorite artists anymore, and if they do go to shows then they will attend them at smaller venues that sell tickets for more affordable prices. The days of shows at sold-out arenas and theaters are far from over, and the times of shows at underground clubs or bars are ever-present.

Aside from the merger directly affecting fans, it also directly affects bands. From their perspective, the merger means less and less fans at shows since the price of renting venues is  constantly increasing and also because ticket sales are so low. According to Yahoo, artists and bands are not thrilled about this at all:

“Bruce Springsteen, already furious with Ticketmaster for directing fans to a subsidiary selling tickets for above-face value, recently posted a statement on his Web site saying a deal with Live Nation could end up ‘returning us to a near-monopoly situation in music ticketing.’”

Clearly, this merger poses hundreds of problems and it hasn’t made people very happy. America is supposed to be a democracy, which also means that mega-corporations cannot monopolize and break our anti-trust laws just to get more money to line their overstuffed pockets. With that said, although we as fans may not have a lot of power to do something about this, the only thing we can do is continue to support our artists and try not to let the merger get in the way of what we want as an audience—real live entertainment.

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by Diana Ciuca

Haitian Benefit Show at Radio-Active 1/24/10

In the quaint corner of a vinyl-ed up, toned down records store, stood two mics. Unoccupied. It wasn’t long until two ‘punks’ grabbed those mics and started jamming out. Not just singing for the sake of singing, or for commission, or even to attract a crowd. They sang, danced, yelled for charity. Thanks to Radio-Active Records, one of the only venues which allows bands to play shows without charging an entrance free, boxes of caned food and stacks of water bottle packs were gathered for a Haitian Relief Effort.
The show featured a few local bands, mainly playing ska/punk/folk music. Since its a local show, not many people in the crowd were singing along and swaying to the music. That gave them an opportunity to do their own thing, like dance around a bit. Nevertheless, the bands each played a few covers and asked audience members to join in. The lively action of the shows along with energetic band members infused the entire atmosphere with energy. Loud, fun, free… what more could anyone ask for? And you even help out charity and local mom & pop small businesses that are struggling in these rough economic times.

Special light on The Strikeouts!
As on of the bands there, you could say that their range is not so local. With a guitarists who goes to college in Miami, an Argentinian guitarist, a bassist who’s last name is Parisi, and a tenor saxist who’s name is Curtis, The Strikeouts! are definitely a mosaic of diversity that’s also reflected in their music. They describe themselves on their facebook page, the band represents “no frills South Florida Skacore.” Returning from an exhausting tour around Florida from Jacksonville to Orlando and back down to Boca, The Stikeouts! have started doing some professional recordings. Their next show is February 17th, check out their page for more information. If you’re looking to dance and jump around, you better be there.

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