Arsenic Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 I looked around, saw the youtube thread but nothing where ES users can represent their own personal bands. My apologies, if this thread already exists. I'll start things off: As my username indicates, I grew up playing in a band called Arsenic. We started playing when I was just 12 years old (I'm now 35). Arsenic finally stopped writing / playing, about 5 years ago or so (the same 4 guys stayed together almost 20 years). Needless to say, I miss it. I enjoyed growing up with these guys and making REAL Hard Rock music (not a cover band). I learned a lot and hope you guys enjoy our songs which are available on Youtube (links below).Arsenic(Southern Maryland)www.facebook.com/ArsenicMusicLeft to Right: • Josh Pickeral -----(aka: "Pick")---> Bass Guitar Me! (ExtremeSkins Username: Arsenic) • Wayne Hosier ----------------------> Vocals • Jarrod Policelli --(aka: "J-Rod")--> Guitar • Larry Pickeral --------------------> Drums My Brother! (ExtremeSkins Username: AmishGangsta)Arsenic's 2009 Album"Love Songs for the Weak Minded Souls" Link to Play the Album on Youtube 6 Page LYRIC Booklet (Photo, below, of one spread)zArsenic's 2006 AlbumWatch Em Die (i call it. its actually "untitled".) Click to Play the Album on Youtube CD Manufactured using "Record-looking / texture" Disks (image above). Although this CD looks and feels like a mini record, its actually a CD. Arsenic's 2003 AlbumCinesra (i call it. its actually "untitled") Link to Play the Album on YoutubeOur first recording / "demo album" was manufactured as a "Digipak" (images above).As you can see: we believed in "doing it right", always sure to print projects with great Artwork and professional packaging. After all, fans / listeners view and hold the album before they ever listen to it. So we wanted each project to look as good / look as professional as we hope to sound, knowing that Artwork can help to catch peoples interest. We were all fortunate to be in a band with guys who didn't mind devoting their hard earned money to making something that would become "keep sakes" in our lives. Recording these three "albums" wasn't cheap.. But it was well worth it.The first two CD's were recorded and mixed by Drew Mazurek at "Highview Studios" (in Lutherville, MD). We learned about Drew thru his work with such bands as Nothingface and Dog Fashion Disco.Arsenic formed in 1996 (when I was just 12 years old). I always felt fortunate to be allowed into / allowed to play at Bars and cool Venues (despite having to wear "X's" on my hands for being under age).The first "professional" (paid for) album / demo we recorded, in 2003, had just 4 songs on it. These 4 Original songs give a great idea of where we started. You can definitely hear our influences (Tool, Marilyn Manson, Nirvana, White Zombie, etc.) Though technically "Untitled", some people call it the "Red CD". Again, though just a demo, we were always sure to dump our hard-earned money into making a Professional "Album", just as good as the albums we grew up listening to. We didn't have any rich record label to pay for everything, though, like our Hero's had / have. And even though I was young and learning, I was always satisfied with everything Arsenic wrote (let alone their studio work). I believe the first track, titled "Insight The Chaos", was featured on DC101's "Local Licks" radio program. In a way, we were rebels; nothing like the other popular bands. "Project Larson" (the second track) is the heaviest track on this first demo (heavy in both sound as well as in meaning). The song "Cinesra" (Arsenic spelled backwards) is a classic stepping stone, on my path as a bass guitar player. The style of "Life Line" will give you a look at Arsenic's youth (what people would come to consider "our old sound")... We were always sure to note, to one another, when a song we were writing gave us "goosebumps" (representing the beauty of Rock music, huh?). These are moments I now reflect on, glad that I left very little to be regretted.. but sad that this "Ride" might be over.The second album: again "untitled", though I call it "watch em die" (the title of the first track) was again a four song demo, though much different from the first. The song "Watch Em Die" would show a much more sinister direction, i think, compared to the "innocence" of some of the originals from the previous demo. "Brand New Problem" and "Discretion" were hits, in my opinion, and "Possum" ended the album with a "thinker" track. It was perfectly what it is... I don't get into explaining each song as much as I could (or as much as id like to hear others do )... I apologize, I didn't intend for this to be such a "heavy" post. Given how important-a-part of my Life Arsenic is / was, though, it's worth the effort to say as much about it all as I possibly can.Arsenic's 2009 recording titled "Love Songs For The Weak Minded Souls" is a bit more modern, offering 7 tracks; keeping up with the times that have passed since our original efforts. I admit we never tried at any particular direction. Instead, we just kinda "let it happen".. It was magical.. I sometimes cannot believe that tracks like "The father, the Son, and the holy Hoax" or even "Goodbye" weren't good enough to allow us to play music for a living.. Then again, I admit that I don't know much about this "business" (which I've seemingly devoted my life to). This album is awesome, though, and I really hope you guys like it. We decided to record it at "Nightsky Studios" (done, locally, here in Waldorf) with Engineer / studio owner Ron Vento. Ron's a bad dude (i like to say). You can hear his passion for guitar-work. I think the album seems "thicker" than the last two. Although recorded at a different studio, we decided to let both Ron and Drew mix this album. An experiment which I think turned out well. "Shepherds Lullaby" and "Not Pure Enough" are really cool songs. "Virus" is catchy and "The beauty of what is lost" is a radio-hit (if it needs to be) <-- each album should have one, right? It wasnt until 2005 when MYSPACE became popular. We laugh, talking about how all this "Social Media" stuff wasn't around, for the most part, when we were growing our roots. When we started, I recall printing fliers and handing them out at random locations in the area (like Arbys, where teenagers would hangout on the weekends, back then). I'd like to think that, before we ended, Arsenic made a name for themselves. And while we didn't "make it big", its hard to be disappointed in what we accomplished. Its not as easy as people might think, to be a successful ORIGINAL Hard Rock band (in this area). Especially when you're not singing hits like "Good Charlotte" (a popular rock band from this area). Rather, we're apart of keeping alive the bad boy mentality which likely has never been lucky enough to have "main stream" support. I guess I never thought it would ever end... After all, this band has been apart of my Identity, apart of my Life, since just after grade school... Since 1996... Since I was 12 years old (I'm now 35). I dont know exactly why we'd end up putting an end to the fun... We never fought. And we never let girlfriends come between us (all the lessons we had learned from dimebag and guitar magazine interviews, etc.) Everyone was totally committed; we were / am / will always be FAMILY. Much can be said for the devotion it takes to maintain a practice routine (and everything else) all while holding down a job (which we all know can be hard enough). But it did end.. And while I'll always think about bugging our guitar player (Jarrod is his name) to maybe think about doing a "Come back show" or "Anniversary show" / whatever ya call it.. I'm sad to see the Arsenic ride come to an end and I never really got to say much about it. I'll forever be proud of all we accomplished (and never stop dreaming of the "Big Time"). This band has always been apart of my identity. Arsenic formed when I was in just middle school and I always felt like I was apart of something special. Although we never signed a Record Deal and never made a million dollars, I was fortunate enough to learn what it's like to be a Rock Star. We practiced our asses off and this band would eventually teach me so much. Promoting / Photoshop / word art (i got a job designing advertisements and building the newspaper, skills I had learned by being in this band. Also learning how to Network / interact with people (selling tickets and interacting at the shows). I can remember wondering, when I was a kid, what might come of this "ride" we were on. For years, Arsenic was the "Iron Man" band of the community, watching many bands come and go, many bands breakup and replace members.. However, Arsenic always stayed strong together (the same 4 guys from the beginning until the end) <--- this we were proud of. We were unique. We were heavy.. We were REAL.I don't know the exact number of shows that we played. However, over the years, we hosted and were apart of many good times. Our fans / friends (you know how that works for us local bands) loved to party. They always threw down! Venues with bars loved to have us, thanks to our awesome / loyal fan base. A couple shows involved booking and promoting "Arsenic BUS TRIPS" which would end up "legendary" (in my opinion)... Arsenic never had the luxury of signing a record contract so everything was paid for "out of pocket" (were all hard working, blue collar guys). <-- oh yeh, and big Redskins fans! After Arsenic decided to stop playing music, I didnt know what to do with myself...Huffmanwww.facebook.com/huffmanrockI was invited into "The Deep End Recording Studio" (owned and operated by Tony Corelli), in Middle River, MD, to record bass guitar on an album called "The World Awaits" by the band called Huffman. "The World Awaits", by Huffman, is available on ITUNES. Preview the album here Again, i learned a lot and, again, id love to hear your opinion on the recordings I post. (The album even has a cover of "Rockin in the free world") <-- although, I didnt record the bass for that particular track. "Swann" is beautiful, with keys, "Legion / Such Madness" is rebellious and rocking... "she thinks im tainted", "Exist in Mist", "The World Awaits" and "Infinity" are some badass songs. I really like how this turned out.. I was allowed creative freedom, for the most part, writing my bass lines to these awesome songs which Don and Curtis had written.. They brought in a guitar virtuoso, in my opinion, named Anton, to lay down leads which brought the songs to another level... The drummer, Paul, is a bad dude also (as you can hear, if you checkout the songs / recordings).Myself / Solo Stuff(Learning to mix and Record) Somewhere along the line, I was lucky enough to build an I7 DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), utilizing USB 3.0-3.1 technology. Although I haven't yet recorded a full band, I've been learning how to Mix / Record (using FL Studio) and tracking multiple bass lines. Some ideas were leftovers from the "Arsenic days". Some ideas came from some strange happenings which seem to have found my mind (aka: "Life"). The tracks at the bottom of my Soundcloud page are older. The newest tracks are up top. Link to Picks Soundcloud Page This has been a lot of fun, honestly, learning how to mix and record.. And you all know that any project which is all bass guitar must be at least somewhat strange Again, I hope you all enjoy "my work" (it sounds strange to say that). Honestly, I've always preached that two heads are better than one, when it comes to writing / arranging songs, etc. (It helps to add another perspective). I get bored, though, and this Soundcloud page has allowed me to keep busy and keep producing "songs" that I'm proud of. The songs on my Soundcloud page are like "themes" (only about a minute or so each). After starting off with some lighter / stranger ideas (songs towards the bottom of my soundcloud page), I eventually developed towards more "rocking" efforts, around the time when "Nothing Left To Be" was recorded. I can't get enough of this song, honestly.. its cool.. (Though, I get mixed impressions from others, regarding my vocal tone / style etc.) I guess that can be a good thing (being "different").. Again, a lot of these tracks are about some strange "phenomenon" which found my head / my mind. Although I've suffered greatly from this ordeal, I've been going thru, it all proved to be the perfect "Muse" for song / poetry ideas. "Starting to see" is.. interesting.. "We don't talk about it": boogies, i think "Wonder": reminds me of some kinda Jim Morrison / Kurt Cobain mixture And there's lotsa other tracks, on there, that hopefully you all like. These are nothing like Arsenic... but hopefully youll allow them to entertain you. All these tracks are All me (multiple bass guitars, tracked) writing and learning to mix and record. (Sorry again for the long post). I didnt intend to write so much. I hope you guys care to read and care to listen to my "Lifes Work". I also hope this thread might offer other Extremeskins users a place to get the word out about their efforts; their bands or even their art projects... I might come back and add / edit some stuff... But for now, I need to go smoke a cigg / need a break. Thanks again for reading Thanks again for listening Thanks again for caring Please support the local music scene Joshua Pickeral"Pick" bass guitar player Waldorf, MD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.