Unified Past’s Blog

Meet Dave Mickelson

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:41:00 -0500

As our fans already know, Unified Past recorded “Observations” with just myself and Victor Tassone. We’ve been searching for both a bass and a keyboard player for at least 8 months now. We are pleased to announce that Dave Mickelson has officially joined Unified Past as bass guitarist. Dave is on board courtesy of Joey Belladonna. Dave Mickelson is currently the bass player for Joey Belladonna’s Chief Big Way as well as Joey Belladonna’s own band “Belladonna”. Make no mistake either, Dave is the bass player for those bands first and foremost. However, when those bands are not gigging, Dave is jamming with Unified Past. He has begun recording tracks for our next recording and has done two songs with us already. Dave brings a solid rock and metal approach to our progressive compositions and is complimenting Victor’s drum parts quite nicely. We are fortunate to have Dave on board and are excited for the future. We are still looking for a full time keyboardist. For now I am laying down the keyboard tracks on the new songs but we really want a full time keyboardist in hopes of actually playing live to support our next cd. Dave brings a great deal of professionalism and energy to the band. Stop by our facebook page and say hello to our newest member.

It’s Been Awhile...

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:33:35 -0500

It sure has been a while since my last blog. Well, I’ve been so busy in my personal life as well as musically that it’s been almost impossible to keep up with this blog as well with all of our social networking sights too. Victor has performed a drum track for the band “Reaching Ground” led by our MRR label mate John Orr Franklin as well as performing drums on the tune “Something Old, Something New” by our friends in “BunChakeze”. I have had the great experience of playing guitar for three shows with Joey Belladonna’s Chief Big Way. Playing with Joey has been a great experience for me and has made me an even better player - just in time for our new recording. I have been tucked away in the studio since Thanksgiving, putting together a bunch of the pieces I have put on tape since the release of “Observations”. I have 6 solid tunes complete and two more done in structure. We finally have a bass player too. Dave Mickelson (of Chief Big Way and Belladonna) has come on board to play bass for us on this new recording. Dave was in the studio with us on Friday Night and recorded a solid bass track for the tune “The Final” and will certainly be a positive addition. We have also begun filming a video for “I’m Not Answering”, to further support our “Observations” cd. No time table yet, but hopefully by mid January we’ll be ready to release it. We also are developing a new web page on our site that will introduce other great bands we have had the pleasure of meeting. This page will be ever expanding I am sure, so please stop by regularly and listen to these great bands. That’s all for now - feel free to chat with us on Face Book and My Space - see you all soon!

Unified Past “On Line With Andrea” 7/19/11

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 16:49:55 -0400

The release of “Observations” on June 28th was a magnificent moment for us. We spent so many months tweaking the mixes that at times I thought it would never come out. Producer Frank Tassone was right every step of the way. The feedback we have been getting from our established fans and new fans alike has been so rewarding.
We have been getting great support from Aii Radio and now we are excited to announce to our fans that we will be on the magnificent show “On Line With Andrea” on Tuesday evening from 7:30pm - 10:30pm EST.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onlinewithandrea/2011/07/19/unified-past

We really hope you can join us. Join the chat room and chat on line with us or call in directly. It’s a great opportunity for our fans and us to hang for a few hours and have some fun. Hoping you all can join us!
Don’t forget, you can purchase “Observations” from Melodic Revolution Records as well as Amazon.com, with more places coming each week. Stop by our homepage for the links.

“Observations” is Coming!

Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:29:06 -0400

It’s hard to believe it’s finally here - almost. You take almost two years writing, recording and preparing your next project and at times it seems like it will never happen. I have to say, I must thank producer Frank Tassone for keeping us focused on the END RESULT. If it were up to me, the disc would have been out in February and probably would have had some imperfections. Frank kept saying - “NOPE - Not good Enough - Let’s do it again”. And his persistence paid off. We were fortunate enough on this past Sunday Night to have had almost half of our new release played by DJ Brian on Aii radio and we couldn’t thank him enough. Nor Nick at Melodic Revolution records either. It was a bit of an anxious moment for me personally, two years of work and you’re going to find out in two minutes what people think about it. If you have not checked out Aii radio - you need to. It is an absolutely tremendous experience for any music fan. Not only listening to great music you may not be familiar with, but the ability to chat with others in real time and have the bands’ links posted - I was flying from Facebook over to Reverb Nation to personal web pages just checking out the bands I was hearing. WWW.Aiiradio.net Meeting great people like Wicked Ang, Aii Faiiry, Skiblu, Mountain man, and a host of others! You need to check this out and join the community. So Tuesday 6/28/11 is the official release date and you will hear a lot about it soon enough. In the meantime, did you know you can hear the music now at Melodic Revolution Records? Check out this link and I’ll be back soon enough!
http://melodicrevolutionrecords.com/album/observations

And - you can share it with everyone - help us spread the word. Keep Rockin’!

1981 - my perception of the music scene at the time and it’s impact and influence on my first teenage years.

Fri, 27 May 2011 22:07:12 -0400

Ah yes...1981 indeed. I was driving to work this morning and was listening to the new CD by “The Cars” and I had a flashback to their “Shake It Up” cd, from...yep - 1981. Then the flood gates of memories opened up, so much so that my mind got so deep into thought that the new music blasting out of my speakers faded away into nothingness and soon all there was were the thoughts of the music scene in 1981. I remembered quickly how awesome that year was for music. Yes, 1981 indeed. There was so much transition going on for me personally in 1981. I had just become a teenager, I had just entered middle school and was making new friends, I had just started playing guitar only a year ago, and to go along with all of those changes - I was searching for an identity and music was what I personally identified with. Rush had just released “Moving Pictures” and I was already a Rush freak, but this recording solidified my passion for Rush and my identity. I was known in school as the “Rush Kid”. Was 1981 really that great for music or was it just my perception because everything was so new and exciting to me? Every new album I bought (Yes, I said album) was a new discovery. Every new experience I lived had a song that went along with that experience. But really, I would like to explain why I find 1981 to be such a magical year for music:

1. The introduction of new genres such as New Wave and Punk, which began in the late 70’s was taking hold - A band called Soft Cell hit the charts with “Tainted Love” and god I loved that song! The Romantics had come out with the hook “That’s What I like About You” in late 1980 and it carried over into my 7th grade year. Rick Springfield starred on General Hospital and gave us his album “Working Class Dog” with “Jesse’s Girl” and a cool version of Sammy Hagar’s “I’ve Done Everything For You”. I remember that everyday after school that year we used to go over a friend named Maureen’s house and watch General Hospital - it was huge at that time and it would be on right after school. I remember when Rick Springfield left the show - God I hate admitting that! But what a way to get to know the girls back then. The introduction of synthesizers led everyone to experiment with them - How about Neil Young’s 1981 release “Re-ac-tor”?! Going hand in hand with this emerging sound was another cool thing about 1981 - “I want my MTV”! Suddenly you had to see music as well as listen to it. We watched MTV constantly - it was awesome - you didn’t want to be the kid who missed the video debut of any of these new songs. I believe they were called “Video Premiers”? Anyway, several top bands who broke in during the 1977-1979 era began to change their sounds - adding a touch of synth to their music. How about the first band I mentioned - “The Cars”? Their first three albums, “The Cars”, “Candy-O”, and “Panorama” had a similar style, feel, and production quality to them - of course they used keyboards. Then 1981 saw “Shake It Up” come out and they blended a heavier synth sound with an even greater pop style. Gone was the edge of “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” and “A Lot On My Head” and in was “Since You’re Gone” and “Shake It Up”. And remember the videos? How about Foreigner? Their first three albums, “Foreigner”, “Double Vision”, and “Head Games” all had a similar style and production sound to them as well. Then 1981 came. The title “4” had a double meaning - they went from a six piece band to a four piece band on their 4th album. Gone was the consistent rock edge of “Hot Blooded” and “Dirty White Boy” and in was “Waiting For A Girl Like You” and “Urgent”. I remember hearing “Urgent” for the 1st time and thinking it was a remake of Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls”. But the album was great anyway - it was just different - it was 1981. And it still had “Juke Box Hero” to crank up proudly. How about Van Halen? There 1st three albums, “Van Halen, “Van Halen II”, and “Women and Children First” also had similar sound and style. And as awesome and amazing as they were, they came out with “Fair Warning” in 1981. Sure Eddie and the gang cranked it out on “Mean Street” but suddenly there was “Push Comes To Shove”, “So This Is Love”, “Dirty Movies” and even “Sunday Afternoon In The Park”. Suddenly the boys had a bit of a groove to them and the production of the recording was noticeably different too. Was that a bad thing - not at all - “Fair Warning” is awesome. It was just 1981 and the music was changing. What about their look too? Of course they had an image already, but I remember the first time I pulled the sleeve out of the record and saw their picture - David Lee Roth had bleached Blonde Hair; Eddie’s hair had all of those layers and the Feathered look, and even Michael Anthony and Alex looked like they had a hair style. Oh yes, do not forget, the video age made a look become part of the package and it was blooming right then in 1981 for Van Halen. I tried for years to grow my hair just like Eddie - it never occurred to me that my hair texture was nothing like his - I just kept wondering why it never looked like his! Everyone loved the famous line “C’mon Dave...Give me a break” and of course David Lee Roth’s famous reply “One Break coming up”. And I can’t leave out that beginning of “Mean Street”. Anyone who played guitar was stunned by that intro. I would spend endless hours trying to recreate that slapping / tapping intro and never got it. I can barely execute it today in fact! How about Journey? Three consecutive awesome yet similar albums - “Infinity”, “Evolution” and “Departure” and even they found a slightly different direction - one that paid off big time. Gregg Rolie left and was replaced by a former member of “The Baby’s” - Jonathan Cain and an already great band reached superstardom. Now Journey always had great ballads like “Stay A While”, “Lights” and “Something To Hide” but now it was a whole new level with “Who’s Crying Now” and “Open Arms”. Previous rockers like “Any Way You Want It” and “Wheel In The Sky” gave way to “Stone In Love” and “Don’t Stop Believin’”. Change can be good - and it was. The Police too had a similar sound and style on their first three smashes - “Outlandos d’Amour”, “Reggatta de Blanc” and “Zenyatta Mondatta”. Sunddenly in 1981 they have a synth influenced “Ghost In The Machine”. Songs like “Spirits In The Material World” and “Invisible Sun” led their journey into new sound territory - and it took me a bit to get used to - but I think it worked wonderfully. Guitar hero Carlos Santana released the hit “Winning” - this was such a keyboard driven song that I remember when it first came out i thought it was Phil Collins! Although they weren’t influenced by keyboards, what a difference there was for Judas Priest in 1981 with their release, “Point Of Entry”. Of course there was the smash “Heading Out To the Highway” but after the success of “British Steel” I found this record concerning at the time. I was shocked at the video for “Hot Rockin” - do you remember that one? Odd video for metal gods. Songs like “You Say Yes” and “Don’t Go” were too commercial for me at that time. Of course as time passed I grew to appreciate this album - I give them lots of credit for not releasing a clone of British Steel. Ironically, they would release a clone in a few more years (Defenders Of The Faith).
2. The tremendous success of the aforementioned Rush album “Moving Pictures” also gave way that year to what was known as “The Canadian Invasion”! As record companies do, they ride the wave and squeeze out every penny they can from a trend. Suddenly, here came famous canadian bands who had experienced far less success in the United States - but there time was now. Triumph emerged with their Rush type smash “Magic Power” - every time that song came on the radio you just had to crank it up. You automatically felt your spirits lift as you sang along with “I’m Young, I’m wild, and I’m Free”. Interestingly, that song was not typical of the overall direction of the album “Allied Forces”, which was really a pretty hard rocker for 1981. “Fight The Good Fight” was their other power anthem. Then there was April Wine with “Sign Of The Gypsy Queen” and one of the early hard rock ballads, “Just Between You And Me”. Many couples in junior high proudly proclaimed that that was their song. Saga emerged with their album “Images at Twilight” and would set the world on fire the following year with “On The Loose”.
3. I discovered Genesis! (By 1985 they overtook Rush as my favorite band). Despite their long established career at this point, I knew very little about them. I remember very clearly though the first time I heard the title track to 1981’s “Abacab”. It was on WRCN, 103.9 FM, and I was hooked immediately. I had no idea that they had changed their sound on this record (It had been changing for a few albums at this point - but this record sealed the deal) - this was the first time I owned a Genesis album and so to me, this was who they were - I had no bias towards their earlier music - I listened to it for what it was. I thought it was a great album - I still do! Being a progressive rock head, I quickly adopted the song “Dodo” as my song. 1981 was the emerging of the “Boom Box”. Remember those? Yep - I got mine for Christmas. How About leg warmers!!??? anyway, I remember walking the streets of my neighborhood on cold winter nights with my boom box proudly on my shoulder, at max capacity for everyone to hear (From inside their homes!!!). I would strategically place the song on my favorite part, where Phil Collins talks the lines “Meanwhile lurking by a stone in the mud two eyes looked to see where I was and then something spoke and this is what it said to me” and then - here it comes - that awesome keyboard melody that Tony Banks plays - you would just sing along to it. I thought it was the most original song I had ever heard up to that point in my life. Of course the title track cranked too - what a jam! But then the record had the hits - “Man On The Corner”, “No Reply At All”, “Keep It Dark”. I always enjoyed “Like It Or Not” and “Another Record”. This record was also my first awakening to music marketing. The album had a simple cover of roughly five different colors, looking like a kid tore construction paper and arranged the pieces in no particular order. Well it seems that there were several variations of the color scheme. So the copy I bought was different than the copy my friend bought. How cool was that? It was quite a concept to a 13 year old. And don’t forget - 1981 was the emergence of Phil Collins as a true star. Abacab was released in September of 1981 while his very first solo album, “Face Value”, was released earlier that year in February and gave us the anthem “In The Air Tonight”. What I remember about that song was how different it seemed to me when I first heard it. It has limited instrumentation and just has such a chilling vibe to it. Just that little drum machine pattern looping through the song. And then of course, everyone plays air drums when the drums come in - you just have it - it moves you that much! What a song!
4. New emerging rockers - How about Billy Squier and the smash album “Don’t Say No”?! What an impact that had on me. The first time I heard “The Stroke” I was blown away. Did he really say “Stroke Me”? That became our favorite line. Anytime you disagreed with someone, you just said “Stroke Me”! How about the other hits - “In The Dark”, “Lonely Is The Night”, and “My Kinda Lover”? We started going to the roller rink on Friday Nights. Our moms would alternate driving us. I can’t remember the name anymore, but it was in Centereach off of Route 25 and Nicolls Road. I remember learning to skate while “In The Dark” would be cranking out. How about the roller skates back then - they weren’t roller blades! I remember the “Snow Ball” - the girls would line up and you would ask one to skate with you. I was always afraid of the “Rejection” - and that happened sometimes. 38 Special released their second album, “Wild Eyed Southern Boys” and “Hold On Loosely” became an instant classic. A group called The Boom Town Rats gave us the anthem “I Don’t Like Mondays”.
5. Although the Eagles didn’t have an official announcement, they broke up. Two members came out with great stuff that year. Joe Walsh gave us “There Goes The Neighborhood” with the classic hit “Life Of Illusion” - just one of those songs that just makes you feel good. But Don Felder came out with the better tune - the theme to the movie “Heavy Metal”. An adrenaline booster as soon as you hear it. Don Henley landed a song on the other hot soundtrack album that year, “Fast Times At Ridgemont High”. I have no problem admitting that I lived my high school life like Spiccoli!
6. Speaking of heavy metal, heavy metal was shaping and defining it’s sound in 1981. AC/DC released their smash follow up to “Back In Black” - “For Those About To Rock”. Canons and all! I mentioned earlier that I was the Rush kid...Well there were tons of AC/DC concert shirt wearing teens out there. Remember the Baseball style concert shirts back then. They had White sleeves to contrast the black shirt. Sometimes they even had writing on the white sleeves. I always loved my concert shirts! Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio came out with “Mob Rules” and man was that a loud one! Ozzy with Randy Rhoades came out with his first solo album “Blizzard Of Ozz” and we all know how good that one is! My first ever concert was in 1981 - I truly do not remember when but I want to say it was late spring of 1981. I saw Ozzy and the mighty Randy Rhoads to support this album. I seem to recall that they played War Pigs but I really don’t know. What I do know was that as soon as I witnessed Randy’s guitar solo he became my idol immediately. I also remember that they played “Believer” and “Flying High Again” although they were on the next album. As soon as I heard that bass intro on “Believer” it stayed with me for months. Opening for this show was Def Leppard supporting their debut album, “On Through The Night”. Man were they young. Rumor had it that drummer Rick Allan had to have a note to play in the United States because he was too young to be travelling in a foreign country without any legal guardians? The Joe Perry Project was the middle act, supporting his first album after leaving Aerosmith, “Let The Music Do The Talking”. I remember him playing “Toys In The Attic” to open the set and next was the title track. After that, the crowd grew restless and it was a rough set. It was Ozzy’s audience all the way. Iron Maiden was emerging. Their second album “Killers” came out that year. Adrian Smith replaced Dennis Stratton Smith on guitar and made an immediate impact. I had the poster for this album hanging on my ceiling right above my bed. I later supplemented it with “Number Of The Beast” and “Piece Of Mind” for a trilogy of horror to wake up to every morning! Motley Crue came out with their debut, “Too Fast For Love”. What a raw recording. I always enjoyed the feel and sound of this recording. And the lyrics to some of these songs - I had yet to experience most of what they were talking about - but it gave us goals!
7. Female rockers were taking center stage big time! Pat Benetar came out with album #3, “Precious Time” with the great songs “Fire And Ice” as well as “Promises In The Dark”. Remember Quarterflash and the hit “Harden My Heart”? Stevie Nicks came out with her debut, “Bella Donna”. Like most 13 year old boys, I was in love with her. And how cool that Don Henley was on “Leather and Lace” and Tom Petty on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”?! How about The Pretenders releasing their second album with hits like “Message Of Love” and “The Adultress” - what kid wasn’t in love with Chrissie Hynde? Joan Jett And The Blackheart’s released the amazing “I Love Rock ‘N Roll”. We wore the grooves out of the LP on that one! Remember Casey Kasem’s Top 40 radio show????
8. Speaking Of Tom Petty - in 1981 he released a great follow up to “Damn The Torpedoes” with “Hard Promises”. Great melodic tunes like “The Waiting” and “Woman In Love” and Stevie Nicks made an appearance to repay the work he did on her solo album.
9. More Progressive stuff: King Crimson returned, after a lengthy absence, with a new lineup including Adrian Belew. The album Discipline blew me away. It was like new wave music with crazy musicianship. What a prog album! Styx came out with “ParadiseTheater” and although the album was good, I knew it was the end for them as I knew them. The hit “The Best Of Times” was the song for our middle school prom that year - Yeah! Kiss got back with producer Bob Ezrin who did the “Destroyer” classic as well as Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and released “Music From the Elder”. This one left fans dazed and confused. I actually liked it, especially “Mr. Blackwell” and “I”. The majority of fans I knew though hated it and wrote them off. It was “Dynasty”, “Unmasked”, and now this?
10. How about duets? Queen and David Bowie released “Under Pressure” - another classic MTV Video. Kenny Loggins and Steve Perry released “Don’t Fight It” - great tune!
11. ZZ Top released “El Loco” which had a bit of a different sound for them. Radio classics such as “Tube Snake Boogie”, “Pearl Necklace”, and “Party On The Patio”. Did I really know what they were talking about back then? The Kinks released “Give The People What They Want” which Featured the anthem “Destroyer”. I remember hearing it, loving it, and then becoming confused after realizing this was the music to their 60’s hit “All Day And All Of The Night”. I had never heard a band at that time redo one of their songs. This song was so cool that it didn’t even matter - everyone knew that song and loved it! The Rolling Stones kept rolling along with releasing hit albums as “Tattoo You” came out. “Start Me Up” became a rock anthem and another early MTV video favorite! Sammy Hagar was gaining popularity and released the smash “There’s Only One Way To Rock”. The Who’s bassist, John Entwistle, released his solo album “Too Late The Hero” with Joe Walsh on guitar - remember his single, “Talk Dirty”? Last but certainly not least, Blue Oyster Cult with their hit, “Burning For You”.

Look at all of that great music! It just doesn’t seem to me that we have anywhere near this amount of “Musical Volume” being produced today. Maybe it’s because I’m older now. I have way too many priorities that come before checking out new music. I have way less time to do so. I’ve gone to school for music and have encountered a bunch of musical styles which makes the excitement of hearing new stuff dampened. Who knows, but if you experienced 1981 at the age I did, I would love to know if the music seemed as great to you as it did to me...