Music Street Journal - Music News & Reviews

MSJ Staff

Gary Hill

Gary is a musician and has been a music fan since a young age. His main musical interests are in progressive rock and heavy metal, however he enjoys many other types of music. He has been writing for quite a long time, having worked as a freelancer for such publications as All Music Guide and Beet Cafe. He recently released his first book (other than the MSJ compilation books). He created Music Street Journal in February of 1998 as a means of covering the music that he enjoys. He has a computer oriented Associates degree and several web related certifications from various sources. He lives in the Rockford, Illinois area with his fiance.




Rick Damigella Born Behind the Orange Curtain in So Cali, Rick Damigella was bitten by the music bug at an early age. An affinity for the guitar and drum sound of The Knack's "My Sharona" gave way to discovering vastly better music in the form of AC/DC and The Who. Not a musician himself (pretty much all he can play is "Smoke on the Water" and a little 12-bar blues on the six-string) Rick prefers to be a professional music aficionado (read: music geek) with tastes that range from Bach to Rock, but with metal, electronica and game soundtracks being his preferred genres. His writing background includes stints as an entertainment technology writer/producer and occasional music writer for CNN. He has written a series of video game soundtrack CD reviews (Yes! Those things do exist!) for G4TV.com. He counts Tony Iommi, Keith Emerson, Mark Mothersbaugh, Robert Fripp, Ian Anderson and The Crystal Method amongst music interviews he has done. His favorite artists include Deep Purple, Loudness, Social Distortion, Tangerine Dream and Hound Dog Taylor.



Ron Fuchs Ron considers himself, a “progressive astronaut“ (aka ProgNaut) and he's been listening to the progressive rock genre since 1987, when he bought his first prog cassette tape (Marillion's Misplaced Childhood). It wasn't until 1990 that he had a musical epiphany, when he was exposed to King Crimson’s Red. Since then he's been exploring new and wondrous music within the genre. Ron currently listens to and enjoy bands in the progressive rock sub-genes of symphonic, neo-prog and some prog-metal. However, he's very open-minded to explore new (or new to him) styles under the "progressive rock" banner. Ron also maintains a CD and DVD review site called "ProgNaut.com" which has a rather unique mission statement, all reviews are done from the fan’s point of view. Ever since 2001, he has been expanding the ProgNaut.com site each consecutive year. Starting in September 2010 he will unveil a new hands-on version plus more at the site.



Travis Jensen Travis has been teaching for 5 years at The Art Institute of Illinois in Schaumburg, IL for the interior design department. He teaches perspective, rendering and drafting 1, as well as some fundamentals courses. He has a B.F.A. and an M.F.A. both in interior design. Originally from Rhinelander ,WI, Travis now lives in DeKalb, IL on campus at Northern Illinois University. His hobbies and outside interests include spending time with his family (wife, son 6 yrs. and daughter 2 ½ years), tattooing and riding his Harley Davidson. Travis' musical background consists of being in various cover bands for roughly 10 years. He also played a bass clarinet during 4 years of his adolescent years. His musical interests consist mostly of rock and heavy metal. He has a little bit of everything in has music collection, but the largest portions in the CD racks are taken up by Slayer, Black Sabbath and Elvis. Judas Priest, AC/DC and Pantera take a close second place.



Mark Johnson Mark, (aka "The Prof") has been writing reviews since 2009 for Prognaut.com. He’s been a fan of music for over 40 years and has watched rock move through its Golden Years to where we are today. The Prof’s favorite music lies with the blues and symphonic or art progressive rock, but will listen to just about anything accept country that doesn’t rock or rap and heavy metal that threatens Armageddon. The Prof grew up in a time when music was not allowed at work, or even in the car. So now he makes up for the lost time by listening to music any chance he gets. Yes, everywhere thanks to the digital age. The Prof does write in depth reviews analyzing, (some may say over – analyzing), (try to remember he’s a prof), the emotional impact and feeling of the music he reviews. The prof’s philosophy is that reviewers should be willing to spend some time describing the music in detail.



Tim Jones Tim Jones is a high school biology teacher. Despite this fact, he's a long-time fan of progressive rock and metal. He doesn't actually play an instrument, but he can sing (in fact, as previous roommates attest, it's often impossible to get him to stop singing). He's lived most of his life in the western U.S., but he's spent four years in Europe, and dreams of returning.Besides prog, Tim likes some classical music, some classic rock, and any other music that has good melody and a bit of intelligence. His favorite bands are Savatage, Rush, Pain of Salvation, and Dream Theater. He's an English minor and writes song lyrics for his personal enjoyment. His professional writing experience before joining MSJ, however, is non-existent.



Bill Knispel Despite all evidence to the contrary, Bill swears the first rock album he ever listened to was Frank Zappa’s Freak Out! (in 1987, in the midst of a 2-week long bout with fever and pneumonia). He says this is why his musical tastes to this day are so warped, and why he has such a low tolerance for musical BS. Born in 1973, he has been an on and off (mostly off) musician for 15 years, having played bass and guitar in a number of basement bands. Music has been a constant companion throughout, and if given the choice between eating and buying a new CD, well...a person can go a day or so without food, right? His music collection totals somewhere in the vicinity of 7,500 to 10,000 discs, centering on progressive rock, but covering jazz, classical, traditional country and blues. His current musical obsession is extreme metal, and he counts bands such as Fintroll, Emperor and Amon Amarth as new favorites. Interested in journalism since college, he’s written for a number of outlets, always trying to focus on discussing music that might otherwise be ignored. He’s also an avid fan of live music, and has averaged 15 concerts a year for the past 5 years, including such wildly divergent performances as Ministry, Magma, echolyn, and Le Orme, to name a few. He is also an avid amateur concert photographer, evidence of which can be seen covering the walls of his apartment, and which may be seen here in concert reviews in the future. Bill lives along the banks of the Delaware River in NJ, has been flooded out of his home 3 times in 2 years, yet steadfastly refuses to move...either a sign of divine faith or divine stubbornness.



Mike Korn Mr. Korn was born in 1963 in Winnebago County (IL) and has spent his whole life in the Northern Illinois area. Yes, that is his real name and not a goof on the Jonathan Davis-led band. Graduated from North Boone High School in the cornfields of Boone County and then from Rockford College. He has had a lifetime interest in heavy metal that began in 1974 and has mushroomed into an all-consuming obsession here in the year 2000. His favorite acts range from Kiss and Blue Oyster Cult to Dismember and Bathory, hitting all points in between. He also has an abiding interest in classic horror/science fiction movies and in fact, his alter ego "Dr. Abner Mality" is in the process of trying to host a TV horror show. As "Dr. Mality", he is also the editor of The Wormwood Chronicles (web version at www.wormwoodchronicles.com), a journal dedicated to the stranger aspects of popular culture. He also has an interest in pro wrestling, cryptozoology, modern art and bashin' two bricks together!



Scott Montgomery Scott Montgomery is a professor of Medieval and Renaissance Art History at the University of Denver, where he also teaches a course on the Art and Visual Culture of Rock and Roll. Yes, he has a Ph.D. (Rutgers) and continues to pile it higher and deeper with published articles on the art of medieval pilgrimage and saint’s cults. Two books are forthcoming in 2009 – a study of the Relics, Reliquaries and Visual Culture of St. Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins of Cologne (try saying that three times fast after a few shots!) and an account/analysis of his experience walking a 1,000-mile medieval pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, which he co-authored with his lovely wife Alice. He has already begun his next bevy of projects – books on psychedelic poster artists Lee Conklin and Wes Wilson, and a larger study of the Visual Culture of Rock and Roll. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, he has lived, laughed, and enjoyed music in numerous states (solid, liquid, and ethereal) and countries in the course of his peregrinations - from Oregon to Italy, New Jersey to New Delhi, Texas to Germany. Though rather musically omnivorous, his greatest aural loves are progressive tock, with a deep and unbridled love for both Italian symphonic prog (Banco, Le Orme, Locanda delle Fate) and the more delightfully challenging varieties (Magma, Univers Zero, Frank Zappa) and psychedelia, both older (Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane) and newish (Bevis Frond, Outskirts of Infinity). He has a lot of music, but the most LPs/CDs in the collection are by J.S. Bach, Miles Davis, and Frank Zappa – ‘nuff said… Like most “normal” people he has been passionately listening to music for many moons, though he has not mooned many musicians. His first rock concert – The Tubes in 1975 - was a real mind-blower for a 12-year old boy in the third row. Probably as a result of this brain-addling introduction to live music, he also writes songs and plays – badly….but says, ”it keeps me amused.”



Greg Olma It was the year 1975 when Greg first discovered music. He took one look at KISS "Alive" and said to himself, "these guys are awesome." From then on, music was all he thought about. But man does not live by KISS alone, so he branched out into other music. His biggest learning experience was getting a job at a local used record store (Record Hunt) in 1979. He was still in grammar school when he discovered other bands like Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, and Yes. He spent 4 years working there and will always remember them as fun and exciting times. Through the years, he's stayed in touch with the music scene, spending all of his available money on CDs and concert tickets. He's attended a little over 250 concerts ranging from REO Speedwagon to Cradle of Filth. He currently spends his days as an account manager at a software company.



Michael Ostrich A Philadelphia native, Mike has been into progressive rock since his sister introduced him to it via the self-titled Genesis cassette back in the mid 80's. Since then, he's been on a never-ending search for new and interesting music to sink his teeth into. Going from ambient drones to jazz to alternative rock and back again, his roots remain entrenched in progressive rock. He's a webmaster to many of the bands you frequent (Echolyn, Djam Karet, Radio Massacre International, Tiles, etc.), as well as some places you buy music and music equipment (Noisebug, Rhino Records, Analogue Haven, etc.). He's provided services to the Bob Moog Foundation, The Wish Makers and the School District of Philadelphia. He's been involved with NEARfest since its formation in 1998. In addition, he's been broadcasting a weekly internet radio show for the past 7 years over at ProgScape Radio hoping to expand YOUR musical tastes with some of the music he loves. His "day job" consists of working on a multi-million dollar website with respect to the cruising industry. And you thought your life was busy? He currently lives in Southern New Jersey with his wife, dog...and 3300 CDs (no, we're not kidding). Websites of note: http://www.twitter.com/progscape http://www.facebook.com/progscape/ http://www.progscaperadio.com http://www.progscaperadio.com/collection/ http://www.analoguehaven.com http://www.immersionfestival.com http://www.radiomassacreinternational.com http://www.noisebug.net http://www.tiles-music.com



Bruce Stringer Born in 1974, Bruce Stringer is an Australian guitarist who has played internationally and worked on various independent soundtracks and theme-scores. He is currently working on his third solo project, his second full CD. He brings to MSJ a great sense of music and strong writing talents. For more info on Bruce's music career (including some audio samples) follow this link http://www.mp3.com/bruce_stringer.



Larry Toering Larry has been a collecting music fan since 1978. Larry has been a staff writer for various sources (including co-Administrating the Deep Purple Hub since 2005) where many interview articles and concert reviews can be read by subscribing members of the community.His favorite bands and artists besides Deep Purple and it's spin-off's include everyone from The Kinks and Peter Gabriel, to Todd Rundgren and Jeff Beck. He also has an appreciation for just about every genre. Collecting is the stimulating element along with creative and subjective writing.



Josh Turner Hailing from Madison, Wisconsin, Joshua Turner is a huge Badgers and Packers fan almost to a point that it can be considered his religion. For a living, he performs computer consultation to various clients in the area (e.g. Government, American Family Insurance, CUNA Mutual, Telephone and Data Systems, Inc.). Some consider this to be the Silicone Prairie of the MidWest. Even though he lives in a rural state, he feels he is more in tune with big city life. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is without question the biggest city in the state. His best friend is a fox terrier named Rex. His name couldn't suit him better. Beware, don't get a terrier unless you have the energy and commitment to devote to these adorable monsters. So, you are probably wondering, what has led his to progressive rock.. His best "human" friend Adam is quite a talented drummer. Adam even went to a school attended by the folks in Dream Theater. Well, as the story goes, Josh met Adam in college and he is kind of an outcast due to his heavy obsession with music. He would always be playing the air drums and his fraternity brothers would always be commenting on his weird music. It turns out he was listening to Dream Theater (Images & Words mostly, Falling Into Infinity was about to be released). The music intrigued Josh. They wound up road-tripping to a number of concerts in the area (e.g. Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago). Josh bought up the entire Dream Theater catalog and listened to them from time to time. Then, he heard about various side-projects. He enjoyed Mulmuzzler and Liquid Tension Experiment, but Transatlantic a couple years later was the real discovery. From there he got into Flower King's and Spock's Beard. Now he is a full-blown progressive rock junkie. He thinks we live in an era where the best music ever is being released. For all the hardcore Genesis and Yes fans out there, I agree these bands were awesome, but don't forget to check out what's new as well.