Jesse Sample’s Freak of the Week airs EVERY WEDNESDAY at 6pm Eastern ONLY on RadioRadioX.com
This is Jesse Sample. The holiday season is upon us. Like many of you, I’ve been running around with a list that just keeps getting longer and longer…and longer. There are things to pick up and things to drop off. There are things to wrap and things to unwrap. Lots of things to do.
But the people are what matter to me this time of year. When I think about my family and friends, I feel warm and lucky. I run in a wide variety of circles but the people in my life are all kind and loving. When I talk to the people close to me, it may sound like normal words, but our shared experience gives those words profound meaning and reflects a deep history. I’m lucky.
This time of year inspires me to take stock of what I have in my life. And I have a really sweet community around me and the more I think about each person and their unique approach to the world, the more I feel enormous gratitude for this life.
Thanks to all of you tuned into RadioRadioX. Have a wonderful holiday! This is the Freak of the Week, “I Gotta Thank You.”
Cesar Soto – Interview – Xperience Monthly – by Rachael Skinner.
Internationally acclaimed and exceptionally skilled guitarist and musician Cesar Soto, hailing from Los Angeles, CA– has collaborated with a diverse array of remarkable bands over the course of his musical career. Some of his notable collaborations include Ministry, Pissing Razors,The Sixth, Years of Cold, Tides of Titan and is actively performing and creating music with his eccentric metal/grunge band Man the Mute.
RRX: What is your earliest memory of realizing your passion for wanting to play guitar?
CS: My brother gave me my first guitar when I was 9 yrs old and it inspired me to play.
Photo by Rachael Skinner
RRX: Who/what are your influences on your eclectic guitar technique and creative processes?
CS: Having no boundaries and whatever comes naturally, even if it means not a traditional technique. Freedom is my technique.
RRX: What were some of the first projects you were a part of and how did that shape your style today?
CS: In the late 90s I joined Pissing Razors and it taught me comradery and about adapting to all situations that arise on the road and in the studio.
RRX: How did the universe align the paths of you and the creative force of Ministry?
CS: I was asked to audition in late 2014, learned multiple sets, and started touring February of 2015. Felt meant to be.
RRX: Describe the feeling of having the opportunity to be a part of the industrial magic that is Ministry?
CS: It was an amazing opportunity and goal that I worked hard to be a part of. Playing some of my favorite songs I grew up listening to. And even more mind-blowing to be part of Ministry for over 10 years now!
RRX: What is your most cherished moments with Ministry – whether it be in the studio or on tour?
CS: only request Al had was to not freak out, and thank God I didn’t.
RRX: I read that Ministry will be performing at the 2025 Sick New World Tour in Las Vegas– what are you most anticipating about this tour? Are there any bands in particular that you are eager/excited to perform with?
CS: It’s always nice to play a festival with some of your favorite bands. I’m particularly excited to watch Metallica and Gojira on the same night. It’s also great to see and reconnect with friends in some of those bands.
RRX: Can you elaborate on your decision to merge forces with Jackson Guitars?
CS: After offers from multiple guitar companies, I just felt that Jackson was my home to begin with. Their guitars are beyond solid and beautiful. Not to mention the best artist relations out there thanks to Mike Tempesta.
RRX: Can you describe your experience of meeting the legendary guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott? What is your favorite memory from that evening?
CS: So many experiences to mention but the one thing that always stood out was how good and equal he treated everyone. He did once tell me, “you’re a great guitar player, play more solos! You got it in you” I have so many stories from years of run ins and shows that ended up in epic hangs.
RRX: Describe to me how the universe lead you to establish your band Man the Mute and how is this musical endeavor is meaningful to you?
CS: I started compiling years of ideas that I had on my phone of random riffs that were not intended for Ministry and when the pandemic hit, it gave me the time and opportunity to start putting songs together that I felt represented who I am as a musician. It was also a challenge that I was willing to take by writing, recording and performing everything on my album. It was a great sense of accomplishment.
RRX: What was your inspiration behind creating your single “Willow”?
CS: That is a long story but in a nutshell, Willow is about a message that I received from someone who had passed for one of their loved ones that was a stranger to me at the time. It was based on that entire experience and I believe it was meant to help that person heal.
RRX: What was the creative process like creating your full length album “Songs For Peace, Songs for War.”? Do you have any behind the scenes details you would like to share with us?
CS: Every single song came to me with absolutely no effort, almost as I was guided by a higher power. The album was recorded in my home studio and had a lot to do with stages of my life at the time.
RRX: Do you have anything you wish to share with the universe pertaining to Man the Mute? Any plans for a tour or album?
CS: There are no plans for tour as of yet but I plan to bring Man The Mute to life in a live setting and I am actually working on a second album.
RRX: Do you have any other musical or artistic endeavors or projects that you wish you share with the universe?
Cesar Soto: I try to stay busy mixing and helping others bring their musical projects to life.
RRX: What is your personal definition of success and what does it mean to you?
CS: My personal definition of success is being happy doing what you’re doing at whatever level you are at. As long as you are at peace doing what you are doing, that’s really all that matters.
RRX: Life constantly carves out new routes for us to explore, and on these journeys, we encounter chances to learn and grow. What is the most significant lesson you have discovered throughout your personal life journey?
CS: Adapt. Just adapt to everything that comes to you in life. Make the best of it.
Little Alien Invasion – The Weird Side of the Internet – by Liam Sweeny.
So we’re all seeing drones, huh? Wild. The Capital Region, as well as the New York City area and especially New Jersey is in the scratching end of a rash of unexplained drone flights. Sometimes they’re just flying about willy-nilly, and sometimes they’re flying in “men-in-suits” places, like restricted airspace. And if the government, any part of it, knows what’s up, they’re not saying a word.
“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus,” said National Security Council’s Communications Advisor John Kirby. “It appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully.”
So it makes you wonder what’s going on, right? If they’re drones operated lawfully, what’s the game? Why all of them, right now? I can lawfully take pictures of a nuclear facility, but absent some very good and logical reason, someone is going to come out and talk to me.
Is it a prank? Is it like the creepy clowns that were spotted everywhere in 2016? I’m sure they’re cool as cucumbers at the podium with all the reporters, but they have to be shitting bricks. So what if it’s not from Iran? Everybody knows that the best nutcases are forged in the U.S. of A.
My theory, and sweet Lord I hope it’s true, is that this is the close encounter of the third kind. This is the alien invasion. Only these aren’t the scout craft – these are the motherships. Because we have a lot of nerve just assuming that human beings are the standard for creature size in the universe. That was what the dinosaurs must have thought. So these little grays want to take over the earth, and it wouldn’t even be hard. If they had a lawn seat at the pandemic, they probably have a good idea how to take us out.
Let’s just hope they’re here for their favorite brand of blunt wraps and that’s it.
Kidney disease, Chronic kidney disease ckd, Doctor hold model to study and treat in hospital.
Deadly Trade – The Weird Side of the Internet – by Liam Sweeny.
When people do stupid things, and I mean really stupid things, we’re all tempted to ridicule and mock, and sometimes we’re just stunned at what that person was foolish enough to do. But then sometimes you feel sorry for them, that they thought they had to do something so foolish to get what they want, and especially in cases of young people, you have to wonder if somebody should have been there to protect them from themselves.
Meet Xiao Wang, a 24-year-old Chinese man who was once a 17-year-old Chinese boy desperately wanting an iPhone 4, which was, at the time, the Big Daddy of phones. His parents wouldn’t get it for him because they couldn’t get it for him because even back then the iPhone was “arm and leg” expensive. And no one wanted to trade arms and legs, but Xiao had one thing that was in demand – a healthy kidney.
He went to a shady middleman and an even shadier doctor and traded his healthy organ for $3,200.00 American, which was enough for an iPhone 4. They told him he could lead a normal life with one kidney, and that was true if they bothered to not botch the operation. And they would say they didn’t; they got the kidney, he survived. But the operating room wasn’t sanitary, and he got an infection that led into the other kidney. Now he’s on permanent dialysis.
I said before about wanting to ridicule people doing stupid things, but clearly something was wrong in his life where he felt he needed an iPhone 4. Maybe he went to a rich school and the kids made fun of him for not having one. But I think the whole entirety of life failed this kid, and what’s worse is he failed himself.
Progeny, a new progressive rock band based out of Albany, had its debut performance at Steamer 10 on Saturday. They performed songs by ELP, Genesis, Yes, Rush, and more.
Join us at the Strand Theatre on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025 @ 7:30pm for an amazing tribute to the one and only Kris Kristofferson!
Featuring talented musicians Jonathan Newell, Laura Roth, Megan Kathryn Houde, Ayla Riley, Michael Eck, Orion Kribs, Keanen Stark, Jo Agopovich, Tania Susi, Al & Kathy Bain, Chris Wisniewski, Mel & Mark Guarino, Greg Bucking, Bob Tressler, Amanda Rogers, Johnny Clifford, Billy Eli, John Lavender II, Lucas Garrett and Jeff Sophn, plus The Lazy Suns & The Bluebillies!
$20 General admission, $15 Seniors/Students/Veterans. Tickets are available at the Strand Box Office; cash or check only or online at Brown Paper Tickets.
Doors into the lobby, coffee shop and box office open at 6:00pm. For more information and the ticketing link, please visit our website at www.mystrandtheatre.org. The Strand Theatre is located at 210 Main St, Hudson Falls, NY.
Please visit our website, Facebook or Instagram accounts for a list of upcoming events at the Strand.
On Sunday, Peak Music Studios presented “Finding Christmas,” a benefit for Building on Love, a charity that financially helps families facing life-altering medical illnesses.
