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Back again kids. And there seems to be a lot of 'behind the scenes' goings on happening at the moment. From TV show pitch meetings, to talk of some Camp Freddy movie soundtrack stuff, to the announcement of some Circus Diablo dates. As usual, there are a ton of irons in the fire, and in my experience, if ONE of the things even gets green-lit, we'll be doing well!! Its funny - you get into the business when you are young to play loud guitar, get laid and get drunk. You end up meeting thousands of people who talk champagne and deliver beer. Most of your time is spent in meetings, talking about stuff thats never going to happen. And less and less time actually playing an instrument!!!

I'm not complaining. I have a great life and I love the business end of it all anyway. I am just making observations. Right now, there are a lot of meetings each week, discussing lots of ideas, plans, thoughts and deals. I have learnt to enjoy the process - to approach it all as part of the job. The biggest single mistake in the entertainment business is to get excited, to start spending the money, before the check has cleared!! MANY times over the years, I have been involved in deals that have seemed watertight. For sure. They love it. Gonna happen ....... and then the phone stops ringing, no one has the courtesy to call and tell you its not actually happening after all, and you waste two months of your life wondering if there is a problem? I stopped doing that YEARS ago!! Let me tell you something. If they havent called back in a couple of days, FORGET IT!! If they are excited, they will move Heaven And Earth and it will be done and signed quickly. So when the VP of the label (he's the one in the expensive suit) tells you that he's gonna pass it to the marketing guy (he's the one in the cheap suit) to play to the radio people (they're the ones not wearing suits) - move on and call another label!! I LOVE this business!!!

Circus Diablo will be playing a few 'launch' shows in August. Keep your eyes on the site for details. WWW.CIRCUSDIABLO.COM. And Camp Freddy will be playing the X-Games party on August 5th at the House Of Blues on Sunset Blvd. That one is a private party. CF are also trying to sort out a few other fun things and details will appear on that site when they are confirmed. WWW.CAMPFREDDY.NET. The radio show on Indie 103.1 FM continues to roll on inexorably (wow - GOOD word, Billy!!) and I continue to have a lot of fun with everything. Went to see both Dave's (Navarro) band, The Panic Channel, and Foreigner this week at The Roxy. Both were great nights out, and both were completely different. Dave's band brought a ton of young kids out, and the Foreigner show was a Charity event that saw the Old Guard attending. Both bands played amazing sets and sounded great.

I also took a nice two week vacation to Hawaii recently, and caught up on my scuba diving. Tons of great dives (drift diving, sharks, rays, barracuda) and I am now speaking with my guys at O'Neil and seeing about having a Camp Freddy wetsuit made!! How dope would that be? And a great way to let the sharks know I am coming ... red and white Camp Freddy logos all over the suit!! Hawaii is awesome, and diving is my passion. Dont get to do it as much as I would like, but it serves as the perfect antithesis to loud guitar and running around for an hour like a lunatic. Under the water, its quiet, peaceful and calm. Try it - you might like it.

More new Boss pedals arrived last week, to get wired into my rack, including the new AC-3 Acoustic Simulator. I'm gonna try it in Diablo, seeing as I don't wanna stand on a stage with a J200 and look like Bon Jovi, but we do need some 'acoustic-ish' tones in a couple of the songs. I'll let you know what I think once the Guru (aka Bob Bradshaw) has wired them into the switching system. And my poor, long suffering tech, John Lee, has his work cut out at next weeks rehearsals. I will be taking down NINE of my Les Pauls to have ALL the strings changed!! I am useless at keeping the strings fresh and since they all seem to have some undetermined black stuff hanging out all over the strings, I figure its time for a change!!! Probably sound great afterwards, right??!!

OK, I am droning on now. Wanted to check in and drop my two cents in on the Modern Guitars site. Job done. Back to this grey, June Gloom Friday in Los Angeles. Peace.

Billy