by Billy Morrison.

OK. So let’s get the self defamatory, disapproving stuff out of the way first. I do believe that I just reached a new low in terms of…. “I really must get around to”……”I gotta remember to”….. or even….”they’ll never notice I’m not doing it!” I do a few blogs here and there, a couple of written pieces now and again, but by FAR the most enjoyable column I have done in recent years has been this one – for Modern Guitars. I am actually surprised and honored that these guys even wanna hear from me! So with all that said, how does one wait TEN MONTHS between journal entries??? Well, step this way kiddies, and I will explain...

First of all, last summer was such a fun time for me. The CIRCUS DIABLO album finally hit the stores, and we set off around the country on the Ozzfest, playing shows in clubs on the days off, and generally enjoying the process of having an album on the shelves. The video for the first single became the NUMBER ONE most viewed music video on YouTube for a while, with over a MILLION hits!! Now that is pretty cool for a small rock band with their first album just been released. So the touring mode sets in and I start to sleep late on the bus, get up, roll onto stage, jump around like a lunatic, get offstage, do three hours of interviews and press, watch a movie and crawl back into my bunk on the bus while it drives to the next city. Times that by about nine weeks!! All in all, it was a great tour, but its hard to keep up with daily business when you are out there like that. So – that’s excuse number one. Album and tour.

The tour ended and I immediately started shooting movie number three. A bigger movie, with a bigger role, which meant more weeks on set. It was a slasher movie called Basement Jack, and I played a detective. My only requests when they offered me the role were 1) I want a gun. A big gun! 2) I wanna die spectacularly. Oh yeah – and 3) I wanna get paid!! Well, they honored all three things, so I find myself appearing at this years Fangoria Festival at the LA Convention center on April 25th to talk about both ‘Evilution’ and ‘Basement Jack’ on panels! Not sure what a panel is exactly, but if you wanna watch me talk like I actually know about things (but really have no idea what I’m doing!) – come down. There – excuse number two. A movie.

I could be all clever and write a paragraph about each of the other excuses, but I’m now boring myself!! So lets just list em and get on with more exciting things – like whats happening NOW!! Let me see, the end of 2007? Well – websites, radio shows, Camp Freddy gigs, a trip to the UK to watch The Sex Pistols (FUCKING AWESOME!!!!), The Sundance Film Festival (say hello to my li'l friend - the MOOSE!!) DJ appearances, Diablo with Velvet Revolver and Alice In Chains, and four weeks vacation over Xmas. I am now officially done apologizing for waiting so long between journal entries! If you’re still upset……DEAL WITH IT!!

OK – 2008 has started with a bang for me – and a decision to spend the year concentrating on solo material and to put Circus Diablo on ice for a while. The OG members (Myself, Billy Duffy, Ricky Warwick and Brett Scallions) were all very busy and we all felt that we could be proud of the first album and would rather wait to do another album until we can all be together to do it. That’s the beauty of a home grown operation like that – we can pretty much do what we want. So Diablo will do another album for sure….but not yet.

Now, for me, that has meant two things. First of all, a return to an album that was recorded 10 years ago! I have just released “STIMULATOR” as a solo album on I-Tunes worldwide. The album was originally recorded when I fronted a band called Stimulator in the UK back in 98, but the label was swallowed in a huge corporate merger and the record was never released. SO – as a stop gap between the Diablo album and new Billy Morrison material, I decided to release the record as a solo album, and call it “Stimulator”. There are a FEW hard copy signed CD’s available. CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO GET YOUR LIMITED EDITION STIMULATOR CD. And you can always visit the ubiquitous MySpace page for details. CLICK HERE TO VISIT MYSPACE.COM/BILLYMORRISONMUSIC. I’m currently doing all the press etc that goes along with putting your own album out on your own label (King Mob Music). I gotta say that although it’s a lot more work, running the release completely myself is VERY fulfilling.

At the same time, I have been busy recording new material, both for a movie soundtrack and for a planned EP to be released later in the year. I have been writing songs with a good friend of mine, Patrick Cornell. He ended up being the bass player for Circus Diablo last year and we hit it off musically. So we both entered 2008 with a creative streak and wrote a few tracks which we have been recording in Los Angeles recently. Both of us are really happy with the results, and so we plan a series of EP releases over the next year or so. I believe the “Album” is dead, and that people only want the two or three best tracks at any given time. So therefore, three 4 Track EP’s, released over a twelve month period feels right to me. The first one should be out in the Fall.

You know – I realize I have been typing for a LONG time and that this entry has become a bit of an epic!! So why don’t I stop now before you all fall asleep!! Let me know if you enjoy this inane rambling, and also let me know what you wanna hear about from me? Just guitars? The “business” aspect of it all? The whole “movie” thing that I am involved in? I am a huge advocate of providing content and for listening to what people want – so let me know how I’m doing. And in turn, I will do my best (which sometimes is FAR from good enough!!) to journal more frequently. OK – that’s it. Gotta go. I will be back……soon!!

Billy