I just wanted to throw up a quick post to alert everyone to a new Daniel Johnston project that was just released.  That’s right a “NEW” project.  I know that many of you are familiar with Johnston, but may have thought that his career was on hold.  If so, your assumptions couldn’t be further from the truth.  Besides continued touring and having a solo exhibit of his art currently featured on DirtyPilot.com,  Daniel will also be releasing a brand new album on October 6th.  For the upcoming Is and Always Was, Johnston teamed up with Jason Falkner to create his first album of all new material in 6 years.  Yes, yes…. this is all very exciting, but this post isn’t really intended to be a focus on any of this; it’s actually about something much more unexpected…. a Daniel Johnston video game. (more…)

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I don’t know what the fuck has changed lately, but I’ve been receiving a lot of emails with requests for me to post shit on the site.  Help has been few and far between, so I’ve been getting backed up and don’t generally have time to check out someone’s myspace tracks or research some random bullshit that isn’t already on my radar.  I do like receiving the requests, however, but far too many of these emails show clear evidence that the senders have absolutely no idea about Monster Fresh or about the type of material that we would even be interested in posting anyway.  Nothing against anyone because, in thruth, we just don’t have the manpower right now and I haven’t even had an opportunity to look over most of the stuff.  Who knows?  Maybe there was actually an original idea hidden in there somewhere but, if you think that I give a fuck about the new David Gray release,  then you are obliviously mistaken.

The other day I received yet another email from a stranger with a project, but this was different.  Something in the message caught my interest immediately and prompted me to delve further.  Now, I am only recommending the same of you.  Take a moment from from what you’re doing, refocus your attention, and deposit these two terms into your memory bank:
1) “PaperMonster” and 2) “Dirty Pilot“.

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So, I finally created a Flickr account for Monster Fresh.  I have a backlog of concert photography and extra shots that never even make it on to the site.  Since I’m new to the Flickr game, I decided to knock around the site to see exactly what it had to offer and what else I could find in the photo sets of other users.  I typed “Daniel Johnston” into a search and was surprised to find a photo pop up that was titled, “Extremely Rare Daniel Johnston Converse“.  I knew about the, somewhat tentative, plans for the collaboration, but I never knew if I would actually see the final product come to fruition. (more…)

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Say what you will about our inability to beat a deadline, because we have an unparalleled skill for beating a dead horse like Chris Brown.  I only just received the review for SXSW from our temporarily disabled Austin, TX correspondent, Dr. Radical.  Based on what I’ve read, I’d like to believe that maybe this horse was prematurely buried alive and there’s still some breath in this massive beast.  Since Dr. Radical is an Austin local, his perspective on the festivities which took place is substantially different from everything else that I’ve read about the festival.  He also provides some information about maneuvering through the chaos and getting the most out of  time and money.  Don’t look at this like a review that’s a month late.  Rather, let’s look at this like an 11 month advance on the inside scoop for next year

-Dead C

SXSW 2009

I hobbled onto the bus, got my seat and looked over at a kid holding a box of cd’s. He was either going to ask what happened to my leg or see if I wanted to hear some “good” music.

An older lady missing her front teeth got on the bus after me. The bus started moving while she was getting situated. She caught her balance and looked over at the box of burned cd’s.  She sat down and asked kid, “What you got there?”

“They just hip hop cd’s for sale”

“OH…he he, I thought they was chocolate bars, he he he!”

I nodded and smiled to myself, and thought, “South by Southwest really is here!”

Lots of bands come into town for SXSW. Great bands, alright bands, and really shitty bands.   By the end of the week I will have seen a good number of each.

There are day shows and night shows. Night shows usually cost money and day shows are always free.

I’ve been in Austin for 6 years, and that helps out a lot also. I don’t spend much money at SXSW. I usually rely on the day shows and personal hook ups. (more…)

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So it’s about 20 minutes before I’m supposed to do my interview with songwriting legend Daniel Johnston when my girlfriend Kim walks into the Comet Tavern. I’m drinking a Mac & Jacks African Amber and trying to get all of my notes and shit organized because I’m still under the misguided idea that I may actually be able to gear the upcoming conversation with the manic depressive musician into some direction of my choosing. Already, nothing is going as planned.

I hand Kim a DV camera and inform her that she will be filming the interview and then ask her to watch all of my equipment and notes while I run to QFC to get film. I found out the day before that I would not be recieving the Digital SLR camera that I had ordered weeks prior (this situation will be covered in another article) and so I brought an old manual Cannon AE1 for which I had accidentally bought the wrong film, in my frenzy to reach the venue on time. I purchased new film and rushed back to the bar only to find out that the Camera battery was dead anyway, so I was fucked. No camera to go with the photopass. Another opportunity lost, but such is the way of MonsterFresh.

As soon as we walk across the street to the venue, Neumos Crystal Ball Reading Room, I spot Daniel’s brother/tour manager, Dick Johnston whom I recognized from the documentary. I shook his hand and he led me around the building so that we could get things rolling. If you have seen the film The Devil and Daniel Johnston, you may remember Dick as the brother who’s ribs were broken by Daniel on Christmas. He set up the interview for me and is working as Daniel’s tour manager. Their father is Daniel’s manager and their sister Margie Johnston has been known to help with the management of his art. The family is very involved in Daniel’s finances in such ways as insuring that he is paid sufficiently, that his rent is paid, that he has groceries, etc.

We turn the corner and I see Daniel with his head lowered to the ground and smoking a cigarette. The front of his hair is yellowing from nicotine, he is wearing a faded black Spiderman T-shirt and a windbreaker, and he seems to be oblivious to who he is and what that actually means. He is standing very nonchalant outside of the building, as if he were unnoticible, when we approach. An employee of Neumos asks Daniel if he and/or Dick need anything in the way of food. Daniel has mentioned in the past that he is trying to lose the weight that he has gained over the years, no doubt due to his medication, so he makes sure to specify a “DIET” Coke in his request for a cheeseburger and fries. She says that she will go get some from a place down the street and, when Daniel implies that he will go up there himself, his brother/manager reminds him that he has a sound check to do and ushers him into the building as I follow behind.

At this point, I haven’t said shit and I am holding a vinyl copy of a live radio broadcast of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. I picked it up at my favorite local record store for Daniel, knowing his infatuation with monsters, and figured that I could use it now as an ice-breaker, considering that he didn’t even seem to react to the fact that I was there or wonder why. I say hello, inform him that I was there to do an interview, and give him the record. He responded with something to the effect of, “Man, this is really cool. I love Frankenstein!“. Dick informs Daniel that it will take a minute for soundcheck and that now would be a good time to do an interview, so Daniel agrees and finds a round table in the corner of the venue next to a bunch of trashcans to sit at. As I walk across the room to find a chair of my own, I notice that a couple of fans have lurked in but are standing back respectfully. I pull up my chair, sit down in the Chip & Peppers I scored at a thrift store, and immediately realize that I’m sitting in gum. Not old hard gum, mind you, but fresh sticky warm gum and it’s all over my ass. Fuck it! Just hit “RECORD“. We’re already in it. Let’s do this thing.

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