Andrew Youssef/OC Weekly

Here's my dream interview, still

Nine years ago, I was in this wannabe new-wave band based in Santa Ana. Back then, our big goal in life was to get featured in OC Weekly. The band imploded, as bands are wont to do, way before we even got a concert listing in the Calendar section (not even a Locals Only, sob!). The funny thing was, when the music editor job came up two years ago, the fact that I played at places such as the Gypsy Den and DiPiazza's and rehearsed in a warehouse in Santa Ana (we even played the first OC Music Awards showcase ever!) gave the hiring powers-that-be the impression that I knew enough about Orange County music to give me the job.
I took it gleefully, of course, knowing my life would be a whirlwind of awesome: free shows and new music, VIP passes to festivals and secret shows. I never anticipated how much work it would be: the sleepless nights writing Top 10 lists, editing concert reviews at 2 a.m., chasing down Bradley Nowell's friends and family two days before we went to press. Still, it was all worth it.
Along the way, I got married and started a family, giving birth to the cutest baby boy IN THE WORLD. My priorities changed, and I realized I needed a grown-up job. So now I leave the Weekly for a job at a university, taking with me only boxes full of concert stubs and shelves overflowing with promo CDs. That, and enough awesome music memories to last a lifetime.

More >>

Greg Kuehn

Greg Kuehn and his sons from FIDLAR, Elvis and Max

​
More >>

​

If you haven't seen Lady Gaga's latest video, "You and I", in which she transforms to look like a dude, then you were probably confused by last night's opening of the VMAs. Yes, Lady Gaga can play a convincing roughed-up guy, but her chameleon skills aren't easy to come by. It doesn't matter how many stylists you have, how many producers work for you, or how much dough the record label throws your way, because ultimately if you don't have the chops don't bother changing your look (it won't help). With out a doubt real iconic artists, like Lady Gaga, Madonna, and David Bowie, have the talent to pull off different styles and branch out to different genres. Some pay off and some definitely don't.

More >>

​

Most people who grew up in the early '80s were lucky enough to witness MTV's revolutionary images but for many of us, who were just in grade school at the time, the cutting-edge visuals that appeared before us were too conceptual for us to comprehend.

It wasn't until the early '90s (when we were allowed more TV time) that we could really sit and process the music videos, and were able to differentiate our musical tastes. Also, by this time MTV's original programming had began to launch several new shows, so MTV wasn't just a musical haven but was slowly becoming a mecca for all things cool and thought provoking.

So while the generation before us had Michael Jackson's "Thriller," we had yet to experience high-budgeted, mega, videos until way later. And that was just the beginning.

More >>