Sunday, October 7, 2007

Von Garcia's I Think a Think and Dave Corp's The Sweet Life have been released on the Sluggo's Goon Music label!!!!

Von Garcia is James VonBuelow's project, a guitartist and co-writer of some tunes on Acts of God. The debut disc features a guest performance by jazz guitarist Ben Monder, as well as Mark Sunshine, Steve Decker and Damon Trotta (musicians on Acts of God). An alternate version of Ursa Minor from Acts of God is on the disc. I contributed guitar and mandolin parts to a few of the tunes.

Dave Corp is an experimental jazz/rock trio - no way to easily describe, so go and listen to some samples!!! Check out Von Garcia, Dave Corp, and Vehicle at their myspace sites, at CD Baby and over at www.sluggosgoonmusic.com.

Two tracks off of Acts of God are available for download, or to add to your myspace player, from the myspace site:


Be sure to also visit

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Acts of God has been listed as one of the discs "Spinning in the Editors' heads this month" in Guitar Player magazine's September issue!!! Click here to see the reviews with new additions from July and August.

I recently joined the myspace community as well - please visit and send a friend request. It's been great to hear from other bands and check out some great music...Sluggo's Goon Music, the label for Acts of God with the sole mission to create music with no boundaries, also has a site - so please check them out !


Damon Trotta is busy getting ready for the release of Von Garcia and DaveCorps, two projects on the Sluggo's Goon Music label. Vehicle, Damon's funk band, is also on the label.

Von Garcia is James VonBuelow's project, a guitartist and co-writer of some tunes on Acts of God. The disc features jazz guitarist Ben Monder, as well as Mark Sunshine, Steve Decker and Damon Trotta (musicians on Acts of God). An alternate version of Ursa Minor from Acts of God is on the disc. I contributed guitar and mandolin parts to a few of the tunes.

Dave Corps is an experimental jazz/rock trio - no way to easily describe, so go and listen to some samples!!! Check out some samples of Von Garcia, Dave Corps, and Vehicle at their myspace sites, and over at www.sluggosgoonmusic.com.

I'm working on some new material with Manfred Dikkers, one of the drummers on Acts of God. More updates on this to follow soon...

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Click here for an MP3 version of an interview (59 MB file) that was aired as part of the July 17 airing of a show called Soundscapes on the Dividing Line Network, a progressive rock internet radio station. The interview is just over 1 hour, and includes a few of the songs from the new disc Acts of God, a discussion of the disc and the project in general, and lots of other topics thanks to some great questions Woody Harris, the host of the show, had asked.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Some new reviews for the disc have been added below, as well as on the Reviews page. Babyblaue-seiten, a German progressive rock web site, has voted Acts of God pick of the month for July. We also have obtained distribution for the disc through justforkicks.de, a German distributor. If there are any other distributors interested in carrying the disc, please contact the label directly at www.sluggosgoonmusic.com. Thanks to all the radio shows, magazines and fans who've listened to the disc and shared their comments and thoughts on it - and most of all, to the people who have supported us by purchasing the disc! We appreciate it!!!

I recently did an interview for a show called Soundscapes on the Dividing Line Network, a progressive rock internet radio station. Some of the details on the conceptualization and realization of Acts of God, as well as the project in general, will be featured. It will be airing Tuesday, July 17 from 6-9 PM EST, so check it out if you can! Thanks to Woody Harris, the host who asked some very different and interesting questions - check out his myspace page for more info on Woody and the show.

An interview was also done on Randy Allar's weekly fusion show in Cleveland for WCSB this past Friday. An MP3 version will be posted shortly on this site. Thanks to Randy for the lengthy interview and for playing tracks off Torn Between Dimensions and Acts of God!

WCSB has some links on their site for people to become active in the fight to keep small internet radio shows like these alive and well. These links are also posted below. Please visit these sites to find out more about what government here in the U.S. is trying to do to make it financially impossible for these stations to continue what they do. To be able to listen to independent artists who have no other way to have their music broadcast on the radio than through these shows, please contact your Congressional Representatives and Senators, and fight to keep this kind of programming alive and well.

Webcaster's Day of Silence
WCSB will participate in the Webcaster's Day of Silence, Tuesday, June 26th, 2007. For more information, visit the links below, and PLEASE contact your Congressional Representatives and Senators. Ask them to support the Internet Radio Equality Act. Thank you for your support.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

For MP3 preview clips for tracks off of Acts of God, including the full-length version of Threads, click here.

Acts of God is available for purchase at CD Baby. Thanks to everyone who's purchased and asked about the disc!


Acts of God
911
Threads
Ursa Minor
Martyr
End in Blue
No Place
Choke Loud
Refugee

Glenn Snelwar: Guitars, Mandolins, Synths
Damon Trotta: Bass Guitars, Digideroo, Various Percussion, Vocals

Additional Guest Musicians:

Mark Sunshine: Vocals
Steve Decker: Drums
Manfred Dikkers: Drums
James vonBuelow: Guitars
Dave Archer: Synths

See the Trailer with full MP3 stream of 911.

AT WAR WITH SELF - ACTS OF GOD

At War With Self - "sounds more like a psychological diagnosis than a band..." an appropriate description in the biography for the debut of the project and its first release, Torn Between Dimensions, led by Glenn Snelwar (Gordian Knot), featuring Michael Manring (Michael Hedges, Attention Defecit) and Mark Zonder (Fates Warning, Temple Within). The instrumental trio created an amalgam of tight-knit compositions encompassing progressive rock, metal, jazz, ambient and classical stylings, often within the boundaries of each composition. The end result was critically acclaimed and continues to grow a following as word of mouth of the project expands.

For Acts of God, the second release from the At War With Self project, Snelwar has desired to create a set of compositions with the intentions of living up to the label 'progressive' by dramatically changing almost every facet of the project while staying true to the underlying inspiration of the project's inception - to combine disparate styles and create music with no boundaries. No better choice than Damon Trotta as a co-writer and bassist to create what is sure to be as intriguing a release as Torn Between Dimensions. Trotta's background ranges from co-founder of metal acts Non-Fiction and System Addict, to the funk outfit Vehicle and has worked with the likes of Bernie Worell and Isaac Hayes. Prior to that, Snelwar and Trotta were in a progressive hardcore/metal trio together.. Trotta and Snelwar are back to their roots, with some added influences. With Trotta on bass, vocals, synths and programming and Snelwar on guitars, mandolin and synths, the duo is assisted by Sluggo's Goon Music labelmates James vonBuelow (guitars), Steve Decker (drums), Mark Sunshine (vocals), Dave Archer (synths) and Manfred Dikkers (drums) to create some truly stunning, inspired progressive music.

Torn Between Dimensions had a warm, organic feel as the all-instrumental interplay of Snelwar, Manring and Zonder created a complex, but introspective, set of related compositions. For Acts of God, that introspection is turned outward in the form of a cold stare at conflicts and resolutions prompted by recent world events. From the intensity and imagery-invoking 911 and Martyr, to the elated solace present in No Place and Ursa Minor, to the desolation of End in Blue and Refugee, Acts of God has managed to strike a balance of emotions that once again run the gamut from elation and warmth to fear and horror.

Snelwar describes his collaboration with Trotta as the latest incarnation of At War With Self: "What's so amazing to me about Acts of God is that the vocals lend themselves perfectly to this set of compositions. To change focus from an all-instrumental project to a set of songs mostly containing vocals has strengthened the idea that At War With Self can successfully morph, live up to its name and push the boundaries from one release to the next. That, together with the heavy intertwining of funk and electronic styles with metal and progressive ideas really make this something unique - add to that the ability to get all of the musicians from the label to contribute tremendously in their own way without limitations on what they do - who all come from different backgrounds with vastly different styles - the project took on a life of it's own, yet stayed true to the original idea of combining disparate styles effectively and with incredible intensity".

Acts of God is released on Sluggo's Goon Music.

Here are direct links to reviews that have been done for the disc, more to come soon (for downloadable PDF versions, visit Reviews page):