The Renegades at The CIA

Curtains are closed, crowd is talking, suddenly you hear the first notes of their single Interstellar Vendetta. The crowd suddenly hushes up and the curtain opens. With Sean Real on guitar and vocals, Andrew Raines on guitar, Remy Dixon on drums, and their newest member Sasha Hsuczyk on bass. There is one thing you always know you will get at a Renegades show and that is a good time. As they play thru the set you can tell they are really getting into it. Seans stage antics get bigger and bigger and Andrews guitar solos get better and better. Midway thru the set they come out with Rock The 40 Oz. by Leftover Crack and the energy in the room grows to a new level. Ending the show with Prehistoria by Andrew Raines you are amazed at how fast time seem to go.

Article and Photos by Josh Smith

Drum Corner - Hand Cramps

Hand cramps used to be a big problem for me. It wasn't until I started talking to other drummers about it that I realized its a much larger problem than I thought. You're playing a big show, first song just ended crowd is going wild, you start jamming to the second song and all of a sudden your thumb is stuck to the palm of your hand. Spikes of pain are running though you. What do you do? How can you stop it from happening again?
The First thing to if this happens to you live is BREATH! You want to try and get as much oxygen to your hand as possible. You don't want to say fuck it and play thru the pain but you certainly can't stop mid song. Try playing mainly with your other hand for the song or even one handed if you are able too. When the song ends take a swig of water and keep breathing. The pain and cramp should go away pretty soon.
Now for some prevention. It is much easier and certainly less painful if you avoid this situation. There are several different things you can do. I recommend doing all of them.
First, buy drummers gloves. With that you spent on your drums I'm sure you have an extra $20 laying around someplace. I got the zildjian gloves from guitar center for no more than $25. What these gloves do is keep your muscles warm which prevents cramps. At first I thought it would be hard to play with gloves on but in fact they are very thin and extremely comfortable. Not only do they help to prevent cramps but they keep your hands from getting too torn up if you like it rough.
Second, warm up before the show. Letting your muscles loosen up is important not just to prevent cramps but also to improve your playing. You don't see pro football players go into a game without stretching, this is the same thing. Backstage, in your truck, where ever you are just practice. Some single strokes and paradiddles are good. Do them at varying speeds.
Lastly, stretch your fingers. Just like the football players this helps loosen you up. You also want to slowly massage your hands one at a time.
I hope this helps some of you out there. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them.

By Josh Smith

Anchored Cross - The NeoClassical Metal Solo Project

Andrew Raines started playing acoustic guitar at the tender age of 9 when his parents gave him lessons. With what he has made out of himself you would never have guessed at the time he hated it. "I started really getting into punk, and hard rock, and eventually decided to try and learn how to play." Andrew tells us. Let's back track a little bit to '98 when he started to mess around with the keyboard. Following, several years later was bass and just recently the drums.

Andrew's past band experiences have taught him a lot. "...it was with my song "Dark" that I began to develop a feel for Aeolian, and started to crave a more passionate sound." Most of the songs from his previous band iBNH used the pentatonic scale. His time in iBNH also taught him techniques such as legatos, pull-offs, and vibratos.
Aside from just being sick of the name iBNH, Anchored Cross came along when Andrew started listening to Yngwie J. Malmsteen, "The godfather of neo-classical metal." His music is also influenced by speed metal and video games. You can definitely hear his video game influence when you listen to his rendition of Hill of Despair which was originally composed for Final Fantasy.
Cemetery Symphony, the now tentative name for his first CD, is due to be released later in '07. He is currently working with The Fine Print to try and put a show together for a little later this year.
You can check him out at www.myspace.com/anchoredcross











Article and photos by Josh Smith

The Fine Print Merch Announcement

The Fine Print ( www.myspace.com/tfpmusic ) would like to announce they are now selling t-shirts. They go for the low price of just $12 a piece. These beautiful shirts have the band name on the front and a list of members on the back. If you would like to purchase one please feel free to send a message to the band.