Damon Fibraio: Latest News

OK, so trying to kick myself into gear, I have massively overhauled a bit. There is a little flash player at the top of the page, that does work. It will auto play some selections from the music page, as you probably can hear. I uploaded newly remastered versions of a lot of stuff, most of which is playing in the player at the top of the page. I deleted things from the music page that I feel aren't up to snuff to make room for new stuff. Finally, I added an equipment page for those who are curious to see what is here. The THD site is being tweaked as well, to go over to The THD Official Page to check out things there. Hope you enjoy the updates and sign the damn guestbook already.

Laziness has set in and I have not been updating this site as I should, which is not good since I pay for it. Here's what's really going down.

THD is taking a bit of a break, but rehearsals should continue soon. We are apparently focussing on QueensRyche and Dream Theater triburtes as well as beginning to work on original material. At least, that's what the plan is this week. There are things going on like approaching booking agencies to get into big rooms. No new gigs have been booked beyond a second Cooks Cafe gig in July. However, hopefully, things will pick up soon.

After some delay, I am finally going to audition for Days Before Tomorrow, another original prog rock band with some serious gigs lined up, like JUune 7, opening for the Keith Emerson band at the STarland Ballroom and the LA Music Awares in November. Frm the stories I hear, their search for keyboard players has not been fun. For whatever reason, there was hesitation in auditioning me, but I think they are coming around thanks to the dilligence of Kelli who is doing backing vocals for them and is also one of THD's lead singers. We'll see how that goes, but from what Kelli says, it should be a no brainer.

I've been lax on my own stuff, as you can see. I had to reformat the recording computer due to some odd crap with Windows and am slowly getting it reconfigured. The new drum software I bought sounds cool, but there are things I am still trying to tweak to get a drum sound I am happy with. This coupled with laziness is making personal projects slow to come. I definitely need some motivation in this regard. You'd think with all the money I have spent over the years that I'd be using this stuff every day, but sadly, it is not the case and I should be ashamed of myself.

I am aware that there are issues with the site, and will try to fix them as I get the motivation, but honestly, I am a lazy bastard, I admit this and at least if you admit you have a problem, you can take steps to fix it. I just turned 35 years old last Saturday, though, and I think laziness only gets worse with time. I suppose one day the spark will hit me and I'll work on my music career one day, well, at least outside of these bands.

Well, my hosting provider, Host Baby, has done somw rok and updated things. ONe of the things is now a captia graphic when signing the guestbook. It does not look like I can turn it off and with the spam that I get through the guest book, sadly, I don't want to turn it off. Sorry to all the visually impaired people who use my site. You can always email me if you want to say hi, or if you use mozilla firefox, there is this pluging that will get the captia codes for you called WebVisum. And it does work.

More changes coming as I figure out what is new here. I know it's been dead here as I focused on THD, but I got some new drum programs in and maybe I can focus on my own projects again. I plan on uploading some remastered versions of songs that are up here already so stay tuned for that as I have time.

Well, despite issues with a van to haul the PA, and my dumb ass forgetting the thumb drive with all my samples on it for the keyboards and other technical glitches, the professionals that we are managed to pull off an impressive night of Dream Theater and Queensryche at Cooks Cafe last night. As soon as I get some audio or video or pics, I'll post them or you can always check out THD's web site for the skinny. We await further gigs, and in the meantime, my attention will be on a short break from keyboards and fixing The No Holds Barred Radio Network so we can actually broadcast again. But stay tuned, as more news will be coming as things look promising for the band. Who knows, I may actually have the down time to finish up personal project soon. After I heal from the soreness from last night.

on the THD web site, I have uploaded a THD teaser, recorded at our band practice on February 5, 2009. This is 25 minutes of practice, montages of songs and such. It is passable quality for a recording, but it is meant to give you all a look at what we sound like. Naturally, we're going to sound much bigger and better at Cooks Cafe on February 21, 2009, but this is designed to give you a taste of what to expect.

I am also auditioning for another band, Days Before Tomorrow, a progressive rock band with its own originals as well. Will keep you all posted on how that goes. I have heard their Cd and it is very nice indeed.

Work has slowed on my own projects while I have been working on THD material, but I hope to contineu with this stuff as time allows. I'll certainly try to keep everybody posted as time allows. Please sign the guestbook and try to beat out the spammers who should realize by now that they are not getting through due to a moderated guestbook. Sorry, guys, you are the lose and I am the win.

It's been quiet because I have been spending my time restructuring my internet radio station and learning Dream Theater songs in bulk for the next THD gig. See the calendar for the date. But, I have purchased a camcorder and can now post videos. This is my first attempt, posted on my facebook account. More are coming and I promise, I'll do better at aiming the camera next time. What do you want from me, I am blind? So, let's see if I embed this code here, what happens.

Yes, folks. It only took 9 months or so, but THD finally has its first gig. Go to THD's official web site to see the news. IN addition, work continues on Sick of Your Lies, including redoing all the guitar tracks. Still trying to figure out what to do about the leads from the original session, considering redoing them as well. May post another mix to let you all hear the progress. However, with THD focusing on a lot of Dream Theater in the coming months, I guess I know where my time will be spend for the foreseeable future. Gotta love the guys in my band.

Yes, still ehre. Amidst studio wars, internet station drama, and band stuff, I am still functioning. I actually seem to have done some recording lately. I uploaded a remixed version of Tomorrow is Gone with new drums. I also put up a rough mix of the first song from the new project, Sick of your lies, a.k.a. work in progress demo 1. Work still continues, but I want you all to hear the progress being made. Also, don't forget to check out THD's web site,and THD's Myspace page for the other side of my musical life. IN case I don't get an opportunity to update again, Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to everybody and hopefully 2009 will see more activity to this and other sites. Please, sign the guestbook and give feedback on the music here, it is greatly appreciated.

OK, everybody.

I am so sorry about lack of updates. I bet nobody even visits this site anymore. Honestly, nothing much has happened. I have rearranged thesstudio, set up the new recording computer and slowly am working out the bugs as time and motivation allow, amidst work, girlfriend and the like. So, here we are with an update, a small, but significant one.

Firstly, the band thing...

It seems to be back on track, because I am not giving anybody a choice any longer. So, allow me to introduce the new web site, THD band online. The site is under construction, but this is the band formed out of the ashes of queen of the Ryche, featuring myself on keys and vocals, Nat Gardner on guitars and vocals, Mark Raben on bass and vocals, Russ Murray on drums, and no vocla,s thank god, and Kelli McCleud on lead vocals. What will we be playing? Well, lots of stuff, including QueencRyche, but we are also working on other covers and originals as well. I'll be managing the THD web site and will be updating this site as well with news as it happens. Again THD band online is the site, give me a day or two to get a skeleton up and then we'll be ready to rock.

As for personal stuff?

Well, I remixed Tomorrow is Gone with new drums, similar to the Circumstances, Carry on and Perfect Strangers remixes done early this year. Have a glitch to fix in the mix, but will upload that shortly. From here, I am tweaking the system to start recording and will hopefully have soe new things up here as soon as I figure out the rest of the bugs in the new studio setup. Stay tuned, hopefully things will start picking up. Thanks if you've been stopping by, and if you are, tell your friends to come back and check things out as this iste will not bge dormant much longer. I am even reopening the guest book, hopefully we won't get moronic crap in this time.

Also, updated the links page to remove some things and add the THD web site, plus the bio, so check that out.

I really am still alive, everybody, but nothing much is happening. Hopefully, this weekend, we will destroy the old studio and rebuild it. Then things will get back tow ork. As for the so-called band, I haven't heard from anybody7 in weeks. The last thing I heard was our guitar player, Nat, went into the hospital with congestive heart failure, had tripple bypass, and is now home. Nobody calls and nat doesn't return calls, so I have no clue what is going on and really am not too concerned anyway. The new computer arrived some time ago, it is hot when it runs for a while, but it is fast and should hold up nicely. Once the rewiring is done, I will finish setting everything up on it and can start recording. Bought some new soft synths lately, like the oberheim obx vst version, an emulation of a keyboard I dearly love. The new MacBook pro is on the way which may be used for live performance stuff like b4 and pro53 and the oberheim synth, but we'll see. So, things are happening, slowly and behind the scenes, but after it is all done, I hope to have a lot of new things up here for all of you. I wish I didn't have to essentially remove all forms of communication with me, but maybe I'll return them once there are things to comment on. if you still visit here frequently loking for updates, I am sorry, but I will make it up to everybody once we get back on track.

Well, folks, sadly, I had to disable the guestbook since all it gets is spam that I have to delete and since I am sick of doing that, and nobody is signing it anymore, it goes away. If there is interest to have it back, then I'll turn it on again, I suppose. Another thing that jackasses on the net have ruined for others due to spam. I mean, god, some of the entries were just nonsense garbage characters. At least the ads for penis enlargement were somewhat amusing. Anyway, on other notes, still waitingt for new production computer and the studio rebuidl will commence, new keyboards are in like the korg m3 with the radias mounted into it, will try to get a pic up here soon, bgecuase it is bad ass. The band situation, well, I quit a cover band since it just wasn't my thing and the other band, named THD, is on hold while our guitar player is in the hospital with congestive heart failure. get well, soon, nat. Anyway, that band is bogged down anyway by other things, so it may be a little while before anything happens there. Yes, I am on hold due to things out of my controlo, but fear not, once things get themselves sorted out, lots of things will be happening around here, so hang in, it won't be quiet for muchy longer.

Folks, sorry about updates or the lack thereof. Lots of things going on, and I'll explain below. The only change to the site is cleanup, making sure that all download links are set up properly. Hope to start adding new things as we go along, but the studio has and is undergoing massive upgrades and renovations, band situations have changed and the like, so here is the whole story.

Firstly, we are in the process of ordering the new computer. It is being assembled, barring any more surprises, and should be here soon. ONce here, we tear the whole studio down and rewire and reassemble everything hopefully in a new and better setup.

2. Was in acover band for a whopping 3 rehearsals, but it just didn;'t work out so I quit.

3. sold and traded in some gear, so now the keyboard rig is trimmed down to a kurzweil k261, roland vk8m, motif xs7, korg radias and soon, m3 73 key version. the fantom xr, virus, x-station and other stuff have been sold.

Queen of the Ryche is back together, somewhat, without the douchebag singer and under a different name. The Name? THD. Will explain someday what it really means. We'll be doing a mix of Queensryche songs and other metal and rock stuff as well. More details as we have them.

And that's the nuts and bolts. Will be back hopefully soon with new stuff for you all.

And the final update is complete. I just put up Circumstances 2008 version. It is only streamable for now, since I may put it on a CD. But you can listen to it and comment away on the remix in the guestbook. Next update will be to do some clean up of the site, unless I get an inspiration to do more stuff.

God, I am sorry I started this. After having fun with Perfect Strangers, I just revamped Carry on Wayward Son and Rich's song, Sometimes. I am working on a remix of Circumstances as we speak and may post it in a few days. In the meantime, enjoy the new remixes and let me know what you think in the guestbook.

Well, happy New Year everybody. We kick off 2008 with a remix and slightly redone version of Perfect Strangers by Deep Purple. Head on over to the music page and check out the covers section, ti is the first one there. Was messing with some new drum samples and a new organ sound and just had to redo it and remix it and make it even louder and heavier. Since the new drums sound great, more redone versions of songs are coming, including tomorrow is gone, when we get the new mic for Rich to sing into, Sometimes, with a few other changes in instrumentation and who knows what else. May even redo the drums in Circumstances, too. The new project rich and I are working on is still held up, but once we get the computer purchyased in a few months, we'll be back on track, and I'll post the first finished song to give a teaser. And a new band in the works? Maybe a reconstituion of the old band? That's the rumors I am hearing. From what I am being told, Mark, Kelli, nat and Russ are looking to form a new project with me on keys. Transportation has even been arranged. I now just wait for them to let me know when practices begin. I am hoping this is not a hoax. Will provide more details when they occur.

On a sad note, I may have to disable the guestbook as nobody signs it but spammers, really. I don't want to do that, so if you want to leave me notes, use the guestbook or it is going away. The forums that used to be here are already gone. I would like people to be able to email me, but spammers have found that, too. It's a shame the people have to be such losers and flood the internet with waste and force people to disable cool features of a web site, but it is out of my hands. I'll tolerate it a little longer as long as people sign away, but if you don't use it, it goes bye bye. More to come this year, which looks to be shaping up to be very interesting indeed.

I sadly don't have any new things up on the site, but I wanted to post this little thing here to wish everybody who visits here a happy holiday, Merry Christmas, and most importantly, a safe and happy 2008. I hope that in the next year, we will get back on track here, finish the album and other projects in the works. So, keep checking back, because next year should be great.

Well, while my life may suck, I did manage to do somthing festive for my fan. Uh...I mean fans. So, in the music section, you'll see a new section called Christmas music with two songs in it, that are freely downloadable, so go enjoy them and let me know what you think in the guestbook. And the next update will be some housekeeping and updating of song bios and such. Stay tuned.

There's no new updates, really, I am spending two weeks in florida taking a working vacation. However, I have uploaded a bunch of Queen of the ryche recordings to sections on the music page. There are two additional sections n the music page now, queen of the Ryche at Starland Ballroom, and Queen of the Ryche bonus tracks. Enjoy them, and maybe I can get up a holiday tune in December for you all. I plan on going back through the songs, especially the live band tracks and adding more to the notes for each song in a future update.

Nothing new to report, honestly, everybody, as I have opted to kind of back off from musical projects for the time being, but while going through things, I found a corrected master of Surrender 2000 that doesn't sound all time compressed, so I uploaded that. I hope, anyway. Anyway, go download the corrected song. As for future plans, well, you'll know when I know, as everything has basically grinded to a halt. All I can hope for is that 2008 goes better than 2007 did.

OK, everybody, in looking through my stack of stuff, I found some more things to toss into the music section. Under the originals heading are two songs, the original demo version of Lonely Season, free for you to snag, and another song called Moving on, which I intend on redoing, but the original is here in all its glory. Also, in the press clippings section, a link to a podcast interview done on me last November, called the Whole Note Podcast. This 74 minute interview provides a history of my career and insite into my head a bit, plus discusses The No Holds Barred Radio Network that I also run. I hope you check it out and enjoy it and as always, leave any comments in the guestbook or you can always email me.
Until next time.

OK, everybody. Little story. You know that version of Sometimes, 2007 version that has been up on the site for a bit? Well, a few weekends ago, Rich and I were listening to it in the car and we noticed one thing. It hurts. Yes, it is percing in the higher registers due to me trying sound forge 9.0's new mastering presets. So, today, I remastered it using my regular plugins. And it sounds less shrill and piercing now. So, if you have downloaded Sometimes, 2007 version, please redownload it, because this version will save your eardrums. I am still toying around with remixing the whole thing, though, but for now, it sounds less shrill.

OK, everybody, just because I am anal retentive, I updated the bio to reflect the latest news of Queen of the Ryche's breaking up and my current goals. Just so you have the whole story. And I even fixed some spelling mistakes. IN other news, not that there is much since yesterday, but we are pricing new digital audio workstations and hope to have something before the end of the year. Also, since we are not capable of recording at this time, this may allow us to focus on other things, like lyrics. See, we really need those, but don't really have any yet. So, hopefully this down time will allow us to be better organized on the lyrical side of things. Maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all.

Well, everybody, it turns out that the recording of the CD is on hold for a bit while I save up some money to buy a new computer to record with. The one I have is under powered and is crashing when we try to use the new drum program we bought some time ago. So, this may take longer than we thought it would. Where to come up with almost $2000. And before you ask, I am not buying a crpa computer, I am buying one that is specifically designed for recording. Oh well, I was expecting that this wouldn't go easy, so I am prepared. We are looking into other options including hiring a drummer to do drums and somebody to mix the album for us. Will keep you posted as time goes on. IN the meantime, enjoy the latest work in progress demo, written last month and not uploaded until now. Work in progress demo 13 is now in the music section under demos.

Thanks to a few people who pointed out some error, I went and fixed all the links in the links page so they work. One of them is in German and I can't find an English link, so sorry. Also, the links to the Stickam profile are fixed as well.

IN other news, two new additions to the studio, the new Yamaha 01v96 mixer and the Korg Radias. The Virus is not going to be sold, I'll just work around it. And hopefully more new shit coming your way. I have somebody from guitar center coming over tonight to assist with some stuff and hopefully that will make things even better.

Anyway, keep sending feedback, I appreciate all your words of support and we hope to have Sick of your Lies done and ready for you to preview soon.

OK, everybody. Some people have requested that I put up a gear list. Since I can't do that in the template, really, well, I guess I could with some creative thinking, but I was too lazy, I did put up more links in the links page to all the manufacturers, for the most part, that make up the keyboard rig or studio gear. I may have missed some and hope to update as I remember, but the links are there, so if you are curious about the stuff I use, go check out the links page.

Sadly, i may have to sell a piece of gear. The Access Virus Ti, a wonderful analog modeling synth that I have used on such tracks as Tomorrow is Gone, for the synth in the intro and the lead with the guitar, plus some sound effects, and Circumstances, where it plays on the second lead, and Perfect Strangers, the synth lead at the end, is proving to be a problem. Mainly, it is not blind friendly. I have emailed Access Music technical support to make a small change to their firmware that would make this unit more accessible and they won't even help me. All I ask for is a command to return to page 1 on any edit screen. That's all I want. They refuse to do anything for me. This breaks my heart, since it makes creating or editing patches complicated or impossible and turns my $1800 deksktop module into a glorified preset box. Which, don't get me wrong, the presets sound great, but I want to make my own sounds too and I paid a lot of cash to have this unit and want to be able to use it to its potential. I don't want to sell it but may not have a choice in the matter. You certainly can go to Access Music's web site and if you can find an email address higher than tech support, help me out a bit, but I am not holding my breath. Maybe the Korg Radius or some other analog synth would help me. Any ideas? Send me some help.

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, my personal life has twisted me all around and things are moving kind of slow. Rich has been suffering from some health issues like sinus infections, clogged ears and the like. But, we're slowly getting back on track and the recording of the first song for the new album is under way. It is actually the official rerecording of work in progress 1 demo on our web site here. We're tacking lyrics to it as we speak, using something Rich had written years ago, called Sick of your lies. We hope to put a teaser up on the site soon. Stay tuned to this space foffurther developments.

Also, I have a stickam profile up now and will be using it from time to time. What is stickam, you may ask? It is a community where you can broadcast live video and audio to other stickam viewers. I did one performance already, and I am uploading tracks of that as we speak. I hope to do more with this as time goes by including live performances, and maybe even recording sessions. We'll see. Anyway, the link to it is http://www.stickam.com/profile/keyboardguy. Check it out if you have the time, and check the music section for the previous stickam performance tracks.

Speaking of the music section, more organization has gne into the sections to break them up. There is now a live performance section featuring the new Stickam tracks, the open mic set at The Cup in Long Island, and other solo performances from Monmouth University and the Birch Hill nigth club back in 1996, previously in the covers section. Also, I created the queen of the Ryche Section and uploaded the entire BB Kings show when we opened for Sonata Arctica, which previously only had Queen of the Ryche in there. And for all of you, a special treat, all the tracks except the originals are now downloadable. The originals may appear on a CD to buy someday. The current Ultimate Illusion tracks are giveaways as well, but future uploads may be only listen only as we hope to put out a release some time next year, but rest assured, anything not intended for sale will be freely downloadable from this point on.

UntilNext time...