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I’d like to give a shoutout to Damaris for modeling for The Mosh Petals’ Not A Bad Dream song cover! She’s a friend and an EMT that I work with. I originally approached her with the concept: “I’m thinking of doing a song cover that shows a Jump Boot stepping on the head of a young girl. The young girl will represent all of us, born onto this planet with hope and optimism. The boot will represent society and what’s sometimes waiting for us as we navigate our way through this life.” Then I told her that it was her that I wanted to use for the project. I guess she liked that concept well enough because she agreed to do it. I was elated!

The next obstacle was trying to sync up our schedules in order to actually do the shoot. Life gets in the way and time went by. Starting to feel that it might not happen, I worked on an alternative version that featured the photo an adorable, innocent baby to represent us entering this life. I love the way it came out! The baby is so excited and pure, which made the oncoming boot even more horrible!

In showing this cover around however, it seemed the punk rock artsiness and humor was lost on some who couldn’t get over the thought of a baby (metaphorically) getting stepped on. “No,” my now wife exclaimed, “you don’t step on babies!” Which of course I thought was hilarious, although I did see her point.

Luckily, Damaris and I were finally able to do a couple of photo shoots and the original vision was realized. The end product is the cover that is used on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, Amazon, and a slew of other digital outlets.

It wasn’t done in time however for the video shoot of the song, so the t-shirts that I’m wearing in the video feature the “baby” version. (Long Live Punk!) Both versions of t-shirt are available at the Mosh Petals store. https://themoshpetals.com/shop/

So back to the point of this post…..thank you Damaris for playing along!

Oh my God what have I done?!?  Did I just give a theme song to the criminals stealing our catalytic converters?  I doubt it.

So why would I even do this song?  Simple, I was tasked by a friend to write a song about current events, or in other words, a song about something.  He kept sending clips and links to news stories about the plague that has been going on regarding these thefts.

But what the hell could be written about this that could be entertaining?  I kicked the idea around awhile and came up with a funny thought: a song that on the surface sounds like a song about catalytic converter thefts, sung from the point of view of the people that are stealing catalytic converters.  A campy little sing-along! 

But really though, the song is a product of a root cause analysis as to why these thefts are happening in the first place….and, the answer is….the separation of us into the haves and the have-nots. If someone is succeeding, someone else is being held back.  

I realize that this might sound like justification of these thefts to some.  It’s not!  We all have to do are part to fight the status-quo, and to make society, and life, better!  So stop it!  And a warning: most in my neighborhood are alarmed, armed, and have dogs.  So stay out. 

There is also a flaw in the theory that is the underlying meaning of this song though.  And that is that these thefts somehow are affecting the rich.  I really doubt they are, save for perhaps the stockholders of some insurance companies.  Rather, once again, it’s the middle class that is getting screwed!  Which is really the true ugliness of this story, and the lyrics at the end of the song really sum it up.

The video was put together in a couple days by an artist/filmmaker/screenwriter off of Fiverr named Stuart Wahlin.  He’s fantastic to work with.  I literally gave him an overview of what I was hoping to achieve, and he put the whole thing together!  I couldn’t be happier with it.

This song is really the B-Side to Not A Bad Dream.  Really, it’s a newsjacking experiment.  Since the recording business isn’t what it once was, we have to come up with creative ways to promote ourselves.  I’m hoping that this song will drive traffic back to The Mosh Petals website.  How exactly?  Simply by taking the link below and pasting it into the comment section of every news story about catalytic converter thefts that we can find.

So that being said, the 1^st 15 people that paste the link below into 25 news story comment sections on Youtube will get a free Mosh Petals t-shirt of their choice.  So please play along if you like.

As far as the song itself goes, take it with a grain of salt.  It’s ridiculous!  But kind of funny, so sing along! 

🔽🔽 Copy and paste the line and link for newsjacking🔽🔽

The root cause of catalytic converter thefts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqp3yDHL090

Ps: Email a list of the links to the catalytic converter news stories that you posted the above link in, (in the comment section), for your chance at a Mosh Petals t-shirt, to themoshpetals@gmail.com

Not A Bad Dream is a re-working of the Life Explodes song, “Steve.” I love that song!  And once while in an alternate dimension, (Anchorage!), I gave it a facelift and some new lyrics.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the original lyrics, and the song was so fun to play live, but the more I messed with it in the studio, the more it changed into this.

Not A Bad Dream features much of the original music crafted by Marty Neary and Life Explodes.  The main hook, driving guitars, and most of the arrangement that Marty wrote are still here. They are the heart and soul of the song!

The song also features original guitar parts written by Chris Whitehouse. His underlying chord melodies layered into the choruses add beautiful texture.  A lot of the Wah-Wah noise is based on his original tracks as well as the 1^st solo (after the 2^nd chorus).

The rhythm programming is based on Dean’s original drum tracks, which were quite thunderous live.

The current lyrics reflect a longing for hope, truth, and a call to action, although it shines a light on what we currently see in society today.  It poses the question, “Is all really fair in love and war?” I don’t believe it is.  That’s just some crap that we’ve been telling ourselves to justify our actions.  It’s time to spread the love!

I hope you enjoy the song.

-John

The new release from The Mosh Petals, I’d Like To See You (Stand Up And Fight), is a collaboration between longtime friends Chris Hales, James Johnson, and yours truly. It began in a somewhat unusual place for the birth of a rock and roll song, the Yale Badminton Club. Chris overheard James and I talking about songs that we were working on in the studio. He said that he played guitar and had some song ideas. Excited to hear what he had been working on, we invited him over. We liked his writing style and riffs so much that we started laying down tracks to write with.

That’s how I’d Like To See You came to be. I fell in love with the guitar intro instantly. Chris brought it together with a chord progression that he thought could be used for the chorus.

James and I started working on drums and the arrangement. He also programmed in an amazing synth bass part that I, more or less, copied on live bass for the actual recording being released today. James’ contributions also include some sick sampled parts that, especially when listened to with the headphones on, add layers and texture under the chorus.

The song was taking shape nicely. I liked the chords that Chris presented for the chorus, but I felt like they were leading me to somewhere else. So, using them as the pre-chorus, I launched the song into the high-energy, heavy chorus that you hear now.

Dropping back down to the melancholy verse chords after the first chorus, I decided to go with a Blues-ier guitar solo to stay with the vibe.

Lyrically, the song isn’t really based on any one person in particular, but rather feelings from past situations involving band mates, or girlfriends, or even society at times. Have you ever found yourself in a setting with a person that never lifted a finger to help, or to be a real part, paralyzed for whatever reason, and just went along for the ride? It seemed to me that the only time I saw any sort of backbone was when said person finally stood up and raged, “I QUIT!” Or “I’m Leaving!” My feelings were always, “oh sure, now you have strength. There’s that backbone! Where was it when I really could have used your help to make something of this?!”

You know, I realize that the lyrics came from a place of frustration. But I absolutely love this song and everyone that was part of the process that brought it to life. And if you are inspired, please do what you can to share and post and add to playlists wherever possible. The Mosh Petals is a project still taking off, so if you please, be a part of promoting it. Be a Petal! -John

Midnight On The Wheel will be out at 12:00am EST on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Instagram/Facebook, TikTok/Resso, YouTube Music, Amazon, Soundtrack by Twitch, Pandora, Deezer, Tidal, iHeartRadio, ClaroMusica, Saavn, Boomplay (beta), Anghami, KKBox, NetEase, Tencent, Triller (beta), MediaNet, and Shazam. I’m sorting out the links now, so please subscribe and check back! 

Just sorting out the publishing and distribution details while finishing up the first video. So excited!  The targeted release date for the single “Midnight On The Wheel” is May 10th.  So far, so good!