Band Camp....

BANDS: I'm looking for you! Submit your pictures, show info, free downloads, etc. to be published write here for your fans and all the world to see! What does this mean for you? FREE ADVERTISING and PUBLICITY for your band! What does it mean for me? I get to write about what I love and continue to provide this site as a place for good music and information for the fans.

Send your info to withanamelikesierra@gmail.com. If you're sending show info, try to send the flyer, as well so it can be posted. If you'd like to be interviewed, be sure to email me your press kit, as well, or at the very list as much info as you can.

Also, if you're on the road and would like to write in to the tour diary, feel free! Keep it short and simple, just tell us where you are, what tour you're on or what album you're promoting, maybe a couple of highlights from on the road debauchery (I love that word) and some candid pics (camera phone shots are welcome).

Thanks for checking out my site...have a Safe and Happy Halloween, guys. I'm interviewing Game Rebellion again tonight, so look for the full post and pics soon. Until then...keep it rockin!

Love and light...

Shouts to California King and Mama's Dirty Little Secret for showing love this week, oh and Revenge of Ricky Williams...check those guys out here, respectively:

http://afropunk.ning.com/profile/CaliforniaKing?xg_source=profiles_memberList

www.MamasDirtyLilSecret.com

http://revengeofrickywilliams.tumblr.com/

Unfinished Biz...

Game Rebellion ROCKED 330 Ritch in San Francisco last night! As if we expected anything less from them, right? Although they were preparing to hit the stage already when I got there, the guys made some time to sit down with me for part 1 of my interview before their set. They were extremely down to earth and their music is an audio extension of their cool:)


That's yours truly interviewing the guys:) [PHOTO CREDIT: SCOTT LAROCKWELL larockwell@gmail.com]

I have a lot of respect for them and am looking forward to part 2 of the interview, which I will be conducting this Friday at their 2nd San Francisco show. Those of you in the Bay Area should come out to catch their set. There's a surge of energy present at Game Rebellion live shows that's indescribable...you just have to experience it. Here are the show details:

For now, all you Game Rebellion fans can enjoy this video of one of their live performances at the 2009 Afro-Punk Festival in Brooklyn:


Find more videos like this on Afro-punk


I am accepting fan submissions once again for any questions that you'd like me to ask the guys this Friday, so email those to withanamelikesierra@gmail.com, or leave them as a comment here. Until then, keep it rockin and tell your friends about my site please! Any bands/artists you'd like to see interviewed on withanamelikesierra.com? Let me know.

Love and light...

G*A*M*E Rebellion in San Francisco!!!

Game Rebellion's Sounds Like a Riot Tour stops in San Francisco tonight and I will be sitting down to talk with the band about Afro-Punk, their new album and more! GAME REBELLION FANS: If you have questions you'd like to ask Game Rebellion, feel free to submit them to me. I will ask, giving credit to you, of course, and will publish the answers to the fan questions along with the rest of my interview. All questions muct be submitted by 5PM PST today.

Let Me Upgrade Ya!

Hey guys! Great news....I've upgraded, please make a note of my blog's brand new URL: www.withanamelikesierra.com! I'm so excited! Please spread the word about my blog and keep checking back for the latest and greatest in all things Afro-Punk and more!

Love and light...

You Got a Great Life: On the Road with American Fangs

James Spooner's 2003 documentary was the first that many had ever heard of the Afro-Punk sub-culture. Afro-Punks around the country have since united through the official website of the movement, www.afropunk.com. 2009 has been exceptionally kind to AP. The annual Afro-Punk Festival in Brooklyn grows each year, always featuring some of the best AP bands and skaters out there - think VANS Warped Tour with lots of dreadlocks, fros and brown skin and every single band that plays is AMAZING:) This year's festival even featured Black Punk pioneers, Pure Hell! Well, 2009 is not over yet and AP is making the most of it by kicking off the first ever Afro-Punk Tour. Saul Williams headlines this historic lineup, which also features Houston, Texas natives American Fangs, who have also taken 2009 by storm with the release of their first EP, self-titled American Fangs. Over the next few weeks, as the AP tour makes its way across the country, I will be teaming up with the Fangs to give you an up close and personal look at life on the Afro-Punk tour from their point of view, in their words!



As down to earth as he is talented, American Fangs' frontman, Gabriel Cavazos has agreed to start things off by answering a few questions for us, as yesterday was the end of week 1 of the tour.



SIERRA SAYS: What's the first stop on the tour?

GABE SAYS: Our first stop is the House of Blues In Cleveland, Ohio.

SIERRA SAYS: What are you guys looking forward to the most from this tour?

GABE SAYS: Honestly, we look forward to the road in general...the best and the worst that the road can bring! I woke up in the parking lot of a Walmart in Kentucky and although it's not the most comfortable sleep (12 passenger van w/ people) I got up, smelled some clean air, took a look around and was pretty pleased w/ the notion that I was once again, cruisin' the USA w/ my boys....And of course, you know I'm lookin forward to experiencing Saul Williams, AF and the surprises the Afro-Punk tour is about to present us with!

SIERRA SAYS: Introduce us to the band, please.

GABE SAYS:
I'll definitely introduce you to by band:



We've got Mitch on drums, he's also our "Donald Trump" of the band. He tends to be the mouth of the band when it comes to bridging the relationships between the band and the folks involved in the biz. But despite his cordial and crisp way of takin care of biz...he can be a loose cannon..so keep an eye on him.

There's Kyle, our bass player. He's the silent giant. He's one of the guys that should be endorsed not only by musical equipment, but by Home Depot. He's the MacGyuver of the band. Remember that show? Me either...:)



We have Kenyon on lead guitar. He's the unofficial muscle of the band. He doesn't know that yet, it won't be official until he quits smokin ciggs. So bad for your muscles.

And I musn't forget Jeff Deuce, our other guitarist. He is the unofficial 2nd guitarist at the moment, a subject we rarely touch on, and dude is a savior. He also produced and tracked our debut Ep which we have been promoting all of 2009.

Did I forget anyone? Oh yah, and myself, the guy with many names..Gus, Gabriel, Flipping Dagger, and Gabe...as u refer to me. I am the vocalist and lyricst of the band. I'm not goin to volunteer too much information about myself because that would be weird. I will say this though:

I'm Proud :)



I totally forgot to mention the 6th passenger in our van!

We only refer to him as "Wolf." He is our tour manager and to be honest...I'm not exactly sure who hired him! One day we're gigging..doin as much as we can, and the next we have this fearless, chatterbox of fellow riding the states with us...causing an uproar everywhere we go all the while handling our merchandise sales, equipment load in/out, phone calls and other day to day mess. I'm not even sure where this guy lives. But currently he lives with us and I must include him in this interview for he has joined in on the bloodsucking with the American Fangs.



Thanks, Gabe! We wish you guys nothing but good times on the road and can't wait to hear from you next week!

SLIM THUG ON THE DAILY SHOW

I must admit that I cringed when I first heard about Slim Thug's appearance on Comedy Central's Daily Show. Come on, you know why...few have been as seamlessly successful as Jamie Foxx when it comes to pulling recording artist/actor (and vice versa) double duty. But, since the Big Boss of the North is from my hometown (and neighborhood), I checked it out yesterday...I was SO IMPRESSED! I think Slim did an EXCELLENT JOB! Here are the links to the videos on The Daily Show's site.

Watch the interview first:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Slim Thug Feels the Recession
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

Then, the music video:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Slim Thug's Music Video - Still a Boss
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

I thought it was very well done....his line delivery was so natural and the song lyrics were great! It was really cool of him to be such a great sport about it all. What do you guys think?

White-Washed: The Protrayal of Black Women in Mainstream Media and the Fashion Industry

*This photo was taken by Joy Diggs, founder of B. Natural Apparel (www.bnaturalapparel.com). It illustrates just how far some companies go to "white-wash" images of Black women. Note the minimal difference in the complexions of Whitney Houston, Katie Holmes and Monica! If we are all equal and race doesn't matter, why is this necessary?* I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts below:

Despite notable strides taken towards the inclusion of Black women, mainstream media and the fashion industry have far to go towards embracing and celebrating Black beauty. A walk past any newsstand or a flip through the channels on cable television quickly cements the fact that Black women are not as thoroughly represented in the media as their white counterparts. Perhaps even more disheartening is the aesthetic censoring that some companies find necessary in order to include Black women in their ad campaigns or runway shows. Whether altogether exclusion, or caste-based discrimination, much is left to be desired from the less than adequate depiction of Black as beautiful in fashion and advertising.

In 2008, L’Oreal, the largest cosmetic company in the world, found itself under fire for allegedly using photo-editing software to lighten spokesmodel Beyonce Knowles’ skin tone in an ad campaign for its Feria line of hair dyes.

The L’Oreal case is one of the first to draw such public scrutiny, but the issue at the heart of the scandal has persisted for quite some time. More often than not, images of fairer-skinned Black women are readily available in the pages of fashion magazines or other types of media, while darker-skinned Black women, whose skin tones are perhaps more readily identified with their African roots, remain underrepresented. In some publications or fashion houses, Black women are excluded entirely, regardless of their skin tone. Cosmetics giant L’Oreal denies lightening Ms. Knowles skin in its ads, while critics maintain that comparisons of the ad, alongside other pictures of the star, clearly show otherwise. Regardless, the message that Black skin is not beautiful has been made painfully clear.

Another point of controversy in the portrayal of Black women in media stems from what seems to many to be a trivial subject: hair. The debate over whether or not to embrace one's natural hair texture or to chemically or otherwise alter the hair has existed in the Black community for decades. Many believe that altering, namely straightening, the hair’s natural texture means rejecting the physical traits that are distinct to our African descent in order to yield a more "European" look. For years, the media and fashion industry have sent the message that this hair is nothing short of unacceptable to portray beauty and sex appeal. In recent years, this situation has improved. Many Black women now refuse to straighten their hair and even some models are seen photographed with their hair in its unaltered state. Unfortunately, the recent Malia Obama hair scandal is a reminder that the stigma surrounding Black women's hair still exists. While on vacation in London, the 10-year old first daughter's hair was styled in what are known as two-strand twists, a popular style option for Black women with “natural” hair.

Once photos from the trip surfaced, the press tore into the young girl's appearance, calling her hair "undone" and calling her "unfit to appear in public" with such a style. This unfortunate tragedy shines a bright light on the widely held mindset that natural Black hair is ok-but not in front of the camera, in ad campaigns, on runways or on the head of an American first daughter.

The Clark Doll Experiment was a 1939 study on racial identity and perception conducted on young Black children by Dr. Kenneth Clark. The children were presented with two dolls: one Black, one White. They were then asked to make choices, including which doll they’d most like to play with, which looks “bad,” which looks “nice,” and which most resembled themselves. The majority of the children chose the Black doll as looking “bad.” This can almost certainly be attributed to the negative connotation of “Blackness” in what was, at the time, a very racially divided America. Even worse, after identifying the Black doll in such an unsavory light, Dr. Clark reported that many of the children cried and ran away when asked to choose the doll that more closely resembled them. This experiment was repeated and documented in the 2005 film A Girl Like Me by Kiri Davis. In the new study, a shocking 15 out of 21 children (all were Black, as in the original Clark study) chose the fairer skinned doll when asked which was the “nice” doll. This illustrates the weight of racial inequality that has trickled down from a painful past of prejudice and become poison in the minds of these, the most innocent victims. With the advent of information technology, we are continuously exposed to media in come form. Although not charged with the primary responsibility of raising our next generation of leaders, teachers and thinkers, the media does play a significant role in their growth and development. Every little girl should be proud, rather than ashamed of the traits and features that make us all uniquely beautiful. In a world that has made such progress towards parity and justice for all, perhaps destroying the prejudices of the media and fashion industries is one of the last unconquered frontiers.

Style Icon: Sierra from Texas

Style Icon: Sierra from Texas

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NEWNESS!

New post later today...check back a little after lunch time...it's gonna be a good one and I look forward to your comments. Please check me out today as the featured STYLE ICON on www.bglhonline.com. Also, new interviews will be posted this weekend....big things happening around here:)

Love and light...

Chris Rock Talking Hair on Tyra

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhKI9G01x0701eNdu

Your thoughts?

Longer, Better, Faster, STRONGER!

When I BC'd in March of this year, my hair was less than 2 inches long all over. Since then, my hair has been growing and has become uber healthy! I credit this to the Lord above, the hints, tips and inspiration I receive from natural hair cites/blogs (http://blackgirllonghair.blogspot.com/, http://www.curlynikki.com/, http://www.naturalhairnaturalproducts.com/, http://lecoil.tumblr.com - those are my faves) and tons of trial and error on my own. I've come a long way baby....I'm learning more all the time and hope to share more hair tips as I get braver and start to experiment with different styles. Here are a few pics of my new staple style. When my hair was shorter, I would just cover it with a scarf at night and go to sleep. Now if I do that, I wake up with flattened portions and an all around mess....not cute! So I've been braiding my hair at night and sealing the ends with Iyoba Hair and Body Butter. I met the owner and purchased this product straight from her and it is a God send! It's made from African shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, coconut oil and essential fragrant oils....my favorite scent is the fresia lemongrass....mmmmmm:)
But I digress, I seal the ends with the Iyoba butter after I braid my hair at night. I don't cornrow it, I do individual braids, anywhere from 8 to 12 of them. I almost forgot, before brainding, I mist my hair very lightly with plain water in a spray bottle (misting, not saturating). In the morning, I take the braids down and voila! Enjoy the pics.

Love and light.....

WHO'S THAT GIRRRRRRRRRL?