Almost entirely self-captured, the project (currently in production) spans a decade of ongoing exploration in over 40 countries. The first-hand account includes countless experiences and perspectives from leaving the confines of corporate America to dismantling mega-ton bombs in the deserts of Afghanistan, as a civilian. Heather takes us into a world of participatory journalism and invites us into a human quest for a more involved existence.

Her unique and inspiring storytelling shows how unfamiliar a world can be even in the digital age of constant connectivity. We follow this real-world “Carmen Sandiego” as she challenges the self-inflicted boundaries of our lives and seeks to demystify her own native origins in the jungles of Eastern Samar, Phillipines.

“This is a very unique opportunity to show the work of a multi-faceted artist outside of just one particular arena,” states Ed Fassio, CEO of Itchy Media (IME). “Heather’s projects involve artistic creations in photography, writing, film and music. For the first time, we are able to introduce a single artist across multiple media applications at the same time. For her, the ability to leverage Itchy’s embedded global audience accelerates her time to market.”

Under the pen-name “Cavallazi” IME plans to launch the original web series, e-book, documentary and associated soundtrack simultaneously as part of its own franchise known as Matriarch Pictures.
“Matriarch allows Itchy an entrée into the world of indie film-making. This is another tremendous leap forward for the company and opens up an entirely new world of creative possibility for artists that can become inspired by projects such as Heather’s”.

For more information and background visit: www.sandninja.com / www.itchymedia.net

(C)2012 Matriarch Films / Itchy Metal Entertainment Inc.

Over the past 12 months, 2.6 billion audio streams were delivered in the UK and in 2011 label revenues from streaming services increased by 30 per cent to £35m in 2011 – accounting for 4.5 per cent of total music industry revenues.

To create the top 100 rundown, the Official Charts Company will be taking data from leading streaming services including Spotify, Deezer, Napster, We7, Zune (Xbox Live) and new mobile phone start-up ChartsNow.

All the more reason for artists to get Royalty-Ready. Want to learn more? Contact Itchy Music for additional information, HERE.

Read the full article HERE:

After engaging in lengthy conversation, it was finally revealed to us who they were, and suffice it to say that we were at least a little surprised to find out that we were talking to one of the bands of the night’s lineup.

It was really great to see artists with such humility when their superb performance could have easily enlarged their ego. Beyond being gracious and genial people, they were all about pleasing their fans — who were enjoying every moment of the performance. It was such a captivating performance that it left the crowd wanting more, yet happy to have heard it at all…

Read the FULL Show review HERE

Appearing on his doorstep, a menacing and quite verbose GOGOG BLOODTHROAT, the lead singer of the tribe. In his recent essay entitled “1504 Words With Gogog Bloodthroat From A Band Of Orcs” Spillet inquires of a typical day in the life of an Orc, why they chose metal music as their earthly manifestation and learns of a “magical” new album in the works.

Here’s an excerpt from Tyranny of Tradition:
April 16, 2012
1504 Words With Gogog Bloodthroat From A Band Of Orcs
By Keith Spillett

Gogog Bloodthroat, the singer from A Band Of Orcs, had broken down my front door and was climbing my stairs with a giant knife between his teeth. I tried desperately to run away, but Gogog grabbed me and pinned me against the wall. He was raving about a magic album they were recording that was coming out in June or July that was going to destroy all human eardrums. According to Gogog, the cover art was going to be done by a brilliant slave named Chuck Lukacs. I was able to ask him some questions before I blacked out from the beating I received.”

Be sure to catch more ABOO at: www.abandoforcs.com and read the full interview HERE.

From OneThirtyEight.Org:
“The next band up was called Rule Of Thumb, and I’ve seen that name on countless gig flyers and yet I’ve never seen them play before. I didn’t know if that was a bad thing or a good thing before I saw them play, but after I saw them play, I realized that it was a bad thing because Rule Of Thumb are a good fucking band. They got a heavy ass sound, reminiscent of bands like Biohazard or even Helmet, which is sort of combined with this party vibe Rap attitude to just, I dunno, work! LOL And anybody that sports a Public Enemy sticker on their instrument is alright in my book! They’re a bunch of scary looking dudes, but N.J. Pete told me they’re some of the coolest, nicest guys in town, and for him to say that about somebody is definitely saying something! It definitely made enjoying the band a little bit easier to do. Rule Of Thumb just pummeled their way through a pretty brutal sounding set of tunes, stopping in between songs to get the crowd to drink with them or to just Thank them for coming out and seeing them play. Pete was right. These guys were nice. It wasn’t some Rockstar rehearsed ‘Hey – How ya’ doing out there?’ kind of shit, that’s for sure. Cool to see. Rule Of Thumb jumped and danced around and rocked the fuck out and seemed to have a good time while doing it. I liked what they were doing, and I’m definitely looking forward to seeing them again sometime soon. I don’t know how these guys flew under my radar for so long but I’m gonna remedy that situation Pronto! Rule Of Thumb are definitely one of the better Local bands here in town. Does anybody else dig these guys too?”

Catch more RULE OF THUMB on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lvruleofthumb

MD is currently on the road as one of the featured performers on the recent Working Class Artists tour (along with IME artists A.K.A. & SUEDE). Check out “the big guy with a heart” who’s known for keeping it real, mixing with metal and rockin’ the rap out of folks…

The Internet giant, looking to create a more comprehensive source for movies, apps, music, and e-books, has combined Google Music and Google eBookstore into one store, now renamed Google Play, according to Jamie Rosenberg, director of digital content for Google.

Google Play marks a radical departure from Android Market, which has been a fixture of the company’s mobile platform since the debut of Android more than three years ago. The move is a tacit admission that offering apps, games, and e-books–the main features of Android Market–isn’t enough to remain competitive even as rival app stores spring up. “Google Play is designed to break down the walls separating the company’s disparate offerings,” Rosenberg said.

The new relationship enables Itchy’s company identity to directly align with Google’s universally recognized brand and cloud-based digital delivery vehicles.

“The significance of establishing a direct relationship with Google is an important, strategic endeavor for our company,” states Ed Fassio, IME President. “The trending landscape of content distribution includes a massive mobility presence that has saturated the way consumers experience art. Android is an established mobility leader and Google’s solid position in the online search category means that more people can find, share, socialize and purchase IME content via natural ways in which they’ve become accustomed to interacting online. Expanding Itchy’s brand through Google Play means enhancing the platform of the artists we take to market, all over the world.”

Online is perhaps the most critical component of this new relationship. Notably, the internet is no longer a tethered experience as WiFi has become one of the more common ways that people connect digitally. As Google’s cloud and mobile-based delivery models continue to grow and adapt alongside offerings from Microsoft, Spotify and Facebook, the Android presence is well positioned to introduce new content direct to demanding consumers. With the new service, Google hopes to grab some of the market share currently held by iTunes. But in order to enable revenue, content assembly requires careful digital preparation.

“All content delivery requires a level of business readiness. Itchy reviewed artist behaviors, digital sales and business models across all of the major digital distribution channels and independent factions. A ton of investment goes into this process and through social media, new channels surface daily,” explains Fassio. “Without being royalty-ready, labels and their artists are not fully capitalizing on revenue from current and future digital distribution models. This also limits returns from related opportunities that come through an online presence. In January, we partnered with Juice Media in order to make all of our distributed content royalty-ready. The program managers at Android realized that IME fully understood these new models. This enabled IME the full advantage of strategic distribution and co-branding partnerships such as the one we’ve established via Google Play. Together, we are pioneering a brand new, retail channel.”

Additional benefits of the new partnership include featured artist spotlights and direct-to-consumer m-commerce capabilities. Google Play further allows a rich platform for IME’s new “Itchy Media” division to promote and distribute ebooks and related applications from global, independent authors and developers.

Company founder, Ed Fassio explains, “Art starts with content. Most common for a record label would be audio and video but we also began to see other formats that could benefit from the IME vehicle.”
For those reasons, IME is venturing into a relatively new market: the digital publishing and e-book realm.

“Authors are rock stars behind the scenes,” continues Fassio. “IME believes they should be front and center, displayed as the true artists they are. In addition, a writer’s distribution needs have followed a similar evolution to audio and video formats. As smart devices and tablet computing have become more commonplace, so does the presence of independent, digital publishing. This new opportunity begins with a brand new division of our company: Itchy Media.”

At launch, Itchy Media has joined forces with two independent authors: Pauline Ray and Erica Cavallazi. Pauline Ray is the author of six books spanning multiple genres, drawing her creative energy from a diverse career and education ranging from psychology and law to shamanic healer. Her latest release, Emancipation, is set amidst the backdrop of the post-Civil War south, in which the Confederacy has won the war. Tyrants run rampant on all sides, but Ella Lantry is determined to use the powers of the Thirsty Ones to restore justice and find her son.

Erica Cavallazi is a new author whose life unfolds like a movie. Her debut release with Itchy, Be the Flame, is a non-fictional account of life on the fringes. Entertaining, unapologetic, and heartwarming, Be the Flame is an adventure filled comedy of what happens on the way to pursuing your dreams. Erica weaves us through outrageous stories of love, danger, and pure foolishness reminding us that part of living is being able to laugh at oneself and enjoy the ride along the way.

“Digital Publishing opens an entirely new door of creativity for IME and enables our signed authors access to an instant, global audience of like-minded consumers. We are extremely excited about the launch of Itchy Media as this is just the beginning of the possibilities,” adds Fassio.

Readers can find Pauline Ray’s work via Amazon.com, out now. Erica Cavallazi’s debut is set for an early summer release.

Read the FULL Review HERE!

Check out DARK HELM’s latest Music Video for ORIGINS II:

Washington state anthem “The Wash” with DJ Phinisey is a stand-out track on his soundcloud page. He even shouts out “freshcoast” veterans (including himself) in a verse saying:

“JC Flow, illest in the city/
Neema in the streets, Mr. Primetime/
Tak Patron, Mr International/
AKA, prince of the P-Funk/
Louis V, BBB, FOB/
Macklemore, King of the Road/
Fizzleman got beats to knock ya head/
Q-Dot, grammy nominated, nuff said/”

Continue reading on Examiner.com A.K.A. Showin’ Out, this Spring