Owen Biddle. Low ending the Roots...and football mumbo jumbo...hang with me

Owen has been with the Roots holding down the low end theory that bass in the hip hop language is the equivalent to a stout 3-4 nose tackle in the sport we know as football. Let me educate some of you non-footballers who might like to know that this sport is life in some parts of God's country. Plus its football season and Fall is starting and I just can't get it out of my head. So...

Owen Biddle = 3-4 NT, and here is why.



The NT anchors the defensive line. He is the foundation of this defensive scheme. Without him, there would be no weight to the anchor, in other words your whole defense would suffer. His primary responsibilities is not to be a shining star on this defense. His primary responsibilities is to keep blockers off your main tacklers and stars. But his presence is always felt...much like Owen Biddle, who anchors the low end...who allows his bandmates the freedom to explore because they know he will be there for him. This also proves a theory that I have...football can be and analogy to anything.

Here's Owen in action...and you will see what we at the MONO studios are talking about.



Now all he needs besides sporting a MONO strap and a Callowhill Bass is some eye black, a jersey, groin cup, shoulder pads, and a Roots helmet. The man can bring the heat on that bass.

The Renewed Mind Is The Key!

Speechless

And the winner is......

Vicki Genfan!!! She is the new Guitar Hero who was announced the winner on Sept 13th at The Great American Music Hall by Guitar Player Magazine's judging panel. MONO was there to catch it all. The judges declared Vicki the winner after a 10 contestant guitar lesson. Each individual performance was incredible. I was way jealous of some of the chops that the contestants pulled out of their hat. You really have to know how difficult it is to play in front of hundreds of people who are expecting to be blown away. The judges also had their say on the matter.



I feel Steve Vai was really one of the better judges as he focused on giving good critique. He comes off as someone who would teach really well. Satch really set a good tone by complimenting a lot of the contestants and giving them much deserved praise. Elliot Easton from the Cars had good opinions as well providing a lot of his own take on what he heard. He made an interesting comment about one of the contestants being a really good fit for a lead guitarist in a band. I thought he was spot on with the comment. Providing the comedy throughout the night was last years host, Brendon Small. He came up with some of the funniest stuff during his judging. I can see why he was hosting last year. And finally George Lynch who rounded out the bunch. There were some very good points that George was able to bring up.

Back to school with Aaron Spears

Snap!
Drummers, grab some sticks and sharpen your pencils because school's in session.






If you don't already know of him, Aaron Spears is currently on tour with the American Idol band and Usher. So yeah, it's safe to assume he's no joke on the kit. We think you'll be seeing his name pop up a lot more very soon, and we're proud to have him in the MONOplayer family.

Now everybody learn this fill.

Representing MONO from the Aloha State

We first met Shaun at NAMM 2008 and he totally brought the Hawaii vibes with him. As some of you know, NAMM can be a hall of madness, but we felt totally chill when Shaun came up to our booth. The first thing we talked about was a ukulele case, something that has been swimming in our MONObrain. We soon found out how versatile Shaun really is playing ukulele, acoustic and electric guitar, backing up a band or fronting his own while singing lead vocals. But to really get to know Shaun, we have to peek into his bio:

Shaun grew up in Pauoa valley, Oahu- a small valley next to the famous Punchbowl Memorial. At the age of 9 he moved out to Hawaii Kai on the east side of the island of Oahu. After graduating from Kaiser High School he attended Honolulu Community College and graduated with a degree in Fire and Environmental response. He is currently working for the Hawaii Crash and Fire and Rescue Unit and studying music at the University of Hawaii.

Shaun has studied music with numerous musicians such as, ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro ( d’addario, kamaka endorsee) , Herb Ohta Jr., Vernon Sakata and Gary Shimabukuro. He also has worked with many renown musicians/producers such as Nathan Aweau, Grammy nominated producer Dave Tucciarone, and Grammy winner Daniel Ho to name a few. Shaun has recorded 3 albums to date under numerous indie labels. He is fast becoming known as one of the Ukulele masters around the world. Currently, Shaun is doing shows on the west cost and working with management to sign to a major label. Shaun loves to share music, it is his therapy, his heart, his passion.



Pro Recordings:
Kani Makou - "Easy Stylin"
Kani Makou - "Cool State of Mind"
Shaun Reyes - "Food for the Soul"

Shaun was also kind enough to give us a couple of his songs for you guys to check out.


all photos courtesy of 10-G's photography

Rising Down to come out...on top.

The Roots. How do you describe them? Well let's take a quick peek back in time with their original name...the Square Roots. You could say they are a square root better than any live hip hop act out there. You could say that they are a square root and a half better than any live group out there. I wouldn't quote you wrong if that spit out of your mouth, but there is one thing about the Roots...they will go down in history coming out on top.



Rising Down, their latest effort finds this mega group taking it's organic hip hop to greater heights. The formula that's worked before is still intact, but are we hearing more of the same? I think not. What stays is the ground breaking beats of ?uest with a cast of individually talented phenoms. Black Thought is still at it with lyrics that ride political views galore. Hello hello hello. Get God on the phone. What we are hearing now is a band, in it's 10th album, still reaching it's primacy. No one is doing hip hop like this. No one. That is why they are on top.

The Roots are:

Black Thought (MC)
?uestlove (drums)
Kamal Gray (electronic keyboard)
F. Knuckles (percussion)
Captain Kirk Douglas (guitar)
Owen Biddle (bass)