The Darren Holland Project has another amazing single..... "Come Down"


Getting To Know The Darren Holland Project

The Darren Holland Project comprises me, Darren Holland, writer, guitar, bass, vocals, and keys; my wife Cheryl Holland, percussion, vocals, drums, keys, on occasion; Barb Wilmoth, drums and our producer at Soundworks recording studio in Blue Springs, MO Andy Oxman.

 
Darren Holland has been writing and playing music since five, and Cheryl, since age eight, has been in many projects throughout the years but started The Darren Holland Project in 2014.

 
Darren writes about real subjects, the good and the bad, and real-life experiences. Many of the writings are dark and relatable.

 
The song "Come Down" is about the US, the political division, and how it is the worst it has been in many years. With the threats now of Nuclear war, the song "Come Down" is just that I wish we would all Come Down from the hate. Come Down will be released on November 1st. 2022.


Come Down out November 1st Pre-Save here: 

https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/thedarrenhollandproject/come-down?fbclid=IwAR1eyWhjM8YMyOs2VuMsfPlxYaG_tUiQJnzRHnvmL0NEW8CGM7qTA2NmfKk
 

Band Line Up 

Darren Holland: Guitar, Bass, Keys, Ukulele, and Vocals.
Cheryl Holland: Keys, Harmonica, Drums and Percussion, and Vocals.
Andy Oxman: Producer

 

You can catch The Darren Holland Project on most music platforms and our linktree at:

 https://linktr.ee/thedarrenhollandproject

The Review...."Come Down"

Come Down has a funk mixed with rock feel to it. I like the way they started out the track. You hear drums, guitar's and drums playing is a sort of funk feel to the beginning of the track. The vocals come in singing, "She says its big and empty, as she was biting off her nails.." At the break the feel of the track shifts to a rock feel which they transitioned very well. I love how the switched the guitars  from left to right, brilliant! In my opinion the Darren Holland Project is absolutely out standing band. with bright guitars, and excellent bass and drums. They really get you dancing in your seat and also their lyrics make you think.

In conclusion, I personally love this band. I love the diversity of  their tracks. I also love the fact that they sing about real events in everyday life. Not only that they sing about real event, the band is just phenomenal. This is a band that you can listen to over and over again.

Review by: SchizoFranic
Link: https://linktr.ee/SchizoFranic  
 



Marseille has a rocking single comming... "Freedom"

Getting to know about the Marseille single:

Now entering a new phase of Marseille with the expansion to a 5 piece, Will, Joe, Lennon, Tom and Felix are coming at you with a raw, energetic, floor filler in the brand new single 'FREEDOM'


The single will drop on the 4th of November across all major streaming platforms


The new single 'FREEDOM' is the trademark Marseille we all know and love at it's very finest. It’s a fast tempo, high energy, in your face guitar driven anthem with euphoric guitar solos. You are initially greeted with the brilliant drum intro, a thumping bassline and the roaring feedback of guitars and this sets the tone for the rest of the rock n roll anthem.


Marseille lead singer and songwriter Will Brown had this to say about the song:


"Freedom is a song written about our hometown Derby. The lyric portrays how there's not a lot going for it anymore. Once a city booming with life in the streets is now a dull, gloomy place which really needs something to liven it up again.I  thoroughly believe our music could bring some life back to this city"

 Background:


Marseille are a young rock n roll band formed in late 2021 in Derby, England. The band consists of Will Brown, Joe Labram, Lennon Hall, Tom Spray and most recently Felix Moxey. Signed to Birmingham based label ADR Records, the 90's Madchester scene and the 60's Merseybeat is where Marseille draw most their influences from.


In 2022 Marseille, have already had some success with the singles "Forget It All" which was played on Soccer Am and the 9minute monster "The Jungle". Over the summer, the band have also performed at the Y-Not and Isle Of Wight Festivals.

With an average age of 18, Marseille are sure to go far...


Find Marseille on social media:

Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/MarseilleBandOfficial
Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/marseilleband
Twitter:        https://twitter.com/marseilleband
Spotify:        https://open.spotify.com/artist/0CKzwR7ixevIfFPRD9NnbM
Email:          marseille.bandofficial.uk@gmail.com

The Review:

Wow, is the word to express this band! The trace "Freedom" starts out with drums, guitar's, bass swirling in your ears from left to right truly amazing start of a track. the band comes together leading into the vocalist "Will Brown" singing, " I've seen this city scenic town, everybody's driving trying to find  their  away out.."  I know I can relate to those lyrics because I've lived in towns like the one Will Brown is singing about. Marseille has a fantastic sound. with the guitar roaring the bass pumping up the drums is absolutely amazing, I just can't say that enough. I really enjoyed Marseille track "Freedom." This is a track you can absolutely jam to over and over again. It definitely had my head bobbin to the beat.

In conclusion, This is a outstanding band. With there unique sound and the vocalist Will Brown has a strong mind blowing voice. an amazing bass player and the drum just make you wanna get your head bobbin. and finally Wow, those guitars are truly amazing. This is an all around great band so look out for these guys, pre-save their new single "Freedom" you will be Wowed too.

Review by: SchizoFranic
Link: https://linktr.ee/SchizoFranic


“Well, the first half [of my twenties] I spent in active drug and alcohol addiction, and the second half I spent learning how to live life without drugs and alcohol."

Zach Churchill just released a new album entitled Greater Than. We’ve reviewed the marvelous lead single of the album “Surrender” a while back. You can read the review of the song here


Zach agreed to talk to us a bit about his music, new album, his struggles and travels as well as his background. 

 

1. When did you start singing and when did you become interested in music? 


I started singing at a very early age ... 3 or 4 years old. My first introduction to music was when my grandparents would sing French duets to me as a young child. My grandmother is from Lyon, France, and they both had such beautiful voices, deep bass and soprano.


2. How would you describe you music?


The album Greater Than has a 90s alternative rock vibe. My music is singer-songwriter based, as I write everything first on an acoustic guitar or piano, then in the studio we found this sound naturally.


3. Who are your favorite artists and why? 


Jeff Buckley because he naturally conveyed such raw, deep emotion through his music. 


David Bowie because his music is so rich, deep, and eclectic that it speaks to me over and over again in new ways over the years.


4. Your Spotify bio says that your album “Heartbreak & Hope” serves a musical milestone commemorating a ten-year journey through your twenties – a decade that you barely survived. Can you tell us a bit more about that period in your life?


Well, the first half I spent in active drug and alcohol addiction, and the second half I spent learning how to live life without drugs and alcohol. It's been a painful road, but I'm so grateful for every lesson.


5. Your song “Surrender” is a fantastic pop/rock number that the MBTM blog reviewed a few weeks ago. What inspired the song? 


As a recovering addict, I often talk to people who are trying to get clean but are powerless to do so. I often wonder about the mystery of “hitting bottom”, and why some people seem unable to find that bottom. 


I personally take no credit for my willingness to get sober as it came from the gift of desperation and not wanting to die. Prior to my bottom, I had no intention of ever stopping. So “Surrender” is exploring the idea of powerlessness, and what it takes to actually be done and ready to try something new.


6. I found a webpage, according to which you’ve performed in France and travelled in Spain. What was that like? 


I have family all over France so I was able to take a month-long trip out there in my early twenties. I got to perform in Paris at a really cool venue called L'Internacional – such lovely people. 


I visited Spain last year and walked the Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage through the north of Spain. It was a transformative experience, and I met some lifelong friends over there.


7. When asked about the “Heartbreak & Hope” album, you’ve said that “It’s all real and it’s my story”. Is it fair to say that writing songs is your way of keeping a diary?


Writing songs is definitely a way I process experiences and emotions. I keep a daily journal as well, but my songwriting is a method of self-expression and how I get my insides outside.


8. Do you have a new album in the works?


My sophomore album, Greater Than, dropped this month on 10/28/22, and I begin sessions for a follow-up album in January.


9. If you could go back in time and give advice to your younger self, what would it be?


Relax. Slow down. Stop running. Face yourself.


You can read more about Zach Churchill here: http://www.zachchurchillmusic.com/

 

Interview by Tom Tikka for MBTM

 

5 out of 5

Isaac Neilson’s new 1990s-flavored “Tear This Down” is an energetic pop/rock song with a kick-ass melody, a melody that’s actually also rather intriguing. By that I mean that the note-progression’s well though out. It’s a bit different from your usual run-of-the-mill pop composition. Listening to it is like going on a guided tour of a museum that ends up giving you much more than you anticipated … or paid for.

 

But it’s not just the melody or the powerful lead vocals that makes this a great track. The arrangement of “Tear This Down” is equally good, a wonderful combination of strong and fragile, seasoned with warm and inviting production values. Check out the playful and whimsical bass, and while you are at it, the drum accents and fills aren’t half bad either. In fact, they are pretty damn good. Oh, and the tambourine adds a nice touch.

 

You know, I can imagine standing on a subway platform, waiting for the next train, listening to “Tear This Down”. The subway would help me make new memories. It would take me to the wherever I might be going, while the song would guide me down memory lane. I know I’ve been in those “we got to leave here” situations a plethora of times during my life – I suppose quite a few of us have. But that’s the thing about songs like “Tear This Down”, they make us realize that a lot of the quandaries we find ourselves in are rather universal, regardless of how personal they might seem to us.

 

Give this song a spin, you won’t regret it.

Listen and watch here: "Tear This Down" by Isaac Neilson

Review/post by Tom Tikka for MBTM

Pilot Light has a single coming... "Jumpscare"

With the name Pilot Light born from a university project, Portsmouth based George Watson crafts tightly woven, charismatic alt-pop that stares firmly through the lens of optimism.

With his first two singles garnering airplay from BBC Introducing, playlisting from Amazing Radio and a host of support from local outlets, Pilot Light returns with ‘Jumpscare’. This latest effort is brimming with fuzzy Alvvays-esque energy, busy bass lines and punchy percussion that channels the likes of Dayglow, all held together by the earnest songwriting that embodies the Pilot Light catalogue. 


Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pilotlightmusic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PilotLightYeah
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialPilotLight/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7rb2WagUB2X8daJYLbRnO5?si=wV_CxMbsQA2i1_u5h15juQ&nd=1
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-821157627-206487090
Bandcamp: https://officialpilotlight.bandcamp.com/album/coming-clean-alternate-versions
Additional Demos: https://soundcloud.com/user-821157627-206487090/sets/pilot-light-demos-2022/s-IAmYlIo1rao?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The release date of Jumpscare with be November 4th.  So everybody look out for this one.

The Review... "Jumpscare"

Jumpscare is Pilot Light's third release. Jumpscare starts out the soft synth sound that swirls around in your ears. The synths introduce the vocalist Pilot Light with a voice that is inviting, that starts the scene to the track. immediately I was hooked wanting to hear more of the journey that Pilot Light is telling the listeners. The track starts with Pilot Light singing "Watching the Rain Fall.." That makes you think what Pilot Light was thinking as the rain falls, a girl perhaps. This Track has a upbeat alternative pop sound with a punchy beat that compliments the voice of Pilot Light. At the break there is an amazing sound of synths fading in, really nice sound. Pilot Light changes the mood of the track at the end, well done! With soft arps playing and Pilot Light humming in the background.


In conclusion, This track "Jumpscare" is a up beat inviting song that takes the listener on a journey of a relationship between two people possibly a bitter sweet one. This track had my toes tapping to the beat as the track plays on. Pilot Lights voice is very nice, pleasing to the ears. This track is a kinda track that you could listen to more that once. As I listened to "Jumpscare"  I was anticipating what comes next in Pilot Lights story. In my opinion I think this track was well written and pleasing to the ears. With the soft synths playing as Pilot Light sings with a soft warm voice. This is a track that most listeners will enjoy. Nice work Pilot Light, I really enjoy this track.

Review by: SchizoFranic
Link: https://linktr.ee/SchizoFranic

 

5 out of 5

Another beautiful acoustic ballad from Karen that will send chills down your spine. It's got great vocals, a very nice string arrangement and I must say, Ms Harding truly knows her way around the guitar. This song is a gem for all lovers of folk music.

Listen and watch here: "Letter To My Friend" - Karen Harding

Review/post by Tom Tikka for MBTM

Caitlin McCarthy....Single, Remember Tonight!!

Caitlin is a 17 year old singer songwriter from Coventry, who has a powerful soulful voice way beyond her years and on 7th October 2022 released her latest single ‘Remember Tonight’ an energetic pop song with elements of EDM.

Named as a star of the future (Tony Collins hot music live) and dubbed a mini Adele (Pete Chambers Music Matters Coventry Observer) Caitlin’s Music is pop with hints of soul and R&B and she is fast becoming a rising star. Recently Caitlin headlined the iconic Bedford Pub in Balham London (past acts including Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Jorja Smith and George Ezra to name but a few.) and in September 2022 played the Godiva festival Main stage supporting The Feeling and Banarama.

Band Line up
Caitlin McCarthy (Vocalist)
Liam Hopkins (guitar)
Thomas Iliffe (keys)
Lewis Cutts (bass)
Ali Hutton (drums)

Links to Caitlin McCarthy
Social / Music Links:
https://ffm.to/remembertonight

Private Listening Link:
https://youtu.be/LaI0CxshCmg

The Review... Remember Tonight!!

Remember Tonight starts of with an EDM Feel to the track with Caitlin outstanding voice setting the mood of the track. Right away I was bouncing my head. The percussion is almost tropical in nature, it really gets you toes tapping. At the break she got ya dancing in you seat! a wall of sound just bursts along with that amazing voice that Caitlin has. This is a type of track that speaks to the listener about letting loose and just go for it, don't waste one moment live life to the fullest. This Track has truly amazing synths not overpowering, but you definitely hear there presence. The bass was brilliantly played along side the Percussion. I must say I really like this track it had me moving in my seat as I write this review. Outstanding work Caitlin McCarthy with that powerful voice of yours! And Brilliant performance to the band, my hat is off!


Review by: SchizoFranic
Link: https://linktr.ee/SchizoFranic


 

 

6 out of 5

“I Couldn’t Trust” is a fantastic pop/rock number with backwards guitars, electronic piano, tubular bells, and many other very cool production touches that make you feel like you’ve just wandered into a time machine and travelled to a nightclub in the seventies. Don’t get me wrong, the song’s contemporary but the instrumentation and the feel is very retro and I mean that as a compliment. There’s mysticism galore and yet enough edge to keep us interested. As Coleman delivers his Tom Petty-flavored, lethargic but powerful lead vocal, instruments fly in and out of the mix, which makes “I Couldn’t Trust” a great listening experience. It’s one of those rare songs that you don’t want to end. You want more of it. Luckily, in the age of streaming platforms, it’s easy enough to press play again.

Lyrically the song rests on the very familiar turf of relationship/inner struggles. And why not? This topic will always work. This fact has been clear to me ever since I saw the movie Crossroads and heard the character of Willie Brown stating that, “blues ain’t nothing but a good man feeling bad.” It’s basically this same foundation that Coleman is building his track:

It was you I couldn’t trust
It was you I couldn’t love

Sadly, this is a message that we can all relate to. You see, trust is a complicated issue. It’s something that is hard to build (it can take years) but easy to lose (one small thoughtless unexplainable action and you’re done). The ultimate question is whether you can love someone you can’t trust. I tend to agree with Coleman. You really can’t. You’ll go crazy and nothing in the world is worth that. Of course, if it’s a case of not being able to trust yourself, as the brilliant music video of “I Couldn’t Trust” implies, well … then you just might be screwed. A relationship you can leave but as far as I know, we’re sort of stuck with ourselves.

Just like the song, the music video too is wonderful, definitely something you don’t have to box your way through.

Listen and watch here: “I Couldn’t Trust” by R. F. Coleman

Review/post by Tom Tikka for MBTM


Ear Candy – "Lonely"

5 out of 5

Sometimes you read a name of a song and you think you know what it’s like but when you turn on the music, the vibe of the song is completely different from your expectations. With Ear Candy’s new track “Lonely”, this is the case. While the subject mater of the song is serious, the melody is happy, even uplifting. Perhaps, it’s this fact that reels in the listener or then it’s just the song’s irresistible pop sensibilities. Who knows? Yet, I do know this, “Lonely” is a great pop song with some real nice vocals and very cool keyboard work. Oh, and the production works well too. You'll love it. 

A tip. Listen to this track alone. Let’s be honest, it’s better to have no witnesses in case a tear escapes from the corner of your eye as you listen to the lyrics. “Lonely” is a break-up song that deals with broken hearts and broken dreams. It’s funny really. Most relationships don’t last. Finding compatibility is excruciatingly hard, which is most likely why we too often settle for less than we deserve. Of course the danger in that is that this usually ends up with us getting even less than we settled for.

 

Love can be a sad business. However, the upside of that is that songs like “Lonely” are born.


Review by Tom Tikka for MBTM

Paul Shapera.... Jill's Psychedelic Sunday!!!

 

About Paul Shapera...

Originally from Pittsburgh, Paul is an American living in a small
village in Serbia, having moved there straight from New York
City, creating sci-fi musicals in an old, Balkan farming village.
His work has grown steadily due to online word of mouth and
has a very active and enthusiastic fanbase that creates art,
cosplay, and animatics of the characters and songs. Paul says,
“I worked furiously on music for years with nobody listening,
unable to figure out how to attract an audience and resigning
myself to the reality that I would spend my life at a craft I would remain unknown for,” reveals Paul. “Once I made peace with this, I was free to create exactly what I wanted and not worry about what people might like, and so I went back to making weird, story albums, sci-fi musicals, and lo and behold, then I made it.

More about Paul...

Paul Shapera writes pulp operas. Paul's albums fantasy musicals cover a 180 year span of history in the fictional city of New Albion. Paul writes albums that can shift genres ranging from steampunk to dieselpunk amongst other genre's depending on where in the timeline the story is taking place.

Paul states, "My work is very much like an epic science fiction book series, but told in highly emotive music, like an opera cycle made with various forms of popular music."

Paul has just released the latest continuation of Jill's story, Jill's Psychedelic Sunday. from his previous albums, "The Dolls Of New Albion" and the "Posthuman War series." The album explores different sides of psychedelic
music ranging from 60 psych folk to Floyd, 90s rave to jam bands, and creepy tech to Space Rock. This is a way for Paul to tell the listener where Jill is in her journey. Jill’s Psychedelic Sunday explores Jill’s journey through ritual induced psychedelia.

Listen here:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3MOhNtIfREt14wAVfm85kU?si=aQuzGZ1DTy-xYCpUAj5qNQ


Track List
Coming Up
Behind the Midnight Scene
The Maze The Mirror
Cerebral Deep
Isabela
Jill’s Tattoo
Duel of the Tarot
Fae Wather Way
Michael
The B.A.I.R.N.S.
The Cosmic Hoedown
Coming Down

Follow Paul Shapera
Website / Instagram / Facebook / Twitter / YouTube / Spotify / Soundcloud
Contact: Ariel Hyatt, Cyber PR, (212) 239-8384, ariel@cyberpr.com


Article by: SchizoFranic
Link: https://linktr.ee/SchizoFranic

Star Wars, Harry Potter, He's Done them All

WARWICK DAVIS - Movie Legend

Welcome to the Fantasy World of Warwick Davies
It isn't everyday you find an actor that can transport you into realms of fantasy as completely as Warwick Davis. Warwick has appeared in some of the best films in fantasy. From leading roles in Willow and Leprechaun to his role as Wicket in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Filius Flitwick and Griphook in several of the Harry Potter films, Nibarik in the Walden Media version of Prince Caspian, and Marvin the Paranoid Android in the cult classic The Hitchhiker's Quide to the Galaxy he has delighted fans of all ages. Davis has also worked in television appearing as Reepicheep in the BBC's Voyage of the Dawn Treader and in 10th Kingdom as Acron the Dwarf to name a few.

A man of many talents his life story is told in pages of his autobiography, Size Matters Not, which gained him praise from Ron Howard. He also is slated to star in Life's Too Short, created and written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant.

What were you like as a child growing up?
I was just like any other child I suppose really. Although I didn't grow up quiet as much as I might of done, which was an advantage in my case cause that was the reason I got into movies.
Do you think your career would have taken you all the places it has if not for your Grandmother? Were you close?
Well of course I was as close as anyone would be to their grandmother, but I really dont think I would have the career I have without her having heard the commercial she did on the London radio station and then my mother put me forward for the part in Star Wars. It really was an opportunity although you know I was quiet the performer, being a small person you sort of make up for your lack of inches by being a bit larger than life so it did lend itself to the world of entertainment.

Being a fan of the films yourself what did it feel like to get the role of Wicket in Star Wars?
Yea, I was a huge star wars fan so to actually be working on the set of a Star Wars movie was the most exciting, the most fun experience I could have ever had. And you know children nowadays play on a gaming console to battle with stormtroopers whereas I was able to do it in real life in the redwood forests dressed as an Ewok. It was terrific fun, a great opportunity, and one that will always stay with me.

You had the chance to play Wicket in the Ewok films as well. What are your feelings on the whole Ewok culture? Why do you think people responded to the characters as well as they did? Do you have a certain fondness for the Wicket character?
I mean I am very found of the character Wicket of course, he is my first film role. He is the reason I am now an actor and have a wonderful career and have had all the opportunities that I've had. And he is still a character that is very popular wherever I go, people remember that character and have a fondness for him. Feelings for the Ewok culture, I mean there was a kind of whole merchandising culture surrounding the Ewoks and it divided fans, as a Star Wars fan you either loved them or you hated them. But of course I'm on the side of the lovers.

You also got to work with Ron Howard in Willow. What did you learn from that experience?
Willow was a great opportunity for me as well. Ron Howard is the most terrific director you could ask for. He taught me a lot. He comes at the role of directing really from an actor's perspective. Because you know he himself used to be an actor. He was brilliant in getting me through that film. It was very tough experience for me it was six months of very hard work, traveling all over the world. It could of been quiet daunting but he was always very supportive and really helped me give the performance that I did so I do owe a lot to that guy.

You have appeared in some of the best fantasy films of all time. Do you consider yourself lucky to have had the chance to play characters to delight viewers of all ages? Do you enjoy hearing from people who have been fans of your work since childhood?
Thank you very much. Yeah, I mean my films are generational, so I do get messages often from people who have grown up with the films that I've been involved with. Every day someone says I grew up with Willow or Star Wars was the movie of my childhood and what have you so that's really nice. I do enjoy appearing in films that are suitable for people of all ages. You know grandparents can enjoy with grandchildren etc. I am very lucky if I look back there are so many great films that really will sort of stand the test of time and be passed on as they say to generation to generation.



Do you ever hear from children who are fans of your work?
As I said every day. People who write to me are from age five or six up to eighty six maybe older.

Did you enjoy the lead role in the Leprechaun films? Do you consider yourself a fan of horror flicks? Did you ever have a favourite movie monster?
I am not a fan of horror anymore. I used to be growing up, but as soon as I became a father myself you sort of start seeing the world through your children's eyes and then horror movies become sort of rather unpleasant things to watch. So I wouldn't say I watch horror movies anymore, but yea as a kid I loved Halloween and Out Running on the Street they where the films that I grew up watching and dare I say enjoying. Playing the Leprechuan was fun. It was my first sort of villianous character and every actor will tell you they are by far the most fun characters to play. It is the one that is remembered and its the most enjoyable to actually portray as well and the Leprechaun was really a character that I was given free reign in developing. It was a real joy to play him in six movies and there is such demand for a seventh, but no plans to do that at the moment.

One of those films found you in space. Do you believe there could be other lifeforms in space? What are you feelings on aliens, ufos and such?
I mean yeah there could be other stuff out there. I don't see why not, there are so many stars and so many viable planets around stars that we don't even know about. So the chances are pretty high I suppose. So I'm kind of open to that kind of thing

Why do you think people like to believe impossible things possible?
I guess I think people want to thing anything is possible because sometimes the world feels quiet restrictive and we are all quiet restrained in what we do in our every day lives so it is nice to think for a minute that something impossible could be possible. It helps take us out of the monotony of our daily lives I suppose. And that is why movies are such great escapisms, especially fantasy and science fiction films, you can go into a movie theater and be transported somewhere else. You know you can at least for the time you are in there believe that the impossible is possible. It is the people that come out still believing the impossible is possible that I worry about. (laughs)

What are your feelings on leprechauns? Do you think such things are possible?
I mean these things come from myths and legends and they all have a source. Whether that was a little man wearing a little green hat, dancing, counting gold and what have you, I don't know. It's from very, very distance periods in history and I like all that sort of thing. But yea I mean I'm not going to say whether I believe in Leprehauns or but...

Is it true people come up to you and touching you for luck? Do you find that annoying and rude?
Yes people do. Different cultures have different beliefs and some cultures do believe it is indeed lucky to touch a little person. And I fit into that category by being a little person. I don't think it is rude, it is just what they believe, it's just kind of rather fun to try and avoid such touchings, cause you know when you are touched as a little person the luck does drain away. So I have a certain level of luck and I lose some of that every time somebody touches me. Which you know if that was to be depleted completely my career would be over so I do try to avoid those touchings whenever possible.

Aside from the health issues what would you say is the most challenging thing in regards to your...size?:) How do you cope with the joint pain and other things associated with it?
Oh my word. I mean it is challenging being short, but it is what I’ve grown up with. I’ve never known anything else so it’s a challenge but it’s one that you always overcome and then you just deal with stuff on a daily basis and it’s not really a problem.
What do you think is the most important thing to remember when dealing with ailments at any age?

Alright Dr. Davis says this: Just drink lots of water, eat sensibly and get plenty of sleep...and fresh air.
How do you think you have changed most as an individual since your early days?
My hair has gotten a little bit grayer, I’m a little bit taller, I am wiser.
What advice would you offer people the world over who might be dealing with image issues of whatever sort? Do you think the world in general places far too much emphasis on looks?
Be who you are really, at the end of the day. You know I’m different, there are lots of people out who are different. Some people who aren’t different pierce their nose and spike up their hair to be different. So it’s kind of ok to be different. That’s what I say. It sets you apart and people remember you.
I’ve just realized there are more questions. I thought I was at the end? This is madness but I’ll keep going....

What would you say is the craziest thing you have ever done?
This interview.

Are there any little known things about you that most people would be surprised to learn?
That I have indeed done this interview.

How did becoming a father change your life? What do you feel is the most important thing to pass on to your children? What do you love most about being a parent?
It’s brilliant. If you have kids it does change your life, you see the world in a different way. Watching them grow up and hearing the things they come out with. It is challenging but at the same time very rewarding and I think it is fantastic, I love it.

As a native to the UK, what do you think about the current state of the nation?What do you think is the most pressing matter at hand in today's political environment?
What is the pressing?...I don’t care about politics. I don’t even know who the Prime Minister is. Absolutely doesn’t bother me.

What do you love most about living in England?
I love the seasons.

Do you consider yourself religious? What are you feelings on the afterlife? Do you believe it possible for the soul to live on in some fashion after death?
I’m not particularly religious but I would like to think that death isn’t death and we’re dead and that’s it. The End. Could be. But let’s just think about life while we’re doing it.
What has it been like to work with Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on Life Is Too Short?
It’s been an amazing experience. It has been hard work but we’re at this point when I talk to you almost finished filming the show.I’m very proud of what we’ve done and hope the world out there also is thrilled with it, enjoys it and embraces it, and gets it.

How do you hope to be remembered over all when your life is done?
Now that’s depressing. That’s not even the last question either, there is still another one after that? How do you hope to be remembered when your life is done? Bloody hell..I’m speechless.
What would you like to say to all of your fans in closing?
Is that before I’m dead? Or have they got to come and read my headstone? Thanks for watching.

Interview by Phil G, author of Minds Behind the Music Minds Behind the Music 

What is REALITY?

Delving into truth... 

From the moment we are born to the day we die, we are under a spell. We are controlled by the magicians who use marketing and propaganda to manipulate our every thought.

From religious leaders to company executives, from politicians to secret military elites, everything we do, say and even think is scrutinized.

There have been many books and films that have attempted to reveal the stupidity of the so-called reality we have created. Often the metaphors are ignored or misunderstood. The truth is simple. Mankind has stepped out of a natural state of existence and walked blindfolded into a world of insanity.

We are force fed information, drugs, poisoned food and told we should feel lucky. We are told that we live in a free world, while everything we do is controlled.

For thousands of years the system has been built, slowly consuming our true nature.

Many are happy in their state of delusion. But every now and then a rogue appears who recognizes the truth for what it really is. Do you wish to stay plugged in to the system or are you ready to set yourself free?

Welcome to your world. Welcome to A False Reality.

There is an awakening to the self and to the wonder of the cosmos that has driven thinking men and women for generations. It is the same awakening that has been the cause of the affect of religion and belief. It is the same awakening that has then caused man to revolt against the same. It is the awakening that has been written, painted, sculptured, symbolized and placed into music for thousands of years. From mythology to etymology, this opening up of the mind to the potentials of the human spirit has been known about ever since man began to think. And yet, now in the 21st century mankind has created more chains to bind himself than at any point in human history.

From the very beginning mankind has sought to free his mind from the constraints of a consciousness that seemed to bind him into a world divided. The animals around him followed natural cycles and marched thousands of miles in-tune with the breath of the earth, the phases of the moon and the warmth of the sun. Man pondered these remarkable phenomena, because he was now aware of it and this awareness gave him the need to explain it. Without explanation everything seemed strange and he therefore feared it. What man did not understand, he could not control and lack of control and understanding meant simply one thing – chaos.

The consciousness of the mind needed order to survive and so he began to form structures within his thoughts for all things. He gave symbols and words to everything that previously didn’t need them. The bird didn’t care that it was a bird; the fish just were, and the lions were boss in their own domain.

The mind of man came along and gave them all names and forced them and himself into ordered boxes. This simply led to constraint and man had begun to form his own prison. He made names for leaders, gave them wonder and awe; he created gods and deities and worshipped them; he ordered his tribe and family structures and at the end of all this he had developed dogma, doctrine, rules and regulations.

Man had made a world of control and he had no understanding of what he had done. Now thousands and thousands of years later our ordering of everything has created a chaotic mess – the direct opposite of what we had intended with our conscious mind. The animals, without self-awareness and higher consciousness still have their natural and ordinary lives. They do not fear not having this or that - they just exist. They, like all things natural, find balance. We, with our millennia of striving to order our lives have created chaos and now billions of people are messed up and seeking re-connection to nature.

The reason for the failure of our attempts is simple – we are out of step with nature. The route to our own true nature is to be found in the unconscious world of the mind – for in there our true self resides, hiding like a lost child. We are not aware of this because we are unconscious of it – it’s that simple. Our conscious mind is almost an unnatural thing, in that it fights with nature because of fear.

We all know that we are born and that we die. We know that we exist and so we therefore have a personality – we are individual. This individual is precious to us, because we believe it is us. The fear comes when we realize that this individual will one day die and so it is not the fear of death itself, but the loss of the self. We have created wondrous imaginative answers to this problem however by explaining to our own minds that our body is not really us and that it is simply a container, carrying the self.

When this container withers and rots, the true self or soul, shall carry on after death and be transported to heaven, nirvana or any other amazing realm perceived and fashioned by our ancestors. It is a triumph of consciousness – a prize of logical thought – that in the first place we became aware of our own frailties and then “discovered” that it was all just a minor test on the road to St Peter’s pearly gates.

Today, in the 21st century as the old fashioned concepts of religion are constantly bombarded by new empowered free thinkers and science, we are finding new ways of explaining our lot – for the fear of the nihilistic mind is still one that strikes a discord, even in the mind of the most erudite brains. Anything from cloning and freezing our bodies to superior alien minds and quantum oneness are being trumpeted out for our choosing. From the physical to the metaphysical, like the shopping malls of downtown LA, we can choose an answer that suits our own personal life, peer group and sense of right and wrong. The driving force, regardless of century is still the same – fear.

It seems that no matter how high we climb on the awareness ladder, the same driving force in the consciousness arises and the same forces of nature surge beneath the surface in the unconscious realm. If the animals move and are driven by the forces of nature – something hidden within our unconscious world – then we as conscious and confused beings are at odds with this drive. It is a drive hidden in the dark world of the mind – the part we can no longer access with ease – and it is something that we seemingly cannot control. Because of our disjointed life with the unconscious world of nature, we fear it.

Fear is now so complex that it is a paradox in our so-called ordered society. But we need to strip away all the myriad excuses we come up with to replace the word fear and realize that it all revolves around the loss of self. It is in fact the sickness at the heart of consciousness and overcoming this one core principle will set you truly free onto a road without delusions. The reason? Because we create delusions to escape it and the marketing men of the world use every chance they can get to pull finely woven threads from our fears and form webs that trap us.

If you overcome fear, then you will realize that your life has been spent in a web, created from your own emotions.

All forms of fear are ugly and create ugly offspring. We see these as separate kinds of fear, but they are all from the same parent. This must not be confused with respect, which is the healthy version. I respect the roaring lion, I do not fear it. My respect, through understanding, means that I will not place “myself” in danger by stepping in front of a hungry lion.

Fear, however, breeds and breeds. It spreads from you to your children; it evolves and transmutes. It creates prejudice and hatred. Fear is constantly used to manipulate our thoughts, our purchases, our votes and our wallets. We need only watch the television commercials to see how fear is used to control our actions. But, we only have ourselves to blame for handing over the control of our mind to this fear factor. We need to take back control – these are our thoughts and nobody else’s. The only way to freedom is through personal integrity and honesty – not with anybody else, but with ourselves. If we are not truly honest with ourselves then we are simply creating yet more illusions to overcome. If we know that we are deluding ourselves by going to Church on Sunday, or buying happiness during “retail” therapy, then we add guilt and confusion on top of fear. We all do this most of the time and this is why life inside the mind has become so complicated and why we have come so far away from nature itself.

Half of the problem is the evolutionary childhood drive to learn. Misunderstanding this process – or not even realizing it is there – has caused immense trouble. You see as we grow we have an in-built drive to learn and this can cause a slight inferiority complex. For instance we do not know as much as our parents and so we feel inferior. This can stifle the self and causes us to take on personality as well as knowledge. As long as the knowledge is useful, valid and valuable then it is fine. But if the knowledge is worthless and even poisonous then we are in effect poisoning our minds.

Adding the personality of the parent or teacher or other influence is yet again distancing us from who we are and our connections to nature. This drive continues with us even past childhood and is yet another evolutionary drive utilized by the marketing man. A simple example is to take a screen hero – let’s say James Bond. We go to the cinema and watch this brave, handsome and intellectual man save the world. We admire these things and so we try to emulate them – to take on a Bond persona. In the 1950’s many females did the same with Doris Day films.

In fact none of these characters were real. Doris Day was acting and Bond is the creation of an alter ego by the writer Ian Fleming, who drank and smoked himself to death at an early age. The point is, that we attempt to copy or mirror an ideal that is itself flawed because it was created by a human mind, and so we fall short, as we all must. This leads to yet further elements of inferiority and lack of self worth. A great many neuroses and psychological problems are caused by lack of understanding of this evolutionary drive and the parent’s inability to see this and teach or train accordingly.

Never in the history of man has there been a perfect time and so we need not seek out a sunken Atlantis. Never in the future of mankind will there be a perfect civilization and so we better not sit and wait for Star Trek to fix things for us. No one religion is righteous – all fall short of the glory they call God. No State has created the ideal place to live. No family is flawless, no friend wholly committed. We are the best thing we have. We have to live with ourselves, others can run away from us or lock us in a room.

We will be in that room with our self and so that is where we must find the truth and that is where we must discover balance and harmony. Listening to the world of man will simply confuse our minds yet further. Listening to nature, which has perfect balance and indeed is powered by the force of balance, is the right place to go for help. We must return to the garden.

This is an economic world. It is structured around money and anything that gets in the way of the machine is more often than not moved or eradicated. There is no room for anything to oppose this. Each one of us is in the system whether we like it or not and we believe there is often precious little we can do about it. But how did all this begin? And who was the originator of the system?

In the beginning mankind was nomadic. For a period so long that it staggers the mind we traveled along coastlines, around lakes and traversed river systems. We simply could not travel across land because most of it was covered in trees and vegetation. We did so purely to hunt and collect foodstuffs and then returned to our boats. This is the way and form mankind evolved his mind over vast periods of time. But how was man able to navigate over the sea? This is an open question and is the subject of much debate. He certainly watched the stars, sun and moon. He placed markers along the way, but he also had an in-built homing mechanism – a sense of direction – now mostly lost to us due to the confusion of the modern society and modern mind. There are many scientific test results, which confirm that man does have the ability, probably via his pineal organ, to judge direction intuitively.

This ability is due to the electromagnetic energy of the earth and the magnetic connection between it and the pineal organ within the brain in exactly the same way that a bird uses magnetite within its pineal organ to pick up the electromagnetic resonance. In short, mankind had connection to the world around him and this is just one way in which we were more in-tune with our environment. But we were in-tune in other ways too – we were in-tune with our needs and natures larder. We followed herds as they migrated; we knew which plants were safe to eat and we only took what we needed because we simply could not carry an overabundance of produce. All the anthropological evidence reveals that mankind was more peaceful and even lived longer lives than his later descendents who would settle down.

Eventually it appears that populations grew and nomadic cultures began to partly settle down. These settlements were probably originally staging posts for extended stays during winter or other such times and eventually the rot set it. Remaining in one location for extended periods brought with it all-manner of problems. Firstly it brought the need to cultivate the land and to store provisions because the animal larder would carry on moving and natural vegetation would carry on and follow the seasons. Secondly it brought disease because of human and animal waste and all kinds of other filth. And thirdly it brought strife in ways that the nomadic smaller groups would not have foreseen. These settlements would be attracting more and more people into one single location – forcing people together for longer and longer periods of time, in cramped and rapidly unnatural environments.

Mankind was growing apart from nature and had to learn a whole set of new skills, from building to being more socially oriented. Structures of wood and structures of society brought with them hierarchy and alpha dominance in a different way to the previous nomadic lifestyle. Groups were now bigger and so conflicts between those who would be in dominance would have been more frequent. But it was too late, the old ways were rapidly being forgotten. It is amazing how quickly the skills of the past generation can disappear. For example, today there are people who do not even know how to cook because their lifestyle has simply never called for the skill.

We are constantly battling the balance between the income stream and the spending stream and we find very little room for such trivial matters as cooking, let alone time for our children. But cooking is only one of the many skills that we are losing due to mass production of ready-made meals and lifestyle habits. In England, and I am sure this is true of many nations, even schools had to be legislated to bring back real cooked food.

Eventually though our new found settlements had to find ways to deal with their new social problems and the mind of man has a unique tool for the purpose – imagination. Man developed, from within his own imagination, new social structures of tribal leadership and those who had maintained or learned new skills important for the group would become dominant. These were not always the strongest and best fighters or hunters, but more often than not those who knew how to heal and gel the community. We call these people medicine men, shaman and latterly priests. As the Old Testament so eruditely informs us, it was the priesthood who would guide the people and even crown kings. The Royal family of England is still to this day crowned by the Church as a direct result of this same ancient power structure – uniting religion and State.

With this new advent of power came many new ways of manipulating the growing masses who were herded into the new imaginative religious structure and given rules in the form of dogma, doctrine and tradition. Now power was from the gods and nobody could argue with such imagined power. The knowledge of navigation, of the stars, of the seasons and of course of the reality of the mind of man became powerful tools in the armory of the Church. To know the seasons enabled the priest to appear magical and in-touch with god. To know how to read the stars for navigation enabled the tribe to trade and invade.

To know the mind of man allowed the priesthood to manipulate and control. All of this was truly a powerful knowledge. This knowledge was passed down within the brotherhoods in symbolism, latterly in texts and certainly in tradition.

With a new set of eyes we can ourselves find the keys to unlock these historical conundrums. We have to understand our ancestors were able to do this and we have to start by realizing that they were humans just like us. They had fears, hopes and struggled to survive and to comprehend their very place in the universe. In the depth of understanding our ancestors discovered that they needed to find a way of passing on the knowledge they had uncovered and they formed tales. Our historical friends were not simple folk as we are led to believe. They had the same brain size as ourselves and in fact in many ways they were better attuned to the thing we now divisively call nature. You see, in our 'modern' materialistic state we forget that we are human beings that have come from and live in the natural universe. We forget, because we create things from within our own imaginations and surround ourselves with them, and hence we today find ourselves in an imaginary world of 'things.'

But all was not well in mankind’s early settled Eden’s and differences of opinion would often arise between settled groups or tribes and not least of these differences was jealousy. This distinctly negative element of the human mind would involve jealousy over land, produce, mates and of course the still relevant modern problem of jealousy over holy sites. However, trade also played a big part in the greater mix and so tribes grew steadily more and more wealthy in terms of possessions as each area had its own special supply of salt, gold, animals, plants and even access routes to the more distant lands. This was the birth of our modern system many thousands of years ago – built upon an unnatural desire to remain in one location and yet also built upon the natural desire to be the best – one of the strongest evolutionary drives.

Settlements became trading posts for vast quantities of goods and demarcation of roles emerged with blacksmiths, farmers, potters and all-manner of other roles.

Trading went on like this for millennia, with the priesthood often controlling the process and growing in power themselves as their own communities prospered. They would take a percentage of the produce and offer it to the gods in-order to maintain the weather and good fortune of the tribe. The greatest of gods – the sun – would be worshipped and aided in its journey to reappear the following day. It was the giver of life and the destroyer. It mirrored the duality in the mind of man himself and so we were formed in his likeness. We were solar beings, formed and given life by the power of the golden orb and nothing became more important than ensuring its daily and yearly cycles.

The priests of this great power were the alpha males, the medicine men or shaman of earlier times. It was they who gave authority to the king or pharaoh who himself must be the son of the sun on earth. He was the marketing tool of the priesthood and history is awash with the violent downfalls of the solar king when he stepped out of line and upset the priesthood.

Markets emerged near or even in Temples and bustled with people and produce of the wider world. Social commerce also emerged as priesthood’s shared or traded knowledge with other cultures and soon belief systems across vast continents had little to set them apart. Much of this knowledge or tradition was very important and of value to the community and involved knowledge of astrology and astronomy to enable them to predict the seasons and for navigation. As the power base of trade grew, so the ability to navigate became extremely important and as the majority of the population had forgotten how to do this, it emerged as a special knowledge guarded closely by the elite.

Control of the trading markets, both of the land upon which it was carried out and the navigation required to operate it, grew so powerful over time that the priesthood would do almost anything to maintain control. This is why much religious literature is awash with rules and regulations for trade and commerce. The system of trading eventually needed organizing differently because of lies. It all began because of deceit and it remains pretty much the same today. At the market a thing called a promise emerged whereby a man trading a goat for a pig would promise to bring his goat the following market day only to fail in his promise. The priesthood or leader who controlled the process realized that some new system was needed to come into play and so created money – from the word monere, meaning “to warn.”

This new money was very cleverly based upon the gods themselves adding incredible weight and fear to the promise. Gold was manifestly the solar divinity – the sun. And silver was the lunar deity – a mirror of the sun. Handing over a symbolic representation of the gods was a powerful promise and the gods would know if you reneged on your promise. The Church itself backed the promise and so became the bank. Power was well and truly in the hands of the few and the rest of us simply had no choice but to conform. This situation is almost unchanged and today many banks are at least still partly owned by the Church.

Our lives are still and more so than ever run by money and we have no choice but to live in the world of commerce. Everyday we hand over our images of the solar deities, which are no longer even real gold but instead are promises of gold. There are more promises of gold in the world than there is gold and so the system, created because of lies and deceit, is itself a total lie. But it is the system we live in and individually we must make our own decisions on how to do so. But there is more deception than we know and it is to these deceptions we must now turn.

From the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep we are subjects of a massive machine. We are plugged in like a light that is only alive and lit by the machine and because of this we no longer know how to shine for ourselves.

But many do not realize that the machine in fact feeds from us – using our energy to capture and grow the machine that in turn captures more and more people hourly. We are all in one way or another slaves to the machine.

Every single one of us must sell something to get money. Whether we sell our skills, services, products or even our very soul, we all must constantly sell to earn. And because everybody is selling to everybody else we also buy and buy. In our overpopulated world, full of people who no longer know the skills of basic survival we must buy the basic products such as food and even water. But man has used his unique imagination to make better and more imaginative food and water – or so we believe.

In fact we dress up the ordinary and use our own in-built psychology to convince others that this added value is worth the extra money. We place a clever label on a bottle of water, add mystique and then charge a ridiculous amount of money for what is basically a free product of the earth that we can longer have access to as individuals because of the society we have created. We do the same for all-manner of goods.

In addition to this we also create products or services that we do not need and again add value or perception that we want to buy into.

In order to understand how we are lead down this path we must see into the mind of the marketing man.

Many marketing men will tell you that they need to understand the product or service in-depth. This is true only in the sense that the marketing man needs to know to whom the product has to be sold. He defines the primary market sector and then secondary sectors and very often will have multiple level campaigns. Let’s take an example. Let’s assume we need to sell a product to children. There are a great many ways to the market, but our purpose here is to see how we as humans are manipulated into action or sometimes inaction.

To sell to children sometimes we may need to go through the desires and perceptions of the parents, however let’s assume we are targeting the children themselves. Firstly we have to assume a product and for this simple illustration let’s assume a new candy bar. In the first place we have to make sure the packaging is right. Our inner desire to eat candy is in fact perfectly natural and is based upon the need for fruit, which of course feeds the body’s need for vitamins and glucose. Unfortunately the candy bar overfeeds us sugar and not glucose or vitamins and so defeats the object and in fact simply leaves us craving more because the body firstly, is not getting what it needs and secondly, there are often chemicals within the bar that are short and long term addictive. So with this knowledge of the marketing man simply dresses the candy bar up to look like fruit or whatever natural product or part of our diet it is replacing. In addition to this there is the hormone process, which must be taken into account. The different ages of man produce different levels of hormones. When we are younger our natural drives and desires are stronger and more acute.

This means that when we are younger we are more primary and so primary colors, shapes, sounds and smells are used. This is of course a generalization and not every individual is the same and this is indicative of how we are all placed into boxes throughout our lives – creating more unnatural states of existence and distancing us yet further from our own intuition. The marketing man’s statistical data does in fact reveal that these uses of primary devices on children and young adults consistently delivers good results. The reverse of this is often true of the elderly generations, who prefer more pastel colors and softer shapes and sounds.

We can see then in this simple demonstration how we can again fall into the traps of lies and deceit by our own hormones, desires and drives and the manipulation of the machine. This manipulation has been in existence for thousands of years and mankind, from the priesthood to the State, has learned how to use this to control us. The common folk of Europe, who were kept humble and illiterate for generations, were fed mass propaganda in stained glass windows and with the pageantry of State occasions. All of this, and more, fed the story chosen by the elite few, to the masses and the masses absolved themselves of responsibility by following.

The next element our marketing man must include is a thing known as a branding device. This is not necessarily a corporate identity as corporations have many products and each one must have its own branding identity. If we take our fictional candy bar it may very well carry the corporate logo, which is a symbol of the corporation. This can add value to the product if the corporation has a strong identity and can pull upon the emotions of the individual purchasing the product with the tribal sense of loyalty – brand or corporate loyalty.

This is the exact same as loyalty to the Church or State and again absolves the individual of responsibility for what he is eating or indeed feeding to his children. This absolution is false, as we all hold responsibility for our own actions. Just because x corporation is big and has been around for a long time does not mean that it is perfect. Far from it, the corporation is still run by humans out for greed and growth. We tend to forget that several big brand companies in fact started by selling us drugs or making weapons.

The emotions and ties to the corporation must firstly therefore be ones of trust in the corporation and its products. Any corporation that loses this trust factor is on a slippery slope and will have to go through a period of self recreation in the market place to re-establish itself or even re-brand itself. One thing corporations, States and religions fear the most is the powerful word of mouth, which spreads bad news on the “Devil’s Radio” of gossip like wild-fire. This is the power of the individual against the control of the few and is one reason that corporations attempt to appear under a disguise and therefore independent on the internet.

Once we have a strong corporate identity we must then brand the candy bar dependent upon the selected market place. Some candy bars are in fact retro-branded to attract both children and the sense of history and tradition embedded in the older generations – allowing the person to recapture their youth, a time always emotionally tied and often imaginary.

The branding of a product will go through a series of market tests with a specially selected group and the results collated. This may happen several times but in each case the marketing man will be looking for emotional results. This all pulls upon our deepest desires and nothing is stronger than the utilization of emotions. Religion, politics and corporate greed has used emotional responses for an awful long time. In the end, marketing is about the psychology of man and whoever best understands the mind of man will succeed in the financial stakes.

Once the product has been branded and packaged according to all these criteria and more, the next step in the game is to convince the general public and the specific market sector to purchase the product and in-order to do this we have developed a very simple structure that utilizes our own psychology. The simple four main principles of this are known as AIDA. Attention, Interest, Desire and Action. Begin by getting the persons Attention. Keep the attention by building Interest and Desire and then commit them to some form of action, such as a purchase.

In the end the whole process reveals how easy it can be with this special knowledge to take from another. Create a dream and then sell it and nobody realizes that they are in fact buying into exactly that – a dream from within the mind of another. It is not reality, if indeed we can decide on what reality truly is anymore. It is not needed, it is just desired because of our bastardized social norm and position. We pay more for water in a fancy bottle than the worth of both the bottle and the water and all because it may have a French and classy sounding name. This water is shipped thousands of miles to get to your door, when all along there is water almost everywhere on this planet. We pay a fortune for a ready prepared plastic bag full of salad produce that “meets with our modern lifestyles”, whilst all along we fill our gardens with plastic lights, BBQ’s and pretty flowers. In parallel with this, people starve in the Third World. What is reality? Ask a starving child and see if it the same as your own perception – if you truly need a personal benchmark.

Our reality, is not true reality. It is not reality and it is not needed, it is all self-perpetuating a massive lie and we all in our daily lives help to continue the cycle. We all make dreams and sell them to others and we then end up believing them ourselves and before anybody realizes it we are all living in a dream world that simply does not exist.

Now we have seen how our very nature, dreams and desires trap us and are used against us, for and by us. Nobody can now claim to be free of all of this, nor innocent of its abuse. But today there is yet another level of control upon us, and one in which we as human beings are rapidly becoming lost. It is a world of dreams in such an incredibly profound and stark fashion that we ought to be amazed that we have fallen into its gaping mouth.

As the battle to beat everybody else has ensued, it has bought all-manner of imaginative inventions. These are forms, manifested from within the mind of man. And here is an issue because one thing is sure – the mind of man is divided and at odds with not just itself, but everybody else and now nature too. We all constantly fight intense battles inside our mind. We argue with ourselves, as if there were two or more of us in there. We argue on an hourly and daily basis, trying to reason through mundane issues, but also more emotive concerns about life and death.

We worry about loved ones and have to come to terms with the fact that we think of ourselves as gods and yet we suffer and die like ‘mere’ animals. Imagination has again stepped into the breach and we have fed ourselves yet more lies and the age-old extension of our own ego – god – as an answer to the dilemma that we may not in fact be the most important thing on the planet. All of this is a result of our divided minds and we are deluding ourselves with all-manner of answers, which never quite seem to fulfil us and close the divide. Until we fully accept what we really are we will go on creating new realities. This has been true of mankind for millennia and certainly true of him when he settled down into communities.

The technologies of today are in fact taking us further and further away from reality and more into the dream state than ever before.

Billions of children around the world are being fed unrealities by computer games. They live out their precious lives in a world that is not real, whilst mom and dad spend their every waking moment battling and selling to pay for the products of the delusional world. This causes yet more division within each mind but also within the family unit and because all of this is an illusion not one of them is truly fulfilled and so the family eventually breaks down and division in the form of divorce often occurs. The child is only being prepared for one thing – a life of exactly the same as his parents – a treadmill of buy and sell and lack of self-knowledge.

Instead of learning the simple basic skills of life and love, children today are taught how to manipulate the illusionary world of computer screens, moving imaginary characters around, killing and maiming the enemy, which is normally some politically propagandized and illusionary evil role-model. Most people do not realize the incredible amounts of money made from the multi-billion dollar world’s of illusion, but they also don’t realize the propaganda content is immense. In fact there are many war games strategically funded by governments and other agenda driven authorities and organizations that are specifically written to suck in the minds of the youth into particular ways of thinking.

This creates masses of later controllable young adults for the financial war machine and good voters who are now loyal to the cause. We are all pawns in a game that has gone out of control, because it is a life spent in an illusionary world with nobody specifically controlling it anymore. We all make assumptions about our leaders, peers, corporations, State and religion – and yet, all along, they are making assumptions about us. Nobody is in control anymore – for nobody ever was. It is simply all the world of the dream state, created over time by one thing and another, without a goal or purpose other than bastardized functions of the evolutionary mind.

Now we have a world of technology that is overtaking us and we have to somehow try to keep our heads wrapped around the lightning speed with which it moves. There are even extensions to the computer game dream world, as with mobile phones we can in fact take this world of illusion with us anywhere we go. There is no escaping this phenomena because the human tribal instinct to be as good or better than everybody else and to be accepted in our society, forces us to participate.

In addition, these are new ways for the marketing man to catch us – because they now ‘buy’ advertising space in the illusionary world of the computer game. So even the marketing man is being sold an illusion – a billboard in the land of illusion. Advertising billboards in a fake downtown city carries the same old messages and we subconsciously buy into the perception encoded and created. We are lying to ourselves in a world of lies and we only have ourselves to blame. We kill ourselves to afford to buy a product we don’t need at an inflated price because of advertising costs of billboards in a land that doesn’t exist. Stand back and think about how stupid this all is and then think about the eyes of a starving child. How does it make you feel?

And so technology, like everything else we humans create, is truly an extension of ourselves and it yet again is a world of falseness, covering up the real mess we are in. The truth is that the technology we created with all good intentions is now driving us and we have become extensions of the machine itself. A good example of this is the office. When I began my working life computers were not really useful, it took years for them to become useful and less expensive. Instead we shuffled paper and conversed with real humans face to face or over the telephone. It was, for all its faults, at least on a human level and at a human speed. But then things started to change and the invention of the fax machine altered things over night. Now people were distanced and instead of picking up the phone or popping into the office they simply faxed and hid behind the machine.

The division of humanity was further increased by the one simple but imaginative machine. People knew that their fax had been delivered and the workload speeded up and more could be done. The fittest of the species now had to adapt to the machine. Suddenly the ordinary pace measured by human interaction and therefore based in a natural cycle was out of the window. And, because of competition, everybody got fax machines and everybody had to speed up in the same way that happened with the introduction of the telephone or the automated plough.

The facsimile machine, in my mind, was a revolution, distancing man from each other and mechanizing him.

These leaps in technology are part and parcel of the human evolutionary cycle from the flint spear to the space shuttle. We cannot stop them, but we ought to be aware of their effects upon the human mind. Before we realized it, technology had transformed the office beyond all recognition with word processing, design and of course the internet and email. Everybody had to speed up again and now the truly successful alpha people multi-task – using more than one technology at a time just to keep up and to stay alpha dominant and of course, to earn more of that illusionary money.

The system is now beyond human-nature – we have created a monster, a Frankenstein, and we have lost ourselves. The lesson to learn is that just like the Frankenstein monster, it is a mirror of ourselves and it is destroying the very essence of what we are.

All of this is why even now in the 21st century we remain stupid humans who constantly battle with each other, because we are forcing ourselves away further and further from the truth of what we really are. We have created a world of imagination in which we can live out a dream life and to pay for it we live in hell.

Because we live in a world of technology that dehumanizes us and we eat addictive food because of the inhuman state and speed of our existence, we end up with a confused mind. Our children are like sponges and so we have to question what we are teaching them? In addition to this, political correction has gone mad as we try to re-balance a world of insane effects our system is causing.

Today, children are being fed drugs by those doctors we are taught to trust because it speeds up the process of supposed mental correction and enables the drug companies to maximize profits and health officials to get more cattle through the surgery. Speed, profit and dehumanizing are the keys to the system we have created.

Parents no longer have the skills or time to bring up their own children because of work load and so they pay others to do it for them. They buy their children’s love with computers and mobile phones and feed the growing child’s sense of disassociation from their parents, society and their own humanity. The parents end up in a cycle of debt they cannot escape and in fact constantly re-feed the system of madness. The children have no idea what is happening to them and become depressed, hypersensitive and undisciplined.

The answer is as ever, drugs. We pile all-manner of chemicals into our children, starting with the fast food and ending in the pharmaceutical giants drugs. What are we creating for the future of the world? We destroy the environment and now we even destroy the minds of our children.

The whole process is madness and simply feeds the profit of corporations who cause the problem and then sell us the cure.

No matter what influences have preyed upon us and no matter how much we have wished to hand over the responsibility for our actions and thoughts, we are an equal part of the universe to everybody else and we share in our responsibility of it.

No matter how much we believe in this god or that; no matter which political form we adhere to and no matter what experience we believe has formed our own personal belief systems, we are in fact at the root of it all an individual life form driven by the force and power of nature from which we came and to which we shall go.

We, as individuals have the ability and right to make our own decisions. The question is, as ever, do we have the willpower?

by Phil G, author of Minds Behind the Music