Kevin Valentine Talks About the Three KISS Albums He Played Drums On In The Studio

Kevin Valentine Joins Three Sides of the CoinThree Sides of the Coin is a KISS podcast featuring Michael Brandvold, Mitch Lafon and Tommy Sommers.

In episode #9 we talk with special guest Kevin Valentine. Kevin talks about the three KISS albums he played drums on in the studio; Hot In The Shade, Revenge and Psycho Circus. He talks about recording demos with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. Working with Bob Ezrin and Bruce Fairbairn. How he had to audition for the Psycho Circus album. And MUCH MORE!

This is only our opinion… it is neither right nor wrong.

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The Voices of KISS, The Lead Vocalists on Three Sides of the Coin

Three Sides of the Coin is a KISS podcast featuring Michael Brandvold, Mitch Lafon and Tommy Sommers.

In this webisode #3, December 25, 2012, we discuss the voices of KISS, the lead vocalists. Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley, Peter Criss, Eric Singer, Tommy Thayer, Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr.

This is only our opinion… it is neither right or wrong.

Michael Brandvold launched the 5th website on the internet devoted to KISS, KISS Otaku. He went on the build, launch and maintain Kissonline.com KISS’ official website. Mitch Lafon first interviewed Gene Simmons in 1980 and has since interviewed nearly all members of KISS, many more than once. He produced and released a Ace Frehley tribute CD. Tommy Sommers has been a fan since 1976 and has seen them in concert dozens of times. He spent many years on the record show circuit selling memorabilia and meeting many KISS fans.

We Put On Our KISS Geek Hats and Talk “Monster” on Dropping The Needle

Dropping The Needle Podcast

“If Beavis & Butt-Head had a music podcast, this would be it.”

Welcome to episode 23 of the podcast Dropping The Needle, October 22, 2012. In this episode we put on our KISS geek hats and we talk “Monster”.

In this episode Michael Brandvold and Mitch Lafon geek out on KISS and talk about the new KISS album “Monster”. Not so much a song by song review of the album, but a discussion of our feelings. Do we like that album? Yes, but listen for some great discussion.

Dropping The Needle is the podcast where all music from all genres is discussed. New releases, classic albums, rediscovered music, signed and unsigned. No ass kissing, just two guys talking about music. Dropping The Needle is hosted Michael Brandvold from Michael Brandvold Marketing and Mitch Lafon from PureGrainAudio.com.

Tune in to the next episode of Dropping The Needle to see what artists we drop the needle on.

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Listen to Dropping The Needle on Stitcher Radio.

Michael Brandvold is a freelance music industry consultant based in Northern California. Having launched Michael Brandvold Marketing to leverage his years of experience to provide direction to large and small clients in the areas of online & social marketing as well as e-commerce and customer acquisition and retention. Gene Simmons of KISS first tapped Michael’s skills as a pioneering online marketing strategist to launch and manage all aspects of Kissonline.com’s multi-million dollar enterprise, including their ground-breaking VIP ticket program. Michael has also managed the online efforts for Andy Gibson, Alexa Carter, Greg Kihn, Motley Crüe, Rod Stewart, Madonna, Ozzy Osbourne, Madonna and Britney Spears to name only a few.

Mitch Lafon is a professional music writer located in Montreal, Quebec (Canada). His career started in 1980 when at the age of eleven he interviewed The Demon of KISS, Gene Simmons. In the ‘90s he did studio work with various artists including LA GUNS and worked on an Ace Frehley Tribute album. Over the years, his work has appeared in Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles Magazine as well as Metal Hammer (US) and Classic Rock (UK). Currently, PureGrainAudio.com and Roadie Crew magazine from Brazil are where his interviews can be found. He is well-respected by artists  who often request him by name (when they are ready to grant an interview).

My New Client EON Records is Live with Their New Website

EON Records websiteI am pleased to announce that my latest client EON Records is now live with a brand new website. EON Records is a Portland, OR based label owned by John and Tommy Thayer (Tommy is the lead guitarist in KISS). Their roster includes releases by Black ‘N Blue, Dan Reed, John Thayer, 28IF and their latest sensation Nicole DeCosta.

I had built EON Records a website back in 2007, it looked nice but was a static website. They reached out to me that they need to update the site with some changes and new releases and I took this opportunity to discuss with them about moving the site into a CMS such as WordPress. My challenge was the team at EON Records is not skilled in web development, so I wanted to build something that would be fairly easy for them to update. Something they could maintain moving forward, something that would have ties into social networks, better SEO, a mobile ready site, easier support for audio and video and the ability to change the look and feel without a complete rebuild. They agreed it was time, so in late November we began the transition.

The John Thayer Band has a major performance coming up on December 18th so they needed the site launched on the 12th so they could do some promotion. With some push over the weekend we made it. There is still some tweaking to do, but they have a new site that now also links into their new launched Facebook Page and Twitter account.

The end result is a nice, clean site built on WordPress using a theme that does a good job showcasing each of their artists and they can update with zero coding required. They have plenty of room to grow as new artists are added and existing artists continue to record and perform live. I also configured the site so a single update to the website will also update their Facebook Page and Twitter account. Low maintenance, yet hooks to other networks for increased exposure, SEO and traffic.

EON Records Website Launched – My Latest Project

The EON Records website is live. This is the latest website project that I worked on. I spent a couple months working very closely with John Thayer to completely rebuild the site. It was a great experience, John was very clear about what he wanted, and this made the rebuild very easy.

KISS Guitarist Tommy Thayer Re-Launches EON Records Website

Posted by Bravewords.com on Thursday, September 13, 2007 at 17:07:49 EST

EON Records, founded by KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer and his brother John have launched a new website here. A label profile is as follows:

Portland, Oregon natives Tommy and John Thayer have long been aware of the depth of the local talent in the Northwest. Seeing their own music as well as the music of their local friends mature over the years, they were determined to find a vehicle to cultivate and promote the growing bond that was developing between this close-knit network of entertainers, musicians and friends. With that common thread in mind, they established EON Records in Portland in the late 1990′s. Success soon followed with the buy-out and national release of EON band Slowrush by Epic Records, and the EON release of several other local Portland artists.

Going forward, the sights of the label extend far beyond its geographic origins as the company seeks opportunities to nurture, mentor, record, and publish new up-and-coming talent as well as established artists and bands that are looking for a place to call home. EON Records is well connected in the recording, publishing, distribution, and promotional aspects of the music industry and seeks – through collaboration – partnerships that can further the cause of credible local and national talent.

For 25 years, Tommy Thayer has made a successful professional career as a musician, songwriter, and producer. Most notably, Tommy is going on his fifth year as lead guitarist of the legendary rock group, KISS. Along with his “spaceman” persona onstage, Tommy has produced many of KISS’s critically acclaimed, multi-platinum DVDs, pay-per-view television specials, and many VH1 and MTV KISS special features. As a songwriter, Tommy penned most songs on four records for BLACK N’ BLUE, his 1980s hard rock band, released on Geffen Records, as well as several co-writes with KISS later. Tommy continues with his interest in helping inspire young kids; with a commitment to support school programs, particularly in music. He has arranged for new musical instruments to be donated to jump-start ailing school band programs in Oregon, and appeared at schools speaking to students with hopes that they will follow their dreams and accomplish all that they aspire to do.

In the past, John Thayer has made music his avocation while owning and managing two successful business products companies. After growing his first company into the largest independent supplies and furniture dealer in the N.W. Region, the business was sold to U.S. Office Products in 1996. His second company was founded in 2001, and has grown into one of the largest independent office product dealers on the West Coast with sales offices in Portland and San Francisco. John has continued to nurture his passion for music over the past ten years becoming a dedicated singer and composer while writing and producing his own library of songs.