Rhymin and Stealin
It’s common for musicians to glamorize misogyny, drug use, and crime, yet few were more notorious than MCA, early on in his career. If you look at lyrics on the Beastie Boys’ first two albums, Licensed to Ill and Paul’s Boutique, you will find countless examples of MCA’s reckless attitude towards women, drugs, and the law:

“Hold it Now”
Now I just got home because I’m out on bail
What’s the time? — it’s time to buy ale

Well I’m cruising, I’m bruising – I’m never ever losing
I’m in my car — I’m going far and [angel] dust is what I’m using

“The New Style”
Father to many – married to none
And in case you’re unaware I carry a gun

I’ve got money and juice – twin sisters in my bed
Their father had envy so I shot him in the head

Girls with boyfriends are the kind I like
I’ll steal your honey like I stole your bike

The disrespect to women and society is blatant, chauvinistic and rather appalling in these excerpts. It’s downright rude with a borderline personality. And it is laced with drugs and violence.

“Three-minute Rule”
Roses are red, the sky is blue
I got my barrel at your neck so what the fuck you gonna do

I smoke cheeba, it helps me with my brain
I might be a little dusted but I’m not insane
People come up to me and they try to talk shit man
I’ve been making records since you were sucking on your mother’s dick

Yauch had no sense of religion or respect for society. No sense of maturity, responsibility, or peace of mind. And whether you think the lyrics are merely for entertainment purposes, they were still shocking, unhealthy and vagrant. These lyrics are just a few examples of MCA’s rebelliousness and misogyny. You could find 50 more on the band’s first two albums.

Something’s Got to Give
In life, we mature, age and learn from experiences.

On their next album, Check Your Head, you can feel the evolution. You hear the softening of a soul with tracks like “Something’s Got to Give,” “Pow,” “Live at P.J’s,” and “Namaste.”

The whole band sought enlightenment, but they hadn’t attained it. There was still too much rebelliousness and ego, just like you’d see in the psyche of any growing individual.  A theme of “we’re gonna-get-our-shit-together and figure-this-fucker out” ran through the whole album.

MCA voiced this in the song “Stand Together”:

I don’t see things quite the same as I used to
As I live my life I’ve got just me to be true to
And when I find that I don’t know about just what to do
I turn and look within to see what I should do

As MCA found his awakening it figured to resonate; so much vulgarity and rebelliousness will only be balanced out by the same level of understanding and peace. It’s simple cause-and-effect.

Gratitude
Finally, like the sun breaking through a wet Florida day, or a white rose opening its petals for the first time, on their next album, Ill Communication, one feels the evolution, maturity and breakthrough of all three Beastie Boys, with no one more notable than MCA.

With regards to his misogyny in the first song on the album MCA clearly draws a new line:

“Sure Shot”
I want to say a little something that’s long overdue
The disrespect to women has got to be through
To all the mothers and sisters and the wives and friends
I want to offer my love and respect to the end

Furthermore, with regards to his drug use, in the track “The Scoop” we see the evolution from a bad boy to a man who admits part of his breakthrough came when he quit weed.

Cause I don’t play that, I know who I am
For a minute I didn’t, but now I’m back again
I’m feeling strong see, trust myself G
Well I stopped smoking cheeba
And that was part of the key

Bodhisattva Vow
MCA’s journey towards self-realization was achieved for the world to see. He should be remembered both as a musical icon who matured and found his peace in a public forum, as well as a spiritual pioneer of Buddhism. The ground-breaking Tibetan Freedom Concerts which he organized during the late ’90s brought awareness of Tibetan Activism to hundreds of thousands.

It was through Buddhism that MCA found his peace. MCA didn’t give a lot of interviews, but in his own words in a piece for PBS’ Frontline he elucidates on happiness and peace of mind.

“I think there are a lot of misconceptions in society about what actually brings happiness. We’re caught up in all these ideas that having a lot of money or having somebody beautiful to have sex with or having some cool objects, having a cool car, cool stereo or whatever is gonna make us happy. And those things actually don’t bring us happiness. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about how compassion or altruism actually brings a person happiness.”

You can argue there have been men that have learned the hard way how to grow up and rehabilitate. But not many have done so with the scope and quiet integrity of Adam Yauch.

Gunga Galunga

Even when first diagnosed with cancer in 2009, he never played the pity card. He didn’t seek attention nor did he grant many interviews. Like a practicing Buddhist, he laid low. After his surgery, MCA traveled to India for treatments from Tibetan doctors. They prescribed him an organic diet while nuns offered special prayers. Of the trip to India, he playfully responded in one of the only interviews he gave:

“One nun said to me: ‘We do prayers and then you are better’. So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice.”

In case you didn’t get the inside joke, MCA was making a reference to Caddyshack, which clearly illustrates his light heart and playfulness, even in the face of death.

Adam “MCA” Yauch will be missed.

But since he was a Buddhist, who knows–maybe we shouldn’t fret; maybe he’ll be back in no time, in some form or another.

PLEASE SHARE THIS IF YOU LIKE IT, THANKS..

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HeadCount is the prevalent political action network on the music festival circuit, if you didn’t know. This awesome interview lead to J.J. also writing a few columns for the site!! Make sure you vote!!

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Hands down the best in-depth interview on Headz, granted to Vagabondage Press, a small post-modern kind of grimy literary magazine. They publish good shit. Read this to get a nice understanding of the book’s aesthetics.

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Archive of a fun podcast interview, awesome playlist, and J.J. reading from Headz on a national show called Book Talk. The absolute coolest press-related thing we’ve done to date.

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This extensive interview with Miami New Times promoted the first public reading of Headz, at Books & Books in Coral Gables. The event, despite occurring during a monsoon, attracted over 100 peeps.
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This interview was granted to Popdose, a national entertainment and cultural blog, covering music, books, and pop culture in general. We were approached by the writer, after we began advertising on Facebook. Although we think this could have been a little tighter in its editing and layout, the clip is still interesting and sprawling. The introduction is written well by Ben Wiser, and the clip also lists the favorite songs of the characters in Headz!!

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This amazing and timely radio interview on Overnight in America with Jon Grayson was recently broadcast nationally. Ben Wiser is interviewed about the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, Les Paul’s death, and Headz the novel. The Headz interview begins about 10min and 30 seconds in. Check it out!!

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This really cool interview with Rumbum was the first J.J. did for Headz. It came out dope. What came out even cooler, was that as a result of this interview, Rumbum hired him as a freelance Copywriter. Rumbum is a new online lifestyle / culture vehicle launched by Baccardi. They flew him to Denver, New York and Chicago to write about music!! How cool is that?? He wrote 37 articles for Rumbum in thirty days. Of course, he hustled Headz, selling over 100 books in the process . . .

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Interesting blog-post about the composition of Headz. Puts the book into a nice perspective, while revealing a little known secret. The characters have their own MySpace pages.

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This is Miami-Dade College, the Wolfson Campus in downtown Miami, where J.J. has the honor of working with a group of talented Faculty and an amazing, inspiring, determined multi-cultural student body. This clip is from their Marketing and Communications Department.

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stay tuned for more . . .

The book and website, although a work of fiction, depict a wonderful world that over generations has been very real to hundreds of thousands of people. During the five years of composing and revising Headz, almost 60,000 words have been deleted. Many anecdotes did not fit into the narrative arc of the compact and crowded novel, but still feel relevant and entertaining. As a result, we created this website, dedicated to 58 deleted scenes, bonus features, and first person monologues. This is a story about music festivals, coming-of-age, love, and rebellion.

In addition, new scenes are now being released on this website, starting with a 15-anecdote short story; in essence the beginning of a sequel to the novel.

Like Lester Bangs says in the epigraph of Headz the novel: although the Flame may flicker low and all but gutter in these juiceless times, the Party goes on forever….

I was going to Camp. Camp Bisco. And as a writer. A real paid writer. Can you believe it? Dickie should’ve seen me, the fucker. I might not have been making Merrill Lynch  money like him but at least I chased my dream and I wasn’t a momma’s boy. I didn’t give up, in fact this was just the beginning. It’s like the sticker I saw in Mariaville at the Lake with the little convenience store. It was on a red Saab with Ontario plates: Those who abandon their dreams will discourage yours. Ya gotta have a dream. You know that store sure made a killing during Bisco–I tell ya–and they were nice people too–I sat on a bench outside and looked out on the Lake, even journaled a little. It was so pretty. I was so close to the festival, like minutes away, yet so far from the city. Staring into the lake was the first time I allowed myself to feel the peace and tranquility upstate New York offered–such a contrast to the summer shithole I crawled out of on the Lower East side–a shithole I wouldn’t sacrifice for the world, not even one cockroach. Still–I knew what my boy Lee meant when he said go-upstate-and-get-your-head-together. I even walked up to the Mariaville Lake Bed and Breakfast, no reason really, didn’t want a room, just sniffing around like a hound dog. The place was overrun with production people from Bisco. They were nice and gave me a piece of fried chicken when I said I was there on a press pass. See. I don’t need money. Little things like a piece of chicken totally suffice.  So check out how it happened for me. Someone I met at Oracledang. Some dude who bought my book. He read it, liked it, passed it on, and it made its way to some editor at Headstash who’s sending me to Camp as a music journalist. Twenty-one years young and a music journalist. Almost Famous, ha. Headstash is an awesome blog. Did you even see the Bisco 9 lineup? Heavy on electronica. Bisco ain’t no commercial festival, like Bonnaroo or Coachella. It was a dream come true. And speaking of dreamy, Keith was coming up. I drove, he planned to fly up the next day, rent a car. He had an audition so he couldn’t drive with me. I already went to Walmart in Amsterdam to pick up some things: bug spray, sunscreen, Gold Bond powder (for Keith–I knew he’d forget), two new fold-up chairs, ice, and fresh produce and stuff. I couldn’t wait. The blog only wanted a review of the festival, but I wanted to write about as many bands as I could. The line-up was sick.

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CLICK HERE TO READ INSTALLMENT TWO

I’m on a plane, to Albany. I’m re-reading your e-mail. It’s on my Iphone 4. This gizmo is amazing, dude. I can read e-mails 18,000 feet in the air. KC convinced me to get it. She said I could use the navigation system. I do get lost a lot. Especially in New York City. You know what she calls me? Ding-dong. What am I going to do with you, ding-dong? That’s whats she says because I’m always getting lost. Know how many times I’ve heard that from women in my life. Hope you don’t mind me talking about her. I feel safe these days and that’s important. I’m still feeling you, Sky. You know I am. And I understand you have things to sort out since Melody’s arrest, but I’m with KC right now, and you shouldn’t feel like time is moving too fast. Time is moving just like it should. Time is on our side. Look at me. Linking things and everything. I’m getting good at this. Lol. Anyway, just chill. This is a period of incubation for you. A time to grow. A time to wait, like a seed, so relax. There is a season for everything. The truth you seek will sprout, sooner or later. Trust me. Melody is a bad girl. Put that in your head. Don’t forget how she left you in the car. And of all the poisons she lead you to. It’s okay tho. Sometimes we choose poison and sometimes we choose nectar. Even though we know nectar will sustain us and poison ultimately destroy us, we still choose poison because of our desire.  Meditate on that. Like we used to do during S.A.K.E. Anyway, me with an Iphone. Can you even believe it? He who hath feared becoming reliant on technology has finally succumbed. So I’m glad you’re keeping busy. That’s wise. And I’m even happier to hear you’re doing yoga religiously. I miss my sweaty practice in San Francisco. Thank you for your kind blessing about my acting career. I just had an audition today for a commercial, but I don’t want to jinx anything so I will keep the details muted. Can you even believe I moved to New York? I can’t. And now I’m going to Camp Bisco. A music festival? After Oracledang, crazy, right? But KC scored a writing gig, so why not? I do have some fear after what happened at Oracledang. Btw–I’m keeping in touch with Teflon and KC is still distraught about the whole Thelonious thing. That whole Chicago thing was just crazy. Ooops. Time to shut off electronic devices. Listen, mud-bug, I’ll be in touch. And if you need to talk, I have a cell. Give Bodhi-dog my love. Rub his nose for me until he sneezes. I miss that lil rascal. Luv, Keith.

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CLICK HERE TO READ INSTALLMENT #3 INDIAN LOOKOUT

Every car seemed like they arrived from an epic journey, all disheveled and stickered up.  It was amazing how many cars were plastered in stickers. It gave the setting a unique vibe. All these peeps from all over the country gathered in one place, in the middle of nowhere–it was a world of our own. I felt totally stoked. This was my first country music festival and I could already tell it would be better than one in a  city.  I parked close to the VIP and Artist entrance because it’d be simple to get out, and also easy for Keith to find me. It lay literally right by the entrance. You couldn’t miss it. I tried to call him, but his phone went directly to voicemail. I left a message telling him where I set up. It should’ve been easy to find to me. Should’ve been. Whatever. It wasn’t the end of the world. I had a festival to explore.

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CLICK HERE TO READ INSTALLMENT #4 BABIES WITH PACIFERS

The plan was supposed to be simple. That alone sounded retarded. Duh. I should”ve known better. To plan. To devise or project the realization of. To plan, from the Latin planus–meaning level ground. Me? Level ground? Plan us, who, us plan? Yeah, right. Wrong. Landed in Albany. Check. Grabbed luggage and some of KC’s books. Check. (She didn’t want to bring in books to vend, so she had me carry up a case from the City.) Rented a car. Check. Budget. Ford. New. Comfy. Check, check, check. Started driving towards Mariaville. Check. Used navigation system on phone. Check. Out of the airport. Headed north. Check. Albany looked old. Like George Washington old. The plan was in motion. Headed towards Schenectady. Check. And then…Dum da dum dum…the freaking Iphone died. I must’ve burned it up on the plane. Dumb da dumb dumb! And my dumb ass spaced the charger back in Brooklyn. Can you believe that? Ugh!! Freaking technology. It will fail you every time, dude. So there I was with no phone, no map, no way to contact KC, no idea where to go, it sort of left with only my instincts. What else was new, huh? I got off I90 in Schenectady. I found some street called Union–why not travel on Union you know–better than Division, right? Man–it was getting dark and Schenectady was just weird. I found these guys who gave me directions. They told me it was Mariah-ville–not Mariaville–and I said it’s spelled like Maria, not Mariah, and they looked at me funny until I said, okay, I need to get to Mariah-ville and finally they said something about Route 159 but I was totally spacing out on the word Mariah. For some dumb reason my mind started thinking of this village of Mariah Carey’s–and in my mind the Mariah Carey village was eco-friendly and all the little Mariah’s were wearing Daisy Duke shorts made of a little hemp fabric–like maybe Geri could sew them. I finally shook that vision off and thanked them and headed on my way. When I found Route 160 and took it because I wasn’t sure if they said Route 159 or Route 160 so I figured they must be close enough, but believe me dude, with some perspective, I could say although they were close in numerology and fairly close in proximity they were really not that close in reality, except to the fact that both places were in the middle of nowhere. So, in reality, I was in the middle of nowhere and pretty much lost. Please don’t ask why I didn’t buy a new cell phone charger.  What can I say? It just didn’t cross my mind. Now you know why KC calls me a ding-dong.

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CLICK HERE TO READ INSTALLMENT #5

I swear the people at Bisco were awesome. I mean, just brilliant. The intellect, creativity, and receptivity of Bisco heads felt crisper than a fully extended double rainbow. I was like so stoked. I couldn’t believe Shore Morris had the nerve to say Bisco heads were too druggie. I called Shore a few days earlier to see if they were coming, but he said him and the Princess were going to All Good in West Virginia and then making their way back to South Florida to chill in Princess-land. Ha! Shore Morris and the Princess must represent the strangest coupling in the history of history. We’ll see how long that lasts. But, hey–whatever works. I was like, that’s all-good. All Good’s for old timers, anyways–not that I’d judge anyone–that’s Shore Morris’s m.o.–but I don’t know what he was saying about druggies. There were some wooks in the house but they were more like wookie-warriors. Walking around campsites spread across all two hundred acres of Indian Lookout, my conversations delved into the deepest realms of politics, science, philosophy, and of course music appreciation. I met artists, musicians, professors. Everyone seemed to be in Graduate school or something. If people were doing drugs, they certainly didn’t represent idiocy, quite the opposite–it felt like Art Camp in some ways. Approaching tent villages, the most awesome keepsakes accumulated in my bag: a coloring book, original music, a glass pipe, stickers galore, and the best—a pair of Camp Bisco headie socks–people kicked down like crazy. Shakedown was blowing up. The girls at the Hooked booth were so sweet. OMG–the color wars. The freaking color wars. What a great concept. Arm Wrestling and the Wookie Makeover and Best Mustache and the Scavenger Hunt. Go Team Orange–you gotta love an underdog. Oh and at the Color Wars I also linked up with HeadCount–talk about a smart group–they were doing this letter writing campaign. I actually wrote to my Congressman–Anthony Weiner–about the oil spill–an anti-corporate rant–and the cool cats at HeadCount mailed it for me. And I met the young intern dudes from Relix Magazine and they seemed so energetic and smart and cute too. I was having so much fun. The Grassroots Movement were in the house selling their dope gear and they even had a deejay blasting some dubstep.  This one girl I met topped them all. She sat on the side of the path near the entrance, making art. Cutting up art and porn magazines from the sixties, she made tiny collages with other mixed media. I hung out with her for like an hour, just chilling, and she kicked me down. Didn’t even want anything in return. So cool. It had a real butterfly that she found dead. Call me dark, but I thought it cute.  I was thinking Keith better get there soon before I forget all about him–kidding.

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CLICK HERE TO READ INSTALLMENT #6 BEEZWAX

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CLICK HERE TO READ INSTALLMENT #7 STOLEN CORPORATION

Time went by so fast. I spent so much of it looking for Keith but like it was totally time to see some music. What was I supposed to do? I had a job. And I called him repeatedly. His phone kept going to voicemail. I bet the ding-dong left his charger at home. Ay-yi-yi. And he was probably lost without a GPS. Or maybe stuck  in line. I heard the line wasn’t the most efficient. Someone rather bitterly told me they waited six hours. I guess I could understand the frustration of journeying a huge epic mission, traveling from all over the country and just when you thought you made it to your destination, boom–gridlock traffic. I even spoke to some peeps about the subject. Most of the kids I interviewed didn’t mind the wait–once they were inside. They said it sucked while going through it–but it no longer mattered in the least. I hoped Keith was dealing. We really haven’t been together that long but I knew he hated lines. Which was so strange because the cat was a certified yoga instructor–you’d think he knew how to exercise patience. One date night we were at the Angelika to see Exit Through The Gift Shop and he practically threw a conniption fit waiting to get in. Keith. I also hoped at some point he possessed the common sense to borrow someone’s cell-phone to call his own voicemail and check his messages. That way he could find out where I set up the tent. If he didn’t check his messages, he might’ve had problems finding me. Knowing him, he’d try to find me without technology–with his Cali vibe feelers–it was kind-a cute, I guess. That was how he met me, actually. If he had his phone at Oracledang…  Whatever–I was watching Thievery Corporation. And. Wow. They sounded dope! Thievery Corporation was formed as deejay duo and they blossomed into one of the best live acts in the country.  They had that whole unity collective vibe! A little bit of this, and a little bit of that–we are the world!! They get it, they got it, and they knew it was good. OMG–especially when Brazilian vocalista Karina Zeviani sung Verny Varela’s ‘Exilio’. “Ven ven vente a bailar!!”  This siren actually came into the crowd and hyped us up, bouncing, singing. This represented what a music festival was all about–on the real fo real–everyone came together in one big grid of pure synergy and love. Thanks TC and Karina. I filmed it . . .

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CLICK HERE TO READ INSTALLMENT # 8 O, SISTER, WHERE ART THOU?

These are some of the headz who have so kindly dropped in telling us what they think of the book. We are committed to keeping this independent grassroots spirit alive as we continue into the Fall and Winter. To learn more about the novel, click here. And help spread the word by re-posting this link on your Facebook.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LOVE, INSPIRATION, AND KINDNESS

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What an accomplishment!! Full of humor, insight, humility, heart and wit!!

Brendan, Hollywood, Florida

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Where did that writing style come from? So creative and brilliant! You’re a modern day Jack Kerouac! You took the reader on a ride to visit not-so-distant lands and alternate lifestyles and I loved it!

Janice, Northport, New York

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Headz is so good. I am reliving my own head trip across the country. This is a big hit.

Melanie, Miami, Florida

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I read Headz and thought it was entertaining. Now all I want to do is be at a festival again but summer has ended!! Thanks for this sincere tale of the scene! Keep on trucking.

Amanda, Lexington, Kentucky

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I read your novel and absolutely loved it! The characters are amazing and your writing style is truly great. Very enjoyable. Two thumbs up. Please keep writing.

Stephanie, Denver, Colorado

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“HEADZ” the novel just might inspire you to do something great. I couldn’t put it down.

Paul, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

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The story has it all: friendship, Karma, love, and let’s not forget fun!! AMAZING work. You have a great way of capturing and informing about the scene!!

Julie, Oakland, California

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Anyone who knows which way the wind blows will love “Headz.”

Britton, Orlando, Florida

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I wasn’t sure how good a book I saw in a Facebook ad could be. I’m very glad I ordered it. The story was so awesome, and I totally connected with the characters as if they were people I knew. Can’t wait to hopefully read more from you!

I loved your book. I couldn’t put it down and read it in 2 days. I am impressed beyond words. Being able to write in so many distinct voices, what a talent. I’m looking forward to delving into the website and anticipating the movie (someday??)

Elizabeth, West Palm Beach, Florida

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HEADZ is a work of Fiction. If you like music festivals, you’ll dig this. If you know someone who does, re-post, or buy the book. It’ll make a great present. Friend us on Facebook for info on free giveaways and fresh content.  Meanwhile, check out the website to enjoy 60 deleted scenes CUT from the novel, plus new serialized copy, starting with a 15 scene short story, in essence a sequel, based on Camp Bisco 9.

The next two festivals already written will be set at Wakarusa and Lollapalooza. In the future, the plan is to write stories at Suwannee, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Ultra, and All Good. When all is said and done, hopefully there will be enough material for two more novels, so the Headz project will ultimately be a trilogy chronicling music festival subculture through the lens of fictional characters. It’s a cool project!!

Headz is also available on Kindle and all e-readers.

Headz is grassroots all the way so spread the word, and thanks for the love!!

Click here to read the first scene of the current story