D.A. Sebasstian & The Inner Demons Logo

Messed around with the Inner Demons logo. Added a saw blade and made the flags red instead of checkered. Looks kinda Cowpunk Spanish Tribal IWW something something. 

Morley ABC Switcher

Man my new Morley ABC switcher is perfect for my bass/guitar rig. Splits my bass into three channels that I can turn off and on at will. My channel A is bass, B is guitar type effects (including overdrive) and C is reverb (spring and cathedrals). What my sound needed! 

Rats & Gassers Writing

A big part of film making is writing. Credits, narration, shot lists, etc. The narration in Rats & Gassers is key to making this film flow. I am covering alot of ground and need to make sure I don't loose the audiences attention. Today has been a writing day which is hard since it is screaming sunshine outside and I have the day off work. 

My Schecter Hellcat VI Bass

Was going through pictures that I am using in Rats & Gassers and came across these of my Hellcat VI that was pinstriped by Don Charbonneau (after I painted the pick guard and headstock silver and then power sanded to petina perfection). I may have posted a few of these before but if so- oh well :) 

And More Rats & Gassers Photo Editing

Series of photos by my daughter of Trevor's flamethrowers.

Worked on the section about Trevor Robinson and his builds today. His '29 Truck is a centerpiece of the film. 

Rats & Gassers Photo Editing

Two days worth of tedious photo editing for Rats & Gassers: Kustom Kulture Takes A Ride. Seriously I need a clone. 

Rack Extensions Reason 6.5

The Rack Extensions (third party instruments and effects for the program) in Reason 6.5 are amazing. Every week new instruments and effects are being released. Yes you have to pay for them, and yes some are overpriced, but many are under $50 and do some amazing things with audio. My favorites so far are -

Korg Polysix (a fat analog sounding synth)

Ochen K. A-Series 1 & 2 Modular Synth (a virtual modular synth)

Propellerhead Polar (pitch shifting, harmonizing)

Propellerhead Radical Piano (massive piano recreations with nuances)

Bob Papen SubBoomBass RE (basses mixed with drums all very usable and playable)

U-he Uhbik A (very compelling reverbs) 

Rats & Gassers Photo Editing

Doing some serious detail work the last few days. Going through ALL the pictures I am using in Rats & Gassers: Kustom Kulture Take A Ride and adjusting color, contrast and sharpness. This is so when I import the photos to the Final Cut pro 7 timeline, they will be the best they can be. I am using Apple's Preview for the preliminary adjustments, the Photoshop if need be. Tedious but necessary. 

Dell Financial Services "Credit Protection" Scam

So I have purchased thousands of dollars worth of merchandise through Dell (partially financed by Dell Financial Services). I make my payments and life goes on. Back in June of last year, we closed our Arts School and so I became unemployed. I was able to stay on top of some payments for a few months, but eventually fell behind on many bills including my Dell account. I started getting calls, sometimes 10 calls a day from their collections department. This went on for several months as I struggled to get back on track. I got a job in November and slowly got out from under my financial bus wreck. Last week, I was reviewing my Dell account and found out I had "Credit Protection Insurance." This is a $35 a month charge to protect your account under catastrophic circumstances. You know those things that sales people talk you into signing up for when you open a new account. THIS WOULD HAVE COVERED ACCOUNT DURING MY UNEMPLOYMENT! WTF! Why didn't Dell Collections tell me this?!?!? I called today to cancel my "Credit Protection" plan and request some kind of refund. "Sorry" is all they say as they transferred me from department to department. I want my money back! Not one month or two of these scam payments- ALL OF IT! 

LESSON: Be very cautious of Dell Financial Services or any other companies "Credit Protection Plans." It's just a scam for them to make more money for doing absolutely nothing. 

Apple's Preview

Really digging the basic filters in Apple's Preview. Obviously not as extensive an editing program as Photoshop (which I use every day as well), but the subtle sharpening tools and color correction filters in Preview take a picture thats almost there and put it over the top without much effort. 

Remember This?

1955's Tarantula!

Big T's Henry J Gasser With Jean Viva

I am going through the massive amounts of stills, pics and video footage for Rats & Gassers: Kustom Kulture Takes A Ride. Came across these from last years shoot with Big T and Carla McDonald's Henry J Gasser (model Jean Viva), which is a great build. Big T has massive knowledge as a builder and put this bad boy together in a matter of months. When I interviewed him in late 2011 the Henry J was still in pieces (you can see it behind him during the interview) and by mid-2012 he was racing it!

Fender Pawnshop Bass VI

Saw this in a music catalog yesterday. I really want to buy one! The all new Fender Pawnshop Bass VI! I love my Schecter Hellcat VI, but would like to explore other VI style instruments. As a bassist and guitarist these guitars are exceptional. They are tuned one full octave below a standard E guitar tuning (I do Eb). 

My Edmonds News Interview

Did a little interview with My Edmonds News.com. Read it below...

By Janette Turner

A few years back, a video crew shooting in Edmonds alarmed locals with a too-realistic gun scene. The resulting movie, “Rat Rod Rockers!” was released and I recently checked in with director D.A. Sebasstian to find out more.

My Edmonds News: Could you please give us an update on “Rat Rod Rockers!”

D.A.S.: The film has done very well, especially through Amazon Instant Video. I was surprised at how many folks actually rent underground hot rod films through this mainstream channel, instead of just stealing my film on one of the Peer To Peer or Pirating sites. We have also sold bucket loads of the “Rat Rod Rockers!” DVDs at car shows and on our own website. and the film has received decent reviews in all the Hot Rod and car magazines. It’s funny, with my genre of film making I get much more attention from the “Car” magazines and websites than the “Movie” magazines and websites. The sales of “Rat Rod Rockers!” enabled me to finance my latest documentary film- “Rats & Gassers: Kustom Kulture Takes A Ride.”

My Edmonds News: What are you shooting these days?

D.A.S.: Right now I am in post production with “Rats & Gassers: Kustom Kulture Take A Ride.” I started shooting in 2011 and have accumulated over 60 hours of interviews and Hot Rod footage. This film is a tribute to the builders and fabricators who make Hot Rods in the Northwest. I went to various shops from Medford, Oregon, to Monroe, Washington, and interviewed the builders one on one about why they do what they do and why they have a passion for these cars. I really see these guys as artists more than just “hobbyists”. Besides the builders, I also interviewed Matt Sawdon of Sunken Ship Tattoo, Photographers Tina Tang and Susana Victoria Clark and Pinstriper Don Charbonneau. “Kustom Kulture” encompasses the cars and the lifestyle and everyone form the Pin-Ups who pose with the cars to the artists who paint and stripe the cars are involved. I am on track to have this in festivals by end of 2013. I am also making a companion book to go with the film. At each interview session I took my Canon 7D along to take pictures for the book. I am not the greatest photographer in the world -much better with a film camera- but several of my photo shoots have been published in national magazines, so maybe I’m mot as lame as I think I am!

My Edmonds News: Anything else that you want folks to know?

D.A.S.: We re-booted our TV show “Go-Kustom TV!” We were on SCAN (cable 29/77) for four seasons back in 2002-2005 and then I put the show on hold to make feature length movies. When I was out filming “Rats & Gassers,” I found some of the footage, especially about muscle cars or kustom cars, wouldn’t fit the documentary’s format. I started thinking, why not re-boot Go-Kustom TV? I talked to pin-up mega-model Kitty Mansfield about hosting the show; she agreed and now we are wrapping up Episode One of Season Five. We will shop the show to various distributors and plan on having 12-14 25 minute Episodes in Season 5. Most are centered around area car shows like the Hell On Wheels show at Darrell’s Tavern in Shoreline, and many more. Some of the footage from the TV show will also be in “Rats & Gassers.” In this way I was able to shoot two project simultaneously. I like to maximize my effort this way.

To follow “Go-Kustom TV” and “Rat Rod Rockers!” check out the website.

Website http://www.go-kustom.com/go-kustomtv.html

Rats & Gassers Rough Footage

Did a quick series of clips from the Billetproof Eruption Drags for as a Rats & Gassers:Kustom Kulture Takes A Ride Preview. 

Billetproof Eruption Drags

Did some editing on the Billetproof Eruption Drags section of Rats & Gassers: Kustom Kulture Takes A Ride. Some of this footage will also be re-cut as an episode of Go-Kustom TV. 

Go-Kustom Go-Girls Pin-Up Trading Cards

We just got Kitty Mansfield's new Go-Girl Trading Card in. Looks great! Now I have to get the promo packages ready to mail out to magazines etc. now that we have two cards (also Kittie Doll LeBlanc) done. This is turning out to be a cool promotion.