The death of the legend got me thinking that I feel Michael Madsen would’ve fit right in with the sopranos cast. To this day I have a hard time “believing” the Tony B character. Buscemi is just too A list of an actor for him to just show up out of no where. Most of the time he’s on the screen I just can’t indulge in the character because he’s not in the show long enough to become immersed in the character. I can’t see the massage therapist storyline fitting Michael Madsen but they could’ve picked a different profession for him to “keep on the straight” with.

This isn’t an original thought, I’ve seen people post this before. But I figured I would drum up a discussion after he passed away.

Do you think Madsen would’ve belonged? And which character could you envision him playing?

The first two seasons were quite realistic.

This was SO friggin' weird how we got this gig.

And the more I look back on it? The more crazy it is that we not only got the gig, but that we were even there, at all.

How in the world we managed to land this, considering who we were, is nothing short of "dumb, stupid, blind-ass luck".

Consider the following:

You just graduated music school (Musician's Institute), and you start a thrash metal/metalcore band. You're all ages 20-23.

You figure out how to game the MySpace algo's enough to make sure GOBS of kids see your shit, listen to it, and leave really, really good reviews.

Your plays per day go from ~30ish up to 10x,-100x that number. Anywhere from a couple hundred, to a couple thousand, depending how much time you spend at it/the quality of data you're able to get/etc. play a factor, but you stay on it from when you record, in Oct 2007, to when you release, in February of 2008.

December 2007 comes around and, while doing that, at the same time, you're part of a website that lets DIY/Unsigned bands apply for opportunities to be placed in T.V./film/commercials.

You dominate the hard rock/metal charts, simply because there aren't but a couple of artists in that genre who use the service, so you're constantly in the top 10, if not the top #1 spot. For weeks. Months.

Then, you notice a submission for a network T.V. company looking for metal for an episode of a T.V. show. Doesn't say more than that. It costs $20 to throw your hat in the ring, but they guarantee if you don't get placed, they'll explain why, and "guarantee the network will listen to it and give feedback". That's worth $20, right? You decide to do it, even though you have no tour vehicle and are living off $5/day, which you usually spend on cigarettes.

In a few days, when submissions end, you get an e-mail. They selected you. One of your tracks off your brand-spankin-new, not even released-yet record you JUST finished was chosen to be on network T.V. You're thinking it's some small part, then, once the service who booked it (Broadjam) lets you know the details, and how much they negotiated for you, it changes your life.

They pay you enough, up front, to buy a tour bus, with royalties to follow, depending on show popularity and if they get picked up for season 5, which means re-runs due to syndication. It gets picked up.

Then, you get to spend the next 7 years performing in front of different crowds, of all sizes, have the best times of your life, ultimately start having talks with several record labels, tour your brains out, and everything is awesome all the time.

Then, it finally happens: you get picked up record company, and release one record. And this show is the reason it all happened.

That's what happened to me, and I've still got nothing but love and gratitude for the entire staff, team, crew, and actors on the show. They were all so nice, so cool, and Emily was no exception. She was unbelievably down to earth, humble, well-intentioned, and fun to be around. There's another picture where we're all smiling, and she's got her metal horns high in the air with her tongue out. I wish I could post that picture for you all, but I got too much respect for the show, because they asked us not to post it.

This was over 15 years ago, but I've got too much respect for the show (which I'll get to, in a second), to do anything they asked us not to, even if it was 15 years ago, on a sub dedicted to that very show.

I want this to be clear: SHE (Emily) didn't ask us not to, it was her team that asked us not to, very, very nicely and respectfully, AFTER she had left the room). But her, with both hands up in the metal horns, tongue fully out of her face, embodying the spirit of heavy metal, hopefully gives you, when you think of that image in your mind, a good idea of the person she is.

Nothing but respect, she deserves every ounce of credit she gets.

I was fortunate-- AM fortunate-- to gotten to have worked with her, and also to have been afforded the opportunities that I was that led, ultimately, to being able to do things like this, or perform on warped tour.

Regardless of the fact that the label who released our record ultimately ran into massive legal troubles, resulting in them dissolving and releasing all artists, taking with them all our merch, physical copies, and most importantly, our will to continue forward with the band (after working so hard, obtaining the thing you want, then having it ripped away at the worst possible financial moment), I still have nothing but an immense feeling of gratitude for every single person who helped me live the dream, even if it was for only a few years, and have experiences in my life like this.

These photos were taken at lunch, during which time Emily came down to hang out with us, and no one else, the entirety of the lunch hour. She ate with us, just talked about music, and how she was a genuine fan of what we had created. She didn't come off like it was placating us, or humoring us; it was genuine respect for the art we created, that we were letting her show use to tell their story in that episode, and it meant a lot. Not because she gave us preferential treatment, or anything like that... it was because I could tell she was being genuine. That shit meant more than anything else, and I'll never not support everything she ever does, and not have a fond memory of the person she is.

This moment got brought up in another sub I frequent, and I thought this little behind-the-curtain peek at not only the show, but the kind of person she is, would be a nice addition to this sub, since new content is probably pretty few-and-far-between posts for you guys, given the show is no longer on the air. But then I wanted to thank all YOU guys, too. The fans who, to this day, are STILL fans. Because you STILL help me, in my personal life.

Here's what I mean:

Ultimately, after the band, I went back to school during the pandemic and got my marketing degree, and last year I was in a tough transitionary period. The kind where ever $100 matters a lot.

I had something happen where a company took money out for a yearly subscription I didn't agree to, causing another payment I made to bounce, and it was a massive headache making my account go from just squeaking by on a razor's edge, to being overdrafted by several hundred dollars. I'm sure you can relate if you're a regular person.

All I needed was a couple hundred bucks to be deposited, that day, to make sure I didn't incur fees on, like, 5 charges, which woulda been another couple hundred bucks and really could have done damage to me, financially. Again: I'm not special for this, as we've all been there.

I was freaking out, and went to log-in to see how much, exactly, I actually needed, and my account suddenly was in the green $100. "What the f***? Where did this come from?"... scroll down and look... Royalties from episode 20 of season 4 "mayhem on a cross". "F***in bones, man..... f***in bones! Haha!" I think were my exact words.

The show CONTINUES to help me, and in no short way does that include every single one of YOU mf'ers, who KEEP watching the reruns when you see them, KEEP streaming episodes, and STILL love the show, continue to help ME, in my PERSONAL life, over a decade and a half later.

Y'all got a big ol' slice of that gratitude pie that I feel each time this show makes its way into my life somehow, so I felt it appropriate to thank you all. So thank you.

You guys continue to make a positive impact in my life, and I don't think people realize the very real, actual people's lives that are impacted by your decision over what products, or shows, you choose to support and consume or watch, and I think that gets lost when we're choosing what things we want to consume.

Just wanted to leave this here, and to say thank you, again, because I truly mean it. So, again: Thank you.

-The drummer for "Zorch", 15+ years later