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Thoughts In the Wake of the Death of (the Great) Keith Emerson

The taking of one's own life is, I believe, entirely the choice of the individual. I find it neither a selfish act, nor cowardly, nor a sin. I must, often begrudingly, accept the choice of the individual to do with their life and shape their death as they see fit. That said, some who make the choice to commit suicide are not in their right mind. They may be in a fog of physical or emotional pain. The right words, an extended hand, an open ear or heart, may help shift this person into a different (and certainly less permanent) decision.

Thus I write now and mean forever: If you know me (even a little bit) and you're thinking of killing yourself but want to talk to someone, please please please please feel free to talk to me.

We all move through life haunted by the ghosts of those we've known, loved, and lost, or those, now gone, whose work has touched us and made us better humans. The less ghosts the better. You can do your part by using your voice and your social networking forums to say something that matters to those who may need to hear it.

Clash of the Punks: Philly vs DC!

Cynthia Connolly, Chuck Meehan, and Joseph. Photo by Doug Polgardy.
Cynthia Connolly, Chuck Meehan, and Joseph. Photo by Doug Polgardy.
Chuck Meehan and Joseph. Photo by Doug Polgardy.
Vincent Feldman and Joseph. Photo by Doug Polgardy.
The story of the Black Flag riot with Kensington locals attacking DC punks at the Starlight Ballroom in the early '80s has been told in Chuck Meehan's interview and mentioned in a few others. Last night Cynthia Connolly talked about it in my interview with her, which will go up tomorrow. Since I had both Chuck and Cynthia in the same place, I got them together before Cynthia's "Banned In DC" slideshow/talk to discuss this infamous event in Philly hardcore history. I also had a chance to catch up with Chuck to discuss his new project, Mace Canister Recordings. Also present for this mini-interview was Vincent Feldman, past interview subject and author of the gorgeous book, "City Abandoned." Vincent talked about his new project, which I can't wait to see.

If time had permitted, I would have loved to have done mini-interviews with other past interview subjects who were present like the Fiends, the Mungan brothers from Scram!, Mike McKee, and Brian Sokel, but it was a busy night. Other mini-interviews may be forthcoming here on the blog, so watch out.

While not officially announced yet, the second on the L!F!P! "Speakers Series" will be Larry Livermore, formerly of Lookout! Records and "MaximumRockNRoll" magazine. He'll be talking about his new book, "How To Ru(i)n A Record Label." That'll be happening at Cindergarden in West Philly on Friday, May 20, 2016 at 8 PM. Details and a formal announcement to follow.

These photos kindly provided by Doug Polgardy.

The Cynthia Connolly Event Live Stream From Facebook

We ran a live stream of the first few minutes of Cynthia Connolly's presentation (really just the intro) at Cindergarden in West Philadelphia earlier this evening on Facebook. Check it out to see what you missed or, if you were there, possibly see yourself in the audience. A fine time was had by all.

Start of Cynthia Connolly Live Event At Cindergarden In West Philly. March 5, 2016

Posted by Joseph A. Gervasi on Saturday, March 5, 2016

Cynthia Connolly Comes To West Philly

Cynthia Connolly with Joseph and Bull by Karen Kirchhoff
Cynthia Connolly with Joseph and Bull by Karen Kirchhoff
Cynthia Connolly with Joseph and Bull by Karen Kirchhoff
Here are some photos by Karen Kirchhoff of Cynthia Connolly along with Bull and me shortly before I conducted by interview with her and a few hours before her presentation in Philly.

Cynthia was a pleasure to talk to and I think you'll enjoy her interview when it goes up on Monday, March 7.

The second in the L!F!P! "Speakers Series" will be announced soon.

Stitch By Stitch

Friendly friend excited about being on Stitcher, too.
A brief note to let you know that the interviews are now working their way onto Stitcher as well as iTunes, the Cinepunx podcast network, and, of course this website.

As with iTunes and the Cinepunx site, the interviews are going up one-per-weekday in the order in which they were conducted. About eight are up at the time of this blog posting and more will be coming until, some months into the future, it's caught up to the website.

Get Out the Vote!

OS the cat: oi! oi! oi!
The vote on iTunes, that is. While this website will always be the true home of these interviews and the photographs that accompany them, the interviews are now going up on iTunes, the Cinepunx podcast network, and likely Stitcher. All this has been previously noted. With only one interview going up per weekday starting with the first interview I recorded back in early 2013, it will take several weeks for the iTunes uploads to catch up to the site. But I need your help, dear listener! Please rate and review the podcast edition of L!F!P! on iTunes. The more and better reviews (as well as subscriptions) it gets, the more people get exposed to it and can enjoy what we've shared. It really helps. Even if you listen here and not there, taking a few minutes to post a short review will help the project out. Thanks, friends!

Coming For You: Matthew Geary of Cape of Bats

Matthew Geary and JAG
I conducted a short interview with Matthew Geary of Cape of Bats and solo work today. The interview will go up later this week. In the meanwhile I encourage you to check them out along with Matt's solo album, which is on Bandcamp. Full links to follow with the interview. Here's a pic of Matt and me in my house before we talked. Ace Envy sweatshirt!

The Expanding Empire of L!F!P!

I'm thrilled to announce that the project is now part of the Cinepunx network of podcasts. This means you'll be able to listen to or download the interviews from the project (70+ and counting) through iTunes (official page up by Monday, February 1, 2016), Stitcher, the Cinepunx website, and (of course and always) this L!F!P! website. Having so many more options to hear the interviews will get them out in the world to an even greater extent. The interviews will go up one-a-day on most weekdays starting with the first interview (Cordy Swope of the mighty Ruin) and in the sequence in which they were recorded. This will site will always be the most important to the project and the interviews will appear here first (especially since it will take several weeks for the other outlets to catch up). Please help out by getting the word out listening to any interviews you may have missed. My thanks to Liam O'Donnell and Joshua Alvarez for making this happen. They're super fellows and it's an honor and pleasure to work with them on this or anything else. Look for a new interview coming in (I hope) a few days and Cynthia Connolly in early March (with perhaps more between and always more after). http://www.cinepunx.com/loudfastphilly-episode-1-cordy-swope-of-ruin/?fb_ref=Default

Banned In Philly

Banned In DC Book Cover
Check out the recent event I've added to the site. Along with Bull and Karen, I'll be presenting the photographer Cynthia Connolly, publisher and co-author of the legendary book "Banned In DC." It's happening on Saturday, March 5 at 7 PM at Cindergarden (4823 Baltimore Ave. in West Philly). Cynthia will be doing a slideshow and talk and selling copies of her book. It's an honor for us to have Cynthia come to Philly. Her book was an influence on all of us and, hell, she created the iconic cover to Minor Threat's "Out of Step" record! See the event listing for all the details and please help out by passing on the word. I'm hoping to interview Cynthia for the project earlier in the day before the show. While she's not a Philly person, she's one of the interview exceptions I occasionally make since her work has influenced many Philly folks.

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