The truth is, life has been keeping me busy. Not that I'm complaining. Unfortunately, it's nothing new or exciting. More of the same really… school, school, school and school. That accounts for my lack of blogging/video making to be honest. I am not suggesting that I have been so busy that I just haven't had time to write a thing. It's more, have I done anything significant enough to write about? My silence pretty much answers that one.

 Things have been good though. It's November, which means the holidays are right around the corner and if you know anything about me, you know that Christmas is a big deal. I mean, a big deal. It kind of sickening actually… but I'm looking forward to it nonetheless. 

 Come January, I am transferring to FIU to get a degree in Public Relations. I'm not someone who dislikes change, but I'm still nervous. I don't know why, but I always feel like I am ill-prepared for everything I do in my life. It's as though I've skipped every step prior to the one I'm currently taking. I don't know how to describe it, but it's a thing.

 When summer rolls around, I am hoping to get some sort of PR internship, somewhere. My dream is to intern in New York City. We'll see how that goes. I just want to make it to Christmas first.

 That has been and is, my life… give or take a few dinners and/or unnecessary shopping trips.

 Anyway!

 I know I have said this before… but I am going to try and do this more regularly. I miss it.

 Hope you all are doing well!

There are few things I enjoy more than being introduced to new music and new people. Sometimes, I am lucky enough to do both at the same time. Thanks to a good friend, (and equally good connector of people) I was introduced to Boy Banned. The name, is rather self-explanatory… Boy Banned is, indeed, a boy band. 

Now, this is typically the part of the blog post where I would sift through the interview questions, pick the best of the best answers and try to interject a bit of my own commentary. But not today, boys and girls. You see, as I was reading through the responses to the questions, I realized that the last thing I wanted to do was edit or fine-tune anything that these lovely gentlemen had to say. 

With that, I present to you, a fully unedited, unscripted interview with the boys of BoyBanned.

Tell us a little about the boys of Boy Banned.

 We've got Ethan, the short, blonde, northern (Manchester) one who is ever so modest about his six pack. You really have to persuade him to catch a glimpse of it. He doesn't post 4 pics of it each day on his facebook profile. That would be ridiculous.

 (It appears he's a bit guilty)

Then there's Adam, the slightly taller, slightly more southern (Nottingham) but still classed as northern, quiet member of the group who all the girls are in love with for his ravishing good looks. Also responds to the name 'mouse'.

Thirdly we have Pob from the west country (Gloucestershire) who keeps the boys under control and is usually the voice behind the weekly FlipCams as he films them. You can catch his face sometimes in the reflection of Ethan's sunglasses during one of Ethan's many pointless ramblings to camera.

And last and by all means least is David. The crazy, energy filled, freakishly high note capable member of Boy Banned. That's not a woman featured on the track. That's David.

 And together we create Boy Banned. Doing something no-one has ever done before. Putting four young guys together to sing pop music as a group. Boys in a band. A boy band if you will.

When did you all meet?

 At 12.34pm on Thursday the....not that accurately? Okay. Well David and Pob were in a band a few years ago, so when David was the first member accepted into the group he quickly called Pob to ask him to audition, which clearly he did and was successful. Ethan came into the line-up a couple of months down the line, and then Adam joined a few months after that, both of them auditioning to complete the line-up as it is today.

 In doing my research/internet stalking, it seems like all of you are genuinely good friends. But be honest, does anyone have any slight annoyances with one another they would like to share? (Asked with an overabundance of sarcasm.)  

 Pob: The other three have this really annoying tendency to breathe. I do wish they'd stop.

Ethan: David NEVER shuts up. And after a long weekend of travelling, late night gigs and partying etc, all you want to do is relax, listen to music in your headphones (Beats by Dre. yep....) - but David doesn't seem to grasp this concept of recharging the human batteries. His are permanently charged.

Adam: The others never let me talk. They always cut me o-----

David: Shut up Adam. 

Individually or collectively, do you have any musical idols or inspirations?  

 We do have a very eclectic mix of inspirations, but amongst the mix there are some shared names, such as Elton John, the great boy bands like N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, Take That and Westlife, and then David veers off to the musical theatre whilst Pob and Adam take a right to dubstep/electro, leaving Ethan to potter off towards the piano based ballads which he sits for hours in his room bashing out. On his piano! Let's clear that up straight away. Oh come on now...

Music aside, what are some of your interest and hobbies? What makes you, you?

We like long walks along the beach, stamp collecting, knitting, bingo and bare-knuckle boxing. But only on Saturdays.

In reality, the thing that makes us, us, is that we are all so different and spend our spare time doing totally different things. 

David is a keen gardener. He's always trimming his bushes. He's actually doing a course in horticulture in his spare time. He can name any plant you put in front of him - in latin. We think he has something wrong with him.

Pob used to be a water sports instructor, teaching kids how to sail, kayak, wind surf, power boat, even rock climbing and mountain biking. You'd think he lived an active lifestyle nowadays. You'd be wrong. 

Ethan studies Spanish at university alongside the band and has a passion for shopping for expensive soaps. And tissues. He always takes a load of tissues into his room when he's giving his piano a beating. Don't know why.

We aren't too sure about what Adam does. He doesn't seem to like telling us things. 

Back to the music! Can you tell us a little about the process that is involved when it comes to writing, selecting and recording new music. Do you all have a system or process?

Our management put a load of songs into a hat and we pick them out blindfolded. Sometimes they put a really rubbish song in there just to make us look bad. We will leave it up to the readers at home to judge how many of these we have selected.

We actually get a lot of input into selecting new music. When the band was first formed we launched in Berlin (Germany) so a close friend of ours wrote a load of euro-pop style tracks, from which we selected our favourite few by voting for them and deciding on the final selection. Since then we have focused more on the UK so our sound has changed, but the euro-pop songs are still there in our back catalogue. We spent a while working closely with just the one songwriter who wrote Street Lights, Hot Spot and Lovesick (our first three releases) as well as Free and One World (the euro-pop songs, both also available on iTunes!) - but then we branched across to America to a fantastic songwriter called Charlie. He wrote Summer Rain and we instantly loved it. It is our first step towards our 'new sound' we feel, and we have received endless amounts of demos from him for us to trawl through (when do these writers get the time to make all these songs!?) and we always sit down and debate which tracks would work for Boy Banned.

So to conclude! We have a democratic system of selection! And we are looking forward to choosing more songs to record next!

You all seem to be very connected with your fans via social media outlets. How, if at all, has this affected your music, or your overall success as a group?

Twitter is the most amazing tool for bands to connect with fans, especially now you can have it on your phone, so literally within seconds of something happening you can tell the world. Compare that with the 90's where things were reported in newspapers the day after they occurred, and the internet was still fairly new for mass use by the general public. It has totally changed the way the industry operates. 

We love it though, as it allows us to be on a more personal level with the fans, whilst still maintaining a certain amount of privacy in our own lives. It certainly helps us a lot as well, as in the 'olden' days, your music would really have to fight to get heard, whereas now bands can whack a song up on all different social media sites, and if people are already interested in the band/artist then they've caught someone's interest immediately, and the music is heard much easier. Without social media we wouldn't be here today, there's no doubt about that.

Your new song, “Summer Rain” was recently released on iTunes. I think a lot of people can relate to this song. Does it have a special meaning to any of you?

 Yes it does. We live in the UK and it's always raining in the summer.

That is genuinely what we first thought was good about it when we first heard it! But then after a few more listens with the songwriter Charlie pointing a pistol at our heads making us appreciate the blood sweat and tears (of past artists he worked with who didn't pay attention to his pistol) that went into creating it we could relate to the true meaning of the track. We've all made rushed decisions with relationships in the past and had regrets about calling things off too soon, so we were able to put some real emotion into the recording. And the rain in the video (which made number 13 on the iTunes video charts thanks very much) was 100% genuine UK summer rain. We waited for ages for a really rainy day to run outside and get drenched in. We nearly had to get an intern, a step ladder and a watering can.

Currently, you have a number of singles released on iTunes. Are there plans for a full album?

As we mentioned earlier with the transition of styles from euro-pop up to Summer Rain and beyond, we are working on finding our sound in the studio, so each single we release is a progression. We are happy to keep recording a couple of tracks at a time, releasing them, then working on the next step whilst we are so early on in the life of Boy Banned. Another thing we have spoken about as a group is that albums are generally just a few good songs with a load of 'album tracks' that no-one ever gets overly excited about, and we don't want to make album tracks, so we'd rather have a selection of tracks on iTunes that we were happy enough to release as singles, and then the consumer can pick and mix their favourites and create an album of their own!

At the risk of sounding Cliché, musicians really do lead an interesting life. What is the most gratifying element about being a musician for each of you?

We have friends who studied hard at uni (and some who didn't study so hard) and are now struggling to find a job inputting data for a chicken farm etc whilst we are having the time of our lives traveling around the UK and Europe (and hopefully soon the states!) making music and just messing around. So our friends are usually jealous about our lives, and that's a good feeling! We all know that we are very lucky to be where we are, and we still have a long way to go before we 'make it big time' so we don't take it for granted, but the fact that we are doing something that we always dreamed about when we were younger and never really thought we'd get the chance to do is very gratifying for each of us. 

Is there anything that I didn'’t ask in this interview that you would like to share?

 Pob once had a couple of budgies called Beavis & Butthead.

Now! Let's get to what's really important. The music. Check out the Summer Rain video. Featuring... boys, singing in the rain. Who could have seen THAT ONE coming?

 Be sure to check out iTunes for more music! 

Also, if you are so inclined, please check out/politely stalk BoyBanned's website, Facebook, Myspace and YouTube.

P.S. 

If this is my last post for months, I've run off to buy expensive soaps with Ethan and investigate what I'm calling "The Tissue Issue."

Childhood. For many, it is unarguably the best period in life. A short and sweet window where are biggest concern was wether or not our mothers remembered to de-crust the Wonderbread on our peanut-butter & jelly sandwiches. Wouldn't it be nice if life stayed that simple? 

 Unfortunately for some, that simple, carefree childhood which is enjoyed by many, is nothing more than a fantasy. The harsh reality is…. life is not always fair. Sadly, there are millions of kids who struggle to experience the simple joys of childhood because of less than perfect health.  As someone who saw a fair share of hospitals during my childhood, I can attest to this. But, it has always been my goal to make the best of any situation. I'll be honest with you, though, that can be hard to do when you are trapped in a hospital for weeks or even months at a time. Thankfully, there are great children's hospitals and organizations who make it their mission to make a child's unfortunate stay in a hospital, as pleasant as possible.

 The Children's Miracle Network is one of the best among them. That too, is coming from personal experience. I have actually had a number of operations and stays in Miami Children's Hospital, a hospital that is associated with The Children's Miracle Network. Why is any of this important to you? Well, The Children's Miracle Network has launched a new campaign called 100 Million Miracles. The goal is to raise $100 million to directly benefit the over 17,000,000 kids treated by Children's Miracle Network Hospitals each year. 

 The amazing singer. songwriter, and friend Simon Curtis, who was diagnosed with leukemia at age 10 is the ambassador for the campaign. True to form, Simon himself is being charitable and releasing an acoustic charity single. You can vote on which song that is going to be by "liking" the 100 Million Miracles Facebook page and casting your vote. But I hope you don't stop there. Take a few minutes to learn about the organization and what they do. And if you can. donate. It sounds cliché, but every dollar makes a difference. Every dollar will help a child go on to fulfill there dream, as Simon has.

 At the very least, spread the word to others. The more people who may potentially support such a cause, the better.  I have been trying to put together an online fundraiser for the organization for some time now. Keep an eye out for that!

 Below there is a video explaining the 100 Million Miracles Campaign as well as a video of Simon giving us a delightful preview of an acoustic version of his song "Don't Want To Be Alone".

100 Million Miracles: Website

100 Million Miracles: Facebook

100 Million Miracles: Twitter

If you follow me on Twitter (@KyleAnkney) or have read my blog, you know that music is one of my passions. I’m not saying I can sing–truth be told, I can’t hold a note. Thankfully, I am here to talk about someone who can. Recently, I was given the opportunity to interview up-and-coming pop artist, Kyle Brylin, who has a new EP on iTunes.

While I had heard of Kyle before, I did not know much about him before the interview, so my first question was: Who is Kyle Brylin? And I found out the following: He is a 22 year old who was born in Wisconsin. He studied music production in school and to top it all off, he is an athlete who participated in both swimming and gymnastics. Basically, he is a classic overachiever. Feel free to start lusting after him now... Which you can do, by the way! I took the liberty of asking him his current relationship status, to which he answered with a laugh, “I'm single. Very single.”

When asked what characteristics he finds attractive in a person he responded, “ I like a balance. Someone who knows when to have fun and when to be serious. There has to be a lot of ambition too, because I'm very busy, so you've got to keep busy too.” Now you know. (Oh, and by the way... You’re welcome.) But I didn’t interview him to be his yenta. I’m sure he is more than capable of picking up whoever he wants on his own. I wanted to find out more about him and his music. Here’s a bit of our music Q&A below:

Q: When did you first realize you had a passion for music?

Kyle Brylin: I started writing songs in elementary school. I was usually the only person in my class until middle school, so I had a lot of free time to myself.

You read that right. Kyle was the only person in his class until middle school. When I asked him how that was possible, he said “ Apparently nobody else was boning around there the year I was conceived.” Which may have very well been the case, but the fact that he went to a small private Lutheran school probably had something to do with it, too.

Anyway, back to the music!

Q: What songs are you enjoying right now?

Kyle Brylin: I discovered Asking Alexandria the other day, so at the moment I am all over that.

Q: Your latest songs are rather fun, flirty and suggestive! Do you write your own lyrics?

Kyle Brylin: I do write most of them, my latest, "Make It So," "Everything I'm Missing," and "Find You," as well as my EP, You Can't Stop Watching are 100% my brain. If you're curious about any other tracks, I have the credits to each on YouTube, where I have every song posted.

Q: Do you play any instruments?

Kyle Brylin: Piano and guitar. I can read music on the piano, and play both by ear.

Q: You recently released an EP on iTunes, can we expect a full album in the future?

Kyle Brylin: In the future, yes, expect an album. I don't really feel like I'm in the position to be releasing a full album yet. Right now I'm still figuring out who I am as an artist, as well as a person. Until I can get a hold of that and concentrate it into an albums worth of music, I'll be releasing singles and EPs of my journey there.

Kyle described himself as being on musical journey, which I think is a perfect description and is true of most artists. But, that sparked my interest about his personal journey. Where he is in his life, how he got there, and where he would like to go. The first question I had was about his definition of success.

Q: People define personal success differently. What does success mean to you?

Kyle Brylin: I've wanted to be a Pop Artist and a Pop Artist only my entire life. I don't want fame, I don't want to be loaded, I just want to lend people my ears, and hope they will enjoy it. I hope that I can make enough money to survive, and that my music can help people get through hard times, just like it does for me. If someone is smiling, that is success for me.

Q: What is one thing you would like people to know about yourself?

Kyle Brylin: People tell me all the time that I'm completely different than they expected. That I'm more of an old soul than a 22 year old guy. I'd like people to know that I definitely have a brain, and I definitely use it.

Q: Personally or professionally, what would you like to accomplish in the next year?

Kyle Brylin: In the next year, I would like to be back on my own, I recently moved in with a close friend because I was very unhappy where I was living. It's been a whirlwind of a few months. I worked very, very hard the last four years, and abandoned everything I had accomplished and strived for. You know when you just can't take something anymore, no matter how much potential it has for you and you for it? That's where I was at, and I bit the bullet and I'm starting with a clean slate. Performing live is my biggest hurdle to jump right now, so that's what my focus is, I want to show everyone what it means to perform, because we seem to have forgotten what a real performer is.

My last question was rather open-ended. I asked Kyle if there was anything about him that I didn’t ask that he wanted the world to know. A man after my very own heart, he mentioned something underwear related. “I don't just wear boxers.” He said. “I wear briefs, too. Even boxer-briefs.” I was tempted to ask for specifics like if he was a classic Calvin Klein kind of guy or if he owned a pair of the sexy Emporio Armani Hip Briefs worn by David Beckham in the famous ad campaign. But, I refrained.

The good news is, you can ask him yourself by following him on Twitter @kylebrylin. And don’t forget to check out his Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Here is his latest music video for his song, “Everything I’m Missing," which you can buy on iTunes.

 The bill itself is monumental accomplishment for many people, for many reasons.

 1. The bill is allowing marriage - Not civil unions or civil partnerships. While this may seem insignificant, the wording of the bill and the definition of marriage allows for truly equal rights for all.

 2. There is language in the bill which, to the best of my understanding, makes impossible for the bill to be overturned or challenged by any other piece of legislation. Basically, it's here to stay.

 3.  There is legal protection for religious institutions who have a moral opposition to equal marriage. Protecting them from any legal recourse as a result of denying a couple a marriage based on religious beliefs. - Personally, I believe this is the reason the bill passed.

 We all know that I am not a New Yorker (yet), but I watched the live stream of the senate hearing from the beginning. I have to say, as someone who is interested in politics in general, I found myself getting sucked into other issues that have absolutely no effect on me, like property taxes. Which was a blessing because the Marriage Equality Bill was the last thing on the docket, and it was a long wait. 

 I can't recall the time, but eventually the bill was being discussed. The first order of business was to outline and pass an amendment to the bill. From there, it was time to vote on the bill itself. This is where things got interesting.

 With each vote, a senator is allowed to speak for two minutes, explaining the reason for their vote. This was my introduction to Democratic Senator Rubén Díaz, who I discovered last night, is one of the most inarticulate, unprofessional, disgusting individuals on the face of the planet. Let me say up front, Dîaz voted against the bill, but that has nothing to do with my opinion of him. Remember that 2 minute explanation courtesy I just explained? Mr, Dîaz felt it did not apply to him. He rambled on for what felt like hours, explaining with zero charisma why he was against the bill. His biggest reason? Words from the New York Hispanic Clergy Organization. I'm sorry senator… perhaps you need a little refresher in U.S. Constitutional  Politics. In this country, we have something called separation of church and state. You should be ashamed of yourself, and I would like nothing more than to see you resign from your seat.

 On the flip side, have Republican Senator  Mark Grisanti, who I believe summed up the entire marriage equality debate flawlessly. I am going to include a video of his speech for those who are interested in watching it: 

 I am paraphrasing here, but the following was the highlight of the speech for me: 

 As a Catholic, I was raised to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not here however, as a senator who is just Catholic. I am also here with a background as an attorney, through which I look at things and I apply reason.  -- I can not legally come up with an argument against same sex marriage. Who am I to say that someone does not have the same rights that I have with my wife, who I love, or to have the 1,300 plus rights, that I share with her.

 This is a man who originally voted against the Marriage Equality Bill, yet acknowledged, with proper research, and facts, a person can be wiser than they were in the past.

 The most important detail to take from Senator Grisanti's speech, is the fact that there is no reason to legally deny anyone the right to marriage. Despite the pageantry of marriage and weddings put on by society, marriage is quite simply a legal contract. Which is why (aside from religious objection) I could never see the problem with same sex marriage. Marriage is a human right. There is no reason for any law to dictate who a person can marry as there is no law that defines love. And the fact that we are voting on marriage equality at all, bothers me.

 That said, this is a tremendous step in the right direction. People everywhere should be proud to see the progression of equality in the United States and I applaud the state of New York for doing the right thing. And hopefully, for also laying a path for the rest of the country to follow.

A brief description on ballroomremixed.com says Ballroom remixed is... "A collection of 22 songs intended for or inspired by the dance world performed by some of the hottest movers and shakers on the planet." Sounds interesting enough, right? - Some of these movers and shakers include Gravitonas, Elouise and Simon Curtis.

After listening to the album, and knowing how I tend to ramble, I decided that a song by song review would be a bit lengthy, and in all honesty, rather unnecessary. The truth is… the entire album is a joy to listen to, and contrary to what the title may suggest, you do not have to be a ballroom dancer to enjoy it.

 Songs span from light and poppy, to rather dark and morose. That fact is one of my favorite things about the album. Everyone who listens to it is bound to find several tracks they find themselves going back to, (and in my case, singing.) All of the songs are extremely well-written and produced. Completely unique and utterly enjoyable. I promise you this is like nothing you currently have in your iTunes library at the moment. As I listened to the album, the one thing that kept running through my head is "this is pop, with a twist… and it's a good one."

 Below is a video where you can hear a few snippets from Ballroom Remixed. You can also purchase the album on iTunes for $9.99.

iTunes link to Simon's Album

 If I told you to hold my arms above my head and push my face into the bed, would I have any takers? Let me answer that for you… no. But, what if musical stud muffin Simon Curtis ask you to do the same thing? He has. Kind of.. and he doesn't stop there.     

Simon's new single, Flesh, is 4 minutes and 20 seconds of pure sex. Literally and figuratively. It is basically the musical Kama Sutra. Although, I'm not sure the original Karma Sutra included biting into anyones flesh as a sexual activity, but it's 2011. Get with it people.

 There is no question that Flesh is to R∆ as Joystick is to 8Bit Heart. (Simon's first album) Both songs were intended to spark the imagination. Of anyone. And they do so brilliantly. Lyrics aside, Flesh has an excellent electronic/pop beat. For anyone who has listened to 8 Bit Heart, you will hear a familiar, yet intensified and more mature futuristic vibe.

The song starts out rather dark and intense. (again, something tells me Simon knows all about "the build up".) -- When Simon starts talking about getting a little crazy, the tone lightens a bit… but not much. Then you are hit with the sexy falsetto chorus that only Simon can pull off. It may be because he is asking me to sink my teeth into his flesh.. but the chorus, is nothing short of hypnotizing.

If by the end of the song, you are not turned on in some capacity, you are likely an asexual. Bold statement, I know, but some of the truest statements are also the most bold.

 Don't take my word for it, though. Buy Flesh on iTunes and find out for yourself. Once your done planning your next sexual excursion, you can also buy the Flesh (Future Freestyle Remix).

 R∆ is due out soon, but you should be more than occupied with Flesh and Superhero until the album drops.

 Happy listening!