Disqus - Latest Comments for matthewebel

Re: Motorcycle.com Wants You!

Matthew Ebel — Fri, 05 May 2017 11:08:56 -0000

If only you were looking for someone OUTSIDE of SoCal… 'cause nothing in the 'verse could get me to move there. :(

Re: What’s The Best Beginner Bike?

Matthew Ebel — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 08:58:37 -0000

Other than "something middleweight and torquey," it's kind of impossible to suggest a bike unless you know the rider's body type. Lots of friends suggested a Grom for me… jokingly. I'm 6'5". Most of the bikes on your list would be awkward and difficult to control for a tall beginner. You'd never suggest a Versys as a first bike, but it fit my body perfectly and was easy to control for my first few years.

Re: CD Baby now offers the simplest way to legally sell cover songs

Matthew Ebel — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 15:13:12 -0000

I would hope that a simple checkbox next to each album track listed as a cover would be sufficient. Once that's implemented, a cover album would be much easier to release as an independent artist.

Re: 8 Cheap Merch Items That Bring Fans to Your Table

Matthew Ebel — Mon, 12 Dec 2016 17:55:12 -0000

After playing a ton of convention shows (sci-fi, tech, steampunk, etc.) I figured out that most people throw room parties with tons of beer… and very few bottle openers. Selling LED-lit bottle openers at my merch table was one of the best decisions I ever made!

Re: CD Baby now offers the simplest way to legally sell cover songs

Matthew Ebel — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 13:19:24 -0000

THIS is very good news… the only thing that's kept me from releasing a cover album is the fact that I don't want to deal with all the accounting across so many, many platforms.

Re: Yes, I AM working on a new album.

Matthew Ebel — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 08:41:35 -0000

Wow, thanks a lot, Helga! I appreciate the encouragement. :)

Re: How To Justify Your Love of Being a Freelancer

Matthew Ebel — Tue, 21 Jun 2016 09:00:59 -0000

…because I'd rather hike somewhere interesting than follow the rush hour traffic to the same building every day?

Re: Biker Season App, Czech it Out

Matthew Ebel — Tue, 07 Jun 2016 23:13:06 -0000

Wow, Czechoslovakia? Didn't realize that was still a country. Oh wait, it hasn't been for 23 years...

(Seriously, they even mention the Czech Republic in the press release…)

In any case, it… appears to be an okay app. The sketchy English is a bit frustrating, but we'll see how it fares as a tool…

Re: Ten Things I Learned From My First Year of Motorcycling

Matthew Ebel — Fri, 13 May 2016 08:54:04 -0000

Actually part of the reason we got into this at all was because Zero Cycles had a demo day… and we didn't have our license to ride them. We're keeping our eyes peeled for their 2016 demo here in Boston. :)

Re: Custom Leather Suit Alterations - RevZilla

Matthew Ebel — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 13:56:56 -0000

I'm looking for a place in MA or NH that can tailor my Wolf Moto leather pants… The length is perfect, but they're far too baggy. The curse of being 6'5" I guess. Anyone have any recommendations?

Re: Stop showing up for the beating.

Matthew Ebel — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 14:28:39 -0000

Well if you'd rather just pay a single monthly sum for everything I release in a given month, you can still do that… I'm not limiting the people who have set monthly caps. So you could start out at $5-per-Thing and get all the digital goods, then decide in a few months if you're getting too much or too little for what you're contributing and change your pledge/cap. :)

Re: The New Latté Days & Porter Nights

Matthew Ebel — Thu, 22 Oct 2015 09:42:43 -0000

Well thanks a ton! :) Wow… you guys marched to 8-bit Viola, of all things? There's a song that doesn't get a lot of love from people…

Re: Let’s Make Something Awesome Happen

Matthew Ebel — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 16:47:01 -0000

Yeah, it sucks that the video is so important… but hey, I did mine with kindergarten art supplies and a single camera.

Re: America, We Have a Gun Problem

Matthew Ebel — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 12:44:53 -0000

My stance on all this is that it will be far more effective (maybe even easier) to adjust our culture, rather than our approach to hardware.

Especially as 3-D printers bring closer the possibility of home-constructed, unlicensed weapons.

Re: America, We Have a Gun Problem

Matthew Ebel — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 12:26:47 -0000

It doesn't make the conversation impossible, it simply forces you to have an understanding of the subject matter. I want gun violence to disappear, but I know that simply banning a buzzword solves nothing. Nobody attends rallies to reduce magazine sizes, but people will get on a bus a 4 a.m. to march on Washington against Assault Weapons.

I'm not saying progress can't be made, but what Marc called for has already been tried, unsuccessfully.

So let's start the conversation: Describe an assault weapon without calling it an assault weapon.

Re: America, We Have a Gun Problem

Matthew Ebel — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 12:02:13 -0000

Define "assault weapon."

That's why the original AW ban fell apart… the only defining characteristic of an assault weapon was scary black plastic furniture. One San Jose Police officer in the 80's took a perfectly legal hunting rifle, took it apart, replaced the walnut stock with black plastic, and turned it into an illegal assault weapon without changing anything about the functionality of the weapon.

(Edit: I found the video: https://youtu.be/yATeti5GmI8 )

Magazine sizes are already limited in many states. Fully automatic weapons are heavily regulated (requiring a Class IV license) and mostly illegal anyway, and could certainly be reined in further. But what most people consider an "assault weapon", like the AR-15, is actually far less powerful than any deer-hunting rifle.

If you want to start with "assault weapons", you need to start with a definition that's actionable. Portability? Round capacity? Bore size? The conversation needs to happen, but it can't be vague.

Re: America, We Have a Gun Problem

Matthew Ebel — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 11:41:23 -0000

As someone who lives with guns and understands that they're never going to simply "go away", it's difficult to even conceive of a path towards the phrase "well-regulated." I would like to see a more scrutinizing path to gun ownership across the board, but the people clamoring for change overwhelmingly wave the signs of "ban all guns 4evar."

Hell, I'd love to see a more scrutinizing path towards driver's licenses too, but that's probably because I drive in a city with great public transportation and terrible drivers.

Anyway…

For years now I've been trying to think of a way that civilians could own firearms (handguns, AR-15's, and even higher-powered hunting rifles) while being also held to reasonable training and scrutiny. Once upon a time, the National Guard seemed like an ideal way to foster responsible gun usage/ownership. Now that the NG is apparently just another reserve to send to foreign wars to prop up a president's sagging poll numbers, that's no longer an option any reasonable gun owner would take.

Maybe if there were some kind of "Police Auxiliary" program where gun owners were obligated to take safety courses alongside career cops in their own towns/counties on a monthly or quarterly basis… A reasonable license fee and the obligation to assist in catastrophes like Katrina or the Boston Marathon Bomber manhunt, while also putting gun owners in front of trained personnel on a regular basis. With great power would come a modest amount of civic responsibility.

But setting up a nationwide program of that scale would take a decade or more, far beyond the myopia of election-cycle politics. Gun haters would argue that it'll only increase gun usage/ownership, gun nuts would argue that anything other than a free-gun bin at McDonalds is a violation of the Constitution. And the rest of us cynics will just sigh as nothing changes.

Then again, I never thought I'd have affordable health care either.

Re: Let’s Make Something Awesome Happen

Matthew Ebel — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 19:24:07 -0000

Hey, thanks!

The whole reason I went with Ziibra, and now Patreon, is because a roll-your-own multi-tier solution was just becoming too much for me to manage. I mean, I COULD keep the plugins and gateways running smoothly, but the time spent fixing Wordpress and hunting down bugs was taking time away from making music.

A lot of time.

So maybe if you're more of an IT nerd than I am, you can host a DIY solution and craft it to your exact needs, but I would much rather have someone else managing payments, security, and tech support so I don't have to.

Cheers!

Re: On, On, to Patreon

Matthew Ebel — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 17:53:37 -0000

Nor am I, but I can't make EVERYTHING exclusive or EVERYTHING public either. I'll just have to feel out what seems to work, I guess, and I'll need feedback to find that happy medium.

Re: The Future of The Officer’s Club

Matthew Ebel — Tue, 01 Sep 2015 14:35:16 -0000

Yeah, that's currently the #1 option. But it will involve a major restructuring of how I do things.

Re: Ari's Take - The Biz Behind Full-Time Independent Music by musician Ari Herstand

Matthew Ebel — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 09:32:50 -0000

Ever since I worked at Essential records fifteen years ago (God, was I in college that long ago?) I have been shocked by how often I hear this… even from folks I worked with at the label! Ever since I started playing sci-fi themed concerts and targeting conventions instead of rock clubs, my career has become SO much more fulfilling… and it's an angle whose possibilities no label or agent seem to recognize yet. Sometimes bushwhacking your own path is an awesome thing. :)

Re: High Orbit Saves The Pandas is now PG-13

Matthew Ebel — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 11:06:55 -0000

Yeah… the album was written for adults, but I've had requests for some censored versions. So now the radio-friendly versions come along with the Bandcamp download, for those that really want them.

Re: The Treasure Trove of Memories I’ve Tried to Forget

Matthew Ebel — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 12:20:12 -0000

Heh, thanks a bunch. :) I really hope I'm not living in a van any time soon, but man, sometimes it's hard to maintain the façade of success when you're really scraping by. I love what I do, and I'm proud of what it's taken to get here… but I really don't need to be reminded of how uncomfortable I was when I started out. :)

Re: New Album Update – The Boxes are OUT

Matthew Ebel — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 09:33:04 -0000

Well if I ever get the chance, you bet your ass we're leading with this one. ;)

Re: The 5 essential components of a home recording studio

Matthew Ebel — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 12:35:15 -0000

I know right? Mic or no mic, engineering in a plaster box sucks.