Don't Get Stuck Hippies (New Song)

Got a new song on deck detailing my disdain for those who think about thoughts and generally get lost in the details of the superfluous and mundane.

Its not that I hate hippies or anything, hell I might even come off as one to most people, but I do dislike complacency and satanism, the latter particular or maybe i'm just not a happy love everyone kind of person.

At any rate, enjoy that. This one is a standalone, may or may not appear on the Change EP in the future.

Or she'll enjoy it for you

Download though from my soundcloud for the free below!

https://soundcloud.com/marcorestrepo/stuck-hippy

Origin of Restrepo

The Restrepo name is shared by many around the world particularly dense in regions where Spanish is the primary language such as Columbia, Spain, and several other Central American countries.

A name that seldom goes un-mispronounced by United Statians, has long been one of nobility, political power and in more recent times even garnered a motion picture detailing the final days of a brave American soldier who tragically lost his life to the Afghanistan war.

But, what does it mean? Where is it from? What is the common link that connects all of us scattered Restrepo's into one unified and proud being?

Well lets take a trip in the way back machine to the later portion of the Roman Empire when Latin was going out of fashion and a more colloquial form of the language referred to as Vulgar Latin (first recognized around the 8th century) was catching on among citizens and taking on a life of its own.

Asturias a region in Northern Spain, known in history as the grounds of the beginning of the end for The Moors who would soon be defeated ending a 700 year rule of the region and the threat of a potentially Islamic Europe, was also the humble birth place of our storied namesake.

Serving for a short period as a sanctuary for Christians during times of Islamic persecution, a kingdom was erected in the area and soon transformed into a community tucked off deep in unreachable mountains and unconcerned about attacks from con-questing foes.

As populations were able to settle and flourish, several groups would come to associate themselves with useful titles pertaining to their areas of expertise. One group in particular, known for its immense skills in cultivation, took to a town and named it Restrepo, which roots from Latin Vulgar word restrepar; meaning to cultivate.

So there you have it, we started from humble farm people and made it all the way to the tops of the food chains, or at least somewhere around there... 

If you are a Restrepo, now you know why!!!

Drink To That

The Truth About Christmas

So today is a great day our lord and savior Jesus Christ official birth date and a day of giving, kindness and family. Right? Love, the holiday spirit, Jesus!

I mean it's perfect, only the one and only Yeshua could command a holiday with such positive connotations all for himself, well he does have to share it with that Santa guy, but thats just a little friendly competition...

Presents, fiery trees, a little mistletoe stepping with your unsuspecting crush. Have you ever wondered whats made us pick these particular activities to represent our loyalty to the namesake of our whole religion? Well it turns out the origins aren't so innocent

Just so happens that this Christmas thing isn't even Christian at all, but instead a Roman holiday once called "Saturnalia" in which the citizens where offered nine action packed days of sin and lust where no laws where to be enforced, culminating on the 25th day of December

In these events, naked groups of singing men would march through the streets kicking in doors at random and proceeding to rape and sodomize innocent woman and children without consequence. A finale to the event per group would be to find a victim of whom a sacrifice could restore purity to their beings.

Now you may be thinking, "oh thats ancient, we are so far removed from that, its irrelevant" but then you'd be shocked as me to find out that as recent as the late 1800's, this day was used specifically as one for damnation for Jewish citizens and once even left 12 men dead, several more maimed, raped along with millions in property damage.

For about 400 years, legislation used our Christmas as a day to shame Jews ranging from holding naked races through the city on full stomachs to dressing rabbis in clown suits and encouraging the use of projectiles.

So how in the world did our holy savior get involved in such sanctioned debauchery? Well the truth is, the greed of the then youthful Christianity allowed for it to make some deals which probably wouldnt have been approved by the displaced founder of the group. In other words, much like how Paul switched Yeshua to the more Roman Jesus and added the Christos part for flavor, Christian leaders hoped an easy transition of an already massively popular holiday would increase their attendance immensely, hence the name change.

What about the pretty tree, the mistle toe, Santa Clause? Well pagans are known to be nature worshippers and wouldnt think twice about idolizing a nice friendly tree with golds and fine fabrics, and they certainly didnt want to forget just how sexy their holiday once was. ol' St. Nick? How about Jew hating megalomaniac who was more or less responsible for getting a good portion of W. Europe to consider Jews devils through indoctrination... 

And what about Jesus, if not the 25th then when? Well, many smart people have made very educated guesses and while none ever pinpointed the exact date ball park is during fall or winter some saying March some November, but the most definitive and based on proof is the date of September 11, 3BCE.

While no one can every really know what was going on 2000 years ago with any real certainty, one can walk away knowing these two things for sure. 

1. Jesus was not born on 0. 

2. And Christmas is not "his" holiday

New Album: Come Fly With Me

Hey ya'll I am back with what is looking like my last and final project as A.Tone Da Priest, bout to move on to bigger and better things as myself, Marco Restrepo. Wanted to make it "more about the music" but that's a whole other story...

The album, Come Fly With Me, produced by Bennett Rudder a good friend of mine who brought an electric feel to the table. A lot of melodic stuff for the teeny boppers and some thinkers for my grown folks

17 tracks of unadulterated rhythm & truths

Buy on iTunes: http://bit.ly/19Bl73S 

Could Nick Drake Have Been Saved?

We always get attached to the tragic story, whether it be the star that never was, the hero that gave his life for others or a true love never realized. Left are question without answers and assumptions with out merit. What was, should have been and most importantly what could have been done to prevent such tragedy presently and in also in an alternate universe where second chances realized by all.

Particularity in the field of music, it seems that this feeling of tragedy has long been a prevalent theme in the realm of entertainment and arts as many lives have been claimed although their essence within music is left whole creating a mythical perception of a mere man whom can never again explain what was felt when the music left his/her internals and took on a mind of its own to be judged faithfully forever more.

Nick Drake, a handsome, well to do yet troubled young man from the U.K., who in the early 70's composed some of the finest pieces of music ever to not be recognized by a wide audience is once of these cases. A true aficionado with an acoustic guitar, Drake would effortlessly lay elegant backdrops with precision along with his bashfully shy yet sweet and careful voice singing thought provoking lyrics that would make your most distinguished Romantic Era writers proud.

Plagued by a late life anxiety disorder, Drake struggled with performing his material in front of crowds due to the relatively quite and non-repetitive nature of his music. He struggled to imagine finding an audience among the impatient pop hungry fans that were hungry for choruses and who had once given him a hard time for having so many tune ups during one of his few performances.

Frustrated by a lack of success, his anxiety grew ever more creating an interesting catch-22 as he continually dropped highly praised masterpieces without any recognition or press do to his inability to get out there and perform. The music also began to reflect that his health was obviously deteriorating as his newer songs sounded more and more effected by his mass depression and took shape as cries for help. 

Just two years after what would be his third and final album, Nick was found in bed at the house of his youth unconscious and surely dead from an apparent pill overdose. Arguably one of the greatest musicians to ever live yet he never sold more than 10,000 records in his life time.

Still today you'd be hard pressed to find a Nick Drake fan, and although he would certainly have be proud of the fame he attained in his aftermath, he is still largely overlooked by most publications when it comes time to talk about "Who Is Best" and what not, but I say all that to say this.

I firmly believe that if Nick Drake's people would have got him a backing band, maybe a rhythm guitarist, bass, cello, drums or whatever just to handle the live shows, he would have been able to get out there and not have to worry about handling big crowds all by his loan some. It's such a shame that we never got to know what made Nick tick, but as is the day... 

A Very Lonely Christmas

One of my favorite times of the year, where everything in nature dies and people all around you get inexplicably nicer and accepting despite a miserable and dreary backdrop that drags on for months.

Giving, loving, family, Jesus! What else could you ask for?

Well, if your all alone maybe some friends I guess.

Try not to have a dark Christmas and be with people who love you but in the event that you do, maybe this song will help console you.

The Punk Priest

The crashing and banging of drums, heavy bass licks and brash distorted guitars fill the air as a large plume of stale weed smoke hangs overhead like a thick fog after rain. This is quite the common scene that one would expect when attending your typical dive bar rock show but for A.Tone Da Priest, this is just a small part of an average day in the life.

The Atlanta MC turned rocker sits alone in his room on a Thursday night, smoking a blunt and feverishly attempting to perfect an improvised solo riffed on one of the many new compositions in his perpetually growing catalog. The crafty young man, who as of Fall 2012 had just attained a BBA in Marketing from Georgia State University, has long been a miser for getting things done proficiently and in a timely manner by never taking no or can’t as a legitimate answers. This sentiment has forced him to become an embodiment of the term “do-it-yourself” all while bringing new life to the punk ethics of old.

A.Tone, who has not only tasked himself with running his independent record label, Farsyde ENT, where his duties include but are not limited too; the creation/distribution of promotional materials and art work, video production and editing, and distribution and PR for himself and a handful of other local affiliated artist, but from the beginning he has also been his very own go-to producer and sound engineer. He commented on the topic:

 “It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it. Every fan I make or sale I get is directly because of work I have done, not because of a fad or some type of public herding… The criticism has been rough at times, but it’s easier to learn and adapt from when I can’t blame anyone but myself.”

Not so far removed are the days of clunky “stock sounding” Fruity Loops beats all at 140 BPM, or complaints of mixes sounding jumbled, too quiet and ages away from radio quality. Time and experience has been the best friend for the “self-taught everything” A.Tone Da Priest (who still to this day records his vocals by running in and out of the booth) allowing for a refinement of his sound through many trials and some error, emerging as not just an artist who does a lot of things, but an artist who does a lot of things well.
With influences ranging from Punk, Motown and Pop, all the way to gangster rap, the accomplished rapper with two prior albums and several mix tapes already under his belt decided that it was time break trends and move hip hop to an uncomfortable place it had never been, stating:

“It all got so pretty and polished you know (music in general) all the synths so perfectly syncopated, drum patterns robotically static, lyrics nonchalantly predictable and bubbly, everything mixed so bright and tight… Shit got boring”

An old Johnson JS-700 Cali (Strat copy) from his youth would become the catalyst to the rebirth of Da Priest’s compelling new sound as he drew from childhood favorites Sum 41, Green Day and Nirvana, an unusual claim for most hip hoppers, that would result in the song “Not Waiting”, which was released as the lead single for his 2012 LP The Fi King. Aided by a self-directed and recorded music video released on VEVO, the song features a blend of rock styled singing along with razor sharp raps which detail frustration over society’s blissful ignorance. The video includes indicting imagery of industry heavyweights (Jay Z, Oprah, Miley Cyrus, among others) who seem to fit the shoe of A.Tone’s poignant accusations.

Although The Fi King, would only go on to contain 5 other guitar driven tracks out of a total 19, it would be these songs that would set the tone for his next album October Sky and potentially for the rest of his promising career as live instrumentation became the prominent feature. He recalled:
“Once I started doing more and more songs I fell in love with composition, and performing with the guitar live. It just felt so much more natural than trying to rock the crowd with my hand or something and not needing a chain to be interesting.”

The 23-track follow up more than pushed the limits of what anybody assumed music could or ever should be, as A.Tone flew through multiple genres ranging from salsa and new wave to synth-punk and hip hop, never once stopping to think if the changes were to abrupt for the average listener. The result is a plethora of enthralling yet at times dissonant sounds which utilize unorthodox mixing techniques, passionate rapping and key-defying welts of exasperation (reminiscent of early punk bands who packed in rawness for every bit of musicianship they lacked) to drill home a feeling of youthful resilience and a punk like attitude towards everything conventional.

With a mind for business, substantial amounts excitement and attitude that never seems disingenuous, A.Tone Da Priest comes across as an artist who really loves and appreciates music and is eager to connect with anybody who feels the same. Only time will tell if his immense talent and seemingly unparalleled vision will get recognition from major labels or if he will continue to keep it punk, but one thing is for certain. The path less traveled is one of many obstacles and criticism, but as A.Tone stated, it can prove just a fruitful for those patient enough to pursue what they love and feel, and not simply what will make them rich.