New Singles Out Today!

New singles are out today! Man's Theme and Jennifer Taught Me. Both singles contain remasters of the original single as well as remixes and previously unreleased tracks! Both are available for purchase through We7.com. You can listen to them for free, and if you are a resident of the UK, downloads are free too!

"Into God's Hands" (Producing For Friends and Loved Ones)

Two of my best friends lost their dad last week. One of them wrote a song for him which I produced. It is called "Into God's Hands". You can listen to it here at ReverbNation:

Mercadante


I am also starting the remixing and remastering of material from No Longer Micah. They are a great band! My favorite song is "Fractured, Restored". It makes me cry every time I listen to it. You can also hear it and many other songs of theirs at ReverbNation:

No Longer Micah


My reasons for helping all these friends are many, but the main reason is that I have hit a wall, so to speak, regarding the production capabilities of my own music. I don't think I can go farther doing this all on my own. I will need outside resources, namely a record deal. Do you hear that ATO Records? Sub Pop? Matador? Smells Like Records? Please SIGN meeee!
....too pathetic?

Anyway,  I know that God didn't give me this passion for music for no reason, so I should at the very least give of my talents, experience, and resources to help others who have less resources. I know God honors that kind of selflessness. Besides, how can I expect God to help me in my situation if I am unwilling to help others in a similar situation?

Please help out these guys by taking the time to listen to their music.

Thanks.

Pandora Internet Radio and Music Updates

I've been using Pandora for a while now and I have to say it is the best radio station out there. Finally, I get to hear what I want to hear and still get surprised and informed about bands I would have never heard of otherwise. I wish I knew how to get my music on Pandora.

Oh yeah. Here's the URL: pandora.com

You can create a station by putting in the name of a band. If they have the band in their library, then they will find other similar artists based on what Pandora calls the music genome. I just made two stations that have had some interesting results. One for "Mazzy Star" and one for "Lykke Li". Two artists that I highly recommend listening to.


Now the music updates...

I am still in the middle of recording remixes and remasters of my old material. you can listen to some of it as well as download a lot of my songs at ReverbNation. There is also a 20 minute rarity that was originally intended to be released on the Battery single.

Out of respect for my friend, Nate Cornick, and respect for his art, and his vision for his art, I have also made all soundtrack work for his future TV show and films available to download free at ReverbNation. He wants all of his work to be free and I really like that idea, so that is why I am making these tracks available to you. Here's the URL (you have to become a fan though to get the tracks, and that's free too): www.reverbnation.com/buzzheadrepublic

....I really need a drumset! I feel so strongly that all my extra money needs to go to the Hope For Sexually Exploited Girls & Women charity,  that I don't want to spend any on myself to buy a drumset. I know God only wants the best for me because I am one of His sons. So I am trusting Him that one day I will have a drumset. For me, I just can't, in good conscience, pay for it myself. I know, this probably seems strange to you.....


Back to Pandora...

It just played somone amazing, "Nina Nastasia". Here's a short biography:

New York City singer/songwriter Nina Nastasia creates intimate, spectral music that evokes some lost, skewed take on Americana and that is often laced with haunting strains of viola, cello, and bowed saw. She counts among her admirers the notoriously picky, celebrated producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies), who engineered her first two albums and who has vehemently sung her praises. Nastasia's debut, Dogs, was released in 1999 on the tiny indie Socialist Records, but was out of print by the end of 2000. For April 2002's The Blackened Air, she signed with Touch and Go, which released her follow-up recording, Run to Ruin, in 2003 (also recorded by Albini) and a reissue of Dogs in summer 2004. Though she kept the rest of her recording partners (which include Albini and drummer Jim White [Dirty Three]) the same, Nastasia moved to Fat Cat for 2006's On Leaving and 2007's You Follow Me. ~ Erik Hage, All Music Guide


Okay. Back to the drumset thing....

For a brief period someone left a drumset in my studio. Another friend tuned it for me. I didn't even know how to play but if you listen to my song "Disolver, i.e." you will see that I have a natural talent for it. I don't want this to sound egotistical or self promoting, but I have never heard anyone play drums the way I do on that song. I think it deserves a lot more attention than it gets. It is also available to download for free, and you don't have to be a "fan" to get it. Here's the URL again: www.reverbnation.com/buzzheadrepublic

Lately it has become very obvious to me and several of my friends and family that if you think of my music as a form of jazz or at least my interpretation of jazz, then it starts to make a lot more sense.

.....makes me want a drumset even more.

Hope for Sexually Exploited Girls

Over the past few months... actually 3 months to the day I started down the road to radical giving (this is what I call it. I'm sure someone else has name for this already). It was during a church service, shortly before Christmas, that the pastor mentioned something about giving to some group. I had heard things like this before, and none of them had moved me enough to give more than the usual 10% tithe I had always given since I started earning a paycheck. This time was no different, however, I felt like God was telling me to not only give more but to give everything in my wallet. I had not even filled my tank with gas yet. I was under a quarter tank and had to a lot of driving the next day. I wrestled with this in my mind for a while before I finally gave in and gave all the money I had. I was even crying because I needed it.

I had never felt like I was all that attached to money. I have always thought more about what I was doing, that I felt was right to do, with my life rather than think about getting a better paying job so I can have more things. In fact, that idea disgusts me more often than not. I was amazed however, at how much I felt I needed the little money I had. And it was a little. I think it was about $33.

The next day $150 was given to me, and I decided that I would start tithing 20% instead of 10%! Not much of a leap but a start. I have been doing this the past three months now, and really have not been hurting. It has been hard a couple of times, but God has come through each time. If anything, this has helped me feel God helping me in my life more! ...and it doesn't stop there either!

About two months ago I came across a charity that helped girls and women that were sold into the sex trade. It wasn't even a pamphlet, just a jar with a picture on it that was sitting on a teacher's desk at the place I work. For some reason I took note of it but didn't do anything. I didn't even see the jar again after that. Over the next month and a half I would occasionally think about the charity and feel this deep compassion for the girls and a nagging (actually more of a longing desire) to do something to help. Finally, I decided to listen to God, and leave a note on the teacher's desk and ask her about the charity. This correspondence  let to an email with this link: Hope for Sexually Exploited Girls

I gave $50 to the teacher the next day because I wanted time to research the charity a little more before I started actively giving to them. That was two weeks ago and this whole time I have been selling old music equipment and looking for ways to get more money to rescue these girls. Other than music, I have never felt so strongly about anything. Even music pales compared to the joy I am feeling knowing that I can make a difference, and change these girl's lives for ever with only $25 per girl. I wanted to make a difference with my music but that was self centered because it all came back to me. This is selfless because it all goes back to people I will probably never meet. I would rather give away my music if I thought it could somehow help and give hope to those hopeless girls. Making money as an artist was a cause, but this is a crusade!

I really need to go to bed, I've been up for way to long! But, before I do, I will mention a few last things. I am auctioning off my old car (1976 Chevy Nova Concours), and one of my old guitars (Gibson Les Paul Studio Custom). All the money raised will go directly to the charity. The auction will go on for a year tops or as long as I can keep it going, because this is more about the charity than the items being auctioned. I will give more details on how I will do this in the next few days. Also, I am pledging (on top of what I am giving already from my paychecks) all the money made in the next year from music sales to this charity, ending on March 21st, 2010! ...Who knows, I might do it indeffinitely!

I can't emphasise enough how much this cause means to me. If you don't feel like going through me to give to this charity then don't. They don't even know me anyway. But do please give to them through the above link. If you do give to them directly (and specifically to this particular cause), send me an email at info@buzzheadrepublic.com letting me know, and I will send you a digital copy of whatever album you want of mine for free, just to thank you for helping out in this cause I feel so strongly for.

I will update with more info as I get it.

God bless,
Matthew Shaffer
Buzzhead Republic

World Vision and Zerthscape Vol.I-III

I want to draw your attention to a program that rescues young girls from a life of prostitution.  It is run by World Vision, and here is the URL so you can check it out for your self: Hope For Sexually Exploited Girls

There are many other programs that World Vision sponsors, but this one I feel the strongest about. It only takes $25 (US) to rescue one girl. I sold my old music equipment last week because I needed money to pay for personal expenses, but I felt so strongly about this charity that I gave it to them instead. I was willing to stay at home and not go to Starbucks or drive around as much, and I encourage any one else who might be thinking about this to be willing to do the same.


I also have a new soundtrack available through We7.com. It is called Zerthscape Vol. I-III. Here's the link if you would like to take a listen or buy it: Zerthscape Vol. I-III

Life's Twists

This last Saturday (Feb. 7th) I was going around the city selling my books so that I would have enough money for gas and food until I get paid. My uncle (Uncle Bob) was in town, and he loves books, so I was going with him to all the bookstores. The last bookstore we visited is one of my favorites (Poor Richards). For some reason I didn't think they were buying any used books that day so I just hung around while my uncle was browsing. I kept having this nagging feeling I should ask them is they were buying books so after about half an hour I finally asked. They were buying. They actually bought more than half my books! I made $45 dollars, which isn't much, but  enough for me to make it to my next paycheck on the 20th.

This is the twist... While the lady (I didn't get her name) was going through the books she commented on all the classics I had, and asked if I was a student. I said something like, no I'm practically a speed reader and I remember almost everything I read so I didn't really need the books anymore. Then I told her I actually left college to be a musician. We got talking about that for a while, and I found out she is the wife of one of the guys who works at KRCC. He apparently helps get Indie bands played on their station. So I gave her my business card to give to him.

I really hope he contacts me. After all the hard work I've put in and all the albums I've released, it would be nice to have someone help out for a change. I have emailed KRCC in the past but have never received any replies. The guys at Theatre 'd Art (I composed a couple of soundtracks for them) really think that KRCC would love to be playing my music, so they keep asking if I have contacted them. All I can say is I haven't heard back yet. Maybe this week will be different now that I have gotten my business card to someone that works there.