Dead Comical

So, I am well aware of the cliffhanger that I left all my readers on.  For the past two months this page has been occupied by a look back on the year 2010, but it’s not 2010 anymore so let’s just forget about the past… Even if the past was an awesome reminder of the success that we gained out of the unparalleled time and effort we pumped into the ALPHA Machine.  Still, why should you care what we did last year?  You’re here because you want to know what has been going on this year, or maybe because you Google searched “Alfa Bill Musica.”  Don’t ask why, but for some reason my blog shows up on the search engine when people type that.  Anyway, let’s move on.

If only all of GHI's locations were this nice

As of January, I returned to the great city of Tallahassee for my spring semester.  As much as I missed the drunken college students and the drivers who have no regard for human life, I had to get back into the swing of things with ALPHA.  We had limited time with Scott before he got shipped off to somewhere in the world (most likely the Jurassic Park Island) to film for the next season of GHI, so Ron and Scott formulated a game plan jam packed with work.  Lucky for me, I can’t function unless I am doing work so I was excited to have so much to do when I got back into town.  This included a huge investigation of an even bigger property about an hour west of Tallahassee.  All the team members made themselves available to complete a thorough two night investigation, and what we found would disappoint your average Ghost Adventures fan: nothing.  Our baseline data and pages of careful notes told stories of their own, explaining some potential causes for feelings people had in certain areas of the property.  That’s how you know you’re doing the job right.  When you go out on every single investigation and turn out some kind of questionable “evidence,” you end up doing the whole field a disservice.  I’ll save this conversation for another day, so you can ponder about that in the meantime.

Pick up a copy of My Dinosaur Life and support MCS

As for the Dead Serious Radio front, the stars just keep coming on the show.  The New Year started off with a two hour special interview with the Insane Clown Posse.  Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope took charge of the airwaves, discussing their albums and their history as artists.  This was pretty much the greatest moment of Scott’s life, and not just because he is one of the biggest “Juggalos” out there.  Fans from all around the web were calling that interview one of the greatest that they have ever heard.   I guess you can say it was because ICP was incredibly personable on the episode and weren’t afraid to have a heart to heart with their fans.  The episodes following the ICP show were outstanding, as well.  Karl Pfeiffer and The After Party were on the January 25^th episode.  Karl was a great guest who had a lot of insight to share, and revealed that he is a regular at the Stanley Hotel.  You can catch him doing lectures and workshops there every now and again.  The Susan Slaughter and Motion City Soundtrack episode took place on February 8^th.  This was personally one of my favorite episodes because we had a great blend of light-hearted and serious topics to discuss with Susan.  To top it all off, Justin Pierre from Motion City Soundtrack was interviewed by yours truly during the infamous “Bill Me” segment.  If there’s anything you need to know about me, it’s that MCS is by far one of my favorite bands.  End of story.  Justin was open about sharing a personal experience he had a few years back, and it was a pretty strange one.  I won’t spoil it for you, so you’ll have to listen for yourself.  For your convenience, I posted links all around this article to each specific episode.  That’s my way of telling you to go listen to Dead Serious Radio.  Now. 

I don’t know about you, but I am a huge fan of comics.  I would read them all, from Jughead’s crazy adventures to Marvel comic books.  I would always get a kick out of the animation and story lines, whether comedic or serious.  I never thought in a million years that I would be immortalized in cartoon form until this February.  The ALPHA Ghost Team had the pleasure of being featured in an Entities-R-Us comic strip.  Unfamiliar with Entities-R-Us?  Shame on you!  It’s a website full of comic strips devoted to the paranormal field, created by the legendary Terri J. Garofalo.   She had the uncanny ability to capture our likenesses on paper.   Terri has been known to have guests in her comic books, ranging from local paranormal groups to the investigators you may recognize from TV.  With that being said, it felt great to be a part of the club… A club full of cartoons, but a club nonetheless.  You can check out the Entities-R-Us website to find some humor in the paranormal field on a daily basis.  It can brighten the day of any ghost hunting fan!



ALPHA with a cartoon twist



Hopefully I satisfied your need for a little bit of ALPHA in your life, so I’ll leave you with a few extra things to look forward to in the upcoming weeks.  First off, Dead Serious Radio is going to host the team from “Ghost Provokers” and Tallahassee’s own talented band, “Go Radio” on March 8^th.  Also, keep your eyes peeled for some new Tears for Ears videos.  Scott and I have been practicing a few new songs, even though that probably doesn’t mean we’re actually going to sound like professional vocalists this time.  A whole lot of ALPHA is coming your way.  Until then, feel free to snoop around the ALPHA twitter and facebook for updates as they happen.  For everything GHI, check out Scott’s official twitter and facebook.  If that’s not enough, follow my fan page on facebook.  If all of those aren’t enough, then I don’t know what to tell you.  You should probably calm down and make do with what we have for you.  You’ll survive, I promise.

2010: An ALPHA Odyssey

My last few weeks of 2010 have been spent in Tampa with my family, who I haven’t seen since summertime.  It’s a bit ironic that I ended up bringing freezing evenings and windy days with me from Tallahassee.  If my parents knew that the cold weather would be their Christmas present, they probably would’ve told me to stay at FSU for the remainder of December.  I have a bit of a history of not finding the ideal gifts during the holiday season for friends and family.  It’s not that I’m a last-minute shopper or anything, but I end up picking out the strangest things when surrounded by so many colorful sale signs and new gadgets that come out just in time for the holidays.  I’m one of those suckers who go into Brookstone and think that every pointless invention is the best gift ever until it gets put back into its box after Christmas Day and collects dust for the rest of eternity.  Discarded with those gifts are my memories of the year 2010. Even though my memories of this past year are in the rearview mirror, the lessons that I have learned will stick with me for years to come. 

Calling in for my "Bill Me" segment
on an old school phone.

2010 was a year that ALPHA started to branch out and do new things.  Notably, this year ALPHA impacted the airwaves of paranormal internet radio, an idea that Ron and Scott have been planning out for quite some time.  Our transition into talk radio humbly started as an ending segment on Lake Erie Paranormal’s “L.E.P. Radio” titled “Dead Ends.”  Once we familiarized ourselves on how things were operated and got more comfortable doing talk radio, we launched our own paranormal radio show called “Dead Serious Radio.”  DSR was envisioned to be a show that listeners could get excited about because of the way we address topics that other shows tend to shy away from, while still maintaining a humorous charm that keep fans wanting more.  Part of this want for more DSR comes from my knack to miraculously track down musical talent from all around the country for my “Bill Me” segment at the end of the show, as well as the banter between our witty co-hosts.  I’ll admit it; we can be jokesters at heart.  However, when things get serious, ALPHA gets “Dead Serious.”  See what I did there?  I was able to plug ALPHA and Dead Serious Radio in the same sentence.  I’ve gained the reputation as the shameless plug man on the show, especially in Scott’s absence since I fill in for him as co-host while he is away filming for GHI.  Wow, I’m on fire!  Was that a Ghost Hunters International plug, too?  You bet it was!

ALPHA’s emergence into the media realm has not stopped at internet radio in 2010.  Both Ron and I have been featured on the local FOX station in Tallahassee for an entire episode of the weekly “Live in Tallahassee” television show.  We did a short investigation of the historic Mission San Luis, bringing along the LIT crew to enjoy the ride and pick our brains.  Everything we filmed that night was a one-take shot, so Ron and I were on our A-game and doing what we do best while looking pretty for the camera.  What can I say?  Some people just photograph well, and ALPHA doesn’t fall short in that category.  Watching myself on television certainly was a surreal feeling after it was all said and done.  It’s true that I have the experience of being in a documentary from when we filmed Dead Air back in 2009, but it was humbling to see Ron and me on FOX with a few cuts to commercials thrown into our investigation.  Just when I thought we got our 15 minutes of fame, something even bigger came our way.

During the fall, ALPHA was contacted by the writers at Paranormal Underground Magazine.  They inquired about having our group be the featured story, and on the front page.  When an offer like that comes around, you can’t say no.  As it turned out, no paranormal investigation group has been featured on the front cover of Paranormal Underground.  To be the first group on the cover of the magazine was such a great honor.  The only thing left to do was actually take pictures for the spread.  We went to a location that I swore to keep secret, and went to work as newly established paranormal models… or “Paramodels.” The long hours that went into the photo shoot produced quality pictures for the cover and the featured article.  I was impressed with the end result of our project, and the magazine as a whole.  The November 2010 issue of Paranormal Underground looked great, and had even better articles.  I can say that I am proud to be featured in some quality bathroom and waiting room reading material for the paranormal people out there.

Even though it seems like ALPHA spent a lot of time handling the media, you can rest assured that we stayed true to our roots and managed to conduct numerous investigations throughout 2010.  It’s hard to believe that we would be able to get the whole group together, especially when Scott is gone every few weeks filming GHI episodes overseas.  We overcame the odds, and did what we did best as a whole team.  During the spring, ALPHA went on an investigation spree of a number of locations in Monticello, FL.  Our detailed reports of these investigations can be found on the ALPHA Ghost Team website. 

Hard at work in Monticello, FL.

So here’s to 2010: the year that ALPHA did anything and everything.  I can’t remember a week that I didn’t have any work to do for ALPHA.  From this adventure, I have become more experienced in different forms of media while helping bring ALPHA to the forefront of the Paranormal Field.  It has been a fun ride, but we never forget our focus that we’re about bringing integrity and professionalism to paranormal investigating.  With that being said, it seems like a lot of people out there are starting to notice the work that we are doing and are supporting it.  What is next for ALPHA in 2011?  I don’t want to spill the beans, so I’ll let you wait and find out.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year
from the ALPHA Ghost Team.

Time To Get Dead Serious With Boxer & Clover

I should probably start by apologizing.  I’m sorry that I have not posted any award winning blog posts in the last few weeks.  The excuse that I had to study for Finals Week would have been a good way out, but I’ll be honest and admit that my time was taken up by a little video game called “Call of Duty: Black Ops.”  Who can blame me for letting it consume my life when I have a roommate who is obsessed with the game?  It’s important for me to keep up with my competition before he gets too good.  However, now that my Xbox is sizzling from being overplayed for the past month, I couldn’t have picked a better time to discuss something that has nothing to do with shooting Zombies.  Before I give away what the topic is, I would like to take this space to give a quick shout-out (or write-out) to my sister, Kim.  She spent a lot of time, money, and effort on the new banner for my blog page, and for that I thank her.  Okay, moving on.

Since my November 10^th post about The Shoreline on Dead Serious Radio, there has been an absence of posts about other DSR guests.  That changes today, so if you haven’t been listening to our show then you should check out Dead Serious Radio in order to follow along with what I’m talking about.  All the episodes are archived on the site.  We’ll start by hopping in our incredible, edible time machine and going back to the night of November 16^th.  This night was one that was out of the ordinary for me, seeing as it was one of those rare weeks that Scott Tepperman was in the United States.  With that being said, it meant that I was off the prestigious co-host duty.  What I did with those extra 90 minutes was prepare for my interview with Boxer & Clover, a Pop Rock group out of Orlando.  Oh, and by “prepare” I mean “take a nap.” 

Having Boxer & Clover on Dead Serious Radio kept up the trend of having Orlando bands on our show.  I would call it a coincidence, but on the other hand it seems like there’s an overabundance of musical talent coming out of that area.  Gavin and Evan came on the show to discuss their new album, “Fate Has Favorites,” which was just released on November 8^th.  This album was highly anticipated after the release of their EP titled “What Happens Here” made a big impact on the internet music scene back in 2009.  Boxer & Clover’s new 6-track album consists of smooth songs like “The Attic”, and “Systems in Tune.”  You can purchase these songs and the rest of the album on iTunes for under $6.00.  I’m no Christmas consultant, but I would say that “Fate Has Favorites” would be a great gift for the music lover in your life (especially if you’re looking for quality music on a tight budget). 

                At one point during the interview with B&C on Dead Serious Radio, we were crunching some statistics about the band based on the Purevolume.com song rating system.  In December 2009, Boxer & Clover’s song, “Adding to 100 Years of Silence,” was ranked higher than songs from many well-known bands like Fall out Boy, Owl City, and Paramore.  This led me to make the bold statements that will echo throughout the halls of music forever: “Boxer & Clover is better than Paramore.”  I may not have been the first person to say that, but at least I was the first person to declare it on Dead Serious Radio. If you haven’t figured it out by now, Boxer & Clover is really taking off and making their mark on the music industry.  I can see them becoming a household name in the years to come, and an iPod essential.

As we all know, Dead Serious Radio is the main stage for my professional opinions about up-and-coming bans.  I do my best to push the boundaries and say what others don’t have the courage to say. That is why I’m all ALPHA.  If you want to listen to the full interview that I had with Boxer & Clover on Dead Serious Radio, click HERE.  In the upcoming weeks, I will be talking about my other interviews with The Girlfriend Season and Sound We Sleep.  I’m glad I didn’t tell that to you face to face, because I know your overexcitement would’ve ended up hurting me somehow.

The Shoreline Hits Dead Serious Radio Like Crashing Waves

For those of you who follow Dead Serious Radio, you know that we like to do what we can to keep our listeners entertained on Tuesday nights.  For those of you who don't, where have you been?  Tuesday nights used to be when people would sit around the house or that empty bar on the corner and do nothing, wishing and waiting for a talk radio show to spice up their lives.  Once ALPHA started doing talk radio, the world's boredom rate dropped substantially.  This is due in part to the efforts of the show's guests who are kind enough to take the time to discuss both the paranormal, as well as some other light-hearted subjects.

In only our second episode of Dead Serious Radio,  I already had to fill in the big, talkative shoes of Scott Tepperman since he was getting shipped overseas to film another season of Ghost Hunters International. I was the new co-host along side of Ron Bordner.  We were able to recruit an up and coming band out of Orlando for an interview on my infamous "Bill Me" segment.  The Shoreline, headed by Jose, Bud, and JFunk, had recently released a new album called "Fake it 'Til You Make it".  I discussed a few things with them about their album, including the name of the album itself.  They tried to get across the idea of being better than you actually are until something good comes your way.  It's a concept that is all too common in the media, in music, and sometimes on the job.  Their sound, however, is anything but 'fake'.

The Shoreline's music tends to be classified as Pop Rock, but their sound is constantly changing.  When I asked the guys how their sound has changed since their first album, they replied that they took a full 180 degree turn from their original music.  They look up to bands like Jimmy Eat World, Boys Like Girls, and The Starting Line.  Once they mentioned The Starting Line, they must've thrown the word "Direction" around at least half a dozen times.  For those of you who couldn't catch that freudian slip, "Direction" was the name of The Starting Line's newest album.  From the first time I've listened to "Fake it 'Til You Make it", I instantly drew the connection between The Shoreline and The Starting Line.  Kinda similar names, but their album reminded me of "Direction" without seeming like they tried to go for the same sound.  Trust me, The Shoreline has a wide array of original jams that are hard to come by anywhere else.

The Shoreline has quite the web presence, including a music video for they're song "Just Go Ahead".  You can find their albums basically anywhere on the web, including iTunes and Amazon.com.  Google sure is a nifty way to find that stuff.

Click here to watch "Just Go Ahead"

These guys are more than capable of putting on a great show, but they need a little help from some generous donors if you want to see them perform in your town.  The band is only missing a van to transport themselves and their instruments.  For now they are tied down to Central Florida until they are otherwise able to obtain that reliable transportation that most of us take for granted.  If you need a little more convincing, I'll add this: The Shoreline offers their album online to be downloaded for free.  Other tracks from the band can be downloaded from their purevolume site and ReverbNation.  However, the main source of everything you need to know about The Shoreline is at http://www.theshorelinemusic.com/.

If you would like to see the full interview I had with The Shoreline on Dead Serious Radio, it can be found here.