I’ve taken a break from music stuff for a short while since The Glowing Stars is on hiatus as Matt’s been in baby mode — his baby is due pretty much any day now! While that’s on hold, I have some plans to do some stuff with crashfaster, like performing with him at PAX Prime this year in Seattle. I’m also recording some vocals for Wizwars. I’m really happy to be working with all of my friends!

I guess I forgot to plug in here that The Glowing Stars debut EP dropped earlier this month, right before we went on hiatus. It’s titled Anything Past That, and has five tracks of Game Boy goodness and rock & roll. Please check it out! You can stream it for free or download it for five bucks on Bandcamp.

I’m really thankful that crashfaster recorded and mixed this EP, and Hans Dekline mastered it. Dekline has also mastered records for Snoop Dogg and Lisa Loeb. Someday I think I’ll write a protected post about all the inside jokes and secrets of Anything Past That, but I’ll save that for another time. Considering the entire EP is about one person, there are a lot of little things about it that are all related, including the EP art, and the labels that were on our limited edition physical releases.

Side note, those who have ordered the limited edition EPs, please be patient. People have been receiving them at different times. Some last week, some this week, and I expect more next week. But if you have any concerns, e-mail theglowingstarsband [@] gmail [.] com!

Oh right, so video game stuff. Since the band stuff is on hold, I’ve been adjusting to my new position as Associate Editor of @GAMER Magazine, and it’s been a fun ride so far. I’ve taken over their podcast and have hosted the last three episodes, including Episode #21, which just went live today. This week’s episode also has Jillian Lungaro and GamesRadar’s Chris Antista, and we talk about Comic-Con 2011 and Catherine.

Speaking of Catherine, that was my first review for @GAMER Magazine as an official employee. Yay! It’ll be in the September 2011 issue. But the game came out this week, and it’s so amazeballs. Really, buy it. Or listen to the podcast first, and then buy it.

I love these guys! I also miss them. Here’s a video by my best friend AJAPOPFILMS of Awkward Terrible at last week’s PulsewaveSF. So much love in this.

I also interviewed them for The @Gamer Podcast this week. Oh yeah, I’m so far behind on this blog that I forgot to mention that I’m no longer with GamesRadar.com. Now I’m Associate Editor of @Gamer Magazine. The crew is way awesome so far, but I already knew that going in. ;)

Oh dear, this will have to be another one of those bulletpoint lists again. Lately my time has been split between work and band stuff, which is great, but I haven’t had time to do much else. I can’t believe we’re opening for Anamanaguchi and Peelander-Z in a WEEK! So, so crazy. I’ve been playing guitar so much, that I can’t feel anything else with my fingers on my fret-playing hand.

That said, the above video was a bit easier on the fingers. My band did this cool video for GamesRadar showcasing these ThinkGeek interactive music t-shirts for a giveaway. This was a lot of fun to do, and my best friend Angelo Ibanez shot this on a Flip HD cam and edited it. So cool!

Alright, here we go:

The Glowing Stars

• Well, that video.
• Been practicing and rehearsing on hardcore mode for our April 7 show! You can still get tickets here!
• We put up our second mini webisode on Monday:

GamesRadar

• Today, GamesRadar’s Trailer Trash Theatre - Episode 17 went up! We looked at trailers for Family Farm, Battlefield Heroes, and Shadows of the Damned.

Everything Else

• I guess this is more The Glowing Stars-related, but I was recently interviewed by Front Towards Gamer Radio and it went live last week! Listen to it on FTG Radio, Ep. 46.
• Also that week that it went live, the @GAMER podcast I sat in on went up as well: The @GAMER Podcast - Episode #14
• And speaking of @GAMER, I wrote reviews for their last two issues. In the March 2011 issue, I reviewed Yoostar 2, and for their latest April 2011 issue, I wrote my biggest review yet for Crysis 2. So happy about that.

Pics or it didn’t happen!

I think that’s about it. Life is moving too fast! I feel like time has been on steroids since the announcement of the April 7 show, and things have been blowing up since. Even after that, we’re possibly playing something awesome in May, and we’re already setting up a tour for June. Not to mention the release of the EP. This is going to be a good year. :)

Man, busy, busy! I’m gonna have to bullet-point-list everything that’s been going on since I got back from Las Vegas:

The Glowing Stars

• Well, one, this awesome promo video up there that was done for us by ajapopfilms.
• We’re opening for Anamanaguchi and Peelander-Z at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco on April 7! Buy tickets here!

• Our demo is available for download at http://theglowingstars.bandcamp.com for $2 or more, and all proceeds are going to the American National Red Cross to aid those in Japan who suffered from the tsunami
• Additionally, we have a new track being released as part of a chip compilation also benefiting Japan put together by True Chip Till Death and Pixelh8. More details here - http://www.truechiptilldeath.com/japan
• We’ve got more video content on the way!
• We have buttons!

GamesRadar

• GamesRadar’s Trailer Trash Theatre - Episode 16 went up today, with special guest Mikel Reparaz
• GamesRadar’s Trailer Trash Theatre - Episode 15 with Tyler Wilde went up two weeks ago, but I forgot to plug it in here. :)

Everything Else

• Just got interviewed for Front Towards Gamer’s podcast, which should be up next week. It was a real pleasure!
• PAX East was SO AWESOME - It was great meeting fans of both GamesRadar/TalkRadar AND The Glowing Stars all the way on the other side of the country. Boston was good to me and I can’t wait to visit again. Until then, I’m looking forward to PAX Prime in August. Check out some photos I took from PAX East at this public Facebook link - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=295210&id=605803111&l=9db429e0f6

Okay. Yeah, so that was a pathetic, rushed blog post. So much has happened! The next one will be a bit more coherent!

Wow, I’m pretty late with this! GamesRadar’s Trailer Trash Theatre - Episode 14 went up last week, and we made fun of trailers for Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters, The Kings’ Crusade, Kinectimals, and Ys Chronicles I & II. We also have a pretty hilarious outtake on YouTube at this link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwTtv7WozIk

Today, my band The Glowing Stars will be releasing a second demo track on our Bandcamp page. If you’ve been following me on Twitter, you’d know the song is called “Got It Bad.” You’d also probably know that we played a live version of that song on this week’s TalkRadar podcast. And speaking of podcasts, I was also a guest on this week’s @Gamer Magazine podcast. Hooray for company incest!

I’ll post those up on here whenever they go live, and whenever I remember to actually post them here. I’ve been pretty busy with regular work, band stuff, and freelance work. This week I’m working on my biggest game review yet for @Gamer Magazine - but you’ll hear more about that on the podcast.

So much content, so little time. Currently in the pipeline: video from the EFF event, working on the EP, PAX East, band videos, booking shows, guest blogging, more game reviews, and trying to keep a sane mind. :)

GR’s weekend giveaway: Boba Fett Plush Rocket Backpack

We’re giving away a Boba Fett Plush Rocket Backpack on GamesRadar.com! All you have to do is comment on the article in the link above for a chance to win. Check it out for complete details.

Tons of stuff happening. Yesterday, we just re-launched GamesRadar’s Trailer Trash Theatre after being on hiatus for a few months.

Part of that is because my company has put me to work on a FarmVille fan site called FarmVille Post. It has since blossomed from launch with our new partnership with Zynga’s FarmVille team, and with the expert knowledge of my FV partner-in-Crime Zoop, which has helped clear a lot off my plate.

By the way, guys, I still play video games for real.

Last week, the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of @Gamer Magazine hit the shelves and includes my review for LittleBigPlanet 2!

As for band stuff, we’ve had to delay our demo release by a week since my bandmate Matt got sick. We’re back on track this week and are recording vocals this weekend. I can’t wait ‘til we finally get it done. We have tons of awesome plans for this band and are working with a bunch of talented people. If you’re on Twitter, be sure to follow them here. It is Friday after all, and the #FollowFriday/#FF tags get lost in spam on Twitter - maybe it’ll work better here:

Matt Payne, my awesome bandmate - @kineticturtle

ajapopfilms, who is working on some great promo vids for us - @ajapopfilms

Eric Hooten, who is working on our first photo shoot - @SoftSpotPhoto

Mike Bombon, who is designing our logo and it’s already turning out AMAZING - @VULTR3

crashfaster, a fantastic San Francisco-based chip musician who also runs 8bitsf - @crashfaster, @8bitsf

And of course, my band The Glowing Stars - @_glowingstars