We'll probably be back in the studio before we have our official release party in December for LEVEL 2 = Christ Killer.

I am so incredibly proud of our new album.

But now I'm ready to record LEVEL 3.

And I'm writing the songs for Level 4?

Sheesh. This is supposed to be a Buddhist journey. Well, it is. I just can't keep up with it now. Since Christ Killer, I found love, lost love, got love again...

Hey! That's what they taught me in UCLA film school: "The classic storyline for a romantic movie is:
boy meets girl / boy gets girl / boy loses girl / boy gets girl back.

Watch how many movies follow that pattern.

Oh my Buddha bells! My life is following that -- I'm laughing. About ten years ago, a friend of mine in the movie business said, I'll pay you money for the rights to your story. I had some really good stories then. Now?

You'll see.

COYOTE   CALENDAR

Has Tom transpformed spiritually on this 2nd album by American Zen?

He's still finishing up his personal website. We'll have to wait until he's done.

Musically though, check out the song, "Daryoon," from their new album, LEVEL 2 = Christ Killer, by American Zen.

This song, "Daryoon," features the slide guitar work of bandmate, Rory G. But give a listen to Tom's basswork. There's string bending, chord strumming, banjo picking...

Tom Calder has definitely grown up musically!

Tom's LEVEL 1 Bio
Tom's LEVEL 1 VERY PERSONAL Website
Tom Calder LEVEL 2 Bio
Tom Calder Shaolin Records LEVEL 1 Resume
Tom Calder, Exclusive Artist of Shaolin Records

Retired?

Seriously. Ooops. I didn't have permission. So I took out the company's name.

One of those big-time-I've bought music books from them...hired Rory to write a guitar book.

Coyote was classically trained too. Rory still reads, but Coyote says music is better in the mind than on paper.

Course, that's not entirely true. Check out the poetry book, Utah Phase 1 to see how Coyote reads music. The lyric sheets Coyote used to cut their new album, LEVEL 2 = PEACE OF MIND.

Did you know Coyote used to play trombone?

Check out Daryoon's SLIDE GUITAR on "Daryoon" and "I Want To Laugh #2."

Steve GIVES COYOTE his Custom 500 Trophy Triumph Motorcyle. Steve and his dad are upgrading to the 650 Bonneville Triumphs.

"Bettie wanted me to ride with him, so he gave me a motorcycle. That's Steve for ya," explains Coyote.

The custom designed handlebars of Coyote's new bike look like steer antlers, heavy metal style.

"The orange flamed gas tank isn't what I would have asked for," says Coyote. "But I'm not complaining. The engine's been bored out to 580 or something -- and my favorite part: Steve said the speedometer detracted from the beauty of his custom designed handlebars -- so no speedometer."

Coyote's already had this lack of odometer/speedometer pointed out to him by a couple neighborhood policemen -- when they could catch him. I'll let Steve tell that story.

Steve and Coyote spend the most time together. They both like to sit and "veg out" listening to vinyl records and eating popcorn. They are true music lovers.

In the studio they each act as a coach for the other person. When Coyote's getting tired Steve will make him take a water break. When Steve's tired, Coyote makes him "jam-out" on something completely spontaneous. They're good for each other.

I started in the UCLA Motion Picture Program in 1984. I graduated in 1987 and made a bunch of music videos, tv commercials, MTV segments, and special effects scenes for movies.

Then I got married.

Then I got unmarried and became a photojournalist. What kind of photojournalist? Well

• ROCK CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHER
• REVIEWER
• PHOTOJOURNALIST.

Then Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy got interested in my first screenplay, COYOTE IN A GRAVEYARD.

Michael J. Fox created a buzz for me when he came onstage with my band one night and asked to play, "Johnny B. Goode," which he was getting ready to film for some upcoming movie called, BACK TO THE FUTURE.

Hey, I guess that means I may have helped him in the part a little bit. I'll have to go check out that movie and look at that scene again. I was playing bass while he borrowed the guitar player's guitar. So it was Michael J. Fox, Richard Connor, and drummer Bruce Candelaria, and keyboardist Scott Hitchings.

Oh yeah, back in those days I was still recording, but I wasn't a Recording Engineer anymore, as I had been in the seventies. Because I was well known as a studio designer, musicians like Fleetwood Mac and Producer David Foster would call me to remodel their studios or build speaker cabinets.

Mostly, I enjoyed the artistic part of building and shaping something, like sculpture. But being known as, "The Carpenter," was not what I was aiming at. I wanted to be a RECORD PRODUCER.

I graduated the very first R.I.A.A. school class offered in 1975 or 1976.

Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge, Then BBA Beck Bogert and Appice, Cactus, and later the Rod Stewart band, was a principle founder of this school. I think they were separate from the other RIAA but I'm not sure.

It was a great class, with a great book -- still used today, and always held in a great studio. I was in!

After that I just needed to show anyone my skills and I had a job.

The other thing I learned from the beginning was ORGANIZATION. Even now in the digital world, without a paper trail, you need a digital trail.

Files which are "Masters" can become indistinguishable from copies so extra care has to be made to identify which ones are to used as masters which ones have the subcodes which have iTunes info...

So I'd like to see more people really be Recording Engineers and make sure that all those filing things are done -- as if there was a "real" recording engineer sitting next to you.