Coffee Grind Media

Quim Cardona (pic from Focus Magazine)

Taken from Focus Magazine’s website:
Representing Organika and New Jersey to the fullest, we linked up with Quim Cardona to bring you this week’s 10 top 5′s. After killing it for the east coast for so long, it was only appropriate to give him his own top 5′s. Enjoy!

Top 5 Cities (I would like to experience):
Tour Around Russia
Kinshasa, Zaire
Canary islands
Paramaribo, Suriname
Aksum, Ethiopia

(I’ve experienced below)
New York City
Tokyo, Japan
Copenhagen, Denmark
El Salvador, South America
Havana, Cuba

Top 5 Movies:
Sick Boys Skate Video 1988 (when skate video cared about soundtracks)
Skate HRD – Christian Hosoi Video Documentary 1987. VHS
Land of the Look Behind – documentary film about Jamaica in 1982
Ip Man 2008 – The Celebrated Kung Fu Master of Bruce Lee
Inglorious Bastards – 2009 QT

Top 5 Underrated Skaters:
Sean Powers
Charles Lamb
Joel Meinholtz
Jack Sabback
Jahmal Williams

Top 5 Foods:
Oki No Mi Yaki (Japanese style pancake)
Vegetable Korma (any country I visit)
Chana Masala Dosa (Jersey City)
Margarita pizza (clay oven)

Top 5 Shows as a kid:
Fat Albert
Growing Pains
Bob Ross (demonstrating how to paint)
Inspector Gadget
Fraggle Rock

Top 5 Bands:
Death Detroit Band
Rebelmatic
Barry and the Penetrators
Ugly (skinny bully)
One Peace Session Band (Tokyo)

Top 5 Hobbies:
Recycled art
Dj’ing (vinyl records)
Flea markets
Camping with my woman
Penny slots in Atlantic City

Top 5 Board graphics:
Jim Thiebaud – Hanging KKK 1990
Randy Colvin -Black Velvet 1991
My First Real Pro Model – Designed by Mike Cardona
Steve Steadham – Lion of Judah Graphic (hard to find)
Jef Hartsel – Tree

Top 5 Things That Piss You Off:
Mean people
Drunk drivers
On a smart phones while their driving isn’t the smartest thing to do
Profilers (Can’t judge a book by it’s cover, back cover, or preface)

Top 5 Things You’re Grateful For:
My baby, Ian Gabriel
My girlfriend and partner in business
My parents
Believing in my music
Skateboarding

See the full article here:
http://focusskatemag.com/2011/06/10-top-5s-quim-cardona/

New Rebelmatic Review featured on Rockin’ Out! Promotions
June 28, 2011
The full article can be found here:

http://ropromos.tumblr.com/post/7011141705/rebel-matic-prey-for-vulture

Rebel Matic is an alternative/punk rock/hip hop band from Brooklyn, NY.  I was introduced to their music by a friend in the Underground.  The first time I heard their name, I thought they were a modern day cliche of a hard rock band: that’s until I listened to Rebel Matic’s album.  If you’re anything like myself, then you at one point or another thought that music was dead until you took a visit to the Underground and listened to unsigned artists that were looked over and this band is no exception.

This EP was really refreshing for me.  Mainly because it reminded me of the late ‘80’s- early ‘90’s, when our lives revolved around music and there were no barriers in music.  This group reminds me of a mix between N.W.A., Limp Bizkit, and the front man (Creature) reminds me of ol’ school Ice T and Ice Cube with his lyrical rawness. An example of what I mean is the first song on the album: Get Up And Go.  The lyrics themselves show Creature’s lyrical flow:

“Say I sound southern cause I sang on the chorus / Motherfucka I’m buzzing you lame cant ignore us/ all my producers straight Crate diggers/ they kids that buy my albums parents hate niggas.”

Now, although I loved the album; and among the many people I have talked to about the EP; many have noticed some reggae or reggaeton in the bands album.  I failed to notice that.  I strictly keep them a rap/rock band because it fits them perfectly.  I remember thinking that the only people to pull off the rap/rock collab were Aerosmith and Run DMC, but after listening to Rebel Matic I’ve come to see that this band actually pulled it off rather well.

Now I’m ready to see them live.  I’ll give you guys a review of their live performance when I see it…

You can listen to their whole EP on Bandcamp.