Monday, December 22, 2014

YouTube Channel Profile Series: schloppster & mckersie1984's Channels

Hey guys, we'll try to keep news coming steadily while I'm out of town, and that will start with this month's YouTube Channel Profiles, our last of the year! As you may remember, this monthly feature series looks at 1-3 randomly selected YouTube channels with at least a 50% concentration of local metal, hard rock, and punk-relevant videos, in order for readers to discover these channels, possibly subscribe, and check out some entertaining and/or notable YouTube clips! This month's installment features two profiles due to the first chosen channel only having two videos period, so one more channel with only one distinct video was randomly picked to fill it out. Featuring a recently notable local punk band & our first Sault Michigan channel in this series since May, read on below for this month's profiles!
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Owner: Former Clownsack singer Schloppy (real name Bob Cook, source here, who you may also recognize from Seeking Reverence)

Channel Timeline: Launched on August 14th, 2006; Videos posted on that day and on August 28th of that year

Channel Summary: Likely intended as an official YouTube channel of sorts for the 2005-2012 Sault Michigan funk/hard rock band Clownsack, Schloppy uploaded two music videos to his channel in August 2006, both set to studio tracks from their debut CD "Rotten Candy", which was released that spring. Both feature the band dressed as clowns and performing songs based around and inspired by their attire and alter egos, with members never publically confirming their identities on band pages during their run.

Why You Should Watch: This is definitely worth checking out for fans of Clownsack, whether you preferred their funk rock sound or their unique stage presence and theme! Note however that this channel hasn't been visibly used since the videos were uploaded, and it isn't the most substantive source of Clownsack videos on YouTube either, Former guitarist/producer Butter Cookie (real name Fran Blackwood) has uploaded 17 videos of Clownsack from their mid-late 2000s heyday onto his YouTube channel, including a re-post of the "Clown Sauce" music video that Schloppy/Bob uploaded, so keep that in mind as well!

Our Recommended Videos To Check Out:

Clownsack Clownsauce YUMMY!!!!: Viewed over 4,400 times since being uploaded over 8 years ago, Clownsack's first of two music videos was for their song "Clown Sauce" from the aforementioned "Rotten Candy", and it is a nice summative (though tongue-in-cheek) track of their musical & visual themes! Their original lineup is featured here, including Schloppy & Butter Cookie alongside bassist Slappy (Tony Rogers, now of No Decision), original drummer Scratchy, and dancer/backing vocalist Doinky (neither of whom have had their identities confirmed publically that I've found.) This video features the band playing live at (I believe) The Savoy Bar & Nightclub circa December 2005, and it captures their stage show nicely with a lively stage presence, liberal use of silly string, and an upbeat edgy funk rock sound! That said, the sync with the original song could be better, and Fran's later upload of this video is of much better quality with less pixelization. Watch for a Hulk Hogan homage before the song fully kicks in too!



Clownsack ..you gotta see this!!!!: Schloppy's only other video is a music video set to their song "Social Homicide", also from "Rotten Candy" and also set to live concert footage. This time, the show appears to be an unidentified event at The Dreammaker's Theatre at the Sault Michigan Kewadin Casino circa early 2006, though surviving websites do not verify which show they opened at, or if we even have the venue right (no, it's not the Kiss show, that was in 2007.) In any event, a big crowd turned out! Featuring two female guest dancers (both also wearing clown paint), the performance lacks some of the energy on the "Clown Sauce" video, but it's of similar quality in it's editing, and it features another solid Clownsack original from their early years! Note however that while Fran hasn't uploaded this video in full to his channel, segmented parts of it can be seen there, and they do have an improvement in quality.


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mckersie1984's Channel (http://www.youtube.com/mckersie1984)

Owner: Local photographer Jeff McKersie

Channel Timeline: Launched on September 5th, 2010; Videos uploaded on April 11th & 12th, 2012

Channel Summary: Best known locally for his excellent photography (which you can view at the link above), Jeff's YouTube channel puts his photos to good use by combining shots that he took while in school of local/Toronto Celtic punk quartet Dustin Jones & The Rising Tide into a slideshow video set to one of their original songs! Specifically set to their short original "Tick Tick Tock" (the 2011 version with drums from their CD "Whiskey Will Be Our Sun"), this is a solid original with a folksy feel and a raw edge, and Mikey Hawdon's drumming helps fill things out, with lots of great photos of The Tide included to look at along the way! Note that Jeff posted two versions of this same video on successive days for unclear reasons, but the version featured here is the second copy, which has more views. Don't miss The Tide at The Rockstar Bar on Friday night!


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I hope you guys liked this month's YouTube Channel Profiles! Thanks to random selection, we'll have another double profile to kick off 2015 with, as the first randomly selected channel only has two distinct video types that fit the site, so we randomly picked a channel with one video to fill it out. That said, next month's profiles will be on scub115's channel (featuring videos from Ace Frehley's Kewadin Casino show in 2009) and defunct local metal trio Despised Eyes' channel (featuring their one and only music video), so look for all of that on or around January 22nd! That's all for now, but stay tuned for more news as we continue to approach Christmas! Thanks everyone!

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