Bassist Rudy Sarzo (BLUE ÖYSTER CULT / DIO / ex-WHITESNAKE) has issued the following audio / video tech blog:

"We musicians are living in a very exciting era in history. For the very first time we are capable of controlling all aspects of our creativity in just about any environment we choose.

Now, I’ve been playing for over 40 years and believe me when I say that back in the late '60s no one would’ve imagined that someday we would have so much creative freedom at our fingertips. We can make a record on the road in a hotel room or on the back of the tour bus, in our bedroom or right on stage and then market it and distribute it to all four corners of the world through the internet.

But for better or for worse, things were way different not too long ago. Back in the pre-internet era the only way to reach the masses was through an infrastructure called the record industry that would handle and control all aspects of the creative process for you. Basically it went like this. You would put a band together, learn a few covers, write a few originals and play around town. Once you believed your band could be the next big thing you would pack up all your gear and head to either Los Angeles or New York City to showcase for the record companies. Then if you were one of the few that got signed to a record label, the big machine would kick in and you would begin working with the various A&R;, producers, radio promotion and marketing people assigned to your act by the label to turn you into a world class recording act.

In my case, once I arrived in Los Angeles the guys in the band I came to town with parted ways and joined other bands in order to survive. Me, I got lucky and wound up in the Randy Rhoads version of Quiet Riot. But my story doesn’t end there, it just begins.

This version of Quiet Riot played endlessly around Los Angeles and did numerous demos in some of the best recording studios in town such as the legendary Record Plant. If the demo wasn’t of professional studio quality, the record company wouldn’t even bother listening to it. It didn’t matter how popular the band or how great the song was. But anyone familiar with Quiet Riot’s history knows that the band got rejected by every record company in town leaving Randy with no choice but to go and fulfill his musical aspirations with Ozzy.

Now, I can assure you that if we had back in the late '70s the same recording technology that a lot of the today’s generation takes for granted the story of Quiet Riot would’ve probably gone much different. I know because we were pretty resilient and we went to extremes to get a record deal."

Go to this location for the rest of the blog.