10 Things I Hate About (Leaving) Zia Records written by Jenna at ZIA Sahara

10 Things I Hate About (Leaving) Zia Records

If Zia Record Exchange were a guy, it'd be safe to say that he and I were romantically involved for almost 3 years. Our relationship started out like any other: it was love at first sight for me but I didn't have the balls to put myself out there, and when I finally did show a little interest, he played hard-to-get and waited 3 months before calling me. Lucky for him, though, I wasn't seeing anyone else at the time, so we decided to give it a go. We've been in love ever since -sure, we've had our ups and downs and I'm sure we've both considered throwing in the towel at some point, yet we've always managed to work through it- but we broke up yesterday. He and I came to a mutual understanding that we both wanted to see other people while still remaining good friends, and there were no hard feelings. Zia's been there for me through the good times and bad; without Zia I never would've met my Prince Charming or known anything about Fantasy Football... Trust me when I say that my life is better off because of both.

So Zia, this one's for you, and if you're reading this blog, just know that the 3 years that we were together were the radass-est and I'll always hold a special place for you in my <3

1. I won't see Karl everyday anymore. Have you met that guy? The tall dude formerly known as "Legs" (don't ask) who runs the Sahara store has been like a mentor to me. Karl knows something about everything, even "Twilight," and even though he CHOOSES to like the Lakers, I hope I'm half as knowledgeable as he is when I'm old. 3 musical artists Karl's shared with me that I could not live without? Radiohead, Brandi Carlile, and Motley Crue. Thanks, Buddy.

2. Never again will I work an offsite event. Matador at 21 last year was hands-down THE coolest moment of my Zia career. I've had to work a lot of less-cool offsites to get to the Palms and meet Liz Phair, but chillin' in the Vegas heat for 10 hours and using a port-a-potty without toilet paper builds character. Never say "never;" there's always Coachella (hint-hint), and I'm holding out for the day Zak decides to take on a road partner.

3. I'm no longer a part of the VIP-Embarrassment-Free-Celebrity-Meet-N-Greet-Club. Working at Zia meant that I wasn't too old to own a special edition hardcover copy of "Twilight" when Jackson Rathbone (a.k.a. Jasper Hale!) came to my store to perform with his group, 100 Monkeys, because his autograph -made out to Jenna- was strictly a prize for the store's enter-to-win contest, and that picture I took with him was for Zia's website. Not my bedroom wall.

4. Sweet Zia t-shirts.

5. Ruling. So many customers come up to Zia staffers on a daily basis just to comment on how cool it must be to work at a record store. What are we supposed to say? "Naw man, listening to music all day and wearing sweet t-shirts that the company gives us for free is not all it's cracked up to be," pfffffffffft. How many people think YOU rule because of where you work???

6. The little things. I seriously mopped up puke annually. Someone threw chunks in the store once for every year that I worked there... it was like a rite of passage.

7. Passing down the New Release Wall. From the early days of handwriting the jukebox cards and cutting them out individually with scissors, to rearranging Kelly Rowland's cd next to Beyonce's because people would appreciate it, I love that wall. It's the little things, you know?

8. Perks. Early access to those super awesome Taking Back Sunday buttons. My 401K. Free veggie shmear for the bagel of my choice at inventory. It didn't get any better than that. Zia really does love you.

9. No more pizza parties.

10. Leaving my "family." I couldn't invent a better bunch of personalities than those I had the pleasure of working with at Sahara. Kaaaarl: I'm dusting my virtual trophy case right now for when my RainbowHulks dominate the league this year! Brent-Dawg: I remember Austin telling me how big of a teddybear you were when I first got hired and how I didn't believe him... but he was right. JJ: I guess you can rule the hardest now that I'm gone. Keep the Creed alive in your heart, dude! Xtini: Thank you for Glee. That's all I need to say. And please choose to turn my silver fox Anderson Cooper back! Shapoopoo: I knew you were my ride-or-die chick when you tried to beat up the bathroom attendant at HOB when we went to the Brand New concert! Keep the children in check ;) RIP Steve, Justin, Kris, Eddie, and Lu!

It's been real.

3 Terrific Graphic Novel Trades That Are A Great Introduction To The Genre written by Zak at ZIA Records HQ

I’m a Comic fan. From the age of about 8 years old I have been. I was first introduced by my Uncle in the early ‘80s. I was given a gift that has to be one of the most meaningful I have ever received, a box of Silver Age comics. I was introduced to the art of Ditko, Kirby and Adams. Characters like The Challengers Of The Unknown, Silver Surfer, Batman and Spiderman were now my favorites. This interest grew and has stayed with me my entire life. I realize not everyone has had this experience. Not everyone has marveled at a full splash page of Kirby’s Tomorrow People and been floored at a young age by the detail. So, I’m going to write about three titles you might enjoy if all this is foreign to you but you might want to get adventurous and try something new!

Preacher

For Fans Of: Westerns and Conspiracy Theories

Great Line: “Having met the Lord god I can honestly say he’s a bit of a prick” – Jesse Custer


My first recommendation is PREACHER by Garth Ennis featuring the amazing art of Steve Dillon. Ennis, an amazing Northern Irish writer with a talent for making characters (both “good” and “evil”) compelling. Preacher is the story of Jesse Custer, a West Texas Preacher who one day realizes he has the ability to control people through “The Word Of God”. The “Word” allows his spoken commands to be carried out against the will of anyone they are spoken too. The “Word “comes from an entity known as Genesis that has taken up residence in him (a kind of partial possession). To get some answers about his new found powers as well as some accountability for his abuse laden child hood he goes on a crusade to search out the cause for all of it: The Almighty. Preacher’s many chapters see a great supporting cast like Cassidy The Drunken Irish Vampire, Tulip (Jesse’s Juliet), Ass-Face ( a teenager turned rock god with a severe self- inflicted gunshot wound inspired by the death of Kurt Cobain), The Saint Of Killers (a resurrected cowboy psychopath and heaven’s score settler) and many others. During the tale, Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy come in conflict with The Grail and their leader Herr Starr. The Grail has been entrusted with the sacred bloodline of Christ. What the relationship between The Grail and Custer is the main focus of the 9 book series and provides many great storylines!

Locke And Key

For Fans Of: Mystery and Suspense Dusted With The Supernatural

Great Panel: Bode Locke discovers he can astral project with “The Ghost Door Key”


Locke And Key is something I just recently have gotten into and it is amazing! Written by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez it has gained critical acclaim for its incredibly intricate story and relatability of the characters. The story centers around the Locke family who, after the violent home invasion and murder of their Father moves back to the family estate in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. The surviving family Bode (a starry eyed 6 year old with a huge imagination) Kinsey (the angst ridden teenage girl), Tyler (jock with the soft side) and their Mother Nina (who has turned to alcohol as a copping mechanism). The Locke children have a lot deal with in a very short amount of time: the death of their father, a cross country move, a new school and a mysterious new home known as Keyhouse Estate. Their lives are about to get a whole lot more complicated. The house is riddled with secrets. Hidden keys, which unlock secret doors and give the users access to supernatural abilities like the Anywhere Key which grants teleportation abilities. The keys are the tip of the iceberg as the characters unlock a generation spanning story of witchcraft, back stabbing and secrets! Hill’s vision and story are given amazing realization through Rodriguez’s art. It is a true masterpiece and will go down in history with Watchmen and Kingdom Come!

Scalped

For Fans Of: Cop Dramas, Murder Mystery and Good Old Fashioned Ass-Kicking!

Greatest Line: “All you need to, Boy is that around here… I’m the Father, The Son and The Holy Fuc%ing Ghost all rolled into one” – Chief Red Crow


Scalped is the tale of one Dash Bad Horse: A Lakota Indian who ran from the reservation as a rebellious teenager swearing to never come back only to return as a nunchuck swinging undercover FBI agent who is charged with infiltrating the corrupt tribes Chief’s inner circle. Holy mackerel this is one hell of a tale with a ton of twists and turns. Dash has returned to a completely dysfunctional cast of characters from his childhood. His mother Gina who has been a native rights activists for most of her life and opposes the new casino being built with her ex-activist sometimes boyfriend Lincoln Red Crow the Chief of the tribe. Lincoln wears several hats: tribal chief, mob boss, gun runner and drug kingpin. Dash must temper his need to self destruct and getting the job done for his racist boss Agent Nitz. More of the supporting cast includes Dino Poor Bear (teenage father with way to much responsibility for his age), Carol (Red Crow’s party girl daughter whose love for pissing off her Dad is only matched by her infatuation with Dash) and many many more. Scalped is a definite read for those into a great story and hyper violent scenes.

These are a couple of recommendations and the can all be found at our Zia T-Bird store (many used!). Please enjoy and note: THESE ARE NOT FOR KIDS!!

Youth Of America : Put Your Cellphones Away!" written by ZAK at ZIA Records HQ

Youth of America: Whatever happened to taking mental notes or having memories of an experience? It seems today’s concert attendees have no interest or willfully decline to just sit back and take in an experience. The desire to have everything captured or recorded by phone or camera supersedes the experience on just about every level.
I was recently at a Billboard Top 10 level artist’s show the other night and was caught completely off guard by how much picture taking and videoing was going on! The tweens in front of us would take a break from dancing to take a picture of each other dancing. The girls behind us were videoing themselves singing with the artist. These pictures were of themselves at the show not so much of the artist they came to see. In the lobby of the venue a razor company had set up a photo booth were you and your friends could take a picture to be displayed during the show on the screens behind the artist. At the second to the last song (yes I stuck around to the second to the last song) the images started flowing and the crowd went nuts. WTF happened in the last 5 years? (Do you like how I make myself relevant to the youngsters by using WTF?)

There seem to be exceptions however. Warped Tour being one. At Warped this year I noticed a definite switch from “look at us” to “too cool to tweet”. It seems that some of these kids try and remember experiences they couldn’t have had during the 80’s punk scene when you heard about a show by word of mouth. The irony is that the “mouth” is a tweet or Facebook post. Just don’t get caught tweeting or Facebooking by your friends.
My solution is quite simple really. Let’s collectively agree to use the tweeting and Facebook for informational purposes firstly. When you are a professional photographer at a show you have the first 3 minutes to shoot whatever. After that get the F out. Kids, let’s use these rules for the show as well. First 3 songs: go nuts. Take as many as you can as fast as you can. Pose it out. Squat, hand on hip, peace sign, click and you’re done. Now go ahead and text or tweet whatever afterwards just no flashing cameras. IT’S FU*&ING DISTRACTING!!!!!!!!!!



My Thoughts Exactly lady.

Join ZIA at The Loft Cinema for a special screening of "Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest" on August 26th!

Terrific new documentary film about one of the most influential hip-hop bands in history, "Beats, Rhymes & Life : The Travels Of A Tribe Called Quest" will be playing at The Loft Cinema in Tucson! Opening night screening on Friday, August 26th at 7:30PM! Film will be running for just one week only at The Loft so make sure not to miss this one!

ZIA Records is proud to be co-sponsoring the opening night screening on Friday, August 26th at 7:30PM and we've got a pair of tickets to give away to some lucky winner!

To enter, send an email titled "TRIBE ZIA' to ziarecordscontests@gmail.c​om and include your name, number & address. One entry per person - contest ends August 24th at 9AM (AZ Time).


Make sure to join ZIA at The Loft on Friday, August 26th at the 7:30PM screening for a chance to win a FREE prize raffle! People attending the screening on August 26th will have a chance to win a $25 ZIA Gift Card!

More about the film!

One of the most pioneering and beloved groups of all-time, A Tribe Called Quest defined the sound of an early-'90s New York hip-hop scene that reverberated across the nation. Formed in 1985 by Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White, Tribe melded trippy, jazz-infused musicscapes and Afrocentric rhymes with bass-heavy rhythmic vibes, eclectic sampling, and intelligent lyrics addressing social and political issues with infectious energy.

Acclaimed actor Michael Rapaport (True Romance, Mighty Aphrodite) turns director and paints a remarkably personal portrait of the characters behind the group's sonic genius through their five albums, their highly publicized breakup in 1998, and beyond. Emotionally honest and forthright interviews with group members are intercut with electrifying footage of live performances, music videos from back in the day, and commentary from Common, Busta Rhymes, Mary J. Blige, De La Soul, Kanye West, Mos Def, Ludacris, and the Beastie Boys. Whether or not A Tribe Called Quest will create another record remains a question—but the group's profound contribution to musical history and unparalleled artistic success unequivocally blazed a trail for future generations of music lovers.

VISIT THE OFFICIAL MOVIE WEBSITE:
http://www.sonyclassics.com/beatsrhymesandlife/

Watch an interview with director Michael Rapaport:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6RgW3CGDV8

VISIT THE LOFT CINEMA website for more info on the film and tickets:
http://www.loftcinema.com/node/2484

Visit the ZIA RECORD EXCHANGE website:
http://www.ziarecords.com/