We did not include the list of Giveaway Winners in the last issue. However, we did post them on the Web. But now it's finally in print. Please see the first page of E-Files. Also another note regarding the March edition: we forgot to give Jim Maxwell photo credit for the SEMA show photo coverage; yes, I would like to claim his talent and it was merely an oversight that we didn't include him on the byline.
As we have had a string of hip-hop stars over the past few months it was time for a little change. I would like to keep the magazine as diverse as possible! It is a great honor to bring you Incubus's Jose Pasillas. With the help of his friends Kenny Fong at Darkside Motoring and Jeremy and Gary of Safe & Sound Designs, along with Tony Hicks and crew at Planet Audio & Boss Audio, they have given us the opportunity to give you another musician's perspective on his automotive audio system. It all started one day while visiting the Planet Audio facility and discussing potential projects. Mention was made of the neighbors, DW Drums and Jose using their products too. My mind started to conceptualize a cover with Jose playing drums in the bed of his truck or maybe in the DW Drum warehouse with his vehicle, but as with the touring musician, well, time is very limited. Timing came the week of the Christmas holiday and by December 27 Jose would be off for several months on a European tour with only a couple of dates returning home, so we had to move quick. But some of you may be asking why do we cover such stars? They have plenty of money to afford such system, so why the special coverage of their systems? The simple answer is, these people make music so they are authorities on listening to music in their own right. So some of us like to know what type of products these people are using or what technique is used in the installation - or simply how they utilize the system. While by audio competition standards, these celeb-systems may not be up to elite standards, it gives us a chance to see the reality of how intense our passion for car audio systems is and how it can at times surpass the technicality of these systems. Really, it is the engineers behind the musician that is the true listener, but the celebrity on the cover gets more people's attention.
So while we give you a little look at celeb-systems we will still continue to bring the most technologically advanced and creatively installed systems possible. In the end, maybe these big time musicians and the music industry at large will begin to understand us better as it seems we have gone unnoticed to this community since the inception of this magazine! We buy their CD's just like everyone else does, but I think we love our music just a wee bit more. Look at the lengths we go to ensure we have music in our vehicles, everyone is starting to take notice! From the OEM's feeding off our passion for audio and trying to deliver it to the showroom floor, music labels starting to look at our magazine, racers being sponsored by audio companies - are all signs that our industry is constantly growing and changing.