What is this all about then?

In the beginning, I decided to spend a little time doing some webdesign stuff, and needed a place to throw up my test designs and what not. So I came up with “The Metal Network”, a place for co-hosting, webdesign and more. Since it is obvious by that name that I like metal music, I decided to focus on that area. Originally I worked for the rock and metal radio station http://www.totalrock.com in London UK as the webmaster/IT manager. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work. I learned a ton about webdesign, and networking… I also learned that it’s a lot more work sometimes than just one person can do. I spent a lot of time designing and implementing ways for other people with lesser knowledge to add content to what was at the time a HUGE website, with TONS of content. I had always intended to merge the site to a proper CMS driven version, but alas eventually, I had to leave Totalrock… much to my dismay… During my time at Totalrock, I also managed my wife’s website for her radio show – Sex to 9 with Maria – as she was one of the DJs there. Her website ( http://www.sexto9.com ) was the first DJ website on Totalrock, and had the most content, in fact, I think it still does as it’s always growing. It has a tight knit community, but due to the ever changing face of the internet we retired the forum. It was a great spot where many of her fans (the Sexto9er’s) always contribute news, and tell us about new bands and albums they’ve discovered… Now it seems everyone has migrated to facebook, so you can find her Facebook page there. Also during my time at Totalrock, I encountered a Polish band named Enter Chaos with a female vocalist. They played music I liked, (although too many times she got compared to Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy) and I decided to get in touch with them. While they had a website at the time, it was not up to date, and they had a lot of trouble with the webmaster, as he didn’t update it as quickly as they liked. I offered my services, and soon took over as their new webmaster. Shortly before they released their second album, I completely redesigned the site with artwork from the album done by Niklas Sundin (http://www.cabinfevermedia.com), as well as moved it here to The Metal Network so that it would run faster, as the old server was rather slow/overloaded. Check it out here: http://ec.themetal.net

In 2008 I reconnected with an old friend who now owns and runs a bunch of multitool websites. At first I was just helping out with some of the software updates, but eventually joined as a permanent admin, helping out with updates, and several large upgrades. I also helped deploy some new ventures, providing software deployment along with graphics and theming. This included coming up with some new logos for existing project sites of his to match new themes.

In the meantime, I have been working on some other client sites, along with my friends over at Primerelay Sex to 9 continues, as does Totalrock even thought there was a period it became Bloodstock Radio but has returned to the Totalrock brand, these days the design at Totalrock is no longer mine. I’m always working on more and more websites for friends and clients, which you’ll find out about eventually on these pages. –Stay Metal!