Category Archives: New Orleans VoiceOvers

NOLA Mayor Mitch Landrieu Records At Airlift Productions

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New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu brings fire to the Airlift Productions microphones in an effort to resolve School Millage issues

Run-offs, taxes & exemptions, oh my. With senate & congressional seats, as well as a variety of propositions & millages up in the air and scheduled for a vote tomorrow, Dec. 6th – the fur is flying in NOLA!

And last week, Airlift Productions and yours truly gave two of New Orleans most prominent voices a soapbox … and a microphone.

Contracted & hired by the LeBlanc & Schuster team, I vacuumed-up the red carpet and warmed-up the mics to record & produce radio ads with both Mayor Mitch Landrieu and NOLA City Council Chief Stacy Head.

Long-time political lightning rods for change – and controversy – I found both the Mayor & Ms. Head in-person to be engaging, warm and sincere folks. Even fun. (Stacy even brought daughter Charlotte to the recording session.)

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NOLA City Council Head Stacy Head Records ahead of the Dec. 6th vote at Airlift Productions

Give a LISTEN to the radio spots now airing on WWL & WNOE radio (and yes, yours truly was tagged to perform the tag at the tail)  being heard today all over New Orleans airwaves …

** Mayor Landrieu addresses NOLA School Millage issues **

** NOLA Council President Stacy Head adds her ‘two cents’ **

Post-Katrina New Orleans is without question still rife with it’s own share of thorny, prickly issues. Our job on this day was to tackle the upcoming vote on school maintenance and it’s attendant school millage proposals.

As a long-time political atheist, I personally do not have a dog in any donkey-elephant hunt and remain more neutral than the Swiss …  and yet watch the fur fly from the sidelines with rapt attention and curiosity.

But as the fur and the dust settle the day after tomorrow and the votes are tallied and issues decided – and whether you vote or not – remember the time honored definition of the word ‘experience’: Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

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Hizzoner & Council Prez Stacy Head on the job, working it out for NOLA

 

  Airlift Productions Recording Studio ~ Audio Alchemy from NOLA since 1984

Notes On Recording Annie’s Quvenzhane Wallis At Airlift Productions

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“Annie’s” Quvenzhane Wallis records VoiceOvers for Chrysler-Maserati at Airlift Productions … from Hushpuppy to Annie

So, what DOES a ten year old do in between starring in “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (for which she earns the Best Actress Academy Award nomination) and helping all of America re-boot the Little Orphan Annie franchise?

Well, she heads to Airlift Productions in New Orleans to pick up a part-time job recording national television & radio work for Chrysler & Maserati with Airlift Mike, that’s what!

Hired by a Los Angeles-based ad agency that found my website, I vacuumed-up the Airlift red carpet in February to welcome little Quvenzhane, her stage mom and brother to come play in my sandbox for a day.  And what a day.

Although, I must confess that I was caught a bit off guard when the agency declined the phone patch offer … and told me that yours truly could coach and direct her through the reads.   Really?

The youngest Academy Award Best Actress Nominee Ever records VoiceOver at Airlift Productions
The youngest Academy Award Best Actress Nominee Ever records VoiceOver at Airlift Productions

OK, so let me see if I’ve got this straight …. I’ve been tasked to record – and direct – the Academy Award’s Youngest Best Actress Nominee in it’s history through an entire VoiceOver session?

Oh, it went fine.  The ads were a follow-up to her Superbowl 2014 spot for Chrysler-Maserati, wherein they’ve got a ten year old girl “manning-up” to pitch their automobiles! I kid you not.

LISTEN to just some of our session together – out takes included, her ‘back-cracking’, watery eyed sneezes… and just plain being a sweet, and often overwhelmed, ten year old little girl in this never-before-heard exclusive audio clip —-

 “Annie” & “Beasts of the Southern Wild” star Quvenzhane Wallis cozies up to the Airlift Studio mics for Chrysler-Maserati, Feb 2014

Honestly, this little Houma, Louisiana born cutie is the real deal.

In “Beasts of the Southern Wild” her grit, character, gumption, and tenacity were showcased, and all of America is about to be charmed by her grace & style when “Annie” hits  theaters across the USA for Christmas next month. 

In the meantime, should you catch any of her work in the advertising realm, now you know the rest of the story … sincerity & searing honesty from the mouths of babes, courtesy Airlift Productions.

And should I happen to catch you around the mall cineplex for “Annie” next month, the first tub of overpriced popcorn & a soda are on me. Cheers!

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Quvenzhane & Micheal Ziants spending some time together at Airlift Productions, February 2014

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

Sex In The Suburbs ~ Courtesy Airlift Productions

Ideally situated - just off Veterans and Causeway Boulevards, and near the suburbs main mall - Legends Encore is set to take-off... again
Ideally situated – just off Veterans and Causeway Boulevards, and near the suburbs main mall – Legends Encore is set to take-off… again

Imagine being tasked with re-branding and imaging one of metro New Orleans oldest and most established night spots! I mean, there have been more marriages created … and broken in this one little spot on the map than you can shake a wedding band at!

Legends Encore is now the name.  Under new owners and management – Dean St. Pierre, Nick St. Pierre & Chad Prestenbach, respectively – the NEW LEGENDS ENCORE is set to take off.

Long a favorite hangout for those single and ready to mingle, the divorced, separated, disenfranchised, fresh-off-the-backboards in the game of love … Legends has become, well, sort of a … legend.

Now, newly renovated, with so many suspended flat screens that it comes off like a Best Buy with alcohol and burgers, Legends Encore is poised to move to the top of the nightclub heap in Jefferson Parish.

And the improvements to the stage and sound system are epic!

Looking to image the club and make the most of what it has to offer, my first shot across the ‘radio bow’ came out like this.  Blow some dust off your digital device’s speakers with this one ….

 ~ Initial Legends Encore radio :30 written, voiced & produced by Micheal Ziants @ Airlift Productions for B-97 & Bayou 95.7 …. “Legends Never Die” ~

Fun, creative, with swag & attitude, “Legends Never Die” sure accomplishes a good deal in 29.5 seconds.  A call-back to the legacy of decades of parties,  teasing promises of love & sex ( ‘get the downlow on the hook-up’), even a cameo from Mike Myers as Austin Powers!

To say nothing of setting the stage – that’s Legends Encore’s stage – for this club to be perceived as ‘Metairie’s Premier LIVE Music Venue.’  And this is in an area (metro New Orleans, come on) that really knows music.

~ yet another party crowd on yet another Saturday night at Legends Encore, 2708 North Hullen, Metairie ~
~ yet another party crowd on yet another Saturday night at Legends Encore, 2708 North Hullen, Metairie ~

No, you won’t find this spot on Carrie Bradshaw’s ‘Sex in the City’ HBO reruns … but if she ever did time in Louisiana, you sure would.

Just think of me as the digital media matchmaker and toll taker on that ever elusive and always just out of reach ‘Highway of Love’! :-)

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

 

It’s An Airlift to LA ~ With A Dash of Pepper!

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Actress Pepper Binkley Records VoiceOvers for Amazon At Airlift Productions, New Orleans

Or maybe we should make that Red Pepper.

Perhaps you’ve caught Pepper Binkley on-screen with Robert De Niro in “Stone”, or on TV as Nurse Bridget on the long-running soap “All My Children”, or helping throw steam from the flat screen on the Showtime series “Masters of Sex”.

In any event, Pepper and entourage were in the house yesterday at the Airlift Studios to record VoiceOvers on behalf of the CyberiaMedia krewe in Santa Monica … tracks destined for an ‘amazonian’ crowd, to tout and promote Amazon Web Services.

We phone-patched from Airlift to California, and David & Richard, in-house at CyberiaMedia helped steer the entire session, as Ms. Pepper mystified and amazed us with her masterful microphone maneuvers.  Really.

Crank-up your speakers on your digital device and give a listen …

~ Pepper Binkley wows the Amazon crowd … with a little help from Airlift Productions ~ 

In New Orleans ~ Hollywood South ~ to film “A Night Without Armor”, Pepper was in need of a studio to help ‘connect the dots’ and Airlift & I were only too happy to oblige.

Trained in London, Pepper has a spot-on British accent, which she can turn on & off like the flick of a switch.  But in this case, it was full-on American neutral … in pursuit of a crowd of very technologically inclined millennials.

Pepper Binkley's autographed Amazon V/O copy, Airlift Productions - November 2014
Pepper Binkley’s autographed Amazon V/O copy, Airlift Productions – November 2014

And when “A Night Without Armor” opens-up down at the cineplex, I’ll be the one with the milk duds & popcorn in the front row.  See you there.

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

Airlift Productions Creates A Monster For Halloween! And One Saint.

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The “Murder in Coweta County” made-for-CBS-TV movie starred Andy Griffith as the villainous John Wallace – and the iconic Johnny Cash as the heroic sheriff Lamar Potts

In Mary Shelley’s gothic “Frankenstein”, her monster was created from the exhumed body parts of the murderous and insane dead.  In the controversial true crime drama “Murder in Coweta County”, Margaret Ann Barnes attempts no less a task.

In this case, venerable & beloved Andy Griffith, in the made-for-TV movie, is cast against type as the villainous & evil 1948 Georgia wealthy land baron John Wallace. And the iconic legend Johnny Cash portrays the noble sheriff on his tail – Lamar Potts.

Today, in 2014, Airlift Productions and I have assumed and shouldered the truly awesome responsibility of voicing, recording and editing the bound-for-Pelican Publishing concerns audio book title of the same name. 

While previous blogs of mine have dealt with the arrogant, violent, racist, monstrous John Wallace character (spoiler alert!) who was put to death in the Georgia state electric chair in 1950 – today’s blog introduces you to the noble & righteous real-life hero Lamar Potts!

Even though many of the scores of characters in the Airlift version of this audio book are painted with broad strokes of southern caricature and color, I’ve chosen to paint this unique sheriff in neutral tones … relaxed, calm, reassuring, caring, and almost dialect-free.

Destined for a Halloween finish date – and the night before All Saints Day – meet the hero, the true star of “Murder in Coweta County”. Meet the sheriff of Coweta County.  Meet Lamar Potts ….

~ Micheal Ziants creates the iconic Coweta County, Georgia sheriff Lamar Potts, excerpted from Chapter 3 of the audio book, courtesy Pelican Publishing ~

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Micheal Ziants creates  the audio book “Murder in Coweta County” for Pelican Publishing, New Orleans

I wanted the listener of this book anywhere in America, or the world for that matter, to be able to personally relate to the hero.  To make him appear with a drawl, southern accent, or any caricature of any type would totally defeat that purpose. So, he kind of sounds pretty much like … me. But the best part of me.

You know, a quick look at today’s headlines, both national and international, would indicate that we today are still making many of these John Wallace type monsters… from the dark basements of Ohio to the bloody sands of terrorist-laden Syria.

But along with the release of this audio book, it is Airlift Productions and my sincere hope and prayer that we are also creating ethic-filled, righteous – and yes, almost saintly – triumphant and true heroes!

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The real John Wallace (center) and Sheriff Lamar Potts (right) entering the Georgia courthouse for trial, circa 1948

 

Airlift Productions New Orleans ~ telling America’s Great Stories since 1984

Variety Is The Spice Of … Airlift Productions!

Truth be known, across America today there might very well be busier VoiceOver dudes and recording studios than Airlift & me, but I seriously doubt that any are doing a wider variety of work!

In the past week alone … I’ve recorded incendiary tracks for the controversial audio book “Murder In Coweta County” (coming soon to a Pelican Publishing download/CD near you),  in-your-face TV audio for Baton Rouge, banging the drum for a Laser Tag outlet …. and canned stage announcements for a N’awlins-based Bollywood dance team!  I mean, really.

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~ Audio Excerpt of Micheal Ziants, interpreting the pain of dealing with a dead body, in Chapter 7 of ‘Murder in Coweta County” – courtesy Pelican Publishing ~

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~ Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants invades the flat screens of Baton Rouge – along with ad ace Nathan Ales – with this :30 TV spot (written, voiced & produced in the Airlift engine room by Micheal) to promote ‘Laser Tag of Baton Rouge’ ~

Meanwhile, as the Laser Tag dudes are going at it in the dark of the arena ….  on a brightly lit, spot-lighted stage in an auditorium somewhere around Louisiana and the Gulf South tonight –  jubilant and righteously proud moms & dads are cheering on their daughters to these stage announcements ….

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~ Airlift Mike – at it again – with pre-recorded (canned) stage announcements for Indian export Ruby Pal and her New Orleans-based Ruby Creative Dance team ~

Whew! Honestly, in my thirty years owning and operating Airlift Productions here in America’s most fascinating city, I’ve had busier, more versatile and challenging weeks … but I’d be hard-pressed to name one.

And, yes, the beat goes on …

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~ Airlift’s Micheal Ziants – bustin’ out all over! ~

Do the math ….

Versatility + Quality + Dependability = Airlift Productions.

Airlift Productions – coming soon to a radio speaker, flat screen … or auditorium near you.

Kitty Cats & Games & Lasers, Oh My! ~ Courtesy Airlift Productions

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Artist’s rendering of Airlift Mike at the Mic ~ Airlift Productions, New Orleans

Boy, is it just me, or is it HOT in here?  Things around the Airlift Studios have really heated-up as of late!  While thick in the audio book recording sessions –  New Orleans TV & Radio have been calling.

Working alongside that rascal Nathan Ales, we’ve teamed-up to put together a radio/TV campaign for Davor & his krewe at the Laser Tag of Metairie Family Entertainment Center on Veterans Boulevard, just outside New Orleans towards the airport.

And perhaps we had just a little too much fun with this one.  Guilty as charged.

The TV thirty – with the masterful touch of digital artist and video ace extraordinaire Todd Schmidt – has the cutest little digital cartoon kitty cat playing all the games at Laser Tag.  You see him shooting basketballs, riding bumper cars, firing lasers… even sliding down the bowling alley to make a strike!

The spot is called “While the Cat’s Away –  the whole Family plays at Laser Tag Family Entertainment Center”.

Laser Tag of Metaire, which also includes a rockin' Bumper Car ride
Laser Tag of Metaire, which also includes a rockin’ Bumper Car ride

The radio campaign – which airs on N’awlins B-97 Radio starting this week plays-off the excitement of the whole experience – including pop dance music with stereo laser wash sound effects … and a ‘kitty cat’ call-back to the TV spot at the tail end.

Crank-UP your computer speakers, blow some dust off ’em,  and check-out these Airlift-produced radio :30s here ….

~ Laser Tag of Metairie “PARTIES” ** :30 Radio for B-97 Air ~

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~ Laser Tag of Metairie “JEDI KNIGHTS” ** :30 Radio for the B ~

In your face, pulse-pounding, ratcheted-up, yet fun & exciting!  If you live in or around the metro New Orleans area, you’ll have to keep an ear and eye out for them.

In the meantime, I’ll see you around the Laser Tag arena on Veterans Boulevard.  My arena name tag says ‘SkyWalker Mike’!

Oh yeah, Sorry! But the Shadow demanded equal time — Arf! Arf!

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Airlift Mike and the Shadow, a doggie with powers & abilities far beyond those of mortal dogs

 

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans since 1984

Airlift Productions “Cajun-izes” Houston Radio

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Cajun VoiceOver Talent LUNO BORDELON reels-in the Big One while taking some time off in Hawaii (but would a Real Cajun be caught dead in these shorts? LOL, LMFAO, WTH? OK, well, … maybe in camo )

Truth be known, it’s a bit hard to put a price tag on my abiding, enduring friendship and decades-long love affair with this crazy Cajun Luno Bordelon!

After all, we’ve been witness-to and IN each other’s weddings … and have watched each other’s kids grow… and grow...

Through the Airlift Productions Recording Studios and Luno’s wild, inventive and contagiously engaging VoiceOvers we’ve recorded for the TV and radio, we’ve sold more products & services together than you can shake a big fish at!

And this is since years before anyone ever heard of a ‘Duck Dynasty’. 

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Long-time running’ partners Luno & Airlift Mike – hiding out in a Breaux Bridge, LA cabin (as part of the Cajun-Confidential witness protection program back in the day)

 

 

Most recently, Luno & I shouldered the awesome responsibility of “Cajun-izing” unsuspecting Houstonians.  Imagine the alarm clock radio popping-off at a bleary-eyed 6:30 am to this —-

~ Cajun VoiceOver Talent LUNO BORDELON charms Houston via Airlift Productions, on behalf of Brooks & his krewe at BB’s Cafe, “the Home of Tex-Orleans cooking” on this :60 radio spot ~

BB’s Cafe Proprietor Brooks Bassler gave us main copy points – you know, stuff that just HAD to be in the spots –  but otherwise, just turned us loose to have some creative & off-the-wall Cajun fun!

Pooyie, cher!  Crank it up!

~BB’s Cafe, Houston Radio :30s from Cajun V/O Talent LUNO BORDELON & Airlift Productions~

I know, I know, no one should be having this much fun at work, now should they?  Well, shame on us.  For true.

You see, having FUN and capturing it through the microphone – creating memorable & effective audio campaigns via sound waves – is what has helped Airlift Productions to survive and thrive across not one, not two… but now three decades!

But, cher, the Airlift Studios are but the tracks that deliver & carry the goods. It’s talent that drives the train.  And my pal Luno Bordelon’s got it in spades!

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~ Cajun Comic & VoiceOver Talent LUNO BORDELON Records At Airlift Productions – for YEARS! ~

Why not let Luno & me “bait the hook” for your next project?! Radio, TV, Web-audio, point-of-sale displays, talking toys …. use your imagination!  Because you know WE will!!

Book Studio Time with Luno & Airlift Mike now at Airlift PROductions!

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“For voice over actors, the demo serves as a calling card and is unquestionably the most important tool in the pursuit of voice over work. Mike Ziants and Airlift PROductions produced my first VO demo and within weeks I landed my first job in the industry. Airlift’s state-of-the-art recording studio combined with Mike’s wisdom and expertise provided me with an excellent demo as well as the confidence needed to achieve success!” — Founder of 80s Punk Rock Band ‘The Weirdos’ & VO Actor JOHN DENNEY  

Airlift PROductions Recording Studio ~  Audio Alchemy from NEW Orleans since 1984 

Airlift Mike Advising Women?! Really?

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Airlift Productions’ Micheal Ziants putting in another day at the office

 

You know, the life of a VoiceOver actor is never boring.  

While I’ve never been to medical school, or even dreamed of being a doctor, as the joke goes – “I’ve played one on TV!”  From narrations inside museums – I’ve been the voice of a talking king cake – to toys that talk, I have helped bring some of the strangest things to life.

But the call came in this week to come to the rescue of a financial adviser (who here will remain nameless)  who wanted to cast a big net for women concerned about (gasp!) – growing older!  Outliving their men, as well as their $$ money in their golden years.

Airlift Mike to the rescue!

Now, if you know me or anything at all about my personal life, you’d know that I’d be the last guy in the world to ever try to offer advice of any kind to a woman.  I mean, my track record with the opposite sex has been anything but stellar.

So-o, l took a couple rather deep breaths, swallowed hard, and plumbed the depths ~ as well as my acting chops ~  for some thoughtful, pensive and compassionate tones, cozied-up to the microphone and delivered this ….

Micheal Ziants ~  Investment/Retirement Advice for Women ~ V/O

Airlift PROductions Recording Studio … to the rescue from New Orleans since 1984

Oscar Buzz At Airlift Productions – 20th Century Style

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Academy Award Winning Documentary Film Maker Charles Guggenheim (1924-2002)  Making Tracks At Airlift Productions ~ on Iberville Street in ’93

Throw-back Thursday today throws the spotlight on Airlift Productions in the Fall of 1993 –  a most remarkable day, because when legends meet and connect, magic is created and sparks fly!

I mean, it’s one thing to meet powerful and important people, it’s another to get a quickie photo op with powerful and important people … and yet another thing altogether to spend an entire day with powerful and important people –  work with,  document and record the whole affair.

Academy Award Winning Documentary Film Maker Charles Guggenheim showed up at the Airlift studios that Fall morning in a rent-a-car from Baton Rouge.  After confessing he was a bit hungry, we took the elevator up into the commissary and I made him some toast – no butter, no jelly – just toast.  It’s what he asked for.

Not long after, Avery C. Alexander, along with his driver, arrived. Reverend Alexander is the closest thing New Orleans and Louisiana has ever seen to Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior.  A longtime civil rights activist, ordained minister & LA state representative – ‘the Rev’s’ name is carved above the entrance to our N.O. Charity Hospital!

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Avery Caesar Alexander (1910-1999) being restrained by the NOPD during a scuffle at the controversial Liberty Monument re-dedication ceremony in March of 1993

Charles Guggenheim had contracted Airlift Productions & me to record his 60-Minutes-Style interview with Avery Alexander for sound bites to be used in his latest documentary project ‘The Shadow of Hate’.  

Wow! Some of the things that were said that day ….

~ Avery Alexander talks of prejudice, mistreatment, abuse, lynchings & murder at the Airlift microphones ~

Amazingly, with the historic impact that Avery Alexander made here in Louisiana during his life & civil rights mission – there is no audio record of him anywhere on the internet through a google or bing search.

There is now.

~ Avery Alexander talks of David Duke, the KKK, anti-Catholic/Jew bias … and the ‘dignity of man’ ~

Charles and Avery went at it for nearly two hours.  Guggenheim had me adjust the microphone for only Reverend Alexander – while he paced and questioned him persistently … drawing-out intimate and personal reflections.  Some session, I’ll tell you that.

The program that contained the recordings made that day in the Fall of ’93 at the Airlift Studios on Iberville Street – Guggenheim’s ‘The Shadow of Hate’ – was nominated for the Academy Award in 1995 … and opened more than one or two eyes and ears.  Yours? 

 

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Charles Guggenheim accepting the Academy Award for Documentary Film in 1994

In 2014, the beat goes on …

And even though both of these extremely fine gentlemen now belong to the ages, sad to say,  the problems they attempted to address and remedy that day are still very much with us.

From the locker rooms of the NFL to the streets of Ferguson, Missouri … and from the playgrounds of YourTown to the Main Street of AnyTown, USA.

But as the planet continues to grow smaller and smaller as each day goes by, perhaps ONE day we can all learn to live by the mantra – and it’s pretty simple, four words – ‘ONE Father, ALL Brothers’.

increasethepeace ~ Micheal Z

Airlift Productions ~ Audio Alchemy from New Orleans … since 1984