I don't comprehend this death toll. I am going to look the other way for a second and make a list of 10 albums that strike me as super important to my development as whatever it is I am when I'm trying not to look, unrelated as it may be.
1. Catherine Wheel Chrome - I bought happy Days for the single on mtv at the time way down I liked that track and maybe two others but the rest did not grab me. Later I found Adam & Eve used so I decided to give them a second chance. Adam & Eve hooked me, within two weeks I had purchased their entire catalog. Chrome gets me still the hardest. All the energy of their second album with the skill they acquired on the first tour, and the writing is just beautiful. I feel this album.
2. Local H Pack Up The Cats - Music was basically dead for me for a little period of time and this album brought it back in a big way. I had drifted over to softer acoustic based music and apparently it wasn't filling all my need, Pack up the Cats totally brought back the rock.
3. Blind Melon Soup - The words, sounds and melodies on this album are all stuck forever in my head. "And I can't tell you, just how many ways that I have sat and viewed my life today, but I can tell you; I don't think that I could find and easy way. So if I see you, walking hand in hand in hand with a three arm man, I'll understand, but you should have been in my shoes yesterday. "
4. Nine Inch Nails Pretty Hate Machine thru The Downward Spiral - Trent could do no wrong for me from about 1991 until 1999. Music that took adjusting, my ears actually had to hear the songs for a while before they even made sense, once the frame of reference was established the genius was obvious. This is the music that made me want to create sound.
5. The Refreshments Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy - I bought this album for the song Banditos, which totally appeals to my inner boy. I liked to listen to it while driving around in western Kansas... Then I started to use it as a cleaing cd. As I started to learn to accompany myself on guitar as I sang I found that songs of this alum worked very well for me. I met Roger and Thanked him, and told him that I learned to play guitar from his songs and he said that it's because they are easy. Great guy that Rog....
okay, that was distracting but I'm not doing 10 today...
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
2004?
It's almost over and done, I have no huge reflections. I liked it. It was hard.
Devin, Amy, Dylan, Robbie and I all traveled to Kansas for the Christmas Holiday. It was very nice. I saw many people I have not seen in a year or two. We drank and ate, we were merry and at times crabby. I love Kansas, I like to see it and remember it.
We played A show that a friend of mine booked for us @ the hurricane. It was fab. Devin hit the internet with a mission and got a great many people to come out. At first we were a little thrown by the sound factor but soon we hit our stride and the people loved it. The biggest moment for me was looking out into the crowd and seeing my friend Jason, who does not dance, dancing!!
I love it all.
Devin, Amy, Dylan, Robbie and I all traveled to Kansas for the Christmas Holiday. It was very nice. I saw many people I have not seen in a year or two. We drank and ate, we were merry and at times crabby. I love Kansas, I like to see it and remember it.
We played A show that a friend of mine booked for us @ the hurricane. It was fab. Devin hit the internet with a mission and got a great many people to come out. At first we were a little thrown by the sound factor but soon we hit our stride and the people loved it. The biggest moment for me was looking out into the crowd and seeing my friend Jason, who does not dance, dancing!!
I love it all.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
I am Under it
K. I am feeling pretty all correct today. I have been focusing on eating better. I have had Five banana's and Two apples in the past couple of days. I have had absolutely no candy. This is important, and you pretend reader will just have to sit there and enjoy these simple facts as this is my blog. And while I am at it, Goddamn it, you just wipe that smirk off your face. Ass Hat!
I have been having a great deal of fun making progress on new songs and on the recording of the album as a whole. It's really amazing how if you keep doing something, in this instance, making recordings, you slowly but certainly get better at it. To date I have made Nine recordings and since I have already played all my online turn based games to the full extent of their daily allowance, I shall list here, my selected discography with special evidence of the advancements in the art of production and technique from recording to recording.
1. The Singe/Plaything Years - These years do not really count for my actual production credit, they mark my learning of the principals of band politics and the basics of playing guitar and writing songs. During this time I had the privilege of being around a very economical, efficient guitar player Joe Lanning. Joe Tried to impart some of his guitar good sense to me, I'm not sure if any of it took. Devin was also in Singe so he was adding to my rather limited knowledge of musical theory at this time also. In addition to Devin & Joe, it was during the Singe years that I came to develop a relationship with my Uncle Ronnie Hendershot, who was responsible for Production on the Singe and Plaything Recordings.
A. Untitled Singe E.P. - This little cdr was my first ever experience with recording in a studio type situation. Our young band all headed to Ronnie's house one afternoon and set up in his basement studio. We played together live with no click. The end result was less than stunning, but when I last heard it about a year ago I was not as embarrassed as I would have expected to be. I did learn in that instance how bad of a bass player we had and how much room I had to improve as a singer and a guitarist.
B. Singe "Transformation Through Decay" - A lofty and mainly un-finished project for the band Singe. This recording contained something like 8 songs which we recorded track by track in Ronnie's studio, Big Sound. This was my first ever opportunity to build an album from the ground up. We began with Devin tracking the drums on his trusty controller, triggering sounds and samples contained in his Alesis DM5. Next, possibly that same evening but I think occurring over at least one other brief session Devin recorded his keyboard parts. I recall Devin, Joe and I being present for the session. After Devin, Joe Expertly tracked his guitar parts with some overdubs for the solos, there was one disappointing moment where I recall Joe really nailing a solo, only for us to realise we had not actually recorded it, Lesson learned about making sure the record button is engaged. We still talk about the solo we lost between Ronnie, Joe and myself. After putting off the un-avoidable as long as we could we had Mike our bass player come in a do a session. He was horrible. I remember looking at everyone else in the room and being certain we were all feeling the same thing, that Mike was done in our band and that it was blatantly obvious. We rushed Mike through every song, One or Two takes each song. If he made a mistake we lied our asses off and told him it was a good take and that the little mistakes could be fixed later with copy and paste. No sooner then we could get him out the door we had Joe hook up one of Ronnie's basses and we re-cut his parts. Sometime around the time Joe did his guitar parts I recall doing a couple, one I remember actually being proud of, a rhythm guitar part on the song cellophane, having never really played or recorded with a tube amp it was a revelation for me to use a small fender that Ronnie had. The vocals were done In a few sporadic sessions. There were several attempts made to get final mixes that we were happy with, and I'm sure somewhere a cdr exists of these sessions, but I have not heard them since the year they were completed, and memory does not even allow me to pin point which year that may have been. While we were mixing the album things came to a head with our bass player, ending with him leaving the fine state of Kansas.
On a fine and spectacular suggestion of Ronnie we replaced Mike not with a bass player, but with a live drummer, and thus Plaything was born. The drummer came in the form of a sweet gentle man named Chris Leon. I recall being really quite nervous when calling his phone number, which Ronnie had given me. I still get nervous when speaking with musicians, like I'm some pretend player always waiting to be un-masked. Chris turned out to be a swell guy and we all loved playing with him. Sadly no recordings were ever made with Chris, other than some rehearsal cassette tapes, one of which I'm sure I have somewhere. Much was learned in that line-up, I learned to let Joe have the room with the guitar, because he could command it where I could not, and I needed to focus on my voice...Which needed all the attention I could give it. Many a great times were had with the Plaything line-up, but huge differences in musical taste led to a the dissolution of the group.
2. The lost years - After Plaything fell down round itself I was left with nothing but college to keep me occupied. Fort Hays Stat University in scenic Hays, Kansas did not hold my attention for more than a semester and a half, but the week I quit the "Harvard of the Plains" did manage to pass onto me something that thus far has shaped my future, and my life. In a local paper I saw an add for a used cassette 4-track for sale. Having just received my tax return from the government I decided to go for it. I was rather surprised to learn that the person selling the machine was a professor who worked at the very school I had just decided to stop attending. When he asked me if I was student I didn't have the balls to tell him I'd quit.
My first recording with the four track was a cover of The Troggs "Wildthing". Joe played the drums on a keyboard and recorded a couple of guitar parts while I tried to scream the vocals.
All the recordings from this period have been lost or mis-placed. I do recall one song entitled "+ Nothing" I used a drum machine given to me by Ronnie, and a distorted keyboard. All my songs at this point were very basic verse and chorus structure, lacking in fills and bridges. I think at the time I lacked the ability to see the end of a project, so I really never got motivated. I didn't realise that I could reach a point with a group of songs that I had written and recorded, and at that point say, "this is done. I am done with this recording in this form. I do not need to have any help from a huge company or anyone more talented than myself. I made this and I am happy with it." It seems really pretty simple but at the time I could not make that leap.
I floated around for a little under two years making bad quality recordings in the basement of the house Devin and I shared. I began to make a little progress, I started making drum loops from records I really liked and I found them to be more inspiring than a drum machine at that point. Four songs recorded in that basement would later see light in the next phase of my development as an artist/producer.
Time in Hays Kansas finally came to an end. Devin finished school and we packed up all that we could fit into our two cars and headed to Los Angeles. I continued my free form floundering in Los Angeles, and I found myself facing yet another obstacle, One that I still deal with more than any other today. The rigors of apartment recording. I hated recording in our tiny apartment in the far west valley. I didn't even feel like I could play the acoustic guitar at a reasonable volume. During this time I learned more about drum machines and keyboards and direct guitar. Anything that could make noise through headphones became an often used tool. A good five songs total came from this period, they would be culled together with the four songs from the basement in Hays, together they formed a foundation for my first realization of a DIY release.
3. S no S (or how I learned to stop dicking around and love mp3.com)
California ended for me the same day dubya wormed his foot into the door of America. I crashed my car and lost the ability to pretend I was enjoying life in the edge of the valley. While not directly caused by Dubya, I'm pretty sure all thinking feeling people will be able to see the connection. And now back to the current de-railment of my blog.
I stuck it out in California for a spell, but soon I decided to pack it up and move to Kansas City. I chose KC because my parents had just moved there and I had no money, it turned out to be a very good thing that I did.
In addition to living in a house where I could be loud, I soon found a job as an activities person in a nursing home, which meant that my job would call heavily on my ability to play my guitar, and would demand that I become better at playing it.
When the box with my recording gear arrived from California I began to go through the master tapes of several years of recording. I was shocked to find out how much I liked them all. I compiled the songs to cassette, but my car at the time only had a cd player, therefore I was only able to listen to my creations at home. My wish to hear my songs on cd lead me to the internet. My parents computer had a cd burner but it was broken, this lead me to MP3.com, which really only attracted me at first because it was a simple way to get the songs I had recorded onto a cd. As I read more about what I needed to do in order to get my cd from mp3.com my interest grew, Mp3.com acted as an all loving record company who would put out my music, but not promote or fund it, which was just fine with me, as I was at least pretty certain that no one else wanted to hear it anyway.
A. Green Light Dim - I think there are something like fourteen songs on the first S no S release, but I really can't be sure since it is not here in front of me. I had roughly 20 recordings to choose from. I chose the recordings that sounded best first, then I chose the recordings that, while I was not completely happy with them, I felt done with them. Several songs I really liked, but I felt the recordings did not do them justice, this feeling would drive the next S no S album , and begin make refinements in my technique.
B. Roary May-in - Where did I come up with that title? I do not have any idea, I imagine it has something to do with the fact that I was really enjoying the band at the drive-in at the time. Roary May-in consisted completely of recordings made fresh upon the release of Green Light Dim. As a whole I think the recordings show more density and a slightly better regard for mix, but the main improvement for me came from re-recording songs for the first time ever. Prior to this album I was under the impression that I did not have the skills necessary to duplicate what was good about any of my recordings, and prior to this time I may very well have not had that ability. With Roary-may in I set out to improve on several of the songs that I cut from GLD, while still staying true to their actual form. Having to re-transcribe the drum and guitar parts pushed my ear and my ability to program toward a new level. I began to flex these tiny little muscles that prior to this album I didn't believe I had. My understanding of drum machines at this point began to allow me to see the limitation to using drum loops made from other people's beats, and this album contained the last drum loop used in an S no S song.
C. These Things (limitation adds...) Marked by many equipment problems, These Things came about in ways that surprised me. My electric guitar bit the dust at the end of recording Roary May, I was left with just the nylon string acoustic. I had also just required a five string bass guitar, which had the top two tuning pegs broken off, so it was actually a 3 string bass guitar. That bass guitar gave These Things a much fuller low end, and the bass more than anything shows my improvement in playing. I was lucky to focus on the nylon guitar, It had a very nice sound that recorded well to tape through my sm58. The biggest equipment problem that plagued the sessions for These Things was the motor of the 4-track, it was not functioning consistently at all. Towards the end of the recordings I would often have to take the cover off the fourtrack and kick start the motor with my finger. Eventually during mixing the motor gave way. Luckily I had Mixed all the songs I cared to mix from the 4-track, but I was still left with one more song I wanted to close the album with. I resorted to using a program called power tracks which Ronnie had given to me. It has been my first and only attempt at computer recording.
Through out the first Two albums I had communicated back and forth with Ronnie about the state of the process. As I began to record These Things Ronnie and I had worked out the bugs in our video conferencing software, it was amazing and helpful to be able to dial Ronnie in at all hours of the night and see and speak with him while transferring files for mix critique and general advice. Prior to These Things I was not really confident in my abilities and therefore I was not as open to listening to what someone would have to say about the recordings. Being able to share the process with Ronnie helped immensely, and eventually paved the way for me to develop further as a musician and a producer.
**Upon release of These Things (and boy am I getting full of my self here...But it is STILL my blog so deal...) I had a huge learning experience, I traveled to California to visit my brother. When my life in Cali crashed and I left, Devin sucked it up and grew. While I was in Kansas City singing to old folks and recording songs by myself, Devin was in Los Angeles, joining Shitting Glitter. While visiting I got to play bass with them in rehearsal. I have never been so touched by inspiration as I was during that trip. So many first experiences, and waiting for me at home was a newly purchased 16-track digital recording studio.
I remember getting hives for the first and only time of my life the day I finished These Things. I have always felt that it was such an important recording to me that it effected my body physically, I think I was having a very hard time for the first time since I had started recording because I had made something of which I was extremely proud, and I actually began to develop the expectation that it would be positively received, and It wasn't really received at all. That was hard for me.
D. Restless - My first chance to use 16 tracks, and the return of my electric guitar. This was a fun album for me to make, coming back from L.A. feeling so inspired by Shitting Glitter and life and wanting with all my heart to get backto California. I made some pretty silly mistakes on some of the songs, and really in a lot of ways it feels really hazy to me and off the cuff, which I think I was trying to do, and I actually needed to just fly through it to learn the 16-track. I'm pretty certain this album was finished in the shortest period of time that any of the S no S albums were finished in, which is funny because it's the longest. I think I could probably do a whole blog on the last two S no S albums, and maybe I will, but for now I'm tired.
E. May April - I knuckled the fuck down on this album. I really tried to write all the songs on the acoustic guitar first, I wanted to be able to play them live as solo acoustic pieces before I ever recording them. I wanted to make it as real of an experience as I could because I knew it would be the last album I would make in Kansas, in the sprawling comfort of my parents house. I had also just discovered Paul Simon's Graceland, and the album was just on fire in my mind the entire time I was recording. That album more than anything derailed my attempts to come at May April from the single window of the acoustic song. Thank god, the album is better for it, with the exception of Mie Dei, which I wish I had not put on there, I was such a sucker for the stupid ebow part in the beginning.
The greatest part of May April for me was feeling confident enough to let other people become involved in a collaborative way. Ronnie was very involved, in many ways I felt like Ronnie and I were in a band together making that record, even though he was four hours away from me. We got together for a couple of sessions at his house and we sent countless numbers of files back and forth. The two sessions we did together were great and a good deal of recording got done. I am so glad to have some of his playing on that record. Caitlyn sang with us on Timiner, and that is so precious for me, I loved it when she got bashful in the studio. Adrienne sang some oohs and aahs on paper see, I think it's fun to hear her because to me it sounds so very her. I really get a bang out of the fact that she is singing a lower vocal part than me.
A huge factor for me, that I think really impacted and influenced me and this album in particular was Jason Rucker, my great friend picking up guitar during this period. It was so inspiring to watch him learn so very fast. We spent a great deal of time playing and singing together. I hadn't connected with someone on a musical level for sometime, it really enabled me to collaborate on May April, and helped me realise that I was ready to play in a band with other people again. I also love the fact that Courtney Paulsen painted the cover.
The whole album for me was closure. The first time I left Kansas it was abrupt and I was scared, and I was disappointed in the town I was living in. I think being the age I was didn't help, I just had so much growing up to do. I had to rush to finish mixing May April before my plane ticket date came up. I knew that I wanted to save the master tracks and that I was going to need to have a good amount of hard drive for shitting glitter's record, which was my intention in going to California, producing their debut, not playing on it. During the year and half I lived in Kansas City my life had become so much richer, I felt very inspired to document it and the record did that for me. From the artwork to the subjects and to the people who were around me when it was in process. I am a sucker for myself sometimes.
4. Shitting Glitter - Upon completion of "May April" I once again packed up my clothes and recording equipment and boarded a plane, this time I was heading back to California. My plan was pretty hazy, I had just walked a turn at a christian nursing facility and completed five albums. I intended to arrive in Los Angeles and produce Shitting Glitter's debut album, "Post No Bills". I assumed at the time that recording and mixing would take One to Two months, I guess I was a little naive about the distractions Los Angeles has to offer. After this golden period of producing a record with out playing on it, I had a notion that I would leave all my stuff in storage with my brother and walk to Florida.
I was picked up from the airport and immediately taken to SG's rehearsal studio in the San Fernando Valley. I guess I was a little unprepared for the state of the band. There was obviously some internal tension.
A. "Post No Bills" - It took a few months before we even recorded the first note of "Post No Bills", and eventually that note would be scrapped. The band was having major conflict centered around all sorts of things, none of which are really my right or concern to explain here. Suffice to say that I did finally get a few people into the apartment studio version of Vincent Free Sound, but the most that amounted were scratch keyboards and scratch guitars. I was beginning to realise that this was not a band that was going to be capable of producing an album under my timid production. I lacked many qualities essential in taking charge of a situation out of control, so I for the most part backed off and let the world at large run it's course, which it did in many odd ways, including many that threw me into the mix.
After some major jostling and smoke clearing it became apparent that the backbone of SG was still very much intact, and finally ready to record an album. A slight problem, they had no guitar player nor drummer. I probably broke a golden rule of producing when I joined Shitting Glitter, but their guitar player had recently left, I happened to play guitar, and completely believe in the band. What else was I to do? I do not regret my decision, the more producing I do and the more playing I do the more I know I wish to do both. I met a drummer named Eddie one evening while singing karaoke in a lesbian bar, we made tentative plans to jam andin short time a new line up was in place.
Weeks of practice went into the live version of SG, there was a lot of room for improvement , and much improvement was made. Devin and Amy, with a new line up ready to go were eager to prove to the naysays that SG was in fact, not finished, and studio work with a drum machine got under way. The first song that I was able to make progress on for SG was "Makes Sense". I sat down with the scratch bass and keyboard tracks which Devin had recorded and pulled up a software drum machine I had used frequently with S no S. I programmed a very basic drum track and had Devin Re-record his keyboards. I then added acoustic guitar. Being as the song used two big S no S elements, hammerhead drums and my acoustic guitar, this recording is the most S no S like of any Shitting Glitter song released (othar than Guerilla - see below). Amy's vocal take weas absolutely stunning, I remember listening too it, and being in total awe over the fact that anyone could make that shitty microphone sound good. When the recording was completed we went to our favorite karaoke bar with a rough mix. It was such a change to go from finishing a song and having no one hear it, to finishing a song and heading straight to a bar for a great deal of positive feedback. I was really beginning to see the benefits of recording with other people, how nice it is for a good voice to sing, and for keyboards to be played with more than one finger.
The next recording we attempted to tackle was Ariana, we did a verion that used a lot of strings but for some reason it couldn't fall together so we moved on and tried again, getting closer this time, but I am still a little embarrassed to hear the final mix that appeared on the album. We had decide that the album would have some songs with live drums, but in the hopes of bridging the gaps to get closer to the things we had been listening to, we decided to adapt some of our songs to use drum machines. The drum machine allowed us to record in the apartment, and to have songs with a steady tempo, a problem that we had been developing with our drummer, a problem I was soon to face as I set about the task of producing the tracks on "Post no Bills" that contain live drums.
Of the 11 songs on PNB, 3 were produced by Mary White, 1 was a remix of a Mary white recording, 3 were recorded by me using a drum machine and 4 were done with live drums. When it came time to record the drums Devin and I laid scratch parts to a click and then we packed up the studio and headed to Amp rehearsal studios in North Hollywood where we booked two hours time for Eddie to lay down tracks on Short Haired Girls Club,
Mustache Rides 5 Cents and Mechanically Separated Chicken. Given that Eddie really had no experience playing to a click, and some of the scratch takes had errors, Eddie did about as well as can be expected, which was not very good. I had never worked with live drums, my microphones were really not up to the task, and the bleed through the walls was a factor. I Generally feel a bit put off by these two recordings, but I have at times been able to step back and see them for what they are, which was the best we could do and an accurate reflection of where we were at the time as a live band.
The other song with live drums I produced for PNB was "Backdoor Jesus", this recording I enjoy a great deal. I developed an idea in my mind that I wanted the recording to sound very old gospel lo-fi, with everything really bleeding through to everything else. We recorded the song one day in rehearsal, I used maybe three mics on Eddies drums, one on the bass drum, one on the snare and an overhead, all shitty dynamic mics. We did the song maybe twice but it seemed like only once, my guitar was being played loud in the studio, and Amy and Devin were singing through a P.A. in the same room. My guitar and the scratch vocals are rather apparent on the drum tracks, which while not only the easy way, was exactly the way I was thinking I wanted it to sound. after that I did some pretty heavy overdub layering using a bunch of different guitar sounds. The vocals were double tracked, then in addition to that I had one track of Amy and Devin singing into the same microphone together, all of that blended in to sound basically how I wanted. Because it's such an odd song and a lo-fi recording I think it works that Eddie really flubs several beats.
Of the Post no Bills album the thing I am most proud of is the title track. I have always been so moved by the lyrics, I think Amy really summed up a certain feeling you get when living your life in close proximity to her, really summed it up elegantly, I am forever impressed by it. The song started as a very major key acoustic guitar folk song, and Amy always complained and wanted it to be more hardcore, I fought her a little on this because I loved the original, but in the end I relented and Amy was right, this song needed what happened to it. Many great choices and ideas went into this recording, beginning with Devin's complete re-working of the beat and keyboards. I really have to applaud myself on the track for not playing, at the time I tried a few things and they seemed to take away from what was working, so rather than muss it up, I sucked it up and decided not to play any guitar on it. I was feeling pretty good about the flanger decision on the drum track anyway. Amy had wanted to do some speaking type vocals on this track, and once again I think I fought her, because I love the melody to the song, but in the end the compromise to do both was stunning. The vocal takes themselves were pretty impressive, particularly Amy's lead and Devin's harmony are striking to hear played back without the mix. Another reason I love Post No Bills the song more than any other song on that album, is because it was by far the easiest to mix, I think I only did basically one mix and a few tiny adjustments.
I remember we really wanted this album done prior to our playing L.A. Dyke March, I think we finished all recording the weekend before, giving me one week to mix. Devin left town at some point so I mixed and Amy helped, I was so not happy that Devin did not have to deal with that debacle.
In the end the album was done in time for Dyke march, we burned them ourselves and Devin did some great art work. I was really unsure of the CD for a long time, I really magnified in my mind how bad some of the songs were, and really I just didn't listen to it for a long time. The last time I did hear it I realized that I was intensely proud of the record, and that it had to be that hard to make in order for us to gain the momentum we would need to keep working.
B. Sexy Clown Circus - I am probably most pleased with this E.P. out anything that I have done to date. I firmly believe that we accomplished almost exactly what we set out to do with S.C.C., which is certainly a good feeling. There is for me a completeness of character of the E.P. that really gives it it's very own place in the world.
During the recording we were in a rather delicate situation with our drummer, he simply didn't have the desire to commit to the band on the level that we needed. We continued to utilize him for live shows, but from the very beginning we intended to use a drum machine for the entire EP. This allowed us a Consitincy and continuity that PNB lacked. Adding to the continuity of the whole was the shorter length, 6 songs as opposed to 11 greatly narrow the window. Perhaps the largest factor in the identity of SCC is the fact that the line-up had not changed for an entire year, which was a definite first for SG. Also the three of us; Devin, Amy and myself had been listening to basically the same music for the first time ever. Devin had decided to dive headlong into loving electro music, and the music carried us along with him. Mount Sims' Ultra Sex and the first Fischer Spooner album were very much favorites within our tiny circle. We certainly set out to make music like we liked to listen to at the time, while still maintaining our identity as a band, something I'm rather certain we could not shirk even if we tried.
Of the six songs on the e.p. only three were brand new originals, and they all came about in very different ways.
Guerilla is basically an S no S vs. SG Song, even more so than Makes Sense (which I refered to earlier in this massive pile of words), because the actual recording that was on the EP began life as an S no S song, perhaps it's the lost S no S song, becuase it was never mixed. I do recall that the chorus was "even you could grasp the contradiction, the joke that stole the plot, the error in your reason, a fundamental flaw..." I mention that here because I'm not really sure what this thing I am writing is anyway, and I happened to remember it. In the S no S version the song had bass, drums and vocals, and a guitar part that didn't work. One Sunday afternoon/evening, when Amy and I were particularly lubricated for the creative process Amy asked if I had anything that didn't have vocals that she could write to, I quickly lied and let her have a crack at the track, she banged the whole thing out in the amount of time it takes to play the song twice, I was rather impressed. Devin added the finishing touches and I followed the bass line on the guitar in two octaves.
"Slut Buffet" was pretty much Devin on his own, he had a demo from a long time ago that he'd given Amy, and when it came time to actually record it a year and change later we used that as a reference. Amy for her part had a hell of a time writing words for the song, Devin not only handed her a demo with a lot going on, he also handed her the title "Slut Buffet". What Devin thought a "Slut Buffet" was I'm not certain, but I do know it took Amy over a year to figure out what it meant to her. Upon completion of the lyrics it still took a long fight to figure out the melody and phrasing. My guitar part basically copies the keyboard with a few rhythmic flourishes thrown in on the chorus, once again I made use of octaves.
"The Curse" was dreamed up initially as a demo instrumental called "fucker tits". I one day made a production of saying I was going over to Devin's to write the music for a hit single. I didn't really have a great idea, just a chord progression for the verse. I played it a few times and then Devin picked at it and came up with the basic keyboard part. I abandoned the chords and let fly with the silly little lick that I play, then I figured out the little thing that I repeat, which is basically the baseline with a funny thingy. The vocals came from yet another evening when creation was lubricated, and Amy and myself were up looking around the apartment for something to make. The first verse is actually from a painting, that Amy and Yvonne had created one night, naked, in the early portion of their relationship. It is still probably my favorite melody of all time SG.
Devin pretty much commanded the two remixes. We used a tiny little toy keyboard for the drum beat on "goddess room", and added the rest. I am amazed at how well that recording turned out. In the beginning you can hear an ice cube chinking around in a cocktail glass, the drink was a gin and tonic if your curious, and yes, Amy drank and played it. "Mustache Rides" Mosey was fun, we all were left feeling like this song got the shaft on "Post no Bills" due to someones less-than-stellar drumming, so we re-worked it here. It fell together rather easily, and the final mix is the only mix I ever did of it, I was wasted off my ass but for some reason it worked.
The cover of "Words" was an after thought. Amy had always sang it particularly well in karaoke, so it seemed really natural. Devin's idea of copping the "My Sharona" baseline added a great element. From start to finish that song fell together in about a day and a half.
Mixing of SCC was a bit of a process, involving many late night drives to the driveway of the Sharon Tate House. It was a combination of connecting with the victims and the killers, and of consulting Trent Reznor, as I feel certain he made that drive many times blaring rough mixes of "The Downward Spiral".
When finally the mixing process was done and I prepared to mix down to a pc it was discovered that our sound card was fucked. We had planned on a record release party on Dec. 27th, as my parents would be in town and they had yet to see us perform. Luckily a friend of ours came through and allowed us to mix down at his loft. It was done, and only one more leaf waited to be turned. Our drummer Eddie informed us that he would be out of town the night of the release party, which was initially un-nerving, but after thinking about the CD the party was for, and that he didn't play on it, our course became obvious. We decided we'd use my 16-track studio and just use the actual drum tracks for the songs on the CD as the drum parts for the live show. We quickly scheduled a practice gig at the Joint to test the theory. Eddie was on the way out, replaced by a machine.
C. R.S.O. 7" The Song R.S.O. had tried many times to begin life, but it was not until one night when the three of us were drunk off our asses in our old apartment on Larrabee that it clicked. I just recall playing what I think is a funny funny little lick on the guitar. Devin picked up on it really soon and then he tossed out the chorus chords. Amy for her part belted out a quick rough draft of the vocals, but they were revised almost completely by the next time we rehearsed. Devin's keyboard line in the chorus solidified it for me. The bridge after the first chorus came from the Murmers, Amy was playing their CD one day and they threw a bridge in after the first chorus and I said, that is a cool place to do that, we have to try that.
The actual recording had to come together really quiet fast. Devin found a place that was pressing 7" on colored vinyl at a really special price for South by Southwest. We had about a week and a half from when we wrote the song to get it recorded and mixed as well as the new version of mechanically separated chicken. The recording seemed to go pretty well, and the only thing I'm not happy with is the fact that the vocals distort on the chorus too much for my liking. That had to do with a pre-amp that I had just purchased and did not yet no how to use. Sheesh. The guitar sound was probably a new high for me, I was left feeling very dis-satisfied with the way the guitars sounded on SCC for months after it was finished, now I'm cool with them and I think they work, but at the time they didn't have the life I wanted out of them. I had been basically going straight from the direct out of my amp into the 16 track and recording it that way, but with R.S.O I miced the back of the amp and covered the entire thing with pillows and blankets, I'm sure it was loud as fuck for the neighbors but it turned out well for me. I love the way the notes in the beginning echo off the amp walls.
Chicken came together without problem, this was another song that really didn't get it's due on post no bills so we gave it the drum machine treatment, the mix is a little unsteady but I'm happy with it.
The other two b-sides were taken directly from SCC and not changed at all.
D. Soundtrack to the Amnesty party - For a while we tried to do a b-sides and rarity album, we probably will still do it, but it didn't take the first time.
E. The Incomparable White Six (single) - Our first recoding made with our new sampler/sequencer the korg electribe esx1. A learning project. I knew that to take the mixes to the next level I was going to need individual control over each sound, this single was a failed attempt to do this. After looking at the manual I decided to separate everything I could by using the four separate outputs. This proved to be the wrong way to go as the auxiliary outputs remove all effects. You live and you learn.
The title track was a new experience also in the fact that it is the only time I've had a piece of work mastered by an outside source. It took nearly two weeks of going back and forth with the mastering engineer until the mix was deemed proper. In the end I like it and I like the mastering but I'm a tiny bit unhappy with the mix. This song is just complicated, it was like slut buffet in that Devin had worked out the music long ago and had to press hard to get it written. The title itself comes from an old car.
A wonderful piece of luck that came our way for this recording was borrowing a Neumann u87, which we took to our friend Christopher's house to do the vocals with in his closet.
The song calendar girl was originally intended to be a remix of guerrilla, Amy instead took it to the next level and created a brand new song out of it. How she found a way to sing over that track I'll never know, but it works and sounds way different then anything else we have ever done.
Short Haired Girls Club - None of us felt that the PNB version of this song lived up to it's potential. For those of you keeping score that is all but one recording that eddie had played on that we have since gone back and re-done, and the one that we havn't re-done Backdoor Jesus, has been left alone because we like it flawed. This one was a bitch to mix, and I still want to go back and do it with a real drummer.
Makes Sense (Electro Spy mix) - One Night Devin, Amy, Bett Williams and Myself all had stolen tickets to get into the premeir of The L-Word, we went and Devin and I were not allowed in, so we went back to my apartment and Devin banged out this remix. We had never attempted to do a remix without re-recording the original vocal, but we were always so impressed by the quality of the original vocal take on this song we decided to really give it our best shot. There was no computer sync, Devin played the drums on the keyboard using an arpeggiator, releasing his finger and pressing back down every so often to keep on track with the original bass drum. How it worked I'll never know.
The Incomparable White Six (Acoustic) - Devin had to play this song a great deal in order to make this work. I like it.
I'm going to wrap this up. Wow. The new album is coming along nicely. I have several new techniques, and I can't wait to see them come to fruitation. I'll probably babble about it at length here...
The oral history of Brandon as a musicain and a producer, as told to a computer when I probably should have been doing other things.
I have been having a great deal of fun making progress on new songs and on the recording of the album as a whole. It's really amazing how if you keep doing something, in this instance, making recordings, you slowly but certainly get better at it. To date I have made Nine recordings and since I have already played all my online turn based games to the full extent of their daily allowance, I shall list here, my selected discography with special evidence of the advancements in the art of production and technique from recording to recording.
1. The Singe/Plaything Years - These years do not really count for my actual production credit, they mark my learning of the principals of band politics and the basics of playing guitar and writing songs. During this time I had the privilege of being around a very economical, efficient guitar player Joe Lanning. Joe Tried to impart some of his guitar good sense to me, I'm not sure if any of it took. Devin was also in Singe so he was adding to my rather limited knowledge of musical theory at this time also. In addition to Devin & Joe, it was during the Singe years that I came to develop a relationship with my Uncle Ronnie Hendershot, who was responsible for Production on the Singe and Plaything Recordings.
A. Untitled Singe E.P. - This little cdr was my first ever experience with recording in a studio type situation. Our young band all headed to Ronnie's house one afternoon and set up in his basement studio. We played together live with no click. The end result was less than stunning, but when I last heard it about a year ago I was not as embarrassed as I would have expected to be. I did learn in that instance how bad of a bass player we had and how much room I had to improve as a singer and a guitarist.
B. Singe "Transformation Through Decay" - A lofty and mainly un-finished project for the band Singe. This recording contained something like 8 songs which we recorded track by track in Ronnie's studio, Big Sound. This was my first ever opportunity to build an album from the ground up. We began with Devin tracking the drums on his trusty controller, triggering sounds and samples contained in his Alesis DM5. Next, possibly that same evening but I think occurring over at least one other brief session Devin recorded his keyboard parts. I recall Devin, Joe and I being present for the session. After Devin, Joe Expertly tracked his guitar parts with some overdubs for the solos, there was one disappointing moment where I recall Joe really nailing a solo, only for us to realise we had not actually recorded it, Lesson learned about making sure the record button is engaged. We still talk about the solo we lost between Ronnie, Joe and myself. After putting off the un-avoidable as long as we could we had Mike our bass player come in a do a session. He was horrible. I remember looking at everyone else in the room and being certain we were all feeling the same thing, that Mike was done in our band and that it was blatantly obvious. We rushed Mike through every song, One or Two takes each song. If he made a mistake we lied our asses off and told him it was a good take and that the little mistakes could be fixed later with copy and paste. No sooner then we could get him out the door we had Joe hook up one of Ronnie's basses and we re-cut his parts. Sometime around the time Joe did his guitar parts I recall doing a couple, one I remember actually being proud of, a rhythm guitar part on the song cellophane, having never really played or recorded with a tube amp it was a revelation for me to use a small fender that Ronnie had. The vocals were done In a few sporadic sessions. There were several attempts made to get final mixes that we were happy with, and I'm sure somewhere a cdr exists of these sessions, but I have not heard them since the year they were completed, and memory does not even allow me to pin point which year that may have been. While we were mixing the album things came to a head with our bass player, ending with him leaving the fine state of Kansas.
On a fine and spectacular suggestion of Ronnie we replaced Mike not with a bass player, but with a live drummer, and thus Plaything was born. The drummer came in the form of a sweet gentle man named Chris Leon. I recall being really quite nervous when calling his phone number, which Ronnie had given me. I still get nervous when speaking with musicians, like I'm some pretend player always waiting to be un-masked. Chris turned out to be a swell guy and we all loved playing with him. Sadly no recordings were ever made with Chris, other than some rehearsal cassette tapes, one of which I'm sure I have somewhere. Much was learned in that line-up, I learned to let Joe have the room with the guitar, because he could command it where I could not, and I needed to focus on my voice...Which needed all the attention I could give it. Many a great times were had with the Plaything line-up, but huge differences in musical taste led to a the dissolution of the group.
2. The lost years - After Plaything fell down round itself I was left with nothing but college to keep me occupied. Fort Hays Stat University in scenic Hays, Kansas did not hold my attention for more than a semester and a half, but the week I quit the "Harvard of the Plains" did manage to pass onto me something that thus far has shaped my future, and my life. In a local paper I saw an add for a used cassette 4-track for sale. Having just received my tax return from the government I decided to go for it. I was rather surprised to learn that the person selling the machine was a professor who worked at the very school I had just decided to stop attending. When he asked me if I was student I didn't have the balls to tell him I'd quit.
My first recording with the four track was a cover of The Troggs "Wildthing". Joe played the drums on a keyboard and recorded a couple of guitar parts while I tried to scream the vocals.
All the recordings from this period have been lost or mis-placed. I do recall one song entitled "+ Nothing" I used a drum machine given to me by Ronnie, and a distorted keyboard. All my songs at this point were very basic verse and chorus structure, lacking in fills and bridges. I think at the time I lacked the ability to see the end of a project, so I really never got motivated. I didn't realise that I could reach a point with a group of songs that I had written and recorded, and at that point say, "this is done. I am done with this recording in this form. I do not need to have any help from a huge company or anyone more talented than myself. I made this and I am happy with it." It seems really pretty simple but at the time I could not make that leap.
I floated around for a little under two years making bad quality recordings in the basement of the house Devin and I shared. I began to make a little progress, I started making drum loops from records I really liked and I found them to be more inspiring than a drum machine at that point. Four songs recorded in that basement would later see light in the next phase of my development as an artist/producer.
Time in Hays Kansas finally came to an end. Devin finished school and we packed up all that we could fit into our two cars and headed to Los Angeles. I continued my free form floundering in Los Angeles, and I found myself facing yet another obstacle, One that I still deal with more than any other today. The rigors of apartment recording. I hated recording in our tiny apartment in the far west valley. I didn't even feel like I could play the acoustic guitar at a reasonable volume. During this time I learned more about drum machines and keyboards and direct guitar. Anything that could make noise through headphones became an often used tool. A good five songs total came from this period, they would be culled together with the four songs from the basement in Hays, together they formed a foundation for my first realization of a DIY release.
3. S no S (or how I learned to stop dicking around and love mp3.com)
California ended for me the same day dubya wormed his foot into the door of America. I crashed my car and lost the ability to pretend I was enjoying life in the edge of the valley. While not directly caused by Dubya, I'm pretty sure all thinking feeling people will be able to see the connection. And now back to the current de-railment of my blog.
I stuck it out in California for a spell, but soon I decided to pack it up and move to Kansas City. I chose KC because my parents had just moved there and I had no money, it turned out to be a very good thing that I did.
In addition to living in a house where I could be loud, I soon found a job as an activities person in a nursing home, which meant that my job would call heavily on my ability to play my guitar, and would demand that I become better at playing it.
When the box with my recording gear arrived from California I began to go through the master tapes of several years of recording. I was shocked to find out how much I liked them all. I compiled the songs to cassette, but my car at the time only had a cd player, therefore I was only able to listen to my creations at home. My wish to hear my songs on cd lead me to the internet. My parents computer had a cd burner but it was broken, this lead me to MP3.com, which really only attracted me at first because it was a simple way to get the songs I had recorded onto a cd. As I read more about what I needed to do in order to get my cd from mp3.com my interest grew, Mp3.com acted as an all loving record company who would put out my music, but not promote or fund it, which was just fine with me, as I was at least pretty certain that no one else wanted to hear it anyway.
A. Green Light Dim - I think there are something like fourteen songs on the first S no S release, but I really can't be sure since it is not here in front of me. I had roughly 20 recordings to choose from. I chose the recordings that sounded best first, then I chose the recordings that, while I was not completely happy with them, I felt done with them. Several songs I really liked, but I felt the recordings did not do them justice, this feeling would drive the next S no S album , and begin make refinements in my technique.
B. Roary May-in - Where did I come up with that title? I do not have any idea, I imagine it has something to do with the fact that I was really enjoying the band at the drive-in at the time. Roary May-in consisted completely of recordings made fresh upon the release of Green Light Dim. As a whole I think the recordings show more density and a slightly better regard for mix, but the main improvement for me came from re-recording songs for the first time ever. Prior to this album I was under the impression that I did not have the skills necessary to duplicate what was good about any of my recordings, and prior to this time I may very well have not had that ability. With Roary-may in I set out to improve on several of the songs that I cut from GLD, while still staying true to their actual form. Having to re-transcribe the drum and guitar parts pushed my ear and my ability to program toward a new level. I began to flex these tiny little muscles that prior to this album I didn't believe I had. My understanding of drum machines at this point began to allow me to see the limitation to using drum loops made from other people's beats, and this album contained the last drum loop used in an S no S song.
C. These Things (limitation adds...) Marked by many equipment problems, These Things came about in ways that surprised me. My electric guitar bit the dust at the end of recording Roary May, I was left with just the nylon string acoustic. I had also just required a five string bass guitar, which had the top two tuning pegs broken off, so it was actually a 3 string bass guitar. That bass guitar gave These Things a much fuller low end, and the bass more than anything shows my improvement in playing. I was lucky to focus on the nylon guitar, It had a very nice sound that recorded well to tape through my sm58. The biggest equipment problem that plagued the sessions for These Things was the motor of the 4-track, it was not functioning consistently at all. Towards the end of the recordings I would often have to take the cover off the fourtrack and kick start the motor with my finger. Eventually during mixing the motor gave way. Luckily I had Mixed all the songs I cared to mix from the 4-track, but I was still left with one more song I wanted to close the album with. I resorted to using a program called power tracks which Ronnie had given to me. It has been my first and only attempt at computer recording.
Through out the first Two albums I had communicated back and forth with Ronnie about the state of the process. As I began to record These Things Ronnie and I had worked out the bugs in our video conferencing software, it was amazing and helpful to be able to dial Ronnie in at all hours of the night and see and speak with him while transferring files for mix critique and general advice. Prior to These Things I was not really confident in my abilities and therefore I was not as open to listening to what someone would have to say about the recordings. Being able to share the process with Ronnie helped immensely, and eventually paved the way for me to develop further as a musician and a producer.
**Upon release of These Things (and boy am I getting full of my self here...But it is STILL my blog so deal...) I had a huge learning experience, I traveled to California to visit my brother. When my life in Cali crashed and I left, Devin sucked it up and grew. While I was in Kansas City singing to old folks and recording songs by myself, Devin was in Los Angeles, joining Shitting Glitter. While visiting I got to play bass with them in rehearsal. I have never been so touched by inspiration as I was during that trip. So many first experiences, and waiting for me at home was a newly purchased 16-track digital recording studio.
I remember getting hives for the first and only time of my life the day I finished These Things. I have always felt that it was such an important recording to me that it effected my body physically, I think I was having a very hard time for the first time since I had started recording because I had made something of which I was extremely proud, and I actually began to develop the expectation that it would be positively received, and It wasn't really received at all. That was hard for me.
D. Restless - My first chance to use 16 tracks, and the return of my electric guitar. This was a fun album for me to make, coming back from L.A. feeling so inspired by Shitting Glitter and life and wanting with all my heart to get backto California. I made some pretty silly mistakes on some of the songs, and really in a lot of ways it feels really hazy to me and off the cuff, which I think I was trying to do, and I actually needed to just fly through it to learn the 16-track. I'm pretty certain this album was finished in the shortest period of time that any of the S no S albums were finished in, which is funny because it's the longest. I think I could probably do a whole blog on the last two S no S albums, and maybe I will, but for now I'm tired.
E. May April - I knuckled the fuck down on this album. I really tried to write all the songs on the acoustic guitar first, I wanted to be able to play them live as solo acoustic pieces before I ever recording them. I wanted to make it as real of an experience as I could because I knew it would be the last album I would make in Kansas, in the sprawling comfort of my parents house. I had also just discovered Paul Simon's Graceland, and the album was just on fire in my mind the entire time I was recording. That album more than anything derailed my attempts to come at May April from the single window of the acoustic song. Thank god, the album is better for it, with the exception of Mie Dei, which I wish I had not put on there, I was such a sucker for the stupid ebow part in the beginning.
The greatest part of May April for me was feeling confident enough to let other people become involved in a collaborative way. Ronnie was very involved, in many ways I felt like Ronnie and I were in a band together making that record, even though he was four hours away from me. We got together for a couple of sessions at his house and we sent countless numbers of files back and forth. The two sessions we did together were great and a good deal of recording got done. I am so glad to have some of his playing on that record. Caitlyn sang with us on Timiner, and that is so precious for me, I loved it when she got bashful in the studio. Adrienne sang some oohs and aahs on paper see, I think it's fun to hear her because to me it sounds so very her. I really get a bang out of the fact that she is singing a lower vocal part than me.
A huge factor for me, that I think really impacted and influenced me and this album in particular was Jason Rucker, my great friend picking up guitar during this period. It was so inspiring to watch him learn so very fast. We spent a great deal of time playing and singing together. I hadn't connected with someone on a musical level for sometime, it really enabled me to collaborate on May April, and helped me realise that I was ready to play in a band with other people again. I also love the fact that Courtney Paulsen painted the cover.
The whole album for me was closure. The first time I left Kansas it was abrupt and I was scared, and I was disappointed in the town I was living in. I think being the age I was didn't help, I just had so much growing up to do. I had to rush to finish mixing May April before my plane ticket date came up. I knew that I wanted to save the master tracks and that I was going to need to have a good amount of hard drive for shitting glitter's record, which was my intention in going to California, producing their debut, not playing on it. During the year and half I lived in Kansas City my life had become so much richer, I felt very inspired to document it and the record did that for me. From the artwork to the subjects and to the people who were around me when it was in process. I am a sucker for myself sometimes.
4. Shitting Glitter - Upon completion of "May April" I once again packed up my clothes and recording equipment and boarded a plane, this time I was heading back to California. My plan was pretty hazy, I had just walked a turn at a christian nursing facility and completed five albums. I intended to arrive in Los Angeles and produce Shitting Glitter's debut album, "Post No Bills". I assumed at the time that recording and mixing would take One to Two months, I guess I was a little naive about the distractions Los Angeles has to offer. After this golden period of producing a record with out playing on it, I had a notion that I would leave all my stuff in storage with my brother and walk to Florida.
I was picked up from the airport and immediately taken to SG's rehearsal studio in the San Fernando Valley. I guess I was a little unprepared for the state of the band. There was obviously some internal tension.
A. "Post No Bills" - It took a few months before we even recorded the first note of "Post No Bills", and eventually that note would be scrapped. The band was having major conflict centered around all sorts of things, none of which are really my right or concern to explain here. Suffice to say that I did finally get a few people into the apartment studio version of Vincent Free Sound, but the most that amounted were scratch keyboards and scratch guitars. I was beginning to realise that this was not a band that was going to be capable of producing an album under my timid production. I lacked many qualities essential in taking charge of a situation out of control, so I for the most part backed off and let the world at large run it's course, which it did in many odd ways, including many that threw me into the mix.
After some major jostling and smoke clearing it became apparent that the backbone of SG was still very much intact, and finally ready to record an album. A slight problem, they had no guitar player nor drummer. I probably broke a golden rule of producing when I joined Shitting Glitter, but their guitar player had recently left, I happened to play guitar, and completely believe in the band. What else was I to do? I do not regret my decision, the more producing I do and the more playing I do the more I know I wish to do both. I met a drummer named Eddie one evening while singing karaoke in a lesbian bar, we made tentative plans to jam andin short time a new line up was in place.
Weeks of practice went into the live version of SG, there was a lot of room for improvement , and much improvement was made. Devin and Amy, with a new line up ready to go were eager to prove to the naysays that SG was in fact, not finished, and studio work with a drum machine got under way. The first song that I was able to make progress on for SG was "Makes Sense". I sat down with the scratch bass and keyboard tracks which Devin had recorded and pulled up a software drum machine I had used frequently with S no S. I programmed a very basic drum track and had Devin Re-record his keyboards. I then added acoustic guitar. Being as the song used two big S no S elements, hammerhead drums and my acoustic guitar, this recording is the most S no S like of any Shitting Glitter song released (othar than Guerilla - see below). Amy's vocal take weas absolutely stunning, I remember listening too it, and being in total awe over the fact that anyone could make that shitty microphone sound good. When the recording was completed we went to our favorite karaoke bar with a rough mix. It was such a change to go from finishing a song and having no one hear it, to finishing a song and heading straight to a bar for a great deal of positive feedback. I was really beginning to see the benefits of recording with other people, how nice it is for a good voice to sing, and for keyboards to be played with more than one finger.
The next recording we attempted to tackle was Ariana, we did a verion that used a lot of strings but for some reason it couldn't fall together so we moved on and tried again, getting closer this time, but I am still a little embarrassed to hear the final mix that appeared on the album. We had decide that the album would have some songs with live drums, but in the hopes of bridging the gaps to get closer to the things we had been listening to, we decided to adapt some of our songs to use drum machines. The drum machine allowed us to record in the apartment, and to have songs with a steady tempo, a problem that we had been developing with our drummer, a problem I was soon to face as I set about the task of producing the tracks on "Post no Bills" that contain live drums.
Of the 11 songs on PNB, 3 were produced by Mary White, 1 was a remix of a Mary white recording, 3 were recorded by me using a drum machine and 4 were done with live drums. When it came time to record the drums Devin and I laid scratch parts to a click and then we packed up the studio and headed to Amp rehearsal studios in North Hollywood where we booked two hours time for Eddie to lay down tracks on Short Haired Girls Club,
Mustache Rides 5 Cents and Mechanically Separated Chicken. Given that Eddie really had no experience playing to a click, and some of the scratch takes had errors, Eddie did about as well as can be expected, which was not very good. I had never worked with live drums, my microphones were really not up to the task, and the bleed through the walls was a factor. I Generally feel a bit put off by these two recordings, but I have at times been able to step back and see them for what they are, which was the best we could do and an accurate reflection of where we were at the time as a live band.
The other song with live drums I produced for PNB was "Backdoor Jesus", this recording I enjoy a great deal. I developed an idea in my mind that I wanted the recording to sound very old gospel lo-fi, with everything really bleeding through to everything else. We recorded the song one day in rehearsal, I used maybe three mics on Eddies drums, one on the bass drum, one on the snare and an overhead, all shitty dynamic mics. We did the song maybe twice but it seemed like only once, my guitar was being played loud in the studio, and Amy and Devin were singing through a P.A. in the same room. My guitar and the scratch vocals are rather apparent on the drum tracks, which while not only the easy way, was exactly the way I was thinking I wanted it to sound. after that I did some pretty heavy overdub layering using a bunch of different guitar sounds. The vocals were double tracked, then in addition to that I had one track of Amy and Devin singing into the same microphone together, all of that blended in to sound basically how I wanted. Because it's such an odd song and a lo-fi recording I think it works that Eddie really flubs several beats.
Of the Post no Bills album the thing I am most proud of is the title track. I have always been so moved by the lyrics, I think Amy really summed up a certain feeling you get when living your life in close proximity to her, really summed it up elegantly, I am forever impressed by it. The song started as a very major key acoustic guitar folk song, and Amy always complained and wanted it to be more hardcore, I fought her a little on this because I loved the original, but in the end I relented and Amy was right, this song needed what happened to it. Many great choices and ideas went into this recording, beginning with Devin's complete re-working of the beat and keyboards. I really have to applaud myself on the track for not playing, at the time I tried a few things and they seemed to take away from what was working, so rather than muss it up, I sucked it up and decided not to play any guitar on it. I was feeling pretty good about the flanger decision on the drum track anyway. Amy had wanted to do some speaking type vocals on this track, and once again I think I fought her, because I love the melody to the song, but in the end the compromise to do both was stunning. The vocal takes themselves were pretty impressive, particularly Amy's lead and Devin's harmony are striking to hear played back without the mix. Another reason I love Post No Bills the song more than any other song on that album, is because it was by far the easiest to mix, I think I only did basically one mix and a few tiny adjustments.
I remember we really wanted this album done prior to our playing L.A. Dyke March, I think we finished all recording the weekend before, giving me one week to mix. Devin left town at some point so I mixed and Amy helped, I was so not happy that Devin did not have to deal with that debacle.
In the end the album was done in time for Dyke march, we burned them ourselves and Devin did some great art work. I was really unsure of the CD for a long time, I really magnified in my mind how bad some of the songs were, and really I just didn't listen to it for a long time. The last time I did hear it I realized that I was intensely proud of the record, and that it had to be that hard to make in order for us to gain the momentum we would need to keep working.
B. Sexy Clown Circus - I am probably most pleased with this E.P. out anything that I have done to date. I firmly believe that we accomplished almost exactly what we set out to do with S.C.C., which is certainly a good feeling. There is for me a completeness of character of the E.P. that really gives it it's very own place in the world.
During the recording we were in a rather delicate situation with our drummer, he simply didn't have the desire to commit to the band on the level that we needed. We continued to utilize him for live shows, but from the very beginning we intended to use a drum machine for the entire EP. This allowed us a Consitincy and continuity that PNB lacked. Adding to the continuity of the whole was the shorter length, 6 songs as opposed to 11 greatly narrow the window. Perhaps the largest factor in the identity of SCC is the fact that the line-up had not changed for an entire year, which was a definite first for SG. Also the three of us; Devin, Amy and myself had been listening to basically the same music for the first time ever. Devin had decided to dive headlong into loving electro music, and the music carried us along with him. Mount Sims' Ultra Sex and the first Fischer Spooner album were very much favorites within our tiny circle. We certainly set out to make music like we liked to listen to at the time, while still maintaining our identity as a band, something I'm rather certain we could not shirk even if we tried.
Of the six songs on the e.p. only three were brand new originals, and they all came about in very different ways.
Guerilla is basically an S no S vs. SG Song, even more so than Makes Sense (which I refered to earlier in this massive pile of words), because the actual recording that was on the EP began life as an S no S song, perhaps it's the lost S no S song, becuase it was never mixed. I do recall that the chorus was "even you could grasp the contradiction, the joke that stole the plot, the error in your reason, a fundamental flaw..." I mention that here because I'm not really sure what this thing I am writing is anyway, and I happened to remember it. In the S no S version the song had bass, drums and vocals, and a guitar part that didn't work. One Sunday afternoon/evening, when Amy and I were particularly lubricated for the creative process Amy asked if I had anything that didn't have vocals that she could write to, I quickly lied and let her have a crack at the track, she banged the whole thing out in the amount of time it takes to play the song twice, I was rather impressed. Devin added the finishing touches and I followed the bass line on the guitar in two octaves.
"Slut Buffet" was pretty much Devin on his own, he had a demo from a long time ago that he'd given Amy, and when it came time to actually record it a year and change later we used that as a reference. Amy for her part had a hell of a time writing words for the song, Devin not only handed her a demo with a lot going on, he also handed her the title "Slut Buffet". What Devin thought a "Slut Buffet" was I'm not certain, but I do know it took Amy over a year to figure out what it meant to her. Upon completion of the lyrics it still took a long fight to figure out the melody and phrasing. My guitar part basically copies the keyboard with a few rhythmic flourishes thrown in on the chorus, once again I made use of octaves.
"The Curse" was dreamed up initially as a demo instrumental called "fucker tits". I one day made a production of saying I was going over to Devin's to write the music for a hit single. I didn't really have a great idea, just a chord progression for the verse. I played it a few times and then Devin picked at it and came up with the basic keyboard part. I abandoned the chords and let fly with the silly little lick that I play, then I figured out the little thing that I repeat, which is basically the baseline with a funny thingy. The vocals came from yet another evening when creation was lubricated, and Amy and myself were up looking around the apartment for something to make. The first verse is actually from a painting, that Amy and Yvonne had created one night, naked, in the early portion of their relationship. It is still probably my favorite melody of all time SG.
Devin pretty much commanded the two remixes. We used a tiny little toy keyboard for the drum beat on "goddess room", and added the rest. I am amazed at how well that recording turned out. In the beginning you can hear an ice cube chinking around in a cocktail glass, the drink was a gin and tonic if your curious, and yes, Amy drank and played it. "Mustache Rides" Mosey was fun, we all were left feeling like this song got the shaft on "Post no Bills" due to someones less-than-stellar drumming, so we re-worked it here. It fell together rather easily, and the final mix is the only mix I ever did of it, I was wasted off my ass but for some reason it worked.
The cover of "Words" was an after thought. Amy had always sang it particularly well in karaoke, so it seemed really natural. Devin's idea of copping the "My Sharona" baseline added a great element. From start to finish that song fell together in about a day and a half.
Mixing of SCC was a bit of a process, involving many late night drives to the driveway of the Sharon Tate House. It was a combination of connecting with the victims and the killers, and of consulting Trent Reznor, as I feel certain he made that drive many times blaring rough mixes of "The Downward Spiral".
When finally the mixing process was done and I prepared to mix down to a pc it was discovered that our sound card was fucked. We had planned on a record release party on Dec. 27th, as my parents would be in town and they had yet to see us perform. Luckily a friend of ours came through and allowed us to mix down at his loft. It was done, and only one more leaf waited to be turned. Our drummer Eddie informed us that he would be out of town the night of the release party, which was initially un-nerving, but after thinking about the CD the party was for, and that he didn't play on it, our course became obvious. We decided we'd use my 16-track studio and just use the actual drum tracks for the songs on the CD as the drum parts for the live show. We quickly scheduled a practice gig at the Joint to test the theory. Eddie was on the way out, replaced by a machine.
C. R.S.O. 7" The Song R.S.O. had tried many times to begin life, but it was not until one night when the three of us were drunk off our asses in our old apartment on Larrabee that it clicked. I just recall playing what I think is a funny funny little lick on the guitar. Devin picked up on it really soon and then he tossed out the chorus chords. Amy for her part belted out a quick rough draft of the vocals, but they were revised almost completely by the next time we rehearsed. Devin's keyboard line in the chorus solidified it for me. The bridge after the first chorus came from the Murmers, Amy was playing their CD one day and they threw a bridge in after the first chorus and I said, that is a cool place to do that, we have to try that.
The actual recording had to come together really quiet fast. Devin found a place that was pressing 7" on colored vinyl at a really special price for South by Southwest. We had about a week and a half from when we wrote the song to get it recorded and mixed as well as the new version of mechanically separated chicken. The recording seemed to go pretty well, and the only thing I'm not happy with is the fact that the vocals distort on the chorus too much for my liking. That had to do with a pre-amp that I had just purchased and did not yet no how to use. Sheesh. The guitar sound was probably a new high for me, I was left feeling very dis-satisfied with the way the guitars sounded on SCC for months after it was finished, now I'm cool with them and I think they work, but at the time they didn't have the life I wanted out of them. I had been basically going straight from the direct out of my amp into the 16 track and recording it that way, but with R.S.O I miced the back of the amp and covered the entire thing with pillows and blankets, I'm sure it was loud as fuck for the neighbors but it turned out well for me. I love the way the notes in the beginning echo off the amp walls.
Chicken came together without problem, this was another song that really didn't get it's due on post no bills so we gave it the drum machine treatment, the mix is a little unsteady but I'm happy with it.
The other two b-sides were taken directly from SCC and not changed at all.
D. Soundtrack to the Amnesty party - For a while we tried to do a b-sides and rarity album, we probably will still do it, but it didn't take the first time.
E. The Incomparable White Six (single) - Our first recoding made with our new sampler/sequencer the korg electribe esx1. A learning project. I knew that to take the mixes to the next level I was going to need individual control over each sound, this single was a failed attempt to do this. After looking at the manual I decided to separate everything I could by using the four separate outputs. This proved to be the wrong way to go as the auxiliary outputs remove all effects. You live and you learn.
The title track was a new experience also in the fact that it is the only time I've had a piece of work mastered by an outside source. It took nearly two weeks of going back and forth with the mastering engineer until the mix was deemed proper. In the end I like it and I like the mastering but I'm a tiny bit unhappy with the mix. This song is just complicated, it was like slut buffet in that Devin had worked out the music long ago and had to press hard to get it written. The title itself comes from an old car.
A wonderful piece of luck that came our way for this recording was borrowing a Neumann u87, which we took to our friend Christopher's house to do the vocals with in his closet.
The song calendar girl was originally intended to be a remix of guerrilla, Amy instead took it to the next level and created a brand new song out of it. How she found a way to sing over that track I'll never know, but it works and sounds way different then anything else we have ever done.
Short Haired Girls Club - None of us felt that the PNB version of this song lived up to it's potential. For those of you keeping score that is all but one recording that eddie had played on that we have since gone back and re-done, and the one that we havn't re-done Backdoor Jesus, has been left alone because we like it flawed. This one was a bitch to mix, and I still want to go back and do it with a real drummer.
Makes Sense (Electro Spy mix) - One Night Devin, Amy, Bett Williams and Myself all had stolen tickets to get into the premeir of The L-Word, we went and Devin and I were not allowed in, so we went back to my apartment and Devin banged out this remix. We had never attempted to do a remix without re-recording the original vocal, but we were always so impressed by the quality of the original vocal take on this song we decided to really give it our best shot. There was no computer sync, Devin played the drums on the keyboard using an arpeggiator, releasing his finger and pressing back down every so often to keep on track with the original bass drum. How it worked I'll never know.
The Incomparable White Six (Acoustic) - Devin had to play this song a great deal in order to make this work. I like it.
I'm going to wrap this up. Wow. The new album is coming along nicely. I have several new techniques, and I can't wait to see them come to fruitation. I'll probably babble about it at length here...
The oral history of Brandon as a musicain and a producer, as told to a computer when I probably should have been doing other things.
Monday, December 13, 2004
News is bad news
Today I learned that a friend of mine took his own life. I had not seen Kevin in over two years, but I loved him and I am sad to know that I won't see him again. He had spirit, and an appreciation for points of life that make it worth living, in the end I guess the checks and minus didn't add up right at the critical moment.
Monday, December 06, 2004
From the Ground-up
An actual restful productive weekend has passed. There was sleeping every night, and a lot of work going on.
Devin and Coco came to the apartment on Saturday and we worked up a demo for a new song: "Mondo di Corpo", It's really good. It has a section that is very Electric Six.
We also laid down tracks to record our cover of AC/DC's "Let Me Put My Love Into You". We fixed the song "Grady" which had been incorrectly recorded in the wrong key. We even laid down the basic tracks for the Album version of "Mondo Di Corpo".
Devin programmed the drums and bass for another cover "Time" by the Culture Club. We were all getting a little tired of the old songs so we decided it was time to lay some new songs out there and see how they sound.
Devin and Coco came to the apartment on Saturday and we worked up a demo for a new song: "Mondo di Corpo", It's really good. It has a section that is very Electric Six.
We also laid down tracks to record our cover of AC/DC's "Let Me Put My Love Into You". We fixed the song "Grady" which had been incorrectly recorded in the wrong key. We even laid down the basic tracks for the Album version of "Mondo Di Corpo".
Devin programmed the drums and bass for another cover "Time" by the Culture Club. We were all getting a little tired of the old songs so we decided it was time to lay some new songs out there and see how they sound.
Friday, December 03, 2004
I forgot I had a Blog
Well, too late now. I'll have another good week of blogging about jack dick sometime soon. I've been tapped playing dope wars on the internet, and being sick, and being really out of hand in many ways. Amy and I did not really sleep but maybe two nights out of four over the holiday. It was fun and beautiful, and hard, and long and all those things that I moved to L.A. for.
Playing the joint sick as hell was a real trip. I really did try and rock.
Playing the joint sick as hell was a real trip. I really did try and rock.
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
All 8 inches
My mother sends me pictures of snow in kansas. I was going to post it here but then blogger tolda me it had to be hosted remotely and I got offended. It was a pretty silly notion anyway.
I am excited as hell about the trip to Kansas and the show we get to play there. I think it will certainly be a wonderful time. I hope that we get a little snow to go with it.
It is far too early and I have far too little to say.
I think I found a vocal booth to record the vocals for F.A.S. in.
I am excited as hell about the trip to Kansas and the show we get to play there. I think it will certainly be a wonderful time. I hope that we get a little snow to go with it.
It is far too early and I have far too little to say.
I think I found a vocal booth to record the vocals for F.A.S. in.
Monday, November 22, 2004
Clean up
A weekend spent in divergence of the last six. No all nighters, much less neglect. The apartment is clean. The car is clean. Laundry is clean and put away. I finished my parts on the song "the amnesty party" both acoustic guitar and bass. Amy even added vocal scratch which I must say sounded fucking great. It's amazing what a stolen re15 microphone can do.
We are all very excited because we scheduled a gig in Kansas city while we are there for Christmas. It's so cool to not waste any travel without getting in a gig.
The funniest part of all for me is that a good High School friend of mine, Chuck Bliese, is the guy who booked us.
We are all very excited because we scheduled a gig in Kansas city while we are there for Christmas. It's so cool to not waste any travel without getting in a gig.
The funniest part of all for me is that a good High School friend of mine, Chuck Bliese, is the guy who booked us.
Friday, November 19, 2004
Okay, A Good Day
I am really just blogging so that I can say I blogged everyday this week. I have nothing else of any worth to note. I slept well last night and woke up hungry for laffy taffy. I stop almost every morning at liquor time liquor for them. Luckily I have nearly eaten the entire supply at liquor time liquor, I will have to stop soon. I love those stupid little taffys.
Buddy Insists on licking my hands, maybe because they have been covered in laffy taffy.
I thought about the album all day yesterday, and when I finally got home I didn't even work on it. We did go out for a nice dinner at CPK, and then we looked at doggies. We talked ourselves out of buying new jeans.
I am hungry now. I wish there was laffy taffy at the Mexican market. I would purchase some if there was, hint hint, MR. Mexican market worker who I know reads my fucking blog. Why don't you order laffy taffy? ASSHAT.
Buddy Insists on licking my hands, maybe because they have been covered in laffy taffy.
I thought about the album all day yesterday, and when I finally got home I didn't even work on it. We did go out for a nice dinner at CPK, and then we looked at doggies. We talked ourselves out of buying new jeans.
I am hungry now. I wish there was laffy taffy at the Mexican market. I would purchase some if there was, hint hint, MR. Mexican market worker who I know reads my fucking blog. Why don't you order laffy taffy? ASSHAT.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Almost good head
Last night after dinner I fell into a coma that lasted for several hours. Afterwards I awoke to an empty house and two funny kitties. I pulled myself up and set up the recording equipment. I managed finally to get what I consider to be "the" take for the bass part on the song "Amnesty Party". I then went back to bed.
I have blogged 4 days in a row. I am winning.
I have blogged 4 days in a row. I am winning.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
Better Head
I am improved today. Last night I had a dream that I was ill, I woke up and had to go into the restroom to see if I was going to puke because I still felt all willy-nilly inside. I sat in there until I felt like a fool then I went back to bed. That was a bad dream.
Devin and I worked on the album again last night. I fucked around on the bass guitar and Devin programmed Buy Nothing. We recorded most of the backing tracks for Grady. All is moving along.
Devin and I worked on the album again last night. I fucked around on the bass guitar and Devin programmed Buy Nothing. We recorded most of the backing tracks for Grady. All is moving along.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
My Head is Awful today.
EEshka.
I have such a stupid cold stemming from the aforementioned Hollywood cold. What a dork I am. Last night was catch up night. Too lazy to do much laundry we went and purchased new socks and underwear. Then we came home and cleaned our messy life as best as we could. An attempt at an early retirement did not go so well, the laugh track on the bad sitcom show was just too much and I had to leave the room and play the bass some.
I have been thinking about the bass a fair deal, I am liking playing it. My fingers hurt today and I did not even get a decent take on anything except "The Amnesty Party". I did decide that I'll play the four string on "High and Tight", "R.S.O." "Grady" and "Guerilla".
I can't think for all this snot in my head.
I have such a stupid cold stemming from the aforementioned Hollywood cold. What a dork I am. Last night was catch up night. Too lazy to do much laundry we went and purchased new socks and underwear. Then we came home and cleaned our messy life as best as we could. An attempt at an early retirement did not go so well, the laugh track on the bad sitcom show was just too much and I had to leave the room and play the bass some.
I have been thinking about the bass a fair deal, I am liking playing it. My fingers hurt today and I did not even get a decent take on anything except "The Amnesty Party". I did decide that I'll play the four string on "High and Tight", "R.S.O." "Grady" and "Guerilla".
I can't think for all this snot in my head.
Monday, November 15, 2004
Time Well Passed
Such a weekend gave me a Hollywood cold. Found Amy and I walking down Melrose between Fairfax And La Cienega at 2:30 A.m., picking items out of the store windows. Almost leaving a brand new journal behind. Then in a cab into Weho proper where we stood amazed at 4:00 a.m. estimating the value of one night at the Abbey by the amount of dead liquor bottles piled on the sidewalk, a homeless man could retire in a beautiful park on the recycling value alone. Into the park where I talked all about my new friend Nicholas, who plays rhythm and can't seem to stop smoking crack, who used to want a house in the hills, and still does, but now really just wants a roof, but rather than go back to Chicago and be a burden on mom he'll sit in his bus stop and beat on cans. A long walk back home, meeting yet another homeless friend "Robbie", who we used to see frequently on our little excursions, who looks all the more tired and all the worse for wear. I wonder if Robbie still runs into traffic on Sunset Blvd., while commuters commute yelling, "can you hear me now?!" We gave him a penny and the last of our water.
pried for a destination we develop and idea. For $3 we purchase a day pass and board the metro bus number 217. The exact bus I ride nearly every morning now. It takes us from Santa Monica and Fairfax to Hollyood and Vine. At vine we catch the redline subway train. Amy has never used our fair subway, she digs the ride. Talking non-stop we reach downtown, where we meet David, Just released from county, who believes in Jesus and still comes up 60 cents short.
Exiting union station into a sky held by Amy's wish into the grey blue tone of overcast. A light sprinkle collects on the yellow and white flowers. The buildings and sidewalks seem alien but warm.
Looking for coffee we spot a jovial man with an empty cup, He leads us into an alley way of closed shops until we find the one place a person can still get 2 Large coffees for under 5 bucks. We drink and stare at the huge Gazebo on Alvarado.
Gushing the whole time we finally find our way back to union station and the gold line. Slow ride to Pasadena. The African community arrests itself. Pasadena doesn't much hold our interests, but it was fun to watch from the train windows. The creeps are different out here, and they don't seem to catch our drift.
We ride back, stopping in union station only to pee, buy water and switch trains. Onward, thinking together out loud. Where do we get off? Split decision at the West Lake/Macarthur Park exit. A fine decision made on the fly. Rain still falling very light. The park is wet and almost empty. Two good old boys need help finding the tar pits, we point them straight of course and speculate on the deep nature of their tradey man boy lovin'. We find our theme slogan pressed into the ground: "Crazy as two mice waltzing". Of Course.
The train to Hollywood goes first to Universal City because of the sill gay book editor/computer programmer who's pink back pack contents is more interesting to us than watching for our stop. A little lay over to learn about the Mexican American War. Then to Hollywood and Highland and the good old 217, chatting us just as we come up fro air.
Home for one hot second and then onto Wholefoods for frilly banana shakes. A quick dash on the Metro number 4 leads us to the Willoughby dog park, we stay longer than the three old dogs and find that without them this park is just a park, with no dog in front of it or in it, and that will not do.
Back onto the 4 and a wild whim about a little bus that can and does climb laurel canyon. The bus is not a myth and it does come. On the bus a familiar Jesus loving lesbian tells us a secret that we won't keep. An old man hides in his pants a secret not even he can keep, and I've told far to many people myself.
The large dog park in the sky off Mulholland. We are larks, happy as pigs in shit. Many funny loving doggies. We want to take them all home.
Christofuck delays our day, disappoints us and dips our dinner in pretense. He talks in a loop and never listens. He makes us a little sad. Gabi helps.
We are avoiding a party, beware invitations delivered with and Iron fist and ending in "Or Else!"
Tiger stops in, funnier than ever, just what the doctor ordered and a nice warm cap on the night.
After Tiger departs Devin and Dylan Arrive, followed by the funny lady from pink dot. We eat, the boys attend the party, I scrape myself up to deliver a begrudged social service, but stick my foot before the door when the swarm follows me home. I am firm and correct and will not waver. Nyquil is the post man, that delivers us to sleep.
pried for a destination we develop and idea. For $3 we purchase a day pass and board the metro bus number 217. The exact bus I ride nearly every morning now. It takes us from Santa Monica and Fairfax to Hollyood and Vine. At vine we catch the redline subway train. Amy has never used our fair subway, she digs the ride. Talking non-stop we reach downtown, where we meet David, Just released from county, who believes in Jesus and still comes up 60 cents short.
Exiting union station into a sky held by Amy's wish into the grey blue tone of overcast. A light sprinkle collects on the yellow and white flowers. The buildings and sidewalks seem alien but warm.
Looking for coffee we spot a jovial man with an empty cup, He leads us into an alley way of closed shops until we find the one place a person can still get 2 Large coffees for under 5 bucks. We drink and stare at the huge Gazebo on Alvarado.
Gushing the whole time we finally find our way back to union station and the gold line. Slow ride to Pasadena. The African community arrests itself. Pasadena doesn't much hold our interests, but it was fun to watch from the train windows. The creeps are different out here, and they don't seem to catch our drift.
We ride back, stopping in union station only to pee, buy water and switch trains. Onward, thinking together out loud. Where do we get off? Split decision at the West Lake/Macarthur Park exit. A fine decision made on the fly. Rain still falling very light. The park is wet and almost empty. Two good old boys need help finding the tar pits, we point them straight of course and speculate on the deep nature of their tradey man boy lovin'. We find our theme slogan pressed into the ground: "Crazy as two mice waltzing". Of Course.
The train to Hollywood goes first to Universal City because of the sill gay book editor/computer programmer who's pink back pack contents is more interesting to us than watching for our stop. A little lay over to learn about the Mexican American War. Then to Hollywood and Highland and the good old 217, chatting us just as we come up fro air.
Home for one hot second and then onto Wholefoods for frilly banana shakes. A quick dash on the Metro number 4 leads us to the Willoughby dog park, we stay longer than the three old dogs and find that without them this park is just a park, with no dog in front of it or in it, and that will not do.
Back onto the 4 and a wild whim about a little bus that can and does climb laurel canyon. The bus is not a myth and it does come. On the bus a familiar Jesus loving lesbian tells us a secret that we won't keep. An old man hides in his pants a secret not even he can keep, and I've told far to many people myself.
The large dog park in the sky off Mulholland. We are larks, happy as pigs in shit. Many funny loving doggies. We want to take them all home.
Christofuck delays our day, disappoints us and dips our dinner in pretense. He talks in a loop and never listens. He makes us a little sad. Gabi helps.
We are avoiding a party, beware invitations delivered with and Iron fist and ending in "Or Else!"
Tiger stops in, funnier than ever, just what the doctor ordered and a nice warm cap on the night.
After Tiger departs Devin and Dylan Arrive, followed by the funny lady from pink dot. We eat, the boys attend the party, I scrape myself up to deliver a begrudged social service, but stick my foot before the door when the swarm follows me home. I am firm and correct and will not waver. Nyquil is the post man, that delivers us to sleep.
Friday, November 12, 2004
It's working, just working slow
It appears that forcing myself to abandon the political has allowed me to start blogging again. I seem to have forgotten that paying attention and caring only seems to encourage those fuck faces.
Last night we ate barbecue, liked the fine meat eaters we are then headed home where Amy crawled into bed with a host of ailments. Devin and I held fast to the front room and plowed throughout the waters Free Alongside Ship. Last night we worked on the infant song The Amnesty Party; rich in concept and beauty, such high hopes i have for it.
I dug the bass guitar I inherited from Billy out of the closet the other day, I checked it's neck and changes the strings. I have not played much bass on SG recordings, but I have the bug to play those fat strings and I imagine that I'll work them in as often as I can.
Last night we ate barbecue, liked the fine meat eaters we are then headed home where Amy crawled into bed with a host of ailments. Devin and I held fast to the front room and plowed throughout the waters Free Alongside Ship. Last night we worked on the infant song The Amnesty Party; rich in concept and beauty, such high hopes i have for it.
I dug the bass guitar I inherited from Billy out of the closet the other day, I checked it's neck and changes the strings. I have not played much bass on SG recordings, but I have the bug to play those fat strings and I imagine that I'll work them in as often as I can.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Further...more
Four years ago while Bush was stealing an election, I was wrecking my car. I was heading down De Soto in the San Fernando valley, on my lunch break at 8:00 in the morning. If you do the math, lunch comes at 8:00 am if you go to work at 4:00 am.
I was trying last Tuesday to do a little election reaction blog with a huge back story of how Bush has fucked up my life. It simply would not come out. That pig fucker had me stopped up like a diet of cheese. So I'll leave it at the above few sentences, which was all the further I could get. Maybe now I'll be able to type stupid again.
I've been playing the game dope wars online during work. It is very fun.
The band has been recording and writing and generally trying to get a handle on the album. It seems to be helping. We played to no one last week in Costa mesa, with a drummer who was a little eager. It was fun but I would not have liked it if people had been there.
I was trying last Tuesday to do a little election reaction blog with a huge back story of how Bush has fucked up my life. It simply would not come out. That pig fucker had me stopped up like a diet of cheese. So I'll leave it at the above few sentences, which was all the further I could get. Maybe now I'll be able to type stupid again.
I've been playing the game dope wars online during work. It is very fun.
The band has been recording and writing and generally trying to get a handle on the album. It seems to be helping. We played to no one last week in Costa mesa, with a drummer who was a little eager. It was fun but I would not have liked it if people had been there.
Friday, October 22, 2004
Hacky
K! Today is Friday. I'm pleased in general today. I've been sitting here at work getting to know my new work computer. It likes me, I like it. Very happy indeed.
We finished the single, I think devin mailed it off today!!! Good boy Devo!
We finished the single, I think devin mailed it off today!!! Good boy Devo!
Monday, October 18, 2004
Lost in the Oxbow
A long weekend ends in reality.
Friday was nice, rehearsal @ Satellite Studios, fun fun fun. Drinking and jamming hard. Worked out a new track that has the words "little super hero" in it. It is a really fun song to play and I think it will develop into a crowd favorite. Devin's keyboard is off the hook, like the Doors or the Dandy Warhols. I like to play the octave guitar part on the chorus. It's easy too!
After rehearsal we watched "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" it was wonderful. Absolutely shockingly great.
Saturday was nice and easy. Sleeping in till One or Two. Lunch for breakfast at the French Market. Devin came over during the afternoon and we worked all evening developing an instrumental demo of the new song mentioned in rehearsal above. We also laid down the drums and keyboard for High and Tight.
Saturday night we went to one of Bett's wrestling parties. It was great fun, taking place in a loft at the brewery downtown. I gave a lap dance.
The gig yesterday was an interesting one.
Friday was nice, rehearsal @ Satellite Studios, fun fun fun. Drinking and jamming hard. Worked out a new track that has the words "little super hero" in it. It is a really fun song to play and I think it will develop into a crowd favorite. Devin's keyboard is off the hook, like the Doors or the Dandy Warhols. I like to play the octave guitar part on the chorus. It's easy too!
After rehearsal we watched "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" it was wonderful. Absolutely shockingly great.
Saturday was nice and easy. Sleeping in till One or Two. Lunch for breakfast at the French Market. Devin came over during the afternoon and we worked all evening developing an instrumental demo of the new song mentioned in rehearsal above. We also laid down the drums and keyboard for High and Tight.
Saturday night we went to one of Bett's wrestling parties. It was great fun, taking place in a loft at the brewery downtown. I gave a lap dance.
The gig yesterday was an interesting one.
Friday, October 15, 2004
ad astra per aspera
Golly wonkers.
It's been happening around here at a pretty assured rate. First off I've been pulling teeth trying to get the IW6 single mastered. My recording was not of great quality, many things I left to fix in the mix, which is such a shitty lazy way to record, I was embarrassed to send the first rough mix to the master. I think a great deal of hastle came from the fact that I was just learing some of the new systems I used to record this single on, In that respect I learned a fair deal. I also had never been through the mastering process with a song. I think I picked up some pretty useful knowledge about mixing and e.q., only time will tell if I can learn to apply it all. All in all I think when I get some time between myself and the single I will be pretty happy with it. Until then I'm just riding the snake, as they say in certain whereabouts.
The recordings we've started for the album sound great so far. I can't wait to wrap it up and get it all polished. That will be a huge moment for me, getting a full l.p. mastered and pressed. Many stress to come.
I've been having some success in the field of recreational reading. Certain times of my life have seemed to yield up a nice set pattern for reading, in this particular one I seem to steal about five 10 minute periods a day. I'm really enjoying a trick that I have recently discovered regarding the buses I ride everyday. I used to get car sick by reading in the bus, so I was forced to look at the bums on the bus in addition to smelling them. Last month however, I discovered that if I sit in the back of the bus, where there are two benches that face inward instead of forward, that while sitting on one of those two benches I can read without becoming nauseous.
I have just finished reading dickens "The Old Curiosity Shop". I LOVED it!! It was like one of the novels I enjoyed most while reading it. I"m now reading "Anna Kerenin".
It's been happening around here at a pretty assured rate. First off I've been pulling teeth trying to get the IW6 single mastered. My recording was not of great quality, many things I left to fix in the mix, which is such a shitty lazy way to record, I was embarrassed to send the first rough mix to the master. I think a great deal of hastle came from the fact that I was just learing some of the new systems I used to record this single on, In that respect I learned a fair deal. I also had never been through the mastering process with a song. I think I picked up some pretty useful knowledge about mixing and e.q., only time will tell if I can learn to apply it all. All in all I think when I get some time between myself and the single I will be pretty happy with it. Until then I'm just riding the snake, as they say in certain whereabouts.
The recordings we've started for the album sound great so far. I can't wait to wrap it up and get it all polished. That will be a huge moment for me, getting a full l.p. mastered and pressed. Many stress to come.
I've been having some success in the field of recreational reading. Certain times of my life have seemed to yield up a nice set pattern for reading, in this particular one I seem to steal about five 10 minute periods a day. I'm really enjoying a trick that I have recently discovered regarding the buses I ride everyday. I used to get car sick by reading in the bus, so I was forced to look at the bums on the bus in addition to smelling them. Last month however, I discovered that if I sit in the back of the bus, where there are two benches that face inward instead of forward, that while sitting on one of those two benches I can read without becoming nauseous.
I have just finished reading dickens "The Old Curiosity Shop". I LOVED it!! It was like one of the novels I enjoyed most while reading it. I"m now reading "Anna Kerenin".
Monday, October 04, 2004
Shed Fish (cause I am Crazy and you know it!!)
This weekend was a fun one! Friday night Devin and Coco came over while we did laundry and we all prepared outfits and listened to music and drank and were generally merry. I liked it all very much. Saturday morning the alarms on cellphones went off before 9 a.m. and we all hopped out of bed and into action. Quickly the escape was packed, our P.A., keyboard, guitar, guitar amp, singer, guitar player, keyboard player, extreme go go dancer, suitcase full of t-shirts, make-up boxe full of cds, make-up, outfits and a bear named spike. It was a tight squeeze and some of it had to ride on top of the car but that was fine by it.
The show was bizarre, a strange mix of old gays and lesbians. Just before we played about fifteen youngsters came in so we felt more at home, they bought t-shirts and cds which made us very happy and allowed us to retire to the beer garden and chew the fuck with a band called crushed. All very fun, big thank you to our friend Ren from San Diego who sets us up with fun events to play!
After the show we tooled down to shelter Island to see good friends Judy & VAl from abigails Attic. We slept on their floor, drank all but one of their beers and smoke grass like it grew naturally. It was soo much fun!! I am happy to be back in L.A. working at work and ready to get down to business on recording Free Alongside Ship.
Sitting on tippy toes waiting for a sample of our song IW6 to return from being mastered. New frontiers in making music, it's all good!
The show was bizarre, a strange mix of old gays and lesbians. Just before we played about fifteen youngsters came in so we felt more at home, they bought t-shirts and cds which made us very happy and allowed us to retire to the beer garden and chew the fuck with a band called crushed. All very fun, big thank you to our friend Ren from San Diego who sets us up with fun events to play!
After the show we tooled down to shelter Island to see good friends Judy & VAl from abigails Attic. We slept on their floor, drank all but one of their beers and smoke grass like it grew naturally. It was soo much fun!! I am happy to be back in L.A. working at work and ready to get down to business on recording Free Alongside Ship.
Sitting on tippy toes waiting for a sample of our song IW6 to return from being mastered. New frontiers in making music, it's all good!
Thursday, September 30, 2004
In many variable
Now well it has been a few days since my last little nibble blog, yet I have not been hungry. Nay! I have been distracted, easily and by nothing in particular. Oh humbling moments of realization. Back from the fountain, The ivory turned, seasonal specials upon us at last.
I suppose "The incomparable White Six" single has been finished by Shitting Glitter, and mixed by yours truly. Gruesome work, frustrated to figure out a few things way too late but just in time. Now the period of distance must grow, and when it's taller than the weeds I will look at it and be very enthused that I was pushed into completion, but for now I am rather content to be aware that it is almost always the case of recordings I've helmed, that in the end I am proud if not happy and amazed. Work on the album "Free Alongside Ship" has begun, of this I am more excited than ever before. How long before I hold the item in my hands?
This weekend we are off to San Diego to headline a little gay gathering in a park! We are HUGE in San Diego.
I find that I am fulling enjoying "The Old Curiosity Shop" by Charles D.
I suppose "The incomparable White Six" single has been finished by Shitting Glitter, and mixed by yours truly. Gruesome work, frustrated to figure out a few things way too late but just in time. Now the period of distance must grow, and when it's taller than the weeds I will look at it and be very enthused that I was pushed into completion, but for now I am rather content to be aware that it is almost always the case of recordings I've helmed, that in the end I am proud if not happy and amazed. Work on the album "Free Alongside Ship" has begun, of this I am more excited than ever before. How long before I hold the item in my hands?
This weekend we are off to San Diego to headline a little gay gathering in a park! We are HUGE in San Diego.
I find that I am fulling enjoying "The Old Curiosity Shop" by Charles D.
Monday, September 13, 2004
Mind your stern
At work again and the full tilt of the week is before me. I can see into the barrel, a bullet named Monday already through my head, I can see Tuesday and I know there are more behind and below it.
The weekend was hot hot arduous. Nearly all the recording for the single is complete in nice level stacks of 15 or 16. A spare back up vocal and an errant baseline remain.
This week will no doubt be a mix of high temperature and frustrated mixing.
Today sadly the rightful owner of our fabulously borrowed microphone awoke to find it missing. A very kind girl got yelled at for the sake of the music and I feel really bad about that. The show goes on and I'm sure now that we will not be so lucky as to use it for our album. eesh.
As if sensing the week a to come last night we were treated to a plastic meal of fantastic raw fish that a king could consume in proper royal court. We followed the meal with a mad dash reminder to a karaoke host friend, a song and a beer when you least expected it, thanks for everything and here's to life.
Tonight I hope to tie up a those last few recording ends. Bend it all up and call it okay. Okay? Who really can tell?
I am a reluctant scarred cat sometimes, most times actually. I have reminded myself of that over and over... Don't say no so quick. Don't think of the reason it won't work. Be a fool who tried it. Shikes...I could dwell in the land of the inspirational poster and come back with a horn of plenty. I see those people around me who have made the decision that life is a one chance idea that you get to think up as you go. I have seen them hold rock steady to an idea they had the good chance to encounter and plug through all the negative nats in the world, only to surprise! Explosion! Succeed! Success! Some fucking people are just so precious that I need to stop and watch and grow the fuck on, move, warning shots are only fired in bad movies and occasionally, certain backwards southern states.
The weekend was hot hot arduous. Nearly all the recording for the single is complete in nice level stacks of 15 or 16. A spare back up vocal and an errant baseline remain.
This week will no doubt be a mix of high temperature and frustrated mixing.
Today sadly the rightful owner of our fabulously borrowed microphone awoke to find it missing. A very kind girl got yelled at for the sake of the music and I feel really bad about that. The show goes on and I'm sure now that we will not be so lucky as to use it for our album. eesh.
As if sensing the week a to come last night we were treated to a plastic meal of fantastic raw fish that a king could consume in proper royal court. We followed the meal with a mad dash reminder to a karaoke host friend, a song and a beer when you least expected it, thanks for everything and here's to life.
Tonight I hope to tie up a those last few recording ends. Bend it all up and call it okay. Okay? Who really can tell?
I am a reluctant scarred cat sometimes, most times actually. I have reminded myself of that over and over... Don't say no so quick. Don't think of the reason it won't work. Be a fool who tried it. Shikes...I could dwell in the land of the inspirational poster and come back with a horn of plenty. I see those people around me who have made the decision that life is a one chance idea that you get to think up as you go. I have seen them hold rock steady to an idea they had the good chance to encounter and plug through all the negative nats in the world, only to surprise! Explosion! Succeed! Success! Some fucking people are just so precious that I need to stop and watch and grow the fuck on, move, warning shots are only fired in bad movies and occasionally, certain backwards southern states.
Friday, September 10, 2004
Possible explanation
I'm not eating carbohydrates today. I'm drinking coffee and eating crisp turkey bacon.
Last night was good, we watched the premier of Joey and I for one particularly enjoyed it. After the fine show we had a little meeting of the Glitters to discuss our pending album. We came to some agreements and hammered out a picture of what the work may be like.
Amy and I began writing a song for the album after the currently in process, It is a fun song and I'm excited to see that it takes place in present day.
I'll be touching up the recordings this weekend and mixing my silly self silly.
Last night was good, we watched the premier of Joey and I for one particularly enjoyed it. After the fine show we had a little meeting of the Glitters to discuss our pending album. We came to some agreements and hammered out a picture of what the work may be like.
Amy and I began writing a song for the album after the currently in process, It is a fun song and I'm excited to see that it takes place in present day.
I'll be touching up the recordings this weekend and mixing my silly self silly.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Whole proof of improvement
I'm awake today and much better off for it. I left home earlier than I ever do and I had a can of soda and a package of turkey bacon in my back pack. It did not take me long to appreciate the warm air on my slow walk to the bus. I could feel my self in a better head and I reacted in the positive.
Yesterday morning sucked, I couldn't get a handle on it, just kept getting away from me. I felt in a panic about our band, in a panic about cash. Just a big weight pressin' down... "Take a load off Brandon"... I wrote emails hoping to get responses with something sticking out of to hold onto. I pressed hard enough and before the working day ended the people that matter most had managed to give me a hand hold, I took hold and today feel thankful.
Last night was not as pressed as I thought. I broke my second and only low E, the second night in a row. We did laundry, sober, which is not really as fun as the drunken laundry that we normally do. It's really a good time to keep a cooler full of beer in the car and sneak a 7-11 cup full of brew into the gay disco laundry mat and drink and watch the wardrobe spin. Last night it was just nice to crawl into bed still inside my own temper.
Once inside bed a little marijuana reward was in order followed by the bizarre spectacle that is "The Mayor of Sunset Strip". It was funny watching this little troll of a boy navigate through life, it was also sad and disgusting. There were enough dashes of inspiration that a young Hollywood band can use, but there is also exposed in all it's ugly detail that wall that separates today's world and today's music with the music of Rodney's life which didn't have to try and block the divider out of the frame or keep it out of the groove of the record.
Yesterday morning sucked, I couldn't get a handle on it, just kept getting away from me. I felt in a panic about our band, in a panic about cash. Just a big weight pressin' down... "Take a load off Brandon"... I wrote emails hoping to get responses with something sticking out of to hold onto. I pressed hard enough and before the working day ended the people that matter most had managed to give me a hand hold, I took hold and today feel thankful.
Last night was not as pressed as I thought. I broke my second and only low E, the second night in a row. We did laundry, sober, which is not really as fun as the drunken laundry that we normally do. It's really a good time to keep a cooler full of beer in the car and sneak a 7-11 cup full of brew into the gay disco laundry mat and drink and watch the wardrobe spin. Last night it was just nice to crawl into bed still inside my own temper.
Once inside bed a little marijuana reward was in order followed by the bizarre spectacle that is "The Mayor of Sunset Strip". It was funny watching this little troll of a boy navigate through life, it was also sad and disgusting. There were enough dashes of inspiration that a young Hollywood band can use, but there is also exposed in all it's ugly detail that wall that separates today's world and today's music with the music of Rodney's life which didn't have to try and block the divider out of the frame or keep it out of the groove of the record.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Knee Deep in Feet
I forgot to wear my glasses to work today, I used to forget quite often but in the last Six months or so I have not forgotten at all. I remember now that I used to think it was rather fun, being a degree or two more than usually removed from the world. Somehow taking away the crispness of vision dulls out more than just the visual world. There is some space created in my brain by not having to read far away signs or look closely at people. Today all that extra power saved by not wearing glasses is focusing on the self. Oh me...
I think me in a funk of sorts, or at least feeling a little funking.
I can't manage to eat properly. Every morning I get to work a half hour early, not because I'm a go get it all kind of person but because I'm humbled every single day by the fact that I can't manage to have a car. So in my half hour after arriving to work I walk over to Vallarta supermarket, and proceed to find the most processed foods for consumption. Maybe it's a culture gap but there doesn't seem to be any real food in a Vallarta supermarket, So I end up with lunchables and little chocolate donuts, or hot pockets and frozen pizza.
If the bad food I eat at work is not to be the death of me I imagine the fact that I daily jay-walk across Vineland avenue in a sleep deprived state shoving little chocolate donuts in my mouth will. Should I have the poor fortune of living long enough I'll just have to have a back transplant because my chair is a big mess of uncomfort.
My blog is getting so emo today, and to take it further, one of the guys I work with just walked in to tell me that John Kerry was planted by the republicans to ensure an election victory for Dubya. I can't even begin to pick a part that mess...
I am really rather tired, and there is no sense in getting down to the truth in a blog.
I think me in a funk of sorts, or at least feeling a little funking.
I can't manage to eat properly. Every morning I get to work a half hour early, not because I'm a go get it all kind of person but because I'm humbled every single day by the fact that I can't manage to have a car. So in my half hour after arriving to work I walk over to Vallarta supermarket, and proceed to find the most processed foods for consumption. Maybe it's a culture gap but there doesn't seem to be any real food in a Vallarta supermarket, So I end up with lunchables and little chocolate donuts, or hot pockets and frozen pizza.
If the bad food I eat at work is not to be the death of me I imagine the fact that I daily jay-walk across Vineland avenue in a sleep deprived state shoving little chocolate donuts in my mouth will. Should I have the poor fortune of living long enough I'll just have to have a back transplant because my chair is a big mess of uncomfort.
My blog is getting so emo today, and to take it further, one of the guys I work with just walked in to tell me that John Kerry was planted by the republicans to ensure an election victory for Dubya. I can't even begin to pick a part that mess...
I am really rather tired, and there is no sense in getting down to the truth in a blog.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Over labored day
Friday full of cheap food and cheaper beer at pit fire pizza in no ho, followed by a visit to the rather infamous "scott's" apartment. Distracted a bit by my own bad choices during Harold and Maude.
Saturday recording and living at Christopher's house of sexual offence in the valley. In the closet with an expensive beyond our reach microphone goes Amy, then Devin followed by Amy and M.Q., wonderful results, I would suppose if I were not a little nervous to listen to them again. Singing late into the night as Saturday becomes Sunday without even a hint of change. Trivia and Pink Dots dancing in our living room until "Chasing Amy" lulled us asleep.
The crowd around Pam Boobersons' Boobs wakes us up to meet her propped up smiling corpse. Her boobs have written a book with some other boob and many blogs are now taking notice.
Denny returns to find a very normal and warm welcome. Monday is tired and lazy and the "Garden State" is shown downtown, we watch it just fine. Drinks at the gay cabo cantina, followed by a crazed hair brained Idea to go to Pasadena.
Singing with Jackie, nerve about new songs, but all in all not very awful.
Saturday recording and living at Christopher's house of sexual offence in the valley. In the closet with an expensive beyond our reach microphone goes Amy, then Devin followed by Amy and M.Q., wonderful results, I would suppose if I were not a little nervous to listen to them again. Singing late into the night as Saturday becomes Sunday without even a hint of change. Trivia and Pink Dots dancing in our living room until "Chasing Amy" lulled us asleep.
The crowd around Pam Boobersons' Boobs wakes us up to meet her propped up smiling corpse. Her boobs have written a book with some other boob and many blogs are now taking notice.
Denny returns to find a very normal and warm welcome. Monday is tired and lazy and the "Garden State" is shown downtown, we watch it just fine. Drinks at the gay cabo cantina, followed by a crazed hair brained Idea to go to Pasadena.
Singing with Jackie, nerve about new songs, but all in all not very awful.
Friday, September 03, 2004
Bucker is a Fuckerhead
The mis-guided missing reaction slips the noose tails up the idea far behind and chasing the caboose catch up mr. Catcher, rye do you even bother? got issues to be discussed, far more than the cliff of youth farther to fall and more to use, sleeper strings of cheese attached to meals and monuments, what you said you meant, what I can forgive, if I could be forgotten, I'm not really as tired as it seems and I don't trifle, I am still steadfast and hungry and righteously pompous, I do know, I am the believer in the television, with the telecaster, shooting stars with my old gun.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Forward Tinker
K...I'm bored here today, I have done much work and I'm ready to go home.
I was able to place my self in an hourly rented room last night with the dirty whore that is my 16-track hard disk recording device. In an hour and 45 minutes I was able to complete the electric guitar for "iw6" and "shgc" I also did some flurries on "gw"... It was all fun and games but a little frustrating, still not entirely able to achieve the sounds I wish, I guess you need to pay a little more to actually like the recorded sound of an electric guitar. All in all it was nice and odd, me in a room with my amp and a useless drum kit, bashing it out hoping for the best.
Returned home to a locked up house and no keys in my pocket, luckily Pink Dot let me in.
Just finished reading "The Making Of The African Queen", finding myself locked into the rhythm logic of Kat Hep to burn, it's a rather proper feeling you know, which I've always found is the best kind of feeling there is. I think next I'll read "The Fourth Hand" by Irving, it sits there a top the bookcase winking at me.
Tonight I will help Melissa with mixing some M.Q. Musik songs, or at least look at her recorded set up and figure out a way in which I will be able to mix them. I've never mixed something I didn't record.
I was able to place my self in an hourly rented room last night with the dirty whore that is my 16-track hard disk recording device. In an hour and 45 minutes I was able to complete the electric guitar for "iw6" and "shgc" I also did some flurries on "gw"... It was all fun and games but a little frustrating, still not entirely able to achieve the sounds I wish, I guess you need to pay a little more to actually like the recorded sound of an electric guitar. All in all it was nice and odd, me in a room with my amp and a useless drum kit, bashing it out hoping for the best.
Returned home to a locked up house and no keys in my pocket, luckily Pink Dot let me in.
Just finished reading "The Making Of The African Queen", finding myself locked into the rhythm logic of Kat Hep to burn, it's a rather proper feeling you know, which I've always found is the best kind of feeling there is. I think next I'll read "The Fourth Hand" by Irving, it sits there a top the bookcase winking at me.
Tonight I will help Melissa with mixing some M.Q. Musik songs, or at least look at her recorded set up and figure out a way in which I will be able to mix them. I've never mixed something I didn't record.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
A Son of the Circus
No recording last night, those bastards at the sound arena had it all booked up. So tonight I have a room, 2 hours is all I get to get it right... It's only three songs so what the hey, I bet I can pull it off.
Finished reading "A Son of the Circus" last night. I've nothing profound or arty to say about it other than I liked it and think it was a damn fine creation. I am now reading "The Making of the African Queen" by Katherine Hepburn, delightful piss-whip that she was.
Have been as of late taking many fine meals at a cozy little place on Hayward just a stones throw north of Santa Monica called "Pizzetta" They don't sell booze but you can bring it in, which works out on the cheap. The sauce on the pizza we had last night was so spicy that my entire face was sweating, but damn fine none the less.
Finished reading "A Son of the Circus" last night. I've nothing profound or arty to say about it other than I liked it and think it was a damn fine creation. I am now reading "The Making of the African Queen" by Katherine Hepburn, delightful piss-whip that she was.
Have been as of late taking many fine meals at a cozy little place on Hayward just a stones throw north of Santa Monica called "Pizzetta" They don't sell booze but you can bring it in, which works out on the cheap. The sauce on the pizza we had last night was so spicy that my entire face was sweating, but damn fine none the less.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
Awe Shucks...That was deep.
An evening spent relaxing. Dinner at the French Market, followed by reading in bed and sleeping early.
Reading "A Son of the Circus" by John Irving, started slow but has hooked my imagination as I head into the home stretch.
I woke up at 2:00 a.m. my side of the bed drenched in sweat, I am soaked head to foot. I guess my body had some toxic matter to dispense with. Later I dreamed that Shitting Glitter was on a tour of Russia, the details are blurry but I do recall we were treated well so we must have been in demand.
Tonight I intend to rent a room where I can Loudly record my guitar, I am giddy at the prospect.
Reading "A Son of the Circus" by John Irving, started slow but has hooked my imagination as I head into the home stretch.
I woke up at 2:00 a.m. my side of the bed drenched in sweat, I am soaked head to foot. I guess my body had some toxic matter to dispense with. Later I dreamed that Shitting Glitter was on a tour of Russia, the details are blurry but I do recall we were treated well so we must have been in demand.
Tonight I intend to rent a room where I can Loudly record my guitar, I am giddy at the prospect.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Slip Walking
Oh me, my rotten head is tired and rather close to being empty. Luckily my hair is still tingling. This weekend was a long one. Saturday we played at the Derby in support of Kelly Mantle's CD release party. It was good fun, and a nice return to a venue I really appreciate. The Derby was the site of my first ever good show with SG, just a bit more than a year ago. This time around our performance was tighter, and the drums much more manageable. It was nice playing with Kelly, he is a very sweet person, and rather talented as well. After the show was mild crazy, Amy and I talking Melissa's ear off with questions. Sunday after fitful sleep Amy proclaims her desire for mimosa's, a downward spiral way to spend a day...
Friday, August 20, 2004
Anarchy in the Library and other things
We had a show a couple nights ago at the Anarchy Library in Downey, we played with The Skates which is Melissa from M.Q. Musik's new band. It was a fun time. The Skates are doing a very unique thing and I look forward to seeing more from them. Our set was decent but I was not all up to the task of playing an entire set. My hands were rather tired and my picking arm is starting to rub itself raw on the body of my guitar, it is an occasional problem where my arm gets lazy and or something, it can be really rather painful. This is the second time we've played the A.L., it's oddly one of my favorite places to play. The owner is very serious about his bar, but does seem to love us. He has showered us in free booze on both occasions of our playing there. I wasn't very pleased with the way he treated Melissa, they had a few feedback problems caused by a set up thingy issue and he was very blunt in incorrectly blaming it on the music itself. I took particular annoyance at someone questioning the artistic merit of a band in their second ever live performance, simply because they had issues with equipment not being up to the task of meeting the needs of their creation. He went so far as to speak on behalf of most of Europe and America, delivering their message that apparently The Skates will not be well received.... On and on with no respect for personal space, not nice things to say in such a manner. Don't speak for me please, and let Europe make up their own mind, Downey is not the seat of the universe, The Skates are a unique band with good songs and that is all that matters, a little feedback never really ruins anyone's good time.
Last night was easy breezy, dinner at Marco's in WeHo, listening to Amy and asking a few questions. My how I love the evening meal.
Sleeping hard under the influence of pot and little golden sleeping pills, dreaming very lightly about things I know. Waking up hard to cuddle and go back to sleep, waking up just as hard 38 minutes later. Leaving the house very late this morning, walking very fast to make up for it.
It seems I am always walking fast to account for my lack of a vehicle. In the evenings a new routine has developed, I take the 217 from the Hollywood/Highland station to Fairfax and Sixth, from there I walk down sixth towards Sweetzer to meet Amy. I could scarcely find a better street for walking then Sixth in this part of town. The tree lined street flashes cozy apartment buildings that appeal to me. I walk fast, even through this peaceful wealth because I am excited to see Amy and get in a car.
Last night was easy breezy, dinner at Marco's in WeHo, listening to Amy and asking a few questions. My how I love the evening meal.
Sleeping hard under the influence of pot and little golden sleeping pills, dreaming very lightly about things I know. Waking up hard to cuddle and go back to sleep, waking up just as hard 38 minutes later. Leaving the house very late this morning, walking very fast to make up for it.
It seems I am always walking fast to account for my lack of a vehicle. In the evenings a new routine has developed, I take the 217 from the Hollywood/Highland station to Fairfax and Sixth, from there I walk down sixth towards Sweetzer to meet Amy. I could scarcely find a better street for walking then Sixth in this part of town. The tree lined street flashes cozy apartment buildings that appeal to me. I walk fast, even through this peaceful wealth because I am excited to see Amy and get in a car.
Monday, August 16, 2004
Where there's smoke...
A rather triumphant return to smoking grass! After a long lull in usage I willowed away an entire weekend smoking marijuana. We recorded a great deal, and slept far more than usual. How very interesting.
Friday, August 13, 2004
Wound Dead
Play and record over and over amounting to nothing more than good solid practice because my fucking acoustic guitar strings were dead dead dead. I certainly knew better, but I recorded it anyway, I guess just teaching myself a lesson about letting the strings stay on the guitar far too long. Before the poverty I would change my acoustic strings weekly, but that was prior to having to change electric strings before every show, and prior to the poverty.
The point was that I was working on the b-sides for the IW 6 single last night and I was unable to use anything because the strings just sounded bad.
On a good sounding note Amy did a scratch vocal for the minimal version of IW 6 and it sounded wonderful! I think it's going to turn out to be one of my favorite recordings.
The point was that I was working on the b-sides for the IW 6 single last night and I was unable to use anything because the strings just sounded bad.
On a good sounding note Amy did a scratch vocal for the minimal version of IW 6 and it sounded wonderful! I think it's going to turn out to be one of my favorite recordings.
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Ground Up
Last night I typed an email to my long lost cousin while hitting play and record for my Brother who was playing a beautiful piano part on a keyboard. I'm not the most involved producer but I will on occasion go so far as to make you turkey bacon to get the take. Devin was recording the backbone for a stripped down version of Shitting Glitters next single, "The Incomparable White Six". The windows were wide open so the neighbors got what I consider to be a treat, but nothing is free so if they want to hear the music with out the beep beep click of the click track then they are going to have to fork over just a little cash. And if the neighbors would prefer to hear nothing at all then they best send over some major cash cause no one in our band can pay for studio time.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Forming
My sister and a friend were in our city for a visit this weekend. I do believe Amy and I were drunk for a large portion of it. As the wheel swings, we have rocked our way into a moments sobriety.
During my sisters visit we had many an odd, often prematurely aborted adventures. Friday morning following her arrival Thursday night we decided to hit the beach. A hot, sunny day in Korea Town faded with approaching Santa Monica into a chilly over cast afternoon. We made it only far enough to prove that we did live near the ocean. We stopped for CPK and the turned around.
Friday night proved far more successful, Amy and I proved that we can throw a decent cocktail party at a moments notice, and that it is cheaper for us to drink at home and provide plenty alcohol for all of our friends to get lightly loaded, than it is for the two of us to go out for dinner and then swill away hours in a bar.
Saturday morning well hung, almost as bitchy as Saturday night. Playing Hamburger mare's in the LBC, waiting for karaoke bands to finish, only to suffer sound that had obviously not been carefully planned, or even thought of. A frustrating infuriating experience, like breaking down and fucking someone you hate only to have awful sex.
Sunday to China Town, Kansas girls hate China food. Sunday night at Barney's, straight men are retarded.
Monday to El Coyote, apparently the reigning star of my blog. Arriving a little later than the rest of our party Amy and I noticed a rather ugly woman in a bad turquoise hat looking far more like Steven Tyler than should be recommended. Using the look-alike as a wedge we were able to pry the others from the large circle table near the east bathrooms and shoo them onto the patio, where one can drink much louder. Just before the arrival of our food an acquaintance of sorts happened towards our table, his party had decided upon the Coyote to celebrate and commemorate the fact that the Sharon Tate party had taken their last meal there exactly 35 years ago today. He noticed us only by chance, in entering the dining area his group immediately checked upon the availability of the large circular table near east restroom, now occupied by a less than aware family. Upon seeing the new occupants of the table one of my acquaintances friends shrieked "Those people shouldn't be sitting there, it should be a group like that!" And who should be on the pointy end of the finger, but our party. I'd like to think the Steven Tyler look-alike saved us from a rather hairy fate.
***
Last night recording continued on the IW6 single. Devin finished off his keyboard parts on the new version of S.H.G.C., I hacked out a rough idea of a guitar part for Guerilla (warfare) and the two of us bopped out most of the idea portions of one last new song. Tonight we continue recording, Devin will record the piano for the alternate version of IW 6, and I will possibly be allowed some acoustic guitar time.
During my sisters visit we had many an odd, often prematurely aborted adventures. Friday morning following her arrival Thursday night we decided to hit the beach. A hot, sunny day in Korea Town faded with approaching Santa Monica into a chilly over cast afternoon. We made it only far enough to prove that we did live near the ocean. We stopped for CPK and the turned around.
Friday night proved far more successful, Amy and I proved that we can throw a decent cocktail party at a moments notice, and that it is cheaper for us to drink at home and provide plenty alcohol for all of our friends to get lightly loaded, than it is for the two of us to go out for dinner and then swill away hours in a bar.
Saturday morning well hung, almost as bitchy as Saturday night. Playing Hamburger mare's in the LBC, waiting for karaoke bands to finish, only to suffer sound that had obviously not been carefully planned, or even thought of. A frustrating infuriating experience, like breaking down and fucking someone you hate only to have awful sex.
Sunday to China Town, Kansas girls hate China food. Sunday night at Barney's, straight men are retarded.
Monday to El Coyote, apparently the reigning star of my blog. Arriving a little later than the rest of our party Amy and I noticed a rather ugly woman in a bad turquoise hat looking far more like Steven Tyler than should be recommended. Using the look-alike as a wedge we were able to pry the others from the large circle table near the east bathrooms and shoo them onto the patio, where one can drink much louder. Just before the arrival of our food an acquaintance of sorts happened towards our table, his party had decided upon the Coyote to celebrate and commemorate the fact that the Sharon Tate party had taken their last meal there exactly 35 years ago today. He noticed us only by chance, in entering the dining area his group immediately checked upon the availability of the large circular table near east restroom, now occupied by a less than aware family. Upon seeing the new occupants of the table one of my acquaintances friends shrieked "Those people shouldn't be sitting there, it should be a group like that!" And who should be on the pointy end of the finger, but our party. I'd like to think the Steven Tyler look-alike saved us from a rather hairy fate.
***
Last night recording continued on the IW6 single. Devin finished off his keyboard parts on the new version of S.H.G.C., I hacked out a rough idea of a guitar part for Guerilla (warfare) and the two of us bopped out most of the idea portions of one last new song. Tonight we continue recording, Devin will record the piano for the alternate version of IW 6, and I will possibly be allowed some acoustic guitar time.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Vaguely Annoying
Why even blog if I'm not going to bother writing in a readable form? Some people...Sheesh.
Ebay can be such a pain in the ass, but it is so fun. People are so extra nice cause no one wants to get a bad report card. I think that is so cute!
I should write poems more often. I'll write one now. I've been told it's cheap to write poems about nothing, so I'm going to write this poem about my office dog Buddy, suddenly becoming self aware.
I'm glad I figured out how to get on top of desks,
from way up here I am so much easier to pet,
how long can the hair on my ears grow,
I should get it cut, no, I'll let it go,
It's not really a bother, and they seem to think me cute
Ebay can be such a pain in the ass, but it is so fun. People are so extra nice cause no one wants to get a bad report card. I think that is so cute!
I should write poems more often. I'll write one now. I've been told it's cheap to write poems about nothing, so I'm going to write this poem about my office dog Buddy, suddenly becoming self aware.
I'm glad I figured out how to get on top of desks,
from way up here I am so much easier to pet,
how long can the hair on my ears grow,
I should get it cut, no, I'll let it go,
It's not really a bother, and they seem to think me cute
flashy
Long drive for pride, hard parking and out of control country beer line. Our entire San Diego trip in the balance, todder frodder to either side of a mood. Four people on picnic table, A capable sound man and nothing to lose. Maybe our best show to ever, folks running down the hill, a bunch of hippies dancing. Punks refuse to dance, but they can't fail to tap their feet a little and wonder about their choices. Happy man in a hat tells me at the end that above all else, my guitar fucking rules, pretty happy about that.
Far away hotel, good for sleeping.
Another long drive home.
Kittens miss us.
Scissor sisters management wants to feel out package!! We are happy!!
Rehearsal sounds like shit. All the equipment in the hourly studio could have been purchased for $5. Horrible sinking feeling. Hate bad rehearsal. Feeling very low.
Unexplained trouble sleeping.
Feeling better.
Need very much to get some recordings recorded.
Cycles and circles.
Far away hotel, good for sleeping.
Another long drive home.
Kittens miss us.
Scissor sisters management wants to feel out package!! We are happy!!
Rehearsal sounds like shit. All the equipment in the hourly studio could have been purchased for $5. Horrible sinking feeling. Hate bad rehearsal. Feeling very low.
Unexplained trouble sleeping.
Feeling better.
Need very much to get some recordings recorded.
Cycles and circles.
Thursday, July 29, 2004
super reasonable distraction
I've been playing a video game for an entire week of work. I have completed my tasks, and rewarded myself with completion of this evil distraction. It is now back to productive town, where important things such as blogging and reading message boards are common place.
In preparation for the new S.G. album I reviewed our recorded history late last night. Driving around with Amy, realizing that Post No Bills is not nearly as bad as I had tricked myself into thinking and that Sexy Clown Circus is a tidy little package that can actually pack a bit of a punch. R SO has my favorite guitars thus far, but I'm looking to vastly improve upon that.
This weekend we head to San Diego, what awaits us there we do not yet know.
In preparation for the new S.G. album I reviewed our recorded history late last night. Driving around with Amy, realizing that Post No Bills is not nearly as bad as I had tricked myself into thinking and that Sexy Clown Circus is a tidy little package that can actually pack a bit of a punch. R SO has my favorite guitars thus far, but I'm looking to vastly improve upon that.
This weekend we head to San Diego, what awaits us there we do not yet know.
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Ground Break In
Tonight we begin recording on the Incomparable White 6 Single. There will be a brand new single backed with several updates of old songs as b-sides. I'm very excited about this project as a guitar player and a producer. As a guitar player this marks my first ever opportunity to record a very loud electric guitar, this excites me far more than it should. As a producer I'll be working with many new and improved elements... My fingers are already crossed.
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Tired And Burned
Hot skin all over, beach hangover replaced by show hangover. Last night at fabulous Mr. T's Bowl, in fantastic Highland Park California. An under rehearsed Shitting Glitter, mussing up a few changes and breaking a string. When things are not going technically all that well is the time to at least give a little more performance wise. I was tired, but I felt that I rocked, dripping sweat, bashing it out. Fun times, even when tired.
Tonight is forced catch up night. The laundry must be done. The kitties need more food and a clean place to shit.
S.G. begins recording on a single this week.
Tonight is forced catch up night. The laundry must be done. The kitties need more food and a clean place to shit.
S.G. begins recording on a single this week.
Monday, July 19, 2004
The Sunny Side of the Street
It was real nice this weekend, waking up in the middle of the night because the room was filling up with bees, searching the room for my girlfriend, my very allergic to bees girlfriend. She is nowhere to be found, the bees have doubled 40 times over, I am screaming. I must get out of the room. I cannot run fast enough. I bolt out of the bedroom and through the front room, I tare the chain away, Twist at the bolt. I am screaming loud enough to let god know what he is doing to me.
And then it all changes. Amy is behind me. I have been asleep. The cat is now, nowhere to be found. He has squeezed himself betwixt the refridgerator and the cabinet. Henry is pulled out with a gentle hand of tuna. It is hard to go back to sleep, knowing that I must finish out the R.E.M. cycle that brought on such horror.
And then when finally I am awakened again, it's by the call of the wild, and an odd misplaced desire to hit the beach. Lots of sun, and beer bust at the Friendship (the only gay bar on the beach). Another wasted dinner at the Coyote.
And then it all changes. Amy is behind me. I have been asleep. The cat is now, nowhere to be found. He has squeezed himself betwixt the refridgerator and the cabinet. Henry is pulled out with a gentle hand of tuna. It is hard to go back to sleep, knowing that I must finish out the R.E.M. cycle that brought on such horror.
And then when finally I am awakened again, it's by the call of the wild, and an odd misplaced desire to hit the beach. Lots of sun, and beer bust at the Friendship (the only gay bar on the beach). Another wasted dinner at the Coyote.
Thursday, July 08, 2004
Spidermen
After my days work I ride the subway back to Hollywood, exiting the train at the Hollywood and Highland station. This stretch of Hollywood Blvd. is always filled with all sorts of out of work actors and musicians, who parade around or play their instruments in an attempt to wizzle money from the tourists. To me the most comical group are the "actors" who pick a particular character or public figure, dress as them and stand around in front of the Chinese theater waiting to be human props in photographs. For this service they are awarded some type of tip, the exact rate remains a mystery to me. Some of these people I see almost daily, so I am allowed the privilege and horror of watching the daily progression of a costume put to hard use. One man is a rather large Michael Myers, from Halloween. Michael has the rather difficult task of wearing a full body coverall and latex mask in the 85 degree heat. I have watched daily as the sweat stains grow.
One day I felt particularly blessed to have witnessed the universe as it reached down and changed the course of one mans life. I had noticed over over the months that Spider Man was fading in the sun. He was far to skinny, and his spider suit was beginning to fray at the ends. Spiderman was in a funk. One day as I stepped out of the tunnel I saw Spiderman, but not as I had come to know him, instead his Spider suit was deep blue and bright crimson red, the ends were tidy, this Spider works out and it shows. Spiderman soaks up the sun faster than Sheryl Crow at music industry gang bang, tips can't hit his fresh little hand fast enough.
I feel a little sick. I turn onto Orange Street, thinking about this new guy, what a prick. Isn't there a code amongst these cut throats? If there is already a Spiderman, be Superman if there is already a Superman, be Wonder Woman. There are plenty of available characters, don't take someone else's. Asshole.
Walking down Orange I chanced to witness something that I hope sticks in my mind the rest of my life. Overtaking me at a angry, purposeful gait is the Spiderman I knew before. He is faded, he is stained and frayed, he pushed the whole gig just a little too far. "One more summer, then I hang it up and head back to Indiana, just you and me Spidey, and the boulevard of broken actors."
As he passes me I see that Spiderman has removed his Spider head cover, his skin is as pasty as his costume is faded. He smokes a cigarette like a super hero. In his walk is the lust for revenge, the need to strike back at the assholes that lead him to this place, he's been fucked around by his share of evildoers, and he is just fucking ill about it.
As his stride puts Fifteen Feet between us he passes an older tourist cow coming the opposite direction, her face splits into the look we all know of the erroneously clever, and she says: "I didn't know Spiderman smoked!"
I wish that he'd grabbed her and thrown her into the chainlink fence screaming "Look bitch, there is a lot you don't know about Spiderman! He's One Fifty shy of his past due rent! His girlfriend fucks everybody but him! His parents won't even return his calls anymore. His cat scruffers is hungry! Spiderman has problems, and now that Asshat up there has stolen my fucking cash cow."
He should have put his cigarette out in her eye, but he never even broke stride.
If there is a God worth my believing in I hope that he went home to his studio apartment in the industrial section of downtown, I hope he crawled beneath the covers and rolled up against the wall he shares unknowingly with a toxic chemical storage area. The exposure over the years has forced his system to mutate, the next morning as he looks in the mirror he comes to see that he has become a mutant, half man half spider. He is vengeful and mighty.
One day I felt particularly blessed to have witnessed the universe as it reached down and changed the course of one mans life. I had noticed over over the months that Spider Man was fading in the sun. He was far to skinny, and his spider suit was beginning to fray at the ends. Spiderman was in a funk. One day as I stepped out of the tunnel I saw Spiderman, but not as I had come to know him, instead his Spider suit was deep blue and bright crimson red, the ends were tidy, this Spider works out and it shows. Spiderman soaks up the sun faster than Sheryl Crow at music industry gang bang, tips can't hit his fresh little hand fast enough.
I feel a little sick. I turn onto Orange Street, thinking about this new guy, what a prick. Isn't there a code amongst these cut throats? If there is already a Spiderman, be Superman if there is already a Superman, be Wonder Woman. There are plenty of available characters, don't take someone else's. Asshole.
Walking down Orange I chanced to witness something that I hope sticks in my mind the rest of my life. Overtaking me at a angry, purposeful gait is the Spiderman I knew before. He is faded, he is stained and frayed, he pushed the whole gig just a little too far. "One more summer, then I hang it up and head back to Indiana, just you and me Spidey, and the boulevard of broken actors."
As he passes me I see that Spiderman has removed his Spider head cover, his skin is as pasty as his costume is faded. He smokes a cigarette like a super hero. In his walk is the lust for revenge, the need to strike back at the assholes that lead him to this place, he's been fucked around by his share of evildoers, and he is just fucking ill about it.
As his stride puts Fifteen Feet between us he passes an older tourist cow coming the opposite direction, her face splits into the look we all know of the erroneously clever, and she says: "I didn't know Spiderman smoked!"
I wish that he'd grabbed her and thrown her into the chainlink fence screaming "Look bitch, there is a lot you don't know about Spiderman! He's One Fifty shy of his past due rent! His girlfriend fucks everybody but him! His parents won't even return his calls anymore. His cat scruffers is hungry! Spiderman has problems, and now that Asshat up there has stolen my fucking cash cow."
He should have put his cigarette out in her eye, but he never even broke stride.
If there is a God worth my believing in I hope that he went home to his studio apartment in the industrial section of downtown, I hope he crawled beneath the covers and rolled up against the wall he shares unknowingly with a toxic chemical storage area. The exposure over the years has forced his system to mutate, the next morning as he looks in the mirror he comes to see that he has become a mutant, half man half spider. He is vengeful and mighty.
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
In depend dance
Friday night, playing to an empty leather bar. All the leather boys had gone to spread their legs and fly at the largest leather party of the year, stiff competition really. We at least had a chance to sport our brand new speakers, two 15" subs to thump the electro drums and bring the keyboards. The speakers worked great, but Amy had trouble hearing the less then ideal no monitor house P.A. system. Myles came to record the event. Dylan showed up a little angry at Kiki and Herb. M.Q. Musik was in attendance, supportive as all get out. The Art Ghetto was there, providing the much needed reassurance that out new speakers did in fact bring the beat intact.
Saturday, sleep until the Improv group practice next door focused on the laugh of the hyena, the call of the wild. I had to shut the windows but could not block out the next door wildlife.
Brunch @ the Abbey, I'd love to hate it but there is just so much there, sometimes I can just kick back and enjoy everybody being so fucking pretty around me.
Wine tasting in a machine shed called Bev Mo, in the new Target complex. They won't wash your glass, or give you a new cup with each wine, but you can cop a buzz while a new mother holds her baby and brags. I wouldn't advocate bringing your baby to a bar, but a cordoned off wine tasting area in a big tin room is very appropriate.
Body Worlds, or how I learned to stop looking and realize that if something is sick enough to actually shock me then I probably don't want to see it anyway. Very interesting, beautiful at times, but a plastinate is no longer a human.
Second partial meal of the day washed down with PBR at Pete's Downtown.
Evening to see Demonika and the Darklings play downtown. Follow the sound of Demonika's voice and the glow of the moon. Many friends are there. One Friend for whatever mis-guided reason attempts to tell my brother, that our band is held back by all of us holding full time jobs. A completely laughable idea, a basic notion of being in our band is that we don't starve, we don't want to go without, we are clean, well fed, well drank individuals. The notion of the starving artist is the old model, a new model, with a level of sophistication and self reliance is emerging. Art and business shall not be at odds. Our art comes from the fact that we all have jobs, from the fact that we all wish to live in the best possible world we can personally provide for ourselves.
Saturday again refuses to yield Sunday. After downtown we are charged, curious about a bottle of alcohol that just may contain cocaine. The committee commences at tigers, the findings at the bottom of the bottle are in the negative.
Home, how long can Saturday go on? A store window taking picture exhibition, eyes and noses captured.
the last two songs for F.A.S., "Backyard Wildlife" and "Zero Cool" partially flushed out in the kitchen with one tiny quiet speaker.
Mayhem, three 12 packs of beer for two people, finally the longs sleep.
Monday: Michael Moore, says what must be said, nothing to do except vote.
Saturday, sleep until the Improv group practice next door focused on the laugh of the hyena, the call of the wild. I had to shut the windows but could not block out the next door wildlife.
Brunch @ the Abbey, I'd love to hate it but there is just so much there, sometimes I can just kick back and enjoy everybody being so fucking pretty around me.
Wine tasting in a machine shed called Bev Mo, in the new Target complex. They won't wash your glass, or give you a new cup with each wine, but you can cop a buzz while a new mother holds her baby and brags. I wouldn't advocate bringing your baby to a bar, but a cordoned off wine tasting area in a big tin room is very appropriate.
Body Worlds, or how I learned to stop looking and realize that if something is sick enough to actually shock me then I probably don't want to see it anyway. Very interesting, beautiful at times, but a plastinate is no longer a human.
Second partial meal of the day washed down with PBR at Pete's Downtown.
Evening to see Demonika and the Darklings play downtown. Follow the sound of Demonika's voice and the glow of the moon. Many friends are there. One Friend for whatever mis-guided reason attempts to tell my brother, that our band is held back by all of us holding full time jobs. A completely laughable idea, a basic notion of being in our band is that we don't starve, we don't want to go without, we are clean, well fed, well drank individuals. The notion of the starving artist is the old model, a new model, with a level of sophistication and self reliance is emerging. Art and business shall not be at odds. Our art comes from the fact that we all have jobs, from the fact that we all wish to live in the best possible world we can personally provide for ourselves.
Saturday again refuses to yield Sunday. After downtown we are charged, curious about a bottle of alcohol that just may contain cocaine. The committee commences at tigers, the findings at the bottom of the bottle are in the negative.
Home, how long can Saturday go on? A store window taking picture exhibition, eyes and noses captured.
the last two songs for F.A.S., "Backyard Wildlife" and "Zero Cool" partially flushed out in the kitchen with one tiny quiet speaker.
Mayhem, three 12 packs of beer for two people, finally the longs sleep.
Monday: Michael Moore, says what must be said, nothing to do except vote.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Fence Post
I'm in a halfway way mood, kind of annoyed at some things, kind of excited, kind of tired but feeling much better rested than yesterday.
Two nights ago we had a birthday celebration for a friend, M.Q. from M.Q. Musik. The event took place at the Spaghetti Factory, it was all rather fabulous. I myself had never before been to the S.F., I found the high ceilings to be very exciting. Dinner was charming as I found myself sitting next to Todd, who travels around making music with machines, and his wife Kerri, who puts music to T.V.. Turns out that Kerri is a drummer, so of course we in S.G. decided to speak to her about our desires for a drummer, she in turn related her desires to be in a band again after a year lapse. We casually spoke of "jamming" in the near future. How delighted would I be to play again with a drummer!
Last night the exhaustion from sleep deprivation neared it's pitch. Amy and I went to Benvenudo in WeHo for a fabulous dinner and happy hour. Swilling beer and pasta on the roof top patio, soaking in the gloaming. The clear blue light of the sky had me reminded of my last weeks in Hays, Ks. prior to my first move to California. It was spring then and a little chilly, and I seemed to always have the time and desire to walk out along the creek near my house, just as the sun was setting. I had a sense of the huge changes undertaking my life at that time, and it was nice to be awake and alive, feeling cool air on my skin and open thoughts in my mind. I had that same sense last night, feeling very open and aware of the idea that life can always offer up a proper surprise.
Two nights ago we had a birthday celebration for a friend, M.Q. from M.Q. Musik. The event took place at the Spaghetti Factory, it was all rather fabulous. I myself had never before been to the S.F., I found the high ceilings to be very exciting. Dinner was charming as I found myself sitting next to Todd, who travels around making music with machines, and his wife Kerri, who puts music to T.V.. Turns out that Kerri is a drummer, so of course we in S.G. decided to speak to her about our desires for a drummer, she in turn related her desires to be in a band again after a year lapse. We casually spoke of "jamming" in the near future. How delighted would I be to play again with a drummer!
Last night the exhaustion from sleep deprivation neared it's pitch. Amy and I went to Benvenudo in WeHo for a fabulous dinner and happy hour. Swilling beer and pasta on the roof top patio, soaking in the gloaming. The clear blue light of the sky had me reminded of my last weeks in Hays, Ks. prior to my first move to California. It was spring then and a little chilly, and I seemed to always have the time and desire to walk out along the creek near my house, just as the sun was setting. I had a sense of the huge changes undertaking my life at that time, and it was nice to be awake and alive, feeling cool air on my skin and open thoughts in my mind. I had that same sense last night, feeling very open and aware of the idea that life can always offer up a proper surprise.
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
All In the Journey
I am a hero in the field of the tired this morning, forsaking sleep Saturday night, and staying out late last night, I have earned myself a much deserved exhaustion.
Last night we played at Mr. T's Bowl in highland park with our friend bands M.Q. Musik and The Art Ghetto. The venue was nothing short of bizarre. Nice barfly locals, happy go lucky bar tender and a useful sound man. There is even ample free parking!!
Prior to the show Amy and I were laying down wondering if we could call in sick to our rock n' roll night job, but we knew we could never cancel, it's just not punk to call in sick. We sucked it up like the heros we are and drove to the show. It turned out to be a wonderful performance, in an odd bar that began it's life as a bowling alley. Just another dot on the map, a dash on the timeline of very sleepy life.
Last night we played at Mr. T's Bowl in highland park with our friend bands M.Q. Musik and The Art Ghetto. The venue was nothing short of bizarre. Nice barfly locals, happy go lucky bar tender and a useful sound man. There is even ample free parking!!
Prior to the show Amy and I were laying down wondering if we could call in sick to our rock n' roll night job, but we knew we could never cancel, it's just not punk to call in sick. We sucked it up like the heros we are and drove to the show. It turned out to be a wonderful performance, in an odd bar that began it's life as a bowling alley. Just another dot on the map, a dash on the timeline of very sleepy life.
Monday, June 28, 2004
Marathon
Saturday was ripe with purpose. Clean the house, the car and the laundry. Purchase lottery tickets and shelves. Write a brand new song. Saturday refuses to yield to Sunday. Sunday's rehearsal takes place late Saturday night. It's all confused and exhausting, worth every precious over-extended moment.
Thursday, June 24, 2004
The Tired Coyote
Last night my girlfriend and I took our brother out for dinner for his birthday. See if that sentance makes any sense.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
I have come to the garden
Out of one of my bosses office softly comes the voice of the late Johnny Cash, he's singing his mother's favorite hymns, my computer screen pours light which my brain interprets as words. I have to admit to being a sucker for good music journalism. It's a pretty sure fire thing, being a music journalist, combining two universal cools, bringing the truth about music, to the people who need it. It is really a big lie, but one that I'll buy, or get for free from the internet. I used to get it for free in my mailbox, from a postman who was obviously sympathetic to the starving musician, who only gets credit card bills and music gear catalogs. I think I really over-estimated my motivation when I started to write here today, writing like I was going to show you some truth about a musicians realationship to music journalism, I think I should have just mentioned that I had a nice relaxing morning, not working at work, hearing second hand Johnny cash do second hand hymns, and filling up my musical motivation with the excitement and envy that I get while reading about other people and their music, and their clothes and the way their hair falls into their eyes, and they way they talk all slow or all bombastic or the way they aren't really like those other things I've read about them, believe me, I did read those other things, and I believed them if I wanted to. In the end I've known since I was sixteen that it was silly to believe it or not to believe it, but I crave my personal soap opera, just like some people need to be involved in their church functions or some people are politically active. Cause it fills up my person a bit, and it makes it easier at times. Would I make music with out music journalism? Would politicians politic without newspapers? I don't even care right now, I'm going to read about The Strokes meeting fuckin' Lou Reed, and dig it the whole time.
Monday, June 21, 2004
Let us be gay not humble
Rather fantastic push of heights, additions of length to already long nights
We played Los Angeles Gay Pride this weekend, It was quite wonderful. We went onstage at 4:05 Saturday afternoon, complete with 2 go go dancers and my brand new pink hair! Dancing with us for the first time was Melissa from MQ Musik, she and Dylan did a fabulous job and made it so fun to be up there playing while they are switching off genders and bouncing about. The crowd was happy and gay and really seemed to enjoy our set. It was great to have a whole group of friends show up and help out. My new neighbor Katarina was very awesome at hawking the wares on the side of the stage. Tiger was there with his trusty camera, and Miles was there to video tape. It was a nice feeling seeing our friends backstage, and knowing that the effort the three of us put into our music allowed us all to reap a small amount of benefit.
I also got to Sumo wrestle in a big plastic suit and party my nuts off.
We played Los Angeles Gay Pride this weekend, It was quite wonderful. We went onstage at 4:05 Saturday afternoon, complete with 2 go go dancers and my brand new pink hair! Dancing with us for the first time was Melissa from MQ Musik, she and Dylan did a fabulous job and made it so fun to be up there playing while they are switching off genders and bouncing about. The crowd was happy and gay and really seemed to enjoy our set. It was great to have a whole group of friends show up and help out. My new neighbor Katarina was very awesome at hawking the wares on the side of the stage. Tiger was there with his trusty camera, and Miles was there to video tape. It was a nice feeling seeing our friends backstage, and knowing that the effort the three of us put into our music allowed us all to reap a small amount of benefit.
I also got to Sumo wrestle in a big plastic suit and party my nuts off.
Friday, June 18, 2004
Mission Precision
I leave the house every weekday morning between 7:03 and 7:06. I exit my apartment with a can of soda and a book in my hands, and I proceed to my bus stop, just a little over a half mile away. The ideal time for me to leave is 7:03, at that time the the earth is open and awake.
The bus picks me up on Sunset Boulevard, in front of a large house which has been converted into an office building. The building is still rather attractive and has retained a beautiful lawn, no doubt aided by the expensive timed sprinkler system. The sprinkler head in the corner of the yard nearest the pole that I lean against as I wait for my bus does not function properly, instead of spreading the water into a fine airborne mist, it acts as a spring, and creates a puddle on the ground. Watching the puddle spread outward soothes and excites me, I enjoy predicting the course it will run as it forms tiny rivers in search of lower ground. The broken sprinkler head provides not only entertainment, but acts as my commute clock. If I round the corner and I see the puddle has already crossed the sidewalk I know that I am running late. My bus arrives shortly after the water has made it's way from the yard to the street.
Today the world was willing to heed my schedule, but the driver of my particular bus was not. For some ridiculous and inane reason my bus driver decided to be early today. This was not the good early, the good early being the early where I round the corner, walk to my stop and the bus pulls up just as I arrive offering me a place to sit, instead of a poll to lean on. Today, with no regard to my sense of an ordered well maintained universe, I watch my bus drive past my stop from a distance, without me on it.
The bus picks me up on Sunset Boulevard, in front of a large house which has been converted into an office building. The building is still rather attractive and has retained a beautiful lawn, no doubt aided by the expensive timed sprinkler system. The sprinkler head in the corner of the yard nearest the pole that I lean against as I wait for my bus does not function properly, instead of spreading the water into a fine airborne mist, it acts as a spring, and creates a puddle on the ground. Watching the puddle spread outward soothes and excites me, I enjoy predicting the course it will run as it forms tiny rivers in search of lower ground. The broken sprinkler head provides not only entertainment, but acts as my commute clock. If I round the corner and I see the puddle has already crossed the sidewalk I know that I am running late. My bus arrives shortly after the water has made it's way from the yard to the street.
Today the world was willing to heed my schedule, but the driver of my particular bus was not. For some ridiculous and inane reason my bus driver decided to be early today. This was not the good early, the good early being the early where I round the corner, walk to my stop and the bus pulls up just as I arrive offering me a place to sit, instead of a poll to lean on. Today, with no regard to my sense of an ordered well maintained universe, I watch my bus drive past my stop from a distance, without me on it.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Cheap Sleep
99cents Only Stores offer several potent sleep aids. The most special and effective of these tiny chemical lullabies comes in a small golden gel cap, just like gold they are precious.
Last night around 11pm, I enjoyed the warm sledge hammer caress of just one little pill, and now 8:45am almost 10 hours later, I still feel the pull of the womb.
Last night around 11pm, I enjoyed the warm sledge hammer caress of just one little pill, and now 8:45am almost 10 hours later, I still feel the pull of the womb.
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