Back on a Bike

I acquired a nice use bicycle last week through craigslist and I've been riding like crazy. I haven't owned a bike in over 10 years, and I had no idea how much I had missed it. I used to ride all the time as a child and a young man, even once doing the Bike Across Kansas event with my dad, which is easily one of my all time favorite memories. There is a freedom and adventure that comes from a bike, and I'm glad to be back.

I've used it to get to and from work a couple times already, and it's by far my happiest commuting experience. I ride to the subway at hollywood and vine, then catch the subway to the valley and ride to work. On the way home I've learned to pedal through the Barham pass and down around the Hollywood Reservoir. It takes about 55 minutes from work to my front door, only 20 minutes more than a car on a normal day, and by the time I'm home I have bug stains on my teeth.

here's hoping

finally

Finished?

I'm grooving in my office, taking one last listen to what may be the final mix/master of the S no S album "10 Digits". Two tracks into the listen and thus far I'm very happy. Shitty work speakers and still I'm not cringing. I'm so glad to finally be releasing this album from me, and me from it, though for the most part it was pretty painless. The songwriting was spread out over a long period of time, so it didn't feel labored. The studio was working well throughout recording, another blessing. I learned a lot this time around, it's my first totally computer (DAW) recorded project done solo by me. getting into track 3. "Who Killed Love". I love Adrienne Pearson's vocal contribution to this track, makes me very happy. Track 4, this one was a beast, but it has the distinction of having the most guest appearances of any S no S record. It started out sparse, and I've worked on it a lot, trying to get it to live up to it's potential. Ronnie's rhythm guitar is great and Angie belting out the chorus with me really drives the narrative home. This is a pretty overt attempt at telling a fictional narrative story in a pop song, something I've sort of saved for the folkier efforts in the past. Devin's organ solo at the end is insane. there are possibly 2 things that I will still have to fix on this one. that's ok. track 5. Far Out With You. This recording has been in the bag for a while, all I really needed to do was re-sing it. Track 6. Shake Off the Fever. This song tripped me out, I was surprised at the different places it took me, it's an emotional turning point in the album, perhaps one of my most positive songs to date. Look at me looking up! maybe I need to turn this vocal down a bit in verse one. it never ends. ;) This is the song that made me realize I had an album coming together, and that it had to be S no S. That solo is funny. Track 7. Under the Weather, I've considered dropping this song a few times, but I like parts of it so much that I deal with the parts I don't. i cranked the bass down last night and that helped. track 8. Dream a Memory, another tune that's been labored over and in the end, it's whatever it became, which I like but I'm not 100% confident that the song ended up being what it wanted to be. It's a different tone though, and it began by sounding like a lot of the other stuff on the album. track 9. Taming the Itch - this song was the second or third song I started working on when I got my computer back about 5 years ago. It's been patiently waiting for release for a long time. I did a bit of adjustment and re-singing, in January. I also added the whip crack and dropped a guitar part. Track 10. The Reckoning. I didn't think much of this song until Angela heard it and loved it, then I took another pass and had Devin add the chorus synth line, which set it off. Sounds good in finished form. Track 11. The Pen and the Twist - another song I've considered dropping. I've thought that perhaps I would enjoying fleshing it out further, and I may still, but I'm happy with how this version fits this batch of songs. sonically it's maybe the weakest tune here, it's a deep cut though, what ya gonna do? S no S is always more possible than perfect, guaranteed. Track 12. I'm a Mutation. ug... hearing this now makes me think it could be more perfecter. maybe not... this one has been the biggest pain in the ass. track 13 Ending of the End. I think this is done. ok, 3 tracks to slightly fix out of 13. I can do that and release this bastard next tuesday. april 9th. 4/9/13

Single Digit Countdown

I've been working on 10 Digits, the new album for my S no S project pretty steadily in 2013. It is nearly ready to go. The songwriting and demoing for the album has slowly taken place over the last 4 years or so. Many songs were originally written for Turbo Sunshine, but ultimately they did not fit that project. Over the last 4 or 5 months I've taken the demos and some new tracks and attempted to polish them, which is really a process of removing the bits that were annoying in some sense or another, and replacing them with bits that were not. Last night I believe I cleared the last major hurdle of removing a part I couldn't live with and replacing it with one I could. I plan now to make one last mix, and if all goes well I will call it done, release the thing and get back to working on the Turbo Debut and a couple on off commission works for a certain fabulous burlesque dancer. Fans of S no S do not despair, this is not a last gasp of S no S, but a brand new beginning. I hope that this is the opening volley of an all out audio onslaught the likes of which was last seen from me in the very early 2000s. Above is the original draft of the 10 Digits art work provided by my brother Devin. I've since changed a few song titles and tweaked the track order. The artwork concept is being tweaked as well.

The Reckoning

Last of the words as a 33

as the hours wind down on my 33rd year there is really only time to keep moving. As I continue to stride this is me, glancing backwards over my shoulder. There are some things I don't dare let catch me, those ugly beasts wait for me to stumble, but I have put great distance between us. The faster I move forward the the fainter they appear, and the more forgiving my mis-steps become. The majority of what lies behind is wonderful, like a wave at my back propelling me forward, begging me to keep going, do better, go further.

El

Just finished reading Hotel New Hampshire. Loved it.  Now back to cash

Farm Kids

I feel really cool that I grew up on a farm, I often brag about it. I really loved everything that came with living on the farm, the freedom, the space and all the cool shit I got to play with. I think it helps that I had really great parents to grow up with, and for today's blog I want to shout out to my Dad, who took time out of his farming to do some really great things for us kids. Here is my by no means comprehensive list of some of the neat things my creative dad did to make farm life entertaining.

1. Barrel and saddle horse swing. I only recently remembered that this existed, it was nearly washed from my old brain. Between two trees dad mounted a swing that consisted of a barrel wearing a saddle. A perfect prop for acting out all my wild west farm boy fantasies. I scoured the internet and this is the closest I could find to what it looked like. Ours was way cooler and more rustic.

2. A stock tank in the back yard. It gets ridiculously hot and dusty in western Kansas, and it's nice to take a little afternoon dip in a stock tank. Dad would often sit one near the house in the summer and fill it with water for us kids. Again, thank the internet and a random family for the visual aid.

3. This one is like the best, and maybe I blogged about it before... but seriously my dad surprised us one winter by building an Ice skating rink in our back yard. He borrowed a skid steer from grandpa, and started diggin up the back yard with out telling us why. When he'd cleared a flat section with built up sides he added a thick black plastic liner. this he filled with water. I think we thought he was building a pool for a while. Here from the interent is a fine example:

4. Square Bale House. We had a grainery building, built into the side of a hill, where you could back a truck into the lower level and use gravity to fill the truck with grain from the large container rooms above. I only remember my dad storing grain in there once, so the rest of the time we used the grainery as our club house. One year, for reasons I don't understand Dad bought square bales, instead of the usual round bales he would make from Alfalfa. He stored these bales in the lower part of the grainery, and rather than just stack them normally, he created a room inside, with a door and 2 windows. Like this, but better and with me and my siblings instead of these randoms:

5. Many kids get a sand box, and ours was no more special than most of them. Yet that mom and dad let us spill the project of the sand box into the entire side yard of our property, building a landscape of multiple cities with roads and houses, that would encompass what would come to be called "out in the sand pile". Devin should blog about this, in detail, because it's the greatest part of our farm child hood and it should be done it's justice. To sum up I'll just say this to the kids of this generation, think of Sim City, but in real life, and you are forced to play it in the 100 degree Kansas Summers, and you can not stop or your older brother will chase you across the yard with his fist in the air, and if he catches you, you will feel the wrath. There are no pictures on the internet that do this justice. Use your mind.

6. Simple Tree House - All kids should have tree houses. Our tree house was simple but great, it used a door to connect two trees. We loved it though, and it was perfect.

7. One winter dad lashed an old truck hood to the back of our 4 wheeler and pulled us around in the snow. It might have been tied to the tractor. It doesn't matter, it was totally awesome no matter how you pull it. Nothing beat a snow day at home with the family. Different kids, different farm, different time, but otherwise this is pretty much exactly what I'm talking about:

I didn't mean to get so involved in this. I need to work. bye.

Primary Emotions

It's been a very long day, one little thing after another needed done and I have been doing them. It got to be a little overwhelming and I took a short nap. Sometimes it's best to just stop, and start going again later. Last night we voted in the Los Angeles primary. It was a ghost town at the poll. I feel a little tired if I don't stop to remember how happy I am, and how good I have it.

Air Feel

against my hands in the overcast morning the air is just beyond crisp, stinging slightly as I pull my hands from my pockets to queue music on my phone. I'm glad to have wormed my way from the underground station and into the day. I feel the parts of me that are tired recede into the movement as I progress into my life. I have not heard this music in some time but I know it well, the demo tape of an artist that moved far beyond this small beginning. I'm wearing my running shoes and my feet keep a beat. Side streets are silent beyond my headphones and the buzz of the traffic a block in any direction is only known, and felt in that psychic way.

Weekend luxury

It's been nice this weekend.  A fondue party at our apartment Thursday night ran late, leaving Angela and I exhausted Friday at work. Angela luckily didn't have to work as late and came home to do 5 loads of dishes and tidy up.   I took the subway home and joined her.  
We walked a few blocks to Grub, a place my brother Devin knows well.   It was cute as can be and delicious.  Angie ordered the crab cake burger and I opted for the shrimp poboy.  I made the best decision it was decided.  Our dinner on the patio was just what was needed to kick off a weekend to relax and reward ourselves.  With the Oscars over, it was time to spend some over time money. 
We retired super early on Friday night, both of us fast asleep by 9:30.
Saturday we walked to mendicino farms for a sandwich pitstop on the long walk to feed and care for our brother's cat Bootsy.  Kitty fed and loved we walked back home.  Next up was a nap for Angela and a nice long run up runyon canyon for me.
After a run and a shower it was time for massages at barai Thai massage in silverlake.  We had yuletide money we had earmarked for just this occasion.  The deep tissue massage was just what my crimped neck and sore legs needed. 

This no

This morning we treated ourselves to pedicures, my first time. It was great then a light sushi lunch and a nap. Now I'm blogging by the window, ready to create some music.

Weather You Remember

I was pretty young and I lived on a farm with my parents and my brother and sister. I have been thinking of a vague memory from that time, and I've been trying to make it make sense, but it's blurry and very slim on relate-able details. What confuses me is the timeline, because my family was home at our farm home, which always seemed so separate from the rest of the world, and that it was the entire world. It had to have been late afternoon when a thunderstorm rolled in, and there was a huge crack of thunder and then as it always seemed to happen at that time, the power went out. Is that just my memory making things colorful or did it actually happen that way as I often remember it happening? In this memory, in my head of my own life that's how it happened, and then it was dark. It must have been one king hell of a storm, because in my mind it was scary dark. Lighting candles inside in the middle of the day because the power was out kind of dark. And there were all were, my whole family in the living room of our farm house which to me was separate from the real world and at the same time the entirety of the world. And it was dark, and it was stormy and we were all together and the power was out so we could not escape from each other inside of the TV. And it was raining and storming on our whole farm so dad was not able to do any of the work that he had to do, and I could not check up on any of my places, and my brother couldn't be listening to records, and my sister couldn't be out front dancing in her slip and mother couldn't see to clean up after us and couldn't cook, because the power was out. We lit some candles and we were all together in the storm, and it was dark in the way that we had to be together, but we all felt safe. And then the storm was over, and the clouds parted, and then we were in the freshest evening just before gloaming. And I remember there was wheat in the field and it was the richest golden color and everything was covered in wet, and it was all so clean. I swear that when I look back in my mind even the mud puddles were clean and still and I can see the bottom of them even now. The horizon was still dark, and diffusing what was left of the sunlight, and it I can almost taste how yellow and golden everything was. And the power was still out, and we didn't care at all. My whole family walked up the driveway just passed the machine shed and the horse barn to the first big curve in the driveway, and then we started back towards the house. And I remember in my mind most the way everything was glowing then, and then my memory of that day is over, and I don't care, because that day is there, and the power is still out and we are all together.

Tigrefino studios

What I learned in 5.5 hours of listening to myself sing poorly

So the experience of listening to the entire S no S catalog in order on my trip to san jose just focused for me. This is what I learned; even though very few people ever heard that music, it meant a lot to me. 10 years later I still listen to it, and I remember what my life was like then, and I realize how my life is different now, both for better and worse. Really though the most valuable thing it gives me is the desire to make new music, to keep going, because it still feels like a job worth doing.

Foggy notions

I drove to san Jose and back today to pick up equipment for my work. Ended up being a twelve hour day.  I listened to every s no s album in order today.  I can safely say I've learned all I needed to from the original six albums, and I'm totally ready to not listen to them again for many years.  The new record is coming along and listening to the old ones gave me valuable perspective.  I have new found direction, more on that later. 

Rest stop nowhere

The road

To Proceed or to Succeed

Last night I ran down more new mixes on the S no S album. I'm developing a little plan. I'm starting to feel pulled to do two different things with the record: 1. finish the record fast and move on. 2. take my time and do the record. option 1 would be great, I would get to finish something fairly substantial and move on with other projects. I don't want neglect Turbo Sunshine, which actually has a band and some live shows to consider. I have several commission songs that are going to be tricky and need to be HQ. I need to work on these. Option 2 would be demoralizing in a sense, and it might be being far to precious with the project that is specifically about not being too precious; but is that true anymore? Can I afford at this stage of my life to release something that I know I could make better? So I'm thinking of doing both. I had originally only given myself to the end of this month to finish this record. This month ends tomorrow. To that end I wonder, what if I released an early version of the album strictly on bandcamp, with the option to download for free and pay whatever you like. Then, depending on the feedback and the demand I could then choose to polish the album before a wider release to Itunes and other CDBABY associated services. Perhaps I can event present the idea as a sort of crowd sourcing option... If I get enough Sales/Donations through the bandcamp page I could then use the proceeds to pay CDbaby's $50 album set up fee.

Late winter sets