In the morning I am flying back to Syracuse, NY for the holidays. I wont actually get there til Monday the 19th at like 1am, thanks to a three hour layover in Atlanta...Stupid Georgia. That night I am playing at Downtown Manhattans, just like old times. Then it will just be about 15 days worth of seeing as many people as I can, and enjoying the crappy weather.
So I wont be online for awhile. I never thought I would care about that, but I do. With my music and all the writing I do on here, I have become quite comfortable around this world wide web of information. It is a great tool for everything. Keeping in touch with friends, getting music, promoting my own music, and really finding anything you need to know about anything.
Moving on, I hope all you readers have a great holiday...Even though there are only like 3 of you and I plan on seeing you all on or around Christmas. Ill be back in a few weeks with lots of stories to tell and hopefully a lot of new songs. Also when I get back here, the band is starting...We are in the market for a name, so any ideas will be taken into consideration...
And one other thing...If anyone wants to drive across the country with me, let me know...
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Official News
Well I recieved a call from the Lead Guitarist of 'The Awks' today with the news that they had been discussing amongst themsleves all day. They have decided to lose the other lead singer and officially form a band with me as the front man. After the holiday break they want to start having more frequent practices and start to get some songs solid for performing.
So with the way I have been writing, a lot of my stuff will most likely be used. And I know they have a lot of originals too. Some of which are pretty good. A little different then my style of writing, but hopefully you will enjoy them if you hear them...and of course a lot of choice covers.
Either way this means a lot more music in my near future, and in you, the listeners future. Because I will obviously make it all available to you when and however I can.
Moving on, I also saw the Midnight show of 'King Kong' and my review can be found by clicking the link to 'My Reviews' on the right...Beware of Spoilers.
So with the way I have been writing, a lot of my stuff will most likely be used. And I know they have a lot of originals too. Some of which are pretty good. A little different then my style of writing, but hopefully you will enjoy them if you hear them...and of course a lot of choice covers.
Either way this means a lot more music in my near future, and in you, the listeners future. Because I will obviously make it all available to you when and however I can.
Moving on, I also saw the Midnight show of 'King Kong' and my review can be found by clicking the link to 'My Reviews' on the right...Beware of Spoilers.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
The San Francisco Treat
What a weekend, action packed and full of Neil adventures with a hint of McMahon.
So friday night, I headed to San Francisco to catch up with Neil who was at his friend Tony's apartment, since he had flown in for the weekend. Tony lives like 3 blocks from the world famous Fishermans Wharf, so that was pretty cool, and also gives me another friend pretty close by to hang out with.
Moving on, I arrived around 7ish and we immediately just grabbed a cab and headed to eat dinner at 'Betel Nut', which is a pretty famous Asian restaurant. The food is designed to be shared by everyone at the table, and you just order a shitload of rice, meat, and noodles and other whatnot...try a little bit of it all and wash it down with a 'Scorpion Bowl', which is a huge bowl of some fancy liquor drink that sits in the middle of the table with four large straws to drink from. It was an alcoholic hooka...persay. So we ate a pretty good meal, and at the same time got a pretty good buzz. We also saw an actress who plays a Nympho Maniac in 'Nip Tuck'. I have never seen the show, but everyone else knew who she was, and the waiter told us how he served Sharon Stone, and Sean Penn in the past. Remember when Sean Penn was cool, i.e. 'Falcon and the Snowman'.
So after dinner we headed to some bar that was a perfect atmosphere for college drunkeness. There were beer pong tables set up, so me and Neil got in on that. We lost though, cause neither one of us could hit the last cup...We sure could have used Dwight for that. So after our depressing loss - even though we got to drink more beer that way - we headed to the strip clubs. Obviously. We hit up the topless places first, since they served alcohol and eventually made our way to the full nudes for some glances at vagina that lasted til around 4 in the morning. McMahon showed up around 3 am and joined us in our discussions of which stripper had the best boobs...Basically the only thing I learned at the strip clubs was that Kathy is as dumb as the guys that think strippers like them. Every time a stripper would come shoot the shit with her, she would brag saying that they were best friends and the stripper was in love with her. Despite the fact that they immediately ran away as soon as Kathy would turn down offers for lap-dances. Of course, if I had a job, I would have paid to see that...
So we called it a night, because we still had the huge party the next night to attend.
So the next morning we all went to go get some breakfast, and then hung out while Tony took care of some cleaning and gathering of booze and whatnot for the party. People started arriving around 8 or 9 and Neil and I were well into it by then. The party eventually got really crowded and some dork in a pink tie kept turning the music up and playing the worst songs ever. Keep in mind this party was just a big hang out, and people were trying to hold conversations, so it was quite annoying. Neil countered by turning the music down as much as he could, and I did my part by playing 'The Jackson 5'. We spent the last half hour of the night scroungin all the leftover food and eating every scrap we could find. McMahon was up to his usual shenanigans, but you will have to ask me about that story...cause I cant do it justice here.
I also had Absinth for the first time. You may know it as the Green Fairy stuff from 'Euro Trip'. Man let me tell you, I have had some gross tasting liquor in my day, but this stuff strictly burns. Thats it - it tastes like burning. It immediately burns your throat on contact. Its disgusting, but if you wash it down with some Egg Nog it really does the trick.
So it was a great time, and we made some kickass new Northern California friends. So I will be spending more time in San Francisco after the holiday season is over. It was great to see Neil again, and catch up where we left off. However it was sad to see him go again, but I will get to see him again soon I hope. I am most likely going to do the cross country trip again in January, and will spend some time in Texas with Neil and Dwight. Does anyone want to come? I could sure use the company.
So friday night, I headed to San Francisco to catch up with Neil who was at his friend Tony's apartment, since he had flown in for the weekend. Tony lives like 3 blocks from the world famous Fishermans Wharf, so that was pretty cool, and also gives me another friend pretty close by to hang out with.
Moving on, I arrived around 7ish and we immediately just grabbed a cab and headed to eat dinner at 'Betel Nut', which is a pretty famous Asian restaurant. The food is designed to be shared by everyone at the table, and you just order a shitload of rice, meat, and noodles and other whatnot...try a little bit of it all and wash it down with a 'Scorpion Bowl', which is a huge bowl of some fancy liquor drink that sits in the middle of the table with four large straws to drink from. It was an alcoholic hooka...persay. So we ate a pretty good meal, and at the same time got a pretty good buzz. We also saw an actress who plays a Nympho Maniac in 'Nip Tuck'. I have never seen the show, but everyone else knew who she was, and the waiter told us how he served Sharon Stone, and Sean Penn in the past. Remember when Sean Penn was cool, i.e. 'Falcon and the Snowman'.
So after dinner we headed to some bar that was a perfect atmosphere for college drunkeness. There were beer pong tables set up, so me and Neil got in on that. We lost though, cause neither one of us could hit the last cup...We sure could have used Dwight for that. So after our depressing loss - even though we got to drink more beer that way - we headed to the strip clubs. Obviously. We hit up the topless places first, since they served alcohol and eventually made our way to the full nudes for some glances at vagina that lasted til around 4 in the morning. McMahon showed up around 3 am and joined us in our discussions of which stripper had the best boobs...Basically the only thing I learned at the strip clubs was that Kathy is as dumb as the guys that think strippers like them. Every time a stripper would come shoot the shit with her, she would brag saying that they were best friends and the stripper was in love with her. Despite the fact that they immediately ran away as soon as Kathy would turn down offers for lap-dances. Of course, if I had a job, I would have paid to see that...
So we called it a night, because we still had the huge party the next night to attend.
So the next morning we all went to go get some breakfast, and then hung out while Tony took care of some cleaning and gathering of booze and whatnot for the party. People started arriving around 8 or 9 and Neil and I were well into it by then. The party eventually got really crowded and some dork in a pink tie kept turning the music up and playing the worst songs ever. Keep in mind this party was just a big hang out, and people were trying to hold conversations, so it was quite annoying. Neil countered by turning the music down as much as he could, and I did my part by playing 'The Jackson 5'. We spent the last half hour of the night scroungin all the leftover food and eating every scrap we could find. McMahon was up to his usual shenanigans, but you will have to ask me about that story...cause I cant do it justice here.
I also had Absinth for the first time. You may know it as the Green Fairy stuff from 'Euro Trip'. Man let me tell you, I have had some gross tasting liquor in my day, but this stuff strictly burns. Thats it - it tastes like burning. It immediately burns your throat on contact. Its disgusting, but if you wash it down with some Egg Nog it really does the trick.
So it was a great time, and we made some kickass new Northern California friends. So I will be spending more time in San Francisco after the holiday season is over. It was great to see Neil again, and catch up where we left off. However it was sad to see him go again, but I will get to see him again soon I hope. I am most likely going to do the cross country trip again in January, and will spend some time in Texas with Neil and Dwight. Does anyone want to come? I could sure use the company.
Friday, December 09, 2005
The Truth about Vacaville
I just got back from the midnight showing of "The Chronicles of Narnia" (My review can be found by clicking the link to the right labelled "My Reviews" - Beware of Spoilers) and I have to say, spending that much time in a theatre with a generally young vacavillian crowd has opened my eyes just to what this spanish translated "cow town" is all about.
It seems to me that they are much behind the times. I mean they were all fascinated with picture phones and kept showing each other the funny pictures that came up when so and so called. I mean Ive never even had a picture phone and I dont even find it interesting that its possible. There were also kids that dressed "punk" because it was cool, not because they were punk. How do I know...simple, I overheard one talking about how he works at MERVYN's which is a lesser known Wal-Mart. What kindof punk throws on a polo-shirt and goes to work as a corporate whore everyday. But after work, he is cool, cause he wears Chuck Taylors and dresses like the Ramones.
Not too mention they think that stupid things are funny. Of course this usually describes all of America in general. And the cheering at movie theatres is so "Star Wars Special Edition Release"...I mean get with the times people. Some kids were even yelling out "I cant wait to see Star Wars" in line and during the wait in the theatre, thinking it was hilarious. But that joke is so "Harry Potter"...Man vacavillians are lame.
I dont really know if I expected any better, especially because it was probably all high school kids who had nothing better to do, much like myself, who has been suffering from some major insomnia lately. Although does it count as Insomnia if you sleep during the day?...Probably not...
My biological clock is all fucked up, and its gonna be ridiculous when I am back in Eastern time for the holidays considering I never fall asleep til around 4 or 5am here...which translates to 7 or 8am there...Whoopee.
It seems to me that they are much behind the times. I mean they were all fascinated with picture phones and kept showing each other the funny pictures that came up when so and so called. I mean Ive never even had a picture phone and I dont even find it interesting that its possible. There were also kids that dressed "punk" because it was cool, not because they were punk. How do I know...simple, I overheard one talking about how he works at MERVYN's which is a lesser known Wal-Mart. What kindof punk throws on a polo-shirt and goes to work as a corporate whore everyday. But after work, he is cool, cause he wears Chuck Taylors and dresses like the Ramones.
Not too mention they think that stupid things are funny. Of course this usually describes all of America in general. And the cheering at movie theatres is so "Star Wars Special Edition Release"...I mean get with the times people. Some kids were even yelling out "I cant wait to see Star Wars" in line and during the wait in the theatre, thinking it was hilarious. But that joke is so "Harry Potter"...Man vacavillians are lame.
I dont really know if I expected any better, especially because it was probably all high school kids who had nothing better to do, much like myself, who has been suffering from some major insomnia lately. Although does it count as Insomnia if you sleep during the day?...Probably not...
My biological clock is all fucked up, and its gonna be ridiculous when I am back in Eastern time for the holidays considering I never fall asleep til around 4 or 5am here...which translates to 7 or 8am there...Whoopee.
Monday, December 05, 2005
The Shape Im In...
So I just got done playing an Open Mic Night at a Bar called the G street Pub. I played with my guitarist friend Mike and another friend Ryan on bass (Ryan normally plays drums). We didnt really rehearse any of what we were going to play, but mostly just stemmed our setlist from drunken jam sessions where we play some fun covers. And I have to say its probably the most fun I have had on stage ever.
The best part about that is that I think they felt the same way. Which means a lot to me, since they are really good musicians, and the fact that they feel so comfortable with me on stage is important. There were even hints of dropping the other singer in their band, and just focusing with me.
After playing we did a lot of talking about what to do, and basically we had so much fun playing covers for drunk people, it became obvious what to do. Basically you have two different types of Open Mic Nights....You have the bar ones...where no one really wants to hear you play your new original that you wrote that day. Instead they are all full of pitchers of beer and whatnot, and they really only want to hear some songs they know, and can sing along too, or atleast rock out to a little. For example, we opened up with "I will Survive" which was an immediate hit...but at the same time we played "Get off This" by Cracker, and people loved it...Whether or not they knew what it was, it didnt matter, because its a rockin song, its catchy, and its easy to pick up on if you do want to sing a long. Of course in these situations its ok to throw in an original or two if you want to. I mean it doesnt hurt...especially if you keep playing the same one or two every week, people may start to remember it. But the bottom line is, that at these bar scenes, you need to rock the house a little, or people dont really care.
Then you have the Coffee Shop/Bookstore Open Mic Nights...where people are just hanging out and come to see people perform, or hear some talented musicianship. This is a much better atmosphere for kickin out your originals and trying to get people to see if what you have to say in your songs is worth listening to...Because these audiences are going to listen, whether they know the song or not. Its always a good thing to catch everyones eye with an opening cover song, that really grabs their attention. Thats what I use "Yoshimi" for (thanks Dwight).
So basically tonight went really well. And it made me kindof branch off in two different, but important directions. One where I play fun covers, go up on stage with no expectations with my friends and just rock the place. If people enjoy what they hear, its only a matter of time before the bar notices and wants you to play more. Cover bands are a good place to start. Especially because once you get a crowd base, you can slowly sneak your originals in there, and before the audience knows it they are fans of your songs as well. Especially if you choose covers that are suiting to your style of writing. Like you cant cover Metallica and then after getting a fanbase, start playing your classical originals...That wouldnt really make sense. Of course I am using extremes, but you get the idea.
Besides that direction, I will still continue to write and work on my originals, and pitch them in the other setting...When people are listening. Eventually the two will hopefully meld together and I will have the perfect situation...and the perfect mix of my own songs, and fun covers.
Either way, its going to be a fun ride, especially because every time I play with my friends, it just re-inforces the idea of me fronting the band, because of how much we all enjoy playing together and the comfort we all feel together on stage.
So we will see what happens...
The best part about that is that I think they felt the same way. Which means a lot to me, since they are really good musicians, and the fact that they feel so comfortable with me on stage is important. There were even hints of dropping the other singer in their band, and just focusing with me.
After playing we did a lot of talking about what to do, and basically we had so much fun playing covers for drunk people, it became obvious what to do. Basically you have two different types of Open Mic Nights....You have the bar ones...where no one really wants to hear you play your new original that you wrote that day. Instead they are all full of pitchers of beer and whatnot, and they really only want to hear some songs they know, and can sing along too, or atleast rock out to a little. For example, we opened up with "I will Survive" which was an immediate hit...but at the same time we played "Get off This" by Cracker, and people loved it...Whether or not they knew what it was, it didnt matter, because its a rockin song, its catchy, and its easy to pick up on if you do want to sing a long. Of course in these situations its ok to throw in an original or two if you want to. I mean it doesnt hurt...especially if you keep playing the same one or two every week, people may start to remember it. But the bottom line is, that at these bar scenes, you need to rock the house a little, or people dont really care.
Then you have the Coffee Shop/Bookstore Open Mic Nights...where people are just hanging out and come to see people perform, or hear some talented musicianship. This is a much better atmosphere for kickin out your originals and trying to get people to see if what you have to say in your songs is worth listening to...Because these audiences are going to listen, whether they know the song or not. Its always a good thing to catch everyones eye with an opening cover song, that really grabs their attention. Thats what I use "Yoshimi" for (thanks Dwight).
So basically tonight went really well. And it made me kindof branch off in two different, but important directions. One where I play fun covers, go up on stage with no expectations with my friends and just rock the place. If people enjoy what they hear, its only a matter of time before the bar notices and wants you to play more. Cover bands are a good place to start. Especially because once you get a crowd base, you can slowly sneak your originals in there, and before the audience knows it they are fans of your songs as well. Especially if you choose covers that are suiting to your style of writing. Like you cant cover Metallica and then after getting a fanbase, start playing your classical originals...That wouldnt really make sense. Of course I am using extremes, but you get the idea.
Besides that direction, I will still continue to write and work on my originals, and pitch them in the other setting...When people are listening. Eventually the two will hopefully meld together and I will have the perfect situation...and the perfect mix of my own songs, and fun covers.
Either way, its going to be a fun ride, especially because every time I play with my friends, it just re-inforces the idea of me fronting the band, because of how much we all enjoy playing together and the comfort we all feel together on stage.
So we will see what happens...
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